What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/25/15

Greetings!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

• My eBook!

This one is pretty much a give in, since it is a pretty big deal for me. I announced my first eBook (available now on Kindle, NOOK, or iBooks) yesterday and I am really happy with the support it has garnered so far. If you've ever wanted to help support the site keep the lights on (and grow into something more), please either check the book out or help share it out to others who might be interested. There are more cool things to come for the site before the year is done, so stay tuned!

• Common Ground Fair

My partner and I are going to this local event here in Maine after hearing a lot about it from people around here. It's a big annual gathering of folks celebrating the farming culture of the state. We're looking forward to taking in the everything, having some good food, and enjoying a beautiful day together!

• To-Go Ware

I mentioned these cool reusable utensils in my most recent book review, but I just ordered myself a set. I'm excited to have this solid set of tools to help me consume less in my daily life. I feel like I always knew I needed something like this but I never knew what to look for exactly. This is a perfect way to use something sustainably made to achieve a goal for consuming and wasting less plastic. A win all around!

Thanks for stopping by!

Announcement: My First eBook is LIVE!

I am very excited to announce the release of my first eBook; Talk Nerdy to Me: Connections Between Work & Geekdom!

This book is a collection of some of the best posts on the blog (from myself and others) surrounding how the geeky world influences our perspectives, beliefs, and everyday lives. It has revised, expanded, and exclusive content that won't ever be released anywhere else.

If you've ever wanted to support me and this blog, please consider buying this book. With your help, you can help it become something more, and do your part working towards a world where campuses are safe places for everyone to geek out about something.

I appreciate you all buying the book, reading it, sharing it out, and leaving a review on the platform of your choosing (book is currently available on Kindle, iBooks, and NOOK). It all counts!

Cheers!

Book Review: A Year of Nothing New

I was really excited to check out the book, A Year of Nothing New, when the author, Kristin Skarie, sent me a copy recently. I interviewed her recently for The Student Affairs Collective podcast and we talked about the book and sustainability in higher education.

The book, as the title implies, follows Kristin's journey as she ventured on a year of nothing new. This took different shapes throughout the year, such as minimizing plastic, electricity usage, buying local goods and food, and trying to grow her own food. She shares the ups and downs of this endeavor, which was really refreshing that she was so candid about it. She acknowledged her privilege and authentically shared her failures.

I got some great insights from this book and even got some tips for things to buy to be more sustainable (like this set of "To-Go Ware" reusable utensils). The insights that were especially useful were how it is okay to not be perfect, how important it is to live your values, as well as that we can all have an impact on ourselves and the world around us.

With sustainability stuff, many people don't see the point since they themselves won't make much of a difference. The thing is, if we all did our part to waste and use less, we'd save money, be healthier, and save the planet all at the same time. While some of the things we all should be doing are a little less convenient, it's worth it in the end to do the right thing.

I'm a big fan of this book and I definitely think everyone should read it. You can check out more of Kristin continuing efforts as well as everything as she does at her blog and her site respectively.

Thanks for stopping by!

Higher Ed Geeky Office Décor

 

Offices are where we spend a lot of our time working. We have meetings and events to go to, but I know I spend a lot of quality time in my office. I have important, meaningful interactions with students in my office and get valuable projects done in there.

Especially since my current office is my first one I have ever had, I wanted to make sure it was a space that felt genuine to me, safe for students to speak with me, and helped convey who I was to anyone who entered. Leaving the walls blank never crossed my mind.

Below are a few photos showing a full view of my office.

This shelf gets most of the attention from student and staff when they visit my office. I can't help myself collecting the Funk POP figures from all of my different geekdoms. I have more stuff than what is seen here showcased in my apartment. It started to get crowded on there! Whether it is my Fallout bobble-head, my Lost figure, or my Doctor Who stuff, people who come in can instantly have a connection over a shared interest.

I collect pennants from any campus I spend some quality time on. I love visiting colleges wherever I go, and I look forward to having walls full of pennants celebrating the journeys I've been on and the institutions I've seen.

I have segments dedicated to both my undergraduate institution (University of Delaware) and graduate school (Rutgers University - New Brunswick). Both places hold a special place in my heart. I've connected with students from New Jersey through my Rutgers stuff on display.

One of my favorite items, which was a gift from my amazing partner, is the Spider-Man cover art featuring a "Crisis on Campus".

I really enjoy seeing how people have their offices decorated, so I'm going to feature a new professional's space each week starting with mine.

Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to share some photos of your office and how you authentically connect with people who come to visit through what you have displayed.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Was Geeking Out About: August 2015

Hey there! Here's what was going on in my world last month:

Every Friday, I share what's on my mind from the past week. There was so much to geek out about last month, and to help you sift through it all, here's my monthly wrap up of all the stuff that was going on in August (another short month due to being really busy):

• Week of 08/07/15
• Week of 08/14/15
• Week of 08/21/15

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: One Day

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2011 romantic drama One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.

The plot of this movie utilizes an interesting device. Every year, on the anniversary of their college graduation (July 15), we see where each character is in their lives. Sometimes they are together, and others they are apart.

Emma (Hathaway) is an aspiring writer, and Dexter (Sturgess) struggles to find himself and become grounded. Both acknowledge a connection, but neither allows themselves to fully commit. Emma loves Dexter, but worries about his loyalty, and Dexter can't figure out what he wants from much of anything in life. We start in 1988 and go up until 2011. While Hathaway's British accent isn't convincing for me (I just can't reconcile it with knowing she is American) she gives a decent performance. Sturgess is a bit stronger, and both are nevertheless able to carry the film.

One Day was not what I expected. I thought I was going to get a bit more fantastical elements, but regardless of this, the emotional impact of the film is not lost. While I won't spoil anything here, the takeaway is apparent of how much of an impact a single day can have on our lives. We should make the choices for ourselves to make the most of each day we have.

While it isn't the best movie around saying this sort of thing, I enjoyed how it portrayed life and it's ups and downs. While I would hope that we all have more ups than downs, life is journey and it is a long one. We can never really tell where we're going for sure, but we can decide what we make of ourselves and can decide to make ourselves happy before it is too late. One of my only complaints, probably as an eternal optimist, is some of the darker elements of the story of this movie. At times it seems to be unnecessarily grim and bleak.

You can check out One Day streaming right now on Netflix.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/18/15

Greetings!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

• Coursera

I've been diving in with various courses on this online learning platform lately, completing three courses already within about a week's time, and starting work on three more courses. I want to expand my formal knowledge about workplace success, marketing, and social media. Coursera is providing an awesome, cheap, and nimble way to achieve this goal for myself. I wrote up a post on sites like this for the cool cats over at Nerd for a Living, so check that out for some more thoughts.

• iOS 9

What has become a informal holiday for Apple tech geeks like myself, the yearly launch of the newest iteration of the iPhone operating system happened this week, and I updated my devices as soon as possible. iOS 9 is a more subtle improvement, but it is always nice to get a big refresh even if I don't get a new device in a given year. Apple is continuously improving everything they do, and it is a big reason I am an avid fan of their brand.

• Dear Hank & John

I got recommended this new podcast recently which is a Q&A show hosted by the Internet famous Hank and John Green. I'm a fan of much of what these two do (Mental Floss is a big one for me) so I was excited to check out their podcast. It is equal parts funny, poignant, and genuine. It perfectly embodies the brand(s) they have made together and on their own. Any fans of these two, either together or apart, should definitely check this show out.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Power of Student Government in Shaping the Campus Community

* This post was originally featured on The Student Affairs Hub.

College students have long used the campus environment to work towards positive social change. The very nature of a university encourages this sort of intellectual discourse, and a common way for students to get involved in making a difference on campus is through student government. It allows for students to debate important campus topics, and provides a platform for the institution to directly hear the needs of the student body.

The beauty of student government is that it is typically accessible to all students. New incoming students can be encouraged to find a voice within this organization, meet fellow students, and start making their legacy known at their institution (Trust me, they'll thank you for the legacy stuff come graduation time).

I found out about the power of student government far too late into my undergraduate career. In my final year, I was passionate about getting hydration stations installed on campus, to provide cold, clean and filtered water in a sustainable way that would reduce the use of plastic water bottles while encouraging healthier habits in students. I realized a way to start to make this change possible was to lobby the student government to accept a stance of advocating for these to become a part of the community. Once they accepted, within months there were a few of these stations popping up around campus. This felt so inspiring to accomplish in such a short amount of time!

Perhaps they were already planning on doing this, but at the very least, through my efforts, the student body representatives let their voice be heard and for the future, the administration would know that students wanted to have the hydration stations and would feel more accountable to do so.

Especially for new, incoming students, building confidence, connections, and communication skills are all pretty valuable goals for student affairs professionals. So I encourage you to empower your students to get involved in student government. Even more importantly, I encourage you to bring students to the table and let them be heard when it comes to decision making. They'll have some important insights and they are the ones who it will affect, so I think it is only fair to hear them out. At the very least, they'll benefit from the experience.

Movie Review Monday: Nightcrawler

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2014 crime thriller, Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

The story follows Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal), who searches for crime scenes around Los Angeles to film and sell to local news channels. The more violent and sensational, the better. From the first scenes of the movie where we meet Bloom, we immediately see him as an amoral, anti-social character who is intense and is willing to do whatever he needs to to get what he wants.

After some initial stumbles, Bloom eventually becomes very good at getting the shots he needs, going to whatever lengths he has to. The stakes increasingly get higher, and the movie does really well building the tension. Bloom is a strange character, but you can't help but be fixated by his wild exploits and behavior. Gyllenhaal carries the movie wonderfully, with only a few brief supporting roles. Rene Russo is the main supporting character we see, with her playing Bloom's local news station contact, Nina.

The film reminded me a lot of the Ryan Gosling movie, Drive, which is appropriate since Nightcrawler was produced by the same people who made Drive. Both are great, dark, character driven thrillers that you can't help but watch.

I definitely recommend checking out Nightcrawler (even if it isn't about the X-Men character of the same name). You can stream it right now on Netflix!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/11/15

Greetings!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

• The Newsroom

I began checking out this show on Amazon Prime recently after I got some nods of support from friends and folks on social media. I just finished the first season and I'm definitely enjoying it. The show is mostly carried by Jeff Daniels as the newscaster Will McAvoy but it also has a wonderful ensemble cast to support him. It is essentially West Wing meets cable news. I haven't watched West Wing (I'm getting to it) but I know Sorkin's style and it embodies a lot of his usual tropes. Nevertheless, I find the optimism refreshing when compared to some of the other stuff I've been watching lately. I'm looking forward to continuing on with this series, since I know it is a bit short-lived and is a sort of love it or hate it kind of show.

• Parenthood

My partner finished watching all of the series Friday Night Lights recently (which I came in and out for) so she was looking for a new show to dive into. Parenthood jumped out to her since it comes from the same creator as FNL. We've only watched a few episodes together (it's available on Netflix) but I can already tell it is going to be a great emotional journey with the large ensemble cast. These sort of shows work best when they hook you in to be invested in the characters early (which this one did) so I'm in unless the show somehow drops off. I look forward to sharing the experience of watching Parenthood with my partner as a way to relax whenever we have time to sit down together for it.

• Patience

I'm usually a patient person. I'm content with waiting for stuff (especially since I usually arrive places way too early for my own good) but for some reason, lately I've been getting antsy. I mentioned last week that I've been thinking up some ideas of where to take this site. I'm also thinking of ideas for improving and expanding some of my other ventures as well as possible next steps for my job. When I get all excited for these ideas (I love coming up with stuff), I just want to get going on them immediately. I think I need to take a step back and calm down, since anything good is going to take time, and I also want to do it the best that I can.

Thanks for stopping by!