I have had many conversations with friends, colleagues, peers of mine in regards to controversial topics like malnourishment, poverty and such. These conversations usually led to the conclusion that being so far away from it all doesn’t give you the perspective you need to do something about it. I believe that this, however, isn’t the case.

Across the years, centuries, millennia even, greed is part of the typical human’s nature, at some point in everyone’s life, they will be greedy. Whether it be in regards to money, taking that last muffin in the bakery when a young, saddened child wanted it so dearly. It might just be that at the end of the world, you’re going to steal someone’s car in hopes of aimlessly away from it all, much like in something such as 2012. We can’t help it, we’ve been raised in a society which thinks greed is okay, a society in which we think that greed is the norm. That is why hardly anyone ever does anything against greed.

But hey, aren’t you fed up of being in the somewhat 6.5-billion person, crowded bandwagon? Jump out already, do something to go against greed. Give something. That’s the beautiful thing about what the United Nations are doing, you can give something, without actually giving something. Except a few minutes of your time, or be it a few hours if you really want to make a difference. You see blood drives, food collection, charities knocking on your door? No, you wouldn’t see that here. Because all you need is a little grasp on something called basic knowledge, and an internet connection.

The UN has, for a while, since 2008 to be exact, evoked the help of the public, individual citizens like you and me, sometimes people who feel like they will never make a difference, and well.. They want you to do exactly that. Make a difference. I assume you’re asking, How? It’s easy. There are two websites on the vast world wide web, which require you to answer questions on basic trivia (with increasing difficulty if you like a challenge.) What happens if you answer correctly? The UN donates 10 grains of rice/a spoonful of flour, to malnourished and starving citizens throughout the world. Said sites would be found at www.freerice.com and www.freeflour.com. You really didn’t expect that, did you? For it to be that easy? Well it is. If you ever find yourself to be bored, and in the vicinity of a computer, you now have no reason to not provide someone with their dinner, which will cost you absolutely nothing. The world needs it. For the first time in history, the number of exceedingly hungry people this year will reach 1 billion, almost one seventh of our entire population. Also if you’d like to go one step further and donate an extra 5,000 grains of rice just from browsing the web, you can install the freerice toolbar. Who knows, you may even learn something.

I�will continually be updating this very post as more progress on my�101 in 1001 list�is made.� Join me!!

November 23, 2009 – Day 40

I completed (#80) my list of 95 things that make me happy a while ago.� I never scrapbooked�it because scrapbooking material is ex-pensive.� So instead of constantly updating my list total to however and a half goals accomplished, I figured I’d do something better – perhaps more personal.

�

This is my scrapdrawing�- a drawing of some of the list items that were either super important or easy to draw.� Like the donkey democrat on the right hand side (sideways) is a symbol of those liberals that I like so much.� Sure all libs aren’t dems�and all dems�aren’t libs but how does one draw a liberal?� Conservatives are much easier to draw, with a shot-gun in one hand and an “abortion is murder” sign in the other, but conservatives would not be on a list of things that make me happy.� And then there’s the record (right under Abbey Road and to the right of my mother’s seven layer cookies) that signifies music stores.� The trees coming out of the bottom right corner signify Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey�because that’s the best I can do to draw a part of that album cover.� It’s enough for me to see that and think of it so that’s the bottom line.� The dude up on the top left is a drawing (inspired by the hopeful winner of his t-shirt design contest) of singer-songwriter Tony Lucca with his guitar.� Right next to him you’ll find a cupcake.� And on the other side of the page you’ll find a corner of the Wheel of Fortune wheel.

Anyway, just figured I’d post this one out of the way�so I can finally round up my tally to a whole number and continue working.

I can’t wait until I can afford to do the first 15 items on my list.� Those journal entries will be far more interesting.

Till next time…

November 22, 2009 – Day 39

This is some of the stuff I put in�the care package to my adopted soldier.� Notice the Christmas box of Halloween cookies next to the Veterans Day card and pumpkin.� With me, you get every holiday in one.� That’s just how I roll.

I hope my last journal entry helped you explore the awesomeness of other languages.� I’ve been rehearsing each new ‘thank you’ trying to get them down pat so if I ever have to – or want to – use them without the comfort of my computer nearby, I can do so.� I’m also working on my 20 new words/phrases in sign language which included brushing up on how to say ‘thank you’ – which ironically is the same as saying ‘you’re welcome.’� I suppose that’s not the only language that happens in.�

Either way, I have this huge book of sign language and I taught myself much of it many years ago.� My goal is to brush up on what I already know and teach myself more so wish me luck!� Sign language is actually important to know.� A few years back when I was working at Sam Goody we had a hearing impaired customer who was having a difficult time asking a question to one of my co-workers.� I’m not fluent in it at all but I know the alphabet so I started signing to her, spelling everything out and I was able to help her with what she needed.� When I was really young I was in Sears with my mom one summer weekend.� She was taking forever to pick something out so I walked over to the summer patio area and sat down on one of the swings.� A hearing impaired couple was standing nearby reading a�sticker on a patio set�trying to ask a sales associate a question about the price but the sales associate didn’t know what they were asking.� I was able to tell what they were signing to each other so I stepped in and translated.� I want to be able to do that again if I have to so #62 is my next big item to work on.

#71 is an interesting goal and I’ll be quite honest – it wasn’t always on my list.� I’ve been really good about not altering my list if I think of something new I want to put on there.� I created the list within a day so I feel like I didn’t think of everything possible�but when�new ideas�pop into my head now, I say “no, you already completed the list.� Don’t be a flake and start changing things.”� But this one seemed big enough and there was an item on my list that was becoming less and less important to me.� I figured what the hell?� It’s my list right?� I can do whatever I want with it.�

So a few weeks ago, barely, I found out about NaNoWriMo�- National Novel Writing Month.� Even though I was already 2 weeks into an already extremely time sensitive project, I figured I would hop on board anyway.� Well the contest ends next week and I’m nowhere near finished but perhaps that wasn’t my goal this time around.� For starters, I know about it now so next year I’ll be prepared from day 1.� Secondly, pushing myself to write a 174 page novel (500,000 words – I have just under 10,000 written) in 2 weeks taugh�me a lot about my writing style, needs and attitude.� It also gave me the kick in the pants I needed and the mentality to go about powering through.� So while I may not have completed the project, I learned more in 9 days than I could have possibly had it not been for the contest.� That being said, I will try again next year but I will continue to work on the novel I began with NaNoWriMo.

I guess that’s all for now.� Thanks for reading.

November 20, 2009 – Day 37

I’ve�been awful at keeping this journal, eh?� I figured that would happen.� I’ll work on it.

So… address book updated.� Another item (#30) to cross off the ol’ list.� Easy enough.

I did finally get my care package�in the mail to my adopted soldier.� I know that isn’t technically an item on my list but adopting him was so I feel like I should document my progress because this is part of adopting him.� I could have adopted him and then ignored him – not that I’m saying I would ever do that but I think you get my point.� Yes?� I hope so.�

Anyway, it was a pretty rad care package (I’ll post a pic of its contents tomorrow), the ONLY thing I forgot – and it’s a big one – was a phone card.� I mean, duh!� Only so much could fit in the box that I already have stuff for his next package but seriously?� I forgot the phone card?� How much do I suck?� I did throw in a very risqu�issue of Maxim though, so that will keep him preoccupied for a while I hope.� I considered throwing in a Playgirl-type�magazine too.� I don’t know what he’s into, you know?� I mean just because military rules�are antiquated�and�ignorant when it comes to that, doesn’t mean the rest of us need to be.� If he’d rather look at half-naked dudes, I need to,�and would be happy to,�provide that for him.� But I haven’t heard back from him yet so I don’t know what his interests are.� I’m not speculating, just saying anything is possible and my responsibility is to keep him as happy as he can be while he fights for his country.

Anywho, I’ve finally�finished (#69) learning how to say ‘thank you’ in 10 different languages.� You�ready?� This is kind of fun.

Russian�- Spasiba�(spah-see’-boh)
Portuguese�- Obrigado/a (oh-bree-gah’-do)
Tamil�- Nandri (nun-dry)
Greek�- Efharisto (ef-har-ris-tou’)
Cantonese�- Mh�goi�(m-ghoh-ee)
Korean�- Kamsahamnida�(kam’-sah�hum-nee-dah)
Finnish�- Kiitos�(kee’-toas)
Hebrew – Toda (toh-dah’)
Samoan�- Fa’afetai�(fah-ah-feh-ta-e)
Persian/Farsi�- Merci (like the French ‘thank you’ but here you say the R like an actual R) or Mam’noon

Then of course there’s the old favorites like:
Hawaiian�- Mahalo
Japanese�- Arigato�(Mr. Roboto)
Italian�- Grazi
French – Merci
Spanish�- Gracias
German�- Danke (shane)
Swahili�- Ahsante�(Lion King, anyone? �Ahsante sana, squashed banana?)

Ask me if I’ll remember them all a week from now, who knows.� But I’ll try.� That’s the whole point.�

Perhaps that’s all for now.� I’ll try to come back tomorrow with a better update.� ‘Till then, thanks for reading.

November 3, 2009 – Day 20

Just a quick update to commemorate Day 20.

Completed my 50 Things I Like About Myself list.� It was difficult, and kind of awkward, but an interesting exercise.� Some of the items on the list include:

I’m a Staten Island Democrat. // My sarcasm. // My curly hair.� Sometimes.� Or maybe just the fact that I have curly hair. // My open-mindedness. // That I’m hardly ever realistic. // How sometimes people think I’m oblivious but I’m really just quietly observing. // I give people the benefit of the doubt almost always. // I give people second chances almost always. // My driving skills.� I’m aggressive by necessity,�yet still courteous. // Animals like me, because I think they can sense how much I like them. // My ability to see things from different sides and circumstances. // I will always listen to you, even if I disagree.� Until you start spitting out stupidity. // I’m utterly uncoordinated and I’m okay with that. //My eyes. // How certain injustices can light a fire in me, like the time I ran out of the house with no bra and no shoes to yell at the guy making my street a one way, blocking us in for days. // I’m relatively easy to please. // I’m usually one to keep peace. // I have endless desires to explore life; different places, different jobs, different people. // I won’t try anything once, because I’m not stupid, but I’ll try almost anything once. // I can fall physically asleep pretty much whenever I want to.

I also completed a letter to my pen pal in England, whom I’ve been meaning to write to for a while but the damn internet kept screwing it up.� Should make it in the mail by tomorrow.

November 2, 2009 – Day 19

Aloha!� Just checking in with some progress on the list.� I’ll admit, I’ve slacked a bit.� I kind of expected that to happen, but I’m committed to regaining focus and carrying my list with me wherever I go.� Still knocking off some photos from the 26 Things Challenge, that will hopefully be my next goal accomplished.

Keeping up with Postcrossing.com and Soldiers’ Angels has had me occupied, in a very fulfilling and happy way.� My goal was to send at least 2 postcards per month but I sent 7 in October.� Getting postcards from people all around the world is really cool so I figured the more I send, the better my experience will be.� I’m also working on a care package for my adopted soldier which will include these.

He’ll get them a little after Halloween, naturally, but I think the fun will still be there.� I’ve also included 6 CDs worth of music, 3 of which are completely of the Christmas variety.� I figured a little early holiday spirit never hurt anyone, especially someone far away from home as the holidays approach.

A postcrosser I met from Arkansas (I spoke about her in my last update) runs a blog of sky photographs.� I’ve you’ve ever seen any of the pictures I take, you know I’m quite obsessed with the sky.� It does miraculous things with color and depth, shading and shaping – it’s amazing that nature is so powerful and beautiful.� Well I checked out her blog and she posts pictures that she takes and pictures people send her, so I sent her some of my latest sky photographs which are up on the site.� If you’re into that kind of thing, you should take a look.� Even if you’re not “into it” you should view some of the photographs because the sky is always over you and sometimes it’s easy to get so caught up in the ground that we miss the moving beauty of the sky that’s right above us.� www.your-sky-our-sky.blogspot.com

You can view my scenic phlog here�on the 7duckets Weblog, chock-full of some of my favorite shots.

In any event, I’ll be back in a bit to share some more things.� Be well.

October 27, 2009 – Day 13

I finally completed my 95 Things That Make Me Happy list!� I haven’t scrapbooked it yet because I need some cash money to buy the stuff, but soon.� For now it’s just half of a goal checked off.

Some of the items on the list include:
Laughing. // Writing. // Peaceful thinking. And peaceful action for that matter. // Open-mindedness. // Stalking a full moon. // Sweet wine.�// My dog. // Soft pillows and fluffy blankets, both oversized. // Music stores. // Lying my head under the Christmas tree.� Twinkly lights rock. // Nature. // Photography. // Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey. // A New York Giants winning season. // Everything about the beach on the off-season. // Waking up rested to a beautifully bright morning in my yellow room. // Doing something nice for someone else. // Chocolate. // Liberals. // Free food. // Singing in the shower.� And inappropriate places in general. // Highway 1 in California. // People willing to stand up for others. // My family, in good and bad.� But mostly good. // The Beatles. // My mother’s 7 layer cookies. // Cooking, Baking, Drawing & Painting. // Dryer sheets. // Easter. // Halloween. // My birthday. // My car, Betty. // Meditating. // Cozy naps. // Wheel of Fortune. // 10 cent wings and Abita�Purple Haze on tap at Croxleys. // Spontaneity. // Taking drives. // Sleeping in. // Tall guys. // Season changes. // Staying up late enough to feel like you’ve got the whole world to yourself. // Being sarcastic. // Hanging with the pup in the park. // Decorating. And redecorating. // Finishing something that took forever.

In other news, I got my second letter out to my adopted soldier and I’m working on putting together a care package to send him, chock-full of junk food, as many issues of Maxim and Sports Illustrated as I can find, some bright photographs I’ve taken, and�a few�calling cards.� Not sure yet if he has access to much technology but I’ll probably throw in�some mixed CDs too.

I sent out my first 2 postcards thru Postcrossing.com last week – got my first one back yesterday.� Met a really nice girl from Arkansas who blogs and does photography and what not.� She sent me a really cool postcard of a photograph she took of an old, abandoned gas station on a country road.� It was eerily beautiful.� My next step is to order some of my own pictures into postcards to send out, but in the meantime I may have made a new friend.� I’m going to send out a few more tomorrow, even though my goal is only 2 per month, if I can do more I will because the more you send out the more you get back and it’s a pretty sweet deal.

That’s all for now, I guess.� Will update again soon hopefully with some big things!

October 24, 2009 – Day 10

Sorry for the lack of updates, loyal readers.� To be quite honest, not much has gone on in the 101 world lately.� Working on getting that “big girl job” takes up a lot of time, I must say.� Leads might be presenting themselves, so that’s good.� That’s actually more than good, it’s like a god damn miracle at this point.� I’ll keep you posted.

Haven’t done much on freerice.com but for that there’s a good reason.� Okay, 2 good reasons.� One reason is that I’ve donated 17,000 grains of rice so far, which means I’ve answered 1700 questions correctly.� To be quite honest, they only have a finite amount of questions so it gets old if you don’t skip a few days.� Also, I’ve been trying to beef up my music blog with some album and concert reviews and a possible big interview coming up.� That’s preoccupying for sure.� Have you checked it out?� There’s some fun stuff on there.� duckets7.wordpress.com.�

Today I was most distracted due to the drama I had with my dog.� She was showing killer signs that she was in pain and acting�extremely unusual�and at one point when I went to touch her, she let out a scream I never want to hear again.� She’s like my child so if you’re a parent of any kind, you understand.� But she can’t�verbalize and tell me what’s wrong, so I have to guess and hope it’s nothing serious.� You don’t want to overreact but you also don’t want to ignore something serious.� And I worked in a vet for 5 years so I’ve seen some horrible things.� Because of that, my mind jumps to the worst because I’ve seen the worst.� Anyway, long story short, the vet I worked for did me a huge favor checking her out and taking x-rays.� We’re still unsure of what’s wrong with her but we know it’s not neck, back or leg pain – which is awesome – and we know there’s nothing lodged in here where it shouldn’t be – like the bone she ate this afternoon.� That’s also awesome.� She has�perked up a bit�since and I’m hoping it’s just a bad tummy ache that she needs to sleep it off and she’ll be better tomorrow.� But it was certainly an emotional day – the closest I’ve come yet to being a parent with a child in the ER.� It is NOT a good feeling.

I’m still working on my�95 Things That Make Me Happy list.� You’d think I would be done by now, by alas, I am not.� Hopefully by tomorrow I can make it happen.� And then I’ll share some of the list with you.

It’s almost time to write my soldier another letter.� I promised him one a week and I sent out the first one on Monday.� That was one quick week.

Anyway, just checking in.� Good things to come soon.� Thanks for reading!� I’m gonna go watch Family Guy with the pup and fall asleep.

October 20,�2009 – Day 6

After introducing the website to PROJECT Lunch Box yesterday, I got a lot of good feedback from people.� I’m really excited about starting it and am looking to find a way to move up the start date to late 2009 instead of early 2010.� Any feedback or link sharing would be greatly appreciated as something like this is only fueled by manpower.

Still adding to my count of rice donated thru freerice.com.� Nearing 20,000 already.� Crazy.

Not feeling too good the past few days so my energy level is down.� Hopefully I’ll get around to more tasks in the next few days, though I have begun (#79) my list of�95 Things that Make Me Happy.� The scrapbook will have to wait until I have some money�to buy scrapbooking things but for now the list is the hard part.

October 19, 2008 – Day 5

Not much to report from yesterday – kind of a slow day as far as the list goes.� Got some extra grains of rice donated to freerice.com and looked for some more pictures for my 26 Things Challenge.

Today I finally got my letters out in the mail.� My adopted soldier will be hearing from me soon, as will my 5th grade teacher and�my�2�new international friends thru postcrossing.com.

I also started a website for (#32)�PROJECT Lunch Box.� It’s in very early stages, I plan to begin the actual footwork in early 2010, mostly due to finances, but I’m looking forward to starting it and I hope there are kind folks out there who would like to join me!

October 17, 2009 – Day 3

I’ve decided to get started on (#76) my 26 Things Challenge.� I’m using the list from the August hunt.� Here are the things I have to find and photograph:

Couple. Slope. Plate. Going places. Scrambled. In the distance. Underneath. Bright. 11pm. Today. Everyday. Resemble. Childhood memory. In the water. Flower. Button. Heritage. Glow. Clock. Closed. Smile. Back. Plastic. Handle. In my fridge. Looking back at me.

I just took some photos in my fridge.� And some clock photos.� I already bring my camera with me pretty much everywhere I go but this will certainly make it more interesting.� Fun stuff.

I’ve also officially begun (#74) my goal of sending 2 postcards per month thru postcrossing.com.� I wrote out�2 lovely Central Park scened postcards to 2 lovely gals; one in the Netherlands and one in Finland.� I look forward to getting them in the mail on Monday and hearing back from someone new soon.� It’s interesting corresponding with people from another country, especially in print and paper and not just online!� When I was in the 3rd grade my teacher connected with a teacher in England and we were�each assigned a British student to write to.� Nearly 17 years later, my pen pal and I are the only ones that still keep in touch.� We’re Facebook friends too, which is weird, but she’s on my 101 list to write her something new, which will be soon.� I’ll let you know.

Speaking of writing letters, last night I was up late writing letters to my new adopted soldier and my 5th grade teacher who gave us all her address when we graduated elementary school and I’ve been writing to her sporadically ever since.� Last I spoke with her she had some medical problems in her family and I’ve been thinking of her for so long, but you know how sometimes your intentions are good but something always stops you from following thru on them?� They’re not good excuses but they stop you nonetheless.� Well her letter will be in the mail on Monday in addition to the letter to my Marine and my 2 new international postcard friends.

I’ve also been doing some heavy research on local haunted houses to hit up before Halloween, tackling 1/3 of #94.� And I spent some time raising my freerice.com tally.� Up to over 11,000 already! In only 3 days!� My goal is looking less and less scary.

That’s all for day 3.� I’ll be back tomorrow with another update.� Be well.

�

October 16, 2009 – Day 2

I posted my 101 in 1001 list on the blog today.� That made it “real,” even though I technically started the list yesterday.� My first goal completely accomplished was just that – (#98) adding the list (and my progress) to the blog so I can track my accomplishments and share them with you kind folks.�

The second goal completely accomplished was (#77) to write myself a letter that would be sealed until day 1001.� Writing yourself a letter is more difficult than it would seem.� I tried to think of valuable information – things that I was doing today (loosely speaking) that might be different 3 years from now, and different enough to make the letter worth reading.� It was an interesting exercise.� I mean I write all the time, but I’ve never actually addressed anything to myself before.� At least I know I can’t offend the reader this time.� Know your audience.� That helped.

The third goal completely accomplished (in a matter of speaking) was (#40) adopting a soldier thru Soldiers’ Angels.� It was sort of scary making that committment, not for any other reason than realizing no matter what I do, I could never compare to what my soldier is doing.� But the committment has been�made and I’ve promised to write to him at least once a week and send him at least 1 care package a month in addition to helping other teams of angels with larger projects for the troops.� The only thing that would hold me back from all of that is the cost.� I haven’t been working much lately so my purse strings are kind of tight, but I think I can make it work.� I’ll find a way.� It’s the least I can do, right?� And I plan on making him some kick-ass care packages once I find out what floats his boat.� Hopefully I can give you some more information as our relationship progresses.� I have to respect the privacy of him and his family but I would certainly love to share with you the experience from my end of the deal.� I’m excited – it was a small thing to do in a big world, but in my small world, it’s kind of huge.

So having 3 items crossed of by day 2 isn’t all too shabby.� I’ve also seriously put my�time into (#38) donating 250,000 grains of rice thru freerice.com.� I spent half an hour on the site yesterday and donated over 4,000 and today another 5,000.� With this progress I will have reached my goal within a few months – and then I will keep going.� It’s really so easy!� I get caught up in the questions and before I know it I’ve donated 700 grains of rice.� To top it off, I learn new things or brush up on things I already knew.� I was totally impressed with my memory of the Italian language from the classes I took in high school.� And math?!� I was doing multiplication I haven’t done in 7 years! �I started to feel smart so I had to stop.� But seriously folks, sponsors count your correct answers and tally your donation – then they donate it thru the UN World Food Program.� You can’t beat it – it’s so easy!!

All in all, I think it’s a good start to a seemingly very long list.� I already feel better about myself and am excited to embark upon the rest of my goals.� It’s a particular challenge because it needs to be treated as a marathon, not a sprint – an important lesson I need to learn.� So here’s to the hope that this project will not only enrich my life in the obvious ways, but that it will also teach me patience.� Thanks for reading and stick with me for more updates, including photos to come!!

Freerice ist eine interessante Seite um die verschiedensten Dinge zu lernen. Als Standard sind Englische Vokabeln eingestellt (wofür man allerdings des öfteren dict.leo.org fragen sollte), aber es lassen sich auch Bilder, Länder, chemische Abkürzungen etc. lernen.

Das besondere an der Sache?
Für jede richtige Antwort werden 10 Reiskörner an das Welternährungsprogramm der UN gespendet. Das klingt auf den ersten Blick nach nicht viel (auf den zweiten auch), aber wenn man sich erstmal eine Weile hinsetzt, dann kommt schon a bissle was zusammen, außerdem ist etwas Reis immer noch besser als gar kein Reis.

According to research by the United Nations, a child dies every six seconds because of hunger. You can battle against hunger by donating food to them. Contrary to what you are thinking, you do not have to give a single penny to shop hunger. To help hungry children, you can simply play a fun vocabulary game!

Discover FreeRice.com. FreeRice is a vocabulary game. It’s not just a regular game though. By playing this game, the people behind FreeRice will donate ten grains of rice to starving children in the world. Even you do greatly benefit from this! Playing FreeRice tremendously increases your vocabulary, you will get to know more words and the meaning of them.

Knowing lots of words, you will write better letters, speak more persuasively and precisely, read faster (because you comprehend better), get better grades in school and be more successful at your job!

You would think that ten grains of rice doesn’t matter, but that’s more than wrong. You aren’t playing alone. Everyone who is playing the game donates ten grains of rice per word they guessed correctly, and that makes LOTS of grain! To date, over 68 billion (that’s 68.000.000.000) grains of rice have been donated. You can really make a difference. Every word matters!

Start playing the game now by clicking on this link, and help hungry people!

Does anyone know of a website that helps others around the world? I love www.freerice.com – you can learn and feed starving people in other countries (for FREE). If you know of any other sites PLEASE let me know! I have a page on my website that I want to add them too. Thank you in advance for any suggestions!! -Kary

What if you could feed hungry people by knowing the meaning of a word? No, this is NOT a tricky question. This is actually what FreeRice.com does. You simply answer a multiple choice question and for every correct answer, Freerice.com donates 10 grams of rice through the UN World Food Programme to help end hunger.

According to the United Nations, 25,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. FreeRice.com was founded in October 2007 by John Breen and he donated the site to the UN World Food Program in March 2009. In making the donation, Mr. Breen expressed his hopes that FreeRice will be able to grow over the coming years, helping to feed and educate as many people as possible throughout the world. A great example of how 1 person make a real difference! FreeRice.com donated 66,849,742,200 grains of rice so far.

If FreeRice.com has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now? Great question. Well, FreeRice.com is not sitting on a pile of rice. All the players are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, sponsor banners appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these banners is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

Though 10 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, remeber there are thousands of other people playing at the same time (easily 40,000 users/day). It is everyone together that makes the difference. And so can you… Imagine if you start the day with answering 1 question right…

So, my advice is to play this game once every day. You’ll extend your vocalubary and help the UN World Food Programme to end hunger.

PS : There are a number of other subjects available like Art, Chemistry, Geography, Math and Languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish).

Source : Bert Verdonck’s Blog

What if you could feed hungry people by knowing the meaning of a word? No, this is NOT a tricky question. This is actually what FreeRice.com does. You simply answer a multiple choice question and for every correct answer, Freerice.com donates 10 grams of rice through the UN World Food Programme to help end hunger.

According to the United Nations, 25,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. FreeRice.com was founded in October 2007 by John Breen and he donated the site to the UN World Food Program in March 2009. In making the donation, Mr. Breen expressed his hopes that FreeRice will be able to grow over the coming years, helping to feed and educate as many people as possible throughout the world. A great example of how 1 person make a real difference! FreeRice.com donated 66,849,742,200 grains of rice so far.

If FreeRice.com has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now? Great question. Well, FreeRice.com is not sitting on a pile of rice. All the players are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, sponsor banners appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these banners is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

Though 10 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, remeber there are thousands of other people playing at the same time (easily 40,000 users/day). It is everyone together that makes the difference. And so can you… Imagine if you start the day with answering 1 question right…

So, my advice is to play this game once every day. You’ll extend your vocalubary and help the UN World Food Programme to end hunger.

PS : There are a number of other subjects available like Art, Chemistry, Geography, Math and Languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish).

1.  I asked for a sabbatical.  Result:  We’ll see.  Hopefully good, because Lord Almighty, I am burnt out.

2.  It rained.  In California.  In August.  Result:  Weird.

3.  I started recruiting for replacement teachers for me.  Result:  This is strange, but ultimately hope that it is good.

4.  http://www.freerice.com/index.php  played free rice country version for a bit.  Result:  Learn something AND donate at the same time?  Fantastic.

I’m amazed that this is the extent of my new things for today.  This is pretty pathetic.  I am heading to New Orleans tomorrow — so I think new things are in store — but seriously, I am amazed that today could have been the same day at some other time.  It is pretty big that I asked for time off.  I’ve been thinking about this for awhile and I am thrilled about it.  I’ll be doing other work for the school for the next semester — things that need to be done but just haven’t yet.

I played this game long ago, and now I have come across it again.  It’s an English Vocabulary game were you have to pick out synonyms for given words. For every correct answer they donate 10 grains of rice to people that suffer from hunger.

Click to play (opens in a new window)

Yesterday, Chris Brogan wrote about Secret Fight Club, adapting the concept of Fight Club to social media for social change.

My first response? The first rule of #SecretFightClub: No one talks about Secret Fight Club!

In a comment on Chris’s blog, I suggested that “eTyler Durden is gonna be so annoyed. I suggest you change your soaps and don’t eat soup for months.”

The irony is that, given the reach of Chris’ blog, many people WILL of course be talking about SFC, though perhaps even more will simply keep on spreading that good will silently.

“Buying free plates of bacon at the bar” isn’t a bad metaphor at all — I can’t forget when someone did just that at the #140Conf — but passing out oranges to the homeless catches something closer to my heart.

A member of my family always carried oranges in Philly and Baltimore growing up, where there are major homeless populations, most of whom have major Vitamin C deficiencies.

Instead of giving them money, he passed out oranges. A few homeless people became upset, since they wanted $ for whatever other cause, but most were incredibly grateful.

Chris Brogan passes out oranges all the time.

He posts portraits of independence on his blog, tweets  about worthy causes, explains how he tweets, writes about favorite children’s books, pastors or software he likes.

Some cynics might say that’s name dropping or crass brand mentions, like the unfortunate choice of Magic Johnson to mention KFC five times during MJ’s memorial.

I don’t buy into that.

In the social media world, regardless of what digital outpost you’re on, sharing information and being helpful is the best and most important form of digital currency we have to share.

Instead of beating each other up to escape the banality of corporatized modern life, in order to FEEL something, we are all collaborating on building a global network of digitized human experience, caught on video, pictures or memorialized in 140 characters or more.

I’d say thank you to Chris for risking eTyler Durden’s wrath but I think it’s possible he’s playing him here. He remembers how long many of us have been at this online.

Do you remember when we all passed around The Hunger Site and everyone clicked to give rice? I do.

And guess what? That website just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

FreeRice gives away rice if you play simple word games. And charity : water just celebrated a similar digital success, borne on a wave of social media good karma.

The netizens using and sharing those ideas represent precisely the kind of Secret Fight Club I’m both proud to belong to and recruit others to join.

Let’s go give away some oranges.

Note: This post first appeared as a comment on Chris Brogan’s blog. I decided it was worth editing and posting here. I’m following Chris’ example when he posted “On Public Radio” as a surprise guest post on chrisbrogan.com.

Here are some of the best ways to entertain yourself / procrastinate / otherwise ignore reality:

1.  Okay now this one is my personal favorite. I know I’m not the only one who like to watch things go boom. Ask my family – I had to be supervised when using the microwave until I was 17. No joke. Although the peep jousting made me look like a micro-pro, cutting grapes in half and watching as flames shoot out is a good way to drive your mother crazy, and to blow up a microwave. This one starts out a bit slow, but trust me, it’s worth the wait.

2.  If you are feeling down on yourself and want to help a brother out, or make yourself think you really are capable of improving that SAT Verbal score from yesteryear – try Freerice.com

3.  Greg Rutter’s Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet. This one’s for you Kallen.

While my desire to feed the hungry and help the poor is certainly related to my faith, I believe that feeding the hungry can be completely independent of ones faith or religion. The right to food is a basic human right and we ALL need to work together to help fight the hunger crisis in our world today.

Fortunately, thanks to technology and the internet we can do something with just a click on on our computers.

Below are some sites you can visit once a day or more and with just a few clicks help fight world hunger. The links are are also in the sidebar where they are readily accessible.

Please help feed the poor, take 2 seconds and click your mouse a few extra times a day.

• FreeRice
• Kraft- Share A little Comfort
• The Hunger Site

If you know of any other similar sites, PLEASE PLEASE send them my way and I will happily visit them and add them to the list on the sidebar.

Our cool sites this week are:

1. www.twitter.com
2. www.digsby.com
3. www.comicbrush.com
4. www.ning.co.uk
5. www.tripit.com
6. www.freerice.com
7. www.tvshack.net

Does FreeRice really make a difference? Rice donated through the quizzes on FreeRice is distributed by the WFP. FreeRice rice fed 750,000 Mynamar citizens after the cyclone, 13,500 pregnant and nursing women in Cambodia for two months, 66,000 schoolchildren in Uganda for a week, and 108,000 Bhutanese refuges in Nepal for three days. It takes about 19,200 grains of rice to equal 400 grams, which is enough for two meals per day per person.

See the rest of the article here.

About FreeRice

FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. Our partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your education can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

Just play and help!  Click HERE. 

In about five minutes flat I was able to help in donating 200 grains of rice to help end world hunger — and it didn’t cost me anything! Check this out —  FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program in conjunction with Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. The website offers viewers academic questions/trivia in a number of fields to test your smarts: you can choose from art, chemistry, english, geography, languages and math! For each question that you answer right, FreeRice will donate ten grains of rice to the World Food Program to help end hunger!

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

The figures regarding hunger are really astounding. Being that the majority of us are well-fed, it’s difficult for us to think about 25,000 people dying every day from hunger and related causes. Here are some other things to consider:

- 963 million people don’t have enough to eat: that’s more than the population of the US, Canada and the EU COMBINED
- 907 million people in developing countries are hungry
- Asia and the Pacific region house over half of the world’s population and nearly 2/3 of the hungry people
- More than 60% of hungry people are women
- 65% of the world’s hungry live in just seven countries: Indian, China, the Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.

Additionally, a lot of children are starving and dying every day of malnutrition. So, when you’re bored & hanging out online or if you want to test your vocabulary or foreign language skills, hop on and do something really smart!

Lots of love,

In about five minutes flat I was able to help in donating 200 grains of rice to help end world hunger — and it didn’t cost me anything! Check this out —  FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program in conjunction with Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. The website offers viewers academic questions/trivia in a number of fields to test your smarts: you can choose from art, chemistry, english, geography, languages and math! For each question that you answer right, FreeRice will donate ten grains of rice to the World Food Program to help end hunger!

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

The figures regarding hunger are really astounding. Being that the majority of us are well-fed, it’s difficult for us to think about 25,000 people dying every day from hunger and related causes. Here are some other things to consider:

- 963 million people don’t have enough to eat: that’s more than the population of the US, Canada and the EU COMBINED
- 907 million people in developing countries are hungry
- Asia and the Pacific region house over half of the world’s population and nearly 2/3 of the hungry people
- More than 60% of hungry people are women
- 65% of the world’s hungry live in just seven countries: Indian, China, the Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.

Additionally, a lot of children are starving and dying every day of malnutrition. So, when you’re bored & hanging out online or if you want to test your vocabulary or foreign language skills, hop on and do something really smart!

Lots of love,

You know. There’s nothing more annoying to me right now than writing a post, typing too fast and then pressing on god knows which key that backspaces to the last page and you lose everything. Especially when I don’t think much before typing and have a cracker of a headache.

The only other thing I probably find equally as annoying right now, are Cicadas.

I have not been sleeping well at all lately. It seems as though i’ve gotten no sleep, getting out of bed eventually with sore muscles and nightmares still vivid from waking many times throughout the evening before.

I wake in sweats, hair soaked, muscles tense, mind frustrated and delirious. Why can’t I sleep? I must have gotten some sleep, though, otherwise nightmares aren’t possible.

The cicadas are like birds in the morning. I want to go back to sleep but they are there to remind me “Hey, YOU! It’s time to get your ass into 3rd gear, do not even think about looking at those pillows! It’s the middle of the day and it’s hot out!”

This isn’t a relaxation CD, this is your permanent playing wake-up call. All Bootcamp on my ass.

If I was a bird right now, i’d definitely be feasting on big, fat, annoying cicadas. I think the longest living cicadas live for up to 17 years, spending most of their lives underground as nymphs. Then something like – they come up, mate, live for awhile longer and die.

They do have their place, though, especially on hot summer evenings. The low pitch clicking of the cicada’s song carries from trees into the night. There can be something really peaceful about it.

They have no place being here now. Not when you have barely slept and from memory, especially not when you have a hangover, you’re craving greasy fast food with a whopping headache and it’s too hot outside to face reality. No KFC for you.

I think I have been watching too much Vampire TV series late in the evening and the cicadas are here to torment me.

I can’t remember enough of what I was posting about before and I don’t really care anymore. I’ll just leave you with this game:

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Could be worse, huh.

That is an interesting site. It is a “non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program.” And it has two goals: 1. Provide education to everyone for free. 2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

So when you get right for each question provided by the site, they will donate 10 grains of rice for the hungry people in the world.

The subjects of the questions include: Art, Chemistry, English, Geography, Language Learning and Math. And they donated 12,255,121,230 grains of rice in 2007!

Try it now!  http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Challenge #9: Donate 10,000 Grains of Rice through FreeRice.com

At Freerice.com, you can play trivia games on a variety of subjects. For each correct answer you get, the organization donates 10 grains of rice to the UN World food program. It’s free, and you don’t even have to sign-up/login you just play, and they donate.

Learn something and help stop world hunger.

Step #1) Visit freerice.com

Step #2) Play the trivia game.

Step #3) Keep track of how many grains you earn at each sitting.

Step #4) When you hit 10,000, leave a comment here!