It's National Donut Day!

Krispy Kreme - I'm coming to you for lunch!

Ode - a magazine for intellectual optimists

I love getting mail when it's completely unexpected. Two days ago Ode magazine was sitting in my mailbox. I had no idea where it was coming from or who sent it to me so at first I thought it was junk. I opened it up and was hooked in by....surprisingly...the first three ads. I rarely stop to read the ads in magazines. One because there's just too darn many of them and two because they are usually so superficial and boring.

But check it out. The first was a graphic of a huge flip flop with the words "Save the Planet. Wear Flip Flops" printed on it. On the next page I learned this great piece of info: Wearing flip-flops saves up to 3 wash loads of sweaty socks each year....small things add up to big change. This is an ad for TNT's Planet Me, where people can gather and generate ideas about what each can personally do to reduce CO2 emissions. The next ad was for ReGeneration, which is a network of "people committed to sustaining the world's natural environment." The third was for a Burt's Bees product. There is a comparison between their naturally ageless day lotion and dimethicone (a silicone type of oil used in skin moisturizing lotions). This is definitely not your average magazine!

Then I get to the table of contents and my interest is piqued even more by reading the following titles:
The Gospel According to Adam Smith: is doing good compatible with making money? it is if you practise spiritual capitalism. (this is an awesome article and there is scientific proof that consideration for the needs and feelings of your client positively impacts your profits!)
Join my Gang: Nelsa Curbelo, a 66-year old former nun and schoolteacher, took on the toughest young criminals in Ecuador's most violent city - and won them over with love.
Down and Dirty: How carbon farming, the practise of putting of CO2 back into the soil, can fight global warming.
Full bellies, hungry minds: In India, a group of monks feeds nearly a million kids a day, proving there is such a thing as a free lunch.
Everybody writes history: Karen Worcman wants to transform the way history is recorded-and she wants you to play a role.

I am inspired by optimism and people who are creatively doing good and bringing out in this world. It's refreshing to find a magazine that is providing stories and advertising that stand for "positive social, economic, and environmental change."

Congrats BARACK OBAMA!

(Photo by Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)

Many congratulations to Democratic Presidential nominee Obama! This record breaker has shown that change isn't on its way - it's here now! He's got his work cut out for him though. It's been this way his entire campaign though, hasn't it?

Not it's not a time machine, but just as cool!

(Photo by Alessia Pierdomenico/Reuters)

One of my favorite movies when I was young was the Time Machine, the old film based on H.G. Well's novel. When I saw this picture my imagination flew back to how I felt when I used watch the Time Machine. I knew the story wasn't realistic but I didn't mind believing it for a few hours and pretending that I too was visiting those historic, futuristic and mystical places. "How cool would it be if that actually worked," I'd think to myself.

Recently, as you can read in this article, a modern artist made me ponder that same though again. The thought goes something like, "Telescopes that look out into space. Wouldn't it be so cool to see just across the ocean?" British artist Paul St. George has done it! Well, along with everyone else who uses the modern technology of webcasting, skypeing, and videoconferencing. But as the article points out St. George's version is much more intriguing and forces us to reflect on the marvel of our technological advances, ones which we largely take for granted. Take a look!