May is my favorite month for several reasons. One, it’s my birthday month. May 19th (write it down). Two, it’s Geek Pride Day on the 25th (grab your towel). And Three. Today. Best holiday ever.
When I was still in college, I spent four months of my senior year living at the Audubon Center for the Northwoods in Sandstone, Minnesota. It was one of the most wonderful times of my life and I learned more in those four months than I did during my entire four years of college. This was thanks to, primarily, the incredible and motivating teachings of Mike Link and his wife Kate Crowley.
Which brings me to the reason for this post.
The Full Length Mississippi Kickstarter Project
Last year, Mike and Kate took on Lake Superior, walking around the entire freshwater resource, educating and creating awareness for their beloved great lake. Next year, the pair want to bike up and down the entire length of the nation’s largest river system. Their adventure has sparked the creation of the Full Length Mississippi Kickstarter Project.
In less than 48 hours, the Full Length Mississippi Kickstarter project will end and they still need about $500 to reach their goal. This is an all or nothing campaign – if they don’t meet that goal, they get nothing.
I am reaching out to all of you to please donate even just a little big. This endeavor can’t happen without you. Mike and Kate aim to raise awareness and educate the public about the health of our natures freshwater ways. They will bike the river and use their knowledge to create educational programs for schools and organizations and share what they discover along the way both in person and online. It’s an incredible journey and you can take part and help make this happen.
Support The Mississippi River!
Please support this project. I owe Mike and Kate a lot – they are inspiring people and have taught me so much. Help me help them by donating to this cause. Please support Full Length Mississippi!
Update 4.19.12, 8:12 CST: We did it! Thanks to you amazing people, Mike and Kate reached their Kickstarter goal with 22 hours to spare! You all rock! THANK YOU!
For the month of March, I’m taking part in the awesome Positivity Challenge over at the Personal Excellence blog and thought I would share my thoughts here. Please go and join and do this as well. The more who take part, the more positive energy is put into the world. And the world could always use more positive people.
OH MY GOSH ME AND KEVIN EASTMAN!
Day 04 Question
What Is Your Favorite Movie? And Why?
SO MANY ANSWERS! Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin, so here’s a list. In no particular order.
The Last Unicorn because it’s beautiful and epic and an amazing adaptation of the book.
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy because of the same reasons as above.
The Dark Crystal because Brian Froud and Jim Henson are gods and the most amazing storytellers.
Anything by Miyazaki. ANYTHING. Look him up if you don’t know who he is. The man is a genius.
The Little Prince because again, amazing adaptation of the book and Gene Wilder is the perfect fox.
All Don Bluth movies. Nothing says “childhood” like Don Bluth.
And oh so many more than I’m going to kick myself for later for not remembering.
One Positive Thing from Today
A few weeks ago, I won weekend passes to STAPLE!, a indie comic convention here in Austin. I’ve been before so I was excited to go again. This time, for one main reason: KEVIN EASTMAN. That’s right. You heard me. Kevin Eastman, creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was going to be there. And he was! And he did not disappoint! I dragged Ash to his Q&A which was awesome, and then made her stand in line with me afterward so I could get my TMNT issue signed. Not only did he sign it, but he also sketched a turtle on it, AND was gracious enough to take a picture with me. After I announced to him that when I was eight years old I dressed as Mikey for Halloween.
I didn’t tell him that I had turtle sheets when I was younger. That might have been embarrassing. In any case, I got to meet and hug Kevin Eastman today. I’m going to be hard-pressed to find anything more positive and awesome the rest of this month.
Be well!
For the month of March, I’m taking part in the awesome Positivity Challenge over at the Personal Excellence blog and thought I would share my thoughts here. Please go and join and do this as well. The more who take part, the more positive energy is put into the world. And the world could always use more positive people.
My new Vibram FiveFingers!
Day 03 Question
What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately? How Can You Overcome It?
I’m going to make this short. I’m currently frustrated by several things. One being the state of our house. We moved into this current house last May (almost a year ago), and we’re still not completely unpacked. This is partly my fault since I hate unpacking and I generally don’t get home until it’s time for dinner and freelance work anyway so I procrastinate on it. But it needs to get done and it’s one of my resolutions. Which leads into another resolution. ORGANIZATION! I mentioned a few entries back that my co-worker is helping me get organized. I’m hoping to take what I learn from her and turn it around on my house and try to get it organized as well. It’ll get there. Slowly but surely. One step at a time.
Another thing I’m frustrated with is my inability to pick up a pencil and draw. I get all excited to and then as soon as I open a blank page in my sketchbook, WHAM. Nothing. It’s frustrating. Anyone have any tips on how to get past artist’s block? So far, I’m failing miserably. I’d love some input.
One Positive Thing from Today
The whole day today was kind of wasted because I had a run-in with some shrimp in the early afternoon as we wandered around Sam’s Club trying samples. This wouldn’t be a problem if I was allergic. Which I am. While this absolutely sucks and made me want to shoot myself in the head because of the pain and the whole I-Can’t-Breath issues I was having, it did lead to several positive things.
1) We remembered to pick up Benadryl at the store. We’ve been out for awhile.
2) Because I’m sensitive to Benadryl and its sleepy side effects, I took a 17 hour nap. I think I’m FINALLY caught up on my sleep.
…and…
3) It reminded me how absolutely wonderful my girlfriend is. As soon as she realized what was happening, she grabbed my hand, got a big bottle of Benadryl, had it open and made me take some before we even got out of the store. As soon as we got home, I was already mostly out of it, so she put me to bed and took care of all the chores for the day and fed all the animals by herself (which is a huge feat by itself considering all the mouths we feed every night). She is just amazing, that girl.
So while I was pretty much out of it, good things came out of the whole ordeal. That’s positivity.
Oh, and before all that happened, I got to go to REI and pick up my brand new Vibram FiveFingers. Hell yes. So happy to start running again.
Be well!
