3/50 Proposition

I loved this 3/50 article from Idealist today -- it talks about the importance of supporting locally-owned retail outlets. More of their funds end up back in the local economy (think of the intercorporate tax loops that President Obama has vowed to close), and we can probably all pick 3 easily. Of course, it still takes some effort to think out budgeting $150 per month at these places but maybe it just means taking a look at where you'd buy your meat or produce differently this month (my Hyde Park Produce Market here in Chicago or Just Good Meats or Stoysich in Omaha) or a new way to exercise with the family with a trip to a local farmer's market.

Adventures in the Internets

Both personally and professionally, I've been experimenting with various new "internets" technology. Yes, I use plural purposefully, as I am beginning to utilize various mobile websites, my favorite being the CTA Bustracker. This led me to start following the blog, the CTA Tattler which includes news of that which has been "seen and heard on the Chicago Transit Authority." It is a bit of fun that I love to read, as it provides glimpses into local politics, opinions, and the plain crazy things people see and do on my new hometown's public transportation. Though my CTA Bustracker obsession is closely followed by closely followed by my love of Goodreads to remind myself of books I wanted to check out from the Chicago Public Library (seriously, so many books, so little time).

More significantly, I've also begun to experiment with ways to merge all my technologies together. I use my Twitter account to feed my Facebook updates which also feeds into this blog (this came in very handy when I was in Memorial Stadium this past weekend for the Red/White Spring Game). I'm perfecting my preferences for how to send tasks to my Remember the Milk account (a perpetual "to do list" and project management gem my colleague Vic shared with us at the NALP Annual Conference). For fun, I've added a widget that feeds news on my neighborhood from Your Street into this blog too. And I've begun to more aggressively use the Reader application in my gmail account to track all my RSS feeds from various blogs, but I'm still struggling with how to add Google Mobile to my phone. Ah, all in good time!

Vacuuming Stories

So, I'm a bit of a sucker for a good contest. Today, the Alice blog is giving us the opportunity to share our best "vacuum story." I hate vacuuming. No, really, I'd rather scrub the floor. Oddly enough though, my vaccuum is nearly as old as I am (I am 30+) and was owned by my Aunt Angie and given to me when I was in law school and needed one for my first apartment. Since then, it has travelled to five more apartments and three more states. I'll have to let my aunt know that it has been so well traveled and loved through the years. It has great suck-it-all up power!! But nonetheless, now that I live in such an urban city where space is certainly at a high premium, I'd love to own a Roomba and get rid of my loud, clunky vacuum.

P.S. Happy Birthday Kari! As always, great to chat with you & I am glad to hear that your boys took care of you today. For more fun, check out Alice - they're promising to revolutionize the way we shop :-) Even better, check out their blog, which is fun, fresh, and thought provoking!

Cathedrals & Lent

I attended mass at the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle in the Archdioce of Washington for the Palm Sunday Vigil tonight. It was a magnicient building, made with all sorts of marbles, shaped in a Latin Cross, and was the fourth Roman Catholic parish established in the District. The Byzantine touches to the decor were a bit over the top for my aesthetic taste but I did love the use of the Greek cross, which always bring me to my personal favorites, Celtic crosses.

Reading the passion today brought me back to that Palm Sunday spent in Spain, when we heard in spoken in Euskeran. That mass twelve years ago, with Saul and Benjamin, brought me a sense of peace as I realized that even though I could not understand a single spoken word, Roman Catholics around the world were celebrating the same reading of the passion. It was a moment of complete peace, a moment of communion with my fellow Roman Catholics.

Which contrasted to my sense during today's mass. Today's homily highlighted the need to focus this last week of Lent on the sacrifce of Christ and the Father, especially the lonely parts of sacrifice. To everything there is a season, and though we will celebrate the rising of Christ next week, first we must focus on what we must we give up and build within ourselves to truly be in communion with each other, Roman Catholic or no.

I'm leaving on a jet plane. . .

. . .or actually, I've already arrived from that jet plane ride. I'm in DC for the Annual NALP Conference, where I am serving as guest blogger for the week. Check out my first entry to learn more about NALP and why I am so proud to be a member.