More Plant Pics

Broccoli

Strawberries

And my new clothesline!

Crunchy's Challenge

Buy Nothing Day

Check out here for more information.

--Erika

Cleaning

So, Crunchy Chicken recently posted a piece about combating mold; just last night, I was at work debating: Do I use the nasty chemical cleaner and wash my hands well after, OR do I use a pair of disposable, plastic gloves (that fall apart w/use of cleaner) or two to do the job? What do you think? Take the poll, leave a comment, and check out the nifty options for combating mold that Crunchy et al. are talking about.

--Erika

Earth Hour 2008

Saturday 29 March 2008
8:00 to 9:00 PM

Who: EVERYONE
What: Turn off your lights (better yet, also turn off the TV, computer, radio, etc., unplug appliances, turn off the heat/AC, stay out of your car, etc.)
When: See above
Where: EVERYWHERE
Why: A symbolic stand against global warming
More info? Check it out here.

Just for You!

I have always been petrified of ending up with crazy-psycho-nut case-in-laws. I was more nervous meeting B's parents than I was meeting him (a very long story) - just because of my fear of said in-laws. For all I knew, his mom could be like Jane Fonda in Monster in Law. Or his dad could be just plain nuts - the should-be-strapped-down-to-a-table-&-have-electroshock-therapy kind of NUTS. Thankfully, my in-laws aren't crazy. They do some weird things, but no where near the "crazy-psycho-nut case-in-laws" I'm afraid of.

One of the things they do that I find extremely odd (which really isn't THAT odd), is that their visits to cemeteries are more frequent than my bi-monthly water bill. My mother-in-law and I have frequent "discussions" about how disgusting and creepy I find their little habit to be - I think she really enjoys watching me squirm at the thought of cemeteries at night. I really mean NO disrespect to those whom they are visiting (or anyone else), but I just find frequent visits to cemeteries pretty creepy. Don't even get me started on my reaction when my in-laws told B and me that they had purchased cemetery plots for themselves already.

I just had to laugh when I came across this post over at Crunchy Chicken's place. Well said!

--Erika

P.S. This post is dedicated to my mother-in-law :-) (For those of you wondering why - I refer you back to the second sentence in the second paragraph above...)

So, B and I Watched An Inconvenient Truth...

I have always loved driving manual transmission vehicles. I don't really know why. I do know that they tend to have slightly better fuel economy. What I recently learned here, is that my manual transmission vehicle (versus the same car, but with an automatic transmission) reduces my CO2 output TEN PERCENT! TEN PERCENT! If I switched to a Prius, my CO2 output would decrease by 41%!!!!

So, Erika's Random Link of the Week is this. It's the companion site to An Inconvenient Truth. I will admit something... For a guy with a lousy, no-good, make-me-want-to-wash-my-hands-in-bleach handshake, Al Gore presents a pretty water-tight case.

Check out my "Ya' Gotta Watch This" section. I have never been as disgusted as I was watching the link to a certain animal rights organization's video about where meat comes from. Unfortunately, the same story is corroborated in several other places. On a happy note... Places like this treat their animals appropriately and sell very nummy milk, cheese, and butter!

--Erika

Eat...

I have been spending a lot of time thinking, learning, practicing, and otherwise contemplating the process of eating. Let me clarify; I've been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, he talks about where our food really comes from, and what processes it goes through before we unconsciously chow down. I've been thinking about what I choose to eat (my anti-resolution-resolution is no more high fructose corn syrup (or high maltose corn syrup for that matter) in anything I purchase), where it comes from, how it's produced, what I do that takes a plant from the ground into my mouth, etc. Tonight, I came upon an amazing and articulate post over at Casaubon's Book. She really articulated the thoughts I have on cooking, I am certainly not one of those people who would go hungry if I were given dried beans and no instructions, and I am definitely adventurous when it comes to making substitutions, but I'm not nearly as fluent in "food" as she discusses (and is). Quit reading my blog, and go read hers!

--Erika

Link of the Week

Click here.

'nuf said.

-Erika

Healthy Uses of Technology

I just finished an assignment that was having me write about my goals for a technology class. One of the "preset" goals was using technology and teaching how to use it in a healthy manner. Even though I use "modern" technology, and I actually enjoy using it - it's so easy to just Google something rather than go to the library, find the right reference book, look up the right page in the index, and then find you need a different book...

However, I don't think it's very healthy for children to be completely involved in "modern" technology. Children don't need to be exposed to all that is on the Internet, and they certainly don't need any more time spent on their backsides. (OOH, I have a tangent about this too!) I just can't imagine REQUIRING my middle school students to use technology for much more than optionally using it to research, and typing one or two papers per quarter.

I strongly feel that children should spend time outside, and as I've seen quoted 'round the net, "there aren't any plug ins outside!" AND, sitting outside on the computer or listening to an MP3 player DOES NOT COUNT! Children (and adults for that matter) need to be outside, interacting with nature, building connections between nature and themselves; they need the opportunity to construct their own knowledge, and it has been shown that nature is the perfect place to build all sorts of knowledge (if you want references, read The Last Child In The Woods).

OOH, time for that tangent - One of the "pearls" we learned recently is that children should be assigned ten minutes times their grade level for homework. I could NOT imagine having half an hour of homework as a third grader, or nearly an hour and a half as an eighth grader. I DO believe children should read every day, and that time shouldn't be counted as "homework," but it should be something the child WANTS to do, but that's a whole topic in and of itself. I also believe that children (as stated above) need to play outside. Let their "homework" be play, let children be CHILDREN, not little adults. Oh, one more tangent, and for goodness sakes - STOP TESTING CHILDREN ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!

Argh. I need to go to sleep before I scream!

-Erika