Recipe for Homemade Drums

Materials:

Carpet roll - call some local carpet stores; you only need one, 'cause one will make like 20+ drums
Saw or razor blade
Drill and drill bits
Sturdy string (I used kite string)
Durable plastic "fabric" or leather
Needle
Paint (optional, but way more fun)
1/4"-1/2" thick rope


Here's a pic of the carpet rolls in the garage. Only get one! The rest are just taking up space and filling themselves with silly little spiders. I shouldn't have taken 3, but I didn't know any better.

Take a saw or razor blade and cut cylinder in 10" segments. Around the top edge, drill small holes just big enough for a needle with your string to get through about 2" from the top. Just above the middle on opposing sides drill a bigger hole that the rope can just barely fit through, if you're doing the neck string.

Paint it if you want; put on a non-toxic sealer if you want to make sure the kids won't lick off any paint if you're worried about that sort of thing. Be careful of the holes or just redrill after the paint dries. If you just try to drill after painting, you'll probably crack the paint. I know because I tried.


Cut out a circular piece of plastic/leather that's about 3-4" wider than the tip of the cylinder. You'll sew the plastic/leather on through the holes you drilled. Make sure it's tight. Tie the ends of the string together. Put the rope on so the ends are on the inside. Make a knot so it can't get back through. Sand yourself up some dowels and you have drum sticks.

Have fun drumming!

Amazing Artist, Visually and Vocally

I saw these videos/heard these songs a few months ago. I really like Lisa Hannigan. I like her voice, her style, and her art.

Watch her here: http://www.vimeo.com/2814124

(Just realized I hadn't actually posted this yet... ach!)

A Different View on Depression & the Story of Stuff

Hi, all.

I just found this article in Scientific American so interesting I thought I'd share. It's an article exploring the possibility of depression as a preserved evolutionary function to help animals (humans included) analyze complex social problems by focusing solely on those problems. I've never been truly depressed myself (my closest understanding would be from PMS), but it's an interesting thinkpiece.

Also, for anyone I may have missed when I sent out an email on the Story of Stuff, just click here and it'll direct you to the video. It's 20 min, but an interesting watch. I don't agree with all the premises or the occasional misleading cartoony depiction, but my husband and I have had an interesting time thinking about the content. (We also love to analyze films, so we had fun picking it apart.)

Happy think-piecing!

Sprouting Potatoes

So, I tried sprouting potatoes this year. I haven't actually found out if they'll produce, but I do have some very healthy looking plants. I tried twice before I finally landed a healthy sprouting technique, and even then I lost some. Oh, and I did this using potatoes from the grocery store.

The first time, I tried taking potatoes whose eyes hadn't yet formed. It didn't work. I found out that many companies/producers spray a chemical on the potatoes to delay or prevent eye formation so the potatoes stay good on their way to the store. Just one more reason to wash your vegetables, 'cause who wants to be eating that!

So, next I let some potatoes sit in the cupboard for a bit (they were from Costco's gourmet blend potato bag). I found some with some great eyes sprouting. (For those who may not know, the eye of the potato is the little growths that sprout out at various spots.) I cut the potato about a 1/2" below the eye, making sure they could sit flat with the eye up. Then I used the rest of the potato. I put the piece with the sprout in an old applesauce cup (dang those things are useful!) with water just up to the bottom of the eyesprout. After a bit, they put out roots. Here are some pictures:


You can see the roots coming from the sprout in the eye. I actually had the hardest time with the white potatoes rotting where they contacted the water. I changed the water every morning at breakfast time, cutting out any rotting spots. After a few weeks, I actually had leaves forming. When the roots were just getting too long for the applesauce cup (wrapping in circles around the bottom), I put them in pots ('cause we still have pretty difficult clayish soil).

From what I've heard, potatoes need to be covered with new dirt every once in a while, so I planted them as low as I could in the pot. Even still, the plants shot up, and I was covering them with dirt every 4-5 days. I finally ran out of pot to fill. Here's a picture of what they look like 2 months after I started:
I'll let you know how it goes!