ARIA CURAMENG-Winner of the Bliss Kids Arts Festival

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 29, 2009

Aria Curameng Named Winner of the Bliss Kids Arts Festival
Blissliving Home announces the winner of the Bliss Kids Arts Festival: eleven-year-old Aria Curameng from Fort Washington, MD. The winning design will be adopted for a special duvet set to be featured in the Blissliving Home Spring 2010 Collection.

Blissliving Home is thrilled to announce the winner of the Bliss Kids Arts Festival - eleven year old Aria Curameng from Fort Washington, Maryland. Aria’s winning design is a composition of Thai inspired elements including a Buddha head, a warrior, an elephant, and exotic birds in a bright color story of red, purple, blue, yellow, and green. Created in pointillism style, small distinct dots of color create the impression of a wide selection of other colors and color blending. “The moment I first saw Aria’s creation I thought we had a winning design”, said Mei Xu, Creator and CEO of Blissliving Home http://www.blisslivinghome.com. “The composition of motifs is amazing, and the layering of color is simply extraordinary.” Aria, who learnt about the Bliss Kids Arts Festival from a cousin, said her dad introduced her to pointillism and showed her how to layer primary colors to create secondary colors. For her design submission she wanted to create light and shadow and decided to apply the pointillism technique. “Aria’s design skills are truly extraordinary,” added Amber Levy, Blissliving Home Design Manager. “She will definitely go places in the design world. This kind of talent will only continue to grow.” The winning artwork was selected from nearly one hundred submissions. The design will be adopted for a special duvet set to be featured in the Blissliving Home Spring 2010 Collection (launching in January 2010) which will be sold via an online boutique, printed catalogue and select premium retailers around the globe. Ten percent of orders placed on the duvet set will be donated to Children’s National Medical Center http://www.childrensnational.org/ , one of the best pediatric hospitals in the United States. Aria Curameng will receive two sets of her very own bedding. A national bedding design competition for children, the Bliss Kids Arts Festival was hosted by Blissliving Home in association with Children’s National Medical Center. Boys and girls twelve years of age and under were invited to submit original art inspired by the “Kingdom of Smiles” – the beautiful country of Thailand. The event was launched on April 1 and ended on May 31, 2009.

FAREWELL...MICHAEL JACKSON: The KING of POP

Whew...2 deaths in one day! But this one caught me blind-sided. Someone is going to profit in making the "Neverland Ranch" the new "Graceland".
What can I say about the "King of Pop" that anyone hasn't said by now?
I still remember the "Ed Sullivan Show " performance of Micheal and his Brothers as the "Jackson 5".
Awkward enough, people in the studio audience began to laugh when Michael stepped/danced up and sang. Standing in front of the family Black & White TV set, I looked back puzzled at my family and asked, "Why are they laughing at him?"
Now looking back at that as an adult, I realized people laughed in a surprise reaction of seeing an African American child so young singing with the same heart, soul and passion of a man aged and experienced through the years with a story to tell.
Michael...You will may passed on, but your legacy will live forever as the "King of Pop"

FAREWELL...FARRAH FAWCETT

Farrah Fawcett, whose luxurious tresses and blinding smile helped redefine sex appeal in the 1970s as one of TV's "Charlie's Angels," died today after battling anal cancer. She was 62.

Man, I will miss her. I still remember owning that a poster of her in a clingy swimsuit.

RESERVE WEDNESDAY NIGHTS for "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE" and Vote for KARLA GARCIA

Please reserve Wednesday Nights to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" 8pm to 10pm standard eastern time on Fox Network and vote for my family friend and fellow "Fran's Studio of Dance" colleague, Karla Garcia!
She needs your help...She needs your vote! Thank You!

MEET OUR NEW EDITION: PUMPKIN

This lil' orange kitten (barely 6 weeks old) was literally abandon and thrown in a trashbin (Believe it or not) along with the rest of his brothers and sisters.
The Pennsylvania family that found these kittens and informed me about them could not keep these kittens due to already having a slew of dogs as pets. This lil' orange tabby was the very last one and he found a home with us. He is the 3rd kitten we rescued in little less than one year. I guess I am a sucker for a cute face. The weird thing is I mentioned it to Beng and I thought she would object with a strong, "NO!!!!"
But instead and to my surprise, she automatically responded with a smiling, "Yes".

THE 2009 ZAGAT FAST FOOD SURVEY

The 2009 Zagat Fast-Food Survey
Over 6,000 fast-food fans have weighed in with their opinions on the best bets in burgers, salads, coffee and more. http://www.zagat.com/fastfood

Fast Food – Large Chains*
1) Panera Bread
2) Chipotle
3) In-N-Out Burger
4) Chick-fil-A
5) Au Bon Pain

Fast Food – Mega Chains**
1) Subway
2) Wendy's
3) McDonald's
4) Taco Bell
5) Burger King

Quick-Refreshment Chains
1) Starbucks Coffee
2) Dunkin' Donuts
3) Cold Stone Creamery
4) Jamba Juice
5) Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops

Full-Service Chains
1) P.F. Chang's China Bistro
2) Cheesecake Factory
3) California Pizza Kitchen
4) Outback Steakhouse
5) Carrabba's Italian Grill

MOVIES in the REVIEW in the Fast Lane

"UP" was a bit too sad in places (even the Pixar short in the beginning), but I liked it. Hey, a fat asian kid...Hmmmmm....

"Terminator Salvation"...Ughhhhh...Very BORING!!!!

"Angels & Demons" I did find this too fast paced for a mystery, but I thought it was way better than "The DaVinci Code".

"Star Trek" I am definitely not a Trekkie, but I did enjoy this movie that I saw it twice. Zachary Quinto was excellent as Spock.

"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" was only okay. I thought production was cheap and rushed.

"Drag Me to Hell" LOVED IT!!!!!! Scary and fun!

In conclusion, Thanks Alfred for the AMC movie passes! It kills the right amount of time waiting for Aria to be picked up from the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre

PUSHING DAISIES: The Last 3 Episodes

I was extremely excited to read in the Washington Post that ABC was going to show the last 3 Episodes of the cancelled, "Pushing Daisies" I was sad to learn that the show was cancelled due to the writer's strike, but was happy to learn that ABC was going to rap up the series with the last 3 episodes of Season 2. (We bought the first season) The show will air every Saturday (started last Saturday, May 30th) night at 10pm.

I love it for it's beautiful use of color against such a dark subject. It's as if the show was filmed against a green screen..It's so clever. Aria loves it because of Kristin Chenoweth singing in the show. That's Aria's idol!