Skeptics Day encourages you to respect and listen to your inner skeptic, and all of the skeptical people that you know. Not everything can be as good as it sounds, some things are bound to be disappointing, and things can only get worse; right?
homage to david bowie
Word of the Day
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| Definition: | (noun) A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.). | ||
| Synonyms: | monocracy, dictatorship | ||
| Usage: | The people had philosophical problems with the shogunate, but they had to admit that trade and commerce were flourishing under its rule. | ||
thanks, shelley
Art Created for The New York Times
History
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 | Tucker was a Russian-born American singer and entertainer who began performing vaudeville as a child, singing ragtime melodies in blackface. She later abandoned the makeup but continued in the African-American style, helping popularize the songs of black composers. Known for her racy songs, she enjoyed great success on tour and went on to appear in several stage and movie musicals but was best known as a nightclub torch singer. | ||
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| Diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are up around 30 percent compared with 20 years ago | |||
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1794 - U.S. President Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union.
1854 - Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, PA, was granted the first U.S. patent for the accordion. He made improvements to the keyboard and enhanced the sound
1928 - Ernst F. W. Alexanderson gave the first public demonstration of television.
1966 - Elizabeth Montgomery’s character, Samantha, on "Bewitched," had a baby. The baby's name was Tabitha.
1990 - L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, the nation's first elected black governor, took the oath of office in Richmond.
1997 - Debbie Reynolds received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1999 - Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) announced his retirement from the NBA.
DAILY SQU-EEK
If You Were Born Today, January 13
You are a determined and driven person who is acutely aware of the need for change. Although you fear change on one level, you rarely let things slide because you know you have to work for the things you want in life, and you don't want to let things slip by. Some of you are a little neurotic, needing to solve problems immediately! However, most of you are simply proactive, hard-working, and wise. You have strong managerial skills. Most of you are highly perceptive and compassionate, and some are downright psychic. Famous people born today: Orlando Bloom, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patrick Dempsey, Rip Taylor.
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Mercury is the smallest and closest to the Sun of the eightplanets in the Solar System. It has no known natural satellites. The planet is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger to the gods.
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Urban Cowboy
Photograph by Brice Portolano, National Geographic
A man trains a horse at his mother’s ranch in Utah. Photographer Brice Portolano was trying to “get the horse's shadow in its own dust cloud.” Portolano visited the man, Ben, and his wife, Katherine, several times to learn about their self-sustaining lifestyle in urban Salt Lake City. “They have organized their house and backyard in order to produce most of their own food,” Portolano explains. “Each fall, Ben leaves Salt Lake City and drives into the mountains of northeastern Utah to hunt elk and game birds. With a horse in tow, he hikes up the 10,000-foot-high mountains where he can spend up to a week tracking elk.”
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knit, 0 - 12 mths
knit
knit
knit
thanks, heide
crochet
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Crochet Spot » Blog Archive » Crochet Pattern: Absolutel...
Here is an easy glasses case pattern! Since glasses come in all sorts of sizes, this pattern can be adjusted to be longer or wider as you see fit.
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DIY Modern, Colorblock Granny Square Baby Blanket Pat...
Crochet and modern are not necessarily two words you associate with each other. However, this colorblock granny square blank modernizes crochet wit...
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RECIPE
Tuna Steak with Spaghetti Squash Pancakes
CROCKPOT RECIPE
stephanie o'dea
Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Vegetables Recipe
I've never made this before, and it worked! I love it when that happens. Corned beef is not my favorite, but I married a very Irish man. It seems to make him happy.
And when he's happy he takes out the garbage and folds laundry. Making corned beef in a slow cooker is incredibly easy. So easy, I don't really know why it isn't always prepared this way.
1 package of Corned Beef with seasoning packet
some potatoes (I used 8 mini white potatoes cut in fourths)
1 bunch of celery cut in 2-inch chunks
1 largish handful of baby carrots
1/2 cup of water (Do not add if you are making this the night before. Add right before cooking.)
The Directions:
Chop up potatoes and celery and put them in the bottom of the crock. Trim excess fat from hunk o' meat. Rinse the meat well to help release some of the salt.
Place the meat on top of veggies. Sprinkle on seasoning packet. Add water.
Place the meat on top of veggies. Sprinkle on seasoning packet. Add water.
Drink wine. This is hard work.
I assembled everything the night before (minus the water), and put it into a tupperware in the refrigerator. In the morning I dumped the food into the slow cooker and added water. I cooked this for 10 hours. If you are cooking on high, I'd check after 5 hours or so. Viva la leprechauns!
thanks, patty
CRAFTS
Mushroom Pincushion tutorial
littledeartracks
I had so much fun making these, I thought I'd make a tutorial to show you how. :) These are really easy, completely sewn by hand, and you can cut them out freehand and make any size and shape you like.
2. Line up the mushroom top parts and sew them together around the edge, with a bit of stuffing inside. Start with your knot in between, and just stitch up and down, all around the edge. Pull your stitches tightly, to give it that puckered look.
3. Now put the stem together. You'll be stitching the rectangle piece into a tube, so test it and trim it to the size and width you want to support the top you made. It doesn't need to be any exact size, but don't make it too thin or it might have trouble standing. Add embroidery or embellishments first, then stitch it the ends together. Now cut a small circle the size of the tube opening and stitch that around the bottom.
4. Now fill half the stem with dry beans or rice, or synthetic bean bag filler. I used mung beans, (in case you were wondering), I happened to have some in the cupboard and they were just the right size. Fill the rest of the stem with stuffing.
5. Pin the stem in place on the mushroom top and stitch it on.
6. All done! isn't he cute? You can make lots of these, try using different colors, and altering the shapes a bit for variety.
CHILDREN'S CORNER ...
Treasure Chests - Martha Stewart
This kids' art project makes it easy for children to create beautiful crafts all by themselves.
Here's a simple way for kids to store their collections: Accordion-fold a strip of paper, and glue the first and last pages to the inside of a box's lid and bottom. Keep some pages empty so the collection can grow.
Here's a simple way for kids to store their collections: Accordion-fold a strip of paper, and glue the first and last pages to the inside of a box's lid and bottom. Keep some pages empty so the collection can grow.
PUZZLE
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QUOTE
"what is your name?" in Ainu [Saru dialect] (Japan) - Erehe mak aye?
CLEVER
thanks, helen
knit
This is a conceptual knitting pattern. You can use any weight yarns and any size needles. You’ll need about 15 different colours, depending on the temperature range in your climate. You will be knitting one stripe a day based of the temperature high in your region. Each colour represents an increment of 5 degrees (celsius), but you can choose to have it represent a larger increment and use less colours. At the end of the year, you will have a scarf that will show you a chart of your area’s temperatures for a whole year.
crochet
Basically, you track the temperatures in your area over the course of the year by assigning temperature ranges to 7-15 colors. I would recommend using yarns of the same weight along with a consistent hook size and tension throughout the project.
EYE OPENER
I Decided To Make
Paper Cut Art My Profession
bored panda
I am Parth Kothekar, paper cut artist from Ahmedabad (India). It was during my experiments with graffiti stencils
that the idea of paper cuts came to my mind, then I began by creating the stencils in inverse fashion.
This art form made me feel more connected to my work. I felt the ‘life’ in them. Initially I did this only as a hobby, but the inspiration from my close friends made me consider this as a profession.
My artworks are based on everyday aspects of life. If it is challenging, it motivates me. The thing with papercuts is that one doesn’t know the final output until the end. I have an assumption of what it might look and that is what I work with. It is the curiosity of finding out if I have got it that keeps me going.
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