Boston, Home to Several New Movies

Living here and reading the papers we see a variety of actors in town for filming of this movie or that (see our September 10, 2007 post). A local TV show, Chronicle, did a spot on Boston movie-making last night, calling the city "Hollywood East."

You may recall that Gone Baby Gone (book written by Dennis Lehane, movie adaptation by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, directed by Ben Affleck) took place and was filmed in Boston. Another of Lehane's books, Shutter Island, is being filmed here now. The movie, renamed to Ashecliffe (the hospital where the story begins), is being produced by Phoenix Pictures, directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio. The release date is October 9, 2009.

21 is being released today and stars Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Jim Sturgess, and a host of other new actors. The movie was inspired by a real-life story of M.I.T. students who used simple math to give a blackjack player an edge over the dealer, costing Las Vegas casinos millions. The book, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, by Ben Mezrich and inspiration for the movie has received mixed reviews. We'll see how the movie goes over (Roger Ebert gave it 1 1/2 stars).

Independent film On Broadway stars Joey McIntyre (yes, from New Kids on the Block and Brookline -a Boston suburb- native). The movie is described as:

On Broadway tells the story of Jack O'Toole, a 30-something Boston everyman, who writes a play about his dead uncle as a way to reconnect with his hard-nosed dad. With no money and just his gut to guide him, Jack quits his job as a carpenter so that he can mount a production of his play on the only stage he can afford: in the back room of his neighborhood pub, on a little street called Broadway.

The Irish American film has received much local acclaim.

So what can we say? Come visit us in Boston, and maybe you'll see someone famous! If you can't make it here, maybe you can make it to one of the movies above.

Kite Flying Day

According to some calendars, today is Kite Flying Day. To celebrate, the Smithsonian Institute is having it's 42nd Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival on Saturday, March 29 at the Washington Monument. The event promises to be a lot of fun.

Many of us, myself especially, have a particular fondness for the scene near the end of Mary Poppins with the family spending time together to fly a kite. What fun!



According to Wikipedia, kites were invented and popularized in China over 2800 years ago. Most Americans recall [from school] the famous kite flying experiment by Benjamin Franklin and his son in 1752 which involved putting a metal key on the hemp cord of a kite during a lightening storm (no way would Mom let that happen now). We benefit from his dangerous experiment by having everywhere we go wired for electricity. If you are interested in making a kite like Benjamin Franklin and his son made (without the key, of course), watch the video below.



Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Helen Mirren Praised by Naturist Society

from: Contact Music

HELEN MIRREN - HELEN MIRREN PRAISED BY NATURIST SOCIETY

Caption: HELEN MIRREN's on and off screen antics have seen her rewarded for her naturist...

Click for the Helen Mirren Gallery

HELEN MIRREN's on and off screen antics have seen her rewarded for her naturist tendencies.

The actress, whose credits include ELIZABETH I and GOSFORD PARK, has bared all in the hit movie CALENDER GIRLS and is also reportedly a fan of sunbathing in the buff at home, reports the Mirror.

The USA Naturist Society has presented the 62-year-old with its top showbiz personality for "promoting healthy nudity" accolade.

Nicky Hoffman, a member of the society, told the publication: "Nude is not lewd, it is beautiful. Helen is actually a naturist and goes nude sunbathing."

Other well-known names praised for their attitude towards naturism include KYRA SEDGEWICK who in the past has admitted sunbathing in the nude.

LOST star MATTHEW FOX rounded off the top three after it was revealed that he had been swimming naked in Hawaii.

Hollywood heartthrobs MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY and BRAD PITT also held spots among the top ten, for playing the bongos naked and hitting the beach naked, respectively.

Meanwhile, HELEN MIRREN recently came second in a poll conducted by FX TV to find the 'Queen of Nip and Tuck'.

The actress, who is rumoured to have had a subtle face lift, came second only to SHARON OSBOURNE.



26/03/2008 10:40:43

Related articles:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a92286/helen-mirren-bags-us-naturist-award.html
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-news/2008/03/26/helen-mirren-wins-nudity-award-86908-20362999/
http://www.pr-inside.com/mirren-scoops-best-nude-gong-r503552.htm
http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/2008/03/26/helen-mirren-wins-award-from-usa-naturist-society-89520-20362948/

Red Sox Season Starts Today

At about 6:00 am Eastern time, the Red Sox began playing the season opener against the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo, Japan. Right now, it is the bottom of the eighth inning with a score Red Sox 3 - A's 4. I am hopeful the Sox will pull ahead. We hoped to watch the recording tonight, but our DirecTV was out this morning so I could not tape it :( Hopefully NESN will have replay.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, a Japanese native, pitched the first 5 innings. That's him pitching, right. Photo credit is the Boston Globe.

I am dressed in Red Sox apparel and ready for the new season!

Update: Red Sox win Game 1 6-5 in the 10th inning. Woo hoo!

Happy Easter!

Though it is the day after Easter, we wish you a Happy Easter! Our day was spent with family and was very special. We attended the 9:00 am Mass, the egg hunt after, then had a lovely day at Deirdre's house. Easter dinner was superb and the family time was very nice.

Mike read through the bulletin as we ate our dinner last night, and found that it had all kinds of interesting information about Easter. We were both excited to share what we learned! Here goes:

Eggs
The egg is a universal symbol of fertility and its rituals -- used to mark the coming of new life - date back to ancient Egypt and Persia. Christians adopted this familiar symbol as a sign of new life at Easter.

In Germany people dye eggs green (the color of new life) on Holy Thursday. Germans also hang dyed and decorated eggs on tree branches to celebrate the Easter season, like Christmas trees with ornaments.

The Greeks use red to decorate their eggs, symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ. These are used to make Easter bread, given to friends and family on Easter Sunday.

In Bulgaria, people crack their brightly colored eggs during Easter as a sign of luck. The first egg is cracked on the wall of the church after the Easter Vigil. This is the first food to break the paschal fast.

Bunnies
Easter Baskets are filled with chocolate bunnies. The rabbit has been a symbol of new life since before Christianity. Some say the ancients celebrated a festival every spring to worship the goddess Eastre, who took on the earthy guise of a rabbit. Perhaps Christians adopted some aspects of that festival, or perhaps the rabbit was, likethe egg, a universal symbol of fertility.

The American tradition of the chocolate Easter bunny comes from the Germans, who brought their custom of candy rabbits with them to the New World. (The first German candy rabbits were made of pastry and sugar, not chocolate.)

Australians have a problem with rabbits. They consider them pests because they destroy crops. So the Australians rely on the Easter Bilby to deliver their Easter eggs. The bilby is native to Australia and looks a little like a bunny. Photo credit and copyright for bilby here.



Now, I don't personally think the bilby looks a thing like a rabbit; it looks like a mouse that Mattie might deliver to our doorstep. But I'm glad the Australians have a symbol :)

Peeps and Poles

I still want to post a little pole dancing video, but I haven't gotten one together yet. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this image. It cracked me up (I got it from a couple different people via email)


Funny how marshmallow shapes that go stale in 2 seconds are so closely related to Easter :)

There's nothing like a swimming pig...

I was searching the internet for something to write about the vernal equinox today. What I found was pretty scientific, and really lacked the level of fun I wanted. Thinking Boston.com might have something I could use, I headed there. What caught my eye had nothing to do with the first day of spring. It made me smile, though, and I figure that is good enough...

photo from http://www.boston.com/travel/gallery/your_warm_weather_photos?pg=24

The caption with the photo said the following:

One of the famous swimming pigs at Exuma Cay in the Bahamas. This guy could not wait for the anchor to be tossed, so he swam out to meet the photographer.

Not only did I not know there was such a thing as swimming pigs, but who knew they would be cute?! Pretty neat.

Happy First Day of Spring!

Act Happy Week

This week is Act Happy Week! I assume that the name says it all; what more do we really need to know?!

To that end, here are some the things that make me happy:

• a smile from Mike
• puppies, kittens, and other baby animals; animals in general
  
• rainbows
• a kind word from a stranger
• the feeling of helping someone
• hearing a song by a favorite artist
• spending time with family and friends
• seeing new buds on flowers and trees in the Spring
• the first snow in winter
• looking at the world from a [ski] chair lift
• coloring (yes, in a coloring book)
• singing a song to Mattie when I think no one is listening
• making other people smile

The list could go on and on. I am blessed to be happy and try to share my happiness every day (not just during act happy week) by smiling. Smiles to you all!

Newport, Rhode Island

We had a fun trip to Newport, Rhode Island on Saturday. We've been to the city many times and enjoy its natural beauty and history. Photo credit: http://www.aquidneck.info/images/bridge3.jpg.

Newport was founded in 1639 by a group of settlers from Portsmouth, RI who had a political fallout. It became the most important port in Rhode Island, as well as the home to Jews fleeing Spain and Portugal (the second oldest Jewish congregation in the US is here, as well as the oldest synagogue in the Northern hemisphere). The city was also a thriving home for Quakers and for pirates. Unfortunately, it was also the center of New England slave trade. The diversity in the city's settlement helped shape a community that is still interesting (for more, see Wikipedia).

America's wealthy began building summer cottages in Newport around 1850. Amongst them were the Vanderbilts and the Astors. Cornelius Vanderbilts' cottage, the Breakers, is one of the most lavish of the cottages. His grandson, William, also built a cottage there called the Marble House. The Preservation Society of Newport County is very active in saving these historic sites; they manage 11 historic landmarks (7 are national historic landmarks) and make them open to the public for tours. The tours are well worth the cost of admission ($11 for one house, $31 for five houses). Touring at Christmas is particularly fun because the homes are decorated. We've visited most of the mansions -- some several times.

We had drinks at the Spiced Pear, located in The Chanler at Cliff Walk, during our recent visit. The view from the bar was amazing and the entrance to the cliff walk was right outside the seating area. The Inn offers luxurious rooms ranging from $275-$475/night midweek low season to $795-$1,295/night weekend high season. Needless to say, we have not stayed there.

Another site in Newport that we like is Captain Brett's Tribal and Celtic Tattoos. We got Celtic tattoos done there and will go back for any future "embellishments." The shop is very clean and Brett is a nice guy. He was excited to have been featured in Harley Davidson's 100 Year Anniversary book and has been a tattoo artist foor 27 years.

We'd love to check out Newport Blues Cafe on a future visit. Always thinking ahead...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Erin Go Bragh (English translation, Ireland Forever)!  We hope everyone is wearing green today and having the luck of the Irish!  I have on a cute green headband with feathers and shamrocks.  Shocking, isn't it?!

In the spirit of the holiday, I thought I'd share some fun facts I found. Information below is taken directly from http://holidays.kaboose.com/saint-patricks-day/quick_facts.html:

Facts about St. Patrick's Day Holiday

• St. Patrick's Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
   
• In Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.
   
• Many cities have a St. Patrick's Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick's Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick's Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada's longest running St. Patrick's Day parade, which began in 1824.
  

Facts about Saint Patrick

• St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.
  

Facts about the Irish

• 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That's almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.
  
• Some American towns have "Irish" names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
    
• The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as "the Emerald Isle."
   
• The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.
   
• The name "lephrechaun" has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word "leipreachan," which means "a kind of aqueous sprite." Or, it could be from "leath bhrogan," which means "shoemaker."
  
  

Facts about Clovers

• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!
   
• One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
       
• Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Simon's Cat "Let Me In!"

I had no idea what I was going to write today... I stopped by YouTube for some ideas and found this. I have to tell you, I laughed by butt off. It is so Mattie and Mike...



**If you are reading this via RSS, please be advised that embedded items, like the video above, are not included.

Timing is a Funny Thing

I got this note in my email yesterday:

Tax rebate use

As you may have heard the Bush Administration said each and every one of us would now get a nice rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will all go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will all go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will all go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatamala, if we purchase a good car it will all go to Japan, if we purchase useless crap it will all go to Taiwan and none of it will help us.

We need to keep that money here in America, so the only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes and beer, since those are the only businesses still left in the US.

When I read it to Mike, his immediate response was, "So, Eliot Spitzer is a true patriot?"

The Spitzer case makes me question -- not for the first time -- what has happened to this country. How can a public servant at the level of a state or federal legislator, governor, or president possibly think that their life is private? Especially after seeking private funds for their campaigns and personal endorsements for their office?

In the meantime, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, the law firm who employeed Spitzer and his wife for years, sent an inter-office memo to its staff yesterday. The topic? Appropriate dress, which does not include jeans, t-shirts, and headphones. Hmmm.... Good to know where the priorities of the firm are.

As I said, timing is a funny thing.

[Update] Eliot Spitzer resigned as Governor of New York late Wednesday morning. He will be succeeded by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, the state's first black Governor.

Top Chef Season 4

The time has come for Top Chef Season 4 on BravoTV! This season's show will take place in Chicago with Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Ted Allen serving as judges. As in the past, the prize is $100,000 seed money to start a new restaurant.

The 16 contestants come from across the country and from as far as New Zealand, but most seem to be from the FL, NY, or San Francisco area. Stephanie, originally for Stamford, CT is the only New Englander in the bunch.

Bravo has been kind enough to prepare a Sudoku game for us with the new chef's images...


The first show airs at 10 pm Eastern time tomorrow, March 12. Enjoy!

Bath Time

I treated myself to a bath last night. It has been a long time since I've done this and I didn't really think about how long it has been. Turns out, it is the first bath I have taken since we got Mattie in September 2006. I used my Sweet on You mineral bath soak by Yardley for an extra treat. It has brown sugar, oatmeal, and Epsom salt in it, so I thought it would be extra luxurious. I got my bath all ready, swished around the minerals, and got in.

Then a funny thing happened... Mattie came in with an interest unmatched by any cat we've had. Apparently he smelled the minerals and thought the bathtub was full of flavored kitty water. He hung over the edge of the bath tub, his little arms over the edge, and began scooping his paw into the water and licking off the yummy water. This became quite a game since the water was nearly out of his reach. Being the smart guy he is, any time I moved near him he wiped his paw on me so he didn't have to reach so far.

I found the whole thing hilarious. It is really hard to keep a straight face when you are naked in the bath tub with a cat 6" from you watching your every move. I thought he would jump in to rescue me when I dunked my head to get my hair wet. When I finished and began draining the tub, he was so upset to see his treat going down the drain that he jumped on the edge of the bathtub, then finally into the tub itself when it emptied out.

The little things in life really do make me smile :)

Aren't Smiles Nice?!

Have a great weekend!

Naturist Society Picks TV's Top Nudes

from: http://thebiz.fancast.com/2008/03/exclusive_naturist_society_pic_2.html

Exclusive: Naturist Society Picks TV's Top Nudes

Go figure, the human body -- the one thing all of us have in common -- is causing a stir in the TV world again. On one end of the spectrum, the Parents Television Council is angry with NBC after the finale of the series Las Vegas included silhouettes of three bare women, and on the other end Lifetime’s self-esteem boosting How To Look Good Naked was the highest-rated unscripted series in that network’s history when it debuted last January. (Watch clips on Fancast.) To nudity expert Nicky Hoffman, spokesperson for The Naturist Society, a clothing-optional organization based in Oshkosh, WI, the fuss is much ado about nothing. “We do not believe non-sexual nudity is offensive,” she says of the NBC issue. “But I don’t want to see people getting undressed and having sex.” As for HTLGN, she says, “I have mixed emotions about it. Our premise is that everybody looks good naked. Why do you have to make people look good?”

So who in the eyes of Hoffman is getting it right? What shows have included nudity in a manner the Naturist Society approves as tasteful and promoting healthy, appropriate nakedness? Hoffman provided Fancast with relevant top 10 lists. But first her credentials. The 59-year-old Midwesterner has been a member of the Naturist Society since 1985, and before that, she says, “I used to come home from work and the first thing I’d do was take off my clothes.” Philosophically, she believes in “promoting nudity on appropriate public lands, like nude beaches and resorts.” But she makes it clear that “nude is not lewd.” What nude is, she says, is “beautiful.”

The Naturist Society, which publishes a guidebook of the 1000 best places to get naked, has 20,000+ card-carrying members. (Yes, we asked where they carry their cards if they aren’t wearing any clothes, and the answer is in tote bags, wrist wallets, and hats featuring Velcro pockets, all of which are sold in the Skinny Dipper Store). But “there are a lot more people who are naturists than we have members,” says Hoffman. “In a Roper poll done in 2006, 25 percent said they’ve gone skinny dipping or nude sunbathing in mixed company. That works out to about 55 million people. In 1983, it was only percent.”

Given that stat, you’d think everyone would know how to get naked. But apparently not -- at least judging by the popularity of the Carson Kressley-hosted series How To Look Good Naked. Clips of HTLGN have proven very popular on Fancast. That itself inspired a question that has yet to be addressed by Kressley on the series: What’s the best way to watch TV while naked?

“Lay on your bed,” says Hoffman. “That’s the most comfortable way to watch TV naked. But if you’re not in bed, sit on a towel. Whether you’re at someone else’s home or your own, always sit on a towel. That’s naturist 101. Then all you have to do is put your feet up and get comfy.”

What about watching TV online naked (an issue for Fancast users)? “The same rules apply,” says Hoffman. “Unless you’re in an office. Nudity in the workplace is inappropriate.” Even at the Naturist Society? That question elicits a laugh from Hoffman. “No, we wear clothes here. We have people come in for appointments.”

Hoffman says she’s a fan of Kressley, whom, she notes, has yet to doff his clothes. However, according to her, the Naturist Society includes “a number of members who are celebrities.” Such as? “They’ve requested privacy,” she says. Nonetheless, here is Naturist Society’s list of the top 10 celebrity nudists. It’s followed by their list of top 10 TV series that have also furthered the issue.

Top 10 Celebrites Who’ve Promoted Healthy Nudity:

1. Helen Mirren: “She’s actually a naturist and goes nude sunbathing.”
2. Kyra Sedgwick: “Years ago, she said she sunbathed nude.”
3. Matthew Fox: “He swims nude in Hawaii and calls himself a naturist.”
4. Alanis Morissette: “She did a video for a song in which she was nude and her hair was draped around her breasts. I heard she has no problem walking around the set naked.”
5. Lindsay Lohan: “There was a shock factor when she posed recently as Marilyn Monroe, but she promoted a beautiful body in an artful, non-sexual manner.”
6. Matthew McConaughey: “He played bongos nude at home. That puts him in our Hall of Fame. He’s a free spirit.”
7. Kevin Bacon: “From past performances, he doesn’t appear to have any problem with appearing nude.”
8. Kate Hudson: “Nudity was never a big thing in their home; she has a very healthy attitude toward the human body.”
9. Elle McPherson: “She’s originally from Australia, where nude beaches are common, and she has a healthy attitude about the nude body.”
10. Brad Pitt: “Years ago he was photographed sunbathing nude. Good for him, shame on the paparazzi.”

Top 10 TV Series That Have Promoted Healthy Nudity:

1. National Geographic: “A lot of people saw their first naked bodies thanks to these shows. They always do a good job of showing non-sexualized nudity.”
2. Taboo: “A National Geographic production, this show looks at taboo rituals and traditions and regularly shows people nude, but always educationally.”
3. NYPD Blue: “They’ve always show backsides. Maybe they’ve done it a little on the titillating side, but there’s nothing overt or offensive about a butt or a breast.”
4. Monk: “Last season, in a show they did a show featuring a murder on a nude beach, it came out that Monk’s phobias about nudity stemmed from his being born naked. Hilarious.”
5. Surreal Life: “Several seasons ago, they actually went to the Desert Shadows naturist resort in California. While none of the celebrities got naked, they did play a volleyball game against the nudists, and except for Tammy Faye Baker, the stars were okay with it.”
6. The Naked News: “It’s a Toronto-based news show in which the newscasters appear in the nude.”
7. The Simpsons: “Many episodes feature top-free and total nudity.”
8. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: “Jay often features clips borrowed from the Naturist Society, including on clip from the Eastern Naturist gathering featuring the world’s largest nude Frisbee toss.”
9. Malcolm In The Middle: “In a 2005 episode, Malcolm and his brother decide to attend the Burning Man festival in the desert, and there’s brief nudity.”
10. Chicago Hope: “They showed the breast of a young girl after reconstructive surgery. Nobody complained. Goes to show you that non-sexualized nudity can be in good taste.”

Posted on March 4, 2008 7:51 PM | Permalink

E-mail = Smile!

It's funny how easy it is to make me smile. I get an e-mail from a friend, and I am so happy to hear from them, out the smile comes. I guess it is partly due to the fact that we are separated by so many of our friends both geographically and by normal life. In both cases, we don't see them as much as we like.

I liken my e-mails with friends as the modern day passing of notes. In middle school we wrote rambling missives and folded them into origami to pass in the hall between classes. There is no folding now, but I still find myself passing virtual notes to my friends. Little one-liners and longer messages keep me in touch with their lives and I don't feel so far removed.

And so, the messages I receive make me smile. It makes me happy to be in touch with people that I care so much about. I want to be a part of their lives even when we don't see one another. Keep writing! I will, too, and hopefully we will all get to smile.

Musicians' Village, New Orleans

Above, Harry Connick Jr. talks about how Musicians' Village has evolved over the past two years (please note, I spent quite a while try to add controls that would let you play on your own. I couldn't figure it out, so you have to reload the page to restart the video.) We've been watching the smaller project on This Old House, which takes place in New Orleans. About half of the shows each week focus on the homeowner. The other half focus on Musicians' Village, located in New Orlean's Upper Ninth Ward.

The Village was lovingly "created" by Harry Connick, Jr and Branford Marsalis, both natives of New Orleans. About half of the 2,200 musicians in the city lost their homes after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is long known as the home to jazz, music, and culture. The Village will be a living tribute to that history.

Comprised of 72 homes the village will be the home to musicians of the past, present, and future. It is a joint effort with the New Orlean's Area Habitat for Humanity. Volunteers from across the country have spent countless hours working to build these homes. Young musicians who want to live in the village must dedicate somewhere around 350 hours (I can't remember the exact amount) of community service time building their home or helping with another in the village. Another part of the village will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. This facility will have a 150-seat concert hall and many rooms for musicians to practice and record their music. The image below comes from a great travel article in the New York Times.

Mike is in New Orleans from today until Thursday. He'll probably be too busy to see Musicians' Village, but I am crossing my fingers!

Lovely Weekend

Mike and I had a lovely weekend. It was so good that coming to work this morning is extra difficult. I could have just stayed home and kept having a good time. We met up in Newton Corner Friday night and headed into Cambridge for an errand. It was bitingly cold, but good to walk around Harvard Square. Afterwards, we headed into Boston and treated ourselves to dinner at Silvertone. This was our second time to eat at Silvertone. We love the atmosphere (it is crazy busy and very loud) and the food is excellent in both preparation and in price. We both tried the meatloaf. It was good, but not like the one I make...

We got home in time to watch Death at a Funeral (yes, I know we are boring old people who don't stay out all night). It was a dark comedy that was good overall. The characters were funny and the situation was odd. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.

Saturday was spent wrapping up unfinished projects. We got the trim painted in the media room (we replaced it after wiring in our new speakers months ago), did some drywall work in the bathroom, and replaced the trim around the chimney. The new molding looks very nice thanks to Mike's skill with compound mitering.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of salad, Ahi tuna steaks, rice, and sugar snap peas. I had a yen for Nutella crepes, so we had those for desert. I didn't use the crepe recipe from that site, I used another one, and they came out great. It was a yummy, easy desert. I haven't had a Nutella crepe since we were in France in 1999!

We attempted to watch Slipstream on Saturday night. Boy, did I hate it. I thought it was just awful, hard to follow, and made me feel creepy. We turned it off after 30 minutes. It has been years since we have stopped a movie and not finished it. Back to Netflix it goes...

Yesterday began with a yummy breakfast (the photo is not mine, but the original cook's). I found a recipe on everybody likes sandwiches for baked eggs in a bun. It took a bit longer to prepare then I anticipated and I would do it a bit different next time, but it was very good. I've learned that part of the difficulty in having a gas stove is that the temperature is never high enough if I follow a recipe. I have to start adjusting for that. I recommend tenting the foil over the buns if you try this recipe (do try it, it was great). Otherwise the gouda just sticks to the foil -- duh, Tracy. We had ham and cream cheese crepes while we waited for the buns to cook, and those were quite good, too. The food day was quite good yesterday. We enjoyed ham and smoked gouda panini's for lunch. I used truffle oil on them which gives a nice flavor.

We ran a few errands, then back home for my pole homework. I seem to have mastered a few moves pretty well. I haven't made a little video yet, but below is one of many about the S Factor, Sheila Kelley's workout that I have been doing.


The rest of the evening was spent in relative relaxation, watching bad TV (Oprah's Big Give and Here Come the Newlyweds)and just hanging out.

Smiles!

I Need a Va-CAT-ion, too!

Hi. Mattie here. It is 2.8 degrees outside. I just want you to know, I dream of a warm sandy beach just as much as Mike and Tracy.

National Chili Day

Well, today is National Chili Day! As I've said in the past, I don't make this stuff up. There really is a day devoted to this yummy belly-filler. Looking around the web I see that I am not the only chili lover. The International Chili Society has a great webpage. The history of chili is a unknown, but who cares about the past when you can have some now! Check out some of the recipes I found:

• ICS Cooks Corner: includes the "best chili of the year" and its corresponding recipe back to 1967
• Tabasco Company's chili recipes
• Food Blog Search

I am really jonesing for chili now. If I've made you hungry, you just might be in luck if you live in DC, Virginia or Maryland. Hard Times Cafe is giving away free bowls of chili today.

FoodBlogSearch.com

You probably know this about me, it isn't a dirty little secret... I love looking at recipes. Finding the ones that are both special and within my skill level is my goal. When I do find them, I tuck them away for future use. I'm the kind of person who cooks the same thing again even though I am always looking for something new.

My favorite food blog is Simply Recipes. It's author, Elise Bauer, creates all kinds of delicious things that even I can cook. Among my favorites is her Roast Turkey recipe. I also follow some other foodie blogs: Kalyn's Kitchen (a great resource for low carb options), Chocolate & Zucchini (beyond my skills but fun to read), Tea & Cookies (but the entries are generally too long for me to read thoroughly), David Lebovitz (another French cooking site), and some others... But, me being me, I am always hungry for more.



That's why Simply Recipe's blog on Saturday really "spoke" to me. The topic: a new search engine that specializes in food blogs, Food Blog Search (conveniently at http://foodblogsearch.com/). The search engine scours over 1900 food blogs to find recipes that meet your criteria. Here are some examples of how robust the tool is. Say you have Salmon in the refrigerator and you don't know how you feel like preparing it. You look around the kitchen and you also have some fresh dill and some mustard... Hmmm, what can you do with all that? Just go to Food Blog Search and type in salmon dill mustard; results are returned using those ingredients. Those are pretty specific ingredients; what if you do a search for something a little more general? Your family likes meatloaf, but you would like to come up with a new variation. Type in meatloaf and you get hundreds of results back. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

I love having more options! Yummy...

Sign of the Seven Trilogy (Nora Roberts)

I finished reading Blood Brothers (by Nora Roberts) a couple of days ago. I read it because both Deb and my mom had great things to say about the book ("Couldn't put it down", "Really good", etc...). I, too, enjoyed this supernatural story of three friends whose 10th birthday changes their lives forever. It was well written (and who cares if it is believable) and I am anxious for the second installment, The Hollow, to come out in May. If you are looking for an interesting story, I think this is a good one.

I mentioned in January that I was getting ready to read Born in Death (J.D. Robb). I enjoyed it. Eve helped her friend Mavis deliver her baby, which was very sweet. I also finished Beverly Hills Dead (Stuart Woods) the next in a series set in 1940s Hollywood. For those of you who read Stuart Woods, you recognize Vance Calder, who appears in the Stone Barrington series [set in current time].

I am about half-way through What Looks Like Crazy (Charlotte Hughes). It is a cute story about a quirky psychologist whose life is as crazy as her patient's. It is a nice, uncomplicated read. I guess I'd call it Chick Lit. Hughes has a great sense of humor so it is very cute.

Up next will be Snowfall at Willow Lake (Susan Wiggs). Happy reading!

Happy Birthday, Smurfs!

We were listening to NPR on Thursday when we heard a familiar tune: "La la la la la la, la la la la laaaa..." The theme song from the Smurfs! The NPR segment was about the Smurfs turning 50. Yes, that is right, 50 years old! I am one of those little children who got up on Saturday mornings and excitedly awaited the newest show on the Smurfs. What would that mean Gargamel be up to next (and hey, have you noticed the similarity in appearance between Azrael and Mattie?)? How would Papa Smurf save the day?

The Smurfs have quite a following. Their Wiki page is pretty well defined, as is the Wiki page of Smurf characters (who knew there were so many?!). My day was complete when I found the Smurf Name Generator (not kidding -- you have to do this it is sooo funny). I am Baby Cakes Smurf... Too cute!

I just love these strolls down memory lane! Have a happy day :)

Happy 60th!

Wedding anniversaries are such a beautiful thing. The celebration of love and commitment cannot be (should not be) unappreciated. For those of us early into our marriages -- 8, 10, 15 years -- we are surprised when we look back at how quickly time has passed. I can't imagine how I will feel when Mike and I reach 60 years!

Today my grandparents celebrate their 60th anniversary. The mark of 60 years of partnership, good times, bad times, births, deaths, vacations, celebrations, and much more, is such a blessed event. I am so happy for my grandparents' celebration, and I am thankful for their good health. I hold dear many special memories of my time with them.

For my own knowledge, I looked up the traditional and modern anniversary gifts...

Anniversary	Traditional Gift	Modern Gift
1st	Paper	Clock
2nd	Cotton	China
3rd	Leather	Crystal/Glass
4th	Fruit/Flowers	Appliances (huh?)
5th	Wood	Silverware
6th	Candy/Iron	Wood
7th	Wool/Copper	Desk Sets
8th	Bronze/Pottery	Linens/Lace
9th	Pottery/Willow	Leather
10th	Tin/Aluminum	Diamond Jewelry
11th	Steel	Fashion Jewelry
12th	Silk/Linen	Pearls
13th	Lace	Textiles/Furs
14th	Ivory	Gold Jewelry
15th	Crystal	Watches
20th	China	Platinum
25th	Silver	Silver
30th	Pearl	Diamond
35th	Coral	Jade
40th	Ruby	Ruby
45th	Sapphire	Sapphire
50th	Gold	Gold
55th	Emerald	Emerald
60th	Diamond	Diamond

First, some of these gifts are weird. A desk set? Does that mean computer? Anyway... I think it is interesting how many times diamond appears in the modern list, and wonder what is says about relationships today... I'll leave that alone :)

Happy Anniversary, Grandpa and Grandma! You give us a great example to follow.

The Ease of Internet Radio

Ok, I admit it... I love a good deal! Getting something for a discount always makes me feel good. Getting something for free is even better. And the best thing I have found lately is Pandora. Pandora is free internet radio. That alone is nice, but what makes it really cool is that Pandora is part of the Music Genome Project (mgp). What's that? Pandora describes it as:

Pandora is based on the Music Genome Project, the most sophisticated taxonomy of musical information ever collected. It represents over seven years of analysis by our trained team of musicologists, and spans almost a century of music (and soon several centuries!).

Each song in the Music Genome Project is analyzed using up to 400 distinct musical characteristics by a trained music analyst. These attributes capture not only the musical identity of a song, but also the many significant qualities that are relevant to understanding the musical preferences of listeners. The typical music analyst working on the Music Genome Project has a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance, has passed through a selective screening process and has completed intensive training in the Music Genome's rigorous and precise methodology. To qualify for the work, analysts must have a firm grounding in music theory, including familiarity with a wide range of styles and sounds. All analysis is done on location.

The Music Genome Project's database is built using a methodology that includes the use of precisely defined terminology, a consistent frame of reference, redundant analysis, and ongoing quality control to ensure that data integrity remains reliably high. Pandora does not use machine-listening or other forms of automated data extraction.

The Music Genome Project is updated on a continual basis with the latest releases, emerging artists, and an ever-deepening collection of catalogue titles.

By utilizing the wealth of musicological information stored in the Music Genome Project, Pandora recognizes and responds to each individual's tastes. The result is a much more personalized radio experience - stations that play music you'll love - and nothing else.

So you ask, "How does it work?" You go to http://www.pandora.com and enter the name of an artist or song. Pandora locates that song (or in some cases, a song with similar characteristics) in its database and begins playing it. The neat part comes with the next song in the queue. It is selected based on similar musical characteristics to the first song you picked (this is where mgp comes in). If you don't like a song, just give it a thumbs down; Pandora moves to the next song. Two thumbs for the same artist in one hour will ban that artist from the virtual station you create. When you like a song, give it a thumbs up. The characteristics of that song will help determine other songs that will play on your virtual station. A no vote is neutral.

The site offers other cool things as well. Clicking on an album cover gets you choices. You can find out about the song, artist, or album. If you like the song you can buy it directly from iTunes or Amazon. The access to information is broad and user-friendly. For example, I clicked on album information on Another Run Around the Sun (by Ben Taylor). I was surprised to learn the album was produced by Kevin Bacon. As we know, there is the "7 degrees of Kevin Bacon" in all that we do, but I digress.

Want to know if any of your friends are using Pandora? There is a nice feature that lets you connect to your address book (in AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc...) and search for friends who also have an account. You can then check or uncheck friends you want to add. When I did this, I found our dear friends Todd & Carolyn are using Pandora. Once my friends are added I can see their most recent stations and their most recent bookmarks. Cool!

There are many more features the site offers. It would take many words to describe them all, and I think you'd have a better time exploring yourself. So, I'll leave you to it...

If you get hooked on Pandora like I am, you may decide that you don't want to have to keep your browser open all the time. I use a light application called Open Pandora. It connects to you Pandora account in a stand-alone window. Many of the Pandora Extras (friends, album/song/artist info, etc...) is not available in Open Pandora but you can still vote on songs and create new stations.

If you're interested in how we learned about Pandora, the story is simple. Mike and I were going through the Start Menu and Installed Programs on his new computer to determine which bloatware to remove. We googled each item that wasn't familiar. Pandora was on the All Programs list... We looked it up and were hooked.

Smiles!

Confessions of a NetFlix Convert

Ok, it is time for the truth to be told. We did try Netflix for a few months some time ago. I thought it was very convenient. My DH worried about the cost. What about the weeks on end we may go without viewing a movie?

Along came PeerFlix and we thought, "Here's the answer!" We signed up and started making money right away. We sold our old movies (that we'd never watch again) and watched our balance climb. We used the money we made selling videos to purchase used ones from other members. It was paradise, at least for a while. In our first three months of membership, we spent under $14 in out-of-pocket costs. What are out-of-pocket costs? For simplicity in calculation, I consider them to be transaction and shipping fees (about $1.55/movie) and the money we spend on new movies from a big box store ~~ after the money we make from selling them (thus the difference between what we spent and what we earned). The out-of-pocket does not include the cost of the movies, which came out of our positive balance earned by selling.

The blissful harmony began to break down when problems came along... Some discs didn't arrive for weeks -- literally, weeks -- on end. One disc was an obvious pirate. I had a seller never send a disc, had to wait 5 weeks for a refund, then when the order was automatically bid out, the same guy got it again... I had to resort to a stern message to finally get the movie. No help from the site in stepping in on the issue. Other problems occurred when I received broken discs... I'd wait weeks to get discs, they would arrive broken, then I had to send them off to the site for verification and refund. The breaking point came when we were getting nearly no discs from our Wish List. We had to go to the store to buy movies to see. During our last month, we spent a whopping $26 on movies.

The cost argument had lost out along with my patience. On Thursday I did a side-by-side cost comparison and decided that NetFlix would be a better deal. By 11 am on Friday I had entered my PeerFlix Wish List into my NetFlix Queue, transferred over 70 movie ratings, and had my first two movies on their way. Easy Peasy. Oh, did I mention the movies actually played (another PeerFlix issue)?!

The experiment using PeerFlix was interesting, though a disappointment in some ways. For selling, it is a great tool. We will continue to use it for that purpose. However, for viewing movies, NetFlix will be our service of choice.

If you have a NetFlix account and want to be our friend (awww, how sweet!) The account is in my email -- which all that read this probably have. Also, I've posted our queue on the left sidebar (NetFlix icon and Movie Wish List). I did it using a cool thing from Inky Software. You can, too. Here's how: 1) Go into your NetFlix account, at the bottom of any page is a link to RSS. 2) Click the RSS link and see the list of feeds tied to your account. Pay particular note to Queue, Recent Rental Activity, and Movies At Home. I like Movies at Home for Mike so he can pick between the two we have in house for movie descriptions. 3) Add a link to an email message, blog, or website by copying and pasting
http://www.inkysoftware.com/rss2html.php?XMLFILE=
then pasting the link from your account (right click and copy for the RSS feed) afterwards. So, for my recent rental activity I have: http://www.inkysoftware.com/rss2html.php?XMLFILE=http://rss.netflix.com/TrackingRSS?id=P2020156977401916652848461628686461 . And for my movies at home I have http://www.inkysoftware.com/rss2html.php?XMLFILE=http://rss.netflix.com/AtHomeRSS?id=P2020156977401916652848461628686461. It is a fun and easy way to share what you are watching.

Have fun!

Spaghetto Article in N Magazine

The newest issue of N Magazine (27.3) should be out on the newstands (or in your mailbox) in the coming days. Keep an eye out for our article on Spaghetto in the Ghetto. You'll see Mike pictured as one of the cooks. For a text only version of the article, click here.

Happy Valentine's Day ~~~ FROM MATTIE!

Well, I'll tell you. I am feeling a bit left out. Mom and Dad made their own special Valentine's greeting, but what about me?! I love all you guys, too! So, I just took care of it myself this morning.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Mattie

(Addendum by Tracy) In an effort to make peace with my beloved cat, I have updated our family photo. Sorry, Mattie. We love you, too. Meow ;)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, from our hearts to yours...

Roses

I have been listening to a fund drive this week on NPR that will get listeners a dozen roses at Winston Flowers. I couldn't help but happily remember the Vera Wang flowers Mike got me last Valentine's Day. He is such a sweetheart :)

Love Poem

Continuing with our Valentine's theme this week, below is a poem about love... (Credit to http://www.poetryamerica.com/read_poems.asp?id=355174)

What is love
© By John Stoner

Love is scary
Love is funny
Love is worth more than money

Love can be frank
Love is blunt
Love is something you can't hunt

Love is messy
Love is chaotic
Love is like a cheap narcotic

Love is hard
Love is great
Love can keep you up real late

Love is simple
Love is blind
Love can really cloud your mind

Love is strong
Love is pure
Love is something very obscure

Love is hard
Love is easy
Love can make you stomach queasy

Love is ordinary
Love is exotic
Love can make one quite erotic

Love is fantastic
Love is tremendous
Loving someone is stupendous

Love is slow
Love is fast
Love is something meant to last

Love is me
Love is you
Love is something to pursue

Smiles!

Valentine's Day is Approaching

A vintage card by Esther Howland, circa 1875

Now that the Christmas celebrations have passed and we are recovered from sending and receiving cards, Valentine's Day is upon us. I thought it would be fun to read about the origins of Valentine's Day and share them with you.

Apparently, there have been several martyrs in the Catholic church with the name Valentine. Both Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni lived and died before AD 300 and are buried in different parts of Via Flaminia. They are the Valentines that are officially honored on February 14. According to Wikipedia, 11 Valentine's Day were recognized by the Catholic church until 1969.

University of Kansas professor Jack Oruch argues that there was no link between romanticism and Valentine's Day until Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Parliament of Foules in 1382. The poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia (both young babes at the ages of 13 and 14).

Valentine's Day was reinvented in the 1840s. The first mass-produced cards were created by Esther Howland (of Worcester, MA) around 1847. Her influence was so great that the Greeting Card Association began giving the "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary" annually in 2001. We all know the effect of her mass-produced cards on the industry today; an estimated 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are sent, 85% being purchased by women.

More authentic Valentine's Day cards can be found at http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/vals.html.

Finally, MY Turn!

Well, this blog thing has been up and running for a while now. You've seen my name at the top -- Mattie -- right? But I haven't gotten to post yet. I have been meowing and meowing trying to tell Tracy that it is my turn on the computer. She didn't get it. She'd say "You have food. You have water. You just went outside. Why are you meowing." Took her long enough to understand :)

Anyway, I have a good strip from my favorite guy Garfield. We look like brothers, you know.

Time for a Smile

Looking at the posts for the past couple of days, I see I've been very serious. It is time for a fun diversion! Have a shot at the fun quiz below: "What Are You Looking For In Life?" Have fun!

Read Labels for Phenylpropanolamine (PPA)

Yesterday I received the following warning about Phenylpropanolamine from my friend Deb. She had gotten it as part of a web newsletter from her health insurer.

FDA Recalls Weight Loss Drugs and Cold Medicines

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled.
It is advised to stop taking anything containing this ingredient. It has been
linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA recommends that everyone (even children) seek alternative medicine.

The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine:

Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant
Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements
Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control
Alka-Seltzer Plus Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or or ange)
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine
Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent
Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine
BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder
BC Sinus Cold Powder
Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief
Day & Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules
Contac 12 Hour Caplets
Coricidin D Cold, Flu &Sinus
Dexatrim Caffeine Free
Dexatrim Extended Duration
Dexatrim Gelcaps
Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free
Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets
Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels
Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir
Dimetapp Elixir
Dimetapp 4 Hour L iquid Gels
Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets
Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets
Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops
Permathene Mega-16
Robitussin CF
Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal Congestion
Triaminic DM Cough Relief
Triaminic Expectorant Chest &Head
Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy
Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough

Also, Triaminic said they are voluntarily recalling the following medicines because of a certain ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in children:

· Orange 3D Cold &Allergy Cherry (Pink)

· 3D Cold &Cough Berry

· 3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant

Source: http://www.fda , http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa

I was alarmed by the report and begin investigating. PPA has been around for decades. Reports of hemorrhagic strokes to women who took PPA began in the 1970s. Even though the FDA question the safety of PPA for 20 years, drug manufacturers argued its safety. Finally, drug manufacturers and FDA agreed to a study to be conducted by an independent research outfit. The 1999 study by Yale School of Medicine confirmed that PPA caused a significant increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke in people who use it, especially women. The FDA advised drug manufacturers to stop making PPA in 2000. In 2005 the FDA removed PPA from over-the-counter sale. The drug is still available for dogs.

What does this mean for me?

Just to be clear (and I know everyone knows this already), I am not a medical expert. I have no capacity to advise people about drugs. The action I am taking on PPA is to look at the active and inactive ingredients on all drugs in my medicine cabinet. Though PPA should only be in old drugs that should have expired and been disposed of long ago, I want to be sure Mike and I are safe.

New drugs should not contain PPA. The ones I checked contained Phenylephrine, the most common over-the-counter decongestant. Read the labels, be safe, and be healthy.

For further reading:
Case Study of Lawsuits, by Richard Clapp
Doubt is Their Product, by David Michaels
Phenylpropanolamine, Wikipedia
Phenylephrine, Wikipedia

Our Oppurtunity to Be Heard

Democracy (as defined in Merriam Webster online)

Main Entry:

de·moc·ra·cy

Pronunciation:

\di-ˈmä-krə-sē\

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural de·moc·ra·cies

Etymology:

Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dēmokratia,

from dēmos + -kratia -cracy

Date:

1576

1 a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b: a government in
which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or
indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free
elections

Today is Super Tuesday. If you are a resident of any one of the 24 states (mapped below), today is your opportunity to make your voice heard.

This election, affecting about 1/2 of the states in our country, will have a large impact in deciding the Democratic and Republican nominees on the ballot in November.

I hope everyone takes a stand and votes today. If you haven't committed to a candidate yet, CNN is a great resource for information about nominees. It has a special Super Tuesday Guide that gives information state-by-state.

Well...

The game was good last night, right down to the wire. I'm pretty disappointed -- for the Patriots players because they really wanted the win -- about the loss. Hmpfh.

Let's Go Patriots!!!

Superbowl XLII is upon us, New England Patriots vs. New York Giants. C'mon, let's get over these Mannings. Brady is THE man. You know who we'll be cheering for. Wouldn't it be a sweet dual win, the Sox for the World Series, and the Pats for the Superbowl. Just like 2004.



WOO HOO PATRIOTS!!!!

There Are Many Little Things We Can Do to Save the Earth

I just got a fabulous new book by Joanne Yarrow called 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth (I purchased mine at Uncommon Goods; the link for the book is directly from the publisher; you can also purchase from Amazon). It has all kinds of things we can do to help save our planet. Many of the tips are so easy to accomplish. Mike and I are doing several of the things she mentions already.

Here are a few of the ones I found particularly interesting (all are quoted directly from the book, my thoughts are italicized):
Tip #55

A more seductive candlelight Traditional paraffin-wax candles are petroleum based. Once lit, they emit toxins such as acetone, benzene, lead, and mercury into the air. Beeswax and soy candles, by contrast, are toxin free. Not only do they provide a healthier atmosphere for romantic dinners for two, but the pleasant experience will last longer, as these natural candles burn for 50 percent longer than synthetic ones. (My notes: There are lots of pretty handmade soy and beeswax candles on Etsy)

Tip #62

Glug down some organic milk If you're trying to "go organic," milk is a good place to start. The price difference is marginal, but the health benefits are significant: organic milk contains much high levels of nutrients - for example, up to two-thirds more omega 3 essential fatty acids - than intensively farmed milk.

Tip #95

Little helpers Put your children in charge of some green tasks around the home - such as checking that lights and appliances are switched off, looking after the composting, or feeding the birds - and reward them for doing well. Find something they enjoy, and the habits are likely to last a lifetime.

Tip #132

Unplugged Electronic applicances can consume almost as much energy during the time they're in standby mode as they do during the relatively small portion of the day when they're actively being used. Unplugging electronic equipment can cut your household electricity bill by up to 10 percent. This is particularly important in the case of pieces of digital equipment, which often use more energy than their analogue equivalents. (My notes: Check out a great system called Bye Bye Standbye. The kit includes two outlet converters and a remote for $34.95. You can add onto the system (additional kits are most effective and you get another remote). I am really trying to sell Mike on this one -- I think it would be great)

Tip #156

Bamboo bathrobe Bizarre though it sounds, tough bamboo fiber makes luxuriously soft towels. Bamboo is three times more absorbent than cotton and boasts antibacterial, antistatic, and antifungal properties. It grows quickly and without need for pesticides, which makes it a fantastically eco-friendly material. Ask any panda! (My notes: Consumer Reports agrees with the benefits of bamboo. They reviewed four different bamboo/cotton blend towels and rated them in this order: Land's End Cotton/Bamboo [score 73], Lenox Platinum Collection [score 67], cb2 Crate & Barrel Bamboo [score 65] and The Bombay Company Estate ***now out of business [score 62]. I just got the Lenox Platinum Collection at considerable savings on Amazon, using their 4-for-3 sale. I got 4 $20 towels for $60 (with one free).

Tip #172

Say no to junk mail Protect your home and office from an avalanche of junk mail by registering with a mail preference service. (My notes: I used Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Services to remove our names from mailing lists and prospect lists. It was free, though they did require a credit card for identity verification. I also removed my name from pre-screened credit offers using OptOutPrescreen.)

I have only read through the first 250 tips in the book and have found that will be valuable for years to come. This book will definitely be a desktop top resource for me.

Completely Unrelated Addition

This is a completely unrelated post, but I have to add it. I got a message from Melissa with a link to this video and it is so great, I can barely contain myself. Enjoy!