How to make a fire and water centerpiece

Here's an idea to set the mood for a romantic or intimate dinner. It's so simple anyone can do it at home. Try it and let me know how it turns out!

Do you have any cool ideas you'd like me to share? Send them to me and leave your comments as well.

Enjoy creating!

Enthusiastically,
The Lifestyle Maven™

Of Stereotypes and Single Stories

I loved this lecture by Chimamanda Adichie was fantastic. As a person of African origin who has lived around the world, I can really identify with her story. Enjoy!

When Ideas Have Sex...(It's a Great Orgasm!)

I love sex. Don't you? Sex is one of those things that brings two (or more) people together in a particularly intimate way, exchanging tactile, olfactory, aural and oral pleasure. Sometimes the result is another living organism.

So what happens when ideas have sex? This was food for thought as I watched Matt Ridley's talk on TED.com. He posited that throughout history, the acceleration of development has been fueled by the coming together of different ideas and perspectives, resulting in a new and better idea.

Harsh Sethia a nanotechnology blogger, seems to share this idea on his blog To The Power Minus 9. He describes how when you share an idea with others, you can get variety of sperm ideas to fertilize your ova of an idea that could result in the next big thing. Maybe the next Barak Obama or the next Sarah Palin. What is exciting is that it is not the first sperm idea that does the honors, but the most attractive sperm idea. Sometimes multiple sex acts with multiple people is needed to develop that idea.

Looking back on my own experiences, I realize my ideas have been so polyamorous it's laughable. My ideas and my outlook on life has been shaped by interacting with so many different people and ideas. My ideas have not only gotten better by sharing or bouncing them off of others, but I have evolved in the process as well! In that sense, I have had thousands of orgasms with just as many ideas, and conceived and birthed almost as many. Of course, sometimes the sex isn't that good, but other times it's earth-shattering, gobsmacking terrific! Sometimes blanks are fired, or there's a miscarriage, or even a stillbirth; but sometimes you conceive an adonis of an idea it makes you want to slap yo' mama!

I encourage you to let your ideas have sex. Lots of it. See what happens when your ideas copulate with others'. The result might blow your mind, or maybe not. Either way, enjoy the process while you're at it. Keep an open mind and explore anything and everything. As Matt Ridley puts it: “It is our habit of trade, idea-sharing and specialization that has created the collective brain which set human living standards on a rising trend." And it's all because "ideas are having sex with each other as never before."


Go ahead. Have some sex.

What to do on a weekend

What a weekend it was! I was wondering what I'd do this past weekend when it started early for me on Thursday, and now, looking back, it was pretty interesting. I attended a lecture by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at Valencia Community College, had dinner at Hue in Thornton Park, went browsing through antique and exotic stores and saw Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'....

Michael Eric Dyson Lecture

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

Dr. Dyson is an accomplished academic, author, speaker and radio host who spoke on Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy at Valencia College. His books include April 4, 1968 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How it Changed America, Holler if You Hear Me, Is Bill Cosby Right? and I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr. He is such a dynamic speaker and would occasionally slip into the preacher's shoes or break into song or do a bit of stand up comedy. One thing he said that stayed with me was how we as humans, project our own limitations unto a limitless God....Very deep, and a statement I happen to agree with.

Dinner at Hue

I've been known to walk into a restaurant on a whim and try whatever epicurean delights they might proffer a curious gourmand, so Hue shows up at a street corner while I'm in the 'restaurant district' of the Thornton Park area and I find myself in the deep seats of its dining room. Their presentation was beautiful - the calamari came with pepperoncini, jalapenos, banana peppers, peppadews and chilli garlic mayo (awesome!) but could have been a tad bit more crispy, but it was still delicious. The heirloom tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella was fantastic and the presentation was simple and very elegant. The tomatoes were hollowed out and filled with the cheese and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. I love my life!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I saw a performance of William Shakespeare's romantic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre which was quite different. I did not expect a contemporary interpretation and it took a while for me to adjust to hearing Shakespeare in an American accent and in rather contemporary attire.... And Pink Floyd and Lady Gaga? Now, c'mon people! It threw me for a loop for a bit, but I must say it was a very entertaining performance; especially the second act - I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. A Midsummer Night's Dream plays January 26 - March 19, 2011 at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Theatre, 812 E. Rollins St., Orlando, FL 32803, www.orlandoshakes.org.

Unique Finds

I love discovering curios and nifty stuff. I went browsing through some exotic stores and antique shops and made some rather interesting discoveries. My favorite was Washburn Imports. I found these very unique items that I'd love to have. 

Dining table

Occasional table

Armoire

Lamp

Log Lamp

 It also turns out that this place doubles as a wine bar and beer garden after hours, featuring boutique wines and craft beers! Now, whodathunkit!! It's called The Imperial Wine Bar and Beer Garden.... Anyone want to meet up there Friday evening? Washburn Imports/The Imperial WIne Bar and Beer Garden is at 1800 N. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32804, www.washburnimports.com.

The Imperial Wine Bar & Beer Garden

And....I was spared by an enormous alligator with incredibly menacing jaws in a nearby store!

Where will next weekend find me? Stay tuned for more. Have a fabulous week whatever you do, wherever you are!