I was moved to return to this blog after an excruciatingly-long absence after reading a very thought-provoking article over at ScreenRant about the latest Star Wars movie, Rogue One. SPOILERS IN BOTH THE SCREENRANT ARTICLE AND IN THE POST BELOW. In Rogue One, which ends barely minutes before the events of A New Hope, we saw a couple of familiar characters, who were absolutely necessary in order to fully tell this part of the story. One was Darth Vader, still ably voiced by the one and only … [Read more...] about On Fame, Loss, and Digital Media
Ramblings and Reviews
Code For Kindness
In case you didn't know, all the pictures from my blog posts for this month come from my recent Pecha Kucha talk about Random Acts and why kindness matters. Because I'm shameless, I'm going to remind you that you can watch said talk right here. (Thanks again, PK!) A little over a year ago, I had an idea of something I could do to help support this new organization I had kind of fallen in love with. I had done a couple of "acts" already, and was talking to folks about possibly joining the … [Read more...] about Code For Kindness
Every Step Matters
I'll admit, I kind of admire runners. Like, running isn't my thing. Never has been, never will be. But I have an number of friends who regularly run 5Ks, half marathons, and full marathons. Some run for various charities, some run just for fun. At least, I think some people find it fun.... (I kid!) Recently, my church has taken a more active role in the life of the outside community. Sure, we support homeless shelters and deliver food to needy families, and other things that churches usually … [Read more...] about Every Step Matters
My First Official “Random Act”
I won't be so overly dramatic as to insinuate that I wasn't a kind person before I encountered the phenomenon known as Random Acts. But I will tell you, they provide a great structure for being more intentionally kind, more often. For today's blog post, I want to tell you about the first thing I did "for" Random Acts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the major events Random Acts organizes each year is the Annual Melee of Kindness. People across the world make time on that day to do … [Read more...] about My First Official “Random Act”
It’s the Little Things
One of my biggest takeaways from my involvement with Random Acts over the past couple of years is that every act of kindness matters. Huge global projects are wonderful, but sometimes it's the little things that make a big difference. That means it can take a long while to conquer the world with small acts of kindness. But I believe it can happen. It IS happening. When I was putting together my Pecha Kucha talk about kindness and Random Acts, I went where a lot of people do--to the internet! … [Read more...] about It’s the Little Things
The Kindness Train Continues
It's week two of my Crowdrise birthday fundraiser for Random Acts and to celebrate, I've been expanding on the recent presentation I was privileged to give for my local Pecha Kucha community a few weeks ago. GISH-wha...? One of the craziest things I've participated in--which just happens to benefit Random Acts--is G.I.S.H.W.H.E.S., otherwise known as the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. Teams of fifteen people all around the world spend a week creating weird … [Read more...] about The Kindness Train Continues