A Convenient Spinach-Cheese Taco

In November, I had written about a convenient quiche that required only five ingredients. The convenient food item this time around is a spinach-cheese taco that requires only three items—really convenient and inexpensive for road warriors, vacationers, other travelers, relocatees, and folks at home. The only items required are …

[Read entire article at http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2010/01/convenient-spinach-cheese-taco.html.]

Create Monthly Calendars for the Year

Did you get a 2010 calendar recently? Get one for a Christmas gift? Buy one for yourself? Bank give you one? Some other business give you one? Calendars used to be assumed freebies, which seemed to be in short supply this season. The other day, I asked a bank teller about calendars. She pointed out a small stack of pocketbook-sized ones. Well, it’s adequate for viewing month to month, but the cells measure only 1.2" wide by 1" high.

I decided to visit an online calendar utility for viewing and creating custom calendars. I wound up creating and printing out all 12 months for the year in landscape orientation, double-side printing them …

[Read entire article at http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2010/01/create-monthly-calendars-for-year.html.]

Sew What

I occasionally sew, although much less than I used to. (I mostly repair items or shorten overly long t-shirts for myself.) I assess if it's worthwhile to pull out the sewing machine and set up the spool and bobbin. If the job's too small, or if I feel I might risk mangling the fabric by using the sewing machine, I'll hand-stitch the item. Often, when I sew or think about sewing, I think about the term for someone or something who/that sews. I wonder why a person is not a thought of as a "sewer", but a "seamstress" or …

[Read entire article at http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2010/01/sew-what.html.]

Holiday Gadgets to Inspire or Not

Over the years during the holiday season, I have smiled bemusedly at gadgets hawked on TV as prospective gifts. Questions that pop up in my mind are usually "Really? A saucepan would work, and most people already have one", "Gee, another appliance to take up shelf, cupboard, or drawer space", "Does that gadget really work?", "[price, usually ending in .99] sure seems like a lot for what that thing is supposed to do".

Gadgets in the past that trigger one or more of my above thoughts include …
[Read entire article at http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2009/12/holiday-gadgets-to-inspire-or-not.html.]

Color N R Lives

Colors make their ways into many facets of our lives. They have strong associations with moods and emotions. They also appear frequently in names, particularly surnames. When they're associated with specific nouns, they often conjure up images.

Color first names don't seem common. Blanca, Blanche, and Bianca are all variations of foreign words for white (feminine). Notable names include …

[Read entire article at http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2009/12/color-n-r-lives.html.]

The 99¢ Effect and Other Saver Thoughts

My article started out about pricing with regard to saving, particularly how 99¢ is such a popular price, a price ending, anyway. As I "scribbled" my streams of consciousness—besides 99¢—thoughts also included tenths of cents still anachronistically attached to gasoline per-gallon prices, coupons, before/after price changes indicated in print ads, sales taxes that no advertiser includes, and baked goods pricing.

As the seasonal buying rush is spiking around this time, …

[Read entire article at http://whilldtkwriter.blogspot.com/2009/11/99-effect-and-other-saver-thoughts.html.]

Dobbs looking for a new home?

Lou Dobbs told Washington's WTOP Monday morning that he is not ruling out a presidential run, and, according toPolitico's Glenn Thrush,that he will leave the final decision up to his wife. Asked by an anchor if rumors about his presidential ambitions were crazy talk, Dobbs repsonded, "What's so crazy about that?"

"For the first time I'm actually listening to [people who want him to run for office], " Dobbs said. "I don't think I have the nature for it . . . But we've got to do something for this country." He said a run for president was "one of the conversations we're having" and that he would receive "the best advice" about whether it was a good idea.

Dobbs recently left his position as an opinion anchor at CNN to pursue an activist role in politics.