Vote by 9/1 for Students Run Philly Style

The 2007 Philadelphia Marathon took place on a bone-chilling, drizzly November day. But that didn't deter the endless string of blue T-shirted runners, signaling another Students Run Philly Style teen was tackling his or her first marathon. These are all kids who have turned to running to help them overcome the struggles of what can be a very tough life.

I saw them come by alone and in small groups. Some ran the whole thing, others interspersed walking breaks. All seemed destined to finish.

As one of the slower Philly Style teens came to the water stop at mile 25, she was walking. I offered her some refreshments to carry her through, but she shook her head and didn’t stop. I called after her: “This is your marathon. This is a big deal.” And she started running again. Not fast, but not tortured, either. I don’t know if she ran the rest of the way, but it certainly looked like she could.

If she applies that same determination to her journey through life, she will be capable of just about anything. And that’s the whole point of the program, which uses running to help kids imagine and accomplish goals well beyond their dreams.

The current race for SRPS is to win a share of $2.5 million in the American Express Members Project (for those who make a positive impact in the world). Help them make it to the Top 25 projects by casting your vote by Sept. 1.

What are you really reading?

The old joke about Playboy was that most men claimed they read the magazine for the articles. I make a similar claim about The New Yorker. It's even true. But if TNY ever decided to eliminate its cartoons, I'd have a hard decision to make. Not only do they make me laugh out loud, I can't wait to share them with others.

Take the Alex Gregory cartoon where two dogs are talking. One says: “I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking.”

Yes, just about anyone can blog these days.

And as one who used to walk a dog several times a day, I don't find the idea of canine blogging that outlandish. After all, dogs have been exchanging pee-mail for ages.

Great tips

Too bad life doesn't come with an instruction manual. Although, if it did, I probably wouldn't read the &!#ing thing anyway. Still, I'm always looking for great tips. I figure others must be, too, seeing how often magazine covers are plastered with Top Ten Tips and other quick and easy advice. Well, here's a link to a really useful--and literal--tip guide.

Mindfulness

The always-on, on-demand, accessible-anywhere nature of today's world can make it hard to quiet your mind when it's time to rest. Maybe these can help:

• Watch brainiac (and brain scientist) Jill Bolte Taylor describe her experience with having a massive stroke--and how she dealt with it as it was happening. It's an amazing and touching story. And, yes, I cried. Available on TED.
  
• On a lighter side, try listening to Daby Toure. What language is he singing? Don't know; don't care. It's the melody and the feeling in his songs that captures my heart and lets me unwind.

Not another blogger

The world doesn't need another blogger. At least it doesn't need another "the world according to me" blog. Instead, I intend to share interesting and thought-provoking articles, sites, and ideas in this space. You may already have found this stuff...but maybe, just maybe, you've been a little too busy lately. In that case, here are some great places to start:

• Guy Kawasaki's "How to Change the World--a practical blog for impractical people."
  
• TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design): "Ideas Worth Spreading."
  An amazing collection of talks by some of the smartest, funniest, most interesting people on the planet.
  
• And for those of us who work with words, or just love language, visit BuzzWhack--a guide to demystifying buzzwords.