Andrew (my partner on the Nothing Personal project) have a piece in the Huffington Post today – Finance Reform: How Short Memories are Created.
The timing of this piece is more than ironic. Tomorrow we’re hopping flights from Indiana to NYC. Goodbye Main Street! Hello Wall Street!
Our goal in NYC is to treat investment bankers and quants with the empathy that we treated the people we met around the world who had been hit by the crisis. It should be fun.
I’m speaking at the Midwest Writers mini-conference today. The organizers originally expected around 25-30 attendees, but 100+ signed up. Why so many more? Annie asked if it had anything to do with me. (That was nice of her.) But I’m sure it doesn’t. You give a free writing conference and supply it with donuts and they will come.
Since there are so many attendees, I decided to forgo the killing of trees and just share my bits of wisdom here:
A kick in the pants
On editors
Exploiting aspiring writers
Getting an agent
Blogging build a writing career
Books I recommend-
ON WRITING
Self-editing for Fiction Writers
ON GETTING PAID TO WRITE
“You can leave Africa, but Africa won’t leave you.”
That’s what the high-powered executive told me after I mentioned my upcoming trip to Kenya. He spent three years in Africa teaching English when he was in his early twenties. He never said what it was about Africa that makes it not leave you, but I expect he might not know.
That was on Wednesday night.
Today I saw a friend’s Facebook post that Africa was calling him to return, Liberia specifically.
I’ve visited sunny beaches and shantytowns around the world and, I must admit, it’s the beaches that tend to call for my return. (Oh Na Pali coast of Kauai, how I long for you!) Sure, I’ll never forget the dump I visited in Cambodia, but I have no desire to return.
While in Bangladesh, Bibi Russell — fashion model/designer/UN Envoy/living saint — told me that “Beauty lies in Poverty,” forever changing the way I saw the world and leading to this paragraph in Where Am I Wearing:
The world we come from seems to be less real in comparison to Bangladesh . A child’s laugh when surrounded by our modern luxuries isn’t as beautiful as Arifa’s daughter’s on a sultry day where hunger wakes her before the heat. A mother’s smile while chopping veggies on the floor seems more genuine than an American mother’s while dishing out mac ’n cheese onto an Elmo plate. Nothing—a smile, a laugh, not even a single pair of underwear—is taken for granted.
Beaches can be beautiful, but so can people. Is this what calls for the executive and my friend to return?
I’ll be spending much of my time in the slums of Kibera. Here’s a video to give you an idea what it’s like.
There are flying toilets! This video hits you hard enough without the smell, and from the looks of things the smell must really be something. Does this look like a place that you would want to visit once, let alone return to again and again?
When I leave Africa, will Africa NOT leave me?
I’ll find out in 50 days.
—
If you’re interested in joining the cause and getting your name in the credits in a documentary about Kibera visit www.heldhostagebyapathy.com.
Okay, since I started #ten4tues we’ve had more than enough earthquakes. I think we’ve more than met our quota for the year, so let’s stop having them.
That said, this week I’m supporting the relief efforts in Chile by donating $10 to the World Vision Project. I hope you’ll join me.
I know that some folks are hesitant to donate to faith-based groups and I understand and respect that. Missionaries haven’t always had the best reputation through the years. At their worst they are culture-killers that offer a message along the lines of “our God provides us with food. Worship Him and you won’t go hungry.” At their best, which is where I believe so many have evolved to today, they serve their fellow man. They don’t reach out with an agenda. They reach out with compassion.
When it comes to any NGO, faith-based or not, there are few that can touch the reach of World Vision. In a recent column Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times put the size of the group in perspective:
World Vision now has 40,000 staff members in nearly 100 countries. That’s more staff members than CARE, Save the Children and the worldwide operations of the United States Agency for International Development — combined.
I’ve seen them on the ground in Cambodia doing great work and I’m sure they’ll be doing the same in Chile.
“Why should we care about the people who make our clothes?”
This was the first question of the first interview I did after my book came out. It was such a simple question, but I struggled to answer it. I stumbled around and said something about how connected we all are. But just today I stumbled upon what I really wanted to say.
From Martin Luther King’s “A Christmas Sermon on Peace” (1967)
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality. Did you ever stop to think that you can’t leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that’s handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that’s given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that’s poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that’s poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you’re desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that’s poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that’s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality. We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.
Chuck!
Chuck wrote the song “Albino Sasquatch” (a great name for a band) which had the judges – Dan at Rule29, Larry, at Wiley, and me – rolling. I’ll send out emails to the runners up in the near future so they can choose from the other prizes: ARC of WAIW, Moju Project T-shirt, or writerly advice.
Without further ado…ALIBINO SASQUATCH
Kelsey is dancing to an autobiographical song that he wrote himself. Kelsey wrote the lyrics and Elton provided the melody. He plays it whenever he goes to a new place. It’s his way of introducing himself to the people.
I am the Albino Sasquatch
I’ve roamed all around this land
Be not afraid! I am friendly
Come shake my furry handI’ve been spotted down in Florida,
But Skunk Ape I am not
I hide my fur in a wetsuit
And hang out on a yachtI was banned from my Yeti village
The peaceful land of my birth
Because my uncle caught me
Fondling Mrs. ButterworthI used to be a Blackhawk,
But then my skin turned red
So I hung out in Cambodia
Until it was time to wedNow I make my living writing books
And educating you as a voter
Just wait until the movie of my life
I’m played by Ricky Schroder!My fur is covered by ugly shirts
So that I fit in to society
Buy my book so I can get some more
As you can see I need more varietyPlease read the labels on your clothes
Don’t buy just ‘cause they’re pretty
I decided to run a marathon
So I can be just like P. DiddyI am the Albino Sasquatch
But Harper just knows me as Dad
This song I wrote about myself
Because my dancing is so bad
Okay, so I should have announced a winner last Thursday. What do you want to hear?
1. I should pay attention to my own contest rules and forgot that Thursday was the deadline.
2. There were so many great entries that it’s taking awhile and I had to enlist some assistance choosing who should win.
3. I was busy on Thursday and went to the zoo on Friday.
Actually, I’m going to plead all of the above.
I’ll announce the winners soon enough. Look, I should just keep the iPod for myself, seeing how the day this contest was conceived coincided with the washing and drying of my own iPod. My iPod is clean, but that’s about it.
Random thought: has anyone ever skipped an iPod like a stone. I bet those puppies go forever. If it weren’t for the whole littering bit, I’d give it a try.
Random thought 2: Who wants to join me in a business venture that commercially produces skipping rocks?
The iPod contest is going awesome. There are some hilarious entries. Some have altered lyrics to existing songs and others have even made their own from scratch.
Obviously we’re all having a lot of fun, so…
Why not have even more fun?
Here’s the deal: Currently we have about 40 entries, if we end up with a total of 100+ by Tuesday (6/30) at 11:59 PM EST from NEW people, I will perform the winning song.
I’ll sing. I’ll dance. I’ll shake my groove thang.
Today I’m wearing a T-shirt from Robert Redford’s Sundance catalog. It was Made in the USA. I’m guessing that my T-shirt was made under good working conditions.
The reason I’m guessing is that I don’t have a whole lot to go on. Sundance doesn’t have a code of social responsibility that I could find — unless, you count this stuff about the environment. I’ve mentioned before that companies often shout from roof tops about the steps they have taken to ease their environmental impact (We care about the footprint, but what about the foot), but when it comes to social issues, their voices are mere murmurs if audible at all.
Still, I will give Sundance the benefit of the doubt that they do things right or at least try to. Robert Redford is a champion of many causes and I don’t think he would lend his name to anything ethically dubious. Here’s how he describes the catalog:
“To us, Sundance is and always will be a dream. What you see, smell, taste and feel here is a dream being carefully nurtured. It is an area whose pledge is to people. What we offer in the form of art and culture, spirit and service, is homegrown and available to all.”
I must confess: I wish that Robert Redford was my dad. No offense to my actual dad, but how cool would it be to have RR reading you a bedtime story as a kid — heck as an adult. When I read the statement above, I imagine that me and RR are watering our horses at the most idyllic mountain stream ever, and then he starts talking about Sundance’s “pledge to people” in that voice of his. So, I believe every word.
My heart and gut believe that Sundance is a company that others should strive to be like. Just glance at their catalog and a few really cool things jump out: they sell some fair trade items and they support jewelry artists. That said, the catalog is disappointingly typical in one regard and leaves me asking the question that most catalogs do:
Where the heck is Imported?
The catalog features hundreds of items that are sourced from only five places. Quite a few things come from the USA — more than in most catalogs. There’s dinnerware from Spain, Rodeo Fringed boots from Italy, and a bracelet fit for a Mayan king made in Mexico. But the majority of items were Made in Imported.
Why can’t we know up front where an item of clothing we order was made? As soon as we get the item, we’ll be able to look at the tag and see. Some people don’t want to buy clothes Made in China because they don’t approve of their human rights violations. Other may want to buy products made in Cambodia because the industry is more regulated than most.
All I’m saying is that we, as consumers, have the right to know where our products come from before we order them. I think that most companies only list the country of origin when it is advantageous on the marketing side of things: “Checkout my Italian shoes…Oh, this spoon, it was made in Spain…I’m glad you like my bracelet; it was handcrafted in Mexico.”
Join me in sending a letter to your favorite catalog asking that they list the country of origin for every item they sell.
Here’s the letter I’m sending to Sundance. Feel free to steal it:
Dear Sundance,
I’m a long time customer. I’ve bought clothes and jewelry for my wife from your catalog. One of my favorite T-shirts is your long sleeve Camera Tee.
I love that you support artists, offer some fair trade items, and are environmentally conscious. As an engaged consumer I not only care about quality, I care about where my products come from. In your summer 2009 catalog, I noticed that many of your products are listed as Imported. I would like to encourage you to list the country of origin for every item in your catalog.
Patagonia started doing this last year, and has forever won my support. I hope you’ll do the same.
Thank you,
Kelsey Timmerman
Engaged Consumer
I wish my life was more like a Sundance catalog. I wish my father was Robert Redford. But most of all I wish Sundance would lead the way and list the countries where all of their products come from?
Kelsey Timmerman is the author of Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes. He’s currently hosting an iPod giveaway on his blog.
hi@kelseytimmerman.com 
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