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Happy Giving Tuesday!

SX-70 hands

This is just one pair of the hundreds of hands I photographed for a Polaroid project a ways back…

I’m not much for these manufactured “Days of Spending” that are thrust upon us while we’re still recovering from Thanksgiving, but I do stand behind the concept of Giving Tuesday, because I think it is always important to support the folks who are doing good work and trying to make our world a better place. And the more conscious you are about giving back, the further your gifts will go. Building this muscle is crucial if we want to actually keep this planet going.

This year, my family is sitting down together (yep, all 3 of us) to decide where our year end donations will go in 2017. Transparency and agency are both so important in any relationship, and when your kids reach a certain age, it’s important to actively help them understand the role that money plays in this complicated world, as well as to instill in them a sense of generosity. (More on this to come!) Each one of us will come to the table with a list of places we’d like to support, and then we’ll decide how to divide our resources so that our donations can be most effective.

Here are three organizations that I have come across recently that I’ll be adding to my list this year. Check them out, be inspired, donate, make your own lists and lets get this holiday season started with the spirit of giving!

The Alliance for Quality Education

The People's March for Education back in March 2017 organized by The Alliance for Quality Education. Photo courtesy Garn Press.

The People’s March for Education back in March 2017 organized by The Alliance for Quality Education. Photo courtesy Garn Press.

The AQE works to mobilize communities across New York State to advocate for a universally high quality public education for every single student in all schools. Advocating for great teachers, strong early childhood education programs, equity of funding, positive school environments, less testing and more engaged learning as well as more parent and family involvement, AQE uses its policy and organizing expertise to uplift strategies leading to student success and, in their words, “to create a powerful public demand for a high quality education.”

I first heard about AQE through their extraordinary Advocacy Director Zakiyah Ansari, while singing with the Resistance Revival Chorus, and she constantly inspires me not only with her singing voice, but with her words. I asked this mother of 8 (!!) why she does what she does and her answer was profound: “Over the last 17 years of educational justice work I’ve learned that it is not enough to show that our children are in need of resources if the people that can make the change don’t think they are worthy of those very resources. We have to organize the parents, community, and young people to demand that our elected officials do right by our children– and that includes equitable funding for a high quality public school education.”

If we are truly a nation that is Of the People, By the People and For the People, we need to Empower the People. And our kids most of all, because they are the key to our future. Check out the great work that the Alliance for Quality Education is doing, spread the word, and donate* to help build a better future for our kids.

Zappos For Good

soles 4 souls to haiti

This year alone, Zappos for Good helped Souls 4 Soles deliver thousands of pairs of shoes to people in need in Haiti. Photo courtesy Zappos.com.

If you’re anything like me, the hardest part about donating clothes is actually getting them to the charity or organization of your choice. Enter Zappos for Good, the philanthropic arm of the massive online retailer. They take their superpower- shipping and distribution- and use it to help make this step as easy as possible.

Here’s how it works:

1) Gather up to 50 lbs of lightly used shoes and clothes and put them into a box.

2) Download a free shipping label from Zappos

3) Tape up the box, put on the label and take the postage pre-paid box to any UPS store.

4) Walk away, happy in the knowledge that Zappos is delivering your stuff to people in need via Soles 4 Souls, a great organization dedicated to getting clothes and shoes to kids and grownups in need. They will also make repairs, so if you’re missing a button or need a new heel, no worries!

5) If you happen to be shopping for clothes in Williamsburg, you can just drop off your shoes in the Zappos For Good box at Bird (203 Grand Street) through the holidays.

6) Oh and Zappos has also partnered with several orgs that give school supplies and books to kids, so if you want to buy notebooks and backpacks for kids instead, they’ll take care of that delivery as well!

The Edible Schoolyard Project

Last but far from least, there is nothing in this world that should be more important to us all than the food we choose to put into our bodies. Learning how to cultivate it, how it links all aspects of our lives via community, politics, science, math… these are the building blocks of an edible education. The Edible Schoolyard Project is dedicated to spreading the gospel of Whole Food and getting edible curricula into every K – 12 school program in this country.

Just watch the video, get really excited about what they’re doing, and then head directly to their website and click on the donate button. Also, if there is an Edible Schoolyard project near you, it is well worth checking out. I have visited the mothership in Berkeley, CA and it blew my mind.

Monday, Monday… or more links about people gettin’ ready

I spent the past few days huddling with a posse of like minded souls, thinking and talking about what we can do to help keep our country from sliding off the rails. And as we gathered, and planned, and thought about the long line of civil rights activists that came before us, this song came to mind.

So instead of my usual varied Monday links, I give you 7 of my favorite versions of the great 1965 song by The Impressions that has become an anthem for so many.


Here’s Curtis Mayfield himself, breaking it down with a whole bunch of priceless outfits on stage with him.


The Reverend Al Green, joined by Linda Jones and Wanda Neal, has a smile that could sink a thousand ships.


Ok so this one isn’t a video, but it’s Aretha Franklin. And as she is the Queen of Soul, her rendition of this song is not to be missed.


Eva Cassidy Keeping it real at the Blues Alley jazz supper club in Georgetown, DC, on the 3rd of January back in 1996.


It wouldn’t be a playlist without a reggae break. So here’s the son of God, Ziggy Marley, with his joyous version.


Alicia Keys, singing her heart out at the piano, before she stopped wearing make up.


And last but not least, Rod Stewart. Seated, unplugged, and bespeckled, but still killing it.

Merry Christmas to all…

xmas tree 2016

Put everything else aside just for a minute and hold your loved ones close. Tell your parents you love them. Smile at a stranger. Go out of your way for someone before they ask you for a favor. And remember that the more joy you can hold in your heart, the stronger a warrior for good you will become.

And we’re going to need all the warriors we can get.

For unto us was born this day a savior. And that savior is all of us.

Christmas morning, at 1:08 am

christmas tree 2015

Here’s to a future where each day is merrier and brighter than the last… Where sugarplums are the primary subject of our dreams… And where the good guys of the world confound the grinches simply by holding hands and singing.

We can make it happen.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

If hell is real…

Just one of the piles on my dining room table right about now...

Just one of the piles on my dining room table right about now…

It might look a little something like this huge pile of receipts that I am boring through right now, trying to get my 2014 financial picture together so that I can file my taxes. Or, to be more honest, so that I can give them (in some sort of organized fashion) to more knowledgeable professionals so that they can get everything ready for me to sign and pass on to the IRS.

I was supposed to be done with this awhile ago, but, as you can see, I am far far from that goal. I will be taking a bit of a break from posting anything up here till I finish the task at hand. Please bear with me.

And with God, (and you guys) as my witness, I will not wait until the last minute to do this ever again.

Happy Anniversary to me!

wedding photo

The bride and groom, exactly 12 years ago, photographed by best man Mark Seliger.

Today is groundhog day and, far more importantly, our 12th wedding anniversary.

As such, this day is more about cooking a delicious meal, making fun decorations, straightening up the apartment (so it looks like the fantasy version we all saw in the paper a month ago) and, of course, scraping the ice and snow off of the car, than it is about blogging.

Sometimes it’s nice just to live life, without a thought to documenting it as well.

See you guys tomorrow.

Time out

Late fall harvest

Late fall harvest, 2014.

A heartfelt thank you to my most excellent posse for being with me so ferociously every step of the way.

I am the luckiest person in the world.