Last spring Jeff stood out in the crowd at Times Square with a sign. The sign read, I was a victim of child sexual assault. He stood there for three hours and the kids and I filmed while most people walked by as if he wasn’t even there. A handful of people did stop and some would pat him as they walked by or tell him they were sorry.

Next year on April 17th we are going to do it again and we want you there with us. Together let us show people the many faces of child sexual assault. Our wish would be to have young people, older people, men, woman, everyday folks, celebrities, a myriad of  ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

We’ll be filming three sessions on that day, Times Square, Grand Central & Central Park. Exact times and details will be announced as they are ironed out. I will also be interviewing survivors between now and then (and probably some after too) if you are willing to be interviewed AND you think you can make it for the NYC filming PLEASE…contact me at skeletons@halldorson.com

Imagine what kind of impact we could have if it wasn’t just a man with a sign but instead was many with signs.

I’ll be working on setting up the Event/Project with it’s own page but for now if you are interested in updates sign up here. If you think you can be of help in anyway…please email us directly at skeletons@halldorson.com

Interviews will be about…

• your story of abuse
• what happened when you disclosed
• is your abuser free?
• were you believed?
• have you helped others
• have you written a book, made a movie, started a foundation?
• what do YOU think can be done

This project isn’t just about Jeff’s story it’s about all of your stories…please be a part of it. And forward it to anyone you think would be willing to participate.

So please please please consider joining us in New York City next spring we’ll probably even bring the giant skeleton…

PLEASE SHARE THIS FAR AND WIDE

Peace,

Kelly Halldorson

While at the Northeast Unschooling Conference in Wakefield, Mass this past weekend I had the pleasure of sitting down with Carsie Blanton. She is an amazing singer-songwriter whom currently resides in Philadelphia. Her music is of the witty-adventurous-poppy-jazzy-folk-crunchy-lovely-touching-joyful sort while her voice proves to be commanding yet gentle instrument when witnessed live.

If you ever get a chance to see her live I highly recommend. You won’t be disappointed.

Carsie was unschooled and is entirely self-taught: vocally, lyrically and musically.

Here is the first of two videos I plan to post from my discussion with Carsie. I also have the full discussion in an audio file…that will be posted soon enough too.

Hopefully this sparks your interest in this fascinating young woman and you hop over to her site and buy her album/s or check out her blog. Either which way it’s worth it.

Other things to look forward to seeing here over the next two weeks so be sure to subscribe and/or stop back by REAL soon…

• The second installment of my interview with Carsie
• A video of Erica Goldson reading her speech w/ Q&A @ the Northeast Unschooling Conference (NEUC).
• Interview with Peter Gray & video/audio of his talk at NEUC
• Interview with grown unschooler and potter Brenna McBroom
• Interview with Ren Allen
• Review of Erin Merryn’s books
• Commentary on Erin’s Law
• Another installment of The Weekly Worth It

And a LOT more…

Peace & as always thank-you for taking time out of your life to visit my tiny little corner of the Internet.

Kelly

Times Square

Not every victim of child sexual assault can hold up a sign in Times Square. Not every victim of sexual assault is comfortable talking about it or getting help. That is one of the many reasons Jeff and I have decided to give our book, Skeletons Don’t Sleep, away free (in digital format) to any and all survivors of child sexual assault. Are you a victim? Would you like a copy? Email Us: skeletons@halldorson.com

We have already given away over 100 copies. We want that number in the 1000’s. We want this book in the hands of every single survivor that needs it.

Want to know a little bit more about the project?

I wrote Skeletons with my husband Jeff. It’s the true account of his childhood sexual assault, our relationship, his father’s arrest through incarceration and the aftermath. The videos tell the story and the quotes are from people who’ve emailed us. It all helps remind us that giving away the book for free is the right thing to do, despite our personal financial struggles.

I am a member of a facebook group called “Stop Child Abuse”. Yesterday as I was looking at the the fan wall and I saw you video “Man With A Sign”. First off: Jeff, you are a very brave man. I, myself, being a child that was sexually abused can understand completely. You are an inspiration to me.

Dear Jeff and Kelly
I received your book. And I could not stop reading it. I read it all and it took me till 3 am.

I am writing from facebook, i would greatly appreciate a free copy of your book. I was abused as a child by a family member. I priced your book to purchase and at this time I can not afford to buy it, I am out of work on medical, just had my 4th cervical spine surgery in feb and suffer chronic pain, so i am limited with income at this point. I am very interested in your book to help me and others.

I just finished the book. I’ve spent much of the past day and a half reading it… obsessively…

I’ve just spent the evening sat in front of my computer in London, reading this from start to finish. Both of you are amazingly inspiring! Thank you so much for sending me a copy of your story.

Kelly: You are a wonderful and powerful woman. You are truly an inspiration as well.

Thank you for this gift and your voice in our world of many who would like to ignore this devastation and turn a blind eye. You are courageous!

If you are a survivor and you want a free digital copy of our book please contact us at skeletons@halldorson.com or on facebook.

Not a survivor but you want to support our efforts? You can buy a copy of Skeletons Don’t Sleep or you can donate to help fund our buy a PRINT book for our survivor program by emailing us at skeletons@halldorson.com.

If you are looking for a little positive, uplifting support/inspiration consider subscribing. We are going to give away a free (print) personalized signed copy to one of my blog subscribers at the end of the summer.

Jeff and I are also available for readings, speaking and discussions. For more information drop us an email at skeletons@halldorson.com.

About a week and a half ago I got an email message on one of my email lists about PJ O’Rourke speaking locally, specifically at the CNHT Picnic. I know Jane, the organizer, from the Ron Paul 2008 campaign. Wolfgang is a pretty big fan of PJ and so am I. Wolf is also very interested in being on camera, doing video work and even acting. We’ve actually been talking about (& semi-working on) putting together a kid’s liberty focused web show that we could submit to Reason Tv.  So, it occurred to me that Wolfgang might not only want to meet him but maybe he’d like to interview him.

I asked Wolfgang stressing that it might not be possible but if it was, would he be interested.

He said, REALLY? Yes!

I sent Jane an email asking if it would be okay if Wolf, 15 years old, interviewed PJ when he was here. She replied, absolutely.

Yesterday Jeff and I were down then as the week ended I checked on how much this was going to cost. With the kids, Jeff and I the cost was going to be $60 plus the cost of gas to drive up to Hillsborough an hour and a half away. There was no way we could swing that. SO, I dropped Jane another note. I asked if there was any way we could get a discount and that we would be more than willing to help out with anything that needed doing. She was gracious enough to give us her extra ticket and let the kids in for free. All we had to pay was $15.

On the way up this morning we all chatted about what questions Wolf was going to ask. He jotted them down on his iTouch.

When we got there this morning we helped out with the table set-up and then headed into the kitchen. Jeff cooked. Wolfgang cooked. Griffin prepped veggies, breads and salads. I helped fill up the cold trays with potato salad and cleaned the recyclables. Zoe worked in the kitchen too.

A little later I set up my computer to unload the video footage I had already taken and who walks by but PJ O’Rourke. With Wolf standing next to me I introduced myself and asked if my son Wolfgang could do a short interview with him. He happily agreed while poking fun, That’s your son? Pointing at Wolfgang. What were you a child bride?

Mr. O’Rourke thought right then would be the perfect opportunity. We looked around for a semi-quiet spot and headed over. He was patient, kind and just plain damn cool. He answered every one of Wolf’s questions, which included questions about homeschooling, libertarianism, the oil spill, Ron Paul and PJ’s new book, Driving Like Crazy (of which he told Wolf NOT to read but said he should go ahead and buy it, just don’t read it for at least 15 years).

After the interview Wolfgang went and set up the video camera in front of the podium. We planned on videoing PJ speaking to the crowd.

Meanwhile Jeff was still working hard/hot in the kitchen and the other two kiddos were serving up food for the guests.

It was once again a great day and a fantastic example of what unschooling looks like in our home, facilitating interests and maximizing opportunity despite whatever struggles we may be having.

We went thinking…maybe…we might possibly….if everything went well…get to interview PJ O’Rourke. At a minimum we would get to hear him speak. What we got instead was we met a charming guy who was willing to give a 15 year old 15 minutes of his time, on camera! The kids got to work in a commercial kitchen, which Griffin told us repeatedly that he was loving it and having so much fun. He said if he had to do it every day he probably wouldn’t enjoy it though.

Wolfgang’s two favorite PJ quotes:

A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat.

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

My favorite:

America wasn’t founded so that we could all be better. America was founded so we could all be anything we damned well pleased

We shared. We laughed. We smiled. We learned.

Peace,

Kelly

Yesterday, I got an email. It was an advertisement for a summer hockey program. Wolfgang hasn’t played hockey in two years now. I ignored it. There was no need to *unsubscribe* really…it was just one email. I can ignore that.

About a half an hour later I received a reply message from one of the other recipients of the bulk email requesting to be taken off the list. I realized right then the original email was from a bulk server that wasn’t set to discriminate who the email was sent from. In other words any time someone sends an email *to* this the reply address it’s sends a copy to everyone on the list.

For those of you who don’t understand how list-servers work it’s simple. You have a list of *subscribers* and then there is an email address assigned to that list, think YahooGroups. So if you want to send an email/newsletter/ad whatever to the entire list you just have to send it to the assigned email address. Now the thing is usually those lists are set up so you can only send FROM certain addresses. In the case of YahooGroups you can generally only send from an address that is ON the list.

When it comes to marketing lists or SPAM lists, generally you can only send from one or two addresses. Reason being if one of the recipients replies to the bulk email requesting to be removed or with a question it won’t go to the WHOLE list. Clearly this email list was NOT set up properly.

Over the next few hours I got up thirty emails requesting to be deleted from the list. Each email getting just a little bit angrier. People not taking the time to actually look at the original email or even think to try and make sense of any of it.

Here are some of the replies…

I fear the worst - it has taken on a life of its own - it is beginning to spontaneously reproduce! We are all doomed!!!

I do not know how apex got my email address. I have unsuscribed with them. Hopefully that will end this craziness.

Please remove me from any further Apex hockey emails.

Here are a couple of funny ones…

STOP THE MADNESS!!!!!!!REMOVE MY NAME BEFORE LEGAL ACTION IS THE ONLY OPTION.

Legal Action? Against who…the other people that didn’t pay attention? Should we all take legal action against you for sending that?

These replies are being sent to everyone on the list, regardless of whether “reply all” is selected. Please stop sending any > response to> this e-mail blast.

Somebody actually got it!? Not just one person…as the day went on a few other people started to pay a little bit of attention. One person even wrote this smart thoughtful email:

Everyone. If you go to the original msg and follow the instructions to click unsubscribe instead of just hitting reply it will make everyones life easier.

The original message came from a listserv. The chances that the guy who actually sent this has seen any of these msgs is pretty slim.

Please just do that. I will email the contact listed on the original email to let him know not to send email blasts that way.

Jason

> ——Original Message——
> From: Lakers Registrar
> Sender: steveatchue@—-
> To: mhg-general@eblast——-
> Subject: What is this an open hole for spammers ??
> Sent: Jun 28, 2010 6:41 PM
>

I had considered sending the same type of email early on but I had the feeling it would just confuse the already oblivious masses. Not to mention it would just add yet another email to the hundreds we were all now receiving. Instead I sent this email to Jason (the subject line was how to stop this):

…but it’s much more amusing this way… isn’t it? 50 people emailing an
entire list not realizing that what they are doing is exactly what they want
to stop. I doubt many of them are going to read your very good advice. I
considered explaining it myself…but figured I would just be fueling it too
and chose, instead, to wait it out.

Peace,
Kelly

His response to me came after about a dozen more *remove me* emails and a couple copies of his email forwarded by someone else to the list AGAIN.

Good call kelly. People now emailing me asking to send them the link

Grrr

I guess so! It’s now morning and I am still getting emails from this list. Not nearly as many and I suspect by tomorrow the will be either stopped or everyone will realize to just ignore it…and let it run it’s course.

I just think the whole thing is amusing. Annoying, certainly, but amusing none-the-less. It goes to show how little people (even smart people - and there were lawyers, IT peeps and the like on the list) observe what is going on in the world. How most people are reactionary and don’t take even the smallest amount of time to take in what is really happening around them.

I now have in my email box individual’s names, phone numbers, email addresses, office numbers, and much more information I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten had they just given things a little thought. There is no way to know how many people are on that list. I’m guessing at least in the 1,000’s. And all these people that were so concerned with getting off this list…potentially opened themselves up to much more spam.

Slow down, breathe and open your eyes. It’s just an email.

Peace,
Kelly

What if everything you’ve ever learned was wrong? What if you were lied to? What if everyone was lied to? What if everyone really was out to get you? What if you were really hurting the people you love when you thought you were helping them? What if the people you love most don’t really love you? What if you really shouldn’t trust people? What if you caused suffering every day by your own choices? What if there really are no choices? What if you have no control? What if there is no god? What if history was fabricated to serve an agenda?

What if Christ was real? What if he came tomorrow? What if you looked the other way? What if you didn’t believe it was him? What if Christianity wasn’t the answer? What if there isn’t an answer? What if you didn’t know the answer? What if the answer was 42? What if you didn’t believe? What if you did? What if the Mayans were right? What if Hindus have the answers? What if the Greek Gods were real? What if all the religions were right? What if none of them are? What if there are pieces of answers in everything? What if there are no answers?

What if you knew why you were here? What if you didn’t? What if you were kinder to the ones you loved? What if the world really was doomed? What if life as we know it really is going to end in 2012? What if all the crazy extremists aren’t the crazy ones?

What if we all opened our eyes and our hearts? What if we all worked together to reduce suffering? What if we respected our children? What if we stopped killing? What if we could make a difference? What if we did have the power to change things? What if there was a beautiful future for everyone? What if we were kind and compassionate? What if nobody lied? What if we didn’t assume anyone’s intent? What if we spoke the truth? What if when we did people would listen and rejoice?

What if you had a billion dollars? What if I did? What if money didn’t matter? What if money is all that matters? What if money really does corrupt? What if money didn’t buy power? What if money was good? What if money was bad? What if money just was?

What if we washed all the birds? What if we stopped all the slaughter? What if we cleaned up all the oil? What if we fed all the hungry? What if we comforted all the sad? What if we found all the lost? What if we housed all the homeless? What if we did it without force or intimidation? What if we accepted not everyone wants to be fed, housed, comforted or found? What if we could make peace with that?

What if we had the freedom? What if we allowed other’s their freedom? What if we were all autonomous but engaged in shared joys, passions, inspiration and love? What if all the sadness could be gone? What if we all cried when we saw sunsets? What if we all saw the beauty?

What if we are all in the Matrix? What if we’re not?

What if life here, life today, life in this very moment is all we have?

Peace,

Kelly