I'm taking a stand against Levi Strauss

I am officially taking a stand against companies that are over-the-top socially irresponsible, and I'm starting with Levi Strauss. This company is creating deplorable and unacceptable commercials for our children and young people to watch -- and they are getting away with it because WE DO NOTHING. As parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, or anyone who cares about kids, it is time to take a stand. Your children and grandchildren are watching and being affected by these commercials. JOIN ME AND TELL THESE COMPANIES "THIS HAS GOT TO STOP". Our politicians aren't going to do this for us. For all you Obama-ites who said "YES WE CAN" a few weeks ago -- well, step up to the plate and actually do something! Obama isn't going to stop these companies from producing messages that have negative impact on our children and teenagers. This particular company, Levi Strauss, is putting out commercials that glorify casual sex and breaking and entering into a family's home. (A link to the commercial is in the letter below.) If you agree with me, I'm asking you to take a few minutes of your day and either call or write Levi Strauss & Co. and let them know that you don't like these commercials, and demand they be taken off the air. OUR CHILDREN ARE WORTH THE SMALL EFFORT THIS WILL TAKE!!! We are the grown-ups here. Our job is to protect our children. Our country is going to hell in a handbasket, and WE ARE LETTING IT HAPPEN! Our children deserve better. We need to show these kids WITH OUR ACTIONS that we actually care! They deserve our time and effort to make this a better world FOR them. It's time to stop complaining and DO SOMETHING! Please pass this on to others as much as you can. Let's truly get a letter-writing, phone-calling, email campaign against these commercials going. WE CAN DO THIS. We have a voice. We are the consumers! These companies cannot survive without US. You can contact Levi Strauss & Co. here:

Call: 1-877-524-7386 (Voice of the Consumer Line) Email: http://www.levistrauss.com/Company/ContactUsForm.aspx?loc=1 Write a Letter: See address below This is my letter to the CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., with a copy to the Chairman of the Board. Mr. John Anderson President and CEO 1155 Battery Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Dear Mr. Anderson, Yesterday a good part of my afternoon was spent comforting a neighbor whose house had been broken into in broad daylight by three teenagers, ages 17 and 18 years. I have no idea if you've ever had your home broken into, but it's a truly traumatic experience and takes years to put behind you and forget that horrendous feeling of someone invading your personal property and space. It literally takes years for you to feel safe in your own home again. This is America, Mr. Anderson. We all deserve to feel safe in our own homes! Later in the evening, I sat down to watch television and viewed a commercial from your company that left me absolutely stunned by its degree of social irresponsibility. It not only depicted casual sex between two young people, but also showed these same two young people breaking into someone else's home, laughing about it, and acting as if it was "no big deal". The commercial is overly sexual, inappropriate, and sends messages that no one in their right mind would want sent to our young people. Your company is known for it's support of HIV causes, and yet you are glorifying casual sex. Your company speaks of "responsible, progressive and accountable business practices" and yet shows two young people celebrating the act of breaking and entering into a family's home? What are you thinking?!?Just in case you don't know of the commercial of which I am referring, you can view it online here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26395407#26395407

I went to your web site to find a name to address this letter, and also found this interesting paragraph in your 2007 Annual Report:

Great brands and business are built by consistently providing quality products and services and by earning the trust of consumers, customers, investors, employees and communities through responsible, progressive and accountable business practices. Moreover, as business leaders we have the obligation, both individually and collectively, to make our enterprise not only a source for economic wealth, but also a force for positive social change in the conduct of our business. This principle of responsible commercial success is embedded in our 155-year experience and continues to anchor how we operate today.

I also found this on your web page, listed under "Values":

Four core values are at the heart of Levi Strauss & Co.: Empathy, Originality, Integrity and Courage. These four values are linked.

Mr. Anderson, the "easy" way to show the community that Levi Strauss & Co. is "a force for positive social change" is to write a check. You can boast that you support HIV funding - and have someone in your finance department write a check. But it takes no personal commitment of any kind to write that check. The difficult way - and the only way that truly counts - is for your company's actions to match the words in that Annual Report, or, in this case, for your commercials to actually be based on what you define as your company's “core values”.

I implore you to get these repulsive and socially irresponsible commercials off our televisions, where children and teenagers view them, and replace them with commercials more in line with the "responsible business practices" you preach. As I tell my children, "Actions speak louder than words." Although the words on the Levi Strauss web page read "social responsibility", the actions through your commercials speak far louder.

I am posting this letter on my blog (http://joanoh2.blogspot.com) and any response from you or your company will be posted there as well. I am asking you publicly, Mr. Anderson, to change the socially irresponsible path your company has chosen to take through your commercials, and, instead, strive to show us those core values you say are at the heart of Levi Strauss & Co. Until that time, and most particularly during the Christmas gift-giving season, I will no longer purchase any Levi Strauss or Docker products for my family.

Most sincerely,

cc: T. Gary Rogers Chairman of the Board

Too close to home

Yesterday was a tough day here. Around 11am I was sitting at my computer and from where I sit, I can see out the front windows of my house. I noticed a neighbor, Mr. K, walking around his house without a jacket on. I thought it a little strange, since it's VERY cold here, but didn't think much about it. A few minutes later, I looked up again and noticed another neighbor home from work, which is unusual -- it was 11am she normally works until 3:30 or so. Again, nothing alarming - maybe she didn't feel well or had a sick child. But, I looked up again a few minutes later, and saw a police car. Uh oh... I decided to be a nosey caring neighbor and find out if everything was OK. It wasn't. Mind you, I live in Suburbia USA. There are about 20 houses on my street, and I'm at the end where there's a turnaround (cul-de-sac). Normally, there are several of us home during the day, cars are in the driveway, and houses are close enough so we can see what's going on just by looking out our windows. I'm the only house with a wooded backyard -- the rest abutt houses on the streets on either side. So, this isn't an isolated area; it's actually quite busy and open. Neighbor K (wife of the man without the jacket) happened to be looking out her window and saw three kids (14, 15 years old) at the front door of Neighbor N's house. She said at first she thought they might be selling something, but realized they were young and should be in school. So she continued to watch. She watched as one suddenly disappeared through a front window, and came around the inside and opened up the front door for the others!!! They broke into Neighbor B's house! In broad daylight with no less than six cars in driveways in the immediate vacinity! Neighbor K called to her husband (who is retired and home), told him what she saw, and dialed 911. Husband K promptly took off out the door, ran to Neighbor N's house, went INSIDE, and chased the kids out! (Not a good idea, but that's exactly the kind of neighbor he is.) The kids were two boys and a girl (!) and, we learned later, this was the SECOND house they'd broken into that morning! The kids took off running -- one ran behind my house and into the woods, one ran across my front lawn, through another neighbor's yard and into the woods to the side of my house, and I never heard where the third kid went. In the very few minutes they were in that house, they'd grabbed video games, a satellite dish receiver and money. They left their three bikes on the front yard of Neighbor N's house. Bikes -- as in, not old enough to drive, but old enough to break into people's houses. And they dropped a backpack in her yard, which contained Gatorade and an IRON. Yes, a household iron. The police believe the iron was in case someone was in the house -- a weapon! It's amazing that all this happened HERE, in this particular neighborhood. First, there are some VERY rich areas in our town -- million dollar plus homes, and there are some very isolated homes in our town. You would think they would pick one of those areas, wouldn't you? But then, they may have been too far a ride on their bikes! The last I heard, the police had caught the kids. While I was comforting Neighbor N (she was really shaken up), I did hear an officer ask Mr. Neighbor K if you could identify the kids, and later saw Mr. K get into a police car; I assume to go do the identification. Our police department is often commended on how fast they react in these kind of situations. And now - I'm going to get back on my Social Responsibility bandwagon. Where do kids get the idea that this is an OK thing to do?!? After watching this unfold, trying to get past it, I sit down to watch TV and see a commercial for Levi Jeans that is SO irresponsible that I'm dumbfounded. Aside from the girl having sex with a man she doesn't know, the girl is BREAKING INTO AN APARTMENT (watch her when she's at the closed door), then tells the guy and it's just fine with him! Yippy! We broke into this apartment -- now let's have sex! Don't believe me? Watch it for yourself. I'm speechless. What kind of world is my grandson going to grow up in? How on earth can I or his mother or his grandfather protect him from these kind of IRRESPONSIBLE messages? The world is getting to be a very scary place. What are we going to do about it???? And no, I am NOT saying Levi Jeans is responsible for my neighbor's house being broken into today. I am, however, saying that our kids are receiving HORRIBLE, IRRESPONSIBLE, negative messages from the media and no one is doing anything about it. Nevermind what's going on in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, people -- look what is going on in your own homes.

Come have Coffee with me!

Well, hello! How nice to meet you. My name is Faith. Joan's not home right now, but come on in! I'd love to have some company. Me? Oh, I've been sent to bring a smile to Joan's heart by a very generous blogger friend, Niki, from Pumpkin Country. I arrived two days ago (in the middle of all the flu hub-bub that went on around here). Oh, I was so glad to get out of that box! Trust me, it's no way to travel! Just look at my hair! Joan has gone off to IKEA for a few hours - she SAID she was going to do Christmas shopping, but I think it's more to do with the fact that she found IKEA has fabric on sale. Sssshhh.. don't tell. She keeps saying she's NOT going to buy more fabric. I've only been living here for two days and I know I've heard her say it at least two times! So come on in, sit down, get comfy. Would you like some coffee? Do you mind if I sit in Brayden's old high chair? (He's moved on to a regular chair now -- he's getting so big!) Gives me a better view from here -- plus I don't spill coffee on my pretty dress. My goodness, it's cold here in Ohio, isn't it? I saw some snowflakes yesterday. I forgot to bring my coat and warm clothes with me, but Joan has told me that I'm welcome to use any of her fabric and her sewing machine to make what I need. I do love to sew, don't you? Right now I'm just working on a little quilt to cuddle under when we watch TV. Pffffft... darn hair -- do you have a bobby pin? Well, if you don't mind, I did promise Joan I'd help out with a little housework while she was gone. Actually, I was just being nice and casually said, "Is there anything I can do to help out while you're gone?" And (harumph) what did she do? Made me a To Do List! I wasn't quite expecting that, but I guess I can get it all done. Do you mind if I work while we talk? I need to fold these clothes to start. And clean up the breakfast dishes.... Well, that's enough for now. I can do the dusting, vac the family room, scrub the kitchen floor and clean the bathrooms after you go. I'd rather visit. Let's go sit in the family room! What? The books on the table? Oh no!!!! Don't look at those. Those are a surprise for an upcoming blog giveaway!. No one is supposed to see them! Please don't look -- I was just looking through them while I drank my coffee. Please don't tell anyone you saw them! And speaking of Giveaways, Joan showed me a Giveaway for another girl almost like me! I'd love to have a friend (someone I can share this @(#$*&( To Do List with!), so enter for me, would you? It's on the Spun by Me blog for her 100th post! I think we could be great friends! Oh my, we'd better head into the family room, OK? Bring your coffee, get comfy. It's warmer in here, isn't it? I just can't get used to this cold weather. Joan knit some sweet mittens and socks for Brayden, and I was rather hoping they'd fit me, but I'm afraid they are too big. Oh, one of the things on my To Do List is to help Joan knit these socks. They're a Christmas present for someone special (but I can't say who!). Let's see -- Knit 3, Purl 1... I think I can do this. Awww, you have to go already? Let me walk you out to the door. I'll show you something funny on our way out -- here on the stairs. See this kitty sleeping in the basket on the stairs? It took me the longest time to get up the nerve to find out why this cat sleeps all the time. When I finally reached over to pet him, I found out he's a ROCK! I thought he would bite me (Joey the Killer cat does -- I have to hide when he's in the house) but he just lays there and looks cute! Jeff's sister Sandra painted him years and years ago and he's been on the stairs ever since. Now that's my kind of cat! Well, it was so nice to meet you and I will tell Joan you were here. I'd walk you out, but it's just too cold to go out without a coat. Maybe by the next time you stop by I'll have sewn a coat for myself... if I can ever get done with that darn To Do List that is... Bye bye now! See you next time!

The Flu Season hits

For the first time in ten years, my husband actually stayed home from work and called in sick. I honestly can't remember the last time any illness put him down and out, but around 1pm on Sunday, he sniffled a few times and said he felt he might be getting a cold. By 8pm that night, he was down for the count. I have never seen anything hit him this fast and this hard. Of course, we were scheduled to go get our flu shots this week! I am frantically washing my hands, chomping vitamin c, zinc, and euchanacia (or however you spell it), and.. another first... sleeping in the guest room. Brayden's other babysitter is taking him extra days so we don't expose him to it. So I'm not blogging as much because I'm making chicken soup and cups of tea with honey and lemon, and running around behind my husband (when he does get out of bed) wiping things down with Clorox wipes! Tomorrow (Thursday) I am going to try and get out of the house for at least a little while -- maybe a quick trip down to Ikea -- and get some germ-free air in me! So send good healing thoughts Jeff's way -- and germ-defensive thoughts my way :) And just FYI - I've heard NOTHING in response to my two emails to Thornton's. Not one word, no apology, nothing.

Whatever happened to social responsibility?

This is a pet peeve of mine and what happened to me on Friday is SO typical of companies today -- and their lack of social responsibility, social consciousness, whatever you want to call it. I had my grandson with me on Friday, and needed to stop and get gas. Good news, our gas prices are down to $1.72 a gallon here. I pulled into Thornton's (Cafe and Gas), hopped out of the car to pump the gas. They play music through speakers at the gas pumps, for some strange reason. But today... today... the music that was blaring was a song called Nasty Girl. I'm not going to type out the lyrics here (I try and maintain a G rated blog!), but if you want to read them and see how totally inappropriate this song was, go here and read the lyrics. I was dumbfounded. I know there are people who listen to this stuff... and I guess that's their business.. but for a BUSINESS to put this TRASH over an OVERLY LOUD speaker system where the customer has NO CHOICE but to listen to it???? And with the very real possibility of children being in the vacinity with their parents? I just think this is beyond irresponsible and unacceptable. Well, guess what, Thornton's? I most certainly do have a choice, and my choice is to not do business with you. And then... AND THEN!... I go to their web site this morning to write a letter of complaint and what do I see??? All their blah blah blah about their community outreach programs, including Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts!!! It's so much easier to just write a check these days than stand up and show some social responsibility, isn't it?

Retiring in America

OK, I needed a good giggle, and I found one. Now I'm sharing it with you. I'm a Dawn French fan. You will be too after you watch this funny video about retiring in America.

Have you ever wanted to....

Am I too old to go through a "stage"? Because I am. Going through one. A stage. At 56 years of age. Is that possible? For a few days now I have been just craving a "do over". Remember those when you were a kid? The game didn't go the way you wanted, so you asked for a "do over". Well, I want a do over! Oh, not with my life, like you're thinking. LOL I'm happily married. I adore my grown kids and my grandson is the best thing that's happened to me since... umm.... menopause! (Oh come'on - you know you were delighted when menopause came along and you didn't have deal with all that monthly aches and pains and all the trappings that came along with it!) No, my life is just fine, thank you. I love my life. But I have this really, really, REALLY strong craving to empty my house. Completely. Bye bye furniture. Bye bye dishes. Bye bye books. Bye bye art work. Bye bye linens. Bye bye a lifetime accumulation of things that suddenly feel like they should belong to someone else! And, in my head, how would I accomplish this??? Like this! Oh yeahhhh... Turn the house right upside down and SHAKE IT BABY, SHAKE IT! Empty it out! Contents on the front lawn and a big ol' post on Freecycle -- come and get it! Weird, huh?

A new blog giveaway

I have a bloggy friend, Jan, who is the most productive quilter I know, and who is having her first blog giveaway... with THREE items to give away. One is an absolutely adorable miniature quilt, next are five batik FQ's, and lastly is a book on baby quilts. Stop over and see her blog - It's the Cat's House, I Just Live Here. You enter the giveaway simply by leaving a comment. If you could, please tell her "Joan sent me" in your comment! Enter by 7pm, Nov. 21.

While you're there, do take a look at her quilt photos. She gives most of quilts away to charity. I swear, she seems to make one a week. I don't know how she does it!

Good luck everyone! (But please - could I win that miniature quilt????)

Off to a Rummage Sale I go

I hope this is not going to be a busy weekend, but I swear, I have that same hope every weekend. For me, the ideal weekend is to stay home on Saturday, get the house picked up, get laundry done, and do some reading, sewing and menu-planning. On Sunday, I do like it when we go out for at least half the day, especially in nice weather, and the flea market is lately the destination of choice. The other half of the day is usually spent watching the NASCAR races. Today, however, I'm headed out first thing to a local church that is having a "Dave Ramsey Sale". Apparently, members of the church learned the Dave Ramsey way of getting control over your bills and finances, which includes selling every non-essential thing that you own to bring in money to pay bills. Now, I know what you're thinking -- she's going to the rummage sale to buy someone else's clutter! Not so. I have a list! Here's what I'm looking for: A train table (for DGS's wooden train set). Storage unit for DGS's craft supplies 26 inch tension rod for over my sink Hats, mittens, scarves to have on hand for the winter (DGS size, of course) Thread - almost any kind, any color, just not old and brittle A set of every day kitchen dishes, service for 6-8 - mine are so mismatched! Christmas decoration for the front door Christmas decoration for the kitchen table Pretty vintage pillowcases for a purse idea I saw online That's it! I'll read the list to Jeff before we go in to the sale, and together, we should be able to find some of these. These are all items I would like to have and, with the exception of the tension rod and mittens, probably won't go out and buy because they are, indeed, non-essentials. We'll see how I do! ... TWO HOURS LATER Fairly good rummage sale but less than I expected... more like 20 small garage sales in one place rather than people trying to get rid of MOST of their non-essential "stuff". What did I buy? One frame for $1.00. That's it. And I bought that because I have a photo of the family from my son's last visit home that I need a frame for. But more importantly, what did I pass up?

• A battery operated ride-in jeep for $15.00
• Five boxes of pre-cut quilt squares
• Boxes of quilting fabric
• Many bolts of home dec fabric
• A wrought iron dress form
• A vintage dress form
• Children's books by the boatload
• A really great retro-diner-looking cafe table and matching chairs, brand new $30
• Some really cool iron decorative architectural items
• A Bob the Builder tent/tunnel combo

Two years ago, I would have bought all of these. But these days Peter Walsh's words ring in my ears every time I go to buy something... "It's not that the space you have is too small for your stuff, it's that you have too much stuff for the space you have." Paraphrased, but you get the gist of it. And, of course, you can't spend hours upon hours decluttering and not understand what the effects of bringing this "but I like it" stuff into the house when it serves no purpose. My husband, on the other hand.... bought stuff. A stamp collection. A World War II bullet. A collection of die cast Pan Am jets. A Monopoly game. Other "stuff" I can't remember. Can you tell we're not on the same page about clutter? Yet. FIVE THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR TODAY:

1. Another rainy day (we need the rain)
2. I'm more than half-way through decluttering my office
3. I actually finished knitting a pair of socks for Brayden - they fit and he loves them*!
4. Warm cinnamon rolls and coffee on a cold morning
5. Crock pot meals -- they make the house smell good all day long!

*Brayden's sock - I had one sock finished when Brayden arrived yesterday morning. Because I haven't knit socks in four or five years, I had a tough time coming up with the right size needles to use, the right gauge, etc., and had knit two other socks that didn't fit him (but that he wanted to wear anyway!). Yesterday I wanted to try on this ONE sock to see if it fit before I started the second, and it fit -- and then he didn't want to take it off. He wore it all day. One colored sock, one white sock. To the library. Out to lunch. For his nap. He just loved his sock. It didn't matter to him that he didn't have two of them. One was just fine. Lordy, how can you not love this kid!?