A Shooting Star...

I love her, the way she is, the way she are, a shooting star.
And I pray that you never change, never ever change.
Stay the same, cause...

I love just who you are, I ain't gon try to change ya.
You are a shooting star, that's why you are my favorite.

Shooting Star, David Rush
-- discovered while dancing away a flamin' dr. pepper under the Austin, TX night sky. :) what a wonderful weekend that was. Now if only life was like that.

2009 mid-year goal-time! Reclaim myself and get a damn move on my life.

Look! Wokai on CNBC! :D

Ah, 2009 is almost half over! And yet, I feel like I'm adrift in the ocean, just floating along. I've got to start paddling somewhere, towards something otherwise...I'll drown! Perhaps this means I should take a non-traditional approach towards getting back on track. Meaning, sans the parental and societal driven 'typical' career and academic lectures. Perhaps I should take a note out of this interesting gal's life...and make a list of 101 things to complete in 1001 days! Hm.

On another note: G WANG?! Where are you?? Hmph..this is turning out to not be a Wangs world, it's just a Wang world!

Miss you guys already!!!

Ah the merry month of May. Twas a good month! Casa Wang (A) saw quite an influx of visitors, spanning - AUS, NRT & TPE. Hope you guys had fun, cause you surely brightened this Wang's day (and long long long nights) ;)

Llama and his fob-daughters

Pale, TAN, Pale.

WOKAI LAUNCH: A benefit celebrating the power to make a difference!

So some of you may know that I've been working on this non-profit called Wokai for quite some time now. Quickly, they're focused on raising money to fund microloans to the poor in rural China - helping them lift themselves out of poverty through entrepreneurship. We've been working to put together this launch event/fundraiser on Wednesday, May 27th. We'll be having a wine/beer open bar, light hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, and the CEO/Co-founder of Wokai will be presenting. It should be a fun party, and it's for a good cause so if you can make it, your support is much appreciated.

The event will be held at Blvd in the lower east side (on Bowery between Spring and Rivington). Take a look at the info and let me know if you have any questions about the event, Wokai, or microfinance in general. You can also browse the website or check out the blog for some light reading. Lastly, please forward this along to any friends, family, or colleagues you think might be interested. Thanks guys!!

Amy

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

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Please join the New York Chapter of Wokai for our Launch celebration!

Get your tickets before May 1 at the early bird rate - only $45 for a great party and a great cause

Click here for tickets: http://wokainyclaunch.eventbrite.com/

WHAT: A fundraising event celebrating the launch of Wokai’s peer-to- peer microfinance donation platform, featuring wine/beer open bar, hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, and a presentation by Wokai Co-Founder and CEO, Casey Wilson

WHO: Over 200 socially-conscious young professionals

WHERE: BLVD - 199 Bowery (at Spring Street)

WHEN: Wednesday, May 27th from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

WHY: In China, approximately 200 million people live on less than $1 a day, and China’s income gap is one of the most severe among developing countries worldwide. Microfinance, commonly defined as providing loans to poor people to help them start small businesses, offers one of the best solutions to global poverty. Wokai is a 501c3 non-profit organization that enables Chinese people to lift themselves from poverty. Wokai is Chinese for "I start," demonstrating our commitment to helping the impoverished help themselves. Through our website, we connect contributors worldwide with entrepreneurs in rural China to help them start small businesses. For example, a seamstress might borrow money to buy a sewing machine. This business generates stable income, which gives the seamstress and her family access to healthcare, improved housing, or perhaps most importantly, education. By empowering people to take control of their own lives, microfinance differs from the cycle of dependency created by previous methods of poverty alleviation.

RESERVATIONS: http://wokainyclaunch.eventbrite.com/

As a portion of each ticket is tax deductible, please consider requesting a matching gift from your company so that Wokai can benefit twice from your generosity. Thank you!

For additional information about Wokai, please contact us at newyork@wokai.org

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tonsillitis!

Yep! They're swollen, they're huge and they're sort of infected. Sexy, I know. ;)

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tonsillitis-topic-overview

Make It Work!

Darhling! I felt I must respond to your previous post. I have definitely pondered those thoughts independent from your post (which is why we have such a WANG mind meld!). Yet recent events have caused me to revise my thinking.

Yes, the economy can ruin marriages, relationships, and the like. Yes, it can be a huge barrier in either moving forward, or moving on. But in the end, the key element in whether it works - is you. You and him/her. You, him/her and your family. We're Gen Y! Having grown up in an age where individualism, achievement and a "you can do it" attitude reigned supreme. My thesis is, it's on you. If you want it enough, you can make it happen. Examples? Cause in the end Gracie...you have to be with your family in TW, no? And as for supposed love separated by oceans? Well love is only sustainable when you try to make it work. Otherwise it's just a bunch of pretty words.

After all, my fav. CMU non-prof, Randy Pausch said "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people."

Love and the Economy

It is all too common to reference the state of the economy in relation to jobs found and jobs lost, but what about in relation to lovers lost and found?

It's no secret that money problems are often cited as the most common cause of failed marriages. The recent financial crisis has also seemingly had polar effects one way or another, either by forcing the couple to continue living under the same roof or by accelerating the split of a not-very-happy marriage. But my real question (well, mainly of concern) is...how is this financial meltdown affecting younger unmarried couples? In other words, how is it affecting my own and (the majority of) my friends' relationships with their significant others?

Perhaps coming back home to Taipei was inevitable but I can't help but think that if the economy were in a better state, and jobs were easier to come by, then I would still be living in NYC working a somewhat respectable job. Or I would maybe have had fewer applicants to beat out for Columbia b-school. So yes, this economy has definitely had a resounding impact on my career prospects (obvi!) but maybe less obvious is the fact that leaving NYC meant leaving someone special that I deeply cared for. Oh, and of course, all my fabulous friends in NYC =)

Similarly, the more-than-abysmal job market in Hong Kong is also keeping apart two very distant lovers..