Monday's Lazy List

Hi friends.  The turkey made us lazy.  Or maybe it was the steamy hot weather.  

At any rate - here's your "Weekend List"!

Jill's List:

All of those lovely Holiday Wish Lists are coming up.  This, this, this and this are where I'll look for some serious fake shopping.  Oh, and I've told Johan that he can't go wrong if he follows these genius lists for wife gift ideas.  We used to do a lot of homemade stuff, but it's not exactly easy to ship from the Congo (I had to DHL a letter to the U.S. a couple of weeks ago. $180. Yup.), so I'm super happy about this whole Internet shopping thing.

Goodwill Mugs + Adorable Child Handwriting = Winning Gift  (I modified this tutorial.)

I got a great haircut in Kinshasa last weekend.  Go Rami at La Bella! (Even though you repeatedly pointed out my many grey hairs.) Maybe it was the bain d'huile or the oxblood red nails (Joanna told me to do it), but I walked out of that place feeling like a million bucks.  I was nervous about getting my locks chopped with a new stylist, but I feel like I'm channeling Alexa Chung, which is...well...awesome.

Super interesting.  What and who - exactly - does it take to make a t-shirt?  (Excited to begin reading this related book with my middle schoolers this week...)

From here.

I love this post on how progress is alive and well within even the most "downtrodden" communities. (My soapbox topic.) This article is about teachers, but I think the same lessons apply to health care! (Remember this article?)

Photo by Sarah Rich for her amazing project, EduCorps.  Read more here!

Feeling like folk?  Me too.

I've been thinking a lot about this article.  I kind of can't believe I'm saying this, but it's true:

“While American parents are pulling their kids out of tests because the results make the kids feel bad, parents in other countries are looking at the results and asking themselves how they can help their children do better.”

Of course, here's some of the other side.

Me?  I look at these pictures of aliens and think, "How does this drawing compare to that of a Finnish 7 year-old?"

Haha.  Helvetica perfume.

Retailing for $62, it comes in a bottle printed with 24-karat gold lettering and contains two ounces of water. 

We just started a sticker chart to try and adjust Elias' unfortunate habit of responding to every sentence with "NO!"  As in, "Elias, you have food on your face.  Wipe it off, please, because it looks gross."  "NO! No I don't!" (as cheesy cauliflower soup drops from his nose to the table).  But, I'm still on the fence about sticker charts.  I'm semi-holding out for some intrinsic motivation to communicate like a sane person.  What do you think?  Here's the accumulated wisdom on bribing your children.

Temper, temper.  Randomly, this hot blooded child is much more inclined of the two to eat neatly.

Sarah's List:

Nope.  Not here.  Sarah is working on various and sundry things...most important of which is installment #3 of her viral Moving Abroad series.  Read Part 1 and Part 2 while you wait.

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Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

Good Congo News! A little over a year ago these guys were threatening to terrorize the country all the way to Kinshasa. But this week the M23 says they're done. Good news, indeed.

Image from Sara Rich's blog. Read all about it here.

Speaking of Sara Rich (see image above). I think I'm about to have a friend who's really famous. Check out her organization EduCorps. It's genius, really.

It still tickles me that when you search "TASOK" this is the picture comes up. Sara Rich all packed up and ready to leave us.

Russell Feingold is becoming a Congolese household name. Here's an example: "Who is this Russell Feingold? Why is he here? What is he doing? I think I should care about him. Can you Google if he is in Kinshasa and where he is staying so I can go introduce myself to him?" Absolutely!

Here's an interesting way to capture a pirate king. Play to his ego and lure him to your country in a reverse Argo-esque scheme. Here's the story.

What did New York look like in 1939? Check out this film!

  by  Barbara L. Hanson 

A funny thing happens when you share a name with a mayor-elect.

From the department of I Still Think 1990 was 10 Years Ago, 20 songs you can't even believe are 20 years old.

Fall makes me think of college. Here are some of the most beautiful ones (and the ugliest ones). Who knew I spent 4 years at a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  by  Vironevaeh 

I've thought about this article since it came out 4 years ago. It's resurfacing. A good read on stick-to-it-iveness.

And one more. Fascinating, beautiful, moving.

"Fall" in Congo.

Jill's List:

The other evening, I went to the closest Vodacom shop to get some credit and Loulou and I found ourselves in the middle of a bonafide, liquored-up, parking lot dance party - with laser lights.  The reason?  The grand opening of a new Woodin shop.  Controversy is great for blogs...so, here goes:  Vlisco or Woodin? Which is better?  (I'm still partial to Vlisco, but that's just because of their incredible billboards.)

Last month's Vlisco billboard on Bouldevard de 30 Juin, Kinshasa.  I want that dress.

I live with a man who hates The Sound of Music.  I know, how does this sort of thing happen?  Turns out he's not alone.  Check out NPR's A Complete Curmudgeon's Guide to TSoM.  For example:

9. The "Lonely Goatherd" puppet show is all about coerced mountain marriages, including coerced goat marriages, which send a bad message to children and anthropomorphized goats.

And then there's this McSweeny's.  Brilliant.  Almost turned me into a curmudgeon.

  by  Jacob Whittaker 

My first job as a nurse was at Neighborcare Health. The doctors, medical assistants, and midwives whom I worked with had an unwavering commitment to the most disadvantaged populations of Seattle.  The patients taught me that everyone deserves health care.  Check out this shout out in the HuffPost.

Kamala Khan!

From here.

Thinking of our friends in Cairo this week.  Wondering if this article is true.

Photo by Erin Velzeboer.  Remember her?

Johan has spent all morning putting together a Saved By the Bell/Jurassic Park themed playlist.  Favorites?  Johnny Cash's The Dinosaur Song, Nirvana's School, and Les Calamités' version of The Kids Are Alright.  Keeping it real in the Congo.

Struggling with this a little.  Especially when my three-year-old wants to listen too.

Bedtime reading.  Thank goodness for iPads.  We didn't have to pack all billion pages of Harry Potter in our luggage.

And.  Best Facebook conversation ever:

Options

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Sarah Sensamaust

Loving Orange is the New Black, especially with the shout-out to Kinshasa as a place where there are starving people because "just saying Africa would be racist."

Like ·  · Share · about an hour ago · 

Erin Velzeboer, Sara Rich and Jared Shenk like this.

Jared Shenk Just wait until you get to the shoutout to Waynesboro, VA 

25 minutes ago · Like

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  Sarah Sensamaust Oh my, Jill Humphrey, this IS the show for you.

  22 minutes ago · Unlike · 1
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  Jill Humphrey No way. Waynesboro gets a shout out? Hometown pride!

  19 minutes ago · Like
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  Jill Humphrey (Though, I realize that the reference probably has to do with meth or teen pregnancy.)

  18 minutes ago · Like · 1
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  Jared Shenk Bingo

  18 minutes ago · Like
• 

  Jill Humphrey Hahaha.

  17 minutes ago · Like
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  Jill Humphrey I'm pasting this conversation on Mama Congo.

  Unable to post comment. Try Again
• 

(That last comment courtesy of today's rainstorm, which has probably knocked out the Internet.)  Going now to get the first season.  

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Weekend List!

Sarah's List:


Did you know if you live outside the US, there are many websites we can't access? But we do get good healthcare! It's a fair tradeoff. John Stewart gets it, and this week sent us to another site to watch his show. Free healthcare and The Daily Show? Be very jealous.

This made me laugh. If Congress Got Stuff Done Like Roommates.

"Hey duders, Just wanted to shoot everybody an email saying 

there's kinda a lot of stuff that needs to be done..."

The latest news on eyebrows. Everyone knows this is an issue near and dear to my heart. I mean eyes.

Even Nefertiti's restoration required shaping up her eyebrows.

  by  GeometerArtist 

This book looks so fascinating. A peek inside Iranian living rooms? Yes, please.

While I'm not so sure that giving money to child beggars is the absolute worst thing you can do as a tourist, here's an interesting piece on the matter.

My sister sent our kids this picture of Uncle Ryan and Elmo in New York City. They freaked out. I replied with the NYT article about this Elmo's "disturbing past." Then she freaked out.

And I dare you to watch this just one time. Or less than 50 times.


Jill's List:

Elias has already changed his Halloween costume idea like 50 times.  Maybe we'll show him this slideshow for some inspiration.

Image found here.

Read Chekov (or maybe some Wendell Berry) to be more empathetic and emotionally intelligent.  (It's scientifically proven!)

I have a huge bag of lemons in my fridge.  There was a sale and both Johan and I filled up at the grocery store without checking with each other first.  Here, you always take your fruits and veg and have them bagged and weighed far before you even approach a register.  Once that bag is tied, you have committed.  Maybe I need to make some of these?

While planning for a Middle School Workshop on Community and how to generally be nice, I was informed that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had a song that was popular with the young folk. I had absolutely never heard of these people.  Does this make me old, cool, or clueless?

Follow these stories about girls and their dreams around the world during the month of October. (You might even see the DRC featured..!)

Feeling a little jealous of people living with seasons.  Especially when I see things like this.  Fall in the Northwest is like nothing else.

Trying to locate a replacement for my favorite piece of jewelry.  I bought two strands of Ethiopian brass heishi beads in Cape Town (I know, random.) last year and wear them nearly everyday.  I'm just preparing for the inevitable break, drop, or lose.  Seems like this is an option.

Perfection.

Ugh.  Yep.  Children playing alone because there's nowhere else to go.  And this is not a story about Congo.

8th Grade Teachers really should rule the world. (Or just the U.S. government.)  I love the photo they use to illustrate the article.  I swear that's exactly what my middle school teachers looked like.

And.  Speaking of middle school teachers...please take a second to read all about EduCorps, a project to support teachers in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.  This is the vision of the one and only Sara Rich (whom I have never actually met, but feel like I know).  She is stupendous.

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