50 for 50 Day Eight: Kids Vs Global Warming
Day eight is great!
Let me explain, for the newbs: because I feel so fortunate and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring, humanity and all that good stuff.
I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.
Kids Vs Global Warming was suggested by a friend from last year’s Creative Alliance 10 conference, Karen Duggan of Playful Planet. I already knew about them because when I walk by the beach, I see these poles that show how deep the area will be under water if the sea level rises.
They try to involve and educate youth and others about the problems facing us due to global warming and what we can do about it.
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Thanks for any and all help for these great kids. You can donate here. You can also get the iMatter app for your iPhone here.
50 for 50 Day Seven: Help a Mother Out
We’ve made it to the first full week of this crazy birthday project of mine!
Let me explain, for the newbs: because I feel so fortunate and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring, humanity and all that good stuff.
I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.
Help a Mother Out is an organization with a simple mission: diapers. Can you imagine being a mom who can’t afford to buy diapers for your baby?
I heard about HAMO from my friend Kim Tracy Prince, who runs the Southern California chapter. She talked last year at Creative Alliance 10 about this important project, and she convinced me. Here’s what Kim has to say:
“HAMO is still a scrappy non-profit made up of moms who can’t stand the idea of babies going without enough diapers to keep them clean and healthy. We are currently raising funds to keep us going: our goal is to hit $25K by May 31. If we do, Huggies will reward us with 100,000 additional diapers to aid in our efforts to help homeless and needy families. Just a little bit goes a long way.”
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Thanks for any and all help for this great organization. You can donate in person or hold a virtual diaper drive.
My Fab 5
Thanks to Trop50 for sponsoring my writing about fabulous bloggers. This year Trop50 is granting 50 Fabulous Wishes. Click here to enter for a chance to win $1,000 to celebrate a friend with a refreshing attitude about looking and feeling fabulous! // Thus ends the section I did not write.
(If you’re looking for today’s 50 for 50 post, it is right below this one.)
A lot of bloggers are doing this post, taking the assignment of picking five fabulous bloggers. Anyone who has been around blogging as long as I have knows this is a hard task, a real Sophie’s choice. I have over 100 blogs left in my feed reader, and this is AFTER a lot of ruthless pruning. So five.
How do I decide? Do I pick people that I love and know in real life? Writers that I love? People I love but who don’t have the readership they deserve? Blogs I love even though they have a huge readership and don’t need my little bit of publicity?
It just so happens that LaurieWrites already did her list, and four out of her five bloggers are people I would have chosen (the other one is me). So you can go over and read Laurie’s list and get 80% more fun! It’s like a great bloggers clearance rack!
I feel it is only right to pick Laurie for my #1 spot, not in the spirit of logrolling, but because I’ve been reading her for several years now and her writing just keeps getting better and better. True. Every time I click over there lately, she has posted something exceptionally smart, thoughtful, honest and well-written. She’s also a good, good friend who has shared many laughs and laments and WTF? and OMG!s with me via IM and DM and text message. I love her for herself, but I admire her for her writing and photography.
Laurie and me in Ojai. Can you guess who is who?
#2 Flurrious. I am determined to get this woman more attention. I want everyone to read her. She deserves to get a million dollars a month in ad revenue and sit home in her PJs writing posts. She doesn’t post often, but when she does, it is worth waiting for. She makes me laugh harder than anyone on the internet, and that includes Jenny the Bloggess and Hyperbole and a Half (see how I snuck two extra bloggers in there? SNEAKY!).
She doesn’t work the social media the way some bloggers do. She doesn’t ever post photos of herself, she doesn’t tweet and as far as I know, she has never expressed any interest in going to a blog conference. But read this and you’ll know why I have such great love for her blog. (I must say at this point that I went over and got sucked into reading her archives and spent a good half an hour over there. The posts are ALL good, so feel free to start anywhere.)
#3 Blogography. Dave’s brain is just enough like mine to make me feel smug and self-righteous when I read and agree with him, and just different enough to make his blog fascinating. He is insanely talented; he has 1000 interests; he’s irascible and cranky at the human race. He’s awesome.
#4 The Trephine. She used to be someone else, and now she is this. She is still a good read, a writer who is evocative, funny, smart and brave. Consider this post excerpt, which is from a field guide to different types of personals ads:
PRETENDING TO BE TOO COOL FOR PERSONAL ADS BUT PROBABLY JUST LAZY
I am too amazing and complex to be summed up in paragraphs so I won’t even try. You should similarly recognize the futility of this exercise and just message me, hopefully with considerably more effort than I just exerted.ALMOST COMICALLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ALIVE
I like fun. I enjoy going out, staying in, and eating food that tastes good. I also enjoy snuggling and laughing. Sometimes I watch movies. I live in a house and have a job. The first thing people usually notice about me would have to be my smile, my eyes, or my unique inability to pick myself out of a lineup. (My friends could, though, and they claim I am attractive, with a great sense of humor.)
#5 Doves Today. Glennia writes a travelogue of Los Angeles, from Los Angeles, with other posts thrown in for good measure. She has a keen eye for details that others might miss. She loads her posts up with many fine photos, historical details, and observations.
There are more, of course, and I feel bad about leaving them out. But the assignment was for 5 blogs and only 5. If you ever need recommendations for whom to read, just ask me, because I can make many great recommendations.
And here begins more stuff I did not write:
Don’t forget to enter the 50 Fabulous Wishes contest for a chance to win $1,000 to celebrate a friend with a refreshing attitude about looking and feeling fabulous. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post. // I normally do not use the word “facilitate.” Someone else wrote that bit.
50 for 50 Day Six: Direct Relief International
Thanks for stopping by my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day Six.
In case you haven’t been following along: because I feel so blessed and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring, humanity and all that good stuff.
I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days leading up to my birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.
Direct Relief International is a source of pride here in the tri-counties region of California because they do so much good around the world. Whenever an emergency happens anywhere in the world, they are among the first responders, bringing medical teams and supplies. They also work on strengthening medical systems around the world in areas of need, with a special focus on maternal and child health.
From their website: Since 2000, Direct Relief has provided more than $1 billion in direct aid through medical material assistance and targeted cash grants serving people in 70-plus countries worldwide.
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Thanks for any and all help for this great organization. Donate here. You can also be all modern and create your own fundraising web page.
50 for 50 Day Five: Write Girl
Thanks for hanging in with me. It’s my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day Five.
Here’s the deal: because I have everything I need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring humanity and all that good stuff.
I will feature a different charity each day for the 50 days leading up to my birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. You don’t have to donate or act every day, of course, or at all. But I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.
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When I lived closer to Los Angeles, I was involved in WriteGirl, a writing mentorship program for young women. Not only is it a great cause (women! writing!) but it was the most fun organization I have ever had the pleasure of being involved with.
It works like this: each high-school age girl meets weekly with a mentor who is a professional woman writer. They practice writing together. The mentor also helps with college plans, essays, application letters and in general keeping the girl on track.
Then once a month, all of the volunteers (some volunteers don’t have a mentee, but work in other capacities) and mentees meet for an all-day writing workshop. In the morning, there are exercises and prompts and lessons. Everybody writes. Each workshop is on a different type of writing – songwriting, screenplays, journalism, poetry, etc. In the afternoon, depending on the day’s theme, actors may show up to perform the dialogue the girls have written, musicians to put music to their lyrics – and because this is in Los Angeles, some of the people who show up are famous or who have produced famous works the girls have seen or have written songs they have heard on the radio.
Jennie Garth from Beverly Hills 90210 has stopped by to do scenes. I remember one workshop where the girl I was helping got her dialogue performed by an actor she had an absolute crush on from seeing him in a movie, and it was so amazing and awesome to see this shy girl have her eyes opened – “Hey, I can DO this.” It is magic. I left every workshop walking on air.
All of the girls who have gone through Write Girl go to college. Many of them are the first in their families to do so.
Their mission:
To introduce girls to a wide variety of writing genres;
To teach a robust set of writing and critical analysis skills;
To encourage girls to explore and develop their creative talents, both written and oral;
To nurture girls and promote healthy behaviors and life choices through positive mentoring relationships with women writers;
To assist girls in preparing for college;
To inspire girls to pursue careers in writing, such as journalism, public relations,screenwriting, songwriting, corporate communications, publishing, website content producing, editing or creative writing;
To equip girls with communication tools to confidently navigate the challenges they face; and
To produce a full slate of program activities throughout the year so that we may serve as many girls as possible (including seven full-day writing workshops annually, a gala public reading and publication of a book each season, college visits and other special outings, and ongoing creative writing mentoring).
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Thanks for any and all help for the WriteGirls. Donate here. You can also support WriteGirl by buying their excellent publications, which are anthologies of work done by the mentees and mentors. They make great gifts!
This is my favorite WriteGirl book because it has a story about my cat Antonio, written by one of the girls.
50 for 50 Day Four: Accelerated Cure for MS
Thanks for stopping by my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day Four. (There’s real post-y stuff at the bottom for those of you who are sick of my 50 for 50 project already.)
Once again, here’s what is going on: because I have everything I need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring humanity and all that good stuff.
I will feature a different charity each day for 50 days to give you plenty of chances to get involved. You don’t have to donate or act every day, of course, or at all. But I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.
Today’s organization is small but scrappy: Accelerated Cure for Multiple Sclerosis
My sister Laura died of complications of MS on May 13, 2007. Man, I can’t even type that sentence without getting tears in my eyes. MS sucks in a horrible bad sucky way, and no one should ever have to suffer through it.
A lot of people donate to the MS Society, but Laura was not a fan. That’s an understatement and I’m not going any further except to say I needed to find another MS-related charity to donate to, and Accelerated Cure is something I’m sure Laura would have approved of. They are compiling all the known information and research on MS so it can be coordinated and referenced.
I asked them for a comment and they sent me a lovely email:
Happy Birthday Suebob! We are honored to be included in your 50th birthday celebration. Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) is a national nonprofit focused on curing multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common condition causing neurological disability in young adults. We believe that our unique approach of building a biorepository of samples from people with not only MS but other similar neurological diseases and control samples will help to accelerate the cure of MS. The purpose of our biorepository is to facilitate research that will aid in determining the causes and mechanisms of MS. Any researcher is able access this valuable resource as long as they agree to return the their findings for to share with other scientists. In this way, ACP encourages collaboration that will lead to a more holistic view of the causes and mechanisms of MS. We believe this collaboration, along with the enormous amount of data generated, will lead to finding the cure for MS. Multiple sclerosis affects over 400,000 people in the US and 2 million individuals worldwide. As you help Suebob celebrate her 50th birthday we encourage you to find out more about our organization and help us (and the millions of people with MS) in any way you are able. To learn more, please visit http://www.acceleratedcure.org, email info@acceleratedcure.org or call 781/487-0008.
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Thanks for any and all help for this great cause. Donate here. And other volunteer opportunities are listed here.
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Well, no rapture. That makes me happy for several reasons 1) I would have gotten left behind and had to live through the tribulations, and there is really nothing I hate more than rains of hail, fire and blood. Especially blood. So hard to get out of cottons. 2) I have season tickets to the local pro futbol club and they are #1 in their division.
I will be sad, however, to see the end of the Rapture jokes. They are the kind of thing Twitter is made for.
Issa did true confessions in honor of the Rapture. Here’s one of mine: I nap in my car. Even when I am at home. I will walk out of my house, get in my car in the driveway, and nap for 10 minutes. I sleep better in my car than anywhere else. I don’t know if it is the warmth or the comfy seats or what, but if you come to my house and can’t find me, look out in the car.
50 for 50 Day Three: Women for Women
Thanks for stopping by my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day Three.
Here’s the deal: because I have everything I need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring humanity and all that good stuff.
I will feature a different charity each day for 50 days to give you plenty of chances to get involved. You don’t have to donate or act every day, of course, or at all. But I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.
Another one that is close to my heart – Women for Women, an organization that helps women in war-torn areas of the world. It was born out of the frustration that the situation in Bosnia in the 90s was so terrible and there was so little we could do, and it grew from there to reach other countries around the world.
From their website: Our Vision
Women for Women International envisions a world where no one is abused, poor, illiterate or marginalized; where members of communities have full and equal participation in the processes that ensure their health, well-being and economic independence; and where everyone has the freedom to define the scope of their life, their future and strive to achieve their full potential.
You can sponsor a woman as she gets education, counseling and support as she learns work skills that can use to support her family. When you are a sponsor, you write letters to the woman and receive letters in return, developing a relationship that goes far beyond a simple donation. I have done this for many years, and getting those letters every month is a precious gift.
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Thanks for any and all help for this great cause. Donate here. You can also participate in one of the runs for women in Congo this summer around the U.S.
50 for 50 Day 2: Epic Change
Thanks for stopping by my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day 2. Because I have everything I need, I am asking people to donate to charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. I will feature a different charity each day for 50 days to give you plenty of chances to get involved.
You don’t have to act every day, of course, or at all. But I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. It is all about exploring different ways to give and opening to possibilities. Thanks for your love and support as I go through this project.
Epic Change is an organization that uses the power of storytelling to make positive change in the world. They say “Epic Change believes that people’s stories are assets that can be used as resources to improve their lives. We help people in need share their “epic” true stories in innovative, creative and profitable ways to help them acquire the financial resources they need to create positive “change” in their communities.”
Their first project is a school in Tanzania: 
From the Epic Change website:
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Our proof-of-concept project seeks to rebuild and expand Shepherds Junior, a small primary school in Arusha, Tanzania at which Monk and Patel volunteered in during their 2007 trip to Africa.
Mama Lucy Kamptoni, a savvy and passionate local woman, founded the school in 2003 on land she rented land next door to her home using the income from her poultry business. The school nearly closed in 2007 when a developer bought the rented land, and Kamptoni had no access to the capital required to relocate.
The school is entirely English medium, but includes courses in Swahili, the country’s primary language, and has clubs that celebrate the vibrant culture and history of Tanzania. In addition, the school focuses lessons on local social and cultural issues, including poverty, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, child labor, and more.
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Thanks for any and all donations to this great cause. Donate here. Or get your kids involved by making art, videos, or fundraising.
50 for 50: Day 1 Amnesty International
Thanks for stopping by my 50th Birthday Celebration on the very first day.
Because I have everything I need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in honor of my birthday. And in honor of caring humanity and all that good stuff.
I will feature a different charity each day for 50 days to give you plenty of chances to get involved. You don’t have to donate or act every day, of course, or at all. But I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. I’m hoping for at least 50 donations or actions over the course of this project. Thank you, my dear friends.
For day 1, I had to choose the organization that has been the closest to my heart for the longest, the first organization I got involved with, Amnesty International. I believe in Amnesty International because I believe in human rights. Basic human rights like the freedom of speech, belief, expression, assembly, freedom from violence – these are the things that give life meaning and richness, and my deepest belief is that everyone deserves them.
Here’s a great little video about the UN International Declaration of Human Rights, which is what Amnesty’s work is based on. It makes me cry every time, because that is the kind of sap I am. This stuff gets to me:
I have been an Amnesty International member, I have been a group leader, I have gone to conferences and written hundreds if not thousands of letters on behalf of people who have had their rights denied around the world. Doing this work, I have come to respect the organization for its rigor in investigating human rights violations and the amazing things it does. Over the years, I have seen governments release political prisoners and change policies because of the attention Amnesty International has brought, through the simple power of bringing light to abuses.
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Thanks for any and all help this great cause. Donate here. And here is an action you can take to help North Korean political prisoners.
My Big Birthday Party: 50 for 50
In 51 days, I will turn 50 years old. Holy cats, I’m old. But as they say in Lithuanian, “Senas bet dar gyvas!” or “Old, but still alive!”
Let’s face it, I have everything I need. I am blessed with a great family, health, a good job, a roof over my head, more food than I can eat, money in the bank. I even live in a gorgeous locale, so I am set with everything. Ok, maybe everything except a hot international soccer star boyfriend, but at 50, I’m afraid I may have to settle for a “hot former international soccer star that we kind of remember from a long time ago boyfriend.” I’ll get working on that.
ANYWAY…what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want presents. I don’t want cards. I don’t even want cake. What I want is for the world to be a little more of a kind and generous place, and if my birthday can be the catalyst for that, that would bring me so much joy.
SO. Here’s the plan: each day, for the next 50 days, I will feature one worthwhile organization that is doing good works. I want my gift to be to open up this space to these organizations and see what happens. I’d like for people to pick one or several and get involved, either by donating, volunteering or taking action. I’ll give information about the organization, a donation link, and, if I can, a way to take action other than through a monetary donation.
If you are so inspired, take action and leave me a comment letting me know you did it. Even if you don’t act now, please keep some of these organizations in mind for when your ship comes in (and I know it will. I can see it on the horizon right now) or for when you have time.
And don’t worry – regular posts will be sprinkled in too, so don’t give up. You’ll get your usual dose of fine, high-quality Suebobian blather and bluster.
You honor me by stopping by to read this blog. Thank you for your time and attention over the past few years. And thanks for sharing my birthday celebration with me. The party starts tomorrow. Be there!
Suebob's Red Stapler 