I just read an excellent Washington Post article.    The Post had Joshua Bell, world renown violinist, play as an anonymous street musician in the DC metro during morning rush hour. After 43 minutes of playing, Joshua Bell made $32.17.  Joshua Bell concert tickets usually go for $100 minimum. In the metro, 1070 people walked past him. Only 7 people stopped to listen (for even a minute). The articles practically begs you to ask yourself:  Would I have stopped and listened?   The question is not a test of whether you have the capacity to appreciate that caliber of music.  It’s whether you would have allowed yourself to …

Last night, I read a great article in the New Yorker about Robert Lang, master orgami folder.  I remember folding cranes when I was little with my family and our Japanese exchange students.  But this stuff is on a completely different level. Interesting point from the article & something I never thought about: Scientists began applying these [origami] folding techniques to anything—medical, electrical, optical, or nanotechnical devices, and even to strands of DNA—that had a fixed size and shape but needed to be packed tightly and in an orderly way. From Lang’s website (and may I add a serious *DAMN!*): Black Forest Cuckoo Clock, …

A couple months ago, my friend Jonah created the Darfur Wall.  This site raises money for 4 organizations that aid the Darfur Conflict. On the “wall,” there are 400,000 numbers, one for each person killed in the Darfur genocide. Every dollar donated turns a number from dark gray to brilliant white. 100% of the proceeds go to four Darfur relief organizations.