R.I.P George Carlin
Posted on June 23, 2008 - Filed Under Nonsense
I will keep cursing in remembrance of you!
shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits
Carbon Neutral Costa Rica
Posted on May 13, 2008 - Filed Under Environmentalism
In an effort to be the world’s first carbon-neutral nation, Costa Rica is halting deforestation and attempting to plant seven million trees during 2008. There will be 1.5 trees for every Costa Rican and will break even on expending greenhouse gas emissions. Even though Costa Rica is not a leading greenhouse gas producer, this “Plant a Tree” project demonstrates how every little bit helps and leading by example is the best way to show progress.
TEAL is the Word Ya Hurd
Posted on April 6, 2008 - Filed Under VA/DC/MD Happenings, Writing/Editing, Publishing, On the Road
My good friend Jeff Deck was in need of a road trip full of awesome experiences to write about while waiting for entry to an MFA program, so he took off across the country hunting down typos and correcting them. Starting in Boston, Jeff swung through the DC area where my husband and I took him to Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown. We located a few typos on the menu so they were appropriately logged on the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) website and my friend Jeff was on to another town. With a great interview on NPR and walking around Hollywood with ABC News, Jeff is doing the Lord’s work for us editors.
The Scuppie Manifesto
Posted on March 7, 2008 - Filed Under Environmentalism, Writing/Editing, Publishing
So this isn’t my own coined term, but I’m all about manifestos and this one is pretty cool. The Scuppie (socially conscious upwardly mobile person) being referred to is a combination of yuppie and hippie culture, or basically hippies with money that still want to do good while looking good. Everywhere the word Scuppie is used there is a glaring TM following it, so I repeat, this is not my idea and it’s trademarked. Yikes, maybe they’re a bit more yuppie than hippie, either way, check out the manifesto.
DIYers Reviving Innovation
Posted on March 5, 2008 - Filed Under Techie, Consumerism, DIY
I love the idea of being able to build and fix things all by myself. Knowing the difference between the tools I inherited from my father, and knowing when to use them is something I want to learn.
In high school about 15 years ago (yikes!), I was placed in a shop class for 4th period because the honors history class I had wanted to take was full. So it was just me, the only girl, and 10 very country boys and the stereotypical shop teacher with missing fingers. I couldn’t believe it; shop teachers really do have missing fingers! So during the few months I was in shop class we made lots of things out of wood, some things out of metal, and a very special group of students made many things to store pot and to smoke pot. All in all it was very enlightening and gave me the confidence to work with tools.
Fast forward to going to college and working in an office and, all of a sudden, I am replacing anything in my house that breaks instead of trying to fix it first. I want to be a do-it-yourself kind of gal. I want to be the DIYer that doesn’t need to be a part of the consumer chain because I can fix things on my own.
An article in Wired recently delved into this idea that America used to be full of DIYers saying that “Only a few decades ago, most serious adults were expected to be fluent in basic mechanics. If your car or stove or radio broke down, you opened it up and fixed it.” I do realize though, many of our household items are so full of microchips and wires that fixing many appliances isn’t possible, right?
I’ve realized that the further away my life physically moves from creating or being a part of the necessities one needs for life (clothing, food, toiletries), that I am mentally moving away from the knowledge about what it takes to make your own necessities. Maybe this is the reason America is so enamored with DIY shows right now like Dirty Jobs, How It’s Made, and anything on HGTV. Last week I saw an episode on Dirty Jobs about how cranberries are raised and harvested causing my declaration to my husband that I now want to be a cranberry farmer! So maybe I won’t be a cranberry farmer, but I bet I could at least start my own garden and go from there.
keep looking »
