TheListServe Blog

I am an avid reader of The Listserve. I love the concept of the group and I love receiving each day's email. So far I've learned so much from so many strangers - drink recipes with ingredients I would never have thought of, more information about bees and beekeeping than I ever thought I'd learn, the list goes on and on. While I always hoped that one day I'd be selected to send out an email - I didn't expect the time to come so soon. To me, the chance to email almost 20,000 people in countries ranging from Belarus to Cambodia to Lebanon to Nigeria is an incredible one. It's the 21st century equivalent of being given a microphone to talk to a massive audience of people from around the world, people that you'd never normally meet. A really amazing opportunity, but also one with quite a bit of pressure. I have to be honest, when I received the email yesterday afternoon, I panicked. What could I possibly tell people that they didn't already know? I'm 22...

After 13 years of flying to the edge of our solar system, the American Voyager 1 space probe, reached the almost incomprehensible distance of 6.4 billion kilometres (nearly 4 billion miles) from Earth in 1990 and was turned around to take a picture of our home planet. Earth is no more than a pale blue dot, hardly to be seen against the cosmic background. The insignificance of our planet in the truly fascinating happenings of the universe becomes more clear, when trying to comprehend, that the Milky Way, which can be seen on a clear night, is in fact what a spiral galaxy looks like from the inside! It may contain up to 400 billion stars – one of them, is our sun. And then, on one of the sun's planets, there are humans. When contemplating the irrelevance of every single being on earth against the immense numbers that the universe provides, our mind protests, that this can not be so. But with all the evidence we have from hundreds of years of exploring the night sky, we have to come...

Hello, I'm from somewhere far away. Apparently, I live in the most remote city with a population in excess of one million people. Hello from Auckland, New Zealand. I don't feel very far away from you. I think we probably have a few things in common. I live and breathe and work and sleep and eat and love. I read this list email every day and I hope for a glimmer of inspiration from others. I struggle with depression and anxiety and stress and worry. Some days I feel like every day is a battle. Some days, it is a battle for me just to get out of bed. But today feels like a good day. I told myself this morning when I woke up that it would be a good day. And here we are. It's a good day. The sun still shines. I chose for today to be a good day. You choose your path. You're the one who decides what can happen to you and if you'll let it happen to you. I feel like I need to remind myself of this more often. I'll finish with a quote I liked from Ral...

It's often said that the biggest obstacles we face in life are the ones we put up for ourselves. Unnecessary worry is one of those. How many times have you denied yourself an opportunity because of worry - maybe you felt like you weren't ready, or that you didn't deserve something enough? If the answer to that question is “never” then you're very lucky indeed but most people have held themselves back on many an occasion. Personally, towards the end of last year I was holding myself back to the point where I was hardly doing anything new or creative, stuck in a self-imposed rut. I'm not saying we should try to never worry about anything, because it's perfectly natural to worry sometimes, and certain things in life will always cause anxiety. What's important is to learn to realise when we're worrying unnecessarily and devise strategies for dealing with it in a productive way. Those strategies will be unique to you, so you'll have to work them out...

Virtual interaction has become a thing of the now. The instant feedback is addicting and we almost feel like we can touch and experience life in the same way we would if we were physically together. Sometimes the virtual is a good substitute and other times, there is simply nothing that replaces the feelings and the ideas that can flow during a conversation had within a single room. However, the more time we spend in the virtual, the easier it becomes to dismiss the value of coming together in physical spaces. While working away deep in the virtual, an interdisciplinary group of friends brought me to join them in POPSHOP, the place where we go to work, play, talk, sleep… sometimes, and most importantly work together physically. It’s a place where we can build, where dreams are celebrated, but only if they are followed up by action. Where ideas are great, but not as great as the process of building, of showing others, even if not for monetary gain but for the physical feeling of buildi...

I have a tattoo of a frog on the top of my right foot. I drew him myself. When people ask me why I always say that when I take a step, he hops. But there’s a story behind that. I was tree planting one year. While planting you need to move fast, the more trees in the ground the more money you would make. I was never all that great at it but I stuck with it and at the very least I kept going. One rainy day, on a hill surrounded by tree stumps and torn up branches, I threw my shovel into the ground to open up space in the dirt for a little tree but as the blade of my shovel came down a frog hopped onto the path. The shovel came down onto his shoulder. The frog’s arm was cut off. Not completely, though, there was a small flap of muscle/skin hanging on (if you’ve ever read Harry Potter, think of Nearly Headless Nick) and the frog was wriggling around on the ground, likely in a lot of pain. I was a little shocked. I stared at the frog a little while, and it never made a sound. I looked ...

Remove the phone from its hook. Rotate it 180 degrees so that the end with the cord is up. Replace the phone on the hook. (Generally applicable to payphones and other vertically mounted phones. Adapt instructions as necessary.) Anonymous Boston, MA

Hey! It's cold right here in Brazil! brrrrrr Well, I would like to share with you some things that I did recently and, somehow, changed my life: I quit my boring strategic consultant’s life I decided to take a sabbatical year I discovered life (yeah! There's life between 9 am to 18 pm) I went skateboarding at Ibirapuera's Park (Sao Paulo) every afternoon I started studying Social Entrepreneurship I met new (and interesting, inspiring, innovating, brilliant, etc.) people I traveled to the most beautiful place in the world (Chapada Diamantina | Bahia | Brazil) I traveled to other countries I started swimming I started swimming and running I started swimming, running and mountain-biking I started cross-country triathlon competing I made new friends I met old friends I visited a slum I made friends at slums I changed my points of view - I found a new purpose for my life I started my own business I failed in my first own business I met more people - includin...

“It takes a very long time to become young.” - Pablo Picasso It’s kind of funny —I am an eighteen year old boy who should be basking in what’s left of my youth, but I feel like I am a middle aged man with nothing but repetition left in life. Wake up. Go to school. Go to work. Do homework. Eat. Shower. Sleep. Repeat. I mean people have warned me that life out of high school sucked, but no one could have really prepared me for this. While my peers are out of state at some fancy University, having the time of their lives partying, drinking, and networking with a variety of people.. I am here, stuck on this rock, going to a community college, and living paycheck to paycheck. I was told that doing great things in high school would amount to great things out of high school, but that was just a way of getting me to go to class. I’ve done sports, I was a vital role in the school’s yearbook, I was enrolled in advanced placement classes, I participated in numerous clubs (service/leisure), I ...

I've thought about what to write in this email ever since I signed up to the list, and to selected this early in the list is both awesome and a little frightening, because I don't really feel ready. Nevertheless, this is my contribution, and it will hopefully be of some kind of use you! When I got the mail about being selected, the first thing I had to do was to decide what I wanted to write about. Should I tell a story? Write about my life and ambitions? Tell about the company I am starting? Why I think my education is awesome? Or why I love developing for Android? It was a hard choice, but I finally made up my mind – to tell something I usually don't write about, something I know I am admired for all bragging set aside. So I chose to write a little about my way of life, and why I think it makes me the one of the happiest guys in the world. Sure, the past 26 years have been mostly great for me, but there has sure been some lows down the road already. But no matter what...

Hello. Because you are a friend I've just not met yet, I'm writing this so that we might be a little closer. In this email I will: 1. Tell you a little about what work's been like for me lately. 2. Choose and present to you some rad radio. I love NPR. I am a walking pledge drive. I am not paid by National Public Radio. They don't know who I am. So great is my love for it, though, that I'm sending the love along to all y'all. In some ways the segments I mention below are like the beginners version of radio-- Radiolab and TAL are classic NPR staples--but in other ways I feel that they represent the absolute finest in radio listening pleasure. 3. Say a couple things that need to be said. Ready? Ronward! 1. A day of work I just got home a little while ago. A lot of my work consists of getting on the phone and talk to people. Sometimes, on these calls, I get pissed off and the forked vein in my forehead bulges (I know this because yesterday I was on a Skype con...

Hi fellow ListServians! In 1987, I was at a civil rights march in Cumming, GA (Brotherhood March II). I was grabbed by a coordinator towards the end- I was told to flank the woman next to me who was with a child in a stroller; there were people on the ridge next to us throwing rocks and bottles and screaming obscenities. As I tried to turn my body into a shield I directly faced these people screaming the most hateful and violent words I have ever heard uttered. I thought I had understood racism and prejudice. I understood nothing. I was becoming enraged. I wanted to fight back. As I began looking for a rock or anything, a chant was growing in the stream of marchers; I expected a confrontation until I heard what they were chanting. To fight the shouts of "Nigger Lovers" and "You will Hang" was a chant of "We Love You" in return. I didn't understand. How can people met with lifelong hatred and discrimination act in return with Love? In the face of...

Today's question: What IF? What IF you could make an impact? What IF we could end hunger? What IF there was enough food on the planet RIGHT NOW to feed every human being? Well, there is. And we can end hunger. Fascinating, right!? The generation being born right now is the first in our history that may see the basic needs of every human being met. These are things that, once you know, you can't un-know. These are things that should inspire us all. These are things that - at Impact Foods - give us purpose. Impact Foods is a small food company in Dallas, TX with a big dream - to see the day when no children are hungry. For every bag of granola we sell, we feed a hungry child. We do this through our partnership with the World Food Programme. We help end the cycle of hunger at three critical points: 1) 1,000 Days: We target hunger in the first 1,000 days of a child's life, where damage done to the brain by malnutrition is irreversible. 2) School Meals: Then, we provide...

My father-in-law is pretty right wing. He's all about the Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Tea Party and Ann Coulter. He rants on about immigrants, taxes and President Obama. He sends my husband and me crazy emails with "facts" about various minority groups, how universal healthcare will doom America to socialism, why we need to drug test poor folks on welfare, that sort of thing. We generally avoid engaging with him about all this stuff. But, seemingly incongruously, he doesn't hate on the gays. He doesn't believe that gay folks are degenerate or sick, or make substandard parents, or should be singled out for anything. There's a refreshing absence of conspiracy theories about gay agendas. He doesn't bust out his religion to support discrimination. In fact, he's pretty progressive in his thinking that lesbians and gay men should have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else -- I think he believes homosexuals are, for the most part, just regul...

Make a difference. Donate a dollar, recycle a bottle, love someone, hold a door open, acknowledge another's achievements, give a hug or an opportunity to someone else. We are all a part of this world together. Tonight, look at the moon (something that we all share) and know that someone else is looking at it too, thinking of you and hoping that what she wrote has inspired you to do something positive. Anonymous Washington Heights, NYC

I’m going to tell you about an inspirational person. He loved to push himself to the limits, the sports he loved were always ones where he could use his brain, expeditions, climbing, bouldering, kayaking, orienteering, he maintained his nerdy ways. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression that he was really intelligent there was that one time we drove all the way to a festival for the day, he got out the car and realised he had no shoes on ‘Oh shit got no shoes on, we’ll have to go back’, that was kind of stupid. He did use his intelligence to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering and teach children Kayaking and climbing, but I liked to remind him of the stupid moments more than these. His determination and complete love of life led him in so many directions, being a DJ, learning to fly a plane, and all the while he wanted to better himself. He came back from India and wanted to learn so much about spirituality, religion and philosophy, he had a desire to know why we were here...

To all the people of the list- buy a bulldozer. Anonymous

I'm your average twentysomething living and working in Manhattan, but I won't bore you with any further details (I'll leave that to HBO). Instead, I'll introduce you to my Congo African Grey parrot, Bagel. Greys are considered one of the most intelligent species of birds, with an amazing ability to mimic speech, identify objects, and even do arithmetic. Google "Alex the parrot" after you read this email and you'll see what I mean. - So, why "Bagel"? On a chilly Saturday morning in late December 2011, my boyfriend and I were at a loss for lunch options, per usual. We were headed east to the F train when we turned around because I decided I wanted a bagel from Brooklyn Bagels. One thing led to another, and we found ourselves at our local Petland Discounts playing with a beautiful baby African Grey*. It was only appropriate that we name our New York-born-and-bred bird after our prized breakfast staple. - Does she talk? Most definitely. She came ho...

I wasn't really expecting to be given the chance to send out an email to everyone, so I'm not totally sure what I want to say! I'm a student, and I can't really cook, so I think the best thing I can do is send out a couple of really simple to make (yet still quite nice) recipes. (It might give some ideas to other students out there!) First one: Toad in the Hole. This one takes about 35 minutes from start to finish, incl. cooking time. Ingredients: 3 fat sausages 1 heaped teaspoon white flora / trex / oil (or another cooking fat) 1 large egg 3 fl. oz milk 2 fl. oz water Pinch of salt 1. Heat your oven to 220 degrees 2. Put the sausages in a roasting dish, and put in a heaped teaspoon of white flora (or something similar like trex). If you don't have anything like that, I've found oil works ok too. 3. Put them in the oven for about 10 minutes. 4. While they're cooking, put the flour, salt, egg, milk, water, and salt in a bowl together and whisk it...

Hi there, "The Listserve" has been impressively void of self promotion, probably due to the ban on links. Amongst those in the know, the classic "Diva Cup" post stands out as a favorite. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a sponsor for this post within the 48 hours I was allotted and I have no Chicken Soup for the Soul words of wisdom. I do, however, have some things I think people should know: * You should brush your teeth before you eat, or wait 30 minutes after (for pH reasons) * HBO's Girls would be better if they cut out all the focus grouped portions (i.e. any scene not involving Hannah). * Ashton Kutcher is a megadouche who used the issue of sex trafficking to further his career * Popchips (and Alison Brod Public Relations) is run by people too dumb to realize that dressing a megadouche up in brownface and telling him to fake a foreign accent to sell some revolting chips might be deemed offensive. * You can make popcorn in the microwave using a pap...

Hello! It's nice to meet you. I have thought often about what I might write to you. I was so terribly excited to finally have the opportunity to say something to you. You know? To really make a difference. To impart upon you some great piece of wisdom. To share some new information with you. You have already shared so much with me, and I know that I will be learning so much more from you. So what can I do for you? I believe in treating others how you want to be treated. So, maybe I can make you laugh? Here is my favorite joke: George: Have you heard the one about the snake in the golf hole? Lisa: No, I haven't. George: Neither have I. As you can see, joke telling is not my forte. The faces that I make to go along with the jokes is where my comedy lies ( I apologize if I did not use the correct form of that word...it's confusing). What else can I share with you? I love to bake. I often substitute coconut oil (cold pressed organic virgin) for half or all of the bu...

When I was in elementary school, maybe eight or nine years old, the school threw a fun event at night. I don't remember what it was called or what activities it offered, save one: a classroom filled with hundreds of craft supplies where you could make anything you wanted. This room had fabric, pipe cleaners, paper, paints, glue, wood scraps, wire, glitter, pottery, plastic shapes… and so on. It was a kid's dream come true and I spent quite a while in the room, creating things. I don't recall what I made, but I do remember my awe at all the cool stuff in that room, and I wondered why there weren't more kids in there taking advantage of it. Today, I work at a company that is just like that room full of goodies, but for adults. It's called Sandbox Industries. Sandbox is an entrepreneur's dream come true, just like that classroom was a child's. If you are fortunate enough to become a Founder-in-Residence at Sandbox, you're free to start your own company - ...

"I think it is time for you to make another batch," my partner solemnly said to me this morning. I use to make it every year. It grew to be a notorious, magical, wild concoction of various mind-altering substances. Each successive year I would study nature and try to learn more about plants, natural aphrodisiacs, and things that could effect our emotions in a positive and loving way and I would experiment. Some years were definitely more successful then others but in general, as with most things, my love potion got better with time. But then I stopped making it. I am not sure why. Was it because I fell in love or because I grew up, got a real job? I don’t know. I just stopped and never really thought about it again until now. Organizing my bookshelf I came across the book I found many moons ago, at a wise womyn’s garage sale, with this simple recipe outlined below. 1 ounce dried damiana (Turnera diffusa) leaves 1 pint vodka ¾ pint spring water ½ to 1 cup of honey Inf...

There's good news, and then there's GOOD NEWS. It's good news when an unexpected check comes in the mail, or when your kid comes home with improved grades. But GOOD NEWS is life-changing. Today I'd like to talk about the best news I ever received. Here it is: There is forgiveness for my failings. There is grace for my faults. There is love I can't understand. This was life-changing news for me, because at heart, I'm rotten. I'm selfish. I'm a liar. Even when I do good things, too often I do them to try to impress other people, or to try to prove to myself that I'm not that bad, even when I know deep down that I really am. People talk about karma; karma scares me. I'll never be a good enough person to deserve what I want. This is why this really good news changed my life. The GOOD NEWS is that God knows me, knows all about me - and that he loves me anyway. That he offers me forgiveness if I'll just accept it. And that he offers me grace ...

Every single one of us is going to be worm food in a hundred years, so have fun while you're here and try not to worry so much. This used to scare the shit out of me, but we've been dead for the last 14 billion years and have had no objection to that. Also, here is a recipe for a salt and pepper deep dish pizza crust which I love to make almost every week. ======================== 2 c warm water 4 1/2 tsp yeast 1/2c vegetable oil 4 tbsp olive oil 1/2 c cornmeal 5 1/2 c flour 1/4 c potato flour 2 tsp salt 2 tsp pepper (if you don't want the salt pepper crust, use 1 tsp salt and no pepper) Time to finish: 4.5 hours Time where you're actively working on the pizza: 1.5 hours 4.5 hours before you eat Fill a medium bowl with the 2 cups of water, mix / disolve the yeast into the water. Add the olive oil, vegetable oil, cornmeal, and half the wheat flour. Beat for about 10 minutes. Add the potato flour, the remaining wheat flour, and the salt and pepper. Lightly...

Hey guys! Today I want to talk about a place very special to my heart: the country of Albania. This is probably the point you groan with boredom; that's it? That's our email of the day? An informational on some little country? As an Albanian-American who was born there and has returned several times to fall in love with the nation all over again, I am hoping I can dissuade any preconceived notions you might have. Albania is a small Eastern European country in the Balkans that is directly north of Greece. It has a long history of occupations (ex: Italy, the Ottoman Turks, etc.) and as such has an interesting fusion of a culture that blends old and new. But let's get right into the heart of this. I urge you to GO visit. Take the path less traveled, this is what you'll find: -A light-hearted, generous people (the role of the guest is an *extremely* important concept in Albanian culture - you will be in good hands) -Pristine beaches with clear water on the Adriatic S...

The focal point of my elementary school's lobby was a big painting of two girls sitting under a lushly blossoming tree, looking down at what was either a book or a game or a picnic; my rememberance of those particular details is a bit fuzzy. But I remember the artwork, how its depiction of a pastoral spring day loomed over the hallway of the 1950s-issue school, and I also remember that it was in honor of two girls that had passed away. I'd thought, back when I saw it on a daily basis, that they had been killed in a car accident at some point before I'd reached school age. Memory is a funny thing, though. It turned out that the two girls had actually died when I was in kindergarden, on a May day in 1981. This fact came up by accident on Saturday, when I was sitting in my parents' kitchen, the same one where I ate breakfast every day before trucking off to school and seeing that painting. My mother and I were talking about fear and Etan Patz, whose name had recently popp...

You are a unique, badass, and multi-faceted human being. There is no one else even remotely like you. Who are you to withhold your greatness from the world? Why would you waste a second of your precious time pretending to be someone else? How dare you hide your gifts from us? Why would we want you to be like every other [insert category here] out there? We don't. We want you. The authentic you. The real, genuine, imperfect, weird, quirky, REAL you. Anything less than that is not enough. Just be you. It's the most amazing gift you can give to yourself, to me, to everyone in your world, and everyone in the world. It's easier for some people than it is for others. If it's hard for you, make it your life's work to search for and find your authentic self. There is nothing more urgent. Take full responsibility for your thoughts, behaviors, actions, the consequences of those actions, and the impact you have on people around you. Be grateful. Appreciate and love wha...

Hi everyone, Today I’m taking a mental health day. At least, that’s what I call them. Sometimes I need a break. Especially at this time of the year, because it’s the end of the semester and I have so much to do and I haven’t been eating as healthy as I could or exercising as much as I like or sleeping as much as I need. I’m an ambitious, busy, independent person. It’s really hard for me to admit that I need breaks. But I’m admitting it to all 13,226 of you (yes, I just checked) because I want you to feel okay about it admitting it, too. Taking the time out to recharge your batteries is often very productive – it gives you the clear mind and the energy you need to tackle your next great project. I have a lot of things I need to do tomorrow, and the day afterward. I have a hundred things I want to do in the near future. But today, I need a break, and I’m doing the things that make me feel healthy and happy. Before I go out and conquer the world or something. Before I go, a ...

here is something that i have worked on for a long time. you can sort out the proportions to taste, but it will make you a solid bloody maria. even in south sudan you can find most of these things. you may need to sneak the tomato juice in, or use ceres. i have not put in proportions, but have listed these things in order of importance/operation/process. it's art. deal. if you hate things that taste good you can substitute vodka for tequila juba / 2012 ================================== make this recipe backwards, from the bottom up. tequila (don't put this in until even after you've put in the juice(s)) -- and then - put a lot in. 1/2 cambell's tomato juice 1/2 clamato juice (essentially, try to mix a heavy and light juice. If not, add some water or water and lemon. i haven't found either of those juices here in south sudan but it hasn't stopped me yet. don't put juices in until the very end.) (the main bit below: take all these things and ...

In 2006, I worked as a business journalist and did fun things like flying around the world to interview executives and reporting about what really rich people do with their money. I had a 9-to-5 job and an awesome salary. Three years later, the financial crisis hit and I, along with thousands of other people, was out of a job. So, for the first few days of my unemployment, I did what any other right-minded woman would do: I went to all of the sample sales that were happening during the daytime in New York and bought a lot of shoes. Eventually, my dwindling bank account forced me to open up my laptop and scour the Internet for jobs. There’s no activity more disheartening than searching for jobs. Except watching an episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” while you’re out of a job, which I did, and it sucked. I applied for 23 jobs, and after each rejection, I spiraled down a path of self-doubt, uncertainty and depression. I had no direction in life. I felt like I was underwater, a...

Hello! These are some things I've learned which guide the way I think, and which I value most. I hope they are the most valuable things I can offer to you. Of course, they come entirely from others, who I've paraphrased or quoted below. (I'll reference at the bottom.) There is more advice and knowledge than I can ever consume. Most of it is probably good and useful to some extent. Hence, choice and prioritization are even more important. The way something is presented is often more important than its content. The most important part of the way something is presented is how long it takes someone to consume it. Time is the most important thing I have: "it has been said that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain money--usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has...