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Happy Birthday, Amanda!

I'm in Chicago for the next couple days but tonight I'm really wishing I was in Phoenix. I'm missing the opportunity to lift a glass and toast to the fabulous and talented Amanda on her birthday. I hope she's out tonight celebrating and having an awesome time.

Amanda, know that I'm thinking about you and sending happy birthday thoughts your way today. I hope you had an incredible day. I can't wait to celebrate with you soon.

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PostSecret Book Signing in Phoenix

Frank Warren, who started PostSecret.com, will be in the Phoenix area, (specifically Tempe, Arizona) promoting the most recent book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God. I had the pleasure of hearing Frank speak at South By Southwest in 2008 and it was very, very moving. (I wrote about Frank at SXSW.) He's a fantastic speaker so I highly recommend attending.

Monday, December 7
7:30pm
Fiesta Ramadas, Kiwanis Park (map) This event has been moved to the Changing Hands Bookstore due to weather.
Sponsored by Changing Hands Bookstore

More information at ChangingHands.com. They suggest bringing your own chairs or blankets since this is bound to be a packed event.

Thanks to my sister, Karen, for bringing this event to my attention!

Media Literacy

I'm a strong believer that we should teach media literacy in schools. Media literacy is analyzing & evaluating the messages from many avenues of media. The goal is to make sure you know who is giving the message and why. Many of us (me) grew up thinking journalists & news are unbiased. The truth is our media is completely biased. We need to teach our children how to know about those biases in order to consume media better.

If I were teaching a media literacy class, this is definitely one of the videos I would show. The video called The World According to Fox News shows what CNN, MSNBC, & Fox were all broadcasting during the President's speech on health care.

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Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?

Being from Texas, I'm especially interested in the answer to this question. The article in The New Yorker called Trial by Fire makes me believe that Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for a crime he did not commit.

This case is making me rethink how I feel about the death penalty. I used to believe that if the crime was heinous enough, the death penalty was warranted. I've never believed that the justice system in this country was fair (the poor have a horrible, horrible disadvantage in our system), but somehow I thought it was different for death penalty cases. I thought the courts were more careful. I believed that the appeals system worked. It didn't work for Willingham and he was executed.

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Bike Snob

I'm both entertained and annoyed by NYC Bike Snob and how much attention he seems to get. Most recently, he was on a piece on NPR's All Things Considered. His point was that we should have more relaxed dress codes at work so people wouldn't be so concerned with getting sweaty on a ride to work. But what I was most impressed about is that he remains anonymous (even on NPR) because he says it allows him to be more honest. I think it allows him to be a jerk, but that's OK because it's part of the entertainment.

A quote from the NPR piece:

Smugness: You are riding your bike, you are not saving the world. You are not rescuing endangered species. You are doing something that's good for you. This is also a good thing, since if we all are healthy and happy, the world does become better. But when you get all smug about it, you totally negate that.

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Art Classes

One of the things that I feel like I'm missing in my life is making art. I feel like I'm creative and thoughtful about my life, but that's not being translated into artistic work. I think there's something very important about working with my hands and for me, making art is a great way to do that. In order to motivate myself to actually make things, I've signed up for a couple art classes at ASU's Herberger Institute Community School for Design and the Arts. (I believe it's the continuing education program.)

Drawing Basics

Aspiring artists learn to draw from observation through the study of a variety of natural objects and still-life arrangements using black-and-white media. Development of visual problem-solving skills is emphasized through exercises in perspective, tonal value, composition and spatial arrangement. This class is for beginning and intermediate students. Materials not included. Group size: 5–10. 6 weeks | $150
Mondays Sep 14-Oct 19
6:00 PM-8:00 PM

Digital Book Design

Become your own publisher by learning design strategies for page layout and design while gaining experience with Adobe Illustrator® and InDesign® in this new 6-week book design course. In addition to page design, students will broaden their knowledge of contemporary book design, and learn several simple binding structures that can be completed in the comfort of home. No experience necessary. Printing costs not included. All work with Adobe® software will be done in class. Group size: 5–15. 6 weeks. (No class Nov 11th, Veterans Day.) | $150
Wednesdays Oct 14-Nov 25
7:00 PM-9:00 PM

These classes are really, really affordable at $150 for 6 weeks ($25 a week)! I'm looking forward to having time devoted each week to spend making something artistic. The drawing class will be a good jump start to getting back into art. While I taught drawing classes 9 years ago, I can definitely use some practice and look forward to the structure a class will bring. The book design class is very exciting since I love books as an artistic medium. In college, I had the opportunity to make books by hand and really, really loved it. This class will allow me to mix my love of computers and my love of books. I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

While I'm excited about these courses, I also have some concerns. My first concern is that the classes won't be held because there aren't enough people signed up. (This happens all too often with community classes like these.) My second concern is that the classes are for ages 15 and up and they'll get filled up with high schoolers. Both of these concerns would go away if some of my friends (YOU) would sign up for these classes with me!

Reasons to do art classes with Erica:
• Learn something new or just practice to get better
• No pressure environment - a great way to relax after work
• You'll stretch your creative muscles
• It's better than sitting in front of the TV or computer after work
• It will give you a reason to leave work at a reasonable hour
• Bonus! You get to hang out with Erica one night a week

Clearly, you're convinced, right?! So go sign up!

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Being Short

This weekend I was camping with friends and we were playing "What if" around the campfire.

What if you had 10 million dollars?
What if you could live anywhere?
What if you had to totally change careers?
What if you could change something about your physical self?

I said that I would make myself taller. Everyone was surprised because my size is somewhat definitive about me. (For anyone that doesn't know me in real life, I'm 4'11".) My height, or obvious lack thereof, is definitely one of the things people first notice about me. However, the older I get, the more I'd prefer to just blend in with everyone else.

Today, my friend Karen sent a NPR article called The Secret Advantage Of Being Short. The article explains that short people may experience the world slightly faster than tall people since the information has a shorter distance to travel from our nerves to our brain. Somehow this information makes me feel just a tiny bit better about being short.

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Thru-You

Saw a tweet from Electrolicious that said, "Kutiman: like DJ Shadow for the 21st century: http://thru-you.com That shit just blew my goddamn mind."

So I checked it out. WOW. That is some amazing mixing. You should check it out.

http://thru-you.com

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Bike Websites

There are so many awesome websites about bikes! Here are a few I've been enjoying lately.

BikeHugger.com - especially the post about The Modal Bicycle Concept
ChicCyclist
BikeHacks.com - especially the post about sewing your own cycling cap
CleverCycles.com - I'm fascinated with their product, Stokemonkey, however it's not really a good fit for me. Hills & cargo aren't the reason I don't give up my car...distance is.

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