User:Figureskatingfan/Christine's contributions

Hi, I created this userpage because my main one was getting too large and bulky. My mother was famous in her circles for using those pithy little sayings her children used to hate but we all now use, and one of them was, "Bragging is unattractive". So forgive the bragging, please.

Edit count

• Edit count

• My very first edit. Very silly, yet strangely prophetic.
• My 1,000th edit - Argh! Dealing with vandalism, of course.
• My 2,000th edit - An edit of The Wiggles; I'm so proud!
• My 4,000th edit - First, Twinkle, then Huggle. My real first day using a new tool.
• My 6,000th edit - Some quid pro quo, as I move into the more social aspect of Wikipedia.
• My 8,000th edit - Ahoy there, me hearties! One of the strangest "controversies" I've ever participated in on Wikipedia. See this for how it was resolved.
• My 12,000th edit - "Oops": Probably my most common edit summary. The edit mentions Kermit the Frog and Elmo, though.

Featured articles

Why I Worked So Hard on The Wiggles

The Wiggles are an important daily part of my household, so I thought that the guys deserved a quality article. Plus, there's the WP:CSB-thing, and anyway, Anthony's awfully cute.

FA 24 May 2008

The Wiggles are a children's musical group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page, Jeff Fatt and Phillip Wilcher. In 2006, Page was forced to retire from the group due to illness and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran. The group combines music and theories of child development in their videos, television programs, and live shows. Since their inception, other regular characters (Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog) and a troupe called "The Wiggly dancers" have toured with them and appeared in their CDs, DVDs, and television programs. They have earned seventeen gold, twelve platinum, three double-platinum, and ten multi-platinum awards for sales of over 17 million DVDs and four million CDs. By 2002, The Wiggles had become the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) most successful pre-school television program.

Why I Worked So Hard on List of people with hepatitis C

I happened upon this list for work, and it was obvious that it needed work, so I cleaned up its sources and made it look pretty. In the process, I made a good friend, hep-C activist Pam, who tells me that this list has done some good in the hep-C community.

FL 4 November 2008

List of people with hepatitis C: Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which affects the liver and is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact. The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis). This condition can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis). In some cases, those with cirrhosis go on to develop liver failure or liver cancer. Although HCV was not discovered until April 1989, an estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected by hepatitis C. It is the leading cause of liver transplant in the United States; 8,000–10,000 people die each year in the US from the disease. No vaccine is available at this time. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed when the disease is diagnosed early, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a course of anti-viral medicines. The symptoms of HCV infection, especially in its early stages, can be mild enough to conceal the fact of the disease; thus, some people do not seek treatment. As Live Aid founder Bob Geldof states, "Stigma, shame and fear can suffocate awareness. These barriers prevent people from getting tested, receiving treatment, and clearing themselves of this disease". Celebrities diagnosed with the disease have decided to go public in order to raise awareness about hepatitis C and to encourage more people to get tested for the disease.

Why I Worked So Hard on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Caged Bird is too important a book to look like this. It also has deep significance for me.

File:Angeloupoem.jpg

FA 15 March 2009

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 17. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years. It has been used in educational settings from high schools to universities, and the book has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir. However, the book's graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries.

Why I Worked So Hard on Stanford Memorial Church

I happened upon this article while playing in Huggle. I helped mediate a dispute, and then fell in love with the place, even though I have no affiliation with Stanford. I've never stepped foot on campus, much less seen MemChu, but it demonstrates how powerful this church is.

FA 5 August 2009

Stanford Memorial Church (also known as MemChu) is located at the center of the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California. It was built during the American Renaissance by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband Leland. Designed by architect Charles A. Coolidge, a protegé of Henry Hobson Richardson, the church has been called "the University's architectural crown jewel". Designs for the church were submitted to Jane Stanford and the university trustees in 1898, and it was dedicated in 1903. The building is Romanesque in form and Byzantine in its details, inspired by churches in the region of Venice and, especially, Ravenna. Its stained glass windows and extensive mosaics are based on religious paintings the Stanfords admired in Europe. The church has four pipe organs, which allow musicians to produce many styles of organ music. Stanford Memorial Church has withstood two major earthquakes, in 1906 and 1989, and was extensively renovated after each.

Why I Worked So Hard on Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

One of my wiki-goals is to create a Maya Angelou featured topic. This article, which I created, is a step to that goal, something I'm doing pretty much on my own.

FA 31 July 2010
Four Award awarded 13 August 2010.

Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas is the third book of Maya Angelou's six-volume autobiography series. Set between 1949 and 1955, the book largely spans Angelou's twenties. In this volume, Angelou describes her struggles to support her young son, form meaningful relationships and forge a successful career in the entertainment world. The work's 1976 publication was the first time an African American woman had expanded her life story into a third volume. Scholar Dolly McPherson called the book "a graphic portrait of the adult self in bloom", while critic Lyman B. Hagen called it "a journey of discovery and rebirth". In Swingin' and Singin', Angelou examines many of the same subjects and themes in her previous autobiographies, including travel, music, race, conflict, and motherhood. Angelou depicts the conflict she felt as a single mother, despite her success as a performer as she travels Europe with the musical Porgy and Bess. Her depictions of her travels, which take up 40 percent of the book, have roots in the African American slave narrative. Angelou uses music and musical concepts throughout Singin' and Swingin'; McPherson calls it Angelou's "praisesong" to Porgy and Bess. Angelou's stereotypes about race and race relations are challenged as she interacts more with people of different races. She changes her name from Marguerite Johnson to Maya Angelou for professional reasons in the pages of this autobiography; her young son changes his name as well, from Clyde to Guy, and their relationship is strengthened as the book ends.

Why I Worked So Hard on History of Sesame Street

Part of my on-going goal to improve Sesame Street and its ancillaries. I'm very proud of this huge accomplishment, which represents a great deal of research and effort.

File:Kermit the frog.jpg

FA 19 March 2011

The preschool educational television program Sesame Street has aired on public broadcasting television stations since its premiere on November 10, 1969. Featuring Jim Henson's Muppets, animation, live shorts, humor, and celebrity appearances, it was the first television program of its kind to base its contents and production values on laboratory and formative research, and the first to include a curriculum "detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes". Initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, and 20 independent international versions had been produced.

Why I Worked So Hard on List of human characters in Sesame Street

It all started with a list that included ALL Sesame Street characters, but became three lists, including this one, the more manageable of the three.

FL 22 May 2011

Since the premiere of the children's television program Sesame Street on November 10, 1969, it has included what writer Malcolm Gladwell has called "the essence of Sesame Street—the artful blend of fluffy monsters and earnest adults". The original cast, chosen by producer Jon Stone, consisted of four human actors—Matt Robinson, who played Gordon, Loretta Long, who played Gordon's wife Susan, Will Lee (Mr. Hooper), and Bob McGrath (Bob). Unlike most children television programs at the time, the producers of Sesame Street decided against using a single host and cast a group of ethnically diverse actors, with, as Sesame Street researcher Gerald S. Lesser put it, "a variety of distinctive and reliable personalities".

Why I Worked So Hard on Sesame Street

Another important part of my daily family life. This article was delisted in 2008, for good reason, and took me three years to get to FA.

[[:File:Sesame Street logo.svg|150px|thumb|right|FA 11 September 2011]] Sesame Street is an American children's television series created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. The program is known for its combination of Jim Henson's Muppets, animation, short films, humor, and cultural references. The program was conceived in 1966 during discussions between Cooney and Morrisett. The series premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations on November 10, 1969 to positive reviews, some controversy, and high ratings.

From an idea by my friend and wiki-mentor, Scartol

Good articles

• Blue's Clues

  Before I edited this article, it had been downgraded from B to Start. I improved (meaning: completely re-wrote) it to bring it back up to B-status, and then as of February 1, 2008, to GA.

• Gather Together in My Name

  Maya Angelou's second autobiography, it reached GA-status on October 30, 2008.

• Maya Angelou

  This article, which became GA on March 17, 2009, began my involvement with all things MA on Wikipedia.

• International co-productions of Sesame Street

  I expanded and improved this article while improving the History article. It became GA on August 4, 2010.

• Sesame Street research

  Part of my on-going attempt to improve all articles about The Show. It became GA on March 1, 2011.

DYK hooks

• ...that although Gather Together in My Name, the second book in Maya Angelou's six autobiographies, was not as critically acclaimed as the first one, it continues the same themes of racism and sexism? (February 22, 2008)

• ... that the musical group The Wiggles' first album was dedicated to their general operations manager Paul Field's infant daughter, whose death ultimately led to the formation of the group? (June 29, 2008)

• ... that Maya Angelou wrote one of her characters in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to demonstrate how she survived her childhood as a black in a white-dominated world? (July 20, 2008)

• ... that Dharmachari Aryadaka was the first paid Buddhist prison chaplain in Washington state? (August 15, 2008)

• ... that I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, one of Maya Angelou's works, was nominated for a National Book Award? (August 24, 2008)

• ... that photojournalist Stanley Greene's image of a tutu-clad girl with a champagne bottle became a symbol of the fall of the Berlin Wall? (September 28, 2008)

• ... that according to Street Gang, a discussion at a dinner party, hosted by Joan Ganz Cooney in 1966, led to the creation of the children's television show, Sesame Street? (April 12, 2009)

• ... that according to her autobiography Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, Marguerite Johnson changed her name to Maya Angelou because it sounded more exotic? (May 4, 2009)

• ... that there are 20 international co-productions of Sesame Street, seen in over 140 countries? (November 10, 2009)

• ... that Gerald S. Lesser wrote Children and Television in 1974 to defend Sesame Street against its critics? (July 4, 2010)

• ... that The Heart of a Woman, the fourth installment of Maya Angelou's six autobiographies, has been called her "most introspective"? (August 9, 2010)

• ... that by 2001, there were over 1,000 research studies regarding the children's television show Sesame Street's efficacy, impact, and effect on American culture? (November 4, 2010)

• ... that the format of the children's TV show Sesame Street was changed due to the success and popularity of the segment "Elmo's World"? (November 28, 2010)

• ... that Joe Raposo, first musical director of the children's show Sesame Street, won four Grammys for writing much of the show's music? (December 03, 2010)

• ... that one of the educational goals of the children's television show Sesame Street was to prepare young children for school?(December 15, 2010)

• ... that a survey conducted in 1993 on the influence of the children's television program Sesame Street found that by the age of three, 95% of all American children had watched the show? (December 22, 2010)

Others

• Orthostatic intolerance

  The illness that Greg Page of The Wiggles suffers from.

• American game show winnings records

  Verified its sources, removed tag.

• Terry Gannon

  This was one of the first articles I re-edited for Wikipedia.

• Steve Burns
• The Tipping Point - book by Malcolm Gladwell
• Paul Field - manager of The Wiggles, older brother of Anthony Field
• Sesame Street

  Took this on after it was downgraded from FA, and rightfully so. This article and its associates is a huge project.