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Habibi Lebanese food in Portland, OR

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This crumpled up notepad paper was at my back porch as I arrived home from celebrating my 10 wedding anniversary in Italy.
It is from my six-year-old daughter, written to her brother.
Every time I read it, I feel her humility and love.

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Here is a collection of Amalfi coast “being there” YouTube video clips and photos in slideshow from Flickr.
For our 10th wedding anniversary, my wife and kids revisited familiar sacred and new places from Rome down to Calabria, Italy.
I created a PearlTree collection of sites that we explored while planning our trip — this mostly looks at Umbria and Amalfi Coat. We arrived by rented car at the seaside, cliff nestled city of Amalfi. We stayed at the Amalfi Hotel (here is my Trip Advisor review on Digg), where the we had a killer room with a balcony view out to the Duomo. Here’s an excerpt on the Duomo from Wikipedia
At the top of a staircase, Saint Andrew’s Cathedral (Duomo) overlooks the Piazza Duomo, the heart of Amalfi. The cathedral dates back to the 11th century; its interior is adorned in the late Baroque style with a nave and two aisles divided by 20 columns.
The gold caisson ceiling has four large paintings by Andrea d’Aste. They depict the flagellation of Saint Andrew, the miracle of Manna, the crucifixion of Saint Andrew and the Saint on the cross. From the left hand nave there is a flight of stairs which leads to the crypt. These stairs were built in 1203 for Cardinal Pietro Capuano, who, on 18 May 1208, brought Saint Andrew’s remains to the cathedral from Constantinople.
The bronze statue of Saint Andrew in the cathedral was sculpted by Michelangelo Naccherino, a pupil of Michelangelo; also present are Pietro Bernini marble sculptures of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence.
In 1206 Saint Andrew‘s relics were brought to Amalfi from Constantinople by the Pietro Capuano following the Sack of Constantinople (an event of the 4th Crusade) after the completion of the town’s cathedral.[4] The cathedral contains a tomb in its crypt that it maintains still holds a portion of the relics of the apostle. A golden reliquary which originally housed his skull and another one used for processions through Amalfi on holy days can also be seen.
Amalfi is easy going and not over luxurious. It is authentic and picturesque and remarkably squeezed into sky-reaching cliffs yet port-side so you can easily ferry north to Positano, Sorrento and the magical island of Capri. And if you can, visit nearby Ravello.
The ferry from Amalfi to Capri is not expense or cheap — around $25 per person — but it’s spectacular! One of the mose memorable views is pulling into spectaluar, colorful Positano.
On the ferry, a cultured tour guide asked if we’d join his group of families and couples on a relaxing, but extensive tour up from the port to Capri then climb up, across the Mamma Mia cliff-haning narrow road to Anacapri. This was the best decision, as we were traveling under the hot sun with two children. We did have time afterward to take a cruise around the whole island (highly recommended) but we decided to people watch at the port = good choice! We got to take in the real beauty and bustle — comings and goings — of the island as young gorgeous women and loving couples strolled by without a care in the world.
Now to the eye candy I capture:
Amalfi and Capril Italy 2010 , posted with vodpod
Vodpod videos no longer available.
I’m making the switch from my trusty Blackberry 8320 to an iPhone 4.
After learning that I can purchase and get a new iPhone on our Intel email service, I took the leap.
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The Blackberry brought a big boost to my productivity, creativity and connectivity across the U.S. and Europe. I love working on a laptop – best for high throughput, managing tons of file types and editing photos and videos – but being connected to email, snaping and posting simple photos and videos on the go, and using UberTwitter, TripIt and several other apps really got me unstuck and zooming.
My zooming led to a few Blackberry blowups, but somehow I was able to reboot and get back to pushing the limits.
I’m a fast single or two-thumbing typer with the Blackberry, so my biggest concern is my ability to type well with the soft keys in the iPhone.
But the things I think will elevate my work and life game include the iPhone’s nice photo and video quality, tons of creativity, productivity and life management apps. And Face Time looks like a great new feature I hope to use often with my family and coworkers.
I’m app’ing up my phone now, so I’ll have lots of joy and frustration flowing in the coming days. Typing is already horrible but I’m improving. And I really liked UberTwitter – its ability to manage multiple accounts, track, respond, email, favorite, list…the list of capabilities goes on. So far, I’m not thrilled with Twitter for iPhone, but I’m patiently workin’ it.

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Zinfandel, a fine wine….especially when grown in Alexander Valley, CA.
The poem reads:
I’m the diva in the bottle
Never whimpy, never faint
I’m the zeal in zydaco music
The light in Van Gogh’s paine
I’m an orchid
I’m a spell
I’m the bramble in the dell
I’m impulsive
Yet serene
The once and future queen
I’m a wild thing
Ooh-la-la
I’m inspiration for Syrrah
I can be gracious
In the nude
Depending on my mood
I can be romantic
With a steak
On a blanket by the lake
Or I can be leggy
At a bar
When a cigar isn’t just a cigar
This was shot in late June 2010 from the edge of the Gardens of Augustus. This is one of the many, and maybe even the most, spectacular views from the island of Capri, Italy.

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In November, I got to join an interesting panel at the Online Video Platform Summit, where we talked about strategies for using of video as a communication vehicle.
BeetTV was kind enough to devote time to meet up with me and hear how I’ve been helping Intel’s Global Communications Group evolve its use of video. Here’s the post from BeetTV:
SAN JOSE, CA — Some of most innovative uses of online video have been pioneered by technology companies, notably Microsoft’s Channel 9, the videoblog for customers and developers.
Sun Microsystems has been using video for some time. One of the latest entrants into corporate use of video is the new Adobe.TV
Intel has been using online video as core communications tool for its many constituents . For a chat about the importance of online video within corporations, we spoke with Ken Kaplan, Broadcast and New Media Manager, Intel Global Communications Group.
We caught up with Ken recently in San Jose at the Streaming Media West show.
We’ve published some of the Intel videos here.
Andy Plesser, Executive Producer.