I've Moved

"Move along people. Nothing to see here."


I've switched to a new blogging platform called Posterous. Now you can see all my Facebook, mobile pics/video, Twitter and regular blog posts all in one place. Please update your bookmark to this.

Thanks.

Uno, Dos, Tres, Catorce!

Monger Hope

There's a running joke between me and my good friend Dawn about my hometown Belton. I always claim that Belton is like the island in "LOST" -- everyone who passes through it is somehow brought back to you again in the future. Case in point.

About a year ago, I read what would become one of my favorite books of all-time, "Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds" by Tom Davis. It calls us to pay attention to the, well, red letters in the Bible. If we focused on those letters and didn't get so wrapped up in the politics of who's right and who's wrong, church committees about committes and new building campaigns to build bigger and newer buildings, we'd see a call to live a life that loves and serves the "least of these" with laser-like focus. The orphans, the widows, the prisoners, the strangers on the other side of the street we tend to cross the street to avoid. It's a simple message, but it rocked my world.

Fast forward a few months later. I was talking to another good friend from Belton, Kristi, about an amazing book I had read called "Red Letters." She said, "You know Sam Henry that we went to high school with is really involved in that movement." Movement? Come to find out, Sam had gone on a trip to Africa with author Tom Davis and was a founding member of a grassroots movement called "Red Letters Campaign." Kristi had listened to a talk at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor where Sam spoke about the RLC. She was talking about how passionate and gifted he was about reaching out to the less fortunate, especially in Africa.

I started doing some research and discovered a site called hopemongers.org that was just in it's infancy stages. It was nothing more than a static "brochure" website at the time. I befriended Sam on Facebook and things took off from there. He needed help writing some web copy and with marketing/PR. I've been helping out a few hours each week. Yesterday, HopeMongers officially launched. Check out the press release here. Sam believes so much in this, he left his job at Microsoft to dedicate his life to this. He even got HopeMongers to be a part of Microsoft's Employee Giving Campaign. Every dollar a Microsoft employee donates through HopeMongers is matched dollar for dollar by Microsoft.

What is HopeMongers?

Think of it as a marketplace for non-profits. Instead of writing a check to a charity X and hoping the money reaches project Y that you're really passionate about, you go online to HopeMongers and decide to fund X amount of dollars for a specific project. Right now, there are four national non-profits signed up with many more on the way. As of launch time, there were more than $1.1 million in projects requiring funding with many, many more in the pipeline. They range from digging clean water wells in Haiti to paying for start-up costs at a community garden in Uganda. One of my favorite projects is here.

You can donate as little as $10. But HopeMongers is more than just giving money. It's about connecting to a larger group of people who share your passion for child sex trafficking, clean water, orphans or education access. You can join a Cooperative and be connected to like-minded people who blog, host parties, hold fundraisers and take trips to change the world. There are even direct links on the site to post projects to Facebook and Twitter. Did you give $20 to fund a playground for orphans? Post it to Facebook. Tweet it. Like most of us, we all want to help, we just don't know how to go about doing it. HopeMongers is helping make that easier.

Some of you may be familiar with "Katie in Uganda." She has several projects for funding in Uganda. There's also video of her and her beautiful kids in the Cooperative section.

So if you read this blog, I urge you to visit HopeMongers. If you blog, consider adding a HopeMongers badge to your site. Get a badge here.

Find a project. Give $10. See the Impact.

And here's the best part. HopeMongers is staffed by an all-volunteer staff. No overhead is taken out of your donation.

UPDATE: Recent article written by Direct Marketing News about HopeMongers. Read it.

Steve Harvey Introduces Jesus

Protect Insurance Companies PSA

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Uncle Walter -- Part 2

Uncle Walter

Back from Thailand...Sort Of

Well, it's been almost a week since my return to the States. It's great to be home, but I do miss our group and the camaraderie. I don't know if I've laughed so hard or had so much fun in my life. It was truly the best vacation EVER.

My sleep pattern is something else I miss. I've lived the life of an insomniac the since being home and totally empathize with those who suffer from sleep issues. Since being back, my normal sleep pattern looks like this: wake up around 5 am bright eyed and ready for the day; hit a wall around 5 pm; sleep from 6 pm-9 pm; stay up until 1 am and then try to get back to bed. The past two days have gotten better, and I've only resorted to Ambien twice (half-pill only). No intervention is required yet.

Here are some photos from the trip.

The final part of our trip was so relaxing. We stayed at the Zeavola resort. There are only 48 rooms so we felt like we really escaped from civilization. One night, Dawn and I decided to visit Ton Sai village for shopping. We asked the concierge how to catch a taxi. Come to find out there were no roads leading to or from the hotel. We had to take a 45-minute water taxi (and inhale about the carbon dioxide) of a longtail boat to reach civilization. Aside from that one excursion, we stayed at Zeavola from Tuesday until Friday.

The one bit of disturbing news -- not just for us -- but the for entire country was reading the front page of the local newspaper on our arrival to Ko Phi Phi. I took a photo of it and pasted it below. Check out the bottom headline! The only warning buoy in Andaman Sea alerting Thailand to tsunamis is not working. The buoy which was paid for by a grant from USAID has non-functioning battery. The Thai government doesn't have enough money to pay for a replacement. Come to find out, the cost to replace it is roughly $5,000 USD.

The Island

We made it to our final stop on the trip. We're planting at Ko Phi Phi until Friday afternoon. We took a 2-hour boat ride from Phuket this morning to Ko Phi Phi Don (the larger of the two islands). They circled Ko Phi Phi Leh where "The Beach" was filmed. We're loving the resort. There is a mother and daughter staying here from Austin. The daughter lives in Steiner Ranch. The mother is from Belgium.

Updated photos (toward the end)

Finished REI portion of trip. Now on to Phuket and beach. We had final goodbye dinner with group last night. Five of us were on the same Thai airways flight this afternoon. The final boat to Ko Phi Phi island (where out resort is located) left at 2:30 pm. Our flight didn't land until 2:45 pm so we're spending Monday in Phuket. One of our REI campers from Durham, NC, is letting us stay with her at the Royal Phuket Yacht Club on Nai Harn Beach (south tip of island). The resort is sending a taxi at 7:15 Tuesday morning to take Dawn and me to the island. We spent the afternoon at the beach.

Pic link below shows hill tribe eco-lodge in Chang Dao. This us where we stayed on Saturday night after our bike rides. We biked to and toured some caves where monks lived 300 years ago.

http://yfrog.com/3opdbj

Almost done with REI portion of trip. Kayaked 6 miles on Friday and mountain biked 41 miles since then. Definitley ready for another $2 Thai foot massage. We stayed at an small eco-lodge last night with Western toilets but no electricity. I'll post photos to Facebook when I have Internet. No stomach bugs. Feel great. We leave for Phuket tomorrow at 12:35 pm. Ready for some lazy beach time.

Back in outskirts of Chiang Mai at Royal Ping resort. Hiked 15 miles in past two days and stayed in remote hill tribe villages last two nights. Locals put us up in their longhouse. Today is first day with electricity and western toilets since Tuesday morning. Biking tomorrow. Resting this afternoon by pool. Having rice for every meal. Walked through tea and coffee plantations today. Local villagers are cuttin tea leaves and selling them at market. Feel great. No sickness. Love to all.

About to leave Padeng village. Slept in longhouse with no electricity. Had mosquito nets and sleeping bags. Village is home to about 80 Lahu people who migrated from Tibet about 80 years ago. Village surrounded by coffee bean plants. Twelve-mile hike to next village about to start.

Day 1 Excursion

Today we hiked about 5 miles in the hills west of Chiang Mai. We saw rice, corn, bananas, coffee, starfruit, sugar cane, peanuts, pineapple, ginger and some variety of Thai plums. It was really hot and really humid but we took lots of water breaks and a lengthy lunch break. I've posted some photos of the trip so far to Facebook. It's a public page viewable to anyone.

Tomorrow we pack for two days in our backpacks. We'll ride elephants in the morning and do more hill trekking in the afternoon. The next two nights we're in longhouses which don't have electricity so this may be the last post for a few days. Everything is going really well. No stomach bugs or travel sickness. Love to all.

Sunday Night

Here's a picture from the back of the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We arrived safely on the train this morning and met up with the rest of our group. Our group is made up of a father (surgeon) and son (pre-med student) from Spokane, Washington; two friends (both nurses) from Denver; a mother and daughter from Seattle; a husband (Centers for Disease Control) and wife from New Mexico; and a girl our age from Durham, NC.

Today we visited the Doi Suthep temple in the hills of Chiang Mai where remains of Buddha are enshrined in a gold globe. I had to buy long pants. Shorts and sleeveless shirts (basically anything showing skin) are forbidden inside the temple.

We visited a market this afternoon and had Thai foot massages ($2 for 30 minutes). It felt wonderful. We sampled some fruit purchased in the flower and food market and even tried fried grasshopper and silkworm larvae. I didn't go back for seconds. The grasshopper tasted like earthy sand and the larvae was juicy.

Tomorrow we do a 5-mile hike and return to the hotel before trekking out for more rustic accommodations.

About two hours from Chiang Mai. Train ride is good.We have an upper and lower bunk. Private sleeping car with sink. Everything here is really cheap. We hired a taxi driver in Bangkok to drive us anywhere we wanted for $30 the entire day! Bottled water is 18 cents.

A Class Act -- Great Aunt Martha

Martha W. James, 91, passed away early Friday morning, July 17, at Seton Medical Center in Austin. Weed-Corely-Fish Funeral Home of Austin was in charge of arrangements with burial in North Belton Cemetery.

Ms. James was born in Belton to Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. James Sr., in the family home on North Penelope Street. She graduated valedictorian from Belton High School and received her undergraduate degree from Mary-Hardin Baylor College in Belton. Afterward, she received her master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. James continued her education at the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor’s degree in library science – a field of study that remained a source of delight and her passion for the remainder of her life.

Ms. James worked as a librarian in Detroit and Sacramento, California, before moving to Philadelphia where she worked as a reference librarian at the University of Pennsylvania until her retirement.

After retirement, Ms. James moved back to Austin and lived at the Westminster Manor where she expanded the library and volunteered her time. Retirement never dampened her spirit for learning, cultural expansion, music and the arts. Ms. James was a frequent patron of the arts traveling to Houston and downtown Austin for ballet, opera and symphony performances.

She attended services at Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin until her health deteriorated.

Ms. James is preceded in death by her parents, sisters Eleanor James and Kathrine James, and brother Robert (Bob) B. James Jr. She is survived by niece Maggie James of Morgan’s Point; nephew Jim James and wife, Sharon, of Temple; and great-nephew Mark James and wife Suzanne, and great-great nephew Luke James of Round Rock, and great-nephew David James of Cedar Park.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Bell Country Museum (201 N Main St. Belton, Texas 76513) or a local library of your choice.

Thailand Update

Where did the time go? It seems like just last week that Dawn and I were at Dominican Joe’s booking the REI Adventures vacation to Thailand. Now it’s less than two week away. I’ve cut and pasted our itinerary while there so anyone who’s interested can check out where we’ll be each day.

I’m planning to use Skype on the iPhone to contact family while there. If that doesn’t work out, I’ve heard lots of people say they’ll just buy a cheap mobile phone and add top-up credits for texting.

So here’s the plan: I fly to Los Angeles on Thursday morning. The Mark James Express has agreed to pick me up early that morning. (Thanks Mark!) Dawn and I rendezvous at LAX and fly to Tokyo later that day. There’s a four-hour layover in Tokyo before catching a flight to Bangkok. We’ll spend the night in Bangkok before boarding the Thai Railway for a 12-hour overnight ride to Chiang Mai. We’ll have about half a day for sightseeing in Bangkok before boarding the train. Once in Chiang Mai, we’ll meet our travel buddies for the next nine days. Our group leader/guide is named Mr. Pan. He’s a local Thailand native who’s been leading tours for 20-plus years. I can already tell I’m going to like this guy.

For the next nine days, the group of 10 will travel around the northern province with a mix of hiking, biking, boating and canoeing. Some of the schedule stops include an elephant sanctuary, a tea plantation, northern hill tribes and several Buddhist temples where we can interact with the monks.

After those nine days, Dawn and I will catch a flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket where we’ll take a ferry to Ko Phi Phi Island. This where the resort is located. We’ll remain for the rest of the trip. We’ll likely catch a ferry back to Phuket every now and then for excursions and “city life.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad about my absence from Africa this year. It’s the first time in more than 2 ½ years I haven’t been planning for Zambia. I feel guilty for ditching my boys I’ve grown so close to these past two summers. My parents sponsor Isaac, one of the young boys in my group. In a recent letter he asked if Uncle David would be visiting him again this year. It broke my heart. But I know I’ll be over there again. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later.

View Thailand itinerary here.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's passing. This is still sad to me. I enjoyed watching "CBS Sunday Morning" today and seeing different takes on MJ's legacy. A contributor to CBS and Rolling Stone talked about the eras of 20th century music that I found fascinating.

Elvis came onto the scene in the 50s and started "pop music." Glitz and glam ruled. That lasted for almost 20 years until the Beatles arrived with their long hair, anti-establishment and anti-glam look. That lasted until the early 80s when Michael Jackson resurrected the pop music genre again. Looks mattered. Image mattered. Dancing mattered. The whole package mattered again. According to this critic, we're still living in the MJ era where music, looks and marketing matters. That was almost 30 years ago. I think that speaks volumes to MJ's legacy.

I remember growing up Mark, myself, Ben and Rachel (our best friends) would put on "Thriller" in our bedroom record player and just listen to it for hours. We admired the baby tiger on MJ's lap and would play "concert" based entirely on that album. In 1984, I wore out our VCR watching and re-watching the American Music Awards featuring MJ, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Lionel Ritchie, Huey Lewis and Tina Turner. That was the same night "We Are the World" was recorded. That same year I remember having a black MJ folder that I'd keep inside my Trapper Keeper.

My memories aren't anything special. They're probably not even that different from 90 percent of the population. I downloaded "Thriller" yesterday on iTunes. It was a comforting feeling for some reason. I hope others are enjoying the same feeling this week.

My Favorite Photo

I love this photo of Luke and me leaving our hotel yesterday.  He was such a trooper.  He flew on the plane like, "What's the big deal?"  Disney was a blast. I love family vacations. I can't imagine the Disney experience without LBJ.