Day 6 Sunday, April 11, 2010 Today started out continuing the forgetfulness of yesterday, though it improved quickly. We decided to head to the Anne Frank House first thing this morning, thinking the crowds might be thinner early on a Sunday. We were right, but even after a thorough run-through of our new pre-departure checklist,Continue reading “The Netherlands: Day 6”
Tag Archives: compassion
Earthquake in Tibet
I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days now: I join His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in expressing his condolences to the victims of the recent earthquake in Tibet, and I hope he will be allowed to visit the region soon. I will try to post any information on relief efforts andContinue reading “Earthquake in Tibet”
A great sadness
I stand with my President, Barack Obama, and all the citizens of the world in mourning the loss of so many of Poland’s leaders.
Chile
I wrote two weeks ago about the earthquake in Chile and how we should donate to help Chileans, and I promised to post updates about charitable organizations as I had for Haiti. I have not written about Chile since. Why? Updates never became available. I checked, almost every day, for news about Chile and reliefContinue reading “Chile”
National education standards?
People who know me know how ready I am to rail against standardized education. I have long believed in student-based teaching, so while I agree that we ought to hold our students to some level of excellence, the standards of that excellence should be established in cooperation with the students–each student should have not onlyContinue reading “National education standards?”
Barry Hannah
Barry Hannah will leave a gaping hole in literature. His influence on my own work is strangely subtle and roundabout (I know him more for his influence on others–especially Tom Franklin–than for anything else), but when I think about the stories I’ve read, I realize how deeply effective they were. For all the brashness ofContinue reading “Barry Hannah”
Chile earthquake
Though the scale of the recent earthquake in Chile was significantly larger than the one in Haiti, the damage has so far been mercifully less. Still, Chileans are going to need help to recover from this traumatic disruption, so as I did with Haiti, I’m going to list some relief agencies you can contact toContinue reading “Chile earthquake”
Patrons of writing and teaching: St. Francis de Sales and St. John the Apostle
I’ve been writing off and on about my “patrons of writing,” but I feel I need to acknowledge that, for me, the term I chose comes from Christianity, specifically Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and the Christian notion of “patron saints.” So I figure it’s about time I mention a couple of my Christian patrons. According toContinue reading “Patrons of writing and teaching: St. Francis de Sales and St. John the Apostle”
Compassion in action
My friend Lori Ann Bloomfield, over on her blog First Line, has posted an excellent comment on how writers can help not only Haitians but all human beings, simply through the act of writing. By writing more human characters, she says, we come to understand our fellow human beings better, and it’s a very smallContinue reading “Compassion in action”
More help for Haiti
The links just keep coming, thanks especially to my friends Rima Abunasser, Beth Davidson, and Diana Pearson. I’m re-posting the list from yesterday, but some links are to organizations and some to lists of organizations, so I’m listing the lists first: Charity Navigator (this is a kind of clearing house for reliable, reputable charities; itContinue reading “More help for Haiti”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 