Product of the Week: A $3-6 Acne fix.

How to clear acne? Aloe cooling gel. Who knew? Of course it soothes burns and dry skin, and it's in practically every skin care product out there, but I had never thought to put it on my face until I saw my brilliant Chinese student doing exactly this yesterday. Then she showed me the "before" pictures on her iPhone, and I was surprised how clear her face had become since the photos. "Three days," she said when I asked her how long it would take to work. I had figured about a week.

So I put it on yesterday before bed. This morning, my face had gone from red and itchy and raw to white, and clearing and fresh. Still, I had stress and heat acne, so I reapplied twice today. Excited to see the results tomorrow on Day 2. Much improvement already!

This is the jar we've been using. It's Korean and you can order it on Amazon for about $6, but honestly, we have many similar products in the USA, so I'm guessing your after-sun cooling gel with Aloe will also work. Check the percentage of Aloe.

Let me know if it works for you or your teens!

"Cleaning up America's Image by Putting Generational Qualms Aside."

ABRAHAM: "Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?" 

SAMPSON: "I do bite my thumb sir."

ABRAHAM: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" 

...SAMPSON: "No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb sir."

-Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (Act 1: sn 1.)

When it comes to generation gaps: there seems to be a lot of mudslinging between the generations: Millennials, frustrated with the Great Recession and bemoaning paying taxes to support the Baby Boomers, while knowing that Social Security will run out before we ever come of age. Baby Boomers chastising Generation X for raising a lazy, overindulged, arrogant and "indoor" Generation Z. Generation Z badmouthing all of the older generations, in unsophisticated text-slang, as they absorb, consume and radiate social media. 

The epigraph from Act 1, scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet (first published in 1597) merely serves to point out the pettiness and childishness of such finger pointing. What is notable and important to sort through is the general sense of frustration amongst everyone, of every age. Who is content? Who is happy? How do they achieve this state of mind in today's Great Recession? That is the subject of today's rant.

Here is my list of "Happiness Essentials" of what I think most people need to be happy and content:

1. Food, water, air, sleep. 

2. Shelter.

3. Social needs (belonging, love, affection).

4. Esteem Needs (personal worth, accomplishment)

5. Self-Actualization (self-aware, goal oriented, potential.)

...Oh wait, no, this is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Maybe it's a first world problem that we're even discussing 4 & 5 at all... which makes me immediately ashamed of today's blog entry as I deviate away from my usual 'global issues' topics. Before I publish, I'd like to take a moment to create a new, abbreviated list, of what would make anyone happy and content.

1. Food, water, shelter.

2. Family, friends, social clubs, health insurance.

3. Free technological access: this would provide everyone with a chance to learn, improve, and grow.

4. Respect, manners, etiquette. (Regardless of age.)

5. Time to pursue career, family and passions.

My goal? To work on spreading at least #4 as far as I can...the others will follow. 

Spotlight: The Renaissance Project

Spotlight: 

A Tampa based non-profit that hosts Russian foreign exchange students.

A non-profit near and dear to my heart is the Tampa based Renaissance Project, led by Eric Wilson (President) which brings three lovable, capable and underprivileged students from St. Petersburg, Russia, to our school family: Academy at the Lakes in Land O'Lakes, Florida.

Max, Daniil and Gleb with Lake Myrtle behind them on the Academy campus, Spring 2011.

Max, Gleb, and Daniil come each year to America to study, and to learn and teach others about their culture and experiences. Courageously brave enough to venture out and live in a different country at such a young age away from their families, these boys never shy from each opportunity available to them: advantages they would never have received at their government schools back home. Each fall, the boys say goodbye to their families for the ten-month school year, and through a generous sponsor, fly to America to live with Wilson, their caretaker and guardian for the school year.

I have had the privilege to teach both Daniil and Max during their middle school years, and stand amazed at the level of commitment and dedication that they bring to their studies, sports and activities. (Check out Gleb's story, Daniil's glogster or watch Max's video below.) These students are humble, grateful and truly deserving of every chance and opportunity America, and you, can help give them as they forge their way to college and beyond. 

Recently, the Renaissance Project was offered living space to grow the cause, at a local farmhouse, which Wilson has spent the summer renovating with help from multiple colleagues. Needing a full patching, priming and painting, after not having been lived in for years: the four bedrooms, living room and breezeway are now almost finished. Having had some free time since it's summer, I have been volunteering to help Wilson get the house in shape to be lived in. It was fun to be involved with the renovations, but a bit overwhelming starting almost from scratch with this 4-bedroom house, (although Wilson never once despaired of the intimidating "To Do" list) so I enlisted help from my husband Tom, and friends Sarah, Rachel and Rob get the house in prime condition for the boys' return in the fall. (Being the teacher of Max and Daniil, I can appreciate just how many hours both boys put into studying and doing homework for my class in particular, so I tried to give them back some of the effort they put in!) Day after day, one room at a time the house came together. The house is still in need of some finish work, and a kitchen overhaul, and appliances. If you can help, please see below. The gracious owner Dr. Lou, who has donated the space and forty acres of farmland for the meantime, fully supports Eric's renovations and re-roofed the house and bought supplies and new carpets to be installed in all rooms, is optimistic and supportive to the Renaissance Project and the opportunities Eric is providing to the four boys now (this fall brings Max's little brother to America as well!) to shine and be successful in this world. 

Please join me and consider donating to the Renaissance Project.  Your donation helps to cover the living expenses of the boys while in America and is also tax deductible. 

To contact the Renaissance Project, like this organization on Facebook, or to find out about other opportunities to help this worthy cause: please click here. 

"The Princess and the Assassin: How Today's Culture is Negatively Impacting the Minds of our Teenagers," by Aimee.

Growing up the lucky daughter of a children's librarian, I was never at a loss for good books. My mother Liz tirelessly carried hundreds upon thousands of picture books; then chapter books, then novels and series home for both my brother Nate and I since we were toddlers. What I've noticed over the years is a lack of diverse female role models in the books I was reading.

Disney and his Princesses: 

This topic is going to cause a riot with my colleagues at work. Yes, I know that these are timeless stories that will transcend the 21st century to become 'Classics', but the sexism and racism in the history of Disney cannot be forgotten. The examples of racism in Disney in this article as recently as in Aladdin (1992), are egregious enough on their own, only equalled in the derisive sexism inherent in the Disney Princesses. See the photo below: 

Photo courtesy of feministing.com

Granted, these characters do have merits as well, besides their beauty: Snow White is kind, Aurora loves animals, Jasmine is a rebel and independent (although she is enslaved eventually because of it), Ariel is an independent rebel as well (although she loses her identity because of it), Belle is a reader and brave, and Cinderella is also kind to animals. However there are much better female role models, see my list in the last paragraph of this post.

Twilight and the Impossible Standard for Men:

Most recently: people have been reviewing the popular Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, and asking the question, "Does Twilight set an unreasonable standard for men?" In this great article by Ted Cox, he breaks down the Twilight series obsession for teenage girls:

"My sisters, like so many teenage girls, went gaga whenever the hunky, pasty Edward and his male-model coif appeared on-screen. Edward is inhumanly gorgeous, inhumanly strong, holds several medical degrees, plays concert piano, drives a shiny car, is filthy rich and, most importantly, is instantly and uncontrollably attracted to Bella.

It’s not hard to see why Twilight has become so popular. The story probably resonates with young women who feel they aren’t particularly pretty, smart, talented or loveable. Twilight is the movie version of a common teenage fantasy: The hot, rich guy falls madly in love with the unpopular klutz.

I guess that means Twilight is pornography for young women. While porn for men takes normal, everyday guys and pairs them with idealized women, Twilight flips the formula around: Bella is the everyday teenage girl who ends up with the idealized man.

When women are idealized in the media, it’s called sexism, objectification or misogyny. But when men are idealized, it’s called a blockbuster. One blogger at Feministing.com cried foul over Bella needing a man to fulfill her life. The same writer didn’t mention anything about the story holding men up to impossible standards." 

(Excerpt from Ted Cox's article.)

While I don't think that the Twilight series is reverse-pornography, I do think that the media is now holding men to impossibly high standards, especially with the uber-romantic character of Noah in The Notebook, the impossibly fit Wolverine in X-Men, the perfect-assassins or warriors in Hitman, Batman, Superman, Iron Man, and I worry about the impacts of these characters on young males. 

Video Games and the Acceptance of Violence:

When video games were released in the 80's-90's the "Top Ten" games were:

Rank	Title	Publisher	Year
1	Super Mario Bros.	Nintendo	1985
2	Super Mario 64	Nintendo	1996
3	Donkey Kong Country 3	Rare	1996
4	Final Fantasy VII	Squaresoft	1997
5	Super Mario World 2	Nintendo	1996
6	Banjo-Tooie	Rare	1998
7	Pac Man	Namco	1980
8	Earthbound	Nintendo	1995
9	Monkey Island 2	Lucas Arts	1990
10	Megaman 3	Nintendo	1990

 Notice the lack of 'realistic violence', how these games are mostly fantastical violence. Now, in the 00's: the list changes:

Rank	Title	Publisher	Year
1	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	Nintendo	1998
2	Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2	Activision	2000
3	Soul Calibur	Namco	1998
4	Grand Theft Auto IV	Rockstar	2008
5	Perfect Dark	Rare	2000
6	NFL 2K1	Sega	2000
7	Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3	Activision	2001
8	Halo: Combat Evolved	Bungie	2001
9	Metroid Prime	Nintendo	2002
10	Grand Theft Auto III	Rockstar Games	2001

Fantastical Violence: 3 games.

Realistic Violence: 2+ games.

Professional Sports: 2 games.

You can see last year's list of top grossing video games here but now the focus becomes more on being a professional athlete, and real-life violence: both realistic and fantastical. There are many articles about the negative impact of video games on children: mainly that kids, (1) tend to be more aggressive, (2) are more prone to confrontation with their teachers, (3) engage in fights with their peers and (4) see a decline in school achievements. (Source) 

So basically as culture advances: girls are encouraged to accept the "Princess" expectations and boys are encouraged to accept the "Ultimate Athlete" or "Warrior" expectations. There is something inherently wrong in encouraging these expectations in our teenagers: all of which contribute to narcissism, social dysfunction, and low self esteem a direct result of being unable to achieve any of these "impossible standards." 

Already, the differences between Generation Y (which saw the successes and money surplus in the 1990's to the current economic crisis) and Generation Z (who have seen only the Great Recession (2005) from age 10 to now) creates a stark contrast of generations. Realizing that everything can be taken away, and that savings are more important than ever, my generation (Y) is watching Z with interest and capitalizing off of introducing our necessities (cell phones, social networking, clothes, music) to an audience younger than ever. However, all of the older generations have a deep responsibility to create meaningful and ethical role models for these young kids. Role Models such as bookish Hermione, awkward Harry from the Harry Potter series, Enola Holmes, Katniss Everdeen (from The Hunger Games trilogy), Percy Jackson, Stanley Yelnats, Alanna of Trebond. Check out this list of positive female role models. While it's a challenge to find a similar list of positive male role models for boys, I did find this list of "100 Must Read Books: Then Man's Essential Library," on the Art of Manliness- an interesting cultural analysis to be sure!

Check out some of the listed books here: