Happy Halloween! ;-)
Kids Domain Halloween (costume ideas, safety tips, crafts, clip art, history, video games, printable paper fun)
Halloween & Los Dias de los Muertos (links & info)
Ben & Jerry’s Halloween fun (games, history, flavors, crafts, coloring, "scream saver")
Halloween Online (magazine, pumpkin carving, fog machine info, costumes, safety, cookbook, fonts and much more)
Posted October 31, 2005 by Mariva in fun, holidays, social
Frappr (Friends Mapper) is a new tool (currently in beta) that allows you to place everyone in a particular group (work, friends, specific communities) on a map, complete with markers, photos and "shoutouts" (messages to the entire group). If the idea seems fuzzy, you can browse the public Frappr groups to see what Frapprs are mapping: quilters, rock band fans, outdoors clubs and so on.
RisingConcepts, the startup behind Frappr, is also developing two other collaborative projects: CareerJive, a social networking tool for friends, colleagues, associates and job-seekers, and Planzo, a shareable calendar tool. The examples of Presidents George W. Bush’s and Bill Clinton’s Planzo calendars are hilarious.
Posted October 28, 2005 by Mariva in business, community, social
Oh, the things I could eat. I stopped by my local chocolatier to purchase some goodies for the Blogger Meetup. On the counter sat a gorgeous box of ice cream sundae truffles, almost too beautiful to eat. Eventually, of course, I couldn’t resist — and, oh, the chocolate! The richness, the darkness, the creaminess — it was simply sublime. Moonstruck’s confections are works of art.
Meanwhile, the bloggers had to content themselves with some individually wrapped French chocolates that were — I must admit — also pretty good. (But I kept the Moonstruck sundae truffles for myself.)
Posted October 27, 2005 by Mariva in edibles, gifts
[17:35] mariva: Look at this great hairdo. I wish I could figure out how to do that sort of thing with my hair.
[17:35] alisa: I think they put a sponge under her hair and pin pieces of hair over it.
[17:36] mariva: But, according to the instructions, you’re supposed to “comb the crown section back and secure with a seamless elastic, leaving bangs or shorter front layers around the face,” which seems kind of impossible.
[17:37] alisa: No, that is all wrong. They are lying.
Posted October 26, 2005 by Mariva in beauty, fashion
It’s hard to imagine anyone burning $39.99 on something this useless, but I suppose the same could be said for a fattening restaurant meal. Apparently it’s not a gag.
But is this thing for real? I don’t remember "the Book of Jobs" in the Bible:
“But now bring me a man who plays music. And when the man played music, the groove came upon them.”
— 2 Jobs 3:15
Posted October 26, 2005 by Mariva in fun, gadgets, music
The San Francisco Chronicle has a potentially useful story about finding street freebies — both treasures and junk — in the urban floating flea market.
Along those lines:
Freecycle
craigslist free stuff classifieds
craigslist barter classifieds
Posted October 26, 2005 by Mariva in community, decor, resources
HistoryShots offers a number of gorgeous, high-quality history-related prints on subjects like American history (the political parties, the Confederate Army), human feats (the race to the moon, the conquest of Mount Everest) and the chronology of western civilization. Some of the prints are reproductions of original antique artifacts; others are technological creations of graphic precision. Just the background information on the prints makes for fascinating reading. There’s even a print titled Cycles of Greatness on the PGA Tour.
I hope HistoryShots produces more of these prints in the future. In the meantime, one of these prints makes an impressive gift for your favorite wonk.
Posted October 25, 2005 by Mariva in arts, decor, education
Broadstreet is Salon.com’s new blog about women. Highbrow gossip about famous females, framed in pink. What more could you ask for? Me-ow!
Posted October 24, 2005 by Mariva in news
Watching reruns of M*A*S*H inspired me to send some love to medics and soldiers serving overseas. At Books For Soldiers (BFS), you can send reading material, snacks, toiletries, entertainment media and games to those who are — sadly — sometimes forgotten. Even simple postcards are appreciated. In order to participate, for security purposes, you must first register as an official BFS volunteer, which involves submitting a notarized application along with a $12 application fee. (It’s worth it.)
Posted October 21, 2005 by Mariva in community
Salon.com offers a compendium of wonderful articles about the future: innovative developments, useful inventions, creations for improving life and society. You can find them all in the Big Idea directory. My favorite topics include the public transit of the future (a monorail-style system that uses individual electric taxicabs), stylish affordable housing and various photo-sharing communities.
The most recent Big Idea article covers six developments in environmental innovations, including cheap and durable solar panels, high-performance hybrid vehicles, a new form of tourism that protects both domesticated livestock and natural predators, methane plants powered by cow manure, vegetable garden lawns and accelerated bioremediation, the use of genetically engineered bacteria that eat toxic waste.
Got a big idea of your own? Submit it to thebigidea@salon.com.
Posted October 21, 2005 by Mariva in innovations
