With the upcoming summer Olympic games and Singapore playing host to the Youth Olympics in 2010, I was just wondering if I had ever taken any Olympic-related picture anywhere?

Umm (running through album pages)…here it is!

The statue of Paavo Nurmi, standing outside the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland.

Paavo Nurmi, one of Finland’s greatest long-distance runner, won 9 golds at the Olympics in the 1920s and set more than 20 world records. Wow!

Picture taken on: 31 November 1997

Steps:

1. Get one index card (or cardstock) and a pair of scissors.

2. Fold it in half and crease the fold.

3. Position the scissors at the fold.

4. Make straight cuts but don’t snip right off the edge.

5. Flip (towards you) to the opposite side and be ready for another round of cutting.

6. Cut on the middle of each strip. Again, don’t cut right through the end.

7. You’ll get a zig zag like this.

8. Go back to the fold, skipping the FIRST and LAST strip, trim off the fold on all the remaining strips.

9. Open up and you’ll find a hole that is indeed big enough for you to make your way through from the head down or from the feet up.

This is adapted from Dr. Robert Krampf’s science experiment #11 on the science of topology.

Tips:
If you cut narrower strips in step 4, the hole gets even bigger. And if you accidentally snip off the first or last strip, you will have cut yourself a paper streamer.

Say if you (ever) have to entertain someone with a simple trick or make a paper-party-necklace, you know what to do!

8 Eco-Friendly Ways to Wrap Gifts With Newspaper

Baby Showers : Creative Baby Shower Gift Ideas

It’s described as an unwoven cloth with crushed fine peach seed to remove soil stains on vegs and pesticide residues on fruits. Not meant for other cleaning jobs.

The sound of peach seed was what drew me to this sponge and not its shape.

I’m currently using this as a scrubber for step no. 5 in the vinegar wash.

Here are the books that have introduced me to the history and techniques of the art of knotting:

English

• The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots & Ropework by Geoffrey Budworth
• The Complete Book of Knots and Ropework by Geoffrey Budworth
• Knots (Collins Need to Know) by Geoffrey Budworth
• Chinese Knots for Beaded Jewellery by Suzen Millodot
• Celtic Knots for Beaded Jewellery by Suzen Millodot
• Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs that are Easy and Fun! by Lydia Chen
• Fun With Chinese Knotting: Making Your Own Fashion Accessories and Accents by Lydia Chen
• The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting: A Compendium of Techniques and Variations by Lydia Chen [Techniques are more for an experienced knotter]

Japanese

• 
  モダンテイストの結びアクセサリー by 知光薫
  [To me, the instructions here were the easiest to follow when I first began knotting.]

• 
  アジア結びのアクセサリー by 知光薫

• 
  結んで作るアクセサリーと雑貨 by 雄鷄社

There are more jap books (which I wish to read) over here, here and here.

Hub and I met my family for a buffet dinner in an open-kitchen restaurant in a hotel on Saturday. That’s how cutlery is arranged on each table.

When I was heading to the salad bar, just a distance away someone signaled to me to have his plate removed from his table. Clearly it was my black blouse, which was somewhat similar to the waiters. If only he had seen my bermuda shorts. To pretend that nothing had happened and perhaps save him from embarrassment, I just went straight for my greens. :-)

During the course of the meal, the waiters band together to sing a birthday chorus and to present a cake at 3 different tables. There’s actually one more May baby at our table but the birthday girl didn’t want the attention.

Gift Wrap with Shoe Boxes