You can read more about CR art prof Garth Johnson in next week’s Art Beat, but for now, drop everything and hustle to College of the Redwoods to hear this smart, funny and accomplished man breeze through the history of creative reuse. After the historical part – and, please note, our era is notable for being the only time in which recycling and reusing are not instinctive – Garth’ll share the director’s cut version of his new book, 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse that features, you guessed it: 1,000 different projects by artists, designers and craftsmen from around the world that incorporate reused, recycled or repurposed items.

The lecture is today in CR’s Forum Theater from noon to 1 p.m. If you can’t make that, visit him at Booklegger (E & Two Street) during Arts Alive! tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m.

You can also visit his website, Extreme Craft. More info at (707) 476-4177.

Facebook fanatics: If this works — fingers crossed — you can now get updates from the Blogthing right there in your “friendstream,” or whatever the hell it’s called.

How does it work? Just become a fan of the NCJ on our Facebook fan page. When a new post hits the Blogthing … boom! Your friendstream is friended with the hot info. Feel free to “like” or “poke” it, or just gripe at us in the comments. Write on our “wall.” Go crazy.

Twitter users have enjoyed this mind-blowing service for weeks now, and we are thrilled to finally extend it to the rival tribe.