this one's for ishmael beah

i had no idea what blood diamond was about when i agreed to go see it with one of my friends. and no, i didn't know sierra leone even existed until i saw that movie. and yes, it is a shame. and while i'd like to blame high school history for only covering north america and europe, it's partially my own fault that i'm not aware of what's happening in other countries (it's only in thanks to the close-up washington program that i learned about the darfur situation a whole 6 months before it became somewhat common knowledge). and today i was perusing the shelfs of the barnes and noble on my campus and found a book written by ishmael beah called "a long way gone: memoirs of a child soldier" and started reading it. and yes, beah was a child soldier in none other than sierra leone. it's funny how some events in life coincide like that. anyways, i have to thank beah for not only educating me, but also for turning me onto a song that he discusses in his memoir, "rapper's delight" by the sugarhill gang (the song that made him want to learn english really well). even if you aren't into rap, give it a listen for no other reason than its incredible bassline :) and this is a link to some video clips of beah talking about his book... maybe some moggers want to read it too. of what i've read so far, it's intense yet inspiring. and beah himself is extremely likable. http://www.alongwaygone.com/media.html