Sarah Silverman's plan to end world hunger.

Take note, Amnesty International. This is how you do it.



Silverman has made a very interesting and valid point here...without having to make a poop joke. Kudos.

When the Gallery Owner is the Artist...

Another weekly digital journalism project is in the can!

Check it out here. I don't know if it's going to make The Ithacan yet, but I like it. And it was really fun to make.

I basically want to be Daphne Solá when I grow up. She's really a strong woman with a point of view and and the strength to follow her passions. I hope that as I grow older, I'll be able to retain that kind of power and passion within myself.

One part of my interview with her that I didn't include was about how she came to learn how to make paper at a conference in Japan. In the span of a day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., she made the decision to go to Japan for a month and booked her flight. Needless to say, it was kind of surprise to her husband when he got home from work.

Adios, Mercedes Sosa

Just noticed in the New York Times that Mercedes Sosa, one of the most famous folk singers of Argentina, passed away this morning.

Sosa's face was everywhere when I was living in Buenos Aires. She released a new album not too long ago, and it was recently nominated for a few Latin Grammy Awards. Even though she was 74 she would record songs with some of the most popular musicians of 2009, including Shakira, Fito Paez and Calle 13. The only artist I can really think to compare her to, that a lot of people would recognize, is Joan Baez.

We read her lyrics and dissected them in my classes to better learn about the Dirty War and human rights in Latin America. They've always moved me. Sosa was a true icon for a generation, and one of the greatest examples of the ability to merge human rights and art.

Here's a live performance of Sosa singing the politically-charged song "La Canción es Urgente," or "The Song is Urgent."

Happy Jew Year!

Sorry for the delay. Life just seems to take over sometimes.

The past two weeks saw the coming and going of two major holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This was the first time since high school I've been home for the new year, and it was AMAZING. Even though I was only home for one day, it was fantastic just to relax and spend time with my family. And eat the five pounds of mashed potatoes my mom made.

As I learn more Spanish, I think more about the context and meanings of the vocabulary I study. For instance, the word "esperar" has two meanings: to hope, and to wait.

And during the high holy days this year, the relationship between those two words kept coming back to me, and how amazing it is that in Spanish they are one. As the new year comes we are waiting and hoping for a better year than the last. We are waiting and hoping for this year to be the one we are in Jerusalem. We are waiting and hoping for the Messiah to arrive and usher in a new era. Esperar.

To combine the two words, to wait and to hope, somehow makes the word "wait" all the more fragile. When you're hoping for something, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to come. But when you're waiting, you're pretty positive that it's on its way. So in a way, esperar also makes "hope" stronger, in that it's paired with something so concrete.

Does this make any sense? I'm running on about five hours of sleep here.

So ANYWAY...my first weekly project for digital journalism is on the Ithacan's Web site!

I know, I left the Ithacan my freshman year with guns (and middle fingers) blazing, but since I need to submit stuff to the paper for class, I figured I'd just go with it. Hey, at least I'm getting some clips on the Web.

And my partner and I get to choose our own weeklies. Our first one was about the Iron Chef competition at AppleFest. Even though it took about eight torturous hours to cut together, attending the event itself was a lot of fun. You can check out our soundslide of the event here.