history pragmatic historian thought fodder

How Can We Improve Nonprofit Governance?

The inimitable Vu Le has written another thought-provoking blog post at Nonprofit AF. The post is called “The default nonprofit board model is archaic and toxic; let’s try some new models.” In it, Vu posits that 1/3 of nonprofit boards are helpful, 1/3 are useless, and 1/3 are harmful. That’s a lot of bad nonprofit boards. Vu suggests this isn’t necessarily about individuals who serve on boards; it’s more about the structure of nonprofit boards.…

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ideas observations thought fodder

New Frozen Pizza Law

I’m going to be imperious here for a moment and declare a new frozen pizza law. Regardless of the brand, all frozen pizzas from here on out MUST carry the same baking temperature. It is seriously annoying for those of us who buy two different brands for the same meal due to health issues (gluten-free vs. regular) to have to struggle over what temp to set the oven at. I’m not quite so concerned about…

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art inspiration observations

Woodpeckers & Thistles

As I’m out and about walking the dog or mowing the lawn or peering out a window or whatever, I’m keeping an eye on nature. I’m not sure if that makes me a naturalist or a phenologist or just curious about what’s going on around me, but I especially enjoy plants and birds. This year, a pair of woodpeckers built a nest in one of our oak trees. I had noticed that woodpeckers had made…

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