Coolest Choir Teacher ever

I can't resist a Coldplay song! (Especially one from Viva La Vida, I love that Album!)

Celebrate!

In honor of Earth Day, I thought that I would make a (bulletized) list of planet-friendly products or services that I really like.

• Soap: Lucy and I have been experimenting with making our own soap. And what I like about making my own soap is that I know what is in that soap and I know where the ingredients come from and the quality. But if I don't have my own homemade soap with me, a brand that I have discovered is Pure& Natural. They only make 3 products (bar soap, body soap, and hand soap) in really interesting combinations like grapefruit pomegranate (my favorite) and rosemary mint. They use a combination of palm oil, vegetable oil, and olive oil. The packing is made of recycled material which is embedded with baby breath's seeds (so you can plant them in the garden). And the company donates to the World Wildlife Fund.
  
• Toothbrushes: One of the best toothbrushes I have ever used is made the company Preserve which makes a variety of personal care products (like razors) using recycled yogurt containers (which is no. 5, for all of you familiar with sorting your plastics). The toothbrush is slightly curved so it makes it easy to reach your back teeth. You can return the toothbrush back to company and it will be recycled to make more products. You can also send any clean no. 5 containers (or drop them off at a Whole Foods, maybe I will start keeping all my no.5s to take with me next time I visit Rachel in Ann Arbor!). The company has expanded their product line to include not only tableware but kitchen supplies like mixing bowls and cutting boards (I just ordered one to replace my old flexible one so maybe I will review it here on the blog).
• Books: So I am using 2 online services for lending books. One is a pay service to rent two books a month (for about the price of a Netflix subscription) called Paperspine. The books come through the mail and then you just use the pre-paid envelopes to mail it back (which means that you can put them in any dropbox, you don't have to go the post office.). The selection at Paperspine is really good (but only paperbacks) and I have gotten more than a couple books for my book reviews through Paperspine. The other service that I use (less regularly) is Paperback Swap, which is basically a service that allows you to swap books with other users for free (you do have to pay for mailing the books). The variety of books is dependent on the users but I found some interesting books through Paperback Swap like a novel by Jasper Fforde and a copy of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.
  
• Resuable Shopping Bags: Rachel sent me the website for Reusable Bags which is where I have gotten 4 of the 7 reusable bags that I use every time I go shopping. My favorite bag from that site is the Envirosax ultra compact reusable bag because I can roll it up and keep it in my purse in case I have to make a quick stop at the grocery store. I also have the set of Happybags totes with the design names of Lucy and Catherine (I couldn't resist!). The latest addition to my collection of reusable bags is one I bought at Barnes and Noble that I really like because the material is a little bit stiffer so it is more like a fabric paper bag. And I have a bag that I take with me to the library (or the post office).
  
• Cleaning Products: I almost exclusively use cleaning products made by Method. All the cleaning products are make from environmentally friendly formulations which means that all you really smell is the scents used by the company like grapefruit and lavender. The cleaning wipes are made of bamboo which means that the wipes are compostable and biodegradable. I have used lots of the products made by Method like the daily shower cleaner, cleaning wipes, dish soap (right now I am using the spiced pear holiday scent), and air freshener. They also make laundry products and dishwasher soap (which I haven't used because I don't have a dishwasher).
  
• Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs: I've used a couple different brands but my favorite is the Meijer brand because they are pretty affordable and come in cardboard packaging which is completely recycleable (the other 2 brands I've used came in plastic package which could be recycled except that there is no number designation listed).
  

Thanks for reading and I hope that some of these suggestions are helpful!

It's April 22nd!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

I'm going to write a real post soon, I promise!

For lovers of the Kool Aid Man game

see more pwn and owned pictures

Glitterize

I was picking up a few things at Wal-mart today after work and I came across a Martha Stewart kit to make cards. And as much as Martha Stewart can drive me crazy, her company really makes cute stuff:


The downside is, I got glitter pretty much all over the place in my living room.

Lather, Rinse, and maybe Repeat

I went home for the Easter holiday (I got Good Friday off from work) on Thursday night (the five hour drive isn't so bad now that I am used to it). On Friday, mom, Lucy, Vaughn, and I ran some errands in town (including my usually weekend errand of taking out recycling!) and had lunch (I will let Lucy tell the story about our lunch out!). On Saturday, I went up with my parents to Dowaigac to see Bridget for the day. On Sunday, Lucy and I tried our hand (yet again) at liquid soap making (ok, we made shampoo). Unfortunately (just like last time) the soap mixture boiled over onto the stove and then Lucy and I got the clean the stove. I had to head back (after the delicious Easter lunch mom made for us) before the last part of the process was complete so you will have to ask Lucy how it turned out! But I heard that her hair did not fall out upon using the homemade shampoo.

"I had a lot of time to think while I was unflushing Aunt Peggy's keys" - Luanne Platter

What's The Matter With Helen?

She's nuts. I made the mistake of watching the movie "What's the Matter With Helen?" this afternoon with Debbie Reynolds and Shelly Winters. The basic plot is the mothers of two convicted murders move to California to start afresh. I like Debbie Reynolds a lot (especially in Singing in the Rain) but I do not like Shelly Winters at all. She was really annoying in this movie (I think she screamed for about 15 minutes total at various points in the movie). And she is super unlikable in "A Patch of Blue" and totally useless in "Night of the Hunter". So if anyone knows a movie that Shelly Winters is actually good in, please let me know. But I'm making up for watching that terrible movie by watching an excellent movie: Murder, My Sweet. The original title for the movie (and the book is it based on) was Farewell My Lovely but it was changed so moviegoers wouldn't think it was a musical. And I didn't understand that until I saw 42th Street and realized Dick Powell was in a ton of musicals before doing Murder, My Sweet (and the actress Anne Shirley is in this movie too!).

HANK: If you ask me, you've got too much imagination. Everything's all loop-de-loops and flibbertigibbets.