Purple Wren

Wordless Wednesday: Bored With The Conversation

Bored With The Conversation, originally uploaded by Clearly Ambiguous.

 

Buy The Age of Conversation Before Nov. 30

 

    

Read about where you will find The Age of Conversation next...

FreeRice: Play and Win

This is a win-win game  - FreeRice.  You get to test and increase your vocabulary, and someone hungry gets to eat. It's a fun way to increase your vocabulary and help end world hunger.

For every word you get correct, the advertisers donate 100 grains of rice. It is distributed through the World Food Programme. Through the WFP site you can also pay for whole sacks of rice. So go play and see how much you can donate.

This site was just started on October 7. What a great way to build awareness for the issue of poverty. Seems fitting for the season.

Youth Saves Best Friend: Learned Heimlich Maneuver on Cartoons

What a neat example of what kids are learning while watching cartoons...

A 3rd-grade boy saved his friend from choking. They were eating lunch at school when one of the boys started turning red and tears were streaming down. The other boy did the Heimlich maneuver - something he said he learned from watching cartoon movies.

I love finding examples of how images improve our lives. I don't appreciate the commercials that we have to put up with to see the video.

9-year-old is Heimlich hero

Third grader saves best friend

Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday)

Lesser yellowlegs, originally uploaded by Henry McLin.

 

WAH Expo Presentation

I'm supposed to be sharing my presentation at the WAH Expo shortly, and due to unexplained technical difficulties - most likely my computer - I can't join the conference. So far I've missed both days of the expo.

My apologies to all.

Here is my presentation. I'm with you in spirit!

| View | Upload your own

Try the NaBloPoMo Randomizer

One of the fun things about NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) is the Randomizer. Click on the link to see a random blog that is participating in the challenge. The interesting thing is you don't know what site you will see next.

Did You Know About NaBloPoMo?

It's November and that means it's National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). The challenge is to post every day this month.

That's all there is to it.

It's not always easy though. I got so busy yesterday, the day slipped away and alas, no post.

It still good for me to participate though. Keeps me focused on posting, even if I'm not perfect.

How about you? Are you posting consistently? Would a challenge help you?  It's not too late. You can still join in in the fun for 17 more days.

Green is a Hot Color!

Remember Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street singing, "It's Not Easy Being Green?" Well, it's getting easier to be green. In fact, it's the color to be these days. This past week on WHOtv.com was an article about custodians at a local metro school making the switch to "green" cleaning products. Everyone is healthier and the school is saving money! Sounds like a win-win.

My hat's off to them. How about you? Are you going green yet?

Download WHOTV-DesMoines_SchoolGoesGreen.pdf

Related post: recent study about the high incidence of asthma caused by cleaning sprays and air fresheners

Since I've been avoiding petroleum-based products and promoting green for years, I felt a bit like Kermit did. Now I'm fitting in just fine! For your viewing pleasure, here's Kermit!

Support the Artists: Give Handmade Gifts

Looking for gift ideas? If you can't get to a craft show this year, here's the next best thing.

Maybe you're an artist looking for a place to display your crafts.

Etsy is a neat site where you can buy handmade items. There are 30 categories from Accessories to Woodworking. My personal favorite category is "Geekery."

With that many items, it's a good thing they have  a well-designed site with clear photos and neat tools to help you shop:

• Showcase allows you can see the top items from 36 different sellers
• Time Machine and Time Machine 2 display recently listed items
• Geolocator helps you find gifts by location

Disclaimer: I don't have any items for sale here and don't know anyone who does.

I just like the shop and the idea of supporting artists and craftspeople.

I've always enjoyed handmade and it seems like the right thing to do. It's fun to build a relationship with the person who creates the item. My favorite items are those that are not mass produced.

How about you? Where's your favorite place to shop online? or off?