Twin Cities

Enjoying the Como Park Lily Pond

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Last week I stopped off at Como Park with Milo for a quick walk. I spent most of my time at the Lily Pond, a place that has neither a pond nor lilies. It’s just a 100-year-old empty concrete pond with an old concrete and stone bridge. It’s kind of forgotten among Como Park’s other attractions. I think I enjoy it so much because it has that abandoned feel and hints at something older that’s been lost as the surrounding park has changed around it. I feel history at that bridge in a way I don’t at other old places.

A while back I hung out at the Lily Pond with Lexi, so it seemed appropriate to do it with Milo this time around.

Lexi on the Bridge
July 23, 2007

Kevin & Milo @ the Lily Pond
June 2, 2009

Books, Daily Grind, God, Church & Stuff, Music, Politics, Society, Technology

The Crusades Were a Bad Idea: Let’s Not Do It Again

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Update: I’ve been Snoped. Ouch. It appears the stats in this video are of questionable accuracy. They’re not denied outright, but there are significant questions. Despite all the rhetoric (my own included), perhaps the real question this post should raise is how should we respond to news of the growing population of a different faith? I’d contend that the negative overtones of this video aren’t helpful. End update.

I saw what I consider to be a bat-crazy video today. Take a look and tell me what you think:

Continue reading The Crusades Were a Bad Idea: Let’s Not Do It Again →

Bald Birthday Benefit

It’s Fairly Strenuous

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Up the RiverbankYesterday’s walk to the river was indeed “fairly strenuous.” I’m definitely feeling it today.

I know the two miles I walked yesterday carrying five gallons of water (weighing in at 40 pounds) doesn’t directly accomplish much of anything. When it stops raining and dries out a little bit I’ll just end up dumping that Mississippi River water out on my lawn, maybe use it water my hostas. I’m certainly no hero for doing it. More than anything it’s a good reminder that I need more exercise.

But what I love about it is the feeling of solidarity I get when I see pictures like this or this or this. Now I’ve felt what they go through. I have a tiny taste of what that must be like. It shifts your perspective and puts the whole thing in a whole new light. Knowing what they go through is one thing. Experiencing it is another. And hopefully that experience results in action on their behalf.

In a few days hopefully we’ll have the video up and you can get a better handle for that experience as I huff and puff my way up the river bluff.

Bald Birthday Benefit

Perspective on Water

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As I’ve been talking about water all month I realize that it’s hard to grasp some of the numbers. So let’s get a little perspective. One billion people in this world lack access to clean water.

  • That’s 1 in 6 people.
  • That’s 5 times the number of active users on Facebook (currently at 200 million).
  • That’s 33 times the number of Twitter users (currently at 30 million).
  • That’s more than 3 times the total population of the United States.

Another number I’ve been throwing around is that this lack of access to clean water kills 42,000 people every week (90% of them children). That’s roughly 2.2 million people every year dying from dirty water.

  • That’s more people than HIV/AIDS kills every year (2.04 million, so it’s pretty close).
  • That’s way more people than die in traffic accidents every year (1.27 million).
  • That’s more than the total population of New Mexico (or 15 other states, take your pick).

Just a little perspective for your Monday. You can donate now to help—it only takes $20 to give one person clean water for 20 years.

Bald Birthday Benefit, Media

Walk for Water in the Pioneer Press

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The Pioneer Press did a quick write-up on my Walk for Water stunt in today’s paper. Charity: water gets a nice mention and link, as does the Bald Birthday Benefit (now we can see what kind of bottom-line boost newspaper publicity offers). The article also mentions that we hit the $600-goal in only six days—so hats off to all you folks who helped us get there and those who have kept us going towards that crazy $5,000-goal.

Not a bad story, though I think I’ll win an award for dumbest quote of the year:

Lugging 40 pounds of water “will actually be fairly strenuous,” he said.

Actually? Fairly strenuous? Who is this idiot? Carrying 40 pounds of water two miles up the Mississippi River bluff is going to suck. It shouldn’t be impossible, but for a mostly sedentary guy like myself it won’t be a walk in the park. Guess I need to work on saying something quotable.

Moving on. As a bit of fact-checking nit-pickery, I’ll be carrying the 40 pounds of water two miles, not one mile as the article states. It’s two miles from the Mississippi River to my house. But I understand the confusion. I threw out a lot of information in the 15-minute call I had with the reporter. And I’m complicating things myself because I’m planning to drive down to the river and then walk back with the water. I realize it’s cheating a bit, but accuracy isn’t the goal here. Besides, I’d like to minimize the time and effort required of the folks going with me.

Anyway, it’s pretty cool to get some publicity like this. I hope it leads to more clean water for more people. Remember, it takes only $20 to provide one person with clean water for 20 years. Wish me a happy birthday and donate now. Thanks.

Bald Birthday Benefit

Bald Birthday Benefit Bash: June 13, 2009

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Celebrate the end of the Bald Birthday Benefit by eating tasty tacos and watching Kevin shave his head! This really only appeals to the Twin Citizens in the audience, but on Saturday, June 13 we’ll be celebrating my 30th birthday by shaving my head.

The plan is to eat at Dora’s Mexican Restaurant (formerly Los Cabos, which is still the name on the sign) at 360 Bernard in West St. Paul at 5 p.m. on June 13. Afterward we’ll head over to my place for the head shaving. You’re on your own for supper at Dora’s, but we’ll have snacks and such at my place.

Give me a holler if you plan to make it. No gifts allowed unless they’re donations to charity: water.

Bald Birthday Benefit

Walking for Water

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A couple weeks ago I took a walk. As part of this whole Bald Birthday Benefit raising cash and awareness about water, I’ve wanted to understand a tiny bit of what life is like for the more than one billion people in this world who don’t have easy access to clean water.

When I want clean water I turn to one of the 13 faucets in my house that offers water (that’s sinks, showers and outside spigots), usually with my choice of hot or cold water. The water is clean and pure and I pay very little for it (consequently, there’s little incentive to conserve).

The one billion people who live without clean water aren’t so lucky. Many of them walk as far as three hours per day to get water. And whatever water they need, they have to carry. Imagine spending three hours of your day hauling water back and forth. For every flush of the toilet or extra minute you spend in the shower, imagine if you had to walk three hours to get that water. And the water they get isn’t exactly clean. It’s usually chock full of parasites and disease, killing 42,000 people every week.

It’s kind of insane when you think about it.

Continue reading Walking for Water →

Bald Birthday Benefit

Shaving My Legs for Clean Water

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Clean Water and a Clean ShaveI’ve been amazed at the results of the Bald Birthday Benefit. We shattered the initial $600 goal in only six days and so far given clean water to 57 people. On June 13 I’ll be shaving my head.

But there’s still that pesky $5,000 goal, the cost of a well in Ethiopia. But at this rate we’re not going to make it. So it’s time to up the ante. I’m shaving my head on June 13, but if we can hit $5,000, I’ll also shave my legs.

I realize we’re reaching ridiculous territory here. But why not? This is my last ditch effort to publicly humiliate myself for the sake of charity. And I’m throwing out this final challenge because, honestly, I don’t think you can do it. It would take nearly $300 a day to hit $5,000 (including today, which is almost over). That’s just nuts. It’s not going to happen.

So I’m throwing out this last, crazy challenge with near total confidence that I won’t have to do it. Because seriously—shaving my legs? Not something I need to experience.

Hear that, Internet? I just said you couldn’t do it. You’re not up to it. There aren’t enough people out there who want to see me shave my legs and give people clean water.

If you’d like to make me eat my words, shave my legs and [most importantly] give someone clean water, you can donate now.

But no matter how much we raise, this is going to be the best birthday ever.

Twin Cities

Appreciate Where You Live

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Lexi & Pinky on the TrailI’ve talked before about my soft spot for Detroit, but this Chicago Reader article about cool things to do in Detroit actually makes me want to visit the Motor City. It probably helps that I also have a soft spot for funky art and abandonded/decaying places (i.e., urban prairie and decrepit buildings, though I’ve only ever done urban exploring vicariously).

A visit to Detroit is do-able but unlikely, but the article did make me think more about my current locale and what kind of things here in the Twin Cities would be worth a vacation to check out. That’s kind of a weird concept, imaging where you live as a vacation spot. I usually think of vacation spots as places you have to drive cross country to get to and normal people don’t actually live there. I mean if you lived in a vacation spot, where would you go on vacation?

But weird questions aside, what’s so cool about the Twin Cities?

Continue reading Appreciate Where You Live →

Bald Birthday Benefit

Reflecting on the Bald Birthday Benefit

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So tomorrow will mark the halfway point in this little head-shaving, water-fundraising experiment called the Bald Birthday Benefit. Of course we hit the goal last week, raising $600 and giving clean water to 30 people in only six days. With my birthday still a few weeks away, we upped the goal to a ridiculous $5,000 to see how much more we could raise. At this point, every extra buck is just gravy since I’m still shaving my head for hitting the original goal of $600. And it’s all going to an amazing cause—charity: water.

I’ve been trying to spread the word about the Bald Birthday Benefit any way I can. So far it’s happened primarily online through this blog, Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. I’ve got about 900 followers on Twitter, 600 Facebook friends and I e-mailed about 200 friends. My blog probably reaches the least number of people out of all those methods, and oddly enough, even though all those methods point to my blog, my blog traffic is going to be lower this month than it has in any of the past three months (that’s primarily thanks to weirdly popular entries, like can a state secede from the U.S. and banana allergies).

I’ve been trying to blog and tweet about this a lot, attempting to capture people’s attention and hopefully gain more donations. I realize there are very few people who read every blog post, tweet or Facebook update. It’s very easy to miss one, so I’ve been trying to up the volume in hopes of catching more people. It seems to work, though I’m also very leery of being annoying. There’s a fine line between increasing the frequency and increasing the annoyance factor.

Continue reading Reflecting on the Bald Birthday Benefit →

A work-at-home dad wrestles with faith, social justice & story.