I haven’t posted about charities in awhile and now seems like the perfect time. I’ve found a charity called Bring Me a Book. It is all about giving literacy to children; it’s pricey (ranging from $200 to $800), but you also have the option of donating a dollar amount of your choice.

If you’d like to help by just clicking your mouse, go to Click to Give. Sponsors give money to literacy projects because you took the time to click. Just follow the link to learn more about it.

Finally, help the children who were victims of Hurricane Katrina. Tulane University is trying to sponsor children. It wants all children K through 2nd grade to have a happy holiday in 2008. Its way of doing this is giving them books. To donate or sponsor a child visit its site Book Giving Tree.

Over the course of the week, I asked questions about what to do with books I didn’t want to keep. I received excellent suggestions: giving them to Goodwill, used bookstores, nursing homes, libraries and hospitals. The winner, in my eyes, is a foundation that Rene Lyons, author of the Templar series, suggested and started in honor of her deceased brother.

It’s the Anthony Ferrisi Foundation. Here is the information that I took from the webpage dedicated to the foundation.

The Anthony Ferrisi Foundation is a non-profit organization that accepts book donations for drug rehabilitation facilities and hospitals all over the country. Our goal is to provide the beauty and enjoyment of the written word to those who need it most.

Anyone can donate. Publishers, authors, readers….please help us rebuild lives one book at a time by donating your new or used books. All genres are needed, from biographies to romance.

Contact Ms. Lyons for further information at rene@renelyons.net.

Thursday 13

1. Painkiller Jane (I’d never heard of this one until I researched this TT. Painkiller Jane is about a DEA agent forced into a secret life of working for the government. She also has the ability to self-heal.)

2. Wendy Wu Homecoming Warrior (My kids love this Disney movie.)

3. My Super Ex- girlfriend (I can’t wait to watch this movie. The preview of the spurned lover throwing a shark cracked me up.)

4. Elektra (It doesn’t matter if it’s the movie or the comic books, this girl knows how to kick butt!)

5. Catwoman (I never watched the movie but I do have a few of the comics and she is cool as hell.)

6. Witchblade (Did anyone else watch the T.V. series when it was on TNT?)

7. Dark Angel (This series didn’t last long despite my patronage.)

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (My favorite name on this list.)

9. Xena Warrior Princess (Started off seriously dorky, but gradually improved.)

10. Red Sonja (I used to watch this movie all the time. How about you?)

11. Supergirl (I prefer the comic book to the movie.)

12. Sheena (Wild woman)

13. Wonder Woman (As pitiful as the show seems today, it really was cool at the time.)

Other TT’s

1. Full Plate
2. Mama Archer
3. temporarily me
4. scifichick
5. life in the
6. Tilly
7. Midnight Moon
8. West of Mars
9. Mommy
10. Stars
11. Ember
12. Amie
13. Gypsy
14. Pessimists
15. Writing My Life
16. From My Brain
17. Fractured Fiction
18. Pieces of Me

When I was a little girl I used to read a lot. Big surprise, right? Anyway, the only books my dad had were about the wilderness or fishing. I remember reading about how to survive bear attacks and in recent years was surprised at how many people didn’t know basic survival. You can click here and read about bear attacks or continue reading to see what you should do if you cross paths with a bear.

If you’re ever confronted by a bear DO NOT RUN, like many animals the bear runs much faster than you. If the bear charges you drop into the fetal position and cover your head. This will protect your vital organs as well.

It’s easier said than done, but DO NOT YELL OR FLAIL ABOUT. You don’t  want the bear to think that you’re a threat and if you play dead you increase the odds of surviving. Bears aren’t going to tear you apart if they think you are already dead. If you move before the bear is gone it will re-attack you until it deems the threat gone.

3 Easy Rules to Remember:

1. Keep a clean campsite. Never leave dirty dishes or food out as they’ll attract animals.
2. Never leave soap or body products laying around. Bears are attracted to sweet scents.
3. Women should never hike while menstruating. Bears have been known to violently attack women on their periods.

not getting help while in the hospital? I complain about the wait in my hometown, but I know that they would never allow a person to die in the waiting room like this hospital in California.

I don’t understand how 911 could be so cold in the face of frantic phone calls from the woman’s husband; he pleaded for help. I’ve heard of 911 horror stories and I must admit they scared me away from living in a large city. The example of a woman dying while waiting treatment just serves as a reinforcement for me. It tells me for all the crap that comes with living in a small city, it’s actually better when it comes to health care.

I also read that there are many areas where doctors don’t want to deliver babies because of high insurance rates. Can you imagine living in a state with few obstetric doctors? Here’s an article about it. What do you think?

I was watching the Today show this morning when I heard the news about a woman missing in Florida. What makes this so important? Women disappear everyday, but this woman makes me want to help. She was a recent graduate from John Jay College of Criminal Justice who took her 16 year-old sister on vacation to Miami. She went to a nightclub and was seen getting into a dark sedan later that night. That was the last time anyone has admitted to seeing her.

Why has it taken so long for us to hear about this missing woman? You can read John Ridley’s opinion here. It makes me question the priorities of the media. Why do some people get more coverage than other people. I was even more disgusted after I read a blog that described the footage being cut from MSNBC in favor of airing Paris Hilton news. You can read about it here.

I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t care about Paris going to jail. People go to jail for making bad decisions everyday and we don’t read coverage about them. So what that her parents are rich. I’d much rather hear about a missing woman than a woman sitting in jail for violating the law.

How would you feel if I told you that by holding a bake sale you can help a hungry child in the United States? According to Share our Strength 1 in 6 U.S. children are in danger going hungry. Lack of nutrition can lead to neurological problems, growth delays, and lower academic grades.

To combat hunger, Share our Strength has joined with the Food Network to promote the Great American Bake Sale. They are asking for groups and people to hold bake sales from May 19 – August 31, 2007. It’s quite simple. Go to the gabs site or call (800) 761-4227 and register. Host a bake sale and turn in the proceeds. The money goes to help out hungry kids in your community.

If you don’t want to hold a traditional bake sale, they offer a virtual bake sale site that I haven’t investigated yet. Another way to help, without holding a sale is to buy from one. To encourage people to participate they are holding a contest. The group/person/organization that earns the most money will win a trip for 2 to the Food Network in NYC, hotel and airfare, tickets to the Emmeril show, $250, and  a gift basket.

Want to hear a funny song about the price of gas? Go here for a free, singing ecard.

13 Women who made a difference

1.Conchita Cintron was born in 1922 and was a Peruvian bullfighter. She was the first woman to professionally compete as a bullfighter. Her most famous moment came in 1949 when she entered a ring in Spain via horseback, did a perfect dismount and threw her sword into the ground refusing to kill the bull. She was arrested but released quickly due to audience support. That was her last time in the bull ring.

2. Phillippa Duke Schuler was a biracial child born into racially tense America. She was born in 1931 and died in 1967 in a plane crash. She began writing and composing music when she was two and playing Mozart by age five. She was accepted by black America and rejected by white America. Philippa traveled to Europe in hopes of a better reception and while absent from America changed her name in hopes of being accepted as a Latino musician. She died before achieving success.

3. Cornilia Sorabji was an Indian woman born in 1866. She was the first female to attend law school in India and was given a full scholarship to England which was retracted solely because of her gender. After completing her training at an Indian college she received a special degree allowing her to become the first woman to practice law in India.

4. Mourning Dove was the first Native American woman known to have composed and published a novel. Born in 1888 she eventually traveled all over the Pacific Northwest collecting stories from friends and relatives about her ancestors. She died in 1936 but it wasn’t until 1990 that her autobiography was published.

5. Jackie Mitchell was the first woman to ever sign with a Professional Baseball Club. She is thought to have been born in 1914 and went on to pitch for Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth striking them both out. She died in 1987.

6. Nadezhda Krupskaya was the wife of Vladimir I. Lenin. She wrote The Woman Worker before the October Revolution of 1917. She also lobbied for the observation of International Woman’s Day. The first IWD took place in Russia and on the fourth anniversary of IWD, women textile workers began the Revolution.

7. Valeria Ivanovna Khomyakova (a Russian pilot) was the first woman know to have shot down an enemy bomber. She shot him down during WWII.

8. Vinnie Ream Hoxie was an American sculptor born in 1847. She was the first woman awarded an artistic commission by the U.S. government. She worked on a statute of Abraham Lincoln in D. C. near the end of the Civil War. She was one of the last people to see the President alive. Hoxie died in 1914.

9. Clara Hale was a woman who witnessed many women in her community become hooked on heroin. She dedicated her life to caring for the children of these drug addicted women. Hale house was the first official home for babies born of drug addiction. It evolved into the Center for the Promotion of Human Potential, America’s first black childcare volunteer agency. Hale died in 1993.

10. Mary Dennett was a pioneer for women’s reproductive rights born in 1872. Her sex education articles were deemed obscene and she had to pay hefty dues when she refused to quit passing out sex ed flyers. Her conviction was later overturned. Dennett died in 1947.

11. Wilma Rudolph was born disabled (she had a lame leg) which she overcame and became a world known athlete. She won three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics: one for the 100 meter sprint, one for the 200 meter dash and one for the 100 meter relay team.

12. Sally Kirsten Ride was the first female astronaut. She participated in two shuttle missions, helped investigate the Challenger blowup, and was chosen to head the Space Institute of the University of California/San Diego.

13. Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin was the first female professor at Harvard University. She was the first person to confirm that the sun and stars chemical makeup were alike. Her research helped to discover the Milky Way.

Other TT’s

1. Alasandra
2. Raggedy
3. Green Eyed Girl
4. Christine
5. Life
6. Gabriella
7. West of Mars
8. Pillow Talk
9. Screaming Pages
10. Flip flops
11. Least Significant Bits
12. Gypsy
13. Ash
14. Nobody asked me
15. Selena

I don’t know how many of you have heard of Kiva. I was channel surfing last night and stumbled across a show on PBS about giving back to the community. I only caught two not for profit agencies that are making a difference. I want to share about the first one today, Kiva.

Kiva gives loans to people in third world countries. The loans aren’t from the bank; they are from regular people like you and me. For as little as $25, you can help a person begin a business or expand a business. The people normally would need to borrow at a high interest rate making it impossible for them to succeed. Here’s a condensed version of how it works. A person applies for a loan. They are investigated to ensure that they have a need and are asked about collateral. After passing inspection, they are entered into a database along with their story and plans for the money. People read through the applications and select who they want to give money to and when the requested amount of money is acquired the loan officers take the money to the applicant.

Right now the loans are repaid at 100%. Most of the loan amounts requested are modest. Some of the people requesting $100-$250. The documentary showcased a man requesting a large amount to expand his furniture making business; he requested $1150. This all takes place from the comfort of your home. It’s online. You read applications, select one, donate a certain amount of dollars, read updates/journals, get repaid and decide whether to withdraw the money or reinvest in a different business.

Another thing that makes this so cool, is that Paypal allows Kiva to use its payment processing for free. Giving a helping hand has never been easier.