Embrace your Freedom!

I have decided to change my focus in life a bit.  No matter how bad or tough I think my life is, I don't have to look very far to see others who have it much worse.  So this week I am finding ways we all can help those less fortunate, and projects that  I believe deserve mentioning.

Even though we ended slavery here in the 1800's, human trafficking is still a huge problem, and slavery is alive and well both here and in the rest of the world.  We see it in prostitution, in the mining industry, the garment industry, in electronic manufacturing, the fishing industry and I am sure many others.

Prostitution rings should be the easy one to fight - without demand there is no need for supply. Sadly, the oldest profession seems to have plenty of demand, not only for women, but also for children.  Cheap labor and maximum profits seem to fuel the practice of slavery in the other industries.

Picture by Worradmu/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

CNN is running an ongoing series on modern day slavery; The CNN Freedom Project.  I encourage you all to take some time to read these articles and watch some of the videos.  Afterwards I hope you will join the many who fight this epidemic on a daily basis.  You can find ways you can help fight slavery here.

Have a blessed day and embrace your freedom!

Go Barefoot!!

Some things are worth sharing, and Toms Shoes' efforts to provide shoes to children in many developing countries is one of those. 

Photo by Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today, April 5th, 2011, join me for their One Day Without Shoes campaign. Throw off your shoes and go barefoot for a day! You can read more about the event here. 

A Good Laugh

Wonder if ripping up my credit card bills will make me feel this good too :-)

Boys and Their Toys

I guess we  all can boost our self confidence with appearance.  Women will usually feel better about themselves wearing nice expensive shoes, purses and jewelry, having beautiful nails, make-up and a great hair cut.  But I think we use that confidence a bit different than some men whose egos expand in tact with the size of their toys.

We had a beautiful spring day yesterday, and I enjoyed an hour in the sun on a dock by the canal, reading my book and watching boats go by.  Loved it!  As custom is, when a boat went by, I, along with the others on the dock waived, and most waived back. 

This beautiful cabin cruiser passed by, and again we all waived as we admired the boat.  The "captain" waived back and then did the "would you like to join me" arm motions. I love going out on boats; preferably with people I actually know, though, so I jokingly did the "sure, come back and pick me up" motion (if you're not familiar with this kind of body language, go hang out on a dock...), then went back to reading my book. Don't you know the idiot actually stopped his boat, and backed up....

Photo by Rosemary Ratcliff www.freedigitalphotos.net

Everybody else on the dock got a good giggle out of it as the boat approached and this vertically challenged, potbellied man invites me to join him for a boat ride. There were two other couples on the boat, but he made a point of stating he was alone and it would be nice to have a single woman join him. Whatever!  My mom always told me not to get into cars with strangers...I can't imagine she would approve any more of me getting on a boat with one. 

Now I'm quite tall, and in my 3" heels, I stood up and towered over this little man.  Thanks for the offer, but no thanks, as I could feel my cheeks burning...Nothing like being approached by Danny DeVito Jr. in front of a whole group of strangers.

I would love to say I'm out of his league, but apparently I've been moved to the minors...then again, he obviously had money, and in some guys minds, money can buy anything. So maybe I'm pretty enough to be the trophy he needed for the boat???  Yep, we're going with that one!  Good thing I wasn't in a bikini...

Did You Get Fooled Yet?

I love practical jokes and good April Fools stories.  The best is seeing how many people actually fall for these stories... To date, BBC's "Swiss Spaghetti Harvest" is still the best hoax ever run by a serious news station.

Many viewers contacted the station wanting to know if they could grow their own spaghetti tree (?!), to which BBC responded: "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin can of tomato sauce and hope for the best".

And how about the "Taco Liberty Bell" (and Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial) hoax, 

 the story of Alabama changing the value of Pi,

or the left handed Whopper (which Burger King reported they had sold many of, as well as had several requests for "the regular right handed Whopper")?

 Not to speak about the law making "drunk driving on the information highway" illegal (now that may not be such a bad idea after all....),

the whistling carrots,

or the French aviator who dropped not a bomb,

 but a football on a German camp during WWI with a note attached that read: "April Fools".  I love it!  You can find more of the best April Fools hoaxes here.



On to plotting and planning my own little hoax...