Le monde de fromage de Kate

It has been, speaking precisely, an age and a half plus a freckle past a hair since I posted a “Fact of the Day.” Oh, I still get them. But they repeat. And repeat. Or they come through while I’m in the midst of the very important things I do… you know – those things I do… And thus I do not always read them. But today, I was treated to this:

The word “Taiwanese” means “suckled by goats.”

There’s something inherently funny about the phrase “suckled by goats.” Is, too! Okay, to ME then. ENJOY!

In short, please wear yellow and think pink!  Do the first in support of the important cancer awareness, recognition, fund-raising and remembrance activities taking place all around the World for LIVESTRONG™ Day.  The second I’ll talk about tomorrow (in the meantime, please visit the Pink for October website).

As for my LIVESTRONG™ Day activity, I am, even at this late (early) hour not certain I can make it happen.  I will post more information later today.  BUT, never fear, there’s always someone who’s on the ball.  If you visit the LIVESTRONG™ DAY 2009 page you can find an activity in your area in which you can participate.

Lastly, please make a difference with this quick and painless activity: Sign the “Healthcare Reform Now” petition.  Together we can encourage Congress to pass life-saving health insurance measures that would protect cancer survivors and others.  As a special bonus, you can try and find ME (or, rather, a portion thereof) in the photograph on that page (and, evidently, a number of others – I’m the LIVESTRONG™ “Find Waldo,” it seems).

Today is the United Nation’s 27th Annual International Day of Peace. I want to join the World in hoping for PEACE: Peace from War and despair, Peace from political bickering and strife, Peace from illness and suffering – perhaps even Peace of Mind.

I have always loved “A Gaelic Blessing” by John Rutter. It seems like a good “poem” for today:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the gentle night to you.

Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.

Deep peace of Love,
of Love,
The light of the world to you.

Deep peace of Love to you.*

Please also take a look at Peace One Day. Lastly, take a moment to read a lovely poem by Seamus Heaney entitled “Doubletake.” (Thanks to Chari Olmedo for sharing this today!)

*Yes, I must confess that this is the “Unitarianized” version of the song. I sang it that way for many years; old habits die hard.

Last night I ran – yes ran – into a tree. With my head. It knocked me off my feet.

Call me lazy (really – go right ahead if you must – I’ll just lie here and take it), but I think this says it all:

Last month when I started the Tour de France, I asked you to join me in signing the World Cancer Declaration. Your response has been staggering —you and more than 100,000 others added your names to this urgent global push to fight cancer.

In three days, the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit here in Dublin will come to a close. It’s an incredibly rare opportunity to urge some of the most powerful people in the world to commit the time, energy and resources needed to make a world without cancer a reality. And we can do just that if we add 10,000 more signatures to the Declaration before the Summit ends on Wednesday.

Will you ask your friends and family to help us add 10,000 commitments by Wednesday night? It only takes a moment and every name counts:

http://www.livestrongaction.org/campaigns/spread_the_word

Cancer affects all of us. By 2010, cancer is projected to become the leading cause of death worldwide, yet the fight against cancer lacks urgency and focus. That is why we must take matters into our own hands and force cancer onto the global agenda.

The LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit in Dublin will do just that by bringing governments, communities and survivors from all over the world together pushing for new commitments to stem the growing impact of cancer around the globe. Closing this commitment gap is a critical step towards a world without cancer.

We have just three more days to make the World Cancer Declaration as powerful as possible. Every additional name we add will lend weight to our cause; every single new voice adds urgency to our fight. I know we can reach our goal if each and every one of us asks someone close to join the fight.

Will you ask a friend or family member to join us before Wednesday night? It only takes a moment and will make a big difference:

http://www.livestrongaction.org/campaigns/spread_the_word

LIVESTRONG,
Lance and the LIVESTRONG Action Team

P.S. From August 24–26, individuals from all parts of the world are uniting in Dublin, Ireland, for one goal—a world without cancer. Visit our blog for the latest updates from the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit.

How can you argue with that?

Just a quick PSA from The Lance Armstrong Foundation:

Pre-order the LIVESTRONG Guidebook today.

The LIVESTRONG Guidebook is hot off the press. And you have an exclusive chance to pre-order this valuable resource for free this week only.

The LIVESTRONG Guidebook helps guide survivors through the cancer experience from the moment of diagnosis, during cancer treatment and after treatment.

Guidebooks should ship within the next four to six weeks. Future orders will include additional charges, such as shipping and handling. So pre-order the LIVESTRONG Guidebook for free today.

Offer expires August 9, 2009. And if you are feeling sassy, you may use THIS LINK instead of the one above.

I’m realizing that I’m shamefully out of the loop and need to check and see if the LIVESTRONG™ Guidebook replaces the lovely and information-packed LIVESTRONG™ Notebook (of which I have about three billion that I meant to give to anyone who needed or wanted them) or if it is different entirely. I’ll let you know. In the meantime, consider this a very belated announcement, indeed, that if you would like a LIVESTRONG™ Notebook or some LIVESTRONG™ wristbands (or any other information concerning The Lance Armstrong Foundation), please let me know.

A wee bit ago (okay, last September), I asked you to support the LIVESTRONG™ Global Cancer Initiative. Now, with more urgency, I’d like to make the same request. Please consider the following message from Lance Armstrong:

I returned to cycling this year for one reason: to fight for the 28 million people affected by cancer worldwide.

We are making tremendous progress in this fight, but there’s still so much to be done. By next year cancer will be the #1 killer in the world and yet most of the world’s leaders lack any real plan to fight back.

During my 20-day ride in the Tour I’m calling on leaders around the world to make major commitments to fight cancer worldwide – but I can’t do it alone.

As a first step, will you join me and sign the World Cancer Declaration – a major global push to pressure the world’s leaders to act now on cancer?

http://livestrongaction.org/campaigns/commit-fight-cancer

As an added incentive, a donor has pledged to give $30,000 if we can collect 30,000 signatures before the end of the Tour.

I’ll send these signatures to world leaders after the Tour de France and pressure them to make cancer a priority in their own countries. It’s our best chance to push for better treatment, more funding for cancer research and access to care for everyone around the world.

Without your commitment, these leaders won’t pay attention. Will you sign the declaration then ask your friends and family to do the same?

Do it for family or friends. Do it for strangers. Do it for those who have fought and won and those who we have lost to this insidious disease. Do it for yourself or for your children. Do it for the World.

I have a list far too long of people to whom I could dedicate this declaration. Today, I choose two survivors:

The Bride dances with her Father-in-Law.

It’s not the most transcendentally beautiful wedding shot, but that is SUCH a “Sarah” expression that I went with it anyway. What we’ve really got in the image is Sarah dancing with her new Father-in-Law. I’ve written ad nauseum about Sarah’s cancer journey – like this. Dennis is another story. Dennis has thyroid cancer (well, technically, I believe they’re to the point that they will say he “HAD” thyroid cancer). He had surgery (and complications) during the wedding planning phase, at the insistence of medical officials. He put off, however, the next phase of the treatment (during which the patient becomes radioactive – literally) until after Robert and Sarah’s wedding (and a close cousin’s wedding a week after their wedding) so he wouldn’t miss anything. He was exhausted; he felt horrible, but he still was there for them.

So please – PRETTY PLEASE – go to the LIVESTRONG™ Action Page and sign the declaration and dedicate your signature to someone who is or was there for you. It will only take a moment, but the impact could last a lifetime. THANK YOU!

P.S. BONUS! My thigh is in the main picture on that webpage. Seriously. My left thigh, my Summit badge and a small portion of my shirt.

UPDATE, November 12, 2009: I apologize, but my thigh, et al. are no longer a part of the aforementioned page. On the landing page you will, however, see a bit of my “Back-East” Hair and LIVESTRONG™ hand. A different viewpoint of my ultra-powerful LIVESTRONG™ hand is also on the page to which you click through.

Things have been stressful of late, I admit (and I don’t mean the same normal, crazy, colourful stress – rather super-sized, call the authorities, it’s STRESS type), but today a lil’ something happened to ameliorate this condition. I came upstairs, after an especially grotesque change of the litter box, which needed ever-so-much more than just the Burt’s Bees shower cap (bedecked, naturally, with bees) and dirty clothes I pulled off the floor; I needed a Hazmat suit – a full on Hazmat suit. (NOTE: The grotesqueness is entirely due to my neglect and not the hygienic habits of my Kitten Children. Had they opposable thumbs, they’d so take care of it in a timely fashion.)

Anyhoo, I walked upstairs, and there was a package on the kitchen counter for me. I was a little perplexed: I have taken care of many of the orders necessary for Sarah’s Super Wedding Reception Butterfly Extravaganza™, but all the various shoes have long since arrived, the butterfly cages shipped quickly, my phone upgrade came, the bubbles with butterfly tops are here, the disposable cameras decorated with silver butterflies came with those, the personalized, embossed napkins (lavender with BUTTERFLIES and such), the Victoria’s Secret order, the printer ink, Shirleen’s phone upgrade, an order from Drugstore.com, etc., etc. – all have arrived. It’s too early for the live butterflies coming from Florida and the package was much too small and there was obviously no dry ice inside.

But there it was – addressed to me, C/O Bartholomew Consulting Services. And what to my wondering eyes should appear, ShamWow®s!

The Bartholomew Consulting Services part is a tad bit confusing. I have, in the past, ordered many supplies for Bartholomew Consulting Services. However, the President of Bartholomew Consulting Services and I are currently at an impasse as to the terms for this year’s Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Short Course. I’m going to lose out this time to someone who’ll work dirt cheap (too cheap, I assure you) and will kiss a*#. Oh- sorry. A little bitterness leaked out there. Let me mop that up with a mini ShamWow®.

But if the President of Bartholomew Consulting Services orders something by himself, he does not use my name; he just uses the billing address. And the billing address entails that his name is spelled right and that the name of the company is spelled wrong (long story). So it’s just a delicious mystery. ShamWow® Angels?

The package came directly from the ShamWow® Company. It states right on the package that it contains four large ShamWow® cloths, four mini ShamWow® cloths and the special ten-year warranty (cum instruction sheet). No invoice. Well, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth (?). I’m just going to send my extreme gratitude out to the Universe and wrap myself in a cocoon made of ShamWow® cloths of both sizes and slip off to dream-land.