For a while, I wanted to outline some of the excitement in my life. This post should enumerate these things. Let's begin with Public Radio Documentaries...
I love This American Life with Ira Glass. For the longest time, I despised this gem of public radio. Recently, it grew on me to the point where I began searching out other forms of this interesting medium. After reading the blog of another CY CM, this one in Chicago, I discovered Transom.org. This site is a clearinghouse of sorts for this kind of radio containing many shows and information on how to make your own. While I don't think I'm up for producing my own show, it is great hearing other people doing this work. I'm addicted. Currently, I'm listening to "Invisible Ink" and wondering how I got by without it.
Next on the list is the book Your Money or Your Life. Thanks to this book's plan, I now realize how much I spend and am beginning to curb my excess. Let's hear it for Financial Independence! I am still looking for an online community similar to the "43 Folders" associated with the Getting Things Done book, but I am confident I will find it.
Speaking of 43 Folders, the Hipster PDA is working out amazingly well. I lost my backpack two weeks ago in a park in downtown Columbus. Unlike a non-Hipster PDA, mine was replaced for only $1 toward more clips holding my notecards together. Luckily, my Fisher Space Pen came in after I lost my backpack, so I still have that--and love writing on my cards regardless of how sweat-soaked and greasy they are. As an aside, I no longer carry a backpack--if it doesn't fit in my pockets, it don't need to transport it. This will have to change as I enter grad school in the fall, but it works great now.
Finally, the Corporation for National and Community Service. The CNCS has grants available for technological improvements in non-profits. As such, I am writing $700,000 worth of proposals for technological and web-based improvements at my job hoping to keep RIVER and other projects going while maintaining my ties to the world of National Service. Only time will tell how this will all play out, but I am excited to just be writing such grants.