That little guy is my brother - he is sometimes very serious. He's sitting with my Uncle Jess on a gracious porch in Barnhart, Missouri. That coffee cup that Jess is drinking from is now in my parent's cabinet, my brother and I both like to drink from it when we're home. What you can't see in the picture is that my brother's curls are red.

My big brother's birthday is 10/15! So I thought I'd take a moment to list some really fantastic things about him - since we used to watch David Letterman together (the development of my sense of humor owes alot to Jimmy) we'll go with a top 10.

10. We have a New Years' tradition of beating pie pans - my brother once dragged a date across Houston, just to keep his promise to his baby sister that he'd be home to beat the pans. Just one of the places I learned what a promise meant.

9. He taught me that patience is often worth the pay off - we'd spend hours setting up a whole suitcase of little green army men in his room, in which the frequent mess provided lots of room for trenches and cover, then we'd shoot them with rubber bands.

8. He was always willing to beat Super Mario Brothers' level 3 and then let me keep on playing.

7. The man introduced me to Saturday Night Live.

6. At my first soccer game, when I got conked in the head with the ball, he ran onto the field and picked me up. Also he read to my kindergarten class, which made me roughly the coolest kid ever.

5. He (and his wife) once surprised me for my birthday by driving all the way to Texas.

4. He is the only person who can make me laugh so hard I cry for no reason at all, including inappropriate places like church services and funerals.

3. He can fly a plane. And he can fly it better than your brother.

2. He loves the Lincoln Memorial as much as I do.

1. My newspaper editor once asked me who my hero was - I answered, "My brother," - I've learned a lot about perseverance and doing the right thing from him.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy! Love you bunches!

And well, here's Sanger:
Choosing to believe the best of people, I don't think Sanger means to be patently offensive in her speech. It seems that she instead passionately believes that children should not come into this world, but that the world be properly prepared to care for them.

I mean, how many people, including myself, have said, "You ought to have a license to be a parent."?

But her suggestions would limit the birth of children only to the well born, and while we'd all like the silver spoon, it's hard not to think that something would be irreversibly lost in that scenario. I mean, by her suggestions there would be no more stories of plucky souls overcoming difficult beginnings, and we do love rags to riches stories.

I find her term "sub normal," particularly offensive - especially when it's only been a recent development that adequate care and education has led the realization that many children with disorders don't need to be institutionalized, that just need different care. Not to mention the tone the term takes on given the technology that is now being used to test and select embryos for implantation.

She and I can at least agree that government involvement is a bad, bad idea.

I guess it takes some amount of stick-to-it-tiveness to promote an idea and new society which Sanger had to have known would never take root - the ultimate impossible pipe dream - a place where all was well for every child, and every parent free to enjoy it.

She probably would have gained more ground, and being better remembered had she promoted adoption, better pre-natal health care, better parent education, and better education for all children.

Weekly Wrap:
Well friends and loyal readers lets just recap the week, shall we:
Monday: In office till 11 p.m. finishing learning plans for students prior to Tuesday launch of reading program.

Tuesday: Uhh - sleepy, office work, reading program - convincing children that reading is both important and fun.

Wednesday: Attend my first ever Yom Kippur at Temple Sinai. Packed house. Beautiful music.

Thursday: Finally attend show at 9:30 club here in DC - I remember sitting in the middle of Missouri and listening to NPR broadcasts of my favorite bands, "Live from the 9:30 club..." and then Thursday I was there at the Of Montreal show. Definitely weird. Great opener. Remembered that I like loud rock and roll.

Friday: Uhh - sleepy, attend open city council meeting on Public Schools Facilities at which City Councilman, Marion Barry is present - no joke. Me and Marion Barry in the same room. Come home after work and sleep.

Saturday: Uhh - wake up. Make some plans. About to implement.

Later yo.

Okay, you know what? Margret Sanger is crazy, and I can't even deal with her speech. So I'm probably skipping it. Look for new speeches soon - if I don't start the project again, I've been told I'll lose my loyal readership.

In other business, on the right hand side under web links, you'll find a link to Little Lights Urban Ministries where I work. It's our brand new website and it has a blog! Where I'll be posting things regularly. Check there later today to see an update on Academic programs.

Cheers,
Sara