Usually, when I look for good movies to watch, I have a bias towards films released within the past couple of years. Those are simply the films I would most likely enjoy. It’s hard to find time to watch a lot of movies while raising three small kids and holding a full-time job, so […]
General
Will Potatoes Really Blow up If You Don’t Poke Them?
The conventional wisdom about baking potatoes passed down through generations of cooks is that if you don’t poke them, they’ll blow up. As a busy parent, I’m always looking for shortcuts in the kitchen. Poking potatoes before baking them was such a tedious chore that I eventually stopped doing it. What that a wise […]
Gopher’s Honey Cakes
When my daughter was three years old, she was a little obsessed with the book Bear Wants More, by Karma Wilson. She began taking an interest in the “honey cakes” that Gopher baked for Bear in the story. She started saying, “I want some honey cakes too!”. It was an interesting proposition, so I agreed to bake […]
Cooking with Books: Just Four Ingredients Fast!
While established cooks might scoff, cooking with recipes is the best way you can learn how to cook. All you have to do is find a recipe and follow the directions. Yes, you will make mistakes, but each time you work your way through a recipe, you learn more about cooking. It is a […]
Ideas: Rooftop Electricity Generation
Most people today have come to rely on their local power company to provide electricity to their homes. While this form of electricity distribution is highly efficient and stable, most people have no backup plan for when the local power company fails. Moving from the current grid power model to a more distributed model […]
Always Forward Movement
What are things in your life moving you backward, away from your goals? It is easy to go backward each day and never even know it. That is how people fall into debt, get fat, lag behind in their work, and let their homes get out of control with piles of junk. Make sure you […]
The Best Way to Keep Cash
Cash is king, but these days, stocks can behave a lot like money. With electronic investing, you no longer have to call your broker or dig out stock certificates to sell your shares. These days you can cash out quickly. Value fluctuates, but it does for cash too. In investing, liquidity refers to the extent to which […]
Understand Money to Make Money
People who rob banks don’t understand money. Scammers don’t understand money. Lottery winners don’t understand money. Here is the original concept of money: When you help someone, they give you something in return. Instead of accepting two goats in exchange, you might prefer to receive an “I owe you” note instead. This is money. A […]
How to Learn Practical Things from Books
Some people learn best by listening to teachers. Others work best from hands-on experience. I think I am in the minority in that I learn best from reading. It doesn’t apply only to abstract concepts, but also to practical matters. Some of the things I’ve learned from books include replacing a flat tire, cooking, and kettlebell […]
Ideas: Webcam Wallpaper
I’ve always been a fan of automatically updating random wallpapers on my computer desktop. It stimulates the mind and breaks the monotony of working at your computer each day. But wouldn’t it be cooler if your wallpaper updated every minute instead of every day? The wallpapers can be drawn from webcams. You should be […]