Jo Hannon-Cropp's Other Internet Thing

8th May 2012

My sister wrote this book. Read it!

A Hawk from a Handsaw

“I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.” - Hamlet

Hamlet and Lena Rothfuss have a lot in common, at least in Lena’s mind. No, she’s not a prince, and no, her uncle hasn’t killed her father – she’s not even from Denmark, for that matter. But Lena’s pretty certain that, like Hamlet, she has a knack for seeing the truth in situations where everyone else seems blind to it.

Lena has just returned to the States after a year of teaching overseas. Still pining for the Welsh poet who broke her heart, she holes herself away in her uncle Peter’s rural Tennessee house, fully expecting (and half dreading) a quiet convalescence. What she discovers instead is an unexpected haunting: the decades old mystery of Laurie McConnell, a childhood friend of Peter’s who went missing when she was only seven years old. Lena senses that there is more to her story - so despite Peter’s resistance, she sets out to do some sleuthing, aided by the mysterious and moody Mick (who might or might not be Peter’s illegitimate son) and her wise imaginary adviser Anne Brontë. Deftly blending humor and heartache, this novel captures the coming of age of a young millennial while retaining a quirky, old-fashioned literary sensibility.

http://ahawkfromahandsaw.wordpress.com/

22nd Mar 2012

… while looking through my notes for my Anthropology of Virtual Communications class.

22nd Mar 2012

Starting to get concerned that I have yet to read Hunger Games and the movie’s already out….. oh, yeah and also I have this homework I should be doing.

7th Mar 2012

slacktivism

Here’s the thing about crying slacktivism anytime a new organization begins to get popular, anytime your more concerned with “not joining a band-wagon” than you are with something that might possibly, even just a little bit, make a difference you are choosing to not act for the sake of your own pride. If the thing turns out to be bust. If nothing happens or the leadership falls apart. You get to claim that you knew all along it was just a fad. I understand that a lot of places misuse funds, and it is good to be smart about where your money and support is going, but don’t hold back merely for the sake of your pride. And that is what you’re doing when you call awareness slacktivism. Awareness is the first step, doing something should be the second, but it often isn’t. At least awareness gets the message out to people who might actually be willing to take that second step.

In regards to the Invisible Children Inc. the money is going to movie making because the whole point of the movement is to bring the issue into wide public focus, so that law makers know that it matters to the people who employ them (us, by the way). There are other and more valid concerns with this movement, so if you object to it, object on those grounds. Not because you don’t want to appear like you’ve got caught up in the hype.

It should be more important to us as human beings that something might be going on that can help in the fight against child soldiers and human trafficking. It should be something at which we take more than a passing glance. And it should never be discounted on any grounds, other than it might do more harm than good.

I, for one, would rather be taken advantage of a thousand times and look like a total fool to the whole world, then ever once miss the opportunity to do something good.

7th Mar 2012

It’s so easy to look at the world in all it’s brokenness and say “there is nothing we can do. It’s all too much.”

In truth the brokenness is too much, it is too big to be fixed all at once. It may never truly be fixed at all. But we must remember that the brokenness was formed slowly by little choices, little things adding into big things to make one massive mess.

Activism, too, can be a move towards better things, by paying attention to our little choices. Little choices added together, not to fix the whole world, but to fix what you can.

Do not be so overwhelmed by the bigness of the issues in the world. Do not allow yourself the luxury of thinking it’s all beyond you. Think about your little choices, pay attention when you make them. Silence that voice inside your head that tells you your little choice aren’t enough or that they do not matter. Look at the ground in front of you feet, and take the step that is right in front of you.

Watch this Video.

This about Joseph Kony, the worlds worst war criminal. Share the video, make him famous, bring him to justice.