Check Off Your List With Gifts That Give Back

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One of the great pleasures of my job is working with Chris Kilham, Medicine Hunter. Chris is an alternative medicine expert who travels all over the world and has changed the way I think about medicine. In the three years that we’ve been working together on video segments I’ve also become friends with his fabulously savvy wife Zoe Helene. Like Chris she loves the outdoors and has a real respect for our environment. I thought she’d be the perfect person to help us find gifts that will give back this year.

Gifts That Give Back

by Zoe Helene

When Paula suggested I come up with a list of Gifts That Give Back, I knew the challenge would be to keep that list short. After collecting pages and pages of great stuff, I decided to keep this one focused on high quality traditional Christmas gifts that are also earth-friendly.

In the natural products industry we call that category ‘premium sustainable’. You might have heard it called ‘Luxury Eco,’ which is basically the thing. In a nutshell, these are high-end products that have produced in ways that are healthy for all parties along the chain of trade; and not just people, but planet, plants and critters too. Now that’s what I call true Christmas spirit. Read more

For Sale: John Lennon’s To-Do List

Gotta Have It Rock and Roll

***UPDATE: After 19 bidders battled it out — someone went home with this piece of history for $16,696!***

Have an extra $3,000 sitting around? That’s the starting bid for a very special piece of paper. John Lennon’s to-do list is being auctioned off by Gotta Have Rock and Roll and it’s expected to sell for upwards of $5,000.

I’ve always loved The Beatles, their music and their history so I was especially excited when I saw this list. Here’s a fun fact: I was actually named after Paul McCartney!  Funny, right?  Yep — my mom totally had Beatlemania and my dad indulged her lifelong crush when it came to naming me.

Lennon’s list was said to be made for his personal valet, Fred Seaman. So it makes sense that some of the items read like directions: Read more

10 Most Common Decorating Mistakes

I’ve said it before — I’m not good at home decorating yet. I just haven’t found my stride with it. So in the meantime my bedroom looks like a college dorm. We didn’t win the “Angie’s List Worst Bedroom Makeover” contest. But the good news is that I’m totally fine with not being the worst at anything! There will be other opportunities to transform my space — like this list right here. Expert designer Lauri Ward gave me a list of the most common decorating mistakes and how to fix them. Are you guilty of making these?

10 Most Common Decorating Mistakes

by Lauri Ward

Everyone makes the same errors when it comes to decorating, no matter the style of their furniture, the size of their home or their budget. An example of these errors is using questionable traders. When you are decorating your home you want it to look as beautiful as it possibly can. This makes using a reputable trader essential when deciding who to use. Read more

Machine Recreates Endless To-Do Lists

Courtesy: Chris Eckert

Think your to-do list is never ending? There is a machine out there that frantically writes endless to-do lists! California artist Chris Eckert modeled it after his own to-do lists. He said on his website that he runs from, “one urgent task to the next and…new tasks are added faster than I can check completed items. My list grows longer and faster the harder I work.” Sound familiar?

His out-of-control list was his inspiration for this mechanical sculpture called “ToDo.” The items on the list that the machine jots down include chores from Eckert’s actual to-do list like, “gift for Troy” and “buy milk.”

Courtesy: Chris Eckert

Each appears as a ballpoint pen rolls over cash register receipt-like paper. It is programmed to write in Eckert’s actual handwriting too. The order of the chores is chosen at random and the same list will never repeat. Pretty genius, huh? Although a lot of us have recurring items on our own to-do lists.

The constantly running to-do list fills inch after inch of paper and eventually ends up in piles on the floor. I think we can all relate to this – with our stacks of papers and desks filled with Post-It notes!

It will be on display as part of the Annual Art Exhibition and Auction for the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art from September 24th through October 22nd 2011, but you can get a sneak peek by clicking on the video below.