Better World Bar Mitzvah

Posted by Chip on 03.29.2010 at 10:48 am

In today’s guest post – our youngest contributor to date talks about how he worked with us on his Bar Mitzvah project to bring attention to Books for Africa and their amazing mission!

My name is Andrew Goldberg and I recently had my Bar Mitzvah. As part of my Bar Mitzvah, I chose to do a Mitzvah project. This is a social action project where I got to choose something that was important to me. I wanted to do something with Better World Books, since I really believe in the work they are doing and the non-profit organizations they support.

I asked people to purchase children’s books through the Books For Africa link on the Better World Books website. I have been concerned about Africa’s debt and plight for a long time, and I thought this would be a good way to help.

The purchased books went to a local organization here in Little Rock, Arkansas that provides books for kids to read to their incarcerated mothers.  Then a portion of the proceeds went to Books for Africa, so my Mitzvah project helped both locally and globally. To my delight, many people purchased books. This was the first time many of my friends had heard of Better World Books and I encouraged them to continue supporting both BWB and Books for Africa.

4 Comments » | Tagged Company News, Impact, Our Partners, books for africa

Our Partners: Ellen Cherry & Invisible Children

Posted by Chip on 06.08.2009 at 9:48 am

One of my favorite things about working for Better World Books is the amazing people I get to meet from across the country who share Better World Books’ vision to keep books out of landfills and support global literacy.

Last month, I had the privilege of meeting Kristin Putchinski of the Baltimore based band ellen cherry.  I met Kristin while she was traveling through Atlanta following a performance at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, GA.

The singer-songwriter is one of many musicians using their talent to support and spread awareness of the noble efforts of Invisible Children to end the war in Northern Uganda.  I was happy to discover Kristin was already a fan of Better World Books and was eager to spread the word of  how students can support Invisible Children through the Book Drives for Better Lives program at her upcoming benefit concert.  Better World Books’ partnership with Invisible Children has brought in over 1.7 million books to generate unrestricted funding for Invisible Children in what is being called the largest book drive in history.

Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Our Partners, Baltimore Bands, better world books, Book Drives for Better Lives, chip boyes, Eddie's Attic, ellen cherry, indie bands baltimore, Kristin Putchinski

Free Warm and Fuzzy (not to mention free shipping)

Posted by Chip on 03.09.2009 at 6:31 pm

The only thing better then relaxing with a great book is relaxing with a great book whose purchase funded non-profit literacy efforts around the world.

Every purchase made from Better World Books comes with not only free shipping, but with a free warm and fuzzy.

What is a warm and fuzzy?

A warm and fuzzy is the unique and powerful feeling that is created through bringing hope to others. It is the feeling that comes from knowing your love of books is now going to help bring the magic of reading into the lives of many.

So next time you make a purchase from Better World Books take a moment to enjoy that warm and fuzzy feeling. Now that is what I call “good reading.”

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized

Blink (my quick decision)

Posted by Chip on 02.11.2009 at 7:58 am

I am currently reading books.  I need to read a book.  I need to work on my fidelity with books.

One book, I currently see from time to time, is entitled Blink.  Blink examines the value of a quick decision.   One of the studies Blink discusses involves showing a group of people short clips of teachers giving a lecture (with no audio).  Another group is shown still photos of the same teachers from the clips.  Both groups are asked to rank the teaching ability of the teachers based on either the photo or the silent 30 second clip.

The results showed the ratings each teacher received based on photos and clips were remarkably similar to the ratings the same professors received from their full time students after a semester of teaching.   From what I have read so far, Blink supports the notion that a quick decision is often an educated decision.  Although I feel this study simply illustrates our species loyalty to superficial conclusions.

Some people have a natural fear of snakes and others have a natural fear of spiders.  These fears make sense considering the problems our
species has experienced over the centuries do to both species.  Perhaps these fears are based on the same instinctual knowledge that
allows us to make smart quick decisions.

The human brain is the product of years of learning things the only way us humans truly learn anything…the hard way.

I discovered my fear of electricity by touching an electric fence.  Twenty minutes later I discovered that it is impossible to touch a electric fence
twice.  My curiosity made me want to “make sure it was an electric fence” but my brain would not allow my hand to make contact.

Just as I learned not to touch the fence again perhaps the human race has learned from collective experience and perhaps there is something to that gut feeling that helps us make life’s quick decisions.  Although I have only read the fist 50 pages of Blink, I feel I am able to review the book with confidence using the “blink of an eye” decision making the book examines.

1 Comment » | Tagged Book Reviews, Flabbergasted, Blink, chip boyes, Malcom Gladwell

ReUse First

Posted by Chip on 02.05.2009 at 5:09 pm

Last week, I found myself washing soup (that I didn’t eat) out of a piece of Tupperware (I didn’t own) in the men’s room.

Why? You may ask.

I am living the Better World Books “reuse first” lifestyle.

Our office is not equipped with a sink.   I am not complaining, I am merely explaining how I ended up in this predicament.   To test my allegiance to the “reuse first” principles of BWB, my coworker (Kathy) encouraged me to wash out some Tupperware someone had thrown in the trash so we could reuse it.  Today, I enjoyed a can of soup out of that rescued Tupperware and you know what?  It tasted like progress.

Kathy had previously proven to me that she lives the “reuse first” lifestyle when she made a delicious loaf of banana bread out of bananas she personally diverted from a trash can.

Bananas have a special place in my heart (right next to the heart burn they give me).  What a forgiving fruit.  Bananas never “go bad.”  They only become “banana bread worthy.”

Unfortunately, my invention pear bread is not as delicious as banana bread.  Inspired by the principle of banana bread, I decided to use some  brown, wrinkled pears I found in the back of my fridge to make some pear bread.  Unfortunately, rotten pears fail at making something delicious out of something rotten.  Still, I think we have a lot to learn from banana bread.

Have your say » | Tagged Flabbergasted, banana bread, progress, reuse

Online Shopping

Posted by Chip on 01.28.2009 at 8:26 am

I love online shopping .  I find that my Christmas spirit usually dies in
the mall parking lot while I search for a space.  Mall parking lots during the holiday season can make anyone say “Bah Humbug.”

This year, I did all my Christmas shopping at betterworld.com.  I bought books at low prices while supporting literacy and enjoying free carbon neutral shipping.

This year, I am also proud to say, I got my holiday shopping done early.  Generally, I procrastinate and find myself giving out drawings of the presents I intended to buy.

I tend to get into the holiday spirit late.
I get into the holiday spirit around December 26th when all the
Christmas items go on sale.  Suddenly, I feel the spirit.

I like to buy holiday decorations on clearance and give them to my relatives as gifts the following year.  If you have a relative that enjoys Santa Clause and decorating, a glowing plastic Santa makes a great gift ( especially at clearance price  $5.99  from $29.99!).

Sure they can’t actually “use” it until next Christmas but they will never forget what you bought them for christmas that year.

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized

Testing “The Secret” Part II

Posted by Chip on 01.21.2009 at 9:28 am

Since last week, the universe has not brought the book The Secret to me. It is my understanding that The Secret teaches the law of attraction and how we can attract the things we desire in life by attracting positive energy through positive thinking. So to test this theory, I will continue to focus positively on the book and see if I can get the universe to manifest The Secret into my life.

Last week, I also brought up the notion that we (human beings) should invent a sarcastic symbol or perhaps a sarcastic font. This would be especially helpful for text messaging and instant messaging purposes. I don’t know who invented Read more…

5 Comments » | Tagged Flabbergasted

Testing “The Secret”

Posted by Chip on 01.14.2009 at 1:37 pm

A friend of mine, Kyle, suggested I read a book entitled The Secret. Immediately, I assumed it was a “how to meet women” kind of book and declined the offer. Kyle reads countless books on how to meet women and then uses the “tactics” he learns to make women fall in “love” with “him.” (until human beings come up with a sarcasm font or a *sarcasm symbol, I am stuck with quotation marks) If Kyle ever gets married, his best man should be Logan Edwards the author of Secrets of the A Game: How to Meet and Attract Women.

I asked Kyle what the The Secret was about and he explained to me that it is about “the law of attraction.” It turns out the book is about the power of positive thinking and positive energy. The idea is that we are all made up of energy and if we focus our positive energy on the things we desire the universe will help manifest our desires.

Testing The Secret: To test this theory, I am going to focus my positive energy on the book itself and if “The Secret” manifests into my hands… I will definitely read it.

* One of Better World Books core values is to “Lead the movement.” I plan to lead the movement to create the sarcasm symbol. Do you know Chip Boyes? Yeah, he is the guy that invented the sarcasm symbol. Look out keyboard manufacturers.  I am going to rock your world. [To be continued]

5 Comments » | Tagged Flabbergasted, Law of attraction, sarcastic, The Secret

Music and Moments

Posted by Chip on 01.07.2009 at 1:03 pm

Have you ever had a beautiful moment ruined by music?

I had a beautiful first kiss take place in my car on one romantic, rainy night in college.  We were warm in each others arms while it poured rain outside.  It was a perfect moment.  A moment that suddenly crumbled when I recognized the song playing on the radio at that moment was _______(insert a song that you despise).  If only  _______(insert a song you love) was playing on the radio that would have been perfect.   I decided to leave out actual song Read more…

5 Comments » | Tagged Flabbergasted

Whistle Detecting keychain

Posted by Chip on 12.29.2008 at 9:09 am

This year my mother gave me a keychain for Christmas. The keychain is designed to beep when it detects a whistle. My mom knows that I spend a lot of time searching for my keys. The main reason for this reoccurring dilemma is the fact that I own a pair of pants with extremely shallow pockets. Whoever designed these pants must have ever sat down. They are great pants… as long as you never sit down while you have you keys in your pocket.

Recently, I have discovered I spend a lot of time whistling. So I feel like I am in whistle rehab. Every time I whistle I am punished with annoying beeping sounds coming from my pocket.

[Perhaps this concept could be used to help people quit smoking. Think: a smoke detecting keychain. Every time someone smokes they will be forced to listen to the annoying beeps coming from their smoke detecting keychain.]

I have not lost my keys since I have owned the key finding key chain but I have become more aware of my keys presence then ever before. The keychain works. I am down to two whistles Read more…

Have your say » | Tagged Flabbergasted