Random Thoughts

Thanks to all of you for contributing your ideas, blog posts, discussions and media to Zoobird! It's a lot of fun and informative, too, isn't it? Thanks also for inviting your friends.

Check the "Latest Activity" section at the bottom of Zoobird's homepage to see what's new in general.

I see that Bob Tuskin is having an event on web radio with personality Big John Lipscomb, on the 25th. You know you can post your own events.

Carol McDonald has started an interesting and provocative discussion on Fair and Balanced Trade that has sparked a lot of interest. You should step in, take a peek and see what people are talking about there! You can start your own Groups and Discussions here.

We have some interesting new members here at Zoobird:

Barry Sides, musician (I wrote about Barry in a blog post here;

Jose Perez-Menchaca, luthier;

and Kentucky, new Gainesville resident, to name a few. Let's make them welcome by adding them as friends and communicating with them via comments, messages, or just plain invitation to groups you belong to.

Lars runs Adventure Outpost, a Central Florida outdoor activity biz with kayak trips and all sorts of stuff. You can get on his mailing list and do some yakking!

Mycol Stevens lives "off the grid" here *around* Gainesville, FL. Here's a blog post I wrote about Mycol.

I wrote an article featuring Mycol on living off-the-grid for the cooler-than-life magazine Elephant Journal, based in Boulder, Colorado, that people have responded to in a pretty entertaining way. Check it out right here, if you have a chance! Add a comment or digg it if you feel so inclined. You can share it on Facebook, too.

Arupa and Bob Freeman run the HomeVan, helping the homeless. There's some newsletters and info in Caring Zoobirds you'll love reading if you care about people who have less than many of us Think about how Gainesville's local weather is conveyed at Weather dot com: "Freezing temperatures can adversely affect plants and animals and the homeless!" If you think you're acclimatized to Florida's warm weather and the recent cold snap was uncomfortable, consider how it affected the homeless! You can contact Arupa and Bob to volunteer, donate food, blankets, etc, or just thank them for what they do by sending them a message or posting a comment on their page here at Zoobird.

Shmal has posted some incredibly good short stories on his blog. They can move you in ways only someone with his insights and talent for writing can. Check out "A Path in the Woods" and "Breathing in Mt Ranier" for example. You may see some of these stories in glossy magazines like The Sun someday. Hope so.


Liberty Phoenix has had several wonderful workshops at her Indigo Green Store, all in some way related to organic gardening, sustainability and healthy living. They are usually featured in Zoobird Events. Check 'em out! Most are free or have a nominal fee to cover materials.

There's some new music on Zoobird from my friend Hadley Louden's group Los Bros in Berkeley. Look on the homepage for the player. I bet you'll like it. You can add music, too.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Thanks and please keep on contributing, sharing, and tell your friends about this Zoobird place we seem to gravitate to. It's dangerously organic.

All the best,

Michael