Leslie Hall is a pioneer and a genius.

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lesliehall.com on the web

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It’s true, you’ll never be the same again now. It’s probably for the better.

What is a Swap-o-Matic you may be asking … well, it’s a vending machine that lets you do tradesies.

The Swap-o-matic is a vending machine that encourages users to trade rather than buy! It playfully reminds us that reusing and recycling can be just as fun as buying something new.

I think it’s a really great idea so tonight Finn and I ventured down there. It wasn’t hard to talk him into the plan, the Swap-o-matic is housed at an artisan ice cream shop called Ample Hills Creamery afterall. Finn had an excellent dairy-free chocolate sorbet and I had a deep, dark chocolate ice cream – both were friggin’ amazing.

I wasn’t planning on trying the Swap-O-Matic tonight. In fact, I was just going to scope it out to come back with stuff later but Finn really wanted to make a trade. He had a ball in his school bag that he was ready to part with.

Here’s a little photo essay of our experience:

All in all I like the Swap-O-Matic conceptually and I give it a thumbs up — I’ll like it even more when more people start using it. I think I’ll go back next week and add a few of my bottlecaps.

http://www.swap-o-matic.com

That makes me howl!

When it was my turn to pay, the cashier asked me if I would like to donate a book. She pointed to a makeshift display of books behind her and when I saw Goodnight Moon, I said “sure”. Finnegan adores that book, it’s a staple read in our house.

But here’s the thing – I donated the book and then didn’t get a thing for it. No info on what charity I just supported, no card, no nothing. It’s such a wasted opportunity at this time of year and here’s why: I could have used my donation as a gift for someone else.

My son is in pre-school and I’d like to give his school a gift – it would have been perfect if I could have made the book donation in the name of my son’s school and then got a gift card for it. Another one off the list, phew.

If my book donation could have satisfied two needs – 1) giving a book to someone who needs it, and b) helping with my own gift list – I would go back to that book store right now and buy a half-dozen more.

It’s such a good idea, just not executed as well as it could’ve been. When times are tough, we need to be smarter.

Anyone know of any indie booksellers doing something similar but better?

… maybe even better than. I love the dynamic between these two.

We arrived in Brooklyn at around 8pm last Sunday evening, grabbed a cab and headed to our temporary apartment which was arranged through airbnb.com. Our host’s friend Come met us as planned, gave us the keys to the space and left us to be. It’s a good apartment, the folks who live here are artists w/ young kids so it’s an interesting and very accommodating apartment. Phew.

The next day we met our future landlords (who are very nice) and they informed us that our apartment would be available on October 1st. Yikes. We were hoping to move in sooner but we knew they had some issues with contractors and family emergencies but everything is back on track now. Although it’s not ideal, we’re making it work and October will come soon enough. 48 days and counting …

Here are some things we did our first week:

• got haircuts in Park Slope
• visited our new apartment
• went to Coney Island, visited the aquarium
• visited a social security office to get SS number
• was reminded by police not to forget Finn at said office (thank you for the reminder, I often abandon my son in public places)
• walked from Clinton Hill in Brooklyn to the Staten Island Ferry (via the Brooklyn Bridge)
• took the Staten Island Ferry there and back for fun
• went to Central Park, took a cheesy carriage ride, visited the zoo and the kids’ play area
• had a delicious lunch in Chelsea and then visited Olek’s new solo show at the Jonathan LeVine gallery

Holy it’s been a full week… Collin starts his new job tomorrow and Finn and I are going to check out daycares in the neighbourhood. So far life is good in Brooklyn.