[d] enclosed in brackets chaotic perfectionist for hire

I love Rube Goldberg setups, and I found this video on John C. Dvorak's blog (this post specifically):

Has anyone else made something like this, or have favorites they can share? We had a project to make one of these when I was in high school (Physics), and it wasn't nearly as cool as this...

Is mother nature on a bender or something? Is she recovering now?

Seriously. This has been one of the weirdest winter-ish seasons I can remember, and this is New England. We had a week in January where it was 55 F (12.8 C) one day, then a high of 18 F (-7.8 C) the next day. It doesn't normally go above the mid 30s in January and Ferbruary, and it's not unusual for there to be a two or three week period where the temperature doesn't go above 20 F (-6.7 C). We've gotten a lot of snow, but along with the huge piles of the white stuff that we've shoveled, there have been days where the snow has almost been sublimating (evaporating directly).

Then there was this week, where it's been in the low 30s F (around 0 C) over night, then in the 40s during the day... then it SNOWED this morning. That would be fine, except I just put my summer tires back on my car (only to pass inspection). I was planning on putting the winters back on for a few more weeks...

For some reason, Nature isn't the word I'm thinking of after Mother right now.

</rant>

After my last post about the beard hat, I realized that I didn't explain how I would go about getting one of these hats without forking out $135 for one.

About a year and a half ago, I started learning how to knit. For the one person out there who doesn't know, read up on knitting on Wikipedia (actually, there's some good stuff even if you *do* know about knitting). I had wanted to learn how for a while, and my mother-in-law taught me over vacation. She let me borrow some needles and bought me some "starter" yarn - now I have a few pairs of needles and some yarn of my own, but I would love to get a set of circular needles like the picture here.

So far the only "real" things I've made are a hat and a small scarf (pictures coming soon). The hat was made from a pattern (update: I found it), and was done up on size 8 US straight needles. It was going to be for my wife (K), but ended up being for my son. There's another hat in the works that'll be for K, and it should be done soon.

Next steps to getting that sweet, sweet hat going:

• Figure out the pattern (gonna get some help on that one)
• Get the right needles (circulars or straights?), probably around size 10 US
• Get some good yarn. I've seen some that would be perfect for it, but I have to find it again.

There's a ton of resources if you want to know how to knit, including geeky patterns, like the klein bottle hat and the DNA hat (the link I had is broken). You could ask me too, but I'm still pretty close to "just starting" as far as experience goes.

File this one under, "Projects to make sooner than later."

While reading about the Skeletoque on Instructables (check it out), I found a link to boingboing that pointed to this:

Woolen cap gives wearer fake beard

(pic credit) Since I already have a beard (for now, anyway), it would only be a little entertaining on me. On the other hand, I could try to make one, as long as I can figure out a pattern... which is better than spending the $135 they're asking for one.

The possibilities are endless... and it would be funny on pretty much anyone I know, including my 1-year-old son or my 6-year-old daughter. There are comments on the articles asking for a pattern, but nobody has it quite done yet...

Ever since the movie The Saint (with Val Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue, not the TV series with Roger Moore), I've wanted a phone that flips open - not just a clamshell, but something with a keyboard inside. I thought that was the coolest thing, and until I saw the price... it was practically mine. I don't even remember what the price was, just that it was WAY out of my budget.

It went to the back of my mind as I got my first mobile phone in 1999. It was a sweet Nokia 5160 and I thought it was (almost) the best thing ever. That was replaced by a Motorola v60i (good except for the snap-off antenna), then a Motorola v265, then a Motorola e815 (see a trend?).

Our "New Every Two" was up last May (whee, Verizon Family Plan), and we finally got around to picking new phones. After looking at what I could get for free (if I had the money I would've liked the vx6800), I went with the LG enV Green. After waiting a couple of days, it came in, and I like it.

Has anyone else played with one? It's got a good look and feel, plus green *is* my favorite color. There's plenty to play with, but it's still really good as a phone. Speakerphone is easy to use and turn on/off, whether it's open or closed.

Now, the next step is to see how much I can get onto it. I want to be able to make my own ringtones, and I don't want to have to send them to myself (regardless of having unlimited messaging, which I don't have). Verizon is a pain and won't let you do it on your own, at least without messing with a few things first. Luckily, the camera is pretty decent, but I still want to get all of the pictures from my old phone onto it. If anyone has any tips on transferring data and/or ringtones, please let me know.

This isn't a Yet Another Signup post.

I joined Curbly a while ago, checked out a few things, and went on my way. It was a cool site, filled with people who do it themselves, from remodeling to construction to design, big and small. Since I'm in an apartment, I felt like I didn't have much to contribute.

Over the last month or so, I've gone back and started reading more, and commenting on the articles and posts there. It's a small community, but very active and willing to share. It's a welcoming place, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to get ideas or share their own with a group of people who like the DIY thing - interior design, home improvement, architecture, etc.

I like tea.

There's something about it that just makes me come back for more (no, not just the caffeine). While reading ThinkGeek's newsletter earlier today, I found Monkey Picked Tea for sale. Yes, it was covered by Digg about four months ago, but it got me thinking about how many options there are for tea... and that you can get tea (not cheaply) that's picked by a monkey.

My favorite (right now) is probably still Earl Grey for hot tea, and I haven't picked something for an iced tea. I usually just use whatever I can find, which has ranged from good to flavored sawdust (I didn't realize how old it was before I used it). Any suggestions? I'm looking to make the transition from bags to loose tea, and any links or info would be great to have.

The other option would be to grow my own tea, but I think that's going to have to wait for now, at least until I'm in a house (or have a window that our cat can't poach from).

This goes back to the idea (and article) from a previous post (hefty-hefty-hefty). It's a video describing 5 "dangerous" things we should let our kids do. As a father of a 6-year-old and almost 1-year-old, I'm dealing with this on a regular basis... The safety thing, not the things listed in the video. Oh, and these are part of a book that the speaker wrote... which is 50 dangerous things. The first taste is free, then you gotta pay for it.

(Originally from a Digg Story)
5 dangerous things you should let your kids do:

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