5 Organic Air Fresheners

Would you like to use organic air fresheners in your household cleaning routine?

It's easy and inexpensive to make your own natural deodorizers and air fresheners.

(1) Herbal Air Freshener

Make a herbal infusion. Place about a cup of fresh herb leaves into a blender. Pulse to mash it up.

Place the pulp in a teapot and cover with 1-2 cups of boiling water. When it cools, pour it all into a glass jar with a lid. Place in the refrigerator and let it steep for 4-5 days. Strain the liquid into a clean jar and cover with a lid to store.

To use, pour into small bowls and place in different parts of the house to deodorize the air. You can also place the liquid in a spray bottle and spray, but be careful not to let the liquid fall on wood furniture.

(2) "What's Baking?" Air Freshener

This is wonderful and so easy to do. Place cloves, cinnamon sticks, and whole nutmeg in a pan. Cover with enough water that it will gently simmer for about an hour. The fragrance will make your house smell as if you're baking cookies and pies.

(3) Citrus Air Freshener

Place a few slices of any citrus fruit—lemon, lime, grapefruit, etc.—in a pan with enough water to cover it. Simmer in the pan for about an hour.

This will make your house smell great plus if you place the citrus and water in an aluminum pot to simmer, it will clean the pot and make it shine.

(4) Baking Soda

Baking soda places in an open container—any small bowl, pretty or plain—will clean the air. Use it in your refrigerator or closed closets.

(5) Houseplants

This is a beautiful way to clean the air in your house. Many plants absorb and neutralize air pollution and works well in enclosed spaces. Use plants in every room.

Those most effective are: aloe vera (removes several toxins), English ivy (removes benzene), potted mums (removes several toxins), spider plants (removes formaldehyde), and many others.

I blogged about houseplants before. Read Use Your Green Thumb for a list of plants that clean the air and help you sleep better.

Takeaway Truth

Natural products clean as effectively as chemicals and without the hazards posed by chemicals.

Review: Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is the surprising title of an American true crime documentary directed by Mark Lewis and released on Netflix on December 18, 2019.

You may have missed this 3-episode series about the manhunt for a budding serial killer because it hit Netflix right before Christmas. I mean who wants to watch something gruesome during the Christmas holidays?

Well, my curiosity was piqued by the title (Don't F*** With Cats) and by the tagline, Hunting an Internet Killer. So Darling Hubby and I watched.

If you know anything about serial killers, you know the warning signs about these psychopaths. Canadian murderer Luke Magnotta had them and displayed his torture and killing of a kitten in a video he posted online.

Two people in California saw the first horrifying video and raised an outcry. From that, a "movement" that crossed countries and oceans was formed with the purpose of finding this young man who was torturing and killing cats.

They didn't rest in finding the identity of this guy who didn't stop in his thirst for internet fame. Though blocked at every turn by red tape and police officials who dismissed their "evidence" and their assertion that this cat killer would escalate and eventually murder people, they kept at it.

With people in several countries working on this as their personal quest, they did track him down. The documentary is the story of how they did it. Unfortunately, police and government officials didn't pay attention until Magnotta had escalated and murdered someone.

This documentary series is compelling, nail-biting suspense. It's like a bird's eye view of the escalation of a serial killer and the group of amateur online sleuths who launched the manhunt that finally brought him to justice.

Takeaway Truth

Kudos to Director Mark Lewis for bringing this story to the mainstream in a documentary that shows what can happen when concerned people join together with the worthwhile goal of getting a dangerous man off the street and bringing him to justice.

Quotations: Cold Weather? Write!

"I like the cold weather. It means you get work done." —Noam Chomsky

That's what I did today. Too cold, for me, to go outside.

I stayed inside and worked on my new book.

Takeaway Truth

Maybe if I had enough cold days in a row, I'd get caught up on writing and accounting.

Enjoy the cold.

Fair Use and Song Lyrics

Music frames our lives, and song lyrics inspire our imaginations.

As authors, we would love to quote song lyrics in a book, wouldn't we?

I'm here to tell you that song lyric  copyrights are some of the most guarded intellectual property.

Before you quote a song lyric, make sure you have an understanding of Fair Use.

In the United States, Fair Use is the principle that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights owner.

The complex doctrine of Fair Use is for purposes of review or scholarship. Read here to learn more about this issue that's of great importance to writers.

When To Claim Fair Use

Professional writers need to learn the legal issues regarding what they publish in books as well as on the Internet.

This is a sticky situation because a lot of writers think they can quote any material as long as they provide attribution.

That's an idea that can land you in the kind of hot water that requires lawyers and deep pockets. Be very careful, and read up on the subject before you quote anything.

Song Lyrics

As much as we all love music, it's natural we'd want to quote it in blogs and books and such. You can't claim the doctrine of Fair Use to do that. Fair Use does NOT apply to song lyrics. If you quote a lyric, you must have permission.

Surprisingly, it's rather simple to gain permission to use song lyrics. Several years ago, one of my friends quoted a Bob Seger song and obtained permission for free. She'd tried Seger after her first choice had named a mind-boggling fee to use one of his lyrics.

No Under The Radar

There are some artists who will never agree to have their lyrics used in any way. They will also diligently pursue litigation no matter how small the fish is.

Don't think you can publish "under the radar" because no one knows you. That's a myth in this age of web crawlers that can find anything with a simple Google Alert or something similar.

Song Lyrics and Rights Owners

If you want to find out who owns the rights to lyrics, do some research at one or more of these websites:

• ASCAP 
• BMI 
• SESAC 
• Music Services 
• Wikipedia 
• Music Publishers Association of the United States

Takeaway Truth

Don't wreck your career by illegally using a song lyric. Take the time to find out who has the legal rights to a song lyric before you even think about quoting it.

3 Apps Make Life Easier

There are thousands of free apps available, but you probably don't have time to search for them.

Here are 3 Apps I find especially useful.

(1) PageRank Checker

If you want advertising clients for your website, you need a good Google PageRank.

Created by Larry Page of Google, PageRank rates the popularity of websites based on a proprietary algorithm incorporating the number of unique visitors, the use of SEO on the site, the frequency of updating the site, and other secret formulas.

If you want to check your own PageRank or the rank of a website you're considering using for promotion, use the free app, PRChecker.

(2) Create Your Own Globally Recognized Avatar, or Gravatar.

A globally recognized avatar, or Gravatar, is the tiny picture or thumbprint that appears in the address bar. You can create your own using a photograph or logo and have it show on your blog, website, or pop up any time you make a comment on a blog. Gravatar makes it easy.

(3) Get Human.

Need a company's customer service number? The app Get Human is just what you need. Just fill in the company name and search.

I save apps like the above in a Search Engine folder I call "Magic Tricks" because that's how I think of them.

Takeaway Truth

Drop by every Monday for a tech tip, app, or life hack to make your life and/or work easier.

Review: Do the Work by Steven Pressfield

I've had a Kindle copy of Do the Work by Steven Pressfield for several years. This book is small but powerful. Simple yet profound.

Every now and then when my motivation lags, usually due to life crap over which I have no control, I read that little book again to get me moving forward.

About Do the Work

First published in 2014, the book is ever fresh and always inspiring. The 1,192 reviews averaging 4.2 out of 5 stars speaks well of this little book.

"Could you be getting in your way of producing great work? Have you started a project but never finished? Would you like to do work that matters, but don't know where to start?"

If that describes you and your latest project, you need to read  Do the Work. You'll see that it's not about getting better ideas. It's about getting off your butt and doing the work. Get moving.

Pressfield described his book this way.

"Do the Work is structured to take the reader from A to Z. If the reader has a project they want to start or complete, such as a new business they want to open or a book they want to write, Do the Work is designed to take them from starting to shipping to hitting all the predictable resistance points along the way.

"I know you’re familiar with these moments; The beginning, the middle, and all the moments in between just before you ship and then just after you ship. Do the Work guides you from the start of the project and takes you all the way through. It’s about getting off your behind and starting something."

Takeaway Truth

What's holding you back? Maybe you need a boot in the butt? Read Do the Work.

Saturday Share: 4 Organic Cleaners With Lemons

Do you love the smell of fresh lemons? I do.

I also love that you can use lemons for inexpensive cleaning compounds that are safe and effective.

A big plus to these cleaners is that lemon juice can deter common insects like ants, spiders, etc. 

Organic Cleaners With Lemon

1. All-purpose Lemon Spray Cleaner

Squeeze a couple of lemons into a measuring cup. Pour through a strainer to remove seeds. Place strained juice in a clean spray bottle. Add an equal amount of white vinegar and water. Shake to mix.

2. Garbage Disposal Cleaner

Save your lemon rinds in a container in the freezer. Toss a few frozen citrus peels into your garbage and run with a small stream of water. It will freshen and deodorize the disposal.

3. Sink Cleaner

Take half a lemon and dip into household baking powder. Then use that to scrub the kitchen sink. Lemon juice removes lime and calcium buildup. You can use it on the kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, or toilet bowls. When finished with the task, toss the lemon into the garbage disposal.

4. Cutting Board Deodorizer

Wash your cutting board first. Then rub half of a lemon over the surface to act as a simple bleach and deodorizer. Let the juice set on the board for about 10 minutes then rinse and dry.

Takeaway Truth

Why buy cleaners containing chemicals that may be bad for your health and the environment? Make your own from naturall ingredients.