Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
What I Believe
(this theme allows my thoughts to flow better than "Dream")
I believe:
- No one ....difficult to think on this subject too..
If i were to present my journey to an audience, what would be my message?
When i was a sophomore in highschool i reached a point where i couldn't think..it was a real struggle to concentrate and get work done. I was isolating myself - i placed getting homework done above everything else. I think back and remember one week where i had maybe a couple panic attacks - i needed to stop running to sit on the side of the road. I enjoyed my classes and my teachers, but getting work done was a huge struggle. Why? Maybe i set too high goals...i think it;s really because the work i was doing wasn't for anything - just an excercise to prepare me for the 'real world'. This lack of purpose and the need to escape work caused me to go to the dominican republic for a 9 day service trip. There i met good friends and experienced what community was...the love there....everyone checking up on each other..everyone helping...i started to feeling like somethingwas present controlling the flow of life in the dominican. Something that caused old friends to cross each other at the same time..or caused random events to occur that brought or someone from one place to a life altering other place. I started to sense this love and interconnectedness in the dominican.
What i take from all of my excursions is the bond that i've formed with myself and the group. Costa Rica, i was part of a family with 26 other students of varying ages from around the US (and Canada).
Not really knowing what attracted me to the dominican - i knew i just needed to get back - to keep traveling. so i built something that i thought might be useful there. The only purpose it ended up serving was giving me a lot of success in science fair, a great elevator pitch topic, a grant to CR, annnnd confidence i could build more things and get similar success.
So i moved onto engineering. I made some great friends at WPI, and i started a project where my team worked on creating an implementaion plan for a device in a developing area (check). Yet, though again my project gave me great success and attention and reason to give presentations (all things i enjoy very much), i kept on getting stuck in classes - i had no motivating factor to read my textbooks....people keep on telling me a college degree will give you credit if someone you want to start your own business or want to work for someone - you will always have that to fall back on. However, at the heart of it - i don't care what grades i get on tests or projects - it's what i learned or was able to create..those are the things i create values from. So again, i don't give a shit what some company thinks of me - they can suck my dick for all i care.. what should matter to them, as it matters to me, is what I've been able to accomplish...by accomplish i mean what I've been able to create and make an impact with.
At any rate i dropped out of school. The last semeseter before i left was especially hard because i couldn't read or start work. WHen i was able to dig into homework, i did find myself interested in what i was reading. Engineering theory is pretty interesting at the heart of it. But i couldn't focus so i dropped out.
I was interested in farming and vegetable gardening. I pursued an apprenticeship on an island - helping them to create their first farmer's market. It was hear again i experience the love at the heart of a community, and the magic the can happen when time is out of the equation....when they're is no equation. When life just runs on life.
Before that i was in kenya for 10 days - caring out frosh project. I was really successful at raising money. Again there, i felt the family, but wasn't they're long enough to truly live as apart of the whole.
I'm home now. was recently put on ADD meds that are changing my life - I wouldn't have been able to write this long without them. I feel like i exist in the world and haven't been afraid to be more pressing toward acheiving what i want...whether it be to be served faster, or to let the kid i'm tutoring know how much he's pissing me off... :)
So what - what do i want to impart onto the reader. What change do i want to create? I want to create sustainable solutions for our earth and future human generations. A sustainable relation that causes them to live together in peace. For the world to be one big community...or united small community's that respect each other...and maybe have potluck's across town once a month.
In order to create one hella sustainable solution - we need to educate everyone. Because education creates behavior. Not only do we need to educate everyone, we need to provide them with the resources to act on/out their education ....i.e. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER'S TURN INTO SUBSISTENT FARMERS ...it is only through those means that an infrastructure can start to be built in impoverished communities. And with a growing infrastructure, means growing job market. We need to keep money within the community. We need to keep the smart people within the community. We need to teach children's ethics to avoid corruption. We need schools that create leaders. We need to give power to women.
How do you even start to create change in farming homes?...with no time, no money, and no energy.
I believe:
- No one ....difficult to think on this subject too..
If i were to present my journey to an audience, what would be my message?
When i was a sophomore in highschool i reached a point where i couldn't think..it was a real struggle to concentrate and get work done. I was isolating myself - i placed getting homework done above everything else. I think back and remember one week where i had maybe a couple panic attacks - i needed to stop running to sit on the side of the road. I enjoyed my classes and my teachers, but getting work done was a huge struggle. Why? Maybe i set too high goals...i think it;s really because the work i was doing wasn't for anything - just an excercise to prepare me for the 'real world'. This lack of purpose and the need to escape work caused me to go to the dominican republic for a 9 day service trip. There i met good friends and experienced what community was...the love there....everyone checking up on each other..everyone helping...i started to feeling like somethingwas present controlling the flow of life in the dominican. Something that caused old friends to cross each other at the same time..or caused random events to occur that brought or someone from one place to a life altering other place. I started to sense this love and interconnectedness in the dominican.
What i take from all of my excursions is the bond that i've formed with myself and the group. Costa Rica, i was part of a family with 26 other students of varying ages from around the US (and Canada).
Not really knowing what attracted me to the dominican - i knew i just needed to get back - to keep traveling. so i built something that i thought might be useful there. The only purpose it ended up serving was giving me a lot of success in science fair, a great elevator pitch topic, a grant to CR, annnnd confidence i could build more things and get similar success.
So i moved onto engineering. I made some great friends at WPI, and i started a project where my team worked on creating an implementaion plan for a device in a developing area (check). Yet, though again my project gave me great success and attention and reason to give presentations (all things i enjoy very much), i kept on getting stuck in classes - i had no motivating factor to read my textbooks....people keep on telling me a college degree will give you credit if someone you want to start your own business or want to work for someone - you will always have that to fall back on. However, at the heart of it - i don't care what grades i get on tests or projects - it's what i learned or was able to create..those are the things i create values from. So again, i don't give a shit what some company thinks of me - they can suck my dick for all i care.. what should matter to them, as it matters to me, is what I've been able to accomplish...by accomplish i mean what I've been able to create and make an impact with.
At any rate i dropped out of school. The last semeseter before i left was especially hard because i couldn't read or start work. WHen i was able to dig into homework, i did find myself interested in what i was reading. Engineering theory is pretty interesting at the heart of it. But i couldn't focus so i dropped out.
I was interested in farming and vegetable gardening. I pursued an apprenticeship on an island - helping them to create their first farmer's market. It was hear again i experience the love at the heart of a community, and the magic the can happen when time is out of the equation....when they're is no equation. When life just runs on life.
Before that i was in kenya for 10 days - caring out frosh project. I was really successful at raising money. Again there, i felt the family, but wasn't they're long enough to truly live as apart of the whole.
I'm home now. was recently put on ADD meds that are changing my life - I wouldn't have been able to write this long without them. I feel like i exist in the world and haven't been afraid to be more pressing toward acheiving what i want...whether it be to be served faster, or to let the kid i'm tutoring know how much he's pissing me off... :)
So what - what do i want to impart onto the reader. What change do i want to create? I want to create sustainable solutions for our earth and future human generations. A sustainable relation that causes them to live together in peace. For the world to be one big community...or united small community's that respect each other...and maybe have potluck's across town once a month.
In order to create one hella sustainable solution - we need to educate everyone. Because education creates behavior. Not only do we need to educate everyone, we need to provide them with the resources to act on/out their education ....i.e. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER'S TURN INTO SUBSISTENT FARMERS ...it is only through those means that an infrastructure can start to be built in impoverished communities. And with a growing infrastructure, means growing job market. We need to keep money within the community. We need to keep the smart people within the community. We need to teach children's ethics to avoid corruption. We need schools that create leaders. We need to give power to women.
How do you even start to create change in farming homes?...with no time, no money, and no energy.
Dream
Live a life without addiction.
It's hard to think about what i want in the future. But it's easy to think about making my dreams come true now...and trust in focusing in the now will create some real dream like world in the future.
I did farming. Check.
Going to kenya to work with entrepreneurs, farmers, and students. Ticket - check. Experience - pending.
Going to B9 plastics for a few days in December.
This video really gets me worked up
Education needs to work by pull not push
Imagine an education system that starts from questions not knowledge to be imparted
It's hard to think about what i want in the future. But it's easy to think about making my dreams come true now...and trust in focusing in the now will create some real dream like world in the future.
I did farming. Check.
Going to kenya to work with entrepreneurs, farmers, and students. Ticket - check. Experience - pending.
Going to B9 plastics for a few days in December.
This video really gets me worked up
Education needs to work by pull not push
Imagine an education system that starts from questions not knowledge to be imparted
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Toxie
Crazy how buying a morgage assest could explain so much about the housing economy. Toxic asset were the theme to this week's "This American Life" Podcast. The journalists bought a $1000 asset and named it Toxie..here's a video one of the viewers created that summarizes Toxie's conflict..and eventual death.
Toxie's Dead from Enkhtulga on Vimeo.
Toxie's Dead from Enkhtulga on Vimeo.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Love
I also believe the most innovative acts are ones built over a foundation of love (the Kiva.org is a powerful example)...
Guster announced the winner of their video contest for "Bad Bad World"...
Bad Bad World from Guster on Vimeo.
Real change can only be accomplished out of acts like these. Reminds me of the Harlem Children Zone's attempt to get 6th graders back on a track in school...trying to reverse the effects of years of poor schooling. It seemed everything the teachers would so was failing...end every was exhausted from trying to change these kids. The author Paul Tough, sited a study where the only visible change that could be seen with the students farthest behind happened during one on one tutoring.
Which makes me think of this really cool Tutoring center...(need to leave now - will post later)
Guster announced the winner of their video contest for "Bad Bad World"...
Bad Bad World from Guster on Vimeo.
Real change can only be accomplished out of acts like these. Reminds me of the Harlem Children Zone's attempt to get 6th graders back on a track in school...trying to reverse the effects of years of poor schooling. It seemed everything the teachers would so was failing...end every was exhausted from trying to change these kids. The author Paul Tough, sited a study where the only visible change that could be seen with the students farthest behind happened during one on one tutoring.
Which makes me think of this really cool Tutoring center...(need to leave now - will post later)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Workspaces
I was reading about on of IDEO's patterns; The I in community - enabling the individual enables the community. One of the patterns discussed was about how the individual workspace at PIXAR which has "fueled their tightnit culture. The results—far from your typical cubicle farm—are one of the most inspiring and interesting places to work. Walking down the halls, you see everything from piñatas to jungle themes to a neighborhood of cottages."
You Can explore this article and the Patterns website further here: here
Anyway, this got me looking into other AWESOME workspaces. One of my favorites was the "whiteboad egg" located at Mindlab.. located in the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs in Copenhagen, Denmark
check out website here
You Can explore this article and the Patterns website further here: here
Anyway, this got me looking into other AWESOME workspaces. One of my favorites was the "whiteboad egg" located at Mindlab.. located in the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs in Copenhagen, Denmark
check out website here
Design Museum Boston
I was attracted to the website by the word 'design' and their fresh look Design Museum Boston . What are they about?? Well, let me read again..Its about educating people on design and bringing designers and non-designers together. They do this through organizing events, helping to create exhibits in museums, and holding an open discussion board: http://designingamuseum.ning.com/ .
They have this cool booklet:
They have this cool booklet:
Open publication - Free publishing - More vision
This blog entry is really unorganized...I'm just writing as I learn more about it. Some cool points
This blog entry is really unorganized...I'm just writing as I learn more about it. Some cool points
- They just opened their first museum on the 9th floor of Boston City Hall..see details here Creative Capital
- Designing a Difference: educate the poublic on the transformative power of design by helping non profits find innovative solutions to economic social and environemental problems. They're first collaboration is with Smallbean who runs the Citizens Archivist Project (CAP). Participants in CAP learn how to use technology as they upload video and oral recordings from interviews with their community. More info on them and the benefits of their solar suitcase here: Design Museum and Small Bean
- And they help this meeting around Massachusetts Called UNITE where designers and non-designers came together in these really modern office spaces to collaborate
Thursday, October 28, 2010
I LOVE OPENIDEO
They (openideo.com) announced the new winners recently of the first opensource design challenge, "How can we raise kid's awareness of fresh food so they can make better choices?" See winning ideas here: Fresh Food Innovators
One of my favorites:
It was based off this simple experiment where someone put ducktape in the middle of a grocery cart. As a result, 102% increase of fruits in vegetables purchased...check out news story here : Shopping Cart INNOVATION . It reminds me of some of the simple principles taught to the parents taking Baby School in the Harlem Children Zone - just how reading more to your kid when they're 1 can increase they're chance of success so much...or in a This American Life is was listening to recently on "Unconditional Love"... they talked about how this homicidal 16 year old was cured of is attachment disorder just by standing 3 ft away from his mom for 8 weeks. Also, the parents needed to feed him from a bottle while holding him to restore the attachment....My point is that simple fixes can cause solutions to flow from them....
One of my favorites:
About
I just wanted to brng together some products/ideas/ or organizations have a truly sustainable solution.
TED's description of the talk "What do you think of people in poverty? Maybe what Jessica Jackley once did: "they" need "our" help, in the form of a few coins in a jar. The co-founder of Kiva.org talks about how her attitude changed -- and how her work with microloans has brought new power to people who live on a few dollars a day."
She started a website similar to KIVA called Profounder.com which helps small businesses collect money from the everyday joe...like your family and friends.
Profounder Link
Watch this TED Talk...
TED's description of the talk "What do you think of people in poverty? Maybe what Jessica Jackley once did: "they" need "our" help, in the form of a few coins in a jar. The co-founder of Kiva.org talks about how her attitude changed -- and how her work with microloans has brought new power to people who live on a few dollars a day."
She started a website similar to KIVA called Profounder.com which helps small businesses collect money from the everyday joe...like your family and friends.
Profounder Link
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