Love is in the air...

So it's the new year. A time for resolutions and new beginnings. However, though we are approaching Valentine's Day, somehow I just don't normally associate love with the middle of winter. But there have been a spate of love stories popping up in my inbox and on Facebook, so I will surrender to the power of kismet and post a love-themed blog nowhere near Feb. 14.

My friend Michelle posted the following link on her Facebook profile. It comes from lemondrop.com, a site I will admit to never having heard of before. It strikes me as a combo of Huffington Post and Star magazine, but I could be completely off there as I only visited the site once - after clicking on her link.

Regardless, it seems the airlines still have a heart, even if the TSA doesn't. The story never mentions which airline played cupid, but John Kilpatrick enlisted the help of ticket agents and two flight crews to propose to his girlfriend Erin. John booked a flight ahead of hers, so he could surprise his sweetheart in her seat once her plane landed in Dallas.

MSNBC had its own unusual proposal story posted as well. The Weather Channel's meteorologist Kim Perez and now-fiance Marty Cunningham became engaged on-air after the police sergeant moseyed on set during between her forecast for the southeast and the football forecast. The weather map behind Perez changed to "Will you marry me?" as Cunningham dropped to one knee.

The Florida Times-Union reported on a marriage partially brought about by Facebook. Now, before you get all those creepy stories about online dating popping in your head, this is a reunion story. Leslie Jones and Doug Williams were high school sweethearts back in the late '80s before they drifted apart in college. A little social networking on the Internet giant led to a reconnection and (sigh) a wedding. : )

Baltimore, my Baltimore...

Six of the eight "Breaking News" stories flashing along the top of this morning's Baltimore Sun webpage were negative, bad or actually awful ("State police arrest Howard man on child porn charges").

A little digging, however, managed to produce some good news from the depths of the Sun's news sections. I was first directed to the site by the Boston Globe, which noted the movie "The Social Network," based on the creation of Facebook, is being filmed at Johns Hopkins next Monday and Tuesday. Based on the birth of the brainchild of Harvard student Matt Zuckerberg, the film uses JHU as a stand-in for those hallowed ivy walls and will employ local movie crews. This also explains why I was stuck in Harvard Square last week while big trucks moved lots of movie equipment around...

Once navigated onto the newspaper's homepage, I saw the word "Flamingogate" and had to investigate further. Having attended the Hon Fest three years ago, I had an inkling of what this story was about. Cafe Hon owner Denise Whiting declared victory over the Baltimore City Council when the cost of the permit for her enormous flamingo statue outside her restaurant was halved. Originally estimated at $800 a year, the city dropped it to $400 and agreed to put up signs on the highway promoting the neighborhood of Hampden where Cafe Hon is located.

Finally, another symbol of the city of Baltimore received a boost with the announcement AirTran Airlines, which has a hub at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), has painted one of its planes with a Baltimore Ravens motif. Feted by the Ravens cheerleaders, the band and either Edgar, Allan or Poe (the story was not specific), Ravens 1 is the second of three NFL-themed jets rolled out by the discount carrier. Already flying the somewhat-friendly skies is Falcons 1 (after AirTran's hometown team), and an Indianapolis Colts-themed plane will complete the set. A lot of companies do sports marketing that makes absolutely no sense for either side in the deal, but this is actually very smart. AirTran is strengthening an already good relationship with the NFL, and since the plane will fly to all 60 carrier destinations all over the US, the visibility of the Baltimore Ravens should rise nationally.

Every day should be Earth Day...

In 1969, then-US Senator Gaylord Nelson decided to have an environmental teach-in as a reaction to the degradation of the environment. He chose April 22, 1970, for very practical reasons: He wanted to have it on college campuses and figured it was late enough in the spring to have good weather, it was midweek so it wouldn't conflict with other events and there generally weren't exams or spring breaks scheduled. 

It has the added bonus of being the day after John Muir's - noted environmentalist and founder of the Sierra Club - birthday and is the actual birthday of a person many call the world's first environmentalist - St. Francis of Assisi. 

People from 2000 colleges and universities, around 10,000 primary and secondary schools and hundreds of communities across the country participated in the first Earth Day, and Nelson credited the momentum from that demonstration for the passing of the Clean Air Act in 1970 as well as the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency that same year. 

The New York Times reported on Friday that just in time for Earth Day, Congress declared carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping pollutants as dangerous to public health, which may lead to them being regulated for the first time in US history. Gee, it only took an act of Congress to confirm what most people already know. But it's a step in the right direction, one that should promote reforms in policy and, hopefully, a healthier Earth.

Indonesia and South Korea announced they are investing in alternative energy to turn seaweed into biofuel and reduce emissions, according to MSNBC.com. I'm not really a science person, but I think this is pretty cool. And anything that gets countries less dependent on oil and cleans up the environment, I'm all for. 

King 5 News out of Seattle has a story that's a follow up to a related post of mine from yesterday. It's all about the benefits and positive outcomes of volunteer vacations. And something I found on Facebook is a video follow up to a story I found awhile ago on Faith, the two-legged dog. This is a segment from Oprah and not only interviews her family members, but shows home video of Faith.

This one is a little random, but it is animal-related and kinda fun. China's official news outlet Xinhua reported on a pod of dolphins who foiled a Somali pirate attack on a Chinese ship. Little smarty-pants. : ) 

A last thought... the Fort Worth Star-Telegram did a big story today on a local high school science teacher who founded America's longest-running high school ecology studies program. He was recently forced to retire after being diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, but his passion for ecology and the environment has inspired generations of students. 

The photo above is of Senator Gaylord Nelson (photo credit: wikipedia)

A helping hand...

A lot of people have turned to volunteering lately. Some have said it's because people got so involved in the election that when it ended they didn't know what to do with all their newfound free time. Others have attributed it to President Obama's call for service. And some people, myself included, have started because, perhaps selfishly, it makes them feel good. For some, helping others is a part of their job. Some people get recognized and some work behind the scenes. But everyone ends up making a difference, whether for a large group or one individual. Quite frankly, I definitely think that falls into the category of good news.

In the Baltimore Sun, a story I found yesterday tells of a NICU reunion party for all the families of children who survived because of their care in intensive care. That is such a precarious time and situation, and there are a fair amount of babies who don't make it. It must be such a soul-wrenching job; to be able to celebrate with those you've helped become healthy little children must be amazing.

In the US, Christianity has extended its tenet of charity towards those less fortunate to farmers in Central America as reported on Fox News. This past Sunday was Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week which culminates in Easter. Palm Sunday is celebrated by handing out palms to parishioners to symbolize the fronds laid down before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. This year, more churches than ever have ordered fair-trade palms, paying farmers a fair price to pick them in environmentally safe ways.. The orders for these eco-friendly palms have increased something like 400%, which is something else in this economy. 

Changing species for a second, humans in Vermont (some would say, only in Vermont) took to the streets recently to help another creature migration - salamanders. The little amphibians were making their yearly migration to mate and once again they got an assist from local scientists and environmentally conscious citizens who wanted to make sure the tiny guys didn't end up as roadkill. 

When I read the following story, the Eudora Welty short story title "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" popped into my head. A lot of people criticize social networking as a disconnect to true human contact. In the case of a suicidal teenager, Facebook (and a "friend" across the Atlantic) saved his life. (tech.blorge.com)