I live in metro Detroit. I work in Lansing, around Michigan, and wherever else a project might take me. I like making things. Follow my video production experiences over at Tell Stories, watch me risk life and limb trying to make things grow in The Ferocious Gardener, or scroll down to see what other shiny things have caught my attention.Tumblr (3.0; @7homas)http://strangecow.com/<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzjkvrfGux1r5fwoio1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I still say our back yard would be better with a goat.</p> <p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://anachronisticdecay.tumblr.com/post/17824309621/goat-looking-at-the-full-moon-by-xtremepeaks-on">anachronisticdecay</a>:</p> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtremepeaks/6740050473/" title="goat looking at the full moon">goat looking at the full moon</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtremepeaks/">xtremepeaks</a> on Flickr.</p> </blockquote> </blockquote>http://strangecow.com/post/18186618919http://strangecow.com/post/18186618919Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:37:55 -0500<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzpd2up3HJ1qduom2o1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzpd2up3HJ1qduom2o2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzpd2up3HJ1qduom2o5_r1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><p>Sweet:</p> <blockquote> <p><span>Created by Yale-graduates Caspar Lam and YuJune Park of </span><a href="http://www.synopticoffice.com/">Synoptic Office</a><span>, </span><a href="http://www.synopticoffice.com/project.php?projectid=1&selectedcol=1">Alphabet Topography</a><span> is a physical examination of letterforms as it relates to usage frequency. </span></p> </blockquote>http://strangecow.com/post/18009970920http://strangecow.com/post/18009970920Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:41:24 -0500typography<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzi5u88Grn1qjq5r9o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://batesnursery.tumblr.com/post/17725548843/jannephotog-good-can-a-font-help-a-city-make" class="tumblr_blog">batesnursery</a>:</p> <blockquote><p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://jannephotog.tumblr.com/post/17725325042">jannephotog</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://good.tumblr.com/post/17723024192/can-a-font-help-a-city-make-a-comeback-designers">good</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Can a Font Help a City Make a Comeback?</strong></p> <p>Designers in Chattanooga, Tennessee have distilled the city’s burgeoning creative spirit into a typeface called Chatype. The goal is to help the city and its businesses forge a distinct and cohesive identity through custom typeface, sending a visual message to the world that Chattanooga—a rapidly growing city in the midst of a creative renaissance—is “more than just your average Southern town.”</p> <blockquote> <p>“If you think of a brand as a story, [Chattanooga] has an amazing story,” Trischler says. “If you look at the visual brand, it doesn’t back up that story.” Perhaps the sleek new font can help tell that story a little better. </p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.good.is/post/can-a-font-help-a-city-make-a-comeback/">Read about it on GOOD<span>→ </span><em> </em></a></p> </blockquote> <p>Ooohh, interesting….</p> </blockquote> <p>forever reblog.</p></blockquote> <p>Sweet.</p>http://strangecow.com/post/17759883771http://strangecow.com/post/17759883771Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:56:06 -0500<iframe width="400" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YQIMGV5vtd4?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>See also: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092494/">*batteries not included</a></p>http://strangecow.com/post/16979966603http://strangecow.com/post/16979966603Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:11:10 -0500<p>Eek.</p> <p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://batesnursery.tumblr.com/post/16521070045/the-official-guide-for-80-million-gardeners-and-a">batesnursery</a>:</p> <blockquote> <blockquote>“The official guide for 80 million gardeners and a staple on seed packets reflects a new reality: The coldest day of the year isn’t as cold as it used to be. So some plants that once seemed too vulnerable to cold can now survive farther north. It’s the first time since 1990 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated the map and much has changed.”</blockquote> <p>—</p> <p><a href="https://www.mail.com/1001932-federal-map-what-to-plant-reflects-warming.html#.23140-stage-hero1-14">New federal map for what to plant reflects warming - US news</a> (via <a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://humulus.tumblr.com/">humulus</a>)</p> </blockquote>http://strangecow.com/post/16521146051http://strangecow.com/post/16521146051Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:34:34 -0500<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls3xjuVLSi1ql6896o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>The other day I celebrated my 200th post over in my gardening blog, <a href="http://ferociousgardener.com">The Ferocious Gardener</a>. If you like food and things that grow, check it out!</p>http://strangecow.com/post/10848525263http://strangecow.com/post/10848525263Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:08:19 -0400200autumnflowergardeningsalviaseed savingseeds<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls98s7oFYY1qcekelo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>At Comerica Park for the last regular-season Tigers game of the year!</p>http://strangecow.com/post/10782212453http://strangecow.com/post/10782212453Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:50:31 -0400detroittigersbaseballcomerica park<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls1w959nyb1qll2odo1_250.png"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://patiofarmer.tumblr.com/post/10617794957" class="tumblr_blog">patiofarmer</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Fair fight? Alas, no. But Tyrese had vowed not to kill for food anymore and felt pretty good as a vegan these days. It was the giraffe’s lucky day.</p></blockquote>http://strangecow.com/post/10646748323http://strangecow.com/post/10646748323Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:39:05 -0400“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.”<br/><br/> - <em>Noam Chomsky (via <a href="http://cultureofresistance.tumblr.com/">cultureofresistance</a>)</em>http://strangecow.com/post/10574847141http://strangecow.com/post/10574847141Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:55:23 -0400noam chomskyanarchismfree speechpoliticsquotes<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrqxdf62Qb1qcekelo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Our first time on the Detroit People Mover. If you’ve always avoided it, you’re missing out!</p>http://strangecow.com/post/10386526422http://strangecow.com/post/10386526422Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:27:15 -0400detroitmass transportationtrainpeople movermonorail<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrlivh8fKa1qcekelo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Close up of cricket on my car.</p>http://strangecow.com/post/10266283110http://strangecow.com/post/10266283110Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:26:04 -0400cricketcargrand am<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrkff9xLRo1qcekelo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Congrats to my newly-married friends!</p>http://strangecow.com/post/10238371916http://strangecow.com/post/10238371916Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:13:57 -0400weddinglovefriendshiptreewoodmichigan<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr4lxx9uBh1qcekelo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Just had a blast playing my first softball game in something like ten years, even if we got rocked. Thanks team”Big Foot (in association with Tell Stories) presents a softball team!”</p>http://strangecow.com/post/9897155977http://strangecow.com/post/9897155977Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:13:09 -0400softballeast lansinggame<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr0vkbABOS1qcekelo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Sweet 3D cityscape, in the window of a shop in Royal Oak.</p>http://strangecow.com/post/9810637528http://strangecow.com/post/9810637528Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:50:34 -0400royal oakartcitymichiganfire escapr<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr0rglp12D1qcekelo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Starship at Arts Beats & Eats in Royal Oak.</p>http://strangecow.com/post/9807059998http://strangecow.com/post/9807059998Sun, 04 Sep 2011 18:21:57 -0400royal oakmichigandetroitstarshiparts beats & eats<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqpunjsxpx1qzndtfo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://egdetweiler.tumblr.com/post/9576174652" class="tumblr_blog">egdetweiler</a>:</p> <blockquote><p><a href="http://y10k.tumblr.com/post/9567635026" class="tumblr_blog">y10k</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Found on the 6th floor of the abandoned Michigan Central Station, Detroit.</p> </blockquote></blockquote>http://strangecow.com/post/9584004475http://strangecow.com/post/9584004475Tue, 30 Aug 2011 07:38:50 -0400<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpm01idbEW1qzy64do1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://oldboychoi.tumblr.com/post/9316037295/passive-solar-active-welding" class="tumblr_blog">oldboychoi</a>:</p> <blockquote><p><strong>How one undergrad built the largest solar farm in Michigan</strong></p> <p><a href="http://permatech.tumblr.com/post/9282125777/passive-solar-active-welding">permatech</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>How one undergrad built the largest solar farm in Michigan</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong>Building a solar farm isn’t hard if you have the money; you just pay contractors to show up, install electrical service, build the solar panel support infrastructure, and truck in the panels. But if you want to do it cheap, you could buy some land from a friend and set up your own fabrication shop, spending an entire summer welding together 50,000 pounds of structural steel and pouring concrete around 20,000 pounds of rebar to save serious cash on the infrastructure.</p> <p>Connor Field, a Michigan resident who built the largest solar farm in the state this way in late 2009, said drily, “I would not do that again.”</p> <p>“Do you know how to weld?” I asked him when we met recently in Ann Arbor to discuss the project.</p> <p>“I do now.”</p> <p>via <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/08/how-one-michigan-undergrad-built-a-150kw-solar-farm.ars">Ars Technica</a>, <a href="http://microbatdynamo.tumblr.com/post/9255279693/passive-solar-active-welding">microbatdynamo</a></p> </blockquote></blockquote> <p>It’s great to hear about people who are dedicated enough to make something overly ambitious work!</p>http://strangecow.com/post/9317596775http://strangecow.com/post/9317596775Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:01:06 -0400michiganenvironmentenergyrenewablesolartechnologyinnovationambition<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpzdqeHtp81qcekelo1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpzdqeHtp81qcekelo3_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpzdqeHtp81qcekelo2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><p>This past weekend E and I enjoyed dinner at Los Galanes in Detroit’s Mexicantown. The Bagley Pedestrian Bridge was just past the restaurant, crossing over <strike>M-10 (a.k.a. the Lodge)</strike> I-75 [edit: thanks for the correction, LivingInTheD!]</p> <p>There was a crazy sunset in a thunderstorm that night as we were driving down - check out the rainbow over the bridge in the first photo.</p> <p>Last photo is a 360 degree panorama taken with Dermander for iPhone. You can pan it in a viewer on their website: <span><a target="_blank" href="http://pnr.ma/eMvsIk"><a href="http://pnr.ma/eMvsIk">http://pnr.ma/eMvsIk</a></a></span></p>http://strangecow.com/post/8958193316http://strangecow.com/post/8958193316Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:56:00 -0400DetroitBagleyBridgeMexicantownarchitectureexpresswaypanorama<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpvgkvO8sS1ql6896o1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>It’s time to make the hot sauce!</p> <p><a href="http://ferociousgardener.com/post/8866348525">ferociousgardener</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Jalapeños, santaka peppers, thai dragon peppers, tomato, scallions, cilantro, chives (and garlic), all from the garden and ready to go in the season’s first hot sauce.</p> </blockquote>http://strangecow.com/post/8866381448http://strangecow.com/post/8866381448Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:06:34 -0400pepperstomatohot saucegardenharvestcookingdiy<a href="http://www.7stopsmag.com/growth-and-decay/detroit-revitalization-plans/">Detroit is the New Detroit.</a>http://strangecow.com/post/8736927713http://strangecow.com/post/8736927713Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:23:04 -0400