The Extended Melody Project benefit concert is tonight in just a half hour. Admission is a $5 donation (though you can give more) and all monetary income from admission, concessions, and shirt sales is donated to an orphanage in Cambodia through Asia’s Hope. Shirts cost $10 U.S. Dollars and are sweet as evidenced below. It is a new cut and fabric from Gildan that is very similar to American Apparel.
I don’t carry cash. Really, I don’t carry cash. It is rare to catch me with a $10 or $20 on me. Sarah and I do all of our banking and bill paying online while our purchasing of goods occurs on a debit card that earns WorldPerks/FlexPoints flyer miles with every monetary note we spend. Additionally, we don’t receive paper statements nor do we have to drive to a bank regularly so we cut down on paper usage and travel emissions from delivery. Recently, however, we’ve been writing a lot of checks to all the college ladies that watch Kyla for us. We are running out of checks and had to order more. I suggest ordering through The Check Gallery. The price beats most if not all especially if you are a first-time customer. They also claim to be “your green choice for checks.” The Check Gallery “prints checks on recycled paper using vegetable-based ink. [They] absorb the extra costs associated with using earth-friendly materials so our customers don’t pay more.”
What “environmentally friendly” organizations/suppliers/companies/products do you recommend?
Do you like music? Do you like orphans? Admittedly, the second question is awkward. Awkward and real. Awkward even in three senses: 1.) Most people reading this blog probably do not like the fact that any child would be orphaned; 2) The term and idea of “orphan” is not the core identity of any child; and 3) Questioning one’s commitment or lack of commitment to acting on behalf of the fatherless may create some discomfort and/or conviction.
Two students at MVNU approached me last year with the idea to do a benefit concert as a social event in order to raise money for resources needed at an orphanage in Brasil. I said “do it.” The short version of the story is that they did do it and they are doing it again. Please visit the Extended Melody Project (EMP) page and become a Fan on Facebook. EMP will be held at Ibiza 33 in Mount Vernon, OH on Friday, October 30. (4) or (5) bands will be playing and all funds from admission and t-shirt / concession sales will be donated to an orphanage in Cambodia.
The church is being the church.
Anyone want to sponsor the event? Any creative ideas?
Informational video to be posted after editing and processing finalized. Updates to our adoption page will be posted soon as well.
Define irony.
The president of the country whose government shot a rocket at the moon was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Really? Really. Really NASA? What did the moon ever do to you? And if it did do something to you should you really have retaliated with such force? Who bombs the moon? Honestly.
Some, in their quest for intellectual greatness, may still be wondering, “I never learned it in 2nd grade. What does NASA stand for?” I’ll tell you what NASA stands for. It stands for violence, environmental toxification, monetary waste, and any activity that could mess with gravity enough to possibly throw the earth from its axis and implode the entire cosmos.
Yes, the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched a rocket at an object whose gravitational pull supposedly controls the ebb and flow of the earth’s oceans. As if the recent typhoons and tsunamis were not enough, the U.S. government had to spend millions of tax dollars and “money” borrowed from China to invest in what could have been and still could be the largest water displacement experiment in human history.
Don’t get me wrong, I highly value imagination, research, and exploration. My father was a chemistry and physics teacher. I earned state placement honors in a tri-state chemistry exam competition. I have visited NASA and even when I was younger, Colonel James Irwin, the first astronaut on the moon to drive the lunar rover, ate dinner at my house. My sister spilled an entire platter of turkey onto the floor which now seems to be rather minimal on the impact-o-meter compared to a rocket hitting the moon.
I have a difficult time justifying the expenditure of resources to send a rocket to the moon when many, many humans around the planet where we all live do not have access to clean water or healthy food. Surely, if the people in of the United States can imagine and figure out a way to collect lunar data through an observation and sensing satellite, there is a way to discover and implement processes of provision for basic life and health necessities for those who are oppressed by the otherwise gross waste of natural resources. How else might we spend our money and time in a manner that better cares for humanity?
That’s one small step for man. One giant lapse for mankind.
Now that I am more acclimated and adjusted into my new role in our Student Development Office I have just a couple of things that need some work. OK… more than a couple things. In my report to the President and Board of Trustees I listed (11) challenges that I currently face in my position and (20+) initiatives/actions that I am implementing. But on to some more important items. I have a number of things that I still need to hang on the walls in my office. I have a wire from Ikea called Deka that holds pictures of Sarah and Kyla and I’ll be adding some framed pictures of the Oakwood Hall Staff from the last three years as well as some pictures of SGA and other random student goings-on. I also need to call a certain Adrian McKinney to get one of his original pieces that would work very well in the office.
The biggest problem with my office (other than the purplish carpet and counter top, both from which I’ve been able to detract the visual focus) is the empty refrigerator. I am planning to stock it with Naked Juice, Odwalla, and cranberry juice. Bottled water and soda will not adulterate the natural freshness which will be the aura of the previously identified refrigerator. What else should I put in my refrigerator? MVNU students and staff, if you were to stop by in between classes or during a break or just to talk and I were to give you a free beverage what would you want?
