The Smart Bird

Bead Stashes In The News

I saw this article yesterday about a great new archeological find on Saint Catherines island, off the Georgia coast.  Archaelogists have been excavating around an old mission there, and have uncovered thousands upon thousands of ancient beads!  The beads are from all over the world, including China, France, Italy (Venetian crystal, sigh), the Netherlands, India, "Bohemia," Spain and some of Baltic origin (amber).  Wow!  All in all, they say they've uncovered about 70,000 beads.  Now that's a stash that would make any bead collector swoon.

I found it touching that more than half of the beads recovered were buried with small children.  I wonder what the significance of that is...

Throw Your Love Around

So, the other day my husband went running on one of his favorite trails near our house.  It's a broad, groomed trail that is very popular with runners, bicyclists, parents with strollers, dog walkers.  Everybody.  Well, the trail was crowded, and my husband began to notice that everyone he passed either smiled or waved a little wave or said "hi!" a little too enthusiastically.  Not that people are usually unfriendly on this trail, but that day they seemed a lot more friendly.  At first, my husband thought it was him.  "Is my form especially good today?", "Do I look really happy or something?", "Was I smiling and didn't realize it?"  But then he realized what it was.  "Oh," he thought, "it's not me.  It's...Obama."

Out Of Many, One

Nervous Energy

 

I'm having a little trouble getting to sleep, because I'm so excited and nervous about the election tomorrow!  So to kill time and try to wind down, I decided to do something I rarely do: browse the Etsy Gift Guides.  I was pleasantly surprised to find my Baby Footprint pendant featured in the $50-$100 Guide.  Yay!  But, more importantly, I was reminded of the incredibly wide range of talent on Etsy.  It's really mind-boggling.  Anyhoo...

We've got what I call a "party" day planned for tomorrow: visitors, television on all day, some smoked gouda popcorn, and pizza for dinner (we almost never have pizza for dinner).  Hey, when you've got a 15-month-old baby, your expectation of what constitutes a "party" gets ratcheted way, way down.  But it's going to be great.... 

Happy Election Day, everybody!

You Know You Want To Know

Ever wonder what the real deal is in the ongoing question of plastic vs. paper?  Here's an article that lays it all out for you - in excrutiating (and fascinating) detail. 

Closing Soon, At A Strip Mall Near You

Earlier this year, Starbucks announced they will be closing more than 600 stores nationwide.  Today they released the details.  Use this map to see if one is closing in your neighborhood:

Congratulations, Japan!

Having lived in Japan for a year-and-a-half, I was not at all surprised to read that Japanese tourists are rated #1 internationally for being the most polite tourists in the world.  It's kind of buried in the article, but it made me happy (and, strangely, a bit proud) nevertheless.

The Real Deal

From a time before "crafting" was a cool hobby, and was a genuine trade.  I miss those days, and worry for our future as an entire generation of experienced craftsmen retires and/or passes on.  Who will fill their shoes, I wonder?

Dang

This is a story about the apartment I wish I had had when I was 10 years old, when my hobbies included: processing my family's fingerprints with my DetectoLab kit, reading Nancy Drew books, building models of Egyptian pyramids, watching "Get Smart" reruns, and planning my future as a "professional detective." 

Wait, what am I saying?  Actually, it's a story about the apartment every 10 year old wishes they had had.

Thanks, Q

Last week was the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth.  Of course you know he created the James Bond character.  But did you know that thanks to spy technology, I can watch my baby roll around in her crib while she's supposed to be taking a nap?  It's true!  Baby monitors, text messaging, cell phone cameras: all evolved from technology designed to make the spy's life easier.

Actually, this video monitor by Summer Infant is one of the best baby-gear investments we made.  I found the idea of a sound only monitor frustratingly vague.  Is my baby fussing because she's over-tired?  Or because her hand is stuck in the slats of the crib?  Just knowing that I could "peek" in on her without disturbing her was a big relief.  The little camera sits unobtrusively on a dresser (you can mount it on a wall if you like), and gives an amazingly clear picture day or night, lights on or off, whether you have the monitor upstairs or down, inside or outside.  And the microphone is so sensitive it picks up not only your baby breathing, but birds chirping outside the window and our cat meowing three rooms away.  It's pretty incredible and under $200.  So I guess here's where I have to give a shout out to the CIA (wha-huh?).  Thanks, CIA spy gadget inventor guys.  I love my baby monitor.