“I ask once or twice a year,” she told me. “But it’s a powerful question. It should only be used wisely.” I was interviewing a woman I’ll call Ms. C. for a newspaper series. She was truly an elder. I don’t mean age-wise, although she appeared to be in her mid-seventies or beyond. By elder […]
Continue ReadingThe video for Wilco’s “Dawned on Me,” from their Grammy-nominated record The Whole Love, features the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon in more than 30 years. You may want to celebrate with some spinach.
Continue ReadingSitting down to sketch or paint a place you love is one of the best ways of revisiting it. That’s because getting the images on paper forces you to re-imagine the sights and sounds, making it come alive more fully in your memory. The folks at They Draw & Travel know all about this […]
Continue ReadingEvery second 28,000 pieces of voice, video, and photo communication are sent. Cell phone companies record more of that metadata than you might think: 736 pieces of data per person per day. Depending on your service provider, this information is retained anywhere from a year to five years. Michael Rigley’s animated infographic reminds us […]
Continue ReadingI stayed up past two a.m. last night happily churning through a book. Reading seems timeless to me. It puts me in a book-related fugue state that used to get me in trouble in elementary school because the class would move on from reading time to math yet I remained oblivious, completely absorbed in […]
Continue ReadingMathare is collection of slum areas in Nairobi, Kenya. The population includes hundreds of thousands of children. Although pollution, poverty, disease, and crime are ever-present, hope lives there too. The way out for children is education. A foundation started by former slum-dweller Julius Mwelu is giving children the opportunity to express themselves through photos and […]
Continue ReadingWe’ve already established that wisdom is a fine gift for people of all ages. Maybe wisdom is even more valued when it is briefly stated and cleverly drawn. That’s part of the thinking behind Advice To Sink In Slowly. Launched in 2006, it’s a way for design graduates to offer advice and inspiration to […]
Continue ReadingA moon mineral has been discovered in Australia. Tranquillityite was named after the Sea of Tranquility, site of Apollo 11’s 1969 landing site. Like the other two minerals found in rocks brought back from that mission, it was long assumed to be unique to the Moon’s surface. Well, until now. We know science […]
Continue ReadingAwesome and affordable. Two great words when it comes to an app that lets you get the most out of iPhone photos. Using a free Instagram app, you can store a gallery of photos at Instagrid, share photos via tags, and connect with other Instagram users. You can also make iPhone photos […]
Continue ReadingJanuary 13: Friday the 13th The upcoming year offers us three chances to enjoy Friday the 13th. What a great reason to read a scary book and show a scary movie. It’s also a perfect opportunity to make some creepy foods that normally only show up at Halloween parties. We suggest meatball mice, breadstick fingers, […]
Continue ReadingConversation at the dinner table often becomes too technical for me. My husband and four kids are very math and science-minded, with lots of hands-on experience turning their ideas into something useful. Many of those discussions turn into real ways to make our small farm operate more efficiently. They’ve created parts that no longer exist […]
Continue ReadingTattly got its start when designer Tina Roth Eisenberg became frustrated with temporary tattoos. She likens them to hideous clip art for kids. So she got some world-class designers to share their hip tattoo concepts. Thanks to Tattly, temp tats are awesome enough for all ages.
Continue ReadingWe love our social media here at GeekMom, Twitter to G+, Facebook to Erly. Lately we’ve been talking about Pinterest, the virtual pinboard that lets you create, organize, and share what you find online. Because it’s a visually-oriented site, it attracts us using something other social media sites haven’t done nearly as well: images. While online we […]
Continue ReadingI don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. But year-round, I do enjoy pursuing clever ideas that help me be more self-reliant and resourceful. For years I’ve relied on Bust Magazine for such ideas. This publication, now 18 years strong, is one of the pioneers of today’s DIY movement. They host Bust Magazine Craftacular in five cities every […]
Continue ReadingI’m an artistic wannabe with no talent to back up those aspirations. But my desire to come up with frugal and meaningful presents pushes me to attempt crafts rather than stare dreamy-eyed at all the luscious offerings I can’t afford, the ones made by people with real skill. Over the years my four kids and […]
Continue ReadingCongratulations to Caitlin, winner of our A Discovery of Witches giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered by telling us what historic era you’d like to visit with a wealthy and mysterious vampire. Watch GeekMom for a review of the next book in the All Souls Trilogy this summer.
Continue ReadingOne year it seemed we were having the worst Christmas ever. That autumn my husband had been in a car accident. His broken neck was healing, but it left him with severe migraines and what doctors thought might be a seizure disorder. Because he wasn’t medically cleared to return to work, we had to […]
Continue ReadingDon’t forget, before tomorrow (Saturday) at midnight Eastern Standard time, enter the contest by placing a comment on our Discovery of Witches giveaway to win your own copy of the book, now out in paperback. A winner will be selected at random from comments made on the original post.
Continue ReadingThank you George Takei for offering to broker star peace the good ol’ space way, by identifying an even greater threat.
Continue ReadingThe fantasy novel A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, reviewed by GeekMom at its release, has become a major international success. The story follows an academic who specializes in the history of science. Her research leads her to an enchanted alchemical manuscript so powerful that it may spark a war between witches, vampires, and daemons. […]
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