Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking

Whether you are already familiar with her music or not, this TED talk is guaranteed to get you thinking ….and might even bring a tear.

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Gifts for the ungiftable

National present opening day arrives four short days from now, and as with most other years, I’d put a decent bet down that many of you still need presents for people in your life. If you’re facing difficulty finding that perfect gift, or you have a bit of money still to spend on yourself, below lists (because you know how much I love them!) 5 ideas that I believe can bring serious holiday and year round cheer to you and your loved ones.

First up:

(the links below take you straight to their donations page)

Kiva –the gift that keeps giving — give your friends $28 bucks -yes, 28. $25 so they can make a loan, and $3 so they can contribute to the operational costs Kiva needs to survive, and you will be giving a gift  (if invested well) with endless returns.  I’m nearing 1.5 years loaning to people on the other side of the world with Kiva, and I’ve already been fully reimbursed for my first loan and I’m on to my second. Kiva lays out a time line for recouping your loan, and as soon as you have it back, you can loan it to someone else! If you’re skeptical, you can watch this video and learn more.

Farnam Street– Odd blog name, great content. Outside of TED, Farnam Street is the most interesting and intelligent blog I’ve found with such a huge range of content that’s out there. Check it out & I think you’ll agree (& subscribe). http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/

Kickstarter– I don’t mean the organization its self, I mean the thousands of projects listed on Kickstarter. The link will take you to their discover page where you can find a project that you or a friend would enjoy being a part of, and in return, you can get the incentives sent to you or your loved one, that really make you feel like ya dun’ good.

Wikipedia– Do you know that Wikipedia solely lives on donations? That’s why you never see those super annoying ads while you search for the title of that famous head-cutting-off-painting Caravaggio’s daughter did so you can win the bet with your friend. …We all know it’s an amazing resource. Give the gift of knowledge and feel good about it.

If none of the above get you excited, go to your search engine of choice and type in:  “Local charity”. Your computer, able to ready your mind, will put up the most popular charity in your area. It should only take a few clicks from there to get  to their donations page. Make a cool card or fun email with information about the charity & let them get excited as they now feel invested in your community as well.

Let me know below where you love donating or volunteering & Happy Holidays!

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Once Again TED, You Rock Me

It’s an obnoxiously gloomy day here in NYC. The cold has set in. Wind is making the cold worse. And we are just waiting for this Nor’easter to strike our already vulnerable shores. I’ve snuggled up with my computer and a mug of tea to watch the British Antiques Road Show and try to catch up on my long list of online “to-dos”. Realizing I haven’t watched a TED video since before my travels in September, I popped over to ted.com & found this. …Thank you, TED, you’ve opened my eyes once again. Watch the video, and below I have the link to her organization if you want to learn more.

Nancy Lublin and her organization: http://www.dosomething.org/

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Day 1 of 21

Today’s first day of the 21 days of midsummer corresponds with my first day working on CBGB as the extras casting director.

Here is a photo reflecting how I feel. Do not be deceived by my frazzled look, I am INCREDIBLY excited, and I look forward to sharing more about my summer as the days continue.

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Write a Letter Day

Today, according to this Facebook event 726 people pledged to write a letter. Yes, a hand written, delivered by the United States Post Office letter. (See picture)

Writing letters is not unfamiliar to me. I had a pen pal during high school, and I’ve kept up with several friends from various stages of my college career through letter writing over the past 4 years, and have every intention of continuing.

If you are interested in taking part in the next Write a Letter event, there appears to be one planned already for October 15. Find out more here.

And if you hurry, you can still write a letter and get it picked up tomorrow when many of today’s letters are picked up!

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Tea & Fracking

Martha Francis and I have a lovely lunch at Alice’s Tea Cup in UES, and Marilyn Ellie on The Many Shades of Green chatting with Maxine Margo about the dangers of the Indian Point power plant and how effects of fracking!

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Walking Collaboration

I suppose it should stop surprising me when I read about people taking technologies’ advancements and using them in new and beautiful ways…but it does. I just read an article in the New York Times about a musical group called the  “Bluebrains” who have taken mobile GPSing and created an app which through following your location, tracks you as you walk around Central Park and cues up music inspired and recorded specifically for where you are in the park!

The project took a mere two years to come to fruition with over 400 songs making up the parks’ soundtrack.

Amazing.  Check out the NYT article here.

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