Tools from German Prisons

Surely I've mentioned at some point how much I love the old tv show MacGyver, right? In fact, I only have a few episodes left to watch on dvd before I've seen the entire show start to finish.

I love me some cute-vegetarian-mechanically-minded-chemist-superspy heroes.

Therefore, I was happy to come across this website earlier today: photographs of escape tools created by prisoners, from the Marc Steinmetz Photography website. The photos feature everything from the classic bed sheet rope to a radio-in-a-book and a little something I like to call the Wrath of God.

The most interesting creations, however, were those that could have come directly from an episode of MacGyver -- a grappling hook (two different grappling hooks, actually) and a chess set/rope ladder.

Amazing...

Late-Night Etsy Shopping

There's a quote that I read at one point, and it lodged itself somewhere in the back of my mind, and refused to get out. I found the source one day, so here is the quote in question:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

William Morris

It's been brought to the forefront of my mind mostly because of the moving process: going through everything I own and deciding what's worth keeping and what's not. I still have five boxes in the garage and I don't miss anything in them, but I clearly thought they were worthwhile items to have while I was packing. This weekend I'm going to go through them with the above thought in mind; I get the feeling that there are at least two boxes' worth of odds and ends that I kept for no real purpose.

I'm also struggling to stay green and healthy in my parent's home. If I couple "think green, think healthy" with "keep/buy things that are beautiful and/or useful" I should be sitting pretty, but that's just a little bit harder said than done. As the rows of unread paperback novels (neither pretty nor useful, if I never read them) in my room can attest, I have some work to do there.

Fortunately, my paycheck from my new job -- in addition to the other one, actually, bringing me up to a full-time work schedule -- happened to coincide with my need for a new wash cloth. What happened to the old ones? Well, one fell afoul of a shaving razor and another was used in a pinch to clean mud off one of the dogs; oh, the perils of sharing a bathroom with siblings!

I'm browsing etsy this evening with an eye for nice wash cloths. I've heard good things about crocheted ones, so if I can find a pretty one that's reasonably priced it's going to be my gift to myself. Here's what I've found so far:

Blue Skies and Wine Hand-Crocheted Dishcloth/Washcloth

Fresh Citrus Hand Crocheted Cotton Dish or Wash Cloths

Tawashi

Cotton Dish Cloths or Wash Cloths-Sage and Hunter Green

Bright and Sunny washcloth set

If I could, I'd make these sort of things as Christmas gifts. However, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to yarn. Guess everyone will have to settle for baked goods again this year *grin*

On Growing Up

Thanks to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, I am able to stalk discreetly see what my former high school peers are up to these days.

A surprisingly high number of them are married/working 9-to-5/with child, given that we were the graduating class of 2004 -- and one closed on a new two-story house last month. I'd bet good money that the graduating class from the nearest city has a lot more diversity in the "where are they now?" department.

There are honestly days when I feel horribly awkward and behind in the whole growing up game, since I'm living at home and seeking to spend another 2-3 years in school before marriage and mortgages even go on my list of things to do. And then I remember that I'm a) saving money, b) paying off debt, and c)trying to further my education so I can start a career as a teacher. And that mortgages are a headache I completely don't need right now. And that I can barely remember to feed myself regularly, much less a baby.

So why do 95% of my peers seem to be in a rush to do what they're doing?

I think the drive to quickly get hitched and find a home and a steady job and have a baby might be a product of the suburbs -- where I've lived since 8th grade, and where many of my peers have lived their entire lives. Here, that's pretty much how you tell the adults from the kids: the kids are going to school, and the adults are at work for 8 hours (or more, with the commute to the nearest city) a day and have 2.3 children and own 1.5 cars.

There's not a lot of gray area between these definitions of "adults" and "kids" in the suburbs, at least not that I've noticed. Not a lot of young unmarried couples living together, or single executives, or people working freelance jobs from home, or students pursuing their Master's. Probably because these are not exactly demographics that flock to the 'burbs when they can stay comfortably in a city where they can get an apartment/have a shorter drive to work/be closer to school.

Or maybe I'm completely wrong, and I haven't grown up yet, while most of my peers have? I mean, I am about to go play a round of Samurai Warriors: Katana with the siblings :D

Meme: Movie Quotes

Thanks to a free Netflix trial, I've been watching a lot of movies lately. I didn't give any previous consideration to Netflix previously, because an acquaintance really turned me off to it -- not that he said it was bad, but because he's one of those people who always has to say how much better his stuff is than everyone else's. His desk chair's nicer than mine, his ipod's newer, and so on and so forth. So, when he heard that I have a Blockbuster online rental account, it started him off on how much greater Netflix is and blah, blah, blah. (Not that he's a bad guy, honest, he just has this weird quirk)

I got a card for a free two-week trial though, and I'm liking it so far. The dvd-by-mail aspect isn't much better than with Blockbuster, really -- for the cheapest subscription price I can get one at a time and return it for a new one -- but Netflix has movies that I can watch right exactly now. Which is neat when it's 1 in the morning and I go, "Hey, I would really like to watch some random '70s Michael Caine movie at the moment." Get Carter was quite good, by the way.

So, in honor of the ton of movies I've seen lately, here is one of my favorite movie memes. I've gone to the imdb pages of 10 of my (current) favorite films -- this list changes constantly -- and pulled one of the quotes listed on the page. Make your best guess for each, and I'll post the answers later!

Movie Quotes Meme

1. Character A: I'm reminded of the curious case of the Manchurian Mambo...
Character B: ******, could I have a word?
Character A: Yes, what is it?
Character B: I believe that was the Manchurian Mamba.
Character A: Mambo, mamba. What's the difference?
Character B: Well, very little, except that one is a deadly, poisonous snake, while the other is a rather festive Caribbean dance.
Character A: It was a night like any other, when suddenly a knock came at the door. I opened it, and there were these Manchurians, doing a rather festive Caribbean dance...

2. Character A: Sardines! I've forgotten the sardines...
[She notices the sardines sitting on the table and stares at them for a moment]
Character A: No I 'aven't; I 'aven't forgotten the sardines. I remembered the sardines. Well, what a surprise; I guess I'll just go into the kitchen and fix some more sardines to celebrate!

3. Don't pander to me, kid. One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence.

4. Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.

5. Get me another beer, Dragon Lady! This one's running on empty.

6. Character A: You were sentenced to death for decapitating a Senior Officer. Your sentence was carried out by a firing squad at ten hundred hours. How'd that go?
Character B: It tickled.

7. Now let me correct you on a couple of things, OK? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not "Every man for himself." And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.

8.[about parents]
Character A: Oh, I only knew mine vaguely. My father was a missionary. He was eaten by his Bible class.

9. I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

10. Character A: I didn't steal any money! She just saw me with another woman! You're French, you understand that!
Character B: To be with another woman, that is French. To be caught, that is American.

GRE is OVER!

The results for the written portion aren't in yet (thankfully, those are not scored by a computer), but I'm fairly pleased with my scores on the verbal and math sections.

Math: 610 - not great, but not bad, and I'm definitely skewed towards language rather than numbers.

Verbal: 700

Tomorrow I submit my completed graduate school application ^-^

Happy Sunday

I'm typing this from my new spot in the studio at the house, which overlooks green grass and blue sky and red cardinals -- quite the change from the wall my desk used to face at the apartment. I complain -- jokingly -- about being back in the suburbs, but it's peaceful here. In another few months I might be crawling up the walls to escape, but at the moment it's just what I need while getting over a breakup.

I've been surprisingly busy. Between my "regular" job and some work I've been doing for one of my aunts I hit 26 hours of work this week. I'm also spending a lot of time finishing up my last class and studying for the GRE, which I take Friday afternoon --- yikes!

In my free time I've been reading, because I have a huge number of books that need to get read, bookmooched, and out of my room. I've also been watching a lot of tv shows and movies, courtesy my new Blockbuster rental plan: I get as many dvds by mail as I can watch, and I can trade two of those in per month for a free rental at the Blockbuster store down the street. I'm working on the seventh season of Stargate SG-1, rewatching the X-Men trilogy (after seeing the Wolverine movie, which I loved), and making sure I've seen every episode of the original Star Trek (after seeing the Star Trek movie, which was simply amazing).

In the words of Calvin and Hobbes, the days are just packed.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mothers out there: here's to you! I hope you're having a beautiful day.

We're celebrating Mother's Day for my mom & grandmother AND a birthday today, so things are a little crazy . . . but I love it :D

Are You at the Carnival?

Don't forget that the Springtime Giveaway Carnival started today! Head on over this week to see what cool new prizes go up.

I'd participate, but I am absolutely bogged down in Things to Do this week. My "new" old bedroom in my parent's house has been painted and I've moved in my bed and clothes. Tomorrow we're putting up shelves and moving in my work space, and I have several freelance jobs that need work. And, I am so. very. close. to finishing my very last class for college.

My cat is also not getting along with the dogs at the house very well. The "boys'" dog is easygoing and wants to be friends, but the cat isn't having any of it; the "girls'" dog won't stop growling as long as the cat is in the room. As I type, Evil Cat is napping next to me on the bed, and she seems happy to stay there :D

Earth Day Pretties

One of the things I love about Earth Day is that my feed reader simply explodes with good products and great ideas. Granted I, like many of the bloggers I follow, strive to make ongoing changes to my lifestyle, year-round, to live a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. But it's still cool to see what people come up with especially for Earth Day.

This is my contribution -- a list of earth-friendly items, activity ideas, and crafty inspiration for the day:

This is a stainless steel water bottle, much like the one I use around the house and at the gym instead of buying plastic bottles. Personally, I think it's much cuter than any single-use bottle. It can be purchased through the Breast Cancer Site store.


Have an old pair of jeans that's no longer quite wearable? Try upcycling them with my tutorial for making a denim bathmat.


Speaking of upcycled items, this bird feeder started its life as a street light! If you like it, you can find it here at redyellowandblueink's etsy shop.


Similarly, this former wine bottle is living out a second life as a drinking glass. Etsy has many of these, and this one specifically is available in YAVAglass' etsy store.


This eye-catching headband includes a repurposed tie and vintage jewelry. You can learn more in rucycled's shop.


This Twilight-inspired (sorry, I had to throw something Twilight in) necklace includes one of my favorite things -- sea glass! You can view it and many other sea glass items in SeaFindsDesigns' store.


If all these cute accessories have you in the buying mood, remember that I offered my readers a $10 coupon to the Be Love clothing company! And if you use the link in my sidebar (top left), I get a little something back. I promise to use it on something environmentally-friendly, like produce for a new batch of tomato soup; my stock's all gone from the week I spent being sick.



Have some extra pillowcases sitting around? Make cloth shopping bags! They're easy to keep in your purse/backpack/what-have-you and not too hard to create either; there are instructions for making a cloth shopping tote here.

So, what's your favorite piece of eco-inspiration?

Springtime Giveaway Carnival!

Sadly, it appears that the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival is on hiatus for the forseeable future. I've enjoyed my participation over the last several carnivals, and it's disheartening to see the event come to an end (at least for now).

Fortunately, HeavenlyHomemakers.com is planning to help fill the void, with a Spring Giveaway Carnival. You can click on over for more information; here's hoping it's great!