On my Mind

Last night I watched War Dance, a beautiful documentary about children in Northern Uganda, on a recommendation from a dear friend. I know a little bit about Uganda from a blog I read, "the Journey", but I had no idea how gorgeous the landscape is. Both the movie and the blog start with pretty simple ideas: children from the war zone preparing for a dance competition, a missionary taking in abandoned girls and forming a family through adoption. But the messages of hope, resilience, love and strength that pour out of both are astounding.

I also got my alumnae magazine in the mail over the Thanksgiving holiday. One of the features was on the recent conference that was held there: "Heritage and Hope: Women's Education in a Global Context". Reading the article, the speakers all seemed to have some good things to say. And then I came to the highlights from Nicholas Kristof's Keynote:

Kristof expressed his distress over the political polarization between US Christian evangelicals and secular feminists, particularly in the area of reproductive health that prevents them from joining forces to combat such abuses as human trafficking.
"There are a lot of Christian evangelical groups in Sudan and Congo that have done fabulous work," he said. "At the end of the day, everybody believes passionately that 14-year-old girls should not be kidnapped and locked up in brothels."
Squeamishness over talking about sexuality also concerns him. "One of the impediments to girls' staying in high school that most people have learned about only in the last decade is the difficulty of managing menstruation," he said. "Girls never raised it with school authorities or aid workers before because the subject was taboo. If you can keep a girl in high school by providing her with sanitary pads, that is such a cheap intervention." pg 25, Alumnae Bulletin, November, 2010

That stopped me cold. He is SO RIGHT. I feel that polarization a lot. As a liberal Christian, I can see both sides of each coin. And meanwhile, there is work that all of us could be doing. We can't do everything, perhaps, but we could do something, instead of arguing amongst ourselves. Right? What can I do? What can we do? What do you think?


P.S. There are [of course] a bunch of non-profit organizations that have sprung out of the above-mentioned projects. Half the Sky, out of Nicholas Kristof's work, Shine Global which supported War Dance, and Amazima Ministries which grew out of "the Journey". Go check them out, and see if they appeal to you. Maybe these groups are the way forward for action.

Newsy Bits

Lots of news in my life:

My Godson is officially adopted into the family, as of Easter Monday!

Neighbor Ed just got tenure!

My friend Charlotte just got back from Istanbul and posted some of her amazing photos on Facebook. I'm really hoping she might be a guest blogger here and talk about her travels and the religious art she saw there. One of her stops was the Hagia Sophia (picture on left).

I'm trying to plan an academic path to a Master's degree for myself. I have a meeting with an advisor this afternoon!

And finally, this isn't in the news of the me, rather the news of the "we" but - I am so proud of our President and First Lady. Out planting trees:

Weekly Blog Roundup

RELIGIOUS ART:

I love some of these images from Idle Speculations, I can't choose! the tree of virtue and the tree of vice to the left.

CULTURE:

How to have a good self body image, as a mom, but also impart good messages to our daughters about their bodies from Jezebel commenting on the original WaPo article. Makes a ton of sense.

An ode to godparenting from BlogHer echoes my feelings exactly. Thank you again, Lakshmi & Sam!

Egyptian pyramid photo of noblewoman's tomb cia BBC.

Interesting take on the dilemma that is Facebook from Huff Po (which is another thing I must check daily).

Some guy at CNN has a crush on Michelle Obama - I guess I do too then.

More on the impending demise of Gourmet. I wish it didn't have to be this way! via Gawker.

Fug Madness is right around the corner, y'all!

SHOPPING:

Dag! How did I miss this?? From my pal Jennifer Westhoven's blog: free Chanel 19?!?!? So bummed I missed it.

Cadbury Dairy Milk goes Fair Trade!!! This is awesome news, just in time for Easter. [Think they planned it that way??] via BBC.

Here is some worrying news about the state of hiring in this country . Yes, we should hire capable Americans for American jobs. But one thing this article points out is that

"Deep, long-term shortcomings in the U.S. education system have left the country dependent on foreign-born scientists, engineers, computer specialists and other highly skilled workers to fuel the research and innovation that drive economic growth."

Right. And who knows how long it will take to correct this. from Workforce Week, found via BBC.

ART:
Idea of the North - photographs by Birthe Piontek found on "Heading East". Beautiful and haunting photos. Wow.

two amazing shows at Penn's ICA right now:
1) Dread, by Joshua Mosley is a fantastic short film (with sculptures!) that might just blow your mind. Pascal and Rousseau feature prominently.
2) Touch Sensitive by Anthony Campuzano's fantastic art that uses text and bright colors. I was very moved by his work, even though it seems very simple when you enter the space, the ideas involved are very powerful. Two fantastic shows you won't want to miss if you're in/near Philadelphia.


Art Blog by Bob's monthly poll has me sweatin' to the oldies! Puts me in the mood for some hard rock.

I knew there was another reason I love Joss Wheadon - his craftiness! I love the part about his interview in Crocheting Monthly, from BlogHer.

Office cubicles from around the world from the TIME website.

How to be a mermaid/merman via Blogfish and Oceana.

Obamas turn White House organic! More on the "New Victory Garden" in the US. Yeah! From TreeHugger.

brief round up

I'm going to do a fire drill in our home this weekend. Ever since September 11th, and even moreso after Katrina, I am a huge believer in disaster preparedness. I felt like I had it under control, but we really haven't been practicing enough. I'm getting on it. [based on my score (ironically, "9/11") I'm "a survival expert".]

And, not that I care what NYT Op Ed Columnists think [take THAT David Brooks!] but this at least caught my eye. I am not at all sure that Maureen Dowd has it right - Barack Obama as Fitzwilliam Darcy?? But, I'm going to mull it over. I am, of course, an un-abashed Edmund Bertram lover.

In other news:

Congrats to Lakshmi and Sam on the adoption of their beautiful baby George. We love you!

And, this is wahnsinn, I know but:

Way to go, Dogg! I'll give ya some love!

Newsy Bits

I've been scanning the blogosphere today, and have found several items that interested me, and I thought I'd share.

First off, ever since Lakshmi and Sam started on their domestic, open-adoption quest, I've been learning a lot about the process. They have kindly been answering my questions and helping to de-mystify the whole "open adoption" concept for me. Lakshmi turned me on to "Peter's Cross Station" and Lily Sea's post there today was amazing. I can see that there are very few "unbiased" voices for pregnant women considering adoption. And I think she is doing the right thing by blogging about it. I share her concern for my daughters if they are ever in the position of having to face an unplanned pregnancy. It gives me pause. But her post seems like it would be very helpful for any (young) woman in that situation today. So, keep it up Lily Sea!


In other news, two articles about water: 1) From Simply Cooking, how Pepsi (tm) is selling water from a drought-parched land and selling it to us at a premium. When, oh when will the bottled water craze end!? 2) How the Vintondale, PA post-mine-chemical-leaching-catastrophe reclamation is working in my own back yard of upstate PA. Thanks again to Pruned for doing such a great job blogging.

The Siren Chronicles talk about how the wave of foreclosures is helping out the homeless - they're squatting in the subdivisions!

I love the mast head at the Siren Chronicles! I just saw the Odyssey over the weekend at the
Curio Theatre, and it was AWESOME. Anyone in Philly should go check it out. It's in the beautiful Calvary Center and the setting is perfect for the retelling of Homer's epic. So great.

Clotilde & Clovis

Lakshmi and I are both reading "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, right now. I am fascinated by my reaction to it now, reading it again after 20 years from my first time.

The characters seem less robust to me now. But there also seems to be an agenda to the religious discussion - almost proselytizing for Wiccanism. I don't know if that was actually MZB's goal, but when Lakshmi and I talked about it, we realized how much has changed in the world since the book first came out [1987]. Now there are even Wiccan chaplains in the US military!

Much has NOT changed, of course.

It may sound backwards, but I came back to Christianity through paganism. I dabbled in Wiccan practice, but found that I missed the structure, ritual and readings (Bible stories) of the Church. It was too hard for me personally to create a practice. PLUS, as MoA shows, the basis of the European interpretation of Christianity is heavily influenced by paganism. Start to finish. So, when the seasons turn, as they are now in Philly (Fall has arrived here) I follow the Christian liturgical calendar, and begin to think about Advent. The preparation for the coming baby new year.

Lakshmi and I have also been talking (at length) about open adoption and the process and all the DECISIONS! I have been thinking and praying about the process a lot, and all those involved, and went to my handy-dandy Patron Saints Index to find out who is affiliated with adoption. Apparently it's Clotilde - patron saint of adopted children. I still can't figure out WHY she's the patron, but whatevs.

So, while I was reading about her, I looked up her husband - Clovis I - who she brought to Christianity, and the story sounds EXACTLY like how MZB portrays Arthur's religious conversion around a battle and subsequent struggles. Amazing!

This is a good time of year for adopting - a time of preparation for the joy of a new child.