Fighting Mildew

The fight against shower mildew is continuous and always a loosing battle. The pesky stuff refuses to be completely eliminated, and if you leave even a speck, it grows back faster! But I've never been quite so annoyed by it as now.

Some smart individual decided that tile looks nice in showers. And somebody else thought that idea was great. Eventually the trend made it to the apartment I'm living in. For some reason, the implications didn't occur to me until after we had rented the unit. Tile is surrounded by grout. Grout in showers grows mildew. Tile surrounds in showers have a lot more grout than plastic surrounds. So what you get? A nice, beautiful, white-tiled surround, with pretty pink and black mildew stained grout.

And it takes hours and hours of old-toothbrush-scrubbing to get it looking even semi-clean. Everywhere else, tile is nice. It's great for floors, for example. It's even okay for kitchen counters. But when it comes to showers, I'll vote for non-renewable, petroleum-based, easy-to-clean plastic surrounds every time.

My New Bike

Well, it's not really new, but it feels new. I got a tune up and added a kick-stand, a rear rack, and a pannier. We also got a nice stand-up pump for both bike and car tires. I am super excited. We now live close enough to down-town to make biking really feasible, and almost all the places I frequent are within 2 miles of my home. With the oil spill in the Gulf continuing, I really want to do my part to reduce my use of fossil fuels.

Onward!

Going Wild

I've been contemplating learning to bake sourdough bread for some time now, and last night, I put together a diy starter from scratch. Just four, water, stirr, outside air to catch the wild yeasties, and cap it. We shall see how it evolves. It smells good so far! Apparently, the area I live in has some really great wild yeast in the air, so wish me luck!

Clearing Out

As part of my clutter busting process, I've been letting go of a lot of unnecessary stuff in my life. Some items are easier than others, and one has had me stumped. It's a beautiful, old-fashioned, oak desk chair--solidly built and mostly in good condition. However, one arm has come free of the back and I don't have the inclination to fix it. Because I actually like sitting on my exercise ball more. I like being able to move as I sit, not being so stationary. So I want to let the chair go. But it's turning out to be a complicated process, because it's not just any old chair--it has a history.

I got it about 3 years ago from an aunt. She told me that it had been her first office chair, and that it was special to her because of that. She pointed out to me how solid it was, and said, if I was ever getting rid of it, to let her know, because she might want it back. So, I've been e-mailing with her about it, and she said to find it a new home. I'm having a hard time doing that, because of knowing the chair's history. In fact, I even went to the trouble of clarifying that we are talking about the same chair. We were.

Then I realized that, it's not the chair that I'm attached to, so much as the story. So I thought maybe, if I told it's story, I could let it go. I don't really want it myself. Besides the arm being disconnected from the back, when I lean back in the chair, sometimes it feels like I am going to pitch over backwards. I never have, but it is scarry. So maybe there is someone else who can fix it and will like it and use it. Better, I suppose, for it to be used by someone who doesn't know it's story, than for it to be kept unused by someone who does . . . Anyway, I still know the story, and now I've told it to you.

Hundreds of Lions

Erin McKeown has done it again. She's come out with an album that is unique, and uniquely hers. As a musician, she is very hard to categorize. If I had to pick one, I'd call her music Folk, but that really doesn't cover it. This current album Hundreds of Lions is very hard to classify. It is acoustic. But it almost sounds like really mellow techno. But also orchestral. Orchestral Techno? I've never heard of it, but hey! This is Erin Mckeown. Rebel and rule breaker and fabulous musician.

What is amazing to me is that I never would have gotten "in to" her music if she hadn't been opening for a concert I attended years and years ago. I've since stopped listening to the main act from that concert, but Erin McKeown continues to be on my favorites list. I have all her albums thus far. But even if someone had handed me one of her albums I probably wouldn't have "got" it with out the live performance. Because she is 100% better live. No, make that 1000% better. She has this huge amount of energy. Her concerts positively rock. Even if she is a one woman show. So go see her, if you ever get the chance. It's the only way to really get "hooked."

Babies

I got to see the movie Babies yesterday. I have been eagerly awaiting it's release since I first heard about it, several months ago. It was playing at a local theater, and DH and I went to an afternoon showing. It was everything I hoped for, but then I love baby watching. ;-) It has no narration or subtitles, just music and whatever background conversations happen to be going on. The focus is entirly on the babies, not their siblings or parents, and it is mostly from the babies perspectives--the camera is close to the ground/floor, and mostly stationary, while people walk in and out of the frame.

The visuals are stunning, but the best part is the amusing antics of the babies themselves. The filmmaker folowed the lives of 4 babies from birth to first steps, then interwove theirs stories into a single story. The babies are from Nambia, Mongolia, Japan, and the USA. You can watch a trailer here.

Oh, and by the way, I (finally) have a new post up at my other blog--come check it out: Beyond the Myth-Box.

Snow Treasure

I just finished this book today. It is technically for children, as are most of the books I read, but it was so well written I could hardly put it down. It is a beautiful and possibly true story of how the children of a Norwegian villiage helped to save some of the country's gold from the Nazi invaders in WWII. Add in the fact that I have always had a facination with Scandinavia, especially "Lap Land" and I had a Norwegian friend in collage, and you have a recipe for a very entertaining story--at least for me. It's by Marie McSwigan if you want to read it yourself, or share it with a child in your life.