The last time I participated in The Spring Cure ’07, I consolidated my many containers of change into one big container of change.

I then went to a Coinstar machine at my local grocery store and I turned my big box of change into $32! That was really nice

The Apartment Therapy Cure began again last Wednesday. I almost missed it! Luckily my apartment is still in decent shape from the previous Cure event. I don’t know if I can make the financial investment in this one as I did the previous one, but I can at least tidy up and complete the projects I started in the previous Cure.

This week: We’re reading the book through page 69, determining our personal style, and deciding whether we want to do the Deep Treatment or One-Room Remedy. I think I may do a little bit of both, but focus on specific areas: my office area and my craft area/bedroom.

On that same note, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an aquarium like these (See Google image search). Takashi Amano is evidently an influential person in aquaristics. He’s taken the art of banzai trees and applied them to underwater plantscapes.

Now you can have a camera that not only takes great photos, but can also upload them directly to your Flickr account. Genius!

Nikon CoolPix s50C additional features:

• 7.2 effective megapixels – While megapixels are almost always what sells a digital camera, it’s technically not the most important feature. Sure it’s great to be able to take a photo and blow it up to a 16×20 print but unless you actually need photos that large, chances are you won’t exactly use all 7.2 MPs.
• 3x Optical Zoom – This is nice. And I’m glad they don’t even bother mentioning digital zoom.
• 3″ LCD screen – This is definitely cool. Most digital cameras these days are featuring a larger LCD screen to view the photos you’ve taken easier.
• Optical Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization – Have you ever tried taking photos in low light without the flash and you discover later that your image was slightly blurry? This is a feature that’s supposed to help fix that problem and prevent you from seeing double. Although I’ve never had experience with this feature, I know I’ve had that problem with my old CoolPix 3200.
• High ISO 1600 – The new S50c auto adjusts to ISO 1600 which is great for when you need to take photos in low light without the flash. But with the high ISO setting comes noise and there’s no mention of a noise reduction feature. But perhaps it’s just not listed on their site. Let’s hope they address it!

Yes, folks, you read correctly. The self-proclaimed killer of all things that consume oxygen (with the exception of my beautiful Izzie baby who clearly has more than just a guardian angel on her shoulder) is going to try and grow stuff.

And no, I’m not just talking about the mold in the coffee pot. I mean actual living plants!

For as long as I can remember, my inability to keep plants alive is a reputation that has gradually worsened over the years. It wasn’t until college that my powers finally reached their full potential when my mom gave me a rosemary plant. Now, I’ve been told those things can survive the fallout of a nuclear bomb. And you know what? It lasted two weeks in my care.

But today, refreshed by determination to turn over a new leaf (no pun intended) and take a holistic approach to living, I stopped by Home Depot on my way from Petsmart and picked up some gardening supplies: starter seed trays, lavender seeds, chive seeds, a cilantro starter plant, an italian parsley starter plant, and some potting soil mix. Let’s hope I actually succeed this time!