DIY Life

Mmm-mmm. Fresh basil. It's so very fragrant -- the indispensable ingredient in a host of mid-summer recipes.

My basil is lush, green and ready for picking. Okay, I don't have a whole lot of it out in my garden; however, I'm planning on growing a lot more next summer. In preparation for that lofty enterprise, I thought it'd be cool to find out how the expert basil-growers harvest their beloved herb. Here are some tips I picked up:

1. Know your basil. There are lots of varieties out there, and it's always good to know which one you have, as the flavors vary quite a bit between them. Chances are good that, like me, you've got the most common variety: Genovese sweet basil.

I have a love / hate relationship with word processing programs. On the one hand, it completely excites me that they are so technologically advanced that I can use them for almost anything I need -- from creating business cards and labels to inserting photos to make flyers and even scrapbook pages.

The hate part comes in when I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do what I want to do. No little dog or paper clip on the sidelines offers me the help that I need.

eHow has a simple tutorial on how to create a stationery template in Microsoft Word. Did you know that MSWord comes with templates you can just fill in? Or, you can choose to create your own from scratch. eHow has easy, to-the-point instructions on how to do both.

What will I do with my new-found word processing skill? For starters, I think I'll make a personal stationery header for quick notes, thank-yous, and the like. Now that I know how to do it, the possibilities are endless.

Happy St. Patrick's day! Why not have some fun in your garden this St. Paddy's Day and sow a clover lawn. "But why would I want a clover lawn?" I hear you ask.

Answer: to give your leprechaun a nice place to frolic, of course! Or think of it as your way to honor the famous saint of the Emerald Isles, whose emblem is -- as we all know -- the shamrock, or three-leaf clover.

According to WikiHow, the best kind of clover to grow here in the US is actually White Dutch Clover. (Don't worry, it still looks very Irish!) A good place to sow your seeds is anywhere that your pre-existing lawn was struggling due to unfavorable conditions, such as too much shade or poor drainage.

For even coverage, mix the clover seeds with soil and then spread that mixture around, raking it smooth as you go. Next, gently cover your seeds with a very thin (quarter inch) layer of soil. The last step is watering, which should be done every day until the seeds can be seen sprouting. Use only a very fine mist to water--anything more vigorous will disturb your baby seedlings.

My baby was overdue for her first haircut. She was getting an unenviable grizzly-old-man look thanks to all those straggly hairs falling over her ears and down her neck. Oh, and when dry winter air meets fleece baby clothes you get static electricity...making it stick up and out. Not good. But I was reluctant to pay for a salon cut when just a trim was all that was required. On the other hand, I'll confess I was very afraid I'd screw up and baby would end up looking like Lloyd, Jim Carrey's unforgettable buck-toothed character with a bowl-cut in Dumb and Dumber. So I did a little Web-exploration, seeking advice, then had a go. Here are some tips from me, inspired by other pointers courtesy of EHow. Check out my gallery at the end of this post to see how it went.

Bummed 'cause your hero Evel Knievel has passed? Well, maybe you can follow bravely in his footsteps by seeking a stunt career. Check out EHow's summary sheet on how to become a daredevil stunt artist. I'm tempted to categorize this one under "remodeling" -- yourself, that is!

Here are the main points: 1) become super-fit and muscular, 2) become adept at martial arts, gymnastics or some other physical and painful skill, 3) become really, really good at one or two specific stunt acts -- these will be your signature moves. Examples: stair falls (ouch!), high falls (ouch! ouch!), and car crashes (aaarrrrrgghh!!! ouch!). 4) Enroll in stunt actor school, 5) produce a resume with accompanying glamor shot, then 6) get out there and hang around on film sets and otherwise sniff out your first gig. Now, go get 'em, tiger!

The thing that puzzles me the most about this EHow feature: becoming a stunt person is listed as "moderately challenging." Huh? Only moderately challenging?!