Even More Earth Day Excitement with Ian Somerhalder
As I’ve previously mentioned, working for Half Price Books over the years has made me very Earth Day conscious. Even more than that, its made me even more Earth Day Every Day aware. In additon to that, its made me pay a little more attention to the world around me, more specifically pop culture. Kids are reading Vampire Diaries? See what they’re filling their minds with and what you can offer them if there aren’t any copies to sell. Oh, the fad is being turned into a show? Check it out and see if its any good. Maintaining a book blog and networking with Twitter? Be sure you’re following people who have the same interests as you.
All of these scenarios led me to following Ian Somerhalder on Twitter. I’m not a huge fan being THAT fan, unless of course its of a writer. I have plenty of author love for people like Tanya Egan Gibson and Jane Austen, but if you haven’t noticed the latter is dead and the former is a bit too sweet and humble to be basking in worldwide limelight any time soon. (That being said, you should totally go buy her book How To Buy a Love of Reading
1. He’s an amazing actor. So amazing that in Rules of Attraction, my husband and I really thought he was gay in real life. And despite his gorgeous face, I completely forgot about him being pretty in Lost.
2. He does cool things with his money. He loves the environment and the world and has set up a foundation called IS Foundation. No naturalist, environmentalist, earth day extraordinaire could deny that this is a pretty cool thing for someone to do: http://www.isfoundation.com/.
3. He’s from the South. Being a Texan, I fully appreciate one’s dedication to his/her roots, even more so if those roots were once part of the Confederacy.
4. He runs a family business with his brother. I love small businesses, and though this business probably wont stay small because Ian Somerhalder is already famous, I love the idea behind it…
And that brings us to what this little article is really about: BOB… Built of Barnwood.
Ian Somerhalder and his brother started a business in Mississippi creating accent pieces, furniture, and all sorts of other artsy crafts out of reclaimed barn wood. It feeds into his desire to help the planet by reusing and recycling as well as (I am assuming) utilizing skills and tapping into other passions he got from his father, Robert, who was a building contractor (information from imdb.com). Go check out the site and see the special Earth Day promotion: http://www.builtofbarnwood.com/
The only thing cooler than finding this site and this business on Earth Day and sharing it with you all, would be getting an interview with Ian Somerhalder himself and finding out the name of his favorite author. After all, this is supposed to be a book blog.
A Natural English Journey for Earth Day
Title: Birds of Selborne
Author: Gilbert White
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Length: 96 pgs.
This pocket sized series of letters from naturalist Gilbert White about the village of Selborne should be a part of every environmentalist’s collection. White studied at Oriel College in Oxford and then spent years travelling around England. Birds of Selborne is a segment of The Natural History of Selborne, a work he published after he returned home from his travels.
I love these little books, its a branch off of the Penguin Great Ideas series, an “English Journeys” collection of which this is number 19. Much of this particular edition is filled with White’s bird watching adventures, but also covers things about the trees and weather as well. If you’ve ever enjoyed the work of Darwin’s Origin of Species or Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Gilbert White is worth your while.
Tomorrow is Earth Day, don’t forget to check out your local bookstore and pick something up from the nature or gardening section to kick off your Sunday (after church, if you go). Find a spot under some trees or in the sun to celebrate your Earth while you read. Half Price Books in Humble will have Eco-friendly goodie bags to hand out to 50 customers, if you’re in the Humble area you should check it out. If you’re in the Dallas area, there’s a tree planting event on April 28th: http://www.hpb.com/treeweek/
A Walk in the Woods with Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods makes me desperately want to go hiking. This was my first Bryson, I find the author surprisingly witty and fun, although perhaps a bit truthfully cruel in the beginning. I have to admit, prior to reading this I knew very little about the Appalachian Trail – it was a trail I had heard of but didn’t really have a clue about its length (Georgia to Maine, 2200 miles), its fame, or its history. This is the perfect blend of traveling memoir and a true survival/ adventure story, and I was completely captured by the weather conditions, the terrain, the fellow hikers, and the long nights in cold shelters. It’s definitely an adventure I’d like to take, even if it means I only finish 39% of the trail like Bryson himself.
Anakalian Whims 