happy arbor day.

"Trees are poems

that the earth writes

upon the sky."

Kahlil Gibran

image source: magonovus

pay gap. sux.

i was all about the greening of the blog during earth day[s] last week. now i need to turn our attention back to another sort of vital green.

cha-ching.

tuesday, april 20th, marked how far into 2010 american women must work from january 1, 2009, to match what men earned last year.

no, no typos. for what a guy earned working from 1.1.2009 to 12.31.2009, a gal had to work an extra 110 days [78 weekdays] to earn the same.

o.m.g. i'm sorry － what year is this?

2010 － and women are still earning only 77 cents for every male dollar.

the harvard business review put together this eye-opening [potentially to the point of tears] presentation of some of the pay-gap facts, such as they are ... i dare you to not be righteously rageful [click the image to go to the rest of the presentation]:

sux, yes?

the lilly ledbetter fair pay restoration act was the first bill president obama signed into law. it doesn't seem to have done much yet, but obama says he's not done with pay parity yet.

the president is cracking down on pay inequity and backing the paycheck fairness act. the measure will make it okay to talk about pay in the workplace, make it easier to prove sex discrimination, and make penalties harsher for companies who underpay women employees.

go-bama. american women don't have 110 days to spare.

image source: huffington post

a voice worth remembering.

she should have been an opera star. it was what she wanted to be, trained to be, hoped to be.

instead, she ended up in movies, frequently playing the role of an opera star.

kathryn grayson － beautiful, self-described pollyanna, and vocally gifted star of many of mgm's heyday musicals － died february 17th at the age of 88.

i neglected to mention her passing at the time, but was reminded of it recently as i came across she and howard keel, dewy-eyed and crooning to one another as the star-crossed noli and gay in showboat.

[and ava gardner as a black woman － classic.]

zelma kathryn elizabeth hedrick was a 15yo coloratura soprano studying for a life on the operatic stage when mgm execs discovered and signed her [studio head louis b. mayer apparently feigned a heart attack to guilt her into committing to a contract]. she debuted as mickey rooney's girl friday in 1941's andy rooney's private secretary.

over the next 15 years, grayson made 20 movies for mgm, the most memorable of which were showboat, kiss me kate [also with howard keel], and anchors aweigh with gene kelly and frank sinatra [she played susan, the topic of the titillating tune "if you knew susie"].

grayson left hollywood in 1956. she finally got to do opera, though mostly through summer theatre and never at the met. she starred in broadway's camelot, and toured nationwide with keel in man of la mancha.

she did a little tv, vegas, a one-woman show. she had married young and twice, and had been single since 1951. she left behind a daughter, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, as well as a secretary who had been with her for over thirty years.

she went peacefully in her sleep. and the angels sing.



image source: reelclassics.com

the good life.

dogs = goofiness + wisdom.
a little tuesday morning canine schoolin' re: how to live life right ...

life is an adventure. live bold.

life is brief. indulge yourself.

life is full. do what you love. then nap.

life is all about love. embrace your differences, & embrace each other.

happy tuesday!! :D

healthy children, healthy world.

happy 40th birthday, earth day!!

yes, earth day has been around since 1970. but despite our hybrids & our single-stream recycling bins & our solar-powered rechargers, earth day isn't really about us mid-lifers.

it's about our kids.

for while we all want a cleaner, greener place to live now, what we're really working for is a better future for our planet & the people who will live on it then. our children.

healthy child healthy world definitely shares this goal, but comes at it a little differently.

hchw's angle is, if we don't get green now, then our children might not live to enjoy that improved future.

healthy child healthy world is a nonprofit organization inspiring grownups to create healthy environments for families.

according to hchw, over 125 million americans － especially the young ones － are experiencing a historic high in chronic diseases like cancer, autism, adhd, asthma, birth defects, & developmental/learning disabilities.

and scientific evidence indicates environmental hazards & household chemicals may well be causing & contributing to this tragically unwell trend.

so healthy child healthy world educates parents, supports protective policies, & engages communities to make responsible decisions, simple everyday choices, & smart lifestyle improvements.

for healthier children. & a healthier world.

for my family, i'm undertaking hchw's 5 easy steps, with the goal of completing them all by next april 22nd.

and i'll be using hchw's impressive shopping lists of healthy, safe, nontoxic, green products & services － from clothing to groceries to pesticides － to become a more conscious consumer.

so, what are you willing to do to help health-ify your kids & the world over the next year?? please share.

and have a great earth day. :)

envirosax － beauty in the bag.

you might not remember, but i sure do － last year's earth day had me lamenting that i was still consuming plastic grocery bags even though i knew better & had known better for a while.

no more.

finally, around autumn, i found the reusable bags i knew i needed to make the change.

big. beautiful. bold. botanical.

hello, envirosax.

the choices are myriad. 13 different 5-bag graphic sets [i got 'botanical' & 'mikado', & gave a few to friends as holiday gifts].




organic options － bamboo, cotton, hemp, linen.


9 different quirky kid designs.

+ 20 solids for the more conservative consumer, water bottles & shower timers.

i surprisingly almost never forget these lovelies out in the car － maybe because i get compliments on them almost every time i use them.

& bonus x2 － they hold a ton, so fewer trips to & from the car once i get home. & even packed full & heavy, the broad, strong straps mean they're easy & comfortable to tote.

envirosax have made the difference for me.
now i'm the one making the difference.

:)


image source: envirosax.com

sunshine happy dance flowers.

oh, people of japan. how you love to create fake things that behave like real things, only plastic-ier.

and, occasionally, irresistible.

just discovered these happy, dancing & oh-so-plastic solar-powered flowers.

googling around, it looks like maybe flip flap was the original. but i found them [& yes, acquired some] at solarflower.us.

just try to watch them dance for a half-minute & not smile.



so this clearly doesn't qualify as something green for earth week ... but it is solar-powered!

ok, & i'm going to acquire some topsy turvy planters as well, to introduce our family to homegrown produce [the tv way, i realize, but hey － we black thumbs must ease into these things!].


image source: ebay.com

little boy's note for a traveling dad.

little boy woke me up bright & early yesterday morning with a note he had written for his daddy [who had been gone all of 13 hours of a 48-hour tour].

it reads:

Dear Dad
I love you
I can't wate
Intil you
come Back
I can't
wate intil
next
Chrismis
Sisters
craby

signed with a small colored-pencil drawing of sister as a crab.

sometimes, i wish i traveled more, so i could get love notes like that.
well, at least i wasn't the crabby one [this time]. :)

image source: comic book resources

guest bloggin'.

i'm a guest blogger today over at createabalance.com!

the post is all about dating ourselves ...
& has nothing to do with aging.

happy sunday! :)

funny five for friday.

especially for fido fans ...






happy day!! ;D

1,000 awesome things.

fourth day of the week. here are four [thousand+] awesome things:

1. 1,000 awesome things, the blog.

2. 1,000 awesome things, the tweets.

3. the book of awesome: snow days, bakery air, finding money in your pocket, and other simple, brilliant things by neil pasricha [the originator of all of the above].

4. 1,000 awesome things, the book trailer [with music by collin rainey]:



how about you? any simple, brilliant thing at all you want to note as awesome?

mine: getting comments on your blog post. ;)
happy thursday!!


image source: fastandfood

a designing woman worth remembering.

dixie carter was her real name － but i confess, i loved her best as genteel-yet-uppity southern woman julia sugarbaker.

the real dixie was born in mclemoresville, tennessee, reared mostly in memphis, a runner-up for miss tennessee 1959 and an english graduate of the university of memphis.

her career as an actress spanned a full four decades, much of it spent in television, much of it on stage － in broadway musicals and plays, as well as in a long-running cabaret act.

she wed three times, the last and lasting marriage to fellow actor hal holbrook, 14 years her senior, 26 years her husband, and her frequent co-star [the couple, above, at the 2008 academy awards].

of course, her best-known role was as atlanta-based interior designer julia sugarbaker, the wisecracking, proud and protective matriarch of the beautiful, big-haired, hilarious quartet of designing women. julia was written by show creator linda bloodworth-thomason as an unapologetic and sharp-witted liberal; dixie carter was a registered republican. but the show must go on, so carter struck a deal: for every democratic diatribe julia delivered, she got to sing a song in a future episode.

dixie carter died last saturday from endometrial cancer complications. she was 70. she left behind holbrook and her two daughters from her first marriage, mary dixie and ginna.

she also left behind some priceless perspective a la julia － here she is tearing up a pageant poptart who's been dissing her sister, suzanne:




image source: reuters

tgif.

a day late [& almost always a dollar or two short!], i'm weighing in on the brilliant brene brown's weekly tgif post . . .

i'm trusting the right amount of work will continue to come my way － enough financially without being too much physically/mentally/emotionally . . .

i'm grateful for norma @ the blue egg's "the way the seasons travel" series, which i just acquired [spring is above] . . .

summer . . .
autumn . . .
& winter . . .
a fab four, yes?

i'm inspired by my dear friend & garden blogger diana, who just got published for the first time as a freelance journalist on the gardening page in the austin american-statesman － holla, di!!

my friday, by the way, was fantastic . . . double workout, clean house, sensational shower, baby playtime, italian supper, buffy reruns & couple reconnection. good day.

happy weekend!!

:)

one more thing.

or ten . . .

forgot to mention yesterday the absurd amount of
joy i'm gaining from my freshly spring-ified toes.

better living through chemicals. :)

happy thursday!!

odds & ends.

i like april.
it holds the heart of springtime, &

offers a slower pace than its sisters, march & may.

today, i'm all about our neighbor's wildly blooming yellow climber & our texas-sized windchimes.

i'm inspired by ingrid michaelson & lisa leonard.

i'm way into peanut butter on fuji apples & glee on oprah.


i'm happy i worked out this morning.

i'm still struggling with staying in to work this afternoon.


daughter's standardized testing is over [for now].

son is loving the new study-space-in-progress [especially his spinny chair].


a little cool front finally blew through.

goodbye, humidity. hello, sunshine.


april in paris holds no mystery for me.

:)


image source: allrecipes.com

clear.

time for my one little word for how i want to be － april edition.

april's word: clear.

clear of clutter.

clear about my weight.

clear about my money.

clear about who's in control of both.

clear of stuff we don't need or love.

clear of stuff that doesn't feed me.

clearing to make room for quiet spaces.

for slowing down.

for passionate work.

for creativity, learning, more clearing.

clear about priorities.

clear about potential regrets.

clear about challenges, strengths & resources.

clear about what's best for me, for my life.

clearing the way for it.


image source: birddog10

celebrate the everyday － april.

It's April, 2010. How will you celebrate being a woman?

April 7 － National Day of Hope/No Housework Day
Hope for more days with no housework.
April 10 － Every Day is Earth Day Day/National Sibling Day
Go green, sisters!
April 12 － National DEAR [Drop Everything And Read] Day
Oh, my DEAR. Great idea.
April 13 － International Moment of Laughter Day
Go for many moments of laughter.
April 15 － Equal Pay Day
Are you earning what you're worth? What can you do about it?
April 16 － National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day
Afternoon naptime promotes productivity ...
April 17 － Nothing Like a Dame Day/Teach Your Daughter to Volunteer Day
Because there's nothing like a volunteering dame.
April 22 － Earth Day/Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
environmentalist + professional + parent = you!
April 27 － National Teach Your Children to Save Day
Because someday, they may be taking care of you.
April 28 － Full moon [the Pink Moon]
The heavens don't get much more feminine than that.
April 30 － National Honesty Day
Honestly, you're beautiful. :)

Remember, where there is connection, there is power.
Where there is power, there is hope for change. For ourselves, and for our world.
We are all connected. We are all powerful.

Until my next post, be well, be happy & be hopeful.


image source: annjaber74