I’ve hated to hear about the issues with people abusing the site and using it for unscrupulous activities, but that’s probably to be expected. There are always going to be those individuals that are just looking out for themselves and will take advantage of anything they can.

But back to my love affair with the site. The main thing that always amazed me about the site was that it was free for most posts. FREE. They always say there is no such thing as a free lunch, but this time – they were WRONG! Craigslist is great and it’s FREE for general posts!

The other thing that I really liked about the site is how it turned the whole newspaper classified advertisement business on its head. Not that I have anything against newspapers, I think think they’re fine. They certainly have played a monumental role in our history. However, the one thing I always hated was their advertising pricing. I still remember paying around $35 for a 10 word ad selling a vehicle. That’s greedy. But at the time it’s what the market would bear. There was no competition.

Funny how it’s true that the market will find a way to take care of itself in most cases. When it is out of equilibrium, it will adjust. The first adjustment to high priced newspaper classified ads was AutoTrader. I’m still a fan of theirs too for having photos and longer descriptive text. I hope there’s room in the marketplace for both AutoTrader and Craigslist going forward.

As far as my love affair with Craigslist, I go through spurts. I used to visit every single day. Partly because I was trying to furnish my new house and there really isn’t a better place to consistently buy quality used furniture as Craigslist. I also like to visit to see what amazing things people are selling at dirt cheap prices. I find it all so fascinating. I love a good bargain and this is a bargain hunter’s paradise.

I guess you could say I was addicted to Craigslist for awhile. However, ever since I’ve finished furnishing my house, I haven’t visited the site quite as often. Unless I’m in need of something specific like a kayak paddle or a new monitor for my computer (needed two monitors and found two great large flat panel LCD Dell’s for under $100 each). Sweet.

So knowing how much I love Craigslist, when I saw the history below I wanted to read all through it and then thought I would go ahead and share it with the Readers too. Just in case any of you are addicted to Craigslist too And just in case you were wondering, I am not affiliated with Craigslist in any way. I also did not receive compensation in any way for this post. I’m just a fan and in love.

Couple recycles 400,000 cans to pay for Wedding
By Lori Bongiorno

Photo: Tyson / Yellow House Photography

When Peter Geyer caught the garter at a wedding last fall, his girlfriend Andrea Parrish immediately dropped to her knee, pulled out an opal earring, and proposed to him. Parrish admits they had been discussing getting married, so she was kind of prepared for such a moment just in case it happened. “What better way to announce it to the family than with a big dramatic moment?” asks the 25-year-old marketing writer.

It seems Parish and her fiancé have a flair for creating buzz. Known as the “wedding can couple,” Geyer and Parrish have been in the news because they are paying for their July 31 wedding solely with the $3,800 in proceeds they earned from recycling 400,000 cans.

The Spokane couple reached their goal last week when over a ton of aluminum cans was hauled off their porch by a local recycler. They continue to collect cans to raise money for their honeymoon and to donate to Doctors Without Borders and Rim Country Land Institute.

How did they come up with the offbeat idea? Parrish said they quickly realized they’d have to save around $500 a month to pay for their wedding if they wanted to get married in a reasonable amount of time and avoid getting into debt. They didn’t have much extra cash because Parrish was laid off from her job right after they purchased a house.

Parrish and Geyer already had some experience collecting aluminum cans. Geyer, who works as a digital print technician, also melts cans down on his Weber grill and uses the metal to create art in his spare time.

Parrish came up with the idea to pay for their wedding in the middle of a sleepless night. She had just helped Geyer sort through some cans that evening and knew you could get money for aluminum by the pound, so she figured why not collect aluminum cans to fund their wedding and help the environment.

She woke Geyer up at 1 a.m. to share her plan. “When I told Peter about it, he kind of gave me a look that said this is a crazy idea, but you’re the type of crazy that can pull it off,” she says.

Indeed, Geyer was right. Parrish built a website and spread the word amongst friends and through social media. Alcoa donated 150,000 cans to the cause and United Recycling Services contributed another 73,000. And others are copying their idea to raise money for weddings and other causes.

Photo: Andrea Parrish

Their wedding will also be light on the planet. With only $3,800 to spend on a party for 150 people, there’s little room for excess and waste. The couple has focused on what’s most important to them (gathering their family and friends together for a lively celebration), and they’ve also enlisted help.

Here are some details about their DIY wedding:

Venue: Corbin Art Center in Spokane, WA. Cost: $1,000.

Food and beverages: The bride and groom are providing some food, but it is mostly potluck style. The groom has a friend who brews beer as a hobby so he’s contributing a keg or two. Parrish and Geyer are making the wine in their basement. The bride’s mom, who owns a catering and reception center in Idaho, is baking and decorating the cake. “We asked our friends to bring a potluck dish, bring yourself, and have fun, because that’s all we care about,” says Parrish.

Flowers: Parrish’s sister-in-law is growing all the flowers for bouquets and decorations.

Music: A harpist is playing free of charge during the service. Afterwards it’s “DJ by iPods,” says Parrish. Friends are creating the playlists.

Clothing: The matron of honor’s mother-in-law is sewing Parrish’s floor-length black, red, and white wedding dress. Total cost: $250 for the fabric, plus another $200 for the custom-made corset she’s splurging on. Geyer is sewing his own vest from fabric that cost $25. The couple is making ties for all of the groomsmen and telling everyone in the wedding party to wear whatever they’d like.

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These new electronic cigarettes contain nicotine so smokers will find that appealing. But the dangerous tar residues aren’t present that make second-hand smoke so risky. Will they catch on? We’ll have to see. In the meantime, check out this video for a nice overview…

For example, one test includes throwing a towel over a dog’s head and then seeing how long it takes for the dog to throw the towel off. Apparently on this test, Poodles were #1 and Basset Hounds were ranked the stupidest. So is that really a test of intelligence? We all know Poodles are high strung and high maintenance while a Bassett hound may just be a little mellower and laid back.

Put your doggie friend’s brain to the test with the Interactive Intelligence Games for Dogs. Treats can be hidden in the compartments and your dog will have to figure out exactly how to remove those treats. You can choose from Spinny (easy), Tornado (difficult) and Twister (most difficult) models.

You can check them out at this link: ThinkGeek.com

Japan Airlines – JAL – Boeing 747-446D.

Southwest Airlines – Boeing 737-3H4

Continental Airlines – Boeing 777-224/ER.

Alitalia – Boeing 747-243B – Advertising for Bulgari Designer Watches.

Japan Airlines – JAL – Boeing 747-446D.

Qantas – Boeing 747-438/ER

Flying dragon. This acrobatic airplane model has a very attractive ornamental painting.

All Nippon Airways – ANA – Boeing 747-481D.

Western Pacific – Boeing 737-301.

Etihad Airways – Airbus A340-642 .

Austrian Airlines – Airbus A321-111

German Tornado Formation Flight 2003 – st. Tornado (white with yellow/red flames) German Naval Airwing 2 Eggebek – now in a Museum
2nd Tornado (blue airbrush design) German Airforce – 31th Fighter Squadron Boelcke – now a Gate Guard
3rd Tornado (green coloured) – 38th Fightersquadron Jever – now scrapped
4th Tornado (in front with tiger colours) – 51th reconnaissance squadron Jagel – now scrapped
5th Tornado – 32th fighter squadron Lechfeld
The MiG 29 was the last MiG29 in the German Airforce

Slovakia – Air Force – Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29A (9-12A)

Astraeus – Boeing 757-23A.

Netherlands – Air Force – Fokker F-16AM Fighting Falcon.

Belgium – Air Force – SABCA F-16AM Fighting Falcon.

Air New Zealand – Boeing 747-4F6.

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Now it has taken on a new life as an optical illusion. Stare at this photo for just a few seconds and it will start to play with your mind. Have fun!

Afghan Girl by Photographer Steve McCurry

For those of you that might be interested – follow the link below to read more about Sharbat Gula the “Afghan Girl” in a follow-up story written in 2002, 17 years after original photo. National Geographic – A Life Revealed

The films featured at in the video are: The Enchanted Drawing (1900), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Ten Commandments (1923), Sunrise (1927), King Kong (1933), The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Thief of Bagdad (1940), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Forbidden Planet (1956), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), Mary Poppins (1964), Star Wars (1977), Tron (1982), Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Abyss, (1989), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992), Jurassic Park (1993), Spider-Man 2 (2004), King Kong (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), The Golden Compass (2007), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008).

British inventor Tom Lawton’s new eco-invention called the Firewinder offers a glimpse of things yet to come. For now it’s a 100% wind-powered decorative outdoor light, but how will this invention inspire Tom or others in the future? The ability to capture and use sustainable and renewable resources is the foundation of the environmental movement of today. Inventions like Tom’s set the path for future.

An early Firewinder® prototype hanging beside a busy road in an 8mph wind in Bath, England.

Inventor Tom Lawton with an early Firewinder® prototype in a 5 mph wind, outside a Georgian town house in Bath, England.

An early Firewinder® prototype hanging in a 10mph wind in Victoria Park in Bath, England.

Firewinder® hanging from a tree in an 8 mph wind, at Charlton Park, Wiltshire, England.

Firewinder® product and packaging

Firewinder® inventor Tom Lawton.

Firewinder – The Original Windlight from Firewinder on Vimeo.

Large scale Stanley Donwood piece painted on a side of a house in Ladbroke Grove in London. photo by artofthestate

Rainbow House in San Francisco. Named after a real woman named Rainbow. mybluemuse

Colorfully painted house in Basel photo by m.a.r.c.

Newlyweds Christian and Angela Hesketh, from Rochester in Kent, returned back from their honeymoon in 2000 to find that their house had been painted tiger skin by a friend. Unique wedding gift or prank?
telegraph.co.uk

Jason Gundy painted his house in Usk, South Wales, in a tribute to the Disney film 101 Dalmations. telegraph.co.uk

Artist Jens Werner Andersen from Norway painted his house in Burberry check pattern. He said he woke up one day and thought it would be a fun idea. The 33-year-old decided to turn his home, a former public lavatory building in Larvik, Norway, into a “gathering place for happy people. dailymail.co.uk

The Farm pub in St Werburghs, Bristol, was painted by graffiti artists Xenz and Paris. telegraph.co.uk

This is the home of window cleaner Vince Holden, 47, in Penrith, Cumbria. He attempted to brighten up his neighborhood by painting his terraced house pink with yellow spots. telegraph.co.uk

Lesedi Cultural Village South Africa photo by Anna Louise

Cape Town’s Bo Kaap quarter Photo by Mervyn Hector

This artistic endeavor goes beyond just painting the exterior walls of the house – an architect in Klagenfurt, Austria painted his entire house and everything surrounding it bright blue. Arty Peter Kaschnig said he wanted to see the psychological effects of living surrounded by just one color. telegraph.co.uk

Interesting concept apartmenttherapy.com

The brightly painted houses of Illulissat, a town in western Greenland where tourists travel to look at the icebergs.Photo: Reuters

This animated Pac-Man Christmas tree made of thousands of multicolored LEDs at the Nuevos Ministerios in Madrid, Spain was inspired by the classic 1980′s arcade game from Japan. clipset.net

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Zedomax.com shows us how they made the “geekiest” Christmas tree in the world. This futuristic tree is made out of LEDs, bathroom pipes, and an embedded cubloc module.

LED tree – you too can make this at home!

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This sushi Christmas tree is both creative and looks delicious!
sushiordeath.com

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This Grolsch beer bottle photo was taken in Montreal by David Callan.

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This Christmas tree made out of 1100 Heineken bottles was located on Nanjing Street, Shanghai. hem.feber.se

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Evoking a 12th century Central European tradition of hanging a tree from the ceiling at Christmas, Hammacher Schlemmer was selling this 7-Foot Upside-Down Pre-Lit Christmas Tree. Originally designed for specialty stores using a minimum of floor space enabling the tree to stand in places that could not accommodate a traditional holiday tree. hammacher.com

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Simple but effective Christmas tree using a home ladder and some ingenuity