Blogging Again?

This Sunflower blog is my first blog ever. I started blogging in 2006 and stopped in 2008. Since then I occasionally visited my Sunflower and checked the site meter to see if anyone is still visiting. Surprisingly there are still about 30+ visits per day on average. They are mostly from Google searching for images.

I've learned something interesting from blogging. I even started a small business thanks to the skills I've learned from blogging. The internet always amazes me. I've been confused lately about what I am going to do. From time to time, I reviewed what I have done/achieved so far in my life. Now I am reading my blog again and revisited a couple of my old blogging buddies. Most of them are not blogging any more, but there is still someone out there working. Maybe I should start blogging again? Maybe I can start an online project again, perhaps a photo a day or a drawing/painting a day?

Let me get started. Below is a photo took on Valintine's Day.

HappyTutors.com - Connect Tutors, Students & Parents

If you like Sunflower, you will defininetly like HappyTutors.com as well. HappyTutors.com is a free online community for tutors, teachers, instructors, coaches, as well as students, tutees and parents. It's a really nice website with a fresh design, user-friendly layout, navigation and search function.

HappyTutors.com Mission Statement

Promote Lifelong Learning & Teaching

Connect Tutors, Students & Parents Worldwide

HappyTutors.com Service

Free listing service for tutors, teachers, instructors, coaches, tutees, students and parents

Search tutors/tutees for free

Go visit HappyTutors.com to see if you can find a tutor for your kids or for yourself to improve your blogging :-); or you might register as a tutor to teach others how to blog :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

May all your wishes come true!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Birds in the Winter of Vancouver

Want to see birds in winter? Go to the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park. It's a nice place to kill some time and take some pictures of birds and flowers.

The Desert Cactus in Grand Canyon

Below is a photo we took in Grand Canyon last week when we had a 4-day trip to Las Vegas. Does anyone know the name of this red cactus?

Maple Tree in Vancouver

It's autumn again in Vancouver. Maple tree is the most beautiful tree in this season of Vancouver.

Fire Dragon - Vancouver Lantern Festival 2008

Dragon is the symble of China. Two Fire Dragons Playing a Peral is the highlight of Greater Vancouver International Lantern Festival 2008 in Richmond, BC, Canada. We had a great time last night taking pictures of those amazing lanterns.

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HappyTutors.com is a free online community for tutors, teachers, instructors, coaches, students, tutees, parents and anybody else who enjoys learning and teaching.

Saturday Photo Hunt #12 - Silver

Below is a photo I took tonight especially for Saturday Photo Hunt. It is the Silver Bracelet I wear on my left wrist. I like silver or white gold accessories. They look nice, elegant and shiny.

Sunflower's Silver Bracelet

2008 Beijing Olympics - One World, One Dream

I took the day off today to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies - One World, One Dream! - I woke up at 4:30am Vancouver time. The Opening Ceremonies was amazing - I highly recommend everyone watch it - you can learn more about China.

Starry Starry Night - for Vincent Van Gogh

I love Sunflowers - Look at the Sunflower on the top right, you will know how much I like Van Gogh's painting. I bought a calendar about Van Gogh's paintings and put it on my desk in the office. Below is a song by Don Mclean that I'd like to share with you.

Starry, Starry Night

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry, starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,
Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

Starry, starry night.
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless head on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the strangers that you've met,
The ragged men in the ragged clothes,
The silver thorn of bloody rose,
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will...

Caribbean Flamingo at the Greater Vancouver Zoo

We visited the Greater Vancouver Zoo last Sunday. It was very difficult to take this shot since this beautiful creature hardly stayed still. Flamingos are always moving and puting their head under water to catch fish. This one is the largest of the six members of the family Phoenicopteridae. They get their colour from foods rich in carotenoid pigments contained in plants.

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If your small business is not online and you want to have a professional website; however, you do not want to spend a fortune for a long and expensive web design project, then Top Level Web Design is perfect for you!



HappyTutors.com is a free online community for tutors, teachers, instructors, coaches, students, tutees, parents and anybody else who enjoys learning and teaching.

My New WordPress Blog - Exploring Blogosphere

Hello, everyone! I've been working on my new WordPress blog - Exploring Blogosphere -since last week; that's also why I didn't get chance to visit your blogs lately. There are a few things I need to handle - register a domain name; find a good hosting company; install WordPress software; change the blog template; set up widgets, etc. It's a time consuming learning process. I've considered having a new blog for a long time and I am glad that I eventually made it.

Exploring Blogosphere will focus on blogging tips, tech news, gadgets, ebusiness, entrepreneurs, and everything else happening in the blogosphere. I will share what I encounter in the blogosphere and topics that might be interesting for bloggers. Below is a list of recent posts for you to get started.

• Checklist for Starting a New WordPress Blog
• About Blogger Custom Domain
• WordPress Vs. Blogger
• What's Web 2.0 ?

By the way, Exploring Blogospher is hosted by DreamHost who provides great customer service. Sunflower highly recommends DreamHost for your websites or blogs, since DreamHost offers one-click installation tool to help you install Wordpress blog in seconds. ALso you can upgrade your Wordpress to the latest version easily. Remember to use Coupon Code Sunflower to get $50 off when you sign up any plan from DreamHost!.

I will highly appreciate if you could stop by Exploring Blogosphere and leave your smiles there, just like what you always do on Sunflower blog. If you have any questions or concerns about hosting your blog on your own, or things like that, you can leave your comments too. I'll try my best to answer them -I am still learning :-)

Thank you for your support!

Mural - Hastings Sunrise

I orignally thought this mural is in East Hastings, a not-so-nice area in Vancouver. One of readers pointed out that it is acturally in Nanimo and Hastings, which might be one of nicest areas in Vancouver. Anyway, I like this mural and it represents the diversity of Vancouver.

Beautiful Vancouver Landscape

Have you been to Vancouver, Canada, one of the best places to live for human beings? You should come visit at least once if you have chance. Below is a photo Bob took last month. It can give you a general view of beautiful Vancouver in early spring.

New for Blogger - Scheduled post publishing

Goog news! Starting from May 1 2008, Blogger blogs can schedules future-dated posts!
You can set a post’s date into the future and the post won't be published until that time comes.

If you want to announce something on a certain date but know you wouldn’t be at a computer to make a post; or you wanted to keep posting regularly but know you’d be on vacation for a few weeks; or you have a lot blogging ideas on one day while you have nothing to blog on other days, Scheduled post publishing is the feature to help you out.

Here is what you need to do if you want to future-date your post - on the post editor page there is a “Post Options” link; click the link to show the “Post date and time” fields. Then, type a desisred post date and time in the future. When you click the “Publish” button, you will see a message " Your post has been scheduled”. When the date and time of the post arrive, it will be automatically published on your blog.

It's a nice handy feature, why not try it out yourself?

Resting Duck in Lafarge Lake

It was a sunny day last Sunday. We had a small walk along Lafarge Lake, Coquitlam, BC. This little duck was resting on a small rock in the lake. It is a nice portrait behind the sunset in the early spring.

Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver

It's still cold and rainy in Vancouver. However, the Cherry Blossoms just can wait to smile to us......

Maui Sunset

We went to Maui in January 2008 for a one-week vacation. It was nice getaway from home and it's totally different climate. Maui is one of our favorite place and we will definitely go back there next year :-)

Ocean, Coconut Tree & Sunset in Maui

The Life Cycle of a Sunflower

I love Sunflowers. Below is a graph of the lifecycle of a Sunflower. If you like Sunflower, you will defininetly like HappyTutors.com as well. HappyTutors.com is a great website especially for people who are as energetic and positive as Sunflower.
Do you have a small business or personal hobby such as gardening or photographing? We highly recommend Top Level Web Design, a web 2.0 start-up company that creates affordable and professional websites especially for small businesseses and individuals.

If your small business is not online and you want to have a professional website; however, you do not want to spend a fortune for a long and expensive web design project, then Top Level Web Design is perfect for you!

HappyTutors.com is a free online community for tutors, teachers, instructors, coaches, students, tutees, parents and anybody else who enjoys learning and teaching.

Cats - Memory

Since tonight, Thursday night, we are going to watch Cats, one of the most popular musicals of all time having been performed around the world in numerous theatres - Cats is on its 25th Anniversary Tour in Vancouver. I Google Cats song liric on the Internet. I love the Memory lyrics and would like to share it with you. So here goes my special TT :-) Hope you enjoy it!

Memory
Daylight
See the dew on the sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses whither away
Like the sunflower
I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day . . .

Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling aloneIn the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful thenI remember the time
I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every streetlamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warningSomeone mutters
And the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sunIf you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is

Look
A new day has begun