Blue Boat Home learning to live together sustainably

I've been seeing magazine and newsletter articles for some time promoting the new "smart" surge protector that shut off power to peripheral devices when a "master" device is turned off, but I figured we didn't need one because we usually turn off our power strips manually.  In practice, though, we often weren't turning off the one in the living room, because we'd turn off the TV with the remote and then walk away, go to bed, etc.  So I decided to pick up a Philips mo

This is a response to a blog post called "When will White People Stop Making Movies like Avatar?" by Annalee Newitz.  The post made me upset when I first read it, but I hadn't seen Avatar yet, and besides, her argument is protected by the good old rhetorical ploy, "If this makes you feel defensive, you must be a racist."  Now that I've seen the film, I disagree more strongly on a number of po

My mother's new album of stories and songs is now available on CD Baby!  You can download individual tracks for $.99 or the whole album for $9.99, or buy a disc for $12.97.  More information about the disc is available on her Web site.

In preparation for tomorrow evening's Green Living Emporia meeting, which may or may not actually happen, here's a list of plants we grew in the garden's first year:

So back in June, we went on the Kansas City Urban Farm tour, and Jessie posted the photos quite a whle ago, but I just got around to posting the videos.  Here they are:

Simon has always scooted the water dish.  Ever since he was a kitten, he's spilled water on the floor by scooting the dish around with his paw.  I tried heavier dishes (but then you have to lift them to the sink), I tried putting obstacles in the way (but he can lift the bowl out), I tried putting heavy objects on top (but then you have to move them to get the dish out), I tried putting the dish inside a larger tray (but then it gets scummy an

My sister's blog featured a link to this recipe for a homemade hydration drink which sounds very palatable and effective.

Soon after I bought my first recumbent bike, I became a devotee of chain wax instead of oil.  When I was a kid, we always used 3-in-1 oil on our chains, but it only took one application of that stuff to the long dangly chain of a Bike-E to make me realize my error -- oil got all over my leg!  I had to remove all the oil with a rag and replace it with wax.  I was so sold on wax that once when I took my bike to a small-town shop for unrelated

On Sunday (May 31) we faced the prospect of another day without our luggage. We bought some clothes from roadside vendors, washed our traveling clothes, and hung them out the courtyard window.

When exited the Colosseum Metro station, we found that the whole area had been prepared for a bicycle race. At first it was just a curiosity, but later in the day it became a major obstacle to sightseeing!