charity

photo from mycharity:water

my birthday is coming up! i love good food and wine, so usually each year, i look forward to celebrating my birthday by feasting and toasting with beloved friends. but this year, i wanted to do something different. after the "shanghai glam" bash of last year, it was hard to think of how to top that.

and then i found out about charity:water's "born in september" campaign. founded by scott harrison, a former club and party promoter in nyc, charity:water is a non-profit based in nyc with one clear mission: to provide safe and clean drinking water for communities in developing countries who currently do not have access. harrison started by hosting a birthday party in september three years ago and instead of gifts, asked his guests to bring $20 as a donation. since then, charity:water has grown and raised over $7 million and funded 1,247 water projects. they track their projects meticulously, and you can even view the projects via google earth.

their "born in september" campaign asks september babies (such as yours truly) to "give up" their birthdays. instead of blowing their money, and their friends' money, on dinners and drinks out and nice gifts, they are being challenged to give that money to a water project fund instead. and that is exactly what i'm asking for my birthday this year.

i've set up my own page and am asking all my friends and family to donate $31 (because i'm turning 31 this year) to mycharity:water. here's the link.

i definitely don't need more stuff, and i can't think of a better way to celebrate the overflowing goodness in my life than to channel that overflow to touch the lives of those in need.

something harrison says in his personal story on the organization's website really struck a chord with me. i cannot retell it any better, so here it is in his own words:

"For me, charity is practical. It's sometimes easy, more often inconvenient, but always necessary. It's the ability to use one's position of influence, relative wealth and power to affect lives for the better. charity is singular and achievable.

There's a biblical parable about a man beaten near death by robbers. He's stripped naked and lying roadside. Most people pass him by, but one man stops. He picks him up and bandages his wounds. He puts him on his horse and walks alongside until they reach an inn. He checks him in and throws down his Amex. "Whatever he needs until he gets better."

All those passing by could have helped, but only one did. Only one had compassion.

The dictionary defines charity as simply the act of giving voluntarily to those in need. It's taken from the word "caritas," or simply, love. In Colossians 3, the Bible instructs readers to "put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

Although I'm still not sure what that means, I love the idea. To wear charity."

- Scott Harrison

here's to another year of wearing charity.

cups of coffee: 1

mood: a bit under the weather

*cute*

really sweet song and video by melpo mene, discovered via my friend traci's blog.

enjoy!




cups of coffee: 1 STRONG cup

mood: happy happy

i heart handmade

i am a craft person wannabe. i was not, however, blessed with the skills of an artisan--if anything, i have the opposite of the midas touch. things i touch seem to break and fall apart--memories of junior high technology "shop" class still haunt me. it's a miracle i didn't lose any fingers using the band saw and my only remaining injury is a scar on my right middle knuckle from a glue gun incident gone awry. i don't like to follow directions and i have little patience. and honestly, i'm really sloppy when it comes to arts and crafts: i was that kid in art class with paint in her hair and elmer's glue on her cheeks.

but i absolutely LOVE handmade goods and really, really like pretty things. and to top it off, i currently work at a gallery that exhibits contemporary craft art in glass, ceramic, lacquer and metals.

all this makes me itchin' to create something artsy. while i'm searching for my artisan calling, i spend plenty of time perusing handmade craft sites, drooling over the creative fruit of other people's labor. here are a few recent finds that i'm lovin':

artfire.com: promotes handmade items from around the world. lots of fun jewelry including this beautiful wood and resin bracelet...

"wooden you love it" bracelet, found here

world of handmade: a central site with links to the most popular craft sites and blogs. you can get absolutely lost here!

and a little shoutout to some friends who started their own handmade baby carriers business...

bao bei baby carriers: beautiful, original baby carriers and slings, handy and hip. makes me (almost) want a baby just so i can use one of these! :) part of their sale proceeds goes to the baobei foundation, which provides for surgeries and aftercare for orphans throughout china.

here's to finding my artisan calling soon. in the meantime, happy to support others who are gifted.

cups of coffee: 2

mood: i want ice cream...

death of an era

i just found out via twitter today that the last polaroid cameras and film are to be sold at urban outfitters until stock runs out. link here...

if i were in the states right now, i would literally go to every urban outfitters i could get to and buy every pack of film i could get my hands on.

the death of polaroid signifies the death of an era. no sleek, fancy digital camera will ever take the place of the clunky polaroid...the push of that one button, the click of the shutter and whirl as the photo spat out, the satisfying slide and lock of loading a new tray of film. my childhood is filled with memories of snapping away happily at grass, sky, trees and friends, waving the small square of film in my hands in eager anticipation as images mysteriously sharpened in their appearance. i'll miss the milky consistency of the photos, that slight blurry effect as if you're viewing the world in a dream-like state. i loved the instant satisfaction of seeing the photo you just took but always tinged with that element of surprise as to how the image will actually turn out.

i still remember science fair in junior high and charting the growth progress of my plants (hydroponics vs. soil culture) with the help of my pink polaroid. those images of lean green sprouts unfurling from glass bottles, silhouetted by a soft white light, helped me win third place.

i still have a polaroid camera here in shanghai and one precious pack of film left. i will have to sparingly use these remaining shots on polaroid-worthy photo opps.

fare thee well, polaroid, how i will miss thee......

cups of coffee: uno

mood: nostalgic

a day in the life

city weekend is a magazine (in english) geared towards expatriates living in china. the articles revolve around social events, restaurant reviews, clubs and bars--you know, hard-hitting news. their back page always highlights someone in the community who has an "interesting job" by recounting a day in their life. one issue in june featured my good friend grace, who runs a consultancy for non-profits in china called social venture group.

one of the issues this month features yours truly. :) link here!

as i was thinking through what exactly i do in a day for the article (and to be honest, i compiled probably three days into one--three of the most interesting days i've had, no less), i realized that i really do love my job and my life here. not a new revelation, but always an assuring one to have especially when i'm experiencing restlessness.

i have a case of "itchy feet" lately, as i like to call it. no, it's not athlete's foot (before any of you start emailing me medical advice) but more a case of a restless, fidgety spirit. a heart (and feet) that itch to travel and explore and be anywhere but here.

there's nothing truly that bad about my life here. if anything, it's simply amazing and i'm astounded each day that i get to be here, doing what i do, surrounded by the friends i'm beyond blessed to have. but as i stare at my 8th-year-in-shanghai in the face (yeeps), i can't help but daydream about other jobs i'd like to try, things i'd like to learn, places i'd to visit or live in....

maybe the problem isn't feeling restless in shanghai; it's just simply feeling restless in life, stuck in this mortal shell on this temporal planet. no matter where i go and what i do, i will never be truly satisfied. and i have to be okay with that.

i think being content in the Lord is not the same as being content with life. perhaps that slight friction and feeling of dissatisfaction is good--keeps me in pursuit of the right things (the right person--God, for that matter), enables me to hold life and all its precious gifts loosely in my hands, reminds me that i am a sojourner and to live as if i'm on my way home, not home already.

maybe in the eternal timeline, whatever i have on this earth--be it 70, 80, or 90 years--will be a blink in the cosmos, a "day in the life" so to speak in eternity. and maybe at that point, when i look back, i'll chuckle or simply shake my head at the things that seemed so daunting at the time, the worries that fretted away my days and years.

cups of coffee: 3

mood: very thankful for air conditioning.....

soundtrack to life

just the other day (staring out the bus window as usual) i was thinking about what a soundtrack for my life would sound like. i tend to gravitate towards two types of music: 1) mellow, moody, folksy rock with soothing harmonies, girl-and-guy-duo, soft voices and deep lyrics and 2) loud, thumping, turn-the-bass-up-and-jump-around-your-room dance music. music that makes you move really strikes a chord (ha ha, punny) with me; either it gets me physically moving with hard-to-resist beats, or it gets me to move metaphorically in some kind of meditative philosophical way through a tune and lyrics swollen with meaning and profundity.

and then, of course, there are those songs attached to specific memories, conjuring certain feelings and recollections no matter where you are or what you are doing.

so. here's my attempt at compiling a soundtrack for my life (thus far):

"girls just wanna have fun" - cyndi lauper
"brick house" - commodores
"a little respect" - erasure
"always be my baby" - mariah carey (yes....i admit it.....)
"mo money, mo problems" - mase, puff daddy and the notorious b.i.g.
"city of blinding lights" - U2
"heavenly day" - patty griffin
"keep the river on your right" - jake armerding
"chicago" - sufjan stevens
"viva la vida" - coldplay
"electric feel" - MGMT
"i'm in the middle of it" - waterdeep
"happiness" - the weepies
"heartbeats" - jose gonzalez
"100 years" - five for fighting
"ara batur" - sigur ros
"gang kou (harbor)" - jasmine chen
"oh happy day" - the sister act 2 version :)

and for my funeral: "dance" - caedmon's call

what would be on your life soundtrack?


cups of coffee: 2

mood: *yawn*

melancholic

perhaps it's the incessant rain. or the letdown after a month-long high of traipsing around china with dear friends. perhaps it's the return to a suffocating city after weeks of glorious open spaces and open skies. whatever the cause, i've been moving slower the past few days, lethargic in body, mind and spirit. today was my first day back at work, and though inundated with a gazillion things-to-do, i felt as if i were moving in slow motion, trying to synchronize swim in a pool of gelatin.

summers in shanghai are like a revolving door, and you never return to the same city. buildings that have stood as long as you can remember are suddenly demolished. dear friends who've become central to your social life and overall well-being move and leave the country. strangers who've just unpacked their suitcases, ready for whatever shanghai is ready to dish out, greet you with the same curiosity you possess as you size them up and down: will you be a friend this year?

such is life, and i've grown accustomed to it...i suppose.

trudging home in the rain, i rode the bus and stared out the window, engaging in one of my favorite pastimes: listening to my ipod while observing street scenes. it's like having a soundtrack to life. as i watched old couples shuffle down the sidewalks and young people huddle under umbrellas at the bus stops, death cab for cutie's simple, poignant and haunting "i will follow you into the dark" played through my earphones. it was a melancholic, pitch-perfect moment.

cups of coffee: 2

mood: oh so quiet...