Thinking of rethinking my blog

I did it again. I left the blogosphere for a while. I'm really not that good at this blogging gig. 5 MONTHS... I didn't write for 5 months! Did I think of writing? All the time! But there is something about a blog... I think I feel the pressure to write a 1000 word essay whenever I want to make a post... and that dissuades me from writing at all when I all I want to do is write 100 words on an article I read.

Twitter is good for my short thoughts, clever musings, and dissemination of information.
Twitter does not allow me to reflect on anything, though. It doesn't allow a multi-medium post.

Facebook is good for pictures and keeping up on events with my friends and family. I think it has a future as a personal biography (imagine my gravestone having a scroll button where you can look through my entire life in great detail... the future of graveyards, I tell you! Actually.. that's a really sweet idea... I'm going to draft that up).
Facebook is too accessible for some of my deeper thoughts, though. I only want the people who are truly interested in my more complex thoughts to engage at that intimate of a level of social media (like you... the person who is reading this... thank you... I am most likely comfortable with sharing all of this with you... but not my 1600 Facebook friends or however many I have...)

I might move to Tumblr is what I am trying to say here. I have nothing against Blogger... it has served me well. I just think, for the type of sharer I want to be, Blogger just isn't going to work out. Apparently there is a plug-in called "Tumblrize" that will allow me to re-archive all of these posts here, there.


This will be a good move for me, I do believe. I think I will post far more frequently. Shorter, but more frequent. I am sure there will be a long blog post at about the same rate as what I've got going now... not to worry... in case you are a super fan.

This is a terribly written blog post. I'm out of practice.

Greening the Greek Community at UC - A Baby Project

I'm blogging an e-mail or facebook message I'm about to send out in an effort to just spread the word a little further about one of my little projects. Since I'm too lazy to re write it for a different audience, I suppose you'll just have to read through it as if you are part of the specific audience I was going for. Don't get me wrong, I want you to read it, the information inside the e-mail is worth sharing with a community beyond the Greek Community, but to change it all up just seems to not fit into my schedule.

Why am I posting it anyone? I supposed I could use some form of critique if you are into critiquing things.

I hope this long assed message will give you a break from your studying, paper writing, or daaping.

I’ve been thinking about how to best execute some type of campaign that makes the Greek Community a little bit greener overall. Today I had an endless storm of ideas (until my lunch break ended) that I’d like to share with you on how we might actually deliver something to UC’s Greek Community and make an impact within that community, and beyond.

Nothing will happen before the end of this quarter, so keep working on your projects and papers and studying for your final crits and exams.  I just want to get this idea out before it gets stale or I lose steam.

My idea is to create a small youtube series of how-to videos. Each video’s format will go something like this:

1)      Digital Graphic of “GO GREEK. GO GREEN.” will play.

2)      Every how-to will open with a greeting from the “host”, wearing a classic Greek Letter shirt. There will be a different host for every how-to.  Each how-to will be filmed in the respective house of the host to show that the practices we are suggesting can be widely implemented. Host will briefly introduce themselves and go on to describe the subject of this how to.

3)      While they continue to narrate the practice (ex, recycling, shopping local, eating less meat) the shot changes to video of them actually participating in those practices.

4)      At the bottom of the screen, facts associated with a practice will be displayed.

-EX. While Mara is shopping at a local vintage clothing store, these facts display at the bottom of the screen while she narrates the practice:  

a.       Shopping locally reduces your gas consumption and pollution. Also, local stores help to sustain vibrant, walkable communities, reducing sprawl and the need for automobiles.  

b.      Buying Vintage means being green, helping the environment by recycling garments

5)      The host then transitions into their “Reading Rainbow” spiel. By saying something along the lines of “But don’t take my word for it” and then encouraging viewers to engage in this activity and then promote this activity with twitter and other forms of social media.

6)      Each video ends with all of the hosts of each of the videos signing off together. Each person in this group is wearing their greek letters and looks happy. This shot would be filmed once and tagged to the end of every video.

So, What are the subjects for these videos?

1)      Consumerism

a.       Shop local and for socially and environmentally sustainable products

b.      Eat fresh, local, organic food

c.       Patronize local bars, theatres, sports events, concerts, etc.

2)      Eating

a.       Eat fresh, local, organic food

b.      Eat less meat

c.       Cook with friends and share the food

d.      Compost food waste

e.      Have cooks shop at Findlay Market rather than Sams or Kroger

3)      Generating Waste

a.       What can and cannot be recycled

b.      How do you recycle (Cincinnati specific)

c.       Reduce consumption

                                                               i.      Refillable water bottles

                                                             ii.      Reusable shopping bags

4)      Clothes

a.       Buy used clothes

b.      Do laundry using cold settings

c.       Air dry your laundry

d.      Donate clothes after use

e.      Know where and how your clothes are manufactured

f.        Turn down your thermostat and wear more clothes in the winter

5)      Transportation

a.       Ride your bike or walk (include “Best Bike Accessories” )

b.      Carpool to minimize trips

c.       Use public transportation

The next step after this video project would be to incentivize these practices by adding an award to the Greek Awards at the end of Greek Week. There would be a rubric that houses could fill out, like they already do for Greek Awards.

FLOF (Fresh, Local, Organic Food) is a student organization on campus that already has its eyes set on the Greek community on how to implement FLOF on an industrial scale. Their end goal is to have all of UC’s food come from fresh, local, organic sources. They want to start within the Greek Community as a tasting ground (wocka wocka wocka) for how to change food systems. FLOF is preparing a presentation and survey that they will circle around the greek community, actually making the presentations before chapter meetings or as part of an house education presentations.

Let me know what you think of any of this! Any other video groupings that you can think of would be welcome as well!

Happy, Healthy, and Living the Dream

I wake up at 6AM, make breakfast from some nearby farmer's produce [we designed an built his chicken coop together, now he wants to do a garden shed], and get dressed for work. [I over dress for my studio/shop, but it's only because I want to believe that I am a neat and tidy worker.] Always prepared, I pack some extra clothes, just in case. I ride my bike to work at 7:30.

 

[I can't decide if my work is downtown or in the old industrial part, near downtown, but never-the-less, the further from the front door you are in the building, the messier it is. Walk in, reception/lounge, meeting space, studio, shop, outdoor shop, all in a line. You can see parts of each space from the front door. There are 10 other people there and we are all friends. I'm pretty sure everyone works here, but not everyone is employed. No heirarchy, tons of worker bees.]

 

Times are better than they were in 2008... but, as the people who work where I do all predicted, the economy was forever changed. I have three ongoing projects which required me to inlist the help of 4 other people. No one is getting rich, but we love what we are doing and that keeps us comfortable.

 

The first project is the big project. A few local community members pooled their cash to buy the abandoned drive in movie theater. [Screen, soaring, mostly intact, graffitied by some "gangster" farm boy. Lot, gravely asphault, pocked with rusting poles that radios used to rest on, someone dumped a bunch of tires next to an overflowing dumpster. Cinder block projection booth/bathroom/concession shelter is falling apart. The roof caved in, mortar has eroded, allowing walls to pile upon themselves. When I was in Detroit one time, I said "The best type of building has a tree growing out of it." I'm not quite sure how the saplings got here, but this arboretum upon ruins makes me recognize the insensitivity and immatureness of that statement.] My group has been hired to masterplan the site. The community members want to make it an affordable, year-round attraction. [... a year round drive in? How does that work?] We're proposing a restaurant in the on top the rubble called "The Projection Booth." The waiters and waitresses will race to wrap the film, then patrons will be able to watch the double feature while they have dinner. During the summer, drive-in operates how most do. [Maybe we pressured the investors into this, so what? If we understand one thing, it is increasing quality of life for the community. How we do it? By convincing other people that they are able to affect change and then stoking their fire into action... and donations] We're excited to be part of the idea making process. Call us old fashioned, but today we are watercolor rendering print outs of the digital model. When you are working for scraps, you understand that you get to do what you want to do. [People like watercolors]

 

The second project has me off to the vocational school. I'm teaching two classes for the young men and women going into construction. [I could try to pressure them into thinking that they were designing things, but for reasons that design is still largely considered a plaything of the elite, my ultimate goal is that they understand that everyone can be creative. Seeing someone who says that they can't think outside of the box literally burst out of said box makes me so happy. I think they are pretty satisfied with themselves as well. So what it isn't practical? A parade float is a harmless way to test structural forms and building techniques. It looks a lot like the model from tectonics studio my 2nd year of undergrad got thrown into a kaleidiscope.] I really enjoy teaching. It's in my bones.

 

The third project is rogue. [It could be illegal. Laws aren't that enforced here.] We've been making art out of haybales. [Art is probably an inappropriate way to describe it... but it is the only way to describe it so we don't get in more trouble. I'd like to call them playgrounds, theaters, plazas and picnic shelters. So we don't get sued, we call them art installations.] They're on sidewalks, in parking lots, attached to buildings, engulfing unsightly or dangerous objects, abandoned cars and dilapidated signage. Hard to miss. Highly allergenic.

 

I work through lunch [that's how you stay skinny] without realizing it. Stomach growling [howling more like it] I call up my friends who are working the buy local campaign and ask them if they want to have linner [lunch+dinner] at a local deli. They oblige... barely eating around noon because they were so busy as well... solidarity in hunger and being addicted to our jobs. I still don't eat meat much... but the deli's chicken supply comes from my farmer friend, so I order the chicken melt. We play scrabble with half the letters missing while we wait. Everyone and their mother seems to have had the same lunch ignorance, because there is a steady stream of customers at 3:45. We know every other person in line. Makes it hard to eat.

 

At 5:00 I go back to work. [If I had a wife and kids, they would have either been there, in and out, all day, or showed up around this time to hang out. The studio is a comfortable, hangout-y type place] I keep working until 7, not really minding the time. 8:00 is a good time for dinner, at least that is my defense for not being able to depart from "work" in time for a more traditional, American, dinner time.

 

Back home, it's dinner, outside chores and general soaking up of the evening, reading. [That sounds a little too relaxed, I would undoubtedly do those things, but also fit in a committee meeting for something, replying and sending e-mails, and perhaps visiting friends at a watering hole or some other type of community function... there, that adds a proper amount of craze to my schedule.] I make sure I get no more than 6 hours of sleep. [dreams happen while you sleep, yes, but no matter how many dreams I have sleeping, nothing stops me from being a day dreamer]

 

I probably won't do the same thing tomorrow. It will be recognizable to the previous day, but definitely not the same. Who am I and what is my title? I have no idea. I am happy, healthy, and living the dream.

Just for my mom.

I bet you think I want to become a priest from that last post.

No...

The Sublimation of Thoughts

I think it is starting to come together. Glacial ideas, slowly moving towards one another so I can make sense of their mass, of how they are connected, of how they can move together. I’ve been using the word nebulous to describe what my thoughts about the future, my future, are. Nebulous seems a little flaky, unfocused, and boundless. I've used it because I've been afraid that other people might think that someone who has focus is close-minded, and unwilling to change and learn. I think I’ll start using glacial. Big ideas, slowly moving, very powerful and formative; you have a good idea where they came from, and you can guess where they might go, but to the naked eye, they’re heavy, resting, waiting, collecting. Glacial has boundaries, but will push those boundaries if they are in its way. Glacial has a grounding, a composite of solidity and fluidity.

I have a folder on my desktop called, “My Nebula.” In it, I store away ideas that are floating around in the dust cloud. Today I’ll rename it, “My Glacier”.

This weekend, I heard another glacier, all part of the same ice cap, I’m sure, start its slow migration: “I want a vocation, not an occupation.”

I’m excited.

Pages from a Journal Tatu (Three)

Americans working abroad can be criticized for not helping solve problems in their own country. A classic argument I've heard from those who do not support foreign aid is this, "We have veterans, wasting their lives away, homeless on benches, cracked out, drugged up, penniless. We have problems of our own to solve."

Those focusing domestically are probably not criticized nearly as much, but sure enough, they can be. "Why should I donate to this food pantry when children are starving from West Africa to India? How can you advocate for providing excessive comforts to _____ when AIDS, HIV, and Measles are ravaging Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia?"

What do I think about this? What what what.... what can people do. I just flew half way around the world but my heart is still in the fields of my home. What role does a person play in a global community? When you are part of the 1st World, rapidly becoming blind to the simplicity of life, how do you relate to those who have "less" than you?
 
Domestic -> Subtractive Role. Increase quality of life by subtracting unnecessary elements from society to reintroduce culture and community.

Foreign -> Additive Role. Increase quality of life by contributing technological advances that don't compromise culture, environment, and an established way of life.



And that's all I wrote.



This thought has really blossomed since returning from Africa. In my next blog post, I will extrapolate on where these thoughts have settled. I've had the time to run my thoughts past some trustworthy others and I think I am almost ready to describe my stance on domestic and foreign aid.

Pages from a Journal Mbili (Two)

11 JUN, 2011 8:58 SHED

Yesterday... wow. Yesterday was one of the most exhausting days I have experienced in the most positive of ways! The day began with meetings at the SHED compound with Daniel, one of the translators. Mike, Jeanie (who now goes by Jean because "Genies" are very evil here) and I had to discuss the signage survey. What's wonderful is that more than just business we had a beautiful conversation about his family, particularly his oldest daughter, and also about how he came to be so good at English. Where I get off assuming some sort of difference in the family dynamic and how proud a father could be of this children I don't know. It just struck me, being halfway around the world from my own parents, knowing that somewhere, they might be saying the same about me... you know... it makes you feel loved. Daniel made me miss my parents. Love those folks.

One part of the day that was really nerdy on my part was cataloging examples of Tanzanian construction techniques. I have really enjoyed documenting and diagramming the techniques. It falls in line with my thesis for coming on the trip, unlearning, relearning, figuring out a way to live off the land. I'm excited for future research knowing that it entertains me so much now.

The pique of the day was finally being able to go to the Roche Health Center. I have been looking forward to seeing this building for not only the past 10 weeks, but since the prospect of joining this brigade entered my head. I can only imagine the excitement that Michael Z and Tom Bible experienced, having so much to do with the construction and design of the clinic.

Finally, to be brief so I am not taking up so much time writing this morning, Nate, Natasha, Regina, Matt, and I all walked [tried to walk] to Lake Victoria yesterday. We didn't make it all the way, but we were far from disappointed. We met this incredible young man, name of Alex among many others. We were to refer to him as Alex, but if we came to his house we were supposed to call him something else, they know by a different name at school, and his father, only his father, has permission to you another name. He wants to be a teacher or a driver. In a sad sort of way he told us he might not be able to follow his dreams exactly as planned because of the cost of education. I'm going to pray for this boy... he his a very special person. So is everyone, I suppose, but he has a certain spark.