Inbox Worthy Events: Save Star Ferry Demonstration Tonight, Global Youth Fund, Venice Biennale Forum

Arrived at the office this morning greeted by 30+ of FS's bright, cheery Form 6 students (they were on their way to a picnic, but the got stranded when it started to rain.). They were all sitting on the floor with an awesome picnic spread, which included boxes of Krispy Kreme of course. I was scanning my inbox while munching on fish balls and chicken wings while listening to them question FS about her love life: "How long have you been dating your boyfriend?", "When will you get married?", "How many kids will you have?". It all brought to mind Deborah Solomon's Questions for Dr. Louann Brizendine in this Sunday's NYTimes Magazine. Dr Brizendine, whose debut book is "The Female Brain", explains why "a women's brain structure a good deal of her behaviour, including a penchant for gossiping and talking on the phone".

"The hormone of intimacy is oxytocin, and when women talk to each other, they get a rush of it. For teen girls [and I would have guessed that FS's inquisitive Form Six students were all around 17 years old] especially, when they're talking about who's hooking up with whom, who's not talking to whom, who you like and don't like -- that's bedrock, that excites the girl's brain," explains Dr. Brizendine in the article.

Nothing like real life observations of scientific theory. But what I really wanted to know from the girls was how they would respond to Global Youth Fund's This I Believe essay project, for which an e-newsletter had landed in my inbox. In addition to believing that it would be a waste if beautiful girls did not get married and have children, I wanted to know what else these girls believe in? What are their "personal philosophies, core values and beliefs"? I had met Charles Tsai, the executive director of Global Youth Fund over the summer in Vancouver and was really impressed by his idea to start a fund that invests in projects, selected by youth around the world through a democratic process, addressing some of the world's most urgent challenges such as climate change, poverty, disease etc. So it was great to read news of some of their most recent accomplishments.

There are two other events that landed in my inbox this morning, worthy of a plug:
TONIGHT, 15 December 2006, 7pm: There will be a demonstration to save the old Central Star Ferry Pier from the wrecking balls.
Tomorrow, 16 December 2006, 2-5:30pm @ Permanent Exhibition Gallery, Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre, Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui: A forum of Hong Kong's
Venice Biennale (Architecture) exhibitors. Vice Versa was the first exhibition of Hong Kong architecture at the Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition.