Tom Friedman at my alma mater

I went to my alma mater, Miami University, to see Tom Friedman speak about his new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Tom thinks that we – as in America – have to lead the way on the coming ET (Energy Technology) revolution.

His timing to visit Miami and speak about energy couldn’t have been more ironic; half of the students were still without power courtesy of the remnants of Hurricane Ike. In fact, 1,000 Miami students participated in front of the university president’s house and protested the decision to not cancel classes.

Energy – or the lack thereof – is a hot topic at Miami right now.

In front of the library I heard an interesting conversation:

“Got power yet?” says girl #1.

“Yeah,” says girl #2, “we’ve got power,…

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Books: No Place for Politics

Newt Gingrich has a book out titled “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less.” Or I should say that Newt and co-author Vince Haley have a book out. I’m guessing that Vince did most of the heavy lifting, but since you – like everybody else – just asked yourself, “Who the hell is Vince Haley?” they added Newt’s name to the cover.

After I’ve spent the better part of two years researching writing, editing, reviewing copy edits, and reviewing page proofs of my own book, I’m skeptical of the publishing process involved in “Drill Here.” The offshore drilling debate is barely months old. Sure, it might have been debated before, but I’m guessing that Vince and Newt didn’t come up with the idea of the book…

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Galveston is worse than you think

Apartment in Hurricane from Space

Seen any photos of Galveston since Hurricane Ike?

I didn’t think so.

My sources say that it’s because Galveston Island is worse than you think. This is pretty scary considering that there are reports of the island being without electricity or water for weeks or months.

I’ve never had a hurricane hit so close to home – not my home, but my brothers. Kyle and his wife Jenn live and work on the island. As luck would have it, Kyle and Jenn have had plane tickets to fly to Ohio for months. They arrived last Wednesday.

Ike hit Galveston Friday night.

Their apartment is on the second floor near The Strand. The apartment likely avoided the flood damage, but, chances are, the…

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On politics in the Dayton City Paper, really…

I try to avoid writing/talking about politics. All that you need to know is that I think I’m right and you’re wrong and I know that you think you’re right and I’m wrong. But, as you can imagine, not writing about politics can be kind of tricky when the assignment is the Democratic National Convention.

I think that I did a pretty good job of not getting political in my recent piece for the Dayton City Paper. Decide for yourself:

You can read it here. (This link will probably expire in a few days.)

The story is paired against one written by a Dayton-area Republican. He does get political, but probably knows enough to get political. While I think it’s interesting how this fella has…

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Preorder WAIW and get the first chapter now

Where Am I Wearing? cover

My publisher gave me a PDF of my first chapter, A Consumer Goes Global, to give to anyone who preorders the book.

Here’s how to get your hands on the first 12 pages of “Where am I Wearing?” three months before the book is published:

1. Preorder “Where am I Wearing?” from your favorite online book store

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Books-a-Million
Borders
Powell’s Books
Wiley & Sons (my publisher)

…or any other online store

2. Send the digital receipt to kelsey@travelin-light.com

3. I’ll email you Chapter 1

What people are saying about Where Am I Wearing?:

“Timmerman is a fun tour guide, rather than a stern moralizer. His quest to find community around the world is an inspiration to anyone beginning to ask what’s been lost…

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Patagonia takes another step in the right direction

I doubt that my recent experience contacting Patagonia had much to do with their decision to list the country of origins of all their products online, but it couldn’t have hurt.

The engaged consumer in me jumped for joy when I read the recent announcement on their blog The Cleanest Line:

…Making our factory list public directly addressed customer concerns about Patagonia’s adherence to socially responsible manufacturing. But it opened the door for the next big question, “If Patagonia is looking for full transparency, why not publish the country of origin for each product in the printed and on-line catalogs?”

We’re happy to announce that we’re doing exactly that…

In the past, we responded to a different customer demand about the origin of our products. The message then was clear:…

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