As I started to research what types of products would work well for these projects, I found a YouTube video by a certain Ben Uyeda. Ben runs a very interesting website called HomeMade Modern.

Ben Uyeda is a designer, lecturer, and entrepreneur focusing on the field of affordable and sustainable design. Ben is also the co-founder and design director of FreeGreen.com, as well as a visiting Lecturer at Northeastern University.

I have looked over his FreeGreen site and am hoping that Ben might submit an article or more to us about what he is doing and how his efforts are making a difference for folks.

Oh yes … back to concrete. Ben produces some great videos that I know you will find interesting. What I like most about his videos are that they are short, to the point, informative, FUN and most of all, creatively inspiring.  Having watched a few videos, I was armed with all sorts of ideas on how to achieve some of my creative goals and what products to try first. I contacted Quikrete (a product he uses) and got back some excellent information and have just finished some ‘tests’ using a non shrink grout. I will post some images on Facebook soon of these experiments.

But enough about me! This is about Ben and his fun videos. So, without further adieu, here are a few videos for you to watch. Enjoy … and if you create something, please be sure to beam back over to this post and let us know what you did!

DIY Concrete Vases
Note: I sent Ben an e-mail asking what mix he used and he replied that it is Quikrete commercial grade countertop mix.

DIY Concrete Pendant Lamps

Read more about some of the very cool things Ben is doing here: Who Creates

Find Ben on Twitter

Photo Credits

Photos are screen caps from Ben’s videos

Making chimes is pretty easy. Get some tube, cut it, drill some holes, hang them with string and hang a striker in the middle. They will sound OK and are a fun project to do with your kids.

Making ‘tuned‘ chimes that will behave well in the wind requires a lot more thought and planning. What musical scale do you want? How long should each tube be to achieve the notes in that scale? Where exactly is the best place to drill the holes to hang the tubes? What is the best way to hang them? What is the best striker to use? Where should the striker hang to get the best ring out of your tubes? These are but a few of the questions you need to answer to make a great set of chimes.

Where do you find that kind of information?

Enter Lee Hite and his amazing web site “An Engineering Approach to Tubular Bell Wind Chime Design“.

Lee has provided us with a deep well of knowledge on the subject. He answers, in great detail, all of the questions above and many, many more. He provides software to help you calculate the tube length and hang points for any chime you could think of building. He even has 90 pre-calculated chime rod dimensions which are all offered as a PDF file. Here is an example for 1.5″ aluminum tubing with a .083 wall.

Lee provides many detailed examples of how to hang the tubes and where to place the striker. He offers us frequency analysis about different tube materials and a wind chime musical note and loudness test video. And that’s just scratching the surface!

As a publisher, I am very much aware of how much work, passion, perseverance and dedication goes into maintaining a quality website. Lee’s work to provide us with this valuable information is simply, amazing. Lee, thank you. Your efforts make the internet a much better place for all of us.

I have been collecting some nice aluminum and copper tubing and now have enough to make a few sets of chimes. Thanks to Lee Hite, I know they will sound great and look pretty good too!

Photo Credit

Chimes – Wikipedia Creative Commons

Later, while I was at lunch, I kept reflecting on the video. What if something like that happened to me? What if my life changed in such a fundamental way – daily – and I never knew what was going to happen, who would I be when I woke up? Where was this story going? I had a million “what if” and “what happens” questions about how this person’s life journey might unfold. I wanted to know more. I snapped my fingers and said “YES,” then looked around sheepishly. I had just remembered – at the end of the video it said “to be continued,” and I was so glad – I had to follow this story!

This post is sponsored by Intel & Toshiba

Wish I lived closer … have a look at some of her menu items!

Looking at Moira’s Facebook Page, I noticed that a review had already been written at ry’s ratings,  a blog run and maintained by Ryan, an 11 year old boy who lives in Toronto. Nice work Ryan!

I had the pleasure to help Moira build her new website. I say pleasure because Moira has great energy and is always a ray of sunshine. I confess to taking quite a few snack breaks while working on it …

If you are in the Toronto area, drop by Feel Good Guru soon. Remember to come back here and leave a comment about your visit. We’d love to hear from you. I know Moira would for sure.

As well, visit her website and check out her amazing menu: www.feelgoodguru.com

Moira … from all of your friends here at Life As A Human, congratulations! We wish you and all of your ‘Gurus In Training’ every success with this exciting new venture. When the dust clears and you have some time, we’ll look forward to a post from you about being a restauranteur

Photo Credits

All Photos © Moira Nordholt – All Rights Reserved

The Life As A Human Online Store at CafePress is now open!

We have started with some Life As A Human branded apparel and drink-ware. We’ll be adding many more products here so check the store every now and then to see our latest offerings.

Here are a few examples of what we have so far:

If there is a product offered by Cafe Press that you would like us to add, please contact us and we’ll do what we can to make that happen for you.

Here is the link to the store: http://www.cafepress.com/lifeasahuman

Quality

Gil (our Chief Bottle Washer) ordered some product to check the quality and the CafePress process.

My order took 8 working days to arrive. It was shipped economy from CafePress in the USA to BC, Canada.

The quality is very good. I ordered white and black items. The black items have a bit of a sheen around the logo which CafePress says will disappear after the first wash. I washed the items and the sheen vanished. I also ordered some drink-ware and am impressed with the quality of the product.

A few of our authors in the USA also ordered some product and both were very impressed saying that the quality was very good and that the ordering process was easy and went smoothly.

Monthly Prizes For Life As A Human Subscribers

Starting April 15th and every month thereafter, we will randomly draw 2 subscribers for some great prizes.  The winners will be able to choose what prize they would like and in most cases be able to chose color and size as well.

If you have not yet subscribed to our Weekly Digest,  we’ve added the subscription form below for your convenience.

So please surf over to the store and have a look around.

Hope you all have a great weekend, wherever you may be

Cheers,

Your Life As A Human Team

Subscribe To Our Weekly Digest

It’s January and you’ve made a resolution to get out and exercise more, to eat right and to stop swearing in front of your kids.  But, it’s cold out, gets dark early, comfort foods are in season and somehow your kids are still interrupting you when you are trying to have a good session on the web…Below are some stellar parenting blogs that Life As A Human likes.

1.  Mommy Wants Vodka – Mommy Drinks Because You Cry

Becky Sherrick Hark’s blog is funny … except when it’s not.  One can log on with a big cup o’ java and have a good long read.  Laughing at posts like Cinnamon Girl and then tearing up at the poinant writings that describe Becky’s daughter who was born with a neural tube defect that required brain surgery to save her life.

2. Bad Mommy Moments ~ Celebrating the days of motherhood that SUCK.  Because it’s often after our worst moments that we realize how lucky we are.

The post f-ing lice is hilarious.

3. Leanne Shirtliffe ~ Ironic Mom – If you can’t laugh at yourself, laugh at your kids

In this very serious, noble and completlely daunting job of parenthood, most of us (?), many of us (?), a few of us, I hope (?) try desperately to swim upstream – defying pop culture – to teach our kids morals, values and respect.  It’s honestly a very had job.  Canadian blooger, Leanne Shirtliffe, writes about feminism, toys and how this sometimes flies in the face of environmental responsibility in this great post called International Women’s Day, Movies and Barbie Dolls.

4. stark. raving. mad. mommy – Losing my mind, one child at a time

“I write about the hilarious insanity that is my life.  This includes parenting, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, ADHD, allergies, asthma, Asperger Syndrome, and whatever else we have cooking at any given moment.” Babble named Josyln Gray number 76 out of 100 in the top 100 Mom Blogs for 2011.  She’s funny, insightful and quirky in that great way.  Just reading the description of her family members is enough to make you want to dive into some posts.  “My Excellent Birthday Adventure” is a must read.

5. Nerdy Apple

Sarah Manley has three kids.  And, one Halloween she did the unthinkable (please note sarcasm) when she ‘allowed’ her son to dress like Daphne from Scooby Doo.  The story itself is wonderful.  It is the flip side of the feminism coin that tells little girls they can play with trucks and celebrates their tom boy nature.  Only, it’s just not as OK to let a boy play with dolls and dress like a girl.  At least, not at the oh so mature age of 5.  Her honesty and unwavering support for her son landed her on “The Today Show,” CNN, NPR and blogs and newspapers around North America – at least.

6. Some Species Eat their Young ~ It’s an acquired taste.  Kick Ass Wife and I have four young children — Slim, Perpetual Motion, The Hellcat, and Tax Credit #4. I love them. They’re funny. Except when they’re not. Occasionally they make cool noises.

Chase McFadden is very funny and one of the only Father’s writing about parenthood that we’ve come across, which is a crying shame because when Dad’s write about parenthood there is a very unique and wonderful spin on things. How could there not be? And, he’s almost always very funny, except when he’s not and he writes about unspeakable things which every parent has to consider. Then he is wise, insightful and thought provoking.

Photo Credits

All thumbnails above come from the respective sites they point to.

SOHO

Our star the sun, just like our planet, has its own weather. Central to our solar system, our sun sustains us and has allowed life on our planet to evolve. SOHO, the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory, is a project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA to study the sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind.

This fantastic web site features daily updates on space weather and sun spot activity. There is a lot to see here so I suggest you bookmark it. Be sure to check out some of the video clips which are quite simply amazing.

JPL Photojournal

If you ever want to know anything about our solar system, space missions, the galaxy, comets, asteroids and so much more, this is the place to start. Each link provides you with wonderfully detailed information and high resolution images. For example, if you click on Mars, you are taken to an archive of stunning images which include links to the missions that captured them such as the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. Clicking on that link will take you to the MER website.

You can link to Voyager, Magellan, Venus Express — all the space missions are there. If the exploration of our universe is your thing, you could spend months surfing this site and never get bored!

Hubblesite

Since the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was carried into orbit  by a space shuttle in 1990, it has captured thousands of images that have changed the way we think about our universe. Most of these images are absolutely stunning. Be sure to check out the high resolution versions as well.

As with the JPL Photojournal, there is so much see here. I suggest starting with the Picture Album and surfing from there.

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA’s next orbiting observatory and the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. A tennis court-sized telescope orbiting far beyond Earth’s moon, Webb will detect infrared radiation and be capable of seeing in that wavelength as well as Hubble sees in visible light.

This incredible new telescope will be launched in 2014 and represents, IMHO, science at its best! Be sure to check out the multimedia link which shows some great images and details about this amazing technology.

Photo Credits

All thumbnails above come from the respective sites they point to.
Article Thumbnail and Feature Pic – Light Echoes From Red Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis – HST Image

#1 Rowdy Kittens

I love Rowdy Kittens, the blog about social change through simple living. Tammy Strobel, author of Simply Car-free and Smalltopia, created RowdyKittens mostly to keep friends updated on her life but it has since grown into a community. Tammy writes about downsizing, entrepreneurship, living without a car, and simple, minimalist living.

#2 Be more with less

Be more with less is about simplifying your life, getting rid of stress, and “more time and less stuff, and more joy with less obligation.” Courtney Carver makes no secret about the fact that she’s made mistakes: “I have made a bunch of money and spent even more. I have been too busy, too tired, too full, too stressed and too overworked for too long and I am changing my ways.” Courtney makes minimalism seem very doable — and she has an engaging way of inspiring others.

#3 365 Less Things

One woman’s 365 day resolution to “declutter every wardrobe, bench, shelf, under bed, pantry and garage space in my home by giving away, throwing away or selling one item everyday for the next twelve months.” It’s a good approach — bite-sized pieces of clutter. I had to follow her RSS to find out if she can do it…it’s like a minimalist soap opera!

#4 Marc and Angel Hack Life

Mark and Angel started a blog to share practical thoughts on  life, hacks, productivity, aspirations, health, work, tech and general self improvement and more. They promise you will not find “a regurgitation of someone else’s point of view on our site. This is the ultimate site for lists like “50 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do”. The only puzzling part is the ad link for Russian Brides. Doesn’t seem to fit with the brand.

#5 Squawkfox

This blog bills itself as the site where “frugal living is sexy, delicious, and fun.” It features tips to live creatively and frugally whether you’re interested in travel, home and organizing, holidays, recipes…whatever. With the holiday season coming up, this site is the perfect place to get ideas that will only add to the fun and leave your credit cards a bit less stressed.

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Curb Your Anxiety

#1 AnxietyCulture.com

I love this site! It speaks to ways to manage the chronic, irritating buzz that is the subtext for many of our lives — anxiety. Anxiety Culture bills itself as a “webzine with a wealth of ideas and gimmicks for navigating the crazy, paranoid, work-obsessed, media-crapulent times we live in.” 

AC started as as a magazine back in 1995 to explore “the anxieties behind the smiling mask of ‘normal’ society.” Today, the website, which went online in 1998, offers ideas for navigating “the stressed, over-competitive, work-obsessed times we live in.”

Dirty is As Dirty Does

#2 The Dirty Wall Project

Kane Ryan of Victoria,BC, travelled for eight years before he decided to stay a while in one place and try to make a difference. The Dirty Wall Project is Kane’s effort to fill “immediate, small needs in developing countries” and contribute to local economies. Tired of bureaucracy, paperwork and religious biases while trying to volunteer in India and other countries, he basically started a one-person-operated charitable organization.

Kane and his team work tirelessly in orphanages, slums, and have even held one day health camps. At Life As a Human, we’re pleased Kane is going to share his blogs with us when he returns to India in September. In the meantime, this guy needs support to keep doing his good work. We hope you’ll visit his website with an open heart.

Can I Quote You on That?

#3 GoodReads.com

Want to keep track of what you’ve read and what you’d like to read, or form a book club, or answer book trivia? Then you will probably love Goodreads. You’ll have fun, you’ll get smarter, you’ll discover great books. Goodreads says it is the largest social network for readers in the world with more than 3,400,000 members who have added more than 100,000,000 books to their shelves.

Winner, Bloggies 2009 Weblog of the Year

#1 – The Pioneer Woman

That The Pioneer Woman won the Weblog of the Year award at the 2009 Bloggies is really no surprise. Ree Drummond’s creation is arguably one of the most elegant sites on the internet. Along with her great weblog, she published her first book, “The Pioneer Woman Cooks” in October 2009, which has received critical praise including #1 New York Times Bestseller.

Always classy and constantly providing great content, her blog is a shining example of excellence in every regard. If you love cooking, enthusiastic writing, excellent photography and a healthy splash of good fun, then you will love The Pioneer Woman. Her site is addictive, so please don’t forget to come back here too! Now off I go to make some of her ‘Spicy Shrimp’, which apparently are Yummy and Fun, Fun, Fun.

If you like gardening, this site is for you!

#2 – Dave’s Garden

Dave’s Garden is a tremendous website that provides a way for gardeners from around the world to share their knowledge with one another and find resources offered by the gardening industry. With contributions from close to ½ a million registered members, Dave’s Garden has become a massive store of excellent information as it relates to gardening. If you want to know when the best time to prune your Hydrangeas is, or how well a Japanese Maple will do in your climate and soil conditions, then this site is for you.

Dave’s Garden represents the great things that are possible when a group of like-minded people comes together and shares their knowledge. Happy gardening!

The Future Of Search?

#3 – Wolfram|Alpha – Computational Knowledge Engine

If you are anything like me, you are likely often frustrated by the results (or lack thereof) of your searches for information using traditional search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. You get a ton of links, but alas, they often have little to do with the query. Now however, one-year-old Wolfram|Alpha is making waves with their ambitious vision and their amazing Answer Engine.

“Wolfram|Alpha’s long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone.” – Stephen Wolfram

While they have a ways to go, what they have achieved so far is remarkable. They are now one of the first places I go when I need answers. In many ways, it is very much akin to the computer on the Starship Enterprise! I encourage you to watch their introductory video and then try Wolfram|Alpha for yourself. I know you will be pleasantly surprised!