Inspiration all around the table

I get my writing and life inspiration from such a randomly wide variety of places…something that’s pretty darn obvious if you read my blog on a regular basis.

A recent and ongoing dose of inspiration for me has been Carol McManus. She’s the Queen of Reinvention…having gone through so many life transitions including marriage, 5 kids, divorce, bankruptcy, owning very successful childcare centers, opening a very successful restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, Espresso Love…and now writing a book.

Total transparency here, I’m working with Carol as a consultant, creating an online presence and her blog to help her spread the word about her book, Table Talk Cookbook: Food, Family, Love – which is a beautiful (seriously) cookbook with a mission: to get families back to the table, and to get them there with real food. But, I wanted to write this post because: 1) I love the book, we cook from it all the time, 2) My work with her is a case study example of the topics I discuss on this blog, and 3) I’m a sucker for Teresa Morrow’s blog book tours – of which this post is part.

In our process of creating Carol’s blog and Twitter presence (among other things), my admiration for her has gone way beyond the facts of her reinvention – and she’s been handed some hard, sour, lemons – she’ll be the first to tell you. What really stirs me up? Her attitude, her ability to try new things and her passion for helping others, for sharing.

Attitude

They tell you it’s everything and it is. I’m not trying to say that Carol doesn’t get in bad moods…one of her posts documents a yearlong, bedridden depression. But, even when things get hard and I’m asking her to do something out of her element, she says things like, “I can do this, right? It’s just going to take me some time.” And then, a day or a week or months later, she laughs, “Remember when I didn’t know how to cut and paste on the computer? Now I’m blogging!” She gets a kick out of it. She amazes and delights herself. When randomly fantastic things happen to her, she asks me, “I’m lucky, aren’t I?” I always say yes…but know that her attitude (and hard work) is contagious and plays a big role.

New things

Carol is not old – I’m quite sure that she has more energy than me. But, she is a grandma and of the generation that cringes at computers. That’s what she did the first time we met. But she believed in the process and so she jumped in – well, it was more like she did a cannonball. Now she’s addicted to blogging and Twitter – she tells everyone about them. And it’s paying off. She was recently featured in the Boston Globe, on NPR and CBN (where she might become a regular, so add TV personality to the list).

Helping others & sharing

You’ve heard me say a jillion times how important it is that you be yourself when you blog and engage in social media. Carol understood right away that to reach her goal of getting people back to the dining table, she had to reveal her own story – the struggles and the highlights. She wanted to connect with people so that they could have someone real to relate to, to talk to, to laugh with. (Yes, Deb, I know those are dangling prepositions.)

She told me that the other night, as she was working, she had this urge to tweet, “Never, ever give up.” Instantly, someone tweeted back, ‘Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that right now.” When she told me the story, she said, “I don’t even know why I wrote that, I just felt this urge – in my gut…and look what happened, I actually helped someone…isn’t that amazing?”

Yes, Carol…and so are you. Keep it up!

I strongly recommend that you buy Carol’s cookbook – and no, she is not paying me to say that! We honestly love it…and it’s a stunning slice of the Vineyard.

If you want to read some other posts that folks are dishing up about Carol and the Table Talk Cook book, check out this one from Tuesday, Jan. 13 and this one due to post Thursday, Jan. 15.

want to own a house on martha’s vineyard for just $1,000? YOU CAN.

I’m not kidding. This is the chance of a lifetime. The Martha’s Vineyard Island Affordable Housing Fund and the Island Elderly Housing Office are holding a raffle wherein each ticket costs $1,000, 600 tickets will be sold and the prize is a house in Edgartown built by South Mountain Company.  It gets better – the house is LEED (Leadership in Environmental Design) Certified which means that it’s green and uber- energy efficient.

South Mountain’s trademark craftsmenship, 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bath Cape, located steps away from beautiful downtown Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard! Seriously, how can you not!?!

Of course, if you don’t win, the $1,000 is still well spent because you’re donating to a great cause: the Island Affordable Housing Fund (IAHF) and the Blueberry Van & Community Meals program at Island Elderly Housing. I know that most people just think of Martha’s Vineyard as a hotspot for the rich and famous (Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Meg Ryan, Ted Danson, Spike Lee, the Kennedys, etc….), but regular old joes (like yours truly) live here as well. And keeping housing affordable for all of us is critical to the survival of the island and its magical culture.

Because of the IAHF, Martha’s Vineyard is second in the nation (behind Aspen) in providing affordable housing and, effectively, keeping it real in this slice of paradise. Places like Nantucket and the Hamptons are suffering – needing to bring in their service industry staff for the season because waitresses, trash collectors, hotel staff, school teachers, nurses, etc. can no longer afford to live there.

Have I convinced you yet? Try your luck…and, if you win, be sure to let me know – we’ll do lunch once you land. Good luck and now follow this LINK to buy your ticket!!!

Update: Sadly, this raffle had to be discontinued because of the turn in the economy in September, 2008. If you’d still like to donate. I encourage you to follow the links above and contact the Island Affordable Housing Fund. Thanks!

i did not post yesterday

And I’m glad to see the world didn’t implode. Life happened: I printed and hung up many millions of posters for a huge event we are having for Bonobo Kids…and then I went to the big Ag Fair on the Vineyard to drop something off and got sucked in to working with my good friend Susan Gibbs of the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. Then I was a mom for several hours and finally turned on my computer to deal with email around 10pm.

But, I missed my blog and I’m ever so happy to be back! I’m guessing you all survived…

real people, not Paris, using video and thriving on web 2.0

Here’s an example of someone, not Paris, succeeding online with video. Etsy just produced this mini-documentary of my friend Susan Gibbs and her revolutionary MV Fiber Farm which is the world’s first natural fiber CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). This past Sunday it was the featured video on YouTube‘s hompage – garnering  129,536 views as of this morning. Besides Susan’s amazing story, there is an exciting delivery in this tale…around the 1/2 way point of the vid.

Susan has grown the CSA almost entirely online (save the Martha’s Vineyard local farmer’s markets) – through her blog, website, store and online communities like Etsy. Some highlights from the first year:

• Sold three rounds of shares (2 falls, 1 spring – actually this fall’s shares are going like hotcakes right now if you’re interested!)
• Raised over $10,000 on her blog to help pay for an electric wheelchair for her uncle – in ONE week
• Doubled the size of the flock
• Featured in an article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal
• Spotlighted in Women’s World Magazine (which surprisingly has one of highest circulations of any magazine in the country)
• Promoted & supported by the awesome crew at Etsy who, amongst many other things, created the video
• Currently negotiating a book deal
• Built a strong and loyal community of knitters, crafters, weavers, spinners – and lamb and sheep lovers

Not bad, Susan, not bad at all. I wish I could say that I taught her everything she knows, but she is this brilliant and talented all by herself. Visit Susan and become part of the CSA at www.mvfiberfarm.com.

drupal, open source CMS, community publishing: THE VINEYARD VOICE

I’m giving a shout out to my friend Patrick Phillips at The Vineyard Voice today. I strongly encourage you all to check out this incredible platform for sharing information and activating change in your community. In his own words, “As a community publisher, The Vineyard Voice is an advocate for individuals, businesses and local nonprofit organizations. Through its issue-based investigations and stories written by and for islanders, the Voice builds conversations about how we can strengthen human, economic and environmental resources on the island.”

The following video from The Vineyard Voice documents a collaboration between UMass Amherst, Martha’s Vineyard’s Island Grown Initiative and the island’s Brazilian community as they work to bring Brazilian crops to local island farms.

Patrick is a seasoned and celebrated journalist, who happens to be a Drupal and design expert; he created The Vineyard Voice as a platform for our phenomenal Martha’s Vineyard community to share, document and feature the life that happens here. Blogs, written content, images, photography, audio, video and syndication pair with Drupal’s user-friendly, module abundant and search engine loving platform to construct a total win-win for the community.

The Voice has been and continues to be recognized for this achievement in bringing stories of the people and by the people together, forward and in the direction of a stronger community. One of Patrick’s many goals is to share this model, and to that end he offers consulting to communities looking to create a cohesive, utilitarian online presence – Drupal is an open source content management system (CMS) and available to all. He’s even consulting with the Knight Foundation in an effort to support local, community news sites.

I’m proud to work with and know Patrick. Combining my writing, web 2.0 passion, blogging and marketing expertise with his branding, design, open source technology savvy and his progressive mind, we are taking web and social marketing to a different level – content specifically created for the social web in a framework that not only supports, but invites community interaction and growth.

Check out The Vineyard Voice, contact patrick@vineyardvoice.org and tell him I sent you.

Update: A great interview with Patrick by Ron Miller was just posted to DaniWeb – check it out.

are writers bored? or are sharks THAT exciting?

I live on Martha’s Vineyard and I write for island businesses so I have various Google Alerts set for “Martha’s Vineyard”…

I’m shocked, really shocked, to see the number of articles being written world wide about the shark that may or may not have been seen off our southern coast. When I searched Google for ‘Martha’s Vineyard shark 2008″ I got up to the early 400′s of the 48,000 returns – and they were still articles about the shark.

Here’s the story: last week some lifeguards and a man said that they saw a shark in the Atlantic off the coast of South Beach causing panic and the closing of a couple of beaches. I myself was a total baby about the whole thing and I swim on the north side in the Sound. Then, it turned out that the ‘gentleman’ who said he saw the 16′ shark was only teasing. So, there was no shark…maybe. Two seals had been found dead – from a supposed shark attack – in the last month or so. And lifeguards claimed to have seen a dorsal fin 2 1/2′ sticking out of the water.

…and now people all over the world are writing about it. They’re having a blast with the whole Jaws thing (Jaws was filmed here back in the day) and coming up with catchy headlines. It was exciting when there actually might have been sharks and now it is extraordinary that someone made it up…the entertainment is endless.

Are people sick of writing about the presidential race? The war in Iraq? I get that…so maybe they aren’t bored. Maybe they’re stressed and looking for relief…and a little bit of excitement.

what is a person to do without an internet connection?

I know. This is a very difficult question. One that I struggled with from Friday morning until Sunday night. The entire time that I was in New York City. I had heard that ‘The City’ was supposed to be cutting edge…hmmm, not so much. The flat where I was staying had no wireless, no cable cord.

Could I have found a Starbucks and blogged/worked from there? Yes. But I didn’t. Oh, I should mention. I found out mid-Saturday that I could unplug the phone cord from the wall and plug it into my computer. This made me laugh…and then cry a little. I passed. No internet is better than slow internet. My Macbook and I signed a no dial-up pact.

Instead, I took this golden opportunity to NOT WORK and enjoy life. Here’s what I did:

1. Walked a lot. Uptown, Downtown, All Over.

2. Realized that New York is a bit dirty…when you compare it to my home, Martha’s Vineyard. But apparently not when you compare it to 15 years ago (or so I was told over and over again).

3. Caught up with two long-lost and long-loved friends from college.

4. Took cabs that have tv’s in the back and hated the newscaster that slammed the new SATC movie…he said maybe people would like it…IF they were fans. $55.7 million, record-breaking first weekend, baby. I can’t stand insecure men.

5. Ate really good food. Think lobster tempura rolls and duck with a crispy layer of fat in a sauce so good that I couldn’t identify any of the flavors.

6. Stayed up past 1am both nights. Slept past 8. (If you know that I have two children under 3 and that they were left at home for the first time ever, you will understand that this is a big deal.)

7. Attended a fantastic benefit for bonobos…go buy a book…www.bonobokids.com…it’s for a good cause.

8. Saw a beautiful, stunning man brushing his teeth in just his low-slung jeans perfectly framed in his window…in Chelsea.

9. Honestly, couldn’t wait to get back home to my family, my dogs that have grass to pee on, my office and my internet connection. Pretty much in that order.

hold on to your hats people

I’m leaving my little island tomorrow and heading to the big one. That would be Manhattan. I’m just a little bit excited.

I’m going to NYC for a benefit honoring the Bonobo Conservation Intitiative and featuring one of my favorite clients, Bonobo Kids. Here’s the flyer for the event. If you’re in NYC, I’d love to see you there.

A room of one’s own

Wait, that title seems familiar… Alas, those are Virginia Woolf’s words, not mine – but, the concept, oh, the concept. It is so important to have this space, your own space for your work. To leave the computer on, to leave 5 reference books open mid-look, to save a piece of pizza in your own mini-fridge. I crave this space! My writing space has been shared for years now. Don’t get me wrong – I am grateful that I have space to write – period. But I would love to have my own little shack. So, two things, 1. Where do you write, work, create – really and in your mind. And 2. Here is my dream shack…it lives in Chilmark, MA (Martha’s Vineyard) and was built as a community effort by the amazing South Mountain Company. I don’t need this exact one…but something like it, maybe with a little splash of color! Bring it on, Universe!