To start simple & practical: DIY Reusable Lunch Bag! I’ve recently acquired a sewing machine & am excited to try making one of these. Thinking about how many plastic grocery bags I’ve used as lunch bags, and then thrown away, it makes me a little sad. Plus I could sew something. Yay. There are also tons of pre-made reusable lunch bags & sandwich bags sold online, if you’re not the “sewing type”. (Note to self: I have lots of “reusable shopping bags” stored neatly in my pantry. Then I go grocery shopping mid-day & forgot to bring them. I should store them in my truck. Oh hush up! Yes I realize the irony of writing a post about environmentally friendly living, while I drive a Dodge Ram.. we all have our weaknesses!)

And now for the “outlandish”: No Impact Man is a blog, which spawned a film (by the same name). The movie was on-demand through Netflix, and was both touching and funny.

“A guilty New York liberal decides to practice what he preaches for ONE YEAR. Turns off the electricity. Stops making garbage. Gives up tv, taxis & take out and becomes a walking bicycling composting tree hugging polar bear saving local food-eating citizen. All while taking his baby daughter & caffeine loving retail-obsessed television-addicted wife along with him.”

Yes, they lived without toilet paper, A/C in a NYC summer and only travelled as far as a bike could take them. The natural shock reaction fades as you see how they became closer as a family: they truly talked with each other as a couple, and they were engaging their toddler in all sorts of new experiences (squealing with delight at seeing her first firefly in a community vegetable garden on a summer evening in NYC). Yes, it’s all extremist, and yes they were happy to return to their “regular lives” afterwards… but even the fashionista, triple-espresso wife was excited to keep a lot of the practices in place. They became fast friends with the local food producers & were eager to keep supporting them. They loved creating as little garbage as possible by being aware of how much packaging was involved in potential purchases. They were typical New Yorkers before, and it was fascinating to see them swing far to one side, and then the new happy medium they found at the end. I bet he doesn’t drive a Dodge Ram.

On to eco-eye-candy: Gorgeous Prefab Modular Housing is something Jeremy & I are obsessed with googling! And this one is quite a find. Don’t let “prefab” delude you into thinking “vinyl siding” and pink flamingo lawn ornaments. These are beautifully crafted, architectural wonders. This particular house, designed by Michelle Kaufmann, generates only as much energy as it needs, the interior is modern white and warm dark woods, massive picture windows flood it with light, and it looks at home surrounded by the trees. If you start investigating the many options on the market (like WeeHouses), it’s easy to become inspired by a home that’s built by sustainable fabrication, reduction of waste and energy saving tactics. But just as with “No Impact Man” – it can be modified to fit the real world. Any regular house can be outfitted with a solar panel and energy efficient appliances; and beautiful furniture can be found from sustainable designers or by recycling via fabulous vintage finds. Home sweet eco-home! ….That I could park my Dodge Ram in front of.

(C’mon… if I can’t mock myself a little, who will? Oh right.. all of my friends & family.. HA!)

We stayed at a modern boutique hotel (Solita Soho Hotel) on the border between Soho and Little Italy – it straddled awesome food, awesome shopping and an awesome lack of tourist mobs. That is the trifecta of NY happiness. What we did not expect was the triple digit temperatures: our first day there was 103. Now this Florida girl is not one to complain about heat, but combining concrete jungle, 103 and walking all of lower Manhattan: we were crosseyed.

New York is New York, so I won’t try to recreate Fodors by describing it. We did an “off the beaten path” kind of trip anyway. We walked around a lot, ate at little local joints, and just went with the flow. So here are some photo highlights (you can check them all out here on my Flickr album). We’ve all sat through enough “vacation slideshows” that take an hour. So I’ll try to keep this manageable

Eating. Eating. Eating. This is something at which we are extremely skilled. French food took a front seat this trip (if I have any rein, I choose French!) Le Pain Quotidien was a little French bakery with long wooden communal tables, that served up delicious European breakfast. We started a few mornings here & each bite was heaven. We also had a delicious steak dinner at Les Halles, of Anthony Bourdain fame. It was a dark cozy bistro with loud music, dismissive servers (I chalk it up to “french influence”), delightful food, and French pressed coffee. A few other great foodie moments were: stumbling on the Full House Cafe in Chinatown, and randomly choosing the Bridge Cafe by the south seaport which is the oldest continuous bar in the city.

Because I was so busy trying to help Jeremy get ready to deploy, I hadn’t had much time to research & plan like I typically do for a trip. The only thing I knew I absolutely wanted to see, was the Highline in Chelsea. It’s a defunct elevated train line, turned into am aerial garden footpath. It’s an amazing greenspace with almost 2 miles of nature, shady benches, breezes, and art students sketching the skyline. I’ve been very interested in urban greenspaces, and NY had a great reputation for initiating projects like public schools creating vegetable gardens on their roofs, and this Highline. Added benefit: when sweat was running in our eyes, it was divine being up high, blowing in the breeze with the wildflowers.

We saw two incredible shows – “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Fuerzabruta”. First we saw Anthony Lapaglia and Tony Shaloub in “Lend Me a Tenor” and it was hilarious. As in, “my cheeks hurt so bad from laughing” hilarious. It was the kind of show where you could see how much fun all of the actors were truly having. The photo above is from “Fuerzabruta“, a gorgeous interactive performance (akin to Stomp or Blue Man Group) which transcends language). Thumping techno gets the whole audience jumping & engaged. This photo is of a huge water tank suspended above inches our heads, with 4 girls on basically a theater-sized slip-n-slide. It was artistic, fun and joyous, and again – you could see and feel the energy of the performers.

One of the only “touristy” things we did was a cruise around the Manhattan island at sunset. And if you’re going to do something tourist, this is definitely the one to pick! Here’s a shot of the Statue of Liberty, framed by the Manhattan bridge & Brookyn bridge.

Ok, so I fibbed. I had 2 plans – to see the Highline and to shop! Soho is the obvious choice for all the “big brands” and I pounded the pavement hard there. But I also took a morning to tour the thrift and vintage shops in Soho, Nolita and the Lower East Side. I pumped Ana Tijoux on my iPhone, and literally shopped til I dropped. Edith Machinist turned out to be the vintage shoe mecca of the world. Housing Works is a chain of high end thrift stores, with proceeds going to housing for AIDS patients. I also stumbled on Laboratorio Del Gelato in the Lower East Side, which refortified me for more shopping (hellooooo black mission fig gelato)!

But the best part of the trip? Hanging out with Dad. Geeking out various Apple stores. Getting lost trying to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge (don’t ask). Asking every single cabbie and doorman where he is from. Fodors doesn’t tell you about those kinds of adventures!

Couscous Veneziana
Raisins, pine nuts & capers mixed into delicate couscous, this looks like an awesome summer substitute for a heftier pasta or rice side dish. Mangia, bella! (from The Kitchn)

Arugula Salad with Watermelon and Feta
Oh yeah, baby! I can just taste the mix of peppery arugula leaves, the sweet & juicy watermelon, and the creamy, savory feta. Each bite would be a summery flavorful explosion! (from santos, on flickr)

Asparagus and ricotta tartlets
Look at these little beauties, they’re the summertime picnic version of a white pizza. You could whip these up in a jiffy, and they’d look like something from a fancy cafe. I like that they use whole asparagus as well, seems like I always end up hacking my beautiful asparagus into bits for recipes… would be nice to leave them in-tact for these tarts. (from Technicolor Kitchen)

Crunchy Cucumber Salad with Sesame and Peanut Dressing
Ditch the ol’ standby of lettuce salad for this Asian-style, all-veggie, crisp & crunchy salad. This would be a flexible dish and would be a tasty use of leftover veggies, or you can include some chicken or tofu as well. (From Pithy & Cleaver)

Spinach Mascarpone Pasta
This “good-for-you-green” pasta looks perfect for summer. It’s weight is just right; not drowning in cream sauce or laden with heavy winter meats – just a little cheese & some lemon zest. I’d bet it’d be good as a chilled pasta salad as well? (from Running With Tweezers)

Spring Lamb Meatballs with Mint, Pinenuts, and Tahini Sauce
When you think “summer” and “meat”, the next word is “barbeque”. But do you always want to deal with a hot grill outside? Nah. These lamb meatballs look like a divine summer alternative. They’re a little exotic, a little bit swanky & they sure don’t want to be drowned in marinara! The blog smartly suggests them for a party – serve with garlic & lemon tahini dipping sauce, along with a dinner of roast veggies & other Mediterranean delights. Now we’re talkin! (from Pithy & Cleaver)

3 Refreshing Iced Tea Concoctions
I had a fabulous iced mint green tea on Sunday at brunch. So try giving your favorite summer drink a little twist with one of these recipes. (from The Kitchn)

Root Beer Float Cupcakes
Yes, you read that right. Root beer float cupcakes! One word: MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! (from Smitten Kitchen)

Strawberry Pomegranate Sorbet
Now I love a gorgeous, thick, creamy ice cream. But when everything looks like a desert mirage with the wavy lines in the air, heavy cream is about the last thing I want. Bring on the sorbets & sherberts & ices! Doesn’t strawberry pomegranate sound divine? But of course, dahhhhling. (from Love and Olive Oil)

What’s worse? Even still, we are experiencing the deterioration of Life Skills.

Home-Ec has been reinvented as “Family and Consumer Sciences”, and is still offered as an elective in many schools. Thankfully, the scope does seem to have widened past sewing aprons and brownie-baking, and includes job-hunting skills and the like. But it is taught in the same department as Ag and Tech: vocational classes for students who are not college-bound. How can these skills be considered optional? Why are they promoted only for a small population of high-school students? Isn’t it integral for all students to learn the tools to being a responsible person, and future adult and parent?

Society has largely relied on the parents/family as the primary source of Life Skills, rather than the school. Regretfully, the teaching of these skills often falls through the cracks in our rushed world of soccer practice, 4th graders with cell phones, father-son bonding time via video games, Ritalin, and drive-thru dinners that are eaten in the backseat while watching a DVD. It doesn’t help that modern public education is almost explicitly geared towards two goals: passing FCAT’s (or other standardized tests) and college preparation.

Where does this leave us? A man of my generation could easily spend a decade becoming a medical doctor, but may have never been explicitly taught how to manage family’s finances. A young pregnant woman has never been taught the basis of child development and nutrition, and turns to Google for advice.

Imagine the possibilities of having an age-appropriate “Life Skills” class in every public school at every grade : Kindergarten through highschool. Imagine a modern spin on Home-Ec. Imagine if all Americans boys and girls were taught about: nutrition and healthy food, money management, cooking, personal health and hygiene, how to run a home, job & business skills, basics of home repair and maintenance, resourcefulness, good manners, responsible & environmentally-conscious living, interpersonal and relationship skills, and parenting and family skills.

Imagine how the landscape of American society would change. The Jamie Oliver “Food Revolution” would not be needed; kids & their parents would know what a daily diet of McMeals could do to their bodies, and they could make smart eating decisions together. The rate of American obesity and it’s associated illnesses – heart disease, diabetes – would plummet. People would learn to manage their money and ours would not be a debt-addled, credit card addicted, second mortgage society. Teenagers will have been taught relationship and parenting skills; teen pregancy rates could drop, and self-esteem could flourish. Adults could take control and lead their family by living a deliberate life with a plan – not simply “winging it” and dealing with each day’s crisis and chaos. “Super Nanny” tv shows wouldn’t be required to have interventions for horrible parenting practices. On a larger scale, kids would grow into adults with a better grasp of the world and how important the choices they make are. Personal responsibility and accountability would be the result.

Thankfully, there are pockets of society where these Life Skills are taught outside of the classroom. The key for success is simple: involved parents. These families exist everywhere, but I would guess that the majority are kids raised by parents who were raised this way. This may take the form of families who farm or ranch, families involved in Boy / Girl Scouts, 4H or active church groups. These groups tend to make Life Skills explicit. I was a fortunate kid; I have a mom and grandma who are the reigning queens of Home-Ec. They predated the cliche of “Stay at Home, Soccer Mom”; rather, they are efficient, self-sufficient and responsible. Grandma Jody took advanced Home-Ec classes throughout college; I dare you to find a skill she doesn’t possess! My family had a hands-on role in my “Life Skills education”, and these were not optional in our house. Even though I can be woefully inept, I at least have had some training. At 12, I cooked our family suppers for the whole summer (I still burned brownies 2 days ago). And thankfully, the gambling-economics teacher hasn’t had the final say – at 33, I’m finally trying to take back control of my finances (as always, there’s an iPhone app for that!). I can’t imagine what a mess I would be without the basics my family taught me.

I was inspired to write this because I’m noticing a trend; my generation seems to be longing for the ability to “do”. There is a desire to be hands-on with our own lives, to take responsibility for our actions and the impact we have on our world & environment. I am seeing the evidence of this growing desire daily. People write blogs about growing vegetable gardens on the rooftops of New York City and Los Angeles. Websites like Etsy.com are flush with young artists and artisans selling their handmade clothing, “upcycled” housewears, and goats milk soap (from their own well-loved goats). I have friends who replace the cliche & pricy family vacation to Disney World with a hike on the Appalachian Trail or a camping trip. The website LifeHacker has made it cool and trendy to use technology for life improvement in areas like financing and productivity. People are raising chickens in the suburbs. Some urban schools have gardens where the students grow all of the produce for the cafeteria. Newspaper articles tell of pre-teens initiating service projects. In Thailand, I met American families who home-school and are travelling with their kids to learn first-hand about respect for other cultures. The actresses Winona Ryder and Julia Roberts are known for their knitting. The old-fashioned is making a come-back; not for nostalgia’s sake, but because these skills are good.

There is a hunger for something real, healthy and true. Our kids need to learn responsibility through Life Skills, and I would love to see this integrated into each school’s curriculum – especially in communities where the parents may lack the resources to these skills themselves. Parents and kids could learn together. Imagine the how radical a change we could see in a single generation. Imagine a shift from the self-centered “Me Generation” to the responsible “We Generation”.

Just imagine…

Feel free to visit my album of photos from the trip, and check out Jeremy’s as well.

Here’s a sample of the one-of-a-kind Louisiana moments I feel privileged to have seen:

Louisiana lakes, smooth as glass, just after dawn

Crawfish, Me (taken by Jeremy), and Jeremy shooting on the boat

Courtesy of Hurricane Rita, in the tiny costal town of Cameron, LA

Purple wildflowers

Dramatic clouds at the Pintail Wildlife Drive off Creole Hwy near Cameron, LA

Facebook Privacy :: ReclaimPrivacy.org :: If you’ve been concerned about your Facebook privacy / security, this is a great tool. It’s a little “scanner” web application. You drag the link to your bookmarks, load your Facebook page, then click the button. The scan & data are stored ONLY on your computer, and no-one else will see it. It shows in green / yellow / red what settings may be a privacy concern for your personal tastes, and it gives you options to fix them accordingly. I have a few friends who, in the past week, have deleted their Facebook accounts because of privacy concerns. Understandable. But for those of you, perhaps like me, for whom Facebook is the only means of keeping in touch with far-away relatives, this could save you from losing that connection. Have you tried this app? What did you think?

Typeface :: Font Family “Otari” :: via Smashing Magazine who says “Otari is vibrant and contemporary, but serious and built to last. Its character shines in display type, but doesn’t interfere at text sizes. Otari Bold Limited is available for free download.” Me likey. It’s in that class of hybrid fonts that aren’t quite serif or sans-serif. And I definitely like it in all caps. Have you found any super cool fonts lately that you can’t wait to share? Cool article: Becoming a Font Embedding Master. Thanks Snook!

Mixtape Revisited :: The SUCK UK USB Mix Tape is yet another gadget I am currently drooling over but will never buy. I was the mix-master queen in my day. Two words: Beastie Boys. “The once ubiquitous audio cassette tape might have died eons ago, but the spirit of the mixtape has lived on till today as the symbolic gesture of curated musical affection. SUCK UK presents the mixtape with the facade of yesterday’s tape format with the hidden technology of a USB stick hidden inside for easier playback.The 128MB USB memory stick will hold about 2 hours of mp3 tunes, which is the same amount your old Maxwell 120 minute dual side tapes would hold.”

HTML5 and CSS3 :: Oh good grief, I won’t even start posting links. Hit up Zeldman and/or get A Book Apart. But you already knew this. I’m stoked. You?

A Question for You: Jeremy has been trying to objectively evaluate the e-reader vs iPad situation (with my vascilating opinions & input). The Barnes & Noble “Nook” is out of the running; it has a screen “flicker” at each page turn which would drive him batty. So it’s Kindle vs iPad.

• Kindle pros: price, access to the massive Amazon e-bookstore, smaller
  Kindle cons: not backlit, can’t hold it & test it in person
• iPad pros: access to both the iTunes bookstore and the Kindle/Amazon bookstore via the free Kindle app, it is backlit, larger
  iPad cons: price price price price price price price. also: price.

I know it’s a very “individual decision” based on ones needs & reading style. Jeremy likes reading in bed & on the couch at night, backlighting is thus a large concern. And his tastes in books are definitely more obscure & non-fictional, so the Amazon library is much more appealing. All of this seems to point to iPad, but MAN… it’s SO DARN EXPENSIVE. Do you have any input on this?

Now, Dad has never picked a thing in his life. Mom & I pick everything we can get our hands on – you’ve already heard about our loquat escapades!. Her side of the family is thick with generations of gardeners & farmers. My grandma’s pickles beat out all the mountain folk at the Carolina fairs & just today she told me about the ripe tomatoes in her garden; and my Uncle Bill can grow a feast if you give him an inch of soil. Dad’s parents, on the other hand, loved the cooking part… just not the “getting dirty” part. And Dad has rightfully inherited Grandaddy Bob-Bob’s culinary skills. But dirt? outside? picking things? Not really his style.

Or so I assumed. Next thing I knew he was rummaging around the garage for buckets. If he’d had time, he would have googled the best picking techniques. We raced off in my truck, with a huge thunderstorm looming in the distance. The blueberry farm was close by… (you can go to the LocalHarvest.org website to find local farms, farmers markets & co-ops close to you).

The farmer, Jim, pointed us towards the endless rows of potted blueberry bushes – $4 a pound. Can’t beat that, when they’re about $6 a pint at the grocery store. Dad was so cute: first he paced down the row checking them out, then would pick just the biggest ones. He answered work phone calls about computer problems, and compared my bucket to his. He had less than I did, but they were all perfect looking. I pick everything ripe off of a single bush before moving onto the next. (Maybe I’m just a lazier picker!)

The sky was getting thicker & the rain was about on top of us. I could feel it prick at the back of my neck & the temperature dropped fast. Just look at the sky in the photos I’m posting here – can’t you feel that rain about to come? So Dad poured his berries into my bucket & we headed back to the barn to pay up. 2 pounds even. The first quarter-sized drops hit the windshield as got in the truck, and by the time we pulled out onto the hard road it was a downpour.

15 minutes to pick 2 pounds of blueberries with my Dad. Fantastic. If you know my dad, you know that he shows love by DOING. And today that meant getting away from the computer, getting a little dirtier than normal & having purple fingers. I guess this means I have to share some of the cobbler I make with him, huh? Yeah, he earned it.

“185 voices from 12 countries join a choir that spans the globe: “Lux Aurumque,” composed and conducted by Eric Whitacre, merges hundreds of tracks individually recorded and posted to YouTube. It’s an astonishing illustration of how technology can connect us. Despite receiving no formal training until age 18, Eric Whitacre is one of the most performed composers of his generation.”

Music is a universal connection. This brilliant project, “A Choir as Big as the Internet”, is what’s right with technology, and a perfect example of what a “creative spark” can accomplish. The spark to try something different; the creativity to bring unlikely people together.

My boyfriend & I have been researching budgeting softwares (beyond the usual scope of Quicken & the like). We found the website for YNAB software and their philosophy made a lot of sense for my lifestyle. I downloaded the trial, and was really loving it. The concept is like dividing your money in envelopes, with certain amounts alotted for utilities, transportation, savings, etc. The user interface is designed around a clearly explained method, there are no superfluous widgets & add-ons to clutter the dashboard, and it was easy to use “out of the downloaded box”. They offer free, live online classes. They have a user forum that bubbles over with giddy debt-free YNAB zealots who answer every question they can. I was getting those warm software fuzzies.

By day 3 of my trial download, I was feeling all empowered & wanting to budget everyone’s budgets.
So I purchased a license to YNAB.

Enter: Taylor.

As soon as my paypal transaction went through (and I jokingly typed in the “How did you hear about us?” field, “My brilliant boyfriend!”), I immediately received an actual, person, not automated email from Taylor. He introduced himself, and wanted to personally thank me for purchasing the software. And said that my boyfriend must be brilliant for recommending YNAB. Funny guy!

Jeremy & I were cracking up at this point. I emailed Taylor back and thanked him… and then did The Most Annoying Thing In The World. I asked if he could wave his magic wand & add in Feature XYZ. Now, I’ve lead enough web and software development projects in my day… I know how different kinds of architects react when asked for a new feature (especially after the latest & greatest version has just been released). Taylor was the extremely gracious kind; He responded with “That exact feature is going to be in the iPhone app we’ve just submitted to Apple!”

YNAB is the kind of speciality software I love: It does what it says & does it well. And it is build & supported by people who care enough about new customers to email them personally!

(BTW: This totally makes up when I sat fuming in a hot stairwell in India, attempting dozens of times to reach customer support when my iPhone AT&T service had been mysteriously disconnected. BTW, the irony: I was in India and couldn’t reach tech support. I finally got ahold of a human being… a South African living in Nebraska).

Answer: By kicking up dirt & riding noisy 4-wheelers around in the backwoods for hours with 6 of your best friends!

(Jeremy striking a manly pose)