Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink...

In honor of World Water Day, I've decided to do a post on gratitude since the abundance of clean water we have should make those of us in the West extremely grateful we live here.

Aussie web news site The Mosman Daily profiled 94 year-old Anne Parcell. The grandmother of five is completely independent and even drives to her local nursing home to visit the residents there. Parcell began her volunteering back in 1955 as a social hostess before moving on to work with the blind and deaf, the homeless and the Red Cross. A quote from the story notes she is grateful for her volunteer work as it gives her a "new lease on life." Some of us nearly three-quarters her age should be shamed by that.

As math has never been my strong suit, I won't even try to figure out the fraction of Anne Parcell's age represented by the middle school students in the following Tampa Bay Online article. As part of Lenten festivities, Catholic school students in sixth and eighth grades participated in Operation Rice Bowl. Catholic Charities organizes this every year: Instead of a regular meal, substitute a meat-less meal and donate what you would have spent on the regular meal to Operation Rice Bowl. And the lesson is not lost on the pre- and teenagers: student Jodie Anderson said, "I'm eating this meal for lunch today, and it may not be much, but at least I know I'll have a regular meal for dinner tonight. Other kids won't be so lucky. I've learned not to take what I have for granted."

In professional sports, you tend to see an even split between spoiled athletes and grateful ones. However, as Yahoo! reported, former New Orleans Saint Scott Fujita just scored one for Team Grateful. Traded to the Cleveland Browns after winning the Superbowl, Fujita donated half his championship check to Haitian relief efforts and to coastal restoration in New Orleans. He and his family wanted to "protect" the city and residents they cared so much about.

(Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports)

It's a mad March...

Yesterday was the start of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tourney. Which means people will be mentally and physically checking out of work for the next few weeks. Research firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas estimate $1.8 billion will be lost to US companies in productivity as people tune into scores and games via ESPN or March Madness on Demand on CBS Sports online.

MLive.com posted a story on a way to recoup some of that productivity and not miss a minute of the action. Peppino's Sports Lounge in Grand Rapids, Mich., hosted a "work-in," where people could reserve a table for a few hours or the afternoon and bring their laptops while they watched. The proceeds of the event, around $4000, went to a local parks organization to refurbish the city's basketball courts.

Those of you watching Murray State/Vanderbilt yesterday definitely got your money's worth. A buzzer-beater by Danero Thomas turned into a bracket-buster for most people (myself included). Thomas's shot was one of three last-second salvage bids that helped turn yesterday into a tourney opening-day for the ages. But I'm willing to bet very few people know anything about Murray State. Dennis Dodd's column on CBSSports.com gives the reader a view into one of the country's tiniest programs in Nowhere, Kentucky. As they say and as you'll see, Murray State has a lot of heart.

And for those of you who don't have any interest in sports but like the competitive element, I offer Jezebel's version of March Madness: Cake vs. Pie. Site visitors are encouraged to vote for each match up daily, until only one pie and one cake remain. They will then battle for the title of...duh duh duh...Favorite Dessert.

Happy American Chocolate Week!...

According to the National Confectioners Association, this week (March 14-20) is American Chocolate Week. Other desserts have their days - for example, Nov. 26 is National Cake Day - but chocolate deservedly gets seven in a row to itself. Alice Medrich and Jacques Torres went a little farther, each thinking enough of the sweet to devote a whole cookbook to a year's worth of recipes.

I read cookbooks like most people read novels, but I also frequent several blogs about desserts. One of my hands-down favorites is Cakespy, the award-winning Seattle-based blog by Jessie Oleson. She recently posted a list of chocolate-themed links and facts in honor of American Chocolate Week.

Now, some people list coffee as high as chocolate on their list of vices. For them, the French company Le Whif (I kid you not) may have found the answer, according to the Digital Journal. Last week, the organization introduced breathable chocolate powder, and this week has put breathable coffee on the market. Perhaps this gives new meaning to the phrase "coffee/chocolate is like crack to me." :-P

Happy St. Patrick's Day!...

Top o' the afternoon to you. : ) Today everyone is Irish or so they say. It's Evacuation Day here in Boston, which I think is just an excuse to give city employees the day off for St. Patrick's Day. And I'm sure those same employees, along with a good majority of the rest of the city, will be taking a personal day tomorrow as well.

The Dropkick Murphys are an Irish American rock group closely associated with the Boston Red Sox. Closer Jonathan Papelbon did his famous/infamous jig to their song "Shipping Up to Boston." They make the list Lehigh Valley Live posted a list of Irish or Irish-themed music to put on your iTunes as you kick back with that green beer... There's also a list of movies on there too.

Salon.com columnist Francis Lam examines the controversy which swirls around corned beef and cabbage this time every year. The Irish on both sides of the Atlantic are split on whether this is a national food. I remember no such dish being served in non-tourist restaurants when I lived in Dublin, but Lam manages to come down right in the middle with his explanation.

I'll leave you today with a photo gallery from Huffington Post on the most ridiculous things spotted dyed green. And yes, folks, that is green crack... And no, I don't mean the Irish craic (good fun). Although some people might disagree with me on that one.

Back to school...

It's Spring Break time for a lot of schools around my area. Most colleges and universities were closed either last week or this one, and I'm sure the elementary and secondary schools are heading for school vacation soon. So with education on the brain, I decided to do a post on good news coming out of high schools.

CBS News reported on Natalie Robinson, the new head football coach at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in Washington, D.C. The biology and environmental sciences teacher used to play wide receiver and special teams for the D.C. Divas, the capital's pro women's football team. Robinson's students, athletes and school community seems to be behind her so far. So is her fiance, a football coach at a rival area school...

There is good news coming out of President Obama's hometown of Chicago as well. All 107 members of the Urban Prep Academy for Young Men senior class have been accepted to college. According to the Chicago Tribune, the academy is the city's only public, all-male, all African-American high school, and graduating its students to college has long been central to its mission statement. Urban Prep Academy's students come from the poorest neighborhoods in the area and are kids for whom college was simply a noun, not a goal. But incoming freshmen are assigned a college counselor immediately, and before even starting their first year, they are required to take a field trip to nearby Northwestern.

Urban Prep Academy has extended school hours and requires more English credits than most high schools in order to graduate. Loyola High School in Los Angeles, Calif., also demands its students go above and beyond. In order to graduate, the students are required to do 150 hours of community service. Over the years, the school has donated millions of hours to the area, so much so, as NBC Nightly News notes, the charities, schools, and public service organizations have come to depend on the kids' help for essential tasks.

(Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune)

In (way) advance of Earth Day...

I'm currently fostering a 4 month old kitten from our local MSPCA. That's her to the left, in the cone of shame. Poor little thing came to the shelter with chemical burns down her back. She has healed up pretty rapidly but is in the cone to keep her from damaging her new skin (and licking off all the triple anti-biotic ointment I have to slather her in.

I've never had a kitten before. I do have a cat, but when I adopted her, she was already a year and a half old and way past any zany kitten tricks. Having this foster has been an absolute delight (beyond her waking me up every hour on the hour because she is lonely/bored) and has taught me some of the previously unknown (to me) sides of a cat.

In today's stories, scientists and civilians alike are introduced to new or nearly/thought extinct species. I realize a kitten is neither of those things in general, but as one of the TV stations used to say "it's new to me."

A recent rash of Disney/DreamWorks movies exposed movie-goers to the cuteness of penguins. I do love me some "Happy Feet," in which, the main character, Mumble, is a penguin of a different sort. He doesn't sing to find a mate, he tap dances. However, a real, live King Penguin may be attempting to one-up the animated dear. According to Yahoo!, a National Geographic photographer spotted a "one in a zillion" all-black penguin in a species known for their formal wear.

It is also not very often someone spots a species which has been thought to be extinct for decades. But that's just what Australian Luke Pearce did, as reported by the AP. The fisheries conservation officer was out looking for a rare perch when he stumbled on a colony of yellow-spotted bell frogs, which officials thought died out 30 years ago.

And in the United States, the bald eagle was on the brink of extinction nearly 50 years ago. DDT and habitat decimation nearly did in the national symbol in the 1960s, but a series of measures, including the banning of DDT and passing the Endangered Species Act has helped the bald eagle mount a comeback. The Contra Costa Times has a nice overview story on the return of Old Baldie. : )

Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all...

Founded in 1910, International Women's Day marked its 100th anniversary this past Monday. Begun by Clara Zetkin at the Conference for Working Women in Copenhagen, Denmark, the holiday has evolved into a day to mark the progress women have made and to call attention to the work that still needs to be done.

To that end, I have a couple stories today marking women's progress and achievements. The first comes from Good Housekeeping. As part of the magazine's 125th anniversary (anniversaries all around this week, I guess), the editorial staff chose to recognize and celebrate 125 years of influential women in the April issue. The website Tonic quoted a press release that said the event GH is hosting, called "'Shine On,' will salute icons, visionaries, goddesses, and even 'hellraisers,'" including Susan B. Anthony, Sally Ride and Madonna. "Shine On" will be held to raise money to build the first-ever permanent location of the National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C.

International Women's Day (which is a national holiday in places like Vietnam, China and Bulgaria...) was observed in D.C. by a number of organizations. Congress was not about to miss out on the action. The Boston Globe reported the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor, in a ceremony today. WASPs flew non-combat missions during World War II to free up male pilots for combat duties overseas. Thirty-eight of the more than 1000 women pilots were killed in the service of their country, yet never received military honors or recognition for their sacrifice since they were technically civilians.