The Canadian Arms Whisky Club's first annual pumpkin carve-off was a rousing success:















My entry:















And Trevor's:















Also a big yay for my first (successful, it seems) try at vegan mac and cheese for Sanchez, and for composting or recycling almost all of our waste. We are such hippies.

After a year or more of brewing mugicha on my fire escape next to some sad terra-cotta pots that contained equal amounts of dried-up organic matter and cigarette butts, and after a rash of move-outs on my floor of my building, I decided it was safe for me to do some commandeering:















I know, it doesn't look like much, but I am banking on that basil and parsley to grow like the dickens. And I do have another pot waiting in the wings for some other delectable. Maybe arugula?

Oh, and speaking of urban gardening, I finally got an avocado off the tree in the backyard before that squirrel got to it. You know the one: lustrous coat, a look of contentment in his gleaming eyes, plump little body, and a big ol' fluffy tail (as compared to the squirrels that subsist on french fries in Mosswood Park: greasy, eyes full of mistrust and fear, emaciated, with tails like half-eaten corn cobs).

Anyway, although he can climb quite well, he always snags the low-hanging fruit and eats only the tops or just takes a few bites out of them to render them useless, and then leaves them in the picnic area to taunt me.















This is my coup!



















Victory never (presumably) tasted so in need of a good week in a paper bag on my countertop.

Bead-Making Helps Ugandan Women Shed Poverty

The women of Kampala make the beads out of magazine paper. BeadforLife, the Colorado nonprofit behind the movement, imports and sells the beads at bead parties and online, and the money goes back to Kampala to buy land and build homes, send children to school, and help the women start businesses and improve their health through malaria treatments and mosquito nets.

"The draw is the beads, but really, it's an opportunity to get a discussion going about extreme poverty and how if we work collectively, we can change people's lives."

Gorgeous beads and a fantastic cooperative. This is why women are often the ones to get it done.

For more information see Bead For Life.