New favorite magazine
Posted on 29. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, my life
I’ve got a new favorite magazine: Mental Floss. Its tagline is “Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix,” and it’s so true! I loved the articles in this issue about American geniuses we love and my favorite photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson. Not only are the topics intriguing, but this magazine has the best magazine writing I’ve seen in years: it’s engaging, informative, and quite witty.
I picked up my issue at the checkout line at the Whole Foods in Pasadena. Maybe you can find one there too – or you can borrow mine!Â
Down Syndrome Association speakers at jr. high
Posted on 28. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in education, my life
Yesterday I arranged for the executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, Gail Williamson, and her son Blair, who has Down Syndrome, to speak to five of the 7th grade science classes at my kids’ school. (I know Gail because I designed and maintain the DSALA website.)
What a great experience for everyone! Gail came armed with not just facts and figures, but with anecdotes about her son and others she knows that better helped explain what it’s like to have Down Syndrome. Blair was absolutely terrific too. He has a great sense of humor, and made the kids feel comfortable even as he talked about his struggles and triumphs. I think everyone grew from the experience, and maybe we can even do it again next year!
To the right is a picture of Blair. He’s an actor, and has been seen in many shows, including CSI and ER.
Giving up your life for the Ivy League
Posted on 28. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, education, my life, parenting
My baby’s growing up: she’s handing in her wishlist for high school registration tomorrow. It’s hard to find the balance between doing your best work and having a balanced life.
Check out this great op ed piece from Sunday’s Los Angeles Times that addresses those issues, “Giving up your life for the Ivy League.” I want my kids to try hard in school, but not to the point of exhaustion!
French Military Victories
Posted on 26. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in international, politics, technical
Have you done this one yet? Type
french military victories
into the main page and hit “I’m feeling lucky.”
You’ll get the following response:
Did you mean: french military defeatsÂ
No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found.
Your search – french military victories – did not match any documents.
——————————–
May 3, 2006
I just found out that this is actually a parody page created by a Canadian student. You can see it at http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html. I still think it’s funny.Â
One more reason to love Jimmy Carter…
Posted on 26. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, international, politics
He’s got to be our best ex-President. Great article in today’s New York Times titled “Dose of Tenacity Wears Down a Horrific Disease” about how he’s helped nearly erradicate the disease caused by Guinea worms.
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“Now, thanks to a relentless 20-year campaign led by former President Jimmy Carter, Guinea worm is poised to become the first disease since smallpox to be pushed into oblivion. Fewer than 12,000 cases were found last year, down from 3 million in 1986. Â
Mr. Carter persuaded world leaders, philanthropists and companies to care about an obscure and revolting disease and help him fight it. His foundation mobilized volunteers in tens of thousands of villages to treat the drinking water the worms live in.“ |
Poverty of the Mind
Posted on 26. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, education
Well, as long as I’m stepping out on a limb re: immigration, I might as well go whole hog and comment on poverty. There’s a great essay in today’s New York Times entitled, “A Poverty of the Mind.” It makes the case that today’s urban culture is so attractive to young black men that they don’t see the incentive to study hard and rise above it. Here’s an excerpt:
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“So why were they flunking out? Their candid answer was that what sociologists call the “cool-pose culture” of young black men was simply too gratifying to give up. For these young men, it was almost like a drug, hanging out on the street after school, shopping and dressing sharply, sexual conquests, party drugs, hip-hop music and culture, the fact that almost all the superstar athletes and a great many of the nation’s best entertainers were black.Not only was living this subculture immensely fulfilling, the boys said, it also brought them a great deal of respect from white youths. This also explains the otherwise puzzling finding by social psychologists that young black men and women tend to have the highest levels of self-esteem of all ethnic groups, and that their self-image is independent of how badly they were doing in school. Â
I call this the Dionysian trap for young black men. The important thing to note about the subculture that ensnares them is that it is not disconnected from the mainstream culture. To the contrary, it has powerful support from some of America’s largest corporations. Hip-hop, professional basketball and homeboy fashions are as American as cherry pie. Young white Americans are very much into these things, but selectively; they know when it is time to turn off Fifty Cent and get out the SAT prep book. For young black men, however, that culture is all there is — or so they think. Sadly, their complete engagement in this part of the American cultural mainstream, which they created and which feeds their pride and self-respect, is a major factor in their disconnection from the socioeconomic mainstream.” |
Of course, as a suburban white woman I’m not an expert in these matters. But, I am a parent, and know how hard I try to instill the value of education and hard work in my kids. I also know that the high-achieving schools my kids attend have really high class sizes (35+) and other bad indicators that poor-achieving schools have. What’s different is that they’re filled with motivated students with parents who push them. So, at any rate, this is food for thought…
Yesterday’s Immigration Protests in Los Angeles
Posted on 26. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, international, my life, politics
Of all the days to drive into downtown Los Angeles, yesterday was one of the worst: 500,000 people were protesting proposed immigration reforms. I braved the crowds anyway, so that I could help set up for the LCF Educational Foundation’s annual gala at a downtown hotel.
Here’s my unsolicited opinion on illegal immigration: it will continue to happen as long as Americans have so much, and citizens of some other countries have so little. That’s what it boils down to, and unless we are willing to give up some of our blessings (opportunities, level of consumption) people will do what they can to get into our country. I think that we should treat those that are here already humanely, and devise a policy that allows guest workers to come, with a possibility of becoming citizens. I also think we should do what we can to help the countries these people come from to become more attractive, so they won’t want to leave. (Though I see the limits on this last point.) On the other hand, if we completely open up the borders, we’ll wind up with much higher unemployment for our citizens, and fierce competition for our resources.
So, there’s no easy solution. I guess I’m in the middle somewhat on this one. Glad I’m not an elected politician – I wouldn’t be making anyone happy.
Dream Dinners
Posted on 24. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in food, my life
I finally used the Dream Dinners certificate we won at the Harambee silent auction a few weeks ago. It was an Industrial Engineer’s culinary dream come true: such organization! such efficiency! I made 6 dinners in less than an hour. I signed up for next month even though I haven’t eaten them yet…
NYTimes slams Sudan, yet profits from them
Posted on 23. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in international
I just received an email from the Save Darfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org) about how the New York Times received almost $1 million from the Sudanese government for an 8-page advertising supplement even as they ran an editorial slamming the Sudanese government. I couldn’t believe they’d actually do this, but I found Nicholas Kristof’s blog (http://kristof.page.nytimes.com/) and he confirms it. He has mixed feelings – after all, money Sudan spends on advertising isn’t being spent on violence.
Still, they wouldn’t spend on advertising if they didn’t think it would reap benefits further down the road. So, if this bugs you as much as it bugs me, write the New York Times by clicking here or sending an email toÂ
Moreno Valley
Posted on 20. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in my life, sports
I took S out to a soccer game in Moreno Valley yesterday. The last time I’d been there was about 18 years ago, when I visited Craig W. at March AFB. It’s completely different now: no more open desert! Just new houses, new schools, and new stores. It reminds me of Victorville (soccer takes us to much of So. Cal!) but more densely populated. I’m sure Victorville will catch up soon, however. We think one of the most boring jobs would be to stand on a corner swinging a sign pointing to a new housing development. But, there’s always work for you!
Winning the Oral Majority
Posted on 20. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, education, international, religion
Great article in Christianity Today about how missionaries can reach “oral” (aka
the 70% of the world’s population who “can’t, don’t, or won’t read”)
people. Here’s an excerpt:
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Reaching the oral majority for Christ requires communicating in forms familiar to oral cultures, such as stories, proverbs, drama, songs, chants, and poetry. The Lausanne paper tells the testimony of an Indian Hindu, a pastor named Dinanath, who came to Christ in 1995 through the work of a cross-cultural missionary. When Pastor Dinanath returned to his village in 1998 following two years of Bible college, he began preaching in the way he’d been taught. But few villagers showed any interest, leaving him discouraged and confused. The next year, Pastor Dinanath attended a seminar on storytelling methods. He realized that a lecture style and printed books couldn’t reach his people, so he changed his preaching. He began telling Bible stories and singing gospel songs put to traditional music. By 2004, his village church had multiplied into 75 churches with 1,350 baptized members. “This is the next wave in missions,” Willis says, “like a Gutenberg II.” |
These techniques shouldn’t be restricted to churches or to people
who don’t read. I think that schoolteachers succeed more when they teach using
different methods, and that many people such as myself who love to read like
to absorb information in many different ways. Of course, our entertainment
media has already figured this out.
Back on!
Posted on 20. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in technical
Ouch! Couldn’t get username/pw to work for several days, but I’m back. Phew!
Doctors Without Borders Speaker in Pasadena
Posted on 13. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, international
Here are some more heroes you should know about: the brave and talented women and men of Doctors Without Borders (aka MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières). They risk life and limb to provide medical care to the world’s sickest and neediest people, and support themselves primarily through private donations.
I just returned from hearing the group’s Executive Director, Nicolas de Torrente, speak in Pasadena. His talk reiterated what Nicholas Kristof’s article says in my previous posting, that Africa is in the midst of a huge humanitarian crisis, and much of the world is ignoring it. Here’s a snippet of what the Doctors Without Borders website says about Chad:
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March 6, 2006 Chad Refugees in Darfur: Providing First Aid, Mobilizing Other Aid Agencies      Since late January, people have been streaming from Chad into Sudan’s western region of Darfur, which is still gripped by violence and instability. More than 7,000 people fleeing violence and looting in Chad have taken refuge in a small village north of El Geneina, the capital of western Darfur. In this area neglected by aid organizations, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is providing them with assistance. In early February, hundreds of families coming from Chad began to arrive in the small village of Gellu, 18 miles northwest of El Geneina. Notified of their arrival, on February 5, MSF teams went to this area close to the Chad border to assess needs and counted more than 300 families gathered in makeshift shelters. Driven from their villages, they had managed to round up only a few donkeys to help them as they fled. Gellu’s 2,500 residents provided them initial aid, food, and a place to stay. The nights are cold, the wadi (streams) are dry, and the winds are fierce. |
So what can we do? Lobby politicians, write blogs and get the word out, pray and donate money are the best options I can think of right now.
Many thanks to Julie for inviting me to this talk!! This was part of the Distinguished Speaker Series at the Pasadena Civic Center.
MySpace Parents Guide
Posted on 12. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in education, parenting
I just added a “MySpace Parents Guide” page to this blog. You can click on it in the righthand column.
A Village Waiting for Rape and Murder
Posted on 12. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, inspirational people, international
Nicholas Kristof is my hero. This intrepid NY Times reporter doesn’t flinch from going to some of the most wretched, dangerous parts of the world and reporting the truth. (Stephen Colbert would like his “truthiness,” I’m sure!) Anyway, today’s story was particularly shocking.
Something must be done!
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March 12, 2006 Op-Ed Columnist A Village Waiting for Rape and Murder By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF KOLOY, Chad Politely but insistently, the people in this town explained that they were about to be massacred. “The janjaweed militias have already destroyed all the villages east of Koloy,” Adam Omar, a local sheik, explained somberly. “Any moment, they will attack us here. This remote market town of thatch-roof mud huts near the Chad-Sudan border is on the front line of the genocidal fury that Sudan has unleashed on several black African tribes. After killing several hundred thousand people in its own Darfur region, Sudan’s government is now sending its brutal janjaweed militias to kill the same tribes here in Chad. President Bush is showing signs that he may be ready to stand up to the thugs in Sudan, but China is protecting Sudan, Europe is inert, and the African Union can’t even muster the courage to call for immediate U.N. peacekeepers. So the people here are probably right to resign themselves to be slaughtered — if not sooner, then later. Koloy has no electricity and no phones, so the people could not call for help. But even if they could, no one could help them. Chad’s small army had sent a few trucks of troops the previous day, but after learning that they faced more than 500 janjaweed armed with heavy machine guns, the Chadian soldiers had dashed away again. As I drove into town, the town’s police force was fleeing on horseback. I visited the “hospital” – an open-sided tent that lacked any medical personnel but was filled with gunshot victims. Local leaders told me that the janjaweed were only three miles away and had sent word that they would attack Koloy that day. “When they see you, they shoot you,” said Adam Zakaria, the sheik of a nearby village, Gindeiza, that had been attacked the day before. Mr. Adam had one bullet wound in his foot and another in his thigh. “I know the man who shot me,” Mr. Adam said. “He used to be my friend.” That man, Hussein al-Beheri, is an Arab neighbor. But last year, according to Mr. Adam’s account, Mr. Hussein joined the janjaweed and now regularly attacks non-Arabs. “I told him, ‘Don’t shoot me!’ ” Mr. Adam recalled. “Three or four times, I pleaded, ‘Don’t shoot me.’ And then he shot me.” Ten people are known dead in his village, Mr. Adam said, but many others are missing — and no one has been able to look for dead bodies because the janjaweed still occupy the village. Among those missing, he said, are his two wives and four children. “I have not seen them since yesterday, when they were in the village,” he said. “In my heart, I think they are dead.” This entire area gets no visits from diplomats and no help from the U.N. or aid groups, because it is too risky. Only one organization, Doctors Without Borders, sticks it out, sending in a convoy of intrepid doctors three days a week to pull bullets out of victims. It was nerve-racking to be in Koloy, and my local interpreter kept insisting that we rush away. But I’ve never felt more helpless than the moment I pulled away in my Toyota Land Cruiser, waving goodbye to people convinced that they would soon be murdered. In the end, there was no janjaweed attack that day. Perhaps that’s because the janjaweed have found that it is inconvenient to drive away absolutely all Africans; now the janjaweed sometimes leave market towns alone so that their own families can still have places to shop. The people of Koloy are still waiting to be massacred. Think for a moment what it would be like to huddle with your family every day, paralyzed by fear, waiting for the end. And then remember that all this can be stopped. You can go to www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org and send a postcard to President Bush, encouraging him to do more. At www.genocideintervention.net, you can find a list of “10 things you can do right now.” Maybe it seems that you have no real power to change anything in Koloy, but, frankly, right now you’re the only hope that the people in Koloy have. Bill O’Reilly refused to join me on this trip, passing up the $727,000 that my readers had pledged to sponsor his trip to Darfur. But Ann Curry of the “Today” show and a top-notch NBC crew did travel with me on this trip. Unlike Bill, Ann didn’t flinch at traveling in janjaweed-infested areas or at staying in a primitive $4-a-night “hotel” with no plumbing. (O.K., she did shudder just a little at the wildlife in the hotel’s outhouse.) If you want to break your heart, watch her reports beginning tomorrow – and ABC and CBS, where are you? In the meantime, watch my Op-Ed special report from this trip, “The Genocide Spreads.” |
The school is just a facade…
Posted on 12. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, education
Chaos Reigns at a Model School: Newly opened South L.A. High has Macs, a chef’s kitchen and a ballet studio. It also has drugs, guns — and gangs posturing on the quad. (LA Times)
Just because you build a beautiful state-of-the-art campus, it doesn’t mean all your problems will go away. The converse is true too – La Canada High School is one of the ugliest schools in the nation, but has among the highest-achieving students. It all depends upon what goes on at home, who comes in the door, and what goes on inside those doors.
Coming of age in the mouth of madness
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, religion
Great article in the LA Weekly about kids growing up on Skid Row in Los Angeles. These kids defy odds, but you can only imagine what heights they’d soar to if they had more stability.
If you’re ever interested in helping out inner-city youth, check out what La Canada Presbyterian Church is doing. Pastor Jim Milley and his young daughter are going to be going down to World Impact each Thursday afternoon to tutor kids, and then the inner-city kids will teach him and his daughter Spanish! Let him know if you’d like to join them.
Where do boys who like girls books go to college?
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, education
Here’s a roundup of today’s favorite forwarded articles:
The Little Men Who Love Little House: Why boys like girls books. From Slate.com
Still, my son’s favorite was “I Can Name 100 Trucks” when he was younger.
The Electronic Lowdown on Colleges. From nytimes.com
Thank goodness we’re not there yet! I just hope my kids wind up at a place they’re excited about going someday.
One percent can make a difference
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in international, religion
How much of the current U.S. budget currently goes to development assistance? Less than ONE percent! Surveys show that the average person thinks its over 15%. Wrong!
Â
ONE percent of the U.S. budget is $25 billion. Directed to honest governments, private charities and faith-based organizations, this support would provide the tools and resources they need to really make a difference. By directing an additional ONE percent of the U.S. budget toward providing the most basic needs – and fighting the corruption that wastes precious resources –– we can help transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries. If the U.S. were to devote an additional ONE percent—one cent for every dollar spent by the federal government—to helping the world’s poorest people help themselves, America would demonstrate a commitment to the Millennium Goals, an internationally agreed upon effort to halve global poverty by 2015.
Â
I also personally believe that we have a moral responsibility to do this, to make such an impact with something that will take such a small relative effort. Also, I believe that our nation’s longterm security and well-being depends upon reducing the disparity between the haves and the have-nots in the world. To ignore this is foolhardy.
Â
So please join me and other organizations such as World Vision, Save the Children, CARE, and more by signing the ONE petition at by clicking here.
Wacky weather
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in my life
For those of you who don’t think LA has “seasons,” check out this partial screen shot from the National Weather Service site:
Setting up speaker at jr. high
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in education, my life
My son’s science teacher spoke at the PTA meeting on Tuesday, and mentioned that in the course of studying genetics, the kids will soon be studying Down Syndrome. I emailed her and told her that since I do the website for DSALA (Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles) I might be able to get a speaker for the class. She was very excited about that prospect, and so were the DSALA folks, so it looks like it’s going to happen on March 27th. We’re hoping that some parents and their (older) children will come speak, and will show the class a video clip of some DS actors in favorite TV shows and movies.
Update to backpack/24 saga
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in my life
No sign of the backpack yet. I think we’ve almost given up all hope of ever seeing it again. The next day, two more corduroy Jansports were stolen from the same location. Someone has a thing for corduroy Jansports…
The “24″ tape worked great. I watched the last 10 minutes with the kids since I couldn’t concentrate on my reading with such excitement going on in the background. I thought that I might be more stable seeing it a second time, but I cried even more. Ah well…the second time around I noticed more details, however…
New host = old host
Posted on 09. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in technical
I uploaded WordPress to my kchristieh.com site to see if I can have more flexibility with themes, etc. Glad you found me here!
Yesterday’s evils
Posted on 07. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in my life, parenting
My daughter’s backpack was stolen at school yesterday after she left it alone for less than a minute to go inside the cafeteria. Thankfully, the culprits took her cell phone, keys and wallet out of it and left them on the ground, and someone turned them in to the office. But she’s still without many hours worth of work that she had yet to turn in, as well as PE clothes, office supplies, etc. Hopefully it’ll show up in lost & found…
So we all appreciated suspending reality and watching “24” last night. We made the kids go to bed halfway through, and Tivo’d the rest for them. At the end, as I made a speech through my tears (it was quite an emotional ending) about how great an episode it was, my thumb was on auto-pilot and I deleted it. Stupidstupidstupid!! Thankfully, I found someone at Curves this morning who recorded it and will give me her tape tomorrow morning. PHEW!!
As American as apple pie?
Posted on 05. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in food, music, my life
Just finished watching the Academy Awards, and I am appalled that “It’s hard out there for a p**p” won best song. Besides the fact that it had completely objectionable lyrics, it was just plain BAD! It repeated the same (rude) line over and over, and the music was very mundane. But, the one thing it did have going for it was that it was memorable.
As I write this, I’m washing it out of my brain with “Mushaboom” by Feist.
On a happier note, my son finally got his wish: we made apple pie this evening. Totally blew the diet, but it was the most terrific apple pie I’ve ever had. You can see the recipe for Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie at Allrecipes.com.
From precocious preschoolers to bored highschoolers
Posted on 04. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, education
Today’s two favorite articles form bookends to each other.
First, we learn about how competitive it is to get your kid into a Manhattan preschool in the NYTimes’ In Baby Boomlet, Preschool Derby Is the Fiercest Yet. Of course it’s worth the $10,000 and the headache, because after all, if you don’t get into a good preschool, you won’t get into a good elementary school, etc. etc.
Next we have Reuters’ . What’s interesting isn’t that most dropouts are regretful – duh! – but that the reason most dropped out was that they were b-o-r-e-d. I often tell my kids that even if school is boring, they need to stick with it. There are many things we need to do in life that are boring, but we still need to do them. On the other hand, some teachers do a great job at making even the most mundane subjects exciting to learn. Too bad the rest don’t.
Too bad high school isn’t as much fun as preschool was…
Scruffy dogs
Posted on 03. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles
If we were in the U.K., our dear Genevieve could be a Beauty Queen!
It turns out that there’s actually a dog show for mixed-breed dogs called Scruffts. Finally, some respect!
I read about this show in an article entitled “Year of the Dog.” Here’s a quote from it: “With great respect to both lawyers and dogs, I have found terriers to be canine lawyers.” I agree.
The keys to happiness, and why we don’t use them
Posted on 02. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles
“It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don’t make it.”
My friend Julie emailed me this great article about what makes people happy. Not surprisingly, it boils down to attitude and effort. You need to be grateful, kind, forgiving, positive and friendly and take care of your body.
Check it out the article by clicking .
The glass ceiling is as tall as the changing table
Posted on 02. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, parenting
Here’s an article from today’s nytimes.com:
Stretched to Limit, Women Stall March to Work
Didn’t we all think we could work and raise our kids well at the same time? Maybe it works for some, but I truly appreciate being able to be a bigger part of my kids’ lives since I started working at home. Especially the older they get…
Recent articles/urls I’ve forwarded
Posted on 01. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, cool websites, education, food, international, politics, religion
I love to forward articles and urls to people. Sometimes they express what I think, sometimes they make people laugh, but mostly I want them to make other people think. Here are a few I recently sent over the www:
Suburban Spirituality:
The land of SUVs and soccer leagues tends to weather the soul in peculiar ways, but it doesn’t have to.
I admit to being suburban to the core, so it’s important to maintain perspective.
Down With Torture! Gimme Torture! by Sarah Vowell
I love “24″, so I also love that Sarah Vowell gave voice to my inner conflicts with the show.
Cooking for Engineers
If you’re an engineer (as I am? was?) you’ll recognize a certain way of thinking here.
MySpace: A Dangerous Place
Yet one more article about how dangerous MySpace can be. Too bad – it’s a cool concept.
How to Survive a Tech Support Call
I survived a useless tech call last week. I still have the problem…defragmenting my hard drive didn’t do the trick. It was creepy having a man across the world be so flirtatious.
The Mensch Gap
Yiddish has the most expressive words! Too bad we don’t have a mensch in the White House.
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