Something ado about you...being Earth friendly! Pt. 2

There is some truth in the, sometimes coarse sounding, phrase: "If it's yellow, let it mellow...If it's brown, flush it down." Just take a minute to ponder over this fact...FORTY PERCENT (yes, that's 40%) of all the drinking water supplied you your home and all the homes with indoor plumbing...gets FLUSHED down the toilet! 

Sink in yet? Yeah, I know, almost half right!? So, next time you're tinkling and conscious of your efforts in the little girls/boys room just take a second to turn around and look at that dull silver handle. It doesn't really NEED you to push it. It's sole purpose exists to get rid of hazardous waste and/or contaminates. Is your urine really that disgusting that it needs to immediately be flushed? What about closing that lid and waiting until your next wee wee or boom boom to let that water out of your sight?! I think it's doable, right? OK, I'm going to agree that the first morning wee should probably be the first flush of the day too, it can be a bit odorous from time to time. But, just think of cutting your flushes down by a third! How much uncontaminated potable drinking water would that save for the rest of the planet? If everyone did it, it would also be the social norm, and think how happy that would make your pockets in the long run. Cut your water usage down that much and watch those few dollars just build back up in your wallet.

On to something else very doable. You know how your house just has to be that perfect 68 degrees in the summer and 72 degrees in the winter? What if you suffered your "poor freezing/burning tootsies" one degree? It wouldn't be THAT despicable would it? 69 in the summer and 71 in the winter? OR if you can manage it, a nice crisp 70 degrees year round. Not only does not jerking your thermostat around make it very happy, it also decreases your electric bill and makes your heating/cooling system very agreeable as it doesn't have to put in over time because it's been switched off or turned up or down five degrees at a time. Did you know that if you can keep your temperature as close to constant as possible you can save upward of a HUNDRED dollars a year? OK, Candi...now you're just talking crazy talk, right? Wrong, my friends, wrong indeed. So you take that approximately 50-60 dollars saved from above and add it to this 100 here, and...you're all math geniuses...you can figure out where I'm headed here. Not only is it nice to keep a clean home, and a well temperature managed living space, and to save the rest of the world some non-poo water...just keep reading for something else extraordinary you can do for your purse, and for your fellow Americans/Earth residents.

When you're in your kitchen (now with thicker socks or sandals on and most recently letting your yellow...mellow) cleaning up those veggies and chopping up that meat/potato/tofu for dinner and you're thinking "Now, what on Earth can I do in here to make a bigger impact on the world market?" Candi is supplying you with an answer! We've already talked about putting those veggie peels and pre-cooked food scraps in your (or your neighbors) compost heap. So, what I'd like to talk about now is your food waste (yes, I know we already talked about pre-cooking and freezing)! On average, American's waste more than double the average for the entire planet. Yup, that's right. Those starving children in your local homeless shelter/soup kitchen that recently ran out of food because everyone's out of work...could be having a meal this very second if the country would get on board.

What I'm suggesting isn't the end of the world. Think globally, act locally. Yes, cliche...but completely appropriate when talking about where you get your food from. If it is something you regularly eat and it has a made in or grown in Ohio label on it, for the love of Pete, buy it! It's not rocket science here. You're helping not only yourself (now you can pinpoint right down to the street where your food is grown) but you've helped your neighboring farmers AND the world by allowing them to act just as consciously by donating unused/unsold food to those pantries. Also think about eliminating post cooked food waste. If we could all eliminate the amount of waste equivalent to one slice of bread, each day, we could save twenty POUNDS of food waste each year. How much do you pay for 20 pounds of food at the grocery store each week? That's about 16 meals! If all U.S. households (yeah that's everyone in your house collectively saving one slice of bread a day from finding it's way to the garbage can) would reduce their waste by this much, that savings would be enough to feed all of the 1.35 Million starving homeless children in this country alone THREE square meals a DAY for an entire YEAR! Not kidding. Just ask "The Green Book" by Rogers and Kostigen.

So now we're to the part where I make a food recommendation. Yeah, I know, that girl always pushing products down our throats! No, seriously this snack proclaims that it's "Better than food!" What's that you say? Can't be! Oh, but it is. If my body could sustain itself on this blend of two very fiber full yet so so yummy foods, I'd do it! The Amazing Jennibean decided that her semi-annual gift basket from work should be so bestowed on me (well, most of it as she keeps the stuff she love to NOM on). She decides this...well...semi-annually, I suppose! Anyway, I got these last time and NOM'd them until there was just dust in a bag then forgot about how delicious they are! So, this time I'm telling the world! Grandpa Po's Originals Slightly Unsalted mix of organic popcorn and soybeans is so delectable that I decided to share this time around. Lady McAwesome, Super M, and I couldn't stop chowing right down on this textural beauty! The tiny popcorn nuggets and the roasted soy nuts accompanying them are just too much and when you sprinkle on just the right amount of sea salt, they are just HEAVEN. When an entire 5 ounce bag equals ONLY 5% of your daily sodium intake!? I'M SOLD! Not to mention the grand fiber source and it even boasts a little of the vitamins and proteins you need in a day. OK, enough of my advertisement...now get eating!

PS:

Grandpa Po's Originals are also:
•  Certified Organic
•  Low in Saturated Fat
•  Trans Fat Free
•  Gluten Free
•  Wheat Free
•  Dairy Free
•  Peanut Free
•  Sugar Free
•  Vegan
•  And best of all They Taste Great!

And that's straight from the website!

Something ado about you...being Earth friendly! Pt. 1

I am not here to yell and scream and raise my voice or show you a happy little video after buying "carbon credits" to make myself feel better about going against everything I'm preaching here. I am giving it to you straight. Everyone is conscious of the pollution problems, no one WANTS to live on a dirty Earth...but many don't think about what they do to contribute to the, sometimes disgusting, places we live. Myself, included!

Just think before you do...it's a good rule for any life situation, as I'm sure you were told by a parent or elder to look before you leap. When you are out and about and all you had to grab from the fridge was a bottle of water, don't feel ashamed or shunned, just do the smart thing, when it's empty...refill it! It really is that easy. We were raised in a not so conscious society so it will take some time to get past our little hang ups. But, reusing everything you get that is plastic (for instance freezing soup or storing leftovers in butter tubs) at least once will free up a significant amount of landfill space. If you really think about it, I'm sure you have MULTIPLE uses for plastic bottles, tubs, and wrappers all over your home and yard.

Something else you can do for...fun? Is to cook your meals a week or more in advance. This really eliminates waste and you can use those "leftover" pieces of veggies and meat scraps from cooking in a giant soup or stew for freezing for those nights (read weeks lol) you just don't feel like cooking after your hard days of working and prepping or building up your land. Just remember those potato peels, if not being eaten should be going straight into a compost heap OR a bucket to be taken to a communal pile weekly. If you have no such community compost, ask around to your neighbors, surely one of them has at least a place for you to put them back into the Earth safely and out of sight and smell.

That's really all I have today. I'll put a few more way easy tips in here some time this weekend! Much love and many blessings!

Greenery becomes brownery...

Ever had one of those days where everything you touch turns from beautiful to totally ruined? No worries, it's never 100% your fault...unless of course you didn't feed and water it. I just can't grow anything indoors, I kill cacti people! I'm serious. I follow directions for every plant, even corn plants, fig trees, and hanging baskets fail under my direction. Even when watering them and snuggling them and doing everything you're supposed to...they die, a tragic death. Sometimes, it's a responsibility issue, as in my daughter came home from the hospital and our longest living (like 4 or 5 years!) house plant EVER by a landslide suffered the consequence of new responsibilities coming in...but that's a rarity. Mostly it's just not enough sun or not enough shade or not enough air? I don't even really know. What I do know is that when I plant outside like veggies and herbs and whatnot, they thrive, literally grow ginormous! Maybe I'm just made for farming, it is in my blood, after all.

I can't wait to find a place to lay down my first plot. To mulch and till and topsoil and fertilize (wooo manure!) and to put my hand in each little hole, cover it, water it, nurture the Earth into providing me It's abundance! it's going to be such a wonderful experience! GO EARTH! GO VEGGIES!

So I bought this book...right? POPOVERS!

And it's going to help me bring you WAY cool stuff to do to save as much as possible from your daily cooking scraps and your small veggie gardens and just basically cool stuff about living off the land around you. I'll pick a few things to do over the next few days and get back to you on  how each thing worked and if I am going to implement it in my own life or if I will leave it out there for some of you to experiment with and get back to me on your own findings!

Making tea from the silk and husks of tea, creating "nut huts" or tree incubators, and just being able to save every bit of leftover to upcycle into something terribly delicious and nutritious. Don't throw those veggie peels out just yet ladies and gents! As a matter of fact, never do it again! Throw them straight down into your compost heap, or directly into your nearest pile of backyard dirt to start one. If they aren't old, eat them in some to be announced fabulous leftover recipes!

POPOVERS:

 Found this amazing recipe in Circle Round that they call Persephone Rising Spring Equinox Popovers. I'm just calling them delicious! You can also vary the post production to include cheese, honey, fruit or butter as a serving suggestion.

You will need:
3 eggs well beaten
1 C milk
2 T melted butter
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1 C flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, though I found 400 to suffice for my own oven. Mix together all ingredients except flour. Then add the flour and whisk to avoid lumps. Butter up a muffin tin REALLY well as these WILL stick. You can also use individual custard cups according to the book, they say you'll need 8. Fill the tins or cups 1/3 full. Bake for 15 (or 16) minutes, then turn the oven DOWN to 350 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes for a muffin pan or 15-20 for those custard cups. They should be golden brown and firm. As SOON as you take them out of the over poke the tops with a knife to let the steam out so they stop cooking themselves dry and run the knife around the edges so you can pull them out and serve them immediately. These didn't even make it out of my kitchen. YUM YUM!

I hope you enjoy them with a little butter and honey or fruit and cottage cheese, both very nom worthy! Blessed Spring everyone!

Poi fail...going postal...and other life mishaps via Norway.

So, my ambitions to rock out with my sock (poi) out were put on hold because of the weather and the fact that I don't have any sock poi. LOL. Though, I rock a mean fire and tennis ball set! Ok, so I more like light jazz them but that is neither here nor there. :P

I went for the first real walk of the season with Nixie to pick up the mail. That darn book just isn't here yet and I hope it didn't get lost in the mail, or worse, stolen by my sticky fingered neighbors. It is very important that I get that book as I want to share it with the hubs.

I've been thinking a lot lately about having a place to entertain again. It will be so wonderful to have a few friends over to spend the night, weekend, month (lol). My MIL and G'ma will be able to visit and help me/play with Nixie a lot more which will make them feel good, I'm sure. Super M and Jennibean and The McAwesome and well, EVERYONE will have a crash pad in the YS area so as to make shopping and dining into the night less cumbersome.

I was just reading through the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce website the other night and found myself in tears...tears of joy, actually. At the fact that I'm going some place where I can just be free to be me. Where, as I have stated in this blog before, I will have like minds and a peace and simplicity about my daily living. I'm so tired of big city drama and feeling propelled by a not so friendly undercurrent that this will be a welcomed place to me. To make friends, to visit old friends, to live in a van down by the river...OK, so scratch that last one, but you know. Just to be.

I started typing this blog yesterday and decided to hold off until I had another point to make. My last "point" is more of a goal than just a random happening or statement. But, it starts with this statement: I want to learn Norwegian. Plain and simple, I'm on a mission now. Stay tuned for future updates on my awesome Norwegian skills! PS anyone have a Rosetta Stone for Norwegian out there? LOL!

Off to begin my learning for my mad Norwegian skills!

Super Eco-friendly Trashbag Giveaway!

Yup! I'm offering up one free sample of a tried and true plastic garbage bag that ACTUALLY biodegrades! Yes, ladies and gentlefolks, this bag is the real deal. Throwing out your garbage (that you can't recycle) will no longer make you feel like you're causing SO much damage to our Mother. Like most of the contents in the bag the exterior will break down via the help of tiny microbes. Because these bags are made with some natural materials that those little buggers love to munch on they will start the biodegrading process almost immediately. Just add some moisture and soil or mulch and voila! Thus begins the great break down *does a little break down boogie*!

Pictured above is the whole box of trash bags that are really no different, price wise, than your leading name brand garbage bag. When they say "Ridiculously Strong" they are NOT kidding. This bag is packed already and we're still shoving things down in there. No rips or tears thus far! I'm really trying this baby out. Plus it has a uniquely nice smell. It's not fragranced, but it just smells a lot better than regular trash bags. Still no match for baby poo, but it's managed to mask the other smells contained within prior to said stinky poo diaper. The second picture you see here is their amazing ridiculously strong yard bags! Super excited that they sell two sizes yet? I know! A free no-guilt trash bag!? WHA? Unheard of! lol

If you don't want to wait on the people at Green Genius to send you your free sample and you'd rather receive it (maybe even as an additional sample for good measure) from me in two to three days from Thursday...AKA Monday-ish of next week...just put your name and a way to contact you for your address in the comments below! Please remember that I'm only running this until Thursday! So, enter NOW and tell your Earth conscious friends so they can get in here too! Name randomly selected based on the eeny meeny miny mo theory! LOL, just kidding, actually I'll be randomizing zeh number of your comment! GO GO ENTER NOW!

Moon Pad Tutorial

To be watched AFTER you've had some convincing from the post below! :)

Part One:



Part Two:



Hope you've enjoyed Super M's Moon Pad Tutorial! I was a bit camera shy when she started and she knew much more about what she had been doing ALL day and the night before this tutorial was made. Sleepless pad making nights. We should get our sewing machines out together and go into the wrap pants/legging/shrug/pad making business! lol

See you in the next webisode...and the next bloggety blog! Also, check out more videos to come on the livinggreeninohio channel! Super M is the awesome sauce with those webby type blogs!

The Quadrilogy...Finally! Moon Pad Bonanza! Here's the WHY!

Nevermind I look just AWFUL in most of the scenes my lips were itchy and I was nervous? Who knows why I do that with my lips even after I've scratched them. LOL
Part One:



Part Two:



Part Three:



Part Quad: *snicker*

Poipoi Passions, Crochet Projects, and Bolero's: OLE!

So, I thought I'd just take another minute to blog about something slightly more on topic than poop and plastic bags for a minute. I know, I know...but it will only take a minute. Bear with me?

Ok, so these past few days have been just beautiful! This is driving me mad because I live in "the ghetto." Well, it's not THAT bad but it's just a few steps behind. I can't just take my baby outside with me in her stroller or playpen while I do what I'm just looooonging to do which is to bust out my poi! I've been fire spinning for about, oh six years now? It's not like I'm that great, it's just a hobby of mine, but it morphs into a passion about this time of year. I can't wait to be in YS where I don't fear for my life or my wallet. I'll be able to go outside and just be in or around my home doing something others there won't stare at me (the reaction I get here) or honk at me (the reaction I get in West Alexandria when I visit my G'ma and spin in her driveway) like what I'm doing needs to be acknowledged in that manner because I'm crazy. If they were on fire, I could totally understand the stopping and staring, but how interesting is a plump chick with flailing arms and a weapon? Alright, that might actually be momentarily interesting, but these people just stick around and watch until I feel uncomfortable or if it's an "IDC" day until I get tired and go inside. They never approach and if it looks like I'm walking toward them they walk away. Am I the weird one here, or is this behavior warranted?

Enough of my complaints! I'm just so excited that I might get the opportunity to spin a little this weekend. I need to prepare for summer festivals as I haven't done anything more than practice spinning since my one year old, Nixie, was born. I need to get out there and whirly twirl it up to relieve my pent up winter stress. I also need to get my equipment out and get it tightened and checked since it's been half a year since I last used it. Oopsy? lol I've been watching videos like mad since I'm almost completely self taught and only watching things repeatedly seems to work for that. Someone could explain it to me a million times and I'll never never get it but pop in a video or put someone in front of me doing it for a few hours and I'll work on it. I just can't believe how much about muscle memory poi spinning really is. OH now I've talked myself into a frenzy and I'm going to go re draw some labyrinth patterns up after this to calm down again. More about those pesky labyrinths in a later blog. :)

Lastly, I'd like to thank Super M again for showing me this t-shirt upcycling technique she found last night on a website. A T Shirt Bolero? What!? Can it be true? Yes, yes it is true and amazingly easy! I made two tonight in just over an hour. THAT'S how simple this is. Once I get the ribbon in these I'll post pictures. But I have one camo in a size medium shirt and another one in purple that I made for Super M as a tester shirt to see if she liked the design ON her. If she does then I'll be pumping these bad boys out to order! Minimal fee if you provide your own T! Did I mention I also do wrap pants? lol Anyway, I can't wait to move...maybe I mentioned that one too. It will provide me with a place where what I do isn't so strange and maybe, just maybe someone will approach if they're interested in what's going on?

Forgot my bit on crochet projects: still ongoing...zomgz fail kill die yarn! Making the little samples for M is a nice break in my larger project which will likely take me until the summer to finish. I torture myself by using thread. GAH! fail. Thank you, that is all.

Pink heart doo doo bags, ninja poop, and eco-friendly trashbag giveaway!

Let's start with why they waste the dollars, time, energy, and insist on polluting our planet just a little bit more to create colored plastic dog poop bags. As I was sitting here thinking about poop (we'll get to that later) and what to blog about tonight, I looked over to the samples Super M gave me (one for me to test and one for me to do a super bloggy giveaway with) and then directly above them were these monstrous (but the only ones on sale in the pet store at the time) bright pink dog poop bags with lighter pink hearts embellishing them. I should never have to use the word embellishing when talking about crap bags, but I digress...or rather progress? Anyway, these bags are rarely used by us as our dog poops near the dumpster in our back dog patch area and since she is the only dog pooping there it just lends to the SUPER green grass that begins growing there (soon) this spring. Plus, it's less polluting to let her fertilize the grass and surrounding tree line than it is for us to deposit yet another non-biodegradable bag in our dumpster (of which the smell pouring out from it overpowers the doggy doo). That was really all I had but I couldn't help noticing how many different colored dog poo bags there are. Is there a problem with using recycled plastics and just letting them come out whatever color they do naturally in the process? I don't feel BETTER about having to handle dog crap because my hand is wrapped in a pretty pretty princess colored (and sometimes) scented bag.

Now, on to the dreaded NINJA POOP that I mentioned in the title. Have you ever been a little timid about using public restrooms or even not-so-close friends restrooms? I think we have all been a little pee shy in our time. I have to say there are a few things that contribute to this mentality. One is our pre-programming that peeing or pooping are unnatural or need to be hidden from the general public and another is the notorious "turd burglar" AKA The-Guy-Who-Knocks-Mid-Plop. While it is a horrifying, pantie grabbing, toilet paper unrolling experience to be "burgled" by the rapping at the stall door, or worse the jiggling of the entrance into your once peaceful commode abode...I think we can all agree that the WORST scenario is the *dun dun duuuun* NINJA POOP!

The NP comes on suddenly and we are often times completely unaware of it's mere existence, let alone its power to destroy your reputation, your "cute factor", and a toilet...or two. Imagine you really have to pee, innocent enough, we do it 4-10 times a day depending on many physical factors. You ask "Donde esta el bano?" They answer "What?" So you repeat "Where is the bathroom?" They cock their head sideways and point down the hall or to the back of the establishment. You give a curt thanks and head on your merry way. Once inside you notice the roll is low, but no matter you are just there to urinate. You drop trowel and begin your business when all of a sudden you're STRUCK. Completely unannounced to you your NP has seen the light and decided to make a break for it. Water hitting your tushy is your ONLY notification that it has begun and you know it is too late to "pinch" this one off and courtesy flush the rancid odor now building at your midsection. Ninja Poop has yet another victim. No one knows where it comes from or what foods cause NP to build silently in your depths, but everyone fears NP and avoids the foods they ate before their last NP until it strikes again after a totally unrelated meal. What makes this totally unavoidable mishap even worse is that NP makes sure you are in a new location nearly or with newly found friends or on a totally blind date nearly every time. Add to this factor that even on the off chance the roll ISN'T low there will be odor fighting agents in your vicinity adding to your walk of NP shame, all the sideways glances, and twisted up faces in your wake. If you are as terrified of NP as me you'll carry tissues and body spray with you EVERYWHERE, yes, everywhere you go. This has been a public service announcement.

Now on to the GIVEAWAY! *insert Oprah audience screams and cheers* As I said before, Super M the awesome sauce, ordered me these most amazing trash bags thag are eco-friendly because they actually break down in the landfills! They are made by Green Genius and are advertised as "Biodegradable trash bags so ridiculously strong, it's ridiculous."tm Go to their website by clicking the words Green Genius above and watch their oh, so cool video on the microbe and how their trash bags work! I will be testing this baby starting tomorrow. I'm really going to take it through the wringer and I'll announce my findings with the start of the giveaway beginning on Monday with my blog post. This is just a heads up for the few of you awesome enough to have stumbled upon my humble blog so you can get in on this super special (yeah, and cheap lol) giveaway. If you like it you can order another sample from their website or use the 2.00 coupon on the wrapper to purchase your own! Support the cause man!

Unintentional intentional communities...

Have you ever found yourself wondering "Where is my community when I need them?" Well, so have I. In this day and age of apartment living new neighbors and new flats every year just gets...well, disgruntling? I've lived this way for 9 and a half years now and I'm just sick and tired of moving my whole life for school, for work, for living where I want to live. We are going to be making the great migration westward in the next month and I'm already dreading just boxing and unboxing, lifting and moving, and getting readjusted to yet another stock-box-cookie-cutter-home.

Thankfully, with this move I anticipate having a community I can actually enjoy. Occupied by people who have similar interests, open minded individuals, and those with a variety of backgrounds in career, finances, ethnicities, and even religions. Tolerance is key when first introducing one's self into this variety. Yellow Springs is where I WANT to be, where I CRAVE to be, and most of all where I'll finally fall into my unintentional intentional community. I'm not saying this town is all hippy dippy dreamy and fluff utopia. I'm simply saying they are anti-urban sprawl, which is what I most love. As a village it is small enough to keep the noise (accept for street fairs and weekends lol) and violent crimes down to a minimum, yet is a tourist town and so has a variety of tiny shops to keep my need to make finds and shop at a market doable.

I grew up first in Drexel which was a little Dayton border sprawl-over on your way between there and the country before you get to the second place I spent significant time in which was a rural Preble County village called West Alexandria. For the country-dwelling personality this is heaven. Two gas stations, a carry out, general store, corner eatery, a school light and one nice four way traffic light in the center of town. They even got a Subway after I left! "woohoo" Again, like YS there are few people so it is quiet. But, the one drawback of West Alexandria was the lack of diversity. About 98% caucasian and similar housing, values, and maybe 75-80% standard Christian teachings applied to everyone everywhere.

This is perfection in simple, laid back living for the majority who live there. The mayor is a grandmotherly figure, just a lovely woman who works hard. The towns council filled with the here and there's, the good old boys, and the town's oldest last names. There are churches on every corner, activities held in basements and cabins on their grounds, and children playing on nearly every back street. The real downer here was that everyone knew each other. Opposite of what is happening in my life now which is also a downer. I know, no pleasing me right? My point here is that I didn't fit into the mix very well. My values, be they spiritual, mental, or just my general spirit of open arms and mind DID NOT FIT. I wanted everyone to get along to unclique themselves? The problem is that when everyone is alike, there's a need to branch off into "groups" to make yourselves distinct.

Now some soccer mom is peering out the door to see those terrible chubby non-sports kids eating an ice cream cone and accidentally kicking a rock and hitting the tire rim of Mr. Henderson's new sedan. Oh No! So now Soccer Mom is on a tyrade, calling chubby ice cream's mother and telling her how awful her little rock (now) "throwing" child truly is. When chubster gets home he gets a tongue lashing and grounded for a week. Yep, you read that right. It happened ALL.THE.TIME. Problem when there's no drama and everyone's a Stepford wife or perfect parent? Anyone? What seems so perfect on the outside ends up a catastrophe of backstabbing lies perpetrated by SAHM's or someone on their way to work who saw you...uh oh JAY WALKING!? (yes, that last part did, in fact, happen to myself and my bff Jenni).

YS is not without its faults but they are available at the surface or very near it for people to gingerly extract and deal with as they will. I'm sure there's some perpetrating amongst the mothers and fathers here as well...but the beauty is in the diversity. People unintentionally making an intentional community of people who can either choose to get along or not but live peaceably along side one another. To work beside their fellow human beings to make this world a little bit better. I know I'm still glorifying it from the outside, and I'm sure I'll find life's little annoyances on the inside...but it won't be anything I can't deal with because I'll have my family and my friends closer by for support and I'll have the luck of the draw with finding like minded individuals in this old "hippy dippy" village! THE Yellow Springs for which the community is named was once thought to hold healing properties day spas and natural healing hotels sprung up around them. See, even a mystical start. :)

PS SOUL FIRE TRIBE!? HELLO! Me loves the fire, these spinners, and this video:



~peace~

OMG! How can this even be allowed?

Do the Japanese have an issue with endangered animals or something?  First whales, now THIS!?

Knitters tip of the day...as read on Facebook.

This blog is obviously not for ME as I do not and refuse to ever knit. But I thought these tips were amazing:

Danielle S. says:

You know you have a knitting addiction when you have yarn but no needles... So you use mechanical pencils.
She also adds that chopsticks work well too. I suppose she means the nice rounded or hair pick kind. So, you CAN carry knitting needles without having to tote around a bag! You can also knit on the plane this way! Just stick 'em in your hair and away you go! Thanks Danielle for your knitting craze and makeshift needle needs.


Also Super M brought this site to my attention tonight and this story made me bawl like a little baby.

Where did you come from? Where did you go?

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. Yes, I am still having limited connection. Today (as in March 1st) was my daughter, Nixie's 1st Birthday. She woke up giggling and smiling and just a generally happy baby all day. Uncle Nick, who shares a birthday, came up to Columbus to visit and have a good old fashioned Cracker Barrel dinner. Nom Nom! Their party is on Sunday at the pizza place! I can't wait.

I have learned a lot about people over the years, a majority of things by simply shutting my trap and watching the world go by. In the process I also learned the very fine art of patience. There are still a few areas of that broad field I need to work on, but generally speaking I am a patient individual. I have just seen a lot of entitlement and impatience lately and it is trying my last nerve not to say something to these jerks. The biggest lesson of my life: Nothing truly belongs to you accept your pride, hope, and dignity. Hold on to those tightly and the world will shake loose everything else about you...but in the end you'll be able to walk back into life with your head held high, knowing that you came out on top even if you were abruptly thrust to the bottom. With a little pride and a lot of dignity and hope you can recompose yourself and make magic happen!

Living the dream isn't always about living your own dreams. Less cryptic more informational communal living links and stories to come! Keep an eye on sky!