Kimberly's Links Page

Here's a list of links to pages I think are cool, including some I use really regularly. Check them out!

Ways You Can Make a Difference

Give the Gift of Sight: Donate your old eyeglasses at your local LensCrafters or Lions Club, where they will be cleaned, repaired, and sorted by prescription before they are distributed to underpriveliged folks in the U.S. and around the world. Check out this website for more information, or just ask at your local LensCrafters or Lions Club.

Locks of Love: Planning a significant haircut? Consider donating your cut hair to help make wigs for financially disadvantaged kids suffering from medical hair loss. It's really really easy, and a lot of places will even cut your hair for free if you are donating 10 inches of hair or more. Check out this website for more information.

World Computer Exchange: Have some old computer equipment (even just floppy drives, cables, mice, etc.) laying around, but don't know what to do with it? Consider donating it to help kids in Africa, Asia, and Latin America get connected to the Internet. They need just about everything, as long as it's still in working condition. Check out this website for more information.

Big Brothers / Big Sisters: Have some free time? Like kids? Become a mentor and help change a kid's life, just by volunteering a bit of your time and attention. My mom volunteered as a Big Sister when I was a kid, and I remember that the girls she mentored added a lot to our family. Also, my brother was mentored by a Big Brothers volunteer who made a real difference, too. To find out more about the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, check out this website. Somewhere out there is a kid who could use a friend like you.

Little Brothers: Just as children need attention, so do the elderly, but -- sadly -- many people forget that fact. This organization is devoted to bringing social interaction, love, dignity, and friendship into the lives of the lonely and isolated elderly. You can volunteer to visit with one particular individual regularly, work as a party helper, drive a van to transport participants to special events, etc. Check out this website to find out if there's a Little Brothers location near you, and learn what you can do to help brighten the lives of the elderly.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA): Are you concerned about the needs of neglected and abused children? There are ways you can help, even if you work full-time and have no experience with the child welfare or legal systems. A CASA volunteer familiarizes him- or herself with a neglect/abuse court case, gets to know the child involved personally, and then makes recommendations to help a judge decide what course of action is in that child's best interest. My mom has been a CASA volunteer for several years now, and she finds the work very emotionally rewarding. These kids desperately need somebody who's willing to take the time to be on their side within "the system"!

Hopalong Animal Rescue: Do you live in Northern California? Want to help animals? Hopalong Rescue saves animals in danger of being euthanized in local animal shelters, then fosters them and helps to find them happy homes. (Our two cats, Cobweb and Munchkin, are Hopalong Rescue graduates. In fact, Munchkin would certainly have died without the help of Hopalong Rescue!) To help, you can donate animal food and supplies at local pet supply stores, volunteer to temporarily foster an animal in need, help with mobile adoptions, or even give some wonderful animal a loving new home. For more information, check out their website or ask at your local pet supply store.

JustGive.org: Want to learn about additional ways you can give to others? Check out this incredibly wonderful website, which has links to about a gazillion charities, volunteer opportunities, places to donate your old junk, etc. No matter what your interests or resources are, you can make a difference in the world!

Online Bookstores

If you've been buying books online through Amazon, please allow me to present you with some alternatives that help to support independent businesses, rather than huge monster corporations who try to devour the competition and eliminate diversity:

Powells: A great independent bookstore with an excellent selection of new and used books, including a large number of out-of-print titles. They also give free shipping if you spend more than $50, which is way cool. This is where I used to buy most of my online books, though more recently I must admit I have become lazy and just buy from Amazon because that's where I keep my wishlist. But Powells almost always has what I want, they send it quick, and they don't charge me for the postage. What more could I ask for?
Moe's: I must admit I've never bought from Moe's online -- because they are located about a 5-minute walk from my house -- but they're an incredibly cool bookstore with tons of new, used, and rare books.
Kenny's: A neat Irish bookstore Shannon and I discovered on our honeymoon. If you're really keen on British books (especially Irish books), check out their "Book Parcel" program. I subscribed to it until I couldn't afford it anymore, and they sent me incredibly cool books.
Elliott Bay Book Company: I haven't bought books from them online yet, but they're a fantastic bookstore in Seattle, with a great selection of new, used, and rare books. Similar to Powells, but -- as I said -- I haven't bought from them online yet (though I will probably try them next time, just to give them a test drive). If you ever get a chance to visit the store in the flesh, next time you're in Seattle, I energetically urge you to do so. They also have very cool author readings ... I saw my favorite author (John Crowley) read here several years ago, and I'll never forget it.

Buddhist Resources

So You Wanna Convert to Buddhism?: I love this page. Wait, let me word that a bit more strongly. I LOVE THIS PAGE! Ostensibly aimed at those who are thinking of becoming Buddhists, this page nonetheless offers the best relaxed, objective, not-too-serious introduction to Buddhism -- aimed at the average Westerner who might have some preconceptions -- that I've found online. I highly recommend reading this page if you want to know more about Buddhism. Or even if you're already a Buddhist. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll run out and join a monastery! Just kidding, of course. But it really is a fun introduction to Buddhism. If, however, you are a SERIOUS Buddhist and you take yourself oh-so-SERIOUSLY, avoid this page like the proverbial plague.

Green Gulch Farm: A Japanese Soto Zen practice center sheltered in the hills of Marin County, Calfornia, Green Gulch Farm is an independent Buddhist community where I have participated in meditation retreats. It is a very special place to me ... very beautiful and peaceful and cooperative. They host special one-day events periodically, but they also allow visitors to come to stay with them through a variety of different programs.

Berkeley Buddhist Priory: A Japanese Soto Zen sangha located (oddly enough) in Albany, just over the border from northern Berkeley. (They relocated at some point.) The prior, Reverend Kinrei, is a wonderful dharma instructor ... very personable and relaxed, very approachable. He lived a very colorful life before becoming a Buddhist monk, and it very much informs his teachings. The Priory has free meditation instruction every Thursday evening at 6:45pm, which everyone and anyone is welcome to attend, with no prior notice.

Empty Gate Zen Center: Another Zen Buddhist temple in my area, though this one follows the Korean "Kwan Um" school of Zen. I have really enjoyed dharma lectures by Jeff Kitzes -- the Abbot and Guiding Teacher of the center. The chanting before meditation at Empty Gate is done in Korean, which I found a bit awkward, but I suppose one adjusts eventually. Their theory is that it helps to achieve a non-thinking, meditative state.

DharmaNet International: An incredible online resource for all things Buddhisty.

Thich Nhat Han: Information about the Vietnamest Buddhist monk whose teachings have had the greatest influence on my own personal Buddhism. He's an amazing person.

Random Other Stuff

Skotos Tech: The online gaming company for which my husband, Shannon, is Vice-President. They've got lots of cool stuff here (including lots of interesting articles ... some of which I wrote), so if you're interested in online gaming, or even just in role-playing games, or even just in Shannon and what the heck he does with his days, check it out.

Our House: Yup, this is where we live. More information and pictures than you could possibly be interested in. Unfortunately all the photos are from before we bought the house, while it was still occupied by the previous owners' tenants, so it doesn't quite look like this inside anymore. But you'll get the idea.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB): Everything you ever wanted to know about movies. Want to know what other movies that little-known actress has been in? IMDB can tell you. Want to know what awards Casablanca won? IMDB can tell you. Basically, you never need to argue with your friends about movie trivia again ... just go look it up on IMDB and then you'll know. I use this site at least weekly.

Netflix: A really neat online company that delivers DVDs to your door for a monthly surcharge. Shannon and I have been subscribing to Netflix for a few years now, and it's incredibly cool! (For more complete and useful info on the movies themselves, however, I still go to IMDB, as listed above.)

Kabuki Springs: A spa with beautiful communal baths -- located in San Francisco's Japantown -- which I like to visit with my friends (or even alone, sometimes). I go to this website anytime I'm thinking about visiting Kabuki, because I can never remember which days are men's days for the communal baths and which days are women's days. The site lists all such info, along with details about all the services the spa offers.

Transit 511: Probably my most-often used site. It lists links to all major transit services in the Bay Area, including BART, buses, CalTrain, etc. From here, you can get bus timetables, BART maps, basically everything you need to get around this area.

Pandora: An excellent music site that creates custom "radio stations" (really just playlists) based on your stated tastes in music. You tell them a song or artist you like, and they play for you other music that is similar. It's a lot of fun.

LiveJournal: A large journaling site which includes both individual journals/blogs and community journals in which multiple writers interact about interests they share. It's a great place to find other people who are interested in the same things you are, and I have made a number of good friends there.