From the monthly archives:

October 2009

Security theater at the airport

October 30, 2009

I’m in Georgia for the weekend at a retreat. Everyone is cooking a meal: I volunteered to make lentil soup. Because I was unsure of the grocery shopping situation on this end, I brought the ingredients with me. Which led to this conversation with a TSA agent: Me: I have a can of tomatoes in [...]

Tagged as: food, humor, politics

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Coloring on the walls

October 29, 2009

Serena loves crayons, and like many toddlers does not wish to have her art confined to paper. The other day, I left her quietly drawing at the craft table. I came back a minute later to find her on the table, in a perfect downward dog pose, reaching between her legs to draw on the [...]

Tagged as: funny, parenting, serena

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Caving in on car-free living

October 27, 2009

Only a few weeks into life without a car, I am throwing in the towel. Which towel, you ask? The sopping wet one in the back of the bike trailer that got the seats almost dry, but not so dry that my ass wasn’t soaked by the time we got to music class on Saturday. [...]

Tagged as: car, family, green

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The dangers of bulk buying, and joining the Wise Bread staff

October 27, 2009

I have a new guest post up on Get Rich Slowly today, on the Dangers of Bulk Buying. I have also just joined the staff at Wise Bread. You can read more of my personal finance writing there. To follow all my Wise Bread writing, subscribe to the RSS feed for my Wise Bread posts [...]

Tagged as: money, writing

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Honey?

October 24, 2009

‘I think I feel a bit like going for a walk,’ Rio said because she totally talks like that. She is five going on Jane Austen. ‘Great!’ says I much less suavely, because I totally talk like I have not had a solid night of sleep in six years. It’s amazing the kids ever learned [...]

Tagged as: food, funny, serena

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Some assembly required

October 24, 2009

Serena just disassembled a magazine rack with her bare hands. And then put it back together. It’s that last part that worries me. Dear Unnamed Engineering School, we can haz scholarship in 2025, yes?

Tagged as: serena

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Making carbon footprint part of a product’s packaging

October 23, 2009

Imagine having to face the climate impact of your greasy take-out as you place your order? Or seeing the carbon footprint of your cookies clearly labelled alongside the calorie count on the back of the package in the grocery aisle? The NYT this week reports on an experiment in Sweden doing exactly that. The Swedes [...]

Tagged as: food, politics

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Baby, its cold outside

October 23, 2009

Today was a sudden sharp return to crisp late fall weather. We spent a lot of the afternoon outside, digging a hole in the garden looking for worms. Then all at once, in spite of her mittens, Serena was done. Serena: Cold! Cold! Me: Oh! Are you cold baby? Serena: Yes! Me: Which parts are [...]

Tagged as: serena

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Rio’s Fried Apples For Friends

October 21, 2009

Rio came home today from picking up our farm share with an apple in her hand. “Mom!” she shouted. “I have an apple. My own apple from the farm. I am going to cut it up into small pieces and fry it and put cinnamon on it and we are going to eat it on [...]

Tagged as: education, food, rio

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This too shall pass

October 20, 2009

The king calls his wisest magician and orders him to create an emblem that will help the king to celebrate his greatest triumphs with humility and his grieve his sorrows with perspective an grace. The magician comes back with a ring, engraved with the words, “This too shall pass”. This has been my mantra for [...]