Classic American Inspiration...

Browsing through the stories today, I came across a link to US Magazine's story about the 25th anniversary of the first season of the classic '80s TV show, "The Cosby Show." I loved this show. I mean, flat out loved it. It is a fond piece of my childhood, so I was delighted to see the article about the cast reuniting on the Today Show this morning to talk about the show. 

CNN.com had a great story on a 20-minute "Pumpkin Pickle Pop Cookies Opera" performed by 10 four and five year-old visually impaired children in Atlanta. It was a "thank you" to their parents at the end of the program's session for all the time and work the parents put in to help the children get ready for kindergarten. The program helps children, who range in age from newborn and up, and their parents adjust to the visual impairment and excel despite it.

The last story is actually courtesy of a friend of mine at Drexel. Each year the Honda Inspiration Award is given to a senior female student-athlete who best exemplifies excellence on the field/court and in her personal life. Drexel's Nicole Hester battled Hodgkins Lymphoma her junior year of college then returned to lead the Dragons' women's basketball team to its first CAA Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Hester has also been honored by her athletic conference, the Philadelphia Sports Writers' Association and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

(Photo credit: US Magazine)

Right in my wheelhouse...

Looking at the three stories I found today, the theme would only be apparent to me. Yes, all three are good news, and yes, I did find them all the same way. But a theory of communication I learned in college that is coming back to me now quite randomly and only vaguely holds that stories in the news grab people's attention more quickly and for longer when people have a tie to or stake in them. 

Last night I was at a meeting at the MSPCA about a certain breed of dogs which I have mentioned a lot on here, so I won't do it again. : ) I want a dog terribly, so this story in the LA Times about the two dogs which stopped traffic on a NY expressway yesterday caught my attention almost immediately. It seems the mama got hit by a car, and her son made sure to stay between her as she lay on the ground with a broken leg and anything that came nearby - human or car. Mama is recovering nicely, and the son has been taken home.

The inspirational story I found in Florence, Ala.'s Times Daily about a cancer center nurse who contracted breast cancer and proceeded to beat it grabbed my attention since my father and uncle are both recovering from cancer, and I just found out a friend's boyfriend's mother has been diagnosed with it. Jamie White started her career as an ER nurse but moved to oncology after having a baby. Her grandfather went through his cancer treatments at her center and recovered before she herself was diagnosed. White went through her treatment at her own center and became an inspiration to the other patients by encouraging the nurses to share her story with them. 

My last homegrown tale comes from msnbc.com. President Obama has made a firmer commitment to rescuing the Chesapeake Bay with his latest executive order. Citing the Clean Water Act, he put the Environmental Protection Agency in charge of restoration efforts. The Bay is in very poor health and is in danger of becoming unable to support not only the wildlife who call it home, but the watermen who make their living off the estuary. Obama's order will send funding and oversight to the cleanup efforts at the watershed and hopefully will put pressure on the surrounding states to do more.

(Photo credit: www.usc.edu)

The blog post has two faces...

Today I have two mini-themes. It's kinda funny how neatly it fits - two stories to each theme. I like when things work out like that, nice and tidy. 

One story from last week comes from redgreenandblue.com, and it highlights the city of San Francisco's astounding 72% recycling rate. That is the highest rate in the entire United States, and it doesn't just include bottles and cans. The mayor has also decreed the city recycle all waste from construction sites too. 

Patagonia Inc., outdoor equipment and clothing extraordinaire, has made the news for its program encouraging employees to take green methods of transportation to work. KOLOTV.com reports the Reno, Nev.-based organization actually pays its employees company credit to bike or carpool to work. The company is hoping to reduce its carbon footprint and promote the benefits of exercise and sunshine to workers. 

The other two stories I found very cutely feature public service workers rescuing animals. 

Everyone always jokes about how in safe towns the only thing the firefighters have to do is rescue kittens from trees.

Milford, N.H.'s Cabinet.com has a story on firefighters who were called to do just that. A large crowd of neighbors and friends of the family who owned the 10 month-old cat gathered below for 52 hours to watch the rescue operation and offer support to the family.

A police officer in Patchogue, Long Island, went above and beyond, I'm sure, of what she signed on for the first day at the academy. Looking at it, I guess technically she went below... Eileen Emiddio responded to a call from a bystander of a frantic mama duck pacing by a storm grate. Emiddio found 14 ducklings had somehow fallen into the sewer, so she climbed down and rescued all 14 of the little fluffballs. The ducky little family swam away happily after being released in a stream.

(Photo credit: www.a2gov.org)

The kindness of strangers...

Despite being told repeatedly as a child about Stranger Danger (thanks, Mom!), I have more than one occasion when I've been able to count on a helping hand from someone I don't know. Whether it was something simple like a man with a cart full of groceries letting me go ahead of him when he saw my three items or something larger like a woman inviting me to her house for tea after she recovered my cell phone on a Dublin bus.

The stories I found today all center on Good Samaritanism - people helping people (they usually don't know beforehand). Stories like these definitely make you feel better about humanity and that we've staved off the apocalypse for just a little while longer. 

I've luckily never been out of a job involuntarily, but I have changed jobs frequently since leaving college. It's to the point when May rolls around, and I feel like I should start heading to Monster.com. I am familiar with the feeling of not knowing what to do with my time when I'm not job-hunting. Seth Reams of Portland, Ore., got laid off and had a similar feeling, and he did something productive about it. Reams started a local volunteering group called "We've Got Time to Help" that consists of other job-less folks looking for something to do that's also good for the community (razoo.com).

One of my friends is a fan of the TV show "Chuck." I've never been able to get into it, mainly because I always forget to watch it, but apparently it's on the bubble to be picked up for next year. The fans of the show initiated a campaign to show NBC how much they care about the show returning, but instead of some wacky scheme or online petition, one of the viewers decided to do something for charity. She created an account with the American Heart Association in the name of Chuck Bartowski, the main character. With every donation in his name, the AHA sends a thank you note to NBC for the contribution. I personally think that's genius. The network office gets flooded, and the AHA gets money (lohudblogs.com).

I love local papers. They're so much more folksy (and more inclined to print good news too!). The Honolulu Advertiser recently did a feature on Frank Amorozo, a man who decided to help Oahu's homeless children by collecting books. He went onto eBay and bought 900 books. He ran into a storage snafu, but now the local United Way has partnered with him to distribute the books. Amorozo believes books are the key to learning, and he wants to give these kids a good start.

Habitat for Humanity got a huge boost from a private citizen. Well, it will someday. Georgia-area housing developer J. Ronald Terwilliger announced a $100 million gift to HH upon his death. He is currently 68. It is the largest individual gift in HH's history, and, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, $70 million will fund micro-loans for work overseas and the remainder will go into a fund to perpetuate the organization's work. 

I've purposely avoided reading about the H1N1 virus (aka Swine Flu) except to read about the symptoms, but I could not avoid a story I heard about in the office on how Egypt's government officials decided to slaughter all the pigs in the country in a misguided attempt to stem the pandemic. It's a little ironic the country that produced one of the most advanced civilizations in history could make such a misstep, but there you go. However, caught up in this silly choice were lots of pig farmers who suddenly lost their livelihood. One was Abu Sayed. He lost his only source of income to feed his extended family of 14 when the government killed his livestock. Hazel and Nazih Zebian, half a world away in Massachusetts and struggling in the economy with their furniture business, decided to help. When they realized it would only cost $1125 to replace the pigs, they sent a Western Union moneygram to help Sayed. Sometimes in this country you forget what wealth really means... (msnbc.com).

(Photo credit: msnbc.com)

Oldies but goodies...

Today is my 50th post. I can't actually believe I've been doing this for 50 days already. And while I don't think 50 is anywhere near old, it is a milestone, which is why it tickles me that the stories I found for today all have ties to the elderly who have reached milestones of their own. So please, no hate mail from the over-50 crowd. : ) 

The 60th anniversary of the day the Soviets lifted their blockade on West Berlin was May 12, 2009, and NPR.org reported on the 100,000 Berlin citizens who turned out to honor the 120 Allied pilots who made daily food and supply drops to the starved people of West Berlin. On Tuesday, American pilot Gail Halvorsen flew a WWII-era cargo plane that dropped chocolate-covered raisins to mark the anniversary. He was known as the "Lollipop Bomber" after he shared two sticks of gum with starving German children and returned to bring more candy from his own rations after that. He inspired other Allied pilots to do the same and the result was "Operation Little Vittles." How cute is that?

The "Canton Citizen" out of Massachusetts had a local feature on a family who surprised their matriarch, for lack of a better word, with a home makeover. Maggie Koelsch, mother of eight, grandmother of 15 and great-grandmother of one, went to California to visit one of her daughters, and 14 enterprising East Coast members of her family completely updated her house. The 83 year-old woman raised her children on her own after separating from her husband, and she is determined to stay in her own home now. Her family wanted to be there for her since she's always been there for them.

This last one from cnn.com is a little quirky. My brother used to be an athletic trainer at the minor league level of professional baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. I'm not sure he's familiar with a pitching prospect named Josh Faiola, but the young man is making news lately for his life off the field. And for once, in the world of athletes, it's for something good. Minor-leaguers are often hosted by local families since they don't get paid much. Faiola's proposed host family didn't actually have a room for him at their house, but they run an assisted living facility nearby and decided to put him up there. He's the new darling of the residents, even inspiring some non-sports fans to pick up baseball. Faiola has a terrific attitude about it too, understanding the value of having so many "grandparents" around to care about him and how he does. 

(Photo credit: NPR.org)

School daze...

I've commented before on how many mothers with strollers and people with dogs I've seen walking around my neighborhoods now the weather has turned nice. I'm even hitting the pavement more now that I don't need to add six layers of clothing just to avoid losing a limb to frost bite. 

Aside from mamas and mutts, one thing that has struck me since I started my current job (and thus started commuting in the opposite direction of before) is the amount of kids who walk to school in one of the more affluent neighborhoods I drive through. Growing up where walking to school simply wasn't an option unless I really wanted the pioneer experience and rose with the dawn, the sight of middle- and high-schoolers walking to school took me aback. I thought that went the way of soda parlors and drive-in movies. 

Redding.com notes a school district in California that is pushing for a comeback for strolling to class. I'm not entirely sure what qualifications you need to be a "walking expert" (putting one foot in front of the other with minimal falling over seems to be a given), but the article cites the wisdom of such luminaries in explaining why the enforced exercise not only saves money but turns the children into better students. 

The brilliant resiliency of children was highlighted by boston.com today in a story perfectly titled "From Heavy Hearts, a Song Soars." While waiting for his morning school bus, 15 year-old Soheil Turner was shot dead; his killer remains unidentified. His school, Warren-Prescott in Charlestown, is a combined elementary and middle school, and many of the students and teachers had known him for years. While still grieving for the loss of their friend, the school chorus boarded a bus the next day for a choir competition at an amusement park. Their rendition of "What a Wonderful World" blew away the judges and the competition - which consisted of middle and high school choirs much more established and accomplished then Warren-Prescott. Several W-P soloists and musicians won individual awards as well. 

Escambia County in Florida recently held its 15th annual Cox Inspirational Hero Celebration honoring 40 kindergarten through high school students for overcoming all sorts of barriers from language to physical disability (you may have to scroll down a bit; the picture is not showing up on my computer so I'm not sure if it works). First of all, it's awesome this is the 15th year they're doing this, and second of all, make sure you read the bios of two of the children who won a big award. They're sweet and sure to bring a smile to your face. 

(Photo credit: www.crh.noaa.gov)

A crusader, minus the cape...

I will fully admit to having completely taken up the cause of pit bulls. Working at the shelter I see so many come through who are smart, sweet, loving and energetic. They sit there forever while aged cocker spaniels, biting chihuahuas and bull mastiffs with hip dysplasia are adopted left and right. I actually had one pit bull there so long I taught him to take a treat out of my mouth without so much as a lick to my face. Yes, this was the breed of dog that is perhaps the most feared on the planet, particularly by SUV-loving moms with 2.3 soccer-playing kids. I had one "little" girl who got jumped by the other dogs in her house crawl into my lap for pets when I sat down in her cage. 

I stole the December 29 issue of Sports Illustrated, pictured at left courtesy of livejournal blogger rinalia, from my dentist's office, so I could mail it home to my mother for her to read. Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels were the talk of the sports and the dog world for awhile as well as the general public (for about 15 seconds). I found a story yesterday from the Washington Times that followed up on Gracie, one of the 47 pit bulls rescued from that hell hole. 

ABC News' web site had a story with the family of the three year-old who wandered into the Missouri woods for three days, which you should check out if you're really looking for irresponsible "ownership." I still think people should be made to take tests before they are allowed pets or children. Granted, this child did unlock a deadbolt, but these parents, from all the accounts I've heard, do not seem like the brightest bulbs. I suppose I should actually get to the good news bit - the child was found in very good shape by a volunteer searcher who was only out looking because he was rained out of his construction job. The child suffered only a few scratches before being returned to his parents. 

Scripps News Service reported on the graduation of a very special Clemson student last week. Meredith Harper, diagnosed with Grave's Disease in high school, worked through her health condition until junior year of college when she suffered a stroke and basically had to relearn everything - walking, talking, math and science, how to eat with utensils. But two weeks ago, she graduated at age 25 with a bachelor's degree in health science.  Harper had a lot of ups and downs, but she had a great attitude and a large support group to help her through, many of which were at her graduation to cheer her on.