Etsy Holiday Boot Camp

Holidays are nearing, and I want to make some cool creations to bring in a some extra money. To keep me focused, I'm taking the Etsy Holiday Boot Camp Pledge:

I, Amanda Bennett, pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere! 

Beaches 100 Years Ago

A friend from the book club posted this on Facebook. Thought I'd share.

How Beaches Looked 100 Years Ago

100 Years Ago

I got this in an email recently. I found it interesting; hope you do, too.

The year is 1910 
One hundred years ago. 
What a difference a century makes! 
Here are some statistics for the Year 1910:

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year.
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard.'
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza 
2. Tuberculosis 
3. Diarrhea 
4. Heart disease 
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.

Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,
Regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.'

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!

The Last Lecture

My favorite class in college was Change Management. It's a pretty unappealing class title given that most everyone fears change and management sounds mundane. The professor made all the difference. Why? He cared. I think he realized that people needed to be taught how to cope with change, and so teaching this class was his way of making a difference in the world, one Purdue student at a time. He certainly made a difference in my life. (By the way, his name is Al Crispo. Here is his Purdue faculty biography.)

Another professor who has changed the lives of many on a much larger scale was Randy Pausch. I first hear of Randy in my Change Management class. My professor gave us a "movie day," and we were drawn in to Randy's story. Basically Randy lived a pretty great life even through finding out he had terminal cancer. He found a way to tell his story, his life lessons, his wisdom in the face of death to colleagues, students current and past, and even his three young children through his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I'm not going to try to cover all that he does in the video, but I urge you to take the time to watch it sometime. It will inspire you to shoot for the moon; even if you miss you will land among the stars.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams by Randy Pausch

A while after seeing Randy's video I learned that he had made the lecture into book format. I am reading the book now, and it is excellent. It is a handbook for success and happiness, really, two things which make for a pretty nice life.

I am not going to do a book review past this entry as I've already covered what I would like to cover on this lecture and book. Except that I have great admiration for Randy: he was able to take the worst possible news (you're going to die soon) and better the world with that news; that is remarkable grace. Anyway, this book is one of those books I feel every person ought to read.

-Amanda

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

When I learned that the movie was based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story I knew I'd read it in the near future. It was incredibly short, but, like all FSF work I've come by thus far, well done. For being so short it still drew me into the story; I was somehow able to get to know the characters. I could feel their emotion.

One of the main reasons I love this story is because it's a story which revolves around time, but it's not about time travel like most other time stories. What would it be like to see a newborn which had the mind, skin and eyesight of an old man but the size of an infant? What would you tell people? And how would you react as that old man met your own age as he continued growing younger? Could one call it growing? Or would it be wilting? It's fascinating to think about.

I've not yet seen the movie, but look forward to it.

Official Movie Website
Wikipedia Article

Amanda