Rip Curl Pipe Master Final - Slats/AI/Machado/Lopez

Pipeline Masters Final

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Just thought I'd share with everyone!

Slater lost in a close bout with Irons, but a great final!

Kiva.org - Microlending is changing the world!

Nearing the corner of Christmas, I feel compelled to talk a little about an organization I truely think is doing something to help others. I am not the only one who shares this idea. Recently this year, the Nobel Committee awarded their Peace Prize to Yunus Grameen for microfinance. Although lending to the poor is not new, including 'microfinance,' Kiva's approach seems ripe with 'Web 2.0'

From their webpage, you can donate in $25 dollar increments to an enterprise of your choosing, thus creating a portfolio. Each profile is rich in learning of the prospective borrower's business, although no detailed business plan is available. What I feel is effective about the way Kiva operates lies in it's torrent-like way to garner money.

On their site you can create a profile which is showcased with others on the entrepreneur's profile page. Also included, once the borrower is fully funded, is a journal in which they update you on their progress and 'prosperous' business. Once they pay the borrowed amount in full, you will be credited back with the original amount of money you invested, which you can withdrawl or reinvest into another business.

What I feel unique about giving this way is that you feel connected to the borrowers although you are thousands of miles away. Kiva presumably spends a lot of time finding the right partner lending institutions to disperse their funds where the loans are low interest from qualified borrowers. Here is their due dilligence on choosing 'Field Partners'

So if you are in the giving mood, have a paypal account or credit/debit card and $25 dollars, you can give a far reaching gift that will have an impact on someone's life, possibly whole families.

A few cautions:

• Kiva claims 100% repayment so far and say to diversify your loans to more than one organization rather than all into one business.
• If repayment is not made, it is not tax deductable since it is a loan and you will not get your money back (although you should treat it as a donation)
• There is no interest gained on this investment

Please do not let these cautions sway your decision to give, if not in money....to something that you believe in!

Empowerment. Sustainability. Hope.

season of giving!

So, I've not posted in nearly a month or so, but I'd like to defend this late posting to the fact that I have indeed been very busy!

Ahh, how the holiday season takes hold, especially in times of cold;
people bundle together or want to be closer;
so the giving spirit embraces our souls

what a great way to take part;
but to give, not recieve the abundance of love;
the heart grows fonder in apropos;

for the many faces of the sparkle, glimmer;
shine into dark corners, revealing what might not have known;
as the greatest give is to love, without condition or ration;

a gift will present in a time of need;
because we all must love, in these times indeed;
the hour draws near for many a convergence;

a place of fortitudes, solidifying urgency;
to create hope in this world, unbounded;
outcry to those in far off places;

not just places far, distancewise;
but to other planes, emotionwise;
how can you be cold and not cover up;

hope in this world warms my soul;
how about yours, inspire your role;
in your heart you will listen;

beat beat, listen;
you're alive now and then;
feel the world grow, not just immediate bustle;

Okay, so i got off on a tangent and started to write in code...poetic code, that is. But I feel good at the turn of this month, in the way things are going and the possibilities that linger. I hold on to things sometimes to my detriment, but I am letting go. Letting go and trusting myself have been obstacles in my growth. I need to make big decisions which lend to my wellbeing in the near future.

So yeah, I've been busy. Working usually takes up 95% of my days, with kids, coworkers, and in thought about what to do for the next day. It is a good feeling to be working in a place that places such high value on quality, comraderie, compassion, and teamwork.

I have grown immensly lately just by working like I normally would. The difference is how I am approaching everything and living wide-open. I recently took the GRE, did well enough to be proud, and also have been working on some meaningful projects at work outside of my regular duties. Not to jinx things, I will be posting at a later date on more details on what my projects entail, but they should stand as something I leave behind at Sound to Sea that will have a lasting impact.

Going to graduate school or continuing to find work have been ever-pressing on my near future. As much as I love my current job, it is not sustainable to me financially. I have been looking at jobs lately and also graduate school programs, both of my searches and research being very very diverse in the job fields and academic programs, but I am diligent and propelled to find something that makes me happy with myself. I maintain my need to make a large impact on society and hope that either training formally in the Academe or through experience in another job will enable my aspirations to be actualized.

As the year comes to an end, I feel like I've made many strides towards my goals of who I want to become and how I want to live. I thank, truely thank, my close friends and coworkers for this progress, for without them, I feel I would have a large void and not be a better person.

I have been given a lot :)