The Most Amazing Thing

Every Sunday morning we watch the CBS Sunday Morning Show and see fascinating segments. Yesterday I learned about about a sidewalk chalk artist named, Julian Beever. Many chalk artists can draw pretty pictures or reproduce famous paintings. This guy takes 3-D to another level and makes you believe the impossible and awesome. In the video, things that you think is a prop, is really drawn in chalk (keep that in mind, even the hose and the water). The artist sets up a camera for people to view the drawing through and then posts them to the Internet because he believes that the only way to appreciate them is through a specific perspective. Search for more on YouTube. There are videos showing the process.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Today is the 40th anniversary of the 1st episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. I loved that show so much. I still do. Every day when the first thing I do at my desk is feed my fish, I think of Mister Rogers. I doubt that his show would launch successfully today because the pace was slow and he did everything so politely, but I sure enjoyed it. He made me feel special, he still does.



Thank you, Mister Rogers. It's you I like.

Words

Words have great power. On "Inside the Actors Studio" James Lipton concludes his interviews with a series of questions, many of which are word-related:
What is your favorite word?
What is your least favorite word?
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
What turns you off?
What is your favorite curse word?
What sound or noise do you love?
What sound or noise do you hate?
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
What profession would you not like to do?
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Anyway...I have recently encountered a word that may be my new favorite word because I giggle whenever I see it or say it. It's "piggery." I never saw the word before a few days ago on Kiva (yes, my new obsession). I thought it was a made up word so today I looked it up and found out that it is really a place where swine are kept. So I helped a group of women in Uganda buy piglets for their piggery because I can't stop giggling every time I see that word. Piggery...it's funny!

Update

Kiva added businesses and I just got a charcoal seller. YES!

Signs

Like most years, the ringing in of the new year brought with it a new number...however, the implications of 2008 are more interesting than they have been for awhile. Virtually hovering all over the workroom this year are invisible balloons and banners reading, "Lordy, Lordy look who's 40!" ScheduleMaster was the first to cross the decade line. Her birthday was yesterday. I will join her in April and ML will join us in November. My grandmother always said that I would not become myself until I was 35; she had no way of knowing that I would move to Florida and things grow a little quicker here. If I could go back and tell my 20-something self to chill out, I'd gladly take that trip because 33-39 has been a great improvement. I don't know if "40 is the new 30" but I'm digging the way the 30s have ended up. Once I find out how ScheduleMaster's first weekend in the 40s went and if I can get my hands on a Nintendo DS Lite (have I mentioned that new obsession)...then I'll be ready to roll.

Giving - Part 2

This morning I was all set to log into Kiva and find some chickens to buy or a pharmacy to fund or something cool like that. The average Kiva lender has 2.2 loans in his/her portfolio and I only have 2. This one guy (a property tax consultant by day and sax player by night in Chicago) has 94. Anyway...when I logged in, Kiva said there were no businesses to fund. According to a banner running on the Web page the impact this week was: "3.3 hours to fully fund a business, 473 businesses funded, $322,325 loaned, 8208 new lenders, and 341 businesses finished paying back loans." So I took myself over to Donorschoice.org, also on my 43 Things list, which is a site where teachers register project proposals, request funds, and people fund those specific projects. The other day I finished off a proposal that had been on there since May and had 12 days left. I like searching for projects that just need a little bit of money to complete them and then I can swoop in and save them. Today I bought violins in NC, books for an Ancient Civ. class in Chicago, and book storage for a 1st year special ed. teacher in the Bronx. Donorschoice is neat because it maintains an account for you of the number of students and classroom hours you impact, the locations, types of students by economic need, etc. you are helping. Unlike Kiva.org, all donations to Donorschoice are tax deductible. So far I have funded 4 projects and impacted 87 students and 1075 hours of learning.

'Tis Better to Give...

Because it is AWESOME! Here's why...As I mentioned in a past post, I am a Nobel Prize groupie and when Muhammad Yunus won the Peace Prize in 2006 for the economics behind microloans, I was captivated by the concept. The idea is brilliant that small loans to real people can make a real difference in the global economy. So Kiva.org was created a couple of years ago to facilitate microloans around the world directly to the people who need it, whom you choose, through field partners. One does not donate through Kiva, one invests because the loans are repaid and then the investor can reinvest or pull out of the project. I put Kiva on my 43 Things list and last night I registered, not knowing exactly how everything worked. I found I could create a profile, including uploading a photo (I chose my caricature) and a description of what my motivation is for joining Kiva. The portfolio shows where you are invested, % countries, % female owned, and % type of business, etc. Individual businesses show what lenders are invested and then you can click to see their portfolios. Last night Kiva indicated that it was taking 4.2 hours to fund a business. Pretty fast. Right now they are holding individuals to a maximum investment of $25 per business to allow everyone to participate. The field partners show the delinquency rates of their loans so you can decide where to loan. It is amazing that the Tanzania office can have 100% repayment rate while the US has such credit problems and we are sending debt collection letters to library patrons. Last night I helped a group of Peruvian women get the final $25 they needed to get travel money to sell their weavings in the city and some Tanzanians run a restaurant. I wanted to help buy some charcoal in Dar es Salaam, but I didn't click fast enough. Competition is fierce. Maybe next time.