Ingenious Camping Hacks

Full Disclosure - I don't know anyone who camps, but many of these ideas will work anywhere.

My favorite = #36

From Buzzfeed - 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius#.srBL0PG3a

1. Use foam floor tiles for a softer, more comfortable tent floor.

alittlecampy.com

2. Point a head lamp into a jug of water for an instant lantern.

Flickr: listorama

3. Paint the inside of a jar with non-toxic glow-in-the-dark paint for an easy DIY lantern.

lindsayandandrew.blogspot.com

See how she did this here.

4. Make tin-can sandwich bread as a portable food option.

thereadystore.com

Get the recipe here.

5. Familiarize yourself with what the poisonous plants look like.

sheknows.com

6. Bring a tick deterrent.

7. Glue sandpaper to the top of your match holder.

craftaholicsanonymous.net

Be sure to buy strike-anywhere matches.

8. Repurpose a coffee can to hold and protect TP.

fieldandstream.com

9. Make crescent rolls over the campfire.

For maximum yumminess, fill ‘em with stuff like marshmallows and Nutella. Or wrap hot dogs with them.

Get the directions here.

10. Use Tic-Tac boxes to store spices.

skruben.blogspot.ca

11. Invest in a two-person sleeping bag.

cabelas.com

This one is $84.99 from Cabelas.

12. Get these seat hammocks for car camping.

hammocks.com

Buy ‘em here.

13. Cut up a straw and fill the pieces up with antibiotic ointment or toothpaste for single-use packets.

briangreen.net

Use a lighter to seal up the ends.

14. Make travel coffee bags out of coffee filters and dental floss.

scjohnson.com

Place a scoop of coffee grounds into a coffee filter and tie it up with dental floss. When you’re ready to brew, just make it like you would make tea in a teabag!

15. Need your coffee? Bring a few of these.

pinterest.com

They’ll keep you from going into caffeine withdrawal.

16. Make candle stakes for romantic nighttime lighting.

asubtlerevelry.com

Get the directions here.

17. Make single-use soap leaves from a bar of soap and a vegetable peeler.

asubtlerevelry.com

You can also rub soap on mosquito bites to relieve the itchiness.

18. Use an empty laundry detergent dispenser as a hand-washing station.

greatwildoutdoors.com

Just fill it up with water.

19. Use a belt and hooks to hang up pots and pans.

pinterest.com

20. Make campfire cones!

kidsactivitiesblog.com

21. Pack a mini first-aid kit into an old prescription bottle or Altoids tin.

chasinggreen.org

22. Make pancakes with pre-made pancake mix using shortening and dry milk, which don’t need to be refrigerated.

onegoodthingbyjillee.com

Get the full recipe here. You can also find powdered eggs at most grocery stores (if you don’t shudder at the thought).

23. Put a battery-powered votive candle into an empty peanut butter container to make portable lanterns.

24. Make a portable washing machine with a plunger and a bucket.

Get the directions here.

25. Make an easy-to-carry fire starter with a cardboard-only egg carton and match light charcoal.

sewmanyways.blogspot.com

You just have to light the carton and the fire will catch on to the charcoal.

26.

macbrosplace.com

27. Make pocket-sized oil lamps out of travel-size or hotel toiletry shampoo bottles.

instructables.com

Get the directions here.

28. Forgo the meat marinade and put the rosemary right on the coals.

marthastewart.com

Once the coals are uniformly gray and ashy, cover them with fresh rosemary branches. Your meat and vegetables will be flavored with the taste of savory herbs.

29. Bring cheeses in waxed packaging as well as hard cheeses.

cutefoodforkids.com / Via bonappetit.com

Aged cheddar, Parmigiano, and/or Gruyère will keep for at least a week unrefrigerated.

30. Add bundles of sage to a campfire to keep mosquitoes away.

google.com

31. Try roasting Starburst.

clarkandsuz.blogspot.com

clarkandsuz.blogspot.com

Sounds crazy, but it’s actually delicious. Crunchy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside. Roast it until it’s bubbling.

32. Forgo pasta for a quick-cooking alternatives like polenta, quinoa, or couscous.

bonappetit.com

Polenta is especially versatile because it can be shaped into patties and pan-fried for a sweet or savory meal. Get a recipe for grilled polenta cakes.

33. Cook cinnabuns (the canned kind) in a hollowed-out orange over a campfire.

trulysimple.com

Get the full details here.

34. If you’re going to be hiking, use this biodegradable trail-marking tape.

gofastandlight.com

Buy it here.

35. Keep the kids busy with a scavenger hunt.

thetaylor-house.com

pinterest.com

Write the items down on a paper bag so they have a receptacle for the items.

36. Use a bucket and a milk crate as an emergency toilet.

rootsimple.com

Get the directions here.

37. Cotton pads dipped in wax are a crazy easy way to make portable fire starters.

pinterest.com

38. Bring microfiber towels — they’re super absorbent and lightweight.

amazon.com

39. Freeze gallon jugs of water and place them in your cooler.

campingblogger.net

They’ll keep your food cold, and you’ll have plenty of water to drink for later.

Other things you can freeze to use for later: pasta sauces, chili, and pesto.

40. Make emergency light sources out of an Altoids tin, cardboard, and wax.

instructables.com

Get the instructions here.

41. Make sandwiches with this campfire panini press.

Coincidence?

From  The Atlantic - 

Black Churches Are Burning Again in America

This week, there were fires in at least six predominantly African American churches. Arson at religious institutions has decreased significantly over the past two decades, but the symbolism remains haunting.

The Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C. was burned down in an act of arson in June of 1996.Chuck Burton / AP

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/arson-churches-north-carolina-georgia/396881/

A Striking Resemblance

This excerpt from Salon shows a striking similarity to the climate that was prevalent during the time of Dr. King's assassination and the thinking that was behind the slaying of the nine people in Charleston last week.

An interesting juxtaposition, to be sure. (Bold is mine)

~~~~~~~~~~

President Obama, in his first speech after the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina, quoted from Martin Luther King’s 1963 eulogy for the four African-American girls who were killed in Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. Five years after the Birmingham church bombing, King himself met a savage death.

In the days after King’s assassination, Americans considered many of the same questions that we are asking today: Was this the work of one lunatic, or of a larger racial ideology? How should lawmakers respond? Would the violent tragedy lead to gun control legislation? White Southerners even debated whether to lower the flag in King’s honor. In the end, many ministers and leaders cautioned that King would have died in vain if the country did not act boldly to root out racial injustice. The fact that we are having similar conversations, almost 50 years later, seems a mark of our collective failure.

As word of King’s assassination traveled around the country on the night of April 4, 1968, two of America’s leading journalists sat down at their typewriters: Mike Royko in Chicago and Ralph McGill in Atlanta. They reached the same conclusion – that an entire society had murdered King, regardless of which individual pulled the trigger.

At that point, the assassin remained at large and his identity was unknown. There were no social media profiles to parse, no manifestoes to read. That kind of information was unnecessary. Both McGill and Royko knew that a sick and racist nation was to blame.

In the spring of 1968, King was far from a sanitized national hero. Many white Americans detested his activism and begrudged his fame. In 1967, King had delivered a forceful speech opposing the Vietnam War. Other civil rights leaders turned against him, and he faced a round of criticism in the nation’s newspapers and magazines. His relationship with President Lyndon Johnson, already frayed, fractured completely. King then announced plans for the Poor People’s Campaign, in which droves of the nation’s poor would set up tent encampments on the Washington Mall in a show of nonviolent civil disobedience. King was attacking capitalism and imperialism, and calling for a “revolution of values.”

In early 1968, he traveled to Memphis, where 1,300 black sanitation workers were waging a strike. King led a protest march through downtown Memphis on March 28. Some demonstrators behind him resorted to violence; as chaos took hold, King was whisked away from the scene. The national press intensified its criticism of King. On Capitol Hill, elected officials denounced him as a lawless radical. He had become the target of deepening hatred.

To Mike Royko, a popular columnist for the Chicago Daily News, it was this scorn and revulsion that ultimately killed King. Royko published a column on April 5 titled “Millions in His Firing Squad.” Royko expressed confidence that the authorities would soon arrest the assassin.

But “they can’t catch everybody,” Royko wrote, “and Martin Luther King was executed by a firing squad that numbered in the millions.” From many corners of the nation, white Americans fed  “words of hate into the ear of the assassin.” The killer was simply following orders. “The man with the gun did what he was told. Millions of bigots, subtle and obvious, put it in his hand and assured him he was doing the right thing.”

One more - 

If Ralph McGill and Mike Royko were still with us, they would not busy themselves with the assassin’s Internet posts. They would not look at him; they would look at us. They would scrutinize our society, at what we have built and what we have condoned. In this painful hour, we might realize that we don’t have to keep living this way. We can harness the sadness, the outrage and the feeling of unity, and use that energy to force our leaders into action – urging them to pursue policies that will make it harder for people to kill one another, and to honor the dead by creating a more peaceful and just society for the living.

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/28/charleston_exposes_ugliest_truth_of_our_time_our_society_places_little_value_on_black_life/?source=newsletter

Bucket Skateboards

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/393074/trash-now-there-is-skateboarding/

How Sleep Keeps Winners Winning

From The Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington -

My Q and A With Pete Carroll and His Team Of Sports Scientists, Who Helped The Seattle Seahawks Sleep Their Way to The Top

An excerpt - 

The professional sports community has become a pioneer in showcasing the importance of sleep. You have been an advocate of this for a long time -- when did you first start incorporating sleep training into your teams' practices, and what inspired you to do so?

Fatigue and performance are intimately linked and sleep is one of the important variables to get right to help athletes sustain high effort and enthusiasm, for the long haul.

We've tried to not make a big deal about sleep, because we don't want athletes to hyper-focus on if they aren't getting enough of it.

Instead, we learn from leading scientists about the best practices to maximize the effects of sleep on our organization. We schedule our training schedules and flight patterns to optimize the science of sleep. We spend a good amount of energy to educate athletes and coaches about the impact and effects of sleep. We also allocate resources to monitor sleep patterns for those who want to optimize their recovery process.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/my-q-and-a-with-pete-carroll-and-his-team-of-sports-scientists_b_7615292.html

This Baby . . .

Comes with instructions.

Is the Confederate Flag Less Toxic If . . .

It's on foreign soil?

These folks think so.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/felipearaujo/in-this-brazilian-town-the-confederate-flag-still-flies-high#.qpN8QwXBx

From One of Our Village Idiots

From Salon - 

Read the Most Brutal Paragraph From Clarence Thomas’ Same-Sex Marriage Dissent

Justice Clarence Thomas has a fervent dissent of the Supreme Court’s historic decision to invalidate same-sex marriage bans. His argument, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, quibbles with the definition of liberty itself. “Since well before 1787, liberty has been understood as freedom from government action, not entitlement to government benefits,” Thomas writes. Working from this principle, Thomas insists that the petitioners in the case “have in no way been deprived” of their liberty. “They have been able to travel freely around the country, making their homes where they please. Far from being incarcerated or physically restrained, petitioners have been left alone to order their lives as they see fit.” And yet he takes the argument even further—because human dignity “has long been understood in this country to be innate,” here’s who else Thomas thinks hasn’t been deprived of it:

An Extraordinary Teacher

This is the story of Marva Collins, a disillusioned Chicago teacher who left her public school teaching position and created her own private school.  She took the kids nobody else wanted and lead them to phenomenal success against phenomenal odds.  She passed away this week at 78 years old.

This movie captures her story.  If you haven't seen it, It's well worth your time.

Be inspired!

Run Forrest Run!

I was reminded of Forrest Gump when I read this article about journalism interns who ferry the Supreme Court decisions outside to waiting broadcasters because recording devices are strictly prohibited in the courtroom.

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/6/353033-the-2015-running-of-the-interns/

Taking the Gloves Off

By now you've probably seen all or part of President Obama's eulogy of South Carolina State Senator Clementa Pinckney.  It is a powerful, heartfelt message that is worthy of being heard again and again.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IGyidtfGI

Wheeeeeee!

FAMU Rocks!

HUGE thanks to the Florida A & M University Office of Communications and External Relations for sharing this great news from the Spring 2015 graduation class.  Join me in celebrating FAMU and these ladies for their incredible achievement.

FAMU Makes History with Two Black Female Doctoral Graduates in Physics

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University continues to be the top producer of doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related programs (STEM), according to the FAMU Annual Accountability Report.

Staci R. Brown from Chicago, Illinois and Patrice Jackson-Edwards from Jacksonville, Florida both received their doctoral degrees in physics during the FAMU 2015 Spring Commencement exercise. Doctoral degrees in physics received by Black women are a rare and uncommon occurrence. According to data provided by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), there were approximately 1,600 doctoral degrees awarded in physics in 2013-2014; none were received by women, and only two were received by Blacks, both of which were earned at FAMU.

Both women received undergraduate degrees in physics from FAMU and presented research on various topics such as detection sensitivity and the use of K-shell X-ray Fluorescence (KXRF).

Brown was inspired by her strong, inspirational female science teachers during her early matriculation in elementary, middle, and high school. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from FAMU in 2006 and a master’s degree in physics from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 2009. She did not want to be limited in her career by not having the appropriate credentials, which eventually led her to pursue her doctoral degree in physics.

“It was natural for me to continue and pursue a Ph.D.,” said Brown. “FAMU provided me with a strong academic foundation in physics and instilled in me the qualities of a true leader.”

Under the direction of Physics Professor Lewis Johnson, Ph.D., Brown completed her doctoral research, which involved the use of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for the elemental analysis of organic and isotope-enriched materials to improve detection sensitivity.

She has published several scientific papers, presented research at over a dozen national and international technical conferences, and has won numerous awards for her research. Currently, Brown is assigned to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Defense Programs Research and Development as an NNSA Fellow, and will assume a full-time position as a staff scientist with NNSA.

Brown’s career and research goals are to use lasers for the standoff detection of explosive devices and isotope enriched materials. Additionally, she aspires to work her way up to a high-level management position in government or industry so that she can be at the forefront of the decisions being made to provide support and funding to national science initiatives.

Jackson-Edwards’ first interest in science was sparked during her years in middle school when one of her teachers made his students conduct small experiments.

“My teacher would show his students how the experiments were related to real world situations. I’m a real hands-on kind of person, and I like to see how things apply to the real world,” said Jackson-Edwards. “I don’t like it when teachers teach something and they don’t explain where it comes from.”

Jackson-Edwards did not start out wanting a doctoral degree before she learned about the different levels and benefits of obtaining her doctorate. Her love and passion for science pushed her to continue school.

“I love science, research, figuring out problems, and working with students. Physics was something I struggled with when I was younger, but having to spend numerous hours studying for it made me like it a lot more,” Jackson-Edwards expressed. “There is no turning back after you’ve invested so much time in school. Those are the things I love to do. That’s what keeps me going.”Jackson-Edwards had the opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research projects with the Department of Physics and the School of the Environment, and has presented research at various technical conferences. She completed her doctoral research that involved the use of K-shell X-ray Fluorescence (KXRF) to conduct lead burden studies under the direction of Physics Professor Elliott Treadwell, Ph.D.

While in the process of publishing several papers, Jackson-Edwards is currently pursuing tenure-track academic positions at colleges in Florida and Georgia where she plans to teach physics and continue to pursue her research.

“I would like to get into academia because of the way I’ve had educators help me. I would like to offer that same help to someone else and possibly spark their interests in the fields of science,” she said. “There’s nothing better than the look on a student’s face when they finally figure something out. For you to be a part of that is very rewarding as an educator.”

“Congratulations to Drs. Staci Brown and Patrice Jackson-Edwards for their hard work, dedication, and perseverance,” said FAMU President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D. They represent the quality of students we have at FAMU and, moreover, demonstrate the University’s contribution to improving and enhancing the quality of life for people throughout the nation and the world. The fact that FAMU is responsible for producing the only two Black female doctoral graduates this spring shows how critical we are to promoting social and economic mobility in this nation.”

Amazing Grace

Now What?

This guy is validating our pain.  Now what?

Rainbow-Colored Wedding Bells

The Supreme Court just ruled that gay couples have a right to wed in all 50 states.

Hip, Hip Hooray!

(Although, on the flip side, you know there are plenty of folks rolling over in their graves over this one).

More Reading for Kids

Check out the free reading websites for kids in the link below.

Also, most public libraries offer free summer reading programs at the library and online.

Happy reading!

http://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/11-free-reading-websites-for-kids/

Summer Reading Fun

Books about bugs as seen on Pinterest.

Is Your Favorite on the List?

Take a minute or two or maybe 10 and read this article, paying close attention to the guy's description of his favorite fast food joints, savoring each word as if it were a bite.  Then read why you can never, ever eat at these places.

The only one that makes the grade in taste and public policy is . . .

Word to the wise:  Don't read this if you're hungry.

http://www.upworthy.com/5-incredibly-delicious-chain-restaurants-you-should-never-ever-eat-at-and-1-you-should-but-cant?c=upw1&u=6861cbea6edfdfe5a709ee39ad3c14b64135e61f

Too Strict Or Too Loose?

Buzzfeed features a poll asking at what age do you think kids should do certain things.

Where do you stand?

I'm guessing now that my guys are poppas, their thoughts are more conservative.

Am I right?

Test your permissiveness now.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/morganshanahan/poll-how-old-should-your-child-be-to-do-these-things#.pqaWxDXBR