Still working on #41...

Look at these awesome people.



Those are my awesome coworkers at The Alameda County Community Food Bank!

Today's the last day of National Food Bank Week. I must admit, all I've done is buy a few cans of food and donated, but I wish I'd done more.

But one thing I can do is alert you to my last post, and if you'd like to donate to The 97 Things Virtual Food Drive, click the link! I'd like to reach $970 by the end of the year, and we're not even at 10%. Won't you please help? Even $5 goes a long way. And you feel TOTALLY Accomplished.

Thanks, all!

xoxoxo

Accomplishment #41: Feed The Needy (#70)

Among the many things on my To-Do List (for example: win the lottery, write a best selling novel, canoe down a lava bed in a titanium canoe), one of the things I've been meaning to do forever has been to volunteer at a local food bank. I've always thought it seemed like such a good and necessary thing to do, and something that would not only help others, but be rewarding, too. I had a friend who could never do anything on certain nights, and she never said why -- she just couldn't -- and would change the subject. When I finally pressed her long and hard enough (I was SURE she was having an affair), she admitted that she was volunteering at the local soup kitchen, and even taking Spanish classes so she could talk to a lot of the people she was serving. The way she spoke about it when her secret was revealed was so inspirational, and it made me want to help, too. (I wasn't even disappointed to discover that she wasn't having an affair. That's how happy she was.)

But, as usual, life got in the way. Weekends are always busy. Work is tiring. Too broke to donate. And HOW does one even go about doing anything? The closest I ever got was Jennye and I collecting donations at The Mid Century Supper Club Potlucks, which yielded a lot of cans donated in a barrel at work, which was actually really great. But it wasn't until my BFF Leslie created a volunteer day for our work, and motivated 2 groups of us to help out at The Alameda County Community Food Bank that I finally got to do what I've been meaning to do for years.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew you had to dress for warehouse conditions and wear close-toed shoes (which I always do anyway), but other than that, I had no idea. Would we be hauling cans? Sifting? (Jon had sifted, so he told me all about that.) Sorting?

Turns out, it was none of the above. It was bagging celery.



Lots and lots of celery.



But by doing this:


(This is Leslie in action, BTW. She gets a Big Blue Star in my book.)

We wound up doing 6,082 pounds of this:


And that, my friends, is an awesome feeling.

The Alameda County Community Food Bank serves 49,000 people a week. One in six people in our county is hungry and can't afford food. And it's not just in Alameda county -- there are 49 million people across the United States struggling with hunger.* And if the economy doesn't get better, it will just get worse and more people will be relying on the food banks for help. We had an information session, and I don't know if there was a dry eye or a throat that didn't have a lump in that room. We were told stories of teachers who had always been fine financially, but like so many, they had gotten laid off and finally in desperation had to come to the food bank. And stories about fathers who couldn't afford to have birthday parties for their children, and the food bank made it possible. (Just thinking of these stories makes me well up all over again.) And there are many, many more stories on the news, on the internet, and even from the people you walk past every day. They may not necessarily be holding signs, but they're there. The food bank makes it possible for them to eat, and gain something just as important: dignity. I think we all walked out of there feeling really good that we had helped, and even more -- we were ready to do more.

Around the same time that I volunteered, my awesome friend Mary started a virtual food drive called "Feed Oakland" through the Alameda County Community Food Bank and made it fun -- each neighborhood in Oakland "competed," and at the end of 30 days, she had raised $1500! The Food Bank is able to stretch dollars so that for every dollar donated, they can distribute $5 worth of good, nutritious food to families in need. Mary's great idea turned into $7500 worth of food!

So I am totally stealing Mary's amazing idea for this blog (thanks, Mary!), and it just so happens that October 16-22 is National Food Bank Week -- I had no idea until I sat down tonight and started writing this blog. What perfect timing!

I created a virtual food drive with Feeding America, so that anyone anywhere can donate. Feeding America is the leading domestic hunger relief organization, with network food banks serving every state. Feeding America’s nationwide network of over 200 food banks provides food and groceries to 33,500 food pantries, 4,500 soup kitchens and 3,600 emergency shelters. This extensive network helps feed 37 million Americans each year -- delivering over 3 billion pounds of food. Each week nearly 5.7 million people receive emergency food assistance from an agency served by a Feeding America member.

And what's great about them is that for every dollar donated, they can provide SEVEN meals for hungry individuals. That's amazing!

So if you can, please donate:

The 97 Things Virtual Food Drive

I made the goal $970. Get it? 97 Things = $970? Yeah, okay, it's cheesy, but I like it. And it's a good goal. That means if we can raise that money, that will be 679 meals for people who would otherwise have to go without. And please, spread the word! Email the link! Facebook the link! Blog the link! Learn and love the link!

And there are other things you can do, too. Find your local food bank, call them, and ask them for a barrel for your workplace and ask your co-workers to bring in non-perishables. Leslie did that at our work, and now, every time I go to the grocery store, I buy 2 extra cans of something to donate. So easy to remember! This is Alameda County's list of what they need and take, and I'm sure it translates everywhere:

Canned fruits and vegetables
Canned meats and fish
Peanut butter (in plastic jars -- no glass of any kind)
Pasta
Beans
Rice
Canned soup (low salt)
Low sugar cereal and oatmeal
Tomato sauce
Powdered milk

And, of course, you can volunteer at your local food bank, too. Just remember that the holidays are usually booked up(which is a good thing) -- but they always need help the rest of the year.


So in honor of National Food Bank Week, please help! It would be fabulous if you donated to the blog's food drive, but really, anything anywhere helps. I myself am going to forgo MY favorite snack, Taco Flavored Doritos, and instead of buying that delicious treat I am going to donate the money I'd spend on them instead. I know I sound flip, but I am serious. And plus, it's good karma, and an even better feeling knowing you're helping someone who needs it. What an Accomplishment that is, right?

Forty-one down, 56 to go.



*Feeding America, 2011

Ew.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

*crickets*


Oh dear. I did it again... TOO MUCH TIME BETWEEN POSTS.

But! That's about to change, because I'm about to update aaaaalllll of my many (okay both) Accomplishments! Yes I am!

But I want to say a big thank you for following me, and if you just joined the 97 Things Party Bus, welcome!

And I am thrilled to have so many followers, and one very special "fan":



They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... But hmmm.

Onward!

AND THE WINNER IS...

First of all, I want to that EVERYONE who entered! It was so much fun reading all your posts, and I was very impressed with all of you. You should all be very proud of your Accomplishments... And you're ALL winners as far as I'm concerned.

Second of all, picking a winner is hard work, especially when you decide to film it. There's hair and makeup and lighting and camera and endless uploading, and when you have no people, it's hard. People, I had no people. And no script. I'm a total dork.

So without further ado, the Jel-Ring Mold goes to:



Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the winner was SHONA!



So Shona, please email me at nsparkle at earthlink.net and send me your address AND your favorite flavor of Jell-O!

And everyone else, I'd love to send you a thank you for entering -- please email me your addresses, too!

Again, thanks so much to everyone who entered -- it was so much fun! So much so that I'm thinking of doing it again soon. Wheee!

Thank you, all!

Last Day To Enter The Contest!

What's more thrilling than winning an Oscar?

Winning THIS, of course:



Because then you can Accomplish Great Things like this:



And THIS:



And that's better than some statuette that just sits on your mantel, isn't it?

But HURRY! Contest ends Feb. 28th at 8pm! That's when I'm going to pick the lucky winner. Which is thrilling for me because I get to say, "And The Jel-Ring Mold goes to..."

Enter HERE for your chance to win! (And don't worry. Years of tap, ballet, voice lessons, acting and elocution classes, plastic surgery and relentless diets are unnecessary. You can even enter while wearing your pajamas if you want. But if you send me a picture of yourself wearing this, I'll send you a special prize.)





See? My contest is WAY better than The Oscars.

Good luck!

Accomplishment #40: Redo Your Bedroom (#1)

When I was in high school, I switched bedrooms. The room I had up until 10th grade had a single bed, flower and strawberry motif bedspread and curtains, and close proximity to the kitchen but it lacked the most important tool in an 80's teenager's social life: a phone jack. It also had that fake French provincial furniture (which for some reason is hip now) and embarrassment of all embarrassments -- my dollhouse. No self-respecting new wave teenager had dollhouses in their rooms, so I tried to hide that baby-ish fact by taking down my unicorn and baby harp seal posters and replacing them with something much more sophisticated, similar to this.


Mine was worse, if you can believe it. It had 2 ladies with rainbows coming out of their mouths. GROSS. From GBPosters' Flickr.


But in 10th grade, I was in business. My mom and dad let me move into my sister's old room, which had not only a phone jack, but 2 beds for sleepovers AND I got to leave my rainbows, unicorns, fake French provincial and dollhouse behind. I was going to have the new wave bedroom of my dreams! (As long as I ignored the wicker headboards. They had to stay, much to my chagrin.) "I want gray walls and black bedspreads and black and white striped sheets," I told my mom, much to her chagrin.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "It could get sort of... well, depressing."

"Oh no," I said. "I'm going to hang up posters and record covers and stuff." I think she sighed.

But even though I was going to get my walls painted a tasteful dove gray, it wasn't going to happen right away and my parents gave me permission to draw and write on the walls. I envisioned a cool mural, something so amazing that I wouldn't even want to paint it over. Budding artist that (I thought) I was, I embarked on drawing a life-size picture of Twiggy that I copied from my dad's "This Fabulous Century: 1960-1970" book. Only problem was: I wasn't really a budding artist. After not getting Twiggy's hair (or face or body) right AT ALL, I drew a big bouffant instead. That didn't work very well, either, and since it was on the wall, I couldn't exactly crumple it up and start over. So I did what any dorky teenager would do: I changed the go-go girl into Boy George.


See how that works? The hat and the hair over one eye totally fixed the misshapen bouffant and lopsided face, plus he wore tunics so that took care of the badly drawn body.

So I had an ugly Boy George on my wall, plus my friend Karin and I wrote deep and meaningful Soft Cell lyrics everywhere, plus stuff like "I heart Bob" and my favorite band names du jour. Basically I treated my room like a giant Pee-Chee folder, and let's just say I wasn't exactly bummed to see Go-Go George and everything else get painted over. And at first it looked great -- my dad got my 2 favorite posters of The Beatles and Warhol's Marilyn framed, and it looked streamlined and cool (except for the dumb wicker headboards). But then, true to my word, I junked it all up with album covers, flyers, photos, clippings from magazines, books, knick-knacks, clothes everywhere and my bed was unmade more often than not. It was a total pit, but I totally loved it.


Now, a couple of decades later, things haven't changed much. I still junk up every bedroom I've ever lived in, and this one's no exception. Poor Jon has a dresser and the side of the bed, but our room is filled with all my stuff. Okay, no album covers and clippings -- just nicely framed prints of Avedon, Man Ray, Louise Dahl Wolfe and a few others -- but still. Everywhere you look there seems to be a ceramic poodle or a hatbox or shoes and jewelry and books tossed about. He is the clean one, and I am the cyclone, with bobby-pins and poodles flying in my wake.


Stuff. Lots and lots of stuff.

But I did sort of re-do the bedroom -- Jon hung up these nice shelves for me, and a few years ago, I traded our leopard comforter (which had seen better days)for a brand-new Target faux mod-atomic-something-or-other design.


My "office." And Norman.

And that's as far as we can really go -- since it's a rental, we can't paint or do much to it. And with my decor sensibilities, well, who would notice anyway? You'd be too busy fighting off the sensory overload that's already going on. Sometimes I'll go over to my friends' houses and see their beautiful, spare, Mid-Century style and get a pang of envy, but sometimes I meet people who are more like me -- people who have even more stuff than I have and I love it.

In fact, a few weeks ago I was invited to Dame Rusty's house for a kitsch party, and the guest of honor was Allee Willis, who is not only a Grammy winning songwriter, but a Kitsch Aficionado and "curator of The Museum of Kitsch! It was fabulous, and her website and blog are so much fun! Click here to read all about the Kitsch Party, and check out the link on the right to read about and see more of Allee's fun stuff and life. She is such an inspiration, and I was even honored to submit a photo to the AWMOK's Kitschenette! Click here for the coolness!

In any case, while I would love to redo my bedroom, the new bedspread and cleaning stuff off my dresser is about as far as I can go these days. So instead, today I redid my blog!

I hadn't updated since August 2009, and it was time. So today I had some time on my hands and messed around a little bit, and here it is. I cleaned up the links and the layout and then started getting cuckoo with colors. It's a bit misleading because it looks like a vintage blog (or like the movie poster of Hairspray or something like that) but whatevs. The background is the same fabric as my favorite purse, and I like the pink and blue and green accents. In short, it's sort of cluttered and busy just like my bedroom, so there you have it. Plus, like the one I did back in 2009, I think Zsa Zsa would approve of this one, too.


I can only imagine how Zsa Zsa decorated her mansion! And we're not that different -- she just had real glamour dogs, and mine are all fake on my shelf.


And you know what? By redoing my blog, I feel totally Accomplished, even if I didn't get out of my pajamas all day. Which is my most favorite kind of Accomplishment.

Forty down, 57 to go.

PS Don't forget to enter THE CONTEST!

Contest Time!

Hello daaaahlings!

OVER TWO HUNDRED FOLLOWERS? How did THAT happen??? Now THAT is an Accomplishment! Especially since I've been so bad at updating these days...

But to express my undying gratitude, it is time for a contest!

Look behind Door #3 for this VALUABLE prize!

Will it be:



A new electric oven and stove combo?

No.




An Alumilux Water Heater?

No.




The World's Ugliest Lamp?

No.





SCHNITZELBANK?

Whatever that is... But No.

Behold... It's THIS!



Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is correct. The grand prize is A TUPPERWARE JEL-RING MOLD!

You will also receive a vintage 1940's JELL-O "cookbook"... and a sweet apron so you can serve your Jell-O in style!

And that's not all... You will also win a free made by me CD of special songs to serve Jell-O by!

What, you think you're done? Nope! I will throw in your very own BOX OF JELL-O! (Winner will get to choose the flavor.)

And Turtle Wax!


(Okay, not really on the Turtle Wax. But they always had it as a prize on game shows when I was little and I had NO idea what it was -- I thought it was to wax turtles. How bummed I was when I figured out it was for dumb old cars.)



What is all this worth, Monty? Well... about five dollars, but really, it's PRICELESS. Because not only can you serve Jell-O in this, you can make a MEAT RING, TOO!

Totally stolen from one of the best photostreams in the universe, Charm and Poise's Flickr.


Okay, here are the rules:

-- Leave me a comment on here, telling me one of YOUR Accomplishments. It can be anything from a Mother Teresa-like endeavor where you saved an entire village of starving kittens from drowning (to make the rest of us look bad) or simply getting out of bed this morning (which I barely did, so there you go).

--Spread the joy! Post it on your blog, your facebook, your Twitter, a billboard in your hometown... I don't care. But any of that would be awesome -- the more the merrier!

-- Sit tight! I will choose a winner at random on Monday, Feb. 28th at around 8pm PST.

-- And good luck!

Seriously, you guys -- thanks for following me and being so fabulous. I appreciate all of you... you're the wind beneath my wings. If I had wings.

Wheeeee!!!!!

xoxoxoxo,
Sparkleneely