Why we shop at our dingey local grocery instead of the place with all the possibly-better food across town
While we have several quality grocery stores that sell all kinds of delicious, organic, 100% good-for-you kind of food, we tend to opt to shop at our local supermarket instead. And by local, I don’t mean locally-grown, I mean… right down the street. We don’t do this because it’s close per se — the location is part of the appeal, but that’s because John, the man who owns the store, employs people who live in and around our immediate area. His store services people who live near us, and we routinely see the same people working and the same people shopping.
In case you forget: the rest of the world keeps on going even after you have a kid
My husband and I were THOSE super-liberal kids: we brazenly (and somewhat immaturely) ranted and raved about The State of The World, felt smug about the fact that we only watched independent media, and derided anyone who didn’t agree that of course social programs should be available for anyone who needs them, and of course the food we eat is loaded up with a thousand things that are killing us, and of course we were right. About everything.
How grown-ups make new friends: handing out coupons
Making friends as adults is WEIRD. I actually had a conversation with Megan about it a few weeks back.
Make Ouija Boards of a different flavor at your artsy craftsy Halloween party
This October we had a few friends over and all whipped up our own spirit boards in different styles. Star Wars? Check. Self-styled ninja script? We’ve got it.
See how we did it, and how you can make your own spirit boards this week.
A Portal-themed bedroom and a message board you pet to use in this week’s Monday Montage
Start your day with our collection of interesting articles on the web and photos from our readers. In these Clicky Links you’ll find lots of sites to waste a little time on — and you’ll see a raver-friendly penless message board.
Click through, too, to find our links on submitting YOUR stuff to Offbeat Home!
I want to get more trick-or-treaters but I live in a zero-fun neighborhood
Last year, my house had only one trick-or-treater. Our lights were on and we were ready, but most of our nearest neighbors don’t do anything for Halloween. There are plenty of families in the neighborhood — what can we do to make sure they come to our house?
The upstairs neighbors walk so loudly I suspect they may wear concrete shoes. Halp.
Our neighbors upstairs walk REALLY loudly. This isn’t normal. The walking shakes our ceiling, scares our cats, and goes on late into the night.
I don’t think it’s right to try to confront people about walking, when the problem is probably that there isn’t enough insulation between their apartment and ours to mask the noise. Is there anything we can do from down here that can minimize the noise? Or is this worth talking to our neighbors about?
We Are The Face of Equality: a project created for and by LGBT families
A few weeks ago we were introduced to a really cool project called We Are the Face of Equality. The video-based project was started by Stephanie, a twenty-five-year-old lesbian in Indiana. Her goal is to collect videos and photos of LGBT people around the world and compile them into one slideshow and/or book. I asked her a few questions about the project, so get ready to read those and find out how you can participate.