I wouldn’t be a good environmental advocate if I didn’t discuss the act of composting. As the title of this post suggests, it is kind of an art. The benefits outweigh the time spent, and of course, it’s great for the environment!

You may be first asking why might you compost in the first place? Not only will you get a better quality soil to plant your own fruits and vegetables with, it will result in better than average growth. In addition, it helps keep landfill volumes down. Why waste it, when you can reuse it?

My parents had this composter sitting in the backyard for the better part of the decade. It was doing just that, sitting. Nothing was being added to it, and nothing was ever inside. I decided to put it to good use. I began by adding a layer of mulched leaves at the base of the bin, crumbling them with gloves so they had broken down somewhat.

I then add other organic...

I don’t have all of the answers to your problems, strife’s’, conundrums, or dealings, but what I can offer up are suggestions that make you look at yourself and your place in this world. If you stand back, think about your life, career, children, finances, goodwill, or any other component of your life, I know that you have some kind of feeling towards any of these spokes on the wheel.

Try to look at these spokes individually and assess, as the year comes to a close, what successes and setbacks you’ve had with each and make an actual list. Don’t make it in your head, type it or take pen to paper. I’ll give you a minute to do this.

Take a look at what you’ve written. How does this make you feel? Have you had a productive year? A sub-par year? So-so?, or do you feel indifferent. A key to being happy is knowing what you want out of your life and feeling fulfilled with those people...

Like a lot of people these days, I’m inspired by news stories that I come across on Twitter. Some I pass over due to their inconsequential nature, but others are intriguing so I’ll read through them. That’s where my blog comes in. If I come across interesting articles that I’d like to expand on, you’ll find them here.

Earlier, I came across an article written by Kerri Davis, Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Program Manager, who wrote a thought provoking piece on certain human behavioral tendencies which could be defined as cheating. Though this context pertains to Microsoft certification exams, the overall theme teaches an important message.

In high school and more importantly college, we all knew people that “gave away” certain test questions or blatantly cheated because they got a peak at the answer key. These are the most obvious form, but Davis’ article goes deeper into the not-so-subtle...