Writing samples
Blog posts
A selection of posts from Amazon.com's Al Dente kitchen & home blog
A selection of posts from Amazon.com's Al Dente kitchen & home blog
Drank Soda: Extreme Relaxation Beverage
Perfect for the hectic holiday season, Innovative Beverage Group brings us Drank soda--the beverage that supposedly equals relaxation in a can. Dubbed by some as "weed in a can," Drank contains melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips--a combination that's supposed to induce relaxation and drowsiness. A spokesperson for the drink says "In our day and age, we've got a lot of stress. The economy is bad. People need something to help them relax, bring them down." In reference to the claim that the drink mimics the effects of marijuana, the response was "This isn't going to get you into any trouble. You can buy it in the store. It's legal." Plus, it tastes like grape soda--sweet! Check out Drank's website for fun facts and media (The Pussycat Dolls and Ludacris love it--how bad can it be?), or go ahead and snap some up on Amazon.com.
Chill Your Beer with Air
I just found this tip in the new issue of WIRED magazine, and had to share. I think this falls under the "WWMD (what would MacGyver do)" category, but after researching it online it seems like a fairly common practice. Place your beer in a container, then grab a can of compressed air (the type used for cleaning out keyboards), and hold it upside down so it releases its contents in liquid form. Coat most of the beer in frost (just not the top where you'll be drinking from it), wait a few seconds for the buildup to fade, then pop the top of your frosty beverage and enjoy! Please note: I haven't actually tried this, but would love to hear success stories from anyone who has.
Beer + Pizza + Music + Bike = Pub on Wheels
Meet Hopworksfiets, a "pub bike" built by Portland, Oregon-based bike builder Metrofiets for Hopworks Urban Brewing (Portland's first eco-brewpub featuring organic handcrafted beers, local ingredients, and a sustainable building). The bike features a metal keg bucket that holds two full-sized kegs and 25 pounds of ice, topped with a wooden bar and two taps. A rack on the rear of the bike holds a stack of pizza boxes, and below the pizza rack is a sound system to blare your favorite party anthems.
Future iterations of the bike will include a second sound system for music played in stereo, and a solar panel cover for the pizza rack that will power the music and a string of LED lights around the base of the bike's bar. The bike made its first public appearance last week at HUB's Biketobeerfest celebration, and the brewery plans to showcase its pub bike at various bike events year round.
Strange Brews: Weird and Worldly Soft Drinks
Jonesin' for a celery soda? Love Kimchee (fermented spicy cabbage) so much you could drink it? How about a frosty can of dandelion and burdock? Nowthatsnifty.com has compiled a neat list of soft drinks from around the world, including Placenta 400000 (it's exactly what it sounds like) Unagi Nobori (eel), and Soda Sua Hot Ga (egg yolks, condensed milk, and club soda). Yum!?
Coors to Debut Clear Beer
Coors recently announced the trial run of an as-yet-unnamed clear beer in the UK this summer. The 4% alcohol beer is put through an extreme filtering process that removes color and leaves behind a substance that can be flavored with green tea and exotic fruits. The beer is part of a project to boost the number of female beer drinkers. In a study, Coors determined that women often shun beer because they think it will make them gain weight, while others prefer drinks that are served in more attractive glasses, have a better image, or are more popular with their friends. Hmmm, this has to be a surefire hit, right? Because Zima and Crystal Pepsi were sooo good.
Composting Table Digests Your Scraps
Bad news for any begging dogs you may have at your table, but good news for the eco-conscious and artistically-minded. Not for the faint of heart, the digestive table is "a living ecosystem of worms, sowbugs and bacteria." You deposit your leftovers into the portal on top of the table and sowbugs and bacteria begin breaking it down. Worms join the party to further digest your scraps into the rich compost that results and comes out of the bag underneath the table, which is then ready to be used as plant fertilizer. An LCD screen embedded in the tabletop is hooked up to an infrared security camera so you can watch the bugs polish off your meal. See more of the digestive table at artist Amy Youngs' website.
Are You Being Served?
As the proud new owner of an iRobot Roomba, I'm fascinated by the technology behind these little helpers. In addition to vacuuming, they feature an anti-tangle system to extract themselves from cords and carpet fringes, they self-adjust from carpets to hard floors and back again, and when it's running low on energy or is done cleaning, the Roomba locates its dock and returns to its home base to recharge.
I fell in love with my Roomba immediately, and wondered if other iRobot owners felt the same. There are plenty of user groups online, but the site that excited me most was about the Zoomba--a Roomba that's had its microprocessor replaced so it can be used as a platform for robotics experimentation. What does that entail? How about programming two Roombas to find and chase each other? Adding a microphone to make it voice-activated? Adding a wireless camera to make it a mobile security robot? All this sort of defeats the purpose of buying the Roomba for vacuuming, but having a robot that patrols my house, recognizes my voice, and wants to play hide and seek? Awesome.
Perfect for the hectic holiday season, Innovative Beverage Group brings us Drank soda--the beverage that supposedly equals relaxation in a can. Dubbed by some as "weed in a can," Drank contains melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips--a combination that's supposed to induce relaxation and drowsiness. A spokesperson for the drink says "In our day and age, we've got a lot of stress. The economy is bad. People need something to help them relax, bring them down." In reference to the claim that the drink mimics the effects of marijuana, the response was "This isn't going to get you into any trouble. You can buy it in the store. It's legal." Plus, it tastes like grape soda--sweet! Check out Drank's website for fun facts and media (The Pussycat Dolls and Ludacris love it--how bad can it be?), or go ahead and snap some up on Amazon.com.
Chill Your Beer with Air
I just found this tip in the new issue of WIRED magazine, and had to share. I think this falls under the "WWMD (what would MacGyver do)" category, but after researching it online it seems like a fairly common practice. Place your beer in a container, then grab a can of compressed air (the type used for cleaning out keyboards), and hold it upside down so it releases its contents in liquid form. Coat most of the beer in frost (just not the top where you'll be drinking from it), wait a few seconds for the buildup to fade, then pop the top of your frosty beverage and enjoy! Please note: I haven't actually tried this, but would love to hear success stories from anyone who has.
Beer + Pizza + Music + Bike = Pub on Wheels
Meet Hopworksfiets, a "pub bike" built by Portland, Oregon-based bike builder Metrofiets for Hopworks Urban Brewing (Portland's first eco-brewpub featuring organic handcrafted beers, local ingredients, and a sustainable building). The bike features a metal keg bucket that holds two full-sized kegs and 25 pounds of ice, topped with a wooden bar and two taps. A rack on the rear of the bike holds a stack of pizza boxes, and below the pizza rack is a sound system to blare your favorite party anthems.
Future iterations of the bike will include a second sound system for music played in stereo, and a solar panel cover for the pizza rack that will power the music and a string of LED lights around the base of the bike's bar. The bike made its first public appearance last week at HUB's Biketobeerfest celebration, and the brewery plans to showcase its pub bike at various bike events year round.
Strange Brews: Weird and Worldly Soft Drinks
Jonesin' for a celery soda? Love Kimchee (fermented spicy cabbage) so much you could drink it? How about a frosty can of dandelion and burdock? Nowthatsnifty.com has compiled a neat list of soft drinks from around the world, including Placenta 400000 (it's exactly what it sounds like) Unagi Nobori (eel), and Soda Sua Hot Ga (egg yolks, condensed milk, and club soda). Yum!?
Coors to Debut Clear Beer
Coors recently announced the trial run of an as-yet-unnamed clear beer in the UK this summer. The 4% alcohol beer is put through an extreme filtering process that removes color and leaves behind a substance that can be flavored with green tea and exotic fruits. The beer is part of a project to boost the number of female beer drinkers. In a study, Coors determined that women often shun beer because they think it will make them gain weight, while others prefer drinks that are served in more attractive glasses, have a better image, or are more popular with their friends. Hmmm, this has to be a surefire hit, right? Because Zima and Crystal Pepsi were sooo good.
Composting Table Digests Your Scraps
Bad news for any begging dogs you may have at your table, but good news for the eco-conscious and artistically-minded. Not for the faint of heart, the digestive table is "a living ecosystem of worms, sowbugs and bacteria." You deposit your leftovers into the portal on top of the table and sowbugs and bacteria begin breaking it down. Worms join the party to further digest your scraps into the rich compost that results and comes out of the bag underneath the table, which is then ready to be used as plant fertilizer. An LCD screen embedded in the tabletop is hooked up to an infrared security camera so you can watch the bugs polish off your meal. See more of the digestive table at artist Amy Youngs' website.
Are You Being Served?
As the proud new owner of an iRobot Roomba, I'm fascinated by the technology behind these little helpers. In addition to vacuuming, they feature an anti-tangle system to extract themselves from cords and carpet fringes, they self-adjust from carpets to hard floors and back again, and when it's running low on energy or is done cleaning, the Roomba locates its dock and returns to its home base to recharge.
I fell in love with my Roomba immediately, and wondered if other iRobot owners felt the same. There are plenty of user groups online, but the site that excited me most was about the Zoomba--a Roomba that's had its microprocessor replaced so it can be used as a platform for robotics experimentation. What does that entail? How about programming two Roombas to find and chase each other? Adding a microphone to make it voice-activated? Adding a wireless camera to make it a mobile security robot? All this sort of defeats the purpose of buying the Roomba for vacuuming, but having a robot that patrols my house, recognizes my voice, and wants to play hide and seek? Awesome.
Magazine articles
A sample of articles published in Northeast Seattle Living magazine, Cadalyst magazine, and on Cadalyst.com
A sample of articles published in Northeast Seattle Living magazine, Cadalyst magazine, and on Cadalyst.com
Product descriptions
A selection of product descriptions written for Amazon.com
A selection of product descriptions written for Amazon.com
Kinivo BTX350 Digital Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
The BTX350 digital wireless Bluetooth speaker from Kinivo lets you seamlessly stream music from Bluetooth-capable smartphones, tablets, and computers. Simply turn on the speaker and sync with a Bluetooth-compatible device for up to 5 hours of wireless music, or plug the speaker into an outlet or computer with the included USB charging cable for endless playback. An included 3.5mm audio cable lets you use the speaker with iPods or other non-Bluetooth devices. A class-D amplifier provides high output sound performance, and bass boost, volume control, and forward/reverse buttons let you easily enhance or change songs directly from the speaker. The sleek, portable design measures 8 inches wide by 3 inches high by 2.25 inches deep--a small footprint to seamlessly blend into your surroundings or pop into a bag for travel--while still providing rich, clear sound.
Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter Walt Disney Limited Edition Animation Cel, Unframed
A spirited image from the Alice in Wonderland encounter between Alice and the wacky Mad Hatter, this unframed animation serigraph cel is a magical addition to a bedroom or nursery wall. Vividly colored and painstakingly created for a luminosity that echoes the film, the cel measures 14 by 11 inches and is easily framed and matted. A custom-framed version is also available. An extensive series, Disney animation cels are reproduced by hand from the original camera-ready animation stills. Their colors, lines, and details capture timeless film characters for lasting playfulness and nostalgia. Issued in limited editions, each cel carries the Walt Disney Company Certificate of Authenticity Seal in the corner.
South Shore Furniture Vintage Collection Mirror, Classic Cherry
Featuring a classic cherry finish that exudes character and depth, this large mirror adds style and utility to any bedroom. It is designed to sit on the triple dresser from South Shore's Vintage collection, or hang on the wall to add practical functionality as well as a handsome room accent. The frame is constructed of engineered composite wood panels that carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and features a Louis-Philippe-style molding that perfectly matches the collection’s headboard. Other pieces in the suite include a tall chest, night table, queen-sized platform bed frame, and headboard that fits a full or queen bed. The mirror is covered by a 5-year warranty on parts and materials. Some easy assembly is required on arrival. Overall, the mirror measures 37 inches wide by 3 inches deep by 46 inches high.
Villeroy & Boch Flow 11-by-10-1/2-Inch Dinner Plate
Villeroy and Boch's Flow design features easy, fluid shaping meant to combine unique dazzling form with everyday function. The collection forms a sensual composition characterized by dynamic movements, taut surfaces, and a modern-day clarity. Crafted in Germany and Luxembourg from fine, white porcelain, the pieces are dishwasher- and microwave-safe. Offering many uses, the dinner plate measures 11 by 10-1/2 inches. Pair the plate with other pieces from the set, sold as open-stock for personalized selection and easy expansion.
Silikomart Silicone Holiday Bakeware Collection Cake Pan, Gingerbread House
This silicone cake pan measures 12.4 x 1.2 x 12.4 inches and provides an easy and great-looking way to bake your favorite treats. Silikomart's liquid platinum silicone offers several advantages over metal and traditional silicone molds, such as ultra flexibility for easy extraction of the finished product, odorless and smokeless silicone that does not add or take any flavors from food, guaranteed durability for 3000 uses, and safety: liquid platinum silicone products are safe to use in the oven, microwave, fridge, and freezer, and they can all be washed in the dishwasher. Made in Italy.
Casabella Smart Scrub Dish Brush
Casabella's Smart Scrub dish brush is sturdy with a comfort grip handle. Cross-action bristles have four times more scrubbing edges than standard brushes for superior, faster cleaning. Safe for non-stick cookware and dishwasher-safe, so you can pop the brush in the dishwasher for a deep clean. Features a built-in scraper edge for stuck-on food, and sturdy bristles that get into nooks and crannies. Measures 10 inches long and has a removable/replaceable brush head. Casabella cleaning tools, kitchen and bath accessories and organizing products have received numerous design awards and industry recognition for beautiful design and high-quality workmanship.
The BTX350 digital wireless Bluetooth speaker from Kinivo lets you seamlessly stream music from Bluetooth-capable smartphones, tablets, and computers. Simply turn on the speaker and sync with a Bluetooth-compatible device for up to 5 hours of wireless music, or plug the speaker into an outlet or computer with the included USB charging cable for endless playback. An included 3.5mm audio cable lets you use the speaker with iPods or other non-Bluetooth devices. A class-D amplifier provides high output sound performance, and bass boost, volume control, and forward/reverse buttons let you easily enhance or change songs directly from the speaker. The sleek, portable design measures 8 inches wide by 3 inches high by 2.25 inches deep--a small footprint to seamlessly blend into your surroundings or pop into a bag for travel--while still providing rich, clear sound.
Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter Walt Disney Limited Edition Animation Cel, Unframed
A spirited image from the Alice in Wonderland encounter between Alice and the wacky Mad Hatter, this unframed animation serigraph cel is a magical addition to a bedroom or nursery wall. Vividly colored and painstakingly created for a luminosity that echoes the film, the cel measures 14 by 11 inches and is easily framed and matted. A custom-framed version is also available. An extensive series, Disney animation cels are reproduced by hand from the original camera-ready animation stills. Their colors, lines, and details capture timeless film characters for lasting playfulness and nostalgia. Issued in limited editions, each cel carries the Walt Disney Company Certificate of Authenticity Seal in the corner.
South Shore Furniture Vintage Collection Mirror, Classic Cherry
Featuring a classic cherry finish that exudes character and depth, this large mirror adds style and utility to any bedroom. It is designed to sit on the triple dresser from South Shore's Vintage collection, or hang on the wall to add practical functionality as well as a handsome room accent. The frame is constructed of engineered composite wood panels that carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and features a Louis-Philippe-style molding that perfectly matches the collection’s headboard. Other pieces in the suite include a tall chest, night table, queen-sized platform bed frame, and headboard that fits a full or queen bed. The mirror is covered by a 5-year warranty on parts and materials. Some easy assembly is required on arrival. Overall, the mirror measures 37 inches wide by 3 inches deep by 46 inches high.
Villeroy & Boch Flow 11-by-10-1/2-Inch Dinner Plate
Villeroy and Boch's Flow design features easy, fluid shaping meant to combine unique dazzling form with everyday function. The collection forms a sensual composition characterized by dynamic movements, taut surfaces, and a modern-day clarity. Crafted in Germany and Luxembourg from fine, white porcelain, the pieces are dishwasher- and microwave-safe. Offering many uses, the dinner plate measures 11 by 10-1/2 inches. Pair the plate with other pieces from the set, sold as open-stock for personalized selection and easy expansion.
Silikomart Silicone Holiday Bakeware Collection Cake Pan, Gingerbread House
This silicone cake pan measures 12.4 x 1.2 x 12.4 inches and provides an easy and great-looking way to bake your favorite treats. Silikomart's liquid platinum silicone offers several advantages over metal and traditional silicone molds, such as ultra flexibility for easy extraction of the finished product, odorless and smokeless silicone that does not add or take any flavors from food, guaranteed durability for 3000 uses, and safety: liquid platinum silicone products are safe to use in the oven, microwave, fridge, and freezer, and they can all be washed in the dishwasher. Made in Italy.
Casabella Smart Scrub Dish Brush
Casabella's Smart Scrub dish brush is sturdy with a comfort grip handle. Cross-action bristles have four times more scrubbing edges than standard brushes for superior, faster cleaning. Safe for non-stick cookware and dishwasher-safe, so you can pop the brush in the dishwasher for a deep clean. Features a built-in scraper edge for stuck-on food, and sturdy bristles that get into nooks and crannies. Measures 10 inches long and has a removable/replaceable brush head. Casabella cleaning tools, kitchen and bath accessories and organizing products have received numerous design awards and industry recognition for beautiful design and high-quality workmanship.
Ad samples
LocalTwist deal site ad sample
LocalTwist deal site ad sample
Deal: $70 For 10 Weeks of Sgt. Mike's Endurance Boot Camp Classes at Gasworks Park ($149 Value)
Want to send stress, low energy, and love handles packing? Check out Sgt. Mike’s Endurance Boot Camp classes to jump-start getting fit—and have fun doing it! This 10-week session of classes will get you well on your way to looking and feeling great, and packs a major punch of endurance and cardio exercise into a small amount of time. Think about it—gathering with like-minded folks at serene Gasworks Park for a quick and dirty morning workout that’ll get you toned and focused, and save you an evening trip to the gym. And, yes, it’ll also make you feel less guilty about that donut you had for breakfast or the entire bag of chips you scarfed during The Office.
Sgt. Mike Lawson is a former NATO Commando (graduated #1 in his French Foreign Legion School) and his Boot Camp classes have helped train thousands of individuals in the Puget Sound area. The Redmond Athletic Club describes Sgt. Lawson as “Demanding, inspiring, knowledgeable, athletic, and tireless. Between the groans and the sweat, there is plenty of laughter in his classes. People say they view life a little differently after spending time in one of Mike’s classes or athletic training sessions.” I’m going to go ahead and read between the lines here: your increased energy and killer calves will make life a little rosier. Go get ‘em, tiger!
Want to send stress, low energy, and love handles packing? Check out Sgt. Mike’s Endurance Boot Camp classes to jump-start getting fit—and have fun doing it! This 10-week session of classes will get you well on your way to looking and feeling great, and packs a major punch of endurance and cardio exercise into a small amount of time. Think about it—gathering with like-minded folks at serene Gasworks Park for a quick and dirty morning workout that’ll get you toned and focused, and save you an evening trip to the gym. And, yes, it’ll also make you feel less guilty about that donut you had for breakfast or the entire bag of chips you scarfed during The Office.
Sgt. Mike Lawson is a former NATO Commando (graduated #1 in his French Foreign Legion School) and his Boot Camp classes have helped train thousands of individuals in the Puget Sound area. The Redmond Athletic Club describes Sgt. Lawson as “Demanding, inspiring, knowledgeable, athletic, and tireless. Between the groans and the sweat, there is plenty of laughter in his classes. People say they view life a little differently after spending time in one of Mike’s classes or athletic training sessions.” I’m going to go ahead and read between the lines here: your increased energy and killer calves will make life a little rosier. Go get ‘em, tiger!