Welcome to my website. I love to blog. I’ve created a number of articles and posts for various blogs over the years. Let me relay a bit of my history.
My adventure into the blogging world started years ago when I created the website Creative Family Beach Vacations. It is on this website that I started my journey of writing website content, and I haven’t looked back since. If you happen to navigate over to this website you will see that it deals with the various ways that families can add some creative activities to their beach vacations.
With the success of this website I moved on to another. The website Math Comic Strips was created with the sole intention of helping children develop a love for mathematics. It soon became one of my most popular websites, and this remains to this day.
With this foundation I started down the road of writing content for my own WordPress blogs, and providing content for others as well.
I also provide content for other people’s blogs. Here is a list of some of the current blogs I write for:
http://pursenickety.com/
http://bestamericanfood.net/
http://wind-and-solarpower.com/
http://energyoffuture.com/
http://internationalpropertyinvestment.com/
http://blog.luxuryproperty.com/
http://luxury-blogger.com/
http://iphonebluetoothheadset.net/
Welcome to www.wallacekirby.com On this blog I will be relaying my latest adventures… 
Filed under Introduction by on Mar 16th, 2010. Comment. 
Here’s an article I wrote for the blog: www.internationalpropertyinvestment.com
The purchase of a brand new home will often be the most important acquisition that a person will acquire in their lifetime. Given this fact, it is very important to take steps to make sure that you are going to be making a good choice. Here are some keys that many people feel are utmost when evaluating the purchase of a brand new house.
If you are committed to remaining at your current address for at least a few years, you should consider buying. If you are not settled yet, then you should not purchase a new home. The reasoning behind this is rather simple. Unless you plan to stay at this address for a couple of years the transactional costs of purchasing a home means that you will take on more debt in the short-term.
Get professional help, especially if you are a first-time home buyer. A local real estate agent can help you avoid some of the pitfalls in buying a house. If possible, get an exclusive buyer agent. They will have your interests at heart and can help you out with the bidding process.
You should check your credit rating and make sure that you have your finances in order before embarking on your journey of a new home. Check your credit reports and dispute anything that you feel is not right.
Make sure that you don’t over-extend yourself and get too expensive a house. There are always hidden expenses that come up, so make sure you will be able to cover these along with the mortgage.
It is a great idea to purchase a house in a neighborhood that has great schools. Even if you don’t have school age youngsters this is a good idea. Why? Well, you might have to sell your house in the future…and a lot of buyers with school age youngsters will be taking this fact into consideration.
Before you make your offer, do all your homework. The amount you end up offering should take into consideration what similar homes in the same neighborhood are selling for. You don’t want to pay too much money, but at the same time you don’t want to see your ideal house go to someone else because you decided to save some dollars.
These are some of the areas that you should consider in the purchase of a new home. If you take your time and do your homework, the home you purchase will become your dream home and not your dream nightmare. Happy house hunting!
Filed under Articles by on Jul 17th, 2010. Comment.
Here’s an article I wrote for the blog: www.bestamericanfood.com
It seems that reports of the ever expanding “girth” of Americans never seem to end. Every day we are bombarded with stories of how the American waistline is getting larger, and we as a nation are getting sicker as a result. In this age of political correctness there is one restaurant in the South-Western United States that swims against the current. They make no bones about being politically correct.
Chandler is a prominent suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Their Heart Attack Grill has attracted a lot of controversy for its high calorie menu and marketing strategy. Founded in 2005, its goal is to serve food “so bad for you that it is shocking”, and its motto is “taste worth dying for”. The brainchild behind this establishment, Jon Basso, came up with the idea while he was writing a marketing thesis about fitness training studios (and the clients who cheated on their diets). He calls himself Dr. Jon, but he is not a qualified medical professional.
The Heart Attack Grill is a hospital theme restaurant. Waitresses dress like nurses, and they take orders called “prescriptions” from their customers/patients. Upon ordering their food, a tag is placed upon the patient’s wrist showing everyone what they ordered, and a doctor promptly examines these customers/patients with a stethoscope.
Let’s take a look at the various menu options. Burgers come in “Single”, “Double”, ‘Triple”, and “Quadruple Bypass” sizes (ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 lbs of beef), with the largest comprising a whopping 8000 calories. How much will this set you back? You can get the 8000 calorie monster for about $10.
With the burger taken care of let’s talk about the side dishes. You can add an order of “Flatliner Fries” (cooked in pure lard mind you), and wash it down with a Mexican Coke made with real sugar. When you are done eating you can always relax with one of their non-filtered cigarettes. They refuse to sell diet sodas, but you can get a beer or hard liquor if you like.
Not only has their menu drawn criticism from the health community, they have drawn official complaints for their portrayal of nurses. The Arizona Board of Nursing and the Center for Nursing Advocacy have gone so far as to launch a lawsuit over this depiction.
Their business model seems to be taking off. They are gradually opening up more restaurants.
Why not give their menu a try? You should check with your doctor first though.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Mar 28th, 2010. Comment.
Here’s an article I wrote for the blog: www.pursenickety.com
Tote bags are everywhere these days. The term tote (which means “to carry”) can be traced back to the 17th century, but it was not used to describe bags until about 1900. A tote is basically a large handbag or purse that is used to carry a variety of items; items that can range from books, clothes, shoes and beach wear to regular everyday items. Normally made out of treated canvas, nylon, or leather, some even come with a zipper compartment to divide the bag into various sections.
While the cheap totes end of the tote genre can comprise the reusable canvas bags offered by supermarkets, the high end of the genre is often the designer totes developed by the various fashion houses and accessory designers. Designer totes can enhance any outfit and bring that splash of designer chic you are looking for. How about a tote made from vintage leather, black patent leather, or fantastic psychedelic fabric prints? Tote bags are available for almost for any occasion, and can come in at under $100.
So, what are the steps you need to consider when choosing a tote bag?
- What do you want it for? This should be the primary consideration. If you are going to use it to carry school books or work documents, you need to ensure that it is robust enough to meet the challenge. If you plan to use the tote as a fashion accessory for that perfect outfit you own, then the durability of the tote is not as important.
- The size of the tote. The larger the tote the more “stuff” it will be able to hold, that goes without saying. Unfortunately large totes mean the more added weight you will need to carry around…and this can become a nuisance over time. Assemble all the things that you are going to need to carry on a daily basis and let this be your guide. It’s always better to choose a larger tote if you are not sure of the exact size you will need.
- The number of compartments. While you could always just throw “all your stuff” into one bag, it is so much more convenient to have a spot for everything. In this way you will know if something is missing, and where to go when you need to find it. Smaller items can tend to get lost in the bottom of a large bag, and smaller compartments solve this problem for you. If possible make sure that these compartments have zippers or buttons to secure those items in their place.
We hope that you have found this article useful, and that you are well on your way to finding that perfect tote that is “just so you”. All the best, and have fun!
Filed under Uncategorized by on Mar 27th, 2010. Comment.
Here’s an article I wrote for the blog: www.luxury-blogger.com
In these days of recession it is nice to know that you do not have to spend a fortune to have a “taste” (pardon the pun) of luxury. Chocolate has been around for centuries, but the good people at zChocolat take the creation of fine chocolate treats up to the luxury level. Not only has zChocolat been rated a Forbes favorite, their chocolates include fifteen exquisite recipes by the world champion chocolatier Pascal Caffet.
Pascal started his journey into the world of chocolate at the age of four, assisting his pastry chef father Bernard in his shop in Troyes, France. When Bernard opened a chocolaterie in 1979 his zeal and devotion made a big impression on his young son. Pascal was hooked. Bernard instilled into his son the importance of using exotic new recipes with the old traditional methods. While some artists use paint or clay, Pascal has found his artistic medium to be chocolate.
All of the chocolates offered by zChocolat are handmade in France with tasty fresh ingredients. Piemont hazelnuts from Italy, Valencia almonds from Spain, and French butter and cream are used exclusively. They have developed a more intense and stronger chocolate than those traditional varieties you normally find.
To many customers the Z Chocolate is the hands down favorite. It combines two of their favorite recipes including a soft, sweet and salty caramel and a crunchy praline made from Piedmont hazelnuts. Their Passion Fruit Caramel is another top favorite, blending a rich, tender caramel with a tangy passion fruit and mango puree. For all you coffee lovers out there they offer a fabulous coffee ganache in which premium coffee grounds from Kenya and Mexico are blended with dark chocolate, cream, and cocoa butter to create this silky delight.
Now that we have your taste buds churning with so many tasty treats to choose from, what is one to do next? When faced with so many good choices it is often hard to make a decision. Why not try them all! This is why they offer two combos, a 15 piece assortment with more dark chocolates, and a 15 piece assortment with more milk chocolates.
What is that you say? You don’t live in France? Not to worry. They ship all their chocolate creations around the world via DHL courier. So if you are on a farm in Nebraska, or a rice patty in South-East Asia, you will be able to enjoy their tasty treats.
Yes, this is a very long and dark recession, but it is nice to know that with the good folks of zChocolate around, you can still enjoy a “taste” of luxury.
Filed under Articles by on Mar 27th, 2010. Comment.
Here is an article I wrote for the blog: www.wind-and-solarpower.com
In this age of skyrocketing gas and oil prices man has been exploring various alternatives to produce power…with cost being the main motivator. One of the potential sources of energy that you see all over the news these days is solar energy. One could easily draw the conclusion that solar energy is a recent technological advancement. This could not be further from the truth.
Leonardo da Vinci is most famous for painting the Mona Lisa, but he was also an avid inventor who dabbled in a myriad of technologies. Some of his sketchbooks show that he was designing ways to harness the power of the sun way back in the fifteenth century. Alas, he did not have the technological means to bring his ideas to fruition.
One could argue that the real start of solar energy was in the 1860’s when August Mouchet created a solar-powered motor and a steam engine that worked off solar energy. How useful was it? By connecting this steam engine to a refrigeration device he was able to make ice.
In 1883 Charles Fritz created the first solar cell, effectively turning sunlight into an electric current. Later on in the same decade Charles Tellier installed a solar energy system that was capable of heating the water in his house.
In the 1950’s the whole idea of solar energy was taken up a notch when three employees of Bell Labs (i.e.: Calvin Fuller, Daryl Chaplin, and Gerald Pearson) discovered how well silicon worked as a semiconductor. Why was this so important? Silicon is the substance that most of today’s solar panels and solar cells are made from.
These are just a few of the milestones in the history of solar energy. As you can see, the concepts and ideas of solar energy have been around for years, but there was no real incentive to see them brought into the mainstream. The concept of solar energy needed a carrot and a stick and it was only going to be a matter of time before we found one.
It was the oil crisis of October 1973 that changed the world’s outlook on solar energy. With the price of “liquid gold” going sky high, the U.S. government sprung into action. Not only did they start down the road of diversifying energy sources, they began to invest large amounts of money into solar energy research. This huge and rapid influx of cash helped to create our modern solar energy panels and cells…inventions that are quickly becoming an important mainstay of our technological future.
Filed under Articles by on Mar 16th, 2010. Comment.