TheListServe Blog

I could write a book about my life (just like most people) but since that'll be nothing short of a Bollywood movie, I'll stick to 2014 instead. January 2014: I quit my excruciating job and packed my bags to move to San Francisco from New York. I miss NYC every single day, it really is a place you should live in atleast once in your life, it will change your life forever (maybe for good, maybe for bad) February 2014: I parked myself at a friend's place and decided to go travel (ofcourse) and went to South East Asia (ofcourse) for a few months. I am so thankful for amazing friends! May 2014: Came back and fun serendipitous things that usually are reserved for more fortunate started happening to me! July 2014: I was convinced I would move to India unless I found a job, I found a fantastic job August 2014: I was convinced I would quit my new job and move to India unless I met someone special, I met someone VERY special; I might be in love with him :) October 2014: Found a fanta...

Hi @ all out there! When I received the notification that I've won "The Listserve lottery" I was sitting on the train’s floor on my way to work. My non-dog-dog (too tiny for being a dog too smart for being a cat) was sitting on my lap licking a specific spot on my trousers. And I was deleting thousands of spam mails, almost falling asleep and trying to keep my eyes open (I almost deleted the notification). I’ve lost my job and there are – three days, 8 hours per days – 24 hours left. I’ve been working there since I’ve left school and started the 10th year with the 2nd of November. I got told on 12thAugust - one day after I returned to work after I had to stay at home cause of a knee injury - that I’m fired. My boss asked me for an appointment, and I asked him if I was in troubles. “No, nothing special… just a 15 min-talk” was his answer. When I got told on the other day I started laughing at him and congratulated him for having the stones to do so. He looked at me as I’m...

First: I turn 30 in February. Any recommendations for how I should celebrate? Second: What books, music, or movies do you lend to others? When I walk into a bookstore or a library, I get an instant feeling of lightness. The smell of the books, the quiet movement of people, the light filtering in through the windows and skylights. The overwhelming visual stimulation of color, shapes, and sizes, bookshelves placed end to end, filling the space everywhere you look. It’s a feeling of sheer possibility, of weight lifting. I get a similar feeling when I walk into a museum or a movie theater, knowing I am about to discover something- something curious, something interesting, something awesome. Delicious. I’ve tried to write my own stories before, to participate. I get about 3 chapters in and give up. I love creating worlds and characters, but plotting a story? I don’t want that responsibility- to put in the hard work or make agonizing decisions. I’m content to consume the stories told by othe...

Hey Listserve, I'll start with a little bit about myself. I'm 25, live in Santa Monica, California, and work as an Actor/Producer/YouTuber. For those of you that live in the US or Canada, you may know my father, Howie Mandel, from shows such as Deal or No Deal and America's Got Talent. He's a comedian and I'll say I've had a very interesting childhood growing up. I want to share a funny Joke my dad played on me when I was in 5th grade. I noticed one day that there was a slight lump on the center of my chest. My parents were worried and took me to the Doctor. After the visit the doctor told my parents that it was nothing to worry about and it was just a small harmless extra bone. My dad convinced the doctor to play a joke with him and tell me it's something else. My dad explained that what I have is a "boner." Of course being the young immature boy I was, I laughed. He explained that although it sounds funny, the word actually referenced a growth of...

Hey! I want to make the world a better place, and do so in the most effective way possible. This approach is known as “effective altruism” and this email is a short introduction. Let's say you have some money that you want to donate to charity. That's great, but how do you decide which charity to donate to? Here are a couple of options: Charity A: will save 1 life with your donation Charity B: will save 1000 lives with your donation Is it a hard choice? I don't think so, and this isn't a hypothetical question. It turns out that charities vary wildly in their effectiveness. Even for a given cause, like stopping the spread of HIV, some charities will literally do 1000x more good with your money than others. How do you figure out which are the most effective charities? It's a hard problem, but luckily there are a number of people who spend their time figuring this out for you. GiveWell and Giving What We Can do extensive research into how much good charities can do, pu...

The past few months - who am I kidding – the past couple months have been hard on me. I could tell you why but I just need a break. A quick nap. Some time to sleep or a marathon of The Wire. I’d love to read a book. I’m reading the Woodcutters right now. It’s great. Or it would be great if I had more time to read. I am graduating in six months. People ask me what I am doing after graduation. I should know. I am told that I really should know. But I have not a clue. I don’t think about it nearly as much as they seem to think I do. I only think about the future when I am reminded that I have one. This isn’t meant to be some philosophical discussion. I am not particularly philosophical. That was one of the reasons my boyfriend broke up with me. I do not think about the deep questions in life. It’s only been a month. I am still bitter. I don’t miss him or at least I don’t feel as though my heart is broken. I think about him throughout the days. I think of Us. Or well, the Us that used to e...

The morning I got the email saying I had won the listserve, I was getting ready to go into surgery. And as I am currently writing this I'm still a little out of sorts, so I apologize if some of this doesn't quite make sense. As to why I was getting surgery I was going in for my second corneal transplant. I had one done a few months ago and my body decided to reject it. While there are someways of reversing it those methods didn't work. So here I am sitting in a hospital while my eye is tearing up like mad and can't see well out of my other eye listening to cooking shows cause it's ten o'clock at night and nothing is good on. I know for a large majority of the world you wake up turn over and are able to see your clock or your phone or significant other and don't give two thoughts about it. Those are the things I would love to be able to do. I would love to be able to read a standard print book without it giving me a headache. I normally give up within about t...

I will connect the two things in the subject line. Just bear with me. Ancient Egypt was one of the first cultures to develop medicine in a sense that we would recognize today. Egyptian medicine even influenced many great Greek physicians, like the father of medicine, Hippocrates. In the Odyssey, Homer remarks that "In Egypt, the men are more skilled in medicine than any of human kind." Despite their advanced medicine for the times, there was a disease for which no cure was known. Even the symptoms seemed baffling, but a diagnosis was a certain death sentence. The Egyptians called it a "too great emptying of the urine". Indian physicians referred to it as "honey urine", since the diagnosed's urine would attract ants. In the Middle Ages it would come to be known as "pissing evil". But it was the Greeks who coined the term that stuck: "diabetes" or "to pass through". Unfortunately, none of these ancient civilizations came up ...

People of the Listserve -- When I was thirteen, I was visiting my grandparents and passing a lot of time in the public library in their Portland, Oregon neighborhood. My grandfather was very sick; the atmosphere in my grandparents apartment was tense and mournful, and I was happy to spend as many hours as possible out of the house. I'm a lazy reader and usually turn to familiar books to comfort myself when I'm feeling low, but most of the books I knew well had been checked out, so I found myself browsing through fantasy and science fiction titles for books I hadn't yet read. I don't have a precise memory of coming across Ursula K. Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea," but I'm certain the endpaper maps of the Archipelago, the island-world of Earthsea, captured my attention right away (maps are endlessly seductive.) I hoped, I think, that the story inside would be similar in mood and feeling to C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, or to "The Hobbit." W...

There are two little girls who I love more than anything on this planet. Isis (yes her name is Isis but she had it 3 years before the terrorists did) is four years old, and Xyana is two. My wife and I are not related to them in any way shape or form. We have just had the great fortune of knowing them since Isis was 3 months old and Xyana's birth. In my 45 years of life I have not experienced anything better than the pureness and perfection of a child. Watching as they learn to walk and talk are great but it is the smaller things that really amaze me. I especially remember the time I first noticed Isis, who knew how to count for quiet some time, learned that each marshmallow she counted was represented by an actual number. Before that, any group of 5 things could have been counted as 3, 8 or even 10. It was so cool to see her count 5 of them over and over, each represented by its own number. She finally understood! Once when Xyana had done something mean to Isis while we we...

These days, lots of people have access to an unprecedented amount of information on how to live a better life. Here are ten ideas I try to practice as often as possible. I always believe we all have better days ahead of us. 1. Call your parents once a week and tell them you love them. If not your folks, call someone you love. Never underestimate the power of your voice expressing affection upon someone. 2. Live below your means and work to save at least 20% of your salary. Set up automatic withdrawals to a separate account. Maximize your retirement contributions. It is never to late to start saving and yes, every penny does count. 3. Little habits make all the difference in life: Stretch & Touch your toes in the shower every day. Brush your teeth. Put your fork down between bites. 4. Do something nice for someone once a day. The cumulative effect of random acts of kindness are worth striving towards. 5. Eat less meat, processed foods, and exercise more. Little changes will always a...

I heard about Listserve, through a class activity around three months ago. Our assignment was to detail what brief statement we would say to 1,000,000 if we had the opportunity. This intrigued a of few my peers and I, which led us to finding The Listserve and subscribing. Miraculously enough I won. I am going to share with you a select few responses that my peers and I had!"Appreciate those around you, whether they are loved ones, friends or just acquaintances, and just for a moment, acknowledge what they mean to you. You never know when they might leave." -Nick G "People will find that if they take the time to stop, talk to others and listen to their stories, they will find aspects of themselves. They will soon come to the realization that they are not as different as they once thought." - Trevor K "The world needs more of those who are kind to others and brave in facing their daily struggles. I believe that you who are reading is beyond capable of taking acti...

Here’s the thing. I don’t know much, really, about anything. Still trying to figure so much out and I turned thirty this year, which felt big. I’ve always been in love with stories- on film, on TV, in books, music, photographs, canvas… I think our art showcases the best and worst in us and that always moves me. Beyond that there’s not much I can say for certain. What I do know about is people. I’ll give you a couple reasons why. I’m the colour of a roasted peanut, ‘café con leche’ in Spain. My mother’s side of the fam is Jamaican. A few generations up our family tree is a slave who fell in love with a Scottish landowner who loved her right back, building a home on his land for them and their family. My father’s side is Puerto Rican and my grandmother insists there’s native Taino on her mother’s side while my grandfather was mostly of (the conquering) Spanish descent. The point is this- where we’re supposed to hate sometimes we love and pretty soon nature reclaims the building prejudice...

Last week my dad turned 60. Next week I will turn 27. For years now I have wanted to go on a father-son trip with him for a couple of weeks somewhere around the world, while his health still allows him to do so. It seems like an ideal opportunity to know him more as a friend and gain his wisdom in the context of adulthood. For three years we have both made excuses as to why we should postpone this trip - obligations with family, work, school, etc. My fear is that time will pass and this trip will never happen. Three years will pass, then another three, then another...until it's finally too late. Life is short. What is something that is important to you that you want to accomplish or see done before you die? It could involve a relationship, a personal goal, a work project, a non-work project, a career move, conquering a fear, starting something, ending something, gaining something, losing something, etc. I have shared mine, and I would love to hear yours. It may help me in ...

Dear fellow Listservians, What a joy and honour to write to all of you today! (no pressure) l'll show you a glimpse of a deep life passion: traditional Argentine Tango. At age 19 I heard Piazzolla's music for the first time. Tango, I was told. It was so beautiful that it brought me to tears. The thought of dancing to this touching music was extremely attractive - but hey, there's no point in starting to learn to dance when you're an adult, right? All this difficult, profound stuff like Ballet, Flamenco, Tango is an art and to make something out of that, you should begin at a very young age, when the body and the soul can still be moulded... So for a long time, I thought that Tango was my Grand Missed Opportunity in life and that I - rooted in Northern Europe - should definitely reincarnate in Buenos Aires instead of in Holland next time ;-) How wrong I was! I had my first Tango lesson at age 34 and I dance for 7 years now. It is fantastic. Argentine Tango originates at ...

Hello Listserve! My name is Erin, I’m 33 years old, and originally from Kansas, USA. (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!) Despite the unfortunate current political landscape of my state, I have to say it was a pretty nice place to grow up and most definitely has the best sunsets of any place I’ve ever seen (no trees or hills has to be good for something, am I right?!). Anyhow, now I live in Brooklyn, New York and currently work as a trauma therapist at a domestic violence agency. Unfortunately, domestic violence continues to be an extremely prevalent social problem across all races and classes, and is not well understood in our society. In my clinical work, I am most interested in the complex, yet subtle ways that trauma is transmitted inter-generationally. I think that if we can better understand this dynamic on a larger scale it can help prevent future generations from repeating pain from the past. If you have any thoughts on this, I am all ears! As a human being interacting with other human being...

I wanted to give the fine people of Listserve a gift. As I’m a game developer by trade and a general creative-type, I figured what finer way than to develop a game. A few minutes ago, I did just that. Materials: - stack of index cards (or multiple sheets of paper) - pens/pencils (at least one for each player) - players (4-8, probably) Directions: - each player should take a card and write down the name of a fictional person. leave lots of room, and pass it to their left. - each player takes the card they receive and writes down a sentence or two of public knowledge about the name on the card, and passes it to their left. - each player takes the card they receive, and writes down (on the back) a sentence or two of a deep dark secret involving the name on the card, and after folding it to hide the secret, passes to their left. - the card you receive is now your identity for the remainder of the evening. Your goal is to uncover all the other players secrets, while hiding your own. Tips: -...

Even the very basic first steps into Artificial Intelligence fascinate me. From the weird unknown world of film where AI is perceived as something extraordinarily difficult to the very realistic use of if in our everyday life thought Siri or Google Now. At this moment I am taking a course in it at my local university and would like to tell you a little about what it is. AI is the process of understanding of how people think on a fundamental level. Instead of trying to figure out how each individual neuron in your brain works, AI tries to generalized this by think computationally. An easy way of understanding this, is as The Wright Brothers, they didn't look at birds and try to model every single bone, muscle and feather; instead they tried to understand the general basic such as aerodynamics and how to get a similar effect using everyday materials. Most of the time when you think you apply some kind of a computational scheme, for example if you are trying to find your car keys, you...

Winter means more time spent being productive and less time spent shaving my legs. I have a dog that looks like a loaf of bread, and I rely on my iPhone to tell me when I am about to start my period. In my fridge right now all I have is expired almond milk, raspberries, and like 8 different kinds of cheese. I'm really trying to be a better cook, and I have finally mastered the milk to cereal ratio – now I can move on to more challenging recipes like microwave rice and sandwiches. I tried online dating for a while, and then I went on a first date with a guy who asked me if I had ever had an abortion, and another with a guy who showed me a picture of a unicorn onesie that he proudly owned. Let me paint you the picture of a guy who is 6 feet tall (or taller), 250 lbs (or bigger), definitely has a beard, maybe some freckles and is hopefully a ginger. If you are actually picturing a real live person who meets these criteria and is single and not a murderer, please email me. I would also...

Hello Listservers! First of all, shout out to my brother Karthik who introduced me to this awesomeness! Do check out his start up 'Learnflow'. Now little about me, I am Pranoti, originally from India currently studying in Stuttgart, Germany. I have been working in the field of graphene (supercool stuff) since one year and have pretty promising results. ;) I have been traveling a lot lately due to work and conferences. recently went to South Korea, alone, thought I will freak out but it went so well! Life lessons: Move to a different continent if you want to find the real you. It is super hard at the beginning but trust me, it gets better! Follow your dreams but always have a back up plan. To get through good or bad times, look in the mirror and smile. :) Need your thoughts! I love my job but I want to start something on the side. Like selling paintings, making boxes. Your ideas are always welcome! I want to go backpacking and know nothing about me. Instead of reading blogs onli...

According to Handbags, the legendary (depending on who you ask) pub-quiz team, if you’re not sure what to write, just jot down ‘Frank Lampard’. I was tempted to go with that, and only that, but for a joke that six people would get, none of whom subscribe to this list, it seemed a waste. Instead, a pointless story! Once upon a time (roughly five weeks ago), there was a little boy (34-year-old man) whose birthday was fast approaching. His mother, off in distant lands (like…40 minutes away), sent by post (texted) an inquiry regarding his wishes for celebrating the occasion. “I will not have you sully the day with crass commercialism,” the boy insisted. “Fine. You’re getting a gift card,” came the reply. He thought to protest, but after conferring with numerous moms, he learned the futility of asking for nothing. “Look…maybe knit me a sweater? A tacky one, with red and white stripes? Maybe a Southampton (SECOND PLACE OMIGOSH) crest on the chest?”Silence followed. When the day arrived, the ...

So the object of this email is: Happy moments in Time. In reference to Anathema's song "Shroud of False" which begins with " We are just a moment in time".It's just a moment, we are just a moment, and you are just a moment in Time, so make it a happy moment :) Whenever I wish a happy birthday to someone, I wish him/her plenty of "happy moments", they can be minutes and they can be seconds, but they are happy, you feel you are happy during these moments, you should cherrish them. They are really important in making your day a better day, your week a better week and your life a better one :) Listen to your favourite songs often, and Share them with someone you like. Dance with people you don't even know and feel that you communicate somehow with your moves. It's strange and funny at the same time :D Eat your favourite dishes often, eat chocolate daily, drink your favourite beer often! Watch a movie you like a lot and that you didn't watch...

Hey Everyone!!! My name is Holly and I’m a sophomore at Sweet Briar College in Virginia (USA), but I’m originally from Western Massachusetts. First things first, if you’ve never thought about a women’s college-do it! I wasn’t looking for one but I fell in love with SBC the second I stepped on campus. If you’re interested email me, I work in admissions! This past weekend I had my heart broken. Last year I got a grant to go do mission work and research in Burkina Faso over winter break 2015 but with everything going on over there it isn’t looking good. Ever since my school participated in Operation Christmas Child when I was in 5th grade I’ve been in love with the country. Maybe it’s selfish, but I am so angry that this is going on RIGHT NOW. Ugh, maybe things will get better by January, I’ll take any prayers and crossed fingers! I want to be a clinical psychologist when I “grow up”. Any tips on getting into a PhD program? I’m nervous already. I’m sort of a perfectionist but I’m afraid I...

Initial excitement slowly dissipated into agony over what I, an 18-year-old college student, could possibly contribute to your life. As the generous 48-hour period faded, disparate ideas tumbled in my mind, colliding but never forming coherent connections - until I realized the purpose of this golden 48-hour opportunity is not to be didactic, but to offer my organic approach to life. Annual traditions. Weekly obligations. The daily commute to work. All quite common occurrences at throughout my 18 years. Yet what keeps these seemingly repetitive events from being stale, boring, and taken for granted is that each time the calender rolls around, they have served as checkpoints for my intellectual, spiritual, and emotional growth. We often value the last concert, or last meal with a friend, as moments to reflect, but what about all the intermediate experiences that could serve even more nuanced purposes and affect how we continue to see these experiences? Many indelible memories and experi...

One of the best pieces of advice that ever jumped off the page for me: Let go of your personal history. At first it seemed like a tough pill to swallow: wait! what? where are you going with that? I earned that, dammit. But it was only in that moment when I realized that the very things, all along, I would’ve liked to have done without, I clung to like a badge of honor. So which one was it? Do I want it, or not. Could I really be me without some of those very hurtful, harmful and even horrifying things? I spent much of my life trying to make “victim” cool or chic. It’s what I was. The cards I was dealt, so why not make the best of ‘em, right? With some special mental calculator, I had worked out the math: the world owed me. And I was willing to wait. And wait. I was jaded, and perhaps rightfully so. I’d been the sole witness to my mother’s murder. I was only in kindergarten when I testified against my father. Even after his conviction, he continued to deny what I’d seen with my own two ...

“Try everything once, except folk dancing and incest.” ― Thomas Beecham SW tbrwolf[AT]gmail.com Cincinnati, OH

"You must always have a secret plan. Everything depends on this: it is the only question. So as not to be conquered by the conquered territory in which you lead your life, so as not to feel the horrible weight of inertia wrecking your will and bending you to the ground, so as not to spend a single night more wondering what there is to do or how to connect with your neighbors and countrymen, you must make secret plans without respite. Plan for adventure, plan for pleasure, plan do pandemonium, as you wish; but plan, lay plans constantly. And when you come to, on the steps of the presidential palace, in the green grass beside the highway, in your cell's gloomy solitude, your secret plan finished or foiled, ask your comrades, as your cellmates, ask the wind, the waves, the stars, the sea, ask everything that ponders, everything that wanders, everything that sings, everything that stings- ask them what time it is; and your comrades, your cellmates, the wind, the waves, the stars, ...

I'm Seth, 26 years old, married, born and raised in Whitesburg, KY, now living in Lexington, KY. Kentucky is an awesome state. I recently finished a degree in architecture, and now I'm working toward becoming licensed. I love design, and the process of making buildings. Some of my hobbies are computer programming, and sewing. One of my goals for the next two years is to design a machine for weaving fabric that operates mostly on its own (small, for home/personal use). I love new technologies like 3d printing (see: The Maker Movement). I am a Christian, I go to church with an amazing group of people, we help each other become better. If you have any thoughts, questions, or just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you. Seth Gover Lexington, KY, USA seth.gover[AT]gmail.com

I live and work at a special place on Earth called The Goat Farm Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Goat Farm is an experimental hybrid business model inspired by economic/innovation theories of population density and diversity of disciplines. This place is a magical nugget in the middle of a blooming metropolitan city. We are a for profit arts center with a model designed to attract a dense collection of forward-thinking ventures. We recognize that consistent vanguard arts programming creates a progressive “Center of Gravity” brand for many of Atlanta's thought leaders and their ventures. We have a myriad of tenants -- ranging from a nanotechnology lab, blacksmith shop, cloud/mobile application architecture developers, fashion designers, industrial product designers, engineers, game theorists, architects, non-profits, and much more. We also produce nearly 150 programs annually in classical & contemporary music, traditional and experimental theater, film screenings, literary ...