DavidC's Profile

I just finished reading a book called "Spark" about how exercise affects the brain. I've never been very into exercise for the sake of exercise, but this book really changed my perspective. It turns out, as some of the comments above have suggested, that aerobic exercise does all kinds of good for your brain, both short and long term. It's "Spark" by Ratey and Hagerman. I'm planning on getting one or two more copies for my fam.

Unrelated: Who keeps peanut butter in the fridge? Doesn't that make it like cold tar when it comes time to spread it on your bread?

I think the first one (from Venice) could easily be inspiration for another room, just without the vintage map wallpaper. Add some matching chairs, tables, art, and I think it would look great. The Morrocan room is a little too vivid for my taste, but if you could give up a whole room in the house to lounge around in, I think it's fine. The nautical theme room is just too much. I've noticed in houses that I personally like each room to have a distinct personality. For me it's like being in a different house, and certainly imparts a different mood to the setting.

I toured a factory where my friend worked once where they made brushed aluminum bodies for cars (old Shelby Cobras). I guess it involved, as suggested, that steel wool or, in their case, I think it was some kind of sand paper. Having studied Engineering in school, I think there's also may be a caveat as far as using steel wool because the steel particles may embed themselves in the aluminum and then rust when exposed to water for a long time. I think the real trick is going to be to get the brushed look to look good, and the lines parallel. When they were formed originally, I'm pretty much certain they were "spin-formed" on a lathe-like machine, and so it would have been easy for the operator to just use some abrasive to make the brushed look. I'd suggest trying to attach them to some kind of rotating surface (lazy susan?) or something, and then do a kind of lathe-sand-action something to re-do the surface. Good luck!

P.S. I don't think those containers were anodized, it could just be the picture, but I wouldn't worry about removing any protective layer or something. Just make sure you wash them well after refinishing...

No kidding, amazing kitchen, and I'd be interested in the ID of the blue...

I could be off on this, but I recall when we built our house when I was a teenager, we used screws rather than nails to put down our subflooring. The screws supposedly wouldn't loosen over time like nails. They're harder to put in, but I think they'd be worth it. The action of walking over a place in the floor would naturally cause the nails to work themselves out. Just my $0.02...

Also, from an economic standpoint, what does this do? I buy a whole bunch of old furs, recycle them into sweet pillows and sell them. Pretty soon, people can't buy the old jackets, scarves, hats, etc... because I've bought them all and repurposed them, thus creating more demand for fur. Once a demand exists, it will be filled, barring a global ban on fur production, which does not yet exits. Just my $0.02, if it's even worth that.