it's the dawn of our age, it's the birth of courage, now's the time to flourish

~malbec ("dawn of our age")

It is time to plug a very important conference going on in Portland, Oregon on April 12th. If you're anywhere within traveling distance, PLEASE come. Bound: The Global Slave Trade.

The global slave trade is an issue that is now receiving more attention than it has in the past, which is encouraging. Yet, very few can actually grasp how horrible things are in all parts of the world - the US included. This is a huge issue that I can't even begin to explain on my blog, but it is well worth your time to do some research and figure out how you can help the thousands of innocents daily forced to provide goods, sex, labor, et cetera to a world that simply turns its head and fails to acknowledge how evil these deeds are.

Take time. Inform yourself. Pray. Get involved. Don't ignore this immensely serious issue. Join me at the conference on April 12th if you possibly can.

A few websites to check out:
Garden of Hope
International Justice Mission
Oasis
Stop the Traffik
World Vision
Viva Network
Amnesty International

Please comment and add more helpful links!

maybe we can see a movie or maybe we can see a play, on saturday

~Jill Scott ("A long walk")

On a daily basis, when I sign out of hotmail, I'm redirected to MSN, which offers all sorts of dating/singles articles about how to land a date with your crush in the office, or once you've secured said date, how you might not act like a complete imbecile in order to ensure a second.

Today, I found the article more amusing than usual. Decently wise (especially the parts about cologne and texting) and very witty even. Too bad the advice is for dudes... The lists of "to dos" and "to don'ts" always makes me wonder if the traditional pressures of A [perfect] DATE causes guys to ask girls out less these days...maybe so. Or maybe there are a host of reasons, including the fact that girls need to do some of the work, too.

What ever happened to arranged marriages? They really cut out all the stress.