Wish list with a purpose: Do you like dawgs?

Murphy and Cooper!

Something that has always been on my wish list is a puppy. I spent a few hours of my Saturday night driving five puppies from one parking lot to another. These little guys are heartbreakingly adorable and thanks to volunteers across seven states they and their mother Lacey are on their way to new homes. In related news, I no longer want a puppy. But I do enjoy helping transport dogs through the various Humane Societies and could use a few items (as can your local Humane Societies).

I got involved with the dog transportation through No Kill Louisville. My cat would kill me in my sleep if I fostered homeless dogs, so instead I'm on their transport email list, which comes out weekly. This led me to the Kentucky CENTRAL (Communicate Educate Neuter/Spay Transport Rescue/Foster Advocate Lobby/Legislate), who posted the transport that let me hang out with Abby, Potter, Murphy, Cooper, and Max for an hour between Versailles and Williamstown, KY.

Abby and Max

This was my first time transporting dogs and had to borrow a medium sized crate. If I'm going to do this again, I need to get my own crate that folds down flat, can hold at least a 40-pound dog, all while fitting into the back of my Alero. Also on my wish list are a couple clip leashes, pee pads and a waterproof sheet.


However, it isn't my wish list that matters. Humane Societies everywhere rescue dogs, cats and other cute'n'fuzzies on shoe-string budgets. You can help by contacting your local shelters and seeing what they need. If you're lucky, they might even have a wish list posted online, like the Lexington Humane Society does.

A Tool Bag for a Handy-girl

So I know I said earlier that I wanted a tool bag to replace my Trader Joe's canvas bag I'd been using. It's like the guys over at Uncrate heard and answered with an awesome suggestion: The Timbuk2 Tool Shed ($35). It's like an oversized, rough and tough jewelry travel bag but instead of necklaces it holds all my neat wrenches and pliers and screwdrivers. Not my hammer though. I will still need a tool box. Maybe a bucket.  Tool bucket?

Until I get a real tool bag, I'm stapling together some old aprons together. Pretty? No, but four aprons equals eight pockets that can hold all kinds of tools. Photos to come.

Timbuk2 website
Uncrate website

An Open Letter to Apple

Dear Apple,

Hi. My name is Patricia and I am deeply in debt. I attended a pretty sweet university for undergrad and then picked up my Masters with the hope that soon I will get a job that will enable me to purchase all of a few of the Apple products that I want. Until then, could you please stop releasing awesome stuff like the Macbook Air ($1499), or, you know, the iPad ($499), or what is new this week and looks really amazing, the Magic Trackpad ($69). Honestly? A trackpad, perfect for scrolling that you can use up to 33 feet away from your computer? Pair this with a Mac mini and a flat screen TV and you have the perfect recipe for movies, presentations, editing film, Photoshop-ing... really the possibilities are way up there.

To come back to my point: stop that. Stop making neat technology that I can't currently afford. Keep making the iPhone 4 and reusable battery chargers ($29). Continue to update iTunes and iChat and all the other iApplications. You can even release another cat-themed operating system (might I suggest Ocelot). But stop with the mouth-watering-ly cool stuff. I just can't take it anymore.

Best,

Patricia Murphy

Warming the House: Cast Iron Grill

Cooking is required for eating, but cooking outside is fun. Our new place has a tiny deck in the back that we've decided can hold a grill. We currently have a round, frankenstein-ed, hand-me-down grill that will require cinder blocks to stand on before we could use it.

Instead of 84¢ cinder blocks, why don't we just get the Lodge Logic Sportsman's Grill ($84)? It's cast iron! It weighs 32 pounds! It cooks so evenly, your mouth will water just thinking about it! Our neighbors would be jealous and our steaks would be medium rare.

Lodge Cast Iron website

In the meantime, I need two of these:

Music Monday! Dawes does good.

I'm not one to know anything about music. I mean, I could tell you a thing or two about the mechanics of it, but I am usually hesitant to try new things (for example, I rarely see movies in the theater). However, I've been making an effort to listen to new/different music, thanks in part to Grooveshark, Daytrotter and some friends with decent taste. This band I found on Daytrotter because they were a top download, which I figured to be a good sign.

Coming soon to a Midwest or Northeast city near you: Dawes. The song that caught my roommate's attention was "God Rest My Soul;" I was sold on "Love Is All I Am." I love the raw feeling of Daytrotter sessions to begin with, but so too are these guys' lyrics. They are folk, but the singer has a nice bluegrass feel to him, which makes me realize I don't know what either of those genres really are.

Now to convince them to release their next album on LP. In the meantime, their debut album "North Hills" is on iTunes ($10).

Dawes website
Dawes on Twitter
Dawes on Myspace

Bonus track: Ooks of Hazard cover MGMT Yay ukulele! 

Wish list with a purpose: give if you give a dam...

A dam has burst in my home state of Iowa, emptying a nine-mile lake and causing millions of dollars of damage for hundreds of families. Flooding isn't exactly a new phenomenon for Iowa, but rarely does it lead to the loss of an entire lake.

 I'll update this post as rebuilding projects are announced.

Get involved:

• If you are in the area and have free time this week you can volunteer to haul garbage from private land to a public site. Call Lake Delhi’s flood volunteer coordinator, Barb DeKlotz is (563) 922-2058 or (319) 210-9378.
• Nowhere near Iowa? You can donate to the Grant Wood Area Red Cross's disaster relief fund on their website.

Video of lake emptying
NY Times article on the flood

Batter Blaster: Fun, Organic and Pancakes??

I don't know if this happens much to others, but I have a habit of dating guys whose mothers I get along with, usually to the point that I end up missing them more than I do my ex-boyfriends. One of these wonderful ladies introduced me to Batter Blasters. Her son and I were so inspired by the idea, we drove an hour out of our way to find a few cans. Nowadays you can find them in most Meijer stores.

These pancakes are delicious. Think if someone took a can of Easy Cheese, but instead of processed cheese they fill it with organic pancake mix. Tasty pancakes on demand! Fewer dishes! No "we're-out-of-eggs-how-are-we-going-to-make-pancakes" emergencies. Just heat your griddle or waffle iron, point and ...blast!

Perfect for Saturday mornings!

Batter Blasters website (with video instructions)