Sunday, November 29, 2009

say cheese

Black Friday.  2000 people in Target.  Why are people letting their kids drive shopping carts?  And play with toothpaste in the middle of the aisle floor?  Maybe they're off buying presents, and it's, "Here kids, play with this thing we haven't paid for while we go find something else."

I got a sweet deal on a camera - thanks Mom & Dad for birthday and Christmas!  I will put her to good use for this blog.  It lacks the feature to take a photo of itself, so here she is.  Isn't she shiny?  Maybe she knows that



Otherwise, Michelle, Ruairi and I were the only fools braving the crowds to buy toilet paper and mouthwash.  I so relish a trip to Target!  It's a luxury I failed to truly appreciate when I had my own car.

Now I'm catching up on The Amazing Race so I can watch tonight's episode.  It's almost winning time!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

turkey-lurkey-dee

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you eat a lot of brussels sprouts and don't get to Old Navy at 3 AM.  We'll be eating potluck at Keith's, where we are Pictionary legends for drawing a "fish ladder" last year.  I can't imagine what could top that!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

give a little bit

Holidays are almost here, and I hope your season of giving will involve giving to some charities!  It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  If you're looking to give, back here are some of my favorites:

Kiva.org
Kiva is a microlending site where you contribute money to a loan made directly to a person in need.  Their stories, locations and occupations are posted, as well as how they plan to use the money.  Over time, they pay the loan back.  I've made 19 loans, and they've all been paid back (some are still active, with money coming in).  That is AMAZING to me - 19 people have improved their lives through hard work and returned my money in good faith.  When they payments come in, I just lend them back out.  Someday I could cash in the money, but I hope I never need it as badly as these people.

Oxfam America Unwrapped
Oxfam is a wonderful, long-standing charity where you can "buy" really unique gifts for people.  Last Christmas, I bought my mom a goat, which Oxfam donated to a rural Asian family.  Look at him - he wants to be your friend and eat your tin cans!



Like Oxfam, only with Matt Damon!  No seriously, this charity does wonderful outreach to children.  You can choose from categories like Hunger, Heathcare and Education and "buy" a gift of specific supplies for various numbers of children.  Pens & pencils, soccer balls, mosquito nets.  I worked on some publicity for the launch of this charity and I think their mission is wonderful.

I have been going ON about goats this week, since we did a Bollywood Scavenger Hunt to raise money to provide goats to families in poorest rural India.  The woman who ran the event volunteered in India with this charity for 7 months and showed us first-hand where the goats go and how they improve lives.  It's only $20!



Don't forget to clean out your closets - and give your clothes to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  Not just for vintage shoppers, the extra donations and proceeds from these stores go to educating and employing needy people in your own cities.  Sending money overseas is very trendy, but there are people right here at home who need your help just as much.

Don't forget friends who are fundrasing!  My friend Chris running & raising money with AIDS Marathon LA (his 3rd one).  California's state budget is cutting HIV/AIDS organizations' funding by 50% this year, so now is the time to get involved.

My friend Meaghan is doing a cross-country bike ride, raising money for treesftf.org, surfrider.org and playingforchange.com (which Jimmy Buffett also supports!).  You don't have to ride from Seattle and Mystic, CT to do your part for a good cause.  Just do your homework - some charities have high overheads and much of your donation goes to admin costs.  Please be sure your money is going where it's really needed.

I hope you'll think big when giving this year!  It makes you feel good inside.  Have an extra cookie, you deserve it.

Monday, November 16, 2009

sittin' on a suitcase

According to a Scientific American study, to increase my creativity I should live abroad.  Well duh.  How often do you escape drunk vikings who insist you accept their wristwatch as a birthday gift in San Francisco?  Or ride a delinquent donkey up a volcano in Upstate NY?  Have you ever woken up miles from your room facedown on an outdoor pathway painted completely blue?  (Neither have I, but I know someone who has.)  Clearly, living abroad requires more creative problem solving skills.  Although I can get away from smelly, ranting public transportation people in very acrobatic ways.

So I'm thinking, as I am 75% of the time, about itchy feet and wanderlust and a big adventure.  What should be my next destination?  And what should I do there?  Of course I'll be packing a boyfriend this time around, which means I'll actually have to take someone else's feelings into account - BORING!  (Only kidding.)  But the upside is: I don't have to go alone.  This is big news!  I won't have to wear my 35lb backpack while I squat to pee over a hole in the ground in a tile-lined soaking wet train station bathroom in Italy.  Whew.



So I'm thinking about a plan.  How much money we'd need to save, where to go, do couples need to pack two toothbrushes (eeeeeewww).  The important stuff.  Where would you go?  Would you work so you could stay longer?

PS: Watching Jane Goodall on "The Daily Show" is a revelation.  She is peace personified and her legendary patience resonates in every word she says.

Monday, November 9, 2009

when to walk away, when to run

New Orleans - land of debauchery that does not subscribe to your heathen beliefs in vegetables or recycling.  How beguiling you are.

The Food
Calorie Fest 2009 consisted of po' boys (yum), fried alligator (yuck) and a breathtaking creation called a pistolette that features seafood stew, somehow both fried and liquid, smothered over french bread.  The only veggie I saw was fried okra, unless you count the lettuce under Justin's shrimp remoulade (that's shrimp in mayonnaise, naturally).  The whole thing was a delicious, debilitating edition of "This is Why You're Fat".  I didn't, nay couldn't, eat for two days after we got home.



The Drinks
In NoLa you can drink in the streets.  You can bring your drink into another bar.  You can stop at a liquor store, fill your plastic syringes with Jack Daniels and proceed to bar hop all night spiking other people's drinks.  Presumably, you are to pour your drink into a plastic cup before leaving the bar.  Because plastic cups hold more, and they don't want you drying out before you make it next door.



The Scenery
Narrow streets, wrought iron balconies, horse-drawn carriages and the Mississippi River... New Orleans is beautiful, slow and grand.  I thought about Huck Finn and making a great escape, though to me NoLa would be a gateway rather than a destination.  The French Quarter is darkly, classically atmospheric (Bourbon Street is more of an alley), making it easily reminiscent of olden days with women in gowns and pirates hiding in dark doorways.  Or vampires.



The Party 
NoLa definitely lived up to it's reputation for throngs of drunken fools parading about the ancient confines of narrow streets.  Like LA's West Hollywood parade or Bay 2 Breakers squeezed through a tube of toothpaste, it was truly a sight that blurred even if you hadn't been hitting the hurricanes at Mango Mango.  The morning after, passed out revelers in costume littered Bourbon Street, literally asleep where they'd fallen and probably impressed with their stamina.



If I ever get back to New Orleans, I'll do more touristy things - swamp tour, have my fortune told, visit a plantation.  The city has a lot to offer besides drunken stumbling, and I hope to someday go back for more.  I'll pack some apples.