unfrown.com

Maybe it’s because I don’t eat it much due to a life-long allergy, but there is nothing I enjoy more on earth than really, really good quality dark chocolate.

At the Spring Natural Products Expo this year, I was introduced to a company called sweetriot. At their booth they had samples of unique teeny “peaces” of chocolate — pieces of actual cacao beans (not coffee beans) covered in dark chocolate. Flavors range from the lighter 50, to the perfect dark 65, to the espresso-tinged ultra dark 70.

The peaces come in small tins, and are only a couple calories each – with a whole tin weighing in at a measly 140 calories!

What makes this company truly shine, in addition to their unique products, is their commitment to improving the world at large.

They use high-quality natural ingredients, promote fair trade practices, celebrate cultural diversity and showcase the works of various emerging artists on their tins. They also offer a recycling program for empties.

I usually manage to walk by the display at my local Whole Foods without succumbing to temptation, but occasionally I’ll give in. When I break open the package on the drive home, the experience borders on ecstasy; and before long, the entire tin is empty! Those few minutes of heaven are so worth the hives I know I’ll suffer afterwards.

Because I’m such a fan, the cool folks at sweetriot have offered the readers of unfown.com a 20% holiday discount on all sweetriot merchandise purchased online, excluding the riot club (already discounted), riot carbonfree, and gift certificates. Just visit www.sweetriot.com, place your order, and punch in the code unfrownriot when you check out. Pretty sweet, eh?

Once you try the peaces, let us know which flavor is your favorite by posting a comment! I’ll do an informal tally of results and will post the stats on a mid-December blog page.

Peace out for now.

Yesterday I ate lunch at my favorite little Thai restaurant. I always order the same thing: chicken panang curry and Thai iced tea.

I don’t know if it was the cold weather or what, but something pushed me to try the roasted duck curry instead.

Unexpectedly, there was a complexity of flavor that elevated the dish from simply good to sublime. I savored every mouthful, and washed it down with hot green tea. I must say it was one of the most memorable lunches in recent history.

I think that sometimes we all get a bit complacent as we journey from day to day. We stick with things that are comfortable and familiar, and rarely stray from what we know.

But what if we made a conscious decision to try something new once a week? Or even once a month?

I had a call from my 71-year-old mom the other day, who proudly told me that she had joined a gym for the first time. She then told me she had signed up for a spinning class! On the one hand, I was concerned that she might not know what she was getting into.On the other, I was in awe.

After the class, she called to tell me how tough it was, and that she didn’t know if she’d do it again, but in the next breath she said, “I signed up for a pilates class.” Wow.

I hope that when I’m 71 I still have the gumption to push myself outside my comfort zone and keep trying new things.

In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter if the new thing is enjoyable or not. By simply choosing something unfamiliar, we can improve the richness of experience in our lives.

Who knows? We might just discover a new favorite dish. 

Early in 2007 I went on a blind date with a scientist who was also a brilliant artist. During our 3-mile walk, he passionately explained to me that he needed to find a woman so he could be happy. It became very obvious within the first 10 minutes of our date that we came from very different places.

I tried to suggest that happiness may not be something one seeks, but he kept cutting me off with another story about how miserable he was.  In his mind, the only thing that would release him from his misery was finding a woman to love. 

At the end of our date, I politely thanked him and began to walk away. He came after me, and implored, “But don’t you want to be happy?!” I looked at him, smiled, and answered, “I am happy.” And he somehow took that as an offense, said something rude, and stormed away.

I was reminded of that strange experience yesterday, as I stumbled upon some quotes on the topic of “finding happiness” while looking for pithy quotes for a project.  I thought these two were worth sharing:

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.    ~Frederick Keonig

Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.  ~ Helen Keller

It started innocently enough last week as I looked at my two-month-old camera sitting next to my old Corki Weeks kaleidoscope. I decided to see if I could shoot a photo inside the ‘scope, and I began the most ridiculous set of gyrations (the tripod was in the car and I was too lazy to run out to get it) as I balanced the kaleidoscope between my knees while holding the camera against the little hole in the ‘scope, all the while trying to focus and adjust the camera settings!

I managed to fire off a few shots before my muscles gave out, and what resulted was a set of blurry images that were unevenly lit – but I saw that the concept could work.

Yesterday I decided to try again – this time with a tripod holding the camera and a step-stool stacked with phone books holding the kaleidoscope. Success!

I’m a sucker for beautiful things, so I shot of hundreds of frames. Some of them even came out pretty good! These are some of the very best:

Who knew?! I’m pretty excited by how cool these look. So if you have a kaleidoscope hanging around your house, you may want to try shooting a few photos through it!

So yesterday was one of those crazy-weather days.  The kind that starts with t-shirts and shorts and ends with winter coats — with lots of wind and rain and scary-looking clouds inbetween.

When I headed out at 2 p.m. it was a balmy 72 degrees outside, but the sky was black to the west and the wind was gusting to 30 miles per hour. Within 15 minutes the rain began falling, but in another 15 minutes the storm had passed, the temperature had dropped to 55 degrees on its way to the 40s, and the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds.

As I was heading into the grocery store, it began to sprinkle again – but the sun was still out. So naturally, I turned around – and saw a full rainbow beginning to form. I stopped and watched as it got more vibrant against the dark clouds.

Soon I could see not only the full rainbow, but under the violet stripe were all the colors again – but in very skinny stripes. And to top it off – there appeared a second arc above the first – making a full double (triple?) rainbowIt was gorgeous.

I stood out in the drizzle a bit longer – and turned to watch the other shoppers running into the store, completely oblivious to the splendor unfolding just behind them. One lady did stop, noticed my smile, and said, “It’s beautiful isn’t it?!” We had a nice chat. I was grateful that I was able to share the experience, and I passed the rest of the afternoon with a smile in my heart.

A couple hours later, as sunset approached, it was again drizzling. I had just reached the mall, and was circling the top of the parking deck looking for a space, when the sun dropped below the clouds to the west and I was treated to ANOTHER rainbow!

Vibrant Double Rainbow at Sunset

Now that was a first for me – two rainbows in one day (and just hours after I had started this blog!) — and this time, I grabbed my camera as soon as I was able to find a parking space.

This rainbow wasn’t a full arc like the first, but it was double.  And it was absolutely the brightest rainbow I have ever seen. Ever.

And the coolest part? Three teenage boys with shoulder-length hair walking towards the mall were pointing and exclaiming, “It’s a double one!” as they took in the scene. They saw it. They appreciated it. And they were drinking it all in.

So how about you? On the rainy days when the sun peeks out from behind the clouds, do you turn your gaze skyward? Or are you too busy with your day-to-day life to allow yourself to be distracted?

Sometimes stopping for a moment to look at something beautiful is all you need to shake the doldrums. Getting out of your head and allowing yourself to “be” in a moment might just bring a smile to your face.

The idea for this blog started percolating last spring when I attended the 2008 Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, CA.  I tasted some really amazing treats and saw some folks with some cutting edge ideas on making the world a little greener.  I started thinking that there were probably a zillion little things out there that could add to peoples’ quality of life – if only they knew about them! 

A few weeks later, I saw a car with a license plate that said “UNFROWN.”  I smiled. And I thought – what a great name for a blog!  So I rushed home and registered the domain. 

This blog will be about all the things that make me (and hopefully you!) smile.   We’ll talk about products, cool happenings, techniques you can use to increase your happiness, and so, so much more.  I invite you to come on this journey with me and see what we can discover. There will be room for comments and dialog as we go. 

So, without further ado, let’s get this blog rolling!