UsedEverywhere.com

Lettuce 2.0

After a few days

Lettuce is a funny thing. It gets my vote as the unsung hero of the vegetable world. It’s everywhere; slipped between salami slices, shredded in salads and sequestered as a side-garnish. I don’t have the statistic but I’m positive lettuce is one of the most consumed veggies out there. 

Personally though, I don’t touch the stuff. It tastes like dirty water. My allegiance lies with lettuce’s distant cousins, spinach and arugula. 

So why even give lettuce the time of day? Well, because in our household, we have four big fat guinea pigs that slop down lettuce like it’s going out of style. Between the lot of them, they eat a large head of the green stuff every two days. If you are starting to do the math on that, here, let me do it for you: Roughly 182 heads per year.

And if the guinea pigs fill their lifespan of 5-8 years, we’re looking at making 900 lettuce purchases. In case you are not aware, lettuce ranges in price from 99 cents in the summer, to $4 per head at the end of winter. If an average price is taken ($2.50/head), another quick calculation will show that my household will spend approximately $2,250 to feed a quartet of critters some leafy greens.

Though chances are, that you’re probably not hoarding guinea pigs like me. If this is the case, worry not, as you still can benefit by saving on a human-lifetime’s worth of lettuce consumption. Plus urban farming is trendy and hip, so what better way to delve in than by stump-growing a head of crispy Romaine or succulent Boston Butter?

So it was with delight that I randomly came across an article demonstrating how a new head can be regrown from a normally discarded lettuce-stump. At this discovery, I did a little dance, celebrating how the internet just put 450 lettuce-heads back on the shelf and $1,125 back into my pocket.

The even better part? Growing a second head is ridiculously simple:

- Save a lettuce stump

- Place in an inch of water

- The lettuce starts to regrow within 24 hours

 

After a week and a half

 

To keep the water fresh, change it every day. Keep doing this until the stump grows small roots. The leaves can either be eaten then or the stump can be transferred into soil for full, sustained growth.

As I was looking into this, I also learned that other vegetables can be regrown from stumps: celery, garlic, onions and from some reports, even cabbage (I wonder if bok choy would work?). Of course the idea of growing new plants from cuttings, roots and shoots isn’t new, in fact, it’s very old – ancient even. So what really ‘gets’ me about this lettuce trick, is that it’s one of those rare things that just works. I’ve got the furthest thing from a green-thumb and even my lettuce-stumps are thriving.

So this is my official thank you to the internet. You’ve come through in a big way and I’m here to pay it forward. And to pose the question: Can a third head be grown from the stump of the second? I’ll soon find out. 

3 Ways To Make Your Community Beautiful

Have you heard the quote “Magic is everywhere…you just need to look for it”? Discovering magic can happen in your own neighbourhood when a person spies something unique and unexpected nestled in nature. Memories are created and a sense of community pride is increased. The following three projects will not only make your neighbourhood more beautiful, but the lasting effects on how the community felt will remain for years. The projects are also low budget and mostly created from upcycled materials making them great for families to plan this spring.

Fairy Doors

Have you ever seen a tree knob created by nature on the outside of tree bark and instantly checked twice to see if it was real? That feeling of wonder can easily be handcrafted by a child and placed at the bottom of a special tree by making your own fairy door. It doesn’t matter if the cut around the door is made by a first-timer with a jig saw or the polished design of someone more professional – fairy doors evoke a strong emotion and always bring a squeal of delight when discovered. And when I say there is a little Peter Pan syndrome inside all of us, this video that was shared via George Stroumboulopoulos, will prove even grown-ups and teens see the magic.

This spring, select a few lucky trees along your favourite trail or yard and create fairy doors to live at the bottom. Measure out a perfect size that can be secured without too much difficulty in the nook of a tree, have your family decorate the door with weather resistant paint, and add a doorknob for the perfect finishing touch. Unless the fairy doors are going into a person’s yard, don’t invest too much money in the project because the chance of vandalism is high. But when a child wonders where the door has gone – you can reassure them that the magic of the fairy or gnome moved the door to a new home. Notes can be left for the fairies inside the tree or if the door doesn’t open, offerings from nature can be left outside for fairies to find; pinecones, flowers, feathers, acorns, etc.

Yarn Bombing

This activity is for the inner grandma in all of us; unless of course you know that knitting and crochet has become hip this year thanks to Pinterest inspiration and handmade love! Knitting is also a great activity to teach children and what could be more magical than making a sleeve for a tree in your yard, fence post, or pole. Yarn bombing is extremely beautiful – something about the bright, knit colours resting against nature that is very memorable. This photo and yarn bomb project was completed by Knitta.

Working with your city’s Art Council or Museum is a great idea if you want to expand yarn bombing into the community with kids. It will help ensure your project lasts since a pair of scissors can quickly bring this project down – but that is the key reason why it’s considered to be a harmless method of graffiti. A breathtaking example of yarn bombing actually happened in Vancouver March 2011 when the cherry tree behind Joy Kogawa’s (Vancouver author and poet) childhood home no longer blossomed. 50 crafters gathered together to change that and yarn bombed her tree with stunning knit bark and garlands of knit blossoms. The effect was stunning and I encourage you to read the entire article shared via Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Blog. Below is a picture from that article – notice how beautiful the knit blossoms look in nature?

Little Free Library

With so many parents trying to detach their children from electronics and re-introduce them to the love of reading, the time to build or use a Little Free Library is now. And with the growth of thousands more of these libraries popping up around the world, their popularity is easily understood. The concept is to approach a Girl and Boy Scout troop, carpenter, or artists and see if they would be willing to build some Libraries as a community service project. Ask neighbours and friends to contribute books. Keep them informed about what they can bring by leaving a note in your Library asking for a certain type of books. Real people sharing their love for special books is the best part of building a Free Library and I love this quote from the Little Free Library site “These aren’t just any old books, this is a carefully curated collection and the Library itself is a piece of neighborhood art!”

Check out the examples of finished community libraries from the Little Free Library Facebook page and you’ll see why they are so special and would really enhance community spirit!

 

From being involved in community projects with my family, I know the people creating projects get just as much fun and joy out of the planning, building, and crafting. Harness your own imagination and bring together a team of people committed to creating magic this spring.

Getting creative with furniture restoration

Something that I always try to be, whether it is fashion, housewares or furniture, is original. Having something different is fun, to me at least. Vintage clothing is usually fairly unique and different. You won’t have to worry about someone else showing up to the office party wearing the same dress as you! Awkward moment avoided!

I like thrifting. A lot. A lot a lot a lot. My house is a veritable treasure trove of weird and wonderful things. Nobody else has my candlesticks or place mats or chair covers. And I like that. It is fun to tailor your home to be something that is totally unique and awesome. And while it does take some time, your creativity and You-ness can really shine.

It is really easy to make furniture be a centrepiece of this identity. Its usually big, you probably actually use it, someone besides yourself will sit on a chair or couch. What are some things that you can do, you ask. Well, I am so glad that you want to know

Cushions: probably the easiest thing you can do is get cushions, or even make them, that either blend in to your style or contrast with it, depending on what you like. A simple throw cushion can take a boring beige chair from frumpy to fabulous in mere moments. And because cushions generally don’t cost too much, you can replace them whenever you want to mix it up a bit. I know some people that bring out new combinations of cushions with each season. While that is a bit much for me, it is a great way to refresh your living space. And if you sew, making cushions is super duper simple.

These chairs would look quite boring without some awesome bright cushions. Look at how they really pop against the neutral decor.

Paint: while I generally cringe at the idea of painting wood furniture, sometimes it needs to be done. A fresh coat of paint on a tired old plant stand can make your plant pop out of the woodwork so to speak. Have an old broken kitchen chair languishing in the basement? Pull it out, paint it, you have a new plant stand for indoors or out. You can paint a chair, couch legs, picture frames, really anything. You can even paint fabric (click here to see some instructions. It sounds like a lot of trouble but hey who am I to tell you what not to do). Paint is usually fairly inexpensive and if you go to your local home improvement store often you can troll for cheap mis-tint paint like I do.

sick of looking at your faded scratched wood table and chairs? look how cute this is!

Fabric: it isn’t that hard to make slipcovers, if you know your way around a sewing machine. You can pick any fabric you’d like, and if you can’t sew it, you can have someone else do it. This way you are reusing your existing furniture but giving it new life. Dining chairs are easy to redo, and you can really let your creativity shine here. I am currently fixing an old chair up and using a cable knit sweater for the cushion! You could sew together old doilies and layer that over a contrasting fabric for a really cool effect. The possibilities are really endless when it comes to chair bottoms. I change mine all the time. I think my husband believes I have some commitment issues!

look at this great refinishing project! see how to do it here

Using things that aren’t intended for that purpose: an old barrel with a cushion on top becomes a fabulous chair. An old door mounted on the wall becomes a headboard for your bed. An old office credenza becomes hallway storage. Old fabric remnants can be framed and hung for a cool and vintage look. An old dining table can be an office desk. There are so many things you can use in different ways, just thinking about it makes me excited. If you want some inspiration click here and have a Re-Imagining Weekend; fun for the whole family!

an old ladder hangs down for a great small space reuse pot rack

What sorts of creative things have you done in your home? Let us know!

 

Get Your Bikes Ready for Spring!

Biking is a great way to get active and enjoy the outdoors come spring. It’s something the whole family can enjoy, and can be planned ahead or done spur-of-the-moment. Maybe your spring weather has hit already, maybe it hasn’t, but there’s no denying that now is the time to be checking your bikes over and shopping for new ones if needed.  Looking early means more choice and more selection.

But of course, there’s a better way than just heading off to the nearest store! Before you ever buy a brand new bike, have a look at your local UsedEverywhere.com listings to see if you can find what you need there. Kids outgrow bikes, people upgrade to a new style – there can be many reasons why bikes hit the used listings, but they all benefit you!  You can also find bike parts and accessories like locks, racks and mudguards.  If you have very young children, watch for trailers that can be pulled behind a bike so you can bring your little ones along for a ride until they can pedal their own bike.

There are a few things you need to do before you hit the road this spring:

Sizing:

First, check sizing on everyone’s bikes at the beginning of each season. Make sure everyone has the proper bike for their size and ability.  This will help you decide if you need to be looking for anything new. Check to be sure everyone has a helmet and other safety gear and try everything on to check for fit.

Cleaning and prep:

Give the bike a good cleaning, check for damage or loose parts, tighten the seat, add air to tires, test brakes and add lubricant as needed to hold off the rust all season.  Here’s a great resource on tuning up your bike for spring and basic repairs.

Safety reminders:

When it comes to bicycle safety, make certain things non-negotiable.  Kids need to learn that they wear helmets or they don’t ride, period. You can decide if you want them wearing elbow and knee pads, and when they are first learning it’s best they wear long pants and even long sleeves to help protect them in the event of a fall.

Bicycle safety training is so important – your kids can’t be safe if they don’t learn the rules of the road. This goes for adults too. Sign kids up for a neighbourhood safety camp or afternoon, be careful where you allow them to bike and let them earn their freedom through safe and careful biking.

Here are some great resources for bike safety for families: Safe Kids Canada, Canada Safety Council and CAA Bike Safety.

Where to bike?

Start with your own street, nearby parks, green spaces in your city, and look for bike paths along rivers and other attractions. Do a search online to find routes in your city – you may find a list of popular paths. When I searched for “bike routes in Calgary” I found links leading me to our own city site, to bikecalgary.ca, to bikeyyc.ca, a family site with routes broken down by city area and a local cycling club. Try it in your own city and see what resources you find!

Do you cycle alone? Bike with your family? Any tips for families just starting out?

Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something Green: How to Plan a Beautiful Eco-Friendly Wedding

The average cost of a Canadian wedding today is $24,000. $24,000! No wonder so many fathers are angry when their daughters announce they’re getting married. Even though most couples actually pay for their own weddings these days, that is still a huge bill to begin a new marriage with. But if you don’t want to start your honeymoon in debt, what are the options? Well, since this is the UsedEverywhere blog, of course you can throw a beautiful, eco-friendly wedding for a fraction of the usual cost!

My fiance and I had a tiny wedding budget thanks to two years of ongoing renovations on our fixer-upper. Over a year and a half of wedding planning, we found out that when you go green, you save green, even in weddings. We learned where to save big money and where to go green … and that the two usually went hand-in-hand. Elegant does not have to mean expensive, and neither does eco-friendly. We planned a gorgeous, “green” wedding for all our family and friends, and saving the planet was just a bonus.

In planning the wedding, Rolf and I turned to the same resources as we had been using in our ongoing renovations: the knowledge and help of our friends and family; online classified websites such as UsedOttawa.com for cheap and free materials; and Google. For 1/8th the cost of a standard wedding, $3,000, we got married last summer in a sweet, vintage wedding with one hundred of our closest friends. And partied our asses off.

In upcoming posts in this blog series on throwing a low-budget but beautiful wedding, I’ll go over all the aspects of planning a wedding, showing you where we saved money, what the green options are, and what not to DIY! Over the coming weeks I’ll cover all the wedding planning essentials:

The venue.

The invitations.

The rings.

The flowers.

Photography.

The dress! And other wedding clothes.

The food.

Centrepieces and wedding favours.

Wedding cakes and cake toppers.

If you’re out west this weekend, UsedVancouver.com is proudly sponsoring The Original Bridal Swap. Bridal Swap connects past brides and brides-to-be in a fun atmosphere so they can buy and sell gently used wedding items.

Soap Stars: Local Soap – where do you buy yours?

Soap Works Soap Bars

 

It makes me a little crazy when folks who want to go green with their household cleaners and body care products tell me there is nothing available to them. Here in Victoria, we have many local soap specialists who create safe and effective products that are 100% natural and good for both the body and the earth.

What I do understand though is the notion that the green cleaners in your average shopping aisle might not be all they seem. Green washing was a term that was explained to me by local Victoria cleaners Green Wheel Cleaners (see article here) and is a marketing term given to products that bombard us with all the right words ‘natural’, ‘green’, ‘eco friendly’, whilst really being anything but.

This is where the smaller health focused soap and cleaning product stores step in.

I was recently in a local health food store that was selling Soap Works products. I found about 30 bars of soap each for just over $2. I felt like I’d struck gold – each bar was gluten free (their oatmeal and goat milk soaps are not) and each was aimed at a specific skin type. I wanted to buy a bar for each of my friends I was so thrilled, but that’s like going into the giant dollar store… before you know it you’re spending $50 and waved bye-bye to any hope of thriftiness. I just chose two bars that I thought would work for my family. These were Sea Kelp and Bee Pollen, both all round skincare soaps. It’s true I’m easily excited by new discoveries, but these soaps are by far the best, most effective and gentlest soaps I’ve used. Take a look at their website puresoapworks for a list of all their soaps.

The Soap Works, like many specialist soap stores was created to find a solution to sensitive skin. Based in Toronto, this soap is available all over Canada and also online – their site will give you a list of where to buy near you.

Here in Victoria we also have The Soap Exchange. I reviewed their hair care products for VictoriaMom.ca - click link for article. The Soap Exchange supplies 100% biodegradable products for the body and home. As well as having a store, they also distribute their wares all over B.C. They offer reusable packaging making them even greener. If I could have a dollar for every time a fellow mom recommended a cleaning product from The Soap Exchange, I probably could buy that bar of soap for each of my Facebook friends.

The products I hear about the most are for carpets. That’s because us moms are forever worrying about our dirty carpets and the horrifically toxic products we’re meant to clean them with. Their Carpet Clean is a fantastically tough product whilst still being gentle on the environment and their Enzymes product is one of the best odour eaters on the market, great if you have potty training age kids like I do and/or pets.

For those of you not local to B.C., there is The Rocky Mountain Soap Company, a chain of natural soap selling stores that you can find all across Canada. For a list of their stores, see our link here: The Rocky Mountain Soap Company Stores. This place has everyday-use soaps and body care products as well as beautiful gift ideas.

Similar and currently local to B.C. are Jordan River Soapworks - some of the most eye catching packaging I’ve seen, Nezza Naturals - offering body care and raved about home care products and Saltspring Soapworks - easily the widest and most varied array of natural artisan soap products ever known!

So as you can see, we here in Victoria have a lot of choice when it comes to making safer choices when cleaning our house, home and family.

But what about those farther afield….friends of Used in far off places i.e anywhere over the water! Where do you buy your natural soaps, let us know so that we can share with our readers and take a look ourselves! 

Canadian Voices Rise Up to the Sky

National news can be learned directly from children, which was the case in my household regarding a new song my kids are learning at school. The song I.S.S. Is Somebody Singing was collaborated together by Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson and with how interactive Hadfield has been from space – the kids rate this partnership as something very cool! Officially commissioned by CBC Music, the goal is to bring attention to the importance of music education in Canada. The debut of the song Is Somebody Singing happened in February with the glee choir of Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts and not only is it a great song (and Chris Hadfield can really sing!) but it’s a coalition spreading a great message of unification through music across Canada. Music history was made when the song was recorded both on Earth and Space while Hadfield is in orbit on the International Space Station. Have a listen below!

Astronaut Hadfield helped co-write the song and I love the line “You can’t make out borders from up here.” Ed Robertson from Bare Naked Ladies has a wonderful quote about how we can all feel connected, even the wonder of what Chris Hadfield experiences in Space. Robertson’s quote is here:

“I wanted it to be a celebration not about the remoteness of space, but about the connectedness of a human being on the I.S.S. who looks down and sees the whole planet in a way that, from our perspective, we don’t have the opportunity to.”

I love listening to music that my kids enjoy and the goal for May 6 is to have the entire country united in song across the different time zones and have Hadfield hear the voices while still in space. It is the official song for Music Monday to promote and celebrate music education in schools. Share this message so that children that are home schooled, school music departments, and music makers of all backgrounds learn the song together and lend their voice in May.

Access free downloads and lyrics through the Coalition’s Music Monday website, and join the coalition to fill the skies with music. There are some great Music Monday ideas for getting started:

• Music Monday in a field
• Joint School Event – organized with multiple schools
• Community Wide Event – community partner with a senior music group, local choir, etc.

Play the video, learn the lyrics and help bring awareness for music education in your communities with this special song. Champion children to believe that anything is possible – whether it be travelling to space or hearing a song there.

Celebrate spring with a scavenger hunt

Are there any signs of spring where you are?

Here are a few I’ve been noticing:  snow melting, puddles, my front step dry of snow all week, longer line ups at car washes, kids on bikes, people out running and walking, rubber boots, people driving with windows open, kids blowing bubbles, kids on skateboards, a robin, and the temptation to open all my windows each day.

I admit it’s caught me off guard. There have been sunny days that I have spent indoors, without realizing what I am missing.  Or I drive to pick up my son from the bus stop, only to realize I should have walked. Suddenly I am realizing – I should get organized now so that when the sun shines or the mild temperatures beckon, we can just get out and enjoy.

Spring necessities to have ready:

Keep Celebrating with Easter Leftovers

It’s Easter weekend, one of my favourite holidays because it usually brings with it beautiful spring weather, not to mention family togetherness. And chocolate. And turkey. All wrapped up in a long weekend.

Another of the innumerable pleasures of Easter weekend is … leftovers! Not last year’s eggs that never got found, but the leftovers from turkey dinner (sorry, ham people, I’ve got nothing for you). After Easter dinner is over, I love how the holiday continues to the delightful ding of the microwave as miniature versions of Easter dinner arrive steaming and ready. And don’t even get me started on how delightfully light on the palate a turkey sandwich with mayo, tomato, and lettuce is.

Once you’re down to the turkey bones, Easter surely seems over unless you’ve got a few chocolate eggs stashed away. You’re ready to toss the carcass in the compost bin or (god forbid) the garbage. But wait! There’s still plenty of turkey meat on those bones, and Easter doesn’t have to be over yet. The easiest and tastiest way to use up the last of the turkey is to make a soup or stew from the carcass. If you can boil a pot of water, you can make a turkey stew and keep celebrating Easter well into next week. Here’s how you get started:

Turkey Stew (or Soup)

Step 1

Put the carcass into a large pot, breaking it up if necessary. Fill the pot with enough water to cover about half the carcass or more, depending on how much water you want in your stew or soup. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 3 hours. You are done this step when you can easily separate the meat from the bones just by picking it up, like in this video:

Step 2

Remove the bones, leaving the meat and the broth in the pot. Depending how much meat was left on your turkey bones and how much water you added, you may have a turkey soup going on, or a turkey stew so meaty you can stand your spoon up in it.

Step 3

At this point you have a nice, meaty turkey broth and you can take this recipe anywhere you want by adding cut up veggies like onions, carrots, celery, diced potatoes, a chopped up sweet potato, some cubed turnip. Add flavour with spices or seasoning such as a chicken bouillon cube and/or salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, thyme, sage, marjoram, garlic.

This year I think I’m going to take my meaty turkey broth and make this Turkey & Wild Rice Soup recipe by adding chicken bouillon, wild rice, onion, celery, carrots, spinach, sage, and balsamic vinegar.

Step 4

Cook at a low boil for 30-60 minutes until the veggies are cooked to the desired tenderness. Done! Easter is the best!

What are you doing with your Easter leftovers?

"Life Sudoku"

Flickr- image by Tim Psych flickr.com/photos/01-17-05_t-m-b/2156513671/

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Am I the only person that despises crossword puzzles?

Sometimes I feel like that, as I see people scribbling away all over the place: on the bus, at the beach, in the library and even when my brother-in-law visits (flying 5000km just to sit on our couch and scratch some words in a newspaper).   It’s not just crosswords either, it’s wordplay in general, which includes word-finds and about half the board games out there (I’m looking at you, Scrabble).

You know what’s even worse than word-play?  Number-play, as in, Sudoku.  Just thinking about configuring simple numbers into complex patterns gets me agitated.  I honestly would rather clean a toilet than partake in a single round of Sudoku.  Yuck.

While I question how people could possibly find enjoyment in crosswords or Sudoku, I fully understand why they do it.  Messing around with words and numbers keeps your brain active in ways it’s not normally used, helping keep mental sharpness and ward off maladies like dementia.  It’s the age-old adage:  Use it or lose it.

So what’s a person like me to do?  I’m sure the net benefit of forcing myself to do crosswords and Sudoku would be negated by the excruciating boredom I would experience.  Plus who wants to put themselves through a lifetime of doing something they disdain?  Not me.

In response to this, I’ve come up with a solution for my predicament.  Through a series of articles and books, I discovered that the most important part about word/number play is that it forces your brain to think in ways it normally wouldn’t.  Therefore, similar benefits could be accrued by doing plum-well anything that exercises the brain in new and different ways.  As a result, I’ve decided to begin pursuing something I like to call “life Sudoku”, which is the act of ‘hacking’ your life to include new physical, social and artistic undertakings.  To illustrate, here are a few examples of activities and actions that make my brain work overtime and yours too, should you try them out:

- Opposite-handed mousing:  Every now and then, switch your mouse to the opposite hand and spend a few hours fighting through crippling cursor-dysfunction.  Actually, an officemate of mine in Vancouver did this very thing for an entire year! 

- Walking with your eyes closed:  I’m not talking about huge, long walks but rather smaller jaunts, like the route from your car to the house.  Or if you live in an apartment, try and make it from your suite to the mailbox and back without looking.

- Eating food in the dark:  This is actually a pretty big movement in some regions.  In fact, there are actual restaurants in Montreal and Toronto where everybody dines in the dark (O.Noir).  The best way to do this at home though, is to have someone else prepare a meal you wouldn’t normally eat, without telling you what it is.  Then, in the dark, take your time and savour each bite, really focusing on the variety of flavours and scents that you encounter.

- Talking to strangers:  In day-to-day life, we encounter thousands of different people but hardly ever speak to any of them.  In fact, for me, almost every conversation is with someone I know really well, which means that on some level, chatting is always comfortable and predictable.  Push your brain’s boundaries by engaging people who catch your eye, for one reason or another and focus on finding out things about them.

- Listening to unfamiliar music:  Buy or borrow an album you normally wouldn’t be caught dead listening to, carve an hour out of your life and sit by yourself, uninterrupted and listen to it from beginning to end.  I mean really listen to it.  Listen for the beat, try and establish the lyrics, pick out the different instruments used on each track and differentiate the subtle layers.  If you were my father, a rap album would do the trick.

- Traitorous sports watching:  When you watch sports, occasionally try cheering for the opposite team.  If you’re a Maple Leafs fan and they’re playing the Canadiens, then force yourself to watch the game from the Canadiens perspective.  It’s actually quite difficult to do and can lend a unique angle to the game.

These examples of “life Sudoku” are just a scant few.  What’s more, they are influenced by my own personal interests and worldview, so they may not be for everyone.  The goal in sharing them was to try and give some examples to help spur individual ideas in others (and to help liberate the human race from the shackles of crosswords and Sudoku).  If you read this and think of a good idea yourself, absolutely feel free to share it in the comments section below.  And good luck with your opposite-handed tooth brushing!  Two minutes feels like a hand-marathon.