Sunday, May 25, 2008

Stephi is not enthused about 3rd try with Neupogen.

Hi Everyone, This is Sibyl,

Stephi is not yet looking at the third time
is the charm with Neupogen. Sometimes
in combination with another powerful
element( like the Human Growth Hormone
that will be administered), real chemistry can
be achieved. I told her about foie gras and a
sip of vintage vinegar and how the explosion
in your mouth occurs..She gave me that, "oh,
God, you are weird" look. I guess
you have to have been there.

This weekend Stephi is staying at Ken's in the
evening. The two of them are on their way
over to the house now to exchange seasonal
clothing for Ken. It is very hot today in KC.
While she is here, Stephi wants me to change
the bandage on her catheter.

We heard from Linda, who will be returning on
Wednesday. She will be going with us to the Team
meeting on Thursday, with all the good questions
her sharp mind can form. She said she could
stay for a bit longer this time. Linda is always welcome.

On Friday, Stephi, Linda and I will go over to Ken's
apartment to host Dinner and a Movie. This is David
Frost's Alpha Course and we are being guided through
it by Reverend Bryan Dahms and his wife Paula. We met
once already,. I thought Ken would enjoy this as well so
suggested we meet at Brighton Gardens.

I will add a comment to this blog to talk about my
New York trip and all that occurred for my friends
who are following Stephi's path.

Oh, and my daughter Phaedra is on the mend after
her surgery. Hooray for Hollywood!

Love,
Sib
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1 comment:

Sibyl Masquelier said...

How does anyone have a bad time in Manhattan? Even when other things are disappointing in life, I get to the city, and worlds open for me.
The first of my two days were travel, checking into my favorite Broadway hotel (Marriott Marquis) and then picking up a half priced Orchestra third row center ticket to see Lawrence Fishbourne in Thurgood, a one man play about Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall. It was wonderful. I sat between a professor of African American studies and a really knowledgeable gay guy.. My mind was aglow for the rest of the trip. On the next day, I had lunch with my buddy, Jonathan Thompson with whom I have been friends for over 35 years(We worked together at the Miami Herald..he went on the NY Daily News, Family Circle, numerous other magazines and then as an owner, he hired me to staff the four Rumbo newspapers in Texas.) Met with a potential client who assured me he wants to work with me and then, tada, what I came for: Women's Enews/ Martha Stewart Omnivision Gala 21 Leaders for the 21st Century. I knew several of the winners all ready but the biggest prize went to my very dear friend and sponsee,Cristi Hegranes. Her award was the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism.

Ida B. Wells
1862-1931
AntiLynching Journalist
Women's Rights Advocate
On May 21 1889, the newspaper owned by Ida B. Wells in Memphis, TN, was burned to the ground in response to her editorial condemning the lynching of three of her friends.
Wells, born into slavery, fled Memphis and continued her reporting on Southern injustices, being especially active in investigating and exposing the fraudulent "reasons" given to lynch black men , common in the 1890's.
A former schoolteacher, Wells became a national figure in the anti-lynching movement and wrote "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases".
She also became a tireless worker for women's suffrage and joined in the famous 1913 march for universal suffrage in Washington DC
Throughout her life, she continued her passionate writings about lynching and for women's rights. In 1930, a year before her death, she ran for a seat in the Illinois state legislature, becoming one of the first African
American women to stand for public office.

Cristi Hengranes
"Raiser of Women's Voices"
Cristi Hegranes could not escape the idea that her definition of journalism was different than the journalism she had prcticed on a daily basis as a foreign correspondent and reporter in San Francisco.
She recalled a moment in Nepal when she was talking to a local woman and decided to hand her pen and paper over, saking her to narrate her own story.
From encounters like these, Hegranesdreamed up the idea of a nonprofit that would enable women in developing regions to become reporters and produce fair journalism that accurately reflected their lives and issues.
"I realized a women-centered program would do the most for disseminating information and empowering the community," she says.
With only her determination, she founded the Press Institute for Women in the developing World in 2006 (www.piwdw.org) running it out of a loft above her Bay area apartment.
Hegranes quit her job at the San Fancisco Weekly and put together a business plan, surpassing her initial goals by raising $250,000 in 18 months, more than twice what she planned.
"It is an idea whose time has come. Globally, people are hungry for information that comes with no strings attached."
A Board of twelve volunteers helped her start a journalism traing program in rural Mexico (San Cristobel de la Casa, Chiapas)serving mostly indigenous women and later another program in Nepal. When they interview applicants for the five slots in each location, Hegranes says the is a 'line around the block".
Hegranes designed a weeklong journalism curriculum that emphasizes the basics of News and feature reporting as well as developing self-Awareness and eliminating bias. the women the have a six month period of beginning reporting, where they work extensively on their first stories--writing, reporting editing and re-writing--and a six month advanced stage. After that, they are hired as senior reporters by the Press Insitiute.
Their reporters give stories away to local radio stationsto help spread the news beyond the literate and have gained access to space in some national and local media. They also have a newswire online. The Press Insitute is about to open its third country, Rwanda.
Hegranes says the Press Institute also changes women's lives and lifts them out of poverty."The unemployed, street workers, domestic laborers; they live in a society where they are utterly disrespected," Says Hegranes, who is 27. "I am blown away every day to see them choose journalism and use it to evevate themselves."

My next breakaway trip wil be during the second week of July,
when denis can cover KC for me.
Back up in Camden, Maine, I am Chair of the Literary Garden Party of Maine Writers and Publishers. Don and Patrisha McLean (Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie)have graciously agreed to host the fundraiser. Phaedra is going to fly in for this one.
Last years party at Tess Gerritsen's house was so perfect.
May it happen again!!!
Love,
Sib

May 25, 2008 at 11:57 AM

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