Year of Giving

Ilana at work at the bookstore (Photo: Reed)

Last Tuesday I was at the bookstore perusing the book shelves…something I do a lot.  I was keeping my eye out for someone to give my $10 to and found Ilana, a clerk at the shop.  

Ilana got a job at the bookstore partly because she enjoys reading and partly because she had a friend that used to work there.  I was interested in what authors she liked and she said that she really enjoyed the works of the late Douglas Adams.  Adams was the English author who was probably most famous for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  I didn’t realize it until now that Adams died in 2001 due to a sudden heart attack at the young age of 49.

I sometimes find myself reading a book that I just lose interest in and can’t finish.  I asked her if she ever finds herself reading books that she simply doesn’t like.  She said she felt that way about Sophie’s World.  Despite selling more than 30 million copies worldwide, Ilana just didn’t care for Norweigan author Jostein Gaarder’s philosophical novel.

Ilana’s real passion though is dance.  She has been performing modern dance professionally for some time and is currently involved in coordinating several Flash Mobs around town.  If you have no idea what Flash Mobs are don’t worry.  Wikipedia defines it as:

A large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.  The term is generally not applied to events organized by public relations firms, protests, and publicity stunts.

I have a feeling that Ilana would take issue with Wikipedia’s use of the word “pointless”, but I think you get the idea.  Basically she serves as a catalyst to get large groups of people together at a predetermined time and place and perform a dance in public.  Ilana took a minute to share some information about a current project.

I asked Ilana if there was anything I could post on the Lend a Hand section for her.  She said that she didn’t really know of anything that she needed but that she would really like to see some of the followers from the Year of Giving show up at some of the Flash Mobs.  So check out the website and take a moment to learn and perform some of the dances.  It costs nothing to participate.  This is a perfect opportunity for Rob from Day 117 to get back into dance!  But don’t wait; this year’s Dance is the Answer Flash Mobs end May 2^nd!

Oh, I almost forgot.  She said she was going to use her $10 to help buy some food and drinks for a little get-together at her place.