DTBF requests your generosity for one of our own

A Dare To Be Fabulous sister, Jill Robinson, founder of Animals Asia, is at ground zero in Chengdu, China, helping survivors of that horrendous earthquake that killed tens of thousands and left millions homeless. Read Jill's story here

Jill's famous moon bear sanctuary, situated in Chengdu, miraculously escaped the devastation caused by the earthquake, and I'm happy to say that Jill, the staff, and the bears were uninjured. But Jill  feverishly continuing with rescue efforts to help the people and animals in surrounding villages, which is desperately straining the financial resources of the sanctuary. Please read the moving report below from Animals Asia, log on to Animals Asia, and donate as generously as you can.

We send our thoughts and prayers to Jill -- please let her know that the Dare To Be Fabulous sisterhood is supporting her.

Patricia Howard & Johanna McCloy

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We need your help urgently!

It's now almost three weeks since the devastating earthquake hit Sichuan in China and the full horror of the tragedy is really hitting home. As many as 90,000 people could have died in the quake and its aftershocks, which are still causing panic throughout the province. More than 365,000 people are injured, many of them also losing their homes and livelihoods.Animals Asia is extremely fortunate and grateful that no staff or animals at our Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu were hurt, but we too are facing a difficult time. We are in urgent need of donations to deal with two emergencies arising from the earthquake. First we are racing against time to rescue dogs and cats from a town in northern Sichuan, where the authorities have ordered a cull of all companion animals; and second, we need to rebuild four of the buildings at our sanctuary.

Four of our main buildings, including the big office and accommodation blocks have been so badly damaged that they will need to be completely rebuilt at a cost of hundreds of thousands of US dollars. A fifth building needs repairs. Initially, onsite staff (who launched an immediate donations drive among themselves for earthquake victims) were sleeping on the floors of the quarantine area for new bear arrivals, but are now crammed into the remaining buildings that have been deemed safe.

But rebuilding will come later. Right now, there are more urgent needs. Rescuing already traumatised family dogs and cats from being shot or beaten to death in the city of Dujiangyiang - one of the worst-hit areas is our highest priority. The authorities there have ordered a cull of all dogs and cats, even if they have owners, adding to the misery of survivors who are clinging to their pets for comfort.

We have set up a hotline and a receiving station at a local vet clinic for earthquake victims to surrender their dogs to us for safe-keeping until they are back on their feet and can take them back. Many people, terrified that their much-loved dogs would be killed in front of them have been hiding them in the ruins of their homes and risking their lives to go and feed them.

We have promised those who have handed us their pets that we will make sure they are well cared for. If, after six months, they are still unable to take their pets back, we will continue to look after them until they can be reunited. If they decide they can't take their pets back, we will try to rehome the animals.

So far, we have rescued around 100 dogs and brought them to Chengdu's Qi Ming Pet Rescue Centre, which can take about 100 more. We have also rescued some cats and a few starving dogs that have been found wandering around looking for food. We are giving each a health check and vaccination and will build a quarantine facility for the dogs at the shelter and provide them with food. All this too, of course, will cost money - and we're not sure how long we'll have to provide for these dogs.

I am the first person to question where donations are going in a crisis situation and I can assure you that any donation you make to our earthquake appeal will go directly to our work rescuing dogs and cats from the earthquake zone, vaccinating against rabies, building quarantine kennels at the Qi Ming shelter and supplying other local shelters with food and medical help. Being here on the ground, I will ensure your donation goes first to distraught dogs and cats. Any funds left over will go to rebuilding our bear sanctuary.

Given the enormity of the Sichuan tragedy, this is a difficult time for us to raise funds, as donors are understandably channelling their donations to the human victims of the earthquake. So please, if you are considering donating to the earthquake relief effort, remember that animals are victims too - and by giving to us, you may be helping to save the only family member a survivor has left.

Warm wishes,

Jill

Jill Robinson MBE
Founder and CEO
Animals Asia Foundation
PS: Don't forget to check my blog for regular updates on how we're helping earthquake survivors – both animals and people.

For more information visit Jill blog - http:/www.animalsasia.org/blog
To donate now please go to our website http:/www.animalsasia.org.

Your Top Twenty Inspirational DTBF Films!

Films have so much power to inspire us, lift our moods, or give us heroes to admire. We were thinking about the many movies where the central female character has either dared to be fabulous, or just was fabulous. Or maybe just a movie involving a woman character that made us feel fabulous. We thought it would be a blast to find out which movies with great women characters inspired all of you!

We’d love you to help us create a Top 20 Dare To Be Fabulous Films list, so let’s get to it! Reply in the ”Comments” section below and name some of your favorites, with a few words about why they inspire or move you! We can’t wait to hear from you. We’ll publish the results here on the web site.

Just to get you started, we’ll throw out some of our own favorites, just to give you an idea. Maybe they are some of yours, too. Just examples, in no particular order:


Johanna: Norma Rae; Whale Rider; Harold and Maude; TransAmerica; Erin Brockovitch; Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore; many of Pedro Almodovar’s movies!

Patti: Shirley Valentine; Anne of a Thousand Days; Romy and Michelle’s Class Reunion, Enchanted April; Elizabeth; Sweet Charity; The Unsinkable Molly Brown; anything with Doris Day.

We’re waiting to hear from you! Remember – click on “Comments” below and tell us what you think! We’ll publish the results soon!

Patti and Johanna

Illustration: "Late at Kate's" by Teresa Moore
www.TeresaMoore.com

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

What a fabulous woman. Here's an interview with her from a recent Time Magazine:

"Senator and First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, 54, wife of President Nestor Kirchner, is all but certain to win Argentina's October 28 presidential election. If so, she will be the first woman ever elected to the Casa Rosada, the Pink House, the Buenos Aires presidential palace. (Isabel Peron, president from 1974 to 1976, succeeded to the office after her husband Juan died.) A veteran lawyer, legislator and stateswoman, as well as political fashion plate, Fernandez is often called The New Evita, after Argentina's most famous First Lady, Eva Peron. In a rare interview, she talked with TIME's Tim Padgett about her role in Argentina's return to the world stage after its disastrous financial crisis of 2001-02."

Link to the article here: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1666879,00.html

DTBF!
Johanna

Sundown Dip

What do you do when your bikini top gets tossed away by the ocean's current? If you're Corrie White, you Dare To Be Fabulous!

This month, we feature her story in our Guest Column. It is entitled Sundown Dip.



Link here to read her story: http://www.daretobefabulous.com/guestcolumn/corrie/

We welcome your feedback below this posting!

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

July's All-Star Renel

This month, our Guest Column features a story by Renel Brooks-Moon, a woman whose name is widely recognized throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Renel is the host and morning dee-jay of "Renel in the Morning" on KISS-FM, while also being the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park. Renel is a trailblazer as a woman in the sport announcing profession. This month is no exception, as Renel prepares to announce Major League Baseball's All Star Game on July 10. (Watch the game on TV and you'll hear her voice in the background!)

Renel's story, "Finding my Voice", was borne from an interview with Johanna on June 25.
Read her story by clicking here

We welcome your comments, below!

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

Granny DTBF!

It's May and we are very excited to feature a story from Doris "Granny D" Haddock as our Guest Column this month.

If you haven't heard of her, this is a great time to become acquainted with this fabulous woman. She walked across America at the age of 89. No easy feat for anyone, far less an 89-year old woman. Why, you may ask? To raise awareness and support for campaign finance reform. Her story is one-of-a-kind and her example is beautiful.

We celebrate her passion and her work by sharing an excerpt from her book about the walk, entitled "Granny D: Walking Across America in My 90th Year," written with Dennis Burke.

Link to our Guest Column (top right of this page) to read her story!

We welcome your comments!

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

March 8 is International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. Not that we need to mark a day to celebrate women around the world, but as long as it exists, our feeling is, let's celebrate!
We received a message today from DTBF alert subscriber, Sarah Clark, and we'll share it with you:

Good morning dear women! I wanted to take a moment today to celebrate the courage and strength of Women and also to pass on some information I learned recently about International Women's Day. According to an article in Bay Area Business Woman last month:

International Women's Day (IWD), celebrated annually on March 8, was born
at the turn of the last century - a time of economic and political turbulence.
It is rooted in the movement for women's right to vote and work: women's
strikes for bread and peace at the end of World War I, and the UN Charter declaration
of gender equality as a human right, signed in San Francisco at the end of WWII.
In December 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a
"United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace."
For women of the world, this day became an occasion to review how far we have come
in our struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity
to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change - locally and globally.

When I lived in El Salvador in the 1990s, there was a women's march every year
on this day. I'm delighted to learn the origin of the day and to know that
San Francisco played a role. Thank you for being loving women in my life! Sarah

For more information, check out the International Women's Day website:
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

Going with the Flow / Feb Guest Column

When we told Karen that we wanted to feature her story in our Guest Column this month, she was thrilled, yet also surprised. She thought Dare To Be Fabulous featured columnists who were oriented toward success. Well, our answer to that is, IT IS! To us, success is not just about outside accomplishments, but even more, about the spirit of daring to be true to ourselves, of defying conventions, personal histories, or our own fears; of following our guts, our hearts, our intuition. After all, momentary decisions can also be momentous ones! Little things we choose to do each day are important. They add up to create the bigger picture, and in that bigger picture, conventionally defined successes may or may not happen. But it’s in daring to be true to yourself that you Dare To Be Fabulous!

So, we bring you Karen’s story about her totally unanticipated yet very welcome change from a home-bound to an ocean-bound existence. It is entitled, “Go with the Flow.” Link to it at the top of our column page. Also, scroll down the side of this page to link to previous posts. We welcome your input through the comments section below each item!

We continue to accept submissions, so if you haven’t already shared your own DTBF story with us, please do! And spread the word to the women in your life. Read our story guidelines by clicking under "stories."

If you are interested in donning some Dare To Be Fabulous tees or undies, we have some available on the boutique page. (We also have Large, XL and 2X sweatshirts in the same colors, so let us know if you’d like to order any of those.) Link on "boutique" ...or write to us if you'd like to order sweatshirts.

DTBF!

Patti & Johanna
Co-creators/ Co-Editors

Hurrah for American Apparel

News this week further solidified our support of American Apparel as the manufacturer of choice for DTBF merchandise. We wanted to share why. Here is an excerpt of a Dec.19 article:

American Apparel to Be Sold for $244M

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The mostly foreign-born workers at American Apparel's downtown garment factory, the nation's largest, have enjoyed benefits that would make austere executives grab their wallets: A health plan. Free English classes. Back rubs from a masseuse and stretching breaks.

But with Tuesday's announced sale of the T-shirt maker to a publicly traded company came news not of slashes to staff and perks, but of yet another novel benefit: A piece of the company would be offered to American Apparel's some 5,000 employees.

You can link to the full article at: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=AP&Date=20061219&ID=6290725
(You may need to copy and paste this URL in your address window if the link won't work.)

Dare To Be Fabulous is proud to support the work of this socially conscious company. You can see our apparel on the boutique page:
http://daretobefabulous.com/boutique/
(Note: Large size sweatshirts are also available now and will soon be posted on the site. If you'd like to order one, let us know!)

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

December Guest Column: ESL Drop-Out

Our December Guest Column has been posted. This month we feature a story by Nana Chen about her experience of personal transformation as a second generation Taiwanese who went from ESL student to ESL teacher to editor, writer and full-time artist. She defied general perceptions by daring to pursue her dreams and she did it with gusto. Her story is entitled, "ESL Drop Out." You can link to her story at the top of this page. (That's her photograph you see, too.)

We invite you to share any feedback by posting your comments below this entry.

Happy holidays, everyone!

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

DTBF Boutique: Holiday Specials

Now that we’re nearing the holiday gift-giving season, we’d like to invite you to check out the Dare To Be Fabulous boutique! We have added some holiday specials. If you are thinking of what to give your friend, daughter, sister, mother, co-worker.....keep these in mind! Link to the Boutique at the top of this page.

We’ll be adding a few items to the boutique soon... and always welcome any suggestions you might have for additional DTBF wear and merchandise. :)

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

Dear Tokyo, Meet Your Next Pop Star

Our Guest Column is up! This month, we feature a story by Kimberly Cooper entitled, "Dear Tokyo, Meet Your Next Pop Star." This story is a great example of going for it. Kimberly had a dream of becoming a Japanese singing pop star...and she gave it her best shot. The dream didn't materialize as she once hoped, but she had an adventure during her quest and still walked away feeling satisfied. She has no regrets and is simply happy for having tried. Now that is the spirit of Daring To Be Fabulous!

Read the story here: http://www.daretobefabulous.com/guestcolumn/

We encourage your feedback to the story. Share your thoughts by clicking under this posting.

DTBF!
Johanna & Patti

Johanna on TV- Sept. 6 (DTBF!)

We’ve received notice that Johanna’s Guest Starring episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation will be playing again on the Spike channel this Wednesday, September 6th. Watch for her as Ensign Calloway in “Eye of the Beholder.” (Check local listings for the air time in your area.)

DTBF!

Beating the Collywobbles

Happy August, everyone!

For this month’s Guest Column we feature a story by Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She submitted this story under the category called “Moments.” It is about a personal moment in an airport when this seemingly tireless crusader for animal rights found herself exhausted...and face to face with an opportunity to take yet another action. Would she let it go? Or would she do something? And if so....what? Her DTBF story is called “Beating the Collywobbles.” Check it out by linking to our Guest Column page (to the right, just above the top entry on this page). We welcome comments here!

DTBF!
Johanna

Share Your DTBF Pictures!

Let’s share our DTBF photos! If you have a photo of yourself in a DTBF moment, we’d love for you to submit it for our consideration to place on the website. DTBF moments are highly personal, of course, so we ask that you submit it with a caption telling us why this was DTBF for you. We’ll start posting some photos on the site soon!

Just to give you examples to get started, some of Johanna's photos might include: skydiving; speaking at a soyfoods industry conference; sitting with her friend Madhu in India when she was eight years old; or eating a veggie dog at a MLB ballpark where she made that possible. :)

So send one to us! Write “DTBF Photo” in the subject heading and make sure you include that caption, along with your name (first only is fine if you prefer not to share your last name), and location where it was taken. And if you like, you may also include where you are from, so we can see how far around the globe we all are Daring To Be Fabulous!

Send your photo to: info@daretobefabulous.com (Please send only one photo per submission. Thanks!)


DTBF!

Johanna and Patti

Guest Column by Julia Butterfly Hill

Can you imagine living alone in the canopy of a giant Redwood tree in the middle of a rain forest.... for TWO YEARS? Julia Butterfly Hill did just that in order to save that tree, and the surrounding grove, from loggers . Her story is our featured submission this month. It is aptly entitled, “Heart”.

You can link to her story by clicking on the link to the Guest Column, above. Also, if you would like to view any previous Guest Columns, be sure to scroll down that page to click on their titles.

DTBF!
Johanna

DTBF tees and undies, my oh my!

Dare To Be Fabulous long-sleeve tees, short-sleeve tees and undies! These items will soon be available for orders through our boutique page. Watch for them in April!

Happy International Women's Day!

Ya gotta love that – we have our own day! Last I checked, there was no International Men’s Day. This is a day where it is absolutely imperative that we exercise our right to be fabulous. In fact, it’s a mandate.

I’m feeling the pressure.

What will I do to mark this great celebration of our special place in the universe as the females of the species? I feel it should be something extraordinary, special, exciting, heroic! But reality is that it will be a day just like any other.

And that’s just as it should be. International Women’s Day celebrates us just as we are. On this day, we are special just because we are women. Our contributions are already massive and irrefutable just by being. That’s a concept that is hard for many of us to grasp. That we don’t always have to be doing and accomplishing and contributing just to be worthy. Just by virtue of being women, our gentler, higher, more compassionate, and musical vibration is loose in the universe. Our yin balancing the yang. We create, nurture, inspire, compete, cooperate, rescue, accomplish, and love. All of this is a more than enough reason for the day.

So many of us are frantically busy and distracted dealing with the demands of our families, animals, jobs, volunteer work, passions and hobbies – the constant rushing movement of effort and commitment, the fatigue of giving too much. My first thoughts when I became aware of International Women’s day were that I had to do even more than what I was already doing, even though there were no more hours magically added to the day. Upon reflection, I now see that the opposite is true.

OK, no more pressure. On International Women’s Day, I am going to do nothing. Beyond the necessity of going to work or [insert your non-negotiable daily obligations here], I am just going to think about what it means to be a woman. I am going to celebrate that I am a woman and celebrate what that means in today’s world. And I’m going to be a little smug about it. Because women are cool. Women are amazing. Women rock.

Women are fabulous.

DTBF!
Patti

In the spirit of international fabulousness, we share our joy and celebration with women all over the world.

English: “Dare to be fabulous!”

French: "Osez d'etre fabuleuse!"

Japanese: “Subarashii kimochi....gambarimasu!”

Slovenian: "Drzni si biti cudovit/prekrasen!"

Italian: "La sfida per essere favolosi!"

Hebrew: "Ha-izi lihi-iot nifla-a!"

Norwegian: “Våg å være fabelaktig!”

Spanish: “Osa a ser fabulosa!”

Polish: “Miej odwage byc soba!”

Interestingly, Patti and I found it difficult to translate this phrase into other languages. Some don't have easy translations for the word "fabulous" or for the word "dare", so we are trying to get the best figurative translations of the spirit of the phrase when this is the case. In Polish, the translation is "Have courage to be yourself!" We liked that. In Japanese, I simply translated the closest word to "Fabulous!" We invite you to share your own translations in other languages (or better translations in these, as the case may be) through the Comments below this post.

DTBF!
Johanna