I can't remember the last time I baked on a weeknight. I had this almond butter to use up in my fridge, so of course I had to make almond butter cookies. Used this recipe from sweet & natural. They were a leetle bit dry - maybe next time I'll try adding an egg. That should do it - otherwise it was just sweet enough and very almond-y :)
Solar Tower for the 2016 Olympic Games - Rio de Janeiro |
The challenge was to design a vertical structure on the island of Cotonduba that in addition to serving as an observation tower would become a symbol of welcome to newcomers in Rio either by sea or by air once it has been host city of 2016 Olympic Games.
Designed by RAFA firm headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, it is called Solar City Tower, chosen in response to the initial proposal and it has the potential to generate enough energy not only for the Olympic city, but also for part of the city of Rio. Its design makes it store solar energy during the day, while the surplus energy produced is piped to pump sea water within the tower giving the effect of a waterfall outside. This water is reused simultaneously by turbines which are designed to produce energy during the night. These characteristics give it the epithet tower generator which is intended as a continuation of some of the resolutions taken during the Earth Summit United Nations in 1992 that took place in Rio and also promotes the use of natural resources in energy among these people.
The tower also has an amphitheater, an auditorium, cafeteria and shops accessible on the ground floor where you can take an elevator that leads to various observatories and a retractable platform for the practice of bungee. At the top of the tower, it will be possible to appreciate the scenery around the island where it will be erected and its waterfall will become a benchmark for 2016 and the city of Rio de Janeiro.
I guess I must have been living under a rock, but I just found out that Matthew Vaughn will be helming the next installment of X-Men, one of my favoritest superhero franchises evar. At long last, this super talented director may finally get the kind of marketing treatment he so richly deserves (I blogged a while back about how his other excellent movies have had the unfortunate fate of terribly inappropriate marketing).
The first Sunday of the month, the pastor at Cornerstone Church said a few things that made me think. It was about the importance of starting the new year off well, and even the importance of how that first week could set the tone for the rest of the year. While it's taken me some time to put my 2011 list together, I still think it's still a worthwhile exercise. Some nuggets of wisdom from the sermon:
I dislike vague new year's resolutions like 'drink more water' because I think it's harder to keep them/easier to rationalize them. I prefer to write down very specific things I'd like to do/accomplish in a year, things I can check off. But I also want to be sure that each thing I'm committing to paper reflects how I'd like to be living my life beyond the progress I've already made in the last few years.
Travel
Spiritual/Personal Growth
Health/Wellness/Lifestyle
Style
A Tumblr that enumerates the many, many reasons we HATE restaurant websites. I'd say this also applies to really uppity, high-fallutin brand retail websites.
From Thrillist:
The incomparable Kina Grannis, of course. If only Katy Perry didn't have such an awful voice - the songs are actually pretty good.
