I think we should Ask a Scientist.

sandandthestars

7:39PM - storytelling

Things that suspended me to the Earth today (despite the dismal nature of some of them). They are charming, moving, creative, gorgeous stories. I can't wait to leap right back into them Mary Poppins style at the beach in few weeks.

1. 2. 3.
4.


1 } The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

2 } A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel

3 } Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers by Matt Kellog and Jillian Quint

4 } This American Life Season One (I <3 You, Ira Glass)






On the L train back to Brooklyn, I stood across from this bronze skinned man- you know, the leggy kind with canvas boat shoes and a white tee-shirt with one pocket which looks so crisp against his dark color. He had large, deep green sea murk eyes that reminded me of my father's. His fine black hair looked like it had been beaten and curled back from salty wind on a sailboat all day. Oh my goodness, he was classically handsome. I smiled at him and tried to memorize little things about him- a small mole on his forearm, the skinny and uncurled pink rims of his ears, full eyebrows sitting atop those green eyes. They were slightly crooked (like Connor O'Donnell's from high school, I thought), and so I wasn't always sure if he was looking at me. However!, I know he looked my way before. He gave a weak, unsure smile that I had hoped wasn't really his sign that he was aware I'd been collecting little keepsakes from him. My big grin at his noticing me was too much, though, and he brushed past me at the Bedford stop. The cute ones always get off at Bedford.

plants

(artzgirl1987)

7:00PM - Bugs!

There are these tiny little gnats things flying around my orchids. I don't see them around any of my other plants. They've been there for a few months, but they don't seem to be going any damage.

I'm scared to spray pesticide on my orchids... would that be okay? Are the bugs even something to be worried about? If not I'll let them live there. I don't really care. They stay over there, I don't see them around the house. They are starting to multiply. There were only two or three about four months ago... now there are over five.

Thanks!

Current mood: curious

plants

(missusmoonlight)

9:42AM

I had a huge potted pink petunia which was beautiful, with about a hundred blooms on it. It was right in the entry way of my front door. I dead-headed it daily and it was gorgeous. Then, one morning last week, I got up to find that something (from what I've seen around here, I'm going to say a rabbit) had chewed most of the blooms to shreds and devoured the rest of them. Now I have a huge pot of petunia greens.

My question is this: Will it ever bloom again? I moved it to my fenced in back yard, where my flowers have been unmolested by animals so far. It's been a few days, and I don't see a bud on it. : (

plants

(poofy_sheep)

6:40PM - Squash!

I recently became the momma to a bearded Dragon, Emmett.
Part of his diet requires greens (Turnip greens, Kale, dandelion greens) and vegtables (Squash is the best staple).

Before Emmett arrived I planted 3 squash plants and I'm just ot getting some baby squash..
But.. I know that the typical yellow 'longneck' squash wont hold all winter and I'll be forced to buy some kind of veggies this winter.

is there any way for me to grow some squash this winter?
I was thinking a greenhouse, but I dont know much about them or what kind I would need or if it would even work. 

Any advice?

plants

(darkphuque)

2:29PM - ANOTHER DIOSCOREA

Here are two pics of my Dioscorea Mexicana as it was breaking dormancy a month or so back. Its one of the few species i grow native to the western hemisphere. The caudex is 14" across and the primary vine is now 21 ft long. I have had the plant 5+ years and it was purchased from Top Tropicals in Florida. It was a 12" diameter when purchased. I think I can get one more year's growth before I will have to construct a container for it. 16 " diameter is the largest width I can purchase.

Dioscoreas are members of the Yam family (authentic yam, not the sweet potato "yam".)

( Read more... )

purplepickles

3:47PM

so here's my schedule with the updated ap credit changes.

Span-352 (H): Spanish Conversation & Composition
M/Th 2:10 to 3:25

Lit-150: Third World Lit
M/Th 9:55 am to 11:10

Socy-150: Global Sociology
T/F 9:55 am to 11:10

Lit-130: Honors English I
T/F 3:35 to 4:50

Hist-120: Imperialism and Revolution
M/Th 12:45 to 2:00

Honors 101 (fun activities): W 3:35 to 5:20

i could use up to 30 ap credits and i had 40, so i passed on elective credit from AP Spanish and credit from AP Lit to take English so i'll be able to write properly. mondays and thursdays are going to be death but tuesdays, fridays, and wednesdays will be nice.

Third World Lit's book list includes persepolis! yesss, i need to read that.

_post_secret_

(secretforabuck)

3:48PM - Toxic Relationships

Have you ever been involved in a "toxic" relationship/friendship? What made you stick around? What made it toxic? How did you get out of it? Etc. 

Share. :)

plants

(krystalraven)

10:45AM - bonsai update and questions

so i've moved my bonsai tree to a much sunnier location, it's now getting lots of sunlight (read: almost all day) and doing wonderfully. i have noticed new leaves sprouting on it and everything. makes me happy ^_^

but i do have one question. where i live we have well water and our water softener is out. our landlord (being the complete ass that he is) refuses to fix it saying he doesn't have the extra money right now. while the stuff tastes horribly and i'm pretty sure is bad for humans to drink i was wondering if it had any negative effect on plants? i mean, my thoughts are if the plant were in the ground wouldn't it be getting something atleast similar to this type of water?

and i know this doesn't pertain to this community and the mods can delete this part of my post if they wish but i was wondering if anyone happened to know if well water had any negative effect on animals, specifically cats? they are adults (not kittens) if that matters.

Current mood: concerned

of_a_lifetime

10:24AM

 In exactly two weeks from today i'll be at college.

Weird.


I got my nose pierced 

Mama Mia was good.

Current mood: cheerful

sandandthestars

10:15AM

WHAT? NO! WHY? AT LEAST IT'S SPIKE JON....NO.

edit:

Spike Jonze was approached by Maurice Sendak and was asked to take on the film adaptation. A movie had been on the burner since the early 90s, and Mr. Sendak had not being able to find anyone fitting to take it on

Okay. So Paul Dano is the voice of Max- that sounds cool.
And Catherine Keener is in it...that's another good sign.
Forest Whitaker is also boss.
And the monsters aren't computer generated.
Now I'm sort of excited?

sandandthestars

2:51AM

oh



my








gosh

plants

(emeraldblack)

9:49PM - A chuckle

qwantz

1:45PM - torontoist linked to this

And I appreciated it

"The breeding properties of M&Ms"

plants

(hypnobella)

9:58AM - Hi Plant People!

I've been lurking about on this group since it was on the spotlight page only because my PC was down, and I could only read posts from my phone. Now that I am connected once more, I wanted to introduce myself!

My name is Rachel, and I'm a married mother of a nine year old boy. When my son was one, his father and I got divorced, and I found myself a single mother. Desperate to find a job that would suit my complicated needs and schedule, a friend of mine put me in touch with a woman who was an independent landscaper. I had been working in the book business as a buyer/appraiser for years, and had never been much of a gardener, even though my mother is an organic farmer by trade.

The woman and I hit it off immediately, her assuring me that my inexperience wouldn't be an issue, that she and the other girls could train me. That's how I became part of "The Garden Girls", an under the table gardening and landscaping company comprised of 4-7 single moms. We took turns watching each others kids and working on sites. I caught on very quickly, and soon fell in love with gardening. Within the year, I was in charge of teaching general plant maintanence to new moms signing on. Our credo was basically that our kids came first. Open houses and doctor visits and school plays were scheduled in alongside job sites, and the learning environment was supportive and fun, yet always very professional. Many of our clients had no idea that we were orchestrating families and kids, and all of clientele was word of mouth.

In the three years I worked with these ladies, we got organized, grew, and even got a business license and trucks! We poured over shared books on our off time together, and taught ourselves the hardscaping techniques by practicing together in our own yards, with good ol' Ortho and Sunset talking us through it.

Three years ago I remarried and moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. My husband is an Art Director and I have the luxury of staying home after working so hard. I have been landscaping my own property of course, but understandably cannot find a landscaping company that can fit my scheduling needs, especially now that my son is involved in extra curricular activities and my husband is often on location, so I have no backup for the boy's transportation. I want to continue gardening however, so I have decided to attend Pierce Agricultural College next Spring to study horticulture.

All of the friends I have made here in L.A. are in the film industry, and have zero interest in plants-Except to ask my advice on the houseplant that their housekeeper forgets to water. I have been very lonely without my lady friends to "plant geek" out with. While I love being the resident expert on the subject, I have been yearning to find people with more experience that I can learn from, especially since the climate is so different-The desert has been quite a change from Oakland's mild weather and heavy rains. In my current landscape I am working with a lot of succulents and native plants, trying out new xeriscaping techniques and focusing on water preservation, but it's lonely!

That's why I was so thrilled to find this community, and I'm very excited to share my knowledge, and learn from the rest of you. On that note-Whiteflies are ruining my life right now. The have infested my beans, peppers, basil, tomatoes and canna. It's a daily battle, and I was wondering if anyone knew an organic solution to this pest. All of my gardening books basically say to bomb them with pesticides, but most of my plants infested I am hoping to harvest for food, not to mention my concern for my pet desert tortoise who tends to munch in my garden.

I would appreciate any suggestions!

plants

(saint_katherine)

12:46PM - crown of thorns

I bought a cutting at the church rummage sale of a crown of thorns. I had never seen one. I left it on the entertainment center for a couple of months and just now noticed it is infact not dead. it now has roots, new leaves at the bottom and a green tip on the top.

what do I do with it....is it a houseplant...do I put it in the yard...it has huge thorns on it. should I leave it in water for longer..how big do they get ..etc..ah me needs some advice here...thanks.

Current mood: contemplative

plants

(elfslut)

10:24AM - What Is It?

This appeared in our garden this year. I have no clue what it is, but its sure pretty.



( One more behind the cut )

It seems like it might have been crossed with this lovely little flower, but I'm not sure

plants

(trekkingkitty)

7:41PM - Kalanchoe question

 The kalanchoe that was so full and pretty in my icon now looks like this. Is there any hope that it will ever have such beautiful flowers again?

Current mood: curious

edwardgorey

(jumblie)

4:38PM - the wonderful Gorey intro to Mystery Theatre

allthingsholga

(adellepatricia)

4:39PM - first holga community post

i've had my holga for almost a year now but i have to say that i haven't really used it as much as i can. probably because i really got myself preoccupied with work. i remembered using my holga first with a 120 film and i know in myself that 120 films are not readily available anywhere you go so i have to use more 35mm films. later did i realize that from the place that i live (woodstock-illinois), nobody from around really knows how to develop the 35mm film used in a 120 body. they would always say that they're not getting images because it was out of the frame. this got me disappointed for a while then i bought the 35mm film adapter that didn't really helped as much as i hoped it would. things were really starting to get expensive. these kind of things got me off my camera for quite a bit. finally i've decided to order some 120 films online and used them. i found out that walmart accepts 120 films for processing but they need to send it away and you need to wait for a week. it's cheap and i am really fascinated with the little box prints. now i can say that i am ready again for my holga..err, again!

here's a few of my favorite holga shots and the link to my lomography website that i'm still trying to work on. =)

       

      


my lomography site
(click me!)

Current mood: giddy

Current music: im more of watching television

sandandthestars

3:30PM - Paul Banks

He just walked through the door
oh my lsidjfio;shjdghdsfgjkhdfg
I love him
and I love Interpol
at least their old stuff
changed my life

oh my goooodness