Tools and Hobbies

Forbes recently published a list of “The 20 Most Important Tools Ever.” I always find these sorts of lists interesting, even though I often (as in this case) disagree with many of the choices. (I view knifes and swords as variants of the same thing, not deserving two separate entries, for example.) Not making the

As a mom, I’m always looking for ways to make all the detail tasks of motherhood more efficient. One trick I’ve learned is to create a bookmarks folder in Firefox (or other tabbed browser of your choice) full of the sites that help me lead my daily life. I’m not talking about the sites I

My partner and I spent much of the last two days trying to get a fifty-year-old electric train to run around our Christmas tree (aka our non-denominational holiday bush) for our train-obsessed son. The trains are part of my ancestral set, which belonged to my uncle, then my brother and me. They’re nothing fancy–low-end O-scale

tape to go with it.

Enough politics for a while. Here’s another in my ongoing series of Essential Tools: a camping headlamp. Even if the closest you’ve been to camping is sitting on your back porch with a beer, one of these lightweight lamps can be indispensable when you’re working behind a bookshelf, under a cabinet, or in the corner

One in an occasional series of essential household tools: A white (non-marking) rubber mallet. Whether it’s assembling a rocking horse, fitting shelves into a bookcase, or flattening chicken breasts for Poached Chicken Breast Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach (cover the chicken in plastic wrap first), this is a tool you never knew you needed