One thing that stood out to me is her dedication to help people. The way I see it, helping others is an intention that starts from a very early age. Kids usually exclaim "I'm gonna grow up, become spiderman and save the world". By the time they reach teenage years they say " I'm gonna grow up and change the whole world and make it just". However, when they graduate college, they just say "I'm not doing anything, just give me a job".  On some level we all want to help each other, but when we face the reality of things, we realize that it's not that easy -- changing the world. It takes a really special person to power through those difficulties and at least try to make a differences.

Here we meet Lynne Twist, Stanford alumni who at some point in her life lost her father. The combination of these events, the trauma and good education, made her for el compelled to help people not go through things she did. She decided to stick to her child instincts. This journey allowed her to experience different cultures and look into people's souls. In her book, Soul of Money, she reveals her experiences and makes connections with how people interact with each other through money.

Thirty pieces of silver is all it took for Judas to betray his beloved teacher. John Bloom in this chapter is attempting to explain that money itself is a tool for people to use it according to their motives. "And every transaction is part of an unfolding story" says the author. Money is not as important as people's agendas. One of the main theories behind the Judas' betrayal is that he thought that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman rule of his province. In other words, he was persuaded to believe that he is saving his motherland. In his mind he was doing it out of love. In my opinion, this is a story of making choices and living with the consequences. 

Fyodor Dostoevsky was inspired by gospel stories when he wrote Crime and Punishment, and Judas' betrayal was a big influence. Both characters commit murder and feel so remorseful that they want to take it back immediately, but are unable to. The number thirty keeps showing up throughout the novel – as a symbol of the price at which people sell out. That's how much character Sonia, in the novel, earns for selling herself (30 rubles). As the novel comes to an end, the scene of the main character walking to turn himself in resonates with the imagery of Jesus' walk to crucifixion. 

The first thing that popped out to me is that the title of the painting was kind of wrong – instead of "The Moneylender and His Wife" the author wrote "The Money Lender and His Wife". It is not a big deal, but a detail nonetheless. Second – I appreciate Mr. Bloom's attempt at drawing connections between the modern world economy and the painting, but consider it rather weak. Reading Metsys' page on Louvre's website offered me more insight about the story behind the picture than reading the short chapter. For example, Quentin Metsys lived in Antwerp – a major trading center between Northern and Southern Europe at the time. Living where might have inspired him to choose such a subject for his painting. 

The painting was done during a time when artists depicted daily scenes of people's lives as a way of condemning their vices. You might have noticed the incredible attention to detail in the painting, as well as the rich colors. Those are one of the distinguishing features of Flemish paintings. It helps artists convey their point, in this case – the corrupting power of money. Mr. Bloom also brings up in his analysis that greed transcends time and gender. Metsys shows this to us through use of symbolism. The moneylender's wife is distracted by shiny gold coins from her spiritual duty. Something that I find interesting about the painting, is my own inexpert interpretation of the mirror. A mirror is a common device used by Flemish artists to connect two scenes withing the created world. But I think it attempts to make the viewers look at their own reflection. In other words, Metsys is showing us how corrupting money can be and holding a mirror to our faces implying that we are no different than the wife. 

You probably have noticed the new trend of people riding around on hoverboards. We dreamed of this day ever since Marty McFly stepped on that pink floating board in "Back to the Future Part 2" back in 1989. Finally, 2015 has come and we got hoverboards...or did we? What we – the regular people – refer to as hoverboards are actually hands-free segways from the Inventist team called Hovertrax. And I hate to break it to you, but they were around for a while now. They got cheaper over time and people actually started to buy them.

 Mobility is one of the distinguishing features of the new electric segway. It is fully rechargeable in sixty minutes, and weighs no more than a regular long board. The segway also easily fits in a regular school backpack. Hovertrax has two independent halves that respond to movements of each leg of the driver. Each half has an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a personal electric motor. The device can handle up to 200 pounds and go as fast as 5 mph for 30 mins on a single charge. From the former product, also made by Inventist, monocycle Solowheel this new electric transport, besides the obvious addition of a second wheel, differs by having – a smaller battery; more than half the weight; travels slower and not very far; but has a lighter price tag. Working prototype of the scooter Inventist was presented last year on Kickstarter. Unfortunately, Hovertrax did not have an explosive success like many predicted, but the company did manage to collect double of the needed funding. The product was able to reach its final stage of development and is currently selling for $1500 (with some Chinese versions selling for $400 and up).

The question is on everyone's mind is: will it be enough to escape the infamous angry bullies from the movie? While it is a valid question in its own right, the segway was not designed for high speed chases. Despite having almost the same speed as a skateboard, Hovertrax is very safe. Auto-balancing system allows you to maintain balance while moving and come to a full stop when needed. The riders can safely hop off from their segways at any time during the trip. The chances of falling are virtually reduced to zero, so there is no need to wear protective gear when riding on the Hovertrax. It can be used for practical purposes or simply to have fun. The segway has a number of advantages over conventional electric vehicles – electric scooters and electric bicycles. Hovertrax can ride almost everywhere – in the park, right down the street, to school, to work or to a store. You can even ride on it in the malls, warehouses or in the office. And it will turn heads every time you do. The only requirement to the place of movement – a relatively flat and smooth surface.

Hovertrax is not a revolutionary piece of tech. It is more of an evolution of the manually pedaled skateboard. But so is McFly’s hoverboard if you think about it. Lexus have attempted they own hoverboard, but it only works on a metal rail and has to be super cooled by liquid nitrogen. The closest thing we have to a true hovering board is the magnetic one Hendo is developing. However, it is in the baby stage – it is big, awkward and has to be on a designed metal track to work. Hence, a practical hoverboard might still be years and years away. Whoa…this is heavy.

Yesterday, I saw the new movie by Ridley Scott — The Martian. You're probably thinking what does that have to with Timmermeister's book? Well, they both are about sustainable farming, with only difference that one is done on Mars and the other — on Earth. It makes you realize how important is to know how to grow food, or at least know where it comes from — a fact that Kurt stresses throughout his book. In the later chapters he talks about how an average consumers are completely disconnected from the animal world. That they might actually prefer the store packaged meat instead of the farm raised one.

 I, personally, never understood the difference. It all changed when I tried an organic, farm-raised pork. Speaking exclusively from my own experience — store bought pork sucks. When cooked, it is of dull white color, uninteresting texture and often not very juicy. I can say for certain that it is (or was) definitely my least favorite type of meat. Home grown pork is a whole different story. The meat is a lot darker in color, texture is more beef like, so much so that I thought I was eating beef until someone told me that it was actually pork. I felt like the meat melted in my mouth. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about — here are the best visual examples I found of the organic ham and the store bought. 

I liked the movie for the same reason I liked the book. Both explore the fact that if you want to be successful at something, you have to be willing to try and fail. How many times did Kurt kill an animal or ruined a crop because of his mistakes. It is devastating to lose something you put a lot of time into — it becomes personal. But he didn't take it personally and kept at it. Mark Watney, the lonely hero of the movie, also could've easily given up, but chose not to. After all his life depended on it. There is even a scene where you think all is lost, but he managed to keep going because he refused to give up.

The world is a hostile place, whether it is Mars or Earth. The only thing keeping us alive as a species is our tenacity and will to live. Never give up! Always fight on!