KChristieH Blog

I value love, and an outshoot of that is that I value respect and tolerance for people with other viewpoints and beliefs than my own.

But what should I do when the other person is not only intolerant, but actually advocates hating people such as myself? According to the Slate.com article, A Textbook Case of Intolerance, government-sanctioned textbooks teach Saudi schoolchildren to hate non-Muslims:

In fact, any child who sticks around in Saudi schools until ninth grade will eventually be taught that “Jews and Christians are enemies of believers.” They will also be taught that Jews conspire to “gain sole control of the world,” that the Christian crusades never ended, and that on Judgment Day “the rocks or the trees” will call out to Muslims to kill Jews.

These passages, it should be noted, are from new, “revised” Saudi textbooks. Following a similar analysis of earlier versions of these same textbooks in 2006, American diplomats immediately approached their Saudi counterparts about the more disturbing passages, and the Saudis agreed to conduct a “comprehensive revision … to weed out disparaging remarks towards religious groups.”

It’s hard for me to be tolerant of that. Sounds to me like American diplomats need to protest again. If only this were just a Saudi problem. Slate says that these textbooks are also “distributed, free of cost, to Saudi-sponsored schools as far afield as Lagos, Nigeria, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.”

This is so sad. All it does is encourage hatred and division. All the more reason for our government and private individuals to help fund organizations such as Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute.

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an·thro·po·cen·tric: the idea that humans are the most important beings in the universe

Steve Ross thinks that humans anthropomorphize chimpanzees so much that we’re blinded to their endangered status. In Chimps Aren’t Chumps, he says,

A survey that I and several colleagues conducted in 2005 found that one in three visitors to the Lincoln Park Zoo assumed that chimpanzees are not endangered. Yet more than 90 percent of these same visitors understood that gorillas and orangutans face serious threats to their survival. And many of those who imagined chimpanzees to be safe reported that they based their thinking on the prevalence of chimps in advertisements, on television and in the movies.

I’d skimmed over his op-ed piece in yesterday’s NY Times until I read about Paul Watson in the 11/25/07 New Yorker:

In anthropocentric society, a harsh judgement is given to those that destroy or seek to destroy the creations of humanity. Monkey-wrench a bulldozer and they will call you a vandal. Spike a tree and they will call you a terrorist. Liberate a coyote from a trap and they will call you a thief. Yet if a human destroys the wonders of creation, the beauty of the natural world, then anthropocentric society calls such people loggers, miners, developers, engineers and businessmen.

Ouch. Am I guilty as charged? I’ve always appreciated a cute picture of a dog or a monkey dressed in human clothes, but I’ll never look at them the same again. We need to remember that animals and the environment are God’s creation, and are way more important than our creations.

But I think I’ll always appreciate a nicely dressed monkey.

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When my son was in elementary school, one of the boys in his boy scout den was diagnosed with cancer. I rallied the troops and got lots of people to donate blood for him at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. I’ve always had a problem with needles, but I really wanted to donate, so I went too. Big mistake. I nearly fainted, and the head of the blood department came up to me and looked me in the eye and said, “I never want to see you here again.” I promised him that instead of donating, I’d get other people to donate.

It’s that time.

Chase Crawford-Quickel was recently profiled in the July 14th LA Times story, A mother blogs about cancer. Chase is an Orange County 18-year-old who thought that he’d beaten cancer several years ago, only to have it return. His mother’s blog says that yesterday’s surgery was delayed because Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) didn’t have enough platelets for Chase. Eventually they operated, even though Chase didn’t have as many platelets as the doctors wanted.

So here’s what you should do today:

1. If you live in Orange County, go to CHOC and donate platelets. There’s a 99% chance you’re not a wimp like me, and this simple act could save a life. Literally. Please designate that Chase receive the platelets, but of course, anyone would appreciate them.
2. If you don’t live in the OC, visit your nearest hospital or Red Cross facility and donate blood or platelets. Again, what could be more meaningful than saving a life?
3. If you haven’t already done so, register for the National Marrow Donor Program. It’s simple, and doesn’t even require poking. I’m registered. If I can do it, you can too.

Do it. Let me know. I’ll give you a virtual pat on the back.

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In June, 1981, Judith H. received her high school diploma with me. She didn’t take any special exams to graduate, but she did attend classes and try her hardest. What’s so cool about that? Judith has Down Syndrome. Thankfully, she grew up in a family and in a community that valued her gifts, and encouraged her to never give up and to be as successful as she could.

I thought about Judith when I read the article “Bill Would Waive Exam for Disabled” in today’s Pasadena Star News.

Parents of special education students are anxiously awaiting the Aug. 4 return of the state Legislature to see whether the governor will sign a bill exempting their children having to pass from the state’s high school exit exam.

Nine months ago, however, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill.

It would have allowed thousands of special education students to get their diplomas without having to pass the exam, formally known as the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE).

Now, the bill by state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, SB 1446, seeks the same goal.

Similar to a CAHSEE waiver for special education students that expired in December, SB 1446 would allow disabled students who have failed the exam to receive diplomas, provided they have met all other graduation requirements.

The measure was passed by both the Assembly and Senate with a two-thirds bipartisan majority - a feat Romero described as “remarkable.”

I think this is a worthy bill, but I don’t think it goes far enough. With 1/4 of California’s high school kids dropping out before graduation, something should be done to recognize the kids who stick it out and yet fail to pass the CAHSEE. To be clear, from what I can tell the CAHSEE sets a very, very low bar. I think that nearly all the kids in our district pass it as sophomores, and I think they all do by graduation. In “Learning Hard Facts of Exit Exam,” the Star News profiles a Pasadena teen who took the exam six times and still didn’t pass it, so he couldn’t participate in graduation ceremonies. He was one of 148 students in the same boat.

I think that a kid who attends and passes class should be given a high school diploma. I don’t think it’s bad to have the CAHSEE: if the bar to pass it is really that low, a college or employer would learn something about a person if they knew they didn’t pass it. I’d propose that if a student didn’t pass the CAHSEE but did stick it out through graduation, their diploma might have a special caveat or asterick on it. I’m not sure how feasible that is, but disabilities aren’t black and white: they’re a grey spectrum, and I don’t think it would be fair that a kid who has a special ed. designation could get his or her diploma when a kid who barely missed the designation couldn’t.

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I lived in many different houses growing up, but one of my favorites was the house my mom bought on First Street in Rumson, NJ. It was a little Victorian house at the end of the street, near the Navesink River. It got a little loud sometimes, since it was across the street from a restaurant/bar called Barnacle Bill’s, but any inconvenience was more than made up for by the water access. I chose the third floor attic as my bedroom, and had a spectacular view of the Oceanic Bridge out towards the ocean.

In the summer we would sail our little Sunfish sailboat, and in the winter we’d walk on the ice. I’ve always been pretty risk-averse, so I never sailed so far that I couldn’t get back or got separated from the main block of ice on an ice floe like others did. Besides the water, we were a half a block from a park with a beach and a wall to hit tennis balls against, and two blocks from a Dairy Queen. And let’s not forget the store on the corner that sold bagels and the Sunday NY Times. Life was good. (Except for the fact that we were living there because my parents had gotten divorced…details, details…)

My father and stepmother still live in the area. They sent me this link to a Today Show segment about dolphins that have taken up residence in the Navesink River. Actually, the Navesink isn’t a river: it’s an estuary, connecting a freshwater river to the ocean. I wish I could have seen dolphins in the river! But, I’ve seen them in California and Hawaii, and these days the Horseshoe Crabs we used to catch at the Fair Haven pier seem even more exotic.

Here’s a picture of me, my sister and my stepbrothers from around 1980 that was taken at the river. Of course, both boys are bigger than me now.

For more information about the dolphins, see “How to Help a Lost Dolphin” on Slate.com.

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Just as I was recovering from Facebook and Etsy, and avoiding the Tetris game on my new phone, along came Yahoo! Answers. I innocently looked up how much gas my Prius holds, and found myself in a world where my vast reserves of wisdom would finally be valued.

Yahoo! Answers allows users to ask questions, answer questions, and vote on the best answer for each question. Answering and voting on questions gets you points, as does having your answer be voted the best. Asking a question costs a few points.

So far, I’ve only answered questions. They’ve ranged from parenting questions to website design questions. I think there’s something for everyone here. I’ve learned to be a little more skeptical and beware of “trolls” posting fake questions. (e.g., one day they’re a boy asking about video games and the next day they’re a girl saying they’re pregnant) The real questions are pretty easy to spot, however, and it’s nice to take a break to help someone out.

What would John Perry and Ken Taylor of Philosophy Talk say? Is this true altriusm, or am I looking for points? Or perhaps an ego boost? I prefer altriusm, but who knows? It’s fun, anyway, and productive.

Here’s a screenshot of some questions from this evening:

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For all the money we’ve spent fighting terrorism in Pakistan, it seems to me the situation is far worse off now than it was several years ago. Too bad our government doesn’t adopt Greg Mortenson’s tactics. Nicholas Kristof agrees:

Mr. Bush has focused on military force and provided more than $10 billion — an extraordinary sum in the foreign-aid world — to the highly unpopular government of President Pervez Musharraf. This approach has failed: the backlash has radicalized Pakistan’s tribal areas so that they now nurture terrorists in ways that they never did before 9/11.

Mr. Mortenson, a frumpy, genial man from Montana, takes a diametrically opposite approach, and he has spent less than one-ten-thousandth as much as the Bush administration. He builds schools in isolated parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, working closely with Muslim clerics and even praying with them at times.

You can read all about Greg Mortenson in the book, Three Cups of Tea. (Wow. It’s ranked #5 on Amazon as of this time.) I finished reading it recently, and was totally inspired by this humble American mountain climber who sacrifices his time with his family and a potentially higher standard of living to help people halfway around the world. His willingness to adapt to local customs and the love he has for the people he is trying to help have earned him immense respect among people who are usually suspicious of Westerners.

Today I had lunch with a friend who’s involved in a ministry in Ethiopia that builds schools and especially tries to educate girls. Hopefully I’ll be able to help them by creating a website in the next few months so that they can convince more people to support them. Here’s an impressive ministry our church supports that I think someone should write a book about: The Free Burma Rangers. They brave incredible dangers to bring emergency assistance to the indigenous Karen people of Burma, as well as document human rights abuses.

We’re so blessed in this country, and it’s incumbent that we share our blessings. Hopefully our next President will understand this and we’ll make REAL progress towards peace and understanding.

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I’ve spent many years raising money for our woefully underfunded public schools. As I noted back in March, our local schools get less than half the funding per pupil that some school districts in other states get. While money won’t solve everything, you can’t have smaller class sizes and better facilities without money.

Even so, if the School Fix-It Fairy came to me and said she’d grant me one wish for California’s public schools, it would be to give principals and districts the power to reward excellence and get rid of teachers that shouldn’t be teaching. Yesterday’s Slate.com story, Hot for the Wrong Teachers: Why are public schools so bad at hiring good instructors? makes the same point.

There are three basic ways to improve a school’s faculty: take greater care in selecting good teachers upfront, throw out the bad ones who are already teaching, and provide training to make current teachers better. In theory, the first two should have more or less the same effect, and it might seem preferable to focus on never hiring unpromising instructors—once entrenched, it’s nearly impossible in most places to remove teachers from their union-protected jobs.

The story talks about a school principal in NYC that got rid of bad teachers (1/3 of all teachers!) at his school by threatening to give them bad reviews unless they requested a transfer to another school. Of course, while this helped his school, the problems just got transferred to other children.

I wish that we could pay teachers what they’re worth, develop better ways of monitoring teacher performance, solicit feedback from students and parents (aka “The Customers”), teach struggling teachers how to teach better and get rid of teachers that can’t or won’t teach. In the end, more quality people would enter the profession, and our children and our nation would benefit.

The more articles like this I read, the more optimistic I become. Unfortunately, my kids will be out of the system in a few years.

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He’s dancing on YouTube in his “Where the Hell is Matt?” video. This 31-year-old self-described deadbeat can be found dancing his goofy dance everywhere from Alhambra to Zambia, with everyone from crabs to Bollywood dancers to African children.

It’s silly, but I bet it will make you smile. I’ve watched it twice now, and it was even better the second time. I love seeing people from all over the world having fun, and seeing how as different as we are, we’re also very similar. I also love seeing the exotic scenery.

If someone were to ask, “Where the Hell is Kathy?”, the answer would probably be at my desk. I hardly ever go anywhere. Matt notes on his website that Americans need to travel more. He’s right. If only we got more vacation and the dollar were stronger. Also, I’ve never been a self-described deadbeat. I’m not complaining, however: there are advantages either way.

PS - Don’t miss the outtakes from the video. They show more cool places he visited. I would NEVER dance on that rock in Norway! Also, see the original video where he dances alone in lots of places. It inspired a gum company to sponsor him for the big trip.

PPS - I found out about this from today’s NY Times article, A Private Dance? Four Million Web Fans Say No. They’re going to have to change that headline, as he’s at over 16 million views at this point.

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My mother and stepfather recently returned from a vacation only to discover that they’d been robbed. Thankfully, my mom had been careful to hide some things before she left, so the thieves didn’t get too much. Still, they got enough, and the incident was a wake up call to me to make sure I take precautions before my next trip. After talking to her and scouring the internet, here’s my checklist of what to do before my next vacation. (Note: some of these are good things to do on a regular basis.)

• Back up the computer and hide the backup drive.
• Hide the following: jewelry, extra keys.
• When you move to a new house, change the locks.
• Lock the garage, and the bicycles and cars in it.
• Lock all doors and windows.
• Stop the mail and newspapers, or ask a neighbor to collect your mail and newspapers and keep an eye on the house.
• Put a few lights on timers.

Here are some other things I do before I leave on vacation. There are many more things that some people do - shut off the water, unplug all appliances - but I’m never gone long enough to justify those. Also, I live in a warm part of the country and am not concerned about my pipes freezing.

• Shut off air conditioning / heat.
• Remove perishables from the refrigerator, take out the trash and run the dishwasher.
• Take the dog to the kennel, since she can’t use a can opener or open the door by herself.

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I’ve been challenging my teenage son to do something productive this summer, and he finally came up with an inspired idea: he’ll cook dinner for us each night and do all the dishes for a few dollars each. I’ll choose the menu with him, to ensure that we don’t have pizza and macaronii & cheese, but he’ll do all the cooking and cleaning.

It’s a win-win situation. He’ll learn how to be an even better cook, and I’ll get to catch up on work. My clients are keeping me busier than ever, and it’s hard to get it all done while the kids are off from school. I have full confidence in his abilities. After all, this guy makes waffles and palacinky for his friends when they sleep over.
So far, he’s made one meal: Southwest Chicken. It was excellent.  :)

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, the thinner the better.

2. Mix the following in a bowl:

• 2 TB each of:
  curry
  cumin
  chili powder
  brown sugar
• 1 tsp each:
  salt
  pepper

Technique:

1.    Dip each piece of chicken in the rub.
2.    Fry chicken in olive oil for about 4-5 minutes on each side.

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It’s 2008. Would you want someone who doesn’t know how to use a computer as President? When asked if he uses a Mac or a PC, here’s what John McCain said to Yahoo News:

“Neither. I’m a illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance that I can get.”

Never mind the grammatical errors in that statement. Let’s focus on the fact that a 21st century presidential candidate doesn’t know how to use a computer. Don’t believe it? View the video:

John McCain’s about to turn 71. I don’t consider that to be a good excuse. My father-in-law, who just turned 75, has his own laptop, checks his email, and uses a spreadsheet. Was he a computer scientist in his younger years? No. A mechanic for TWA. My parents all use their computers, and have for years. My grandfather, who’s 93, and my stepgrandmother, who’s 83, are on Facebook and email me pictures sometimes. Professions? Advertising executive and stay-at-home housewife.

For goodness sakes, Sen. McCain: show some curiosity and initiative and learn to use a computer. I was once told never to trust anyone over 30, but perhaps it’s more appropriate to not trust anyone who refuses to learn to use a computer.

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Even though my daughter’s 16, she agreed to go see the movie “Kit Kittredge,” which is based on the American Girl books. Although the books and the movie are aimed at younger audiences, we both thoroughly enjoyed it, and are glad we went.

The movie centers on Kit Kittredge, a 10-year-old girl who lives in Cincinnati during the Depression. She watches sympathetically as financial woes strike those around her, but eventually her own family has to make some major adjustments. She dreams of being a newspaper reporter, and the Depression provides ample material for her stories. She’s inquisitive and confident, and after she learns that hobos aren’t all bad, she tries to convince the people around her to have more sympathy for them. I won’t reveal what happens in the end, but there’s one scene where a boy tells a hobo to do something that made every woman in the theater cry.

The acting was great. Abigail Breslin, from Little Miss Sunshine, is completely convincing as Kit. Although Jane Krakowski’s Miss Dooley is basically the same as the Jenna character she plays on “30 Rock,” that’s ok, since she’s pretty funny. We also particularly liked Joan Cusack, who plays a mobile librarian. Oddly enough, I was also struck by how the realistic browns and greens in the movie reminded me so much of my childhood. Although the 60’s was a time of bright colors and wild patterns, my homes and those of my grandparents were much older, and more reminiscent of the 30’s.

I wish there were more great G movies, and that people would go to them. I truly enjoyed this movie, and feel lucky that I have a daughter to go with. I’d hate to have missed it.

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I agreed to see “Wall-E” last week only if my family would see “Live and Become” (translated from “Va, Vis et Deviens”) with me this weekend. I’d heard about it awhile back, but when I got a special Laemmle Theatre email touting it, it sounded like a movie I didn’t want to miss. I’m SO glad I went!

The movie’s about a Christian Ethiopian refugee boy whose mother places him with a Jewish Ethiopian woman who is being airlifted to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984. He hides that he’s neither Jewish nor an orphan for many years, and leads a completely Jewish life until his secrets overtake him.

I looked the movie up on Wikipedia, and it doesn’t mention anything about it being a true story. It sure seems real, however, and I’m guessing it’s a combination of many true stories. It’s a long movie - 140 minutes - but it kept me completely enraptured. The story is gripping, the acting is wonderful, and at the end it totally made me cry. It’s no wonder this film won too many awards to list. (Bonus for you Francophiles: much of the dialogue is in French!)

The adults in our group loved it, but my teenage son thought it was too long. I think my daughter would have liked it, but she wasn’t there. I took her to see “Kit Kittredge” tonight, so I made up for it. More about that tomorrow…

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I love this quote from a college digest email I received recently:

While a google search brings up tons of hits, the signal to noise ratio is extremely low and I’m finding it hard to vet the quality/accuracy of the claims.

In other words, there’s too much stuff coming up on Google and it’s hard to figure out what’s useful.

What an eloquent way to say it! I’ll titivate my speech by using the phrase “signal to noise ratio” now. And, kaynahora, all my Google searches will go well.

I bet they don’t teach any of these in the SAT prep classes so many kids I know are taking this summer…

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Here’s why you should rent Persepolis this weekend:

• This movie about a girl growing up in Iran reminds us to cherish our freedom, and to be willing to make a stand to preserve it.
• It’s appropriate for most of the family (it deserves its PG-13 rating).
• The animation is so amazing that it was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year and won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2007.

I enjoyed reading Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novels, Persepolis and Persepolis 2, several years ago. This movie combines both books. She’s a very brave, intelligent woman, but is also very humble and willing to share very personal details about her life. Our whole family enjoyed this movie.

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I didn’t realize until last week that I’d saved so many old cameras. I knew I had my old Minolta X700 from college, but I had forgotten about four other cameras I’d never parted with.

Here’s a picture of them - taken my my current digital camera:

I think I purchased the Polaroid OneStep in the upper left hand corner for my daughter’s 3rd or 4th birthday in the mid-’90’s. We painted the kids’ faces like dogs and took their pictures. All the little kids oohed and aahed over the self-developing film. The kids decorated picture frames for their photos, and that was their favor.

I barely remember the other cameras. I think the Kodak Ektralite, which used 110 mm film, was from high school or college. It has little stickers with the initials of my maiden name on the back. The Minolta Freedom II was a smaller alternative to the Minolta X700, and it and the Canon Z135 were used for the bulk of the pictures from my kids’ childhoods. Both have film in them with several pictures on it, and it’s spooky that when I turn them on they’re still ready to take pictures.

Believe it or not, I’ve found all of these for sale on the internet. They range from $4.00 for a Kodak Ektralite 10 to $129.00 for the Canon Z135. Sigh. I was just going to give them to Goodwill. I probably still will. Just because they’re for sale doesn’t mean the seller will get that price. Before I give them away, however, I should take the film out and develop it. Maybe I’ll find some new memories. Maybe some day I’ll get rid of the X700 and all of its lenses, but I’m not ready for that yet.

I feel a little guilty getting rid of working cameras. On the other hand, my digital camera is better for the environment, since I don’t use the film, chemicals and paper to get pictures developed. I wonder if anyone will even want them from Goodwill, since they’d have to pay for developing.

Want my cameras? Just let me know quickly, and figure out some creative way to make it worth my while getting it/them to you!

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Not sure why you should take your teen on college tours? Don’t know what you’re looking for when you see a new campus? Then head on over to the Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse on Wed., July 10th at 7:30 pm to hear my client, Meredith Reynolds of HeadStart College. She’ll give you the scoop on this integral part of the college planning process.

You’ll be seeing our family on some tours this year. I hope to take advantage of my kids being only one grade apart to take them on the same college tours. It’s payback for having them in diapers at the same time. Then again, we’ll have to pay two college tuitions…oh, I don’t even want to think about it!

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If I’m conservative when I spend my money, it means I’m careful and don’t overspend. That’s applies to governments, too: a fiscally conservative administration is considered more careful with its spending, and tries not to overspend.

So why is it that in the past 30 years, our most “conservative” Republican presidents were the ones who increased our budget deficits by the highest percentages? Here’s a summary (source):

Shares of Non-Social Security Federal Spending
Paid for by Borrowing

*Note: In Clinton’s first term, 15% of non-Social Security spending was financed by borrowing. In his second term, the government ran on-budget surpluses.

Of course, there’s much more to the story: which party controlled Congress, whether or not we were at war, etc. You can read more about that here and here. But even with those factors thrown in, it was generally the Republicans who increased our spending more. So why are the Democrats considered “tax and spend” advocates? Makes no sense to me.

If you really want to get depressed, hit “refresh” every few seconds to see what our current national debt is:

(source)

Can you imagine what we’d be like if we ran our households that way? Oh, that’s right - that’s the subprime mortgage crisis. :(

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I just formed a new Facebook group for my college class, and wanted to include our 25th reunion date as an upcoming event. Unfortunately, I can’t, since it’s more than a year away. So I decided to put it on my Google calendar…and that’s when I realized that both my kids will be in college by the time my next reunion rolls around.

It almost makes me cry. I’ll miss them. Maybe I’ll be ready when the time comes. Hope so.

After all, they make me laugh when they say things like “Die!” to the uncooperative GPS and it starts directing us to Thai restaurants. They inspire me when they run and bike all the way to the Rose Bowl. And we have great discussions about the most random topics.

At least we’ll have the cellphone…and Facebook. Hopefully they’ll live close enough to me someday that I can still see them frequently.

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We loaded the kids into the Prius last night and saw WALL-E at our local theater. As all of the reviews I’ve read agreed, this is a great movie. The animation and story are top-notch, and the music is wonderful.

So why am I still so depressed after seeing it? Perhaps it was the bleak vision of the future, a world so filled with trash that humans escape to outer space, where they lose their individuality and bone structure and suck on protein drinks. Even though the end of the movie could be considered optimistic by some, the realist in me doesn’t think it would play out that way. I hope our great-great-grandchildren don’t blame our generation for all of their woes. We’re trying!!!!

On a happier note, I think that WALL-E could score some good summer employment cleaning up the destruction at my kids’ alma mater, Palm Crest Elementary School. I drove past today and saw that the district decided to go ahead and build a new cafeteria / auditorium (a “cafetorium” as we say) and has commenced destruction. Many of us fought hard to pass the bond to support this, so it’s satisfying to see that all of our efforts weren’t for naught. Hopefully there will be enough kids to keep the school open! (If we were in Europe, I wouldn’t bother.) Although my kids spent Kindergarten through 6th grade at the school, and I was a PTA president there for two years, it seems like a long time ago that we were part of the PCR community. Still, if I walked around campus during the school year, I know I’d see lots of people I know and feel part of it again.

Here’s a picture of the destruction so far. Go for it, WALL-E!

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Not sure if your religion matches your beliefs? Take the 20-question Belief-O-Matic quiz to determine how your beliefs match 27 of the world’s major religions. Questions range from “What happens to humans after death?” to “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” After answering each question, you can give it a low, medium or high priority.

My results matched my chosen religion, Presbyterianism. Here are the three religions that had more than an 80% match for me:

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Orthodox Quaker (82%)
3. Liberal Quakers (80%)

Several years ago when I took the quiz, Orthodox Quaker came in at 100%. I guess my beliefs have changed slightly over time. But they’re still Christian. I was surprised that Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) showed up as more of a match than Roman Catholic. (60% vs. 50%) Still, they’re nowhere near the 100% my chosen religion got.

Note: Belief-O-Matic won’t assume legal liability for your eternal soul!

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When I was a senior in high school, I applied to six colleges. That was a lot for 1981, but these days kids are often advised to apply to nine or more. Today I read about a guy who applied to 18 - and got into 17 of them!

My worst nightmare was that I wouldn’t get into any. I remember how relieved I was when I got my first acceptance letter. At least I knew I’d go somewhere, and I could exhale and relax.

But what if you don’t get in anywhere? What do you do? If you’re the main characters in the movie Accepted, you start your own college. I was too tired to work this evening, but had to stay up late to pick up my son, so I watched this on HBO with my teenage daughter. It was actually pretty good (though it completely deserved its PG-13 rating), and brought up some good topics for discussion. (fraternities, following your passion, how long four years is) It’s a silly movie, but it was the sort of brain candy we needed now that school’s out and she’s gearing up for a tough junior year.

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Silly me! When I blogged about ways to alleviate the stress I feel from the constant barrage of emails, I didn’t even think of this one: DON’T READ THEM!

Haha? If only! According to today’s NY Times article, White House Refused to Open Pollutants E-Mail, that’s exactly what the White House did when the EPA sent them a report about global warming:

The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week.

Excuse me while I go bury my head back in the sand…

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When we moved to La Canada Flintridge 12 years ago, my husband refused to look at houses on streets with yellow lines. We were coming from a cul-de-sac in Pasadena where not only did everyone know everyone else, but we organized block parties on holidays. (see picture to right) We got lucky: we moved to another cul-de-sac, organized more block parties, and still stay in touch with those neighbors.

Unfortunately, there were too many rattlesnakes and coyotes in that neighborhood for us, so we moved down the hill to a house on a street with (gasp!) a yellow line. Sure enough, we know some of our neighbors, but we don’t even know the people two houses to the south.

After reading Peter Lovenheim’s NY Times op-ed piece, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, I’m inspired to have a block party in our “new” neighborhood. In the eight years that we’ve been here, there’s only been one communal gathering: a pancake breakfast held one summer at another neighbor’s house. Part of the problem is that we’re on a really long block. There are 24 houses on our side of the street alone. Still, we can invite everyone and see if they come. And now that we have sidewalks, the trip will be easier. Now to convince my husband to have this gathering in our backyard.

Too bad we don’t have a cul-de-sac, though. I’ll miss the parade and the firefighters who let the kids man the hoses.

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Pirates vs. Ninjas? That’s so passé. The real battle is taking place between the Valley Quail and the Parrot. There’s a movement afoot to unseat the Quail as California’s state bird and replace it with the Parrot.

Parrot supporters say that the Quail, which inexplicably bathes in dust and grubs for worms, has done nothing for our state during its 77-year reign. They say that California needs a bird as bold as its image, and that the bird for the job is the Parrot.

I disagree. We had a flock of quail at our old house, and they were wonderful. Besides being unique and attractive, they stuck together, and the parents were never far from the children. They were humble and purposeful, and provided much-needed balance to our many rattlesnakes and coyotes.

Parrots, on the other hand, are loud interlopers. We have a flock of about 50 that occasionally skitters through our neighborhood. You can hear their squawking from a mile away, and they fly like they’re drunk. I concede that they all stay together, but they never look like they know where they’re going. The pro-Parrot group says that Parrots help people make hands-free calls (a requirement as of July 1st), but I would never trust a Parrot behind the wheel of a car. If that’s the way they fly, can you imagine how they drive?

By this point, you’re probably wondering if there’s a subtext to all of this. Indeed, there is: this campaign is organized by a company called Parrot that makes hands-free cell phone devices. You can install one in your car, and use it with your Bluetooth-compatible phone. The devices are actually pretty cool, and get good reviews. I might check it out for my husband. (My Prius has this covered. :) Much as I like the Quail, I concede that this is a pretty witty campaign.

Even so, I’m sticking with the Quail for State Bird. If the Parrot wins, it would probably make the Peacock the Chief of Staff.

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This evening I took my daughter out to dinner at a wonderful Himalayan restaurant in Old Town Pasadena: Tibet Nepal House. We’d had our eye on it for awhile, but since my son doesn’t like to explore new cuisines we hadn’t had a chance to go. We were tempted not to eat there since the street concert right outside the restaurant was deafening, but I didn’t think it would be fair to the owners to deprive them of business because of a concert that was out of their control.

My daughter and I are both glad that we persisted. The chef’s special chicken was moist and pungent, and the yak meat was soft and spicy. Both tasted quite healthy: we didn’t feel as if they depended upon a sauce to disguise their taste, like happens in some other cuisines. The native stone ground wheat bread that came with the meal was basic but tasty, and once the band outside stopped we were able to appreciate the calm Tibetan music. We topped our meal off with the Mt. Everest dessert, which included vanilla ice cream wrapped in a crepe drizzled with chocolate. I know: I’m allergic to chocolate. And yes, now I’m itching. But it was worth it to try something new, and to have a special meal with my beloved daughter.

I can’t wait to take more people there! Maybe some day my son will even be willing to check it out. I know he’d like it if he did.

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If you read only one book this summer, read Dave Eggers’ What is the What. It chronicles the life of Valentino Achak Deng, who escaped from his village in Southern Sudan to become a “Lost Boy” who saw unspeakable horrors as he walked across the desert to safety. After years as a refugee, he was fortunate enough to come to the U.S. and start a new life. His courage and determination are inspirational.

This incredibly well-written tome weaves current events with Valentino’s recollections of his youth. The book is labeled a novel only because he can’t guarantee that conversations and events are exactly as he remembers them, but the book has so much detail that I bet he’s not far off. I couldn’t put this book down.

Besides learning a lot about this time and place, I gained even more of an appreciation for the current situation in Sudan. It was also a good reminder not to whine about the little setbacks I may suffer in life. In truth, I’m a very, very fortunate gal, and need to be thankful for that and do what I can for those who aren’t as fortunate.

Hopefully I’ll be able to convince my kids to read it.

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A year ago, I lent María Del Roció González of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico $75 to help purchase a bread machine for her bakery. I did it via Kiva.org, which pooled my money with other lenders’ to loan Sra. Gonzalez a total of $1,200. She’s been paying it back on a regular basis, and made her final payment yesterday.

Instead of withdrawing the money, I chose to lend it to someone else. Whenever I lend to someone on Kiva, the first thing I do is search for a Hernandez. I figure they might be a distant relative. I actually found one yesterday, and decided to lend the money to Francisco Javier Saldaña Hernandez of Acuna, Mexico so that he can expand his small house. He still needs $400 to get to the $600 total that he needs, so click here to donate! At first I was hesitant: after all, he’s not using it to expand a business. But then, I figured that I was lucky to be a Hernandez in the United States, where banks are happy to lend far greater sums to me. Also, the agency that referred him to Kiva has a 0% default rate.

Of the 22 Kiva loans I’ve made, 10 have been paid back in full so far. It’s satisfying to know I’m able to make a difference in peoples’ lives.

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Another busy day…and not just because the kids had a half day on the last day of school! I launched another website:

Stuart M. Davis rescues sick machines that are unsafe, need repairs, or have stopped working. He also trains people in how to correctly use machines.

See http://www.stuartmdavisinc.com

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