This I Believe

The essays that NPR has compile for “This I Believe” are amazing and should be archived forever in the Library of Congress along with other great works of American art. They cut through the crap and into the heart of the struggles, joys and daily life of what it really is to be an American here and now. When historians are reading about us 10 million years from now these stories are what is really going help them understand what and how we interacted with the world called Earth. Anyway, I think everyone should read one of these story/essays to understand what I am talking about. Try this one that is written about the power of being there especially in a time like after Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=6647&topessays=3

Racism in the Schools

The US isn’t the only country that is suffering from institutional racism in schools, apparently the Caribbean is not free of it either according to the Guardian. To me this is just sickening because education is where the higher learners are, where the people with the most though and understanding in the world go. I mean what the heck people? Education is the backbone of understanding, without a solid education that teaches tolerance this world will fall into disrepair and intolerance that will destroy us all.

Choice of Words - The Word War of the Candidates

Without choosing sides, this is an interesting article that the NYT published about the war of words that each candidate wages on the opposition. What is also amazing, is that even though Obama claims the title of “Change” candidate, McCain is saying just as much as Obama is. Check out the complete chart below and the entire article here.

This is just more rhetoric and it is cool that people are seeing that. People need to realize that there is a reason for the words that everyone choose and there is no coincidence that these words are repeated often. I think the more aware people are of this, the better and more clear-headed decisions a voter is able to make

Top 10 Slogans of American Companies

Inc.com has a cool article about some of the best written tag lines that companies have come up with. What is amazing to me about this, is that in our world of TVs, movies, banner ads and more visual stimulus than you can shake a stick out, that the power of the written tag line still remains dominate. People crave the tag line because they want something simple and identifiable so that they can quickly understand what you are about and your corporate policies. The tag line does more to define your company than any logo or elevator pitch an exec could give. It defines the tone, speed and success at which you can execute a plan. I know that seems like a lot to place on a tag line, but hey you need to think about those things before you write them so maybe when writing a tag line spend some extra time or get some professional help. Because once someone reads your bad tag there is no going back to a time before they read it.

Write anything…but just write something

I discovered this wonderful little website today that is all about the collaborative nature and the fun that comes with writing. At WriteSomething.net you just type something in and see it appear next to the random thoughts, emotions and memories that other people share on the website. I love this little website because it is brief moments into the souls of all the people we share this planet with. The anonymity of it creates the truth of self that you can rarely find when talking to a person face to face. I suggest you check it out and try to write something for yourself. There is no punishment, no judgment, of your writing, just pure free flowing thoughts and ideas. This is one of the best things about the internet.

A year of good reading Notecard

I was thinking about a gift to give someone that you really cared about and I can think of nothing better than an entire year of good reading. 1 book a month for 12 months. It would be so much fun to choose the books, you could mix classics with new books, include books that are based on the season and then include books that you like and want your friend or family member to read and then include books that you think they would really enjoy but you haven’t read yet. It would be a wonderful present that keeps on giving and always gives you something to talk about each time you are together. Seeing this card of the boy dragging his books for the winter haul just made me think of that idea and how much fun it would be. Maybe one of my friends will give me a year of books that i can enjoy.

January Reading
by

feedmelinguini

Create a personalized notecard online at www.zazzle.com
See more Youth School Academics Cards

Student Kindle may save kids’ backs

Tech Crunch has a piece about how amazon is planning on doing a student version of the Kindle so that university and school children will have it for class books. Not only will this cut down on the waster of paper that is generated by the millions of books produced every year (even though I saved all of my college books because I cherish them) it will also save the backs of those people that carry around those ridiculously over sized math and science books. I can still remember the sore shoulders and the painful lower back from carrying around a full backpack of books, notebooks and more. If kindle is the solution to back pain through excessive books then bring it on. I just hope that we can do it without increasing the burden of cost on these struggling students it’s already a bit too much to go to school. So amazon that is the next task you must address, how to do it for free.

Kayne Can Slam

Kayne has got some amazing slam skills. I honestly didn’t think he was that much of a lyricists until he was able to drop the compelling beats from his poetry and just tell it from the heart. Check out the video below and see what I am talking about.

Communication Distruction

Communicate or die! Today I was thinking about the dangers of holding it and by it, I mean what you need to communicate to others. So now that I have throughly communicated confusion let’s explain. So say you are looking for an apartment and you go to the place and look at with the landlord and you say “I’m interested, can I be put into consideration?” you think you are saying this “I really need this apartment because my lease is running out, I have a steady job and make lots of money and will be a great tenant.” but the landlord hears this “Ok, what’s next old man I got stuff to do.” See the problem? You aren’t communcating/selling yourself and therefore reducing the chances that you are going to get the apartment. By not being detailed and using specific information you make yourself generic, forgettable and ultimately unsuccessful. So try telling the whole story it might just help get you what you need.

Story Core is Awesome!

I just heard about this but the NPR Program Story Core is awesome! It is just a collection of real Americans reading their life stories over the air and just talking about an amazing story in their lives. Check out this one about a summer job that turned into over 50 years of marriage. These stories are really the center of the American experience and living the life of the perfect human.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93374093