Miracle Mango Salsa

I made this last week and served it with grilled salmon.  It was awesome!  I ate the entire piece of fish on my plate, and I am not sure that has ever happened before!  If this salsa can get me eat fish, it is Miracle Salsa!

Mango Salsa

1 Ripe Mango (1 1/2 cups diced)

1/2 Small Red Onion

1 Jalapeno

1 Small Cucumber

1 Avocado (1/2 cup diced)

3 TBSP Fresh Cilantro

3 TBSP Fresh Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Finely dice all ingredients, mix and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving for the flavors to develop.

Twitter Experiment

About a year ago I signed up for Twitter.  I set up two accounts, one with my real name and one with a fake name.  With my real name I invited friends and family, and started playing the Tweet game.

For the fake name I only added one friend, myself.  I did not send out any invitations, or post any tweets.  I just set it up and forgot about it.  Sort of like that infomercial slogan, "Set it and Forget it".

As of tonight, my actual Twitter account, @WendyMinks, if any of you want to add me, has 16 followers and I am following 14 people.  I haven't posted a tweet in months, and incoming tweets have been mostly advertisements.  I haven't really given Twitter my all, and my numbers show. I quickly tired of Twitter.  It seems sort of redundant and boring.  I mean, with facebook, blogging, email, and texting, what's the use of Twitter?  Maybe I'm just too old to get it.
My "fake" Twitter account is doing nearly as well, with absolutely no effort on my part.  That account, @gadgettesting, has 13 followers.  One of those followers is me.  One of them is a friend that is also following my other account, and the 11 others are strangers.  I have no photo posted, no profile data listed, not even my gender.  There is no way, those 11 followers are anything other than random Twitter users, looking for customers, clients, or suckers.  I don't really think they are looking for a new friend.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe I'm being a pessimist and not giving these people the benefit of the doubt.  I set the privacy settings on both accounts exactly the same, so why haven't these 11 strangers, or any others, arbitrarily bumped into me in cyber space and started following my tweets?

I guess I really don't get Twitter.  Can anyone explain?

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

 
At Lake Yankton, searching for fossils - Age 10

When I grow up I want to be a piano playing astronaut.  I want to be a world famous scientist and discover the cure for cancer.  I want to be a doctor that saves lives and takes away pain. I want to be a librarian and read every book in the world.  I want to be a mom, just like my mom, who has magic kisses and can sing just like Karen Carpenter and all the singers on the radio.  I want to be a business person and staple, tape, punch holes, and file paperwork to bring order to the world.  I want to be a dancer on American Bandstand and an Olympic gymnast.  I want to be tall.  I want to write books like Asimov.  I want to be an explorer out in the jungle finding plants and animals no human has ever seen.  I want to be an inventor.  I want to go to college and learn everything.  I want to be be rich, and drive fast cars. I want to be a teacher just like Miss Lerrick, who make small, shy girls feel like they can be anything. I want to be brave, and bold and smart.  I want to see the world.  I want to change the world. 

When I was 9, we had a program for Girl Scouts showcasing our dreams for the future.  I dressed up in my Mom's silver racing jacket, snow boots and a motorcycle helmet.  I walked across the stage and boldly declared that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up.  I made my public debut as a pianist that night as well.  Before donning my space gear, I entertained the crowd with some song from Swan Lake.  I was so excited because I had graduated to "sheet music".  I was ready for the big time.

That summer, after selling a record number of Girl Scout cookies, our troop took a trip to World's of Fun in Kansas City.  Having grown up in the small towns along Highway 81 in South Dakota and Nebraska, Kansas City was HUGE!  That is where I discovered my love of roller coasters and the adrenaline rush.  Roller coasters offer the perfect combination of danger and safety.  They are a controlled burn, and that's why I love them.  I am free to relax and experience the thrill confident that someone else has taken my safety into consideration.  Learning of my extreme aversion to spinning at high speeds (barfing my guts out on the Tilt A Whirl), dashed my hopes of a career with NASA.  I think that my claustrophobic tendencies might have posed a problem as well.  The whole idea of an astronaut was much more appealing than the reality.

So, I am not an astronaut, or a doctor, or a gymnast.  There are a few common threads that weave their way through the dreams of my childhood: discovery, learning, adventure, music, creating, organizing, nurturing, and love.  Those threads have become the tapestry of my life, the details of which are more beautiful than the fanciful  dreams of youth.
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Like Glass

It was an unbelievably still day.  I noticed the mirror image from the path and had to get a closer look.  The last shot I took standing near the end of the pier.

Makapu`u and Koko Kai

Saturday was filled with adventure! Quincie and I went with our friends on a hike to Makapu`u point light house. It was a bright and sunny morning and the hike was steep, but easy. They views were amazing!

There were dolphins playing, but without a good zoom lens the camera on my phone just couldn't capture them. 

After some lunch we headed to Koko Kai mini beach park - the place with all the cool cliffs!  The water was a bit rough so we left the cliff jumping to the experienced rough water swimmers.  It wasn't the jump that was dangerous, it was getting out of the water that was so tricky.  It was fun to sit and watch.