Why Johnny Can’t Sing

Posted on 31. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in art, articles, education, music, things that bug me

The most pathetic news is that which is so outrageous it seems like it’s a parody from The Onion, but it isn’t.

Such is the case of an SFGate article I received from Graham Stumpf titled, “Study finds students lacking in arts education. It suggests achievement tests, more funding to meet state’s goals.” It laments the fact that since the “No Child Left Behind” act, there’s been a shift away from what little arts education there was in California to subjects that are tested on standardized tests. Here are some statistics:

• 89 percent of the state’s 8,000 schools fail to offer the four visual and performing arts classes recommended by the state’s own educational standards.
• 61 percent of schools don’t have a full-time art teacher.
• Elementary students get far fewer arts classes than children in other states.
• In 2001, 820,000 California students were enrolled in music classes. By 2006, that had fallen to 520,000, a 36 percent drop.

It goes on to say that the esteemed Hewlett Foundation actually recommends testing in the arts, so that schools will give arts a higher priority:

Testing in the arts is just one of several recommendations offered in the study, “An Unfinished Canvas,” which was commissioned by the Hewlett Foundation.

Not surprisingly, the researchers urge state lawmakers to spend more money on the arts. Although this fiscal year is the first in which the state budget includes designated money for arts education, schools get less than $16 per pupil per year. Other recommendations include extending the school day to make time for the arts, strengthening teacher preparation in the arts, and having the state provide technical help to districts that want to create high-quality arts instruction.

As next year’s President of the La Canada Flintridge Educational Foundation, Graham will continue to push for what I and others have been working for for many years: a first-class education for our kids that includes subjects such as art, drama, and music that should be considered essential, not extra.

School without the arts is like a world without color.

Extreme Makeover, Dog Edition

Posted on 30. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, my life

I’ve got a bunch of relatives coming this weekend, so I figured it was time to give Miss Genevieve the spa treatment again. I love it when the groomer puts bows in her hair!

The last time she was groomed, it was apparent after the haircut that she’d lost a lot of weight. We’d been feeding her Iams with gravy and chunks, so we just increased the amount we fed her. Soon after, I met with a client who advised us to switch to Science Diet, and she’s been thriving on that. It was no surprise that the Iams with gravy was on the list of recalled dog foods.

The groomer thought Genevieve was less than 10 years old, even though she’s somewhere between 13-15. She tried to take on a bulldog as she was leaving, but we got her outta there before she inflicted harm…

Yes, that was me in today’s Wall St. Journal

Posted on 29. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, my life, parenting, work

I was quoted in today’s Wall St. Journal story, “Parents Rebel Against School Fund-Raisers“:

When Kathy Hernandez took over as PTA president in 2002 in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif., she took aim at fund-raisers, and the larger PTA council ultimately scrapped events like the fall poinsettia sale.

She is now PTA president at a local junior high that runs just one fund-raiser a year, a home tour, in which four locals open up their houses for the day to people who buy tickets that cost between $30 and $35. “This takes less parent time to raise a similar amount of money,” says Ms. Hernandez.

The reporter, Jeff Opdyke, contacted me after I had emailed him about his March 11th story, “Why Fund Raising Isn’t Child’s Play.” I told him that when I became an elementary PTA president, we decided not to scrap our gift wrap sales drive because it brought in a surprisingly high amount of money. I said I thought it was ok that the gift wrap companies took such a high percentage of each sale: after all, no one was forcing us to do it. I also said it was easy to sell things like Girl Scout cookies when I worked in an office with a bunch of childless people, but it was tougher to sell things once I became self-employed. I don’t like to sell to friends and relatives unless they really want the products.

I’m lucky our jr. high has our terrific home tour fundraiser. It’s a well-oiled machine, with fantastic, experienced people in charge. Anyone interested in attending on May 4th should vist our .

Heart attack symptoms

Posted on 28. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in feminism, health, life lessons

If I don’t post this, I’ll feel incredibly guilty if anyone reading this blog dies unnecessarily of a heart attack, especially after the previous post:

As the American Heart Association notes:

“As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.” Source

Virtual death

Posted on 28. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in technical, work

I’m just about to delete the email address of a client who died late last year. When he died, I removed his email address from his organization’s website and changed the email account to forward to another email address. Now, I’ve been asked to delete the address altogether. I don’t want to press the button, but I will once I finish this posting.

Rest in peace, Tom.

Great spy novel / historical fiction

Posted on 27. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in books

I just finished . It’s a work of historical / current fiction about a British woman whose mother reveals that she was a spy during World War II. The most fascinating passages are where the mother describes her spy training. As a result, I’m looking at the world and people differently this week! The flashbacks are definitely more fascinating than the current day story.

It’s a quick read, with a somewhat suspenseful ending. I highly recommend it.

A woman should have…

Posted on 27. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in feminism, life lessons

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …. 
     enough money within her control to move out 
     and rent a place of her own even if she never wants 
     to or needs to… 
 
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …. 
     something perfect to wear if the employer or 
     date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour… 
 
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE … 
     a youth she’s content to leave behind…. 

(more…)

3D Louise update

Posted on 27. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in health

Thanks again to everyone who has participated or who plans on participating in our Flat Louise project. Flat Louise has gone skiing, visited India, climbed mountains, and so much more!

If only the real Louise (aka “3D Louise”) were so mobile. She’s lost a lot of weight, and now weighs about 1/2 of what other, healthier kids her age weigh. She’s still bedridden, and is waking up every 10-15 minutes at night. She is signing to her mom, so that’s good, and she’s enjoying lots of “Hannah Montana” reruns, but she clearly isn’t out of the woods yet.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Can a license plate frame get you out of a traffic ticket?

Posted on 26. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in politics, things that bug me, travel

If you live in California, you’ve probably seen license plate frames like the one to the right that say “Member – CHP 11-99 Foundation.” For years I’ve wondered what that meant, but I was always driving at the time and didn’t have access to my friend Google.

Today I saw one much closer to home, so I actually remembered to look it up. Here’s what the official 11-99 Foundation website says,

The California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, charitable organization that provides Benefits and Scholarships to California Highway Patrol family members. 

Sounds good to me! But, the plot thickens…here’s what Wikipedia says:

The group offers members license plate frames, which some members believe will allow them to get out of tickets, although there have been no formal studies supporting this theory.

I’ve heard of versions of this in other states (can you say “New Jersey”?) but I hadn’t imagined it in California. Here’s what another website says:

For a $1800 donation to the organization you get a license plate frame, a certificate and a wallet with a special 11-99 badge in it. The wallet has a place for your ID just opposite the badge. The perfect thing to hand to an officer who has just pulled you over.

It goes on to say that the CHP website was changed so that it doesn’t mention any license plate frame, wallet or badge. That’s correct – the 11-99 Foundation website explicitly states that “no goods or services will be provided in response to any donations made online via this Web site”, though I wonder about what happens offline… 

In any case, here’s what the May 2 internet archive version of the membership page of the 11-99 Foundation says, and to the right is a picture from that page:

Lifetime Members are awarded an Engraved Membership Plaque and Brass “Gold” Card. This handsome Plaque’s base is made of richly grained walnut with a hand painted CHP 11-99 Star Logo. The inscription is engraved with your name, date of membership and a message from the Commissioner of the CHP. The plaque measures 10″ wide X 14″ high and will proudly announce your Lifetime dedication to our Foundation’s goals.

Your “Gold” Card is thick solid brass that’s been personalized and engraved with your name and Lifetime Membership Identification Number. It is then encased inside a pocket-sized split cowhide wallet (in black).

Lifetime Membership has its Awards…

• Personalized Engraved Award Plaque and “Gold” Card
• License Plate Holder
• Registration Holder

Hmm. Looks pretty suspicious to me. I don’t like getting tickets, but I try to obey traffic laws to avoid them. If people think they can get away with breaking the law because they have a “get out of jail free” card, that’s a danger to the public.

Hopefully it’s not true…

A truthiness film festival

Posted on 25. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, environment, international, movies, politics, videos

We watched a trio of films this weekend that weren’t exactly uplifting, but they were educational and quite thought-provoking. It’s no coincidence that two of them have the word “truth” in their title.

First, we finally finished watching An Inconvenient Truth. If you have any doubts about global warming, I challenge you to watch this film and report back. Al Gore did a great job of distilling reams of scientific data into charts, graphs and examples that drive the point home. The downside to this documentary was that it seemed like 1/3 of it was a pre-campaign commercial for Gore. I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t declare his candidacy soon.

Next, we watched a short documentary called Teen Truth: An Inside Look at Bullying and School Violence. A friend who works for an entertainment company obtained it for me, and I wanted to watch it with my kids before we screen it at the next PTA meeting and pass it on to the school to show the kids. The film is about what constitutes bullying, how much of it goes on, and what kids can do about it. We stopped it several times to talk about what it was saying – a sure sign that a film resonates. I think it was quite effective.

Finally, we watched Invisible Children. This was the most disturbing of all three films, as it chronicled the desperate lives of children trying to avoid being abducted to serve as child soldiers in Uganda’s bloody civil war. The young filmmakers are sensitive to their subjects, and are quite adept at getting them to open up and describe their experiences. This was released in 2003, but The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that:

The Spring Valley-based organization now has 100 volunteers, a paid staff of 35, and a budget last year of more than $3 million, according to its 2006 annual report.

More than 80 percent of that money came not from grants or fat donor checks, but in rumpled bills and scattered change.

It was raised through the sales of bracelets and baked goods, pizzas, posters, DVDs of the movie, car washes and African art – anything U.S. schoolchildren could offer in exchange for money to help children in Uganda.

Earlier this month, Invisible Children launched Schools for Schools, its most ambitious fundraising campaign.

Schools for Schools is an interactive Web community enabling students at high schools and colleges across the country to form fundraising clubs that directly benefit 10 dilapidated high schools in northern Uganda.

My daughter heard about it from a friend whom I think is organizing the Schools for Schools campaign at her high school. Hopefully it’ll be successful!

How rich are you?

Posted on 24. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, international, religion

Have you ever wondered where your income stands compared to everyone else’s? Then check out Global Rich List. It’ll tell you where you stand in comparison to the rest of the world. If you’re American, you’ll probably be at the upper end of the scale.

I firmly believe that life is relative. Even people at the outer right reaches of the chart can feel middle class if everyone around them has as much or more.

It’s good to keep it all in perspective, and do what we can to not be dependent on wealth and to help others in need. I certainly don’t claim to be great at doing this, but it’s worth striving for.

I made the graphic on the right for the Outreach portion of our church website.

10 Reasons Why I Like Obama

Posted on 24. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in politics

MotherPie asked me to list 10 reasons why I like Barack Obama. Here they are:

1. Obama opposed the Iraq war even before it started.
2. He believes that improving our schools requires both resources and structural reforms.
3. One of his priorities is affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare.
4. He’s brilliant.
5. He’s able to reconcile his faith with his politics without becoming too heavyhanded.
6. He supports homeland security spending based on risk, not politics.
7. He places a high priority on issues such as the genocide in Darfur and weapons of mass destruction.
8. This one’s just my opinion, but I trust him. I don’t think he’s beholden to party politics like others might be.
9. He supports efforts to reduce U.S. energy consumption.
10. He’s able to see both sides of an issue, and admit that both Democrats and Republicans have room for improvement.

Thanks, MotherPie! This was good for me to spell this all out. I’m sure that some of the other candidates probably also share many of Obama’s goals and beliefs, but his philosophy meshes best with my own and I have great confidence in his ability and sincerity.

It would be cool to see John Edwards tonight with my husband, but I’d feel like a traitor since I’d have to donate to his campaign to have the privilege, and he’s not my first choice.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.

Where I wish I could eat dinner tonight

Posted on 23. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in food, travel

We’re considering eating out tonight. We’ll probably wind up at Los Gringos Locos, as we often do, and we’ll have a fine dinner.

But the atmosphere at Los Gringos pales in comparison with what you’re surrounded by at Ithaa, an underwater restaurant at the Hilton in Maldives.

Dine 16 feet below sea level at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa’s unique underwater restaurant. Marvel at 360° views of reef and marine life, sip champagne cocktails and sample Maldivian-Western fusion cuisine at this spectacular Maldives restaurant – the world’s only aquarium-style restaurant.

It’d probably be an awful experience for someone who’s claustrophobic or afraid of sea life. I’m neither, so I wish I could go there sometime! Apparently, it takes 30 hours of flying to get there. I think it’s worth it!

Evil costume idea

Posted on 23. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in quotes, tv

Favorite quote from last night’s Ugly Betty:

“You are so evil. I’m so going as you for Halloween!”

- Marc to Wilhelmina

 

 

Finally – another Obama bumper sticker

Posted on 22. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, politics

My son and I finally saw a Barack Obama bumper sticker on another car last night. It’s not white like mine, but it’s the same design. My son took this picture, as I was driving.

I heard John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth this morning announcing that her cancer has returned. They were a real class act, and I was quite impressed by how they both handled the situation. My husband’s going to see them at a friend’s house this weekend. I opted not to go (pay) because I already support Obama, but I’ll vote for him if he winds up being the Democratic candidate.

Why I live in Southern California

Posted on 22. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, my life

Here’s what I saw when I stepped out the door this morning. The orange tree looked so vivid against the bright blue sky. There was a hummingbird buzzing around the orange flowers, but it left when it heard me.

10 Paradoxical Commandments

Posted on 21. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in life lessons, religion

Here’s a modern take on the 10 Commandments:

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
   Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
   Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
   Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
   Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
   Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
   Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
   Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
   Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
   Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
    Give the world the best you have anyway.

I think they all boil down to two commandments:

1. Love your neighbor.
2. Do your best.

Not so hard to remember, but much tougher to follow.

Source: http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/

Is Milo the mole? Is Audrey alive?

Posted on 20. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in tv

These weighty “24″ questions are perfect fodder for Slate.com’s “Spoiling 24: Day 6, Hour 14.” They ask all the questions we’re asking, and it’s great to hear their opinions on these weighty matters.

Here’s what I think:

• Mike Doyle is the mole.
• Audrey is alive.
• Carlos is alive. (I still can’t believe he died. It makes no sense.)
• Milo and Nadia are good guys.

Time will tell. Mysteries will be solved, but I’ll still be strung along until next season. But not nearly as much as Prison Break.

In the meantime, I’ve subscribed to the Slate Spoilers podcast on iTunes.

Slo Mo Home Depot

Posted on 20. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in videos

Here’s my kind of prank: an improv troupe shops in slow motion at Home Depot for five minutes, then shops normally for five minutes, then freezes for five minutes. Here’s the :

Kind of reminds me of the time that Bobby and I turned all the timers on at Prown’s…I really relate to the pig in Pearls Before Swine.

Flat Louise gets folded!

Posted on 20. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, travel

Wet conditions took their toll on Flat Louise as she accompanied my stepbrother Mark to Spry Canyon at Zion in Utah. But she’s a determined young lady, and insisted on going on the 170′ rappell.

Hopefully you’ll participate in the Flat Louise project!

Flat Louise visits India

Posted on 19. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in health, international, travel

I gasped when my college buddy Dave Hayden sent me this picture of himself and Flat Louise in front of the Taj Mahal. It reminds me of last week’s virtual field trip posting, but this time the picture is REAL!! Dave brought Flat Louise to India on a business trip, and she’s seen great sites and exotic animals. Flat Louise has accomplished two of my life goals: she’s seen elephants and monkeys in their native habitats. Thanks, Dave! And thanks also to the others who have brought Flat Louise on great adventures.

3D Louise (my new nickname for her) is having a tough recovery, so receiving the Flat Louises is a great diversion for her. (She’s also been mostly Horizontal Louise, unfortunately.) Click here to learn more about the Flat Louise project. I’d love it if you’d participate, and brighten a great kid’s day!!

An antsy situation

Posted on 18. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, international, my life, religion

When I was a teenager, one of my mother’s more devout friends was determined never to kill a living creature, not even a bug. I’ve thought about him over the years as we battled ants in our house, and decided that he must not have faced a full-on ant invasion

A group of Buddhist monks in Malaysia is facing this tough issue. Their temple has been invaded by so many ants that one worshipper was bitten so badly he wound up in the hospital. The monks, who are bound by a tradition of non-violence, are struggling with how to get rid of the ants without killing them. According to Yahoo News,

A temple disciple tried using a vacuum cleaner to gather up the ants before freeing them in a nearby forest, but the method failed to purge the insects, Lin said.

“We haven’t found a solution so far,” Lin said. “Nothing has worked.”

We kept our ants at bay with poisonous spray, but we finally got rid of the colony when we tore down our old garage. That was about two years ago, and we’ve only had a few random ants since.

It’s much harder to adhere to one’s beliefs when one is tested. I’m glad my religion doesn’t stop me from killing ants. Or spiders. I killed a black widow spider in the bathroom this evening…

Flip sides of the same Irish coin

Posted on 17. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in international, quotes

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Wisegeek’s daily email instructed me in the fine art of the Irish blessing. Here’s the prototypical example:

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Of course, here’s the flip side to that blessing coin: the Irish curse. Wisegeek highlighted the following:

May those who love us, love us.
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts,
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we may know them by their limping.

Interesting, but I don’t even think we’re supposed to curse our enemies. We’re supposed to love them.

[Jesus said,] “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:43-45

Global warming at the local level

Posted on 16. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, my life

It’s 100 degrees here right now! My son’s in the pool with his friends, and my daughter’s cooling off in the air conditioned house watching ice skating on tv with a friend.

It’s my step-grandmother’s birthday today. She lives in the Poconos, where they’re expecting a foot of snow today. When I called, she said my grandfather was playing in the snow, aka shovelling the snow.

I would say I hope I’m still shovelling snow when I’m his age, but on second thought, I don’t plan on living anywhere near snow again. By the time I’m his age (God willing) it’ll probably be so hot I’ll be frying eggs on the driveway.

Cyrano would love this

Posted on 15. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, music

Not sure what to get your beloved? How about a personalized love song? Tailored Music offers a number of songs in a variety of song styles which you can personalize for your special someone. They suggest where to change the lyrics, but you can change them any way you want. After you pay $99 – $239,  they’ll perform it and send it to you.

I keep telling my son there’s nothing that’ll melt a woman’s heart more than a man who sings to her.* Perhaps the next best thing is a song sung by someone else about you.

* Unless he has a lousy voice…

“Sorry” seems to be the hardest word

Posted on 14. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, politics

I hate it when people say they’re sorry and you know they’re not. Or when they’re really just sorry they got caught. IMHO, that’s the case with Alberto Gonzales when he says he’s sorry about the firing of the firing of the U.S. attorneys. If he was truly sorry, he’d reinstate them.

On the other hand…I didn’t realize that when Bill Clinton took office he fired all of the U.S. attorneys. From ABC News:

When Clinton’s husband took office in 1993, one of the first actions his attorney general took was to remove every U.S. attorney. (Hillary) Clinton was asked how this was different from the termination of eight U.S. attorneys last December.

“There is a great difference,” Clinton said. “When a new president comes in, a new president gets to clean house. It’s not done on a case-by-case basis where you didn’t do what some senator or member of Congress told you to do in terms of investigations into your opponents. It is ‘Let’s start afresh’ and every president has done that.”

Hmm. Maybe it’s just politics as usual. But targeting specific people does seem to be a lower brand of it.

Two Mark’s Mad Tea Parties

Posted on 13. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in art, cool websites, politics

I love this Mad Tea Party painting by Mark Bryan:

It scares my kids. It reminds them too much of Mark Ryden’s work, which scares them also. I think they’d prefer bucolic landscapes with birds and squirrels. I like those too, but this makes me laugh/think more. Mark Ryden paints birds and squirrels, but perhaps they’re a bit too edgy for my kids:

 

Virtual field trips: cool and pathetic at the same time

Posted on 12. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, my life, technical, travel

My daughter visited North Korea and Africa this weekend. She explored major cities, visited historic monuments, and was amazed at how much access she had to forbidden areas. Thanks to Google Earth, the whole trip was free.

Apparently virtual field trips like this are becoming more popular as California continues to underfund its schools and as more information becomes available over the internet. Today’s Pasadena Star News highlights this trend in “Who needs a school bus?”

Instead of hitting the road, teachers are surfing the net for “virtual reality” field trips.

A trip to Washington’s Lincoln Memorial, analyzing early human cave art in France, or peeking in at sleeping pandas at the Los Angeles Zoo can now all be done in the comfort of any classroom through the Internet.

With one field trip per year, Linda Oaks, a third-grade teacher at Rorimer Elementary School in La Puente, said through virtual field trips her students have “traveled” to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia estate, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and seen alligators interacting at the zoo.

I looked online for virtual field trips, and most were bland, pathetic slide shows. The only semi-decent one I saw was of Mount Vernon, which reminded me of a basic real estate 360-degree room-by-room tour.

I think someone needs to start a professional virtual field trip company with 360-degree tours, live webcams, and people on the other end to answer questions. You could even simulate everyone squishing together at the lunch table, a classmate getting lost, and the best part, the trip to the gift shop. Seriously – this could be pretty cool. No slides allowed: movies only. And of course, you’d have to Photoshop a picture of the class onto the main attraction to commemorate the trip.

And if you want true realism, you can play an endless loop of “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” at the beginning and at the end, along with a teacher asking the kids to shut up.

 

Win a Trip, and See a Different World

Posted on 11. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, international, politics

Nicholas Kristof is no mere reporter: he’s a man on a mission to improve the world. He crisscrosses the globe rooting out injustice and poverty, and effectively communicates what he sees so that those of us who have the means can escape our indifference and do something about it.

Today he announced that he’s once again running a contest to see who should accompany him to Africa this summer. This time, however, he’s going to take two people, and one will be a middle school or high school teacher.

Of course, I forwarded the article to my daughter’s social studies teacher, Mr. Cartnal. He’s teaching the kids about African history and culture right now, and is inspiring kids to discuss the differences between nationalism and racism, and to think outside their cozy Southern Californian lives. I hope he enters and wins, because I know he’ll come back and change even more lives.

Note: Here’s what Kristof says about the picture I’ve included. For perspective, I remember that my daughter weighed 18 pounds at 1 year of age, and that her doctor was concerned that she was too light.

Cast your eyes above and meet Hidaya Abatemam, whom I met last month in a remote area of southern Ethiopia. She is 6 years old and weighs 17 pounds.

Hidaya was starved nearly to death and may well have suffered permanent mental impairment, helping to trap her — and her own children, if she lives that long — in another generation of poverty.

Yet maybe the more interesting question is not why Hidaya is starving but why the world continues to allow 30,000 children like her to die each day of poverty.

Ultimately what is killing girls like her isn’t precisely malnutrition or malaria, but indifference. And that, in turn, arises from our insularity, our inexperience in traveling and living in poor countries, so that we have difficulty empathizing with people like Hidaya.

I spoke to a friend today who returned from a mission trip to Ethiopia last Sunday. She said that people there were thrilled that someone had remembered them, and that their biggest fear was that they’d be forgotten. What she said was totally consistent with what Kristof says.  

 

Girls Rock! Bodywise Conference

Posted on 10. Mar, 2007 by kchristieh in life lessons, my life, parenting

I had the privilege of speaking about internet safety at the sponsored by the Jr. League of Pasadena today. The event was aimed at middle school girls and their caretakers. The audience asked great questions, and I think the presentation went well. I was so relieved that the projector actually worked, and they even got the sound working by the second presentation I gave. (Last time I presented the projector didn’t even work…talking about winging it!)

I enjoyed hearing Janet Evans speak before me. She’s very articulate, determined, humble and grounded. Like other successful people, she spoke about how hard work and focus helped her achieve her goals. But what I appreciated most was when she spoke about how sometimes no matter how hard you try, you might not be #1, but that’s ok since you should be satisfied if you’ve done your best. What a great message for jr high girls to hear!

It was neat to actually handle her gold medal, which she passed around the room. I was surprised at how heavy it was!