Books, too many Books!!! What to do about this...

I am in the dilemma, once again, of what to do with the piles and piles of books around my room.  I want to weed them out before I move into the ADU in the backyard in late January.  So, I need ideas. (Don't be shy - post your ideas in the comments!) 

I have found some pathways already, and I'll share them below for those who would like to pare down their collection.  I will update the list as I receive more ideas. 

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Prisoners Literature Project 

This is one of several organizations that donates and ships books to prisoners; it is based in the SF Bay Area.  Here are some of the things they need:

• dictionaries of all kinds (including ASL sign language); also thesauruses,  & almanacs.
•  how-to books: construction, gardening, drawing, etc.
•  books on African-American, Latino, and Native American history and culture
•  books on business, self-help, politics, psychology, philosophy, science, mathematics
•  fiction by or about people of color
•  good quality detective, sci-fi & fantasy fiction paperbacks & Westerns 
•  books on meditation, yoga, and bodyweight exercises

Their site also has a list of what they will not accept. As is true with most of these programs, you need to contact them ahead of time (which is a good idea anyway, with the current pandemic situation...) It is possible to drop off books for them; the contact info and address is on the website but do CALL FIRST.  

More info on this type of program can be found here:

     Books to Prisoners Programs 

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Books for Africa

This organization ships books directly to Africa.  They have specific needs; here's a list (this and more info is on their website):Acceptable books are gently used and relevant to an African reader.

Books For Africa accepts:

• popular fiction and nonfiction reading books (soft and hard cover).
• books that are 15 years old or newer.
• primary, secondary, and college textbooks (soft and hard cover) published in the last 15 years.
• reference books published in the last 10 years, except encyclopedia sets.
• medical, nursing, and IT books published in the last 10 years.
• some Bibles or religious books, please place them in a box separate from other donations and mark the box as “Religious texts.” Bibles are sent only when requested by African recipients.
• School/office supplies—paper, pencils, pens, wall charts, maps, etc.

Books For Africa does NOT accept:

• Encyclopedia sets
• Magazines or journals of any kind, including academic journals.
• Home decorating or wedding books.
• Cookbooks.
• Ethnocentric books, such as the biography of Abraham Lincoln or the history of Ohio.
• Foreign language books except for French books. French novels and dictionaries are welcome.
• American history or civics.
• Music books for K–12.
• Murder mysteries or anything with “kill,” “die,” “murder,” etc. in the title.

The above lists and the following additional instructions are also on their website.

If you mail books, please do not send boxes that weight more than 50 pounds and do not include any non-recyclable packing materials such as plastic bubble wrap or peanuts. Books For Africa cannot allocate funds for the mailing or shipping of book donations to our warehouses. This helps us keep our operating costs lower so that we can ship more and more books to students who need them.

Interested in donating law books?  View our law book donation requirements, or learn more about BFA's Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative!

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Friends of the Oakland Public Library - The Bookmark Bookstore

 Here's a list of what they accept and don't accept:

 Items That Sell Best:

• Brand new books
• Used books in very good or better condition
• Rare, vintage/collectible books
• Author-signed books
• First editions
• Classics, popular titles, and esoteric subjects
• Topical political books
• Hardcovers
• Large softcovers
• Jigsaw puzzles (complete)
• DVDs
• CDs (audio and music)
• LPs (in good to excellent condition – Classic Rock, Jazz and Classical categories)

 Items We Cannot Accept: 

• Any books in generally less than very good condition
• Books with underlining and highlighting
• Books with signs of heavy use or long-term storage
• Out of date medical, legal, travel (2 years or older)
• Older business, investment or economics books
• Computer books (more than 1-year-old)
• Textbooks
• Encyclopedia sets
• Romance novels
• Incomplete sets
• Magazines
• Comic books
• Cassette tapes
• VHS cassettes

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Better World Books

This is an excellent place to donate (and buy!) books.  They've been around for awhile, so they have their ducks in a row.  They support Books for Africa, whose info is above.  For every book someone buys, they donate one book.  They also recycle and have a sustainable model.

Cameron Bellm, Poet

Cameron Bellm came to my attention through her poem, Prayer for a Pandemic.  I was interested in finding out more about the person who wrote the poem... I also found this article - it's her, telling her story to one of the writers at Ruah Storytellers.
This all spoke to my soul, as a mother, grandmother, and a woman of faith.  It struck me that I know a number of young mothers who also have strong faith and might be interested in Cameron's blog, so here's the link to her blog - you all can take it from here!

Antidote to being pulled down by the 2016 political campaigns: Reach out!

Last year a friend asked me whether I knew of any volunteer opportunities in the East Bay, a question that I was delighted to hear!  I compiled a list for her of some of the opportunities of which I was aware, sent it to her, and planned to post it here, but never got around to it.  Then a couple of weeks ago this same topic came up in conversation with another friend, and I promised to send my list from last year...but of course, when I took a look at the list, I figured it could be improved upon, so I spent an afternoon -- interestingly enough, it was an afternoon when I was supposed to go to a Volunteer Appreciation Party -- revising and updating the list*.  And here it is:

Elizabeth House  Provides services and shelter to women in difficult situations... (located next to St Augustine's in what I think is the former convent.)  There are a variety of opportunities here.

Berkeley Food and Housing Project  Among other things, they have a Women's Center that serves homeless women and families and women with disabilities through a temporary shelter, transitional housing and other services.

Night on the Streets Catholic Worker -- lots of services (click here for a comprehensive list) for the neediest residents of the East Bay, especially around Berkeley.  [I have worked with the Sunday morning breakfast for the homeless (starts at 7:15 am in People's Park every Sunday) and the soup and hot chocolate delivery which happens several nights each week in the winter months.  Contact JC Orton (info at link above) to get involved, or just show up on Sunday morning :-) ] 

Oakland Catholic Worker -- primarily serving the migrant community -- opportunities to tutor English and work with the clients in other ways and I don't know what all else-- they always need people to help!

International Rescue Committee  Oakland branch -- helps resettle refugees and provides other services for refugees

Planting Justice-- urban farming resource, food justice, etc., also teaches permaculture skills to local prisoners with the goal of hiring them when they are released and volunteers teach high school students about gardening and food justice issues... a very interesting grassroots group

St. Anthony Foundation in SF has a variety of ministries (meals, clothing, employment counseling, etc.) that always need volunteers.

SF Pathways to Citizenship Initiative

This organization holds workshops every few months, usually on a Saturday (but sometimes on Sunday) where people who are trying to become naturalized citizens can come and get help filling out their paperwork, talk to a lawyer, etc.  [I really enjoyed helping out at this.]

Bay Area Literacy looks like a great program -- I volunteered in a similar program in Charlotte, NC, and enjoyed the work very much.  (And I'm thinking this might be a good place for me to plug in to help someone with GED prep -- I promised a friend I would do this so I'd better make good on my promise...)

Also, here are some websites that have volunteer opportunities databases or lists:

• Volunteer Center for the East Bay; as an example, here are links from there to Education opportunities (I put in my zip code (94609) and a 10-mile radius) 
• Bay Area Volunteer information Center 
• Catholic Charities of the East Bay --  a couple of times a month they have a"Transforming Lives Tour" that gives comprehensive information about their projects and programs.

There is also a list of opportunities in and near Berkeley here.

*if you don't live in the Bay Area, I hope this list will give you some ideas about what you can do in your own community to reach out and get involved!

How did the constant pi get its name?

It's always a good idea for a math tutor to know everything (it's almost like being a mother!)  Yesterday a student asked me why π [the mathematical constant] is named with the Greek letter π.  Of course I didn't know offhand, though I guessed that since π had an important connection with the perimeter of a circle, that somebody along the way decided to use the Greek letter for "p" as the name for the constant.  I was mostly correct, as it turns out, but the actual history is much more interesting...
Read more here:
William Jones and his Circle: The Man who Invented Pi

p.s. While writing this post, I found this:

http://www.johndcook.com/blog/greek_letters/

Social Justice, anyone?

Last weekend I went to a one-day conference of Pax Christi an international organization (also PaxChristiUSA) with several local chapters, including the Bay Area Pax Christi.  (Here is a link to the program.) The focus was Social Justice, and there was a very interesting panel to begin the day.  Here's more about the panel members:

•  Elizabeth Murray, had been in the CIA but left some time back to take care of her mother while she was ill, and never went back.  Now she is working for Ground Zero Center for Non-Violent Action and writes for Consortiumnews.com.  
• Sister Megan Rice SHCJ, is in her 80's and was arrested in May 2012 and jailed for two years, from 2013-May 2015, supposedly for being a threat to national security.  (Find out more about these events here and here.)
• Rivera Sun, an activist for peace and non-violent action, and the author of The Dandelion Insurrection and other books.   

I also went to an excellent workshop in the morning entitled "The Housing Crisis, a Catholic Perspective". It was presented by Tim Iglesia, JD, a professor at the University of San Francisco.  He not only gave a very informative and well-organized talk, but he followed it with a very helpful guide to becoming involved, entitled "Steps for Effective Advocacy", which I am already beginning to implement!  For more information on Affordable Housing Resources, go to EBHO.org  And Dr. Iglesias is available as a speaker around the Bay Area if you know of a group who would like to hear his presentation.

Lunch was catered by a local non-profit, Kitchen of Champions.  One of the workers did a short presentation on her experience and the organization.  The food was delicious (Foodies take note!) and I was very impressed by the presentation and the presenter.  I might just have to make my way down to the St. Vincent de Paul kitchen to sample more of their great food... and make a donation to the KofC!

In the afternoon I attended the workshop presented by Elizabeth Murray, entitled, "When Following the Principalities and Powers Becomes a Call to Conversion".  This was partly about Ms. Murray's own experience, but we also spent a good deal of time in the workshop sharing our own experiences of activism and devising ways to promote activism and social justice in our lives.  I left this workshop humbled by the hundreds of years of combined experience in activism among the attendees, and inspired to become more aware and involved, and to spread the word!  

At the end of the day, we gathered again to share our workshop experiences in small groups.  This was very helpful, as the limited one-day schedule permitted each person to attend (completely) at most two of the eleven workshops.  After we shared our experiences, we had one last consciousness-raising event: the awarding of the [I think annual] Pax Christi Northern California Peacemaker Award, and a short talk by the recipient of the award.  The recipient was Lorrain Franklin-Taylor, the founder of 1000 Mothers to Prevent Violence, a wonderful organization formed to serve families who have been directly impacted by violence.  Ms. Franklin-Taylor told her own story about her twin sons being murdered, which you can find here.  I was, for the umpteenth time that day, speechless with admiration and humbled and energized by the words of a person who is now one of my heroes.  

I left with a renewed commitment to finding ways to become active in social justice efforts here in the Bay Area.  As a start, I am creating this post in hopes that my excitement about the Conference will be contagious and inspire others to become involved!  

Food Justice: Community Gardens and other projects

A friend asked me recently about what I thought was a Community Garden at Dover Park.  I discovered that this garden is run by Phat Beets to benefit the community.  The Garden, known as Healthy Hearts Youth Garden, is an ongoing and evolving project, and the organizers welcome community volunteers who can help out on Wednesdays and Sundays.  There is also breakfast at the garden once a month, and other activities are planned throughout the year.  

More about Community Gardens and some related local resources:

A list of Community Gardens in Oakland run by the Oakland Parks and Rec -- the volunteer hours for them are here.

A comprehensive list of community gardens and other garden projects in Berkeley.

A local organization that is connected to Community Gardening (but has other gardening-related projects as well) is Planting Justice.  I keep running into their volunteers, spreading the word and collecting donations, at Berkeley Bowl.  

• One of the efforts of Planting Justice is to create a 5-acre farm in El Sobrante. I received a very informative email this week about a work day coming up on Tuesday, September 22, with the focus on building swales*. (Email them at plantjustice@gmail.com or call 510-290-4049 for more info.)  
• Another project is their collaboration with the Insight Garden Project at San Quentin Prison.  (There are similar programs in other places -- see this article and this one, for some examples.  
• Planting Justice's "Transform your Yard" program, for people who are interested in back yard gardening but need help getting started, is another of their efforts to weave together many strands to build a better community.

*not a link to PJ, just information about swales.  

Overthinking...

I just found this blog by a math prof in Minnesota, and wanted to share it with any readers I have who might be interested in math pedagogy and in Talking Math with Kids, about which the same prof has a website.

Just FYI.  And trying to keep track myself for future reference.

My 2014 Lists

[Please check back again soon!  I am in the process of creating and annotating these lists but I'm not at all finished yet...]

Some of my favorite books this year:  

• Mercy without Borders: The Catholic Worker and Immigration, by Mark and Louise Zwick.  The Zwicks started the Casa Juan Diego House of Hospitality in 1980 in Houston, TX, in response to the flood of homeless refugees from Central America.   This is a powerful story of authentic Christian witness in action and an excellent in-depth discussion and explanation of the connections between poverty, illegal immigration, and fair-trade policies.   
• Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino, by Joyce Rupp.  Joyce Rupp and a friend walked the Camino de Santiago some years ago, and this book describes in a very readable and beautiful manner what walking the Camino meant to her, and the many valuable lessons she and her friend learned while walking.  The Walk changed her way of living in the world, and reading this book helped me to see ways that I need to grow and change.  
• *The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, by Laurie King.  A young woman meets the famous Sherlock Holmes, who is in retirement, and they begin to solve crimes together.  (That's leaving out a lot!) This is the first in a series of books; I can't wait to get started on the next one!
• *The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, by Tom Rachman
• All Clear, by Connie Willis (the last book in a trilogy)
• Land Grabbing: Journeys in the New Colonialism, by Stefano Liberti
• The Latehomecomer, by Kao Kalia Yang (actually from Dec. 2013 but too good to leave out)

* indicates book on CD -- I do a lot of my "reading" while driving!

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A selection of new places I visited in the Bay Area this year:  

    In San Francisco:             Elsewhere
    Baker Beach                           The Botanical Gardens at Tilden Park

    Crissy Field                             The overlooks on Grizzly Peak Rd.  (excellent views of the Bay)

    The Cable Car Museum        Corte Madera and Mill Valley

    Fort Funston Park                 The Oakland Zoo

The list of places I want to visit next year is growing!