what indeed?

The other night, we took the girls out for dinner. The restaurant was crowded. After a few minutes, Peeps turns to Dave and asks over the general din: "What's everybody talking about?"

see jane

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Jane Goodall's groundbreaking work with chimps in Tanzania. How could anyone help but absolutely adore Jane Goodall? Her story! The chimps! Her accent!

In an NPR Science Friday interview today (listen to the full podcast--you won't be sorry!), she talked about how she first became enamored of primates at age 11, when she read a second-hand copy of Tarzan of the Apes. She decided what she really wanted from life was to go to Africa, live with wild animals, and write books about them.

"Everyone laughed at me except my mother, and she would say 'If you really want something, and you work hard and you never give up and you never give up, you’ll find a way.'"

At this point in the interview, I'm tearing up, because all of this came in response to this 13-year-old fan who'd called in.

Two things: 1) Jane Goodall is the bomb--living proof that we can and should follow our dreams and 2) I want to be that kind of mother to my daughters.

the best book i've read in 2010

...also happens to be the first book I've read in 2010. No matter. It totally changed my life.

Mostly, because it led me to Women for Women International--a place where, for $27 a month, you can "provide your sister (living in a war-torn country) with the financial assistance to aid her in learning new job skills and rights awareness, while also giving her hope and emotional support to rebuild her self-esteem and her life."

The authors highlight a lot of other fantastic organizations and ideas. This was just my favorite.

A while back, I posted about an NYTimes Magazine article based on the book. A sort of Half the Sky Cliff's Notes. I actually recently learned that my Dad forwarded this article on to his sportsline subscribers, which sort of surprised me. Maybe it shouldn't have.

After all, "empowerment is contagious, accomplished person by person and spreading village by village...challenges are insurmountable only until the moment that they're surmounted."

Pass it on!