Yay For Toms!

I Love My

TOMS Shoes.

Help spread the word about TOMS Shoes.

Tom's Shoes is a company based in Santa Monica, CA, they are doing a great thing. check them out by clicking above. They really are amazingly comfortable! My favorite shoes ever!

Charm Tong Speaks For Burma

This lady, Charm Tong, spoke for Burma at the PeaceJam, 2008, at LMU.
This was an amazing event and this was one of the most moving testimonies from this Burmese activist.

if i had sneezed...

"seven years ago i was in new york city, autographing the first book i had ever written. while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. only question i heard from her was, 'you, martin luther king'. and i was looking down writing and i said, 'yes'. the next minute i felt something beating on my chest. before i knew it i had been stabbed by this demented woman. i was rushed to harlem hospital. came out in the new york times the next morning that if i had merely sneezed, i would have died. i had received a visit from a letter that came from a little girl, a young girl, who was a student at the white plains high-school. and i looked at that letter and i'll never forget it said simply, 'dear doctor king, i am a 9th grade student, at the white plains high-school', she said, 'while it should not matter, i would like to mention that i am a white girl. i read in the paper of your misfortune and of your suffering, and i read that if you had sneezed you would have died. i am simply writing you to say that i am so happy that you didn't sneeze'."

-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

dr. king continues his speech to say that if he had sneezed, there would not have been a rights movement in a select high-school with segregated sitting. along with that, if king had died, there would have been many years lacking the civil rights emphasis.

all of us rely on everyone else. the very food we eat comes from new zealand, china, mexico, the states. we rely on friends and family for support when we feel down. we all have people we strongly dislike in our lives. these people teach us an important lesson. if we merely get angry at them and resort to physical violence or mental pain, what happens? they respond with violence and things to put you down. so it is important to console these people, and to transform our own hatred into love. also, the realization that everyone is connected. and that if the person in question is, in fact, at fault, we should try to ask ourselves if we would like to be in their situation. the answer is probably no, and therefor, try to console them, because giving love is always reflected back. 

the trees, the ocean, you, the president, rape victims in sudan,

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED BY EARTH.

basket hunting

tomorrow: pigs and chickens running wild in malls and supermarkets.
drawing by banksy. a very talented street artist. check him out

do what we can

"please use your liberty to promote ours"
- Aung San Suu Kyi

this lady is a nobel peace-prize winner...the only one to be imprisoned. she was the leader of non-violent, pro-democracy protests in burma, and she has been under house arrest for six whole years. the burmese government does a lot of unjust things without consent of the public. burma has roughly 400,000 people in their military, and around 20% of those people are 11-18 year olds. that is the largest number of child soldiers in any army worldwide. those of us living elsewhere are have so much freedom, so, as Aung San stated, it is very important to speak out and act against their lack of freedom.

china has been giving economic support to the burmese government and their unjust militant regimes, and with the upcoming beijing olympics, a lot of awareness has been raised about burma. if you want, please watch the informative video and visit the us campaign for burma website!

here we are

"here i am. this is me. there's no where else on earth i'd rather be. here i am. just me and you. tonight we make our dreams come true. it's a new world. it's a new start. it's alive with the beating of, young hearts. it's a new day. it's a new plan. i've been waiting for you. here i am."

-Bryan Adams

this is from a song called here i am (end title) and it's from the amazing movie, spirit. whenever i listen to this soundtrack, i just get a great feeling of joy and a sense of freedom. the movie is about a wild stallion's coming of age and his struggle with authority. the lyrics to this song bring to mind the possibility of a new beggining and living in the moment. being glad that i am alive. glad that the people i so love are around me and enjoying life with me. another sentiment that this song brings is freedom. having the rights that so many people don't, and the ability to do what i want (for the most part).

that freedom is one that so many don't have. due to genocide, exile, and disease, a lot of children have no loved ones and are forced to fight against these things alone. in this developed country, so many people take things like food, education, and a sense of security for granted. if we all open our eyes to the world, we can aid those in need, and share these gifts that we were born into.