Another Drop in the Bucket
The Centrillo family came through with a $50 per mile donation for my run. When I do the math, a half marathon really is a long run! I can actually feel little children dancing in my heart. I don't think there is any greater feeling in the world. That pushes our total raised to date to $7,475.

Ben & Jerry’s and the Jolly Lama

The Raising Malawi project is so critical to the lives and wellbeing of so many little children, that sometimes when I talk about it, if I'm not extra careful, I get all choked up and teary. But I'm not Sally Struthers. That approach just doesn't work here. Sally's approach left me feeling sad. Hungry.

What Sally didn't have back then was a solution. We absolutely have one now. According to Jeffrey Sachs' plan, it takes 5 years to flip a village from total despair to self-sustaining!

So, I think for this effort (at least my little part of the bigger effort) to get Americans to take notice and contribute, the tone needs to be more upbeat. Fun, even!

So far, we've raised $6,825. Now what? I don’t really have ideas. But I have a huge capacity to receive ideas. And, in this month of Virgo, I am trying like hell to expand that vessel so I can receive more. Looking at what’s been landing in my bucket this past two weeks, I may have the beginnings of the next concept for “Fundraising Malawi”.

1. My friend Donna from grad school made a very generous donation to sponsor me in my NY Half Marathon. She also suggested that to inspire bigger donations, a friend of hers doing an Avon walk offered to bake a dozen cookies for every donation over $200. Once she did that, donations rolled in. (Go figure)

2. Over drinks that same day, my friend Steve mentioned that his wife has been known to take on big baking projects – like making cookies for an entire high school! – and she’s been toying with the idea of turning that passion and drive into a business. But what?

3. At breakfast yesterday, feeling beat to hell after my 13.1 mile run/jog/crawl, I pitched a rough version of a “Baking to End Extreme Poverty” idea to David. He encouraged me to do something less of a one-off where I have to work hard for a small return, but look more to connecting with an existing infrastructure, like for example, W Hotels. Maybe see if I can inspire them to run a promo like, “round up for Malawi” ... so your drink bill is charged, whatever, an extra .20 or .90 for a good cause. It doesn't require much of people and they'd be generally happy to do it. Do the math across an international chain and you’re talking big dollars. While I didn’t exactly feel the idea itself was a good fit, I have to recognize that he’s talking about marketing. I have a very costly degree on the subject and this may be a good time to dust it off.

4. I read this article in the Aug. 14, 2006 issue of Newsweek. It’s about the growing trend in Buddha-themed restaurants and bars … It’s cool. It’s chic. It’s so not what Buddhism is about. The article explains, “ Gregory Levine, a University of California, Berkeley, associate professor and Buddhist-art expert, suggests that because Buddhism is seen as exotic, it's easier to exploit. In other words, Americans who find Buddha-booze sexy might be offended by sipping martyr-tinis under a giant illuminated crucifix.”

But here’s what caught my interest. Some Buddhist-smart-marketers have gotten into the act. “Lama Surya Das, American Buddhist founder of the Dzogchen Foundation, is developing a flavor with Ben & Jerry's called Jolly Lama—a gold-and-maroon-swirled sorbet that's in the early stages of review—and plans to donate his profits to a Tibetan refugee project….. ‘Buddha's open-minded,’ he says. ‘He taught the middle way, not a way of austerity or grim un-worldliness.’"

5. I woke up this morning thinking about my marketing class at Northwestern with Margaret Felcher and the Ben & Jerry’s book that was required reading. I don’t know what’s next, but today I plan to pitch another “group project” to some of my favorite, most-inspired colleagues from NU: Donna, Ted, Roger, Amy, Colleen….and Ananya if the time zone doesn’t kill you.

Maybe to start, we can read Ben & Jerry's most recent Social Audit off their Website.

And Ted and I can take a road trip and tour the Ben & Jerry's site this month? We’ll send you a video...or come with! Ted has a big place. He’ll put you up, right Ted?

B&J and their 3-part mission statement definitely do social marketing right. We’re sure to learn something we can use. Come on guys. It’ll be just like old times!

We're in the final stretch of the NY 1/2 Marathon Fundraising Race!

Total pledged and/or donated thus far is: $1,825!

Thank you all so much for your generosity and support!

I know there are more pledges to follow, but I don't know exact amounts, so I can't thank you yet. Special thanks so far go out to:

David Duncan, Donna Bellamy, Leib Dodell, Justin Finkelstein, Ying Shiau, Sharon McNulty, Gretchen Lang, Kasha Cacy, Sang Leng Trieu, Damon Green, Eleanor Bryant and Susan Piotroski.

Pluto got demoted to "dwarf planet" today. I think the more PC term is "little planet", but science can be harsh. Basically, by current planetary standards, there are at least 50 additional qualifying planets floating around up there. So rather than creating solar confusion, astronomists figured it best to tighten up the standards.

My friend Jon explained it to me. I met Jon on a plane six years ago. He works at MIT, Lincoln Labs doing all sorts of cool, geeky, patent-worthy stuff. I was sitting in his window seat as the plane was about to take off. He comes rushing onboard all disheveled and urgent-looking just barely making the flight. His whole being makes me think of him as the Harrison Ford of science. So, I asked him what to make of this Pluto thing.

He told me, BBC covered it pretty well (that's where I got these images)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5282440.stm

But I understand his explanation better. He told me, "there had been an attempt to come up with an "objective" definition of a planet; something we could use in other solar systems as well.

First cut at it was something that orbited the sun (rather than another planet e.g., the Moon) and was big enough that gravity made it round. This caused an uproar as immediately there were 12 planets under this definition with likely hundreds more.

So, then they tried, 'a planet is an object orbiting the sun that can clear its orbital belt of other objects'. Pluto fails this test as it crosses Uranus's orbit and some day Uranus will clear Pluto out of its orbit...

So that leaves 8 planets, with tiny Pluto relegated to a "dwarf planet" ... because it is considerably smaller than the moon."

I took a Kabbalah astrology class a while ago. So you know, every sign has a ruling planet and energy. I'm Aquarius, so even though I'm a rebel, I'm ruled by Saturn, which means I can come off as a goodie two-shoes. I'll briefly lay out the signs and their ruling planets so you can follow along:

Aquarius and Capricorn are ruled by Saturn. Saturn is about limits. Structure. Boundaries. A+B=C. I draw my discipline from Saturn's energy.

Pisces and Sagittarius are ruled by Jupiter. Jupiter is the biggest planet. It's about expansion. Generocity. Miracles. Success.

Aries and Scorpio are ruled by Mars. This is my man David, Cephora my best bud, and my mom. Mars is about war. It's how you fight. It's how you work. It's how you attack. These people are all crazy. ;)

Leo is ruled by the sun. My friend Bob is a Leo, although he doesn't really act like it, which is weird, because the Sun is who you are. It controls your basic structure. Everything hangs off it.

Libra and Taurus are ruled by Venus. Venus is about what you love. What you find exciting and beautiful. It's the only planet that goes clockwise.

Virgo and Gemini are ruled by Mercury. Mercury is the closet to the sun. It's about speed. Communication. Intellect. Time. Mental speed. Hold that thought a minute, because we just entered the new moon of Virgo, which dictates the kind of energy available for all of us to draw on this month.

Cancer is ruled by the Moon. The moon is your inner self. It's your deepest emotions. It represents your previous lives. It's your hidden personality. My moon is also in Aquarius (so I'm an Aquarian thru and thru), but my rising sign is Cancer, which tells you the kind of soul I am. Like my soul's aura.

If you know exactly when you were born, go to www.ephemeris.com and look up your "sun sign" (that's your sign), your "moon" (that's the hidden you; your essence) and your rising sign, (that's the planet that was on the horizon at the moment your soul came into the world.)

I can say a lot more about Astrology, because I love that stuff, but I want to take a minute to talk about Virgo and what's available to us this month. Specifically, what I'm doing during Virgo to help "Raise Malawi".

This month is about preparations for the Light. I'll say that in English, “as you sow, so shall you reap.” Is there something you want? Something you really desire? You can have it. But you need to do all the work this month to create the vessel to receive whatever your heart desires.

You got something to clean up with someone? Do it. Clean it up! Clean it out. Create more space; a bigger vessel to receive. Make amends. Mom, let's go get coffee! I want a big fat millon-gallon vessel for children in Malawi. What do I have to do for that?! I'm willing. I swear. This month is the last male-energy month till next April. Crank it out! You begin to reap your creation next month...or get a lot closer to it. If you are going after something big, and why wouldn't you, it won't be easy. Do the work!

OK.

So, I say that because my desire for funds for Raising Malawi has been strong, but passive. I'm going to give it one last hoorah this month. I am going to meet with anyone and everyone who will have the conversation with me to stir the pot of ideas for how we can work together for this amazing cause.

By Christmas, together, we will have raised $25K for kids in Malawi. There is no possibility for this not to happen.

So, when did Bill Gates get so active? My Kabbalah teacher from my "Rules of Engagement" class -- AKA: Spiritual tips to land a man for Bridgett Jones-like females -- says (more as a matter of personal opinion than Kabbalistic teaching) that it's Melinda behind the shift. Women are more in touch with the 99% reality -- the "real reality" of life, not just the illusion of the 1% we see everyday.

Maybe. It looks like Bono had something to do with it too, though. I found this article in Time Magazine, December 26, 2005


He's changing the world twice," says Bono of Bill. "And the second act for Bill Gates may be the one that history regards more."

For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are TIME's Persons of the Year.

And now here's what I love about Bono -- He has the passion. He has the facts. He has the ambition. He makes big things happen even in the face of no agreement -- Gates almost declined the meeting. Here's an excerpt from the Time article:

"World health is immensely complicated," says Gates, recalling that first encounter in 2002. "It doesn't really boil down to a 'Let's be nice' analysis. So I thought a meeting wouldn't be all that valuable."

It took about three minutes with Bono for Gates to change his mind. Bill and his wife Melinda, another computer nerd turned poverty warrior, love facts and data with a tenderness most people reserve for their children, and Bono was hurling metrics across the table as fast as they could keep up. "He was every bit the geek that we are," says Gates Foundation chief Patty Stonesifer, who helped broker that first summit. "He just happens to be a geek who is a fantastic musician."

Makes me proud to be a geek!

Today's Wall Street Journal ran a rather encouraging, slightly remarkable story about AIDS. If you actually believe it's possible, and I do, then it would appear that we're on the verge of something huge in health science.

Basically, findings from two separate studies 15 years in the making suggest that when AIDS (or certain cancers or hepatitis C) shuts off a body's immune system, there is a way to flip the switch back on -- namely a molecule called PD-1, a natural regulator of the human immune system.

There're still problems and setbacks (e.g., six healthy humans testing a new drug in clinical trials in London had their immune systems fly into overdrive, landing them in the ICU), but at least we know which way to point the ambulance. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding experiments with Hep C patients to see if they can get their immune systems working again. Good for them. Someone needs to put up the money. We keep thinking it needs to be "somebody else." That's such crap. Every problem affecting the human race is all of our problem. And it's going to take all of us to solve it in money or energy or heart.

I watched Lorenzo's Oil on TV a few weeks ago. I cried my eyes out at Susan Sarandon's character's conviction to find a cure for her son Lorenzo's de-myelinated sheaths, which caused him to lose most muscle function other than blinking his eyes or moving a finger. No big budgets to fund research for this problem (ALD), so his parents led the charge. In the end, they discover the preventative solution to be a concoction of virgin olive oil and a rapeseed oil. Rachael Ray could whip it up in a 30-minute show...for less then $40 a day...with a little EVOO. Rachael Ray drives me crazy.

Anyway, Lorenzo's real-life mom died a few years ago of cancer. I wonder if this new PD-1 molecule could've saved her. I mean it. I honor her. If more of us were like her, I think death will be optional someday.

8/19/2006. Five years ago today, I boarded a one-way flight to New York with 2 carry-on bags and 2 checked-in boxes of shoes. I was leaving Chicago for good; heading for everything that scared me: career change, no friends, no home and a freakishly big city that I knew nothing about, other than it being freakishly big.

I was getting comfortable in Chicago. Kind of arrogant. Queen of my own mountain. I didn't like that about me. So I needed to really push myself to grow. Crack myself in half. I study archetypes as a passion, and I knew I needed to reawaken "The Wanderer."

I was going to work for Lowe Lintas -- my first ad agency. They moved me here. They set me up in corporate housing by Carneige Hall in Midtown/Central Park South.

I met this guy Eamonn (as in Aimin' to please Julia) that week in Times Square. He stepped on my flip flop as we were crossing at the light. He said, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry", in a heavy Irish accent. You don't hear that accent much in Chicago. He was a cross between Paul McCartney, George Harrison and George Clooney. We talked for one minute before he told me he was going to -- where else? -- a bar. Would I join him for a drink? I wanted nothing intimate. Nothing serious. Only fun. We dated the next three years.

My second week here, he took me to see the World Trade Center. I remember looking up at the twin towers with him in awe. We talked about them like the invincible Titanic they were. We actually had a conversation about the '93 terrorist bombing at the WTC being such a ridiculous effort. I stood in shock two weeks later watching the towers burning from my office window.

I have a lot of stories about what followed, but the reason I'm sharing this much on my blog is because Eamonn (whom I have cut all contact with for many reasons) has contacted me to say he has some money that he owes me that he would like to return.

If that's true, I will take the money back. Not sure how much of it he has or plans to return. But whatever it is, I will donate it to "Raising Malawi" because I feel the money is no longer mine -- or his.

I have already written it off as a bad loan. And he never earned it, which on a spiritual level causes "bread of shame", a source of guilt that will hold you back now or later.

I think the reason he would find me now to return it is because I'm putting out this energy around my cause and he picked up on it. I believe that happens on spiritual level. On an ego level, I am cautious that this is just another ploy by a master manipulator to get me to return his calls.

Either way, it's a good sign if money is coming.

The 16th Annual International AIDS Conference was held in Toronto this past week (Aug 13-18, 2006)

Combatting HIV/AIDS is Goal #6 of the Millennium Dvpmt Goals, so I figured I'd blog up 3 things I learned as a result.

#1) Canada does cool things with its money.

#2) The Gates Foundation is making the fight against AIDS a priority to the tune of $500 million. Gates is even hopeful for the next big breakthrough, specifically the discovery of a microbicide or an oral prevention drug that can block the transmission of HIV. (Who knew?)

#3) Never go to South Africa if you need to be counselled or treated for HIV.

I started doing my research last Sunday when David came home from a business trip to Seoul. On his way home, he arranged a short visit to Toronto to see his son, Tyler (“the dude”). They're from there. David told me that news of the AIDS conference was everywhere. Then he gave me a quarter. We thought it was a 25-cent coin with the AIDS ribbon! I was so excited! That's such a huge commitment to a global cause!

But it was dark and I didn't look close enough... or only saw what I wanted to see... Alas, the ribbon is pink. (Breast cancer awareness). But it's still cool, so I figured I'd mention it. The Royal Canadian Mint says it does research on various themes all the time and this one kept coming up at the top, so they approached the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and rolled out 30 million of these collector coins.

Good idea.

OK, back to the AIDS conference --

Bill and Melinda Gates kicked it off. Bill said stopping AIDS is the top priority of its foundation. The Gates Foundation just announced a $500 million grant to the Global Fund, which is active in 131 countries. Gates explained the Global Fund, "gets HIV drugs to more than half a million people. It provides access to testing and counseling to nearly 6 million people. It offers basic care to more than half a million orphans."

He talked about some of the encouraging and disturbing signs in the battle against AIDS. He told this story, "On our trip to Rwanda last month, Melinda and I went to a clinic, where they showed us a picture of a thin, sickly man, clearly suffering from AIDS. I was staring at this picture when a healthy, smiling man walked into the room and said hello. It took me a minute to realize — it was the same man. This is what treatment is doing for more and more people in the developing world. We have to build on it — by seeking more funding, creating cheaper drugs with fewer side effects, and designing more practical diagnostics."

I had a similar revelation -- (BLOWN AWAY) when I came across this "before ARV and after ARV" ("Anti-retroviral" drugs) picture.

I can't upload the picture to this site, but PLEASE TAKE A LOOK! It shows exactly how ARVs are working. CLICK HERE AND GO TO GOAL #6. If you don't want to listen to the 2-minute slide show movie (11 slides), just click on Slide #8. That picture completely altered my understanding of what is possible with meds.

The "before" guy is just a skinny, sad hopeless case of someone who's going to die. The "after" guy -- one year later -- is so full of light and vibrance....I keep thinking he can work a farm now, and raise his kids so his old mom doesn't have to step into his boots.

When a reporter asked Gates how much all this would cost, Gates said, "The amount of money that's required for universal treatment or the things around prevention far exceed the amount that any individual government, certainly any foundation, can possibly provide....Obviously the AIDS epidemic is going to require all actors, particularly governments, to dig deep and make this a high budgetary priority."

Last thing I'll share about AIDS -- I went out with the account team Thursday night. (I'm at Ogilvy now). There were free drinks. I didn't eat because there were a lot of wings and I don't eat meat, but I had three red wines -- my limit before I get really stupid. My new work buddy Gretchen, I would have to say had at least four drinks, because she said she went home and cooked up a grilled cheese, plopped down with her sandwich to talk to her husband and shortly thereafter, fell off the bed.

Anyway, when I got home I flipped on the news and caught a segment on HIV treatment in South Africa. Apparently, they have access to treatment, but there's some serious misguidance in public health education. What is it? Well, the Health Minister there, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has made nutrition and natural remedies a cornerstone of her AIDS policy.

To put that in perspective, experts generally say that patients should start ARV treatment when their CD4 cell count, a measure of immune system response, drops below 350.

The minister of health, who represents government policy is telling the estimated five million South Africans who are HIV-positive that they should deal with maintaining their health if CD4 counts are higher than 200. The official prescription for doing that consists of garlic, beetroot and olive oil. If that's not working so well, try adding lemon. Obviously, that program tastes bad and is costing a lot of lives.

So, that was a big eye opener. And a downer. I was looking at this woman, the health minister, and wondering if she would be promoting the same prescription to her own baby or husband or parent if they got HIV. I don't know.

South Africa had an exhibit at the Toronto AIDS conference -- featuring displays of garlic and other natural foods along with anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. I read it was stormed by supporters of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), South Africa's most vocal AIDS activist group. Apparently, they tried to seize the garlic and other foodstuffs from the display, damaging part of the exhibit. (Policy.org.za, 8/19/2006)

In two weeks (8/27/06), I will run the first-ever New York Half Marathon -- that's 13.1 miles. It's going to be an amazing race! Paul Tergot of Kenya is running -- he won the New York Marathon last year.

Catherine Ndereba, another amazing Kenyan and Olympic Silver Medalist, will also be running.

Prize for top female is $10,000. Catherine will probably beat me because she's wicked fast and I'm kind of fat and out of shape. But that's not stopping me! I am dedicating myself these next two weeks to raise $5,000 for the "Raising Malawi" project. On 8/27/06 I will make a donation to help the orphans in Malawi, Africa who live in extreme poverty.

PLEASE JOIN ME IN THIS RACE!

Make a donation to: www.raisingmalawi.org (please let me know amount so I can count it against my goal). Or, make checks out to "Raising Malawi".

What is the Millennium Villages Project: Raising Malawi?

It's a practical plan to end extreme poverty in one of the poorest villages in the world. The funds I am raising are going to the village of Gumulira, where malaria, HIV/AIDs, high infant mortality and hunger are all part of the lives of the 5,000 people who live there. Using simple solutions like bed nets, inexpensive medicines, seeds and fertilizer, the people of this village will soon be on the road to self-sustained growth. (www.raisingmalawi.org)

My new personal hero Jeffrey Sachs endorces this effort -- it's his brainchild, afterall.

www.raisingmalawi.org is working again.

I just made the first $5,000 donation!

Which I dedicate to Martin and Dougie (see first Blog entry).