Well, November 2012 is now a blip in the rear-view mirror... Tomorrow will begin a pell-mell, full-throttle race toward Christmas. I love this time of year, but I'm never ready for the down-hill slide into all the insanity that ensues in the dash toward December 25.

Dinners, parties, plays, programs, cookie baking, tree decorating, gift wrapping... This year, I thought it would be a good idea to hire a temp worker or two to help me stay on course. I wasn't prepared for who showed up to help...

Meet Puck and Faie. They've already started to make themselves at home around here.

It remains to be seen how much work they actually get done. You might want to check in periodically to see what mischief they make in the next few weeks.

They might have a surprise or two for you up their sleeves.

And you know, the longer they stick around, the more I think they will fit in just fine... 'cause, let's face it... we're all a little nuts! 

Wow. There was so much to take away from my first TEDx experience last weekend. The team of volunteers who put together TEDxChemungRiver did an amazing job. So many people were positively impacted. Shout out to my friend, Meghan, who finally convinced me to attend (albeit sneakily, through a third party... hi Colleen!).

It would be impossible to share in a brief blog post all the new ideas and information I learned (science, literacy, wind energy...), but I wanted to share a fun one that everyone can get involved with. T-shirts!

We all love them. We all wear them. But did you know T-shirts can do more? They can, if you choose one from SelflessTee.

SelflessTee is based in San Francisco, CA, and was co-founded by Josh Furnas, an Elmira Free Academy graduate. SelflessTee’s mission is “to help others learn, connect, and contribute to the world around them. It is an online platform selling fashionable apparel that gives back to many amazing charities around the globe.”

I visited their site to check them out and discovered an organization that I wouldn’t have known about had it not been for TEDx: 100cameras. This organization “empowers marginalized children to document their lives through photography and to create positive change in their own communities. 100% of the money from the children's purchased prints is used to raise awareness and capital to meet physical needs and empower sustainable growth within their community.”

It’s a win-win. I get a cool shirt with a camera on it. They give photography to a child. We help change a community. Cool, right? And so fitting to the TEDxChemungRiver theme of the day: It connects us.


Find something you connect with. Little things can make a big difference.