Home & Garden: The Big Chill

Are you looking for a bit of retro for your kitchen? I found the perfect fridge and stove combination for you. Created by a Boulder Colorado company called Big Chill, these 50's looking stoves and refrigerators will remind you of the ones grandma had.

Unlike grandmas, these are state of the art products with the latest in features and technology. All are available in an array of "fifties" colors and can be shipped anywhere in the United States.

I don't know what our decorating instructors would say about lime green kitchen appliances, but, I think these things are groovy!

Personal Finance: Protecting Our Parents and Grandparents

The New York Times ran an article late last week titled Bilking the Elderly with a Corporate Assist. My first reaction was an urge to "wring some necks." Conning money out of the elderly is one of the lowest, dirtiest crimes in the world.

After taking a deep breath, I realized that this article is a wake-up call for all of us. As our population ages, we need to protect our parents, grandparents, and older friends, from these types of legal crimes. Once a senior gives up information to a phone solicitor, that information can be used over and over to drain a bank account. Some banks work to deny those electronic withdrawals, but, some get through and they are technically legal. According to the article, some banks like Wachovia even seem complicit in the process by facilitating the transactions according to the article.

What can you do. First, Read the article. It's a good starting place. Second, talk with the elders in your care about not giving out banking and private information over the phone. If they are interested in a product, have the company send a brochure so you can help them make sure the company is valid. Lastly, stay informed. Checkout the State Attorneys website on occassion at access.wa.gov for scams that are targeting the elderly and make sure your loved ones know to be aware.

As with many things in life, knowledge is truely power.

Self Discovery: Read to Expand Your Mind

Reading is good. You have been told that since kindergarten. Reading makes you a better person, gets you your next promotion, and expands your knowledge base in incredible ways. Reading should be part of everyones life.

Reading for a purpose is very different than reading for recreation. You have to prepare in a different way and be very systematic in how you go about it. For professionals, time spent reading is as important as sleep and education.

I stumbled across a great article on the Productivity 101 website that had some great tips on reading to expand your knowledge. I picked up three key things from this article:

• Read Outside Your Field... I have a wide variety of interests. Even with this wide variety, as a professional I need to keep expanding what I know. Reading is a easy way to do this.
• Don't Be Afraid to Give Up... If the book is not engaging you or you don't really get it, move on to something else. If you are forcing the issue you will just be wasting time and not actually learning anything.
• Take Notes... I have started keeping a small notepad with my books. Make notes about things you learn that you want to investigate, other books to read and key concepts you want to remember. Just writing the notes will increase your retention greatly.

Checkout the article for more information. Don't forget about Community Educations Reading and Writing workshops.

Home and Garden: Slugs on the March

We’ve all had that sinking feeling of checking on our young garden plants only to find their leaves stripped off the stems by slugs or snails. Staring open-mouthed in disbelief at the pathetic remains, we find our shock quickly followed by indignation and then desperation as we try to think of some way to keep the pests away. But before you reach for the snail bait, you might want to consider some other less toxic ways of getting the job done. (Pets and birds may also like those tasty little pellets.)

The Sustainable Gardening Tips website offers seven methods for controlling garden snails and slugs, including beer and salt lines. If you have other ideas of your own to suggest, please share them by clicking on “comments” below. We can use all the help we can get!

Photography: Create Your Own Wallpaper

Ran across this great little tip on the Dumb Little Man Blog. This blog aways has great tips and tricks for everyday living and technology. The article explained how to take any picture and prepare it to be turned into wall-sized art.

The process requires knowing someone who has Adobe Illustrator, but, I bet a local print shop could help with the process. There was also a link in the article to a more detailed story in Wired magazine about large format printing and where to ship your picture once it's ready to have it printed in large format.

Can you imagine the possibilities for your kid's rooms? I personally would love to have one wall in my entertainment room covered with a print from Star Wars or the 'bullet" scene from Matrix!
photo: courtesy of Dumb Little Man website

Click here for the article.

Business: Trusted Brands of Gen Y

What does this list all have in common:
Apple
Trader Joe's
Jet Blue
In-N-Out Burger
Ben & Jerry's
Whole Foods
Adidas
American Apparel
Target
H & M clothing stores
Levi's
Volkswagen
Converse
Vitamin Water
Red Stripe Jamaican beer

According to a recent survey by Outlaw Consulting in San Francisco, these are the most trusted brands of those Gen Y's between the age of 21 & 27. It's becoming clearer what the younger generation wants from the products and companies they support. Y's want simple products that have simple themes and packaging. They are not complexity and prefer the basics.

They also prefer a bit of humor and self depreciation in the companies they support. If you have ever seen a Red Strip beer commercial, it is nothing like a Bud commercial.

What do these types of surveys mean to me? I think the Y's are going for a simpler lifestyle in general. Back to form follows function. Advances in electronics and the Internet are not disruptions to them but are being smoothly assimilated into everyday life. They are not going to make the mistakes of the Boomers or X'ers of working too hard or ignoring everything. I think Gen Y is going to get it right.

Business: Ads So Good You Won't Fast Forward

The Clio is the Oscar-equivalent for advertisements, whether they be print, radio, TV, web, or other promotions. Slate covered this year's awards, and the web magazine includes links to the ads on YouTube so you can judge for yourself.

In addition to being witty and sometimes sarcastic about the winning ads, author Seth Stevenson brings up a good point: just because an advertisement is funny, quirky, or provocative does not mean it will effectively sell a product. However, an ad that does incorporate humor or drama and drives home the message that the product can fulfill a customer's need can make your business wildly successful.

To read the full article and see all the cool ads, click here.

Food: Top Secret Recipes

Now most of the time we discuss wonderfully prepared food around Community Education. But, I know many of you are like me and enjoy fast food on occasion. I stumbled on a great website called Top Secret Recipes for everyone who wants to create some of those famous fast food tastes at home.
This site has recipes that mimic everything from the secret sauce on a Big Mac, directions for making Cherry Slurpees, and even the perfect recipe for Mrs Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies. This site has lots of great free recipes and some you have to pay for. All have user comments so you know what to expect before trying them yourselves.
So check this site out and take your culinary skills to a whole new....ummm... place.

Art: What Is Plein Air?

One of the art classes this summer at Community Education is a series of Plein Air Workshops taught by local artist Rebecca Meloy. The workshops sound really fun---each week the class goes to a different outdoor spot--but what does plein air mean?

According to askart.com, the translation is painfully obvious: it means "in plain air." In an art context, it means drawing things outside, and was embraced by Impressionists in the 19th century. It's similar to the Italian term al fresco, but according to one website that can also mean "in jail", so plein air might be the better term to use in art circles.

Drawing in plain air seems like the perfect idea for an artist in Whatcom County in the

summer---the weather will be balmy and pleasant to sit in, and the scenery is a perfect subject for a gauzy, colorful, plein air style painting that will make you feel like Seurat on a Sunday afternoon.

To read all about plein air, click here.

To read about Rebecca Meloy's workshops, click here.

Business: Lamest Water Products Ever!

OK, water is basically water. Most of us have a favorite brand, but, its mostly about trust and the slight taste differences (I also like to have a squirt top on the bottle)

These eleven water products push the "water envelope" to the extreme. Music infused water that will motivate you because water has memory? Water distilled from deep sea salt water? Water filtered through 100 1 carat diamonds? How about a water called Bling that's from a tap and it's biggest claim to fame is that famous people have been paid to drink it and the bottle has glass jewelery draped around it. That bling will set you back $40 bucks!

Anyway, pretty amazing what marketeers will come up with and what customers will buy. Checkout this Wired Magazine article as it has pictures of all the products.

Click here for complete article

Food and Wine: Keep Spills At Bay

I love picnics, but I somehow always manage to commit a "party foul" and spill my drink all over me, my friends, and the once-comfortable picnic blanket.

Now, with the help of Trendhunter magazine, I have found the perfect solution: Steady Sticks. Steady Sticks are bottle and glass holders that you can stick in the ground at a beach, campsite, or outdoor festival.

Now all I need to do is take Cindy McKinney's Gourmet Picnic Basket class on May 22nd and I'll be set for summer!

To read the full article, click here.

Health and Fitness: Yoga Can Help Cancer Patients Feel Better

People often take yoga to improve their health, whether it be to strengthen an injured body part or to increase flexibility for easier exercising. However, up until now there has been no research done on whether yoga can improve the health of cancer patients. In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that yoga can improve both health and quality of life when a patient is undergoing radiation treatments.

For the experiment, a collaboration between the University of Texas and a research institution in Bangalore, India, 61 breast cancer patients were divided into yoga and non-yoga groups for the duration of their radiation therapy. The women in the yoga group reported lower levels of fatigue, better general health, and improved social functioning, among other positive effects.

Researchers plan to collect more data on how yoga can improve the health of cancer patients, focusing on the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in the patients' bodies.

To read the full article, click here.