TED Talk: Why the Pencil is Perfect [Video]

cups of brown and yellow eraser-topped pencils

The Dixon Ticonderoga.

I can still see the bright yellow Dixon Ticonderoga pencil with the perfect sharp tip sitting on my third grade desk as I waited for my teacher to hand out math tests.

My pencil always had to have a sharp tip.

Which meant I spent a fair amount of time sharpening it at the pencil sharpener, much to my teacher Mrs. Simpson’s frustration.

Before she could pass the tests out to my row, I picked up my pencil, twirled it around with my fingers, switched it to my left hand, and started tapping it on the palm of my right hand.

And that’s when it happened. Continue reading TED Talk: Why the Pencil is Perfect [Video]

Photo of the Week: Little Library at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Little Library box with the gray concrete blocks and red doors of the church in the background

You never know where you’ll find a Little Library when you’re walking about your own city or a new space.

And that’s what happened to me this weekend when I discovered a Little Library at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newport, Kentucky when I traveled to Kentucky this weekend. Continue reading Photo of the Week: Little Library at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. at the podium, speaking at Washington DC

Today in the United States we honor and commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., – the civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

His speeches, protests, and writings brought attention to injustice and poverty in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Continue reading Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.