This will be short and sweet.
If you haven't already heard, America's "Tornado Alley" has been besieged by devastating storms in the last two days, today especially. As of this writing, 51 people have been confirmed dead, including seven students in an elementary school that was completely obliterated.
Being as far away as I am, I'm not exactly in a position to do much. But here's what I can offer you.
1. If you live in the affected area and are able to get to a computer with internet access, the Red Cross urges you to register on their Safe and Well website. This will make it easier for loved ones to find out that you're alive and safe.
2. If you do not live in the affected area, but are visiting the affected area from another country, you should still register on that website. The Red Cross also urges you to contact your country's embassy or consular office and let them know that you're okay. Your loved ones can search for you on the website using an international phone number.
3. Suzanne Choney of NBC News has written a very helpful blog post on how you can help the victims of the tornadoes. Click here to read all about it.
Sending my prayers and condolences to everyone who's been affected by this.
Join me Mondays and Thursdays to laugh, to think, and to maybe change the world a little bit.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
World Fair Trade Day
This coming Saturday, May 11th, is World Fair Trade Day. Given that I work for one of the premier fair trade retailers in the world, this is naturally a pretty big deal for us. So my manager asked me to write an article about WFTD to send to local media. Our store's going to be having a big ol' party all day long, and if you live around here you should totally stop by. Meanwhile, here's my article, so you get an idea of why fair trade is so important.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Wil Wheaton's Wisdom
While trying to figure out what to share with all of you today, I stumbled across this fantastic video. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Wil Wheaton, I admit it. But he is unquestionably a goodwill ambassador for the world of nerds, and this is a perfect encapsulation.
Basically, Wil appeared at a convention in Calgary, Canada, and a woman in the audience asked him to tell her newborn daughter why being a nerd is awesome. And he did.
Not interested in loading the video, or unable to watch it at present? Imgur did a visual recreation of it with Wil's own speech. You can read it here.
Basically, Wil appeared at a convention in Calgary, Canada, and a woman in the audience asked him to tell her newborn daughter why being a nerd is awesome. And he did.
Not interested in loading the video, or unable to watch it at present? Imgur did a visual recreation of it with Wil's own speech. You can read it here.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Clearing Off the Cobwebs
It's been a crazy few months. If you're still here reading this thing, I'm very grateful.
I won't go into why I stopped updating. It wasn't a conscious decision. But the truth of the matter is that it's very, very easy to get into the habit of not doing something, even if doing that thing has been a habit for quite some time. The more important thing is that I'm back, and I'm going to force myself to get back into the habit of saying something here.
If you're new to this blog, hi. I'm Laura, and this is where I keep my brain. At least, parts of it. This blog wanders around a wide gamut of topics, ranging from actual things that happen in my own life to championing the causes of other people. I don't know where we'll land on any given day, but I will do my best to make sure that it's always somewhere awesome.
So what have I been doing these last few months? Well, not as much writing as I'd like to be able to say I've been doing; The Graystone Saga has suffered from the same sort of ennui as this blog. But I'm going to revive that too. I'm trying to establish a schedule for my different writing projects, and I think Tuesdays are going to partially committed to updating that story. I'm proud of what there is of it, and I want to continue.
I can tell you that my non-web novel has been the subject of much sweat and hand-wringing, and I would estimate it's about halfway finished at this point, so I'm pleased with that. I talk with the angel at random spare moments; he's very busy and I never know when he'll show up, so I'm not putting that particular project on a schedule. Yes, I refer to working on that book as talking with the angel. It makes sense in context.
I can also tell you that I've accepted a new 'job,' of sorts. I still work for the wonderful Ten Thousand Villages, of course, but I'm also adding a new hat to my collection. (Years ago I told a young friend that "I wear a lot of different hats and I have only one head.") My old friend Anne, who was a refugee during World War II and has lived quite a colorful life, has asked me to accept the position of being her biographer. I've known Anne since I was nineteen, when she was my boss at the Internal Revenue Service (yes really), and she's been a great supporter of me in my various projects, especially my writing. In fact, when the non-web novel comes out, you will see that it's dedicated "For Anne, who has been waiting." So I'm honored to have this chance to return the favor. My Wednesday afternoons will henceforth be devoted to capturing her life story.
And on Mondays and Thursdays, I'll be back at this. It's good - really good - to be back.
I won't go into why I stopped updating. It wasn't a conscious decision. But the truth of the matter is that it's very, very easy to get into the habit of not doing something, even if doing that thing has been a habit for quite some time. The more important thing is that I'm back, and I'm going to force myself to get back into the habit of saying something here.
If you're new to this blog, hi. I'm Laura, and this is where I keep my brain. At least, parts of it. This blog wanders around a wide gamut of topics, ranging from actual things that happen in my own life to championing the causes of other people. I don't know where we'll land on any given day, but I will do my best to make sure that it's always somewhere awesome.
So what have I been doing these last few months? Well, not as much writing as I'd like to be able to say I've been doing; The Graystone Saga has suffered from the same sort of ennui as this blog. But I'm going to revive that too. I'm trying to establish a schedule for my different writing projects, and I think Tuesdays are going to partially committed to updating that story. I'm proud of what there is of it, and I want to continue.
I can tell you that my non-web novel has been the subject of much sweat and hand-wringing, and I would estimate it's about halfway finished at this point, so I'm pleased with that. I talk with the angel at random spare moments; he's very busy and I never know when he'll show up, so I'm not putting that particular project on a schedule. Yes, I refer to working on that book as talking with the angel. It makes sense in context.
I can also tell you that I've accepted a new 'job,' of sorts. I still work for the wonderful Ten Thousand Villages, of course, but I'm also adding a new hat to my collection. (Years ago I told a young friend that "I wear a lot of different hats and I have only one head.") My old friend Anne, who was a refugee during World War II and has lived quite a colorful life, has asked me to accept the position of being her biographer. I've known Anne since I was nineteen, when she was my boss at the Internal Revenue Service (yes really), and she's been a great supporter of me in my various projects, especially my writing. In fact, when the non-web novel comes out, you will see that it's dedicated "For Anne, who has been waiting." So I'm honored to have this chance to return the favor. My Wednesday afternoons will henceforth be devoted to capturing her life story.
And on Mondays and Thursdays, I'll be back at this. It's good - really good - to be back.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Happy 2013!
I (mostly unintentionally) took the first two weeks of the year off from blogging. But here I am again.
People ask me "Did you make any New Year's resolutions?" I try not to do that, generally speaking, because past experience has taught me that this is setting myself up for failure. I like to think that the new year will be different, that I will somehow magically be different, and I don't quite make it there.
(I'm only thirty-six. I haven't got the hang of this 'competent adult' thing just yet. I get points for trying, though, right? My scorecard's probably a mess by now.)
But something happened recently that has me sort of reconsidering. Someone referred to me as being "wise."
Now, many are the times in my life that I've been called smart, or intelligent. Clever, occasionally. Creative, sure. Wise, however, usually doesn't get applied to me unless it's immediately followed by the word guy.
This came about because some of my internet people and I were having a discussion about which fictional characters we most resemble to each other. At first I wasn't getting any comments, which prompted me to joke that it was probably because most of what happens in my life is stranger than fiction anyway. (I maintain this is true.) A couple suggestions came through, though; I was likened to Queen Elinor, who is the mother of the protagonist of Brave, and of course my goddaughter will forever say that I am the real-life Molly Weasley. And then someone posited that I remind them of Iroh, from Avatar: The Last Airbender, because I am "very wise, and kind to everyone."
This is true of the character, who is one of my two favorites from that show. I would venture to say that it is less true of me.
Which is where the resolution comes in. Because I maintain that the person I have been doesn't deserve that praise, at least not all or even most of the time - but I'm going to try to deserve it from now on.
Let's see what happens.
People ask me "Did you make any New Year's resolutions?" I try not to do that, generally speaking, because past experience has taught me that this is setting myself up for failure. I like to think that the new year will be different, that I will somehow magically be different, and I don't quite make it there.
(I'm only thirty-six. I haven't got the hang of this 'competent adult' thing just yet. I get points for trying, though, right? My scorecard's probably a mess by now.)
But something happened recently that has me sort of reconsidering. Someone referred to me as being "wise."
Now, many are the times in my life that I've been called smart, or intelligent. Clever, occasionally. Creative, sure. Wise, however, usually doesn't get applied to me unless it's immediately followed by the word guy.
This came about because some of my internet people and I were having a discussion about which fictional characters we most resemble to each other. At first I wasn't getting any comments, which prompted me to joke that it was probably because most of what happens in my life is stranger than fiction anyway. (I maintain this is true.) A couple suggestions came through, though; I was likened to Queen Elinor, who is the mother of the protagonist of Brave, and of course my goddaughter will forever say that I am the real-life Molly Weasley. And then someone posited that I remind them of Iroh, from Avatar: The Last Airbender, because I am "very wise, and kind to everyone."
This is true of the character, who is one of my two favorites from that show. I would venture to say that it is less true of me.
Which is where the resolution comes in. Because I maintain that the person I have been doesn't deserve that praise, at least not all or even most of the time - but I'm going to try to deserve it from now on.
Let's see what happens.
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