A Watched Pot

Lately I’ve been blogging to a beach party of one…me. Earlier this summer, I started squirreling away posts ideas. New ideas kept tumbling into the pot. Unfortunately, I did not keep a close enough watch on the swirling wellspring and it boiled over. I was all poised to push the pause button on the whole exercise and let the unpublished draft simmer down, and then the pot kept going round and round.

These 10 timely ideas rose to the top:

  1. Put pests in their place with this DIY bug zapper tutorial (yes, it is eco-friendly and humane).
  2. My husband will be happy to know that if air conditioning could make me fat, and maybe even sick, I just might be persuaded…But not this summer.
  3. Just for fun: Don’t these Monkey Orchids make you smile?
  4. I have more than a few problems with the word "unconsumption." The Unconsuption blog says, “Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.” I can live with that.
  5. I swore I wouldn't stir the political pot, but doesn't this list scare the living daylights out you?
  6. I generally think Dr. Andrew Weil is on the right track. I'm a sucker for posts that reveal weight-loss without deprivation. This post left me hungry...and thinking I should be dancing more.
  7. As an ex-teacher, the end of summer always brings stirrings, especially when I read poetic notes written to school kids.
  8. Don't you wish politicians would sacrifice more to make this world a better place? (OK, I broke the political promise, but I hope you agree it was worth it.)
  9. The balance between creating and consuming lures me into stuff like this. Then I worry that I suffer from stuff like this?
  10. Did you know that 90% of all Americans get married? I tied the knot 29 years ago today, and really have no revealing sage advice, except love, luck...oh, and the secret of a long marriage still seems to be a secret.

Photo: Ted Fink

The Center Is A State Of Mind

The passage below is from a Seth Godin post. It reminded me of everything I loved about playing with the geometric drawing toy, Spirograph.

Follow Seth, he's awesome. And I don't use that word often. Ever.

The action used to happen at court. In France, if you wanted to get ahead, you put on your outfit, called in favors and hung out near the King, because proximity was all.

If you're in Kibera, are you too far from Silicon Valley to write an app? If you live in New Zealand, are you too far outside the mainstream music world to perform a hit song? What about an author who lives 3,000 miles from New York?

The magic of our new form of communication is that it's no longer one-way. If you consume an app, you can write one. If you can read a blog, you can publish one. If you can grab an ebook, you can produce one.

The center has nothing to do with geography any longer. The center is a state of mind.

Drawing: box64studio

Celebration Giveaway!

It’s the time for celebrations. Not only is it 4th of July weekend, it's the one-year "blogoversary" of Econesting!

To commemorate the occasion, I dug into the archives and revisited some of the wonderful accolades that have come about because of Econesting: Working with the Environmental Defense Fund's Moms Clean Air Force, a six-page profile in the magazine, Where Women Create, my ongoing association with Care2, being named one of Yahoo's Top 10 Living Green Experts, and getting to "meet" so many of you through your comments and emails.

I won't get too deep into the details of maintaining a blog - Photoshop mishaps, incessant spam, html-hell, etc...But, I will say that it is all worth it to achieve the mission of sharing inspiration that is ecological, educational, economical and evolutionary.

I still LOVE, LOVE doing that, SO...

I’m inviting you to celebrate Econesting’s windy path towards creating a stylish, socially-aware eco-blog with a book give-away!

The book, Crafting A Meaningful Home: 27 DIY Projects to Tell Stories, Hold Memories, and Celebrate Family Heritage, by Meg Mateo Ilasco, brings together decorative and eclectic DIY projects. The message? Our nests are portholes from which others can glean the personality and energy of it’s inhabitants.

Crafting A Meaningful Home tells stories that reflect and celebrate the historical and ethnic impressions of the authors.

For example: This chunky Doily Rug, created by Jean Lee, puts a modern spin on a craft she learned as a child – crocheting. Using hemp rope, Lee melds the "eco" and the craft. LOVE IT.

Want a copy?

Simply leave a comment on this post (below) and say what your favorite Econesting post was. Comments close 9am EST on Tuesday, July 5th. A winner will be chosen at random, and will be announced in the comment box. Sorry, open to US residents only.

Thank you so much for making this first year such a success and enjoy the 4th!

8 Reasons To Rock-On With Meat-Free Monday (with Paul McCartney and Gwyneth Paltrow)

I don’t generally get star struck, and food is not one of my writing niches, as the cook at the ‘ol econest is my husband, but when a Beatle and an Oscar-winning actress get involved in something I care deeply about, like whether or not to eat meat, I’m over the moon. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has a blog. She and Paul McCartney, a dyed-in-the-wool vegetarian, have a story to tell about the environmental impact of raising livestock.

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