Shuddering View of Dubai

A chilling reality.

Here's an article that delves much deeper into the stories found behind Dubai's sparkling exterior:

"I approach a blonde 17-year-old Dutch girl wandering around in hotpants, oblivious to the swarms of men gaping at her. "I love it here!" she says. "The heat, the malls, the beach!" Does it ever bother you that it's a slave society? She puts her head down, just as Sohinal did. "I try not to see," she says. Even at 17, she has learned not to look, and not to ask; that, she senses, is a transgression too far."

"The very earth is trying to repel Dubai, to dry it up and blow it away. The new Tiger Woods Gold Course needs four million gallons of water to be pumped on to its grounds every day, or it would simply shrivel and disappear on the winds. The city is regularly washed over with dust-storms that fog up the skies and turn the skyline into a blur. When the dust parts, heat burns through. It cooks anything that is not kept constantly, artificially wet."

I'm sure there are a couple different ways to look at this situation, but it's still worth doing some thinking on...

Have you heard of Dooce?

This is too cute. A short re-post of the post "On having a daughter" from Dooce's blog (one of my faves). Especially in light of recent conversations my friends and I have been having about children (omg - are we really there yet?). Please read and enjoy:

Leta: "Mom, I love to read."

Me: "I know, Leta. I think that's awesome."

Leta: "My friend Hannah can't read."

Me: "It's okay that she can't read, Leta. Not all five-year-olds can read."

Leta: "No, she can't read because she's tall."

Me: "Oh, really? That's how it works?"

Leta: "She's tall, and I want to be tall and you never let me be tall!"

Me: "Whoa, hold on there."

Leta: "IT'S NOT FAIR! I JUST WANT TO BE TALL!"

Me: "Leta, I married the tallest one I could find. I DID MY PART."

Leta: "YOU NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING!"

Me: "And have you seen my brother? He's six-foot-four! I've given you nothing BUT tall."

Leta: "WHY WON'T YOU LET ME BE TALL?!"

Me: "Are we seriously having this conversation?"

Leta: "ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TO BE TALL!"

Me: "Aren't you supposed to be busy throwing rocks at windows? Isn't that what most kids your age are doing? HERE, TAKE THIS PERMANENT MARKER. GO WRITE ON THE WALLS."

Her blog is amazing. Fantastically well written, like you get to be one of the family. Enjoy!

Designed and Published!

Alright, quick post just to brag - something I've been meaning to do for a while. :P

I officially completed my first full website a little bit ago (logo design, site design, and building). and I am so proud. Check it out at www.thinkStory.biz, and comment to tell me how much you like it.

It was a crazy insane experience. Yet... awesome.

Paper-Cuts to Brighten Your Day!

I saw photos from this beautiful paper-cutting blog on a classmate's blog. And I really appreicated this particular paragraph from it so I thought I'd share:

"In the forest that our mind is there is always the presence of fears. I tend to see fear as two little people having an argument within my mind. One of them is positive, the other one is negative but in the end I am both of them. I am aware of how much I can influence their argument, it all depends on my own personal choice of whom I am going to support and let win. This piece in the photos is a representation of this idea. I think that it is a good thing to own our fears and not the other way around, don't you think?"

Check out the original blog post as well as the other beautiful images.

The Story of Stuff

If you haven't seen this video, now's a great time to watch it. I first saw the Story of Stuff a couple years ago, and I felt pretty powerless to do anything about it at the time. But now, with companies all over the place starting to get it, and consumers armed with the ability to choose, it's good to know what got us in this mess to begin with.



For higher definition and more information: visit the site.