Hot pepper leaves instead of grape leaves

Summary for those who don't want to read this whole article: Super-hot pepper leaves taste good and have caused no ill effects for me.

All the details 

I reported in August last year that I invented a new taste treat: microwaved egg with grape leaves and chili crisp. I am happy to report that I'm still very fond of this treat and it is a daily part of my breakfast. However, once winter started, I lost my source of grape leaves. I only got by for a few weeks with frozen grape leaves. (We have a limited freezer space.) Until a few weeks ago, I was getting by with either spinach or slices of roasted eggplant. Both of which taste fine, but have to be purchased with actual money. 

So I'm very happy that the grape vines are once again bountifully providing new leaves.

Still, I couldn't help noticing that the pepper plants have nice, broad leaves that look very edible.

One thing about having a reputation for liking hot spice is that people tend to give you hot spicy things.

The most remarkable of kindly given hot spicy things I've received have been the potted pepper plants that our across-the-street neighbour has taken to giving me.

This year, he has given me a scorpion pepper, a ghost pepper and a Carolina reaper. Last year, it was a scorpion, a ghost and a habanero. (This goes beyond me living a charmed life, I don't even have to look after the plants. The lovely Manon does everything for them like making sure they get enough water. Even though she doesn't even eat mild peppers like cayennes.)

The plants from my neighbour are all varieties of Capsicum chinense and they are ridiculously hot. Even for me. When the peppers are ripe, I make a sambal oelek that I put in little jars. I put about a third of a teaspoon of the sambal oelek every day on my lunch burrito. The burning sensation in my mouth afterwards is not at all pleasant, so I am careful to have a few things to eat afterwards to remove the hot stuff.

Olin Wade who wrote: Can you eat pepper leaves Raw? says:

The most poisonous pepper is the Carolina Reaper, and due to its extreme heat, it is advised not to consume this pepper in any form.

Other peppers that can be poisonous when consumed in large enough quantities include the Habanero, Bengal, Ghost, and Naga peppers. All of these peppers have a heat rating of over 500,000 Scoville Heat Units, and should be consumed by only those who are well-versed in very hot peppers.

Consuming any pepper in large quantities can cause intense side effects, such as stomach discomfort, heartburn, and even dehydration. Consuming peppers that are too hot can cause further complications, including inflammation of the esophagus and an intense burning sensation in the mouth.

It is best to always err on the side of caution when consuming peppers, and to never consume it in large enough quantities to cause any potential harm. 

I don't think I've ever experienced stomach discomfort, heartburn or dehydration from these peppers but I can corroborate that an "intense burning sensation in the mouth" is a distinct possibility.

Why do I eat this stuff? I think it's good for me and good for my mental health. And I like my food better when it's got some hot spice.

Back to the leaves...

The internet was not super-helpful on the question of whether I could safely eat these leaves.

I found articles about the Capsicum chinense peppers, but none addressed whether their leaves are edible or dangerous. 

I did find articles that say various other pepper varieties have edible leaves, like Capsicum annuum [Source: Can You Eat Pepper Leaves?] or the generic "chili pepper" [Source: Chili Pepper Leaves Edible – A Delicious & Nutritious Garden Secret]. 

Olin Wade says: "Jalapeno leaves themselves are not poisonous, but they can contain compounds that might be dangerous if the leaves are ingested in large amounts. The leaves may contain the compound capsaicin, which is responsible for the heat and spicy sensation of jalapenos."

This makes no sense to me. Every other site says that pepper leaves do not contain capsaicin. And I would say that jalapenos are particularly mild. Milder than cayennes. Julie Howell who wrote Can You Eat Pepper Leaves? specifically says that jalapeno leaves are safe.

My conclusion on toxicity: The Capsicum chinense  leaves should be safe. It might be worth being a little cautious by steaming them before microwaving, not eating them every day, and avoiding a "large amount" by only having two to four leaves with my breakfast.  

For preparation, some sites say they must be cooked, others say they can be eaten raw. 

My conclusion on raw versus cooked: I am confident that either way is safe and is a matter of personal or cultural preference.

I'm going with steamed and then microwaved because it suits me. 

Fieldwork

I removed two nice big leaves from the bottom of the scorpion pepper plant with bare hands. I had no burning sensation afterwards on my fingertips even after tearing off a little piece that was less than a square inch in size. 

I chewed the little piece. It tasted okay, not particularly flavourful, sort of what you might expect a raw leaf to taste like.

I steamed the two leaves with a bunch of grape leaves in the Instant Pot one a one-minute steam with "Keep Warm" turned off. Refrigerated them over night and ate them with my breakfast the next morning.

The pepper leaves tasted fine. My breakfast was delicious as always and I have had no problems of any kind.

I decided that with the thousands and thousands of grape leaves currently outside, it didn't make sense to harvest any more of the pepper leaves before the peppers are harvested. 

But guess what? The lovely Manon did some research of her own and determined that some of the lower leaves should be removed to promote growth of the peppers. She picked a bunch of leaves that I've now been eating for several days. Manon reported that she had a bit of a burning or tingling feeling where she had touched the leaves. It could be that I didn't get this because I only picked two leaves and she picked about ten. Or, I have a tolerance where she has a sensitivity. Or maybe she was doing something else in her garden where she should have been wearing gloves. 

With the new leaves, my breakfasts continue to be delicious and I have suffered no ill effects.

Possible follow-up 

If I get really ambitious, I might try making hot pepper leaf dolmades.

I will not be steaming jasmine leaves. The lovely Manon was visibly displeased when I mentioned that her jasmine plant had the broad sort of leaves that I was looking for. But then she was visibly relieved when I reported that in Jasmine Flower Edible: Which Species Are Safe to Eat? we learn that while some jasmine plants have edible flowers, their leaves should not be eaten:  

Are jasmine leaves or stems edible?

No. Leaves and stems of edible jasmine species contain higher concentrations of iridoid glycosides (e.g., aucubin) with potential laxative or hepatotoxic effects at high doses. Only use fully opened, white flowers—never green parts.

I will report any further follow-up on the pepper leaves. 

And apparently, there are some maple tree leaves that can be eaten. I'm not sure that we have any of the right species nearby. In the '90s, I had a Norway maple, but it had to be cut down before it destroyed the house.

An upgrade to the squid jars

Way back in 2008, I filled a big jar with mineral oil for the lovely Manon and put a candelabra light bulb in it with other stuff so it looked like a giant squid. A number of years later, I did a smaller version. 

They both looked pretty cool when well lit, but there was something missing.

Recently it came to me. 

I had some cheap LED lights that didn't work any more, but when I got out my soldering iron and wire strippers, I managed to get them working again with an old transformer (don't let anyone tell you to get rid of those things). 

An old tuna can worked perfectly as the base for the smaller jar and a biscuit tin from Dollarama perfectly fit the larger jar. 

The squids now go very nicely with the lava lamps on top of the piano.

Microwaved egg with grape leaves and chili crisp

I believe that I have invented a new food treat: microwaved egg with grape leaves and chili crisp. 

I tried Google, DuckDuckGo and Bing and did not find anything that described this treat. (Of course, someone else might have already invented it and posted it to the internet, but search engines have become so bad that it is not findable. Anyway...) 

Ingredients:

• 2 steamed grape leaves
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon of chili crisp

Instructions:

1. Put one of the steamed grape leaves on the bottom of a small bowl. (In advance, you will have picked a bunch of young, intact grape leaves from the grapevine outside your porch, removed the stems, rinsed the leaves, steamed them for a few minutes and then put them in a container in your fridge.)
2. Dollop a teaspoon of chili crisp on the grape leaf. You can smear it around a bit, but you don't have to.  (Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp will be fine if you don't have a jar you made yourself or one of the really exquisite brands.)
3. Crack an egg and drop everything except the shell on top of the grape leaf and chili crisp.
4. Either leave the yolk intact, or break it with a piece of egg shell. Your choice. 
5. Cover the egg with a second grape leaf.
6. Cover the small bowl with a small plate. (Coverage is important, the egg will splatter even with the top grape leaf.)
7. Put the covered bowl in your microwave oven, set the timer and turn it on. (45 seconds is just right for me, but you might want to experiment to get the result that is perfect for you.)

Outcome - A delicious treat

I love having one of these with my breakfast savoury oatmeal mélange. I am confident that this treat would also be a great addition to toast, fried rice, hash browns and many other foods suitable for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a mid-meal snack.

Please let me know if you try this and what you ate it with! 

Edit note - June 26, 2026: This post originally said "grape leafs" instead of "grape leaves". I believe I was unduly influenced by the name of the famous but poorly performing hockey team from Toronto even though I am in no way a sports fan. But if "grape leaves" is what Wikipedia goes with, that is the way I will use it and I have made the appropriate changes on this page. 

My new slightly quieter Corsi-Rosenthal box

Here is the TL:DR - I made a new Corsi-Rosenthal box with a disassembled pedestal fan that is 5 decibels quieter than my old Corsi-Rosenthal box made with a box fan.

This summer, I noticed that our pedestal fan was a lot quieter than the box fan mounted onto our Corsi-Rosenthal box. Louder enough to make a difference to a guy like me with a certain amount of hearing loss who wants to hear his visitors when they speak.

It occurred to me to see if I can get a quieter fan for my next box. I knew I'd be making a new box before long because the filters have to be replaced every few months.

So I went on line to find a quiet box fan. I actually found a couple of sites that said certain box fans were quieter than others and ordered one that was supposed to be quiet. But it was not. In fact, it was louder than the box fan I already had.

Next, I thought about disassembling our pedestal fan and using it.

But then I thought a little more and it occurred to me that the other resident here might not be pleased if I disassembled her pedestal fan even for such a good cause.

I did some looking. There were people selling pedestal fans for $10 on Facebook Marketplace, but I did not fancy the idea of driving to somebody's house, asking them to plug in the fan and then maybe driving away empty-handed if the fan didn't work or was louder than I liked.

So then I looked at the Belfast Road ReStore and the Cyrville Road Value Village. The ReStore had a pedestal fan that worked but seemed a bit noisy. Value Village had a $20 pedestal fan that didn't seem too noisy. And guess what. It was Tuesday, Senior Discount Day so 30% off!

I used five 20" x 20" filters for my first two Corsi-Rosenthal boxes. This meant I had to build a frame to raise the bottom filter off the floor. A worthwhile thing to do, but it was finicky.

It occurred to me that having the Corsi-Rosenthal box made from four 20" x 25" filters would give the same surface area of filters as five 20" x 20" filters but no frame would be required. (The old math classes came in handy. Check it out: 4 * 20 * 25 = 5 * 20 * 20!)

So I searched the local hardware stores' websites and Amazon, determined that Canadian Tire surprisingly had the best deal and ordered four 20" x 25" x 1" Merv 13 filters. I don't know why, but Canadian Tire gave me free same-day delivery.

These are the steps I took in making the new Corsi-Rosenthal box:

1. Disassembled the pedestal fan and reassembled it with the rotating mechanism removed and the power cord lengthened between the fan and the control box by about 12" with wire I've had hanging around and Wagu clips to connect the wires. (This is my first time using Wagu clips and I love them. They make joining wires incredibly easy. It might seem like $0.50 per join is a lot compared to a bit of solder and shrink wrap, but the time and effort saved is worth every penny. Plus, I'm not very good at soldering, so there's a high chance that my splices would fail.)
   
2. Cut a sheet of fibreboard I had in the basement into two 21"x 21" squares.
3. Cut a circle that was the size of the round fan grill into the square for the top to make a cowling.
4. Drilled eight little holes around the circle to attach the fan grill, and a bigger hole on the side of the circle for the fan's power cord to come out.
5. Drilled two holes 4" apart in two opposite corners for rope handles.
6. Took two pieces of 12" cord, threaded them through the holes in the corners and tied knots so they'd stay in place to make the rope handles.
   
7. Mounted the fan head in the cowling, attaching it with twisted binder wire and taping it down with duct tape. Making sure that the power cord came out through its hole.
   
8. Duct taped the filters together to form a box, being sure to orient the filters so that the arrows indicating the air flow direction pointed into the box.
9. Duct taped the fibreboard for the base onto the bottom of the box.
10. Placed four fuzzy floor protectors in the corners of the base and one in its middle.
11. Found a little box to put the Wagu connectors and wire that led into the control bar for the fan.
12. Painted the box black, cut holes for power wires and for a piece of cord to hang the control bar from. Put the stuff inside the box, duct taped the box to the cowling, hung the control bar from the box and put the lid on the little box.
    
13. Plugged in the fan and turned it on.
    

After trying the new Corsi-Rosenthal box, I realized that it still made some noise. That's when it occurred to me to download an app to measure how loud it is. I went with one called SPL Sound Meter. It was free and had a good rating.

According to the app, the new Corsi-Rosenthal box is 50 decibels loud at top speed and the old Corsi-Rosenthal box is 55 decibels at top speed.

I'm okay with that. And next time I'm in a Value Village, I'm going to see if they have an even quieter pedestal fan.

Home repair with squid tentacle

Many years ago, way back when I was a solo act, I found it necessary to cut a hole in the wall in the bedroom/office area to access some coaxial cable. I cut a rectangle out of the drywall, accessed the cable and then put the rectangle of drywall back in place with green masking tape.

This wasn't particularly obvious to the other resident who came to live here because I had a dresser, a bunch of empty boxes, a clothes tree, and a sort of nightstand thing in front of this wall. But I've been downsizing a bit and moving things into my new studio space and the taped rectangle became entirely obvious.

It was gently suggested that I replace the taped-up rectangle with an access panel. I had to agree that this was a very good idea, so I got an access panel, removed the taped-up rectangle, and enlarged the hole so the access panel would properly fit.

Alas, in doing so, removal of the tape that had been on the wall for at least 20 years caused a section of paint to also come off, and I put a longer mark on the wall than I had needed.

Some people would probably have addressed these unsightly blemishes with some sort of paint solution. But I do not know much about house paint and am not good at using it.

However, I can draw a squid tentacle with a Rotring Tikky Graphic C.7 and a set of coloured pencils on a piece of fine tooth surface sketch paper and then use an exacto knife to cut out that tentacle so it perfectly covers unsightly blemishes on a wall.

And that is what I did.

If the other resident of your home has an affection for cephalopods, this is a home repair solution that I can recommend.

 

My new time-lapse life-hack

I have issues with procrastination.

Five years into the pandemic and two years into retirement, I still have many items on my multiple to-do lists. But I am slowly ticking things off. (For example, Getting rid of old cables and GIFs from my Pixel 5)

This week, I finally developed the capacity to take time lapse images. I've been wanting to do this for decades. It would have been fantastic when they demolished the house across the street, or when they built the new house there. 

The only construction-type thing visible from the Scrimchateau right now is the housing construction happening over on Booth Street. I missed a lot of it, but there are two giant cranes. Here's 11 minutes of their movement collapsed into 22 seconds.

I've tried a couple of other things. First, I did some of Manon's plants on a windowsill. I'll have to play with lighting and timing before I get anything worth looking at. Second, I did the Stick Library. It was kind of cool seeing how many people went by and getting quick glimpses of people stopping with their dogs. But I don't imagine any of these people would be happy about having their images appear on the internet when they didn't know they were being filmed even if they were on a public sidewalk.

My lifehack brain wave

Then I had my lifehack brain wave. I was sitting here at my desk thinking about how I've let it get really messy and I should tidy it when I realized that it would make for something to time lapse. Maybe not the most compelling time lapse video ever, but if it motivated me to do something I ought to do anyway, it would be a bonus.

So here it is, Dave Tidies up his Desk (a little bit):

How I did it

I took my old smart phone, a Galaxy S5 Neo, that no longer has a SIM card, but still has WiFi and:

1. 
   improved the phone's memory capacity by stripping out all the apps that I don't need any more, and deleting all the music files, ebooks, and videos; and
2. used the App Store to install FrameLapse 2.

I mounted the phone with a clip-on flexible holder thingy that I cannot remember acquiring that has been around for years. To be honest, it's probably not the best thing for doing this, but it works.

To take my time lapse videos, I turn on FrameLapse 2, aim the phone where I want it, and tap the big round button to start shooting and tap it again to stop. 

So far, I've only used the default settings for timing and everything else, but I did zoom in on a couple to get more of the frame that I wanted.

I edited the video with Microsoft Clipchamp to add a title, trim the video to only the part I wanted and remove sections of the video I didn't want.

What's next

I've got some more tidying to do (I promise though that I will not create any messes just so that I can manufacture content) and I hope to do something with plant growth and our first snowfall this winter. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Acknowledgement

Rest assured that I am aware that the effort involved in creating the time lapse videos, editing them, and creating this blog post took far more time than it would have taken me to just clear up the junk on my desk.

 

How I squeeze a bit more out of Spelling Bee

Many of us Wordle players have started playing some of the New York Times other games, like Connections, the Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee.

A frustration with Spelling Bee is that once you hit SOLID, it kicks you out and only lets you continue if you have a paid subscription.*

I have found a way to wring a bit more out of the game by getting to NICE, which is one rank higher than SOLID. Here is how I do it:

1. Click "Hints" to open the "Spelling Bee Forum"
2. Scroll down to the line that indicates how many POINTS there are (144 today)
3. Determine the number of points for a "Solid" by taking 15% of the number of POINTS (15% of 144 = 22)
   
4. Guess words, being careful to not go over the number of SOLID points by concentrating on shorter words - 4 letter words = 1 point each, longer words = 1 point per letter - particularly avoiding pangrams because they are worth at least 14 points
   
5. When close to SOLID, try for the pangram by consulting the Spelling Bee Grid in the Hints.because it shows how many words there are of each length for each starting letter and the pangram has to be at least 7 letters long (Spoiler alert for today - there is a 10-letter word that starts with "B" and there are 12 words that start "BO")
6. Play a pangram and nothing else, if the pangram is worth at least 10% of the total score, you can make it to NICE and you'll see something like this:
   

 

* I'll probably never pay to play games, but Google gave a bunch of us free 3-month subscriptions because we were so good about giving ratings and answering questions in Google Maps. I took advantage of this, but have to admit that getting to Genius on Spelling Bee 90 days in a row meant that a lot of chores did not get done around here.

Manon's Stick Library

Manon had a brain wave this spring to further redirect the many dogs that come by from messing with her garden. [You might recall a previous effort from 2021] In addition to having a water bowl, she decided to add a stick library.

I was very happy to help her with a sign.

The first version was done with felt tip pens on yellow paper with a plastic cover. It did the job, but within a few weeks, the sunlight had faded it.

Manon decided she needed a better sign. She found a blank wooden oval at Dollarama and asked me to do the lettering with acrylic paint.

The Stick Librarian chalking directions featuring Stick Library Sign Mark I

How we made Stick Library Sign Mark II

Although I have a steady hand with felt tips and pencil crayons, I'm pretty useless with a paint brush. So I made stencils. 

Here's what I did:

1. Scanned the oval and uploaded the image so I could have the exact shape and size in GIMP (free image manipulation software)
2. Gave the wooden oval three coats of bright yellow acrylic paint - letting it dry between each coat
3. Used GIMP to mark out the text with a nice sans-serif font, including the curved bits (had to Google to find out how to curve a line of text with GIMP, but it wasn't too hard).
4. Printed it on a sheet of paper 
5. Taped a clear plastic sheet over the paper. 
6. Making sure to do it in stencil fashion, used an exacto knife to carve out the letters in the plastic.
7. Taped the plastic stencil sheet over the sign
8. Painted the letters with black and purple acrylic paint. 
9. Removed the stencil
10. Filled in the empty bits of the letters and covered over where the paint spilled outside the stencil lines (mostly)
11. Glued on the butterfly, flower and heart pieces that Manon had painted
12. Graciously invited Manon to paint the rim with the colour of her choice, which happened to be silver
13. Sprayed it with three coatings of a UV-protective coating
14. Attached the wooden oval to a piece of wood I spray painted yellow a long time ago and attached a rare earth magnet from a discarded hard drive to the wood so the sign would stay attached to the metal bucket (I've had both the wood and the magnet at least 15 years - illustrating why one should never throw anything away that might be useful some day)

A month later, the new sign is still looking very bright.

Impact of the No-Late-Fee Policy?

Keep those old computer parts!

While I'm a big fan of libraries encouraging access by not having late fees, I'm afraid that Manon's adoption of the no-late-fee policy means that sticks are seldom returned and the collection is getting depleted. If you have extra sticks hanging around, you'd be welcome to drop them here.

Or we'll just wait until the next derecho

Another impact

It might be my imagination, but I've noticed that when we're out on the patio in the evening, people walking by with their dogs seem to be smiling at us more than they used to.

Improving air quality with our new Corsi-Rosenthal Box

This morning, Ottawa has a "Special Air Quality Statement" that says "High levels of air pollution have developed due to smoke from forest fires" and "Wildfire smoke can be harmful to everyone’s health even at low concentrations."

So I am glad that I made a Corsi-Rosenthal Box with five MERV-13 air filters this week!

In case you're thinking of making one, here are some assorted notes:

• There are a ton of videos out there on how to make a box. I started with How to Build a Corsi-Rosenthal Box featuring Dean Richard Corsi from UC Davis (I mean, his name is on the box).
• Dean Corsi uses 2" filters. They are probably better than the 1" filters I used. But I couldn't find any 2" filters locally.
• I got my filters from Home Depot: Filtrete Healthy Living Maximum Allergen Filter MA02DC-3PK-2, 20 in x 20 in x 1 in, 3/Pack 
• The fan came from Home Hardware: HOME ESSENTIALS 20" Box Fan - with 3 Speeds, White. (An inexpensive fan seems to be fine.) [Edit: 2024-08-03 - I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a quieter box fan, so I went online looking for reviews that identified quieter fans. A couple sites recommended the Lasko fan. So I ordered one. It just arrived. And it is at least as loud as the Home Essentials fan, and has a high-pitched squeal that would probably be more annoying]
  
• The inexpensive basic blue tape I had on hand was easiest to work with, but  I ran out and had to switch to heavy-duty black Gorilla tape. Next time, I'm going to have lots of the cheap blue stuff around.
• Corsi demonstrates a 4-filter version that sits on the floor without extra leg supports. That's what I would have done, but I had a fifth filter and a bunch of scrap wood in the basement to make legs so I went with a 5-filter design.
• On TikTok, I saw a guy from California advocating a version that has a single filter taped to a fan. Apparently, this doesn't help much according to a UC Davis case study: Testing different configurations of do-it-yourself portable air cleaners. 
• There are different views on how long the filters are good for. I figure that if the forest fires die out and I only use the box sporadically when people are over, the filters should be good for about a year before I have to get a whole new set.
• Some people say you don't need cowling to block off the corners of the box fan. But Corsi recommends it, so I went with cowling.
• The little piece of wool that shows the fan is on and shows the direction of air flow is not strictly necessary, but I figure it will do until I can get a miniature version of one of those tube man air dancers they put outside car dealerships.

My sixth shot

I'm just back from getting my 6th shot - the latest Moderna bivalent. 

I'm eligible because I'm immuno-compromised not because I'm an old guy. 

But the nurse might have thought that I am an old guy because when we discovered the sleeves were too tight to pull up for the shot. I said "You know what? I'm sick of this shirt. Have you got a pair of scissors?" 

She made me do the initial cut, but helped me tear the shirt enough to do the injection. 

It was all over less than a minute later and I barely felt it go in.

Watch Lynn Miles from your couch!

One of the great things about living in Ottawa is how often you can go see a Lynn Miles show. 

With the pandemic, these options are more limited, but now Lynn is doing shows from her living room that you can see in your home anywhere in the world.

She did a wonderful show this past Saturday. It had the same intimate feeling as her shows used to have at Rasputin's.

She'll be doing three more, on Saturday nights at 8:00 pm, EST.

$10 tickets are availabe through Sidedoor.

If you are so deprived that you're unfamiliar with Lynn's music, this video will help. 

You can find more videos of Lynn performing on the internet, but they won't give you any appreciation for what she says between songs. 

On the technical side: The shows are broadcast on Zoom. So they'll show up on any internet connected computer. We like to watch on the big TV screen, but to do that, we had to connect a computer to the TV with an HDMI cable. Using our Chromecast was not an option.

Update: Great article about Lynn from CTV

My new way to display marbles

 When you and your spouse both have enormous hoards of marbles, you are always looking for new ways to display them.

This morning I hit on something that had never occurred to me before: hanging them with a spring. I'm sure others have thought of this before, so I'm not the inventor of the technique, but still I'm inordinately pleased with this.

As an added bonus, my habit of hanging on to bits of junk because they might come in handy some day has been rewarded! I have a nice collection of old springs to go through now.

Other marble display methods:

• Window display 1
• Window display 2
• Dinosaur shelf 1
• Dinosaur shelf 2
• Staircase marbles
• Marble run
• Light shade

Valentine Dinosaurs

 We had another cold spell and went with a Valentine's Day theme for the dinosaurs. The red in the hearts came from a red-coloured herbal tea. 

Ice dinosaurs

 

Manon and I are experimenting with an artform that is new to us.

Apparently many people make hanging ice ornaments with heart or circle shaped cake pans. 

Oddly, the easiest cake pans for us to find were of a brontosaurus and t-rex.

If we get a sunny day this week, they will probably look really neat.

Giant sidewalk chalk for Manon

 Manon is not the easiest person to shop for, so I like when I can find something to make that cannot be found in the stores.

In this case, it is giant sidewalk chalk that is pretty easy to make.

I bought a bag of plaster of Paris at Preston Hardware and we've actually had about eight bottles of tempera paint in the craft cupboard for more than a decade.

The Instructables calls for using old Pringles containers, but we had a bunch of poster tubes that we were going to discard.

Apparently, the chalk will get used soon if it dries up before we get snow. But I suspect they won't be used up by Canada Day.

Hand washing songs

Last Wednesday, I was out for work, found myself washing my hands and remembered that we're supposed to sing Happy Birthday twice to make it a good 20 second wash.

But Happy Birthday is boring, and, let's be honest, annoying. Also, one of my self-improvement goals is to learn a new song every month and practise the songs I know. So, I decided I should find some new 20-second song parts to work on when I wash my hands.

Then I realized that I should share this with the world through a blog post.

A few minutes later, I got back to my computer and opened Laura Olin's email newsletter. Item 4 had a link to a Twitter thread on 20-second alternatives to Happy Birthday.

Which goes to show that it's hard to be the first person to do something.

Then yesterday, Boing Boing gave a link to an elegant poster generator created by a young developer named William Gibson (apparently not the cyberpunk author) whose generator helped me create this poster that illustrates my current hand washing practice:

The Office Prop Comic - #5 Magic Tape

Another great prop from the supply cabinet:

1. Get a box of Magic Tapetm.
2. If you have to use the tape, remove it. But I like to leave it in because it adds verisimilitude. 
3. When somebody comes by your cubicle, show them the box. 
4. Say: “Look, magic tape!” 
5. Stand up. Hum or sing meaningless syllable to a suitable tune throughout the following steps. 
6. Hold the box in front of you using the thumbs and first fingers of both hands. 
7. Gently wave the box back and forth and up and down.
8. Put both hands behind your back, holding the box in only one of them. 
9. Bring the box back to the front with the other hand. Repeat steps 8 to 10 once, twice, or as often as you think your audience will stand for it. 
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9, but this time, do not bring the box to the front. You have several options:
1. Only bring out one hand, keeping the box in the other hand. 
2. Tuck the box into the top of your pants. 
3. Throw the box somewhere behind you that the other person can’t see. 
4. Use some sleight of hand trick to make the box vanish. 
11. Say: “It really is magic!” 
12. If you chose option 12a, put your empty hand behind you, and then bring the box to the front with that hand. 
13. If you chose option 12b, bring both empty hands to the front to the front to show them. Then put your hands behind you and bring the box out. 
14. If you chose option 12c, turn around to show that the box is gone and you are not hiding it. 
15. If you chose option 12d, you are more of a master at this sort of thing than I am and know better what you can do, but maybe at step 1, you got two boxes of Magic Tapetm and you’ll be able to take the second box out of somewhere completely surprising like the peace lilly plant that is behind your audience member or their jacket pocket.

The Office Prop Comic - #4 Invisible Tape

My favourite office comic props are the ones you get in the supply cabinet.

1. Get a box of Invisible Tapetm.
2. Remove the tape roll from the box. 
3. Put the tape in a drawer or put it on the tape dispenser you managed to acquire when somebody retired. Do not take it home to wrap Christmas presents because that would be stealing. 
4. Close the empty box. Put it on your desk. 
5. When somebody comes by your cubicle, say: “look, invisible tape” and show them the box.
6. Open the box.
7. Take great satisfaction from their amazed reaction.

The Office Prop Comic - #3 Mixed nut can with spring-loaded snake

We all love the exploding snake, but for this experience in office prop comedy you will play the long game.

These days, everyone recognizes the skinny “Fancy Salted Mixed Nuts” can that the exploding snakes come in. So you can't just start with the snake-loaded can.

Here is what you do:

1. Remove the snake from the can and put it somewhere safe. 
2. Fill the can with tasty salted mixed nuts (or go salt-free if you must.)
3. When someone comes by your office who you know is not allergic to nuts, hold out the closed can and offer some. “No thanks,” they will say. “Okay,” you reply, “but I feel like a couple." 
4. Open the can and eat some of the tasty nuts. 
5. Repeat #3 and #4 until your victim coworker comes to expect nuts. This may take months. Especially if you are bringing along multiple victims members of your office audience. 
6. When people have come to believe the can actually contains nuts, swap out the nuts for the snake. 
7. Let the hilarity ensue.

The Office Prop Comic - #2 Finnegan Puppet

Bring a hand puppet of a little dog to meetings. When you need to say something that might be unpopular, have the puppet whisper in your ear and then act like you are shocked by what it’s saying, “What’s that, Finnegan, the quarterly projections are based on bad assumptions?” Have the puppet nod enthusiastically and whisper more. “They need to be redone?” Take it from there.

Warning: Do not have the puppet insult people. People who have been insulted by puppets have been known to harm those puppets. Save the insults for when you are alone with Finnegan.

[For non-Canadians, or those too young to know about the original Finnegan, try this Youtube that shows him whispering to Casey or this full episode of Mr. Dressup.]