girl crush

i am developing a bit of a girl crush on tory burch. she's in fashion (my secret backup career), has a foundation to support women entrepreneurs and raised money with this beautiful necklace and now this great video (what camera did they shoot this with?) from india. i love people that love india. maybe that's why i hate this guy. well, one of the reasons anyway.

project label

project label generates "social nutrition facts" for varying companies, electronics and even food products. for example, you can look up dell and see how they treat workers, how they manage their waste and how safe their products are. it also reports if slave labor was used in the making of products and consolidates many articles written about the company or product so you can read peer reviews for yourself.

this is a great way to be an informed consumer; you can also compare similar products to see which has a better social impact. the internet is cool.

more from somaly mam

president obama just signed a proclamation declaring january human trafficking prevention month, which coincides with the emancipation proclamation signed january 1, 1863 and also human trafficking awareness day that is already in january. not sure what this accomplishes exactly but a little attention and awareness couldn't hurt. i hope to bring you stories about trafficking that are hopeful, but some are inescapably sad. this one is both.

i've mentioned somaly mam's book and work in cambodia rehabilitating women and girls. now see what she's built and who she's helped for yourself.

the hardest part

i applaud this woman for not only helping girls out of sexual slavery but also for empowering them by training them for strong jobs. it's sad to me that the hardest part of her work is finding acceptance for these women.

cosas: europe

i have lots of pictures of stuff that i'm going to round up and put on the blog because otherwise they just linger in my iphoto. i'll try to refrain from commenting. first up: things from europe.

candy jars schaffhausen, switzerland

happiness schaffhausen, switzerland

cuckoo clocks vaduz, liecthenstein

champignons schaffhausen, switzerland

birds zurich, switzerland

i don't trust it.

my mom doesn't trust the little thingamajiggy in washing machines that you put laundry detergent in. you know the thing that's supposed to release it into the wash or whatever? she doesn't trust that it works, and as a result she doesn't use it. i have inherited that suspicion and whenever i use a real washing machine (oh, the glory days), i can't bring myself to trust the detergent dispenser either. it just seems unnecessarily redundant. why can't i put the detergent on the clothes myself? i wonder.

i have a similarly nonsensical although deep and abiding distrust of europe. i had it before i went, and though phillip scoffed, i have it still. it's just too perfect. it's like they've fixed all their problems in the thousands of years they've been around. it's the pinnacle of our civilization. they even had that rule (to be fair, recently repealed) that banned imperfect produce from being sold. THEY DON'T ALLOW CARROTS TO BE IMPERFECT. the food is clean and safe and regulated to the hilt. the trains are efficient and clean, almost whisper-quiet. the speed limits must be abided -- as ellen's ticket for going merely a few kilometers over the speed limit can attest. there is a relatively fairly even distribution of wealth. people drive sensible, environmentally friendly cars and they have even all (almost) agreed on the governance of the european union. everyone is calm and polite but not particularly friendly and walk calm, thickly furred and not particularly friendly dogs. we should all want to be them. civilized. as i said, zurich is pretty, nearly perfect. all of the cities we visited are quaint and charming and pleasant to be in. you can even drinnk the tap water! i don't trust it.

maybe it's because i'm a problem fixer and there are few problems left to solve in europe. maybe it's because i've lived and traveled in so many developing countries that just can't get their acts together so i don't trust the ones that have. maybe there's something wrong with me. the goal of my job, the goal of developent, is to make countries more developed. not more like europe necessarily, but more organized, safer, cleaner. this is the goal, right? but then when i get to this magical place, this developed and clean and safe place, i don't trust it. it's nice to be there, sure, but what's the point? where are the weirdos? where are the street vendors selling unsafe sushi? where are the dogs that don't look like westminster contestants? the scrawny ones with lice wearing sweaters? why do speed limits even matter? WHERE DO THE BUMPY CARROTS GO?

all that to say i've discovered that i like my cops corrupt, my trains late and my vegetables lumpy. it's good to be back in thailand. happy new year.

greetings from zurich...

... the most perfect place on earth. seriously -- it's like they outlawed ugly and poor. i love it.* it all seems almost orchestrated: the architecture, the views of the alps, the lake, the swans and all of it clean. the colors are even perfect.

the fraumunster church houses stained glass windows painted by marc chagall that inspire worship and praise. the colors, the way the light filters through, the history of the place. the original abbey was founded in 853. holy moly. europe is old.

* of course i don't really "love" it, because poor people are people too. it's just that they're not allowed to live in switzerland so why worry about them now. i got nothing against outlawing ugly, though. way to go, zurich.

constance, meet constance

lake constance (or konstanz or bodensee) is exactly as one would expect. stunning. gorgeous. magnificent. great personality. we visited the lake in three countires - austria, germany and switzerland - to get the full effect. struck by its beauty and splendor, phillip FELL IN LAKE CONSTANCE not once but TWICE. poor thing had to walk around in wet socks and shoes in the freezing cold. as they say in german, karma is a bitch.

i heart liechtenstein

because we COULD and because we're cool like that, ellen, phillip and i went to the microstate of liechtenstein today when we were driving around switzerland. since my mother thinks it's imaginary, i included pictures to prove it. among its many wonderful features, liechtenstein is a tax haven! we considered moving there, and then we realized we live somewhere around the poverty line so there's probably not a lot it could do for us. but it did have cool museums and architecture and is surrounded by the alps. plus, they have the coolest logo of any country i've seen (see the crown on the sign?). if i ever have to go into hiding, i am so going to liechtenstein.

oh tannenbaum!

baum is tree in german. tannen is, uh, christmas joy. i made that second part up. but sounds right. we're in switzerland! the german part of switzerland. phillip's taller and more talented little sister ellen lives here and plays professional volleyball. so we came to be with her and experience a real snow, real european christmas. switzerland is pretty much the antithesis of thailand: super cold, super modern and super expensive. so far we went to a farmer's market, ate a pretzel for breakfast, went to a castle and a waterfall and ate fondue. traditional swiss christmas! maybe not, but it's our swiss tradition.

since we have no adult supervision, the three of us went ahead and opened ALL of our christmas presents! booya! that's my new tradition and old habit - christmas impatience. oh, and phillip gave me tickets to bali!