Life, by the numbers

It's been a head-spinning six weeks or so, and besides the most obvious number (0, that would be blog posts) I filled some time on a flight counting various aspects of recent life.

6: countries visited...yes, I'm counting the layover in Ireland :)
13: airplane flights
2: weekends with my grandparents, who retained their spots as the funniest people I know. After a particularly funny dinner in Canada Brian and I decided we would have paid at least $15 or $20 just to listen to them talk for a few hours. I think they should take their show on the road.
8 and 1: sandwiches and jars, respectively, of pimiento cheese fed to us by the aforementioned grandmother (see the almost empty plate on the deck). Yes, she still hand cranks it, no, it's not just a southern food, and yes, it's awesome.
1: shoe theft witnessed on the overnight train from Paris to San Sebastian. I watched this old guy putting on a pair of shoes in the next row and walking off...turns out they weren't his! And he stayed on the train, wearing the stolen shoes! Even the not so swift French train police could crack that case, and our train neighbor got his shoes back.

3: tapas bars in one night in San Sebastian, Spain.
We thought that was pretty good until we saw the Spanish grandmothers and toddlers staying out late into the night while we stumbled back exhausted to the hotel. I blame the 1 L of sangria consumed at tapas bar #1.
2: weddings. Congrats to Mary and John Pitts and Kate and Peter Devlin!
25: relatives, roughly, at Koopers Tavern for a post-wedding brunch in Baltimore. My ukelele playing uncle put on a show which was great, until Brian and I realized after singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm with the dancing little cousins we might not be able to show our faces at Koopers anymore...so long, favorite crab dip. You haven't been the same since they stopped serving you in a bread bowl anyways.

38: points in touch football scored in our first Baltimore Sports and Social Club game for a dominating victory. Brian is the QB and I'm the "hiker" which I much prefer to being called the center.
34: points scored by Appalachian State to beat Michigan in the Big House! Although I've talked plenty of trash about NC football being weak, I'll take that victory any day. Buckeyes are still undefeated.
20%: historically low voter turnout in the primary race for Baltimore mayor, which Sheila Dixon won. She did re-pave our street (conveniently 5 days before election day), but we're also on track to hit 300 murders for the year so not so sure she was my first choice...
1: angry cab driver chastising me for not voting. I am a bad person...or just a person who works in a city 50 miles away, gets on a train at 7:15 and returns on the train at 7:40 and shares a car with her husband and can't get to the polls. I am still feeling the civic duty shame spiral, which I might try to make up for by reporting for jury duty Nov. 17.

Numbers are an easy way to explain the exhaustion, lack of communication, and multiple bouts of illness over the past six weeks, and they are also easier to calculate and process than all the emotional highs and lows that I'm still wrapping my head around. The idea of staying put for the next 6 weeks (well, except for that pesky daily commute) is pretty appealing right now-- an unusual thing to feel as I'm usually game for any kind of travel, anywhere, to do anything.

Lately I'm also feeling more acutely the seemingly quickening pace of life and time passing...maybe it's being married to a schoolteacher and all the flurry of activity that back to school time brings, or maybe it's working at an organization where 40% of our business can happen in the last month of the year due to holiday donations. Staring these next few months in the face feels exciting but daunting at the same time! Brian and I were running errands a few weekends ago and walked past a young couple pulling a stroller out of the trunk, re-assembling it, pulling the baby out of a car seat along with all the gear...we looked at each other and laughed thinking the exact same thing-- it's at least a few more years before we're ready to tackle that challenge. As B said, sometimes getting the dishes done every day feels like a big deal, so how on earth do you add another human (or hell, even a dog) into this crazy mix and survive? Then again, I did get sucked into watching 3 episodes of Beauty and the Geek (that would be my reality TV shame spiral to accompany my voting failure shame spiral) so something tells me I have more free time than I think I do...

From the Wire to the Walters (and Hampden in between...)

I should probably turn over authorship of this blog to the lovely Collier sisters-- both because they might be more diligent about updating it frequently, and they've also inspired the past two posts.

Last weekend I was invited to an art exhibit at the Antreasian gallery in Hampden where Katherine has a painting in the "Summer Nudes" exhibit. It was a great summer night, with lots of folks spilling out onto the sidewalk on the Avenue and many beautiful paintings, photos, and sculptures to admire. Go check out the exhibit if you're near 36th, and if you go in the morning have breakfast at Golden West Cafe next door and order the most amazing french toast I've ever tasted!

On Saturday we continued our arty adventures at the Walters Art Museum in Mount Vernon to see the Gee's Bend Quilts. I'd never heard of these quilts before last weekend, but it was probably one of the most exciting experiences I've had at an art museum. The quilts of Gee's Bend (an African American town in rural Alabama) were discovered a few years ago and have been amazing audiences at the Whitney and museums around the country ever since, and the women quilters are now heralded as masters of modern art. The colors, patterns, and use of unusual fabrics (denim work pants, fuzzy knees and all!) are truly stunning. The civil rights story of Gee's Bend is equally interesting-- after Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in Gees Bend in the 60's and residents began taking the ferry to the county seat to vote, the ferry was shut down, effectively closing off the town's access to the outside world. Luckily the ferry service was reinstated (wait for it, wait for it)...in 2006, FORTY YEARS later!!

The quilts are only at the Walters through August 26 (admission is free) so get over there while you can. Apologies for the awkward exhibit poster photo-- pictures weren't allowed of the actual quilts.

As for me, I'm naturally blogging to delay packing for a trip-- the hubby and I are off to chase Hemingway (Hemingway's ghosts?) around France and Spain, so I'll be in Europe til end of August. Au revoir!

Real life Omar!

Check out today's article in the New York Times about the real man who inspired the character Omar (aka my all time favorite) on The Wire-- an amazing story. Thanks to Miss Collier for the tip!


BALTIMORE, Aug. 2 — Donnie Andrews was a stickup man with a .44 Magnum who robbed drug dealers and was sentenced to life in prison for murdering one of them.

Fran Boyd was a heroin addict who shoplifted to get from fix to fix, passing her stupors in the shooting gallery and stash house that once was her middle-class home.

Their separate stories of decline into drugs and violence are nationally known: Mr. Andrews was the inspiration for the character Omar Little, a ruthless thug who stalks dealers on the HBO series “The Wire.” Ms. Boyd was the protagonist of “The Corner,” an HBO miniseries that chronicled her fall into addiction.

But the story of their shared redemption is less widely known. On Aug. 11, they are getting married after a lengthy courtship that was as much about turning their lives around as it was about finding each other. Over a decade in the making, their union is a source of inspiration for the grittier parts of West Baltimore, where few people who end up on the corner using and selling drugs manage to break free, and even fewer return to make a difference.

Click here for full story...

It's here! (Subtitle: Excuse me while I dork out for a minute)

It's finally here! A new flavor of frosting ice cream, or perhaps the 4th season of The Wire on DVD you might ask? Even better-- the long anticipated re-launch of the GlobalGiving website. And to quote everyone's favorite heiress, it's hot.

Awesome colors, more featured projects, a dynamic homepage, cleaner navigation and browsing...I warned you I would be dorking out. And one new feature I've already put to use is a super cute badge right on this blog (for a good time, click on the rainbow in the top right corner). Tons of badges to choose from-- get one for your blogger, typepad, facebook, etc here.

And just 'cause I love the new site doesn't mean that you agree, so check it out and let me know what you think-- we're going to continue adding more features and improvements so would love to hear feedback from anyone slightly less biased than someone who works there :)

In the meantime, I'll be sitting at work hitting refresh just to watch the pretty pictures change.

UPDATE: I'm not the only one dorking out over the new GlobalGiving site-- check out Katya Andresen's Nonprofit Marketing Blog. She even has before and after screenshots!

UPDATE # 2: On Philanthropy jumps on the bandwagon too!

BOP Strategery

Ever since reading C.K. Prahalad's book "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" back in 2005 I've been intrigued by the concept that companies and governments should treat the poorest of the poor (generally those living on less than $2 per day) as potential customers and entrepreneurs instead of just victims of hopeless, grinding poverty. Through product and service innovations, companies can tap into a multi-billion dollar market, make profits, improve the lives of the poor, and everybody goes home happy! Woo hoo!

However, I can't shake the nagging feeling that like microfinance, BOP is just the latest sexy idea in international development that's a little too good to be true. Not that there aren't excellent things happening around the world in both fields, but I feel like everyone is a little to eager to jump on the magical "cure poverty and get rich at the same time!" bandwagon, or citing BOP concepts as the cure-all for everything from famine to global warming to HIV/AIDS. So I was really interested to read a recent interview with Ashok Khosla (founder of Development Alternatives in India) in Alliance Magazine called "BOP too good to be true?"

Some of my thoughts after reading the interview:

• I agree with Ashok that jobs are crucial to lifting people out of poverty, and not everyone was born to be an entrepreneur. The people who got jobs working along Henry Ford's production line are as important in the industrialization and economic development of the US as Henry Ford himself-- and hiring people to produce BOP products (instead of manufacturing them elsewhere and shipping them in for sale) could do twice as much to reduce poverty in those communities.
• His care for the environment and concern about selling disposable products that will further ruin the planet are admirable, but a little ridiculous at the same time...it would take a poor Indian buying a hell of a lot of disposable shampoo sachets to even come CLOSE to the environmental footprint I stamp on the earth each day with my comfortable American lifestyle. In terms of worst environmental offenders, let's start with Europe and the United States before blaming the poorest of the poor.
  
• Ashok comes across as quite arrogant in his claims about what the poor "really need." The beauty of the BOP is that even with tiny incomes, with the right products available the poor have the autonomy to make their own decisions about what they need and improve their own lives. A financial planner might tell me I don't "really need" that copy of US Weekly, but I have the right to buy whatever I want with my income. Who is he to decide which products are "non-essential and wasteful"?
  
• Perhaps the most ridiculous is his argument about bottled water in India. Should everyone in the world have access to clean water and excellent plumbing? Yes. In the absence of said clean water systems, should we NOT sell clean water to people who need it? No no no! Clean water is a huge issue that demands the attention of governments, aid agencies, companies, NGOs, etc etc-- but I think we can't stop getting affordable water out to communities that need it while we wait for the macro solution (yes, even if this means more disposable containers are floating around the universe).
  

Anyways, check out the interview, check out a great BOP site my friend Rob helped create, and chime in with your own 2 cents!

Climb every mountain...

No, Sound of Music fans, this is not going to be a Julie Andrews-related post, although two fun facts before I dig into the hardcore mountaineering business:

1. Edelweiss was one of our wedding ceremony prelude songs (though I'm pretty sure Brian had nothing to do with this pick). What can I say, we met in the Alps...
2. I studied abroad with one of the grandchildren of the Von Trapp family singers. We were teasing her about her last name early in the semester when she suddenly got a very serious look on her face and admitted it was not just a last name coincidence. She spent childhood holiday seasons singing carols at the Von Trapp family lodge and said her grandfather (the eldest) had residual bitterness at being turned into a girl (Liesl) for the film.

I've got mountains on the brain this week after spending my Wednesday lunch hour with Lucky Chhetri, an Ashoka fellow from Nepal. If not her awesome name, or the fact that we both come from families with three girls, I felt an immediate kinship with Lucky because of the work she's doing-- training and empowering women in Nepal as trekking guides for the country's booming adventure tourism sector. After spending two summers as a hiking guide myself (the aforementioned Alps and a bit in Colorado), come June and July I always get a bit antsy and have a hard time sitting still at a desk...so perfect timing to be transported (if only via powerpoint) to the incredible Nepalese mountains!

Lucky and her sisters actually created a business first in 1994 (3 Sisters Adenture Trekking) before creating an NGO (Empowering Women of Nepal)-- interesting because in the non-profit world this often happens the other way around (NGO creates business or social enterprise component for income generation). 3 Sisters and EWN work together to promote and empower women, stimulate economic development, financial and social independence, and courage and leadership for women of Nepal-- opportunities often lacking for women (particularly rural women) according to their website. In 1994 there were no women trekking guides in the entire country, but since 1996 EWN has graduated over 400 Nepalese women from their program.

Participating women go through a one year cycle including mountaineering training, english lessons, apprenticeships, and finally guiding. Over 30% of the graduates have ended up working for 3 Sisters as guides, while some go on to further education (using income earned from guiding to pay for secondary school or college) or jobs in other industries-- no doubt served well by increased confidence and english abilities even if they end up someplace besides a mountaintop. EWN and 3 Sisters are also tackling isues like environmental awareness, child care for women guides while on treks, and rescuing child laborers-- not bad for a bunch of chicks! (Kidding, kidding). Future plans include an adventure tourism training center for women and more technical training in skills like ice and rock climbing.

Lucky and EWN recently posted a project on GlobalGiving which makes it easy to support their work-- click below to make a tax deductible donation!

Training Education for 400 Nepali Women & Children EWN provides practical skill-based training and a paid apprenticeship program to involve women in the country's most wanted economic resources. 400 Nepalese women from 33 districts benefited so far. Theme: Economic Development | Location: Nepal | Need: $60,000

A fellow attendee on Wednesday mentioned another pioneer of women's mountaineering, Arlene Blum, who led the first American and all-women's ascent of Annapurna I back in 1978 (preceded by ascents of Denali and an attempt at Everest-- followed by a traverse of the Himalayas and hiking across the European Alps with her baby daughter on her back). Total. Beast. I cruised around her website, made a note to order a book or two, and found some sweet 1970's era mountaineering photos-- please note the sick Adidas footwear and mildly risque slogan, "A woman's place is on top".

As Omar says on The Wire, "Indeed."

Some love for the universe

Since starting (albeit slowly) this blogging gig, I've been on the receiving end of some great links, shout outs, posts, and comments, and it's high time I returned the favor. I finally got around to adding a links section to the blog, and thought a few friends warrant introduction. Here goes, in order of arrival in Dana's life (I mean, it is my blog afterall):

Despite starting out as high school frenemies (Madame Bellisari's 8am French class will turn anyone cranky), Claire is a fabulous fellow Golden Bear now living in Chicago. I love crossing paths with Claire, whether in person or in the blogosphere...she always has funny stories, interesting projects (crafts!) and travels, and her blog fills the Midwestern hole in my soul out here on the East Coast.

Next up, another amazing Buckeye! Despite growing up in the same state, Emily Reynolds Pierce and I didn't meet until freshmen year at UNC and have been fast friends, trail buddies, occasional roommates, and partners in crime (literally-- underage drinking citations, Chapel Hill Halloween 2000) ever since. Not to mention my girl flew to Ohio from ARGENTINA to be my maid of honor. ERP is an excellent writer as evidenced in her recent post called America's Poorest City: Rise Up! and I'm super excited she's back in 'Merica after a year abroad.

Third, the post-college years-- yes, another Buckeye. I think I met Allan about day 3 of working at an unfortunate Office Space-esque economics research job, and can thank him for keeping me sane all 18 months I worked there. While the term sounds cheesy, he really has a great knack for creating community and bringing people together-- instead of mind numbing data analysis, I look back now and remember coffee club, dollar drafts at Ham's, rafting and skiing trips, cheering on OSU football, and carpools on I40. Allan now lives in Minneapolis and has turned into a beast triathlete.

The first non-Ohioan in the lineup is a woman I owe much gratitude-- Eli rescued me from aforementioned boring job and brought me to GG (which she claims led directly to increased proximity to boyfriend and subsequent marriage proposal). Eli taught me an incredible amount over two years of working together, kicked me in the rear when needed, and even encouraged (forced?) me to start this blog. Alas she's way up north in Maine now but still a great friend and inspiration!

Last but not least is a blog friend via Allan, Adam, who I've never met in person but has a great blog of his own (not to mention leaves great comments). If the midwestern economics background isn't enough, I was convinced we'd be friends in real life when I read his post about planting a beer garden.

Check out their blogs and have a great weekend!