We get by with a little help from our friends...

The tough job market is hitting close to home all around these days. Several of my friends are out of work and now one of them is faced with the need to move herself and her son out west in order to be closer to family, but they need help! We are mobilizing in force in an effort to help them move and to help raise the necessary funds to make it happen.

I am not a person of means, but I am in a position to help in the following manner:

50% of all orders placed between now and Friday, Feb 5th will be donated to their moving fund. As my way of thanking you for your support all purchases will come with a coupon for $5 off your next order.

Plan ahead! Will you need a Valentine's Day gift? A Mother's Day gift? A birthday present or just a midwinter treat Please consider shopping early and help me help my friend.

I think we all hoped that the effects of the recession would have passed by now, but many of us are still experiencing them every day. It is only by pulling together on a community level that we can really change our experience of this situation.

If you would like to read more about Michelle's story or make a donation directly please visit this link: Plea for Help:  Knitter & Child in Need

Devon, Becky, Tina, Me, Michelle, Little Man

I leave you with this picture and a song from one of my favorite community activists:

This is me. For the past five days I've been working with the temp agency in town to get a gig at a tax prep office. I never wanted to know (or at least read) as much about taxes as I have in the past few days. I'm ready to beat my head against the wall! That said, if you have any questions there's a good chance I can help you.

Book Review: The Thief at the End of the World

So I've been reading quite a bit and I vowed to start writing about it again. It's good practice and it makes it easier to remember what I did and did not enjoy, and why!

Joe Jackson's book The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire caught my eye in a huge pile of Advance Reader Copies (seriously, 200) that I picked up a few months ago. I set it aside because I thought it was something my uncle would appreciate, but right before I went to give it to him I decided to take a look at it myself, thinking I wouldn't be interested. Turns out I devoured it in four days.

I could not have anticipated enjoying this book as much as I did. It's history, and it's the history of rubber for goodness sake. How exciting could that be? As it turns out, the history of rubber is totally fascinating, and the gentleman (Henry Wickham) responsible for one of the most globally influential acts of piracy was a big dreamer with a habit of failing at everything he tried. Somehow this makes him both lovable and loathsome as the history of rubber growth and consumption unravels amidst tales his many trials (and few tribulations.) Jackson offers up an interesting mix of economics, politics, science and travelogue in order to give the reader a sense of the whole picture of rubber and the people and places that were consumed by their want for it.

Honesty Policy