Off Topic Monday

Last week I was mostly goofing off … painting our bedroom, going to the Safari Park with my daughter, real-life stuff. I don’t often talk about my “offline” world here on the blog, but I often find things in my reading that are off topic (read: not literacy related) that I think would be fun to share. So why can’t I do both? It’s stuff I find reading, right?

We are usually very careful to stay on message, and I think that’s important, but once in a while, it’s nice to branch out. So “once in a while” I’ll share some recent finds that don’t relate to literacy, but seem cool enough to share …

Like this article about 3GreenMoms and their “lunchskins” in today’s Washington Post business section.  This is a 2-year-old company created by three moms trying to come up with an idea for their school’s spring fundraiser/silent auction. Long story short, they decided to find a way to reduce the number of plastic bags/utensils that go to landfills from school lunches (20 million/year). LunchSkins are a food-safe, dishwasher friendly, reusable bag. Theirs is a great story, no?

Last week, I was conversing with Greg Pincus via Email about ways to better manage my social media platforms and feeds … he mentioned that he had just several days earlier put up a Late Weekend Reading post at The Happy Accident I might find useful. Ironically, I hadn’t yet seen it because my Reader was bulging and I was, well, goofing off.  So let me say this: THANKS GREG! Boy, did I ever find great info. When I wasn’t doing real-life stuff, I was working my way through The Top 10 Ways to Declutter Your Digital Life (Lifehacker), one of Greg’s links. I have already tackled the reader, with such great success that I think I actually have room to read more broadly because I am thinning out what I don’t read. This week I’ll be working my way through compacting my social media alerts.