Thursday, June 30, 2016
Wedding Music?
From the Huffington Post -
The 21 Most Requested Wedding Songs, According To DJs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-21-most-requested-wedding-songs-according-to-djs_us_577405c9e4b0bd4b0b133fe3?section=
The 21 Most Requested Wedding Songs, According To DJs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-21-most-requested-wedding-songs-according-to-djs_us_577405c9e4b0bd4b0b133fe3?section=
Medical Testing at Home
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Inexpensive Paper Strips Can Test For Malaria, Cancer At Home
They’re particularly useful for people who live in remote areas and struggle to get access to medical care.
Chemists at The Ohio State University are in the process of developing paper strips that can detect life-threatening diseases, including some cancers and malaria. Users can apply a drop of blood to the strip and then send it to a lab to be tested, according to a news release from the university.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paper-strips-will-test-for-malaria-cancer-at-home_us_57743ec1e4b042fba1cf1260?section=
Inexpensive Paper Strips Can Test For Malaria, Cancer At Home
They’re particularly useful for people who live in remote areas and struggle to get access to medical care.
 |
| PAM FROST GORDER/COURTESY OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Abraham Badu-Tawiah, a chemist at The Ohio State University, has invented an inexpensive, paper-based test for diseases including cancer and malaria. |
Chemists at The Ohio State University are in the process of developing paper strips that can detect life-threatening diseases, including some cancers and malaria. Users can apply a drop of blood to the strip and then send it to a lab to be tested, according to a news release from the university.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paper-strips-will-test-for-malaria-cancer-at-home_us_57743ec1e4b042fba1cf1260?section=
Save the Date?
An excerpt from News 360 -
Amazon's Prime Day clearout returns on July 12th
Amazon's going to try and make Prime Day a thing in perpetuity.
In order to build hype for July 12th, Prime members will be teased with a series of countdown deals leading up to the big day. Between July 5th and 11th, users will be offered bargain bundles such as a 32-inch TV and a bundled Fire TV stick for $119.99. They'll also get the chance to win a "Prime Music Experience," that involves hanging out with artists such as Pentatonic, Flo Rida or Blink 182. All you have to do to enter is listen to a song from a "select Prime Music playlist," each one associated with a prize.
http://news360.com/digestarticle/XDkLrKD_RUOc0V-Ajf-mVg
Amazon's Prime Day clearout returns on July 12th
Amazon's going to try and make Prime Day a thing in perpetuity.
By Daniel Cooper
In order to build hype for July 12th, Prime members will be teased with a series of countdown deals leading up to the big day. Between July 5th and 11th, users will be offered bargain bundles such as a 32-inch TV and a bundled Fire TV stick for $119.99. They'll also get the chance to win a "Prime Music Experience," that involves hanging out with artists such as Pentatonic, Flo Rida or Blink 182. All you have to do to enter is listen to a song from a "select Prime Music playlist," each one associated with a prize.
http://news360.com/digestarticle/XDkLrKD_RUOc0V-Ajf-mVg
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
The Subtle and Not So Subtle Messages
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
‘Super racist’ pool safety poster prompts Red Cross apology
By Peter Holley
 |
| (Courtesy Margaret Sawyer) |
The poster — titled “Be Cool, Follow The Rules” — depicts various children playing at the pool. But white children are labeled as behaving in a “cool” way while children of color who are depicted defying pool rules are labeled “not cool.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/27/super-racist-pool-safety-poster-prompts-red-cross-apology/?tid=pm_national_pop_b
You Could Help
An excerpt from The Huffington Post -
You Could Help Save A Trafficking Victim’s Life With Your Hotel Room Pic
Hotel rooms are optimal locations for traffickers because they can pay in cash and switch locations on a nightly basis.
By Eleanor Goldberg
Just snapping a photo of your hotel room the next time you go on vacation could help save a trafficking victim.
Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime, and victims who are exploited for sex aren’t just getting victimized in unsuspecting homes and closed off backrooms.
Hotels are optimal spots for traffickers to exploit their victims because they can pay for the rooms in cash and change locations on a nightly basis without being detected.
From 2007 to last year, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and Polaris’s BeFree texting helpline received 1,434 reports of human trafficking in hotels and motels.
That’s why TraffickCam, a new app, is urging vacationers to upload pictures of their hotel rooms. The goal is to create a database of hotel rooms to match up against photos that pimps post online.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taking-a-photo-of-your-hotel-room-could-help-save-a-trafficking-victims-life_us_57714091e4b0f168323a1ed7?section=
You Could Help Save A Trafficking Victim’s Life With Your Hotel Room Pic
Hotel rooms are optimal locations for traffickers because they can pay in cash and switch locations on a nightly basis.
By Eleanor Goldberg
Just snapping a photo of your hotel room the next time you go on vacation could help save a trafficking victim.
Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime, and victims who are exploited for sex aren’t just getting victimized in unsuspecting homes and closed off backrooms.
Hotels are optimal spots for traffickers to exploit their victims because they can pay for the rooms in cash and change locations on a nightly basis without being detected.
From 2007 to last year, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and Polaris’s BeFree texting helpline received 1,434 reports of human trafficking in hotels and motels.
That’s why TraffickCam, a new app, is urging vacationers to upload pictures of their hotel rooms. The goal is to create a database of hotel rooms to match up against photos that pimps post online.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taking-a-photo-of-your-hotel-room-could-help-save-a-trafficking-victims-life_us_57714091e4b0f168323a1ed7?section=
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
A Needed Road Map
An excerpt from Now I Know -
The Negro Motorist Green Book
Every year, Zagat publishes a series of guides to the restaurants in virtually every major city in the United States. The guides feature short, curated descriptions of each eatery, touching upon the must-have (or must-avoid) dishes, the service, the decor, and of course, the price. But it what Zagat doesn’t tell you is if they’ll serve you if you’re black.
Hopefully, there’s good reason for that -- for more than fifty years, it’s been illegal for a restaurant in the United States to refuse service to a diner on the basis of his or her race, and culturally, doing so is simply unacceptable. But again, that wasn’t true a half-century or so ago. For an African-American family, traveling through certain parts of the country was difficult, as finding a place to eat or sleep which wanted your business could be hard to come by.
And before the law could catch up to the problem, a postal worker did.
The result: the Negro Motorist Green Book
http://nowiknow.com/the-negro-motorist-green-book/
The Negro Motorist Green Book
Every year, Zagat publishes a series of guides to the restaurants in virtually every major city in the United States. The guides feature short, curated descriptions of each eatery, touching upon the must-have (or must-avoid) dishes, the service, the decor, and of course, the price. But it what Zagat doesn’t tell you is if they’ll serve you if you’re black.
Hopefully, there’s good reason for that -- for more than fifty years, it’s been illegal for a restaurant in the United States to refuse service to a diner on the basis of his or her race, and culturally, doing so is simply unacceptable. But again, that wasn’t true a half-century or so ago. For an African-American family, traveling through certain parts of the country was difficult, as finding a place to eat or sleep which wanted your business could be hard to come by.
And before the law could catch up to the problem, a postal worker did.
The result: the Negro Motorist Green Book
http://nowiknow.com/the-negro-motorist-green-book/
He Chose Us
There has been lots of chatter about Jesse Williams' spectacular speech last night as the recipient of the 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. This young man was oozing with enlightenment and encouragement, all for the world to see.
The thing that resonated with me was his acknowledgement of, and appreciation for, black women and the fact that too often we're at the forefront of struggles to make changes, and yet while we're taking care of everyone else, few people are taking care of us.
In acknowledging that this award is to be shared with others, he said, “Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.”
How many times have we heard this?
Right.
Not many.
One of the articles I read about the speech compared Jesse to President Obama, a biracial man who chose a sho' nuff, no doubt about it, black woman as his wife. So too, has this young man.
Should this make a difference?
Should it matter?
You decide.
Whichever way the wind blows for you, this I can say with confidence.
I can't help but be filled with pride when I see someone - young, gifted, and talented (and truth be told could have any woman he wanted) - who makes a choice to chose someone who looks like me.
Does this invalidate those who choose otherwise?
No.
But from my side of the fence, I appreciate the validation.
And this was just one of many truths he spoke.
He was on fire!
Cultural appropriation anyone?
If you haven't seen his speech, check it out in the previous post, or google Jesse Williams BET.
The thing that resonated with me was his acknowledgement of, and appreciation for, black women and the fact that too often we're at the forefront of struggles to make changes, and yet while we're taking care of everyone else, few people are taking care of us.
In acknowledging that this award is to be shared with others, he said, “Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.”
How many times have we heard this?
Right.
Not many.
One of the articles I read about the speech compared Jesse to President Obama, a biracial man who chose a sho' nuff, no doubt about it, black woman as his wife. So too, has this young man.
Should this make a difference?
Should it matter?
You decide.
Whichever way the wind blows for you, this I can say with confidence.
I can't help but be filled with pride when I see someone - young, gifted, and talented (and truth be told could have any woman he wanted) - who makes a choice to chose someone who looks like me.
Does this invalidate those who choose otherwise?
No.
But from my side of the fence, I appreciate the validation.
And this was just one of many truths he spoke.
He was on fire!
Cultural appropriation anyone?
If you haven't seen his speech, check it out in the previous post, or google Jesse Williams BET.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Buried in Boxes
As quickly as it began, my time here in the Middle East is coming to an end.
I'll be heading back to the US in mid-July.
As I've said many times before, this has been an amazing journey, one that I'll treasure forever.
It has been a time of extraordinary growth and reflection, and I'm confident in saying I'm a better person because of it.
So, as I pack up my world once again, please understand as I go dark for a few days while everything gets sorted.
It has been a blast.
As always, thanks for coming along with me.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Tennessee fireflies: A summertime light show
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fireflies-of-the-great-smoky-mountains
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
How Will I Be Remembered?
The older I get, the more precious I recognize time is.
I wonder, how will I be remembered?
Will I be remembered as a hothead, quick to anger and quick to pounce?
Will I be remembered as close-minded and stubborn?
Will I be remembered as selfish and self-centered?
Will I be remembered as a woman who could put any man to shame in a cussing battle?
I wonder because I've been all of those things.
My life has been littered with ugly periods.
Periods of self-pity and self-doubt.
Periods of lashing out instead of looking in.
But as I approach 60 years old, I appreciate life so much more, and I am better equipped to understand that I have choices.
I know now that I've always had choices.
I can choose to be miserable, or I can choose to be happy.
I can choose to be a b*tch, or I can choose to be a blessing.
I can choose to see the good in others, or I can nitpick and magnify every perceived fault.
I can choose to see life as a glass half full, or I can choose to see it half empty.
Quoting Oprah, here's what I know for sure.
I know that if I dropped dead today (heaven forbid), I have lived a magnificent life.
Not just because of this marvelous adventure I've been on for the past five years that has taken me around the world, but because of the people I've met along the way, and the family I was blessed to be born in, and the one I was even more bless to have.
I thank God for the little country town of China, Texas where I first learned to live alone in peace.
I thank God for my mother for the wisdom and understanding she imparted, and the wherewithal to finally "get" all of the things she was trying to teach us.
I thank God for my brothers who wrapped me in love and protection, especially Forrest, who has been more of a father to me than our father ever was.
I thank God for the segregated environment where I learned my worth when I was knee-high to a duck so that we when did integrate, it was rooted in my being.
I thank God for the experience of attending an HBCU, where there were thousands of black folks with one goal in mind, to be better so that we could do better.
I thank God for my ex-husband (believe me when I say I never thought I'd be writing these words) for the good times and bad because it was through these experiences that I was forced to grow up.
I thank God for my boys who are now men with families of their own, men that I'm so very proud of.
I thank God for my grandchildren. What a blessing they are!
I thank God for this time of living and working in a foreign land and how it has opened my eyes and broadened my perspective in unimaginable and extraordinary ways.
So, here's how I hope to be remembered.
I hope that I'll be remembered as someone who loved to learn.
As someone who learned from her mistakes.
As someone who learned to be brave enough to speak her mind, not in anger and retribution, but in love and understanding (I'm still working on this one).
As someone who had faith in God and the goodness of humanity.
As someone who strived to be a blessing, and never a burden.
As someone who appreciated life and the many lessons it teaches us.
I hope that I'll be remembered as the flawed human being I am, always striving to be better.
I wonder, how will I be remembered?
Will I be remembered as a hothead, quick to anger and quick to pounce?
Will I be remembered as close-minded and stubborn?
Will I be remembered as selfish and self-centered?
Will I be remembered as a woman who could put any man to shame in a cussing battle?
I wonder because I've been all of those things.
My life has been littered with ugly periods.
Periods of self-pity and self-doubt.
Periods of lashing out instead of looking in.
But as I approach 60 years old, I appreciate life so much more, and I am better equipped to understand that I have choices.
I know now that I've always had choices.
I can choose to be miserable, or I can choose to be happy.
I can choose to be a b*tch, or I can choose to be a blessing.
I can choose to see the good in others, or I can nitpick and magnify every perceived fault.
I can choose to see life as a glass half full, or I can choose to see it half empty.
Quoting Oprah, here's what I know for sure.
I know that if I dropped dead today (heaven forbid), I have lived a magnificent life.
Not just because of this marvelous adventure I've been on for the past five years that has taken me around the world, but because of the people I've met along the way, and the family I was blessed to be born in, and the one I was even more bless to have.
I thank God for the little country town of China, Texas where I first learned to live alone in peace.
I thank God for my mother for the wisdom and understanding she imparted, and the wherewithal to finally "get" all of the things she was trying to teach us.
I thank God for my brothers who wrapped me in love and protection, especially Forrest, who has been more of a father to me than our father ever was.
I thank God for the segregated environment where I learned my worth when I was knee-high to a duck so that we when did integrate, it was rooted in my being.
I thank God for the experience of attending an HBCU, where there were thousands of black folks with one goal in mind, to be better so that we could do better.
I thank God for my ex-husband (believe me when I say I never thought I'd be writing these words) for the good times and bad because it was through these experiences that I was forced to grow up.
I thank God for my boys who are now men with families of their own, men that I'm so very proud of.
I thank God for my grandchildren. What a blessing they are!
I thank God for this time of living and working in a foreign land and how it has opened my eyes and broadened my perspective in unimaginable and extraordinary ways.
So, here's how I hope to be remembered.
I hope that I'll be remembered as someone who loved to learn.
As someone who learned from her mistakes.
As someone who learned to be brave enough to speak her mind, not in anger and retribution, but in love and understanding (I'm still working on this one).
As someone who had faith in God and the goodness of humanity.
As someone who strived to be a blessing, and never a burden.
As someone who appreciated life and the many lessons it teaches us.
I hope that I'll be remembered as the flawed human being I am, always striving to be better.
Say What?
An excerpt from LifeHack -
Science Explains How Camping For A Week Can Largely Change Your Productivity
When someone starts talking about productivity, and how to be more productive our mind often drifts off. We may think that to become more productive we need to undertake some difficult model of behavior or to adopt habits that we feel will be hard to stick to. However, recent scientific findings have indicated a week of camping can effectively change our sleeping patterns, which in turn can lead to greater alertness and productivity, because early risers are found to be more productive than night owls.
http://www.lifehack.org/405674/science-explains-how-camping-for-a-week-can-largely-change-your-productivity
Science Explains How Camping For A Week Can Largely Change Your Productivity
When someone starts talking about productivity, and how to be more productive our mind often drifts off. We may think that to become more productive we need to undertake some difficult model of behavior or to adopt habits that we feel will be hard to stick to. However, recent scientific findings have indicated a week of camping can effectively change our sleeping patterns, which in turn can lead to greater alertness and productivity, because early risers are found to be more productive than night owls.
http://www.lifehack.org/405674/science-explains-how-camping-for-a-week-can-largely-change-your-productivity
Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran & Gary Clark Jr. Tribute Stevie Wonder
From BlackAmerciaWeb -
Top 10 Best Musical Tributes Ever
http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/06/22/top-10-best-musical-tributes-ever/
Top 10 Best Musical Tributes Ever
http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/06/22/top-10-best-musical-tributes-ever/
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