Courtney Bonnet is a librarian from Pennsylvania and she moved into her new house last June. When she found a room underneath the stairs she knew exactly what she wanted to do with it. She turned it into a Harry Potter themed room where people can go to relax and read books. Now it's an area of the house that the whole family can enjoy. “I first noticed [the secret room] when we came to an open house last year”
My husband and I bought the house “after agreeing I could turn the space into a Harry Potter–themed room”
“I just love Harry Potter and books and reading,” said librarian and mother Courtney Bonnet
“I am pretty crafty and handy around the house so I figured why not? What kid wouldn’t want their own secret room?”
“I want my kids to enjoy books and reading and see what an impact books can have on a person’s life”
sexta-feira, janeiro 01, 2016
BRUCE CAMPBELL TURNS BOEING 727 PLANE INTO HIS HOME (21 Pics)
If you happened to stumble across this home, you'd be forgiven for thinking there had been a terrible airplane accident. That's because Bruce Campbell, a retired electrical engineer, lives, believe it or not, in retired Boeing 727 fuselage. The industrious recycler Bruce has had his old plane placed in woods near Portland, Oregon, where he lives happily amongst some of the original seating and even the airplane-style toilet. Bruce believes every old plane should be 'upcycled' like his has been, declaring on his website, "Jetliners can, and should, be transformed into wonderful homes – retirement into an aerospace class castle should be every airliner's constructive fate. They should never be mindlessly scrapped."
He has transformed the inside of the plane into a workable living space, as you can see in the images below.
Bruce's aircraft is propped onto concrete pillars.
He thinks all planes should be made into homes, commenting on his site, "Shredding a beautiful and scintillating jetliner is a tragedy in waste, and a profound failure of human imagination."
You’ll Be Fascinated By The Universe Dissected In This Video
Have you ever wondered how small a red blood cell actually is? Compared to a red blood cell, how big is a basketball? Compared to a basketball, how big is Earth?
The answers to these questions, and many more, are drawn out, animated and explained in Business Insider Science’s video, “The Scale of the Universe.” Fascinated by what you see? Share the video with your friends!
Featured photo credit: Business Insider via businessinsider.com
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Drinking tea is a profound ritual that will improve your life
The simple act of drinking tea is one many of us take for granted. We do it on the run, sometimes letting it go cold or not even finishing it. We don’t sit down and stop to actually enjoy it. Drinking tea has a long history. It is something people have been doing for centuries all around the world and these days we can harness all that knowledge to make it a ritual that will enhance our lives; forcing us to slow down and embrace the many benefits of tea on a physical, mental and emotional level.
Tea has a long and complex history. It is likely to have originated in Yunnan Province in China as far back as 3 AD. Specifically, the plant itself originated near the lands of northeast India, north Burma, southwest China and Tibet. It was consumed as a medicinal drink, then later for pleasure. The Chinese used it not only as an antidote to poison, but also as a restorative drink. The Chinese introduced tea to the Portuguese during the 16th century and the British began tea production and consumption in India during the 17th century to compete with the Chinese market.
It isn’t difficult to understand how people then spread this comforting and therapeutic custom across the globe. Drinking tea soon became a tradition for many different cultures and tea is enjoyed in different ways around the world.
The most well known tea ceremony in the world is the Japanese Matcha tea ceremony. The Japanese were introduced to drinking tea by the Chinese in around the 8th century and the green powdered Matcha tea came to Japan in around the 12th century.
“Preparing tea in this ceremony means pouring all one’s attention into the predefined movements. The whole process is not about drinking tea, but is about aesthetics, preparing a bowl of tea from one’s heart. The host of the ceremony always considers the guests with every movement and gesture.” – The Japanese Tea Ceremony
We can apply the principles of the Japanese Matcha tea ceremony to our own tea drinking rituals to some extent. The first step is to just slow down and make time to enjoy the process of making a cup of tea and drinking it quietly. Acquiring utensils that are delicate and beautiful, meaningful and sentimental can also enhance our experience. Perhaps an ornate tea pot, tea cup and saucer; or a mug with our favorite sporting team or quote on it. Tea drinking souvenirs that we bought on a special holiday or from a place dear to our heart can be used to boost our nostalgia. Drinking tea at home or at work at a certain time of the day, every day can become a daily ritual to center us, make us more mindful and bring us back to the present moment.
Choosing the tea we drink is important too. Black tea is the most common and accessible of teas and can be consumed in a variety of ways. You can drink it with or without milk and sugar, honey or lemon. These days there are also a variety of green teas, fruit teas and herbal infusions that are available in both loose leaf or packaged in tea bags. We are spoiled for choice and each infusion has its own unique flavour and health properties.
Drinking tea has been scientifically proven to have a number of health benefits due to the antioxidants it contains. It certainly aids hydration and is an excellent replacement for those wanting to cut down on their consumption of coffee and increase their consumption of water. Tea can be consumed as a comforting warm drink or a refreshing chilled beverage. Its versatility and simplicity is underrated.
Visualize this scenario. You’ve had a long day at work and have a million things running through your mind. You come home and turn off your phone and find a place of solitude and silence. You take your favourite cup and place a tea bag inside; you boil some water. You pour the boiling water in your cup and let the tea bag steep. Imagine how you like to drink your tea. Will you add some honey or milk? Perhaps some lemon? You take your cup to a comfortable place where you will sit and contemplate. You close your eyes and take a deep breath; the aroma of the tea filling your nostrils, the warmth of the cup or mug in your hands fills your body.
You wait. In silence. Just breathing. Until the liquid is cool enough to drink but still very warm and slowly you take a sip. The warmth of the liquid touches your lips and tongue and fills your mouth, gently flowing down your throat and into your stomach. Your whole body becomes warm. You breathe. Close your eyes and just be. Drinking tea. Still and calm. Making time stop. At peace.
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Blogging For Newbies: How To Start
Many people blog nowadays – in fact, it is probably harder to find somebody who never tried it at least once than somebody who blogs on a regular basis. Some do it in hope to earn money, others believe they have something valuable to tell the world, still others consider it to be a fun way to pass the time and meet new people. However, irrespective of what your motives are, if you are an absolute newbie, you are probably asking yourself: how do I start? Let’s try to answer that question.
1. Decide on the Niche
You cannot blog about nothing in particular. Well, you can, but you shouldn’t expect for anybody to be interested in reading your ramblings on random subjects. The first question you need to ask when you try to decide how to start a blog is not a technical one, but that of content.
Can I write something that will be interesting for a wide audience? Am I passionate about this subject and will I be able to continue writing about it for years to come? What is this audience going to be like? What are their needs and wants, and can I adequately address them? Do I have anything new to add in my chosen niche? Will I be able to keep on producing content on this topic for a hundred posts? Three hundred?
Ultimately, new bloggers must define their niche, and as they say, the rest will take care of itself.
2. Don’t Start a Blog for Free
A variety of websites will offer you a possibility of starting a blog for free in a matter of minutes. This offer looks incredibly tempting, and perhaps you may try it out – just to see if you are cut out for this blogging life and are capable of writing on a regular basis.
However, all free blog platforms have serious downsides: you won’t be able to earn money, they have poor security, you don’t have real control over your blog and, when all is said and done, it simply doesn’t belong to you.
It is much better to go the whole hog from the very beginning and start a standalone blog – this way you won’t have to migrate it later on.
3. Brainstorm a Name
The name of your blog should be memorable, unique and, ideally, immediately suggest the topics covered by the blog. Be patient and don’t rush picking a blog name because once you’ve started blogging under a specific domain, it becomes troublesome to change.
Discuss names with your family and friends, generate a list of options, let your ideas percolate your psyche, and make a final decision in a week or two. You are bound to stumble upon something you will absolutely love.
4. Choose a Blogging Platform
The absolute majority of blogs on the Internet use WordPress as their platform – and it is certainly easy to learn, reliable, flexibility and ultimately the best blogging tool out there.
The best part is that you can quickly set up a blog without any technical knowledge whatsoever and without the need to hire a specialist to do it for you. If you are an absolute beginner, there is certainly no better option out there, especially given the number of resources available for the open-source software.
5. Learn from Your Would-Be Competitors
Before starting your own blog, be sure to check out other bloggers in the niche you intend to enter. Ask yourself whether you are capable of offering your future readers something that isn’t already present on the market. Consider what you should do to be up to this task.
Blogging is a fascinating and quickly developing activity, whether you do it for business or pleasure. Starting out correctly and avoiding mistakes characteristic of beginners will certainly make your way across the competitive world of blogging a much more pleasurable one – so don’t be afraid of beginning. A lot of things will become clearer as you go along.
Featured photo credit: BLOG/Thomas Hawk via flickr.com
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How To Make Your Smile Shine
Everybody wants to have a better smile, but few people go further in achieving it than brushing their teeth twice a day (and many don’t do even that!)
So what should you do to never be ashamed of your teeth? Let’s take a look.
1. Brush Your Teeth Correctly
Most people brush their teeth, but most do it without paying any attention to proper technique. Here are a few tips that will help you improve:
- You should spend no less that two minutes brushing your teeth every time you do it;
- Brush should be held at a 45-degree angle to your teeth;
- Don’t press the brush against your teeth too vigorously – you may damage your gums or dental enamel;
- Don’t brush less than half an hour after your last meal – otherwise the acid that forms in your mouth after you eat, accompanied by the pressure of your brush will harm your enamel.
2. Invest in a Mouth Guard
Grinding teeth at night may not seem like that serious a problem, but the majority of doctors seem to disagree – although it tends to remain out of society’s spotlight most of the time. According to studies, about ten percent of all Americans grind their teeth at night – and in addition to painful jaws during the day and regular headaches it may lead to far more serious results, ranging from damage to dental enamel to loosening and even loss of teeth. To prevent this from happening, consider buying a mouth guard for teeth grinding – it will alleviate the immediate negative effects and prevent further damage.
3. Use Dental Floss
Brushing may be good for general maintenance, but it doesn’t remove all the particles of food that accumulate between your teeth – and floss can help you about that. However, you should understand that being more mechanical in its application, floss has more potential to cause harm in case of improper use, which means that you should be very careful when choosing dental floss suitable for your teeth and using it – otherwise you may cause serious damage to your gums and teeth.
4. Visit Your Dentist for Regular Check-ups
Usually dentists suggest that you should visit them as often as every six months; however, it may be a bit of overdoing it. In most cases going for a routine check at least once a year is more than enough; however, if you have visible problems with tooth decay, stains or sore gums, you should do it more often. Yet don’t be nonchalant enough to think that if you don’t have any obvious complaints it means that you can omit your checkup altogether – regular visits to a dentist can not only help you keep your smile beautiful, but also help prevent much more serious problems than stained teeth – such as gum disease and oral cancer.
5. Choose a Toothbrush That Is Right for You
There are so many different toothbrushes on the market that one can easily get overwhelmed. However, choosing a brush that will suit you isn’t really all that difficult – although there are hardly any recommendations that are set in stone for everyone. In most cases, you should simply try out a number of brushes and see which one feels more comfortable. Also make sure its head is small enough to reach all of the surfaces of your teeth, especially the ones that are less accessible.
Keeping your smile shiny and beautiful is a complicated process involving many different aspects; however, if you are really concerned with how you look, you shouldn’t omit following all of these practices – and rest assured that it will not only keep your teeth white, but healthy as well.
Featured photo credit: Smile.2/Lê Kiều Ank via flickr.com
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