Little did I know that this week was Compost Awareness Week when I arranged to pick up my own community of about a thousand red wigglers tonight. Yessiree, we got worms! Our very own vermiculture queen, Cathy Nesbitt of Bradford, was speaking to the Oakville Horticultural Society, so I arranged with her to pick up my complete starter kit. It comes with a trendy green bin, bedding material, instructions, and about two handfuls of the Cadillac of worms. The handfuls part remains theoretical for me, but I did pat the little guys gently as I settled them in.

Cathy spoke with passion and hilarity about environmental awareness and the magic of these worms, explaining their astounding capacity to recycle any organic garbage we care to provide. She asked us all to pass on the good news. Even those who choose not to compost this way can at least share their garbage with those who do. I'll let you know if I need any handouts for my gang.

Posted by lynda at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I feel pretty lucky when it comes to easy access to the information I need, but today I must rant about something. What's with the prevalence of grey text on websites? Those graphic designers who think it has elegance, sexiness, style, or god-knows-what going for it have won over more than a few site producers and cause me to gnash my teeth at least once a day. Even the IA site, Boxes and Arrows, rejects good old black in favour of a dusky charcoal, but many other sites I encounter make their text a vague light grey. Like this one: Nick Lewis' blog. I have fiddled with monitor settings and hunted all over the browser preferences trying to adjust it to a more readable level of contrast, with no luck. Am I the only one who finds this annoying? Is it a Mac thing? Would things be different if web designers were all over 55?

And yes, even this blog is a perpetrator. It's a tolerable grey, but could be darker. I'll consult my tech wizard to see if I can make that happen.

Posted by lynda at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yay! CBC, the radio mothership, announced today a delicious lineup of podcasts to keep my iPod humming with words. (Is that a mixed metaphor?) I have been a subscriber to the Quirks and Quarks podcast for months, but now I can add several shows or parts of shows I like but often don't hear, such as Ideas, Dispatches, and C'est La Vie's Word of the Week.

I'm one of those people who can't listen to things while I work, so radio as an adjunct to my keyboard time is not an option. I want to enjoy my favourite radio flavours while I'm walking the dog, driving to appointments, or even doing housework. I can pack in these programs alongside the IT conference presentations, vintage radio and audiobooks I listen to regularly.

Now if only I had time to listen to music!

Posted by lynda at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)