Queercents

This post comes courtesy of a friend of mine who runs an organic, vegan, raw food restaurant. We got to talking about biking one day and he mentioned that when he’s putting in a lot of miles he likes to make his own energy gels rather than shell out for highly processed  gels. The result is a tasty and nutritious snack when you’re racking up the miles on the weekend.

Vegan Energy Gels
About 40 dates, pitted
1-2 stalks of celery
A banana
Water

In a food processor, puree dates with just enough water to create gel-like consistency. Add the celery for electrolytes and the banana for flavor and potassium to keep your muscles from getting sore. Divide the gel among whatever pouches you have that are convenient and eco-friendly. Enjoy the amazingly delicious combination of good dates and a banana.

Photo Credit: Stock Xchng

Since I write books and have self-published I sometimes get asked: How does a person go about writing a book and then publishing it? In this article I will share with you what I know from experience. As you will see there are several steps and computer programs involved. Assuming you have all the software and don’t charge yourself for all the time you put into your book project from start to finish it should cost you under $1000. Below are my recommended steps:

Pick Your Topic: What is it that you want to say? What do you feel called to write? More specifically, what is your primary message (and secondary messages)?

Determine Your Audience: Who are you writing for: women, men, children, addicts, boat racers, sports fans, people interested in finances, etc.?

Outline Your Writing Plan: Brainstorm chapters and sub-chapters while still allowing for the organic unfolding of the writing process. The writing process itself may change your initial plan but at least if you have a blueprint from which to begin you will jumpstart the writing journey. Read the rest of this entry »

Last spring I decided to upgrade my old dresser. It was from Target, and chosen swiftly during the sea change that is post-college life. Darkly paneled, with brushed steel handles, the dresser looked nice enough sitting on the sterile Target shelves. I’ve used it for four solid years now and despite a couple of scratches and chips, it has held up remarkably well for something under $75. all this being said, I’ve never had any particular devotion to it, seeing it as less “mine” than something I use.

So, during last spring’s room-renovation, while I was scouring Craigslist for furniture, I came upon a very dear cream dresser. It is solid wood with some classy, yet whimsical woodwork at the bottom and top. when the owner mentioned to me that it was his childhood dresser, whilst growing up in Park Slope, I was sold. I imagined rubber handballs hidden in amongst the underwear and grubby nickels stuffed in a sock. This dresser, with its rich history, could feel like it was mine. Read the rest of this entry »

So last week I gave a basic overview of how to fix up a bike, but if you need a little more here are some additional resources for curing what ails your bike. As one DIY repair shop pointed out, “Since it’s your hide that will get injured when the bike falls apart, learn how to repair and maintain the exposed parts yourself. After all, the bike shop won’t be there when your brakes fail in the middle of the Slickrock Trail.”

Sheldon Brown is basically the Kevin Bacon of internet bike info: if you’re searching online for information, you’ll find your way back to his sit usually in fewer than four clicks. Though occasionally confusing to navigate (Sheldon Brown passed away a few years back and the site hasn’t been updated since) it’s a got most things covered.

Park Tool is a manufacturer of bike tools so they have a vested interest in providing you with know-how that serves as incentive to buy their tools. The have awesome tools to back it up (I’m not a spokesperson for them or anything, but their multi-tool and pedal wrench have proved massively useful. The site is designed for the amateur mechanic who has a little bit of technical know-how. Fortunately, there are diagrams.

Though geared towards mountain bikes, Utah Mountain Biking generally has something for everything. Geared towards a novice mechanic, they are the owners of the motto quoted above. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a way to add a little spice to your relationship without going broke? Homemade sex toys can really add some spark to your sex life, and it’s simple to convert everyday household items into something a little kinky.

Scarves and neck ties
Silk scarves and neck ties can be used as blindfolds, and you can even restrain someone around the wrists and ankles. Just make sure that your knots aren’t too tight and you’re in business.

Ice cubes
These are practically free. They’re great for hot summer sex. And if you use ice cubes in conjunction with a blindfold you’re really in business. If you really want to make the ice cubes special, you could hit up the dollar or the party store to find cheap ice trays in cute shapes, like lips and hearts. I know I’ve seen them at Ikea, too.

Wooden Spoons
You can convert a simple wooden spoon into a paddle. Keep it in your goody drawer in the bedroom so that you’re not mixing business with pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re looking to tackle the more advanced stuff in order to keep your ride preforming well, don’t be scared. It’s actually pretty easy. The cool thing about bikes, is that they fall within my DIY rule: I was going to pay to fix it anyway and it won’t cost me any more if I make it worse, so there’s no reason for me to not try and fix it myself. With a little time and patience even I can keep things in good running order on my bike and I was a liberal arts major in college. For the non-engineers like me, here’s a basic intro on how to deal with more challenging bike parts.

Derailleur:
This is the technical term for the mechanism that changes the gears on your bike. The one controlling the crank set–the gears attached to your pedals– is the front derailleur. The one on the cassette–the gears on your back tire– is, not surprisingly, the rear derailleur.  (They may also be referred to as the front and rear mech in online tutorials.) If the gear doesn’t shift right away or you’re shifting off of the chain ring or doesn’t shift with the clicks if you have index shifters, chances are you’re going to want to tune your derailleur. Unless you’re seriously out of alignment, this is actually not terribly hard to do.
The first thing you’ll want to do is check your cable for rust and wear. You’ll also want to clean your chain and all the gears. This maintenance is easiest if you can set up your bike somewhere you can spin the pedals and change the gears. I lock my bike into a trainer, though hanging it from a stand or the ceiling works too. It’s a little hard to hold the rear wheel off the ground, shift gears and spin the pedals at the same time, so being able to suspend the back wheel is key. Read the rest of this entry »

Probably one of the most important parts of an enjoyable commute is having a well-tuned bike. There’s nothing more enjoyable than speeding along with every part of your bike working in unison and there’s nothing more frustrating that hearing gears crunch or feeling the drag of a misaligned brake. All bikes are different and have different components to them, but there are several basic things you can do that require little in the way of time or experience to improve and will keep your bike from looking like the one in the picture.

Clean Your Bike
As a primer to tuning your bike, one of the most important things you can do is actually one of the easiest: clean your bike. Sometimes, this can make all the difference. One day, I was having a tough time shifting my front gear and was about to get my tools out to fix the cable tension (don’t worry if that sounds intimidating) but it turned out that the only problem I had was a massive amount of mud gumming up the works. Picking out most of it was enough to solve the problem and it was here I realized that keeping your bike clean is more than just aesthetics. Having a clean bike also helps you pinpoint what the problem is. (Admittedly, most commuters won’t be riding through six inch puddles of mud on a regular basis but it’s still a good practice.)
I clean my bike with a cheap dish soap that won’t damage the finish and a low pressure hose. Be sure to not use anything high pressure that will force water any tubes or hosing where it can cause damage. I also have a special wash cloth for drying my bike after it’s bath.

Check Your Tires
The next step I take is to check tire pressure. I’m sure many of you have heard people touting tire pressure as a way to improve gas milage, but it goes for bikes as well. If my bike drops ten PSI, I feel it because I have to work harder to go the same speed. Bike tires typically start at around the same tire pressure as cars (35 PSI for cruisers) and can go to 65 PSI on a mountain bike and 120 PSI on a road bike. That’s more than three times the tire pressure in the average car. And unlike cars, many bikes don’t have a suspension system that softens bumps, so it’s easy for air to get pushed out of the tubes. Read the rest of this entry »

I have seven nieces back in Ohio and their mothers were all religious about documenting their young lives through professional photographs. You know those “Watch Me Grow” packages that parents purchase through Olan Mills or JCPenney. Apparently, everyone spends money on this in the Midwest and then they’re used as décor items. Believe you me; there are a lot of portraits on those walls. Enough to make me feel like we’re jilting our parental responsibility by not having Sam sit for at least one professional photography session during his first year.

We did get sucked into the “professional” photos at the hospital the day after Sam’s birth, but since then we’ve been more of the do-it-yourself type mommies when it comes to pictures. Jeanine has been diligent about making sure we capture a new grouping each month. Still, I wonder if it’s worth the expense to bring in the professional.

When you look at various studio web sites, most suggest portraits at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months. My siblings obviously took this advice to heart. At seven months, Sam is certainly ready for his “personality” session and this makes me think that we should bite the bullet and make an appointment. Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago I wrote about an idea for a microenterprise I’m calling Lunch for Friends. In summary, I’m already making frugal and healthy meals for my little family of two and I reasoned that it would require only incrementally more time, money and effort to make a bit more for friends in exchange for a few dollars to offset some of our food budget. The positive feedback from Queercents commenters was just the extra boost I needed to launch.

It has been a few weeks now and I’m happy to report that the endeavor is a success on many fronts. I decided to start cooking 3 days/week so that I did not spend every minute in the kitchen. Also, I haven’t told all my friends yet but rather kept it to a few close ones who I thought would give me honest feedback. Three of them became regulars almost immediately and asked to be included in every offering. They are thrilled to be eating tasty and healthy meals prepared by someone they know and for significantly less than they would pay at our local Whole Foods deli or a restaurant.

Generally I prepare two complementary salads (grain, bean, pasta, potato, green) or a salad and a cold soup (I live in Florida) and I often include a little baked good made by my wife who loves to bake healthy treats. The meals are almost exclusively vegetarian. Everyone so far lives within walking distance so delivery has not been an issue. I send out a text message when lunch is ready the night before and make a plan to meet with the friends that work in the am. Another has his delivered in the late morning. I pick up the old tupperware when bringing that day’s lunch. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s actually really easy. I recently invited my herbalist friend over to teach me and my girlfriend how to make our own tinctures. She delved a bit into some calculations which will help figure out the potency of your potion, but it’s not completely necessary to do all of that unless you plan on selling them.

According to Wikipedia, a tincture is “an alcoholic extract (e.g. of leaves or other plant material) or solution of a non-volatile substance”. We used dried Damiana leaves to make our tincture. Damiana can be used as a natural remedy for multiple purposes such as constipation, depression, PMS, anxiety, and best of all, it is a natural aphrodisiac. Unfortunately, Damiana is only native to South America, Mexico and Central America. Unless you live in those areas, the herbs need to be purchased rather than grown locally. Luckily, I found an herbal shop near my house that sells dried herbs for really cheap, so I am assuming that dried herbs are pretty cheap in general. Keep in mind, you can make tinctures with any dried herb, not just Damiana. I am just using it as an example. Other popular herbs you can use are: Echinacea, Mint, Dandelion Root, Valerian.

Depending on the herb you want to use, you may want to double check the ratios online. Some herbs require more alcohol than others. For this example, we just used a 24 oz mason jar. Kathryn calculated the following ratio for us, but she said that you can pretty much throw the dried herbs in a jar and then fill with alcohol. We had 1 ounce of dried herbs and added 5 ounces of Everclear.  The reason for using Everclear is because of its high alcohol proof. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE RUBBING ALCOHOL! We ended up filling the mason jar above the 24 ounce mark, so really its close to 30 ounces. Take a chop stick and make sure there are no bubbles in your concoction. Close the lid tight and don’t forget to label and date the jar. You’ll have to let it sit for about 6 weeks in a dark area. 6 weeks may seem like a long time, but you can save a lot of money by making your own tinctures, especially if you are growing the herbs yourself.

Our tincture has been sitting for almost two weeks now, so I will be sure to let you know the results when week 6 hits! Also, if you are interested in other libido enhacing herbs, you can read some notes I took from my  friends’ herbalism class.

If you have medical conditions, it would be best if you check with your doctor before injesting any herbs. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

photo credit: sxc.hu