Bee nice to the bees

By now we all know that domesticated honey bees are in trouble and disappearing fast. It's estimated that 1/3 of the human food supply depends on insect pollination, most of which is accomplished by bees, so they're pretty important if we want to keep eating honey, strawberries, pears, oh and wear clothes made of cotton - yep, bees pollinate cotton, too.

Plenty magazine has somes tips about how we can help the bees. You don't have to go out and start your own hive, just follow these easy steps to make your lawn and garden more hospitable to the little guys. They'll thank you for it.

Bee-tox: The first thing to do is to detox your lawn. Give your chem lawn type landscape service its walking papers. Pollinators are a fragile bunch, and many native bees nest in the ground, says Vaughan, so lawn company insecticides will really do them in. “Even organic services may use natural products like pyrethrins, which are labeled for organic use, but still kill pollinators,” says Vaughan. Think your modest little lawn isn’t big enough to make a difference? Think again. Urban gardens and backyards suck up even more insecticide than conventional farm land does.

Flower child: Think blossoms. Grow lots of different kinds of flowering plants on your property, so that at any given time from early spring right through to autumn there will be at least three or four species in bloom. Trees, shrubs, and wild flowers will all do just fine.

Bare all: Incorporate small areas of bare soil into your garden or lawn. Bees like to nest where there’s a little open space on the ground, and are more likely to move in and enjoy your prime real estate if they feel they’ve got room to breathe.

Tunnel vision: Some native bees nest not in the ground, but in hollowed out vertical structures, like tree trunks. Help these guys out by drilling narrow holes (5/16 inch or less) five inches down through blocks of wood, then setting the blocks out on your property. Home sweet home.

Let your lawn go: If you’re not too vain about the appearance of your lawn, leave a corner of it “undisturbed and untidy,” says Vaughan. Think tall grasses, piles of sticks, general horticultural chaos. The mess will invite mice to set up house, and when they leave, bees will move into the nice insulated little cavity-homes they’ve dug out.

Way to go Home Depot!

Good news for those of you who like using CFL lightbulbs but don't like the hassle of figuring out how to properly dispose of them (you did know you can't just throw them in the trash, right?).

Home Depot has announced that they will start collecting spent, unbroken CFL bulbs in all of their stores. You simply bring your old bulb to the returns desk, and it will then "be managed responsibly by an environmental management company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance." And starting in September, each store will have a designated receptacle for the bulbs. You can even bring bulbs that you didn't buy at Home Depot.

So go ahead and switch your old lightbulbs for new energy-efficient ones, and let Home Depot take care of disposing of them when they die, which, fortunately, doesn't happen for a long time.

(If you accidentally break your CFL bulb, don't panic, but do follow these steps for cleaning it up.)

National HIV Testing Day

Today is National HIV Testing Day.

According to the CDC, about 1 million people in the U.S. are infected with HIV. A quarter of those people don’t know that they’re infected.

Friday, June 27 is National HIV Testing Day and across the country, thousands of HIV counseling and testing providers will participate. The first step in protecting yourself from HIV is being tested. Why wait?

All Planned Parenthood affiliates offer HIV testing; some sites offer it free. Click here for a full list of services Planned Parenthood provides, and here for clinic locations in the DFW area.

WTF mates?

This is an old one, but it never fails to entertain me.

Hope it entertains you, too.

Happy Friday.

New Yorker Cartoon

Now honey, don't take this the wrong way...


by Mick Stevens
Published in The New Yorker June 22, 1992

O! How I love you

On my guilty pleasures list is O, The Oprah Magazine. I picked one up at the airport a couple weeks ago and read it cover to cover.

Here's a piece by Amanda Robb entitled A Little Empathy, Please.

Here, too, is a lovely little piece about the difference between men and women.

Do enjoy.

How bizarre

Gloucester, Mass. has made headlines lately because of some bizarre pact among several of its high school girls to become pregnant and raise their babies together. The high school principal was the one who broke the news of the pact, but now it appears that it may not be true - the principal is hazy on details, and one of the pregnant girls, Lindsey Oliver, has come forward to deny that there was a pact. She said most of the girls were already pregnant when they made a pact to help each other raise their kids and stay in school.

Whether or not there was a pact to get pregnant, this issue highlights a problem that the entire country faces. Texas has the highest rate of teen pregnancy and births in the country. Sadly, we also have the highest number of second births to teenagers. So glad we spend millions on abstinency-only education.

One quote from a Time article yesterday really struck me:

Some described the pregnant teens as having little parental supervision. "They could stay out all night if they wanted," says a classmate...

Certainly a lack of parental attention and involvement plays into the story. But then I was reminded of how Jamie Lynn Spears's mother reacted when she found out her 15-year-old daughter was pregnant. She was shocked, claiming that her daughter was always a "good girl" who was never late for curfew.

So it turns out that girls can get pregnant if their parents are paying attention, or not; at 2 a.m. or 2 p.m.; whether they're "good girls" or...you get the drift.

Clearly, the conversation isn't being had about safe sex, and that's the problem.

The 17-year-old Lindsey Oliver really gets it:

She said there's more of a problem with schools not providing contraceptives to teens.

"Well, I think that they sit there and they say that they want to make a difference and it's awful that all these kids are getting pregnant, but they don't want to do anything to help them. They won't put contraceptives in the nurse's office or anything and no kid wants to go into the store and buy them, or like, ask them mom to help them get birth control. Like, it's embarrassing. So, instead of, like, making them make the decision not to use any of them, they should be giving them out in the nurse's office so you can get it anonymously," Oliver said.

She said the argument that providing contraceptives encourages teens to have sex doesn't make sense.

"The kids are obviously having it anyway. There are 17 pregnant girls. I mean, they're not going to stop it by not giving them anything. They're only going to make matters worse," she said.

Out of the mouths of babes.

UPDATE: Check out The Rev. Debra Haffner's piece about this issue.

Let there be light!

Tonight, friends and supporters of the beautiful Katy Trail will gather at the Victory Overlook above Reverchon Park to ceremoniously flip the switch to light the Trail. Lights have been a part of the Katy Trail's master plan since its inception, and tonight we will see the first part of this project come to fruition. From the DMN:

City officials and other supporters will gather at 8:15 p.m. near the trail's southern end for the lighting of a half-mile of trail – from American Airlines Center to near Reverchon Park.

The illumination will extend to Knox Street in another month or so, said Eric Van Steenburg, executive director of Friends of the Katy Trail.

The Friends of the Katy Trail, the nonprofit group that raises money to build and maintain the Trail (and of which I am a board member), has been raising funds to light the Trail piece by piece. The lights cost $50 per foot - so you can put your best foot forward for $50, jump in with both feet for $100, go the longest yard for $200, feel ten feet tall for $500, or go the whole nine yards for $1350. So far, we raised $60,000 towards the $100,000 needed to complete the lighting - but we still have $40,000 to go.

...after the group raises $40,000, the almost $800,000 project will be completed to Airline Road on the Dallas-Highland Park border. The metal halide lights will shine from dusk to 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. until sunrise.

Adding the lighting is just one of the many things the Friends does to keep the Trail safe.

The lights should improve security, said Dallas Deputy Police Chief Vince Golbeck, commander of the central patrol division. But despite the incidents, he said, the trail is safe. "We still recommend that people use common sense in running and cycling together," Chief Golbeck said. "And it's always a good idea to be aware of your surroundings."

The trail support group is also seeking volunteers to patrol the path. And location markers have been added to help emergency responders answer calls for help.

So, if you are one of the 15,000 people who use the Trail each week, your workout hours are about to get extended, allowing you to use the Trail on your own schedule, especially during the winter.

With the lighting, he said, the goal is to expand recreation opportunities and increase use of a trail that opened eight years ago along an abandoned Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line north of downtown Dallas. The lighting "will allow people to use the trail on their schedule," Mr. Van Steenburg said. "Particularly in winter, it will extend their workout hours."

And more people along the way should help deter crime, he said. "It's a de facto crime watch."

If you love the Trail as much as I do - if you use it for your morning walk, your evening jog, to walk your pup, ride your bike, or just to sit and people watch - I hope you'll consider putting your best foot (or feet?) forward and help us finish the lights!

Happy Happiest Day of the Year

Did you wake up this morning feeling extraordinarily happy? According to GMA, today is the happiest day of the year. A scientific study - funded by an ice cream company (so take it with a scoop of salt, haha) - has given us a formula to determine the happiness factor:

Outdoor activity + (Nature x Social interaction) + Childood memories/Temperature + Holidays

And apparently today, the official first day of summer for the US, is the happiest day of the year. Plus, it's Friday, which automatically makes everyone happier, right?

On a related note, did you know that men who kiss their spouses before leaving for work average higher incomes than those who don't? No indication whether the same holds true for women who kiss their husbands, or their dogs, for that matter, but let's assume so.

Kisses make everyone happy.

Summer lovin'

Summer - and 100+ degree weather - has made it to Texas. Even though I no longer enjoy a three-month vacation during summer, I still love what the season means - summer reading, flip-flops with every outfit, and a feeling of being lighter, somehow. Hot, yes. Sweaty - most certainly. But undeniably lighter.

Real Simple has a piece about the Best Ways to Enjoy Summer. Here are some of my favs:

The Best Way to Wear a Sarong
Sam Saboura, style host of the Style Network’s Extreme Makeover, offers four ways to tie this versatile cover-up.
The halter. Fold the fabric into a triangle and place it beneath your shoulder blades. Crisscross the two ends over your bust and tie at the back of your neck.
The hip hugger. Fold the sarong into a triangle and wrap it around your midsection, high on the back and lower in front. Bring the two ends together to tie below your waist, creating a deep V in front.
The long skirt. Wear the sarong as a midcalf skirt, tying it on a diag-onal that slants down to one side of your hips.
The strapless dress. Wrap the cover-up around your torso and tie it into a strapless dress.

The Best Way to Fly Paper Airplanes (this takes me back to the days when my brother and I would make paper airplanes out of the bulletin during church services...)
If your origami aircraft tend to nose-dive, try these tips from aeronautical engineer Ken Blackburn, the world-record holder for keeping a single-sheet paper airplane in flight indoors (27.6 seconds).
Use copier paper. Paper should be strong enough to hold a shape and light enough to stay aloft. Avoid newsprint (too flimsy) and poster board (too heavy).
Choose a sound design. The ones you mastered as a kid still work (see above), or check out Blackburn’s ideas at http://www.paperplane.org/ .
Tweak the wings. “Take the back edge of the wings and bend them up between your fingertips a little bit,” says Blackburn. “This will hold up the nose.”
Throw evenly. Give the plane an easy and level throw and it will fly straight.

The Best Way to Skip Stones
The recent world record for stone skipping is 40 skips, but everyone has to begin somewhere.
Find smooth, flat stones. “The stone should fit in the space created between your pointer finger and thumb when making the A-OK sign,” says Jill Tipograph, director of the online summer-camp directory Everything Summer (http://www.everythingsummer.com/).
Pinch the stone between your thumb and middle finger and wrap your pointer around the top of the stone like a hook. Lift your arm up and back and toss the stone with a snapping motion.
“Aim to hit the water about 15 to 20 feet from the shoreline,” says Tipograph.
Toss the stone at a 20-degree angle for a greater chance of skipping multiple times.

Happy Summer!

Smoke gets in your eyes...and hair, and clothes, not to mention your lungs

Dallas is taking a positive step forward in keeping more public establishments smoke-free. I understand that lots of folks (read: smokers) are grumbling about not being able to exercise their freedom of...whatever, but I really have no sympathy for them.

From the DMN:

Smoking in Dallas may get harder if the city council has its way.

Members are considering a more widespread ban that would prevent smokers from lighting up in most public places.

Dallas already has laws in place prohibiting smoking in restaurants.

Although it's been discussed for years, it wasn't until recently, that council members say they have support to expand that ordinance to places that have been protected.

Currently, Dallas restricts smoking in public buildings, restaurants, bingo halls, and most work places.

But by August, three council members, including the mayor, say they hope to have language in place to expand the ban to include places that are currently exempt.

Those places include bars, taverns, pool halls and tobacco shops.

Right now, this is all discussion, as an amended ordinance has yet to be drawn up.

But a majority of council members appear to believe it's time to move forward.

If and when the City decides to expand it, the ban would bring Dallas in line with cities like Houston and Austin which have outlawed smoking in most public spots.

A spokesperson for the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association says a more extensive ban could really hurt businesses in the city.

Not because it takes away smoking but rather because the ban differs city to city and smokers would likely take their business to neighboring city that allows it.

Yeah, I really don't buy this argument. People aren't going to drive to another city every Friday and Saturday night just so they can light up while they drink. I, however, have chosen not to go to a particular bar because it's too smokey for my tastes. I doubt those places have suffered from my lack of patronage (but hey, you gotta take a stand sometimes!), and I seriously doubt enough people will decide to stay home and drink just so they can smoke while doing so.

It will be nice to come home from a bar and not have to shower immediately before going to bed.

Updates and Dad

This has been a whirlwind month here at C'est la vie. Just got back from several days in DC, where I attended the ACS conference. It was a fantastic conference - I learned a ton about Voter ID laws (and their seriously unfortunate consequences), about privacy rights, constitutional law (ok, that one was a little over my head), and got to meet and hear from the likes of Senator Patrick Leahy, Wade Henderson, Elena Kagan, Pam Karlan, John Podesta, Eric Holder, and many more of the most brilliant and interesting legal minds of our country. I love being in a room full of smart people. I keep hoping some will soak in.

Being in DC is always a blast for me. Having spent one of my most memorable and fun summers there in college, I always enjoy going back, and am struck by how beautiful the city is. Flying into DCA affords gorgeous views of monuments and the Potomac, and the city is just so vibrant and alive. I'm lucky that my work takes me there at least once a year, and that I have good friends to visit when I go. Dinners at Corduroy and Tosca were divine. The highlight was the specialty drink at Corduroy, a refreshing combination of Hendricks gin and fresh cucumber juice. Yum.

Prior to DC, the husband and I were in Salisbury, CT for his high school reunion. That weekend warrants its own blog post, so I'll write more about that later. Suffice it to say, we had a blast, and I'm still tired.

This week is blissfully quiet and will give us a much-needed chance to relax before heading off to the first of many wedding weekends this summer. First up: Aaron and Kayt in Omaha - our first visit to the Cornhusker State.

Wrapping up, we celebrated Father's Day in style last night at Strong's over burgers and fried jalapenos, with both dads and a grandfather. I feel so lucky to have such an incredible father, and I hope he knows how much I learn from him and love him. I also lucked out in the father-in-law and grandfather-in-law categories. I hope they all felt celebrated and loved, and know how indispensible they are to our lives.

I'll leave you with a couple quotations about dear old dad...

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. ~Mark Twain, "Old Times on the Mississippi," Atlantic Monthly, 1874

Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. ~Red Buttons

Wish I were there...

This weekend is the bachelorette party of the super fabulous Miss Laura Lindsey, and I, sadly, won't be there. Instead, I'm headed to DC for a conference. While I have no doubt that my conference will be fascinating, I do doubt that there will be copious amounts of alcohol involved, or bikini-clad bachelorettes frolicking in the sand...

So, Laura, I hope this will suffice - a blog post about how fabulous you are, how much I love you, and how excited I am that you're about to marry such a great guy. He's truly, truly lucky, and I can't wait to celebrate with y'all in just a few short weeks!

Laura and I met during rush her freshman year at Duke. I was a sophomore and had chosen to talk with her because she was from Texas and let's face it, we're just cool like that. Right away I knew that not only was this girl destined to be a Chi Omega, but my Lil Sis, too.

We had an amazing three years together at Duke - celebrating Tuesdays, fall break at Harvard, spring break in Padre, Myrtle Beach, Chi-O parties, 5-11/11-5!...the list goes on. But mostly we just found in one another a kindred spirit. We've stayed close since graduating, despite often living many states apart, and I couldn't be more thankful to have this girl in my life.

Laura was a beautiful bridesmaid in my wedding 3 years ago, and now I have the honor of being one of hers this summer. (Also, the dresses she chose for us? SO CUTE! They are bright apple green, and will look amazing against her ivory gown with bright summer flowers.) She is hands down the most mellow bride I've ever known, and I only hope I wasn't too Bridezilla for her by comparison.

She is marrying a truly super guy, someone who clearly knows how lucky he is to have this unique, incredible, passionate, brilliant, hilarious, beautiful, wonderful woman in his life. I'm so happy for both of them, because I know what a wonderful life they will have together. And they have an adorable dog.

Laura, I will miss being with you in Miami this weekend, so have a shot (or two) for me, and have an absolute blast. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Actually, do lots that I wouldn't do, it's your weekend!

I love you tons.

Smile like you mean it

Does it still count as my blog post if I just reference other blog posts? Hope so.

Real Simple's Life and Soul blog has a post about the importance of sounding happy, as in, when you pick up the phone and say hello, try to sound as if you really want to talk to the person.

Although we feel like our actions reflect our feelings, in fact, our feelings are often shaped by our actions. By pushing myself to behave in a happy and friendly way, I’m more likely to feel happy and friendly.

Also, as described by the psychological phenomenon of emotional contagion, emotions are highly catching. Studies show that we unconsciously imitate emotions we see others convey, and so people spread their moods to others—whether good moods or bad moods. (Unfortunately, negative emotions are more contagious than positive emotions.)

So answering the phone with an “I’m happy to talk to you!” voice instead of a “You’re interrupting me!” voice gives other people a boost.

It makes a whole lot of sense, and it's definitely something I try to do. We've all been on the other end of an irritated Hello, or a bored Hello, or a why the hell are you calling me I've got more important things to do Hello.

Oh, and a note to that last person: one of the great things about phones - especially ones with caller ID - is that, guess what? You don't have to answer! If you're too busy to talk, then don't. You'll be irritated at the caller for wasting your time, when it's not their fault that they don't know How Important You Are. And if you're in the movie theatre - for love's sake, just let it go to voicemail.

So, the next time I call you, you'd better be happy to hear from me. I'll know you aren't reading my blog if you're not...

Paper towel dilemma

I have to admit - as green as I like to think I am (and my husband is warming up to being), I hadn't even considered the possibility of living without paper towels. Sure, I use fewer than before, use dishtowels more often, but to give them up completely? Never crossed my mind.

Until I just read this post from re-nest.

So, what do you think - can we live without the quicker picker uppers?

Maybe it's worth a shot...

Dance your cares away, worry's for another day

Remember Fraggle Rock? Remember Gobo, Wembley, Boober? Well, apparently the lovable puppets are coming back thanks to the Weinstein Co. and Lisa Henson, who are teaming up to give us a live-action Fraggle movie. It'll be a mix of puppets and humans.

Here's the opening sequence from the original series. Just try not to smile...

Formication

Jesus, Mary and Joseph this is the stuff my nightmares are made of. Apparently "crazy raspberry ants" (their actual name!) are invading Houston and cannot be killed.

From the DMN:

"Voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area.

CRAZY RASBERRY ANTS
"The small, hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known by that name: "crazy," because they wander erratically instead of marching in lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who battled them early on. They're formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens."

SPREADING
"The ants, first spotted in Texas in 2002, have spread to five Houston-area counties – Harris, Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery and Wharton. Scientists are not sure where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
"They eat fire ants, but they also like plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs and eat the hatchlings of the Attwater prairie chicken. They bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.

ELECTRICAL DAMAGE
"They are attracted to electrical equipment. Scientists don't know why. The ants have ruined pumps, fouled computers and caused fire alarms to malfunction.

NO CONTROLS
"Exterminators say the ants – which are starting to emerge by the billions – appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.

RESEARCH
"The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with Texas A&M researchers and the EPA on how to stop the ants."

If these suckers make it to Dallas, I'm outta here.

Pinche ants.

*The guy in the photo is Tom Raspberry, the exterminator who first identified these ants as a problem and for whom they are named. I would like to have a chocolate of some sort named after me. Or a wine, that would be lovely.
(Photo from the Times Online, story by Chris Ayers)

A few introductions

My husband has requested that I clarify what I wrote in My Profile. I guess he's not into fivesomes.

So, the three men I share my bed with are: my husband (when's he nice), our black lab Angus, and our precocious cat Sam. The fat little girl is Sam's sister Abby. The layout of our bed is something like this: husband on left side, Angus at foot of bed in the middle, Sam just above Angus but still in between husband and me, and Abby on the outside of either husband or me (she jumps up on our headboard to cross over, lest she inadvertently touch Angus, in which case she's pretty sure the world will come to a sudden end), and finally, me.

This makes for a very crowded, very hot bed (75-lb labs are freaking furnaces), but I wouldn't have it any other way. Though it does require turning the AC down to about 66 degrees at night in order not to wake up as a puddle of Katie.

The aforementioned husband is the greatest guy I know. He's obsessively neat, is addicted to books, and can back his car into a parking spot better than anyone I know. He puts up with me, and I with him, and really, what else is marriage but the mutual putting up with one another? That, and I happen to adore him.

Angus is just about the greatest dog ever. Scratch that, he is the greatest dog ever. I've yet to meet a sweeter, more mellow lab, except of course when there's a ball! involved, or swimming! is an option, during which times he is still very sweet but not nearly so mellow.

Sam and Abby belonged to the husband initially, then they came to live with me, then once hubby and I started dating, they got both of us. Sam is the ultimate rapscallion, always under foot or trying to escape out the front door. Despite not having his front claws, he's pretty sure he can take any creature that comes his way, from the neighborhood tom cat who taunts him from the garden to the friendly mouse who hangs out outside our breakfast room window. He waits outside the shower door to lick up the water when we're done. He comes when he's called and we're pretty sure he thinks he's a dog.

Abby is scared of her own shadow in addition to the dog. However, we think she secretly loves Angus, as she likes to sniff him when she's sure he's completely asleep. She steals the dishtowels from the kitchen, the washcloths from the bathroom, and my underwear from the drying rack. She talks a lot and very loudly, and when she runs her belly waddles. Fat cats are the greatest.

Our household is often chaotic, but full of love, the carcases of de-stuffed dog toys, and the occasional hairball. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Wait 'til we have kids...

Rotten Tomatoes

Apparently we're not supposed to eat tomatoes for the time being - an outbreak of salmonella in Texas and New Mexico may have spread to seven other states. Too bad, I was just beginning to like the little suckers.

The Dallas Morning News tells us that "raw tomatoes may have caused an ongoing outbreak of salmonella in Texas and New Mexico – including four cases in Dallas County.

"Investigators have yet to uncover the source of the tomatoes or what type of tomato has sickened people.

"Until those questions are answered, federal and local health officials in both states have recommended that infants, the elderly and anyone with an impaired immune system avoid eating Roma and red round tomatoes that are not grown at home or sold attached to the vine.

"'It would also be a good idea for others to avoid eating raw tomatoes until investigators discover a more specific source,' said Emily Palmer of the Texas Department of State Health Services."

Also check out this official warning from the FDA.

Does this mean I can't eat pizza, either? Or pico de gallo? Because seriously, there go my dinner options for like three nights a week...

UPDATE:
The husband asked how one gets salmonella. Here you go, love:
"Salmonella is usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces."
Bon apetit!

UPDATE II:
Apparently McDonald's has stopped serving sliced tomatoes. This is gettin' serious!

Are you there Internet? It's me, Katie

I've thought about starting my own blog for a while now, and my husband (Hi, honey!) kept encouraging me to do so, but still, I hesitated. Would anyone care what I had to say? Would I be as witty on paper as I think I am in my head? What would I say in my very first post? But finally, I did it. If the Dems can at long last pick a nominee (Hi, Senator Obama!), I can finally sit down and write my first post.

So here I am (Hi, internet!), ready and posting...

P.S. Shout out to Risa, the first person to subscribe to my blog, even before I posted anything! Hope you won't be disappointed...