I drew you a delicious bass: The Napoleon Dynamite drawing game

Feb 21 2012

Napoleon Dynamite seems to be a movie that people either love, or love to hate. The movie celebrates society’s underdogs and misfits, so naturally, it’s one of my favorites. If you haven’t seen the movie, Napoleon is an eccentric high-schooler who lives with his grandmother and his 32-year-old unemployed brother Kip. Napoleon wants to help his friend Pedro get elected class president, which leads to one of my favorite scenes, Napoleon’s unforgettable dance moves:

My brother is also a Napoleon Dynamite fan. His wife gave him this Napoleon Dynamite board game for Christmas, which they invited us to play over the weekend. The board game is based on another memorable scene from the movie, in which the audience discovers Napoleon’s “impressive” drawing skills.

Deb: What are you drawing?
Napoleon Dynamite: A liger.
Deb: What’s a liger?
Napoleon Dynamite: It’s pretty much my favorite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed… bred for its skills in magic.

The Napoleon Dynamite “It’s Pretty Much My Favorite Animal” game is a picture game where your teammates have to guess what animal you are drawing. On your turn, you take two animal cards from the deck and then have to combine those two animals into one while your teammates try to figure out what it is. Each correct answer lets you move around the game board. The first team to cross the finish line wins.

Of the four of us, my brother is the only one who can draw well, so hilarity quickly ensued because our drawings were just so stinkin’ bad. Here are some highlights from the game. Can you guess what animals they are supposed to be? (We used both sides of the paper, so sometimes you can see the ink bleeding through from the other side. I cleaned up the images as best I could.)

You can definitely tell when it was Jeff’s turn:
Crocodile+Starfish

 

When anyone else was drawing, it took a little longer to guess. Any idea what this is supposed to be?
Snake+Lobster

 

 

The next one is mine. Hint: those aren’t supposed to be stripes.

Earthworm+Alligator

 

Here’s a stumper, courtesy of Tom:

Monkey+Rat

Surprisingly, my teammate guessed correctly before I even finished this disaster.

Cow+Pegasus

This one of Tom’s makes me giggle every time:
Beaver+Llama

Another nice one by my brother:
Koala+Goat

And, the award for funniest drawing goes to my husband, for this:

Shark+Monkey

You can see more of our drawings, along with the answers, on Flickr.

Do you like to play board games with friends and family? What are your favorite games? Leave a comment and tell us about them.

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12 sustainability goals for 2012

Feb 15 2012

Online

This is not a typical Wisconsin winter. It’s 44 degrees today. Yesterday was in the high-30s. We haven’t had any below-zero weather yet, and have almost no snow on the ground. Usually by February my seasonal affective disorder gets the best of me, and I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep until April. This year I’m feeling much more energized, and ready to get a jump on my spring plans.

Last March I wrote It’s time for spring sustainability-ing, listing several goals for living more sustainably in 2011. I accomplished most of them. Here’s a recap:

We did start a vegetable garden, and although Griffin ate most of the tomatoes, we did manage to harvest some peppers, beans, and lettuce. We need to do a better job of spacing out the plants this year, and plan to add another small garden plot for additional vegetables.

I made progress on the landscaping, and got many of the plants for free from friends and neighbors. I did break down and buy a few plants from a local nursery in the fall, when perennials were 50 percent off.

I started making homemade laundry detergent, and I swear our clothes are cleaner. It’s so easy to make, extremely cost-effective, and much safer for the environment than most commercial detergents. Plus, there is less waste because I’m re-using the same container rather than recycling a big plastic jug every few weeks.

Though I am no longer an active Project 333 participant, I have kept my wardrobe simple. I avoid buying clothes unless I really need them, and always try to find the item secondhand before buying new.

Where I fell short in 2011 is with my goal to bike more. I didn’t bike to the grocery store at all. I vow to do better this year.

Blogs like The Non-Consumer Advocate and The Zero Waste Home inspire me to live even more sustainably than we already do. I came up with 12 sustainability goals for 2012.

  1. Work toward eliminating plastic bags. Even though I use re-usable shopping bags for grocery shopping 80 percent of the time (sometimes I forget to bring them), I’m still shocked at how many plastic bags end up in our recycling bin. Produce bags and plastic bags for bulk foods make up the majority of our plastic waste. I want to start bringing my own containers to the store and reduce or eliminate the need for plastic bags.
  2. Add more insulation in our home to increase energy efficiency. When we bought the house in 2010, the inspector pointed out how little insulation there is in the attic. It’s on our project list for 2012 to remedy this problem.
  3. Further reduce the amount of packaged foods we buy. I enjoy cooking, and make most of our meals from scratch, but there are a number of packaged foods we rely on for quick meals that I think we can eliminate or significantly reduce with a little extra planning. I’ve also been hearing more about potentially harmful chemicals in canned foods, which I use almost daily (especially beans
  4. Reduce dependence on paper towels. We use a lot of paper towels because they are convenient, but they create a lot of waste. I want to switch to rags as much as possible.
  5. Replace all light bulbs with compact fluorescents. We’ve already started doing this. As our “regular” light bulbs burn out, we are replacing them with energy-efficient CFLs.
  6. Dry clothes on a line rather than use the dryer, as much as possible.
  7. Install a rain barrel. We can use the collected rainwater for the garden and landscape.
  8. Bike to the grocery store. It will require planning on my part, because the bike trailer can only hold two grocery bags, but I really want to do this at least some of the time.
  9. Produce less garbage. This is related to 1 and 3, but not all of our garbage is a result of grocery shopping and/or food packaging. One example is the makeup sponges I use for application and blending. Perhaps this is something I can do without.
  10. Join a CSA. We’ve done this in the past, but did not join last year because we started our own garden. We weren’t able to produce nearly enough veggies to sustain us all spring and summer, so we’re buying a share this year. The vegetables are locally grown and organic, which are two sustainability pluses.
  11. Install faucet aerators to reduce water usage.
  12. Make natural beauty products. I want to try making my own shampoo and lotion to start, to further reduce the amount of plastic bottles we are using, and reduce the number of chemicals we are exposed to.

Have you thought about ways to live more sustainably this year? I’d love to hear about them. Share your spring sustainability goals in the comments below.

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Photo by Erix! on Flickr

 

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Toxic roses, dirty chocolate and blood diamonds

Feb 09 2012

 

DSC_0049

Socially conscious alternatives to traditional Valentine’s Day gifts

Love it or hate it, Valentine’s Day is almost here.

While I don’t hate Valentine’s Day, I certainly have criticisms. I think marketers use the holiday to perpetuate unrealistic expectations about relationships and romance for their own financial gain. And if that’s not seedy enough, the gifts most associated with Valentine’s Day—cut flowers, chocolate, and diamond jewelry—are often produced under conditions that harm the workers, their families, and the environment.

Cut flowers: Worker exploitation, toxic chemicals, child labor

About 80 percent of cut flowers sold in the United States are grown in Latin America, South America, and Africa. Workers are often exploited to keep costs low for American and European customers. Most flower workers are women, who routinely face sexual harassment, exposure to dangerous pesticides, and work long hours for very little pay. Child labor is also a problem, especially in Ecuador, where an estimated 20 percent of the flower workers are minors. Read more at laborrights.org.

A socially conscious alternative: Skip the flowers or buy organic, fair trade-certified flowers from sources like oneworldflowers.org.

Chocolate: Human trafficking, forced child labor, unfair wages

Ivory Coast, on the southern coast of West Africa, is the world’s largest supplier of cocoa beans. Forced and abusive child labor is common there.

In his 2010 article for Huffington Post, “Is there child slavery in your chocolate?”, John Robbins wrote:

According to an investigative report by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents for a pittance, or in some cases outright stolen, and then shipped to Ivory Coast, where they are enslaved on cocoa farms. These children typically come from countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Destitute parents in these poverty-stricken lands sell their children to traffickers believing that they will find honest work once they arrive in Ivory Coast and then send some of their earnings home. But that’s not what happens. These children, usually 11-to-16-years-old but sometimes younger, are forced to do hard manual labor 80 to 100 hours a week.

Hershey manufactures almost half (42.5 percent) of the chocolate consumed in the U.S. Hershey is fully aware of the problems in its supply chain, and has been for more than 10 years, yet continues to source its cocoa from West Africa.

Global Exchange, International Labor Rights Forum and other groups started the Raise the Bar, Hershey! campaign to call attention to Hershey’s practices, and put pressure on the company to source fair trade-certified cocoa.

Just last month, Hershey announced it would make a commitment to purchasing Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa for all of its Bliss chocolate products, starting later this year. Members of the Raise the Bar, Hershey! campaign say this is a good “first step,” but they will continue to put pressure on Hershey to combat child, forced, and trafficked labor in its supply chain.

To learn more, watch the documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate.

A socially conscious alternative: Instead of Hershey brand chocolates, choose one of these slave-free brands:

  • Equal Exchange (Whole Foods, New Seasons)
  • Endangered Species (Whole Foods, Target, New Seasons)
  • Rapunzel (Whole Foods)
  • Dagoba
  • Green and Black’s (available at Target!)
  • Newman’s Own (New Seasons, Whole Foods)
  • Cloud Nine
  • Tropical Source (New Season’s, Whole Foods)
  • Shaman
  • Any fair-trade certified brands (look for the black and white Transfair logo)

Diamonds: Child labor, violence, corruption, pollution

Conflict or “blood diamonds” are diamonds that originate from war zones, and are then traded on the black market to fund rebel fighters and insurgencies. Diamond mines in South Africa and India are notorious locations of sweatshops that produce exquisite diamonds made by child slaves. The people who mine the diamonds are also exposed to numerous health risks and hazards. On top of it all, the environmental toll of diamond mining is steep, if not catastrophic.

I was initially encouraged to learn about “conflict-free” diamonds from Canada and Australia, until I learned about the extreme environmental and ecological damage caused by large diamond mines. You can read more at thegreenerdiamond.org.

Socially conscious alternatives: Antique or estate jewelry, jewelry made from recycled metal (gold mining is also cause for concern).

To me, romance is in the everyday details…helping with the housework, long walks together with the dog, saying I’m beautiful in my flannel PJs and no makeup…all make me feel more loved than some heart-shaped trinket. Keep reading for more socially conscious Valentine’s Day gift ideas…

  • Gift certificate for a massage
  • Dinner at an ethically sustainable restaurant
  • A bottle of organic wine
  • Sponsor an animal in your sweetheart’s name at your local shelter or farm sanctuary
  • Breakfast in bed
  • Cruelty-free bath and body products

For even more ideas, check out 10 Great Green Gifts on Treehugger.com.

Have something to add? Please, leave a comment with your thoughts. If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to Peculiar Girl or share it on Twitter or Facebook.

Photo by tssuaccnt on Flickr

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How to: Thrifty wall art

Feb 07 2012

Thrift stores, garage sales, and auction sites like eBay can be great places to find affordable artwork for your home. Some of my favorite art pieces were thrift store finds, including this signed modern painting, this woodcut (I think) titled “Village of Ecuador,” and these vintage dessert plates that I repurposed as wall art to fill an oddly shaped niche in our living room.

Sometimes the art I find at thrift stores is ready to display as-is. I just bring it home and find a spot for it. More often, though, my thrifty scores require a little bit of extra work to make them ready for the spotlight, so to speak.

For example, I might like the artwork but not the frame, or vice versa. The Village of Ecuador piece didn’t have a frame at all when I bought it, nor did this photograph, but I knew they would each fit in a standard-size frame, which can be found fairly inexpensively at Michael’s or Target. (Custom framing can get really costly, and can quickly turn a bargain find into a budget-buster.)

A few weeks ago I was browsing at Goodwill, and found a large, wood frame, with the glass, for only $4.99. I liked its clean lines and subtle detailing. What I didn’t like, and what I suspect kept anyone else from purchasing it, was the color.
Not so pretty in pink

The frame was pink, which doesn’t work with my décor, but I knew I could change the color. Still, I hesitated to buy it because I didn’t have a tape measure with me (a good idea to have on-hand when thrifting). The frame looked to be a standard 11 x 14, so I took a chance and bought it.

When I got the frame home, I discovered it was not a standard 11 x 14. The opening is actually 10-3/4 x 14-3/4. Not the end of the world, but it meant I had to have a custom mat cut in order to add an 8×10 photo to the frame. It made my project a little more expensive, but still a bargain compared to buying wall art new, even at discount store prices, and a lot more interesting than something mass-produced.

On my next trip to Goodwill, another piece of art caught my eye. It was an 8 x 10 photograph of a city that looked to be taken somewhere in South America, marked $3.99. The oak frame and forest green mat made it look dated, but the photo itself was beautiful. It reminded me of my 2008 trip to Peru, and was much better than most of the photos I took. I knew instantly that was the photo I wanted to use in my pink frame makeover project.

South America?

I felt a light color would be best to bring out the frame’s details. I chose Rust-oleum Satin indoor/outdoor enamel in shell white. Before I painted the frame, however, I wanted to get the mat cut. I didn’t want to risk scratching or denting the fresh paint by hauling the frame to the store for measuring.

In Madison we have a store called U Frame It where you can get a custom mat cut while you wait. I brought the pink frame, my framed photo, and my can of spray paint to the shop. The salesperson helped me remove the photo from the ‘80s frame, pick the right color mat for my soon-to-be-repainted frame, and cut the mat to fit. She then used acid-free tape to affix my photo to the new mat, and placed it in a bag for me. I plan to donate the photo’s original frame back to Goodwill.

My next step was to clean and repair the pink frame. I removed the glass and set it aside. I used a mild soap and water solution to wash the frame thoroughly. There was a small spot of damage on the edge, which I filled with wood putty and sanded smooth when dry. I was ready to paint.

Normally I would do this outside on the grass, but it has to be above 50 degrees F in order for spray paint to dry properly. As luck would have it, it’s been unseasonably warm this winter. It was in the upper 30s yesterday, which made it just warm enough in the garage for painting. (I left the side door open for ventilation.) It took two coats of paint, plus a little extra in a few spots in order to get a nice, even, creamy white color.

Pink no more

Once the paint had thoroughly dried, I cleaned the glass on both sides and returned it to the frame. Next, I added the matted photo, put the back on the frame, and Voila! My thrift store frame and photo were ready to hang.

Voila!

This entire project cost $28.42, which is a little more than I planned because of the custom mat cutting. If you know how to cut your own mats, or if you’re working with standard-size frames, you can complete a project like this for much less. Here’s what everything cost:

  • Pink frame from Goodwill: $4.99
  • Framed 8×10 photograph from Goodwill: $3.99
  • Custom mat from U Frame It: $14.77
  • Spray paint: $4.67

I started this project yesterday afternoon, allowing 2-3 hours drying time between coats of paint. I did a final touch up of paint this morning, and by afternoon the frame was dry and ready for assembly and hanging. I really enjoy projects like this, and hope I’ve inspired you to try something similar. You can see all of my thrifty art pictures on Flickr.

Do you have a thrift store art story? I’d love to hear it!

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Crime Shows, vegan Ted Danson and the perfect baked potato

Feb 02 2012

 

I love crime shows. Bones, Unforgettable, Psych, White Collar, Sherlock (BBC)… I can watch them for hours. I mourned for weeks when Monk went off the air, and was flabbergasted when Fox cancelled The Chicago Code after only one season. Jennifer Beals was fantastic!

Another of my favorites is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the one set in Vegas. Though I sometimes watch the Miami and New York spin-offs, they just don’t hold my interest like the original.

I was skeptical when Ted Danson joined the CSI cast last year, replacing Laurence Fishburne. I liked Fishburne’s dark and tormented character Ray Langston, and only knew Danson as a comedic actor. I gave him a chance, though, and I’m glad I did. Danson brings a refreshing lightness to the show as JW McGraw. He’s funny, but not too funny. It works.

I’m even more of a Danson fan since I learned he recently adopted a vegan diet. According to VegNews magazine, Danson says a plant-based diet gives him the energy he needs to keep up with the physical demands of filming CSI. Plant power!

Maybe Danson can make his CSI character a vegan, too. I’d pay good money to see a vegan character that wasn’t just the butt of jokes or a complete and utter flake.

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While my favorite crime show characters use their skills to solve robberies, kidnappings, and murders, I most often use my problem-solving abilities to create nutritious vegan meals from simple ingredients. One of my favorites is the loaded baked potato: a fluffy baked potato topped with vegan butter and delicious veggies.

I used to wonder why restaurant baked potatoes tasted so much better than the ones I made at home, until I discovered the secret:  Bake them directly on the oven rack!

If you cook your potatoes wrapped in foil, which is what I used to do, you are actually steaming, not baking, the potato. Steaming keeps the potato skin soft and moist, while baking gives you that crispy outer skin, just like the baked potatoes in a restaurant.

Russet potatoes are good for baking, as are yellow potatoes like Yukon Gold. I typically bake four to six potatoes at a time, and keep them on hand for easy meals throughout the week.  Here’s how to get perfect baked potatoes, every time.

Restaurant-style baked potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wash the potatoes thoroughly in cold water. Pierce each potato several times with a fork to allow steam to escape during the baking process.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt (such as sea salt or kosher salt). I also like to add dried herbs and spices such as rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder, but this is optional. Use your hands to coat each potato in the oil, salt, and spices (if using).

Add oil and seasonings
Place the potatoes on the center rack in the oven. I usually put a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any drippings.

Potatoes right on the rack

Bake at 400 degrees F for 1 hour, turning once, or until tender when pierced with a fork. If you are baking more than 4 potatoes, your cooking time will increase. They should look like this:
Fresh from the oven

To serve, make a small lengthwise slice in the top of the potato, then gently squeeze the potato with your thumb and index finger to pop the potato open.
Squeeze to open

Enjoy your baked potato plain, or with your favorite toppings.  I like mine with sauteed mushrooms and steamed broccoli.

Vegan stuffed baked potato

Potatoes sometimes get a bad rap because they are high in carbohydrates. Potatoes are in fact very healthy if you prepare them in a healthy manner, such as baking or boiling. A medium-sized russet potato (with skin) has about 160 calories, hardly any fat, 4 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, and 925 mg of potassium.

Now that I know how to cook them properly, we eat potatoes at least once a week, usually more. They are inexpensive, versatile, and keep for a long time when stored in a cool, dark place.

Do you enjoy potatoes on a regular basis or do you tend to avoid them because of the carbs?

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