Philadelphia is known for its murals. See some of them here.
Read this article to find out why people are talking about Philly murals today...
Extra credit: Do you know what "gentrifying" means? It's a hot word in Philadelphia.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
How to help
I was asked how a person might help the women in the Congo.
(sidenote: There are two Congos. One is the Republic of the Congo and one is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire. I will be referring to the second one, the DRC.)
There are two ways to help the women in the Congo. One is to give money. Women For Women is an organization that financially supports women in many countries, including DRC. For $27 a month, you are matched with and financially support a woman in the Congo. You can also make a one time donation.
Another way to help the women of the Congo is to raise awareness and money at the same time. Run for Congo Women is an organization that helps you do just that. This is a typical "run for charity" type of event. But, you can also get creative! Or, you can educate others and push for change.
Please click here to read portions of letters written by sponsored women.
Here is what Lisa wrote on Run For Congo Women about how her awareness of the violence in the DRC began.
"Watching Lisa Ling's report on Oprah about the conflict in the eastern Congo, shock waves went through me. 4 million people dead. Women gang raped and tortured daily, many held captive as sex slaves, sometimes for years. Innocent children tortured, starved, and left to die. 6 out of 10 children die before the age of 5. Yet no one is talking about it.
...I remained haunted by this horror, which continues to be met with stunning silence by the world. What would I have done if I lived in 1939 Germany, or if had been aware of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda? Oprah's challenge lingered, 'Now that you know, you can't pretend you didn't hear it.' I had to do more."
(sidenote: There are two Congos. One is the Republic of the Congo and one is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire. I will be referring to the second one, the DRC.)
There are two ways to help the women in the Congo. One is to give money. Women For Women is an organization that financially supports women in many countries, including DRC. For $27 a month, you are matched with and financially support a woman in the Congo. You can also make a one time donation.
Another way to help the women of the Congo is to raise awareness and money at the same time. Run for Congo Women is an organization that helps you do just that. This is a typical "run for charity" type of event. But, you can also get creative! Or, you can educate others and push for change.
Please click here to read portions of letters written by sponsored women.
Here is what Lisa wrote on Run For Congo Women about how her awareness of the violence in the DRC began.
"Watching Lisa Ling's report on Oprah about the conflict in the eastern Congo, shock waves went through me. 4 million people dead. Women gang raped and tortured daily, many held captive as sex slaves, sometimes for years. Innocent children tortured, starved, and left to die. 6 out of 10 children die before the age of 5. Yet no one is talking about it.
...I remained haunted by this horror, which continues to be met with stunning silence by the world. What would I have done if I lived in 1939 Germany, or if had been aware of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda? Oprah's challenge lingered, 'Now that you know, you can't pretend you didn't hear it.' I had to do more."
Friday, June 20, 2008
Oops
If you wanted to do the meme thing from the previous post, I've edited it to add the links to the search page and the mosaic maker page. I didn't realize they copy/paste over...
Sorry!
Sorry!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
A Meme
The rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Crazy
When I moved to Philadelphia a year and a half ago, I went a little crazy. It's to be expected, I think, considering all the changes.
I think part of the reason I have had a hard time continuing to write on this blog is that for a while, things were so upside down in my brain that I couldn't write about them intelligently, and now that things are better, I feel like there isn't a good bridge between who I was then and who I am now.
And I'm not sure if it's possible or worthwhile to revisit that time to take some of my old readers through all the mess to better understand me now. So I'm sorta stuck there.
But I will say this: therapy helps. I have always thought that just about everyone could benefit from a little therapy, and now I know that at least I benefit from therapy.
Also, it helps to have a good job that I like, a good marriage to a good man, and a mostly good dog.
I think part of the reason I have had a hard time continuing to write on this blog is that for a while, things were so upside down in my brain that I couldn't write about them intelligently, and now that things are better, I feel like there isn't a good bridge between who I was then and who I am now.
And I'm not sure if it's possible or worthwhile to revisit that time to take some of my old readers through all the mess to better understand me now. So I'm sorta stuck there.
But I will say this: therapy helps. I have always thought that just about everyone could benefit from a little therapy, and now I know that at least I benefit from therapy.
Also, it helps to have a good job that I like, a good marriage to a good man, and a mostly good dog.
UNcool things about Philly
Actually, this really has nothing to do with Philly and this is probably happening all over, but it's only happening TO ME in Philly.
Monday night, someone stole gas out of my gas tank. Luckily, they only took about a quarter tank, but still that's stinky. They hit several cars on our street.
I thought that by taking the train to work and not driving my car, I would save money on gas. Buy my cost saving measure aren't as effective when there's thievery going on!
Monday night, someone stole gas out of my gas tank. Luckily, they only took about a quarter tank, but still that's stinky. They hit several cars on our street.
I thought that by taking the train to work and not driving my car, I would save money on gas. Buy my cost saving measure aren't as effective when there's thievery going on!
Sunday, June 08, 2008
On a more serious note
Our church is hosting the Women in War Zones Gala next weekend.
Please take a minute to check out the site. It might take a minute to load due to the graphics.
"They asked me to choose between rape and death, of course I could choose neither, both are the same." Helene Wamuzila, age 22
You can go here to find out more about the women of the Congo.
Please take a minute to check out the site. It might take a minute to load due to the graphics.
"They asked me to choose between rape and death, of course I could choose neither, both are the same." Helene Wamuzila, age 22
You can go here to find out more about the women of the Congo.
Philadelphia
Moving to Philly was really hard for me, for lots of reasons, which I may or may not discuss later.
But part of it is that Philly is just so DIFFERENT. The buildings are different and the streets are different, and people have radiators in their houses, and it's just weird. Oh, and the winters totally suck.
But there are a few things about Philadelphia that are actually pretty cool. If you ever visit Philly (which I recommend doing in May or September,) here are some things you might want to check out:
1. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. I love that place - It's a beautiful building with some fantastic art and a great view of the city and I got engaged on the front steps. So a cool place. Also, if you are a Rocky fan, it's where Rocky ran the steps.
2. Love Park - There's not a lot to actually DO at the park, other than look at the Love and have your picture taken, but it's a cool touristy thing to do.
3. The Mutter Museum - This is one of the most unique museum in the country. I actually went there today and was a little freaked out. Don't take little kids here. They will ask too many questions that will be difficult to explain. Don't forget to check out the online store!
4. Cheese steaks! - Okay, so cheese steaks in Philly aren't like the Philly cheese steaks you get in the rest of the country. When you order a cheese steak, if you don't specify what kind of cheese you want, you get the whiz. As in Cheese Whiz. I am not kidding. For cheese steaks, I recommend either Geno's or Pat's, which are right across the street from each other. There is a special way to order cheese steaks. The first time I went, I wanted to be very clear so I said "I would like a cheese steak with provolone cheese and no onions." Turns out, all I needed to say was "Provolone, wit'out." Yes, that is wit'out. That's how you say it in south Philly.
5. Forbidden Drive - I think I might have posted about this before, but it's such a cool thing, I wanted to post about it again. Forbidden Drive is a part of Fairmount Park so it's this nice great nature area that runs along the Wissahickon Creek. The drive used to be one of the roads that let into the city, and had watering holes and even toll booths along the way. But in the 1920's the city decided to ban vehicles from the drive, hence the name Forbidden Drive. Only pedestrians, bikes and horses are allowed. There is some great hiking and some beautiful views along the way.
But part of it is that Philly is just so DIFFERENT. The buildings are different and the streets are different, and people have radiators in their houses, and it's just weird. Oh, and the winters totally suck.
But there are a few things about Philadelphia that are actually pretty cool. If you ever visit Philly (which I recommend doing in May or September,) here are some things you might want to check out:
1. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. I love that place - It's a beautiful building with some fantastic art and a great view of the city and I got engaged on the front steps. So a cool place. Also, if you are a Rocky fan, it's where Rocky ran the steps.
2. Love Park - There's not a lot to actually DO at the park, other than look at the Love and have your picture taken, but it's a cool touristy thing to do.
3. The Mutter Museum - This is one of the most unique museum in the country. I actually went there today and was a little freaked out. Don't take little kids here. They will ask too many questions that will be difficult to explain. Don't forget to check out the online store!
4. Cheese steaks! - Okay, so cheese steaks in Philly aren't like the Philly cheese steaks you get in the rest of the country. When you order a cheese steak, if you don't specify what kind of cheese you want, you get the whiz. As in Cheese Whiz. I am not kidding. For cheese steaks, I recommend either Geno's or Pat's, which are right across the street from each other. There is a special way to order cheese steaks. The first time I went, I wanted to be very clear so I said "I would like a cheese steak with provolone cheese and no onions." Turns out, all I needed to say was "Provolone, wit'out." Yes, that is wit'out. That's how you say it in south Philly.
5. Forbidden Drive - I think I might have posted about this before, but it's such a cool thing, I wanted to post about it again. Forbidden Drive is a part of Fairmount Park so it's this nice great nature area that runs along the Wissahickon Creek. The drive used to be one of the roads that let into the city, and had watering holes and even toll booths along the way. But in the 1920's the city decided to ban vehicles from the drive, hence the name Forbidden Drive. Only pedestrians, bikes and horses are allowed. There is some great hiking and some beautiful views along the way.
Does anybody come here anymore?
I hardly do. I don't know why, I just found I didn't have much to say. Yeah, I know. Weird, huh?
So, uh... I guess I'll think of something.
First of all, marriage is hard. I mean, it's good, but man, is it freaking hard. Cuz get this: The Husband doesn't always think like me. He doesn't always want what I want. And sometimes he even thinks that I am wrong. WTF?
Also, it's weird the stuff that you become occupied with when you turn into an adult. Like, the thing I really want to write about is how we are saving up money to have closets (from IKEA) installed in our bedroom since we have a scarcely closeted house. And how our tiny backyard is full of weeds and we're planning on rototilling it and doing some environmentally friendly weed killing. And how I just sent off for a coupon for an analog/digital converter for the TV. And I have a board meeting on Tuesday and I bought a suit today so I could look all professional, but I realized when I was trying on the suit that, wow, does my hair look sloppy, so I gotta figure out what to do about that. And we need to have our rubber roof coated. And the stucco on the side of the house resealed. And we finally got our house numbers up on our house, but now we need to install the porch light. And it's really hot on the third floor of our house.
So that's the stuff I may write about for a while. So you tell me, is it worth it?
So, uh... I guess I'll think of something.
First of all, marriage is hard. I mean, it's good, but man, is it freaking hard. Cuz get this: The Husband doesn't always think like me. He doesn't always want what I want. And sometimes he even thinks that I am wrong. WTF?
Also, it's weird the stuff that you become occupied with when you turn into an adult. Like, the thing I really want to write about is how we are saving up money to have closets (from IKEA) installed in our bedroom since we have a scarcely closeted house. And how our tiny backyard is full of weeds and we're planning on rototilling it and doing some environmentally friendly weed killing. And how I just sent off for a coupon for an analog/digital converter for the TV. And I have a board meeting on Tuesday and I bought a suit today so I could look all professional, but I realized when I was trying on the suit that, wow, does my hair look sloppy, so I gotta figure out what to do about that. And we need to have our rubber roof coated. And the stucco on the side of the house resealed. And we finally got our house numbers up on our house, but now we need to install the porch light. And it's really hot on the third floor of our house.
So that's the stuff I may write about for a while. So you tell me, is it worth it?
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