TOMS update

More reasons to love TOMS:

I found this little piece of happiness waiting for me in the mail.

I tied it on my wrist and it hasn't come off since :)

And also: TOMS video, because I didn't get it posted before.

-peace and blessin's: Liz

Happy Feet

This post has been a long time in coming... but I am SO EXCITED to share about a cause worth... um.... being aware of?

No, no, no.

More than that!

I'm talking about a new movement:

FROM AWARENESS TO ACTION.

This blog was started originally because it seemed like everybody and their dog was coming out with something to be aware of. We thought it was funny. So we said, "Why not just come up with a place where we can promote pointlessness and have fun with it?"

And so we did.

But!

I have found some things to be aware of that call for more than just awareness.

They call for action.

And so I bought me some TOMS.

I can't say how much I am behind this group of people. Not only are the shoes super comfy (I wear them all.the.time), but for every pair of shoes that you buy, TOMS gives away a pair to a child in need.

Why is this such a big deal? Well, for one, a lot of kids get diseases because of being barefoot and secondly, in many places, kids can't go to school because shoes are required to attend.

I could go on, but this very helpful report says it better and with more class than I can :) Read it.

And also? DO something.

Peace and Blessin's -Liz.

[they take you to happy places]

[:)]

[sweet box, sweet flag, sweet sticker, sweet shoes]

[my two most worn pairs of shoes :)]

So, there is evidently a push by some monstrous evil developer person to build on top of CIVIL WAR battlefields, OH MY! Who knew this was a problem? Well evidently the people at the local burger joint did because they decided to be AWARE and help out these poor little defenseless battlefields. Now if you want to support this cause go ahead, as far as I know this is a legit organization, the slightly humorous thing that I find in all of this is the manner in which this organization is presented. If I didn't know better I might think that this box, with its sloppily written message on the outside, was just a clever ploy by some employee of this establishment to make a little extra beer money. So to me the real question here is, "am i really supporting this somewhat iffy sounding organization, or am I funding the revelries of some wayward person"? Well I guess I'll leave it up to each individual to support what they feel is legit or not.

On behalf of awareness,

Graham

We aren't in 1982 anymore...

Synthesizers, ridiculously awful screaming guitar solos, big hair, stupid lyrics, hollow sounding drums, and played to much on radio stations that are supposedly the "hit" radio stations... yes, you guessed it, it's 80's music. I (Graham) have noticed lately the prominence of 80's music on the radio! Why is this happening? What evil cyborg has invaded the radio stations of this planet to try and force us to listen to this... stuff. Really I want to know, "why is it being played at all?" Maybe we could petition for a new law that allows only one 80's song to be played every 500 years, after all there is way better music that could be played than that ridiculous stuff, or at least if you're going to play something from the 80's, please, for the sake of our ears and sanity, play something that is halfway bearable! Now i'm sure that there are some who do not have the same vehement hatred of 80's music that i have, and that is fine, I guess, but I do believe that this is something that we who live in the year 2010, not 1982, should be aware of...

p.s.

this was kind of a joke =) but really people, be aware of the 80's, we don't want them back...

on being aware

So I don't know how many of you have heard of the blog "Stuff White People Like," but he has put up a post on being aware. White people like being aware.

"An interesting fact about white people is that they firmly believe that all of the world’s problems can be solved through “awareness.” Meaning the process of making other people aware of problems, and then magically someone else like the government will fix it.

This belief allows them to feel that sweet self-satisfaction without actually having to solve anything or face any difficult challenges. Because, the only challenge of raising awareness is people not being aware. In a worst case scenario, if you fail someone doesn’t know about the problem. End of story.

What makes this even more appealing for white people is that you can raise “awareness” through expensive dinners, parties, marathons, selling t-shirts, fashion shows, concerts, eating at restaurants and bracelets. In other words, white people just have to keep doing stuff they like, EXCEPT now they can feel better about making a difference.

Raising awareness is also awesome because once you raise awareness to an acceptable, aribtrary level, you can just back off and say “Bam! did my part. Now it’s your turn. Fix it.”

So to summarize – you get all the benefits of helping (self satisfaction, telling other people) but no need for difficult decisions or the ensuing criticism (how do you criticize awareness?). Once again, white people find a way to score that sweet double victory.

Popular things to be aware of: The Environment, Diseases like Cancer and AIDS, Africa, Poverty, Anorexia, Homophobia, Midde School Field Hockey/Lacrosse teams, Drug Rehab, and political prisoners."

There's lots more where this came from :) Check out the blog: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

news

hello world. We (that is, Graham P and Liz J) are starting a new adventure in the which we are making you aware of what we are being aware of. Our awareness adventure started sometime this spring while we were still in school. We went One Day Without Shoes to raise awareness alongside the organization TOMS (check it out:http://www.toms.com/) and found out that we like this awareness thing. It all kind of snow balled into this project (or whatever it is you want to call this), and here you are with this blog. Our goal is to find things we want to be aware of (relevant or not. legit or not) and post about them. We will post pictures of being aware. Or links to help you be aware. Or maybe even some videos! (that's Graham's department) Mostly, this is just for fun, which is pretty much our motivation in looking for things to be aware of or causes to support. So, stay tuned. You could even give us a heads up if you find yourself being aware of something you want to share.