Recycling Electronics

For those of us who take our old electronic items to a local recycling center, here’s a sliver of shocking news: some 43 electronics recycling companies here in the U.S. illegally send toxic waste material through Hong Kong to southern Chinese cities.

What this means is every time you throw out an old cell phone, or dispose of a new laptop for the new sleek apparatus now on the market, you just might be contributing to the already high levels of cancerous carcinogens in cities like Guiyu, where the lead-polluted water and air pollution has led to higher incidents of miscarriages. Children are also some of the most vulnerable. 70% of the city’s young population is reported to have unusually high concentrations of lead in their blood.

This news, buttressed by this excellent report on 60 Minutes, marks a sense of urgency about the economy of waste. On one hand I feel a sense of outrage and helplessness, but on the other hand, I also realize I could do a little more to make a difference.

This weekend I was shopping around for a smart phone to replace my current ‘dumb’ phone. There’s nothing wrong with my old phone, but there are so many other tantalizing options available, and the new smart phones deliver Wi-Fi access, internet, e-mail, and doubles as a PDA.

I realize now I don’t really need this new contraption, whose novelty will most likely wear out in a matter of months. My plan now is to keep my ‘clunker’ until an environmentally safe option for its disposal is clearly present.

I also don’t think the children and women of Guiyu need more carcinogenic waste dumped outside their doorstep. After all, Americans dispose of 130,000 computers every day, and an astounding 100,000,000 cell phones annually.

Honey Ice Cream

In the recently released 'Julie, Julia', a young writer kick starts a food blog to channel her creativity and her love of Julia Child into a hobby that distracts her from her dead-end job.

Watching this sweet film brought me to a new realization: food is a necessity, but it's also a pleasure. And there's no greater pleasure in the food world than dessert!

I felt the gravitational pull to Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert after cross-referencing different recommendations. My micro-quest for books began with searches under keyword 'baking,' browsing through several food blogs, and came to a conclusion at a local bookstore after flipping through different books.

Thanks to a search that began online, it wasn't long before I knew which book I wanted.

This past weekend I put my new book to work (purchased from ValoreBooks at 45% off retail price), and re-created Medrich's heavenly honey ice cream.

It's definitely a keeper, and here's the simple recipe:

½ cup milk
½ cup honey
Slightly rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt
2¼ cup heavy cream
Equipment: Ice cream machine

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan.
2. Pour milk into a medium bowl and allow to cool completely.
3. Add honey and salt, stirring to dissolve the honey.
4. Stir in the cream.
5. Chill the mixture for 4-12 hours.
6. Freeze according to instructions for your ice cream maker.
7. Serve soft or transfer to an airtight container and freeze until hard enough to scoop, at least 3 to 4 hours, but preferably 12.

Our ice cream machine is the Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Automatic. Producing more than four cups of ice cream, the recipe's done wonders for the last couple of balmy nights in New York. Alice Medrich, I salute you!

Mad Looks

Every now and then a television show comes along and sweeps you away to another era. AMC's hit show 'Mad Men' is doing just that for fashion magazines, and the ladies of Sterling Cooper inspired me to create this ensemble on ShopStyle:

Both ShopStyle and Polyvore are incredibly fun procrastination tools, guaranteed to keep you entertained for hours with its aggregation of women's fashions and home decor. Which is another reason to love online technology: it allows you to express yourself in ways that weren't previously possible.

Add to Cart

“Honey, why do you keep shopping online?” My husband finally asks me in exasperation. “You keep returning things.”

It’s true I do return things. And regrettably to stores that charge me shipping both ways. The things I did for a bargain!

Seeing how my spendthrift ways has not paid off over the years, I’ve finally struck a smart balance between online and offline shopping that is paying off in fashion dividends.

Nowadays, I go into a big box store, let’s say Famous Footwear, and try on some summer sandals. I am smitten by a beautiful pair by Steven Madden, but promptly crushed to find none in my size. So I rush back home and search for my new obsession on the store’s website. Et voila! There they are in a size 6, and here’s the best part: they happen to be on an exclusive sale online, and with a little help from CouponTweets, I get an extra 20% off!

I just received my new shoes in the mail yesterday and tried them on. Not that I needed to, having already slid my feet through the pair at the local store. But if I did need to return it, I needn’t have paid for any shipping costs. Famous Footwear accepts returns and exchanges for online purchases at their store locations.

Technology and traditional retail working together…now that’s customer service!






















Qiver White Sandals by Steve Madden ($50.99 after online coupons)

Eastern Promises

Taishan knows you can have your cake and eat it too.(Source: LIFE Archives)

While unemployment reaches for the skies in the U.S., some of America’s best and brightest are packing up their bags and moving overseas.

So what’s the hot new destination on the rise? For the young and the motivated, it’s China. Young women like Sarabeth Berman, for example, have seized the opportunity for career advancement. As program director at BeijingDance/LDTX, Berman believes she is working in a capacity that would not be possible back home. “There is no doubt that China is an awesome place to jump-start your career. Back in the U.S., I would be intern No. 3 at some company or selling tickets at Lincoln Center.” she says.

As someone who’s straddled different cultures across a timeline of some 30+ years, this is a most auspicious development. There’s so much to gain from living in a different culture, learning a new language, and gaining perspective. China is a choice destination for many Americans because it’s not just a rising economic superpower run by Armani suit-clad bureaucrats. In the sophisticated metropolis of Beijing and Shanghai, it’s also an exciting center of art, culture, and food.

Here are some delicious blogs, run by expat women, that give you a taste of life in a destination that may be on your roadmap.

Shanghaiist: A hip, comprehensive blog on current and cultural events in China’s most cosmopolitan city.
Beijing Notebook: A former Beijing expat still keeps in touch with designs and trends in China’s capital. This blog’s got some serious eye candy.
Food and Drink Chengdu: Foodies be warned, this blog will have you coming back for seconds.
Sinopop: A sophisticated blog in touch with China’s artistic soul.
Johnsons in China: Mommy blogger “Taitai Johnson” has the insider’s scoop on raising an American family in Beijing. Lovely blog about a happy family doing things their way.

How Not To Be Lost in Translation

"Excusez-moi?"

"My husband is not secretary of state," Clinton curtly reminded a Congolese university student. "I am." While Hillary's momentary lapse of diplomacy is nothing new, the most unfortunate aspect of this PR disaster is not Mrs. Clinton's slip-of-the-tongue, but rather, that of her French-English human translator.

It was later revealed the student was requesting insight into President Obama's opinions, and not those of Bill Clinton.

I know from past reports Clinton is no friend of technology, but imagine the face-saving value, not to mention the potential for linguistic empowerment, had she kept a Ectaco Partner UT-103 Universal Translator on the ready, or even brushed up her college French courtesy of Nice Translator!

Women, after all, are better communicators as their brains are better networked for language. Plus with all the new translation gadgets and free software floating around, learning new languages is easier and more cost-effective than ever. And what could keep our beautiful grey matter more supple than using it?

Homeless Man Leaves Behind $4 Million

There are homeless people. Then there are homeless people who leave behind $4 million to charity. Richard LeRoy Walters, a former engineer who gave up all his material possessions upon retirement, donated his estate to NPR, various charities, and a Catholic mission in Phoenix, where he befriended a nurse and spent much of his retirement at the mission's senior center. "He just gave up all of the material things that we think we have to have," says Rita Belle, his friend of 13 years and a nurse at the center.

When we think of poverty versus our own condition, we often justify our apathy by thinking how little impact our resources can have on the world. But maybe, just maybe, if it's not too late, couldn't we make a small difference in the lives of others?

Try donating online at some of these leading charities.
1. Coalition for the Homeless: Feeds over 1,000 people each night on the streets of NYC with your help.
2. Action Against Hunger: Secures food and water in over 40 countries through its Campaign to End Malnutrition.
3. Doctors Without Borders: Provides urgent medical care to hundreds of thousands of people in more than 70 countries around the world each year.

There are scores of other organizations doing good on behalf of the rest of us. Do you donate to charities online? Why or why not?















Homeless children practicing a dance routine in Dallas, Texas. (Source: LIFE Archives)