It was cold out there

This is more about my DC trip....just a leetle rant

When I was in DC for inauguration festivities, they say the temperature was in the 30's but honestly, it felt like it was in the teens. Attempting to prepare for the cold was ludicrous. Word to the wise - you can't evah prepare for that type of cold. EVAH! Rarely do we see those types of temperatures in the south and when we do, we do much prepping for it. Because we drive everywhere, cold days go a lot like this; out of the house into the car, out of the car and into the building. No standing allowed. To top it all off, people were calling me like crazy wanting to know where exactly I was, who I had seen what were my plans etc. Answering the phone was....well...tricky. Sometimes, depending on where my iPhone ended up, under all those layers after the last call - in my jeans pocket,  coat pocket or even my purse, it was races to answer. Some calls were simply not answered because by the time I actually got to it under all the aforementioned layers or figured out where the ringing was coming (phones were ringing al around and obviously none of us were very original, we all had the same ring ) from then attempt to touch the answer button or slide the answer bar on the phone, only to remember that I can't do that with GLOVES on, the call would be gone.  I was looking through the web version of the Wall Street Journal today and I see this article. The article is about gloves and to add insult to injury, it was written over two weeks ago! The article isn't about gloves in general but, get this - gloves for iPhone users! Who woulda thunk it? IPhone compatible gloves!  If I had only seen this before my trip. Have a great Wednesday everyone.....

News...or is it?

I came across this article in Saturday's Houston Chronicle and I just couldn't decide how I felt about it? Maybe someone out there in blog land can tell me; why is this news? From all accounts this man is mentally ill. He is in jail for a heinous crime against his family and now he is doing harm to himself. Where is the advocate for this individual? Why is he on death row? Was it press coverage that got him the mental assistance he is now receiving? While I hate hate hate comparisons, especially ones involving sex and/or race, why wasn't this case handled similarly to the Andrea Yates case? Why was it clear to them that she was mentally unstable and its just the opposite for this young man? His crimes were committed about three years after the Yates case so in my opinion they had a point of reference. In her original case, they did convict her and gave her life in prison -not put her on death row. In a subsequent trial, she was found not guilty and sent to a mental institution.  I hope he is afforded the same opportunity.....

A Note of Thanks....

...to the Blog Action Day and the KivaB4B Project teams for sending me Tom Watson's new book CauseWired: Pluggin In, Getting Involved, Changing the World! 

Last October, as part of Blog Action Day, I joined thousands of bloggers using their blogs as instruments of change regarding  poverty. You can check that post out here. A month or so later, Blog Action bloggers were notified of the opportunity to get a copy of this book - gratis.  I replied and got my copy yesterday.  It has been getting decent reviews over at Amazon.com but I wont be able to actually tell you how good a read it is for a while, so look out for that post. I am currently reading Oprah's Book Club pick, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. Hopefully, I can have it read by the 26th January webcast.

Hump Day

Ok, so I have to admit, its getting a little easier to get going as the week progresses. Part of it could be because on a chance, I logged into Continental.com and just happen to see tickets to the Caribbean starting at  $99.00. Talk about a mood booster! Needless to say, I purchased a ticket and one for my mom too!  I can't wait to see my Dad and my sisters. I am so excited about that trip...Sing along with me,  "I am going to Trinidad for Carnival". * insert winer girl dancing here*. (Repeat 2X's or how ever long it takes to get YOU in my great mood)  I am counting down the days. And while I wont be actually there for Carnival Tuesday per se, there are other events taking place. More on that later. 

Right now, I am counting down the days for my trip to D.C. for the inauguration and all the things that go along with traveling - and by bus no less. Can you believe in just a little under two weeks we will have a new president? While I am excited to actually SEE this event, I am also looking forward to the many events surrounding the inauguration of a new president. I would love to be able to check out the Smithsonian or the Newseum,  which will have extended hours that weekend.  As I mentioned, I am going by bus so there will be a need for individual entertainment (books, iPod, movies, GRE word list), snacks (fresh fruit or packaged ones) and pillow choices until we actually get to D.C. There is also the need for new luggage. During my last trip to Trinidad my suitcase didn't fare so well.   So much to do so little time.

While perusing websites I came across a neat idea being done by the Root.com.  For those of you coming to D.C. with no itinerary short of seeing the inauguration of President-Elect Obama, there are tons of things you can get into. You could do the normal D.C. sight seeing, you could possibly visit one of the sights I mentioned or you may want to have a day with purpose to add to your trip. You may want to consider spending the day before the inauguration, Martin Luther King Day, volunteering. Officials over at the Root.com see it as a day to revive public service.  If you want more information, check out the article written by Natalie Hopkinson here or if you are totally into social media check out their Facebook page here. If you don't need any more information that what I have provided, email them at therootdayofservice@gmail.com and hit my comments and let me know how the day went. Kudos to the Root.com for trying to make an EVERYDAY difference.

And a bit of sad news- many of you may have heard that several programs have been cut from National Public Radio's lineup. One of those programs is News and Notes and it featured news and issues from an African American perspective. It is based in Culver City, California and has been hosted by Ed Gordon of BET News fame. It is currently hosted by Farai Chideya. Well News and Notes will be going off the air in March- March 20th to be exact and like most people, I thought sure this type of show would be front and center for the inauguration mainly reporting on the cultural significance but also on this being the news factor of the year. 

Well that will not be the case. Citing budgetary issues, executives at NPR decided that any reporting done on the election would have to be done from California. So upset by this, Ms. Chideya decided to leave the show the Friday before the election. See the article written about it here at the Maynard Institute's Richard Prince's journal-isms.  What do you think? Personally, I am offended by the statement,  "... program not attracting sufficient levels of audience".  Albeit I listened from the web, I think that should've counted for something.  I also think that their presence at inaugural events would have closed the show on a high note and made the time spent working with the show that much more memorable. At the very least, I think they should've considered ending the show let's say a month earlier and reallocating those funds to the inaugural show that Tuesday. Surely there is space in the D.C. studios for Ms.  Chideya and Tony Cox to air ONE hour! Tsk tsk NPR. 

I would like to wish Ms. Chideya well in her endeavors. The article mentioned she has a book entitled, Kiss the Sky coming out so I guess we can look for her on tour. 

Lastly, I'd like to introduce people who read my blog to check out other sites/blogs. I view it as an opportunity to visit a site you may have never heard of or may not have thought to visit. Today that site will be Chookooloonks.com.  If you have a moment head over there. Every Thursday is love Thursday and I am sure she will have something wonderful to share tomorrow. Your comments are always welcome. Let me know what you think.....

Mel

Still in the thoughts of the New Year

As least partially anyway. I still have things to do on my list that were from last week and as one of my unwritten New Years resolutions (NYR), had planned to compile smaller, doable lists and not take things past a day or so. I wonder, does this count as falling off the wagon? Anyway,  I, like most people, returned to work today and let me just say up front - it was NOT easy. It was cold. I was groggy and slow moving. And to top it all off, I forgot part of my lunch. As you can tell I made it through the day.  I practically ran out of work trying to get home today. 

I got home in time to see ABC News. Though I miss Peter Jennings' delivery of the news, I love Charles Gibson.  He was good during the campaign and the election, so I keep tuning in and since I no longer have cable, this will be my choice for stories leading up to the inauguration. This being the start of a new year has no bearings on world issues. Bad and worse stories seemed to plague all the tops spots. Honestly, I wish I were able to decipher what exactly can be done to heed any further incidents and more importantly deaths in the Middle East. Even with all the stuff I have read, I still don't get it.  I don't know how anything can be done if someone doesn't call a cease fire. Then to make me roll my eyes, President Bush decides to place all the fault on the Palestinians. BEFORE you leave any nasty messages, I do not have a position on this issue. I just don't see this as something our President should openly and blatantly take sides on. I think his response should have been a bit more diplomatic, similar to that of his Secretary of State. But in a couple of weeks that will be neither here nor there. ***smiling proudly****

Also in other news that went totally under the radar. Mr. Claiborne Pell was buried today... pause, no think...Yes, you DO know who he is. Well indirectly anyway.  He was the person instrumental in creating the pell grant. Get it, Pell grant. He actually died on New Years Day. See an article done by the New York Times about the former Senator here. As a recipient of several pell grants and one who never thought twice about where it came from when I received it, its nice to be able acknowledge the man who paved the way for thousands of university students like me to be able to afford an education.

Well tomorrow is another day. Let's hope it goes a lot smoother than today....

Happy New Year!!!

Time is a thief, or so the saying goes. I had planned to post this earlier today and well you know the end of the story. Here's wishing you all a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year. May you accomplish ALL that you set out to do in the coming days weeks and months. 

For those of you shooting for a better YOU and are planner type people searching for a way to stay organized, check out my planner, made by Planner Pads. They are fairly inexpensive and easy to use. You can either check out the website here or if your still in looking mode and  want to know more about it from a user point of view, you can listen to a podcast done by one of my favorite bloggers Julia Coney of All About the Pretty and a few of her friends Kimberly Wilson & Joanna Lo explaining how they use their planner pads here.  I will definitely be checking Ms. Wilson's site out on the regular. Also another quick note...if you live in the DC are Ms. Coney  and Ms. Lo are planning a Makeover and Takeover class. Check out her 28 December post for more information. Gosh I wish I could pop into DC for that. 

If paper is not your thing,  check out a few podcasts that I have come across including morning coach.com and my thought coach.com.  I accidentally came across a few of these referencing something else - Ms. Wilson's Tranquility Du Jour to be EXACT ! Some of them are lengthy but worth it. Unfortunately I don't know how to link it. Just head over to iTunes and do a search in the podcasts. They have been pretty informative so far,  a good thing to come across on my break.... 

Lastly, I tried to think of the one thing I would like to do most in 2009 and I realized the reason I couldn't come up with that one thing is because there wasn't one and they were all intertwined with each other. I decided the best way to sum it all up was the chorus of  T.I. and Rihanna's  Live Your Life.  And yes, I know you know that I know that I could have come up with another way to say this but hey go with it....

 

Go out and live YOUR life in 2009... See you on that road 

Mel