Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.I knew I liked Brooke MacFarlane, of Ruby Slipper Designs, when she happily manned my camera for part of my Austin Handmade Market story. Come to find out, she’s pretty awesome all around. She uses half the money she makes selling jewelry to buy cows for people in Kenya. I figured she was worth getting to know a little better, so I invited myself to her place to learn more about her jewelry and her cows.
(If you’re inspired to find your own way to contribute, Ashley English has a great list going over at Design*Sponge.)
“Amy, what do you think about adopting children from foster care?”
Well since you asked, I happen to have my soapbox sitting… right… here.
Ahem.
I’ll never forget when a fellow reporter and I were working in the edit bay at my news station, and she said, “Why would anyone adopt a foster child? They have so much baggage.” I was working on my weekly story profiling a foster child.
Trying to force the blood to drain from my cheeks, I tried to explain it’s not their fault they’re in foster care; they’re paying for someone else’s mistakes. Plus, I think an adoptive family’s job isn’t to “fix” a child, but to give them the best possible chance at life, from that point forward.
And you know what? When it comes down to it, they’re just kids.
That message pretty much sums up the Heart Gallery of Central Texas: a traveling art exhibit featuring portraits of area foster children. This is the video I produced for this, the fifth year, of the Heart Gallery. Hope you saved a kleenex for me.
(Oh, and special thanks to Naomi Hamm for the music!)
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.I think a part of everyone can relate to taking a risk and living your dream. That’s why I love crafters. Whether they do it part-time from their kitchen table or full-time from a storefront, they know what they love to do, and they do it!
I also love to craft myself, so, you know, call this self-serving but I did a video on the Austin Handmade Market. It’s held outside the Austin Handmade store twice a month, and the vendors rotate. (You can see a list of the ones I met here, or find them through Etsy Austin.)
http://www.vimeo.com/5302176I think Peter Pan had the right idea; growing up is overrated. Which I believe is why I…
never pass up a swing
get such a kick out of kids
have a soft spot for children’s causes
Like, say, getting kids adopted.
For four years I had a weekly segment called Forever Families where I featured local foster children ready for adoption. But you can’t very well just call up foster kids and ask if you can put them on TV. There’s a process. So the folks at the Adoption Coalition of Texas lined up the “harder to adopt” kids I profiled (teens, sibling groups, minorities, children with disabilities), and I got to show up and play with them! It was the best part of my job. Especially because it worked: 65% of the children we put on TV got adopted. A lot of families that came forward were ones that had never considered adopting, but “met” a child on TV and fell in love. The power of giving kids a chance to be who they are, and tell their story… amazing.
So basically, I’ll do just about anything for the Adoption Coalition, including make this video for their fundraiser last April.
Three of my favorite syllables in the world: chocolate.
It takes zero convincing to get me into a chocolate shop, so a visit to Viva Chocolato! is just made sweeter by the company’s commitment to give back to the community. They support Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Center for Child Protection, and they’ve raised $25,000 for more than 50 local charities in about two years.
As for the offerings, they make their own chocolate and import the rest from France, Switzerland, and Italy. If you’re aiming for an unforgettable date, go in the evening when there’s live music, order a panini with a salad and wine, and let the staff convince you a little dark chocolate every day is good for you.
I’ll never forget the first time I really thought about homelessness. It was during a monologue by a guy who’d worked with the homeless, describing the hardest part of their situation. “It’s not being hungry most of the time. It’s not sleeping outside when it’s freezing,” he said. “It’s being invisible.”
So when Austin non-profit Green Doorsneeded 100 volunteers to claim a corner and hold a sign, I was like, “And I get a t-shirt?!”
I’ve talked to quite a few people who are homeless, both as a reporter doing a story, and as a volunteer delivering food to folks sleeping beneath underpasses. Each person has a story to tell and is grateful for someone who cares enough to listen.
Green Doors is doing a lot more than listening. They’re using these sign blitzes to get word out about some of the key reasons people end up homeless. The first street campaign pointed drivers to a video about homeless vets. Volunteer Coordinator, Greg Esparza, says in addition to just, you know, valuing people, there’s a tax incentive to help homeless get off the streets.
While on the corner, I broke in my new camera interviewing Greg.
If you didn’t catch that, Greg says it costs $40K a year to pay for someone on the streets, and about half that to help them into housing.
Some more stats:
Nearly 30,000 Austin families qualify for but lack affordable housing. (Foundation Communities)
Families with children make up 41% of Austin’s homeless. (Green Doors)
Among industrialized nations, the U.S. has the largest number of homeless women and children. Not since the Great Depression have so many families been without homes. (Green Doors)
There are two more street campaigns in the coming months: one addressing homeless families and one on the costs of healthcare. Wanna help next time around? Get on their mailing list to volunteer at a corner. Thanks, Green Doors, for making it easy for the rest of us to help!
Stayed up till 2 a.m. Woke up at 7. By 10 a.m. I thought it was a good time for a nap, but only because I was trying to put off writing a — yet again — long-overdue blog post. So after procrastinating on Apartment Therapy for a good hour, I put on a pot of coffee (first time ever), strapped myself to the chair (a tactic my parents used till I was six because I used to fall off at meals), and set my deadline: three o’clock. Three because after typing my third sentence I hit “Publish” instead of “Save,” sending an “in progress” notice to my dear (if few) subscribers, and I don’t want to disappoint! Or look stupid.
Did I mention I hate blogging?
**Pouring mug #4. Starting paragraph #3. Less-than-impressive speed, but still moving forward.**
You know what I love to daydream about? Furniture arrangements. And organizing tupperware. You know where I love to shop? Thrift stores. I used to worry this may qualify me as a nerd. But sometimes our geeky obsessions (organizing tupperware) lead us exactly where we need to be: I’m freelancing for TLC!
My fetish for organizing sock drawers and scouring thrift stores landed me a job as assistant to the design host of the TLC show, Home Made Simple. I’ll be helping behind-the-scenes, shopping and decorating and organizing rooms. I’m thrilled to do the Read More »
The phone rings. It’s the news. Shoot. My hair looks terrible. I don’t know what to say. And what I do say will be seared onto a tape to be edited at someone else’s discretion.
Pretty spot on, right? But as nervous as you may get at the prospect of doing an interview, it’s not like you’re going to pass out, or respond with something totally random.
The more you watch this, the funnier it gets. Not only was the kid’s response completely off-the-wall, the reporter had no idea what to do with it. So take heart. Your interview will turn out better than this.
Once the camera starts rolling, be yourself. That’s the number one suggestion I give interviewees on what to do during an interview. For the sake of specifics, here are some other suggestions. Read More »
I don’t know which is more intimidating: the lights and the camera, or knowing hundreds of thousands of people will see you. Either way, doing television interviews gives people the heebie jeebies.
You’re worried about looking and sounding good, right? Sometimes the key is looking like a complete idiot first.
Go ahead and laugh, but I’ve used this technique more times than I can count. This and other nuggets of wisdom are what I shared in a media training for one of my favorite non-profits, Foundation Communities. Read More »
