Video of the Week

Connecting is so important.  This video really shows the different levels that we impact ourselves while connecting with others.  It is something to be conscious of as we move forward with the time we spend breathing air with other people. Happy Monday!

Current Kinecting: Hurricane Sandy and the Rockaways

Thank you to everyone already helping out with the relief from Hurricane Sandy.  In Queens in Long Island there is a place called the Rockaways that has been devastated.  Unfortunately because of geography, local politics, damage and debris, clean up is not happening as efficiently and with a sense of urgency as it needs to.  Temperatures are dropping and residents are without the tools to get through this.  Below is a list of links for you to help or share.  If you have links to add, please add them in comment boxes.

Right now, Project Kinect is in contact with local leaders in the Roackaways to get food, water and tools to them out of Little Rock, AR.  If you are able to assist with this endeavor, please email me at gregg@projectkinect.com.

*If you donate money, Project Kinects asks that you first make sure you are donating to an organization that will be giving the procedes directly to those who are in need of relief.

 

Most immediate right now are: Please contact Project Kinect with any information on donations of the following goods

                             Work Boots: Mens sizes 11-14

                            Batteries

                             Blankets

                             Water 
Here are some additional needs that are most urgent.

Links for Further Assistance 

 

 

 

 

Life By Me

A while ago a friend of mine introduced me to this website where people answer basic questions of life.  What is the meaning of life?  What makes you happy? When do you feel most authentic?  These are all questions that I could really relate to since I began Project Kinect.  This website gives you an opportunity to read and relate to other people’s lives.  It is a new form of connecting that needs a little more exposure as we continue to move forward in this technologically invasive era of communication.  This form allows people to share their stories and for the most part, not recieve the feedback or any effects from their stories.  Not having that reciprocation is selfless in a way because there is nothing coming back to pet the ego of the person who is sharing.  Even though comments can be left, the person sharing does not get immediate satisfaction because they are not sitting directly with the reader.   This in result gives the reader a complete objectivity on what they are reading as well as a blank palate to see how the reading affects them personally.  This response is then free of judgement that may otherwise be brought if another party was sitting there waiting for a response to what was just said.  Bottom line; this is a great way to connect with a stranger while doing a self check on personal beliefs and feelings.

Life By Me asked one of my best friends to sit down and share some of her beliefs, thoughts and personal story.  This is just a portion of the interview and if you would like to read the article in its entirity, then check it out here at Life By Me.

Getting to a safe place where I can be vulnerable and connect with people is very meaningful to me. When we connect with each other we’re really connecting with God, because God is inside of you and God is inside of me. I truly believe that when we connect with each other and when we connect with God we can change the world for the better. I want to facilitate that

Monday Spotlight: Tornado Relief

Last week, in the matter of just a few days we experienced as many tornadoes as we sometimes see in an entire year.   This takes a lot of help and organization to clean up and so I wanted to set this Monday toward getting some of this information out there.  In the next few days I will set up a full-page here on Project Kinect for all this information by location with detailed information but for right now, this is what I can get out there. As said in today’s Washington Post, FEMA is just getting prepared to provide tornado relief so maybe this can begin as a conversation with everyone on how to expedite this procedure and not see what we saw in Tuscaloosa, Alabama last spring.  In this, I am including the states involved with the majority of the devastation last week.   

Region 4 out of Atlanta: Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee

Telephone Numbers:
Main Number: 770.220.5200
Fax Number: 770.220.5230

Mailing Address:
Federal Emergency Management Agency
3003 Chamblee Tucker Road
Atlanta, GA 30341

Media Inquiries: 770.220.5226

Region 5 out of Chicago:  Illinois, Ohio, Indiana

Mailing Address                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         536 South Clark St., 6th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 408-5500

Media Contact

Mark Peterson
Email: 
 mark.peterson2@dhs.gov
Telephone:  312-408-4469

  • As far as right now, I have only seen one facebook page for any of the cities but here is one for Northern Alabama

 

 

  • If you’re a college student and you want to do something impactful on your spring break, here are some ways to volunteer.

*Relief Spark: By far what I think is the most incredible disaster relief organization I have seen.  Many people find volunteer opportunities with a church but if you are without a church, Relief Spark is a great place to share your gifts.  They are already setting up camps throughout the south and midwest.  Check out their facebook page.

*Disaster Assistance with the Church of Christ: We worked with Mike and his kitchen on wheels in Tuscaloosa.  They have plenty of work to do and you definitely get to see your impact when working with them.  They just arrived in Southern Indiana today. 

This is just a start but if people are coming up with questions on what to do now that things are destroyed or if people want to help , then here are some beginning points.  Like previously mentioned, I will have a much larger working page later this week.  If you have any information that you would like to contribute to it, please email me at gregg@projectkinect.com.  If you need extra help and need assistance otherwise on finding answers that have not been answered yet, i.e. free medical assistance, legal aid, water safety, paperwork help or anything else not listed, then also email me at gregg@projectkinect.com and I will make phone calls, research and help find those answers. 

WE ARE ALL INVOLVED!!!

Monday Spotlight: At Home Blogging

One of the greatest things that could have happened in the technological age is blogging.  So much information now comes to use because we are sharing it with each other and not waiting for some news or media outlet to inform us on it.  As in the movie Julie & Julia, people get an idea, create a blog and start writing.  Many blogs, like mine on another website, are just a continuous feed of things that pop in my mind and I feel have either educational or entertainment value.  Others though often are created out of a necessity and the desire to share on one subject in an open conversation. The person or people whom created the blog have a passion to share their findings and journey with the wide audience of the internet to teach and learn from each other: The very heart of why I created Project Kinect.

Recently, one of the people who continue to inspire me has created her own blog on being a in love with someone, living together as new homeowners.  Her and her boyfriend have created Beyond the Green Door: Inside lay the secrets of new homeowners embarking on an adventure of love, gardening, and home improvement…

So far, they have shared with us the garbage left behind by the old owners, getting a new kitchen table, organizing the spot  in the back yard for their garden, the beginning adventures of changing light fixtures and the grand nuisance of red ants.   It is also a great example of what we can do with technology and learning from each other.  Good luck you two! We can’t wait to see where your adventure goes to.  Beyondthegreendoor

 Here are a couple other great blogs to check out from some people incorporating their great hobbies into their very modern lives…

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Spotlight: Being Creative When Donating Time or Money

I have had to get creative with my volunteering lately while carless here in Wisconsin so I thought that I would make this Monday Spotlight all about volunteering and donating in creative ways.  One of the largest obstacles in getting people to donate their money or time today is that in order to do so, we feel that we have to bring the rest of our entire life to a halt.  I don’t know why, but in the back of our minds volunteering is a much larger activity than it really is.  To schedule a time to give our time with no return besides the greatness of the fact we are volunteering seems to be a concept even I have a difficult time with once in a while.  Ultimately then, we need to find ways that our loves, passions and enjoyments come out in our volunteering and donating.

I have put together these few things to at least get your minds going.  The fact is, we all do want to donate our time and money.  It is a human instinct to give.  So, in the year 2012, we just need to become more creative sometimes in our giving when circumstances aren’t to any extremes.

  • Wines For Humanity: My friend Angie is always so great about finding these ways to volunteer and fundraise that just amazes me.  I don’t know when she finds the time but thankfully she does because she finds me gems like this.  Wines for Humanity has strong feelings about homelessness. The hosts of these private wine tastings and their guests relax while enjoying the wines in a fun, educational environment. Not only does everyone have an extraordinary time with great wines and good friends, but a portion of the proceeds from every bottle promoted also directly benefits families in their community who find themselves on the brink of homelessness for reasons beyond their control.

                               Here in Wisconsin, the primary organization that receives the benefit is Porchlight, one of the organizations I have mentioned in the Madison section of Project Kinect.  Look into who your consultant is in your area to find out the organizations who are benefiting from Wines for Humanity.  This really is a great way for us wine drinkers to get together, taste some great wine and donate some money to an extremely important cause. 

  • Volunteering While Traveling:  I could kick myself for all of the times that I didn’t volunteer while I was traveling.  So many trips in my twenties that I didn’t even think about volunteering.  I know, as we all say, “it’s a vacation!  Why should you be working?”  Well, volunteering is not working because the word work implies that you’re getting paid.   When you’r
    This family we met up with twice. Once was at the Salvation Army distrobution center and the other was Dressing Up Tuscaloosa. They planned their vacation around this need to volunteer.

    e on vacation, you end up doing day trips and excursions and sightseeing; so why not decide to volunteer while you’re sight-seeing?  You will definitely get the spontaneous excursion that you were looking for.  Here are two additional links to give you some ideas of how to find volunteer opportunities while on vacation.  I do apologize, these websites are more geared for abroad travelers but even domestically, you can find great volunteer opportunities in any community.  You can also take it one step further and plan your vacation around a volunteer opportunity just like this family did who we met when we were in Tuscaloosa.

                                        I to I Volunteering

                                        Spunky Girls Monologues: 37 Ways to Volunteer While Traveling

Really though, this is all just to get you thinking about volunteering and how it doesn’t have to be a chore.  Look at what you absolutely love to do in your life, and find a way to share that or combine that in a volunteer opportunity.  My grandmother loves to play games and socialize.  So, two days a week, she goes to the nursing home in her town and plays bingo, colors, or chooses an assortment of other games with the residents.  For her, she gets to do what she loves and coincidentally, my mother works there as well as some of her friends are there.   My grandma would never consider this time volunteering, but that is what she is doing and the residents love her.  It is in there, in our happiness, where we can be the best “volunteer” that we can be.  Remember Jo who I met at the Tampa Hostel?  Look at how much volunteering she did as she was sailing around the world teaching yoga to all those youth at every port they stopped?  Her job for seventeen years was to sail that boat for the family on it.  She would have never considered her time “volunteering” when she was with any of those children. When volunteering isn’t in an extreme situation like natural disasters, then we must find that balance of where we volunteer hand-in-hand with something we love.

Monday Spotlight: We All Want to Help Eachother: Human Beings Are Like That

 As we get further into the holiday season, we need to keep focus on the true meaning of the holidays and what it really means to be human.  Going into the New Year, as we continue to develop and focus on furthering the betterment of our world, it is more important now than ever before that we get to the root causes of how we got here and how we move forward together, with each other, for each other. 

This video is remarkable and should be watched by everyone.  Whether you already have a heart full of love, hope and ambition, or you have just given up.  We are meant for great things still and we will get through these difficult times. 

 

I wanted to add this story because it is just a great reminder and supporter of what I mean when I talk about the importance and greatness of helping each other.   My grandmother read it to her Kiwanis group recently and I thought I would share it here.  Even if you have seen this before, I believe you will still enjoy it.

Grandma’s Christmas Secret:

I remembered my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Clause,” she jeered. “Even dummies know that!” I fled to her that because I knew she would be straight with me. Grandma always told the truth.

Grandma was home, and I told her everything.She was ready for me. “No Santa Claus!” she snorted. “Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”

We arrived at a store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. Grandma handed me ten dollars. “take this money,” she said, “and buy something someone else really needs. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors and the kids at school. I suddenly thought of Wayne Lieninger. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class. Wayne didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the inter. His step-mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Wayne Lieninger didn’t have a cough , and he didn’t have a coat. I figured the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Wayne a coat!

I settled on a blue corduroy with a hood to it. It looked warm, and he would like that. “Os this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. “Yes,” I answered. “It’s …. for Wayne.” The nice lady smiled at me. I didn’t get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me gift-wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and write, “To Wayne, From Santa Claus” on it — Grandma said that Santa insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Wayne’s house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa’s helpers.

Grandma parked down from Wayne’s house. We crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. “All right, Santa Claus,” she whispered, “get going.” I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. We waited breathlessly for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Wayne.

Fifty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those moments. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.

Monday Spotlight: Selflessness

Last week was the premiere of a new show on ABC called You Deserve It.  This show allows someone to play a game show and win money for a loved one who they feel deserves it.  To see this put on prime time television and having regular people being the ones responsible for giving these great sums of money is an extremely phenomenal thing.  This got me thing about being selfless acts and looking at the rate of selflessness we are as a society.  We are constantly full of selfless acts when it comes in front of us.  This is volunteering with a club, donating money and food to a food drive.  We tend to forget about these selfless opportunities when we are in the middle of our lives.  Part of my goal with Project Kinect is to work on that and make it a reflex on when an opportunity to be selfless comes up.

I was looking through different blogs to get inspiration on this post and while I was on Serene Journey, I came across this post on ideas for random acts of kindness and the author stated it very clear on how we can get absent from a continued selfless routine.

“As we go about our day, it’s easy to become consumed by our own reality walking around with blinders on completely unaware of what’s going on around us. It’s a little frightening to take stock of how modern conveniences have already put us out of touch with other real living, breathing, human beings. ATM’s, self checkouts, vending machines, and computers (email, instant messaging etc…). There is a tendency to become a little self-absorbed and selfish. Don’t get me wrong I welcome change and advancement I just think we’re losing touch with each other.”

My thoughts of what I wanted out of Project Kinect really comes through with this excerpt.  Because of this, I feel that it is beneficial to share the suggestions from this blog: Selfless Acts-Do Something Nice to Restore Faith in Humanity.

  1. Cook a meal. I do this occasionally for my family (mom, dad and sisters) if they are coming home from holidays or a weekend away. I do it so they don’t have to. Trick is to not expect a dinner waiting for you when you return from holidays and to truly be ok with it.
  2. Pay it forward. Occasionally I will pay for the car behind me in line at the drive thru. Obviously I’m not going to break the bank, but a cup of coffee or two isn’t going to break me and it just might make their day.
  3. Donate.In the spirit of uncluttering and organizing donate items that are still in good shape and that could be useful to someone else. We routinely fill boxes with items from around the house that we no longer need and drop them at the nearest thrift store or Salvation Army Depot. It makes it easier to get rid of items if you know they will go to another good home and not just in a landfill somewhere.
  4. Volunteer. This is a biggie. Volunteer your time, services or expertise to an organization that really needs your help. My husband is a computer programmer and volunteers his time and expertise to a non-profit organization by creating and maintaining their website. I really enjoy photography and well…practice makes perfect so I volunteered at a non-profit organization to take pictures at their various events. This freed up the organizers to focus on the event and they knew that everything was still be captured.
  5. Do something nice. It’s usually the little things that have the biggest impact. This may sound a bit odd but each and every morning in the winter I start the car for my husband. We live on the Canadian Prairies and it’s COLD!  So getting into a warm car when it’s –45C is a lovely thing!
  6. Be courteous. Our society seems to be forgetting a bit of common courtesy or consideration for others. A real simple act of courtesy is to just hold the door for someone. Whether they are struggling with shopping bags, lugging strollers and children or just exiting the store behind you, simply hold the door and let them through. It doesn’t hurt to smile as you do!
  7. Listen. Lending an ear to someone who just needs to talk is one of the best things you can do. You don’t always have to try and solve the problem (if there is one), just listen. Sometimes just talking about things without being judged can make a world of difference to someone’s day.

I feel that because it isn’t in our normal routine to consciously do these things routinely, it is good to find inspiration in other people’s stories.  These stories, whether it is that feel good warm fuzzies or just plain guilt, get us thinking more in the correct direction and pushes us to taking action.  We must remember that nothing will change for the better if we all don’t get involved.  While I was looking for different examples of selfless acts, I came across this story at RenseThis story shares how one person helped an old woman with the installation of her carpet.

Please feel free to share with me selfless acts of kindness that you see in your daily routines.  Feel free to leave a comment or email me at gregg@projectkinect.com.  As I begin to close up the first year of Project Kinect, I am putting together other people’s stories and these emails would be great additions.

 

Monday Spotlight: Constant Change in Transportation

I thought for this Monday Spotlight it would be great to get away from the Occupy Wall Street movement, the American Jobs Act, and the Republican candidate race and focus on something I saw on Fox News last week.  I am not a normal viewer of Fox News, but as I was passing through the different stations, I came across a segment on the Shweeb human propelled monorail system.  It got me thinking about mass transit in general.  I am a huge fan of making mass transit as economically friendly, easily accessible and green as possible.  Being that I am currently in a small city without any idea of a public transit system, it adds an element of irony to this Monday Spotlight. 

The two large cities that I lived in were extremely different when it comes to mass transit.  Las Vegas just finished a huge ten year project on its freeway system but added a monorail that was really only for the tourists.  There are no current plans of adding on to it.  They added double-decker buses to their bus lines which I feel that they were only to add glamour to the aesthetics of the city.

 Los Angeles on the other hand is going in a completely different direction.  They are pouring money into their subway system and are currently working on getting a monorail through the southern LA communities out to Venice Beach and are finishing up the details to the new subway route that will carry the Wilshire train through Beverly Hills, Century City and I believe out to Santa Monica. 

City Transit is constantly evolving and as we have seen through my travels for Project Kinect, it is important to the evolution of any economy.  Whether it is like the free bus system I showed you in Baltimore, or Shweeb System here, transportation continues to be the largest possibility of our communities becoming more environmentally friendly.

Shweeb: The overview of Scweeb is this. By integrating the unique properties of monorail and recumbent cycle technologies, Shweeb delivers a personal, efficient, and cost-effective transport solution with applications for urban commuting, recreational and fitness markets.  Geoff Barnett, the inventor of Shweeb, had the idea while he was living in Tokyo.  With all of the densely populated area of the city, and the other space conscious pieced of the city, it just made sense to him to create a bike system that could go above the traffic.

The possibilities for this system are endless.  It could be used in metropolitan areas such as Tokyo that is densely populated or on a college campus for students to get around more efficiently.  It could be used just for recreation in a park or placed in a theme park as a way to get around a park such as Disney.

Here is an article worth the read about how Google is investing in Shweeb.

Daily Dirt:  As I was looking for articles on self-propelled monorails, I came across this article on Techdirt.com. Started in 1997 by Floor64 founder Mike Masnick and then growing into a group blogging effort, the Techdirt blog uses a proven economic framework to analyze and offer insight into news stories about changes in government policy, technology and legal issues that affect companies ability to innovate and grow. The Daily Dirt has a wide range of topics and I have now put it on my routine of websites to check out.  It will definitely give you topics to think about that normally wouldn’t have come up in your thought process’.

StreetWise.Kittelson.com: On my journey looking for transportation articles to share in this Monday Spotlight, I came across this article from Streetwise by Kittelson & Associates Inc. (Transportation Engineering and Planning firm) This is a blog that is focused solely on all things transportation.  With offices all over the country, they really give some thoughts on what innovative changes are happening and how we are becoming more green with each step.

Streetwise.org: In my education of what Streetwise from Kettelson was, I stumbled onto this gem of an organization from Chicago.  StreetWise is an organization in the greater Chicago area that focuses on “A hand up, not a hand out”. It’s mission is this…

To assist Chicago area men and women, who are facing homelessness, achieve personal stability by providing them with a combination of supportive social services and immediate access to gainful employment

I know this doesn’t have much to do with transportation, but I came across the organization and from what it looks like, the organization has been successful.  Even thought this is an extremely young organization, the team at work is appears strong and their list of goals, both long term and short term, seem obtainable.  Definitely keep an eye on them because they will be someone to model community development after.

Monday Spotlight: Starbucks and Family

In life, our connections and our family isn’t necessarily what we planned or what is expected in our paths forward.  When I moved back to LA in 2008, I took a job with Starbucks.  As I started Project Kinect, I mentioned my dedication to my team in my store that made my two and a half years with Starbucks so memorable.  What I haven’t talked about though was my team of managers that became urban family members. 

Yesterday our boss posted a number of pictures that she had from different events, gatherings and training events that we had.  Our district in Beverly Hills has become a spotlight district in the entire country because of her commitment, focus and dedication to the development of her managers and the vision she saw for the entire company.   Due to the great integrity of the company and the focus on the product and the customer, Starbucks in my opinion is the prime example of how a corporation can still make money and continue to have social awareness of how it is helping out a community. 

With this group of managers though, greatness happened.  The most simple way to put it is with some simple math.   Each of the 12 managers had an average of 12 employees. That right there is 156 happy, motivated, contagious people.  Each of those stores passed their great energy off to about 1000 people daily.  Now you have 12,156 people happy, motivated, and contagious every day.  If that is sustainable for even an hour after they leave the store, how many people does that influence?    This is why I have a personal belief that amazing customer service can change the world.  I know is sounds like a pipe dream, but it has some truth.

This Monday Spotlight is dedicated to those thirteen colleagues and all of the greatness that they put out into to world every day.  You really had a great influence on me and will forever be called family by me.  Thank you.

This video was my very first for Project Kinect.  It was taken when Whitney and I went downtown to visit Lui at her new store downtown in a new district.  Until the move, the three of us were considered the Century City Sisters: Mabel, Agatha and Bernice.