DC's Playlist

I am periodically accused of being a beer or wine snob. And when this happens I give my standard answer - it's not worth the calories if it's low quality and sucks. I truly believe that. I'm also self-aware enough to know that I am a food snob. Not that I don't enjoy french fries or a pizza - but they have to be GOOD french fries (you know, real potatoes, a little crunchy but not overcooked, not too thick, etc) or pizza. I admit it. I am a pain in the ass on a road trip.

The other day I picked up a book I love given to me by my friend Allison Wolff - The Intellectual Devotional - and I opened it to a random page, as I often do. Lately the random pages have seemed to be less random. Regardless, that day's page was on Epicureanism. I've of course heard this word and used the awesome Epicurious website to find new recipes many many times. But I didn't know much about the origin of the term. Here's what I learned:

Epicurus (341-271 BC) was a greek philosopher.

Epicurus was fundamentally concerned with ways to be happy. Not just shopping, eating and drinking. He gave us three basic rules for happiness:

1. Have good friends and spend lots of time with them. Live with them if possible.
2. Be free. Loosen as many ties to business and politics as possible. Be self-sufficient.
3. Reflect. A well-lived life is one that is thought about, reflected on, and lived thoughtfully.

As much as the notion of "epicureanism" has an elitist tinge to it, Epicurus himself was a proponent of egalitarianism...even let slaves (yes, darker skinned people) and women (egads!) into his classes. Crazy dude.

The Epicurean crowd divided pleasures into those that were static and those that were kinetic. They believed that sating static pleasures (e.g. having a philosophical conversation) doesn't diminish your desire - it typically makes you want to do more. A kinetic desire, on the other hand (e.g. the desire for food), is satisfied and then you experience the lack of that desire. They warned against these kinetic pleasures because they, in today's vernacular, can lead to addiction. As a result they believed we should live relatively austere and simple lives, with only an occasional luxury.

So I was thinking - I guess when I get called a beer snob, or whatever kind of eating and drinking snob, I could just say, "no, I'm an Epicurean," but then I read one more piece of the story. These guys "lived communally and abstained from political activity." Oh well. Bring on the Bud Light and Dominos.

Only for A Little While (Sugarbeat) and Same Ole River (Sam Bush)

2008-06-26T10:48:00.002-04:00

Didn't make it to Telluride this year but I listened to a lot via www.koto.org...and took some time to find/scan old photos, and made this little show.

Umbrella - Originally Rihanna w/Jay-Z, covered by Marie Digby

2008-06-01T12:42:00.003-04:00

FOR ANGUS

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards (for Mom on Mother's Day)

2008-05-11T22:05:00.003-04:00

Press play (sorry for the low quality video):

Today is Mother's Day, 2008. I was supposed to be finishing up a really nice 24 hrs with my mom right now, dropping her off at the airport in Burbank to head back to Northern California. But instead, I am lying on the couch on my friends Meredith & Kate's, watching 60 minutes, and hoping that the Immodium I took two hours ago kicks in before too long.

The original plan was a great one: I had to be here in LA for a cool conference Friday night and Saturday, and then I'm guest-teaching a class at UC Irvine on Tuesday. Mom was to fly down Saturday afternoon from No Cal, we'd have a nice dinner in Santa Monica, stay on the beach at the Georgian Hotel, walk on the beach this morning, and spend the afternoon at the Getty Museum in Malibu before her departure. Sounds great, huh?

But instead, I found myself running to the bathroom when I arrived in Burbank from Portland on Friday afternoon, somehow managed not to toss my cookies on our new contact at Evite. and made it all the way to Eagle Rock before depositing my breakfast and lunch out the car door two blocks from my destination. Despite the fact that Meredith would barely let me near my goddaughters for fear I would contaminate them with my "bug," I was glad to be in a familiar place. (ok, fair enough, since they are all traveling later this week and who wants to travel with a barfing, diarrhea-y 5 year old?).

While I was bummed to miss Friday's opening reception at the home of Sex and the City creator, Darren Star, I was sure it would pass quickly and I'd be up and at 'em for the conference on Saturday. No such luck. I just couldn't do it. My body was not cooperating. Midday, mom and I decided there was no way a nice dinner or evening in a $300/night hotel together would be fun for either of us, so she bagged the trip. By last night I had consumed about 2 oz. of applesauce and a piece of toast. Woo Hoo. But the aches were overwhelming. Thank goodness for the heating pad, soda, and TLC provided by my friends.

Today's been better, went for a little walk, ate a banana and some eggs. But that did NOT agree with me, hence the Immodium.

My mom's great. She always made me feel like I could be whatever I wanted to be, and she and my dad continue to be my biggest fans. She's funny, smart, politically-savvy and knows how to IM. I would have loved to see her for Mother's Day, but whatcha gonna do? Next year for sure.

Oh, why Jonathan Edwards? Cuz every time I hear this song it reminds me of being about 10 years old driving down the street with my mom, and her turning down the song in the middle where the lyrics are, "He can't even run his own life, I'll be DAMNED if he'll run mine." Ok, so she didn't like her 10 year old swearing out loud. For Father's Day I'll write about my dad and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Karma Chameleon - Culture Club

2008-04-13T10:47:00.008-04:00

Press Play:

Culture Club - Kar...

I AM ANGELINA JOLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have had a deep look into your soul and have realised...

...you are Angelina Jolie

WHOAH THERE! If you're not counselling refugees or pressuring Hollywood producers to finance Ecuadorian co-operatives, you’re signing off charity cheques like so many autograph pads. Unless you’re telling us porkies.

Maybe you should glide by the message board and let us all know how to be glamourous and good all at once.

This from a little thing called Karma Calculator.

Let me just say that I think Angie is the bomb. Brad too. And I am a believer in karma for sure. If you aren't, just think about how happy and healthy the lives of Dick Cheney, Leona Helmsley and Michael Vick were/are.

I hope I can live up to my new found identity.

Born to Fight - Tracy Chapman

2008-04-06T18:23:00.008-04:00

Press play

This is a great video of Tracy Chapman singing one of her (many) spectacular songs, "Born to Fight." I was really glad to find this video this weekend, since it is just the anniversary of MLK's murder, the riots in many cities, including DC, etc. This video was taken at a tribute concert to Nelson Mandela, the ultimate fighter.

But what prompted me to find this song was watching the women's NCAA basketball final four earlier tonight. Stanford, sort of a home town team for me, beat the #1 ranked Connecticut Huskies and advanced to the Championship Game. I know most people think of Stanford as an elitist, white, insular place. And there surely is some truth to that description. But it is also a place where athletes, as long as they meet the academic standards to get in (which are not wimpy) can shine.

Think Tiger Woods, Kim Oden, and now, Candice Wiggins. Wiggins is the first four time All-American in the history of Stanford Basketball. She is smart, tough, and an amazing three point shooter. As a former point guard, it is a beautiful thing to watch her leadership, her passing, and her "whatever it takes" spirit. And of course everyone things Geno's Connecticut team is a dynasty. Geno, take that. Go Cardinal.

Superstar (Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, from JC Superstar)

2008-03-23T08:55:00.006-04:00

Happy Easter:

Despite the fact that only about 5 people ever read this blog, I debated with myself for nearly an hour about what song from my catalog to pick for today's post. It's Easter. So, being the child of the 70s that I am, I vacillated between something from Jesus Christ Superstar and something from Godspell. I know both make some people cringe. Why couldn't I just pick some Jesus song? Well, that felt a little too straightforward for my liking.

This internal debate causes me to go back and refresh my memory about the two "God-themed musicals." Jesus Christ Superstar came first, in 1970, but Godspell followed just about a year later. Both of these musical-plays-turned-movies were written by super-famous folks. Superstar by the amazing Andrew Lloyd Webber who, of course, is also responsible for such small hits as Evita, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera. And Godspell was written by Stephen Schwartz, whose accomplishments other than Godspell include little shows like Pippin, Pocahontas, Wicked, and Enchanted.

Godspell was like Marcel Marceau meets Haight Ashbury, but most of the songs were pretty straight-up "God is love" kinda fare. At Catholic masses all over the place, including the hippie mass my mom took me to at St. Clare's, people were singing "Day by Day." The more radical services included the opening piece, which was a little more raucous - "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord." Like all good hippie mass songs, that one involved guitars and a tambourine. It was all pretty tame.

JC Superstar was far edgier, much harder rock and roll, and the songs didn't really lend themselves to the mass thing. And there was the issue of what might be perceived as some controversial depictions of Jesus' posse: Could Mary Magdalene be a whore andpossibly be a love interest for Jesus? This was underscored (pun intended) by the song I Don't Know How to Love Him, which was sung by the lovely Yvonne Elliman in the movie version (Her other claim to fame was singing background on Eric Clapton's version of I Shot the Sheriff). And then there was the big controversy in my mind as I got older: Why was Judas portrayed by a black man?!?! Well, probably everybody back then was more black than what we think of as "white" now. But casting Jesus as a waif-like white dude and Judas, the traitor, as a black man, struck me as aggressive.

Enough. I chose Superstar. It's the finale, it's the resurrection. That's what Easter is. But it's also two other things. One, the lyrics are a reminder of the questions that continue about Jesus in many peoples' minds. Second, it's an amazingly entertaining period piece - check out those outfits!

Coconut Dog/Morning Dew (Traditional/Solas)

2008-03-17T12:03:00.006-04:00

SLAINTE! Watch/listen to these talented musicians:

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of us (even those of you without a drop of Irish blood). While I am only 1/4 Irish, I definitely feel a connection to my Irish roots...in many different ways. One of them is music. I even own a bodhran.

I have been a fan of Celtic/Irish music for many years. First exposed to it, like most "Americans," through The Chieftains. A trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1992, hanging out with the local bands in small venues, sealed the deal. But when I started listening to it for real was after hearing a series of interesting performers at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. TBF is NOT just a place for hillbilly music - it's an amazing platform for any music that has some sort of "roots" base. And the range of performers within the broad rubric of Celtic is a good indication of the diversity of music heard in the beautiful box canyon every summer solstice: Natalie MacMaster, Wolfstone, Chieftains, Ashley McIsaac, Maura O'Connell, Great Big Sea. I first heard Solas at Bluegrass too - in 1997. They are an amazing group of musicians, combining innovation and 21st century approaches while respecting the beauty of the original music.

On St. Paddy's Day it's way better to listen to stuff like this than drink that horrible green beer.

Well Alright (Buddy Holly, et al done by Clapton/Winwood 2/28/08)

2008-03-09T18:04:00.007-04:00

PRESS PLAY TO WATCH THIS SHORT CLIP FROM ONE OF CLAPTON/WINWOODS 3 MADISON SQ GARDEN CONCERTS:

Last week Debbie and I went to NYC for about 48 hours. Why so short? Because she had been traveling for almost two weeks for work. Why, at all? To use the Xmas tickets I gave her to see the show of a lifetime (ok, the lifetime of someone over 40-something). Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood met in the late 1960's and collaborated (along with Ginger Baker and Ric Grech)as Blind Faith.

Blind Faith's single, eponymous, album came out in late 1969. I was seven years old. So being, um, on the late cusp of the baby boomer generation, I remember the album from my older brothers' collection. I am sure my parents did NOT approve of its cover. I remember the song "Can't Find My Way Home," but not because I heard it then...maybe later during my brother Chuck's Traffic stage. And of course this song, "Well Alright," was originally done by Buddy Holly and has been covered by lots of folks. While the Blind Faith version is, in my opinion, the best by far, two others are worth a little trip down memory lane:

Santana did a version in the late 1970's. Here's a video of his band performing it in 1980 - and Carlos actually sings back-up, a rare occurrence for him:

And, of course, we must pay tribute to the originator. Although there is no video, this is worth a listen:

One Love (Bob Marley)

2008-02-15T12:21:00.004-05:00

This is fun to watch and listen to:

Yesterday was Valentine's Day...one of the most overhyped "holidays" in my view...maybe that says more about me than the day. To fight my inner cynic, I made a playlist on my iPod to play at work yesterday. I included all songs in my library that have the word "love" (or include it, aka "Lovely Rita) in their title. I was only moderately surprised to find that of my 4,000+ songs, 285 of them have a title containing those four letters - L-O-V-E.

If I go to iTunes and search on "love" I get a gazillion results.

My 285-song playlist included some classics and some funny results, that represent the spectrum of the human condition vis-a-vis the concept of love. A few examples:

What's Love Got to Do with It - Tina Turner
Love Hurts - Gram Parsons
Love Has No Pride - Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt
The One I Love - REM
Runaway Love - Ludacris
Love Shack - B 52's
Falling in Love Again - Billie Holiday and, of course,
Love is All You Need - The Beatles (Duh)

But the song that captures the vibe of what love really has to do with "it' is Bob Marley's One Love...and you can't help but sing along:

One Love!
One Heart!
Let's get together and feel all right.

The Lucky One (Alison Krauss)

2008-02-10T17:59:00.001-05:00

PRESS PLAY:

Alison Krauss - Th...

Tonight is the 50th Grammy Awards, so it seems fitting that I would post something on my episodic blog. Why Alison Krauss? Because she has won more Grammys than any other female. Period. Shocking, isn't it?

Here's the rundown on her achievements:

A total of 20 Grammys
Her first win was 18 years ago - 1990 - for the best bluegrass song
Every award she has won has been in the Country, Bluegrass or Folk category with the exception of being part of the Album of the Year team for "Oh Brother Where Art T h ou's" soundtrack
She is nominated tonight for Best Collaboration (with Robert Plant) for a song from their very cool album Raising Sand AND for Best Female Country Performance.

She is a Renaissance woman for sure.

It's 8pm. Time to watch to see if the "lucky one" wins again.

UPDATE: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant won the 2007 grammy for "Gone, Gone, Gone." The 2007 Grammy program was horrible.

Raining in Baltimore (Counting Crows)

2008-02-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

PRESS PLAY:

Debbie and I went up to the Ram's Head Live in Baltimore last night to see Adam Duritz of Counting Crows play a benefit acoustic set. I won the tickets on 94.7 The Globe Classic Rock radio station a couple of weeks ago. I called and identified the name of the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou ("What was the name of the movie starring George Clooney that had a bluegrass soundtrack produced by T-Bone Burnett?"). Yeah for Weazel.

The performance was awesome. The venue was so-so. And the crowd sucked.

The highlights:

The show was a benefit for the Johns' Hopkins' Pediatric Epilepsy program. It was totally organized by some 40-somethings whose daughter was treated there after having some pretty scary seizures. The Harris' are doing good stuff, and raised $260,000 around the event. Check out The CarsonHarris Foundation for what they are doing.

The concert was fabulous (what i could see/hear - more on that in the lowlights section of this post). It was Duritz and two former roommates - members of the band Lonestar - on acoustic guitar. They come out, with a wheelie Coleman cooler of beer, plunk down on the stage and proceed to play some very innovative versions of lots of Counting Crows songs, and quite a number of covers. They had planned a great somewhat Baltimore-themed set.

Adam played a song from pre-CC days that he hasn't performed since 1989. It was from a band called The Himalayans, and the song was called "Save My Life." It was fun to hear.

The Lowlights (I'm sure I am old and crabby and I was tired last night, but...):

Sloppy drunk is never pretty. For the first half of the show we stood (there is no seating at Ram's Head) in the balcony. During the warm-up we staked out a place with a view. But the shit-faced couple to our right were so blotto that they morphed from taking about 4 feet of space to taking (to quote Debbie), "the space of five people" at the railing. Needless to say, for a short girl like me, that pretty much meant no seeing Adam. And then there was the stumbling, and American Idol-like performance by the guy, throughout the set, augmented by constant groping and making out. The spilling of a drink on the woman next to them was a nice touch. Did I mention he had a wedding ring and she did not. Jeez - take it somewhere else where you can drain the mini bar and perform your rendition of "Rain King" in private.

So, we go downstairs to SEE and HEAR the show. Why do people go to concerts in small, intimate venues, and then stand around talking throughout the show? Between the well-meaning, big swinging dick investment bankers who were sponsors, the "VIPs," and the partiers in the back, there was a constant drone of chatter during the show. Show some respect people. Go to a freakin' bar if you want to talk the whole time.

Ok, now I've vented. Time for a run. Adam, please come back again. I promise to be less grumpy.

Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder)

2008-01-21T18:11:00.000-05:00

Press play to watch and listen:

Steve Wonder wrote this song as part of the campaign to establish a national holiday in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And today is the 2008 date of that holiday. Watching some tributes, clips of Dr. King's speeches, and thinking about what he and others made possible, I got to thinking - "could there really have been anyone who was AGAINST the idea of a holiday in his honor?" Of course, lots of folks.

They said it would "cost us money." They didn't like the idea of singling out one man for a movement (can you say Ghandi?), and it would be crazy to believe that the fact that he was a BLACK man didn't have the greatest weight for the detractors.

Today the Seattle Times re-ran a story they originally ran in 1983, a year before the first MLK Jr. Holiday. It is most definitely worth the read...some great history and facts, but also a view into the times.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

We are Family - Sister Sledge

2008-01-10T21:10:00.001-05:00

donna and drew at wasabi
Originally uploaded by dcisme

Ok, no audio or video on this one. Just a photo of my nephew, Drew, and me. We are at a sushi place in Breckenridge Colorado.

I first saw and held Drew when he was 2 + 1/2 weeks old, loved watching him grow up, hung out in Ocean Beach, have had a blast in Breckenridge pretty much every year since 2000, watched him graduate from high school and play in the all-star football game in San Diego this summer, and am proud of him as a young man.

When we met at the airport in Denver last Saturday (along with my sister in law, Carol, and four (YES FOUR) of Drew's buddies), I was taken aback by the five o'clock shadow and maturity in his face...and it's only been a few months since I last saw him.

Drew is smart, handsome, a great athlete and, despite 18-yr old appearances, very sensitive and caring. We had a great time skiing/snowboarding together this week, especially today.

His brother, Davis, is great too. More on him in another post.

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves - Eurythmics

2008-01-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

PRESS PLAY, PLEASE:

I'm not a huge Hillary fan. But I have to say that this morning I am happy for her. Silly pollsters, Silly so-called experts. Silly, silly press.

The fact that the networks, and every cable news station on Earth, has been playing her "getting emotional" video is infuriating. Mitt Romney "got emotional" several times in the last couple of months, but the press did NOT play it to death. I'm not a DOUBLE STANDARD-ACCUSING GIRL, but this is just too glaring not to call FOUL.

Who knows who will win the Democratic nomination. I have been a John Edwards supporter since 2002, but it's not looking so great for my man. Whether it's Obama or Clinton, we have to unseat the current regime.

Today, I say, Go Hillary. You deserve a moment of emotional celebration.

Auld Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg

2008-01-01T13:20:00.000-05:00

Press PLAY:

Watch more videos like this at www.quantumshift.tv

I meant to get this posted yesterday, the last day of 2007, to complete my trilogy of acknowledgments of departed musicians. The saddest "celebrity" loss of this year for me would have to be Dan Fogelberg. He died just a couple of weeks ago after a pretty long fight with cancer.

My history with Dan Fogelberg goes back to my adolescence, when my friend Lisa (dubbed "the cakaholic" by my brother Chuck) and I used to play the Souvenirs album incessantly, singing along to Mornin' Sky like we had been born in bluegrass territory, and whispering the lyrics to "Song from Half Mountain" as if every word was a song unto itself. And oh, was he a cutie.

Just for the record, this took place long before Dan became a household name for pop hits like "Longer," "Run for the Roses," or the song highlighted in this post. His music then was less layered, more acoustic, but the lyrics were no less complex or thoughtful....maybe just a little less accessible in the pop music sense.

I remained a fan through those popularity spikes, but in many ways enjoying his alternative albums even more - Twin Sons of Different Mothers with Tim Weisberg, and the bluegrassy High Country Snows.

I remained a fan even after seeing him perform at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1993, seemingly overly drunk or stoned or something and pouting about the sound...leaving the stage once or twice, and putting on a crapola show.

I remained a fan despite the groan that emanates from my partner any time she hears his name, or any song he sings. (Do you detect a bit of a theme in these posts?). It's been tough, at moments, to stay true to my love of Dan over the years in this household, but I have managed.

I remain a fan. Why? Because I think he had a great gift for songwriting.
Oh, and he was a cutie.

Bye Dan. Hello 2008.

"More Than a Feeling"' - Boston

2007-12-30T19:08:00.000-05:00

PRESS PLAY:

more than a feelin...

My second of three tribute selections in the last three days of the year. This one to Brad Delp, lead singer of Boston. He committed suicide earlier in the year. Bummer. The thing about Boston was that nobody really knew who any of the individuals were - including me. But what the members of the Class of 1976 at St. Clare's knew was that this was a great song at a dance. Totally easy to sing along to, and with that great clapping bridge about 3/4 of the way through? C'mon, it doesn't get much better than that.

Debbie HATES Boston. But it turns out she's in interesting company. Wikipedia reports that

"More Than a Feeling" is #2 of pop songs that respondents were too embarrassed to admit that they liked

Ha Ha.

But it's still a great song to clap along to when you are at a dance.

The Theme - Oscar Peterson Trio

2007-12-29T21:26:00.000-05:00

PRESS PLAY TO LISTEN WHILE YOU READ:

Many famous people left us in 2007. Among them, just recently, was Oscar Peterson, a virtuoso of the piano.

I somehow came across Oscar Peterson because of the album "Side by Side" done with Itzak Perlman. I love love love listening to it when I want high quality background music. On a rainy Sunday morning, on a long flight, or a long train ride. He was revered by his contemporaries. Duke Ellington called him "the maharajah of the piano." Nice praise from the Duke.

I have to confess that I am not a HUGE jazz fan, but as I get older I find myself gravitating to the traditional, sort of roots oriented jazz of the 40s, 50s, etc. About a week ago I downloaded a bunch of songs of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more and more I find myself listening to folks like Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Henderson, D jango Reinhardt, and other legends.

Peterson was Canadian, and came to be known in the US when he played an unbilled set at the Carnegie Jazz at the Philharmonic session in 1949ish. And he kept playing, all over the world, until a few years ago. A legend for sure.

So long Oscar.

December (George Winston)

2007-12-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

Press Play:

George Winston song. He is such a talent and I think of him, and the other Windham Hill musicians, any time when a cup of tea or coffee, a newspaper or good novel, and relaxing background music are involved. Will Ackerman (founder of Windham Hill), Scott Cossu, et al - they are all awesome.

And a roaring fire. That's what George Winston and December in DC conjure up for me.

Hawaiian Wedding Song - for Gramp

2007-12-01T18:05:00.003-05:00

Today would have been my grandfather's 104th birthday. He died 13 days after his 100th birthday, in Santa Clara, California. More than any song, this one reminds me of Gramp. Here's the thumbnail of his story:

Diego Callejon was born in Estepona, Spain. It's a small town on the Costa del Sol, near Malaga. When he was seven years old, in 1911, he and his family loaded up onto a ship and traveled halfway around the world to their destination - Hawaii. The boat was no pleasure cruise. They traveled in steerage - aka with the cargo and cattle - and dozens of people got sick and died, including Gramp's sister, Mary, who died soon after they arrived in Hawaii.

Why Hawaii? Because Gramp's father, Antonio had some friends and relatives who had gone to Hawaii a couple of years earlier, that's where their new life and his parents' opportunity lay - as farmerworkers at a sugar cane plantation. Child labor laws being nonexistent, Gramp and his siblings went to school a little, and worked in the sugar cane fields a lot, especially after his dad got sick and the company wanted him to work off their debt. In 1917 the family moved again, this time to the San Francisco Bay Area. They were post-WWI migrant workers, handling apricots, asparagus, tomatoes, prunes and other wonders of the "Valley of Heart's Delight."

The rest, as they say, is history, at least in our family.

Those next 85ish years are truly the stuff of the American Dream - from "nothing" with a second grade eduction, to suitor and then husband of Mary Bronk, to business man (via the ranch on Capital Avenue in San Jose that I loved as a kid), to respected member of the community and the school board, to homeowner, and to father, grandfather and great-grandfather who showered all of us with (sometimes tough) love, and secretly pressed $20 bills into our hands, even after we were making plenty of money on our own. He was the real deal, self-made, and a gentleman. When people ask me who in my life I admire, I typically say "my grandpa."

It was a happy coincidence that today I spent two hours once again facilitating a community session for the Washington Area Women's Foundation - and this one was attended mostly by women who have recently come to the United States, just as my Grandpa's family did. Sure, the times are different, they are from Central America rather than Europe, and some of them are documented, some aren't...but at the core these women are no different from my ancestors. They left their home countries to try to forge better lives for their families, and they are struggling to "get ahead" here in the good old U. S. of A. Their courage, determination and faith carries them forward. Just like it did for Jimmy Callejon.

So, why the Hawaiian Wedding Song? Because this is a song I remember from my childhood and early adulthood that will always remind me of my grandparents. My grandfather adored my grandma, and when she died suddenly in 1997 he was heartbroken. I'd say he was heartbroken, in some ways, until the day he died. They loved to dance (especially he did), and I vividly remember them dancing to this song at every chance - including on their 50th wedding anniversary in 1975. On the day of the celebration of their union - their golden anniversary - this elegant picture was taken...Not long before they took to the floor to dance to the Hawaiian Wedding Song.

Bicycle Race (Queen)

2007-11-24T10:26:00.000-05:00

Queen's classic. And they have so many.

Check out what the guys at www.quantumshift.tv are doing. Here's their mission: Quantum Shift TV is a 21st Century storyteller renewing the cultural values of community, care and interconnectedness through the use of leading edge technology and citizen journalism. Here's the kind of stories you'll see there - ones of:

Human cooperation and survival

Solutions to combat global warming

The positive impact of aid workers around the world

Perspectives and contributions of philanthropists

Corporate social responsibility progress

Environmental improvements and breakthroughs

And all other stories about those making a positive difference on this planet.

A great companion to what we are trying to do at GlobalGiving...and in the spirit of full disclosure, I just found them today when my Google Alerts let me know that they had posted this cool video about GlobalGiving gift cards as an alternative to "stuff:"

The second part of the video is about Google + Specialized's "Innovate or Die" contest. Also very cool. They are giving away money and bikes to pedal-generated ideas for good.

Here's a cool GG project that links the two pieces of this story together:
Ped al-Generated Light in Nepal

If only Freddie were around for this twist on the bicycle...

I Want to Thank You (Natalie Merchant)

2007-11-22T09:13:00.000-05:00

It's Thanksgiving, duh.

Traffic Jam (James Taylor)

2007-11-18T17:14:00.000-05:00

"Well I left my job about five o'clock
It took 15 minutes to go three blocks
Just in time to stand in line
With the freeway lookin like a parking lot" - JT

They say that Washington DC has the 3rd worst traffic in the US, behind LA and SF. A recent trip to LA convinced me that this is one of those cases where the gap between first and second place is something like the gap in ideology between George Bush and Dennis Kucinich. The chart to the left sort of supports that. This takes the "winner takes all" concept to a new level. Great thing to win, eh? We humans can be bloody idiots.

Here's how it played out during this ~36 hr trip to LA:
Sleeping: 11 hours in two nights
PSA'ing: 8 hours in one night (I'll explain)
Driving: 5.5 hrs in four sessions, 98% on the freeways

That's 330 minutes of driving.
To go about 110 miles.
This equates to an average speed of 20 MPH.
ON THE FREEWAY!!
And I summon my college math and stats classes to point out that the average, in this case, is not the truly relevant measure - as it was either 5-10 MPH or 65 MPH. Some distribution curve that would be.

Was it worth it? YES.
Why?

1. Because I got to spend a little bit of time with my goddaughters. AND I had the chance to see my friend Kate Bean's five year dream-turned-into-reality in action at the Aveson Charter School. What a site.

and

2. Because I had the unique experience of watching the filming of a TV commercial. So Hollywood. :) Our (GlobalGiving's) pro-bono ad agency Leo Burnett has made a minor miracle happen, and we are creating a super high production-value 30 second PSA....which is being directed by an award winning director named Jim Gartner. So there I was with my colleague Joan, and our Burnett team, as the filming took place between 6pm and 2am Friday night. It's gonna be very cool.

But Lord that traffic sucked.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

2007-11-06T19:36:00.000-05:00

This song came out in 1983, when I was in my final year of college. I wouldn't dare post a picture of what I looked like then. My goodness.

But the song was an immediate anthem to the free spiritedness of girls and young women everywhere. Cyndi Lauper was such a quirky thing herself, but the song just made you want to sing along.

I was reminded of this song today when I received the following note from my friend Eli who runs the Maine's Women's Fund:
"Your donation to our Evening to Honor Maine Women and Girls enabled 5 girls -- who wouldn’t otherwise be able – to attend the event. These girls are participants in A Company of Girls – an after school program for disadvantaged girls in the greater Portland area that uses theatre and the arts to explore self-identity and promote healthy development and self-esteem, a grantee of MWF.
Our photographer managed to get these two shots which I thought you would get a kick out of."

Eli is shaking things up at the Maine Women's Fund, and her board seems psyched about it. I had the honor of meeting with them earlier this fall. Maine is often viewed as a place "up there" where everyone is squeaky and healthy and white and doing just fine. But it's a complicated place. It's big and it's geographically, racially and ethnically diverse, and women there - just like in virtually every state or major metropolitan area - struggle disproportionately. Eli and her team - and other great people in Maine - are hell-bent to change that.

These girls are the future of Maine. Right now they need a decent education, a safe place to call home, good role models and guidance about how to make good choices. In a few years they will want to have decent jobs, even safer places to live, affordable health care, and maybe a few bucks in their pockets.
Oh, and they will still just wanna have fun.

Cindy Lauper - Gir...

Independent Woman (Destiny's Child)

2007-11-04T16:42:00.001-05:00

Hit play to listen/watch:

I spent a few hours yesterday in Prince George's County Maryland, helping to facilitate a "Voice and Vision" session for the Washington Area Women's Foundation. Although I've been on the Board for 7 years, I have been focused on pretty much everything except our programmatic work in an intense way. Don't get me wrong, I can recite the stats and progress and impact and all that good stuff. DC Metro is a "tale of two cities:"

- Highest paid women in America, most highly educated women in America, 4th fastest growing city for women entrepreneurs, and for God's sake we've got a woman likely to be a presidential candidate who lives in our midst.

BUT, we've also got

- The highest rate in the country of new incidences of HIV in women, and 1 in 3 kids lives in poverty - more than 75% with single women headed households.

See, I didn't even have to check my notes to lay that out.

But yesterday, instead of talking about it conceptually, I was with some women in Prince George's County who, themselves, have come through the fire and are now doing amazing work to help lift struggling women out of poverty, away from destructive behaviors and relationships, and to independence.

Deborah Avens runs a non-profit called Virtuous Enterprises. Kim Rhim runs one called Training Source. These women are doing God's work for sure - against a fair number of odds and in an area that is somewhat forgotten in a Metropolitan area where many people don't really know the geography and demographics of their hometown. Prince George's County is the ultimate tale of two counties. While folks there don't like to hear it said this way, these women - and others who were there - most definitely framed up the "inside the beltway" vs. "outside the beltway" dynamics of this county - which is the most affluent minority-majority (aka majority black) "municipality" in the world.

I fell lucky and proud to work with the Women's Foundation and with women like Deborah and Kim - they inspire me to keep investing in the future of independence - financial and otherwise - for women in our community.

Last Kiss (Pearl Jam, covering a bunch of folks)

2007-10-24T22:18:00.001-04:00

I was reminded of this song tonight when I was watching an episode of the Sundance Channel's "Iconoclasts" series, (sponsored by Grey Goose Vodka - yum), which pairs two famous people to kind of riff off each other. This episode was about Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and the surfer Laird Hamilton.
It's pretty cool, if a little self-serving for the subjects.

Pearl Jam did this song a few years ago. It has a lot of history. It was written, and originally recorded, in the year I was born - 1962. It wasn't very popular. From a totally personal standpoint it takes me back to my 11th year - 1973/74. A Canadian band called Wednesday covered it, and while Wikipedia says it only hit #34 on the Billboard charts in the US, my memory is that it was playing constantly on the radio in my hometown area in the South Bay Area. It was a great sing along song, and so sad. How could you not imagine the "screaming tires?" The "busting glass?"

As a girl in 6th grade at St. Clare's Catholic School in Santa Clara, the notion that the singer would "see my baby when I leave this world" was the ultimate in tragedy. Many tears ensued.

Eleven years old and already grieving.

Imagine my surprise when, exactly 30 years later, Pearl Jam covers the song and gets a hit out of it. Probably sold more records or downloads than Wednesday every dreamed of.

Regardless of which version, it's a song that elicits sadness, life taken away too early and youthful grief. And then we grow up.

Breathe Me (Sia)

2007-10-21T15:17:00.000-04:00

It's a Sunday in the fall and I just want to say: I MISS SIX FEET UNDER