My New Wallet

I'm actually really proud of myself for this one. I made a wallet from paperboard and electrical tape, with a little packing tape for waterproofing. Below is the resulting product. Fully functioning cash pocket and four inside pockets for IDs and cards. Behold!




I start work a week from today, so I don't think I will have quite so much time for this sort of thing anymore.

Lessons from backpacking

Three things I learned from our backpacking trip this week:

1) Sock liners are awesome! I will never hike without sock liners ever again for as long as I live.

2) GPS + UTM overlaid on Topo = Awesome; Locating your position to the nearest 20 meters in the wilderness is empowering. Universal Transverse Mercator is far superior to Latitude/Longitude. Believe it!

3) It is harder than I imagined to make an axe out of a rock and a stick. I can tie a rock to a stick, but when I try to cut some wood, I just cut the cord I used to attach the rock to the stick. Woe was me.

Some Fruits of Our Productivity

Despite being on holiday, Nell and I have decided to be productive. Below are some of the fruits of our hard work:


First is a tiger washcloth, knitted by Nell with yarn purchased from a very pleasant and capably staffed yarn knitting store three blocks from our apartment. It is even cuter in real life.




This is a walrus who will be starring in an upcoming claymation, produced and directed by yours truely (though I hope to get Yule to do the gaffing; contract negotiations are underway). The walrus has no name as of yet, so suggestions are welcome. Also, I'd appreciate some ideas as to other characters to star (or work as extras) in the film.

That is all.

Refreshing. Uplifting. Hydrating?

From the back of the Diet Coke Box:

"It's true. Research shows that all beverages contribute to proper hydration. That means whether it's your first can of the day or your afternoon pick-me-up, Diet Coke helps you stay hydrated all day long. So stick with the Diet Coke taste you love. Your body will thank you for it."

My favorite part is the syllogism started in the second line. 1) All beverages hydrate you; 2) Diet Coke is a beverage; 3) Therefore, Diet Coke hydrates you.

I understand the motive behind adding this statement to the box, what with the bottled water craze. But when your strongest selling point is that your product shares a trait with every other conceivable alternative to your product, maybe you should just focus on how delicious your soda is.