February 2012
1 post
May 2011
1 post
April 2011
6 posts
Low-Carb State of Mind | Psychology Today →
Sadly I find this is consistent with my personal experience.
Students illogically outraged at logical... →
So this high school in Connecticut creates a slide show of student photos and status updates to use at an internet safety assembly for freshman. The students see their photos and statuses, which were posted publicly online for all the world to see, and become outraged that the school used “their” content without permission.
This was a genius idea and the hubbub it created makes a...
#notintendedasafactualstatement →
If it weren’t for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert bringing the funny I’m certain contemporary politics would drive me to total despair.
September 2010
1 post
Hyperbole and a Half →
Funniest blog ever!
July 2010
2 posts
June 2010
19 posts
Banddirector.com - The #1 Online Resource for Band... →
YouTube - Middle School Band Recruiting Video →
MENC Forums / 6th grade recruitment videos →
Turrentine Middle School - Townsend Band... →
Very bizarre local news story →
Moorish Science Temple of America involved in dispute over Hampton home - dailypress.com
Evidently this Moorish Science Temple of America, which claims to be a sect of Islam, took out a full page ad claiming “jurisdiction” over the property this house was built on and then simply changed the locks and moved their stuff in?!? I think we’ve stumbled upon a little pocket of crazy...
Fake organic foods from China →
I feel like most people want to do the right thing when it comes to food choices. At the same time “food issues” can be really complicated and there is so much misleading information. This is a great example where people think they are making a good choice by buying organic produce and don’t realize the true impact of their purchase.
It is so important to buy locally as much...
I used to think I didn't like squash →
And then I joined this CSA and so far we have gotten a lot of squash so I’ve been experimenting. We had the first round grilled on skewers seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. They were off the chain.
Then tonight I used those funny little patty pan squash to make this creamed squash recipe I found online and it is GOOOOOD. Makes a great vegetarian main dish, I think....
iPhone 4 Disaster: Orders Charged and Sent to the... →
Is it just me or does this iPhone 4 preorder thing get worse and worse?!?
Public Radio Wedding Proposal →
I love this story about two people who didn’t like each other much at first but started to see each other in a new light when they realized they were both fans of This American Life. There are certain books, shows, etc that I love so much that it does sort of change my opinion of someone when they find out they also love it (or don’t love it!)
This sure looks interesting: Race to Nowhere →
Superweeds Threaten U.S. Farms | WBUR and NPR - On... →
I’m afraid we might be headed for a food crisis that no one sees coming. Our farming practices are simply not sustainable, and this is just one example.
NPR: More Sleep Could Improve Athletics, Academics →
New research adds to a growing body of evidence showing the perks of a good night’s sleep.
A study from researchers at Stanford University finds that extra hours of sleep at night can help improve football players’ performance on drills such as the 40-yard dash and the 20-yard shuttle.
This week is filling up fast!
Which means it will probably fly by and before I know it I will be done teaching for the year! I only have three teaching days this week, then we have the students in school for one more week but they are all early release days so we don’t have any art, music or PE. Usually this means I get really bored but this year, since no music teacher is being hired to replace me, I will be very...
May 2010
1 post
We've Been Geocaching!
Lees Mill Earthen Fortification, originally uploaded by marthastokes.
Trevor and I have had a delightful Memorial Day weekend doing a TON of geocaching. In case you don’t know geocaching is a global treasure hunt in which people use GPS units (we use an iPhone) to find hidden containers. Usually the container has a log for you to sign and often it is big enough to hold little...
February 2010
2 posts
5 tags
Dear Freecycle lady: Who do you think you are?
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } , originally uploaded by marthastokes. I posted these glasses on Freecycle and got a super rude message from the “senior owner” about how links were not allowed and I was being placed on moderation until I...
1 tag
I thought nobody read the paper anymore?!?
I keep hearing on the radio and reading on the internet that “nobody reads the paper anymore” but given how many people have noticed my picture in yesterday’s edition of the Daily Press I think that must be a myth! I volunteered to be a member of the “Savvy Shopper Street Team” and share deals I spot around town. I thought it would be fun to participate in my local...
January 2010
1 post
Musica Mitts, all done!
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Musica Mitts, all done!, originally uploaded by marthastokes. I’m so proud of how these fingerless mittens came out!! It was my first color work project, and they were really fun. The pattern called for black...
December 2009
1 post
1 tag
Now I feel like it has to be something profound
So it has been ages since I updated the blog. I have been really busy with winter programs at the school and everything like that, but mostly I have just been too lazy and scatterbrained to sit down and write about anything coherently. I have been knitting a TON, including a couple of pairs of awesome socks and a cardigan that I have been chipping away at for awhile. I am pretty hooked on...
October 2009
5 posts
Surprisingly good
I picked up two of these Birdseye Steamfresh Meals for Two and Harris Teeter yesterday. I don’t usually buy prepared meals like this, but I had a coupon and they were BOGO so it came out to like $2.50 per bag. When you compare that to the price of eating out on a night when you’re just too exhausted to cook, then add in the fact that there are about 350 calories in a serving and...
4 tags
Slow-Cooked Collards and Black Eyed Peas
I decided to try my collards for Wednesday’s dinner in the slow cooker. I’ve never done green in the slow cooker before, but it seems like a natural fit so why not?!? Once I decided to do collards black eyed peas seemed like an inevitable partner so I made some of those as well. I use dried beans these days so I had to soak and precook them the day before so they’d be ready for...
2 tags
Menu Plan Monday!
I know I dropped the ball on MPM last week, but it has been requested that I pick it back up this week so someone can glean ideas :) We are totally off-schedule this week because of a trip we took to NC this weekend for a family reunion. Fortunately my mom sent some food back with us so at least last night I didn’t have to make any dinner! I also haven’t done any shopping so we...
The things people will say and do to each other...
So last night the father of one of my students was shot and killed on the street. It’s not really clear if it was random or if (more likely) someone had a beef to settle with him. It is very sad, the little boy was incredibly attached to his father and at least from the little I could tell over the past month the guy was a loving and at least somewhat involved father. The part that drives...
2 tags
Menu Plan Monday!
Menu Plan Monday is a blog carnival hosted by OrgJunkie.com You know, once upon a time I would have given myself a little guilt trip about not updating the blog more often and not having done a single post since MPM TWO WEEKS ago, but not anymore. It’s like I tell the kids people: you get what you get and you don’t pitch a fit. I didn’t do a MPM last week because Trevor was out...
September 2009
7 posts
1 tag
Menu Plan Monday
Menu Plan Monday is a blog carnival hosted by OrgJunkie.com We are still working on getting through some of the food we have in the pantry this week, although I admit I did take advantage of triple coupons at Harris Teeter yesterday. I saved about 50% off my bill, not counting the case of beer I bought, so that’s pretty good! Monday: Sticky Sesame Chicken - I haven’t made this...
4 tags
Dragons live forever...
…but not so little boys Mary Travers: 1936-2009 Mary Travers passed away on Wednesday at the age of 72 after a long battle with cancer. Mary was one third of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary and had a profound impact on a generation and then on that generation’s children. NPR did a beautiful piece on Mary and the way social justice played such an important role in the group’s...
2 tags
Menu Plan Monday
I used to be very diligent about making a menu plan each week and doing the grocery shopping based on that menu plan. Somehow, months ago, I fell off the menu plan bandwagon HARD and we have been drifting aimlessly through the week ever since. This results in more stress, poorer eating habits and most of all more EXPENSE because if there isn’t a plan for dinner by the time I get home from...
2 tags
EVERYONE should make their own bread!!
I really believe that everyone should make their own bread. I have strong feelings about homemade bread because it’s one of the things my mom used to make us a LOT, and I have such powerful, positive memories of that brown bread. I used to be too intimidated to make my own bread, then my sister Rachel started doing so and as a twin my attitude is usually “if she can do it I can do it...
Pork Share!
I didn’t get any impressive all-over-the-counter photos this time but Trevor just arrived home with our pork share!!! We are actually splitting this one with Rachel and Todd. This is the contents of our pasture-raised pork share from Full Quiver Farm, a family owned and run operation just across the water from us: 5 packs breakfast links 1 pack St Louis Ribs 5 packs Bone In chops 1 pack...
1 tag
Cooking a whole flounder
Trevor and I made a rather extravagant purchase at the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market yesterday: a 2.6 pound flounder! He was cleaned and his head was removed, but the rest of him was intact. I was reticent at first because I didn’t know how to cook a whole fish, but after the woman from Buster’s Seafood gave me some tips and in the end the thought of fish that was caught less...
5 tags
Let's have a little consistency, folks.
It never ceases to amaze me that so many of the same people who find the government too incompetent, corrupt or inefficient to handle healthcare, education and welfare have no problem with that same government putting people to death. Texas May Have Executed an Innocent Man Texas put Cameron Todd Willingham to death by lethal injection on Feb. 17, 2004, for the murder of his three children by...
August 2009
2 posts
Beef Share!!!
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Beef Share!!!, originally uploaded by marthastokes. We drove to Central Meat in Chesapeake this morning to collect our beef share. Months ago we reserved 1/4 of a cow from a local farm and we FINALLY got the call that...
1 tag
Five For Monday
1. To say we have been traveling a lot lately is an understatement. Two Thursdays ago we drove to Owego, NY for the wedding of our friends Tim and Abby, which was wonderful and we had a super good time. In fact I loved that region of New York so much I did not want to come back. Then this past Thursday we flew to Massachussetts for Rich and Susan’s wedding, which was also pretty epic in...
July 2009
5 posts
Exhausted
Today is my last day of work for the summer so I’d really like to enjoy it. Too bad I am EXHAUSTED!! Poor Trevor snored his nose off all night long. In fact I had a dream that I was living back in the dorms at Meredith and one of my hall-mates had a pair of wild cougars that kept trying to attack me. I giggled a bit when i woke up and realized that the sound of cougars in my dream was...