Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 17

On this date in history in 1903, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright took their epic first flight on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville won the coin toss and got to fly first. He was in the air a whole 12 seconds, going a molasses quick 10 feet per second. With some tinkering, the brothers completed 3 more test flights with Wilbur's last flight staying in the air nearly a full minute and having traveled 852 feet 

So, in honor of this occasion, the time seems right to focus on a STEM charity. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The culinary arts courses I teach are considered a part of this branch of education as there is a number of scientific and mathematical elements used in the field. But I have already devoted some of my Advent to food, nutrition and agriculture. So let's look at computer engineering. In particular, coding and the need for more females in the industry. 

There are probably 3, maybe 4 women in the field of computer engineering and design that I can name off the top of my head. Ada Lovelace, who's considered the first computer programmer of them all because of the algorithms she developed for Charles Babbage's 'analytical engine', a sort of early calculator. There's actress Hedy Lamarr, whose invention of frequency hopping technology is the precursor to Wi-Fi. There's the 'Hidden Figures', the group of black female engineers who worked at NASA. Although I must admit, the only one of the group that I remember by name is Katherine Johnson. 

And like I said, that is about all I can list. 

So for today's featured charity, I selected Girls Who Code. It was founded in 2012 by Reshma Saujani, a lawyer and Politician that noticed a lack of women in the field of science; In particular, computers and electronics. Noticing a lack of women in the field, Saujani did some research and found that while in the early 90s about 30% of computer engineers were female, that number was declining. By 2024, that number has dropped to less than 1 in 4 in the computer tech industry being women. 

Girls Who Code or GWC seeks to reverse this trend. GWC teaches computer science to eligible students in grades 3-12 through free afterschool clubs, summer immersion programs and training and support for students who continue to earn computer science degrees in college. Mentors who run programs for work prep such as mock interviews, can join the CWC Leadership Academy to learn leadership skills in training the next generation of female coders.

If supporting STEM and STEAM education in our schools is of importance to you, check out their donations page here. Along with a general fund donation, you can sponsor a a student for a year's worth of afterschool coding experience, fund a new club from the ground up or gift students the tools and technology needed for computer and Internet access.

Christmas 365 #2

Issue #2 takes place a couple months into the Rockwell family journey into a year's worth of Christmas celebration. To celebrate a dozen Christmases is expensive; what with the decorations, the food, the gifts, the trips to the emergency room.

Dad Peter is accident prone. He makes Wile E. Coyote appear like a safety monitor. Thankfully, his daughter has been recording everything and posting the content online. But that income can only go so far and with Memorial Day approaching, it's going to take the Rockwell family to think outside of the box to add to the holiday appeal. In response, they create a Memorial Day Christmas theme park, complete with water slides, reindeer burgers and Santa's salute to Veterans.  

No sophomore slump here. The opening which shows all of the accidents Peter has received since the Christmas when the tree caught fire in the living room, was hysterical. His doctor was a great supporting character. 

The artwork is really good. Lots of creativity, which is essential of you are tasked with developing Christmas themes for Valentine's and St. Paddy's. Piotr Kowalski does a remarkable job that conveys so much life and action.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 16

16 years ago today, the James Cameron film Avatar debuted in theaters. While I have never seen any of the films in the series, I know that they carry with them an ecological message. I had been planning on focusing on a charity that supports the sustainability of our food supply and the effects on our ecosystem, so with today's date in history, I figured today is as good as any in my charitable giving themed Advent.

For today's Advent, I have selected the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation or ISSF for short. As someone employed in the culinary industry, being able to continually grow food is vital. The harder the item to come by, the more expensive it will cost. The more expensive our food becomes, the less customers will come to eat at your establishment and soon you find your restaurant closed. So a regenerative food supply is good for the human race and good for our planet as it promotes the health of the food chain.

The ISSF was founded in 2009 by a group of scientists, fisheries and other conservation organizations to 'undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks.' Thanks to the ISSF, a number of innovations have been made in reducing 'bycatch', a term for other fish and sea life that get caught in traps and nets used for the harvesting of specific seafood. They've helped replenish the bigeye tuna from an over-fished state and they've helped to establish catching limits based on scientific data and observations from fisherman to prevent over-fishing of other variety of tuna. The ISSF has also helped fisheries to commit to the banning of 'shark-finning'; the wasteful practice of cutting off a shark's fins for a God awful tasting soup and discarding the rest of the shark, where in having lost its ability to swim properly, sink to the ocean floor and die a slow death. 

The ISSF has a long way to go. The Asian market relies heavily on both tuna and shark fin for both local and  international sales and consumption. Japan refuses consistently to adhere to internationally agreement fishing limits on tuna because of the high demand of sushi and sashimi grade tuna. Current market rate for bluefin tuna, which is dangerously close to being listed as endangered, is around ¥17,000-20,000 ($244-$488) per kilogram!

The thing to consider is that once the bluefin supply is nearly exhausted, those fisheries that rely on tuna for sushi/sashimi grade sale are going to go after the yellow fin and other more plentiful varieties of tuna and the cycle will continue over and over and over until the ocean is just one big empty body of salt water.

If the food supply of our world's oceans and the sustainability of it's occupants are a top priority- nay, a concern!- of yours then I encourage you to donate to the ISSF here!

Christmas 365 #1

This issue came out in time for Christmas. However, issues #2-4 did not. Since I am not a fan of cliffhangers and the month long waits in between, I sat on this miniseries until the 2025 holiday season. But upon finishing the first issue and looking back on things, I can understand why the follow up issues came out after Christmas 2024!

The premise is simple really: a man who is overworked at his job thanks to a clueless owner and a manipulative supervisor has had enough. After having missed his daughter's high school holiday concert and gotten into a fistfight with another dad at Santa's village in the mall on Christmas Eve, the father decides to make up for not being there for his family by vowing to celebrate Christmas once a month on the 25th for the whole year. That means Valentine's, Easter, even Independence Day are all going to have a Christmas feel to them!

Working late into the night for Christmas #1, the house looks like a Winter Wonderland at first. I say at first, because the sparklers used to decorate the living room with have just set the Christmas tree on fire, taking all of the presents underneath with it. So, the plan isn't off to that well of a start...

Written by Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance, this wasn't quite what I had been expecting as I waited until now to read this series. That's not to say that I didn't like it. Its just from the cover as well as the opening 3-page preview I saw last year, I thought that there was going to be a magical element to the story. I thought that some forgotten arcane spirit was going to make it Christmas every day for a year. Maybe a child wished that their Christmas would never end. Or maybe the evil spirit was mad at being forgotten and was punishing the world for their collective amnesia. The opening where a young boy is chased by evil looking snowmen really perpetuated this wrong assumption. 

Instead, Christmas 365 is more like a cross between National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and the unsettling down-trodden man takes revenge pic, Falling Down. Not a bad premise for a story. Just nowhere close to my original idea for the story.

I really hope the main character's supervisor gets what's coming to him. He's such a slime ball opportunist. He reminds me of somebody that one of my loved ones is having to deal with at their job. I hope that I get to live vicariously through this story because I don't want to risk my family member getting fire because I get my revenge on their foe for making whomever's life hellish at the moment.

Although, if Mikey writes anything like his brother Gerard does, I'm not expecting a happy holiday ending to this tale. We'll see...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025 Day 15

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite stores. It's one of my bride's favorite too. Its called Bull City Fair Trade. Based in Durham, NC, Bull City Fair Trade offers an amazing selection of clothes, books, treats, jewelry and much, much more. It's a fantastic, no, make that magical place, during the holidays with their beautiful inventory of ornaments, nativity scenes and Christmasy treats. 

Now you might be asking yourself 'Why in the middle of an Advent about charitable giving are you advertising for a small business in the middle of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle?' The answer: it is because every item sold in the store either supports fair trade and fair wages for the craftsmen who manufacturer these beautiful items or the items are produced by charitable organizations trying to empower the disenfranchised, incarcerated and formerly enslaved.

For example, one company trains women who were once sold in sex trafficking to become seamstresses. They make these awesome purses out of used rice sacks. Another company works with former convicts on parole to become skilled in trades and agriculture, while paying them a wage that is much more fair than what they are forced to earn in prisons. It's a little known fact that some prisons around the world get lucrative contracts outsourced from major American companies and they force the prisoners to make shoes, clothes and more for little to no income. It is all slave labor!

Bull City Fair Trade also carries local products made by Durham area charities that employ those who are homeless, food insecure or with disabilities. My family makes it a point to visit Bull City annually and take care of a large chunk of our Christmas shopping there. In fact, it's almost time for another trip.

In the previous days of this Advent, I have shared links where you can make donations. Today, I am sharing the link to BCFT's online store. Please check it out. Read about some of the charitable organizations that create these incredible items. Then make it a Merry Christmas for all by getting someone or EVERYONE off of your holiday shopping list!

Supergirl #8

It's a good rule of thumb that if a comic book set during Thanksgiving ends with a 'to be continued', the next issue will be set at Christmas time. Even if the Turkey Day story was resolved, if it is a monthly series, you can expect the next chapter to involve either Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa. Maybe even a combination of the 3! I would say such a thing occurs 90% of the time. 

Last month, I was treated to a Supergirl Thanksgiving issue. While I wasn't impressed with it, my devotion to the Maid of Might hasn't wavered. In fact, when I saw that last panel with a promise of 'to be continued ', I was actually excited at the prospect of spending Christmas with Supergirl. 

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I HATE cliffhangers. Yet, since I knew that I would be buying the December issue, it didn't bug me so much. But I did make sure to wait until when I bought the book to check and see if it was a holiday themed issue. 

Another holiday comic book rule of thumb is that if there's snow on the cover, either just starting to fall or full on blizzard, the contents inside involve the holidays. The only real exception is if the book stars an ice powered hero, like X-Man Bobby Drake or guest stars a frigid foe like Mr. Freeze. Well, this issue had a cover with Supergirl and some freaky looking robot standing in a snowy forest. So my chances of this being a Christmas comic shot up even more! Man, was I so full of the holiday spirit when I opened up the book to page 8 and there's a mention of Hanukkah and Christmas!!!

The holidays are hard for Kara. While she loves the Danvers, her adopted parents, and her cousin Kal-El, Kara misses her family who perished after the destruction of Krypton. The night before Christmas Eve, or what my mom would call Christmas Eve Eve, someone has broken into the Danvers home and it appears that they know that Kara Danvers is Supergirl!

Supergirl, along with her fellow Kryptonian Lesla-Lar, AKA Luminary, decide to investigate the break-in. Anything to get her mind off the holidays. The trail leads Kara to the orphanage where she grew up, bringing her face-to-face with a forgotten part of her past.

This was a much better issue than the last. And it didn't even have a different writer from the last. I'm not sure what Sophie Campbell did, but this felt worlds different than the last issue. Now, there was a different by Taiwan artist, Haining. Their talent really showed. All of the annoying double L characters was gone. And Lesla-Lar is really starting to grow on me. Notice, she is NOT an annoying double L character. She's got this rugged, yet bungling fish out of water attitude like Thorfinn on Ghosts. Definitely someone I would want watching my back. Not someone I'd want on my trivia night team.

This comic didn't do anything to restore my Christmas spirit. Mostly, because I haven't lost that despite the constant mystery pain I've been in for over 4 years. What this issue did restore is my faith that this current Supergirl is not completely terrible and that I will still keep this on my pull list.

I just wish Supergirl was more cheery. I like it when she's overly positive, like on Superman: The Animated Series instead of sulking like a platinum blonde Batman.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 14

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah. With my wife being of Jewish heritage, I traditionally honor her with one day of my annual Advent being devoted to my bride and her tribe. But since I am focusing on charities this year with her help, I decided to honor someone from my childhood who made me interested in Jewish culture and prompted me to make marrying a Jewish woman one of my martial goals! That person would be Dr. Burton Horwitz, D.D.S. 

Now growing up, I wasn't a fan of the dentist. My mother took some bad advice and didn't have me going for regular checkups until I was maybe 3 or 4. As a result, my mouth was lousy with cavities. I hated the adolescent torture device known as a 'raincoat', which was these rubber stoppers that got wedges into your jaw to keep your mouth open during a procedure. To this day, if I have to have a filling or more than likely a cracked tooth fixed, I tell my dentist: 'NO RAINCOAT!' and I'm almost 50.

Dr. Horwitz is an active member of the Jewish community in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's been on TV annually for I don't know how many years lighting a giant community menorah and bringing awareness of pro-semitism! He has been a faculty member of the UNC School of Dentistry for decades and was awarded the Order of the Long-leaf Pine for his years of dedication and service to the community. (Plus, his brother used to own this amazing deli with the best Reuben on Earth!) But what many probably don't know about Dr. Horwitz is the amount of pro bono dentistry work he has provided for area children and kids around the world. 

For some reason, all dentists are off on Friday. It's a mystery that probably will never be solved, up there with the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and if Bigfoot is real. Dr. Horwitz didn't spend his Fridays off playing golf. Instead, he would spend his Sabbath eve mornings running free clinics for poor and uninsured children in the Wake County area. He's also traveled to London, Ukraine and Africa to run free clinics for children in desperate need of dental health and education. 

So in honor of Dr. Horwitz, I am selecting the Smiles for Life Foundation. Since 1998, they have raised nearly $60 million dollars. With those funds, the have provided dental health care and accessories, like toothbrushes and toothpaste to patients both young and old. One of their main focuses is on those with developmental disabilities, as they suffer disproportionately from poor dental health than those of all economic groups. 

March begins a global springtime initiative every year for Smiles for Life. With the deadline looming, there's a trio of options for you to consider:

1. Find a participating area dentist office and donate to their clinic efforts.

2. If you are a dentist or work at  for a dentist orthodontist, join the Smiles for Life Network and host a clinic for those in need.

3. Become a corporate sponsor. Come on, you CEOs and business owners, we know you've got some tax exempt funds lying around somewhere!!!

For more information about these options, click here and then scroll downward.