Local Community Initiatives

I've not always been a huge fan of living in London.  It took me a long time to call it home.  I moved here sixteen years ago from a small town less than an hour away.  It was a bit exciting and new at the time to live in a big city, but over time, it became clear that there weren't many reasons to stay here.  If I had a nickel for every person who has moved away, I'd have a mountain of nickels! (I'm looking at you, Mr. & Mrs. T!)  And then along came the internets to the rescue!    I've found that my most successful method of finding out all the cool stuff happening in my community is via twitterI'm not a very active twitter user - meaning I don't have much to add, but I have gotten so much out of it.   Here are a few projects that I've stumbled upon while stalking local tweets:

ecoLIVINGLondon is a new website that developed out of the London chapter of GreenDrinks, a monthly gathering of people concerned about the environment.  I plan on using this site for tips and ideas for green living as well as identifying local businesses that are offering green products and services.  The event listing alone is reason to keep this site on your radar.

Another really cool initiative is the idea of a Parking Day.  Know what that is?  I didn't, but now I do, and you should too.  It's super cool.  I'm not surprised because Kevin Van Lierop is always thinking and DOING up really cool stuff.   This guy needs to run for City Council some day - this was suggested on twitter, and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  It's true.  If London is an awesome place to live, it will be a direct result of what he's started.

Most recently I attended the first Ignite London event, and it was ten kinds of awesome.  You can watch the presentations on youtube here.  Registration for the next Ignite London on October 12 opened a few days ago, and it is beyond full, and it's still two months away.  Regardless registration is still open, so if you're reading this, for the love of Todd, go register now.  It's FREE!   And I almost won a pitcher of beer for building the highest spaghetti noodle structure to hold up a marshmallow.  What do you do on Tuesday nights?

As for knitting?  I've finished two EZ snail hats, and I've cast on for a third.  I'm addicted.   Pictures to come!

Happy Winds-day, my friends!

N

2 comments:

knitty_kat said...

Wow, I had no idea you felt that way about London. LOL - I know what you mean. I'm excited that all these great things are finally happening here. I've even registered for ignite! You better save me a seat!

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Sounds like there is a lot of stuff happening around London. Is your hubby from there? Is that how you ended up there? What small town did you grow up in? I've always been in Quebec, within a 20 km distance from where I grew up. Now I'm probably 3km from my childhood home, and 1 and a half km from where I lived the 2nd half of my childhood, LOL. Closer to the 'rents for help with the kids. It's been fantastic.

I'm not a twitter user either, though I do have an account. Can't tell you the last time I logged into it though!