Brain Contour

There are a number of hotels, motels, and inns around the Buffalo area in New York for those wanting to visit the famous Niagara Falls. I have been traveling quite often and, in most times, I always check hotels.com for hotel availability for my travel dates. This time, when I searched for hotels near Niagara Falls, I found a hotel name that is unfamiliar – Lord Amherst Hotel. This is my short review for the Lord Amherst Hotel in Buffalo, NY.

I wanted something that is affordable yet well maintained and clean. Getting a cheap hotel near a popular tourist attraction like the Niagara is a game of chance. If there will be good deals online, expect that it can be filled in no time. Most of the hotels I saw were priced over $100. This is quite pricey in comparison with those hotels I stayed in Florida and California.

I only saw the link online while searching for things to see in Iowa. It says that I need to visit the Grotto of the Redemption, specifically located in West Bend. I saw some pictures posted on some blogs, but was not actually impressed by them. What really captured me was this line: a miracle in stone. Another description of the grotto that I found interesting was that it is the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. This, I will dispute because for a very long time now the Philippines has been cited to have the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, and that is the famous Banaue Rice Terraces (which, by the way, is too beautiful for the Grotto of the Redemption to surpass).

Anyway, my friend and I drove almost 4 hours to reach the Grotto of the Redemption, coming from the eastern side of South Dakota. The site is hidden in the rural Iowa community, situated amidst residential houses. I was expecting an ordinary sight, you know something that will make me utter short reluctant ahhs and ohhs, and then the scenes will quickly vanish in my head. Yet, the moment my eyes laid on the grotto, I was in awe and the place etched a perfect picture in my mind.

Walmart in Brookings South Dakota is selling expired orange juice. I was in Walmart today to buy a gallon of Minute Maid juice (my favorite is the one with pulp). While searching for it along a line of glass coolers, I saw another brand of juice displayed: Florida’s Natural Orange Juice (see picture below). I wasn’t intending to purchase one, but what caught my attention was the expiration date printed clearly on its side — August 2, 2010.

Since I always look at the date when purchasing perishable products, I was shocked that Walmart is displaying the juice, 8 days beyond the expiration. And it was not just one, but many of them inside the cooler!

How could you possible start a move with this? This the reason why the game scrabble is so very interesting.

How will you remove the Wibiya toolbar? You can see on this blog that there is a toolbar that automatically appears at the bottom of the browser window — that’s the free Wibiya toolbar that contains applications you’ve set from the Wibiya website. I have been using the toolbar for many months now and recently decided to take if off my blog. Not that it is intrusive, in fact I loved it. I just wanted to clear some apps and give my blog a new clean face.

The problem? Removing (no installing is necessary as there was no installation done in the first place) the Wibiya toolbar is not possible at this time.

Serendipity. I sensed a speculative something in the horizon, with which from the blackish sky backdrop looked like the 11th plague of Egypt. Gazing up toward the murky heavens, they portrayed the heavy dust particles that were about to pound an unarmed enemy. I looked at them intently and realized that they were in fact as yellow as the three-quarter-shaped moon that shone that magical Friday night.

I am referring to the leaves of trees blown heavily by the western wind. On my way to the office for a late night of work, I stared at the heavens to watch these pseudo imago butterflies fluttering their spiritless, no-cuticle wings in pure ataraxia. While few enjoyed the slow descent to a temporary kibbutz, others contented themselves with a steady-state, non-flitting aerodynamic lifts. Like butterflies, leaves falling made my eyes narrow with a half-stunned, half-euphoric, semilunar, open-lipped semblance. At one point I stopped and wondered at this wonderful site to behold that nobody around even cared a fig.

If you have nothing to do in life, don’t kill yourself, please.

Strange thing, this surprising thirst for invisibility. For the past weeks, in those bouts of endless displeasure, a cloud hovered over this lonely head and sprinkled it with drops of desire to be part of the unseen, to be the mysterious guy that humanity couldn’t see or feel. Amongst pickets of work and subject requirements, and everlasting streams of tasks to surmount, this eerie sense to dissolve like wheezing smoke is ever-seething akin to tireless amber in the euphoria of rage.

A friend sent me an email about a new scam in Manila using the cellphone. It sounds real to me and very possible to happen. So I am sharing this to everyone.

Dear all,

I would like to share this worrisome experience with all of you.

Its all started when I received a call from someone claiming that he was from Maxis and he asked me to shutdown my phone for 2 hours for 3g update to take place. As I was rushing for a meeting, I did not question and shutdown my cell phone.

After 45 minutes I felt very suspicious since the caller did not even introduce his name. I quickly turned on my cell phone and I received several calls from my family members and the others were from the number that had called me earlier – 3954380.