I want to go work for Zappos

Video of a tour at Zappos.
http://www.blip.tv/file/2028799

Dollar Bill Art

These made me smile. Just someone drawing on dollar bills.
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/one-dollar-project-20-pics

But Why Can't I Do That?

Woman aerialist crossing Times Square on a wire while hanging from her teeth.
Circa 1932
Her name was tiny Kline and years later she went on to become the first Tinker Bell at Disneyland at the age of 70.

Fun Things to Do With Yourself After You're Dead

Here's an article on a guy who had his skeleton and that of his pet dog donated as a teaching specimen to display at the Smithsonian. Much more interesting that a tombstone. Both skeletons look so happy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/10/AR2009041003357_3.html

Fun Things to Do When You're Dead

Here's an article on a guy who had his skeleton and that of his pet dog donated as a teaching specimen to display at the Smithsonian. Much more interesting that a tombstone. Both skeletons look so happy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/10/AR2009041003357_3.html

Leave it to Beaver Letter

Someone zoomed in on the letter in an old Leave it to Beaver episode. See what it says here:
http://www.shorpy.com/leave-it-to-beaver

Very Cute Duvet Cover

Sleeping animals duvet cover

http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-tuesday-snuggle-up-with-a-bedtime-duvet-3696/

Dress Made Out of Zippers

Very cool dress http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/10/zipper-dress.html

A is for Amy

A link to an online version on Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinnies.
http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/stage/7535/gorey.html

Penny Press Machines

Penny press machines across the US.
http://www.pennycollector.com/

Aligator Snapping Turtle

Article about snapping turtles with a reference to one being used to locate human corpses. Just thought it was interesting.
http://darrennaish.blogspot.com/2006/05/snapping-turtles-part-iii-bite-lunge.html

Banana Bread

I just put this chocolate chip cinnamon banana bread in the oven. I hope it tastes as great as it smells.
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-kind-of-bridal.html
She has a bunch of banana bread recipes that I'd like to try. I'm making this particular one because I have the ingredients on hand. Well, except for the bittersweet chocolate chips so I broke a dark chocolate candy bar into chunks and used that. I want to try the one with candied ginger and the one with coconut but I have to make a trip to the asian grocery to get unsweetened coconut and candied ginger.

Shipping Container Houses

Houses made from shipping containers, the kind that attach to semi-trucks.

Dirty Car Window Art

Scott Wade does incredible art on dirty car windows. Like a reproduction of Girl With a Pearl Earring. Definitely worth a look. http://dirtycarart.com/index.html

Sarasvati Sock Monkey

I've never really liked sock monkeys before but this one is fantastic! This woman's husband makes her a different sock monkey every year for Christmas. This is the best.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3154943016/

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul

I haven't heard this in years and I'd never seen the video, I like it.


I stumbled upon it when I was watching a video of Ricarardo Montalban singing "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Esther Williams, apparently he was the one who introduced it. It's here along with another version with Red Skelton singing the female part.
http://vodpod.com/watch/279944-baby-its-cold-outside

Sparkle Balls

Instructions for making sparkle balls.
http://www.sparkleball.com/
I think the people next door had these hanging in their trees over Christmas.

Composting

Pretty, interesting composting jars.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/08/30/index-awards-daily-dump-composting-pots/#more-5486

Oily Eyeglasses

Very cool self adjusting eyeglasses. They make you look a little like Harry Potter but what a cool concept.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21860878~pagePK:64257043
~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html

http://www.adaptive-eyecare.com/

Measurements

Great kitchen poster for remembering how many cups in a pint, pints in a quart, quarts in a gallon.
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/memory-tricks-remembering-how-many-cups-in-a-gallon-052851

Silverware Chandelier

Very cool idea for a chandelier made out of silverware. This would be great for a kitchen.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/09/24/ali-siahvoshi-lighting-from-everyday-objects/#more-6146

Billboards

Some really wonderful billboards.
http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/01/05/clever-and-creative-billboard-advertising/

Zucca Luggage

Great take on luggage. Juliette has one these for ice skating. The built in seat is a great feature and it has drawers too.
http://www.zuca.com/zuca_pro/index.html

Ecosphere

I keep seeing these around on the internet and I really want one.
http://www.abundantearth.com/store/ecosphere.html
This site has a lot on how to care for them so I want to save it here where I won't lose it.

Jet Man

Amazing.
Yves Rossi, Jet Man.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wired/news/video.cfm?c_id=1501834&gal_objectid=10510321&gallery_id=794

Wooden Clocks

Lots of kits for really amazing and weird wooden clocks.
http://lisaboyer.com/Claytonsite/Claytonsite1.htm

Inhabitat

Great site I just found.  Full of all sorts of wonderful things.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/07/10/cumulus-light-canopy-by-steve-haulenbeek/#more-4959

Wallpaper Silhouettes

Animal and tree silhouettes cut out of old wallpaper.  I love the tree with the wallpaper leaves and the birdhouse light.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/10/06/inke-diy-recycled-wallpaper-kits/#more-5456

How to Put up a Christmas Tree as a Cat

Cute website for anyone who has ever tried to have a Christmas tree and a cat at the same time.
http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp

Orgami Inspired Temporary Shelters

Oh, these are so cool.  http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/22/origami-inspired-folding-bamboo-house-by-ming-trang/http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/22/origami-inspired-folding-bamboo-house-by-ming-trang/  Beautiful.

Creepy Christmas Advent Calendar

Now this looks interesting. A website advent calendar done with a different short film on each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas.
http://www.creepychristmas.net/
Right up my alley but I probably won't be sharing it with a lot of my pro Christmas friends.

Let There Be Light

Wonderful large scale lighting made out of grouped umbrellas.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/07/10/cumulus-light-canopy-by-steve-haulenbeek/#more-4959

Sculptural Crochet Stitches

Instructions and pictures for various methods of sculptural crochet.
http://www.supernaturale.com/articles.html?id=277
There is a little shadow box filled with examples of the various stitches. Nicely done and should prove useful.

Drawer Stairs

Drawers under the stair treads.  The comments section also has a lot of great thoughts.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/06/11/a-brilliant-storage-idea-staircase-drawers/

Pet Names

A great thread over at AskMeFi about pet names. The questioner asked for inspiration for naming his new shelter cat. There are some good ones and some just LOL.
http://ask.metafilter.com/106486/This-Is-My-Dog-Reginald-McPimplewagon#comment

Guerilla Gardener

An English guy who decided that his calls to city council were doing no good so he just started going out and landscaping litlle places he thought needed it. Here is a very short documentary about him.
http://www.homegrownevolution.com/2008/11/action.html

Halloween Costume Tribute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6PurBtZTz4&NR=1
A video at youtube with costumes. Some great ideas.

Halloween Monster List

Long, long list of halloween projects. I am intending to keep going through them and pulling out the things that look interesting to me but here is the full list just in case http://www.halloweenmonsterlist.info/

How to Pee Standing Up For Girls

Having tried it yet but boy would this be handy for camping.
http://ganimede_x.tripod.com/stp.html

Eat Poop You Cat

This sounds like a fun game. There is a list of examples, some are hysterical.
http://www.alexandrafinger.com/epyc/
Here is an online version: http://www.thesentencegame.com/
This was my attempt at the online version: http://www.thesentencegame.com/view.php?gview=8415
Mine was the first drawing. Hey, it's hard to draw using only the paintbrush program and your finger on a touchpad. It actually seems to work better if you don't try too hard to make a good drawing.

Haunted Books

Instructions on how to make a shelf of haunted books
http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/halloween/chrisscrypt/haunted_books.html

Amigurumi Hair Tutorial

http://mygurumi.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-amigurumi-hair.html
Cute free pattern for a crochet flower pot with flowers on the same blog "Mygurumi"
http://mygurumi.blogspot.com/2008/07/flower-pot-downloadable.html
Lots of other good tips about amigurumi here too.

Figure Made of Poultry Netting

Very cool ghost.  I'm thinking it would be wonderful yard art anytime and you could grow vines up it and have a topiary.
http://www.wackyarchives.com/offbeat/easy-do-it-yourself-ghost.html

Recycled costumes

Some great costumes made with recycled objects at The Daily Green
http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycled-halloween-costume-470708

Neat Physics Experiment

I want to try the candle in the glass that sucks up water thing.
http://www.metafilter.com/75974/Demonstrations-by-Caleb-Charland#2313349

Mad Eye Martini

http://cocktails.about.com/od/vodkadrinkrecipes/r/mad_eye_martini.htm
The eyeball is made with a canned lychee stuffed with strawberry or raspberry prserves and a blueberry stuck in the blossom end then skewered with a sword olive pick.  I think I'll make Sarah a non-alchoholic one of these maybe with 7up with a little red food coloring or a bit of the floating preserves.  The eyeball looks pretty effective.  I can get canned Lychees at the big asian market up the street.

How to Make Layered Drinks

Very nice site on how to do layered drinks.  Apparently the higher the alchohol content the higher it floats in the drink.
http://www.miss-charming.com/recipes/layerd.htm

Bad Child Eating Monster Paper Sculpture

 Main website
 http://www.macula.tv/downloads/papertoys/gallery/krampus/main.htm
Download the monster and child
http://www.macula.tv/downloads/papertoys/gallery/krampus/squealer_krampus.pdf

3D TV prop for halloween

I really like the 3D TV but the baby doll punch dispenser looks good too too.

http://www.ironman.ourfamily.com/page5.html

Octopus

Very cute little animated cartoon about a couple of octopi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaM9mrnOMJo

Donut Hole Eyeballs & Brain Cupcakes

Unfortunately there is no picture but these donut hole eyebalss might be pretty effective.
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/halloween/donut-eyeballs.htm
Brain Cupcakes
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/BRAIN-CUPCAKES-232941

More Poison Lables

These are very nice. Downloads are allowed.
http://flickr.com/photos/lovemanor/

Trick or Treat

Apparently someone is giving these religious tracts out to Halloween trick or treaters. Talk about a dirty trick. Sounds like a good way to get your house egged to me.
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0058/0058_01.asp

Knitted Monster Head Face Mask

Keeps you warm and scary. This is really well done.
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/10/knit_monster_head.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954
Pattern Here.
http://thingsandideas.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/monster-monster/

Haunted Tree Face

Simple and cheap but effective.
http://blueargyle.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-haunted-tree-face-pattern.html

Cute Bride of Frankenstein Cake

At How Stuff Works. Cute rather than scary or creepy.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/bride-of-frankenstein-recipe.htm
And a Frankenstein Tamale Pie to go with her.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/terrifying-tamale-pie-recipe.htm
(We tried the talmale pie, it was good. It turned out cute too but I forgot to take a picture.
Tombstone Brownies. More of an inspiration thing. I'm thinking ditch the frosting and have little skeletal hands reaching out, maybe out of frosting.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tombstone-brownies-recipe.htm
Nutter Butter Mummies. Unfortunately no picture but they sound cute.
http://www.halloween.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2415

tombstone templates

http://www.hedstorm.net/HAUNT/instructions/tombstone_templates/index.html Downloadable tombstone templates. They give you the shape and you add in your own epitaths.s

Paper Sculptures

Lots of printable paper sculptures. Motorcycles, animals and seasonal stuff. You print them out on card stock them cut, fold and glue them together.
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/index.html
Some of them are really sweet. Very realistic. And free.

Balloon Sculpture

Taking balloon animals to a whole new level.
http://weburbanist.com/2008/10/05/the-weird-and-whimsical-balloon-sculptures-of-jason-hackenwerth/

Cute knitted Hat

Cute knitted hat pattern
http://members.home.nl/tdpj/Patronen/Noro_hat/Noro%20hat.htm

Easy Halloween Decorations

Some good ideas for Halloween props. Simple, quick, easy

http://www.geocities.com/~uncialle/tipspagea.html

Monster Mud Recipe

I haven't tried this but the reports are very good
http://terrorsyndicate.com/tsp_mm.html

Last Resort Spells

Check out the picture of the practitioner.
http://ancientblackmagic.com/?gclid=CL3Q9c-wo5YCFQsQagodPz6l7Q

Great Tombstone Tutorial

Really great instructions for how to make tombstones out of the foam insulation boards you can get at the big box hardware stores. Lots of tips and ideas. Don't forget to check out her gallery of tombstones she's made. Fantastic ideas and she tells you exactly how to get the effects.
http://www.hedstorm.net/HAUNT/instructions/tombstones/examples.html

Anatomy Arcade

I love this. It's a bunch of games to help you learn anatomy. Poke a muscle is my favorite. It's hysterical, especially when you don't get them all.
http://www.anatomyarcade.com/
Well, it's sort of halloweenish.

Vintage Poison Lables

These are pretty cool
http://www.spookshows.com/poison/poison.htm

Crochet Skull

http://copperscaledragon.blogspot.com/2007/10/skull-pattern-modified-from-domiknitrix.html

Epitath

                        Wallace Beery

                    No Man Is Indispensable

                                    But Some 

                              Are Irreplacable

Classic Bucket Hat

 Pattern for a classic bucket hat.
http://www.purlbee.com/johns-favorite-bucket-hat/
bucket hat, crochet, hat, pattern

Dead Men at Work

It's finally October and I can start posting some of the Halloween things I've been finding. I have lots from other years too. If you type "halloween" into the search feature it will bring them all up, enjoy!

Skeletons dressed as highway construction workers.
These guys would be great if you could animate one with just one arm moving, waving traffic on.

http://www.ironman.ourfamily.com/page15.html

Stuck in the Ceiling

I like the pants and gloves stuck to the ceiling. It might be a nice touch to position one of those little excersize trampolines beneath it.

http://www.ironman.ourfamily.com/page6.html

How to Spin Yarn from Newspaper

http://greenupgrader.com/2138/handspun-recycled-newspaper-yarn/

Personalized Visa Gift Cards

I didn't know you could do this. Great idea for a gift card..
http://www.giftcardlab.com/

Road Trip America

This looks like a useful site for planning a road trip or just discovering new things. I like their murals pages.
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/travelplanning/Road-Trip-Planning.htm

Flour Paste Batik Tutorial

This sounds great. I really want to try it.
http://eyesaflame.blogspot.com/2008/06/demo-flour-paste-batik.html

Using My Blackberry as a Modem

I'm so proud of myself, I figured out how to us my cell phone as an external modem for my lap top. Came in really handy to access craigslist when I was working down in the unit I had advertised for rent. Here is the link on how to use a blackberry as a modem.
http://www.blackberryforums.com/blackberry-guides/2019-user-howto-use-blackberry-modem-laptop.html

Flying Dragon Forks

Flying Dragon Forks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38b53ueRvUU&feature=related

DIY Advent Calendars

Advent Calendar Tutorials at whip Up:
http://whipup.net/2007/11/26/advent-calendar-tutorials/

DIY t-shirt stencil

DIY t-shirt stencil.
http://www.curbly.com/Chrisjob/posts/1355-Print-Your-Own-T-Shirts-Using-Homemade-Stencils#jump

Make Your Own Stamps

How to make a stamp using foam and a cookie cutter.
http://sew-mad.blogspot.com/2008/03/squared-eggs.html

Transparent Image Transfer

How to make a transparent image transfer with a laser printer and tape. Unfortunately, I only have access to an ink jet but here it is anyway:
http://wishingonclovers.typepad.com/wishing_on_clovers/2008/03/transparent-ima.html

Toilets With Personality

Some fun toilets.
http://cybour.50webs.com/Resources_toilet.html
And some toilet signs to go witht t
http://damncoolpics.blogspot.com/2007/08/coolest-toilet-signs-around-world.htmlhem.

Monster Trees of Japan

Juhyo, or monster trees of Mount Zao. Amazing, snow and ice covered conifers said to be the children of the Japanese snow woman spirit. Eerie.
http://japundit.com/archives/2008/03/28/8201/

Make It

You design it, they'll make it.
http://www.ponoko.com/
These guys will make it into a T-shirt
http://www.zazzle.com/
Write it, they'll make it into a book.
http://www.blurb.com/

Electronic Cigarrettes

Electronic cigarettes.
http://www.gamucci.com/gamucci/index.html

Under the White Lab Coat

Tatoos for science nerds. What's hidden under the white lab coats.
http://carlzimmer.typepad.com/

Endless Pool Cord

I love this "endless pool" device at Cool Tools. Very inexpensive. It would be great for traveling.
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/002710.php

DIY Cookie Cutters

2 instructables on how to make your own cookie cutters. http://www.instructables.com/id/make-your-own-cookie-cutters http://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-Cookie-Cutter/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-Cookie-Cutter/?ALLSTEPS

Learn to Hula Hoop

Lots of info. including how to make an adult sized hoop out of irrigation tubing.
http://www.hooping.org/archives/000359.html

Animal Cruelty

How To Tie Your Shoes

This is a really great site on how to lace and tie your shoes. It has both decorative and practical methods. The "Ian tie" is worth learning and the secure tie is probably what I will use from now on. I actually remember the day I got that "aha" moment and learned to tie my shoes, who knew I've been doing it wrong ever since. I've been doing the initial tie, that first sort of "base" tie incorrectly. I always go up and over from the front when I should be going up and over from the back. the site is definitely worth a look.
(click on the picture to go to his site).

Salsa Recipe

Recipe for salsa on flickr via askmefi. Worth a try.
http://flickr.com/photos/ufez/248744807/

How to make a elasticized pull tab bracelet.
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_jewelry/
Aluminum pull tab chair make using tabs and plastic pull ties
http://blog.makezine.com/
archive/2007/03/aluminum_pull_tab_chair.html
Belt
http://
quidnunc.org/tab_belt.html
Better instructions for the belt
http://ohsocrafty.blogspot.com/2005/05/can-tab-belt.html
Tote bag made from coffee packages
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=219322.0
Fused plastic bag tote picture
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=227144.0
Fused plastic bag tote tutorial
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=187283.0
Woven magazine tote
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=52309.0
Another pop tab bracelet
http://www.kaykaykit.com/tutorials/TabBraceletTutorial.jpg
And a monster list of recycled crafts at a website for scouts.
http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/Program/CraftsGeneral2.htm

Temporary Tote Bag out of a Scarf

How to make a temporary tote bag out of a scarf at you tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-abivuA_rds&eurl=http://iwannanewbag.blogspot.com/

Another Valentines Video

Postsecter.com compilation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzq3srbYEUY

Happy Singles Awareness Day

Nicely done animated valentine. Very sweet. I love the shrug.

glumbert.com - My Valentine

Valentine for a perfect Stranger. This is really strange. Really.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETQ0urHjSIk
More of the same but in Russian. Oddly enough it's less strange in Russian.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKka3gBu73Q&NR

Happy Valentines Day

Sand Art video.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/980013/love_2008/

How to make a 5 pointed star

How to make a 5 pointed star with one snip.

Fasting and Wieght Loss

Interesting article on fasting and weight loss.
http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2008/02/modified-fastin.html
http://blog.nutritiondata.com/dieting_weight_loss_blog/

Chocolate Scrabble

Chocolate Scrabble
http://www.maryandmatt.net/store/cs.html

DIY Conversation Heart Candies

How to make your own conversation heart candies at evilmadscientist.com. http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/messageheartsagain
via notmartha (always a good site)

Map to Berry Patch Farms

I'm planning to get Sharon to go to the weight lifting class on a Sunday and then out to Berry Patch Farms http://www.berrypatchfarms.com/
to stuff our faces with berries this spring and summer.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=120th+%26+sheridan,+colorado&daddr=136th+ave+%26+Sable,+colorado&sll=40.016046,-104.81781&sspn=0.428061,0.780029&ie=UTF8&z=11

Happy Birthday

Here is a list of links to go sign up for free stuff on your birthday, like a meal or an oil change

http://www.texaslandandcattle.com/files/eclub.aspx
http://www.tgifridays.com/Feb2008_5off15_search.htm cuposn $5 off till 2/29/08
http://echo.bluehornet.com/clients/tgifriday/survey.htm
http://www.rubytuesday.com/soconnected.asp
http://www.noodles.com/home.aspx?showhtml=truehttp://apps.fishbowl.com/a/redrobin/join/agegate.asphttp://www.fishbowl.com/clt/ndls/lp/join/join.asp?showhtml=true (Noodlegram b-day sign up)
http://qdoba.com/Email.aspx
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/bnngns/lp/join_new/join.asp
http://www.outbacksteakhouse.com/index.aspx
http://www.quiznos.com/offers/
https://www.autozonerewards.com/enroll.aspx (you have to go and get a card at autozone first and then register it here)
http://qdoba.com/Email.aspxhttp://www.tacobell.com/saucyscribe/ (write taco sauce fortunes)

Improv Everywhere Freeze Grand Central Station

Improv Everywhere strikes again. The group shows up at Grand Central Station and 207 of them freeze for 5 minutes. Here's a short video at youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo&eurl=http://www.bestofyoutube.com/

Tarantula

So You Found a Tarantula
Here's a link to the American Tarantula Society. They are looking for live Tarantulas indiginous to the United States and would like you to send them alive. They will also help you learn to care for it if you want to keep it for a pet. Females make good, long lived pets. Males do not.

Adopt a Manatee

Save the Manatees has a Valentines Day promotion encouraging people to adopt a Manatee for V-day.
I want to go on one of the Kayak trips.
http://www.savethemanatee.org/news_feature_ecotours_4.html

How To Learn A Language

Found this site on how to teach yourself Japanese via this question on AskMeFi.
All Japaneses All The Time
http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about/overview-page
It looks really good and has lots of resources for other languages as well, like this one:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/index.html

Purse Made From Candy Wrappers

Instructions for a purse made from candy wrappers or potato chip/snack bags.
http://www.candywrapperpurse.blogspot.com/
Here's a blog with lots of different links and pictures for and of purses and bags made from recycled packages.
http://iwannanewbag.blogspot.com/2007/04/purses-made-from-candy-wrappers-etc.html
Starburst wrapper chain instructions
http://www.kaykaykit.com/tutorials/StarburstNecklaceTutorial.jpg
More help & tips
http://candywrappercrafts.blogspot.com/
Here is a link to a tutorial on how to make a flat bottomed purse.
http://nannybird.blogspot.com/search?q=flat+bottom+purse

Success

3 minute talk on success by Richard St. John via Ted.com
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/70

Video Jug

A site for instructional videos
http://www.videojug.com/

Warning Sign Generator

http://www.warningsigngenerator.com/
enerate your own warning signs or lables

Card, Envelope and Box Templates

Templates for cards, envelopes and boxes. http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm From Mirkwood Designs.

Card, Envelope and Box TemplatesTemplates for cards, envelopes and boxes. http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm From Mirkwood Designs.

What is Christmas

What is Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvvE7Uxb8Ts

Merry Christmas

Very cute Christmas card video from Donna. http://badaboo.free.fr/ (I'm dreaming of a white Christmas)

Christmas Card 2007

I finally got my one Christmas card that I send every year out to Ed so my Christmas shopping is done. Becky helped me make a couple of Christmas cards out of a picture of Bosco with the reindeer antlers that Jeanne gave him.
I didn't think about envelopes so I ended up having to make them out of magazine pages using these instructions:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/calendar_envelopes
I altered them a little bit to make them neater, cut a curve in the flap and trimmed the sides on the bottom and cut the corners on those.
I think they turned out pretty well.

Knitting Book, Paint by Numbers & Quote Jar

Software to create your own "paint by numbers" canvases.
http://colorwheelco.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TCWC&Product_Code=2100&Category_Code=SW
Quote Jar and Picture Jar (I think you could combine them) at Decor8
http://decor8.blogspot.com/search?q=quote+jar

Merry Christmas (or What Not to Get Your Wife for Xmas)

glumbert - How wrong will he get it this year?

Boy Who Moves by Echolation

Really amazing kid, Ben Underwood, blind from the age of 2 who maneuvers by echolocation, like a dolphin. He makes these clicking noises and can walk down the street, identify objects, skate, have pillow fights and hit people across the room. He can also play video games just by sound. Really very, very cool news story.

And Yet More Inspiration

Post it note art
http://ffffound.com/image/ebdca38275195b0dcf7e7bfaf3d9882bef0cd800
Bicycle with Boots as Wheels
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/10/gallery_o_strange_vehicle.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
Sculptures from rolled up newspaper
http://myhumancomputer.blogspot.com/2006/12/i-brought-it-out-for-air-yesterday_04.html
Cute little scroll bar cursor
http://www.b3tards.com/u/f377488502e24adaf32a/scrollbars.gif
Cute little mini sculpture out of an Esc key (they just added feet)

More Inspiration

Solar Panel Ship
http://eightsolid.com/the-solar-sailor/
Pock-it - like a post it note, but different. It's a pocket.
http://www.yankodesign.com/index.php/2007/11/28/pock-it/
Cute Ad in the shape of an iron.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/481660343_6cbc87ccc2.jpg?v=0
Great Idea for a Window Shade
http://ffffound.com/image/c791566af78a51753681f3a5d698dadbfb07a7d3
Fun IAMS Ad on the back of a car
http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/iams_tail.jpg
Automatic Calendar Shredder
http://www.oomsa.com/node/754
Good Quit Smoking Ad
http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/print_demonio3a.preview.jpg
Nice improvisation of those bullitan board ads where you pull a little tag off with a phone number.
http://www.serifpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/dr_mullally_-_teethpreview.jpg
Very clever.
Cute Fence
http://charliegower.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/19/fence.jpg
Cute picture on a tea bag
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waldopancake/131798712/
Nice Paint Job
http://ffffound.com/image/bccece7e78bea975a8742a68ba135c5d6e854c75
I like this concept for a light out of a box
http://ffffound.com/image/
950f198d48db00f864780f8c57fa51fd36142df6?c=76831
Great Bench
http://www.monoscope.com/2007/10/edaw_wooden_benches.html

Inspire Me

Inspire Me Blog
http://szymon.tumblr.com/page/21
@tumblr.com
Cool Idea via Inspire Me
Wall Cleats
http://www.oboiler.com/plugs/cleat.html
Cool Wall Graphics
http://ffffound.com/image/3894e208f464a7be5f409ca2bf775ff49344b9f0?c=68453
Insect Lamp/Light
http://ffffound.com/image/6e36d23c3f2c1e8158a92b55bcf2b31fc41e0f66?c=106846
Book Mark Light
http://www.yankodesign.com/index.php/2007/11/05/midnight-bookworms-rejoice/
Light Switches
http://pan-dan.blogspot.com/2007/11/rabea-reufsteck.html
Toilet Paper Sculpture
http://swissmiss.typepad.com/weblog/2007/11/toilet-paper-ty.html
Cool Furniture
http://www.animicausa.com/animi.html
Cute Cup Idea - could be cut out of a magazine and glued on or drawn
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/ads/WRIGLEYS-WINNING-SMILE/
Cool Magnetic Shelf
http://www.moormann.de/en/moebel/shelves/magnetique.html
Funny Signs
http://eightsolid.com/24-very-strange-funny-signs/
Tote Bag With A Footprint
http://nanigashi3.blog40.fc2.com/blog-entry-233.html

Lots of Mugs

Lots of coffee mugs. Looks cool. Easy, fun way to decorate a kitchen wall.
http://ffffound.com/image/c9e2fd5f470ec9ecb1119f969c36ebbe567035ca?c=270352
8 rows of 15 cups across.

How To Make 3D Pictures and the Glasses Too

3D Pictures

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/
807300/cool_3d_pictures_from_any_digital_camera/

3D Glasses http://www.metacafe.com/watch/807306/
make_3d_picture_glasses_fast_and_easy/

Website program for making 3D pictures

Baby bouquet out of Booties

I knew this had to be out there somewhere. How to make those baby shower bouquets out of booties.
http://www.plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com/baby-sock-rose.html
I think it would be fun to just do one as a decoration on top of the gift box too.
Now I just need to find one on how to make them out of onesies.
And, I'd not heard of this one, The Diaper Cake.
http://www.plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com/diaper-cake.html
Other ideas elsewhere on the same site.
http://www.plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com
OK, apparently the guy who owns "The Baby Bunch" was on Martha Stewart and showed how to make the big bouquet. Looks like there is a video too. If the link won't work, cut and paste it or go to http://www.martastewart.com/ and run a search on "Baby Bunch Bouquet"
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/
menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/
?vgnextoid=b554932aa64a5110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy
_kw=baby%20bunch
After watching the very short little video I'm feeling pretty confident. Looks easy.
I think I like little sprigs of baby's breath tucked in with the "roses" rather than the little silk roses. They seem, to me, unecesarry and take away from the concept.

Instructable

I finally got my first instructable posted. Don't know why I was having so much trouble. It's actually had a lot of views and some comments!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-Dog-Bowl-from-a-Plastic-Jug/

Breast Exam

Really cute Breast Exam video.

glumbert - Do your own breast exam

The Monty Hall Problem

Here is a little video on why you should switch doors on a game show once you've been shown what's behind one of three doors.

glumbert - The Monty Hall Problem

Bad Day At the Office

Cute Video
http://www.glumbert.com/media/baddayoffice

Pre-flight Speech

Funny pre-flight speech

glumbert - Pre-Flight Announcements Get Fashionable

Will You Marry Me?

Very Cute marriage proposal at glumbert.com.

glumbert - A Decent Proposal

Education Links

Here is a AskMetafilter thread on free educations links.
http://ask.metafilter.com/76789/I-shortchanged-myself-in-education

Everything About Dutch Ovens

http://www.iliveoutdoors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=143

How To Find Lost Things

Here is a link to a useful site with a free, downloadable book on how to find lost things.
http://www.professorsolomon.com/12principles.html

Halloween Tips

Some good halloween tips here. http://www.geocities.com/~uncialle/tipspagea.html

The Addams Family

Intro to the original Adams Family at youtube.

This Is Halloween

Opening song from The Nightmare Before Christmas via YouTube

You really must see the whole thing if you haven't already.

Meat Worms

Gross, edible, giant grave worm recipe. There are lots of good recipes on this site.
http://imakeprojects.com/content/view/43/1/

Recycled Tote Bag

Recycled plastic bag shopping tote instructions

Worms

Edible meat worm. Very creepy.

http://imakeprojects.com/content/view/43/1/

More Creepy Food

Some really good, very realistic, creepy food recipes here.
http://imakeprojects.com/Projects/halloween-supper/

Kittly Alarm Clock

Cute little cartoon about cats as alarm clocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihh-jSSCB6k

Halloween Hat and scarf

Great Halloween hat and scarf. Some instructions and another link to the crochet eyeballs
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=197692.0

Halloween.net

These are all from http://www.1halloween.net/, a large site with lots of great stuff. I've marked my favorites here for future reference.

Halloween recipes. The eyeballs and the pumpkin balls sound good.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/rsnacks.html

Pumkin cake and spider cake

http://www.1halloween.net/html/rcake.html

I like the tootsie pops and the icecream cone surprises. I think it might work well to use the wafer type pointed cones and make witches hats.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/rcandy.html

I like the bat cookies (of course) and the R.I.P. cupcake

http://www.1halloween.net/html/rcookies.html

Some decorating ideas here. The helium balloon idea might be good behind one of those thin, frosted type bathroom curtains. I like the psycho idea too.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/rcookies.html

More decorations. I love the glowing table with the fan underneath and the masks in jars.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/didinerm.html

Expanding on the R.I.P. doormat it would be fun to make gravestones out of them with names and dates. A bunch of those cheap foam ones might work

http://www.1halloween.net/html/didormat.html

Little glow sticks on helium balloons outside and scary eyes in the bushes

http://www.1halloween.net/html/dilights.html

Cute witch crashed into a tree. I love it that she was reading Harry Potter

http://www.1halloween.net/html/garcrash.html

The jokes are cute and I haven't heard a lot of them.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/jokes.html

Funny photos. The last one's a hoot.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/jokphoto.html

Oh dear.

http://www.1halloween.net/html/jokpumps.html

Ick

Very realistic wounds and instructions on how to make them.http://www.makezine.com/
blog/archive/2006/10/halloween_lacer.html

Random Obituary Generator

Type in a name and the generator will spit out a humerous obituary for you.
http://www.crucifictiongames.com/rogd.html

Ravensblight Toy Shop

Ravensblight Toy Shop.
http://ravensblight.com/papertoys.html
Printale parts and instructions for various creepy paper toys, perfect for Halloween. These are great. I haven't tried any of them yet but they look fantastic. I'm definitely starting with the bat, Bela.

Tim Burton's Vincent

I found this while I was looking at the Christopher Walken cooking video. I'll have to remember it for Halloween. Very cute.

Unfortunately I can't hear the piece of music that is played at the beginning and end with out mentally singing along, the only words I can remember: "There's a place in France where the ladies wear no pants!"

Fake Blood Recipes

Fake Blood Recipes at Halloween Web.

http://www.halloween-website.com/fake_blood.htm

Life Masks

Here are directions on how to do life masks. This would be great to do with the girls.
http://www.rondalarue.com/PAGES/MASK%20PAGES/how.html

Squelette Dance

Halloween is coming. Squelette Dance. Very cool. Try checking the different boxes. Mutation-X is especially bizarre. Enjoy and Happy Halloween.

Dog Park Slide Show

Life Just Does Not Get Any Better

I Reeeally Want A Prairie Dog Of My Very Own

Off Leash Open Space

Bosco learned to swim last week so I had to bring my camera today and take pictures. This is the best dog park.
It's like an amusement park for dogs. Prairie dogs, swimming hole, miles of trails, lots of other dogs, friendly people, coyote scat to sniff. Paradise. We saw a coyote there the first day, at least I did, I think Bosco was otherwise occupied.
I took over 400 pictures today. I think I got 20 or 30 good photos out of that. I love my digital camera., the burst feature is the best.

Hell Hole

Hell Hole
A small hole in the ground that looks like it's surrounded by lava. The hole emits red light & smoke. It can also be rigged with screams.
http://softlyspokenmagicspells.com/halloween/hellmouth.html

Light Up Dog Collars

Cool led light up collars for dogs.
http://www.visiglo.com/vglowcollars.htm

Skeletal Flamingos

Here's a site that sells skeletal flamigos for your lawn.
http://www.flamingopinkinc.com/consumers.htm

Halloween Prop How-Tos

Tons and tons of links to halloween projects. Most are over my head but still fun to look at.
http://www.halloweenmonsterlist.info/

Swim meet

I got some great pictures of Sarah at her swim meet yesterday, then I stayed up till 4 in the morning playing around with the google picasa program. Sweet stuff. They were swimming the short lengths in the pool so I could get some good photos across the pool with my telephoto.

Witches Fingers and Eyeballs

Britta.com has some really great looking Halloween recipes. Edible, gelatin eyeballs that really look creepy and Witches Fingers (also very creepy).
Also 2 recipes for Harry Potter Butter Beer, one alcoholic and one not.
http://www.britta.com/HW/HWr.html

Creepy Ladies/Witches Fingers

Here is another recipe for Halloween ladies fingers from Martha Stewart via Not Martha. These are more like pretzels than cookies & look even creepier than the cookie ones.

Cute Jeep Commercial

I'm not sure why but I love this Jeep commercial. It kind of gets hung up and jerky but if you double click on it TWICE, it will take you to the youtube display and it's better quality there.

This one from last year is way cute too.

Murals

Site with lots of hints and information on painting murals
http://www.littlemonkeymurals.com/indexLMM.htm

Don't Be Buried Alive

Very creepy real life grave.
http://www.vermonter.com/evergreen.asp

Ghost Droppings

Halloween stuff. Love the name.
http://www.ghostdroppings.com/

AskMeFi Recipes

Here is a AskMeFi thread with a bunch of recipes I'd like to try.
http://ask.metafilter.com/73283/Help-me-find-a-recipe-to-knock-peoples-socks-off

Bleeding Halloween Portrait

How to make a continuously bleeding portrait.

http://usersites.horrorfind.com
/home/halloween/chrisscrypt/bleed_portrait.html

Halloween Vacancy Tombstone

Directions for a tombstone that flashes "Vacancy" on and off like a motel sign. Another one I could probably do and when you go to the site the cursor is a little flock of flying bats. Perfect.

http://brunell.hostrocket.com/halloween/vacancy.htm

Mechanical Bat Toy

I found this very, very cool mechanical paper bat toy via The Automata / Automaton Blog, www.dugnorth.com.

A whole printable kit for a flapping bat on a tombstone at ravensblight.com. 2 files, one for the parts, that you print out on card stock, and one for the directions. The bat's name is Bela.
There is also a video of his wonderful Halloween hat on his blog. Looks like there is a lot of great stuff here. I can tell I'll be exploring this site for awhile. Will report back later.

Goblinville

Goblinville is a great Halloween website.
Goblinville.
I found it while searching for the words and tune to The Worm Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out.... They have them there along with lots of animated clip art and other good things too.
I know there is, somewhere out there, a good recipe for witches fingers. Those candy skulls would be fun too. I'll post those when I have a link for them.

Extreme Pumpkins

I'm trying to post something Halloween related every day in October. I've already missed the first 2 days. Oh well, here goes.
Extreme Pumpkins. Taking Pumpkin carving to a whole new level.

Spanish Language Soap Opera

I've read about this before and it sounded interesting. It's a soap opera designed to help you learn Spanish. I just found a website for it with videos of the program to watch, small format but free, always an attractive feature.
It's called Destinos. I'm going to try to watch one a week or one a day or whatever seems productive once I start. There are 52 of them and they are 1/2 an hour long. I'm hoping this way I will at least begin to understand Spanish somewhat which should help the problem I had with trying to learn it off of tapes. I could speak some but I really couldn't understand it. This won't give me any practice speaking it but, hey, one step at a time.
http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html?pop=yes&vodid=392886&pid=366#

The Myers-Briggs Personality Survey Updated

via Metafilter.
The Myers-Briggs Personality Survey Updated.
http://www.xeromag.com/fun/personality.html
Tongue in cheek descriptions of the 16 personality typers.

Not For Children Picture Books

Deanna Molinaro's Not For Children Books.

http://www.deannamolinaro.com/Stuff_That_I_Made/Books/BookTitles.html
via Metafilter
These remind me a bit of Edward Gorey's books. I love the last page on the Sea Monster book.

crock pot chicken broth

http://unclutterer.com/archives/2007/09/
the_slow_cooker_uncluttered_ki.php

Orgami Artist Vincent Floderer

Amazing artist Vincent Floderer folds a different sort of orgami. It amazes me how incredibly creative people can be.

Here he shows you how he does it and how to make a muchroom.

Square Dancing Competition

I love this. Check out the gals in their dancin' dresses. The sound of the old engines mixes in with the music perfectly for that little extra flavor.

I have no idea where this is, a state fair maybe? I wish I knew, this might be worth seeing.
Update: Looks like it's in Ohio at the 2007 Maria Stein Country Fest. Here's a link if you feel you just must see it in person.
http://www.mscountryfest.com/tractorsquare.htm
Later that same day (or the next day or next year, I don't know) but here's more of the same. Different tune and a different point of view and with the wheels throwing up whatever's in that ring I don't think you want a front row seat.

Guided Meditation

Guided meditation sources, many online via AskMeFi thread.

http://ask.metafilter.com/70789/Help-me-get-started-on-guided-meditation

Potato Song

I found an animated video utilizing Cheryl Wheeler's "Potato" song. It's pretty funny.

I wrote about Cheryl Wheeler last year when I saw her at Swallow Hill. also found this video of her singing a song called "Your God". It's kind of an odd video, the pictures are stills. The song is what's important though and there are words and a little bouncing ball in case you'd like to sing along. It's hard to hear when she's talking but once she starts singing it's audible. If you're very into organized religions you shouldn't watch.

Online SET game

Online SET game. Daily puzzle http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

There are several games you can play but my favorite is set. It's a matching game. Pretty challenging.

Online SET game

set, game

Break Dancer

Check out the upper body strength on this break dancer. Unbelievable.

There's are parts where he dives off of his crutches that will blow you away.

Top Sites

List of the top100 undiscovered sites for 2007 PCmag.com
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2174685,00.asp

Rentometer

Great little tool for figuring out average rents in your area by zip code.
http://www.rentometer.com/api_users/explain

Hallelujah

I love this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2NEU6Xf7lM
Halelujah. Leonard Cohen wrote it. Here it's performed by 4 Norwegian guys I've never heard of before, I really like the way they sing it.
Here's another version by Sheryl Crow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUfHhwmufGM
And this one by Leonard Cohen: Some of the verses are different in his version but he wrote it so I guess he can change it if he wants to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf36v0epfmI
Amazing song. If he never did another thing, he could rest on this alone.

Odd Statues

Some really great statues from various places around the world.
http://www.oddee.com/item_89236.aspx

Hamster Powered Paper Shredder

Funny. http://www.tomballhatchet.com/hamstershredder.html Hamster powered paper shredder.

Kevlar Thread

Kevlar Thread via Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001865.php

I'm sure I need this for something.

Math Tutor

This looks like a good site for learning math. Not free, unfortunately, but still....might be worth it.

http://www.aleks.com/?ref=web

AskMeFi thread on remedialMath and English resources.

http://ask.metafilter.com/70805/I-need-to-learn-basic-to-fairly-advanced-Math-and-English-and-Im-somewhat-of-a-rookie-who-is-taking-action-Help

Free math tutorials
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/
Text Book: Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers
Free Open Courses at MIT of all places
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
Another page with lots of free math links, some repeats.
http://education-portal.com/articles/Where_to_Find_Free_Math_Courses_Online.html

Blue Jean Quilts

Looking for quilts made from old blue jeans. I like this one.
http://www.frogsonice.com/quilts/denim/

Jeanne and Becky got me started on quilting last week and Jayme and Sarah quilted with us over the Labor Day weekend. Now I'm thinking of ressurecting my old goal of making a blue jeans quilt. I think it would take a lot of thought and planning to make one I would actually like.








Sarah, Jayme and Jeanne

Here are a bunch of inspiration pictures on flickr.

Quilt made from blue jean back pockets.
http://www.geocities.com/rubberduckylover/taniasquilt.html
More quilts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_and_l_kau/616834531/
Jeans quilt with ragged edges
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torturedmommy/103738228/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torturedmommy/103738679/
Snails Trail - Is there denim in this? No, just a quilt by someone named Jean. Cool quilt though and I bet you could use jeans. I know this is a difficult pattern though.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tchatchke/65150979/
Pockets from jeans to make into a quilt
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunshinescreations/389303250/
This is cute with the jars of different fabrics, no jeans though
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9588476@N06/796409223/in/set-72157601186460854/
Strips of denim making big diamonds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9588476@N06/797873636/
More rough edge jeans quilt, interesting use of lights and darks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltar/488108614/
Not Jeans but I like it. Looks like it could keep you busy for years.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltdiva/803257580/
I like this one too. Maybe it could be done with jeans.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karen_d/204028387/
Squares and strips
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mellicious/50238141/
Perhaps I could do a sampler quilt out of old jeans.
Interesting abstract quilt, no jeans.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophiejunction/461023405/

The Paradox of Choice

Psychologist Barry Schwartz talking on The Paradox of Choice.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/93
There is also a book.
http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/0060005696/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7345382-2734203?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188936465&sr=1-1
This really hits home for me. I realized about five years ago that I'm much more creative with less choices. When I was remodeling my kitchen I went to a tile store that carried discontinued tile. There were big piles of tile and that's what you had to choose from. If there wasn't enough tile there, or at a single other location, then it wouldn't work for your project (or you had to design a way to combine tiles). I ended up with this wonderful checkerboard floor that garnered compliments from everyone who saw it. My point is that it's really easier, in the long run, not to have so many choices. Schwartz talks about the paralysis caused by too many options. I can so relate to that.
Yesterday I went to a fabric store and it turns out that there was only one fabric that would work at all with what I'd already done and that made my decision easy. So much easier than having 10 or 12 choices that would all work, pretty much equally. Of course if there was nothing that worked, I would need more choices. I guess this would be the paradox part.
The video is on a site called Ted.com subtitled "Ideas Worth Spreading".
Looks like I'll be spending some time there in the future.
Oh yes, I just watched Mena Trott's
talk on blogging. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/21 I'll be here for awhile.

Collapsible Bucket Directions etc.

Directions at Instructables for making a collapsible canvas bucket, looks like a good design.
http://www.instructables.com/id/E479YPKF327AXB1/?ALLSTEPS
and a cool website called "Alteredcloth.com" has several pages of various patterns for headbands, and very easy skirts and summer tops.
http://www.alteredcloth.com/blog/projects/index2.php

Free Business Cards

Very good site for making your own, free business cards. Several different card styles to choose from and then you can choose 3 colors, lots of different shades. I've just been playing around so far but I've come up with some color combinations that I really like. The Long Grass design can looks pretty sweet depending on the colors you use.
http://www.businesscardland.com/home/create-business-cards.html
I haven't actually tried printing any.
They also have several gift tags and invitaions you can print ffor ree. I think the one with the bird house would work for when I have to move. Again.

What's That Bug

Website called "What's That Bug?"
I"ve finally identified a bug I've been wondering about for 40 years. I saw it at my Aunt's house in Rawlings, Wyoming. It was red and yellow and half squished, and I thought, at the time, that it looked a lot like the plastic bugs from the old Cootie game. My Dad said he thought it was some sort of scorpion and it looks like he was right, it's in the same family and is called, among other things, a Wind Scorpion and a Sun Spider. Unfortunately, I don't have my own photo of it but there is one here on the "What's That Bug" site.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/solpugids.html
Great website with lots of photos of "bugs"
I also found a big, but very cool, green bug

on the ceiling that looked like a leaf last week

and it seems that it's a katydid.

Strawberry yoghurt, balsamic chicken

This is really, really good and I don't want to lose the recipe. I made it twice in one week, once to try it and once to share with Jeanne and Becky and Sarah. Everyone liked it. I'd like to try it with peach yogurt and ginger next.
Strawberry yogurt balsamic chicken http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Balsamic-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Trained Fish

It's true, you can train most anything with positive reinforcement.

Trained gold fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze-2Z7Wh1nQ

Jumping Fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEI8lMnLI_k

Trained fish in AXE commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEI8lMnLI_k

Clicker type training a fish with a light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STLgWyXGUMg

Target Training with Fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVdTpP3tQKk

Animated Outline & An Online Line Toy

Link to a cool little black and white animation done with outlines.
http://uploads.ungrounded.net/221000/221483_Play.swf
Draw a line and rotate and spin it.
http://www.zefrank.com/string_spinv2/menu.html

More Zak George and His Dogs

Another very sweet video by Zak George with his amazing dogs at youtube.com.
This one's called sibling rivalry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7psYJ6mBpQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1S-BO-0ZI

Dollar Bill Gift Box

How to make a little box out of 2 one dollar bills. About the right size for a ring according to the author.
At Instructables:
http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/box/

A Service Dog named Henry

This one is great too. It shows the dog with the person he actually lives with and assists.


Sweet, happy dog.
I should be sick of that background song by now but I still like it.
You can tell that these are the jobs that the dog does every day, he's really got them down pat.

Here's a short one of the same dog and person.

Photograph Toys

Fun tools to make this out of your photographs.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Free online graphic tools page.
http://www.1netcentral.com/graphics-tools.html

This looks good.
http://www.bannermakerpro.com/links.html

Gourd Festival

There is a Gourd Festival down in Alabama in October when I'll be there (well, I can arrange to stay for it anyway). I picked up a flyer last year and some of their classes sounded really interesting.
Here is their website
http://www.alabamagourdsociety.org/
And here is a slide show of last years festival.


ALGS Show 2006
This could be fun. Maybe I can talk Maryanne, Stacy, and Kama of making a "girls day out" of it.
I used to have a cookie jar that I think came from my Moms sister made out of a painted gourd. It was a squatty gourd woman with the bottom as the skirt and the top as her face. The gourd was cut horizontally around the middle with a decorative line so you had to have it just right to put the top back on. That was a real challenge for me as a kid. Maybe I'll try to recreate it.
These Turkish Gourd Lamps on the American Gourd Society's site cast very cool shadows and have just all kinds of possibilities.
http://www.americangourdsociety.org/international.html

Cat and Crow

I saw this a long time ago on TV. I'm so glad I found it again on youtube. It's an amazing and very sweet story about a cat and a crow who are best friends.

Woman Pumping Gas

Have you ever had one of those days when you're just not quite firing on all pins?

More Service Dogs

Great video about service dogs. It gives a good idea of what they can do. They are taught to do specific things for each person. We had one guy who was a photographer and carried several different cameras. His dog would take them in and out of the basket on the back of his wheelchair.

Some of their biggest and most important skills are social. They act as companions, of course, but also, there just isn't any better ice breaker than a dog. They can make a massive difference in someones social life.

How To Clicker Train Your Dog

I've seen movies of this guy (Zak George) with his frisbee dogs, he does a good job of teaching here too. The part with Juanita is probably the best example of how a clicker works that I've ever seen.

There are lots of videos on this page on clicker training. If you just watched a bunch of these, both the ones for dogs and the ones for cats, I think you would have a pretty good start in clicker training. Really a lot of good information here. Of course you would need to practice on an animal as well, but these give you a good sense of the timing and the steps to start shaping behaviors. You can do it with most anything, I've seen videos of a guy doing it with fish and the woman (Karen Pryor) who popularized clicker training is an animal behavioralist who started out training sea mamals for aquatic shows. Her book "Don't Shoot the Dog" is one of my favorite books, period. The revised edition has a lot more info in it but I like the shorter, original edition better, though you have to buy it used. She has a story in the original edition about how her son decided to reinforce it every time it did something cute and ended up with this remarkably cute kitten. Just that one short little piece in the book helped teach me more about behavioral shaping than anything else before or since.
I really like Zak and Richard Norton with his cats.
Zak asks that you leave a comment on his videos, even if it's just one word, and also that you give it a rating with the star system. It helps his youtube rating He deserves it as he obviously puts a lot of hard work into them and is very generous with his knowlege.

Clicker Training a Cat

This is a really good video done by a guy in Norway on how to teach a cat to operate a light switch using a clicker. Great at demonstrating the method, especially the timing.

Leeches and Maggots and Wounds ... Oh My!

I love simple, low tech solutions to things. Years ago, like when my Dad was a kid in the 20s and 30s, leeches were used as a treatment for black eyes and other bruises. I wrote about it earlier in one of my little family history entries. Present day physicians are starting to use them again and there is a link to a video about it there.
Doctors are also using maggots to debride wounds. Maggots will only eat dead tissue so they don't injure the surrounding, healthy flesh. Apparently they do a better job than the medical professionals can. They are raised specifically for this purpose and are sterile and guaranteed disease free. I've linked to a video about it at youtube but it shows an actual wound and the maggots and everything so not for the faint of heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6O45Vt9wCc
I think it's really interesting but that's me.
This one's even worse (or better, depending on how you look at it). It starts out with a time lapse scene of a dead fox being devoured by maggots, so seriously, if that sort of thing grosses you out, don't watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6O45Vt9wCc

How To Deal With a Pomegranate

I love pomegranates but hardly ever buy them because they are such a mess to deal with. They're the sort of thing you have to eat while sitting naked in the bathtub. This may prove helpful. I'll have to try it when they start showing up in the stores again.

http://www.epicurious.com/gourmet/blogs/foodeditors/2007/01/
dealing_with_po.html%20%20

Cat Fight

Two cats fighting on top of a kitchen cupboard narrated like a boxing match. Hysterical.

Solar Heater

Photos and instructions on making a solar heater.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/04/26/almost-free-garage-heat-just-drink-a-lot-of-soda/#more-3769

Stuntman

Stuntmen are insane but this is pretty amazing. Yikes!
http://www.glumbert.com/media/stuntman

The Anti-smoking Bus

This is another great advertisment. http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5222/1965/1600/anti-smoking-bus.jpg
The Anti-smoking bus via Beautiful World.

Global Warming Billboard

This is a great. Using the cast sun on an awning, with the "water" rising as the sun moves, this billboard warns of global warming. Inventive & very lo tech.


via SwissMiss
http://swissmiss.typepad.com/

Global Warming Billboard

Altered Books via Incredible @rt Department

Here is a site on altered books. How to make them, examples, ideas and lots of good links. http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/Linda-books.htm Same site, here is a page on how the brain learns. Lots of interesting stuff on this site (Incredible @rt Department). http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/links/toolbox/instruction.html Makes me wish I could go back to art & design school.

Addicted to Home Shows

I've become addicted to the home shows on HGTV. I'm watching "While You Were Out" and they are doing a house for this guy who is a tapdancer. They made him an alarm clock. His girlfriend put on tap shoes and they recorded her feet dancing for about thirty seconds and then her face comes into the screen and says "Wake Up" and they run it on his computer and that serves as his alarm clock. Very clever and he loved it. It may have been one of the designers who did the tap dance but it makes a better story if it was his girlfriend.
They also used disembodied maniquin hands mounted on the wall for hat hangers and hung old tap shoes and old ballet slippers on the wall with a frame over them them so the shoes (really old beat up ones) were framed. They hung a magnifing glass with the tap shoes, I don't know why, but it looked good. Kind of ornate frames.

Block Posters

This might be fun. You upload a picture, decide how many sheets of paper you want it printed across and print it out. I haven't tried it but it sounds good to me.
http://www.blockposters.com/

Pearl Diving

Article on Japanese pearl diving. (Ama)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,1857110,00.html
Rocky Mountain PBS E-news
Korean pearl diving (Haenyo)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haenyo
http://src.unescoapceiu.org/pdf/2006/sangsaeng/060529_ss_vol15_p38-39.pdfhttp://www.lulu.com/browse/book_view.php?fCID=611041&fBuyItem=5
I remember my Dad talking about the Pearl divers in Japan, possibly when I was into diving for coins at the local pool. At the time I thought that would be the best job.
Here is a set of wonderful pictures by Iwase Yoshiyuki, 1907-2001
The women in these pictures dove for seaweed, shells and abalone rather than pearls but still some wonderful photos.
http://www.iwase-photo.com/ama1.html

Billiard Ball Cupcakes

Billiard Ball cupcakes with chocolate rack.
http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/cupcake-billiards-2006-09-22.htm
Color spray for cakes
http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=IN5500-BLU

Service Dogs

A video about service dogs for people with limited mobility.

Caroline Rhea on Lisping

Short and sweet. This one's only about 15 seconds long. Funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIKBnKFVYzY

Freakonomics Blog

Freakonomics has a Blog.
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/
And a listing of their articles for the New York Times.
http://www.freakonomics.com/times.php

"Mystery...

Someone at AskMetafilter was asking about the origin of this quote.
"Mystery...is not the absence of meaning, but the presence of more meaning than we can comprehend."
I don't know who said it but I really like it.

Write html code

Here is a site called w3schools.com for learning to write html code. Definitely something to take a look at.
http://w3schools.com/html/default.asp

Shoe Tree

Great idea and directions on making a shoe tree at notmartha

Nat Sherman Cigarettes

I was reading an article in Discover about a real life House type character. A physician named Thomas Bolte who likes to take on puzzling cases.
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/medical-mysteries/the-real-dr-house
The article was talking about how he tries to get to know his patients and that one of them smoked Nat Sherman cigarettes. There was a link, Nat Sherman cigarettes.
http://www.natsherman.com/since1930/ns_cigarette_anatomy.cfm?CFID=5768685&CFTOKEN=623a0966aaec8449-31BE76CB-65B8-EC0F-D9CBD570D0FA0A6E and having never heard of these and wondering what made them special, I clicked on it. Interesting. Made with very high quality tobaccos with no added chemicals. There are some that are black with gold tips for "evening wear" and some that come in pretty, bright colors. Seems like they could make an interesting character detail.
Oddly enough, there was an episode of House where House prescribes one cigarette a day (no more, no less). I can't remember what the disease was though. Maybe I'll see if anyone knows at AskMetafilter.

Sylvester Goes For A Walk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDv6JHpszNc

...and I'll write everyday. Uh huh.

Well, so much for writing everyday.
I've started training dogs for Freedom Service Dogs again and that's what I spent yesterday and today doing. I really love it and I haven't forgotten nearly as much as I thought I might have. I'll bring my camera one of these days and post some photos. In the meantime, here is a video
Way off subject but I found a recipe for cauliflower and ginger pear soup that I want to try and I don't want to lose the site.
http://preserveless.blogspot.com/2007/05/mm03-food-memories.html

6 Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

This could be that chicken tortilla soup that Stacy was talking about.
http://www.snacksby.com/recipes/1005/Six+Can+Chicken+Tortilla+Soup
She said that this is the thing she makes for a get together that everyone will want the recipe for and all she does is open cans.

Recipe Search by Ingredients

Here is a link for one of those sites where you can type in the ingredients you have on hand and it will give you some recipes. Could be better but worth a try.
http://www.snacksby.com/recipe/search
I can't find the recipe that I found a few nights ago. It was chicken breasts stuffed with feta cheese and parsley and baked with tomato. I didn't have parsley or fresh tomato so I mashed the feta with lots of dried basil and tarragon and a generous tsp of horseradish, cut a slit in the chicken breasts and stuffed the feta mixture in, put them in a little square casserole dish with some sliced zuchinni and poured a jar of sliced tomato (including the juice) over the whole thing then baked it at 350 for 40 minutes. Turned out pretty well. Definitely good enough to do again.

Autobioiography

I may start another blog. If I do, it's going to be sort of an autobiography/random thought sort of thing, but for right now I'll just start it here.
At the family reunions we all talk about how we wish we'd listened harder and wrote things down when the previous generation was talking and telling stories so I'm writing my story down now. It seems so presumptuous to think anyone will want to read it, since I have no children of my own, but I'd love to have more stories about Bea, who never had kids, so maybe someone will want to read this.
Today is August 1, 2007 and I will be 52 on the 9th. I can't believe I'm that old or so fat I almost hate to go anywhere. I've been thinking about my youth a lot lately. Youth being anything before 50, even 49 sounds better than 50. I'm thinking about all the things that are different from when I was younger and how now it's me who was born back in the olden days. I remember my Father being somewhat insulted when I asked him what it was like in the olden days and now it was me, totally flabbergasted when Jocelyn Rose asked me about way back in the olden days. It was only the 60's and 70's. That's only, like... yikes! 40 years ago. Just like me asking my Dad about the 20's and 30's and him thinking "but it wasn't that long ago...".
My Dad lived on a ranch near Gillette, Wyoming where his oldest sister, Placide, (Pla-seed, not placid like the lake or a cow), where she remembers her Father digging the well for the ranch by hand. Her job was to feed a rope with a lantern on it down into the hole so he could see and she remembered being terrified that the lantern would set the rope on fire. She can't have been very old if she was just sitting around holding a rope. They really had to grow up quick out there and she would have had other, heavier responsibilities and it would have been one of the other, younger 9 kids holding the rope. It's funny what you remember, she must have been in her 70's when she told that story and I bet she wasn't 6 years old when the well was dug. Honestly, I'm not totally sure if I heard this from her or secondhand from somebody else, like I said, I'm 52, and my memory is going. The well is still in use today. Dad said that it was such good water that they would take it into town and sell it to make coffee with. I remember being out at the ranch and thinking it was awful and can't I please have orange juice instead.
This really will be about me eventually but I want to get some of this down first. Sort of starting way back in the Pleistocene like Mitchner. Does that even make any sense these days? Does anyone even still read him?
My Grandfather, Leo, owned a mercantile in Gillette. I don't remember many stories about the store except that there was a jar of leeches on the counter, sold as a remedy for black eyes and bruises. I thought that was totally barbaric and gross when I was a kid. Now I think it's kind of cool and modern medicine is starting to use them again, post surgery, because of their anti-coagulant properties in micro surgeries like finger reattachment. I love simple, low tech stuff like that. Here is a link to a video about just that, very interesting but too gross for a lot of people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl7REIufCtE
The only other thing I remember is that Leo let a lot of people get by on credit when times were tough and quite a few never bothered to pay him back. Maryanne still has a list of creditors written on a piece of lined paper. Most of the names don't have a line drawn through them indicating the debt fwas repaid.
I'm going to try to write everyday. I need to find a way to back this stuff up. If I'm going to write it all down, I don't want to lose it.
It just occured to me that they had an uncle Mun. I bet it was short for Edmund and that's probably where my cousin, Ed, got his name. Ed is very particular about it; it's Edmund not Edward. Uncle Mun was hit by a car in Denver while riding his bicycle. I know there is a newspaper article about it that someone saved. I'll have to see if I can get it scanned and post it .
That's all for today.
August 1, 2007

Error Fix for "Tag Is Not Closed"

Sometimes I get an error message when I try to embed something that says: Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not closed: I finally went looking for the fix for that and here it is.
Wow, it won't let me put it here, I get another error message. Here is the link to the fix. http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help-howdoi/browse_thread/thread/b8e74122df176c61/8474e3610ba7dae0?q=Tag+is+not+closed&rnum=1#8474e3610ba7dae0

Christopher Walken Cooks

Christopher Walken roasting a chicken with pears. Is there anyone more delightfully creepy? I'ver never tried cooking a chicken this way and pears are coming in so maybe now is a good time to try it.


I love the internet.

Painting Over Wall Paper

Here is a good link on painting over wallpaper by using drywall mud over it first. This may be the way to go for Jeanne's bathroom.
http://www.gardenandhearth.com/PaintandWallpaper/ PaintOverWallpaper.htm
Also, Behr makes a venitian plaster faux finish product but I don't know how much it costs. Probably more than a tub of drywall mud.

Pick The Brain

I just found this site called "Pick The Brain". It has lots and lots or short articles on various self improvement topics. I think I want to read them all.
I'm trying to decide whether to do a direct link from the name of a site or to use the link with the site address in it http://www.pickthebrain.com/
or do both. I've kinda been trying for both but I think it may be confusing

More Street Art

This is a call out for graffiti mural artists from Toronto, Canada. These people got all of the course structures from the last International Bike Show and are telling urban artists to come on down to the sports arena and paint them. The structures will then be put out in the local parks for kids to use and ultimately be returned to be used in the next International Bike Show. I love it when the local government uses imagination, creativity and vision. And this one is an interview (again in Canada)with an artist who does some amazing things and who defines graffiti vs street art (letters vs everything else).
And this one is an interview (again in Canada)with an artist who does some amazing things and who defines graffiti vs street art (letters vs everything else).

Miracle Fruit

I'm looking for a good recipe for high fiber muffins and came across this instead.
http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2007/07/06/miracle-fruit-tricking-your-taste-buds/
It's an article on a "miracle fruit" that makes sour or bitter things taste sweet.
There is also a link to Dave's Garden. Looks like it could be a useful site.