Random #9 - Warning Signs

During last year's trip to Greece and Italy with my son, we saw some pretty funny "danger" signs. I figured I'd make this the topic for the day, since I can't use my camera until I finish cleaning it, and while cleaning T's, I was electrocuted (don't worry, it was a small shock...but my finger is still "buzzing")!

The actual translation for the above sign is "Do not climb or descend while closing", and we found this on the doors to the metro trains in Rome. Descend what, you say? The stairs outside of the doors, which fold out and back in rather violently...

Here are a couple we found at our local zoo:


Never mind the fact that you might DIE.



(okay, that one's not really a "warning" sign, but it's still pretty random...AND funny)

And these are just some from around cyberspace:

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WOW! That's gotta hurt!


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I like that they show what happens when you don't heed the warning...

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There's a danger of drowning, so you better not do it.


There's a bazillion more out there, have you seen any odd warning signs lately? Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who makes them, even???

Random #8 - Auroville

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If you're like me, then you had no idea that this city even existed.

But it's a real place, and it's quite intriguing...I came across the image above on Pinterest, and have been scouring the Auroville website for the past hour in amazement. They've got free stores, community accounts, everyone is attended to with their unique needs, and everyone works within the city.

If you didn't click the link for website above, click it now, here, because it's really something you don't want to miss...and you do want to think about...

And tell me what you think, as always!

Random #7 - Pink Flamingos

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The ever popular, yet horribly tacky, plastic lawn ornament.

They belong here:
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Not HERE!
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But look at all the other creative flamingos that have appeared on some lawns...


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Skel-A-Flamingo Featherless Friend.


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Easter Flamingos, from the Central Arizona area...


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This is actually on the Google Campus!


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Hey, if you don't have a lawn, and are still obsessed with these things, put them in your planters!


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An abstract flamingo.


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This is actually really beautiful. If I had to have a plastic flamingo on my lawn (like, if it was a LAW or something), this is similar to what it would look like. An Etsy artist actually makes all kinds of unique, hand-painted flamingos.


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And this one's my personal favorite: Zombie Gnomes!


What do you think - are you a pink flamingo fan or do you prefer another type of lawn ornament?

Random # 6 - A Random Day.

I woke up to a message that should've made my day incredible (because it really made me happy!), but instead...

I cried. A LOT.

Then I called around for a crisis hotline. Yup, I really needed some support, and I'm not afraid to say it. This led to more crying and eventually getting a bit more of a grip and remembering all that I've learned. Which led to more crying...

Then the ONE person I know in the area called me to ask if I wanted to go shopping at a flea market on Saturday. And sure enough, I began crying again...so, through gasps and tears I explained that I was broke and just couldn't go this time.

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Enter more crying...

And now, I'm blogging and am just as calm (although exhausted) as can be.

I KNOW, RIGHT? RANDOM!

Random #3.1 - Dump Spot

And here we have another episode of Dump Spot. Look at this mess!
Every week, this table ends up with an ever-eclectic new mix of random items on it. Believe it or not, this is also where we eat dinner, which is rather embarrassing, because most of the time, these items are still hanging out while we eat...

The List:

1. Stuffed Domo, my absolute favorite character, inside a Domo hat. I won the toy at Great Escape (an amusement park in Lake George, NY), and we found the hat at Good Will for $5. How they ended up together on this table, I couldn't tell you.

2. My son's digital camera, and two camera cases. Since I've been using mine so much lately, T has been following in my footsteps! He's got an eye for it, too! Why two cases? One is his case, one is mine, and I'm using my camera to take the picture :P

3. Little Sculpey planets with pins in them that T made the other day. He left them in the oven a little too long and his blue one turned black. The pins are so he can stick them into our houseplants' soil. *giggle*

4. A spindle of craft wire. This was another appearance to which the origin is unknown.

5. One of the household's cell phones, modded with grippy-rubber stuff cut off from a jar opener. It's all over the back of it, too. This is so it's doesn't slide all over the place when its on a dashboard, or against the window trying to get better service (when we lived in VT, we HAD to put the phone in the window to get just 2 lil bars).

6. That mouse is indeed attached to my laptop, but I hardly ever use it. Thus, it lays within a cluster of articles and not on a mouse pad or even within a space worthy of using a mouse.

7. Water bottles. The blue is T's, and the green one actually has a little wine in it, so you know who that one belongs to...

8. T's birthday was this month and he got some gift cards for Kindle books from his Grammy. He won't be using them anytime soon, though. I haven't given him back his Kindle yet because he got into trouble.

9. Ah, the ever present Harry Potter Wand.

10. Mad Libs. T likes to do these by himself. Then he reads them off to me and thinks they are JUST SOOOOO FUNNY. Truth be told, they actually are most of the time!

11. There is always always always a cup of coffee on the table. ALWAYS.

12. the paper with numbers written on it were just the names of images that I wanted to upload out of a huge batch.

13. A Game Boy game T said I should try to sell on eBay, and another drawing he's been working on lately, underneath all the other stuff.

I'm actually using the mouse now...and his water bottle is gone.
Yours? I just love to hear random stuff!

Random #5 - Creative Vandalism

An old friend posted a link about "Smart-A** Vandalism", and I found it highly entertaining. I also have a very off-beat sense of humor, so if any of it offends you, I apologize in advance...



You can find the link to the rest of the images here (via Smosh.com).

But, it led me to some other creative vandalism that was also highly entertaining!

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Graffiti on a plane? Wow. How do you think the artist was able to accomplish this feat? I'm betting it was an inside job...



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This is pretty phenomenal. I'd like it if ALL fences were this pretty!



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I'm not sure I totally agree with this one, since I'm a fan of all art, and this seems to be kind of a parody on an original piece, but still...it's "creative".



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Good ol' Bansky. You gotta love it.



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And this is just REALLY talented. Look at the details - how long did it take this artist to do all those little cinder blocks? I want one in the yard, only of fairy houses and gnomes huts. Yup.



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Okay, last, and least, is bad graffiti. C'mon, I couldn't leave you with all that beauty and possibly inspire you without ruining it first, right?

I haven't seen any graffiti or vandalism worth photographing or blogging about in these parts, but if I do, you'll be the first to know!

What about you? Seen any creative art like the above images in your area lately?

Random #4.1 - continuing on garbage...

Today's Random isn't really that random because its related to the yesterday's post (hence the version upgrade in the title). I just go so obsessed with the litter all around this area, that I decided to take a stroll around the yard, and see what randomness I could find. I was interested in just how much of it was in this less-than-an-acre area, picking it up and disposing of it properly, and then, of course, sharing it here!

Before I go ahead with the list below, I just want to remind you can click on the image for a larger view. Blogger doesn't really do such a "large" photo when I directly upload from my computer, so maybe next time I can upload it to the web first. That usually allows me to alter the size with ease. Moving on...

THE LIST:

1. Three Musketeers candy bar wrapper. Not so unusual...

2. It could be a saltine cracker wrapping, but upon pick-up, it was a very small grocery-type-plastic bag.

3. I'm pretty sure this is one of those foam discs that shoot from a toy gun.

4. Some kind of empty beverage bottle within the Yucca plant.

5. Your guess is as good as mine?

6. Guessing this had been here awhile, as whatever it was (chip bag?), it had to actually be dug out of the ground.

7. Part of a motherboard...Seriously?

8. This is a juice-snack container. I believe these are usually filled with a gel-textured fruit product...ew.

9. A purple straw! This wasn't the only straw I found: a total of 4. But this one got in the image simply because of it's color.

10. Tiny tiny tiny toy tire. Say that three times fast.

11. Looks like the leftover plastic piece of a Ring Pop.

There was of course, more than I originally thought I'd find, and I wasn't dressed properly, got cold, and came inside before picking up the rest of the garbage scattered about. I'll get to it on a warmer day, though.

With the exception of a few items, most of these articles were either directly used as food packaging, or in some way related to food. The ring pop was the "vessel" for the candy, the straw was used to get a beverage into a mouth, and the bag carried food at one point.

I wonder how much waste I could reduce in my own household, just by purchasing things out of a package, like bulk products (i.e. beans, flours, spices, rice), fruit and vegetables, and then using (most of the time I do this already) my own reusable grocery bags?

What's in your yard? Do you live in a place with all kinds of litter, or are you in a community that cares about it's appearance and health?

Random # 4 - garbage-filled Attleboro, MA.

WOW. This city is so dirty. I've been on some long walks with my dog and son throughout this dump lately, and I'm disgusted. So, I contacted the only town I could find in this state with a green-up program (Framingham), and the only response I got from the contact person was, "let's meet!"...This was very disappointing because I don't drive in the summer; I bike around on my 21 speed crossover Trek, and rent a car if I REALLY need one. Getting to Framingham is SO not an option.

The next time I go on a walk, I'll take photos. It's worse than Italy (we visited there this past summer and were appalled at the garbage everywhere!), there are literally entire patches of "grass" that look as though they've been converted to landfills. I've contacted some folks about a "green-up day" here in this messy place...but to be honest? I don't know if I'd be able to recruit ANYONE to pick up even their own yard.

The reason for this, is that the city's garbage collectors are lazy. They work under strict guidelines where they can only take "registered" garbage bins, a limited amount of "extras" beyond the registered bins (such as mattresses and old furniture), and Attleboroians need a sticker slapped on any TV they wish to get rid of, which they are only allowed one or two [stickers for such electronic devices] per year.

Because of their accrued laziness, random garbage that doesn't make it into the truck on pickup day gets blown around and scattered across the yards of the citizens. Once that process begins, we have the henchmen "lazies" who follow suit and just dump their crap on on the side of the road, which of course gets caught up in neighborhood yards, trees, bushes, etc. with the rest of the stray trash.

So, everyone has a garbage-filled lawn, whether or not they follow through with a clean-up every day, and most people feel a feeling of redundant work when it comes to picking up garbage: "It's just going to be filled with trash tomorrow, so why bother?"

Sadly, I admit my own ignorance, purposely, to all the garbage. I occasionally pick up stray wrappings and junk food plastics that have made their way into our yard, and the only dedicated "trash" I pluck from the lawn is my own pooch's poop!

I promise to post some pics of this monstrosity of a trashland within the week, so stay tuned...

In the meantime, what is YOUR hometown like? Does it have a "green up" day, like many of the towns in VERMONT do? Are you even familiar with "Green-up" Day?

design-o-rama...

Well, it's time I give this blog some creative juices in order to make it look...something. I like this new look, but chances are it will be swapped out for something new soon, and since I'm an HTML/CSS self-proclaimed expert, you will probably be seeing a few "what the heck?"'s, "Oh, no she didn't"'s, and "wow, that's a really nice layout!"'s within the next few weeks. Just a heads-up.

Oh - my dog is scratching at the little man's door...and now whining...must be he misses his mama...aren't I just SO lucky? Not only do I have a SON, but a dog who thinks he's attached to me at the hip! WOOHOO!

GMO.

So, I just saw a fellow blogger's post and was reminded of home.

Home, for me, is Vermont. Vermonters were green before it was "cool". Many of us are super-duper eco/enviro/earth-friendly, regarding EVERYTHING we do.

We don't just buy organic, we bike to our local farmer's market, buy organic products from local farmers, refusing any plastic packaging, and we then feed that organic food's refuse to our pigs, which are grass fed, loved while they are alive, slaughtered humanely, and then packaged in freakin' recycled paper to put in our freezer.

You do get the point that we're very earth-conscious now, right?

So, naturally, when I saw this infographic from ecomom's blog, I just had to share it! You can see it in a bigger size here, or just click on the image.

As a side note, if you're interested in learning more about genetically modified or genetically engineered food, I would HIGHLY suggest watching "The Future of Food", which was recently removed from YouTube due to a copyright claim, unfortunately.

Actually, I would highly suggest watching it even if you weren't interested, as it's still a very captivating film...

What do you think? Do you think this infographic will influence your next trip to the grocery store?

And, are you looking through your pantry now, like I did, after reading it (hah)?

Recycle your Wedding?

Yup, you can!

Check this out:

Ruffled - Recycle Your Wedding

What a great idea!

RANDOM #3 - Dump Spot.

Well, here it is: my household's dump spot, the table in the living room. Everyone has one of these...whether it's a counter or a shelf near the door...it's a place where everything RANDOM ends up. I thought I'd share with you what's on mine right now.

1. My son's first pair of shoes. They are so tiny! I found them digging through some stuff a couple days ago, *enter girly shriek here*, showed my son who's now 12, and they've kinda just stayed in view...

2. One die I found in the yard, and some random piece of hardware, too. I didn't want my dog eating it or stepping on something that could hurt his paws. So I put them in my pocket and they ended up here.

3. Chopsticks. We use them ALL THE TIME, and for every kind of food you could imagine: eggs, carrots and dip, sauteed veggies, even pizza.

4. My son's marker carnage and paper. The little purple piece with the weird drawing on it was me trying to show him how to make animal legs and dragon arms...his first attempt was pretty awesome.

5. The Hunger Games. I am refusing to see the movie until I read the book. I'm three pages in and it's been on the table for a week now...*nervous giggle*

6. Very dirty work gloves. VERY dirty. VERY. DIRTY. I've been planting.

7. A dirty glass. This is a constant. For some reason, 12 year old boys are incapable of putting their drinking vessels in the sink when they are done with them! WHY!?!

8. The camera's USB cable. Obviously, this is one of the most important pieces of ANYTHING in my house, so its usually lying around somewhere...we have to label all of our connectors and wires and cables because we have so many freakin' gadgets. I wish companies would wise up and do the work FOR us, by printing what the connector is on it somewhere, before putting it on the shelf or in the box with it's partner gadget.


What's on YOURS? And where is it in your home?

FaceCrack and Indian Call Centers.

Since turning off the alerts to any incoming text messages, picture messages, or voice-mails, my life has become FAR LESS STRESSFUL.

I absolutely LOATHE talking on the phone. I'd rather text when it's convenient for me, or email (whether via actual email or FaceCrack messaging), and the only time you WILL catch me on the phone, I'm probably on hold with some outsourced call center in India.


The worst part about this is that some of these calls are to US GOV'T customer service centers or the like. The only fun thing about these phone calls is trying to ask the person on the other end how much they make in Indian currency, and how often they're paid. It has always ended up in an answer similar to this one: "Ma'am, I am unable to answer any personal questions at this time."

When I pose the question as impersonal as possible, directing it more towards the company's standards, etc., the confusion of the representative at the other end of the line is pretty much PRICELESS.


Have you ever gotten an answer regarding how much people in India are paid? I'd like to know how much the US GOV'T is saving by outsourcing, while there are a million or more people in their own country who would work the same job for minimum wage.

DUTCH MASTER!

So, I have this dog.

I rescued him almost two years ago and he has one helluva story:

Chained up and left to fend for himself for weeks at a time, with an electric collar around his neck that was too tight, this big, beautiful Vizsla/Doberman mix got a visit a couple times a month from his previous owner, only to leave him food and water. The collar was so tight, in fact, that it began ripping his neck open, continuing to electrocute him in tiny zaps every time he barked.

By the time he came to us, he had holes in his neck that were black (from electric burns) and so infected, that they had a greenish ooze bubbling out of them. I wasn't looking for a big dog at the time and only agreed to foster him for a couple of weeks, but the second I saw this guy, it was over. "Over," as in, I was head over heels in love with him.


His name back then was Snookers, and the rescue agency pleaded with us to change his name as soon as possible because he probably had bad associations with it. So, being the color of cocoa, and resembling a cigar because of his long, lean body, my son and I named him Dutch. When he's in trouble, he's "Dutch MASTER!", but this guy is too sweet and snuggly to be named after something so carcinogenic.

It is true that dootuhms, woogie-woo-woo, and OH BUNNY! often DO make it into the mix of pet names (pun intended)...


He's come a long way from the psychotic, untrained, trouble-maker he was since we first got him, but he's changed our lives, calmed down quite a bit, and amazes us each day with his intelligence!

Totally random, that's the story of Dutch.

RANDOM #2 - how many states have you been to?

I love this. Over at It's all in the Details, I was spending a few hours perusing through some of the older posts...and came across this:


visited 19 states (38%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Pretty cool, huh? I'm going back there to do the countries I've visited now...and plan a trip to the WEST coast.

Random question...

Does it freak anybody else out that Proctor & Gamble make not only diapers, dryer sheets, and deodorant, but they also make foods?

All KINDS of foods: Fisher Nuts, Duncan Hines, Folgers Coffee, Crisco, Jif, Sunny Delight, etc.



AND, did you know that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (another P&G product) contains formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer?

Yeah.




Why do I pose these questions to you and why should you care? Because I've recently been mocking them on as many social networks as possible regarding their "Future Friendly" campaign, which is some marketing scheme they're using to fit into the green niche, and a Big Business like P&G has no place pretending they're environmentally friendly.

Brownie (not Duncan Hines) points to anyone who can give me more ammo to fire at 'em!

RANDOM #1 - Mango!

Okay, so my librarian friend posts on FaceCrack how she's learning a new language through her library...for FREE. !!! All I can think is, how cool would it be to learn a new language that is super rare and talk to my dog in it so I can belittle people without them knowing? Yes, I know, I'm an awful person.

Immediately, I post a comment, tagging my own city's public librarian, asking if this is available in my area, too.

Friend beats librarian to answering, posts link in comment.

AWESOME! It's called MANGO and it's an app you can use through your browser to learn all sorts of languages, including PIRATE.


This Mango thing is gonna rock my world...and now I get to re-use all my old language books for art and wrapping paper!

Why have I not heard of this before? Because I don't go to the library...I told you, I'm an awful person.

Welcome!

So, you're sitting there reading this blog and probably thinking, "Oh, great, another blog."

But this isn't just another blog. It's totally random! :P