One of my best friends from high school days, Emy Louie, will be doing a book-signing with her co-author, Nancy Bolts, of their new book, Fast Trains. Come see her this Sunday, February 10th, at Busboys & Poets from 6-8pm. Three words to entice you: High Speed Trains!
I woke up early Sunday and reached for the radio button and got to listen to the soothing, reassuring voices of Krista Tippett, host of On Being, and Jane Gross, creator of The New 
York Times’ New Old Age blog, talk about the emotional journey of taking care of an aging, aged, and dying parent. The episode is called The Far Shore of Aging (you can listen to the entire, unedited episode below in the embed) and is a mandatory listen for everyone: both those pre-, mid-, and post-caregiving. While all the recent reports on NPR and this episode almost mock me as they have all aired post my mum’s passing, this show acted like essential balm, an ointment that soothed some persistent feelings of failure, regret, ineptitude, and guilt. Not that they’re healed, but it was very helpful to realize, over time, that most everyone who has seen a parent through sickness, aging, agedness, dying, and death has gone through these same feelings of missing the mark. It was interesting, as an only child, to listen to Ms. Gross talk about going through the death of her mother alongside her brother.
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Children looking forward to watching the Sesame Street’s YouTube Channel were given a rude awakening when they came across porn, Sunday evening, October 16th. The channel was hacked; all the original videos were taken down and replaced with X rated material, as well as the text and the background changed. The disturbing images were definitely not suitable for children and I’m sure it confused and angered quite a few people. Although the channel was only hacked for 20 minutes, I think many of us would agree that’s far too long on a children’s YouTube Channel.
We can thank Google for the quick discovery, and immediately taking down the site. There are leads on the hackers, however the hacker listed “MrEdxwx” has denied responsibility.
The channel is back up now and to it’s original form. Currently featuring a video on bullying. That just goes to show that if the Sesame Street Channel can be hacked, ANYONES channel can. So, moral of the story, as always, be careful online and keep you passwords and account information protected.