Alternatives to mall shopping for Black Friday

Grist.org has a nice list of things people do on Black Friday instead of shopping. Since I stopped shopping at the malls for Winter Holiday presents, my need to watch "Die Hard" as my Christmas movie has decreased considerably. I like the movie marathon idea as well as the nature hike. This year, we're once again doing mostly handmade or edible presents since most of our relatives and friends have too much stuff already. Perhaps you might find an idea worth doing on this list.

Solar & Wind power going mainstream

I'm back from vacation, all rested and relaxed, with over 500 pictures of birds and landscapes. It will probably be a week or so before I finish processing them, a fairly tedious but necessary task, so I was very pleased by today's Grist email containing two articles about non-fossil fuel power generation. Apparently, big power companies are investing in solar power. Finally! Read the details here.

Secondly, there's a pretty map showing how much of each state's total electrical power could be supplied by wind power generation within their state. Talk about going local! There's also a link to the full report about energy self sufficiency. Read it here.