escapingbabylon.com

Jennifer 8. Lee hunts for General Tso | Video on TED.com.

Fun talk on the origins of Chinese American food. Here’s my favorite quote from the talk

If our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie, you should ask yourself how often you eat apple pie versus how often you eat Chinese Food.

This post is dedicated to Jeremy and Faith who both are completely horrified at the very mention of LeeAnn Chin.

I have a personal connection with this Organization and it’s mission. Firstly, I used to work with Admission Possible as a student. Secondly, a similar program helped me, as well as several friends from rural Jamaica to navigate the byzantine process of applying to college, and being able to afford to go. I will talk your ear off about why AP is needed and why they are awesome, but I’ll keep to about 300 words and simply say that it would be an amazing gift to me and to Minnesota students if you would consider supporting Admission Possible.

Admission Possible

Admission Possible’s mission is to make college admission possible for talented, motivated and economically disadvantaged students. Here’s something that you may find surprising, there is an almost direct correlation between parental income and SAT scores. There’s a number of factors that may play into this, including the ways that schools are funded, access to Test Prep, as well as various social factors that affect low income communities. Admission Possible works to level the playing field so that lower income kids have the same chances as richer kids in getting a good tertiary education.

The best part is that Admission Possible works. Their test prep boasts an average score increase of 18% (compared to Kaplan’s 12-14%). Ninety Eight Percent of their students get into college, and 80 percent are either still enrolled or have graduated. Admssion Possible was recently recognized by Growth and Justice as one of seven Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students. They are making the phenomenal kind of difference that only a group of smart, dedicated and passionate group of people can make.

I used to work with Admission Possible while I was in school, and can tell you first hand that this is an amazing and committed group of people who have taught me so much about what it means to serve others, and to make the world a better place. If you care about the future of Minnesota Teens, then please consider making a donation to Admission Possible this Christmas.

Blog readers can see other entries on my list and an explanation of the list by clicking the Christmas List tag.

First Look: The Cast of The Last Airbender | /Film

So over the past year I’ve become a huge fan of the Avatar Series, and like many fans have been skeptical of the fact that M. Night Shyamalan was going to direct the movie adaptation. I like his movies well enough, but he’s never really done epic nor special effects.

With this casting I become even more skeptical. One of the things that I liked about the series was that the cast was made up of a diverse set of races from the Asian continent (and surrounding areas), even though the cartoon was made in the United States. Apparently this won’t be the case in the movie. Here’s hoping that this is a rumor without basis in fact

Also, the fanboy in me can’t conceive of Jesse McCartney as Zuko.

There are many things I would like to give to, and causes I would like to support. Sadly I can’t give all that I want. Knowing my friends (you) I know that many of you are also passionate about making the world a better place. When the economy is bad, giving to non-profits fall. Between now and Christmas I’ ll be doing a series of posts pointing folks towards different organizations that have caught my eye, or my heart. It would be a wonderful Christmas gift to me if you would consider giving to one of them this year. While a new digital camera is nice, this is my real Christmas List.

Kiva.org

Here’s an interesting thought, what if you could use $25 to give someone a hand out of poverty, get that money back, and then use it again to help someone else? That’s basically the idea of Kiva. Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Around the world, and in many countries poorer than our own, there are people who have the ability and determination to become economically independent, but don’t have the money they need to do so. You choose what you want your money to go to, whether it’s enabling a widow in the Dominican Republic to start selling pig food to the neighboring farms, or to help a fisherman in Benin buy rods and nets. Go check out Kiva.org and consider lending some money.

P.S. Specifically for blog readers. I’d be extra happy if you considered giving by joining my lending team EscapingPoverty.

P.P.S If you have suggestions of organizations I should add to the list you can tell me here.

photo:X-mas Season by bosela

This Christmas we are looking at a global recession. And when the economy goes bad, donations to non-profit organizations drop, and those who most need help are often the most effected. So this year I want to do something different. I’ve never been particularly huge on Christmas gifts, and so instead of receiving gifts, I’m asking anyone who would consider buying me a gift (or even if they weren’t considering it) to give to one or more organizations from a list of non-profits. I’m going to be posting a series of entries between now and Christmas highlighting these orgs/causes both here and on facebook. Here’s where I need your help. If there orgs/causes that I should consider adding to my Christmas list, let me know.

Photo: water by mushanga

Apparently PUR has figured out how to purify 10 liters of water for 10 cents, what this means is that for $7.50 one can provide enough drinking water for a child for a year.  Check out Children’s Safe Drinking Water and go donate what ends up being less than the price of a movie ticket.

Also, I still need your suggestions for end of year blog post topics (thanks Chris!).