Kelsey Timmerman's Blog, page 76
October 29, 2009
Patriotism in my pants
Click here to view the embedded video.
The new Levi's commercial is well done. I mean how can you go wrong with Walt Whitman and sprinklers? But I can't help think that it's a bit ironic that there isn't a single Levi's factory left on American soil. The Levi's I tracked down were Made in Cambodia.
An excerpt from "Where Am I Wearing?"
There is no such thing any more as a Levi's factory. There hasn't been since the 2004 closure of their last domestic plant in San Antonio, Texas. The company...
October 27, 2009
A note to the officer who handed me a $215 speeding ticket
I forgive you.
I forgive you for being a jackass.
Sure, "jackass" might be harsh, but how else do you explain a cop that lies in wait on I-80 just beyond the point where the speed limit changes from 70 to 45 before a toll area and pulls over a dog-loving writer on his way to give a free talk at a library?
You broke a law too you know? It was still dark and when you followed me into the toll, you didn't even have your headlights on.
It was dark, but I could see you. Don't go thinking that...
October 22, 2009
A question to ponder while I'm on the road
Today I'm speaking to a sold out crowd at the Friends of the Amherst Library's Annual Author Luncheon. I'll be gone all day. It's a 4.5 hour drive. I have to be there by 11, which means I have to get up WAY too early. By the numbers: I'll be driving 9 hours to speak for 1.
That said, I'm really looking forward to it.
Here's your question:
If you could go anywhere that was a 4.5-hour trip (plane, train, or automobile) away, where would you go? (Bet it's not Amherst!) Post in the comments...
October 20, 2009
Before you finish eating breakfast, you've depended on more than 1/2 the world
"Why should we care about the people who make our clothes?"
This was the first question of the first interview I did after my book came out. It was such a simple question, but I struggled to answer it. I stumbled around and said something about how connected we all are. But just today I stumbled upon what I really wanted to say.
From Martin Luther King's "A Christmas Sermon on Peace" (1967)
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable...
October 19, 2009
Rags to Riches to Rags: New Yorks garment district
Not so long ago New York actually had a garment industry. Imagine that! Here's a trailer for a new movie on HBO:
And an excerpt from Where Am I Wearing? for good measure:
The Northeast United States was once the bottom. Young girls worked at garment factories and textile mills. They were subjected to prisonlike conditions. Their rights were few, and their struggles many. In 1911, 141 workers—mostly women and girls—were burned to death in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York...
October 17, 2009
Thoughts on the balloon boy
Update: As if this story wasn't sick enough already. The boy was on the Today Show with his family and started puking all over the place at 5:50. I'm not sure this story could be summed up any better than puking on national television. I hope he got some on the cameras. Meredith ignored the whole thing too.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
October 12, 2009
Record NPR-quality audio from your travels
I'm back on the World Vision Report this week with my piece about rescuing a bird in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I'm especially excited about this piece because it's set to sounds I recorded with my mini-disc player I purchased before my 2007 trip. I'm pretty much a beginner when it comes to recording audio, but the folks at the World Vision Report have been awesome and offered great advice.
The only other piece that features audio captured while traveling was my interview with Bibi Russell in...
October 10, 2009
Awesome people doing awesome things: Rain Tees
Rain Tees in their own words:
Rain Tees are a 100% organic luxury line of apparel for women and children designed by youth living in endangered rain forests across Central and South America.
Andira donated school supplies to the children and asked them to illustrate what they see happening in their world every day. Each Rain Tee features their thoughts illustrations and names.
For every Rain tee sold, a child involved in Kids Saving the Rain Forest, Costa Rica will receive a tree they can plant...
October 7, 2009
A (few) thousand (weird) words
Really, what do expect from a Chinese/Mongolian Grill located in Frankfurt, Indiana, where the high school's mascot is a wiener dog? Love the honesty.
At an Irish bar in Chicago. At least the lobster's have a chance. It's hard enough winning stuffed animals, which are neither slimy nor alive, with a crane.
If you work at a colon & rectal clinic, I'm guessing that you here your fair share of shameless wisecracks (wiseCRACKS, get it) each day. But when you label your parking spots like this...
October 2, 2009
Cussin' to Church
I often think about incompetence.
Tonight for instance, I thought about it a lot. I had plenty of time to do so because I was driving around Muncie for a 1.5 hours with two pecks of apples looking for a church with "Grace" in its name.
I cussed all the way to the west side of Muncie, and then back to the east side, and then to the south side for good measure.
The first church I walked into with my two pecks of apples, I was close to where I should've been – only two blocks away. One of the...
