Discriminating Weirdos

The Beauty in Economy: The Clothesline

Apparently the nation's clotheslines have been under attack for some time.  Or they were, and we never noticed until all of a sudden we started looking for any and all expenses that could be cut. 

That's what I've been doing with my summer, incidentally.  Cutting expenses. While Adam was up in Grand Marais, I've been down here in Chicago trying to keep the Family Moe in business.  One Sunday, I while I had my thrifty Sunday treat, a second cup of tea and Sunday morning news, I actually watched CBS Sunday Morning.  Generally I'm not up this early (other Sunday treat is to sleep in real real late.  it's very inexpensive as treats go), and generally I'm not caught by the, uh....  slightly older demographic that this news program reaches out to.  

Orange Alley Cat fine art photograph is available from honeytree's shop on Etsy

But they caught me.  They talked about clothesline.  Apparently having clotheslines is actually illegal in many cities and towns.  I'd been itching to put one out at our condo building for a while, but have been nervous since it's actually against the association rules.  (of course, so is putting your wet shoes in the hallway, and no one seems to pay any attention)  CBS Sunday Morning gave me facts that spurned me into defiant action.

According to Project Laundry List, an activist organization dedicated to making line-drying legal, 10-15% of American's energy use in the United States is used by dryers.  Now I don't know about you, but if I could reduce my own electrical bill by 10% in the summer, I'd be pretty happy.  No condo association rule should keep me from using the power of the sun! So now I was mad.  Steaming mad.  Air-drying mad.  I went right out and bought me some clothesline. It cost me $1.35.  I figure that's a cost that's going to be easy to recoup.  As solar energy investments go, this one is easy on the pocket book.  We already had a whole bunch of clothespins from various craft projects never completed.  

Now I'm on a path towards an even more eco- and econ- friendly wash day.  I've learned that laundry detergent doesn't have to be made in a super-secret laboratory thanks to The Naturally Clean Home.  I've also found that you can buy some pretty awesome natural laundry detergent on Etsy like this beautiful and yummy looking natural oatmeal laundry soap from River City Soaps. 

Homemade Laundry Soap for Very Sensitive Skin is available from RiverCitySoaps on Etsy

 You might be the sort that likes cute little accoutrements.  I also found a really adorable little clothespin bag from postroadvintage. 

SunnySide Up Clothespin bag is available from postroadvintage on Etsy.

The thing is, in addition to all of the economical and ecological benefits of line-drying, it is also beautiful.  I love to watch my shirts drying on the line.  I love the act of hanging them.  I love the way they smell when I put them on.  I love walking outside in the morning, looking at the sky and saying to myself,  "Yes, this is a good day to wash."  It connects me with the outside, even right here in the middle of the city.  I can't have an acre to grow lots of veggies, or keep chickens (although I have been thinking....).  But I can have a clothesline. And nobody's going to stop me.    (Emily) 

Oh and Don't Forget about our Stick It Up Your A$$ Sale going on NOW at our Etsy shop.  10% off everything!  Help us raise some cash before Aug 15 so we can stick it to The Man and tell him exactly what we think!

Before Obama there was Wellstone

paul wellstone
Originally uploaded by seeconrun

There's a feeling in the air today.  We're on the edge of something.  Almost like Christmas Eve, but different, like we're at the edge of the world shifting into drive.  I see more flags today than I've seen in a long time, probably since 9/11.  Back then, those flags made me feel a little ill inside, now I'm feeling.... dare I say it... patriotic? 

I haven't felt this way in a long time.  Not since college and the heady days of Paul Wellstone's campaigns when we Minnesotans felt like we could actually change the world.  I saw him speak a couple of times in college, and I swear afterward I was ready to do anything that needed to be done.  Sign me up.  I was there.  My country needed me: not for war overseas, but at home.  Making things better wasn't a hopeless cause. It was possible.  Paul Wellstone could win the senate seat and drive to Washington in a VW microbus.  Anything was possible.

It wasn't time yet, I guess, and Senator Wellstone was taken from us far too soon. 

So before tomorrow when we all will hold our breath and dab the tears at our eyes watching this amazing inauguration of the community organizer turned state representative turned senator turned president, I want to take just one second to remember the first guy who made me feel pride in my country. 

(for those of you older than me, please remember that the first president I remember was Ronald Reagon.  in the farm-belt he wasn't exactly beloved.  the 80s were rough)

Some quotes taken from Wikiquote.  They might sound a bit familiar.  I feel like Obama might have been studying his Wellstone alongside all of those other great leaders. 

• Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.
• The future will not belong to those who sit on the sidelines. The future will not belong to the cynics. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
• As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the global level.
• Politics is not about power. Politics is not about money. Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people's lives. It's about advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and the world. Politics is about doing well for the people.Sometimes, the only realists are the dreamers. Robert Kennedy once said, "The future will not belong to those who are content with the present." I think the future also will not belong to those who are cynical or those who stand on the sidelines. The future will belong to those who have passion and are willing to work hard to make our country better. The future will belong to those, in Eleanor Roosevelt's words, "who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
• The only way to change is to vote. People are responsible.
• The people of this country, not special interest big money, should be the source of all political power. We can remake the world daily.
• What makes community organizing especially attractive is the faith it places in the ability of the poor to make decisions for themselves.
• When too many Americans don't vote or participate, some see apathy and despair. I see disappointment and even outrage. And I believe that out of this frustration can come hope and action.
• I don't think politics has anything to do with left, right, or center. It has to do with trying to do right by people.

(Emily)

If They're Good Enough For Halle Berry...

Apparently, Halle Berry was named Esquire Magazine's Sexiest Woman of the Year for 2008.  I say "apparently" because I don't get Esquire, so I can't be totally sure.  And as far as how I know about Halle Berry being chosen as Sexiest Woman by a magazine I don't subscribe to, let's just say that I spend a lot of time on line and leave it at that.

Anyway, the point is that I saw some of the photos from the Esquire photo shoot.  They were all fairly expected -- lots of wind-blown shots of her reaching her arms above her head for some reason -- but one really caught my eye.  Regular readers of Discriminating Weirdos know that I am on a campaign to get women to wear neckties.  I have tried to get more women to understand that it's a fun, sexy look, but it's been difficult to find too many takers.

Apparently, the photo editors at Esquire agree with me.  Here, as part of the Sexiest Woman of the Year photo shoot, is Halle Berry wearing a loose, silk necktie.

While some might say that she must have been so caught up in the tie that she forgot to put on pants, I say this:

Ladies!  If it's good enough for Halle Berry, it's good enough for you.  Wear more ties!  (ADAM)

The March of Time... And Death

Are you looking for a clock that serves as a visual reminder of your own mortality?  Do you want a timepiece that looks terrifying AND keeps accurate time?  Are you tired of the regular chimes on your work-a-day clock and want something more disturbing and morbid?

Stephen Hawking recently unveiled this $1.83 million dream (or nightmare) come true at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Apparently, the thing took seven years to build and is a tribute to John Harrison, allegedly the world's greatest clockmaker.

According to a post on geekology.com, "The bizarre Corpus Clock visually explains that it relies on grasshopper escapement to function, and to let you know that time can never be regained once lost, that beast on top actually gobbles down time every 60th second. Oh, and every hour, on the hour, the sound of a "chain dropping into a wooden coffin" is played to really pound home the "time is a destroyer" concept."

This photo doesn't do this piece of horror engineering justice, however.  Click HERE for a video of the clock in action, as well as an overview of how it works and the artistic concepts behind it.  Trust me, it's five minutes well spent.  (ADAM)