Stop Traffick Fashion

I first encountered human trafficking when I was visiting Thailand several years ago. On that trip I visited a home for young girls who had been rescued from child prostitution. It struck me as horrifying that these sweet, exuberant girls, who were around 7-14 years old, had previously been forced into prostitution. Since then I've read more, heard more and learned more. It's not just these girls. There are younger girls, older girls and other men, women and children.

Every time I hear about trafficking I have a feeling that my life cannot be the same. Something has to change. How can normal people make a difference about such a big problem? We can't all quit our jobs and join the rescue effort - although maybe we should do that more. Over the past year I've come up with something that I can do now.

Check out my new site: Stop Traffick Fashion. Right now it says "coming soon." Coming in June 2009 it will be a boutique selling accessories made by survivors of human trafficking. You can read more on the site. You can also subscribe to the blog. The blog will provide news and information about human trafficking, as well as updates about the site. Check it out and tell all your friends!

Penultimate

Hi everyone.

This is going to be my penultimate blog post on this site. I say that because I've always wanted to use the word penultimate. I remember when I first heard that word in grad school my friends and I had to go look it up. In case you're wondering, it means "second to last."

In case you're worried that you won't stay up to date on the details of my life, I will fill you in on the coming few months before I return to Cincinnati. I've already started to wean you off anyway since I haven't been posting very regularly. This weekend I'm going to Brighton to see Ray LaMontagne in concert. In a few weeks my sister is coming to visit for one last time. We're going to high tea at The Ritz and to see Snow Patrol at the O2. I'm going on a weekend trip to Montpelier, France at the end of March and then to Venice for Easter. One week later I am on a way one trip from London to Cincinnati. That will be capped off by another Ray LaMontagne concert the night I arrive. [Speaking of concerts - do any of my friends in Cincinnati want to see Kings of Leon in May?]

Why am I going to stop writing this blog? Something bigger is coming that has been diverting my online attention.

Watch this space.

New UN report on Human Trafficking

Here are some highlights from a new UN report on Human Trafficking.

Free Audio Book

Click here to download a copy of the book Not for Sale - completely free!

"Award-winning journalist David Batstone reveals the story of a new generation of 21st century abolitionists and their heroic campaign to put an end to human bondage. In his accessible and inspiring book, Batstone carefully weaves the narratives of activists and those in bondage in a way that not only raises awareness of the modern-day slave trade, but also serves as a call to action."

Quotable

Here's an interesting quote I found about London the other day:

“You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” - Samuel Johnson (author of the first complete dictionary - according to Wikipedia)

Hmm. Luckily for my mom I already booked my flight back to Cincinnati before I found that quote. I guess Samuel Johnson didn't have such conflicting emotions and ideas. Life is an adventure!

Cirque du Soleil

Last night I saw the Cirque du Soleil show, "Quidam" at the Royal Albert Hall. I have to say, it was one of the most amazing things I've seen. I kept thinking to myself that they must be defying physics!! I would highly recommend any of their shows.

Record Snowfall...

I've been enjoying our big snowfall in London...I've heard things like the most in 6 years or the most in 18 years but I don't really know what's true. All I know is we have a good 6-8 inches so far and it's still snowing. I was jealous of all the snow in Cincinnati last week so I am happy to finally have a good snow after having 3 winters in London!

A new ad campaign

There's a new ad campaign happening in London and throughout the UK on various modes of transportation including the Underground and on buses:Of course, they can't prove there is no God, just like I can't prove there is a God. It's meant to be a re-assuring campaign but the "probably" doesn't seem very re-assuring. If I was worrying about it, I don't think this would help me feel better. Of course, I am biased.

A momentous day

I'm a few days late in commenting on the Inauguration of Barack Obama. I don't have much comment except that I did watch it. I need to stay in the loop at least a little bit since I'm not in the country. I do have to say it's nice to be able to turn off the news so I'm not overwhelmed with the coverage of the event.

But, on Tuesday night I went to see Thriller Live. Thriller Live is a West End show celebrating the music of Michael Jackson. It's not like Mamma Mia which tries to build a story around the songs, it's just music and dancing. During the song "Heal the World" they had photos of people who I assume they thought helped heal the world. I'm not sure what the criteria was but the last photo was Obama. (So you see, these two things do tie together!) Perhaps not as important in the grand scheme of history, but it was more entertaining than the speech.

Memo to the drunk girls sitting next to me: We came to hear the performers on stage sing, not you. Of course, everyone was singing to the party songs, but not the ballads. Next time if you want to sing, maybe you should audition.

Fashion Police + Spelling Police

May I have your attention please.

You probably already know my biggest pet peeve is replacing the letter C with the letter K. People think they do it to be katchy, klever or witty but it's just a bad gimmick.

While I was out shopping yesterday I stumbled upon this magnificent find: Klassi Klypz.Oh my goodness. Where do I start? First of all, these clips never had a chance at being classy. Wood beads and rhinestones with your initials? Wow. Second, any chance they had was ruined by replacing the C in both words with a K...and proceeding to further misspell them until the words are virtually unrecognizable. The spelling of clips may actually be worse than the whole letter K fiasco.

If they were trying to get my attention it worked. I'm glad I had my camera phone there to capture the moment.

Sweatshops

An interesting take on sweatshops.

It's a small world

Last night I met a new girl at my church...she is from Cincinnati! Even weirder, she is from Madeira. How crazy is that?

Speaking of "a small world," I had a bad experience on that ride at Disney World when I was younger. I dropped my new sunglasses in the water. That was a sad day.

Human Trafficking in the news

Yesterday was Hilary Clinton's Senate confirmation hearing she was asked about human trafficking and had a solid response:

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA):
I don't think we can look away from the plight of women around the world. Nicholas Kristof confronts this issue in a series of compelling articles… Kristof tells us the story of a Vietnamese girl who was kidnapped at age 13. She was sold into sex slavery in Cambodia. When she refused to see customers, she was tortured brutally with electric shocks and locked in a coffin filled with insects. And Kristof details another story in a piece called "If this isn't Slavery than what is?" in which a young Cambodian girl had her eye gouged out by a brothel owner after taking time off to recover from a forced abortion. I'm introducing some legislation—one is a companion piece to Rep. Carolyn Maloney and another is the Afghan Women Empowerment Act. That's just the beginning. Senator I know how deeply you feel about this so I wanted you to take a little more time to talk about your commitment to this particular issue and obviously I would be so pleased if we could work on legislation to fight this immorality.

Secretary of State Designate Hillary Clinton:
As Secretary of State I view these issues as central to our foreign policy, not as adjunct or auxiliary or in any way lesser from all of the other issues that we have to confront. I too have followed the stories…this is not culture, this is not custom, this is criminal. And it will be my goal to persuade more governments as I spoke with Beijing some thirteen years ago that we cannot have a free, prosperous, peaceful, progressive world if women are treated in such a discriminatory and violent way. I've also ready closely Nick Kristof's articles over the last many months on the young women he's both rescued from prostitution and met who have been enslaved, tortured in every way—physically, emotionally, morally and I take very seriously the function of the State Department to lead the US Government through the Office on Human Trafficking to do all that we can to end this modern form of slavery. We have sex slavery. We have wage slavery and it is primarily a slavery of girls and women. I look forward, Senator, to reviewing your legislation and work with you as a continuing partnership on behalf of these issues we care so much about. And finally, the work that the women of the Senate did in connection with First Lady Laura Bush on behalf of the women of Afghanistan has been extremely important. That program started in the State Department. It was assisted by an organization I helped to start in the White House called Vital Voices. Mrs. Bush has been outspoken on behalf of Afghan women…and other women facing oppression around the world… We're going to have a very active Women's Office a very active Office on Human Trafficking. We're going to be speaking out consistently and strongly against the discrimination and oppression of women and slavery in particular because I think that is in keeping with not only our American values but American national security interests as well.

Also, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I hear Slumdog Millionaire deals with human trafficking and does a decent job at portraying the issues. Again, I haven't seen it myself so I can't comment more than that.

My London Bucket List

I've been doing some thinking about what I want to be sure I do in London before I move back to Cincinnati and I've come up with a few things.

Have tea at the Ritz
Go to the National Portrait Gallery
See a show at the Jazz Cafe
See Circ du Soleil
Go to a Premiership football (soccer) game
Take West Coast Swing classes
I'd like to visit the Cotswolds and Cornwall but I'm not sure if I will manage those

Some restaurants to eat at as much as possible:
Ping Pong
Giraffe
Wagamama
GBK
Nandos
Cote Bistro

I'll have to keep thinking...

Favorite Music of 2008

I've finally gotten around to thinking about my favorite music of 2008. It's in no particular order and with no particular criteria except that I like it! As usual, there's not much analysis to go along because I can't be bothered to analyze things I just enjoy.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns. Recommended listen: Lifeboats, Take Back the City

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs. Recommended listen: I Will Possess Your Heart, Pity and Fear

Coldplay - Viva La Vida. Recommended Listen: Viva la Vida, Strawberry Swing, Cemetaries of London

August Rush Soundtrack. Recommended Listen: August's Rhapsody, Bari Improv

The Smiths - The Sound of the Smiths. Recommended Listen: This Charming Man, Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before

Singles:

Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)
Madonna ft Justin Timberlake and Timbaland - 4 Minutes
MGMT - Electric Feel
Santogold - You'll Find a Way (Remix)
Radiohead - 15 Step
Estelle ft Kanye West - American Boy
Rihanna - Rehab
TI ft Justin Timberlake - Dead and Gone
Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing
Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008
Leona Lewis - Better in Time
The Ting Tings - Great DJ
Carrie Underwood - Last Name

Don't over-think it!

Per my earlier post on my New Year's Resolution you should already know I over-analyze everything. I keep trying to remind myself not to over think things!

Example 1: How do I feel about moving back to Cincinnati? Excited? Happy? Sad? Where do I feel settled? My mind could spin out of control on this one...

Example 2 (and slightly more fun): I saw Benjamin Button while I was home for Christmas. I highly recommend it! After it was over I found myself starting to think **tiny spoiler ahead**, "How could he have gotten smaller as he got older?" Wait a second. That is a ridiculous question in the context of the movie but a great example of how my mind works!

Good news for Mexican

Good news for Mexican in London...

New Year's Resolution

I'm really not into making New Year's resolutions. Since it's well known that they don't last and since I'm pretty much perfect anyway, I usually don't bother. This year I thought about making my new year's resolution not to over analyze everything - particularly how I feel about the transition from London to Cincinnati. But then I started to analyze whether I could keep that resolution and I'm sure you can imagine where it went from there. Scratch that.

I'll do the best I can.

Evil behind the smiles

Evil Behind the Smiles...

Caught

Here's my belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year wish.

It's been a great Christmas season. I've been busy celebrating, spending time with family and friends, and shopping. My mind is racing with lots of thoughts which I am attempting to process but am too lazy to write down...or avoiding fully processing, hence my lack of posts. Mostly I feel caught between two great worlds in this period of transition. I suppose I should be happy that I can feel at home in two cities and that I have great relationships and experiences in both places. More on this later...maybe.