I love knowledge Fridays

*I love knowledge Fridays* will be a weekly feature here on my blog. I thought about making it Mondays, but decided Fridays were better for weekend conversation. You know, when your out to dinner with friends or having a dance party at your place. The ILKF subject could be something you toss into a discussion (between dances of course) and impress all your friends with your KNOWLEDGE.

The phrase "I love knowledge" is from an episode of Designing Women. For those of you who might not know the show here's a brief plot summary  via IMDB

 Designing Women focuses on Julia Sugarbaker, a soft spoken southern woman and her ex-beauty queen and snobby sister Suzanne who own "Sugarbakers Design House" in Atlanta, Georgia. Their co-workers included the pretty red head Mary Jo and the sometimes dimwitted but also pretty Charlene. Anthony was a black ex-con just recently out of prison who got a job at Sugarbakers doing delivery work. The series mainly focuses on the five of them, but they got frequent visits from their friends, family and customers.

I don't remember the episode, but it's from the first season - here's how it went:

Mary Jo: And why do you know all the capitols of every country, Charlene?
Charlene: Because, Mary Jo, I love knowledge. As a matter of fact, I yearn for it.

 
I laughed my ass off, and have been quoting it ever since.
I hope you will too.

Dim Bulbs

Did you wonder why Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels mentioned a light bulb in his State Of The Union rebuttal?  Here's what he said, in case you missed it.

"In word and deed, the President and his allies tell us that we just cannot handle ourselves in this complex, perilous world without their benevolent protection. Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance, the wrong mortgage, the wrong school for our kids; why, unless they stop us, we might pick the wrong light bulb!"

Here's why.  New federal standards were to kick in after the New Year requiring 100-watt bulbs to be more energy efficient. Then Congress, in a bill passed this month to keep the government running, blocked enforcement of the law until October.

Four of today’s commonly purchased incandescent bulbs are targeted: 100-watt, 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt. Those numbers refer to the amount of power the light bulbs draw; they’re in the cross-hairs because much of the power they consume is released as heat, not light.

Sometime in October 2012 a bulb that puts out the same amount of light as today’s 100-watt bulb will be required to draw only 72 watts of power. In January 2013 and January 2014, similar new standards will go into effect for the three other light wattage.  The bulbs we know and love are on their way out. For all the right reasons in my opinion. (I could go on about the politics of  Gov. Daniels snide bulb remark, but will spare you my rant.)


 My hesitation in giving up incandescent has been 'of course' the efficient bulbs are so ugly!

Until now. Check it out.  LOVE.

Plumen 

Low energy light bulb

The Plumen 001 is the world’s first designer energy saving light bulb.
The energy saving light bulb is a neglected, yet inspiring invention. It uses 80% less energy than the traditional incandescent light bulb, keeps down electricity bills and is better for the environment. It also lasts around 8 times longer.

Despite this, we tend to buy them out of moral obligation. To some the problem is the light they give off, to others it is the way they look. Both can be solved. We believe the answer is in the design.
Make the bulb attractive and people will spend a bit more and enjoy a better quality of light and a design they appreciate every day. Glass tubes can be bent is many different shapes so why are there thousands of manufacturers but only three designs? Plumen aims to address the problem.
The name Plumen comes from the “plume,” the decorative feathers of a bird and “lumen,” the unit of light. You can purchase them through the Plumen  website or  West Elm.

Q:	How many procrastinators does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A:	One - but he has to wait until the light gets better.