The current agricultural system used to feed the worlds 8 billion plus people is unsustainable and requires a major overhaul. With a rising world population, the stresses placed on the environment due to inefficient and wasteful practices will lead to food shortages and a plethora of socio-economical issues. While in the past the increased pressure […]
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Building a Proper Workbench
As anyone who has been in my workshop knows, it’s very much a chaotic mashup of impulse purchases and salvaged odds-and-ends. Whether it’s the old pantry door that is now serving as a table or the welded together rack for my tool cases, my shop is full of character (and lots of left-overs). This weekend […]
Ventilation in the shop
Ever since setting up my workshop last month, I’ve been working on making the space as versatile and organized as possible–a bit of a trial and error process. One step in the right direction was setting up a ventilation system so that the fumes and dust created by the various projects would be taken care […]
Moroccan Chicken Recipe
As the title hints, this will be a post about a recipe I created over this past weekend. On Saturday I was hosting a BBQ to celebrate the end of the fall semester and because I wanted to show friends around my place. While I may be able to get by on a charcoal grill, […]
Mending Fences
Let me start with a quick question: what is the first thing you see when you pull into a driveway? Yeah, so that was a trick question since the answer, which I assume no one can argue with, would be ‘the driveway’. As such I have taken it as a personal goal to make the […]
The Basement Window Conundrum
We’ve all put in a lot of hours recently over at the house on Fleetwood, and I am happy to say that it’s paying off. Whether it’s the new white picket fence, the landscaping, or even the simple house-washing it received is anyone’s guess, but the results are undeniable. Today I want to share a […]
Geocaching (aka Brother Bonding Time)
At the risk of stealing my own thunder, I’ve titled this article with a spoiler to be sure. So I was trying to find a good idea for an adventure for Ian and I to go on since it was a Sunday and we were both free. After going through the obvious activities such as […]
Volunteering with Wikipedia
This afternoon I finally followed through with a project I’ve been meaning to do for at least the last four years or so. Today I actively and truly added to Wikipedia for the first time. While it wasn’t much–I just started a new page and added an image to another[ref]If you must know I added […]
The road to graduate school: Version 2.0
As I allude to elsewhere, my second round of searching for a graduate program has fallen back to my research with Dr Papineau back in the Spring of 2012. During that spring, a new and exciting world was illuminated before me as I learned about the global chemical cycles and how our world has shaped them […]
First run in Warwick
Finally had enough energy while working on the farm the other day to go for a run around Warwick; and I have to admit I’ve been missing out! Ran down Rt 78 from the farm to Hochanam Rd, a nice hilly route perfect for warming up to a long run. From there I made my […]
Winery Adventures: Part 2
All the way back in August I first mentioned my hopes to grow grapes and make wine on the Kelly-Hubbard Farm, and today I have the privilege to update the narrative a bit. Over the past couple months we have been making inquires and picking out the grape varieties that should do well in the […]
Jeep Hard Top Hoist
Today I decided to finally work on a project I’ve been planning for a long time now. For those of you who know me it comes to no surprise that I adore my jeep, and therefore I’m always trying to get the most out of it whether that means adding a tow hitch or customizing […]
Documenting Progress
Over the past couple days as my summer projects are just getting off the ground, I’ve been struggling with how to best document my progress. Should I send out a quick tweet as a start/finish a new step, should I post a picture and status on facebook, or should I write a post here with […]
Exploration into HDR Photography
While not everyone will know what HDR even stands for, many have seen these initials in the Camera settings of their iPhone photo app. For the iPhone, the HDR setting essentially takes three photos and merges them into one photo for the user [*]. While I will leave out the details of the algorithm [*], this intuitively […]
Ginger Beer
Ever since visiting Bermuda five years ago I’ve been in love with ginger beer. Having both a freshness and a heat all its own, this soda stands well apart from any of the typical American drinks. Ginger beer, for those of you who haven’t experienced it, is akin to ginger ale but more complex, and […]
Odds & Ends
Over the course of the past couple weeks I have been working on several essays in parallel, and per my usual style none of them are complete yet. Instead, I felt it would be more interesting to write up a quick note based on some random, otherwise pointless writings that I discovered hiding in my […]
Tiny House
Last night I stumbled upon the Tiny House Movement and instantly felt myself drawn in. The Tiny House movement values utility, pragmatism, and simple aesthetics over size; and the goal of most tiny house designs is to minimize the footprint and size of the structure by keeping only the bare minimums. Rather than using a 25 ft3 […]
Peace Corps Update
I value transparency. Anyone who knows me knows that I seldom hide from the difficult questions and respect the pointed response of an honest answer. For the sake of transparency I wanted to share an update on my Peace Corps application and on my future plans in general. I purposely chose a title that was neutral […]
Running on Quotes
“Perhaps the genius of ultrarunning is its supreme lack of utility. It makes no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted from the […]
Making a Bar
Rather than try to find a bar that not only fits with my expectations for function and quality, but also one which is cheap, I decided to build my own. After growing up in a household of DIY type people who are not afraid to get their hands dirty, I figured a project of my […]
Art, it matters
Art has the sad fate of being the antithesis of science, and therefore also of progress. Art, more so than any other activity, brings about the most human aspects of our society. It is sacred by its own right. Art is not a necessity for survival, but isn’t that why it’s so special? Rather than […]
Why the Peace Corps?
      Although it is senior year, I am often reminded what it was like to be a freshman and meeting new people all the time. Truly, the number of people whom I am being introduced to has not dwindled as might be suspected, rather it’s quite the opposite. It really […]
Antropology
Recently the field of Anthropology has been capturing yet another person into it’s net; anthropology has completely conquered my sensibilities. While I realize it is a bit early in our love affair to honestly attest to any long term plans and commitments, I must say that anthropology is a field that I may go to graduate school […]
Writing for Life
Although I am one to tell others that writing is an activity that I both enjoy and find useful, I am also one that struggles with actually committing thoughts to written words. First I must confess that if someone were to inquire about my writing ability I would claim “I am a fine writer, quite […]