A Day of Service

No matter where you live, you can participate in the first official activity for the Inauguration. That is, a day of service to honor Dr. King on his official holiday, 21 January 2013 (today is his actual birthday). Search here for an event in your area (or just do something on your own). If you have or will be looking after small children for the holiday, here is last year's post. (photograph via Pinterest)

Book of Life Butterflies

Artist David Kracov was commissioned to create an award to be given in honor of, and named for, the late director of Chabad's Children of Chernobyl. Called the "Book Of Life," it was inspired by the extraordinary life of Rabbi Yossi Raichik, a man who saved thousands of children's lives from the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster. The metal sculpture has pages filled with words from those he touched, and also features a flurry of butterflies, each representing the 2,547 children he helped save and give new lives. --via My Modern Met

The rest of the post & David Kracov's website. The photographs there are much larger & gorgeous. So beautiful & inspiring!

ciao-meow/GGCM

(photograph by David Kracov via My Modern Met)

Happy Birthday, Madiba!

Celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day by visiting the Mandela Foundation website. Find out what you can do to emulate a true hero & an inspiration every single day. Happy birthday!

ciao-meow/GGCM

(photograph by Alet van Huyssteen via Mandela Foundation)

Have a Classic Saturday

Several Jeanne Moreau films are available on Netflix Instant right now. If you can't get out to the movies tonight, that would be a great bet. You can sign up & watch right away (no, we do not work for Netflix!) Jules et Jim is available until Tuesday, the 21st. After that it will be DVD only for awhile. Have a great Saturday!

ciao-meow/GG Film Central

(photograph via Jeanne Moreau Is My Hero - same here!)

Good Grace

A GG Central favorite - fellow cat lover Grace Coddington. Read a terrific new interview in Intelligent Life.com. If you are a Netflixer of the Instant Variety, The September Issue is available on demand. It's just the thing to escape for a bit during this stressful time. (The fun of a fashion magazine with none of the stress: we'll take it.)

ciao-chic-meow/GG Style Central

(British Vogue, August 1962 by Carapetian)

Strawberry Fields Forever

Visit Imagine Peace & send your best wishes in honor of John's 70th birthday. Also, remember to play The Beatles (always!) & dance wildly like Giulia. (It helps.)   
ciao-peace-meow/GG & her editor

Anne Frank's 80th Birthday - Week's End

UPDATE - Sunday, 14 June 2009. Until further notice, no comments can be accepted on this blog. Please do something to counteract hatred in your part of the world--non-violently. Thank you.

We so wish that Anne were alive & celebrating with Margot on a summer's beach holiday. Please visit the Anne Frank Museum Amsterdam official website. There is much to interest people of all ages. Please educate yourselves, as well, about the uptick in activity & membership in hate groups.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is renowned for tracking hate groups & individual haters (& bringing successful suit against them when legally possible); you can visit them here. They are a dedicated & inspiring group of people. And, of course, please visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (lower-right sidebar); the staff needs your support, moral & otherwise, especially this week.

"One single Anne Frank moves us more than the countless others who suffered just as she did, but whose faces have remained in the shadows. Perhaps it is better that way: if we were capable of taking in the suffering of all those people, we would not be able to live."
Primo Levi

[Anne Frank at desk photo credit; Anne & Margot at the beach; these credits will be updated as soon as possible as blogs & periodicals are not original sources of any Anne Frank images, as far as we know.]

Never Again: What You Do Matters

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
— Elie Wiesel

The Days of Remembrance this year are 19-26 April. Holocaust Remembrance Day, this year is tomorrow, Tuesday, 21 April 2009. (See here for explanation of date system & for 5 Things You Don't Know about Anne Frank.) See here for this year's theme (Never Again: What You Do Matters), activities, & reading from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. President Obama will give the annual memorial speech in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, 23 April. We will listen closely for his thoughts about Darfur. There is a fascinating exhibit at the USHMM on Nazi Propaganda; you can make a virtual visit if you're not planning to be in DC anytime soon. (photo credit)

Note: Unfortunately we cannot allow comments or back-links to/on this post. We are very sorry but cannot risk the possibility of a recurrence of what happened with the Rwanda post.

Moreau inspiration

Speaking of Jeanne Moreau (we were, here). Update - also on GG's editor's site, here.

Baci, ciao-meow, GG

(Scanned from treasured Vogue Italia, Ottobre 2003. Cinema Stills photostory, Steven Meisel/collage by GG)

Odetta, 1930-2008

Odetta was one of those people who seemed immortal. It's sad that she won't be alive to attend the Inauguration. She was very excited to see Obama's election, though, & that is some consolation. Here Odetta's page on the Folk Music Archives Organization website. Maya Angelou said it best: "Thank you Odetta, for continuing to define and enlighten our load."

xoxo,
GG Central

Dr. Ashis Brahma

Well, goodness. Where to start with Ashis Brahma? He's currently in Uganda with the Phoenix Global Humanitarian Foundation; see here for their projects. It's a wonderful group of people. They have a Facebook page & would love for you to join them. The photo collage at bottom shows Ashis having/making fun, which he seems to be able to do just about anywhere. This is especially important when he's working in IDP camps like Oure Cassoni, Chad (first photo) on the border with Darfur, Sudan. Ashis will return to the States on another speaking tour starting in January. We'll post the full itinerary later, but if you live in or near Washington, DC, mark off the dates 28-30 January. (Many people will remember Dr. Brahma from the moving 60 Minutes piece The Search for Jacob, here is the link to the video.)

The world needs more Ashis...he can't do it all!

bisou!
GG's editor

photography used with permission of Dr. Ashis Brahma