JOSH OHL 01

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Designer Spotlight: David Jimenez

I was greeted by this stunning vignette upon entering this Palm Springs open house.  It may have been the stools in my favorite yellow hue under the mirrored table, the gold and white lamps standing tall against a metallic wallpaper, or a mixture of the entire mise en scene, but my heart starting beating faster hoping that around the corner I would be equally delighted.  

I was met with colorful rooms, more graphic wallpaper, and above all, more touches of citron, blending into a Palm Springs masterpiece.  I had stumbled upon this open house while attending Modernism Week, touring mid century modern homes in the area, but while I enjoyed the detail of the homes from that historic time period, it was surprisingly this house that I truly fell in love with.  See my full house tour here.

Below are a few more favorites from angles that I was not able to capture:

It was only later through some internet surfing around the blogosphere that I came to discover that this home was designed by the talented David Jimenez.  Since my discovery, I have seen the image of this entryway pop up so many times I feel surprised that I didn't stumble upon it before.

Of course, I wanted to learn more about this designer and see his other projects.  Through looking at his portfolio, I was initially struck by his ability to infuse his designs with the context of place in a fresh and modern way.

First, there is the Kansas City Main House:

The luxurious and neutral fabrics with touches of black interspersed make for a very rich space.

The sumptuous library with a leather ottoman is comfy but not too serious with the use of the graphic patterned rug.

Kansas City Carriage House Modern:

I have been scouring the internet for inspirational desk images, and I have found one in this office area.  I could lounge in that chair for hours and set my coffee on that stool, and when my eyes get strained from staring at my laptop too long, there would be the beautiful artwork to stare at for a break.

Kansas City Carriage House Classic:

That gallery wall is chock-full of beautiful images, and this room has the perfect mix of comfort and sophistication--it is a place where I could picture myself curling up with a good book and feeling right at home.

Jimenez perfectly proportioned this small kitchen nook, it is cozy but appears larger with the black and white photos of the clouds and sky creating a faux window to the outside world.

 Palm Springs Mid Century:

I appreciate the divergent style from his Hollywood Regency Palm Springs Home design.  It still reflects a sense of place but shows Jimenez's is not too one note when it comes to his Palm Springs' design style.

Although this home is dubbed mid century, to me, it is decidedly more eclectic.  Many of the other mid-century modern homes I saw in Palm Springs rigidly adhered to this design aesthetic, and while I appreciate their dedication to preserving its place in history, I am equally enamored with choosing interesting pieces from other eras.  

Images via David Jimenez

Here the mixture of styles are visually pleasing: the ornate gold mirror, orange patterned rug, and abstract artwork over the bed.

To see all of the dazzling images of David Jimenez's portfolio or learn more about this designer, click on his website here.

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I'm Not An Addict, Baby

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I have only been on the internet ONCE in the past 10 days. I know. Crazy, right.

Why is this crazy? What happened to normal life? WHY do I have to check my email every day?

Because it's become a habit, that's why. I mean, I don't need to check it and half the time, nobody, except Walgreens and LinkedIn, have emailed me anyway. So I waste my time getting online to see that Yay, there's a sale on Prell at Walgreens. What a waste.

I also subscribe to a lot of blogs on Google Reader. If you do too, you KNOW how hard it is to ignore! You would rather knock down your Reader total from 798 to 100 (yay, what an accomplishment! and I didn't even have to leave the house!) then....Mow the lawn, pay bills, hang out with that girl from work who keeps asking you to go for drinks, study....you know what I mean. The list goes on and on. Why am I not outside?

And then there is blogging. Why DO SOMETHING when you can blog about it? Or maybe it's "Why do anything UNLESS you can blog about it? I bring my camera everywhere and I document Every.Last.Thing so I can post pictures later to the internet. In fact, right now, what am I doing? I am blogging. When I should be completing the 189 things on my "To Do" List (100 of them which I can probably do on the internet).

So, I would rather live my life. A hike: yes. A drink with friends: sometimes. A book: often. I am an advocate of going outside. I am a firm believer in children NOT watching TV when they can go ride their bikes, run around, play dress up or build a fort. However, as an adult, I am a hypocrite.

So this week, I am going outside. I am going hiking. I will read more. I will spend more time playing board games with my boyfriend instead of ignoring him while I interact with people I've never met. So if I am not around, I am sorry. I am outside in the sunshine, enjoying the environment, soaking it all in.

I will be back in a couple of weeks (addictive personality! cough!) to read all of your blogs and make sure I don't go over 1000 posts in my Reader (obsessed! cough!). Also, for those of you who are visiting from FTLOB, I will eventually go and check out every one of your blogs. Please be patient. It may not happen for a little while.

Does anyone else get this - this angst to get away from the internet, yet the desire to go back to it? How much time do YOU spend on the computer a day? (ps. when I am at work, I am on the computer probably 12+ hours a day. Now, it's more like one[+] hour[s] a day)

Post title credit: Fiona Apple

This post is part of the A-Z Blogfest I am (kind of) participating in. I is for I'm! You can find others of this ilk HERE. 

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Johann Kepler

Johann Kepler (1571-1630) was a great German Astronomer and Mathematician. He found the Planet Mars is moving around the sun in an ellipse shape but not in a perfect circle. In the 17th century, he created a great scientific revolution in the field of Astronomy. His well-known theory called "Kepler's laws of planetary motion and Kepler conjecture".

His famous works are "Harmony of the world, The Sacred Mystery of the Cosmos, New Astronomy, On the New Star in Ophiuchus's Foot  and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy"

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Marine Turtles at Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef

Ningaloo Reef is one of the world's major breeding areas for sea turtles. During the breeding season, between November and February, you can book a tour to see the Green, Loggerhead and Hawksbill turtles (three of the world's seven marine turtle species) come ashore to lay their eggs or to see the hatchlings rushing back to the sea.

The nesting is becoming increasingly popular as a nature-based tourism experience in Coral Bay. 

Foxes are the single biggest predator of the turtle nests where in some instances they are digging up to 60 percent of the nest to eat the eggs. They also prey on hatchlings as they emerge from the sand.

Baiting is carried out at strategic locations along the coastal strip to protect the major turtle nesting sites. Other threats include over-harvesting of turtles and eggs, predation of hatchlings by birds, feral pigs, dogs and goannas, pollution and changes to important habitats, especially nesting beaches. Four-wheel drives are another threat to the turtles because the tyre grooves they leave behind can create trenches that the hatchlings fall into, preventing them reaching the sea.

The effectiveness of conservation operations can be increased if people are more aware of the impact their activities can have on the turtles.

Turtles need the beach

Marine turtles have lived in the oceans for more than 100 million years. They are an integral part of the traditional culture of many indigenous peoples throughout the world. Even though they spend much of their lives drifting and feeding in the open ocean, the beach is an important nesting habitat for turtles.

Turtles live for years in one place before they are ready to make the long breeding migration of up to 3,000 kilometres from their feeding grounds to nesting beaches. Courtship and mating take place in shallow waters near the nesting beach. Females often mate with more than one male. After mating, the males return to the feeding grounds. They have a large shell called a carapace, four strong, paddle-like flippers and like all reptiles, lungs for breathing air. The characteristic beak-like mouth is used to shear or crush food.

Marine Turtles of the Ningaloo Reef

Turtles tagged in the Ningaloo Reef area, have been recorded off the coast of Java, in Indonesia, within the Gulf of Carpentaria Reef and the Lacepede Islands. It is important for the conservation of marine turtles in the Ningaloo Region to help contribute to marine turtle global conservation. Marine turtles are under immense pressure from a range of activities including illegal trade and harvest; unsustainable harvest; some forms of commercial fishing such as trawling and long-lining; and loss of habitat such as seagrass beds, coral reef ecosystems and intact coastlines. In the Ningaloo regions specifically, marine turtles face the following pressures:

o Fox predation

o Inappropriate recreational and tourism

o Activities such as disturbance and four-wheel driving on nesting beaches

o Boat strikes

o Specific fishing practices, such as long lining

o Pollution from developments both marine and land based

This page not only has a lot of information about marine turtles, but check out the other related topics including:

o Life-cycle of Marine Turtles

o Green Turtles

o Loggerhead Turtles

o Hawksbill Turtles

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New at the National Archives

NARA has launched a new Online Public Access Catalog.
It's been designed to provide a single, centralized catalog to search across multiple research catalogs at once.  It includes access to the Archival Research Catalog (ARC), Access to Archival Databases (AAD), Archives.gov, and the Electronic Records Archives (ERA).  It is intended to make records of the federal government easier to find. 

Alien Files Find New Home at the Kansas City National Archives
For the first time, more than 300,000 case files on alien residents of the United States who were born 1909 and prior are now open to the public at the National Archives at Kansas City.  "Alien Files" (commonly referred to as "A-Files") were utilized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service starting on April 1, 1944, as a means of recording the details of any active case of an alien not yet naturalized as they passed through the United States immigration and inspection process.  They contain a wealth of information such as photographs, correspondence, birth certificates, health records and more.  The files may be viewed in person at the National Archives in Kansas City or copies of files may be ordered for a fee. For more information visit http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/aliens/a-files-kansas-city.html .

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ERIC LIEBIG 06

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