learning through blogging.

Besides the actual content on the blogs, there’s a lot that I’ve learned on my foray into the world of blogging and online interactions. (I started Unusual Passions in January 2010.)

business.

I’ve corresponding with companies regarding free products to review. I wonder if they knew I was 15? (If you are one of those marketing coordinators I linked to a review, thanks for the life lessons! )

Thank you to Audrey for helping me get started with product reviews!

I’ve decided not to attempt to make money from the blog for now. That’s really not an intent I could passionately write with. However, I really enjoy reviewing free products, as well as restaurants and services I do pay for.

websites.

It took me a while to figure out themes, widgets, sidebars, posts—there’s a lot that goes into a webpage; more than I thought! I also learned about HTML when I was making my sidebar boxes. (Can you tell I’ve spruced things up a little? I added a picture of myself!)

legal.

When I went to write my disclosures and disclaimers, I read a lot of legal jargon and junk. It’s all now cemented in my mind as a way to either reinforce common sense or replace common sense. You decide.

I read a couple sites to find help with writing disclaimers.

personal.

I’ve learned how to better communicate through the medium of my blog posts as well as dozens of comment boxes scattered around the web. I’ve learned how to write trivial words just to let people know I’ve read their tips and thoughts and that I care. I’ve learned how to network a little more, even in this age of social networking.

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communication.

The underlying themes of each of these areas: effective communication with fellow man. It’s as simple as that. Praise the Lord.

What have you learned through blogging? (Or reading blogs?)

Here’s some more HTML for you:

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OOPS! I meant…

Why I Buy Second-Hand

For Those With a Conscience

I’ve been reading a dynamite book called The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience. I call it dynamite because it gets me passionate about the issues discussed—it makes me want to do something.

Often, however, I can’t do much, and I get frustrated. So this is my way of channeling that passion—sharing it with people! So read and believe! (At least, read.)

This book covers topics such as:

• sweatshops
• fair trade
• ethical investment
• organic produce and free-range meat
• “green” energy
• transportation 

Interested at all in the consequences of where you put your money? Check out this book.

From the back cover:

Shopping can sometimes feel like a moral minefield.

The issues: Do boycotts work? Is buying local better? How can we reduce our impact on global warming?

The products: From coffee to cars, fish to furniture, pensions to plane tickets—the problems and the ethical options.

The companies: Where to shop and what to look for in food, clothes, banks, travel agencies and much more.

The book presents the pros and cons of boycotts, localization, and selective shopping (choosing among companies), making me re-think some of my guiding principles when it comes to spending money. I still have my “Buy Local” enthusiasm, but on the other hand, what about impoverished workers overseas? Am I harming them? This leads to the problems of sweatshop and fair trade. As you can tell, it’s complicated and I won’t attempt to explore those topics in this post.

My solution: support neither the locally-produced goods nor the imported clothes—buy second-hand and bypass all the mess.

CLOTHING

Plato’s Closet

I’ve mentioned Plato’s Closet before, when writing about a particular Saturday. This is a teen-clothing shop that buys and sells brand-name, gently-used (or even new) clothing. It has over 250 stores across North America; the nearest to me is in Matthews, NC.

I love that the store has everything I need all in one place—shirts, jeans, shorts, shoes, belts, jackets, hats, jewelry and sunglasses. The only thing you won’t find is socks and underwear! They even sell books and DVDs.

Also, there are some great deals. I’ve bought a shirt for $4 (that I’m wearing right now) that had its original price tag for $24.50!

Another attracting quality of Plato’s Closet (which makes it relevant to this topic) is the “recycling” theme. Apparently, the philosopher Plato spoke of reusing and preservation, parallel to the founders’ idea. For my purposes, I’m not buying directly from any company (thus supporting the production of new stuff), but supporting the re-use of products.

Another “re-use’” store close to home is Sweet Repeats (in Waxhaw). They sell both teen and children’s clothing at this consignment shop. The selection is less than Plato’s, but the overall quality is higher. The store is also less busy and crowded, with more room to browse. This store is competitively priced with Plato’s Closet.

BOOKS

There’s a store in Waxhaw that sells donated books for very low prices, and all proceeds benefit the public library. That’s what I call guilt-free shopping.

BETTER YET

It’s easier and simpler to not buy anything at all. Of course, that’s not possible, but personally I’m trying to refrain from unnecessary buying for a while.

Update to UliMana product review

1. Goji Cherry Truffle                      

Read the original review.
2. Dark Truffle                                  

This was plain and almost bitter. For simplicity in chocolate, I look to TJ’s 73% bar.
3. Hemp Nut Brownie                     

I disliked this the most. I don’t think it’s worth the money.
4. Chocolate Apricot Walnut       

On to the delicious ones! What a great idea… the apricot and the walnut were of high quality and the three elements (fruit, nut, chocolate) balanced each other well.
5. Lemon Fig Bar                            

Mmm… there’s some coconut in there, too. This reminds me of Katie’s “babies,”
6. Chia Moon Drop                         

This was the prettiest, and I saved it for last, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it much.

Look for more reviews soon!

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Springfest and Yard Sales

Cheap but quality clothes? Kitchen tools? Books? Produce? I know where they are. No, technically I don’t need any of it, but I find it a very enjoyable way to interact with my community. Buy local!

Saturday morning.

7:30 am – bike ride.

Smell of honeysuckles = bliss.

8:15 am – Neighborhood yard sale.

Now I can organize my shoes, among other things.

9 am – Waxhaw Farmer’s market.

I bought rainbow-colored Swiss chard, spinach, and peas, all from The Specialty Farmer.  The passionate growers, Donna and Bill, offer high-quality organic produce. Everything is very fresh, picked either that morning or the late the night before.

This young lady plays the violin for donations, so that she can see Ireland.

9:15 am – Attic sale.

This garlic roaster and keeper from Norpro costs me 50 cents, compared to a retail of $10 and $8 on Amazon. The sellers didn’t even know what it was.

9:30 am – Free kittens.

A lady was giving away a litter of kittens rescued from the floods in Tennessee.

9:45 am – Relaxing at Crossroads.

I read my book and enjoyed a “Salty Garlic Knot” from Flanagan’s Bread (from the Waxhaw Farmer’s Market – also sold at the market in Charlotte). The salt was delicious and obviously high quality, and the soft, white yeast bread hinted with garlic. Rustic.

10 am – Waxhaw Springfest.

The Springfest is a 2-day outdoor family fun festival held in historic downtown Waxhaw. It goes from 10 till 6 on Saturday and 12 till 6 on Sunday. I like the vendors.

Free samples from Sandy Creek Herb Co., producer of gourmet salt, dip and seasoning mixes, rubs, and teas.

Not free… I wish.  Their salts included Himalayan Pink, Alaea Hawaiian, Pure Atlantic, Applewood Smoked, and Hickory Smoked.

Tupperware.

You know I don’t drink soda. But anything homemade interests me… I asked for a free sample of root beer, and this kind man (not Bob, FYI) happily obliged.

Sweet, actually refreshing, mildly carbonated. The carbonation in commercial sodas bothers me. This soda earned a review on a healthy living blog because the man was very kind, thus improving my emotional health.

11 am – Friends of the Library used book store.

Special Springfest storytime. I’ve mentioned this place before; volunteers manage the shop and all the donations help the public library system in Waxhaw.

This particular visit, I took advantage of their BOGOF (buy one, get one free) paperback sale, purchasing The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (possibly this year’s required summer reading) and a book on analyzing handwriting. It costs me a total of $1—they are really giving this stuff away.

11:45 am – Sweet Repeats.

This is a consignment shop in Waxhaw that sells both children’s clothing, and recently, juniors-sized clothing. It’s competitively priced against Plato’s Closet, another re-sale clothing store for teens.

Afternoon – Plato’s Closet

Incidentally, later in the day I visited Plato’s Closet for some spring clothes and “travel jeans” that Teen Missions requires for my missions trip.

I love buying a shirt for $4 that has the original price tag of $24.50!

I highly recommend these stores and products. I am not getting money or exclusive free samples (with the exception of Bob’s soda, but he didn’t know it was for a blog), so this is simply my opinion! Any bias comes from my love of Waxhaw.

Do you enjoy yard sales and local vendors? Does your town host any interesting festivals?

Do Hard Things

Have you heard of the Rebelution?

I attend a weekly group meeting sometimes on Tuesday evenings—my friends and I come together under the leadership of  a strong, godly woman to hang out and discuss the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, the founders of the Rebelution—just 18 years old when they wrote the book, may I add. (These are brothers of Joshua Harris, who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye, another excellent book.) In short, the Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations. 

The next generation stands on the brink of a "rebelution." …Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life and map a clear trajectory for long-term fulfillment and eternal impact.

Wouldn’t that be amazing? If teenagers today weren’t lazy, selfish, and non-productive; if our society didn’t expect them to be this way.

This book proposes that adolescence is a myth created by modern society—the word “teenager” didn’t even come into existence until the late 1930s. Before that, you were either a child with childish ways, or an adult, with no in-between time to waste. Now, this doesn’t mean 14-year-olds should marry or be in the military. But the teen years should not be wasted.

The following Bible verse is the guiding theme:

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young,
but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12

Also check out the Modesty Survey mentioned in this book.

Amen!

YES! This is my dream. I wish to do hard things, not for my glory but for the Lord and His Kingdom—I already know that doing hard things, whether attempting them or accomplishing them, is very fulfilling in life.

Anyway, last night we were discussing a section of Do Hard Things that specifically addressed what to do.

One principle was to do things that are hard for you. Things that challenge you—if you are already considered above average in your sport or skill or grades, this doesn’t apply.

Also, do them well. Today, people want to be busy. (Thanks to the Renaissance, as I learned in World History.) Having a lot of things on our plate is both directly and indirectly modeled as ideal. Our education system recognizes those with excellent grades, many extracurricular hobbies and sports, clubs, community service, leadership positions, etc. Colleges award scholarships to the busiest people.

Do Hard Things encourages teenagers to do things well, not necessarily spread ourselves out thinly over every club and activity possible. It’s better to be devoted to schoolwork and make good grades, then to tack on an hour and a half of sports everyday which causes your grades to slide. Or, on the other hand, to under-achieve in sports because you had to stay up so late studying. 

I am guilty of this. I have school, which encompasses not only the learning but several clubs; I have track practice most every school day and sometimes have meets on the weekends; I go to church on Sunday morning and youth group on Thursday night… and there are still things I want to do! —either for personal enjoyment or to be considered “accomplished”.

For example, cooking and blogging. I apologize that I can’t blog more often. Is it OK for me to only blog a couple times a week, or is that considered not doing all things to the best of my ability? Do the few readers I entertain mind if my blog posts are few and far between?

Parkwood’s Rebelution

Coincidentally, my high school is also campaigning for a “Rebelution,” because we are the Parkwood Rebels. The Global Awareness classes are partnering with Samaritan’s Purse to raise money to buy water filters for third world countries. They’ve already raised thousands of dollars by class competitions and selling T-shirts and stickers. You can read more here.

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• Start Here by Alex & Brett Harris (joshharris.com)