Wed, 31 Mar 2004

Getting Growing
I think I might join the Ottawa Horticultural Society. I would really like to learn more about landscape gardening.

posted at: 23:00 | path: /living | link

Soggy Lawn
Ah- spring is in the air, and with it, the return of my efforts to rejuvinate the lawn behind our flat. Having observed it for the last few weeks, I think I have a clue to its problems- it spent much of that time underwater. This could certainly explain the moss explosion currently underway. Time to investigate lawn drainage.

posted at: 21:30 | path: /living | link

Sat, 27 Mar 2004

Bundt Pan alternatives
Or, if bundt pans aren’t your thing, you could investigate this microwave corn popper that Colin just bought.

posted at: 21:25 | path: /living | link

I think I’m…
In love with bundt pans.

posted at: 21:21 | path: /living | link

Mon, 22 Mar 2004

Some Technical Details on Drying Oils
This site explains why drying oils often contain metals. It’s to speed up the drying process.

posted at: 13:55 | path: /living | link

Drying Oils
The key to making oilcloth is the use of a drying oil. These are oils that dry to an elastic film. Encouragingly, corn oil is one of these. Maybe I’ll try leaving some out on a plate and see what happens.

posted at: 13:48 | path: /living | link

Making Oilcloth From Scratch
At one point, oilcloth was used as a waterproof fabric. It was made by applying polymerized linseed oil to fabric. Some people have posted about their experiences of making it from scratch: Experience 1 Experience 2

posted at: 13:43 | path: /living | link

Resin Floor Finish
Here’s a natural resin floor finish. I wonder if it is edible? I wonder what would happen if you put it on fabric?

posted at: 13:36 | path: /living | link

Plant Resins
Maybe natural plant resins are a step in the right direction. Obviously replacing all of our plastics with something made out of resin would wipe out the plant population in about one second, but the key here is re-usability.

posted at: 13:34 | path: /living | link

Safe (or at least safer) Plastics
CHEC (Children’s Health Environmental Coalition) does provide some useful information on which plastics are at least better for you. Fortunately, we can use the handy plastic recycling numbers to help us out with this.

posted at: 13:18 | path: /living | link

Plastic Alternatives
A lot of sites that discuss the problems with plastic irritate me because they either offer no alternatives, or offer completely unrealistic alternatives. The hardest items to replace are plastic wrap and plastic ‘zip-lock’ bags. Latex and rubber are natural products that might have some potential, but I think they both get brittle when frozen… this is a tough one!

posted at: 13:00 | path: /living | link

Nasty Plastics
I kind of knew plastics were problematic from a health persepective. I do suspect that this list is a bit over the top. Still I think its information about which plastics are used in what is useful, from a personal decision making perspective.

posted at: 12:56 | path: /living | link

Sun, 21 Mar 2004

Hair Style Mania
I’m loving all of the hair discussion, I must say! Here’s something to fuel the fire: the interactive style selector.

It’s a searchable hair styles database.

posted at: 16:21 | path: /living | link

Sat, 20 Mar 2004

Another Useful Title- Consumer Consultant
This is another phrase I’m running across. That’s how Amy Todisco describes herself. She has called her company Green Living Now Consulting. Again, a slightly different aesthetic…

posted at: 18:31 | path: /work | link

Sustainability Advisor
Okay- all of this should really be under the work category. I found a new term to describe this type of work- a “sustainability advisor”. Fnaugh. Fnaugh.

posted at: 18:24 | path: /work | link

Aha- Found a ‘Natural Living Consultant’
I’ve been searching the web for other people with this idea who have been successful. The first one I’ve found is Debra Lynn Dadd- Consumer Advocate and Natural Living Consultant. Interesting. Her aesthetic is a bit different from mine…

posted at: 18:20 | path: /living | link

A Lot of Newsletters
I continue to look into the newsletter idea. There appears to be this strange world of newsletters out there. As evidence, see this site. I wonder- do I know anyone who gets a newsletter? They are just like a little mini-magazine, which isn’t so strange, I guess.

posted at: 17:52 | path: /living | link

Fri, 19 Mar 2004

Spring- Time for Indigenous Plants!
Spring is on its way, so once again my thoughts turn to indigenous plants. I’m working on a list that will allow me to translate any recipe into an (equivalent?) recipe that uses only indigenous ingredients. for example:

• white vinegar: maple water vinegar
• lime juice/lemon juice : raspberry juice, cranberry juice
• onions: wild onions
• garlic: wild garlic
• vegetable oil: sunflower seed oil

The NativeTech site has a nice list of plants.

posted at: 15:08 | path: /living | link

Thu, 18 Mar 2004

Unrefrigerated Rice
I tend to somewhat blase about the length of time a food is unrefrigerated, at least up to a day or two. Which isn’t to say I don’t care about food safety- but if something looks, smells and tastes normal then I may eat it. I cooked some rice last night and accidentally left it out in the pot on the stove. I was looking for some information to back up my hope/belief that the rice is still okay to eat. Nothing definitive, but this website at least hints that it should be okay. I like the rice cake idea, too.

And while I’m at it, this recipe for Sushi Rice Salad/Roll-it-yourself Sushi sounds pretty fab.

posted at: 17:38 | path: /living | link

Newsletters Only
Interesting- Here’s a business that specializes in helping other people with their newsletters. So the other people provide the content and they create the newsletter. This site also has some advice on starting your own newsletter, although obviously they would like you to then use their help.

This whole ‘newsletter as business’ idea is new to me, although I did help a lot of people with their school newsletters when I worked for the Halifax School Board.

posted at: 14:16 | path: /living | link

NEPA
One of my long term goals is to start an environmental consulting business. I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately. A while ago, when I was working on my website, Colin suggested that I start a newsletter. I was reminded of this when I came across the site of the Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Association. Could be a good way to get started- I could build up my information resources by publishing a newsletter and then use those resources for the environmental consulting work.

posted at: 13:57 | path: /living | link

Sun, 14 Mar 2004

Mathematics Encyclopedia
The Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia is an online encyclopedia.

posted at: 13:30 | path: /work | link

The Math Forum
The Math Forum looks like it has some nice resources. I would like to have a list of all mathematical operators and all mathematical axioms. Maybe a math encyclopedia?

posted at: 13:27 | path: /work | link

Wed, 10 Mar 2004

Recipes of The Damned
This site has “Real scary recipes from real scary vintage cookbooks.” The recipe on the site when I found it was raw beef sandwiches, from The Metropolitan Life Cook Book, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, (undated).

posted at: 18:18 | path: /living | link

Insta-Mexican
I did find this nice site with a list of foods to have on hand if you want to be able to easily cook Mexican. I’m a sucker for such lists.

posted at: 17:47 | path: /living | link

Salsa Shelf Life
Colin and I are having a disagreement about the fridge life of salsa. According to this site salsa should be ‘axed’ after one month. But Colin says that the ‘AskMen’ website should not be considered the ultimate authority. I tend to agree.

Unfortunately for Colin, most of the other sites (like this one) state that opened salsa should be removed after one *week*.

posted at: 17:38 | path: /living | link

Euclid’s Elements
You can’t get more basic than Euclid’s Elements, geometrically speaking.

posted at: 11:13 | path: /work | link

Geometry
I have moved on from number systems to the Cartesian Plane. Once again, some weird stuff going on here with hidden assumptions. Basically, the Cartesian plane is a special case of Geometry, and some of its very basic assumptions come from geometric proofs, although this is not made explicit.

posted at: 11:06 | path: /work | link

Sun, 07 Mar 2004

Hairagami
Hair toys…

posted at: 22:06 | path: /living | link

negative*negative=positive … Aha!
Okay- finally the Wikipedia entry tells it like it is:

“Multiplication of two negative numbers yields a positive result: (-3) B7 (-4) = 12. This situation cannot be understood as repeated addition, and the analogy to debts doesn’t help either. The ultimate reason for this rule is that we want the distributive law to work:

(3 + (-3)) * (-4) = 3 * (-4) + (-3) * (-4).

The left hand side of this equation equals 0 * (-4) = 0. The right hand side is a sum of -12 + (-3) * (-4); for the two to be equal, we need (-3) * (-4) = 12.

Actually, the first site on the history of negative numbers mentions this, but in a more confusing way.

posted at: 15:54 | path: /work | link

minus * minus = positive - But Why?
There’s seems to be a concensus among different mathematicians that two negatives multiplied together should equal a positive. For instance, the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta also came to this conclusion, apparently independently, in the 17th century:

“The product or quotient of two debts is one fortune.”

So there must be something handy about this, that shows up when you are working on math problems. That’s fine with me- but what is it?

posted at: 15:50 | path: /work | link

History of Negative Numbers
This site gives an excellent discussion of the historical confusion and consternation generated by negative numbers. It also discusses the issue of the product of two negative numbers being a positive number, in a historical context.
(Note: the site is a bit confusing to read. I think it is written in an English dialect a bit different from ours).

posted at: 15:08 | path: /work | link

Ukulele Blog
Dan sent me this blog of all things Ukulele. Thanks Dan!

posted at: 15:02 | path: /living | link

Mathematical Symbols
Even our current symbols for mathematical operations (+,-,* etc.) haven’t been around that long

posted at: 14:56 | path: /work | link

Negative Numbers in History
I’ve been reviewing my basic math, with an eye to its historical development. Some of the decisions of mathematicians have an ad hoc feel to them. For instance, why did they decide that two negative numbers multiplied together should give a positive number? Presumably they went “Well, these negative numbers are useful sometimes, and it would be nice to have them work with all of our basic operations…” And then they had to make some decisions.

Apparently, the negative numbers themselves were viewed with some suspicion until quite recently.

posted at: 14:53 | path: /work | link

Electric Grill
Due to some significant abuse, my trusty old mini-BBQ has kicked the bucket. I’m a bit embarrassed about this- I’m sure it would have lasted me many years if I had been a bit more careful. Colin even tried to repair it for me, but it seems to have cooked its last burger.

While I could replace it with another version of the same model- small, effective, cheap and portable- I’m now thinking about getting an electric grill. If I had an electric grill, I could BBQ on the balcony, or even in the kitchen. I’ll have to think about this…

posted at: 14:47 | path: /living | link

Sat, 06 Mar 2004

Cordon Vert
I like this Cordon Vert idea. Bring on the gourmet food.

posted at: 17:52 | path: /living | link

BBQing fruit
Last night Carrie and Kevin graciously let Colin and I monopolize their barbecue. I really love barbecuing! Last night I tried to BBQ some fruit- I wasn’t *too* pleased with the initial results, but it definitely has potential. These recipes are just the tip of the iceberg, I hope.

posted at: 17:47 | path: /living | link

Bamboo Steamer Cooking
There always seems to be another method of cooking to experiment with, which makes me happy. I’ve been meaning to try out steam cooking for about a year now, and it could be the time to give it a shot. This site is certainly encouraging!

posted at: 17:31 | path: /living | link

Passion Plays
I inadvertently stumbled across this information on passion plays while looking for something unrelated. It pointed the way to a further very interesting document published by the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1988.

This is of more interest recently because of the recent release of the movie “The Passion of Christ”. This movie qualifies as a passion play, and as such falls under the jurisdiction of the Nostra Aetate. Apparently, it also does not abide by the mandate set out in the Nostra Aetate (see the very interesting document above for information on this mandate).

posted at: 17:15 | path: /living | link

Fri, 05 Mar 2004

Basil Algorithm
Dan, an LSU AgCenter horticulturist writes:

“Individual basil leaves may be harvested for use, but more typically the plant is pinched or cut back. Cut or pinch basil just above a pair of leaves, removing no more than a third to a quarter of the plant at one time. This leaves plenty of foliage to keep the plant healthy and productive.”

posted at: 16:57 | path: /living | link

Pinching Basil
As some of you may know, the more you cruelly pinch back your Basil plants, the more leafy they become. Here’s why.

I’ve also been looking for some Basil pinching algorithms. I know when you pinch off the top of a major stalk, two new stalks grow where one used to. However, I’ve only tried this with the first set of leaves, so I don’t know what happens if I try variations on this. Thus the need for the pinching algorithms.

posted at: 16:57 | path: /living | link

Wed, 03 Mar 2004

Most Excellent South Park Generator
Thank you Keltie for sharing your discovery of the South Park Generator! I love it! It is so eerily accurate…

Keltie made South Park portraits of various individuals. Before I realized she had done one of me, I made one of my own. The bizarre thing is- they are quite different but also both me. Hmmm… is there some CatWoman thing going on here?

posted at: 14:18 | path: /living | link

Tue, 02 Mar 2004

Appliances in the garbage
In Dakota County they have the following law:
“It is illegal to place the following in the garbage: washers/dryers, hot water heaters, garbage disposals, trash compactors, ranges/stoves, air conditioners, heat pumps, refrigerators/freezers, furnaces, microwave ovens, dehumidifiers, dishwashers.”

Consequently, the county provides a list of places were such items can be dropped off for proper disposal and, where possible, recycling. I need one of these lists for Ottawa.

posted at: 18:22 | path: /living | link

City of Ottawa- Garbage and Recycling
There are a few possibilities here, at least for the old speakers. I’m still working on the microwave.

posted at: 18:15 | path: /living | link

Meetings will save the environment…
EPSC has proven to be a bit disappointing. Some samples from their website:

“Saskatchewan announces public consultations on approaches to effective e-waste management, and identifies EPS Canada as key partner (see Press Release & Fact Sheet)”

“At the CCME meeting of November 25th in Victoria, Environment Ministers from across Canada agreed to develop Canada-wide principles for dealing with waste from electronic products, building on the principles currently being developed by the western provinces.”

Woohoo.

Okay, I’m sure they are doing good things… but where do I recycle my microwave?

The two links on their ‘Resources’ page are: Reports and Papers and Speeches

posted at: 18:06 | path: /living | link

Electronics Product Stewardship Canada

I’ve been looking into recycling electronic products and appliances, since our old microwave and Colin’s old speakers are now taking up valuable floor space in our apartment. I hate the idea of chucking them into the landfill- although the comforting thought that perhaps in the future we will build scavenger robots that can reclaim the vast resources trapped in landfills does cheer me up somewhat… as long as the robots stay in the landfills… hmmm….

Anyway, my search begins here with EPSC.

posted at: 18:01 | path: /living | link

All material copyrighted by Jen Schellinck. All rights reserved.