Join "Revolution"

http://therevolutionmovie.com/

I normally do not like documentaries, but "Revolution" was different for me.

I recently got the chance to watch a movie titled "Revolution."  I started off not that excited to watch it, and truth be told, it was dull at the first.  Another one of those "Save the World" type shows right?  But then I got into it, and that is when my Kindle decided to stop working.  Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic about that.  I got back into it, watched it, and really enjoyed it.  It even made me want to hunt down the other movie they made titled "Sharkwater."  There were some graphic images I didn't want to see, some of the show looked photoshoped, while other parts looked amazing.

http://therevolutionmovie.com/

I'd recommend "Revolution" for you to watch, and I've even giving you a hookup.  You can click here to watch it.  Or, just watch it below! They are even giving $1 of all movies sold, so, that's cool.

(**UPDATE July 2015:  You can no longer watch it with the video player here, so go to the website.  http://therevolutionmovie.com/ **)

You know, I've never been one to want to campaign for saving the world (ironic right?)  But, I am all for doing our part, and if others out there are willing and want to live their passion to help wildlife, I say go for it. 

http://therevolutionmovie.com/

How to clean shoes - real dirty shoes

 It is the two year anniversary of the time that I went on trek as a Ma.  Wow, times flys....  But, in remembrance, I thought I would share with you my dirty shoes and how I cleaned them.  If you don't know what trek is, it is a very spiritual experience that we participate in as youth in the LDS chruch.  I went when I was a kid, and loved it.  I went again, grown up, and loved it more.  We are placed in little families, I was a Ma and so was in charge a little family, along with my Pa.  We had seven kids, two 'aunts' and an 'uncle'.  I am still very close with a lot of them.  Oh, and before we went, I knew none of these people... well, most....  So, what do you do on trek?  Well, you wander around in the middle of nowhere for three days pulling a handcart.  Yep.  Our lovely trek plans got changed, last minute, like, as we got there, and so somehow ended up on the dustiest, sandiest path that there was.  We quit dusting out our cups because we were eating dirt as we walked anyways.  Needless to say, my shoes were not white when I came home like they were when I left.  I figured I would just toss the shoes, not worth the cleaning, but they were real comfortable, so I thought I would give it a go.  Here is my process, in case you have some shoes to be cleaned.

Step 1: Take a before picture, you'll want it

 

Step 2: Dry scrub

Now, I had an old toothbrush just waiting for cleaning, I typically have one.  But, any brush will do, just don't brush your teeth with it afterwards....

 

Step 3: Take out the laces

I had to get this close up, I mean, look, the white, that is what they were right before trek.  Now, I have to tell you, although they don't want you to take new shoes, my old shoes were getting too worn in, so I got new ones a week before and just wore them out a few times, trying to break in the walking.  So, they were new, and then a week in the middle of nowhere happened to them.

Step 4: Seriously, get rid of the laces
It helps, not only can the laces now be cleaned on their own, but it makes it so much easier to dry scrub the shoes.  Get all the dirt out from the outside and inside and everywhere you can.

 

Step 5: Be amazed at the dirt

Eww, right?  Don't worry, I ate more than that in a day.  Click on the picture to get a huge shot, so tasty.

 

Step 6: Put the laces in the wash

Now, I put my laces in a bag to get washed.  If not, they may get all wrapped around the washer, and that is not a good idea.  Mine got all tangled in the bag anyways.  I just had this handy bag with all my camping stuff, but a laudry bag would work well, or you know, something fabric.  

Step 7: Wash
I ran the water, I think on cold, on the small load.  It worked lovely.  Just run it.

 

Step 8: Admire the cleaness

Now, they came out a color I hadn't seen for a long, long time.  They never have quite recovered completely, but the tint to them reminds me of all the good times I had walking my 30+ miles in them.

 

Step 9: Air dry

Now, one of the keys to the whole washing in the washer, is actually the drying.  Do not put them in the dryer.  Instead, let them air dry, perferably outside.  I loaded up the inside with paper towels to soak up the inner water as well as help them keep their shape.  I don't recall how long I left them outside, but it was well into the night, so a good part of the day.

I hope this was educational, or at least entertaining.  I know I was clearly amazed that they could have such a dramatic improvement.  And like I said, they aren't perfect, but they have character.  I still am able to wear them, not much more than just going to the gym, but I do love them and was glad I could save them.

natural beauty

Time for a rant.  I had a friend who I once was talking to about how she was going to freshen up, if she was going to put on any makeup or anything.  Now, I for one have mixed emotions about makeup.  I love it, I love to dress up all pretty, or all funky, and change my look to whatever I am in the mood for.  I love Halloween for that reason.  Bring on the makeup!  However, I am not one to use it everyday.  I go through my phases, wearing it a lot, to wearing it a little.  But, when I asked my friend about it, she had a fit, saying there was no way she was going to be wearing makeup.  I asked, not even mascara?  Afterall, it was a presentation day, and I had sprung for some small makeup.  But no, apparently her mother never wore any makeup, and she has no wrinkles today, so she wasn't going to justify wearing makeup because she didn't want wrinkles....

Yeah, so I don't know if it is true or not.  She claims it is in the removable of makeup and moving your skin around that it stretches it out.  I happen to think she is a beautiful girl, got that beautiful South America skin going on, and that has a lot to do with it.  She doesn't need makeup, but then neither do I.  I just enjoy it.

On the other hand I have many friends, that are old enough to be my mother, who think they can't go out of the house without makeup on.  That they would look horrible without it.  They probably have been doing it for years.  And, I will admit to having seen some without it, and it did scare me, but mostly because I was not use to it.

There is also a lot going around about the chemicals inside of makeup being bad for you.  I am not here to tell you they are not.  I am not going to say they are.  There probably is a lot of makeup that is bad for you to use year after year, just like a lot of things in life.  But, I am here to tell you that you don't need to worry, afterall, we are all going to die anyways.  If you want to use it, do it.  If you don't, don't.  I think you are beautiful anyway you are.  And that is your natural beauty anyways.

how to make your own pet prayer rock

Hey guys.  So, a couple of weeks ago I was asked to give the lesson in the Gospel Doctrine class at church.  I gladly did it.  It was on prayer, and since we do handouts, I decided to make some pet prayer rocks.  And man, they came out better than I thought they would.  They also were a hit at church, everyone loved them.  The girls thought they were cute, and the guys were playing with them with each other during class.  Oh, and did I mention this was a young single adult ward?  Yeah... so they are good for all ages.  They are super easy, and I bet you can figure it out on your own, but I'll let you know what I did.

The concept of a prayer rock is pretty easy.  You put it on your pillow so you remember to say your prayers at night. Then during the night it lives on the floor so you stub you toe and remember to say it in the morning.  I actually just have mine on my nightstand.  I thought the bathroom would be a good place for one to live.  Or oddly enough I say my prayers in the car before I leave the house, so my dashboard would also be a good choice.  (It already has a neopet there, so I don't think I'll put one there.)

Step 1: Find rocks.  My family grows rocks, so we had plenty in the backyard.  Granted, after nearly 30 years, they are starting to not grow anymore, so maybe there is some sort of luck.

Step 2: Wash rocks.  I washed mine in the kitchen sink with some dish soap.  Classy, I know, but it got them clean.  I would guess you could just do it in the backyard with the hose, but it was cold out...

Step 3: Gather supplies.  You'd be amazed at the things I have in my basement, I know I am from time to time.  I gathered up some googly eyes in a variety of sizes, love those things, and some curly doll hair, as well as my glue gun, and a paper bag so I didn't ruin the kitchen table.  (In architecture school, we didn't care if we got glue on the tables, so I have a bad habit of being very messy with my glue gun.)

 
Step 4: Glue on eyes.  I would move my rocks around to figure out the best place for their eyes.  I tried to make it so that they could stand.  But, I noticed that even when I passed them out, some people saw their rock in a different way than I did, and I was fine with that.  It was at this step that they all started to get personalities.  Who would have thought?

Step 5: Glue on hair.  I think I had too much fun during this step.  Some I might have gone overboard with the hair, but they were so cute.  The ones with hair seemed to be more popular, and for the most part were much cuter.  Some got short hair, some got long hair, some got mustaches.  Yep, to much fun.

Step 6: Photograph for proof you really did the work yourself and didn't outsource.  :)

I really hope you enjoyed my rocks.  I did.  I loved everyone of them, and it was hard to say goodbye.  That is why I took so many pictures, so that I could remember them after they were gone.  When I was driving to church, I found myself driving super slow to protect the little guys.  And yes, the irony that I was making sure rocks didn't get hurt was not lost on me.  Now, go and make some of your own!

reusable bags

I know what you are thinking, bags are bags.  I haven't really jumped into the reusable bags ideas, I tried it once at the store, long ago, and the cashier put it in a plastic sack before putting it in my bag.... yeah....  But, I have collected some ideas for you.

First we have the old fashioned, buy them with the stores logo shopping bag.  Slightly boring, but very sturdy.

Next we have a linen one.  Very study as well, and can nicely roll up in a ball.  I like these, but that may stem from my childhood we had tons of these bags all around for various adventures.  Each place we would go had a different bag.

Then we have the cool foldable ones.  I for one like small things, so if anything can be folded up into a tiny size, I am all for it.  Most of the time these seem pretty flimsy to me, but no more than the plastic bags they are ment to replace anyways.

Then we have the great T-Shirt bags.  Easy to make, simply cut off the arms and sew up the bottom.  Or, get a tank top for added strength of handles, and just sew up the bottom.  Works great.  For an even better tutorial, go here.  I haven't decided how I really feel about these quite yet.  They seem to work lovely, but I almost feel like I need to buy a new shirt just to destroy it to make a bag.  Seems like it would work for all those shirts that you are given free for advertisements.  Hum...

Well, there you have my collection of fun ones.  At the very least, try and cram whatever you can into the bags you are carrying.  I worked in a department store, and was surprised at how many bags ladies would walk out with that only had two things in them each when five could have fit.  So, I want to know, what do you use to go shopping with?

Another Guest Blog post by me!

Head on over to Natalia Kohn's Blog, and see the new guest post I did over there.  It is a great little number that by the time I was done I wished I had it on mine instead.

new little sidebar

As you may, or may not have noticed, I had added a new thing to my sidebar.  It is a place for you to donate to Social Ventures for Sustainability. They sound like a good program helping to educate on sustainability. I'm all for donating to help out a good cause, and if you feel like you can give during this time of the year, go ahead and donate.  I can assure you, good things will happen.

Donate Now On Causora And Get Rewards!

And yes, I do get a bit of compensation for writing and posting this.

Green Ricky -from brickfish

Original post date: 12 May 2009 

I would like to nominate my friend Ricky. Sure, he does the normal stuff that everyone should be doing anyways, like recycling paper, after is it used for scratch paper. Or, using a reusable shopping bag, which can actually be hard to do sometimes. Or a metal water bottle for all drinking needs. He is also studying how to make architecture more sustainable, come to find out that is just good design. He does all that, and more, but what is the most profound thing is his bike riding.

He is normally the one to point out how pretty the sunset is, so pretty because of the smog, which then makes it horrible. "That's why I rode my bike today."

I think he is anti-car, as am I, he just has the guts to not take his car places. It took me two months to even realize he owned a car.

He travels all over on his bike, even if we are all traveling by car to someplace, like the cemetery, or downtown to a site visit. He even took his bike to a wedding, a 45 minute drive (by car) away. He assured me that it was okay because he would take Trax, our public transit train, out there. I stared at him knowing the end of the line was still a 20 minute drive away. His story was funny, about how it was pouring rain, and so windy he kept falling off his bike. He had to go up a hill, got stuck by some police, then had to turn around and find a different route up a different hill. But would he do it again? Yes.

If he wasn't known for his singing, he would totally be known for the one who rides his bike. A lot of people at school ride bikes when the weather gets nicer, but he has been riding his bike the whole winter. I don't think I've ever seen him drive to school. I have seen his car, so it does exist. It was during the horrible snowstorm that I didn’t even want to drive in. He brought his car up because it would be hard to carry a large building model on his bike. I wanted a picture of him on his bike riding around in the snow, because he does that a lot.

He also rides that thing around in the oddest outfits. Because he is in choirs, he has to dress nicely for things. But he wears them on the bike.

I look up to him because of it. Sure, I may give him a hard time, but I would love to be able to do it as well. I have tried, and it didn’t work. I'm impressed with how he has the guts to do it. He doesn't care that people give him a hard time. He does it anyways.

Disclaimer:  This post was originally made on the website Brickfish.  It was entered into a contest, got lots of views, votes and comments.  Brickfish has changed, even got removed altogether, since I originally posted.  However, I didn't want to loose these again, I put a lot of time into them.  So, now you can enjoy them here on my blog as well.

Celebrate Earth Day -from brickfish

Original post date: 14 May 2010 

I have a slightly weird habit of every time that I see some garbage on the ground that I could make some jewelry out of I pick it up.  Many of my favorite items are large bolts and washers.  One day I found a single child’s blue flip-flop in the gutter.  I got some weird looks as I took it home on the train.  I cut it apart into small chunks, and then made some earrings, and necklaces out of them.  They are so nice, and you can’t even tell what it once was.      

I even have a reputation among my friends that they will bring me items that I can make something out of.  I have had many of my friends give me their broken headphones that I then turn into necklaces with charms on them.  A favorite is to also take old 45 record adapters and turn them into necklaces and earrings.           

                       

I also have a compulsion to every time I see a can in the garbage to pick it up and pull the pop tab off of it.  One day I visited a metal shop with a box full of cans.  I politely asked what they were for, and found out that it was taken to the recycling center.  He allowed me to take the tops off of them all while he sat and amusingly watched how excited I was.  I have made some nice necklaces out of them, and plan to make more things.  I have even inspired my friend to start to collect them for a bag she plans to make.

                         

There are also a lot of other things that I enjoy making jewelry out of.  I like to tear apart broken computer parts to see what is inside.  I have make earrings out of the electronic plastic inside of a keyboard.  The wiring in electronics is also very interesting and colorful.  I have also made necklaces out of this.  A favorite is also out of an old oxygen tube that was headed for the garbage.  The tubes make interesting necklaces that can be worn with the clear side forward or the attachment as a charm.               

         

I always get comments when I wear my jewelry, and people are even more amazed when they find out what it is made of.  My art teacher always loves what I wear to class, and has even bought some.  I also sell these items that I have made out of the items I collect, to share the beauty with others. 

Disclaimer:  This post was originally made on the website Brickfish.  It was entered into a contest, got lots of views, votes and comments.  Brickfish has changed, even got removed altogether, since I originally posted.  However, I didn't want to loose these again, I put a lot of time into them.  So, now you can enjoy them here on my blog as well.

Architecture Supplies Collection

When I attended architecture school we would make a lot of different things.  We would make models after models of our building designs.  Sometimes, most of the time, they were just progress models, showing what we were currently thinking.  However, when the project was done we would make a final model.  It was a lot of fun.  We would also make tons of other random projects, and lots of display boards.  But, to make all of these things we would need some supplies, and they could get very expensive very fast.  So, I learned to scavenge.  Somebody would buy a huge piece of something, then not want the rest, and I would scoop it up.  Somebody would decide they didn't want something and leave it, and scoop it went.  I also had a rule that if something was left on my desk for over two days it became mine.  My desk was typically the cleanest in studio and people would use it.  I actually got a lot of things this way.  Most of my things came from the graduating students however, since they weren't going to be in school, they didn't need anything anymore and would either leave it, or give it to someone.  I got tons of items like this.  I had a nice collection when I graduated, and thought I would share it with you.  What happened to it when I graduated?  Well, I bestowed it on a friend who had just started thinking he would have more time to use it than I did.  That is, except the way cool things that I had to keep for myself, can you say mirrored acrylic?  Enjoy!

Being Green -from brickfish

Original post date: 18 Jan 2008 

Some would consider it being cheap; and that is why I do it. I mean, it actually costs a lot less to protect the planet than it does to destroy it. Being Green is an interesting concept, many people are obsessed with Being Green, and I think it is just a fad. However, there are many valuable things in the philosophy that should be done everyday and not just part of Being Green. These are the sort of things I do.

My car, named Myke, is a place I spend a lot of my time. To help cut down on the cost of having him, I make sure he is running well; a healthy car is a happy car. I also get great gas mileage, 30 mpg. But I don't like to drive a lot. I normally drive up to the mass transit line and take it. Sure, it takes longer, but I get an hour more sleep a day. Better for me, better for the planet. I also don't like to use the cars heater and cooler a lot. My friends are always hot or cold. Instead, I roll down my windows, natural air conditioning. It started because it didn't work, but I like it better than cars that have real air conditioning. I also don't use my heater much, I bundle up. You don't need a lot of extra heat, your body makes enough. But when it gets into single digits, then I do turn on the heat.

At school I do a lot of things. I like to sit under the skylights; they provide great light, sometimes even brighter than the normal lights. They also provide a comforting light that any manmade light cannot provide. The bathroom, which doesn't provide that light, has the manmade kind. When I go in, I only turn on one out of the three, how much light do you really need? Plus, even though it is a public place, all of us seem to be aware, and we all turn off the lights when nobody is in it. My favorite things at school are the recycle bins. I could probably fill a small garbage can in a couple of days. I am always sticking paper in them, and always the one to yell at my friends when they don't. Another way I recycle is my scrap pile, I make a lot of models and unlike my fellow students, I keep a ridiculous amount of scraps around. You never know when you are going to need that small piece you just threw out. My basement is full of cardboard. I also eat fresh food instead of the kind out of the can. When I do need something, such as a bowl, I use a bowl and not a disposable container, which only adds to the landfills. I also use rechargeable batteries and electronics. I do use a lot of little toys that require power, but I got sick of buying batteries every week and throwing away the perfectly good ones that won't work my camera. Rechargeable is the way to go.

I also live at home, a place full of things to do. As with school, I am not fond of lights. I like to keep them off if possible.  I am constantly turning them off on my Dad. I also like fresh air, during the summer before touching the air conditioning; I will just open a window. Operable windows, great idea. I also try to keep my showers short; I am amazed at how long I use to take, up to an hour. Then I hurt my back and couldn't stand longer than two minutes, my showers shortened to five minutes. We also use energy efficient appliances, and don't over water the lawn. Some things take up so much water. Ever since I can remember I have recycled cans. When I was a kid it was for money, we use to go to construction sites and get it. Now I collect them just because. It pains me when I go to parties to throw one away. I also reuse a lot of my gift-wrap supplies. Part of it comes for doing it for a living during Christmas, but I love gift-wrap, and can never throw it away. I reuse bows, bags, tissue paper, etc…. I don't see why I should ever have to buy any ever again. Another thing I do it use digital things. I don't buy CD's, DVD's, or the like. I have things on my computer to share with friends. I also like to send email and other electronic things as to not waste paper.

Overall, I am not Green, I am smart. The world is ours to take care of and not destroy. If everybody would just do some small simple things, the world would be a much better place.

Disclaimer:  This post was originally made on the website Brickfish.  It was entered into a contest, got lots of views, votes and comments.  Brickfish has changed, even got removed altogether, since I originally posted.  However, I didn't want to loose these again, I put a lot of time into them.  So, now you can enjoy them here on my blog as well.