I have neglected my usual Thursday routine of late, and today, I’d like to get back to it. So here’s my list for today – Good Stuff about the Web.

1. My brother, Jeremy. Yes, my brother is on the web, and he is my webmaster. He is also the man who fixed the problems that were preventing so many of you from seeing my blog for the past couple of weeks. He is a kind, talented soul, and I am even more indebted to him now that I was ever before. A talented composer in addition to web guru, Jeremy has a great website that I hope you will all take time to visit. I highly recommend that you listen to “Tenchi,” a piece he wrote that garnered him a prize in Texas and a comparison to Stravinsky. It’s really beautiful.

2. Facebook. Now, sometimes Facebook really annoys me, especially before I figured out that I didn’t have to get an email every time someone sent me a “Li’l Green Patch Gift.” But most of the time I really enjoy it and find it a useful tool. Now, many of my students ask me questions about class there, and I get to hear snippets about people’s lives. It’s fun.

Facebook is also useful for promoting stuff. Yesterday, I created a page for the Speakers Series I helped to create at the College where I work (for the next 18 days – yeah!). So if you’re on there, join our group and get announcements about the great events we have.

3. YouTube. Please tell me you all know this great site where you can post and watch videos. Such fun and also so helpful in the classroom. I use this tool all the time when I need short clips for a class. It’s great.

Here are three of my favorite videos: LED Sheep, Filipino Inmates Dance to Thriller, and Where the Hell is Matt? – the Original and the 2008 Version. (I watch the 2008 version when I need a simple smile.)

Enjoy this stuff, folks . . . it’s some of my favorite “good stuff” around the web. And it’s especially good to have you all back. Now, go watch Matt Dance.

Filed by Andi at 5:01 am under Teaching Triumphs and Travails, Uncategorized
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This is a text I received from my friend Kathy on Monday night – “I have had a Neil Gaiman spotting. He’s wearing black.” And then, a few seconds later, this text came in – “I’m standing right next to him texting you.” Perhaps I would have gotten the full thrill of this if I had gotten the messages then, instead of three hours later, but still . . . my friend was standing next to Neil Gaiman.

This fact might have also been more striking if she and I hadn’t both been at Washington College in Chestertown, MD for the express purpose of hearing him speak . . . but still, she was standing near Neil Gaiman.

During the course of the evening he talked about this very idea of fame, about what makes us giddy to be near some people. He discussed that he’s at a “new level of fame” now – “I guess I have to do the Stephen Colbert show,” he said (I thought – “Yeah, that’s real torture, alright.). . . . But he seemed so gracious about it. Aware of his celebrity but also very human.

I have to admit I didn’t expect this. Perhaps it’s a testament to my own cynicism, but I expected him to be a royal A– (Note – no problems with swearing for me, but I’d hate to have someone Google Neil Gaiman and find his name and the word “a–” in the same search – that could be bad for my writing career.) Instead, he was charming and kind and utterly patient with the long line of students waiting to ask questions.

He also read a chapter from The Graveyard Book, and while I had been largely lukewarm to his writing before (Stardust just didn’t do it for me), I found his text and his reading voice to be absolutely engaging. What a fascinating concept to have a baby raised in a graveyard. Good stuff that.

My friend Kathy, bookstore maven that she is, got more of the skinny on this famous man when the bookstore manager who helped organize the event told her that Gaiman only turned down one “real” job in this live – to work for Penthouse UK. (Okay, so now when people Google Gaiman they’re going to get my blog with his name and the word “penthouse” – let’s hope they think “big apartment”). He turned down this gig – so the rumor mill tells me – because he didn’t want to be tied down or roped into a structure that didn’t give him complete freedom in his writing. Man, that sounds good doesn’t it – absolutely discretionary time to write. Wow!

So this reading, in addition to putting me within two degrees of separation from one of the most popular and best writers of our time, taught me a few things – one, there’s nothing better than listening to a writer read in the open air of a warm night; two, it pays to be kind, even when you don’t have to; three, Neil Gaiman deserves another read from me; and four, my friend Kathy is brazen and beautiful in her willingness to text me into her proximity with this writer.

Take a look at these images from the reading. They give you a bit of the flavor.

P.S. I started reading the Anasi Boys, and so far, so good.

Filed by Andi at 5:36 am under Uncategorized
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So much of the “green” movement, it seems to me, began when I was a kid and people started using that catchy slogan – “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” (It should be noted that while this phrase was catchy, it was not as catchy as “conjunction junction – what’s your function?” – An important recognition for an English professor.)

It seems, though, that most of us have glommed – at least until recently – only onto the recycle portion of things. We seem to be able to remember to throw our plastic in a different container or put the paper in the shredding pile rather than in the trashcan with the pizza crust. In San Francisco, I used to recycle much more of my trash than I did just throw things away to head to the dump. In fact, according to the San Francisco City website, the city recycles more than 69% of it’s garbage – holy moly!!! Compare that to the national average of 32.1%, and you can see how far SF is ahead of the game.

Thus, when I moved back to the East Coast, I had been acclimated to this recycling climate (and to the fact that I could get organic milk even at the corner market – this was a hard transition for me). Imagine my horror when I watched wise, kind people simply throw the green bean can in the garbage with the coffee grounds. Then, imagine my further horror when I realized there was no curbside recycling program here in my town and that I would have to drive across state lines, like I was delivering something more shady, to PA or DE to drop off my recycling. Something was amiss.

Fortunately, in the last three years, my town has started a curbside recycling program, and each week, I see a few more people taking advantage of it. But I still see lots of cans in plastic on garbage day, and I definitely don’t see most houses leaving out recycling for that Monday morning pick-up. It kind of makes me sad, but I realize that this is a process of education and it takes time.

So in honor of my dream of having people recycle everything they can (in addition to reducing their consumption and reusing materials before even recycling them – I am learning the other two parts of that slogan), I thought I would post links to three really innovative ways to “reduce, reuse, and recycle.”

1. Freecycle. This is a great network of folks who list materials they have to give away – furniture, toys, books – I even once managed to freecycle 25 wire clothes hangers. You simply post what you’re giving away or what you’re looking for and people respond to you. Be forewarned – this stuff moves fast, so it’s best to sign up to receive postings as soon as they come online (although I’d recommend filtering the messages into another folder in your inbox since there can be hundreds on a good day) and act fast if you want something. Most of the time the person “getting” something comes to the “giver’s” house. It’s safe and a very effective way to get rid of miscellaneous stuff.

2. Recycled Gifts. Several times in the last few weeks I have seen jewelry and housewares made from recycled materials. Take, for instance, [wired]; this company takes retired industrial materials and turns them into funky pieces of art. Or look at these gift ideas from Ten Thousand Villages; I love the recycled paper hot mat:
. If you’re just willing to look a bit harder, you can find all kinds of reused and recycled gifts that are unique and “green.”

3. Yard Sales. Okay, so this isn’t all that “new,” but it is a way to “recycle” your old items and “reduce” your consumption of new materials. For example, I need more plates. I keep throwing these dinner parties where 10-12 friends come over, bring food to share, and then have to eat off my dessert plates. This is not acceptable. So instead of buying new plates, I’m on a mission to make a unique and innovative collection of “one off” plates that I pick up at yard sales. No need to have the new stuff or all the packaging that comes with it – I can get great stuff for a great price and help someone reduce their clutter. Or I can have a yard sale myself. In a couple of weeks, my church is hosting a community day, and we’re having yard sale tables and craft fair tables alongside a free car wash and kids’ games. Individual people will make a little cash, folks will get to know the church, and we’ll provide some fun for the community. Good stuff all around. For tips on great yard sales, visit the Yard Sale Queen.

What wise ideas do you have for reducing, reusing, and recycling? Anything particularly innovative? Please share.

Filed by Andi at 6:07 am under Uncategorized
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My brother the wizard webmaster has been working at this, and we may have fixed the problem. If you get my blog through Google Reader, can you let me know if you see this post?

Also, if you’ve been getting that weird no permission error, can you let me know if you can see this post now?

Thanks so much. A real post later.

Filed by Andi at 5:27 am under Uncategorized
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In the past few days, I’ve been involved in quite a few conversations or heard several people talk about the need to “let go.” This idea particularly impressed me when I was sitting in Sunday School yesterday and hearing people express exactly what I struggle with – the need to control and make things “work the way they should.” Wow! Boy, do I ever think that!

When things aren’t going the way I THINK they should, I feel the need to manipulate the situation, to get MY results out of it. I want people to feel better, even when they can’t. I want people to act better, even when they won’t. I want the world to be better, even when I know that’s not always possible. In the end, the only thing that happens is that I get weary and the people around me are annoyed.

This morning, as I was reading Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge, I was struck by just how much of a habit this is for women. Almost every woman I know feels the need, at least on some level, for things to be perfect. We talk about “setting boundaries,” or “putting on the show we need to be put on,” or “doing it ourselves” because it’s easier that way. And while there is some element of truth and reality in all of these statements, I think they also often come out of a deep wounded place that says that we aren’t good enough as who we are. Instead, we must do more, be more, STRIVE more. At least I know that’s how I think.

After Sunday School yesterday, my pastor Jesse preached on lives of “scarcity” or lives of “abundance.” (He was borrowing from Tim Kimmel liberally). People who live lives of scarcity are always worried that there won’t be enough for them if other people get what they want – jobs, money, love. People who live lives of abundance take joy in when other people get wonderful things and know that our God is big enough to provide abundantly for all of us. Again, so true for me, and so often for me this is linked to control. I sometimes think that if I just do more – if I wear myself into the ground trying to control people and situations – I will get everything I need. That’s pretty sad.

The beautiful irony here is that I don’t have to DO anything to get that abundant life. God has promised it to me already. Jesus says, in John 10, that he came “that we might have life and have it to the full.” Imagine if I could must let go and live in that abundance. Imagine if all women could – how beautiful would be in our true selves if we stopped trying to make our jobs perfect or our kids perfect or ourselves perfect? What if we, what if I simply accepted that I am beautiful in my imperfection, that God’s strength (and beauty) are made perfect in my weakness?

What an abundant life that would be. Today, I will try to start that journey, and tomorrow, when I haven’t done so well today, I will start again. That’s the glory of days, right? We get to start over each and every morning – seizing hold of this prize for which Christ took hold of us. Life abundant – what a glorious idea.

Filed by Andi at 6:45 am under Uncategorized
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