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have you ever gotten to a point on a painting or staining project where you needed to quit but you weren’t done? quitting is easy, but cleaning your brush(es) can be a pain, especially when you know you want to get back to it in a few hours (after a break for lunch and a blog post, for instance) or overnight. or both.
your paint brush’s new best friend is glad press’n seal. just wrap a small bit around the brush, press, and voila! your paint brush will be preserved until you can get back to your project. no fuss, no muss.
just remember to close the paint can, too.
yeah…
[from the freelanceswitch web site]
Tags: freelance
i’ve read a few articles about using virtual worlds to test ideas and products for very little money. the possibilities are quite intriguing. for instance, i was brainstorming with a fellow entrepreneurial type about launching a storefront for loafi.com on second life. there could be a small village of loafi shops, where the artists could each have a shop. some pretty exciting opportunities out there for entrepreneurial types.
if anyone else has done this, let me know how it worked for you; i’d be interested in hearing about your experience.
Tags: second life
ok, i should have posted this a few days ago, but perhaps you can use it for next year - or any time you feel like coloring something.
extra tip for experimental types: if it will stain your kid’s clothing, it will probably work for eggs.
note: with all natural dyes, adding a few table spoons of white vinegar to the water will help the dye set better. for the onions, wrap the skin around the egg before soaking. for the others, mix water in with the ingredient and soak the egg.
light orange/pale yellow - yellow onion skin
violet - red onion skins
blue - blueberry juice
pink/red - beet juice
green - spinach leaves
brown - coffee
check out e-how for more details.
i have a new favorite liquor store. it’s a couple miles further away than the local place - which i still love because they are open until 10pm every day (except sunday, of course) - but the selection makes the drive well worth it. as an added bonus, this place puts beer advocate tags by each brew, so it’s an almost foolproof way to pick one you’ll rave about.
if your beer store of choice doesn’t have grades by their offerings, check out the “best of ba” link on beer advocate’s web site to help you pick out some must-trys.
enjoy.
Tags: beer advocate
it’s taken a few days, but i finally read a blog post that spurred me to blog. being the new year and all, lots of people are making resolutions in the hopes of making the coming year an improvement over the last. it’s well documented that one of the top ten new year’s resolutions is to get a better job. many people even say that they’d like to work for themselves. except that they’re scared.
scared? i’m afraid not. in barbara winter’s blog, and she makes the keen observation that people really aren’t fearful, they’re filled with self-doubt.
alleviating self-doubt is somewhat paradoxical, but taking a small step toward your dream will help you build the confidence you need to succeed. surrounding yourself with people of similar goals, so you have a support group, will also boost your confidence. reading books or blogs may help you glean the information you’ve been lacking. and making the commitment to do the same tomorrow, and every tomorrow, will find you on your way.
so go for it!
Tags: conquer fear
it’s up to you. the government doesn’t require extensive testing of chemicals before they are added to toys. caveat emptor.
so once santa has determined that your child has been nice and not naughty, you can use the healthy toys web site to determine which toys are appropriate for your angel. healthy toys has tested a wide range of products for common hazardous chemicals, such as lead, arsenic and mercury. the toy rankings tab lets you directly view which toys are best and worst.
happy, healthy holidays.
there is a series of videos on youtube in which ira glass, the host of npr’s this american life, acknowledges that there is a gap - sometimes for years - between the quality you aspire to create and what you actually do. so even if what you’re putting out now isn’t the best, put it out there anyway. the practice will pay off down the line.
more…
part 1 - the basics of storytelling
part 2 - finding great stories
part 4 - common pitfalls
anybody who works in a creative field* understands that play and experimentation often lead to new ideas. tim brown, ceo of ideo, has a wonderful presentation about the link between creativity and play. it’s almost a half hour, but quite engaging.
enjoy.
*or any position where creativity separates the average from the extraordinary. [in other words, all work]
Tags: creativity, play
the holiday season is coming up, and in a few short weeks most of us will face a similar dilemma: what to get the person who has everything. how about knowledge?
if your loved one likes to tinker around on a computer, lynda.com offers gift subscriptions, which can be a great gift solution. a one-month subscription is only $25, so gifts start at a very reasonable price. and there are classes for just about everyone, with subject matter ranging from animation to blogging to digital photography to web design.
best of all, you can buy it without going to the mall.
