National Geo. "Afghan girl".

Remember the girl on the left? Her name is Sharbat Gula, and she is Pashtun, the most warlike of Afghan tribes. Her picture graced the cover of National Geographic in June 1985. She was "rediscovered" in 2002 (right) - probably around 30 years old then.

Soon after the reunion between NG photographer Steve McCurry and Gula, National Geographic set up the Afghan Girls Fund, a charitable organization with the goal of educating Afghan girls and young women. In 2008, the fund was changed to the Afghan Children's Fund to include boys.

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"There's no crying when you go adventure-seeking, Ed Wardle!"

I've only seen segments of National Geographic's series, Alone in the Wild, which recounts adventurer Ed Wardle's 50-day odyssey in the Alaskan Yukon. That is, Wardle lasted 50 days of what was supposed to be a 3-month (or so) survival trek. Check out the story here at National Geographic, complete with video and text.

From the NG site: "Ed Wardle is a Scottish television producer, director, camera operator and adventurer. Wardle summitted Mount Everest in 2007 while filming Everest: Beyond the Limit for the Discovery Channel. He summitted the mountain again in 2009. In 2008 he took part in a guided 'last degree' expedition to the North Pole. In 2009 Wardle filmed a documentary, Alone in the Wild, for Channel 4 and the National Geographic Channel. Wardle was dropped off in Yukon Territory in Northern Canada in order make a documentary discovering what it was like to live totally alone in the wild, living off the land and the wildlife he could legally catch. His only means of communication with the outside world was via Twitter posting each day. His video diaries had detailed his problems finding food and his inability to cope with the solitude. His bodyweight fell by 28 pounds and heart rate fell to below 30 beats per minute by the end of his adventure."

From what I've watched this is a helluv an adventure for anyone to go through. The only problem I had with Ed is that for a large portion of the segments I watched, Ed cried. He cried a lot. Now I realize the guy's grappling with mental and physical stresses on his body but the crying (and the crying and the crying) got to the point of being a turn-off. And I'm not the only viewer who expressed those sentiments. Here are Wardle's thoughts after his 50-day adventure.

Still, it's worth watching. My close college buddy, Jim Sickels, and I will soon be embarking on our own "adventure" - walking Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. 1200 miles in 3 or 4 years - however long it takes. It's certainly not comparable to Wardle's tale, but we do what we can. Still - I'll try not to cry.

NOTE: Jim never cries, but I do get emotional.

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