What the heck is vermicomposting you say? Well here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: "Vermicompost (also called worm compost) is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by some species of earthworms (Red Wigglers: Eisenia foetida or Red Earthworms: Lumbricus rubellus). Vermicompost is a nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer and soil conditioner." 
We then went inside the farm owners' 100 Watt House and introduced ourselves and learned the ins and outs of composting on paper, then went outside to learn about all different types of compost: Hot, dump and run, and vermi. Then we made our own bins. This consisted of a rubbermaid roughneck tote with 2 holes in the lid and 2 on the sides that are plugged with vents. We added 5lbs of newspaper bedding (15 Independents torn into about 1 inch strips) and then some pond water to moisten it. 
And last >1lb of red wriggler worms from a local worm breeder (who knew there were worm breeders?)
After adding only about 1 pint of scrap food the first week, we have been adding to the bin when ever we cook. We are also adding paper like napkins, junk mail (non-shiney), and other little pieces of paper that we can't recycle. They are starting to break things down into a nice black compost. I can't wait to use it!
We traveled to Charlotte on Saturday to celebrate Alex's third birthday. She is really into princesses and hence the theme of the party. The event was at a little indoor kids "gym" called EncouraGYM which was really fun for everyone. There were lots of little kids she knew of all ages, and they just played and bounced off all the cushy surfaces. Even Lily had a great time (she even got into the theme)!
the weather would not cooperate. It ended up raining about 2 inches which is not so great for an outdoor afternoon. So we went to my sister's house where Alex opened all her presents. People may have taken the princess obsession a little too far as almost every present she opened was princess themed.
Here are the four we bought, which are now displayed above our stove (click on the pictures for a closer look):
On Saturday night, Amanda and I took Rich and Eileen, who were staying in Durham for a night, to Piedmont for a drink and we encountered Mark, one of the ART-Tenders. After chatting with him briefly, he drew my portrait on one of the famous Bev-Naps. Our dinner conversation had touched on my self-inflated role in the introduction of Brett and Ashley, so when the artist asked what I did, I jokingly said something about being a match-maker. And thus, was my new favorite piece of art, coined:
by Mark Cunningham
On Monday my mom spent the night at our house as a stop-over on her way to a meeting in Richmond. Nathan and I took her to a restaurant we have been wanting to personally try: Twisted Noodles.
Last night Nathan and I went to Franklin St. for an exciting evening of Tobacco Road Rivalry with our friends Dan, Kristen, Issac, Collin, Chad, Kyle, Mike, and Logan. UNC dominated Duke for most of the game, which excited all the UNC fans at Linda's! We cheered back and forth across the bar. "TAR" ---- "HEELS..." "TAR"----"HEELS!"
Whole Foods to check out the rain barrels. I've had my eye on them for over a month now - especially because Durham is in a severe drought, it's almost planting season, and since Nathan was replacing the tree he got for my birthday last year that died (see picture- dead tree on left and the new tree on the right). When we pulled in the parking lot we were greeted by loud summer invoking music and 3 tents set up in front of the store displaying local recycling options. A Scrap Exchange tent (my favorite place to get scrap fabric), a paper shredder company which recycles their shreds, and a vermicomposting tent. The vermicomposting box with worms was $65, such a complete rip-off! I am going to a vermicomposting workshop at Frog Pond Farm in March and they are only charging $10 for the workshop (pays to be a student) and $20 for the vermicomposting box and the worms! I've been wanting one ever since I started reading the blog 365 days of Trash. The rain barrels were also a rip-off... $100! My friend Michelle bought one in December, and they sold them for $80 then. So, we can infer that they are at least making a profit of $20 on each rain barrel - and probably a lot more! Whole Foods is making money off Durham's water crisis. So, after talking to my mom I left empty handed with the idea of making my own rain barrel.
By: Meghan Prichard, Staff Writer
Posterd: 9/21/07 In The Daily Tarheel
(Yes, I know this is old, but I wanted to document it before they took it off their website)
When captain Amanda Marvelle scores a touchdown for her flag football team, Weapons of Grass Destruction, she brings in nine points.
But when her opponent, captain Josh Meyer of the Decrepit Elders, scores the same touchdown, he only gets six points.
In co-recreational intramural sports, women score more points for goals than men.
"The purpose of the rule is to get women more involved," said Dustin Van Sloten, intramural sports director.
But the rule, which was established by the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, has larger ramifications, as some see it as an inequality for women.
"I feel that the national guidelines are outdated and insulting to women," said Barbara Osborne, a professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science and an adjunct law professor.
"There may have been a time when you needed to make accommodations for women to feel comfortable competing with men. … But those days are long gone."
This year there are 1,238 men participating in UNC's intramural sports program. But the number of women is more than four times that - with 5,584 participants.
Matt Ezzell, a sixth-year graduate student in the Department of Sociology, said the point rules are just one example of institutional discrimination in sports.
"The scoring discrepancy reflects a belief that women are not as capable and need allowances made for them," he said. "Changing sports rules for women implies that the real athletes are men."
But some intramural sports participants say the disparity in scoring is beneficial - for both men and women.
Mary Casale, a 2006 UNC graduate and an intern for intramural sports, said the rules help even the playing field.
"Especially in football, guys are just more dominating," Casale said. "If women only got six points, guys wouldn't care to have them participate."
All team members still must be good to win, Marvelle said, adding that they also must rely more on strategy to do so.
In addition to scoring differences, a female must be involved in at least every other play.
"The rule makes it harder to plan out plays and know who you're going to throw to," Meyer said.
With the rule, the Decrepit Elders team has developed a strategy to encourage female participation.
"We have plays drawn up to get girls involved," Meyer said.
The overall accommodations made for women also have had a positive effect on some of the team's interaction, Marvelle said.
Similar to flag football, basketball goals scored by women count for three points regardless of their location on the court.
Men follow traditional scoring rules.
"We've tried many different approaches to create an equal playing field for women," Van Sloten said.
According to a survey conducted by Intramural Sports, about two-thirds of survey participants responded that females should receive more points for scoring in co-recreational basketball.
Some schools require a female to touch the ball during every possession and even ban men from the free-throw lane, Van Sloten said.
"We took those two rules away because it affected the game as a whole," he said.
Since the original NIRSA rule book was published in 1985, other rule options have been provided, allowing individual schools to determine play level.
At N.C. State University, intramural sports follow the same NIRSA guidelines for flag football. But scoring is the same for both genders in basketball.
"We don't want to put any additional pressure on officials," said Rick Palmieri, coordinator of intramural sports at N.C. State.
And at Duke University, where basketball is the only co-recreational intramural sport, the rule book states that two women per team must be on the court at all times.
But as far as playing and scoring go, Mike Forbes, director of Intramurals, Sports Clubs and Recreation at Duke, said there should be no difference for men and women.
"Students shouldn't be coerced into trying to favor women being the ones that score," he said. "It cheapens the experience."
Despite the scoring and game play differences, many students said they find the policies acceptable.
"We're playing co-ed for a reason - so we can play with our friends that are girls, as well," Meyer said. "I think it's fair to do."
