My regular readers know I am a big (figuratively and literally) proponent of not only speaking out publicly on the issues that matter to you as an individual, but of going a step further to actually do something about them. Well, dear readers (*waves* at all three of them… *snort*), today is no different.

Why?

Because it’s Skip A Starbucks Day!!!

 And those of you who read this blog regularly (see my assault on Elmo) or know me, know just how important my morning coffee is!!!

Sometimes the issues we are asked to act on are very obviously global – like the right to water or campaigning for an international climate treaty.

Sometimes the issues – like the flooding tragedy in Pakistan – force us to examine in ourselves and those around us what we really believe to be our common humanity.

And sometimes, when fortune is smiling, we get the opportunity to reach out a helping hand and profoundly change the lives of a few individuals – to really do something tangible that contributes to making this world just a little bit nicer for everyone.

@CJRedwine and her family are nearing the end of a five-year journey to adopt a baby girl from China. Delays in the process caused by broader geopolitical concerns of the Chinese government have cost the family time, heartache and additional expense. The waiting, refilling and increased costs have eroded the family’s financial cushion. Now with their long-awaited goal finally in sight, the family is in need of help to bring their little girl – Joanna Faith — home.

Thus, Skip A Starbucks Day (which actually runs August 23 – 26)!

(more…)

What’s that old saying? People who live in glass houses really shouldn’t look in the mirror?!? … well, something like that …

No matter how realistically you think you view yourself, there are certain aspects of our individual nature or personality that we all like to ignore or hide away from the general public.

Trouble is, sometimes life forces you to look in the mirror and find an ugly truth. *sigh*

Sometimes the knowledge comes courtesy of a friend. Sometimes it comes courtesy of a life event.

And sometimes, just sometimes, it comes compliments of a 6-foot tall red furry monster that is supposed to be teaching babies and toddlers, not 30-something year olds, about the world.

(more…)

As per my own weird-little-norm-of-obsessive-news-following I have been tracking the floods in Pakistan for a couple of weeks. I quietly did my part, sending what I could to help affected families.

But it wasn’t until this morning that I decided to come out publicly and urge people to get involved.

Why?

Because according to numerous new reports, like this one from Canada’s Globe and Mail, two major reasons relief agencies are having such a hard time raising funds to help people in the affected areas are:

Not enough global media coverage.

Pakistan suffers from an image deficit.

(more…)

In a way it’s sort of galling to get a lesson in personal and civic responsibility from a nearly 3,000-year old vampire.

But when Russell Edgington — the heartbroken, blood-crazed vampire king of Mississippi — took to the airwaves on last night’s episode of True Blood to berate humans for thinking they are equal with vampires and deconstruct arguments that humans and vampires are alike, that’s exactly what happened.

And I quote:

I suppose, in a few small ways, we are. We’re narcissists. We care only about getting what we want no matter the cost … just like you.

Global warming, perpetual war, toxic waste, child labor, torture, genocide … that’s a small price to pay for your SUVs, and your flat screen TVs. Your designer jeans; Your absurd, garish McMansions! … futile symbols of permanence to quell your quivering spineless souls …

Ok, so let’s forget for a second this admonition was delivered by a being

that eats humans for dinner.

Let’s ignore the fact his diatribe was delivered while

holding a bloody portion of a human’s spine.

Let’s also skip over the really ewwww-y fact that the King spent much of last night’s episode crying over a ridiculously ornate punch bowl filled with the splattered remains of his dead mate.

The man (er … vampire) has a point …

(more…)

Before the post-BlogHer10 glow fades and I feel duty-bound to return to my usual offerings of political and human rights pop culture babble (which, incidentally, is very likely to keep me off the invite lists for the really cool soirees for years to come) I want to share some lessons I learned during my New York adventure.

For those not in the know (in other words, me 5 months ago) the BlogHer annual conference is a gathering of (predominantly) female bloggers from around the United States and Canada. There are mommy bloggers, fashion bloggers, coupon clipping bloggers, funny bloggers, special needs bloggers and pretty much every possible kind of “blogger” you can think of.  The conference is a place to learn and schmooze and wear your feet down to bloody stumps.

And this is what I learned ….

1 – Reaffirmation!

Hands down, the BEST part of the BlogHer experience is discovering the people you meet online are as sweet, caring, beautiful and smart in real life as they are on the Internet. It’s a real relief if, like me, you find yourself often wondering if these beings you tweet, chat or otherwise “connect” with online are actually real, live people and not just some Terminator-esque machine playing a sick joke.

(more…)

“I have signed up to participate in the Clean Water Blogivation campaign. If my blog receives the most votes, I will win an opportunity to join Dr. Greg Allgood on a clean water expedition to Africa and a $15,000 donation to my favorite charity tackling water issues.”

Few days ago, Proctor & Gamble’s GIVE HEALTH program launched the Clean Water Blogivation campaign asking bloggers to post about water issues and their desire to foment change – and to then urge their friends and readers to vote for the entry. The post with the most votes wins $15,000 to donate to their water-related charity of choice.

EVERY TIME YOU VOTE,  (and you can vote EVERY day) P&G will donate

a day’s worth of clean drinking water to an individual in a developing country.

You can vote now, here:

(NOTE: Remember to click through boxes OR the verification email they send! I didn’t … so my own vote didn’t count the first time!)

Per the campaign’s rules, I am supposed to say why I am, or want to be, a Change Agent to help provide clean drinking water to people in developing countries.

It’s actually a harder question to answer than I would have thought. 

I live my life according to something my mother used to say to me often – that our purpose, our duty, in life is to the leave world in a better place than when we entered.

You’ll hardly find it surprising, then, that I am a former Peace Corps volunteer, or that I spent my war correspondent years in the Balkans, Middle and Asia searching out the untold human stories – particularly those related to women and children.

I lived abroad for 11 years in countries where acquiring simple things like medicine, water, food and shelter are a daily challenge for hundreds of millions of people. It should not be like this, plain and simple. There’s no reason for it. And no justification.

The United Nations, at least, agrees. A couple of weeks ago the General Assembly backed a resolution confirming access to clean water and sanitation facilities as basic human rights. The measure got 122 countries’ votes – 41 abstained, but none voted against it. Unsurprisingly, but unfortunately, the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia were among those who abstained from the vote.

In my mind, there should be no question that every single member of our global family should have regular access to clean drinking water.  And even with the UN’s affirmation, it will be years before every person on the planet is able to enjoy that right. Which means we still have to act. We must remain involved.

I am a campaigner, as my regular readers know, on everything from human trafficking and freedom of speech, to hunger and maternal health issues. And I am always searching for ways to get more people involved in helping to make our world a better, safer, more healthy place for everyone.

So I urge my fellow bloggers to give a post to the campaign – get involved. It costs nothing, takes only a few minutes and is something we can all feel good about.

If you can’t give a post, please vote. For me. For others. For someone. Or someones. In exchange for a few seconds of your time, an individual in a developing country will receive a day’s worth of drinking water.

I can’t think of a better use of our time.

Ok, truth time.

The run-up to the BlogHer conference later this week in New York City, and all the pre-conference #dayjob meetings I have after coming off a 6 a.m. flight into JFK airport have got my brain a bit scattered.

Full disclosure? I’m so frazzled I freaked myself out earlier today when talking to #TBFF @AspiringMama when I got it in my head that I am leaving tomorrow.  It is actually @AspiringMama who is leaving tomorrow. With all the packing, the organizing, the regular day job tasks, house cleaning, vet visits, prescription filling and dead camera batteries, can you blame me?

What I find particularly amusing about my current state of mind is that while I am attending a major blogging conference where I have been named a Voices of the Year finalist no less, I am not really blogging this week! How’s that for irony? Or slacking? Or …. Well, you get the picture.

But I always post on Mondays so I didn’t want to leave you all with nothing to show for visiting my little blog. (… and, honestly, with 4 minutes left in the day on the U.S. East Coast I won’t make it … but Central and Pacific time zones can still read this on Monday so that counts. Right. Right?!? Yes, right.)

(more…)

For the second time in two months, my heart is with the North Korean football (soccer) team.

News reports say the team – which turned in a gutsy and sportsmanlike performance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – and its coach have been publicly shamed in a 6-hour harangue by party officials and ministers. As the Telegraph wrote:

The players were subjected to a “grand debate” on July 2 because they failed in their “ideological struggle” to succeed in South Africa, Radio Free Asia and South Korean media reported.

The team’s coach, Kim Jong-hun, was reportedly forced to become a builder and has been expelled from the Workers’ Party of Korea.

The coach was punished for “betraying” Kim Jong-un – one of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il’s sons and heir apparent.

Following ideological criticism, the players were then allegedly forced to blame the coach for their defeats.

Sure North Korea went out in the first round.

Yes, they lost miserably to Portugal 7- 0.

And, yes, *sigh* it is hardly surprising

to hear the North Korean regime express displeasure.

But the truth is that the ruling cadres are just missing the point.

(more…)

Why is True Blood better than Twilight? And why should you care?

I’ve got a whole list of reasons why True Blood wins the (a-HEM) day.

And unless you are living under a rock, in a cave, or in Tora Bora … wait. That’s caves too …. Well, you know what I mean …. Vampires are everywhere! It’s unavoidable once the sun goes down.

So if you are going to be held captive by the undead, you might as well go with the vamps that actually have something to say besides “I vant to suck your blood.”

• True Blood often jumps around, over and through bigger issues – such as gay bashing, discrimination, fear, societal stigma, and politics. It may be coated in corn-syrup-blood, but the issues are there.
• UPDATE: This post drew some comments reflecting Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer’s (friendly) charity contest – check out the comment from NotHoney below and click the link to participate!!!
• Sookie Stackhouse is tougher and feistier than Bella Swan.
• I am totally Team Edward — and all for innovation — but vampires just should not “sparkle.”
• Alexander Skarsgard burns … and no, not because he’s taken his character Eric Northman out into the sun (at least, not yet) but because there is just something about that smile.
• Pop out fangs are the bomb.
• Supporting characters in True Blood have almost as much depth as the leads.
• The acting is better. Or the scripts are….
• A television series allows for more character development (and time to fix mistakes).
• Twilight doesn’t have Nelsan “Lafayette” Ellis, Mariana “Lorena” Klovena, or Kristin “Pam” Bauer.
• True Blood characters speak in tongues … other than English, that is. (But I have to say I’ll be disappointed if no Bulgarian pops up somewhere in the series.)

In at least one area – werewolves – I think Twilight is ahead of the pack. The Quileute American Indian wolves from Twilight are seriously cool. The werewolves in True Blood are a bunch of idiots (except for Alcide, of course!).

I did not compare the writing in the books because I have read the Twilight series, but have not read the Southern Vampire Mysteries (a.k.a. Sookie Stackhouse) series. Now that I am an avid True Blood fan, I can’t read the books until the television series ends. (I know, I know, I’m odd that way ….)

So what do you think? Have I crossed over to the dark side?

The unthinkable has happened!

I am a 2010 BlogHer Voice of the Year finalist!!!

I can’t even type that without letting out an ear-splitting “squeeeeee!” and sending our cats – yet again – scurrying for the safety of the nearest closet. Actually, our cats have taken up semi-permanent residence (alternately) on the ceiling, in the closet and under the bed from the incessant screaming since I found out that somehow I made the finalist list.

If this keeps up, I predict a visit to the vet’s office to get some anxiety pills for our beloved felines.

(And I’ll be asking the vet to send the bill to BlogHer.)

(more…)