3 ways to tackle a clutter-filled space

Circular

Start from one side of the room and work your way around, organizing one space before moving on to the next.  Lorie and Linda took passes at her kitchen: first using labels to decide what would go where, then moving the contents cabinet by cabinet.

Outside-In

Step one: Clear up your surfaces (counters, tables, dresser tops) to get the most satisfaction for the least effort.  Next, tidy the floors (now you can move around!).  Finally, hit your "insides" (such as drawers) -- an easier chore if there's space to spread out.

Centralized

Best for collectors like Pam, this method has you take everything out of the storage spot (cupboards, closets) and get it into one place, like the middle of the floor, an adjacent room or the top of a bed, so you're forced to think hard about each item before it goes back in.

Women's Day, June 2013 [posted 5/21/22]

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4/14/23 - Ten Genius Organizing Tips

2/12/24 - closet organizing tips (actually not just for closets)

4/3/24 - The Core 4 method

4/28/24 - Marie Kondo quotes

R.I.P. 2024

4/11/24 - OJ Simpson

3/29/24 - Louis Gossett Jr. 

3/27/24 - Joe Lieberman

3/7/24 - Steve Lawrence

2/28/24 - Richard Lewis

2/19/24 - Emme Tomimbang (obituary)

2/2/24 - Carl Weathers

1/23/24 - Charles Osgood

1/4/24 - Glynis Johns

my health journey

3/6/24 - Eye exercises

3/5/24 - Brush teeth before breakfast

2/6/24 - whole wheat bread and diabetes: "Whole-wheat can have positive effect on blood parameters, such as blood sugar and fat profiles, in patients with diabetic."

11/14/23 - If you want to live a long, healthy life, there's good evidence that a healthy diet with enough fiber is key. 

Foods rich in fiber, including plenty of carbohydrates, are featured prominently in diets in the Blue Zones, areas of the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives.

10/19/23 - Pressed juice contains almost all the nutrients of full fruits and vegetables, minus one particularly good vitamin: fiber. When the fruits and vegetables are pressed, they lose the fiber that makes them crunchy or chewy.

10/9/23 - This article mentions that pistachios can help lower blood sugar.  These article from Healthline and this article from A1Cguide have more details.  I think I'll buy some pistachios from Costco as my net nut snack.  At first I was buying mixed nuts, then lately cashews.  This article mentions that cashews might be good for cholesterol while not raising glucose levels.  While this article says that cashews may be beneficial.

8/28/23 - Saw Barramundi (a type a fish) on sale at Costco, so I'm trying it out instead of my usual salmon.  Is it any good?  Here's what WebMD says, "Barramundi is a healthy type of fish to start including in your diet. It's nutritious sea bass with great texture, taste, and nutrition. 

Barramundi is low in fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids, making it a great source of essential nutrients. Some consider barramundi one of the healthiest seafoods. This fish is great for your cardiovascular system.

... Barramundi is sea bass with moist flesh and large flakes. It has a sweet taste that makes it easily adaptable for most recipes. Barramundi complements most flavors and recipes. You can cook it in most ways except for poaching. The barramundi is a versatile fish and is a good alternative to salmon due to its nutrition and sustainability."

8/8/23 - What about eggs?  This article from Cyrus Khambatta, PhD says "Eating eggs increases your risk for the development of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, diabetes complications, and all-cause mortality. To maintain a low risk for these conditions, limit your egg consumption as much as possible."

7/13/23 - Interested in knowing the differences between a DASH diet vs. a Mediterranean diet? Both can offer the same types of heart and cardiovascular health benefits. But they both have their own unique differentiations as well!

This article will discuss the differences between a DASH diet vs. Mediterranean diet, their benefits, and how to decide which would be better for you!

6/21/23 - Certain foods, like oatmeal, nuts, and fatty fish, help to keep your cholesterol levels in check. And not all high cholesterol foods are bad for you. For example, eggs are high in cholesterol, but they’re also packed with protein and other nutrients. It’s the foods that are high in saturated fat that you need to worry about, because they can raise your cholesterol levels AND make you gain weight.

What are the worst foods for high cholesterol? Red meat, fried foods, and baked goods are notorious for raising levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the sticky kind that builds up in artery walls.

6/20/23 - Unlike many other foods that are high in carbohydrates, black beans don’t cause a spike in blood sugar. Studies have actually found the opposite. When people eat black beans with rice, their blood sugar levels tend to be lower than if they only ate rice. For people with diabetes, adding beans to a healthy diet can improve blood sugar control while reducing heart disease risk.

6/19/23 -  Due to increasing research around celery and celery juice, many nutritional experts consider celery to be a superfood. Like many superfoods, celery packs a nutrient-dense punch and offers a long list of both short and long-term health benefits despite being a common, everyday food item.

Many of the specific nutrients looked for in superfoods include fiber, antioxidants, and fatty acids, which are all closely linked to good health and longevity. Other superfoods include avocados, leafy greens, berries, and cinnamon.

6/18/23 -  Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for maintaining good heart health. They help lower triglycerides, reduce inflammation, and prevent the formation of blood clots, all of which can reduce the risk of heart disease. Omega-3s also help lower blood pressure, which is another significant risk factor for heart disease. Therefore, if you have a history of heart disease or are at risk for developing it, taking Omega-3 supplements every day could be beneficial.

gift economy websites

We all love a deal and it doesn't get much better than free.  There's a growing number of neighborhood free exchange apps and websites out there, which are helpful whether you're looking for stuff or getting rid of it.

Buy Nothing: The best known of the free exchange sites started in 2013.  Buy Nothing primarily focuses on their new app, but also exists in location-based Facebook groups.

Freeya: This app shows listings based on geolocation and handles many logistical parts of coordinating pickups -- including contractin the next person if the first person doesn't show.

Freecycle: This site, founded in 2003, boasts nine million members in 5000 towns worldwide.  If your town doesn't already have a Freecycle group, you can even start one.

what's on (and off) streaming? (2)

1/11/24 - well my entry got unpublished again.  It must be due to a link I included.  But I don't know which one.   All the links look legitimate to me.  So I'll just include the latest entry this time with no links and see what happens.  I wish they would tell me specifically what's in violation.

1/5/24 - Noticed Xena and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys are now on Amazon Prime.  As well as the five Hercules movies (see separate post).

Xena and Hercules

[6/6/10 9:03 PM] Hercules and Xena were two of my favorite TV shows when they aired over a decade ago. I think I liked Hercules/Xena because it was like a comic book come to life (and I used to like to read comic books). Kind of a cross between a comic book and a kung fu movie.

Anyway, I notice Costco is carrying Hercules Season 1 and Xena Season 1 for $16.99. It's a new set put out by Universal released on April 20. The original sets were from Anchor Bay, no longer in production, but sold on ebay.

Apparently the video wasn't that good on some of the early episodes. And apparently it hasn't been improved on this set, but the major feature is that this Universal set contains subtitles, while the Anchor Bay version didn't.

The Xena set is a better deal than the Hercules set. Season 1 of Xena contains 24 episodes on 5 DVDs. Season 1 of Hercules contains only 13 episodes on 3 DVDs. The Anchor Bay version of Hercules also included the 5 movies which preceded the series. So that's a better deal too. Plus the Anchor Bay version contained commentary on certain episodes by Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst and others. The major drawback is that the Anchor Bay version doesn't include subtitles (or closed caption either on the first couple of seasons.)

No extras either on the Xena or Hercules, but the Anchor Bay Xena Season One was light on extras too (only on a separate CD-ROM).

Oddly Amazon is selling Hercules for $26.98 and Xena for $22.99. So Costco at $16.99 is clearly the better deal, even with the tax. But who knows how long Costco will be carrying them? (Hey, I saw they're selling the Three Stooges Collections again too! Sam Raimi and friends loved the Stooges.)

I couldn't resist the deal and picked up Xena today. Who knows how long it'll take me for me to finish watching? Still haven't finished Monk Season Two or Get Smart Season One, or Kung Fu Season One, or Bob Newhart Season Two (or did I even finish Season One yet)? I barely got started with V: The Complete Series (didn't even watch one complete episode yet). Evidently I'm more of a collector than a watcher!

... Well, I opened it up and started watching Cradle of Hope. I noticed the picture was pretty rough. But I guess still better than my VHS tapes off of Channel 2 or whatever channel it played on after that. I stopped that and went to episode 1, Sins of the Past, which looked pretty decent. Maybe it was because I was watching from farther away this time, but it seemed OK even when I got closer. I dunno. Maybe it's my eyes going bad.. Anyway, it looked OK on my standard 27" TV. But probably wouldn't look very good on a large screen (if you're sitting too close).

[6/9/10] Yep, it looks pretty blocky when looking at it closely on my 27" Panansonic. But passable on my Commodore 1702 monitor even up close. I think the video on V: The Complete Series is worse. But Kung Fu was pretty good IIRC.

Anyway, it was fun watching it again.

I think I might want to get Hercules LJ Season Two since I believe that played concurrenrly with Xena Season One. Let's see. The first episode of HLJ Season 2 was The King of Thieves (in which Bruce Campbell made his debut as Autolycus) and it aired 9/4/95 (that long ago?) The first episode of Xena (Sins of the Past) aired 9/4/95. Bingo.

Wow, talk about your Xena fanatics. Check out Whoosh! (from where the kung fu link above came from). Here's a few :) more links.


DVD Talk Reviews

Hercules, Season 1
Hercules, Season 2
Hercules, Season 3
Hercules, Season 4
Hercules, Season 5
Hercules, Season 6

Xena, Season 1 (wow, list price was 99.95 back then)
Xena, Season 2
Xena, Season 3
Xena, Season 4
Xena, Season 5
Xena, Season 6
Xena, Series Finale
Xena, 10th Anniversary Collection


Who sells the Anchor Bays new on eBay (do a search for Xena 10th Anniversary)? Let's see...

swashbuckle64 (generally sells them for 16.99 with free shipping)
featurepresentation2010
outthewazoo
Xenaversity2 (12/28/10)

[It looks like all of the above are now strangely inactive. The current seller is now legendaryheroes.]

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[10/24/11] Noticed that Xena is available on Hulu Plus. But strangely not Hercules. Young Hercules is though.

Ah, apparently it's because Hercules is available on NetFlix. And Xena too. What about Kung Fu? Just on DVD. Get Smart? Just on DVD too. Charmed is available streaming and DVD. Bob Newhart on DVD and on Hulu Plus. Dick Van Dyke: streaming and DVD and free on Hulu!. Mary Tyler Moore: DVD, but free on Hulu too!. Everybody Loves Raymond: DVD with a few episodes available at TV Land. King of Queens: DVD. Batman? apparently nowhere legal (except on HUB)

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[7/4/12] Apparently you can watch Xena and Hercules for free at Project - Free TV.  Quite possibly illegally though.

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[9/14/12] They've now started showing Hercules: the Legendary Journeys on HUB.  The high def feed zooms in and cuts off the top and bottom of the picture.  The resulting picture isn't very sharp.

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[9/23/13] Now that I have Netflix and access to all the episode of Hercules and Xena (well not the Hercules movies or the animated movie, but they do have Young Hercules too), I wonder if there is an order suggested to view them (mainly because the shows were on simultaneously for much their run).  Here are two suggestions (and another).

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[1/5/24] After not being available for a while, Hercules and Xena are now on Prime Video (well SyFy had been showing Xena off and on, but all the episodes have expired from my YouTube TV library, so it's been more than 9 months).  They're also have the five Hercules movies.