Tales of a Midwest Lutheran on the East Coast
Showing posts with label randomness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label randomness. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Scavenger Hunts: What I do best!

I'm leading this activity at Miliken Park in downtown Detroit on Thursday.




Detroit Riverwalk Photo Selfie Contest 2015
Be creative! Be respectful!
Post to #RiseUpELCA

Let’s see your best selfie/video as you…
o  Be a vampire next to the Cullen Family Carousel
o  Optional bonus point: Selfie ON the Carousel (rides are $1)
o  Pose with downtown Detroit in the background
o  Do your best Canadian Impression with Canada in the background (optional video)
o  Pose with the Memorial Statue
o  Be a duck/bird/penguin in the wetlands
o  Be a frog impression on Lilly Pad lane
o  Do your best rendition of “this little light of mine” in front of or including the Milliken State Park Lighthouse
o  Do an impression of reeling in the biggest catch of your life from the river or pond
o  Do your best Yoga or Tai Chi Selfies (there are yoga and tai chi groups that often use the park)
o  Do a Tuesday night bus-reenactment selfie
o  Show your best bedhead recreation (or current bedhead)
o  Do your best performance of “Detroit is alive… with the sound of 30,000 Lutherans!” (The Sound of Music)
o  Do a performance of “Uptown Funk” dance moves
o  Pose with anything cool you see
o  Your best map-reading selfie on the giant map in the sidewalk (look lost, point in different directions…)
o  Make up a “Rise Up” Cheer
o  Sing/ reinact any song that has the word “river” in it
o  Sing/act out your favorite Motown song (Google it!)
o  Practice your “wave” for Ford Field
o  Make up your own!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Stuff I found in the dryer...

Over the last few days I have beginning to feel a bit antsy again. My "time off" has been fine - watching interesting documentaries on Netflix, reading books I've meant to read in forever (currently finishing up Seven Years in Tibet), making home and cooking (and blogging). I've been having crazy thoughts like: I'll join the local chapter of Friends of Sabeel! Maybe go down to the conference in DC! Or maybe I can attend the conference in NYC with Thich Naht Hanh! Or go protest with Occupy Wall Street! Or maybe volunteer, say at the soup kitchen in Trenton. Anything! Give me something to do! (besides laundry...)

Beau says I should continue to enjoy my time off (he would say that :)) Then he reminded me that I have an interview next Sunday and I will need to write my sermon before then because we'll be on vacation the week before I preach. Yikes! That means I'll have to get on that one. At least I won't have to preach on one of those really challenging parables of Jesus in Matthew. In three years, I will pay my dues on that one...

Nothing terribly special planned for the vacay, just a day trip into NYC to see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and the 9/11 Memorial. Someday we'll be able to afford to see more. We also sometime want to spend a week in DC taking care of our "West Wing" fix. Boston is on our list to see as well.

I almost forgot to mention that we went "down the shore" last week! The place was nearly deserted, so we had practically the whole beach to ourselves. We stood in awe of the rolling waves of the ocean, the hugeness of it, and the taste of salt and sand on our lips. The ocean is really big, by the way.We had fun collecting shells and racing the waves. Then we went to the aquarium at Point Pleasant Beach and saw some cool fish and sharks. We finished the day in the most perfect way - a caramel apple, which is one of my favorite parts of fall. It was delish.

Our place is finally really looking like a home. Check out our living room, where nearly every piece of furniture is from IKEA!

Here you can see Patches looking out the window at the birdfeeder. We have been visited by many birds, and unfortunately many squirrels too. I'm trying to figure out how to sneak the door open when the squirrels are here so that the cats can give them a good scare. Haven't succeeded yet. I also don't know if the cats would have any idea what to do if they DID catch one. :)

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Wells Fargo Listens!

This just made my day.

A few weeks ago I sent an old Visa card that we use through Wells Fargo BACK to the their headquarters. I sent it there a) because I had gotten a new one and b) nearly credit card, including those from WF are made of PVC plastic, a cheap and toxic material that is hazardous at all stages of its "life." Now that I was through with it, I didn't just want to throw it away and have it leech toxicness into one of seven (or more) toxic waste dumps within New Jersey. Thanks to a tip from Annie Leonard's fantastic book The Story of Stuff, I send my old card back to the "manufacturer" with a letter detailing the noxious effects of PVC. I also challenged them to live up to their professed commitment to the environment. I did my part for this one time, and that was that. Next thing please.

Until today.

Here is (parts of) a letter I just received from WF:

Dear Lydia Nelson: 


Thank you for returning your VISA card to Wells Fargo Bank, since you now have a new one... Your letter expressing your concerns about the PVC, which can be contained in plastic cards, was referred to Wells Fargo Customer Connection for review and response. 


Our Vision and Values addresses the fact that Wells Fargo has an environmental commitment to run our company as efficiently as possible, reducing paper and energy use. We have set a goal to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, have a comprehensive recycling program, and are using energy-saving design elements in our new banking stores. Your feedback, encouraging Wells Fargo to lead the charge in stopping the use of PVC in our credit and debit cards, has been forwarded to the appropriate management personnel, in order to be considered when making future business decisions.


We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to make us aware of your concerns and for providing an opportunity to improve our service. (The rest is about how to contact them for further questions).

HOW COOL IS THAT!!! Can YOUR bank do that? Thanks, Wells Fargo, for responding for one person trying to make a small difference in the world. Hopefully someday soon we be one step closer to ridding ourselves of PVC.