Being And Doing, Incorporated

What’s Going on With B.A.D.?

chris — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:11:01 +0000

We know that it has been a while since we have updated our website, and we have a very good explanation for such a lack of internet-space maintenance. Currently, Being And Doing, Inc. is back at home in Cleveland, Ohio. We will be stationed in our north shore barracks throughout the rest of 2009, and hopefully not too long in 2010. Our four-month service trip was very successful all around – financially, developmentally, for networking, and for our goal of promoting good, charitable work. Due to this success, the three of us want to do our best to expand and solidify our organization; and, since there are only three of us, we need to hunker down at home base and focus on development and fundraising.

So, what exactly are we doing? We are working on finalizing the steps to receive our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, here is a short explanation. A 501(c)(3) status is everything that a nonprofit organization hopes to be, i.e. tax-exempt. Once we have this status, we can apply for grants, seek out sponsors, network with both for-profit and non-profit entities with a solid legitimacy, and provide donors with a tax deduction. Once we get through the paperwork and revisions, we can seriously start planning our next steps.

In addition to seeking out our 501(c)(3) status, we are also looking into developing a small, independent board of directors. We are asking a diverse group of individuals to sit on our board so that any decisions that are made concerning our organization’s governance can be determined without any bias or speculation of bias. Also, it is the first step to expanding our organization’s operations and mission.

Katie is working on designing an e-newsletter so we can keep you up-to-date more directly. It has not been easy doing all the work that we have been doing in addition to telling everyone about it. We are hoping that a newsletter will help us have more direct contact with you and, hopefully, help spread the word to other interested parties that wouldn’t know about our group otherwise.

While we are home, and after we have finished with these preliminary necessities, we are going to work on setting up a group service project somewhere in the Northeast Ohio region so that we can invite you to come along. We want to find a need somewhere near home and invite all of our readers and supporters to come along. We will keep you posted.

So, while the three of us find some part-time work to keep some money in our pockets and pay off some bills, we also feverishly working on our mission. We’ve come a long way since we first decided to do this project a year ago, and we’re not ready to stop. We can only hope that in the near future we will have the ability to invite others to come along with us. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

Peace.

Fairfield Part 2: The Mullenneaux Family

chris — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:08:47 +0000

Anna's House Under Construction

Now on to the meat-and-potatoes work that Being And Doing, Inc. performed in Fairfield, IA with the Mullenneaux Family. Briggs Shore, the SLC’s Program Coordinator, introduced us to the Mullenneauxs because they were working on their own building projects and she thought the our services might be put to better use in their employ. Little did we know that this introduction would lead to a month and a half of service and fellowship.

The Mullenneaux Family consists of Hap (short for Happy) and Lin; their daughter, Anna; and Hap’s mother Mazee (there are more members of the family, but these are the four who live on the land next to the SLC). A few years ago, Hap and Lin made the conscious decision to live in conjunction with the Earth by building and living in natural structures, relying on their garden for food and energy, and by living off the grid. When we arrived, they were busy building a large timber-frame straw bale house for Mazee and a small straw bale/cob house for Anna.

Note: The mission of Being And Doing, Inc. is to perform volunteer service and promote the work of nonprofit organizations across the board. While the Mulleneauxs are not an officially recognized NPO, they most certainly fulfill the definition of nonprofit. As an “unofficial” nonprofit, they do not take any profit from their sustainable practices aside from necessities for life. In addition, their homestead serves as a teaching tool and living example for people who are interested in sustainability (much like the SLC without the organizational structure), a service that is testified to by the many people who arrived during our workdays just to look at the structures and ask advice of Hap and Lin for their own respective building projects.

Hap and Lin built their cob house last year. Cob is a regionally unique mixture of sand, clay, and straw that dries into a cement-like building material. Their home is simple and small, but as Lin says, “The land is their home.” The house has a dining/living area, a small office nook that has an internet-enabled computer running on a solar panel, and an upstairs loft for sleeping quarters. They cook meals in an outdoor kitchen that has a propane grill and storage for foodstuffs. There are several rainbarrels for collecting water for cooking and cleaning (any water that is ingested is filtered first). They use a composting toilet. They eat soups and salads from their garden daily (a practice that the members of BAD, Inc. came to love and appreciate). All-in-all, the Mullenneauxs have created a space for themselves and their family that relies on the principle of respect; respect the Earth and, in turn, it will respect and provide for you.

In the six weeks that BAD, Inc. spent with this wonderful group of people, we helped complete many parts of their building projects. In Mazee’s house, we aided the process of plastering the interior, preparing the floor for wood boards, and sanding the flooring after it was laid. Our main project, however, was the overall construction of Anna’s house in order to have it ready for occupation by the time the winter months rolled around.

BAd, Inc. with John, Hap, and Lin in front of Anna's House

When we arrived, Anna’s foundation had been laid and two levels of straw bale had been placed. After we helped place the rest of the bales in position to serve as the structure for the house, it was time for the cobbing process. The process involves mixing clay (from the very land we were building on), sand, and straw by stomping with one’s feet (much like crushing grapes), and by molding the finished mixture into the walls of the house. We helped cob the interior and exterior of the house from the ground up, a time-consuming and overall enjoyable project. After the cobbing was finished, we helped plaster the exterior of the house with a natural plaster composed of clay, sand, straw, and manure. By the time we left Fairfield, the entire structure of the house was completed, including a wood-framed roof that was prepped to be turned into a green roof (covered in soil and plants).

The Mullenneaux’s philosophy of life and the homestead that they have created are beacons for a brighter, simpler, and happier future. Positive change will not occur if we all sit around waiting for it, and this family has certainly taken the initiative to change their own lives for the betterment of themselves and the world around them. Natural building and sustainable living practices are a real possibility (and many would say necessity) for future development.

Thank you Hap, Lin, Mazee, and Anna for your honesty, kindness, and lunches!

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” –Anne Frank

Fairfield Part 1: Sustainable Living Coalition

chris — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:26:30 +0000

Being And Doing, Inc. spent the past month and a half in Fairfield, IA (August 22 – October 3). Prior to arriving in Fairfield, we had been trying to maintain a precedent of staying in any given location for about a week, but this small town in southeastern Iowa managed to capture our hearts and minds in such a way that necessitated a longer sojourn.

We decided to stop in Fairfield because Chris McNulty’s long-time friend (and godbrother), Mike Tapley, offered a place to stay and some interesting connections for our organization. He had originally lined up an introduction to the Sustainable Living Coalition, hoping that we might be able to find some volunteer opportunities with them. After a brief introduction to the SLC and sincere regrets for being unable to provide us with any long-term labor, we were redirected to the SLC’s friends and neighbors, the Mullenneaux Family.

Before explaining the work we did with the Mullenneauxs, we are going to devote the first part of our Fairfield article to the SLC and the important work that they do. The Sustainable Living Coalition is “a non-profit organization empowering individuals and communities to live fully rooted in the abundant flows of natural systems. [They] are primarily an education and demonstration organization holding classes and workshops on sustainable living.” Located on twelve acres of land, the SLC is building a working example of permaculture and sustainable living practices to provide teaching and learning opportunities for students and interested individuals.

We met Briggs Shore, the SLC’s Program Coordinator, in a straw-bale structure that serves as the SLC’s office and classroom. She gave us a small tour of the SLC’s structure and land, complete with wind turbines, rain barrels, and a solar oven. The entryway to the SLC building is lined on either side by beautiful, well-tended gardens. Students from the Maharishi University of Management, located in Fairfield, attend workshops and lectures at the SLC as a part of their program.

Briggs explained their next sustainable project to us: two econest structures designed by natural building expert Robert Laporte that would serve as dormitories for permaculture students. On the day we arrived, the foundations for these structures were just being laid. These structures utilize “timber framing, clay/straw walls, earth plastering and natural, non-toxic finishes throughout” (econest.com). Students from the universities permaculture program were going to be involved in the construction of these econests to both learn about natural building and to facilitate in their quick construction.

Although we did not have the opportunity to work with the SLC very much, we did manage to help out on some board cutting and stone-laying for the foundation of one of the econests. In addition, we set up the classroom for a lecture and Andrew helped construct a workbench.

The SLC represents a new movement in infrastructure development. In recent times, the common form of construction has devolved into quick and cheap structures that do not take the surrounding environment into account for the sake of quick profit. The SLC and other organizations like it are leading the charge in promoting and educating the use of sustainable materials and building practices in order to reunite people with the planet. Straw bale walls, natural plasters, clean electricity, rainwater collection: these are all readily available means of developing a clean, biologically-friendly infrastructure that are ready for implementation. Thanks to people and organizations, like the SLC, that are doing the research and objective experimentation into such important practices, perhaps the future of “how we live” will be one of returning back to the basics and utilizing technology to reunite us with the environment, rather than to separate us from it completely.

Mount Pleasant Food Project/ Campus Grow

katie — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:58:00 +0000

one of the three signs

After our stay in Manistee National Forest, we spent the week of August 16th in Mount Pleasant, Michigan helping Chris Venegas and some of his fellow students on their Campus Grow Endeavor, which is part of a larger mission known as the Mount Pleasant Food Project.

“The grassroots Mount Pleasant Food Project was born in January of 2009. It is a community-based nonprofit (in development) that is focusing on the many ways reuniting with our food can improve a community’s quality of life. Their mission is to educate students and neighbors about local food systems and enact educational community gardens in schools and neighborhoods. The MPFP’s first endeavor is Campus Grow: a series of three garden sites on Central Michigan University’s campus, totaling about 30,000 sq. ft. The MPFP is collaborating with local businesses and schools to establish the many facets of a healthy, sustainable local food system in hopes of providing more nourishing diets for students, the poor, the rich, the young and old while minimizing the negative environmental impacts.”

Chris Venegas is one of the four interns working on Campus Grow; the others are Josh Black, Jessica Gibbons, and Zack Robinson. We met Chris through his mother, Ramona Degeorgio-Venegas, Manistee’s Outdoor Recreation Planner, and the wonderful woman who guided us through our work with the forest service. Towards the end of our week in Manistee, we hadn’t made any definite plans for our next stop, until Mona told us about her son, Chris, and the help he could use on the project.

When we arrived at Chris’s house on Sunday he told us some history about the young MPFP and its Campus Grow Endeavor, mentioning that they had only recently gotten their hands on the campus garden plots. The situation became clear very quickly: these few students are simultaneously developing a nonprofit and preparing 30,000 sq. ft. of land for seeds in the short time before frost. We knew there would be plenty of work for us to do.

We went to work the very next morning, after Chris cooked up some eggs and veggies for the four of us. We spent the day tilling, weeding and seeding in one of the garden plots. This type of garden work lasted throughout most of the week, which is understandable, considering the plots collectively occupy a very large area of land, and also, that physical labor is easily delegated to volunteers. Early on in the week, however, Chris mentioned some other things they could use help with; one being guidance on the paperwork and process of developing a nonprofit (Chris McNulty’s new area of expertise), as well as the creation of a Campus Grow logo or design for signs, fliers, and t-shirts (Katie Michalko’s area of interest). So while Andrew continued work in the gardens, Chris McNulty spent some time sharing knowledge and experience about navigating through all the jargon and mounds of paperwork, and Katie developed a design for Campus Grow, and spent several days oil-painting it on three wooden boards to be used in the gardens.

The Mount Pleasant Food Project and Campus Grow are youth-led initiatives that are literally being developed from the ground up. In our modern age of fast food and mass-production factory farms, our relationship to the food that we eat has become one of “I don’t care where it came from as long as it tastes good.” Campus G row is an effort to combat this mentality by making it easy for people to get their hands dirty and to nurture their food from seedling to salad. It expresses the importance of not only knowing where one’s food comes, but also understanding the beauty of growing plants properly. Perhaps if we get back to the roots of our energy source through proper nutrition and a symbiotic relationship with the Earth that provides our energy needs, maybe we will finally gain an insight into how we can live in harmony with Natural Law and regain control of our own well-beings.

Hey, Wha’ Happened?

andrew — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:57:54 +0000

Dear B.A.D. Friends,

A thousand apologies for “being” so tardy with our updates because we are so busy “doing”. Being And Doing has been in the amazing city of Fairfield, Iowa for the past three weeks being extremely constructive in the most literal sense. We have been volunteering on the land of a family that is dedicated to creating green sustainable structures through the art of natural building. B.A.D. has been helping the Mullenneaux Family construct a house for their daughter Anna, in addition to plastering the walls of her grandmother’s house. Natural building is a new concept to Being And Doing and we have been learning how to create functional and beautiful works of earth. We helped build a cob/straw bale house from the foundation up, almost to completion, in the weeks that we have been here. We are excited to be involved in the construction of a home for someone to live in. The walls of this house are structured with the bales of straw and insulated in and out with cob, a regionally-unique mixture of sand, clay, and straw. Almost all the materials for cob can be found on the land on which we are building. The Mullenneauxs are pioneering the return to a way of life that revolves around “homestead,” while being both enviornmentally and fiscally responsible.

We have had a continued stay in Fairfield due to a blown water pump in our hand-painted 1985 VW Vanagon. Luckily, we were pointed in the direction of Jerry, the namesake of Jerry’s Country Bug Works. Thankfully, Jerry was our gift from heaven! Jerry has worked on many vehicles like ours and said that he would be more than willing to give our “BADmobile” a looksie . The day after it was towed to Jerry’s, he sent Being And Doing an email with detailed images of our van’s engine and the the work that he felt confident to complete. Our van is our home: office, kitchen, creative contemplation room, music box and transportation; it’s health is the health of our organization, so we confidently palced it in the hands of Dr. Jerry. In the time that it has taken for our van to recuperate, the roof has been constructed on top of Anna’s strong naturally-built bale-cob walls.

Our van’s fatigue could not have been a bigger blessing in any other town (as far as we are concerned). We would not have had the chance to work so intimately with such incredibly dedicated groups and individuals. Serendipity has abounded. We will provide more detailed description and narrative as soon as we leave Fairfield, so as to encompass as much of our experience and development (both individually and as an organization) as possible. We have focused on working and networking these past couple of weeks, and we will let you know where we stand soon enough.

Thank you for your patience and continued support,

Peace and Love,

Being and Doing

Manistee National Forest

chris — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:30:53 +0000

B.A.D., Inc. provided its services to Manistee National Forest in Northeastern Michigan during the week of August 10 (Monday 8/10 – Friday 8/14). Under the guidance of Ramona Degeorgio-Venegas, Manistee’s Outdoor Recreation Planner, we were put to task wood-staining an observation deck and newly-built bridge and installing a disc golf course in one of the Forest’s recreation areas.

Once again, Being And Doing, Inc. hooked up with our nation’s largest nonprofit organization, the U.S. Government. While we are sure that there is some debate as to whether our country’s leadership deserves that designation and/or our volunteer labor, B.A.D., Inc. believes that the less high-profile aspects of the government can and should be aided without any hesitation (such as the National Forest Service).

“The Huron-Manistee National Forests comprise almost a million acres of public lands extending across the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. The Huron-Manistee National Forests provide recreation opportunities for visitors, habitat for fish and wildlife, and resources for local industry.” Manistee National Forest is an expansive haven for trees, shrubs, wildlife, and the enjoyment of nature-buffs. It is professionally and lovingly maintained by the members of the Forest Service who have made it their responsibility to ensure its continuity as a place of growth and personal respite.

B.A.D. arrived on Monday morning without any premonition as to what we would be doing or even how we would be able to help such a large on-going process. Thankfully, Ramona immediately took us under her wing and found labor for us that would be of some benefit to the Forest for years to come. Our first task was to stain a two-tiered observation deck along the dunes of Lake Michigan. After a day and a half of work, the deck was enhanced both aesthetically and defensively. The second half of this two-day staining spree was spent on a newly-built bridge, a replacement for one that had been washed away during the previous season. After the paintbrushes were put away, B.A.D. was asked to help build a disc golf course in an underused recreation area in the Forest. After digging holes, pouring concrete, and installing baskets, the Udell Rollways Recreation Area is now a place for outdoor recreation aficionados to congregate.

The National Forest Service serves as a mediator between wildlife and man. It ensures that the Forests are safe for “civilized” human beings and, in turn, that the Forests are safe from their “uncivilized” counterparts. The recipients of the National Park Service are both human and non-human alike, which is why it is such a vital part of our country’s, and globe’s, infrastructure.

As a quick note, and since we have worked with both Services, we think it would be interesting to make the distinction between the National Park Service and the National Forest Service. According to the National Park Service website:

“National parks emphasize strict preservation of pristine areas. They focus on protecting natural and historic features plus light-on-the-land recreation. The ultimate goal is to preserve resources ‘unimpaired for future generations.’ Park rangers work for the National Park Service (NPS) under the Department of the Interior.”

-and-

“National forests, on the other hand, emphasize not only resource preservation, but other kinds of use as well. Under this concept of ‘multiple use’, national forests are managed to provide Americans with a wide variety of services and commodities, including lumber, cattle grazing, mineral products and recreation with and without vehicles. The national forests are managed by forest rangers with the US Forest Service (USFS) under the Department of Agriculture.” ~”What’s in a Name?” February 9, 1997. http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/nps_usfs.htm (August 19, 2009.)

Check out the Huron-Manistee National Forests to plan your next vacation or to research ways in which you can help.

St. Jude House

chris — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:32:37 +0000

Being And Doing, Inc. arrived in Chicago on Sunday, August 2, 2009 to spend the following week working at St. Jude House (SJH) in Crown Point, IN. Due to an engagement with Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly on Wednesday and our van’s temperamentality on Thursday, we were available to volunteer on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday (Aug. 3, 4, and 7).

“St. Jude House is a family violence shelter and prevention center that has provided comprehensive services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault since 1995.” It operates out of a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility that was built to serve both as a shelter and as a communal living space for those in need of safety and empowerment.

St. Jude House has mirrored windows to prevent people outside from seeing who is inside, security cameras to make sure that the perimeter is secure, and electronically-locked doors so that no one can enter the building without being let in by an SJH employee. All of this security is in place outside of the building so that the interior can serve as a rehabilitating/counseling haven for men, women and children who have experienced both physical and mental abuse. After empowering oneself to leave an abusive relationship, feeling secure is of the utmost importance when trying to determine what path to follow in order get back on one’s feet. St. Jude House ensures this sense of security from the get-go.

Once welcomed into the St. Jude community, every person’s program revolves around self-determination. Each client is expected to set his or her own goals for the six-week program. Each and every man, woman or child that is in St. Jude House has had a uniquely difficult experience, and SJH caters to that by allowing clients to determine the course that their personal program will take. For the adult victims of abuse, SJH focuses on empowerment through legal advice, counseling, case management, finding a job, etc. For the children victims, SJH focuses on normalization by enrolling them in school and providing outlets for them to play, and important aspect missing from the lives of children who grow up in distressing situations.

While the bedrooms are all private, the living spaces are communal, including an enormous kitchen for community dining. St. Jude House works to show its clients the importance of balancing both reliance of self and trust of community, two factors that can be destroyed in an abusive relationship.

The members of B.A.D., Inc. helped St. Jude House with some basic maintenance work. We organized their clothing donation room, power-washed the windows and exterior siding, trimmed the bushes, painted the basement stairs, marked the expiration dates on food items in the pantry, and painted the two bathrooms in the clients’ living area. Since SJH focuses its energy on helping victims who are commonly in fragile conditions, we put our energy into helping them with some basic labor so that they can focus on the more important tasks-at-hand.

Physical abuse and mental abuse are intrinsically horrendous forms of the master-slave relationship (a concept developed by G.W.F. Hegel), wherein the person in power defines him- or herself by dominance. The victim of such a relationship, in turn, defines him- or herself by subordination; and breaking this cycle is not an easy feat, especially for the victim. Thankfully, St. Jude House has the shelter and the resources necessary to help the victims who have the strength and courage to ask for help. When a person who is ready to turn away from an abusive relationship, the most necessary thing for that person’s survival is a compassionate someone-to-turn-to. St. Jude House and its entire staff are this compassionate-someone.

On behalf of Being And Doing, thank you to St. Jude House for all of the great, necessary work that you do for our in-need brothers and sisters.

Check out St. Jude House and find out how you can help them advance their mission to protect and empower victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault at http://www.stjudehouse.org.

Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly, Chicago Chapter

chris — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:16:28 +0000

Being And Doing, Inc. was invited to spend an afternoon luncheon on Wednesday, August 5 with the Little Brothers—Friends of the Elderly, Chicago Chapter. We arrived around 11:30am (after a momentary lapse of van power), and spent the next three hours dining with an optimistically energetic group of volunteers and local elderly.

Little Brothers—Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) is a “national network of non-profit, volunteer-based organizations committed to relieving isolation and loneliness among the elderly. [They] offer to people of good will the opportunity to join the elderly in friendship and celebration of life.” In other words, their mission is to help senior citizens who do not have necessary interpersonal connections (i.e. friends and family) feel their intrinsic value through friendship and sincere kindness. Their services are free, and last year they “served 1,000 elders, with the indispensable help of 1,625 volunteers giving more than 52,300 hours of their time.”

LBFE Chicago moved into a beautiful new facility in 1998 (355 N. Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60607), which is where B.A.D., Inc. volunteered at one of their weekly lunches. The interior of the building is open with high ceilings and bright colors to encourage the flow of positive energy throughout, while also maintaining mental stimulation by alternating colors and wall textures. This three-story building serves as the hub for LBFE’s services, which include home-visiting, holiday celebrations, vacations, and intergenerational social functions (anything and everything to make their elderly friends feel part of a family).

Being And Doing, Inc. took part in a Motown-themed Wednesday luncheon. If there is a preconception that volunteering is valuable only if it provides a tangible service, let go of that idea before entering Little Brothers—Friends of the Elderly. We were not there to cook or to mop the floors. The challenge given to us for the afternoon was to honestly and earnestly enjoy ourselves, and to express that enjoyment to our fellow diners. While we savored a fine meal (grapes, cheese and crackers, chicken noodle soup, pork chops, and macaroni and cheese), we shared stories and histories, collaborated on a Motown quiz, and enjoyed the entertainment provided by Mr. Taps, a talented local dancer.

B.A.D. at Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly

LBFE is a volunteer-based organization, which means that the meal was both prepared and served by volunteers, and the people who came to enjoy the meal with the elderly guests were also voluntarily present. The fact that the bulk of LBFE’s services are provided by volunteers is very important to their overall mission because true friends do not fulfill their function in order to gain any type of profit from the relationship. LBFE’s motto is “flowers before bread,” which expresses their belief in the primal importance of respect and kindness. It is more important to foster a desire for the beauty of life rather than aiding the perpetuation of physical existence without meaning. LBFE works to create and maintain meaning.

Little Brothers—Friends of the Elderly helps to ensure that we do not forget the utter importance and uniqueness of all life. In the popular culture of today, youth is prioritized (if not idolized) and life is most certainly speeding up due to the evolution of technology. In this type of environment, those of our fellow human beings who are accustomed to a slower pace can easily get lost in the shuffle. Thanks to LBFE and similar organizations, the elders of modern society are receiving the necessary attention and helping hands they need and deserve.

Little Brothers—Friends of the Elderly is a national organization, so look to see if you have one nearby. If not, you might just need to book a volunteer-vacation. Check out LBFE at http://www.littlebrothers.org/.

Invasive Plants Take Over Maine’s Volunteers

andrew — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:50:03 +0000

Invasive plant-life and volunteerism are seemingly two completely separate concepts, however, an ecologist from Acadia National Park explains why and how they are fully integrated with each other. In addition, she presents her expert analysis on the growing threat of invasive plant-life and its impact on native ecosystems.

Back at Home Base!

chris — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:53:19 +0000

Being And Doing has just arrived back at BAD Headquarters in Lakewood, Ohio after a month and a half on the road. We decided it was prime time to reconnect with our families and friends, while also getting some logistical work done for our organization, before we head out any farther.

We got in a few minutes ago, on Saturday, July 11th, and we’re planning on sticking around for no more than several nights, so as not to lose momentum.

We’ll keep you posted about our plans for our next stops once we figure that out for ourselves!

As always, we do need your input and suggestions to get us to our next stop, so now’s the time to throw out any ideas you may have!