It Takes Two for Rockin'...

Lucky for your ears, that's just the arrangement of the dynamite duo, Cody Lee Fletcher and Lydia Gilman, who make up The Gunslingers.

My sister moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 2008, shortly after graduating from Full Sail Academy with enough knowledge about audio engineering to pursue her ambitions and land a couple of day gigs to supplement the evening ones. Music is one of her true loves and it oozes from every pore in her body and drips from her drumsticks. Never fail, every time we talk on the phone, she's at one of her jobs. She works hard for the money but lives for the music. And it truly shows. And I couldn't be more proud.

I've never asked her from where this passion derived, but if it was anything like mine, I'd say it couldn't have helped but come from our parent's ever-rotating vinyl records. I still remember the first time I heard Stairway to Heaven. It was the song that summed up the night at a sixth grade social. The next day, I asked my mom if she'd ever heard this song, which was precisely when she pulled out the album, picked up the arm, and placed the needle in the groove. I was 12 years old and I must have put it on play at least 12 times that very day.

As CDs became more popular, I recall my father acquiring more of his favorite artists. Mr. Young quickly became old and tired to my sister and my ears, until we realized the reality of his lyrics and the soul of his sound. How Tori Amos ended up in their bathroom stereo, I'm still unsure, but I'm sure it was Winter when I became hooked. In high school, the Dallas rock station, KDGE had this obscure show that aired on Sunday nights. I didn't know what I was listening to, I just knew Liz Phair was a Polyester Bride and Kate Bush put more than a literary spin to Wuthering Heights. Of course, Debbie Gibson, Erasure and The Steve Miller Band, among others, had their fair share of play in my tape deck. Ever heard of Don Williams? I'll sing you his greatest hits album next time we're driving to Beavers Bend State Park... College opened more doors than David Bowie in Labyrinth and Jim Morrison, combined and I can still picture the exact song and moment when I decided Yo La Tengo must be writing songs and playing their music just for me. Last spring I went to visit Lydia in Memphis and I re-borrowed a handful of my parent's albums that she had snagged. Last month, my parents came to visit me in Norman, and my father once again regained ownership of several of his treasures. He just so happened to leave Led Zepplin IV in the stack. A couple of days ago, I discovered I have the capability to listen to Joni Mitchell's Blue four different ways, all at the same time: vinyl, tape, laptop and mp3.

The Gunslingers begins their southern states and New England tour in a couple of days. Most likely they'll be coming to your town, so get out there, support an up and coming band while having your socks rockabillied off.

Touchstone is going fabulously. Recently, we collaborated on a and submitted a grant application for a ropes course to be added on to the Rocktown facility. Wish us luck!! The weather is FINALLY becoming grain-silo friendly, and I know the kids are enjoying the whole climbing experience much more. A slack-line is even set up, for a chance to test balance and soak up some sun while queuing up for the popular routes.

Whether on the stage or on a cliff, it looks like rock is just the way these Gilman girls roll.

Nothin' But Non-Profit

"Voices of Oklahoma is a non-profit, non-commercial, non-sectarian media outlet for central Oklahoma." A couple of weeks ago, I contacted them about contributing a section that highlights local not-for-profit organizations. When they said awesome, I said sweet, can I start with my own? The interview was posted last Thursday.

If you have a suggestion or would like your non-profit agency or organization featured in this segment, send an email to cmgilman@gmail.com.

It's gonna be a sun-shiney day!




The Medieval Fair(y)

365 Days of Re-adjustment

After way too many months of feeling like a parallelogram peg trying to fit into a trapezoid whole, I'm finally really beginning to find my groove. Only after moving back in with the parents in my mid-twenties, taking a month long solo train excursion around the States, contemplating where to re-locate with Roscoe until the cows chose our home, accepting a job offer which led to an incredibly unique and rewarding opportunity to utilize my degree, purchasing intimidating adult-like possessions, a month without running water in a first-world country, and experiencing four full seasons (winter, okay, you win with your bitter, ice cold 'tude), am I truly feeling like I belong.

A couple of weeks will bring the end of the month of March and the anniversary of my return from The Gambia. Incredible. Unbelievable, actually. It is safe to say that I barely recognize any faces in pictures posted by people I barely knew upon departing, but friended on Facebook because that was the status quo. Time just goes by so much faster with 24-hour electricity and pancake houses. Or maybe it's just that America's pace is like Africa on steroids. The Chaco tan-lines on my feet have completely faded, although those fine ones on my face from 24 months of sun have not. Last month I found my first gray hair. Last week I found my second one.

I kept telling myself Norman was the right place where to re-locate. After all, it WAS voted 6th best place to live in 2008 by Money Magazine. But all around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces... And to admit that "it's not easy," would be the understatement of the century. However, since moving to back Oklahoma, I've begun to gain this sincere sense of pride that I have yet to experience anywhere else I have ever resided. I want friends to visit and for people to discover this secret jewel of a state. Our red-dirt, Native America has much to offer, and this eclectic little university town is just the tip of the termite mound.

In fact, I'd like to spend the rest of the post promoting a handful of mind, body and soul-enriching activities, all of which take place in the time span of about a month:

March 26-28th: 34th Medieval Fair at Reeves Park

April 9th: Live Broadcast of Science Friday on KGOU!!

April 22nd: Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools visits. Three Cups of Tea was one of those Peace Corps "must reads."

April 24th and 25th: 3rd Annual Norman Music Festival, a monumental event that is putting Norman on the music map and was nearly a deciding factor to come after one year in the Peace Corps.

April 25th: Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

Finally, on Monday, I was invited to sit on a panel for the Women's and Gender Studies Department at OU, as the result of attending a lecture on the organization, International Rescue Committee. After the lecture, the audience mingled and I found myself telling one of the many Peace Corps stories, as well as speaking passionately about Touchstone, the non-profit for which I now work. The next day, I received an out-of-the-blue email from the director of the WGS department, who happened to be captivated and "impressed" by the stories, inviting me to participate in a career workshop for WGS majors and minors and potential majors and minors. The panel will take place on Tuesday, March 30th from 5-6:30 in the Memorial Student Union, so come listen!

One year later, it truly is good to be back, Boy-Boy.

Mother Nature Has a Bizarre Sense of Humor

But, it's okay because I do too! Yes, I understand she will always have the last laugh, but I like to think of it as laughing with us, not at us. However, I am an optimist.

I just love the National Weather Service's clip art from the seven day forecast. Always keeping the folks that post for Oklahoma on their toes:

Fri-32 Sat-34 Sun-28 Mon-60(BTW, this is "blowing snow")

I made plans to till up a couple of garden beds with a friend on Sunday. That was last week though. Apparently, I blocked it out in my head that one still can't plan 12 hours ahead, much less a week, when it comes to outdoor activities in this state. I did, however, walk to Walgreens tonight, in between rain showers, while the temps dropped, and picked up 6 packets of veggie seeds. They had a bunch of random packets, ranging from herbs to veggies and fruits to flowers, all for 3 for $.99. This is the least expensive I've found all around town. I am convinced that seeds don't need to be fancy. They'll grow if you plant them, if they want. In fact, if you do your research, you'll figure out exactly how to get extracted seeds from the fruit to germinate, for free. You're probably saying, duh, but some fruits just don't work that way, like hybridized seeds that come from the apple you just ate. Apparently, you have to stratify them (keep them cool for a period of time) after drying to get those suckers started.

Anyway, I guess it's her way of telling us to have a nice weekend. So I'm going to try to do that by road tripping farther north to Wichita, KS, to see some friends play at a show. Seriously, though, I hope this is the trump hand. I'm so ready to be warm and outside!!

My mom sent an email today informing me about World Water Day, which is this Monday, March 22nd. Most of the scheduled activities take place in Washington D.C., but obviously you can celebrate in your own way, depending on what water means to you. I did a little more research and stumbled upon this documentary called Tapped, that takes a look at the bottled water industry and access to and waste of water in general. A little corny (not to mention misuse of resources), a "mobile translucent recycling container will kick off the "Get off the H2O Bottle" tour in Los Angeles with an empty cabin that will be filled with the public’s empty water bottles by the time the team ends up in New York City on Earth Day (April 22nd, 2010)." This bottle thing will be coming through Norman, though, on April 6th. I couldn't find out where exactly or what this means, besides the possibility of free stuff from the sponsors, Klean Kanteen, Food and Water Watch, Multi-Pure water filters, and Aveda. A giant bottle on wheels; I wonder who was in charge of their PR...

On another note, I thought of a few more ways I've decided to reduce consumption and save energy:

*Unplugging small appliances. I think the only thing that is consistently in the wall is my bedside lamp. I also keep the refrigerator and washer and dryer connected, although now, writing this, I should probably unplug everything but the fridge.

*Setting up a clothesline outside. It was the only way my clothes dried in Gambia. It only makes sense to make use of this sun after so much winter. It's like cashing in double.

*Riding my bike around town. I almost didn't mention this because it is second nature. If setting up a clothesline is like cashing in double, riding your bike around town is like hitting jackpot. You save on fuel and reduce emissions, while giving your heart and muscles some lovin'.

Okie dokie, Okies, have a nice weekend!

Spring Clean Your Life

Reduce Your Junk Mail: Not many people will argue against recycling from home (although there will always be some). But you can go a step further, by reducing the amount of items you might otherwise recycle. One way to do that is to limit the amount of "junk mail" that arrives in your box day after day. You can also be conscious of purchasing items with a limited amount of packaging.

Reduce Your Mobile Minutes: Sign up for the national Do Not Call registry and limit the amount of calls from telemarketers, which can eat up your minutes. On my phone, I can also check my text and minute usage to make sure I'm staying within my plan, reducing the potential for unforeseen extra monthly charges on the bill.

Reduce Your Water Consumption: I've started washing my dishes in a tub of soapy water and rinsing them over another bowl, to catch that water, too. After they fill up, I use it to water my trees or flower beds. Practice the yellow/mellow toilet flushing method. According to creativecitizen.com, you can save up to 4380 gallons a year by just holding off from 2 flushes in one day. Imagine 6 milk gallons going down the toilet from just 2 flushes. This became all too familiar when my pipes froze and busted and I was without running water for one month. But if you MUST flush, fill your tank with a couple of bricks, to help displace the water. You can also install low pressure shower heads, or ones that you can switch off without turning the entire faucet.

Swap Your Clothes: If you are on Facebook and reside in the Norman, Oklahoma City area, log on and start cleaning out your closets for the city-wide clothing swap in celebration of Earth Day. This event takes place on April 10th, 2010.

In Our Own Backyards

Remember seeing those yellow notebook paper stickers around town with this slogan? Did you think it was funny that the sticker could be considered "stuff" it was proposing to use less of?

Well, I was doing some research for this next post and stumbled upon this campaign from our very own Native America state of OK. Turns out Oklahoma really is OK! Or we were on our way to becoming just that in 2003 and decided everything possible had been done by 2004, because that's when the last newsletter was published:
http://www.deq.state.ok.us/pubs/lpd/ULSnews1.pdf

A proclamation was even signed, declaring April 19-26, 2008 as "Use Less Stuff Week" . I emailed the name of the woman in the newsletter and it was returned to me, permanently failed.

And here's a nifty little Footprint survey:
http://www.deq.state.ok.us/mainlinks/uls/PersonalEcoFootprintCalculatoradult.pdfersonalEcoFootprintCalculatoradult.pdf







PSAs
for
life!

Spreading Altruistically Speaking

What is important to you in your world? Is this what drives you? How much has it changed for you in the past ten years? Or rather, how much has it changed you?

I’m dedicating my life to helping people, this is becoming apparent. It is a little strange to think I chose this direction. Somehow, I feel that more realistically, this direction has chosen me. Yet when I really sit down and think about it, I can’t imagine it any other way. How much of our individual beings are a result of circumstance vs. innate biology? Then there’s the whole nurturing component, which only exponentially increases the variables such as religion, morals and values, and even culture over the span of many, many years, which that! (time), in and of itself, plays such a starring role in development.

Recently, I’ve been spending my time surrounded by many amazingly creative and talented individuals. I found myself in this awkward friend transition a while ago, which is presently allowing me to really reflect on what it means to not only be a solid friend, but a solid person. I’ve been working toward re-directing energy into positive and fulfilling situations, like my incredible job, from which I have already met countless caring and like-minded persons. It turns out though, that the clock kept ticking, the Earth, spinning, and even though the scene of my formative years and old stomping ground was familiar, down to the pot-holed bike path on Avenue X, personalities and situations (mine included), were not. Single friends now had significant others, professional-student friends now had professional careers and new lives were beginning to enter this world, as well. Relating these two worlds became more difficult than I expected. But thank goodness for the fantastic relationships I’d gained through the world that now seemed like an ethereal dream. And then some friendships picked up exactly where they had left off. It just felt nice to be sitting face to face at a table at the most bizarrely fabulous jewel of a dance club, discovered the month of my departure. Of course, we weren’t sitting at the table for long…

I’ve been placed in the role of a mentor in my career. Even before this though, it seemed natural to just share random tid-bits of knowledge or experiences. Almost like, by holding back on transferring that knowledge, a disservice was taking place. Then, with the reinforcement of the role model mentorship to hundreds of youth every month, adding family, friends and acquaintances to the mix became second nature. Who knows, maybe I’m just clouding people’s minds with useless information, but something more in me hopes that’s really not the case. In Gambia, I found this book called The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, in which he describes the components that make up epidemics and social phenomenons. According to Gladwell, it is a combination of this “rule of three”, the first one having specifically to do with people, coined as “the law of few”. He explains that in economics, this is known as the 80/20 principal, “which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants”. All of a sudden, I was reading further into what seemed like a label on my own personality. This “law of few” involves three different types of people: connectors, mavens and salesmen. As someone who “seeks to pass information along”, did this mean I was a maven? He goes on to state that “Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know”, and due to a combination of social skills, knowledge and ultimately, the ability to communicate, have an impact on how things are transferred among society. Perhaps this is one reason I feel compelled to publically post these thoughts…? In addition, connectors are "a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack [... for] making friends and acquaintances because of their ability to span many different worlds [... as] a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy ". And finally, salesmen are people with ability to persuade and negotiate because of their powerful and charismatic personalities. After reading this book, each new person I meet is viewed in a new light and I’ve even begun to go back and place these “labels” on certain people in my own social network.

Social networks are ever evolving and expanding, exponentially so in this 21st century! I always tend to wonder how or for what reason these people are specifically entering my life and mine theirs. The other day, I was told I was inspiring. What’s funny though, was that I was thinking the very same of them. Recently, too, the idea of the importance of exchanging compliments has resurfaced. For some reason, the process of receiving is almost more complicated than handing them out. Today, though, I am able to do both at the exact same time: Mom and Dad, I’ve been told more than once by near strangers in the past couple of months that you both reared a good chilen. Just wanted you to know that.

Gladwell, Malcolm. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.