Blogging As Art

As this week’s feature clearly demonstrates, whether it comes to fashion or fashioning blogs, Ampolo is cutting edge. You can visit Keiler’s blog directly by going to: simplewardrobe.blogspot.com.

As if further proof is needed is needed that Ampolo is au courant, we refer you to snippets from two recent articles in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune respectively.

Taxi TV, Brisk as the Traffic You’re Stuck In
By Alessandra Stanley
Where once there was only peeling vinyl, printed fare rates and the cabdriver’s ceaseless cellphone chatter, there is now a television screen.

Report: Ohio Needs New Voting Machines
By Julie Carr Smyth
Columbus, Ohio
The state’s top elections official recommended Friday that Ohio counties replace their touch-screen voting machines because the devices — in use for roughly two years — are vulnerable to manipulation.

Loyal Ampolo viewers will see the connection to two of our earlier episodes. In July, we suggested television sets be provided, not in taxis, but in subway/elevated cars. And last month, voting integrity expert Joan Brunwasser told you about the problem with the current generation of voting machines.

Finally, we have been soliciting ideas from you on particular subjects via email. Soon you’ll see episodes featuring your responses. In the meantime, here is viewer Tom’s response to our request for interesting websites. We checked it out and suggest you do, too:
“A great vocabulary game, and a socially responsible one you can do every day! Go to www.freerice.com and increase your knowledge and be a good person to boot!”

Reverse Verse

We hope this week's Ampolo idea for a children's book about things in the world that are backwards or in reverse inspires families and teachers to come up with their own investigation, or even a book. Later today or tomorrow, we'll share our book. In the meantime, feel free to post any backwards things that come to mind. And if you write a book, send it to us. We'll post it.

lights, camera, auction

Do dogs live in the present or do presents live in the dog? This week’s video, sent to us by a viewer who simply identified herself as “Crooky,” not only answers that question, it also offers a smart, fun, stress-free approach to holiday gift giving.

How does your family exchange holiday gifts? If you do something special or unique, please share it with our viewers–either through our “comment” section below or on our blog Ampolotalk (which we revive this week after a period of dormancy).

As you can see, sending us a video does not require Academy Award winning cinematography skills–a good idea and clever way to present it are more than sufficient. And, if you have an idea, but don’t want to send us a video? An emailed description will do just fine.

In the Chicago Tribune of Sunday, November 25, the excellent columnist Mary Schmich offers a more radical holiday gift giving idea. Mary is tired of accumulating and giving "stuff." So, this year she will be giving a different kid of present. Here's her link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-schmich_bd25nov25,0,5800710.column

Three years ago our family changed our holiday gift giving ways. Instead of buying presents for all family members, we are each responsible for gifting only one person. At Thanksgiving we put everyone's name into a hat and then draw our giftee. We don't reveal the results...until the opening of the gift(s). This year we have set a $75 maximum. You can do a lot for that amount of money. Everyone in our family agrees that this allows them to be much more thoughtful about choosing the right present. It has worked out very well.

We're Back, Baby

After an extended absence--for which I had a permission note--I have returned. Ampolotalk comments on each new episode will begin again the week of November 19.

SHOPPING BAGS UNDER YOUR EYES

We know that Ampolo is not the first to broadcast the benefits of reusing shopping bags and thus avoiding choosing paper or plastic each time you go to the store. Nevertheless, we felt it important to bring home the point--so important that we have created an environmentally-friendly reusable bag for those of you who don’t already have one. It’s available by clicking on the Ampolo Gear link on www.ampolo.com.

We’d love for you to share your thoughts/comments on this subject. Here are five questions to get the discussion going?

1. Do you already re-use bags?
2. If not, why not?
3. If so, what’s your system?
4. How do you remember to bring your reusable bags?
5. Would you be willing to support a ban of or tax on plastic bags?

RSVP

Easy as ABC

Google "alphabet book" and you'll find 427,000 entries. Google "trouble falling asleep" and you'll be directed to 167,000 websites. And google "fun" and you get 668,000,000, yes 668 million, links. We think today's episode will tantalize anyone with an interest in those three subjects, as well as all who are interested in word games, crossword puzzles, and even sudokus. We hope you'll play along on your commute, in your office, and at home--whether around the kitchen table or in bed. Please send me the fruits of your labor. We'll post them. It will be fun. (Now we're up to 668,000,001).

If you have trouble creating a single sentence alphabet string, there are other ways to do your ABCs. How about compiling an A to Z list of places you have visited, authors you have read, or first names of people you ever dated.

Class Action

Those of us who graduated from eighth grade at Central School in Glencoe, Illinois, in ( ) remain a tightknit group. (I've intentionally left out the year of our graduation, not to protect the guilty, but to protect the aging!) At any rate, we hold reunions at least as often as our high school class does. Recently, a classmate proposed another reunion dinner. Great idea! Out of towners were as excited as those who wouldn't have to travel for it. It struck me: why can't we add a somewhat non-traditional element to the festivities? And, thus was born this week's episode on www.ampolo.com. Please check it out and comment on that website and/or here on the kind of community-oriented projects a reunion class might perform during a reunion weekend or even an afternoon.