This year, for the first time, there will be a global election.  On March 28th 2009 at 8:30 pm you can turn off your lights for 1 hour and vote against global warming as part of the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour  . The Earth Hour movement started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour.  Last year it went global with an estimated 50 million people turning off their lights across the world.  Some of the most recognizable monuments across... [Read more]

  Dearest Journal – How long it has been since I spent a leisurely Saturday sleeping instead of waking at the dawn hours in order to do stressful labors. Indeed my poor Victorian sensibilities are overwrought with the wear to my once dainty fingers. Today again I found myself scrubbing the exterior of a grand home, which was neither my friends nor mine. Surely these habits must abate or I will never have time to learn needlepoint, aimless walking or the harp. Yours on the Ides of March –... [Read more]

 The Zimbabwe cholera epidemic   has claimed over 4,000 victims and sickened over 90,000 as of March 9th, 2009.  Cholera outbreaks can be traced to polluted drinking water.  Now South Africa fears they could be the next country caught in an epidemic.  South Africa’s water supply   has improved since apartheid ended in 1994 when 14 million people lived without access to a “formal water supply” and 21-million lacked basic sanitation. Even with this progress today 5 million people... [Read more]

 In 1973 when Andy Lipkis was 15 years old trees in Los Angeles were dying at an alarming rate due, in part, to the horrific smog. Many people told Andy he could do nothing to help fix the problem, but he didn’t listen.  During summer camp he decided to mobilize his fellow campers, take an abandoned parking lot and convert it into a meadow with smog resistant trees.  The project was a success and a good monster had been created. Andy never stopped planting.  He went on to found the group TreePeople... [Read more]

To be nervous on your first day of school is normal. I keep messing with my shirt and hair trying to look cool, which unfortunately only makes me look like I have a twitch.  For someone who spent the majority of their life training to perform in front of an audience it is ridiculous that reading a book to first graders makes me so nervous.  I keep thinking, “What if I screw up the story?”  Luckily, that question was answered in my first classroom so I didn’t have to wonder for long. In... [Read more]

Today I feel like Indiana Jones – only less graceful, not as surly and searching for bacteria instead of long lost artifacts.  Water testing is the volunteer activity for the adventure seekers.  This is for the people who want to be Erin Brockovich, Indiana Jones, or Michael Crichton.  I am none of those people, but I am putting forth a valiant effort. A few weeks ago I restored a stream with Heal The Bay by pulling up invasive plants and planting new ones.  During that activity I introduced... [Read more]

People who say children don’t like to read anymore should see how excited they are to get a new book. Today I am helping a Girl ScoutTroop and the literacy organization BookPALS throw a Love & Literacy Event at an inner city elementary school.  Four portable classrooms are set up with different activities: bookmark making, snack station, story time corner, and pick a book area.  The Girl Scouts have made bookshelves for each classroom and held a book drive collecting hundreds of books. ... [Read more]