Iced Mocha

“Money isn’t everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.”

–seen on a bumper sticker

“I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful and that which is love. Therefore, since I have known all of these things, I have found them to be reason enough and—I wish to live. Moreover, because this is so, I wish others to live for generations and generations and generations.”

-Lorraine Hansberry

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
-Ray Bradbury

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
-Groucho Marx

“Reading is a means of thinking with another person’s mind; it forces you to stretch your own.”
-Charles Scribner, Jr.

“Never judge a book by its movie.”
-J. W. Eagan

“A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.”
-Salman Rushdie

“To be a book-collector is to combine the worst characteristics of a dope fiend with those of a miser.”
-Robertson Davies

Start a new holiday tradition this year by honoring your family and friends with a gift that spreads hope and provides long-term opportunity to families living in poverty. Heifer International has over 20 gifts to choose from, including heifers, sheep, llamas, goats, chicks, geese, honeybees, trees, and more. You can make a real difference in the life of a struggling family, helping them obtain a sustainable source of food and income and lighting the way along the road to self-reliance.

Heifer’s mission is to work with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. “Passing on the Gift” - a cornerstone of Heifer’s approach - creates a living cycle of sustainability that develops community and enhances self-esteem. As people share the offspring of their animals, along with their knowledge, resources, and skills, an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.

Take a moment to learn more about Heifer International, and browse the gift catalog.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

-J.M. Barrie

An interesting look at one of the issues at the heart of the writers’ strike.

“There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.”

-Pablo Picasso

from the site:
“DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.”

A DonorsChoose.org gift certificate would make a wonderful holiday “gift that gives back” for someone special. Your recipient will be able to use the gift certificate to fund their choice of project(s). Alternately, you can fund a project in someone’s honor. Donations are tax-deductible, of course.

In 2007, donors from all walks of life have funded $4,215,709 worth of resources for students in need.

“Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we resort to to hide them.”

-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

clipped from www.one.org For the world’s most impoverished countries, the cost of debt overshadows their ability to provide access to clean water, education and basic healthcare. Some countries spent as much as 25-30% of their annual budgets servicing their debt, more than was spent on education and healthcare combined. Debt cancellation would help ensure funds were used for poverty reduction, ultimately decreasing poor countries dependence on foreign aid. While the debt crisis is far from over, the U.S. and other industrialized countries have taken action to relieve debt burdens in many of the most impoverished countries and these commitments have proven effective. Mozambique used its debt service savings to vaccinate children against tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, as well as build and electrify schools. Nigeria is using the $750 million in debt service savings from 2006 to train and recruit new teachers.

Ask your Member of Congress to cosponsor the Jubilee Act (HR 2634) which will extend debt cancellation without imposing harmful economic conditions on all impoverished countries that are required to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

This video is worth watching, whatever your stance on climate change.

I recently stepped away from this blog for a couple of months. Looking back, I wonder how I ever found the time to spend here in the first place. The minutes that had been allocated to blogging were filled with other things almost immediately, like water rushing in to fill a canyon and soon obscuring what lies below. Time is finite, and whether we realize it or not, we’re constantly making choices with every minute that goes by.

Don’t get me wrong: this space has been a labor of love, and I’m not leaving it behind. I’ll continue to post, albeit infrequently, and I’ll drop in now and then to visit the wonderful bloggers I’ve discovered.

However, I won’t be spending as much time here.

Like everyone, I have responsibilities. I have hobbies I take pleasure in. There are also a multitude of things I’d like to learn, places I’d like to visit, and people I’d like to spend more time with. Improving my mind, honing my skills, trying new things, and lending a hand in the community are important to me. In short, my ambitions are far greater than the available hours in the day.

Do you ever experience this conflict? Do the things you love compete against each other for your attention and your time? Do you wonder how you’ll ever fit a new interest into your day?

I think it’s a struggle that every individual faces and deals with in their own way.