— CiaoCatherine

Network of Nice: Or why you should know Amber

Sarah Von of Yes and Yes created the Network of Nice, a nifty conduit of helpful hookups for those seeking or proferring help from strangers on the internet.  Some of the asks/offers are pretty specific categorically.  My soul sistah and friend of over a decade, Amber, is on the homepage today seeking like-minded friends in Orlando:

I want to meet people in Orlando
I’d love to meet people. I live in Orlando, Florida. I’m 25 years old, I teach students with learning disabilities. I’m currently working towards my masters in exceptional education at UCF. I’m looking to meet someone new, anyone, someone cool that I can have coffee with and maybe even bitch a little bit about how wonderful but exhausting graduate school is. I’m easy to talk to, I promise. I have tons of cool teacher stories about the students I teach. I love teaching, I love art, and I love conversation. My life right now is surrounded by a sea of people getting married and having babies, none of which I’m quite ready for. I enjoy day trips around Florida and the perks of being 25, like going out dancing to mo-town music until I can’t see straight!
amber (dot) hand (at) gmail (dot) com

Amber is a superhero – she is often the last hope for many teenagers she works with, after parents and “the system” have given up on them.  She is a fantastic cook and stellar photographer and collagist, and well versed in the fine art of conversation.  Be prepared: she may not just make small talk with you.  She’s good at getting to the core of your desires and motives before you are halfway done with your mug of tea.  Thank goodness for video chat–we don’t see each other in person very much anymore, being a thousand miles apart and all–but it’s a beautiful thing to check in on a Sunday afternoon and show each other the ridiculous vegetables we picked up at our respective neighborhood farmers markets that morning and plot out the delicious things we will make from them that week.

If you live in Orlando, or know someone who does and you think they are awesome too, make some magic happen.  You’d be lucky to know her.