Trying to follow

I read this little tip about making a copy of your passport that I thought I’d share with you all since I have a few friends that will be doing some serious traveling in the not too distant future.

From
Cool Tool: Passport proxy

Make a good color copy of your passport, including the covers. Align the inside sheet of your passport data with the outside passport cover sheet. Glue together. Laminate. Score and fold. You now have a fairly official looking travel document.

I have found that for most purposes — changing money at a bank, rentals, hotel front desks, and even police — this passport clone is sufficient. You hide or store your real one and use this one for everything else except crossing borders.

Mel recently went to the dentist, where during the course of conversation about her going to do Peace-Corps, the dentist offered to do a small cosmetic procedure on her teeth for free, because he was touched by the work she was doing. She agreed to it, then had these thoughts to share in reference to a post I had written earlier about moderation.

From
Mel’s Xanga

Even though I didn’t pay for it, and it was really nice, now I am playing into our culture of consumption and perfection and cosmetic appeal. Now I’m one of those women who can say “I’ve had some work done…” Ick. Did I really need to have that done? Absolutely not–I’m happy with my teeth! At least now there’s no risk of them continuing to split up the notches until my tooth cracks, so that’s good. And going back, I would probably let him do it all over again, just because it was a nice thing that he wanted to do for me.
Still feels funny, though. And makes you think, what should our limits be? Joel and I are going to Africa soon, so we know our lifestyle will be forced to drastically change. In the meantime, we probably won’t stop eating out with my parents when they want to take us, because it’s a way we connect with them. But at the same time, that is contributing to our society’s need to have new things and big things all the time. And just because something is free, doesn’t mean we should take it.

So what are your thoughts?

I am not uncritical of rap music, but I am also cautious to judge a culture I am not a part of and have not sought to understand.

As someone who has worked in the education system and with youth who are a part of this hip-hop culture, I have a deep interest in it’s affect on our generation.

I found this video intriguing because I feel there where valid points made by each of the people speaking. I feel bad that the conversation happened on a show like this because it seems to only ’showcase’ a tension and disagreement for an audience that is mainly (from what I know) made up of people who have no true understanding of the culture of either the rappers, nor the principal.

I’m curious of your thoughts on this video.

I pulled up an article from February that does a good job of concisely articulating the dilemma of marriage in the African American community. This is another one of those things I would encourage you to reserve judgements on and rather take as an opportunity to try and understand a little more a culture that you might be unfamiliar with.

From
Forum: A Black History Month valentine

There are in most 18-and-above age groupings only about eight black men for every 10 black women. This ratio is largely owing to high rates of infant mortality and homicides. Even more alarming, however, is the following bit of information: When incarceration, drug addiction and unemployment are factored in, the number of eligible (marriageable) black men is reduced to about five men for every 10 black eligible women.

These statistics carry with them enormous implications for the formation of black families in the United States and the overall well-being of African Americans in general.

Read More…

Just thought you might want some proof that Mindy and I really went to the PAPA Festival. It was really a good time. We didn’t have our camera though, so I’ve relied on others pictures posted online. Not very effective for telling any sort of story about our time there. Except that I tried juggling.

More photos if your interested in getting an inside look at the people and places that were Papa fest.