Sarah Benavides

Video

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:34:13 -0400

Hot In Cleveland Betty always talks about her love for her late...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:27:26 -0400

Hot In Cleveland

Betty always talks about her love for her late husband Allen in the present tense. Spontaneous dancing, and backyard barbeques are some of the memories she cherishes the most.

MUSIC: Janelle Monáe's 'Q.U.E.E.N.'

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:46:52 -0400

sofiamagartculture:

“I believe it’s time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them.” —Janelle Monáe

MUSIC: Martin Jondo's 'Raindrops'

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:45:35 -0400

sofiamagartculture:

Martin Jondo is a German Korean reggae musician and has one of the most unique voices I’ve ever heard. —S.

Morning Inspiration

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:51:29 -0400

Photo

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:42:11 -0400

KONY 2012: Social Movement or State Propaganda for GenY?

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 12:00:53 -0400

The media frenzy stirred up by the KONY 2012 campaign brought worldwide awareness to war criminal Joseph Kony, the head of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). While the majority of people enthusiastically follows this laudable cause, others have voiced concern that beneath it may lie a carefully thought out agenda that uses reverse psychology to justify a military intervention in Uganda.

Kony definitely deserves both the demonization that he gets and punishment for his crimes against humanity, but stopping one bad guy is not going to make the underlying causes of civil conflict magically disappear — in the worst case scenario, he’ll simply be replaced by another bad guy. Critics such as The Vigilant Citizen elaborate on the causes of uproar in many African countries, which in fact have more to do with the consequences of colonialism than with the actions of Kony per se.

Referring to Keen (2007) and Rieff’s (2003) reasoning, the public needs to keep in mind that governments oftentimes engage in military intervention disguised as humanitarian response to gain access or control over natural resources or geographically strategic areas. Uganda has substantial natural resources, including sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt, and largely untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. The 2006 CARMA report has shown that crisis and response have been emphasised where the potential political and economic gains from a crisis were more strategic (e.g. the chance to promote stability within, and better relations with, affected regions — usually trading partners in terms of oil and arms). Maybe in this particular case it’s just a coincidence…

This post is neither endorsing nor dismissing the KONY 2012 campaign, it’s simply meant as a reminder to practice independent thinking. Rather than blindly following a social movement or an elite’s agenda, make it a habit to question conventional wisdom, especially that which you get from the media. Truth is more than just one side of the story; it’s worthwhile to get your information from multiple sources. Last but not least, don’t let your view of Africa get skewed by the media, it’s not all barbaric conflict and starving children.

[see picture of Kampala, Uganda]

Photo

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 13:35:32 -0500

"The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I..."

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:13:40 -0500

““The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth, but you got to be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers saying ‘you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her, or anybody.’ Cowards do that, and that ain’t you. You’re better than that… But until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life.””

-

Death Metal Parrot

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:50:00 -0400

Hahahaha how awesome is this parrot?! I want a bird like that!!!

Remembering Steve Jobs

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:38:00 -0400

The world has lost one of its greatest visionaries - Steve Jobs, an unconventional entrepreneur who inspired and motivated people, turned setbacks into success, and made the best of life until the very last day.

After all, the Buddhist vegetarian who enriched our lives with the notorious Apple devices and some of the best animated films of all time, had figured out what life is all about. As he put it in his 2005 Stanford Commencement address, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

He lived each day as if it was his last, knowing that, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

His death is a great reminder that all the money in the world can’t buy us a long, healthy life. “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters  to me” - and it is what should matter to all of us. So, let’s do it the Steve Jobs way - today is the perfect day to start doing everything you can to make your dreams come true.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (#2)

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 08:12:00 -0400

What a House from 1902 Taught Me about Coming to Terms with Imperfection

In early 2010, I moved into a house that is going to be 110 years old next year. It’s a gorgeous building – soft green with antique ornaments, located perfectly in an artsy, lively neighborhood.
As soon as you enter the front door, what you won’t find is an even space. All floors, walls and ceilings are crooked to the point where it’s quite an act to properly set up furnitures or hang a picture on the wall. It took me ages in despair to renovate it and even now, there’s still some stuff that isn’t quite ready yet.

The more time I spent on turning the place into a comfortable home – my personal sanctuary, so to speak – the more I’ve grown to love even its imperfections. This house is never going to be 100 per cent flawless unless maybe you’d rip it apart and rebuild it from scratch. Yet, I am determined to make it live up to its full potential, but at some point I had to accept its limitations and love it anyway.
Now my focus is on all the great things that this place has to offer – I really, really love living here. And it shows, people love hanging out at my place because, to quote their words, “it has a holiday feel to it.” That’s actually what I was going for: every room looks different and was influenced by my extensive travels around the world, like for instance, my Italian café styled kitchen or the coast of Colombia inspired bathroom.

My home is a “perfect” example that nothing human-made, or human-designed is, or can be, absolutely perfect. There’s always room for improvement, and that’s ok. It’s what makes life interesting. After all, we might be better off thinking in terms of “making things better” rather than “making things perfect” because so many ideas and dreams don’t get realized when we are always waiting for the perfect set of conditions to make a move. As a matter of fact, it is like the great David J. Schwartz says, “An only fair idea acted upon, and developed, is 100 per cent better than a terrific idea that dies because it isn’t followed up.” Instead of waiting until everything is perfect, anticipate obstacles and tackle them when they arise. This way “imperfection” isn’t keeping you from taking action, and as a byproduct you gain more confidence and serenity.

Take comfort in the fact that nothing and nobody is perfect – and remember that “nothing comes merely by thinking about it.” Believe in yourself. Know that you can achieve whatever you put your mind to – be a go-getter!

Photo by Glogster

This year, no song got stuck in my head like The Airborne Toxic...

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:09:00 -0400

This year, no song got stuck in my head like The Airborne Toxic Event’s “Changing (Bombastic Version)”. The song and video are simple but pretty cool nonetheless. Love these guys!

http://www.theairbornetoxicevent.com

Talk Nerdy to Me

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:59:35 -0400

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (#1)

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:21:00 -0400

It’s funny, you know, oftentimes people tell me, “don’t be so pessimistic, you’ve got all the time in the world, there’s no need to do all these things right now”.
I really work hard to adhere to the “Live every day as if it were your last” attitude. This state of mind is the reason why I face my fears and move forward in life. When I go to sleep at night I’m usually satisfied and enthusiastic about the next day and the opportunity to do things that make me happy. If one day it actually is my last day, at least I know I’ve had a fulfilled life because I avoided the habit of postponing things until “tomorrow”, “next week”, or “once I have more education, money, time, luck, etc.” In many instances, “postponing” is synonymous with “never”. I consider myself an optimist and, which is even more important in my personal experience, a person who is not only convinced that there always is a way but a person who puts ideas into practice.

After hearing many times that this attitude is apparently considered pessimistic, I felt stressed and tired, and in the end rather pessimistic and even depressed. The past two years I spent a whole lot of time on figuring out who I am, what I want and how to live and achieve the life I want - self improvement, in other words.
The most important principles I learnt thus far are

Think big
The art of non-conformity
Feel the fear and do it anyway

Suddenly, the very attitude that left me tired and miserable became the attitude that makes me feel energetic and optimistic.

Got a good idea, dream, goal? Then do something about it - and do it NOW! The only way to build confidence and destroy fear is through action.

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Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:09:36 -0400

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My Top 3 Feel Good Songs

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:52:00 -0400

Recorded in the 60s and 70s these three songs are old school, but nonetheless, they never fail to cheer me up. I just have to sing and dance along ‘Risky Business Old Time Rock And Roll’-style.

So, what songs do you listen to when you need a little pick me up?

1. My Girl - The Temptations

2. Want Ads - Honey Cone

3. Burning Love - Elvis Presley

Photo

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:01:32 -0400

The Story of Bottled Water

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:56:00 -0400

“Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Although I’m living in an area with excellent tap water quality, I decided to get a water filter because our building is from 1902 and the pipes contain lead. Today my on-tap water filter has finally arrived and I’ll let you know if it’s worth getting this particular one once I tried it.
First obstacle: I know four different languages, but apparently that’s still not enough to understand the manual (really, no English or German?)… which, by the way, reminds me of an odd instance with a dietary supplement. The listed instructions and side effects on the box were different, even contradictory in each language, so bascially you had to read them in several (at least four) languages to get the full information you needed in order to use it correctly. Globalization, anyone?

On a different note, there are still too many people lacking access to clean drinking water - in the video below Michael Pritchard demonstrates his invention that turns filthy water drinkable in an instant!!! If you’d like to learn more about the Lifesaver Bottle visit www.lifesaversystems.com or check out www.circleofblue.org and www.water.org for more information on the world’s fresh water crisis!

"It’s not bad to be poor. It’s bad to be rich at the height of fame with your morals a..."

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:14:05 -0400

““It’s not bad to be poor. It’s bad to be rich at the height of fame with your morals a dirty shame.“”

- Valter dos Santos (Garbage picker, Jardim Gramacho, Brazil) http://www.wastelandmovie.com