Ben's Journal

This is an sweet little hack for using nothing but a laser pointer to build a microscope thingy: Plus, if you watch the video you...

Given my fondness for improvisation , renting Real Simple 869 New Uses for Old Things: An Encyclopedia of Innovative Ideas for Everyday I...

About a hundred years ago, before Barack Obama won his second term, and Super Storm Sandy Made an appearance, my parents came to town (OK, ...

This last weekend, I had about an hour of playtime with our 7 year old before we needed to meet back up with Shira. Given the success we...

A couple snuggling at Taqueria Poblano with a tablet on the table and the TV above - both showing election results. Awww, how sweet. ...

OK, I admit it - I've been feeling a bit of geek dad guilt over our 7 year old and his computer hacking skills. Mainly, I've foun...

I feel for this guy (or gal?), I really do. In an effort to help him out, I'm reposting his craigslist ad verbatim: Evil Genius nee...

Yesterday was a first: I tagged along with our 7 year old's class to act as a chaperon for their trip to Cox Farms . When I arrived, I ...

Yesterday, I came across this announcement : Newt Gingrich will appear at a New American Energy Opportunity Foundation “Gas Can Man” eve...

Shira and I thought we had Halloween under control for our 7 year old. We had a costume he loved, the Black Ninja , and was comfortable to...

I was making my way through New Uses for Old Things , and was surprised to read such high praise of Olive Oil as a multi purpose tool. I ...

This last weekend my parents were in visiting, and my Mom brought her brand new Kind Fire HD . While I didn't get to play with it a lo...

I'm pleased to say we made it through Hurricane Sandy unscathed. There was a whole lot of wind and rain, but for us personally, not a ...

We're just hanging out, waiting for Sandy to show up. It's been raining steadily since last night and the wind seems to be picking ...

I'm actually a little surprised how calm the folks in the region seem to be. I usually use the bread isle at Giant as a measure of how s...

Knowing my appreciation of Dental Floss Shira passed me this article: Jailers worry about dental floss as a weapon : Experts say floss,...

I never really gave much thought to pencil sharpeners. That is until we had a 7 year old come to live with us. At that point, #2 pencils b...

I love that we're now catching the tail end of sunrise on our way to the bus stop. Sure, it's getting chillier in the morning, but...

Happy Birthday Mom! I know what you're thinking -- how sweet of my children to buy me this fancy new ... Thing . Now what should I d...

This weekend I picked up a Listo Pencil for $2.00 at my favorite variety store . The Listo is a marking pencil, sort of like a grease penc...

I do love a lightweight crowd sourced art project , and last night it hit me that we could do an easy one for Halloween. Here's how it ...

Everything you think you know about riding your bike is wrong. Everything. At least that's what the thesis of Just Ride: A Radically Pr...

Last Friday afternoon I noticed that the bookmark toolbar on one of my browsers was empty. It's usually filled with essential links. N...

I was peeking at Mitt Romney's flickr stream and came across this photo: Am I missing something, or is this a photo he probably d...

Shira and I had Date Night tonight - we went all out and arranged for a sitter and made our way to D.C. After take a pleasant stroll thr...