2011 November | Kelsey Timmerman

There’s just something magic about the 1st snow…

By Kelsey

I admit, I am not a fan of winter, but you have to agree that there is just something magic about the first snow of the year. I called it quits early today and Harper and I built a snowman.

This Writer’s Life

Farewell to a friend

By Kelsey

If you’ve had four kidneys – two that were yours and two that were someone else’s — cancer, and are nearly blind, you’re allowed to be pissed off at the world.

If, on the other hand, instead of scowling and complaining – which are well within your rights – you travel, compose music, and make the world around you a bit happier, you are one of a kind.

And that’s exactly what my friend Brian Eckstein who died last week at the age of 40 was.

One. Of. A. Kind.

Brian worked at Indiana Public Radio, the local NPR station, and he loved his job. I first met him when the World Vision Report sent me to the IPR studio to record an essay. It was an essay about teaching an island village how to play baseball in Honduras, but mostly it was about not having much and appreciating what you do have.

Brian and I had lunch a few times. He came over to our house to help me with some audio once. And whenever I was near the IPR studio on Ball State’s campus, I would stop in to say “hi.” On one occasion, I had my daughter Harper with me and he pulled her in a wagon around the studio.

This morning I was watching videos of Brian on YouTube and I asked Harper if she remembered him. She said that she did. You can never quite be sure what an-almost-three-year-old will remember, but yesterday she did help solve the mystery of the missing nose-hair trimmer:

“Harper,” I said. “Do you know where my nose-hair trimmer is?”

Harper put her finger to her mouth and tapped her lips, lost in thought.

“Hmmm…” she said. “It’s in my backpack. I put it there so I could play with it on a picnic.”

I didn’t believe her, but checked one dog backpack – not there. Then monkey backpack #1 – not there. Then monkey backpack #2 – sure enough, there it was.

Harper only met Brian three times or so, but I believe she remembers him. That’s the type of guy Brian was. You remember him. You remember the smile and the laugh. You remember his acts of kindness. You remember the wagon rides.

X-Man

It wasn’t that his ailments made you feel guilty for complaining about your life; it was that he inspired you to be better and happier and to enjoy life. Even if he had been the healthiest guy you had ever met, he would have inspired you. His challenges only made his life and his personality reach that many more people.

At the station they called him X-Man, perhaps because his last name started “Ecks,” but more likely because, like the mutants under Professor X’s tutelage in the comic books, he was a freak. His mutant superpower… perfect pitch. Play any note and he could name it and recreate it. His kindergarten teacher called his mom one day, “Did you know Brian can play the piano?”

Later in his life, due to hand injuries, he only had four fingers on his right hand and three on the left that could be used to play the piano. Still he played at his church. He composed the 2008 theme music for Delaware County’s Relay for Life.

“Music has been a sanctuary for me — a retreat from the rest of the world,” Brian told a program (see video below) doing a feature on him earlier this year. “It’s the one thing that God hasn’t taken away from me.”

You are your passions

Brian reminded us that you aren’t your ailment. You aren’t your job. You are your passions. And Brian shared his with the world.

His voice still can be heard on the IPR airwaves. There’s something about doing radio that’s like praying. You have to believe in invisible airwaves that you can’t touch, taste, or smell. You sit in a room by yourself and you have faith that someone else is listening.

I was fortunate to have shaken Brian’s hand, to have seen Brian, and to have known him.

But most of all, like so many others, I heard Brian.

—

Brian’s family is directing donations in his memory to Indiana Public Radio. If you knew Brian or inspired by his words and his music in videos below, I hope you’ll consider donating.

One last thing…Brian and I had talking about meeting for lunch for the past six months, but we never worked it out. We should have.

Do yourself a favor and call a friend you haven’t seen in a while and make lunch plans. I will.

Brian sharing his passion with the world the day before he died…

If you never had the pleasure of meeting Brian, watch this video to catch a glimpse of his light…

This Writer’s Life

Patagonia on Cyber Monday: Don’t buy it!

By Kelsey

Are you up to your web cam in free shipping and buy-one-get-three offers this Cyber Monday?

Patagonia, one of the nation’s largest and most well-respected outdoor retailers, is asking us to pledge to “Think before we buy.” Gasp!

Cyber Monday, and the culture of consumption it reflects, puts the economy of natural systems that support all life firmly in the red. We’re now using the resources of one-and-a-half planets on our one and only planet.
Because Patagonia wants to be in business for a good long time – and leave a world inhabitable for our kids – we want to do the opposite of every other business today. We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.

Don’t buy what you don’t need. Think twice before you buy anything.

Patagonia products are expensive. It’s often referred to as Patagucci, but there’s a reason for that. In a world of fast fashion that is worn today and worn out tomorrow, Patagonia doesn’t sacrifice quality. And if one of their products does wear out, they’ll replace it! I worked at a store that sold Patagonia’s products and they would repair or replace nearly anything.

Bear Attack damage your long underwear? No problem. Patagonia will take care of the damage, although the psychological damage may be irreparable.

In the long run, quality is cheaper. This is something that every Engaged Consumer should know.

I can’t think of a company that is more transparent than Patagonia when it comes to talking about the environmental and social impact that their products have on the world. I’ve never EVER heard of a company other than Patagonia admit anything like that it takes 135 liters of water – enough to meet the daily needs of 45 people – to make a single jacket.

I took the pledge and I hope you’ll do so too. Be sure to check out the Footprint Chronicles why you’re over there.

TAKE THE PLEDGE

Engaged Consumer

2 strangers, 6 years, and 1 moment

By Kelsey

Six years ago I met a worker outside of the Delta factory in Villanueva, Honduras, that changed my life. It wasn’t so much what he said or what happened when I met him, but all of the unanswered questions I had about his life and the life of other such workers around the world.

I met him shortly after I posed for the above photo in front of the factory he worked at in 2005. I’ve been in Honduras now for a week and the questions many of you who’ve read “Where Am I Wearing?” and/or heard me speak about Amilcar and all the other workers I met is, “Have you found Amilcar?”

Sort of.

What I can tell you right now is that I know that he didn’t remember me at first. It took some convincing. He doesn’tremember my name or much about me at all, but he does remember some crazy gringo showing up and giving him the shirt said crazy gringo was wearing.

I’ve always been ashamed that I gave him the shirt I was wearing and posed shirtless beside him. It’s something that I thought if I could go back I wouldn’t do. It aptly reflected the shallowness of my false start. But if it weren’t for the complete silliness of me giving him my T-shirt, he likely wouldn’t have remembered me at all and I wouldn’t have an amazing, AMAZING story to share with you in the near future.

What I find particularly interesting is that a moment that changed me was

barely even remembered by the person who I shared it with.

Have you ever had an experience that changed the course of your
life, but it left no impact on the lives of those whom you shared it with?

Here’s me six years later at the same factory.

Note in the 2nd photo that the Delta sign has been removed from the factory. I wonder if I had something to do with that?

Engaged Consumer, Travel

Japanese underwear helps you burn calories

By Kelsey

Sometimes I wish I lived in Japan. This is one of those times? When Will our underwear technology catch theirs? When will I be able to burn calories simply by wearing underwear that restrict my movement to such an extent that walking to get a Twinkie burns calories?

Behold, CalorieShaper underwear!

Engaged Consumer

33 things I packed for 1 week in Honduras

By Kelsey

What does a vagabonding underwear journalist pack on an 8-day trip to Honduras?

1 pair of Khaki pants
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of shorts
1 lucky shorts (they don’t stay up anymore so they serve little other purpose)
2 T-shirts
3 polo shirts
4 pairs of underwear
5 pair of socks
1 belt
3 shoes (flip-flops, running shoes, dress shoes)
iPhone
Passport
Immunization book
Book to give Amilcar when I find him
Netbook
Point & Shoot camera
Eyeglasses
Sunglasses
Toiletries (teeth, shaving, skin)
1 Aerobie super disc to give away
1 Aerobie super disc to play withg
1 hackey sack in case of emergency1 2450 cubic inch backpack
1 Kindle
1 Domke reporter bag

And when I cram all of that in my backpack and bag it weighs about 20lbs. All in all I think I might be over packed a bit, but it’s an amount I can repack in 5 minutes and I could carry it across Honduras if I had to.

What do you think? What did I pack that you wouldn’t? What else would you just HAVE to pack?

Uncategorized

A longer, harder, more spine-tingling….consumer conscience

By Kelsey

When Nick Gerlich and Kris Drumheller of West Texas A&M told me they wanted to do a research project on how Where Am I Wearing? influences readers, I must admit that I was a bit nervous. What if reading the book made no impact?

Well, the first round of numbers are in and Nick concludes, “at the end of the day, we are extremely satisfied with our findings, as should Mr. Timmerman. I think he accomplished what he set out to do.”

(Insert sigh of relief here.)

Nick goes in-depth on the details of the study on his blog. Here are the nuts and bolts:

939 people responded to their survey which measured consumer ethnocentrism. The lower the score on the CETSCALE the less ethnocentric the consumer.
Their theory was that reading the book would make consumers less ethnocentric.
Nick and Kris expected that political persuasion, race, and gender would perhaps overshadow any influence the book would have, but it turns out that having read the book majorly influenced CETSCALE scores.

Whether or not the person had read the book “was a significant predictor at all indicates that the book has the potential to raise awareness among readers. Furthermore, it demonstrates the value of a common reader program, and that it can effect awareness and change as well.”

There you have it folks. My book works. At least science says it does.

Win a Kindle Touch, take the survey

Nick and Kris would like for more people to take the survey. It doesn’t matter if you’ve read my book or not. You can take it here and when you do you’ll be entered to win a Kindle Touch!!!!

Engaged Consumer

Ashamed…I didn’t vote

By Kelsey

I have a confession: I didn’t vote.

I did the research of who I was going to vote for, even scribbled their names on a scrap piece of paper, jammed it in my pocket, and drove to the courthouse yesterday to cast my vote early since I’m speaking at Tarleton State in Texas today. Voting stopped at noon. I had no idea. I arrived at 2.

Damn.

Let this be a lesson to us both. Voting shouldn’t be an afterthought. Make sure that you’re registered. Confirm where and when you can vote. Don’t just assume the location is the same as the last time.

Pretend that your future is on the line and that your vote is the difference between justice and injustice, because it is.

And if you don’t vote, shut the hell up about taxes and potholes.

Glocal

Big News: The Adventure Continues

By Kelsey

I’m on a flight to Dallas and I hope to God know one asks me about the book I’m reading. Why? Because of all the millions of books I could be reading, I’m reading the only one I wrote. Of course, maybe if I cover up the author photo, laugh really loud now and again, and pepper in a few hmmm’s of interest, it would be good marketing.

“You’ve just gotta read this book! This dude named Kelsey goes to all of the places his clothes were made….”

But this isn’t why I’m reading my own book.

My publisher, John Wiley & Sons, has asked me to do an update and revision. When Richard my editor called me with the idea he asked, “Do you think you could do a revision? Have any ideas for new chapters?” Boy, did I.

Between you and me, I’ve always felt like “Where Am I Wearing?” was incomplete. I went to Honduras because my T-shirt was made there, met a worker named Amilcar, didn’t ask him the questions I wanted to, went home and it bugged me that I knew so little about Amilcar’s life and, for that matter, all of the lives of the people who make our clothes, so then I went to Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China. What about Honduras?

What about Amilcar?

Next week I’m heading to Honduras armed with an 8X10 photo of Amilcar taken nearly five years ago and the location of the factory he worked at. This time I intend to ask Amilcar the questions I wasn’t prepared and deep down really didn’t want to know. Does he have a family now? Does he remember me? Does he still work at the factory? Has the job made life better for him and his family? Does he still have the Tattoo T-shirt that I gave him? I have so many questions for him.

I also want to share with him how he changed my life – the way I see the world, the way I shop, the way I give, the way I volunteer, what I do for a living. I’ll tell him everything.

I’m anxious to find him, worried that I might fail, and excited to bring my “Where Am I Wearing?” journey full circle.

What’s new?

In addition to the new chapter which will cover my search for Amilcar, I’ll …

… share my experiences visiting the soleRebels factory in Ethiopia

… include end of section updates on Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China. I will try to get updates on the lives of the workers I met, but it hasn’t been easy keeping track of them. In some cases I might have to write a general update about how life for garment workers has changed in each country. The financial crisis and increase in food prices have made things even more difficult for workers around the world.

… a discussion / activity guide for classes and book clubs.

If you’ve read Where Am I Wearing? what would you change? What updates would you want me to include?

Living the journey

I can’t believe I’m still living the Where Am I Wearing journey and that I’ve been able to share the stories of the workers I’ve met on the level that I’ve been able to.

It has been and it is an absolute honor. Thank you all for being a part of it.

Engaged Consumer, This Writer’s Life, Travel