Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat."
— Renoir

Giant Octopus Eats Shark in Seattle Aquarium

This piece is very well put together. They make you worry for the octopus!

Tuesday Tooth Report

12 days until my next appointment and all's well. This set of elastics has likely done all that it's going to do. For the next 12 days, I expect they'll simply hold in place the movement achieved to date.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important."
— M.C. Escher

8 Largest Giants of the Deep Sea

According to Environmental Graffiti, these are the 8 largest giants of the deep sea:

• Japanese Spider Crab (up to 4 metres leg span)
• Giant Isopod (like a pill bug — remember the "You're fired!" bugs from A Bug's Life?) (14.5 inches long; 3 lbs)
• Giant Tube Worm (up to 2 metres long)
• Seven-arm Octopus (4 metres long)
• North Pacific Giant Octopus (they eat sharks)
• King of Herrings (up to 11 metres)
• Bigfin Squid
• Colossal Squid (up to 14 metres long)

Image: "Japanese Spider Crab" by Hans Hillewaer via WikiMedia Commons

Tuesday Tooth Report

This week's report is less about my teeth and more about the mark they're making on my lip. For some reason, the position of my teeth is causing me to suck my lower lip against them. So much so that I've actually created a dent in it!

Prehistoric Japanese Goblin Shark

This exciting video shows how the shark extends its jaw forward to capture prey. So many videos like this have nothing in the background to show scale but here there is a person (who is brave enough to offer their arm for the demonstration) in view.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Every good composition is above all a work of abstraction. All good painters know this. But the painter cannot dispense with subjects altogether without his work suffering impoverishment."
— Diego Rivera

Tuesday Tooth Report

Today I had a double-elastic explosion! When the elastics wear out (about every 4 hours), they break and snap open against my gums. It can actually be painful. Well, today I was laughing a big, wide-mouth chuckle and whammo!, both elastics snapped at the same time — that's never happened before!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

A painter paints the appearance of things, not their objective correctness, in fact he creates new appearances of things."
— Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Tuesday Tooth Report

This set of elastics continues to be easy to wear. I'd guess that since we're fine-tuning my bite, there isn't grand movement and therefore no real discomfort. I could get used to this!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

You should keep on painting no matter how difficult it is, because this is all part of experience, and the more experience you have, the better it is... unless it kills you, and then you know you have gone too far."
— Alice Neel

Tuesday Tooth Report

This set of elastics is a breeze so far. Teeth are moving (4 are constantly loose and bring back memories of wiggly teeth from childhood) but there is no discomfort like there was with the last set. The Orthodontist said that if things progress as quickly as they are now, my braces could be off as early as July!

Researching Composting

In researching how to start a compost pile, I came across this interesting little Blog called Smell Like Dirt. For those of you unaware, this phrase is part of a famous quote by Margaret Atwood: "In the Spring, at the end of the day you should smell like dirt." I agree.

There are many videos on her blog and a wheel barrow load of advice. I really enjoyed her video on how to build a compost pile.

--Smell Like Dirt Blog

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

In Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
— Margaret Atwood

Tuesday Tooth Report

This week I had another Ortho appointment. They took a 360-degree x-ray of my head, replaced a bracket and added 2 hooks for elastics to two other brackets. I have to wear two new elastics; one on each side. Spanning 3 teeth on the top and 2 teeth on the bottom, the elastic should (at the end of 8 weeks) give my small molars a perfectly aligned bite. The bonus about the visit was that the wire had to come off to put the new bracket/hooks on so I got to do a real flossing!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
— Lewis Carroll

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

November 18/08 — Every time I leave the living room (even if it's momentarily to get a snack) I turn the T.V. off.

Tuesday Tooth Report

I think under the pressure of the elastics, a bracket popped on Friday. I called my Orthodontist and the receptionist says that the elastics can still be worn and that the bracket doesn't urgently need to be fixed. It can wait until my regular appointment that's just a week away.

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

November 17/08 — Made very tasty salmon cakes that are more than 50% veggies!

Salmon Cakes Heavy on the Veggie
Grate or finely chop 1 scallion or green onion, 1/2 carrot, and a handful of spinach. Add 1/4 cup drained tinned salmon (or leftover cooked). Add 1-1/4 cups leftover mashed potatoes. Sprinkle liberally with pepper and mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture into 6 then make each pile into a palm-sized patty. Heat a non-stick frying pan to level 4 on your stove. There is no need to butter the pan unless you'd like to add that flavour to the patties. Place the patties (cakes) in the pan with a little space between each so that it's easier to flip them later. Set the timer for 4 minutes. To flip them, quickly scoop them up with a flat spatula. If you hesitate they might break and fall apart so be brave! Cook another 4 minutes. Serve with steamed vegetable, coleslaw or a salad. Congratulations! You just added a whole lot of veggie and some fish to your diet.

Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

November 16/08 — Made a wonderful tuna salad that is more than 50% vegetable! (inspired by my big sis)

Tuna Salad that's Heavy on the Veggie
Grate or chop 1 small onion, 3 carrots, 1 parsnip, 3 lettuce leaves or a handful of spinach, and a handful of any other veggies that you have (cabbage, red onion, parsley, green pepper, etc.). Add a drained tin of tuna. Sprinkle liberally with pepper and mix with mayonaise to taste.

Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself."
— Leonardo da Vinci

Tuesday Tooth Report

My tongue and bite are much more comfortable this week. I'm grinding less so they must feel better!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."
— Francis Bacon

Seller big enough to dictate shipping boxes

Amazon's "Frustration-Free" packaging is more than consumer- and shipping-friendly. It's environmentally-friendly. Kudos to Amazon for doing the right thing.

Tuesday Tooth Report

Wow. Who could have known that one of the most painful stages would be this set of elastics?! It seems even worse than the actual application of the braces. Teeth feel like they are about to pop out of their sockets! But they continue to straighten so I have to trust my Orthodontist.

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

October 31/08 — Began eating according to the Canada Food Guide. This will reduce my meat intake and increase my vegetable intake. This should help reduce the carbon dioxide contribution to the world by livestock. And, the best thing is that this new approach to eating will reduce my intake overall and help me lose weight. I have a new reason to be environmentally-friendly! Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."
— Michelangelo

Tuesday Tooth Report

My bottom front teeth are beginning to pull together. They're tightening and making my bottom jaw feel too small for my tongue again. I hope that this is simply a part of the process and that the final result at the end of the 2 years will be a more comfortable space for my tongue.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun."
— Pablo Picasso

Tuesday Tooth Report

I spent the week with my 2-1/2 year old niece. Every few hours she'd ask "they popped"? If they had, she'd supervise the application of new elastics. So cute.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

When love twists into hate, there's nothing you won't do."
— said by Detective Elliot Stabler in Season 7 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Tuesday Tooth Report

This week my teeth feel like they are being yanked out of their sockets by the elastics. A small price to pay for straight teeth!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Art is a fruit that grows in man, like a fruit on a plant, or a child in its mother’s womb."
— Constantin Brancusi

Tuesday Tooth Report

Yikes! Those new elastics, spanning over 5 teeth, are super-tight. No pain, no gain.

Canned Heat

As indicated in a previous posting, I'm collecting pop cans. 240 cans, to be exact. All in the name of building a solar heater.

A few people are wondering what this solar heater will look like. Well, I haven't selected a prototype for the final product yet but I can give you a good idea of what it will look like...

--Cansolair: Newfoundland inventor uses recycled aluminum cans to create solar heating panels
--Cansolair video on YouTube
--Ezine Articles.com: How to Build a Solar Heater

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

I had reservations about making art a business, but I got over it."
— Mary Boone

Tuesday Tooth Report

Yesterday I had another Orthodontist appointment. I'm told that my back teeth have made remarkable progress so that I only have to wear the back elastics at night! To start helping my teeth have a closer fit when they are in the grind position, they've added new hooks near my eye teeth. Those hooks will hold elastics which I will have to change about 5 times a day over the next 8 weeks until my next appointment.

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

September 30/08 — Began collecting pop cans to build a convection solar heating unit. Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

September 28/08 — Re-used old wine bottles for wine-making. Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."
— Frank Lloyd Wright

Tuesday Tooth Report

The process has definitely sped up! Those back teeth are connecting a lot and I suspect they'll be close to aligned by my next appointment in just a few days. So exciting!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with the beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature..."
— Thomas Kinkade

"So why can't we identify with keeping that environment clean and healthy?"
— Me

Tuesday Tooth Report

I'm now at the point where my back teeth (top and bottom rows on the left) have moved so much that they are touching and often crunching on my elastics. I'm going through elastics 50% more than I used to but that's okay with me because it means that full-strength elastics are on my teeth more often! Perhaps that will speed the whole process up.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity."
— Damien Hirst

Tuesday Tooth Report

I'm so used to the elastics now that I can often eat a meal with them still in! The Orthodontist says that the more I wear them, the quicker they can do their job so I'm keeping them in for as many of the 24 hours a day as possible. The only down-time is when I'm brushing my teeth, switching to new elastics, and eating a meal that I know will break the elastics.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it.
"
— Henry Moore

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

September 2/08 — Mowed with the reel mower! Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

Tuesday Tooth Report

I'm getting to like the idea of elastics. They are a pain to take out and put back in every time I eat something so I might actually eat less and lose a couple of pounds! Wishful thinking?

IEBGreen Challenge: Today's Triumph

September 1/08 — As always, I used the dehumidifier water to do the laundry. Check my complete list of "Green things done to date" in the right-hand column.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

The habit of ignoring Nature is deeply implanted in our times. This attitude reminds me of people who never look you in the eye; I find them disturbing and always have to look away."
— Marc Chagall

Tuesday Tooth Report

Today absolutely nothing lines up. Rice for dinner.