No News Is Good News

I've got a lot of causes. I want to save the earth and the women of the earth. I want equal rights for all sexual orientations, races, religions and Avatars (kidding). I want animals to be treated well and tummies to be full. And I want my mountains topped, rivers pure and government transparent.

Somehow this makes me an idealist and a liberal and all sorts of labels synonymous to a sensitive softie. But it also might be a direct correlation to the amount of news I've been consuming.

How can you NOT have a lot of causes reading/watching the news? Not just these days, all days. No news out there is good news. There's always someone being shot, suppressed, jailed. There's uncontainable oil, unregulated big business, uncapped spending.

So for a while I thought the answer was to run around trying to protest everything and get things fixed and get mad at people. Now I think its this: 1)be empowered enough to help in your capacity 2) look for happy news.

There are enough people helping, nurturing, thriving, to fill a newspaper. We hear of the naughty priests, but never about the ones who inspire entire congregations. For every car crash, there are tons prevented by cautious drivers. There's deforestation, but classrooms are building greenhouses and planting gardens.

To make it easier, some friends and I have been talking about launching a Web site or at least some kind of news feed that is all good news all the time. So yeah, the sea turtles are choking on BP's mistake -- but there's got to be something good happening there too. And I'm going to find it.

Amici

Now for a post about how my friends are awesome. Keep in mind that I'm only highlighting those that are Web-friendly in their adventures and honors. Believe me, there are many more.

On Foot
If you think I have wanderlust, check out Ankur Shah. He traveled through India on foot with one bag and little money (actually, I don't think he believes in money), to discover the Gandhian path. Lucky for those with desk jobs, he wrote a book of his journey called Sometimes We Walk Alone. He also opened up a restaurant in Brazil with some friends, the fruits of which are in his cook book: Cooking Com Bigode. He heads out to Liberia this week.

Snazzier Snapshots
My buddy Abhi, who we dubbed Abu a decade ago in 7th grade, is powering a startup called Fracture with a business partner. After figuring out how to print pictures directly on glass, Abu and crew are planning to change the bulky, expensive framing industry with these sleek new pieces. I got a couple for my mom, and they look pretty fantastic.

Desktop Dance Party
Sammy Tarantino, a high school friend and musician, is the CEO of Grooveshark. Ask any government employee how they listen to music at work, and they'll usually cite this sly guy. It's like Pandora, but actually gives you what you want. With folks like Vishal Agarwala, it's a recipe for smash-hit success.

Free Food
If I haven't plugged Karma Kitchen enough, I'm doing it again. Aparna Kothary -- who pretty much everyone in DC knows and loves -- was a co-founder of this little gem in DC. But the idea stems back to Karma Kitchen in Berkeley and Seva Cafe in Ahmedabad, India. Food tastes better without a bill.