Last week, I left the US for six months of exploring Europe and Africa. My first stop is on Lesbos Island in Greece, working and living at a refugee camp. This is the first part of a weekly journal that I'll write while staying at the camp.

Dec. 4- Sometimes, despite all observable trends, humanity exhibits glimmers of hope. Since telling friends two weeks ago that I would be be volunteering at a refugee camp, I’ve had supplies shipped from all over the United States. I returned from a family vacation last week to find six large boxes waiting for me.

The rundown:

37 pairs of wool socks
85 pairs of normal socks
16 winter hats
12 pairs of gloves
7 scarves
10 t-shirts
3 sweatshirts
1 pair of moccasins
100+ toothbrushes
52 combs
60 pens
2 large backpacks
30 pounds of dehydrated, vitamin-fortified food
$225 in cash



Everything somehow squeezed inside the two backpacks and weighed in at over 75 pounds. I spent that night packing and saying goodbye to my family and friends as I would head across the Atlantic the next day and not return until June.

Dec. 5– I left for Greece today. I caught the shuttle to Los Angeles International Airport at 3:30 a.m., was in Houston at 11 a.m. local time, and waited there for 10 hours. Buying the cheapest flights isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. After lots of waiting and no real trouble from authorities, I was in Athens at 10 p.m. the night of the 6th. The city was beautiful and the weather was pleasant that night, but my internal clock was so warped that I went straight to bed.

Dec. 7– I met up for breakfast today with Joanna, an energetic New Yorker who just returned from Lesbos Island. We took the metro to an old olympic field hockey stadium that was being used as a refugee camp. The idea was that we would serve breakfast there as it had previously been undermanned.

The stadium’s press office was turned into a clothing depot, the food concourse into a kitchen and command & control center, and all other rooms were used as a dorms for refugees. The bleachers were mostly empty and the field never had more than two or three people playing at the same time. This was probably good, as an Iran-Iraq soccer match between hungry and impatient refugees is a remarkably poor idea.


Today, the camp had double the staff needed. I helped for about 10 minutes stirring a vat of tea, then helped pouring tee for a bit while others passed out croissants. I then mentioned that I studied Farsi. I immediately became an interpreter for the Iranian and Afghanis there, relaying valuable messages such as Stay out of the sun so you don’t get dehydrated and Pick up the trash, we can’t pass out clothes if the area is dirty.

Other conversations involved telling Iranians who had just traveled across the entire Middle East that they wouldn’t be allowed to enter the rest of Europe and were not eligible for Greek work visas. This was a depressing trend. The European Union was only allowing in refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, while refugees were showing up in Greece’s open borders expecting to move on to Germany or Sweden. The result was buses full of Syrians going through to Macedonia while thousands of Algerians, Iranians, and Pakistanis got stuck in limbo in Greece.

With nothing else that needed immediate translating, I searched for Iranians and Afghanis to practice Farsi and Dari with.

I quickly struck up a conversation with Jawwad, who was sitting on a chair directly underneath a sign that said not to sit there. I liked him immediately. He was Afghani, but since he left Afghanistan and lived legally in Iran for several years, the European Union considered him Iranian and wouldn’t grant him refugee status.

I next spoke with another Afghani who was stuck in Greece despite his family being in Macedonia. He had lost his paperwork proving that he was a refugee, leaving him in limbo until the UN could finish sorting the other 1,000,000 refugees and try to find his information. Taliban-era Afghanistan apparently wasn’t great at keeping public records.

The final significant conversation was with an Iranian who wanted to settle in the United States. When I mentioned that there were large Persian communities in Los Angeles and San Jose, he took that as a cue that I worked for the government and could get him a visa. I backed out of the conversation as gently as possible, found Joanna, and set off for a lunch meeting she had set up later.

After a series of cabs, metros, and trains, we found ourselves at the IASIS headquarters. IASIS is a non-profit in Athens that deals with the homeless, mentally ill, and abused populations. IASIS has adapted to become a landing point for refugee women and children who were viewed as vulnerable. Its name is also sure to get Joanna’s assets frozen when she donates to it. Joanna worked for a very well-known bank in London and there to discuss where funding would be most needed. I was there because I had nothing better to do and wanted to learn more about the situation. We left the meeting with an understanding that Joanna would buy them industrial kitchen equipment and that I would work with them after Christmas. Smooth talkers they were.

Dec. 8– I’m spending today exploring Athens, finding waterproof boots for the shore rescues, and trying to finally defeat jetlag. Mostly, I’m relaxing. Tomorrow takes me to the island and a new adventure.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I look back at the previous year and reflect on the amazing love and compassion I've received. While I could write a book on all the people who've helped me out, I owe the most to the Syrian and Iraqi refugees I worked with in Jordan. They ignored our differences and took me under their wing when I didn't have anyone else.

I arrived in Jordan at a tough time. I had quit my job in Turkey early and didn't have a backup plan. I landed at a hotel restaurant in Amman, Jordan, not knowing a single person or a word of Arabic. It was a leap of faith and could have easily turned out terribly, had I not lucked out with my coworkers. The main crew I worked with was composed of myself, an Iraqi refugee, and two salafist Syrian refugees. I'm white, Mormon, and don't speak any Arabic. There was every reason for this to blow up in my face.

The leader of the restaurant staff was abu Abduh, a Syrian refugee. He spoke no English and I spoke no Arabic, so he bridged the gap by yelling Shaku maku Jimmy! every 30 seconds, or whenever one of us enters the room. Shaku maku is Iraqi slang along the lines of what’s shakin?  and my name isn’t Jimmy, so it got old. Fast. Abu Abduh used to be a taxi driver in Homs, Syria, but fled to Jordan as he became trapped between ISIS and the al-Assad regime. He was loud, obnoxious, and would give you the shirt off his back. He was the patriarch of our strange family.

Next came Thamer, another Syrian refugee. Young, serious, and a strict salafist. Due to his religious views, ISIS thought he would be sympathetic and tried to recruit him. He immediately packed his car and sped to Jordan. We regularly argued using hand gestures and a collection of profanity that we both understood, but could never stay mad for more than five minutes.

Finally, there was Muhseen. He's a former Iraqi Army soldier who also worked with American forces. He originally lived roughly 15 minutes from one of the locations I served in Iraq, close enough that I’ve probably given his son candy at some point in the past. Muhseen's brother worked as a barber on a US Army base and was murdered. He then found a bullet wrapped in a note that said “LEAVE” on his doorstep. Muhseen left with his family in the middle of that night. 

If you're sitting on mountains of beads at your house after a Gem Show spending spree, don't worry. The Beading Divas are looking for bead donations to keep their bracelets for a cause operation running. 

From now until March 7, you can drop off your extra beads to one of many locations, including Silver Sea Jewlery on Fourth Avenue. Then the jewelry-making team will turn those loose beads into buyable jewlery. Then on Saturday, March 14, the Divas will be at Silver Sea to conduct a random drawing to determine which charity will get the money from the bracelet sales. Small prizes, raffles and light refreshments will be available at the event.

Since 2009, the Beading Divas have raised more than $115,000 for animal charities by selling the bracelets that they make for $20. The proceeds from bracelet sales go to a different animal charity each month, amounting to 46 different organizations in five different states getting necessary funds from the group.

For more information on the Beading Divas, you can visit the organization's blog.

Over the weekend, this video took over the internets showing some good Samaritans tackling a homophobic ass who started to attack a person at an airport gate. The video shows the whole mess taking place, and then the guy getting tackled to the ground. But wait, who is that in the anti-bigotry pile-up?

Today, the Wonkette dutifully pointed out what no one seemed to notice that the guy in the brown suit is actor Paul Rudd and then dutifully added some truth to whole drama.

Unfortunately, my dear Wonkette and others who got on the celebrity hero train were absolutely wrong. An addendum to the bigotry-fighting saga via Gawker:

Today, the internet has ascribed an inspiring bit of heroism to Paul Rudd, after video surfaced this weekend of a man who almost, kind of looks like Paul Rudd helping to prevent an alleged hate crime at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (as shown in the video above). Alas, @TheRealPaulRudd was actually thousands of miles away, likely doing nothing, while real American heroes got their hands dirty.

Barbara Anderson got just about the worst news imaginable last year when her 18-month-old son was diagnosed with a form of leukemia. While Jude's prognosis is positive after some incredibly tough months of chemotherapy and other treatments, Barbara is doing what she can to help other people who are going through similar tough times. Chris Flora at Explorer News has the details:

It rained. But the sun came back out.

Oro Valley residents Sarah Bechman and Barbara Anderson watched their children enjoy the steady downfall at James Kreigh Park last Friday afternoon. A little bit of water didn’t stop Sarah’s daughter, 5-year-old Brooke, from riding the swing with an ear-to-ear smile.

And it didn’t stop Jude, Barbara’s 2-year-old son, from running around the playground in his new shoes — though he did trip once or twice while adjusting to them.

He got back up though. He didn’t cry. Instead, he wiped his hands off and continued life. At one point, Brooke offered her hand and led him back to the playground.

The moms watched on. They watched their children exude strength, optimism and kindness. They watched them enjoy themselves while others may have fled the park to dodge the rain.

But to Sarah and Barbara, rain wasn’t something to be afraid of. And it certainly wasn’t to Brooke and Jude.

“These are the best days,” Sarah said at one point. “These moments together.”

As it goes, some days aren’t as happy for these two families. Some are spent seeing the same old hospital walls, or the faces of nurses and doctors they’ve come to know and like, but would probably prefer not to encounter so often.

Brooke and Jude are battling leukemia.

As part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Barbara has organized a blood drive next week at the Foothills Mall. Stop by the Red Cross Donation Center on the second floor of the mall, 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd., between 2 and 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, and Tuesday, Sept. 30, to share a pint with humanity. You can make an appointment by calling 1-800-733-2767 or setting one up online at redcross.org.

On Saturday, Sept. 27, the 21st annual National Public Lands Day takes place. It is a one-day volunteer effort for public lands.


Last year, more than 175,000 volunteers and visitors celebrated at 2,237 public land sites in the 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Volunteers:

Collected an estimated 23,000 pounds of invasive plants
Built and maintained an estimated 1,500 miles of trails
Planted an estimated 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants
Removed an estimated 500 tons of trash from trails and other places
Contributed an estimated $18 million through volunteer services to improve public lands across the country

To find out more about National Public Lands Day, visit publiclandsday.org. 

On Monday, Sept. 22, Pima County Department of Environmental Quality and Pima Association of Governments’ Sun Rideshare Program present Car Free Tucson Day. Participants can register for an opportunity to win a Kindle or $100 gift card. Details below:

If trying public transit, including the Sun Link streetcar, for a car-free day, information and trip planning is available at www.suntran.com. The Pima County Department of Transportation Bicycle and Pedestrian Program has free bike maps, safety classes and information on bike routes throughout the region at webcms.pima.gov/government/transportation/.

To locate a carpool or to qualify for the Car-Free Tucson prize drawing, participants can log their car-free trips in the Sun Rideshare Travel Calendar at www.sunrideshare.org/ridepro. Prizes include a Kindle Fire, one of two $100 gift cards, and more. Only one car-free trip is needed on September 22 to be eligible to win, and participants must have the trip logged in by 8:00 a.m. September 23. For a guaranteed ride home in case of an emergency, registration is required at the Sun Rideshare website.  

Today is the absolute last day to cast your votes for this year's Best of Tucson. Please help us praise everyone and thing that helps makes this city so great. The polls close at midnight, so don't wait another Tucson minute.


We just want to thank everyone that has already voted. Big shout out to all the supporters that shared the link, and directed traffic our way. Good luck to all the golden nominees. 

The news is usually focused on hate, corruption, and crime, but not all is lost. While your favorite athlete was being indicted for two more murders, an everyday hero was at work.

Our story begins in San Francisco, California. An anonymous man reportedly closed a lucrative real estate deal and decided not to pocket all of the money. He thought long and hard about what to do with the money and decided he wanted to do something fun. Just to clarify, in his parallel universe "fun" means not spending it on one's self.

After deciding that he wanted to do something fun with his money. His next step was to decide what exactly to do. He bounced a handful of ideas around:

“I played around with different ideas, and frankly, they were too complicated,” he explained. “I was thinking of a ‘Survivor’-type game…or something like it at some point.”

HiddenCash then had an epiphany: He would leave the money around San Francisco in envelopes, tweet clues to the locations, and create a city wide scavenger hunt. While the amount of money he has left around town is unknown, he has been posting regular hints and updates of the caches he has left around San Fransisco and Los Angeles. In an economy so harsh that even the great Norm Macdonald can't hold a job (for unknown, NSFW reasons), it's good to see that good people are still making it out there.

In summary, HiddenCash is a hero. He decided that he would share the money he earned with others and create something fun for the community instead of the traditional real estate celebration of cocaine and prostitutes after closing large deals. While select individuals have been the recipients of free money, the whole city of San Francisco is the winner as all San Franciscans have been gifted with a quirkier culture and an act to inspire them all or something.

You can read the original story here.

Until next week, may all your dreams come true.

Accidents happen all the time, and sometimes we aren't that lucky. Fortunately, Judy Fox is one of the lucky bicycle accident victims. But she didn't escape death without a few battle scars.

Fox, 22, was t-boned on her bicycle at approximately 2 p.m., Thursday, May 22, near East 17th Street and South Fifth Avenue. The 22-year-old was transported to the University Medical Center. Fox suffered a broken upper jaw, a large chunk of her knee was removed and she lost three teeth.

Thankfully, the young barista was insured and a majority of the medical bills will be taken care of. “I signed up for that Obama-Care-shit, and it covered most of my hospital stay,” Fox articulately put it. She is currently wearing a leg cast that connects to her hip, so, Fox will not be able to go back to work at Sparkroot for some time.

The Wisconsin native is concerned with her orthodontic surgery, so that's when her friends stepped in.

Fox’s friend AnnaThea Park started a crowdfunding initiative through Indiegogo to help Fox.

Please give what you can- a few dollars or several dollars or maybe a few more. She will need all she can get, and honestly probably a lot more than the $6,000 that i set as our goal. Judy is a beacon of awesome from our community, and although she prefers warmer pastures, she loves and appreciates everyone back home (and elsewhere) for thinking of her and for sending your support.

Let's put that silly grin back on her face.

"I have been insanely lucky support wise," Fox said. "They have been curating me weird food." Fox can't eat solid foods because of her broken maxilla.  "I don't know what I would do out without them," Fox said.

To avoid any complications with the ongoing insurance claim, Fox wanted to make it very clear that she isn't admitting fault or blaming the other party. 

Click here to support the cause.