TheListServe Blog

Preface: 1. I feel like this is a TED talk for email. 2. I think this is one of the scariest things I've ever done. 3. I don't like public speaking. 4. I don't think I'm a very good writer. 5. I'm not apologizing. The Journey: I took a jump, a leap of faith into the unknown. A month away from my 30th birthday I am on a plane flying thousands of miles away from all that I know. I have two suitcases, my phone and a laptop. This is only supposed to be for 5 months. For the first time in my life I had no keys. I had no place to let myself into. It was the most unexplainable feeling of freedom. I am a sassy, queer urbanite transplanted into the glorious, interior mountains of British Columbia. From a city population of 5.5 million to 90 thousand, including cowboys. I'm in a town where people my age and younger leave to go to where I just came from. I live in a place where people my parents age come to retire. I know no one. It takes me a month to realize that's o...

As of March 23 2013, 3:19 PM EST, the Listserve has 21402 subscribers. With that number, it should take approximately fifty nine years for the lottery to get through everybody. … Why couldn’t I have been chosen in, say, twenty years? Hopefully, by then I will have been to places and done things really worth sharing. As a high school senior, the most excitement I had this week was piling into a car with a bunch of friends screaming YOLO (ironically….kinda) as we left school mid-day for a Red Mango run. The notification that I had won the Listserve Lottery came shortly after I’d been rejected by a college. By no means was it my dream school, but it still stung a little, and made me a little less confident about the slew of decision letters I will be getting this week. As someone who was raised being told that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are the only universities in the world, I completely sympathize with all the other seniors out there experiencing admissions jitters. However, my (extre...

Hello Listserve! I'm just going to let this roll… I'll share a little and I'd love to learn a bit more about you all. A bit about me - I have a background in physiology and I love business, people, traveling, photography, medical/science meets business, and relationships/communication. I'm also in the home stretch of an amazing counselling psych program (Clearmind) and I sell my art (They're abstract photos that look more like paintings. You can check them out on flickr "bethhallphotos"). Want to trade a piece of art? Can you recommend any great-to-work-for medical device companies? My top 5 values: Connection/love Fun/Playfulness Authenticity Growth Creativity And I'd love to hear from you... Do you love salt water taffy? What do you love about it? Where's the best salt water taffy you've ever had? Do you know where I can get a taffy pulling machine so I can make yards of it for people? What's the most beautiful place you've ever been ...

I have no story to inspire or cause to champion; I can only offer myself, as I am right now, sporadic thoughts and all. I’m tiptoeing at the edge of twenty-one, a little over half way through my architectural undergrad, attempting to relish in the present because thinking of the past makes me feel too embarrassed and thinking of the future makes me feel too anxious. I don’t know if receiving the listserve notice and having my first kiss on the same day is a coincidence. I almost want to say that it’s like some sort of cosmic sign that this day is a really, really significant one. But then again, maybe it’s not. I’ve been living a sort of nomadic life style recently, living in cities around the world so incredible that I could liken my life (however undeservedly and pretentious sounding) to fiction. I have been travelling through this amazing life only to return to my sleepy, industrial university city every four months. As much as everyone complains about being here, I kind of lov...

Three summers ago, I am a fourteen year old boy on a summer camp, trying to avoid accepting that I am gay. On that camp is a girl I’d never met before, with big brown eyes and great music taste. Her name is Emily and as fourteen year olds on summer camps do, we become friends. On the last night of the camp, Emily goes to the disco ’with’ a girl, and tells me later that she thinks she might be bisexual. After that conversation, I am inspired by seeing for the first time someone who could be open and proud about not being straight. On the spot I resolve to have come out by the last night of the next summer’s camp. I’d never before even considered telling people I was gay. The camp ends, Emily and I speak online a few times, and somehow manage to always go to the reunion that the other one misses. Eventually, the conversations fizzle out, but I always have in mind the prospect of thanking Emily after I’d come out, of telling her that she’d changed my life without even realising. Easter Su...

I was a victim of cyber bullying during my freshman year of college. I will never forget the moment I was sitting at my favorite campus coffee shop, glancing through anonymous posts on a collegiate online forum, when I saw my name. The post said, “Melanie – you’re fat. If you cared more about your weight, people would care more about you.” I blinked back tears and ran to my dorm room in a daze as questions rushed through my mind. Who wrote this post? Are they right about me? Do other peers of mine think this too? I was mortified beyond belief, and for months after I read the post, I no longer felt safe or at home in my college community. The post triggered my deepest insecurities, and led me to constantly criticize myself. It shattered my self-esteem and my flawless perception of the community I had so recently become a part of. I have come a long way since that moment back at the coffee shop. I am almost ready to graduate with a double major in Government and Sociology, I hold numero...

Hello stranger. How's your day so far? Bet you've been patiently waiting for this super inspiring email of the day! Yeah well, this probably won't be it. I attempted that, but then I realized that I sounded ridiculous. Honestly, I'm still too young to give a list of wise life advice and I'm not old/legit enough to have some world-changing business to promote. If you met me right when I saw the "You've been selected" email, you'd probably laugh at the variety of facial expressions I had at that very moment. Other Listserve lottery winners out there, I am sure you know exactly what I mean when that joyous and "this is unbelievable!!" moment turns into absolute dread and fear. HOLY CRAP, what am I suppose to write to all of these people?! But if there's one thing I'd like to share, it'd be my short time in Vietnam this past January. It reminded me that no matter how difficult, stressful, or scary life can be, I'd still have t...

Hopefully this makes it into TheListserve since I am a few days late. I checked my email for the first time in 5 days to see that I had won the lottery this week. I actually hoped I'd receive the email in a few weeks because I'm currently traveling. I had hoped to learn some valuable life lessons to share with you all, but oh well. I was in the Bolivian Salt Flats with zero internet access when I received the email. It was an incredible experience, 10,000 sq. km of salt desert. There are only 30 cm of salt separating you from 180 meters deep of (the saltiest) water. Follow that up with volcanic rocks and natural geysers, a red lagoon, and natural hot springs at an altitude of 5,000 and you have an amazing trip. And I still have 3 weeks to go making my way up from La Paz to Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Cusco, Macchu Picchu, and ending in Lima. This is the first time I have backpacked. It has only been a week, but it seems like a month. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an...

If you happened to catch the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, you may remember the bit with the dancing nurses pushing beds - celebrating the National Health Service. If you live outside of the UK you probably will not of heard of the recent public enquiry that revealed that one NHS hospital had allowed 1200 people, mostly elderly, to die due to lack of care. Some of them left to expire in unchanged beds in their own waste. You probably will not have heard of the young man, who died of thirst, immobile in his NHS bed while his carers ignored him. He tried to survive by drinking the water from his bedside flowers, he tried calling the police. No one came. You will certainly not have heard that several more hospitals are now under investigation for similar failings. You will certainly not hear of any sanctions or consequences. To pick on another UK institution, you may have heard that the BBC,  home of such beloved shows such as Dr. Who, sheltered an alleged predatory paedophile - the late...

Today was a day to get things done. One of those things? Clean out my e-mail inbox. I read some Listserver haiku, then opened the next Listserve gem. I read it. Blinked. Read it again. WAIT, WHAT? I WON?! I have 48 hours... when was this sent? TWODAYSAGO?! Ohgeezohgeezohcrapohgeez. It was only a few weeks ago that one of my dearest friends was selected to write for you all (Emily Johnson, woot woot!). I thought back to the conversation we had when we were both new to this list. Emily said she'd write a story - something entertaining for others to read, like the time her parents accidentally left her and her sister at a gas station. I guess I was so sure I wouldn't be picked that I never fully thought it out. Now, with just a few hours to think this through, it is as if nothing exciting or interesting has ever happened to me. Some of my favorite messages from you lovely folks are the ones that tell me something I don't already know, like what to do if a stray c...

Fellow citizens of the blue planet, I've dedicated my career to the sustainable business movement. At present, I serve as the global head of sustainable innovation for a $3B company, and teach MBA students as an adjunct professor of sustainable entrepreneurship. How do you make a dent in the most critical issue of our times? Here are the most important actions you can take, ranked by highest impact. I've used a breakdown of US carbon sources to represent global (industrialized-world) environmental impacts. 1. Electricity: 34% of total emissions The main sources of electricity in the home are air conditioning, followed by refrigeration, heating, clothes drying, and your television. Turn the thermostat down in winter and up in summer, and practice efficiency for the others. Wash in cold water and line dry when you can. If you pay for your electricity, you can request to buy a percentage from renewable sources, sometimes even at no cost to you. 2. Transportation: 27% a) Flying ...

Hi, people of the world, Like most of you, I guess, I've been reading stories since I was a child, and I stlil do. I also write stories. True stories: I'm a journalist. One of my obsession and great wonder, especially when there is so much to read/watch/etc., is: What makes us read a story till the end? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. You can •• send me a link toward stories you loved (text, film, multimedia, whatever), •• share your thoughts on this topic, •• do both. + You can share your craziest thoughts on new ways of telling stories, ways that you'd love to experience, but haven't so far. I'm excited to read what you have to say! Céline Mouzon celine.mouzon[AT]gmail.com Paris, France

So you're casually sifting through your e-mail's at the end of the day, to then stumble upon the one granting you the power to enter 21,440 international inboxes within the next 48 hours... well shoot, now what? Can't say that I have life inspiring words to share or a heartfelt story to tell, so instead I'll give you a 3 minute insight to the life I live. I'm Melea, one of those names you can't remember or enunciate correctly for at least the first 3 or 4 introductions. It's fine, I'm over it. I simple it down to MJ when I'm not in the mood to repeat "Mah-Leah" in slow motion multiple times over. I'm 21, tall, silly, and really good at drinking beer. Gotta make the parents proud somehow ya know? I have a quality twin brother, 3 sexy sisters and 2 cute parents that never fail to amaze me. The 7 of us have somehow managed to master this casual Brady Bunch vibe, which I can easily pinpoint to the one thing I am most grateful for. Running, ...

On the last day of 2012, I turned 47. As I look back on my life, I'm sometimes amazed at how strange and interesting my journey has been. I joined the Air Force at 18, spent two years in England, came back to the U.S. and spent the remaining 8 years of my military career in northern Maine. I was involved in fundamentalist Christianity for nearly 15 years. I raised a family of six amazing children whom I love more than anything. I left the faith, divorced, and rebuilt my life from scratch. I've found amazing people who welcomed me into their lives. I spent a week in the desert at Burning Man. I've loved freely, and have been loved. If I can indulge a bit, here a few principles that have helped enrich my life. Perhaps one or more will speak to you: - I can't control the people around me. All I can do is control my own actions, words, and responses. Understand that everyone is on their own journey, and has their own reasons for their choices and actions.  - Regularly escap...

ladybabe is my favorite word to describe my girlfriend, computers are probably going to , coffee does well, france was a blast, comfortable headphones on my ears. sunglasses_and_music to extend confidence. my family is amazing +#$redwine;;;;; fresh air can help ∆˚ˆ¨…π be wonderful to other humans. Chris Bunting ChristopherSBunting[AT]gmail.com San Francisco, Ca

When I was a kid, my dad used to pick up rocks when I wasn’t looking and hurl them into the forest, where they would crash-crash-crash through dry leaves down a hill. “Do you hear that? It’s the bork!” What a bork was, he left to my imagination. Even at that tender age, I didn’t quite believe in the bork, but I never fully came to disbelieve it either. Today, when I look out into a peaceful forest, I imagine the lumpy form of the bork there: the world’s most mysteriously awkward monster. In high school, I spent four months in a supply closet. It was the most logical solution to having been expelled from the bus. I couldn’t get home, and my mom’s coworkers didn’t want a 14 year old sitting with their clients. The metal chair and bare light bulb didn’t bother me. Each day I got to dive into books, and they spoke back with fantastic lives and landscapes. My memory of that drab room is intertwined with the mercenaries of the Black Company, the baffled savior of the Book of the New Sun, the...

What is the purpose of life? If you were able to ask most living organisms, I think they'd say to pass on their genes and help ensure that the offspring has a chance to do the same. Is that all there is? Are humans really different than other animals? I think we are. Or else, would you argue that a sterile man or woman has no purpose in life? Why do we advance medical technology to allow humans to live well past 60, when at that point, most have had their go at biological success? I'm not sure what the purpose of this life is. James Taylor boldly started a song with "The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time." And while I find that quite profound, I consider it more overarching advice than a true look at life's purpose. When done properly, the enjoyment of the road trip should surpass that of the destination. So what should we be doing here, and is it the same for all people? These are obviously difficult questions that will elicit different responses fro...

I literally received the "you've been selected" email yesterday 30 minutes after telling two of my best friends about the Listserve & how crazy it would be to write for it over lunch at "Don Molina´s" in Bariloche, Argentina. WOW Timing is everything! And today I am writing you from my hostel after getting back from white water rafting on the Rio Manso river which is in the mountains 2 hours north of Bariloche. It was aaaaamazing and this town is breathtaking. It sits at the foothills of the Andes mountains near the Chilean border. If you ever get the chance please visit! I manage a commercial real estate firm near Silicon Valley where all the Tech Giants live, Facebook, Google etc... I am successful at what I do, not because I have any secret formula but because I work my but off, know my market like the back of my hand & I always try to be in the right place at the right time. I can´t tell you how many deals I have done when I called a potentia...

When I signed up for The Listserve, it was a subconscious experiment in anonymity. A friend suggested I subscribe and I'm not one to slough off good advice, especially when it comes to accumulating things to read/see on the Internet. I read some submissions during class and deleted others when my inbox became inundated with the morning flood of law school registrar emails, Groupons for spider vein treatments, and reminders that I was going to miss out on bidding on that pair of Lululemon yoga pants I added to my watch list on eBay five days prior and forgot about. I never thought I'd be chosen to submit anything--the odds, I thought, were astronomical. I could just be a passive voyeur to the wisdom of the huddled masses and then get snapped back to reality when I realized I was about to get cold-called in my Property class.  Lo and behold, on the first day of my spring break in which I sat festering in FOMO as my fellow law school classmates sent Snapchats of the hell they were...

I had thought about what I would write if I got selected for the Listserve Lottery and could never really decide. I (slightly) panicked when I opened up my inbox and saw that I was selected. I have nothing wise or inspiring to say. I barely know what I'm doing myself, I can't give people advice. I stared at a blank document for a while before just deciding to talk about what I know best: my nephews and pop culture. I have two adorable nephews, AJ (17 months) and Mattie (almost 8 months), and another nephew (AJ's little brother) due in August. Being an aunt is the coolest job in the world. I'm determined to be the cool aunt I never had. The kind who lets you stay up past bedtime watching Doctor Who or Star Trek and will run around the yard with you pretending to be superheroes. The kind who knows peanut better and jelly sandwiches taste better with no crust, that some days are just lazy pj days, and who bakes cookies for no reason. I want my nephews to know how much they...

Hi! My name is Randy Lubin and today we're going to conduct an experiment. The goal is to explore the social network of Listserve members. Summary: Each participant will start an email chain that will eventually reach me, but only by going through friends / acquaintances. By analyzing the chains we can learn about the structures of our social networks. Rule 1: If you know Randy Lubin, forward this email to listserve[AT]randylubin.com and included your current city Rule 2: If you don't know Randy Lubin, forward these instructions to someone you know, who might know him. Rule 3: As you forward the email, include your current city (I'm going to map out the different chains) A bit about me to help you in your quest: 1) I am 26 years old and grew up in Livingston, New Jersey 2) I went to undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis and graduated in 2009 3) I went to Stanford for an MBA and graduated in 2011 4) I live in San Francisco, California 5) I'm active in the tech ...

The words just flowed from me as I wrote these poems over a period of a few months. When I read them again now, they remind me of what I love about her, that she's "perfect" and that I'm passionate and capable. ~ Humble hurt hoarse hands Hacking haiches horrendously Helped heighten haiku ~ Womanly is you Whiteley curves breasts hips and lips Touch breathe waft taste kiss ~ Symphony of you Mozart bach kate norah jones Music of your words ~ Elegance is you Gliding soft your moves to me Hidden in the air ~ Dazzling is you Glorious of black and red Star of velvet night ~ Luxury of you Rare rich warm close haughtiness Elegance and charm ~ Loveliness of you A world within enveloped Pouring out to me ~ Perfection of you Meet match meld friend blossom cat Swooning calm complete ~ Dusky dark divine Décolletage desk dressing Ends incidently ~ Princessness of you Blue blood regaled and fêted Hibiscus bloom'd ~ Bye Listservistae. Poetic replies welcome. Have a lovely day :) P...

We live in interesting times. A couple of weeks ago I got to attend TEDx Austin at the new Circuit of The Americas track here in lovely Austin Texas. Lots of great talks and ideas, which you can go watch. One of the most interesting talks was by Byron Reese, who is so optimistic about the power of technology to change the world for the better that he wrote a book called "Infinite Progress" that I just finished reading. His arguments echo those of people like Ray Kurzweil - that technological change has been a force for good in the world, and that not only is that change continuing, is is increasing at an exponential rate. Apply that to the worlds problems and he thinks that we can solve hunger, poverty, even end war. Whether he is correct or not, I certainly believe that the next few decades will bring change to our world unlike anything we have ever seen before. Some of the things will be amazing - I am looking forward to having a pair of glasses like the Google Glass concep...

Over the last 10 years I have struggled to become optimistic. If you know a pessimist, you'll know that it can be frustrating at times and nearly impossible to help them become more positive. Here are a few tips I learned over the years: Reward your failures: This works to return my mood/optimism quickly and avoid those long periods of being jaded. It is too easy to fall back into your comfort zone. The key is to avoid the temptation to “shut down”. Celebrate your successes: This is how I make continuous enthusiasm a habit, celebrating either outcome. Think long term: Every year I write a report on how my family is doing and we use it as a way to reflect on how our efforts have improved our situation. (Don't let long term thinking overwhelm though, cling to progress and shy away from overly ambitious goals at first.) Face your anxieties head on, use logic to convince yourself of your emotional fallacies, and remember that no matter how much you want to fight against optimism, ...

Durante los últimos años he conocido gente de muchos tipos, de diferentes maneras de pensar o actuar. Pero de la que más me he cruzado es de ese tipo de gente que no hace nada más allá de lo obligado, que va a la universidad, asiste a sus clases y vuelve a su casa. Es cierto que suelen salir con sus amigos y demás… pero nada que les saque de su rutina, de su camino trazado. Y me sorprende porque de todo lo que he vivido hasta ahora, los recuerdos más valiosos que tengo son aquellos en los que salí de lo habitual o necesario. De hecho algunos de mis "momentos" favoritos son de cuando formamos un equipo de fútbol sala. Imaginaros la situación: un grupo de chicas de una escuela de ingeniería (en las que las mujeres no abundan precisamente) que prácticamente nunca habían tocado un balón, jugando al fútbol sala. Éramos malísimas. Una vez nos ganaron trece a cero (hay que decir que el otro equipo era de la facultad de deportes) y cualquiera hubiera abandonado...

Hello there, I hope you are having a great day! I'm not great on the whole "inspirational messages" thing, so here's just some stuff about me: I get to live in New Zealand with my beautiful wife and 4 (soon to be 5!) children. Biking to and from my office in town is one of the best parts of the day. Playing board games is one of my favourite past times. They are mentally stimulating, socially engaging, and enjoyable! Check out boardgamegeek for some recommendations. I am one of eleven people across the globe who work at a web development company called Lincoln Loop. It is run transparently - we all have access to all the financials and we set our own pay rates. And it's fun! We actually used Google wave, so following its demise we made a communications platform of our own. It helps me feel connected to what's going on at work even though it's happening continents away. Search for "ginger hq" to check it out. My favourite quote is "No matter ...

Every four years the Winter Olympics comes strolling through and, if you’re like me, you become captivated by not just the sports (seriously, curling is awesome) but the athletes involved in them. The various production companies tend to do a great job bringing life stories of athletes from across the world into your living rooms and getting you to not just care about how your respective country is doing (Latvia’s winning a gold medal in Men’s skeleton, you can quote me on that) but how important this chance of a lifetime is to someone you’ve never met. I’ve been fortunate enough over the last few years to get involved in writing about the winter sliding sports of bobsled (or bobsleigh if you’re not reading this in America), skeleton and luge. In that time I’ve met some amazing athletes with amazing stories, not just those who are at the Olympic level, but with so many other people working hard to get to that level. There are people who are working two and three jobs just to support...

I like details.Sometimes I wish I could take pictures whenever I blink my eyes. To save that detail for later. When I'm waiting for the bus or in the middle of a crowd, I imagine the lives of the people around me: that woman is wondering what she'll cook for dinner for her husband, mom and 2 and 4-year-old kids. Oh. She has pretty earrings. That boy has a small birth mark on his left cheek and wishes he could get a new pair of sneakers for his birthday. That sweet old lady is looking at me and wants to talk. I say hi and smile. She smiles back and 10 minutes later I know all about her family. If I get nervous or need to gather my thoughts, I do origami. Focusing on the way I need to fold the paper is relaxing. I inhale deeply after someone passes by me in the street. Besides perfume, people have their own smell and it's as unique as a fingerprint (but not always pleasant). Going for a run under pouring rain and against strong wind makes me feel powerful. "If we can fac...

To all the people out there who we depend on to 'just be there' when we need you most. And those of who are constantly working to protect us. Thank you. I recently took an opportunity to spend a 12 hour shift shadowing an Ambulance crew in an fairly typical mid sized city in the UK. It gave me a brief and touching glimpse of raw humanity. Sitting there in the back of an ambulance as it raced across the city to a someone desperately in need of help, it struck me; they just accept and don't think twice that no matter what 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year in less than 10 minutes help will always be there. I feel deeply privileged and fortunate to live somewhere where that is possible. Just as I marvel that as I sit here writing this with a few clicks of a mouse this message will be delivered to just over 20,000 people spread across the globe. Anybody can make a difference, you have to fight for change, stand up, speak up and make your voice heard. It is your respon...

It's around 30ºF (-1 ºC) in Chicago right now. We just saw the first substantial snow of the new year and as a kid who grew up in West Coast suburbia, I never would have imagined myself saying, "I have come to appreciate everything that the city of Chicago offers." These include: 1. Wearing boots, scarves and gloves. Now when I watch television, movies, and my West Coast friends wear any such accessories to look fashionable, I've gained the assumptive habit of chuckling. 2. 'Checking the weather' involves more than opening your window in a city that shines in the morning, snows in the afternoon and rains at night (if you're lucky, in that order). 3. Appreciate food from pizza to kimchi pork belly fries to what I think is the best vegetarian food I've ever had (a seitan reuben in a vegan diner). 4. Love schizophrenic/varied architecture forms from "cold, utilitarian" modernism, to Asian-influenced, prairie-style living, to building...

Short Version: Tell me about the most important trip you've ever taken and how it changed your perspective on the world - johnledyard1773[AT]gmail.com Maybe it's because I had the opportunity to spend the past two weekends away from home, exploring a brand new city with best friends and also learning how to ski, but travel and new experiences are on my mind. Lately, when I find myself too deep in the daily monotony that is the 9-5 grind I think of Mr. Thompson's words and try to imagine how best to embrace his decree. Intuitively the meaning is clear: Fun Is The Best. However, it also can serve as a sobering reminder of how trivial, in the grand scheme of things, the pursuit of fun actually is. When considering the number of people facing extreme poverty, disease, lack of potable water, insufficient food, discrimination, and the persistent threat of violent conflict - fun can seem impossibly naive. Despite these realities, some solace can be found in Hemmingway's commen...