August 2013 | the ReFab Diaries




I spotted this idea on Pinterest about a year ago and left a comment asking for a tutorial. Guess what? One popped up!  Care of Sheri at Awesome Sauce & Ass Hattery. 



There are so many beautiful, vintage tea towels, placemats etc out there.  I love the idea of using them to personalize a bland t-shirt. Thanks Sheri.  Click through for the complete tutorial. 









Yes. Loving this. Stunning upcycled installations by Edmond van der Bijl (aka akamundo). More of the same at akamundo.  (via)





This little blog of mine is extremely targeted so I'm rarely interested in the many promotional opportunities that the "real world" offers me. When this one came along, however, it felt like a fit. I'll explain why in a moment. First, a note about 23andMe. I remember when the service first appeared in 2006, promising personal DNA analysis to "regular" people. It sounded completely fantastical to me. It also cost $1000 - not a real amount of money in my ordinary-person world. But I tucked the idea away ... I was intrigued. 

I lost one grandfather to Parkinson's, the other to complications related to decades of managing diabetes. Hypothyroidism appears overtly in my maternal line. I recently turned 40 and I'm really healthy, in general. However, I'm old enough to start worrying a little about the possibility of all these nasty things showing up in my future. And here's why I think the ReFab Diaries is an appropriate place to post about a service like 23andMe: if you like what I do here, there's a good chance you share a certain set of values with me. If you're conscientious to some degree about the impact you have on the planet, if you appreciate old things (and history in general) and you're vaguely frugal, then you're not someone just blowing all your disposable income on stuff. Which begs the question, what do you spend money on? Perhaps you buy primarily high-quality or doggedly support handmade and/or local. Perhaps you spend money on experiences rather than things. Recently, I've been spending a little more money on taking care of myself. For example, I've been seeing a chiropractor for just over a year and I'm literally walking taller. Money very well spent. 

So DNA analysis; worth those carefully saved pennies? I'd argue yes. Because self-knowledge at this level, in the world we live in, is tantamount to a superpower. And because, for those of us who are rather thrifty, this knowledge now comes cheap: $99. In six years, the price of personal genetic service has dropped from $1000 to $99. Can you say, umm, serious value?? And yes, they operate internationally. Here's how it went for me (and since I had nothing scary show up, read this as full disclosure).
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