Exit Through the Gift Shop

We went to see the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" yesterday. It was awesome! The film is rated R, but it's only for language (Jerry says the f-word was used four times, but I only heard it once). It would be a shame for people to steer their kids away from this movie because of the rating. (Stupid MPAA–but that's another story.) The film gave us so much to talk about. Jerry's friend Augie commented that the main subject of the documentary didn't seem to notice any barriers when he set out to do something. Where most people would say, "I can't do that because I'm not an artist" or come up with other stumbling blocks, thus guy just barreled right through them. The story was fascinating and the film itself was really well done (and hilariously funny). Shepard Fairey features heavily in the movie, which was cool because his studio is really near our house. And we saw lots of street art that we recognized.

After the movie we walked over to Amoeba Music (we were in Hollywood) where Jerry's friend bought some t-shirts to take back home to New Zealand. Warren found a used copy of Idiocracy (one of the funniest movies ever) and I found lots of other documentaries that I want to watch, but haven't seen yet. We had thought we would go to the Santa Monica pier after the movie, but decided to eat dinner at home and once we got home and the boys started playing Halo none of us felt much like leaving the house. So Warren and I poured a couple glasses of wine and hunkered down for a nice evening at home.

Today is Augie's last day with us and we have a full schedule: Hollywood Farmer's Market, pick up Augie's Uncle Glenn, lunch at our house with Glenn, go to Whole Foods to stock up on goodies for Augie to take home to his family in NZ, meet up with friends in Topanga who have some pots (not pot) for Augie to take home, eat some dinner, get to the airport by 8 pm.

I have some very exciting book drive news. My friend Maria was able to get us an encyclopedia set for $8!! She got it at a library book sale on the last day when they were giving things away for $2/bag. I'm so happy! Not including the encyclopedia, we're up to 511 books, which is just past the half way mark. We still have two weeks to go and I'll be getting books from a friend in San Diego on Tuesday and from Corona and Sacramento at the end of the week. I have to admit that I did finally break down and but a few books off the Amazon wish list I made up. I've been trying not to spend my own money on books, because I know I'm going to end up paying for a good portion of the shipping, but it's really hard! So I ordered some of the books that were only $.01 used, which made them $4 with shipping. I ordered 11 books in all. One was more expensive, but I really thought it was an important book for the collection. I must say, this library thing has really made me stop and think before I buy something for myself. At Amoeba yesterday I was thinking of buying a used copy of Rivers and Tides (a fabulous documentary about landscape sculptor Andy Goldsworthy), but then I put it back when I thought about how that $15 could buy three books for the African library.

Time to get off the computer now and start the day!

I Heart Humans

I'm supposed to be writing a post on how Warren is handling the unschooling thing these days (hint: he's still on the fence), but I've been studying for midterms so I don't have time to write it. However, I did want to take a couple minutes to write about how much I love the human race. People are so wonderful. Already, one blogger has sent me a box of books for the book drive, and others have offered to donate money for shipping. My family and friends are forwarding my e-mail about the book drive and linking to the web site on Facebook and Twitter. People are offering books and offering to help pack the books and, thankfully, my initial panic (feeling like the entire village is relying on me--and me alone--to get them their library) is starting to subside. I love people.

And, as an aside, I also love my new deck furniture. (There it is in the Pottery Barn catalog.) After a year of no furniture on our new deck, I finally found the exact set I've been waiting for on Craigslist. And we bought it. And I'm sitting on it now--studying and blogging and eating Warren's leftover pizza. Yes, I love my deck furniture.

But I love people more.

Book Drive for African Library

You know how when you want to do something, you want to do in now? And it's so frustrating to have to wait. That's how I was feeling about the volunteer vacation and Africa. And then I found this organization. It's called the African Library Project. And they do the exact thing I was wanting to do! They start libraries in Africa! So, I've contacted them and I'm organizing a book drive! I'm so excited!! (That should explain all the exclamation marks.)!!

Each library consists of 1,000 books and I'll be collecting those books for a community library. So I'll need kids books, school books, and books about business, gardening, animal husbandry,  etc., but all of it at a fairly easy reading level. From my own book shelves I've collected 65 books to send. And I've found some National Geographic magazines on LAReuseIt (it's like Freecycle). It's so amazing to think that I can do something as big as bringing an entire library to a community of people that live so far away. Of course, I'm not doing it alone, but it's so overwhelming and invigorating to think that I'm the one in charge of collecting all those books. I'm getting the homeschool community involved and have started a website with more information. Please have a look at the site and pass it on (or post a link on your own blog). If you have a few books you'd like to include you can send them to me via media mail. I just need them by May 15. The books will be shipping out on May 25 (the day before I leave for the LIFE is Good Conference) and I'll need some time to pack and organize them. If you don't have books to send, but you'd like to donate toward the cost of shipping that would be really helpful, too. We need to come up with $500 to ship the books (they go via boat). I still need to find out the best way for people to donate, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

If you're as excited as I am about this project, maybe you'd want to organize your own book drive. As homeschoolers we certainly have the right kind of books at home on our shelves. The African Library Project does need more people organizing book drives, so if you're interested check out their site and read the Book Drive Guidelines to find out if you're up to the task.

In other news, we had a very nice Easter at Warren's step-mom's house. The kids hunted for eggs, we ate lots of good food, and then played a really fun dice game. The highlight of my weekend, however, was Saturday morning when I shared some kugel with my 94-year-old friend, Sol. He made it himself and I felt sure that I was one of only a few people (Sol's family included) who would ever be lucky enough to be served a delicious hot meal made by someone who has been on the planet for such a good, long time. I know Sol appreciates everything I do for him (I help him stay organized, read his mail, pull weeds, etc.), but I don't think he knows how much I appreciate him. I guess I'd better be sure to tell him next time I see him. I'll have to write more about him sometime. In the meantime, you can read about him here.

Oh, there's more good news! I am officially finished with my grandma's estate. The last checks went out on Saturday. And then on Sunday morning I went through the five boxes of my grandma's papers that had been cluttering up my office (I had to make room for those books!). There will still be little things to do here and there, but the big things are finished and I'm both relieved and sad. I feel like it closes the final chapter of my grandma's life.

That's all for now. It's cold and rainy here in Southern California today. I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea, get out my school books and do some reading and homework under a nice cozy blanket.