99 Years of Life on the Wall... 99 Years of Life!

I have been a BAD BAD BAD girl! No posting for 4 days. Sorry, I was in Atlanta celebrating with family, Grandma's 99th (YES, you did not misread) Birthday! Now that was a cause for celebration. I often wonder if I will make it to 50, much less 99. Anyway, it was an amazingly inspirational time, and I am so lucky to have a Grandmother who STILL has it together, dresses to the 9's and is lucid (more than a lot of people I meet when going out), intelligent, funny, witty, and can walk faster than me (but that is not saying much). So I apologize for bailing out on my writing responsibilites, but I am sure you can understand. It is not everyday you celebrate a 99th birthday!

(*Pictured: Victoria Michael, Me, Philippe Cousteau, Suzanne Coffin at an ExecutiveBiz Executive Connect Happy Hour)

You MUST get your TV tuned or your TiVo in gear for this coming Sunday the 21st at 8:00 pm. The Donald and Rosie are doing Celebrity Boxing on UPN! Just kidding. Actually, someone who is a dear dear friend, who is classy, hilarious, handsome, charming, sincere, kind, generous, humble, philanthropic, and an extremely hard worker, oh, I almost forgot, "BRILLIANT!" (that is one of his favorite sayings) Philippe Cousteau, will be premiering the show "Ocean's Deadliest" on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel simultaneously. This is the last project Aussie Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) did before his sudden death, when his heart was pierced by a stingray this past summer. (note, Philippe and others were with Steve on the boat when the accident happened. They worked tirelessly on reviving him on the boat for close to 2 hours.) After the show airs, the channels will present a tribute to the very much missed Crocodile Hunter.

Philippe, son of Jan and Philippe Cousteau Sr., and grandson of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, started with his sister Alexandra, the non-profit EarthEcho International. The environmentally educational focused, DC-based organization was started in 2000 by the two children in memory of their father. Philippe Sr. died tragically in a plane accident prior to Philippe Jr.'s birth.

The main focus of EarthEcho International is ACTION. Everything each of us does everyday, in our normal lives, has an effect on the environment, whether we realize it or not or whether we care or not. It is about understanding lifestyle choices (as simple as: Do you leave the water on when you brush your teeth? to: Do you ask for line caught salmon when you order in a restaurant? even: Who do you vote for when it comes to election time?)

Until I met Philippe, through Brian Williams (whose awesome company Viget Labs will be taking over this blog site soon and FYI, get ready for some really cool changes in the look), I never really thought about "Green" and anything I did ever making a difference. I mean, look, I am ONLY ONE PERSON. And aren't people who care about that "stuff" all funky and wear beads and Birkenstocks, make peace signs, and are also Vegans? (ok, I totally stereotyped - badly) Well, after talking with Philippe, listening and reading, not just his material, but others, I really started to "get it." Each of us has a CHOICE and truly, a responsibilty in everything we do, to make a difference. The cool thing about EarthEcho is that they get the message out through new media and through hip fun ideas and activities (rock climbing, snowboarding and other more Xtreme sports).

As they say "It's not your father's Oldsmobile." Well, it is not your father's planet anymore, nor your grandfather's. It is ours. And our children's (well, I don't have any, so its other people's children's). What we do or not do today, will truly affect our children's and grandchildren's planet.

I am not here to preach, just to make those who had never heard of EarthEcho International, or the "green" movement aware that there are opportunities to make a change. TODAY. And TODAY it is a really cool sexy thing to be empowered by this knowledge and do something about it.

Check out the website. Watch Animal Planet or Discovery on Sunday at 8pm. Talk with Philippe or his staff. They are incredible people who are interesting and not "crunchy", so don't get all worried about that. Those are yesterday's stereotypes. Let's keep this planet alive and gorgeous, so when we are all 99, our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids can thank us.