Posts Tagged: 'coop'

Want to read more often?

April 2, 2015   |   No Comments

I’ve heard it from others and have said it countless times myself: “I just don’t have the time to sit and read a book.”


Listen, we’re all insanely and overwhelmingly busy with any number of professional commitments, passion projects, family and friends, get-togethers, and the like. Our free time flounders in a choppy sea thick with calendar alerts reminding us of something to do (or something we forgot to do).


I work in a public library. You may think that in a four-story building teeming with books I’d be reading every day. And you’re right: I do read every day. However, it happens because I make it a priority. Of course, making something a priority means abandoning (or at least delaying) something else.


Blaming social media is too easy. What I instead find in my own life, and witness in strangers on a daily basis, is our absentminded behavior with our tech. Every hour, we blandly scroll through our social media feeds, our email, our text messages from two days ago. Those wasted moments really start to add up.


We know why we do this: we’re all stressed, and we need a mini mental vacation. But a few months ago, I started picking up a book and reading a page or two when I need a grown-up time-out.


I discovered that stepping away from social media allowed me to quickly clear my head, as well. The varied voices we hear from Facebook and Twitter can stay with us. A nonsensical post or tweet you read from a complete stranger can take up valuable space in your mind. And you may simmer on such unnecessary content without even knowing it; when instead, you could be feeding your brain with a great story.


“But Wendy,” you may be thinking (or saying, in which case I won’t judge you for speaking to a webpage), “you work in a library. Of course it’s okay for you to read at work. But that’s just not an option for me.”


>> Continue reading my latest Dogeared column, “Want to read more often? Treat yourself to mini mental vacations,” at COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design.

Reading is the Ultimate Perk

March 28, 2015   |   No Comments

The email grabbed my attention like no coupon ever could.


“You’re eligible for a Klout Perk!” the subject line exclaimed in bold type. I immediately abandoned anything work-related. A quick, breathless scan, and I discovered my perk this time around was a book — I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. (Klout, you know me too well!)


Crunching my recent social media posts led Klout computers to the correct assumption that I am a reader. Last March I became development director of the Omaha Public Library Foundation and, admittedly, have populated my Facebook and Twitter accounts with updates about my work at the library.


(What can I say? When I’m excited about something, I talk about it. A LOT.)


My days are focused on securing private dollars for the Omaha Public Library system: its twelve branches, patrons, programs, services, and staff. For years I was an Omaha Public Library patron; today, I am one of her biggest champions. Last year our tiny, two-woman staff raised more than $1 million for the library and started a young professionals group of library supporters called the 1877 Society.


All of this activity and online chatter must have told Klout I love the library (and possibly that I could use some other topics to tweet about). Knowing very little about the thriller genre and even less about the author, I accepted Klout’s free gift and eagerly awaited the arrival of my new read.


The book landed with a thud on our front porch. I tore open the thick cardboard envelope and dropped the book near my sewing machine and knitting needles. And there, among so many other colorful pastimes, it sat. Until a few weeks later, when I grew temporarily tired of the comfy, cozy fiction by Debbie Macomber and cracked open I Am Pilgrim.


For the past several months, Pilgrim and I have become quite close. It’s a book not to take lightly, literally. The hardcover edition boasts more than 600 pages.


>> Continue reading my latest Dogeared column, “Reading is the Ultimate Perk,” at COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design.

Words They’ve Read: Steve Gordon Jr.

May 19, 2014   |   No Comments

Calling Steve Gordon Jr. a graphic designer only tells part of his story. In fact, it doesn’t even come close. Known best by his other moniker, RDQLUS Creative, Gordon is a constant observer of his surroundings and their textures. His creative client work is various and wide-reaching. His modest clothing line emphasizes clever messaging. And he is unabashedly unapologetic about his ongoing (yet carefully curated) love affair with shoes.

 

In a profession where much of his work is spent focused on the visual, it only made sense to dig a little deeper into Gordon’s background and ask about printed words on the page. We recently sat down with Gordon and asked what six titles have stuck with him over the years.

 

On Adolescence 
The Hunger Games
Sure, I know all of these post-apocalyptic epochs are aimed at high school girls in need of empowerment and desiring dreamy co-heroes. But the truth at the core of this one struck me. Introduced to this trilogy by my wife —who is a brilliant grade school teacher—so many things rang almost painfully true, based on my childhood, my neighborhood, and the things I’d seen growing up. This apocalyptic future was my past.

 

On Leaving Home
The Chronicles of Narnia
Idealistic fantasy was just what the doctor ordered. Displaced by the good-intentioned—but foolish—act of forced desegregation of schools, I was lost in a world 100 blocks away from my familiar hood. Not that my hood didn’t set itself up for some prime escapism; but, having nothing but a wasteland of shiny, clean things and judging faces to escape to was just as scary. The story in these books was just that: kids who became royals in a land far from home and unfamiliar to anyone back in their own place and time. Again, another parallel.

 

On Perseverance
The Great Gatsby
This was my original playbook. Judge not the shady moves made, the end justified the means. Integrity in the intent. Fight, claw, grind, dream, reach, and yes, fail—gloriously. All of it for a singular purpose—none of it mattering without the same. Gatsby had his reasons, his dreams. I had mine. “My life has got to be like this. It has to keep going up.” Amen.

 

>> Continue reading my latest essay, “The Words They’ve Read: Steve Gordon Jr.,” at COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design.

 

Printed Words on Parade

May 8, 2014   |   No Comments

I still recall the cover, deep red and worn and not at all striking or memorable in design. Bennet Cerf’s Book of Laughs was a title I discovered at my grade school library sometime in the late 1980s. Something about the quips and clever one-liners caught me.

 

The library tracking card affixed inside the front cover featured my oversized and careful childhood signature, line after line, month after month. I took bennett-cerf.jpgpride in the temporary ownership of that book, poring over each page. The number of consecutive times I checked out the book escapes me, but I remember it was a lot.

 

Today, more than twenty-five years later, I couldn’t tell you a single sentence from that title without an exhaustive Google search. (Or, better yet, tracking down a used copy.)

 

Yet in a heartbeat I could recount how the book smelled (something old and wonderful) and how it made me feel (Robert Aris Willmott said it best: “A first book has some of the sweetness of a first love.”).

 

In many ways, that little book of jokes unknowingly paved the way for my adult life.

 

Humor has always been ever-present. It started with my family – where belly laughs are the main course of any gathering – and continued with the man I married, whose comic genius keeps me in equal parts tears and stitches.

 

My love of the written word evolved from Bennet Cerf’s popular publication to various fiction titles and literary classics through high school and beyond, to time spent studying journalism in college, working as a newspaper reporter, and publishing my first book in 2010.

 

And today, in my full-time role as development director of the Omaha Public Library Foundation, I’m surrounded by books. My weekdays are spent in our city’s four-story, main branch downtown. My working hours are filled advocating and raising money for the Omaha Public Library system and its twelve branches.

 

When I look around my home at the hundreds of titles I have collected, read, savored, pondered, and enjoyed over the years, I am struck with the strong emotion I feel for these thousands of pages. The letters become words, the words become sentences, the sentences become paragraphs. Together they create magical, memorable experiences.

 

>> Continue reading my latest essay, “Printed Words on Parade,” at COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design.

 

six-books

The Resurgence of Handmade

February 3, 2014   |   No Comments

Colorful skeins of yarn have slowly, seemingly effortlessly taken up residence in my home. I can’t quite pinpoint when my casual interest in knitting transformed to a full-time hobby. But I can tell you that, on likely a subconscious level, I had grown increasingly weary of digital devices and can’t-quite-touch data that seemed to dominate my hands at any given hour.

 

And I began referring to my home office as my craft room.

 

My mother-in-law taught me to knit. After observing her pass the time using a craft whose hallmark is repetition, I slowly began practicing this time honored tradition. A year later, I’m happy to have gifted a number of knitted pieces to family members and friends, proud enough of mastering the basic techniques of casting on, the knit stitch, changing colors, and casting off.

 

The weights and textures and rainbow of colors at any craft store or website is easy on the eye. I experience a sublime sense of calm while circling my hands around a chunky wool yarn or a more sleek and thinner variety. (Yes, I’ve even rubbed the yarn on my face while shopping. It’s true!)

 

Inspiration for new knitted pieces – largely scarves, wraps, coasters, and small blankets – surface in a number of places. A color combination might catch my eye at the grocery store, such as the pinks and yellows of Easter candy. I tend to turn the colors around in my head the same way I might a peppermint in my mouth, until I locate the colors of yarn that mimic those same pleasing, pastel hues.

 

>> Continue reading my latest essay, “The Resurgence of Handmade,” at COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design.

 

 

Our Overnight Outdoor Adventure

November 19, 2013   |   No Comments

Last weekend Jessica, Ginger, and I braved the Great Outdoors (it is November in Nebraska, after all) with a stay at Slattery Vintage Estates Vineyard and Tasting Room about an hour from our homes in Omaha. We planned the glamping trip as a working retreat for COOP, but also as an opportunity to drink wine, eat good food, and just relax.

 

What we found upon arriving at Slattery Vintage Estates was nothing short of breathtaking. (Learn more about this Nebraska gem in my recent Q&A with co-owner Barb Slattery.) The scenery alone was satisfaction enough for me, even if all we did was sit outdoors and take it all in.

 

Gently rolling hills. Wide open sky. Crisp fall air. And silence. Silence so overwhelming it was a gift. No traffic. No sirens. Nary a ringing cell phone within ear shot.

 

It was wonderful.

 

Following a little brainstorming for COOP and a walk around the estate, we happened upon a proposal. The owners tipped us off, so we were certain to watch from afar. The proposal happened among the rows of Slattery’s wine vineyards. The day’s weather was picture perfect, creating the ideal setting for this memorable experience.

 

That evening, Slattery hosted its first trivia night.

 

>> What happened next? Continue reading my latest essay for COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design.

 

Classic, Whimsy Meet at Hello Holiday

February 28, 2013   |   1 Comment

Pinterest has become a grown-up girl’s playground. We spend our waking hours pining for and pinning the prettiest of pieces. We covet colors, prints, and patterns. In between checking email and browsing the web, dazzling shoes and glittering accessories continuously catch our eye.

 

So we pin our favorites and further investigate the potential of ownership. Could I pull off that dress? Where would I wear it? More importantly, could I even afford it?

 

Reality sets in as we start clicking away, realizing that so many of these pieces are just beyond our pocketbook. What’s a budget-conscious girl (with style to spare) to do?

 

Enter Hello Holiday, a new online fashion retailer that is as cute as it is affordable. Ladies who seek a unique, fun wardrobe chock full of color can now not only wish for those special pieces, but thanks to Hello Holiday, they can own them and enjoy them, with money left over for, say, a proper holiday.

 

Hello Holiday isn’t just about pretty things, however; a big part of this small business is spotlighting emerging fashion designers.

 

COOP recently visited with Megan Hunt, one of Hello Holiday’s co-founders, about the history, the inventory, the variety, and even her beauty favorites.

 

>> Continue reading my latest essay “Classic and Whimsy Meet at Hello Holiday” at COOP, an online lifestyle publication produced by Birdhouse Interior Design (@BirdhouseID).

 

Editor’s note: Photo of Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik, left, and Megan Hunt by Hooton Images.