Africa

I desperately want to go to Africa. My client does a lot of work rescuing AIDS orphans in West Africa. I just want to go hold those babies and help take care of them. In working with my client, I realized that I really know next to nothing about Africa. So I'm trying to learn anything I can about it. Particularly anything dealing with the wars and general political unrest. I went to a mock refugee camp that Doctors Without Borders set up in Dallas, and one of the really interesting parts was learning about refugee camps v. IDP camps. (Refugee camps consist of people who fled their homes and crossed borders, while IDP camps are filled with internally displaced people from that country.) From what I understand, a refugee camp would be preferable to an IDP camp because there are more advocates for refugees. But refugee camps are still horrible.

I'm going to throw out book recommendations for the two books above. The first is What is the What by Dave Eggers. It's an autobiography (as translated to Eggers) of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. It's extremely well written. The other book is more difficult to read, but also very well written. A Long Way Gone is written by Ishmael Beah, a child soldier from Sierra Leone. If you're at all interested in this book, watch the clip below.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

For various reasons, I missed the DNC this week. So this morning I've been watching it on iTunes. Next week I'll watch the RNC. I know who I'm voting for, but I still want to see what both sides have to say.

All politics aside, you should watch Obama's nomination acceptance speech if you haven't already ... just for its style. The speechwriters did an excellent job, and it was so evenly delivered. I have so much admiration and respect for speechwriters. On the one hand, they have to take very complex ideas and events, such as entering into war, and boil them down to their most basic elements so that nothing is above anyone's head. And at the very same time, they have to take the most basic of ideas, such as the belief that no child should have to go hungry and good schools should not be out of any child's reach, and elevate them so that we realize just how serious our problems are. I love the idea that one really powerful sentence, worded just the right way, can create a 180% shift in someone's thinking.

I frequently wish I could sit in on one of my mom's high school English classes, because she's a fantastic teacher and she uses real life examples for her students. I'm sure she'll be able to use speeches from both conventions in her classes. I love watching old West Wing episodes with her because she's one of the few people I know who will get really excited about the dialogue. (If you want to see an interesting vignette about speechwriting, you should watch the West Wing season 4 DVD extra called "The Letter of the Word." I really can't say enough about my love for that show. And if you want to know my favorite speech from that show, I'm pretty sure it's the one from the season 4 opener. "The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels ..." If that line sounds familiar, it's also from Tom Hanks' Oscar acceptance speech for Philadelphia. Just fyi.)

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about the convention and speechwriting. (Except to say watch the speech here ...)

A Wink and a Smile

#1 - I love this song -- especially the Harry Connick, Jr. version.
#2 - I'm trying to launch a grassroots campaign to bring back winking. Amy and Cale have been very supportive of my efforts, and I think we're ready to go mainstream and take it to the masses. (wink)
#3 - For as long as I can remember (or at least since 2003), Magpie and I have wanted to open up a surf/t-shirt shop. And the first t-shirt on our list would feature Mr. Peanut. The tagline would say "Have you seen my monocle?" It will be a best seller.

I miss my friend.

I'll Be Seeing You

Pretty sure the best part of my day was hearing from this friend ... he's finally leaving the sandbox (for the third time) and is coming home. Safe travels, Captain Tyrone!!! See you soon.

You Are On Our Side

Just got back from a great youth retreat at Sky Ranch. Thank you to my friend (and fantastic intern) Natalie for introducing me to the vocal stylings of Bethany Dillon. Last night we watched this video, and I loved it. Something about this song made me cry throughout its entirety. Very pretty.

Jump Around

Clearly I missed one of the best parts of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics ... how in the world did I not know that you could medal in TRAMPOLINES!?

Genius. Every time I watch the trampoline competition I know I'll never stop laughing. It's just so wonderful! I don't know how they do it, and I think those gymnasts are amazing. I wonder if they all have mini tramps in their rooms at home. Just like I wonder if there are a lot of swimmers who own waterbeds. Probably not ... but maybe. Just maybe.

Umbrella (... ella ... ella)

I'm soaked.

There's a torrential downpour this morning, and this has somehow caught me by surprise ... but that's okay, because I like surprises. And the weather is always one big surprise to me. It always keeps me on my toes.

I'm not sure what my resistance is, but for some reason I don't like hearing/reading weather forecasts. I'd rather just play it by ear and see what happens. I don't want to rearrange my day and/or outfits to accommodate weather forecasts that may or may not come true. But I did just look up today's forecast, and there's a 90% chance of thunderstorms. So I'd say they were spot on this time.

It wasn't raining when I left my house at 6, but it was pouring by about 7. And it hasn't stopped. If only I had an umbrella. The crazy thing to me is that I DO have an umbrella ... 10 or 12 of them ... but none in my car. I wish I could say I had multiple umbrellas so I could distribute them strategically ... one in my car, one in my office, one at home. But I can't say that. I have so many umbrellas because I never have them when it's raining, and sometimes I just have to buy a new one. I actually just bought one five days ago in New York. That one is safe and dry in my office, where it is not wet.

So new task for the remainder of 2008 ...

1) Locate all umbrellas I own

2) Keep two umbrellas in my office, car and home at all times

3) Don't forget to do steps 1 and 2 above

Saturday in the Park

I heart Central Park. (And the title of the post is misleading because we actually went to Central Park on Sunday. But I thought I'd give a shout out to "Chicago" and use one of their songs here.) 

I really could spend all day in Central Park either walking around or sitting still and people watching. Did a little of both this weekend.

On Friday I had a really hard time staying awake, and I can't believe I didn't think to just go take a nap at Central Park. Because I basically took a nap everywhere else in the city. But that's another story. 

I've always wanted to take a carriage ride through the snow in Central Park. (As Scott would say, "Nope ... nothing touristy about that!") And I've also always wanted to be in the background of a "Stars ... they're just like us" picture in Central Park. I'm still pretty determined to make that happen. 

Like a Prayer

Some favorite pics of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York ...

Let's Go to the Mall

I'll bet you thought this was going to be a post about Robin Sparkles, fictitious Canadian popstar, eh? Nope. It's a post dedicated to one of my new favorite malls ... the Sky Mall.

Sky Mall contains all of the things I never knew I needed but now can't stop thinking about. Such as ...

1) The Do-Nu-Matic that "serves up piping-hot mini doughnuts in less than a minute."

2) A handmade copper hose pot. This cauldron hides unsightly garden hoses. (There's no way to see this name and not think of Chester Copperpot from Goonies.)

3) Digital Camera Swim Mask. No explanation needed.

4) World's Smallest Humanoid Robot. What can I say? This little guy can use precise mechanics to somersault, stand on one leg, do push-ups, perform martial arts, and even re-enact a cowboy duel from an American Western. He can perform up to 240 movements, and it says you can teach him to play air guitar. Um, sold.

5) Voice-activated R2-D2. There shouldn't be any explanation needed, but here it is in case you're on the fence. R2-D2 will dance while playing the cantina music from Star Wars, and he'll also play tag with you -- using an infrared sensor to find you. So I guess, in a way, he can play laser tag.

6) Wonder Woman Cuff Bracelet. Why? Because it's awesome. (Singing) "Wonder Woman!!!"

7) Not an item that I need, but the next time you look at a Sky Mall catalog, please look at the couple wearing Turkish bathrobes. I'm not really sure what the creative direction given to them was, but I think they definitely nailed it.

8) A change jar that counts how much change you have, so there's always a digital reading. Actually, I'm torn about this one. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I finally cash in my change jars. I'm such a horrible guesstimater that I always guess much lower than the actual numbers. Kind of like Kevin on the Office episode where they keep betting on everything and he's a horrible guesstimater.

Kevin: [Pam is holding a jar of jellybeans] Ten.

Oscar: Really, ten? That's your guess? You're a professional accountant.

Jim: There's like ten green ones.

Love Bollywood

I'm pretty easily entertained, and I like repetition. That's why I can't seem to stay away from my favorite restaurant in Little India. The best way to describe it might be to say sensory overload. It's like eating inside of a pinata. A really colorful, musical, Indian-themed pinata.

Here's the view from the street. How could you stay away?

Please look at the bottom right corner of the restaurant window. If you can't read it, it says "Gardenlike View Inside." Hmmm. This might be a stretch. Unless you consider chili pepper Christmas lights garden-like. I guess peppers grow in a garden, right? And what garden isn't filled with beach balls and glittery wrapping paper stapled to the walls? Maybe I've just been going to the wrong types of gardens.

Thumbs up for Milon. Thumbs way up.

It's always somebody's birthday when you go to Milon. And I have no doubt that it has less to do with it actually being anyone's birthday, and everything to do with the birthday serenade. Because that's when the lights go out and the strobe lights (translation: the waiters flicking the light switch up and down) come on. And the techno birthday music begins to kick it.

You can go to all the trendy, expensive New York restaurants you like ... my pick is this traincar-sized gem where you can bargain for free appetizers, dessert and watered-down wine. 

Until next time, fun friends. 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I just received my first Christmas card catalog at work. It's too early for Christmas. But I do love Christmas cards, so I liked looking at our company's card options.

There's one card that I love (above) because I love polar bears, though the card itself makes me sad. It's a "Peace on Earth" card, but I refer to it as the global warming card. This poor little polar bear is quickly running out of ice. I think they should instead have a card that shows an abundance of ice and snow for our little bear friends. 

Oh wait, they do ... 

Look how happy they are doing their polar-nastics! Another good case in support of the curly light bulbs.

Breathe Me

Hello from New York! The weather here is beautiful ... so this posting will be quick ...

Last night's yoga class did not disappoint. It was absolutely the hardest class I've been to, but that's not a bad thing. (Just a sore thing.) Rrrrrrramone was not the instructor, though. Instead it was a lady I've never seen. 

I'm told her name is Christy, but she looks very exotic. So for the purposes of this post we'll call her Savassa. Well, Savassa is a big fan of the upward facing dog pose (pictured here). Except she doesn't call it upward facing dog. She continues to call it "up dog" (and I promise I'm not making this up). And every time she says it I think of the Office cold opener when Michael keeps messing up the "up dog" joke. 

Michael: Hey Stanley. Is that jacket made of up dog?

Stanley: I'm on the phone.

Michael: Mmm, what flavor coffee is that? Up dog?

Ryan: What's that?

Michael: I don't know. Nothing, what's up with you?

Ryan: Huh?

Michael: Dwight. Hey, is it me or does this place smell like up dog?

Dwight: What's up dog?

Michael: Gotcha!

Aside from saying "up dog" multiple times per hour, Savassa also has an interesting yoga playlist. It's especially interesting to me because almost every song is on one of my playlists. She's a big fan of "Breathe Me" (Sia), "Breathe" (Anna Nalick), and "The Heart of the Matter" (India.Arie) ... and so am I. My favorite part of the class was the end when she played Ryan and Marissa's theme song from the O.C. -- and  I felt really loser that I knew that's what it was.

I'm not sure how I feel about normal music playing during yoga. I kind of like it best when there aren't any words. But if she's taking suggestions, I would like to yoga to "Number One Spot" by Ludacris or "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" by JC Chasez.

And in a non-yoga closing ... thank you to the Olympics (and Texas) for Aaron Peirsol

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm off to New York for a few days. Looking forward to playing in Central Park. I could sit there all day just people watching. 

Two pics for you ... 1) my fun friends I'll be seeing in NY and 2) my favorite picture from NY. It was accidentally double exposed, and I'm so glad it was.

Poison

Tonight included a rather disastrous trip to Whole Foods. (Disastrous is absolutely an overstatement, but I was tired of trying to think of another word.) I like Whole Foods, but I always feel conflicted about going there. The one that's near where I live just feels really pretentious, and it drives me crazy that the shopping carts are so small. But I love their chocolate mousse and I like their cheese. (And by cheese I mean free cheese samples.)

I love spinach, and I decided that I wanted a spinach salad for dinner. But I ran out of all salad ingredients this week, other than spinach. I didn't get a cart or a basket when I got to Whole Foods. I was only going to get one tomato, one thing of zucchini and one thing of squash. Oh, and baby carrots. So my plan was just to carry them in the little produce bag. But as I was getting them I remembered I actually didn't have any spinach. I'm going out of town this week, so I didn't want to buy a big case and have it go bad. I realized that I should just make a salad from the salad bar. I should have at that point gotten a basket, but I felt too committed to hand-carrying everything. So I did carry everything. Then I found a bottle of wine I've been looking for. It will most likely be months until I actually drink it, but I'm excited I found it. So at this point, I'm hand-carrying one tomato, one zucchini, one squash, and baby carrots in my left hand, a bottle of wine under my left arm, and a salad (whose lid won't close) in my right hand.

At the checkout counter, I bought this drink ... Gingerade. Sounds good, right? Do I like Ginger Ale? No. I love it. Do I like lemonade? Um, yes. Love selling it and drinking it. I shook the bottle up while I was driving home, and that was mistake #1. As soon as I tried to open the bottle, it started spraying everywhere. Then I realized that it smelled like vinegar. How could that be? And now I smell like vinegar. So I finally took a sip of it. It actually didn't really taste like vinegar ... it tasted like acid. I was reading the side of the bottle that lists some of the great things about the drink, and one benefit it touts is "body alkalinity." I should have known. Alkalinity sounds like alkaline which makes me think of batteries which makes me think of battery acid. And that makes me think of how this drink tastes.

Um, and just now I googled "Kombucha" (the brand) and the first Web site I go to says "Don't drink Kombucha! Until you're 100% sure it's safe." WHAT! All I wanted was a delicious ginger ale/lemonade hybrid. I thought it would be like Snapple. I've made a huge mistake.

But all is not lost, because I still have some chocolate mousse with my name on it. 

Psalm 13

I love the song Psalm 13 by Shane and Shane. (Actually, I guess I should really first credit the Bible, because I read it there first ...) 

There are a lot of things I like about it, but I think I mostly appreciate its honesty. I hear tons of songs praising God, but I don't hear a lot of songs about people questioning God's presence. And the whole point is that even though the psalm is questioning God's presence, it ends with trusting in God's love and salvation. "I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me." It's the same reason my favorite West Wing episode is "Two Cathedrals." The angered conversation with God is not from one who has no faith ... it's from one whose faith is pivotal to his existence, and whose faith has been shattered.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I know that I feel a lot of pressure as a Christian. It's not a bad pressure, I guess it's more the standard you hope to live up to but know that you'll fall short of because you're human. But one of the pressures, for me, is to keep my faith during difficult times. I had always hoped that when faced with turmoil I would cling even more closely to my faith and relationship with Christ. And that's usually been exactly what has happened. But this year I was disappointed to find myself turning the other way, not wanting anything to do with God or the church. I didn't want to be at church because I felt like a failure in my faith, and I needed a place to channel my anger. I stopped praying, and when bad things happened to people I knew I went out of my way not to tell them I'd be praying for them. Because, at least at the time, I wouldn't be.

I truly did know that I was lifted up this past year, and I know that God has never left me and never will. But in my grief it was hard for me to process that rationally. Right or wrong, it's part of my journey.

Today was a big day. It was my first time to go to church in months, and I went to both Sunday School and worship for the first time at my dad's old church. I can probably count on one hand the number of times this year I went to a Sunday morning service. I anticipated that it would be difficult, but it wasn't bad at all. It was actually really good. I prayed for peace and an open heart before I went into the building, and that's exactly what I experienced. After Sunday School I actually started walking back to my car and had no intention of staying for the actual church service. But something made me turn around and stay for worship. I'm glad I did. The entire sermon was centered on heaven, and it was a message that I very much needed to hear today.

This past month I've felt more and more like my old self. But one thing was still missing, and that "one thing" is more important to me than anything else. What a relief to have it back.

It's A Long Way Back To Germany

Today, I've decided, is Germany day. Here's why ...

The past few days have been really hard, and I've felt physically sick every day. I've been told that I'm most likely having an anniversary reaction, and that everything should be better after next week is over. I don't think I can take another full week of feeling like this, but I also know that I can't ignore the anniversary or wish it away. So I've decided, at least for today, to try and outsmart this reaction. Instead of waiting for Friday and thinking about how it's almost been a year since my dad was with us, I'm going to use this next week and do something every day that celebrates my dad and makes me feel close to him. That's why today is Germany day. My dad loved Germany. He lived there as a foreign exchange student in high school, he had a Masters in German from Tech, and then we lived in Frankfurt, Germany (in a little town called Falkenstein) when I was little. One of my favorite things growing up was listening to my brother and dad speak German around each other. They were so fluent that they could even joke around in German. I loved our house in Germany, and I only recently realized how "different" our decor was. I thought everyone grew up with a bunch of cuckoo clocks and beer steins around the house.

This summer my brother and sister-in-law were sweet enough to invite their immediate families to go to DisneyWorld with them. One night we went to Epcot and ate dinner at Biergarten in Germany. That whole night was such a sensory experience for us because we felt like we were back in Germany. I loved looking in the different stores and seeing things we used to have around the house when I was little. We had a few of the German pyramids (wooden things where you light candles at the base and the heat makes the little wooden fans above spin), and we had a lot of German ornaments.  I went into the toy shop and found the Steiff stuffed animals I had when I was five. They all had little yellow tags buttoned into the ear of the stuffed animal. Being there and listening to the music made me miss my dad, because he loved a party and would have been the first to jump up and make us all dance with him. But seeing my brother do that very thing with his kids made me realize how much of my dad's personality lives on in us.

So anyway, Germany day it is. I went to World Market this morning and got some Nutella for breakfast, I'm about to go to Henk's (German restaurant by the huge Half Price Books) for lunch with Ale, and then I'll swim later (since my dad was on a swim team in Germany and later coached swimming) and I'll ultimately end my day with one of three movies. When we lived in Germany, the only three movies we had in English (and watched over and over and over) were Grease 2, Footloose and The Man From Snowy River. So one of those will win today.

With My Freeze Ray I Will Stop the World

Thank you to my friend Dave for introducing me to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. My new hobby is trying to meet celebrities I love (acting incredibly awkward around them each time) and Neil Patrick Harris is next on my list. Love him.

Black Cat

I took a two year hiatus, but I've started doing yoga again. I was reasonably flexible in high school because of dance and drill team, but I've probably lost 80% of my flexibility since I graduated college. But as you can see by the picture above, I'm still pretty bendy. (I've also changed my hair.) I'm thrilled about my yoga class, though, because it's hysterical. My instructor is named Rrrrrrrrrrramone, and he's pretty much given me enough funny quotes to last a lifetime. These include roughly 27 "that's what she said" moments. But in my new, yoga-enlightened state, I "om"'d right through them and only laughed out loud a few times. Progress. 

The class started off funny because of my outfit. I was meeting one of my coworkers at the gym after work, but I realized that I forgot my workout clothes. I didn't have time to drive home, so I ran to Target to buy workout clothes. I thought what I had picked out would be fine, but there wasn't time to try it on. So it was a gamble. For a number of reasons (namely an unintentional side ponytail and a magenta top (that kept slipping off one shoulder)/red sports bra combo) I looked like I was going to an 80s yoga mixer. Or at the very least, I looked like I was auditioning for Footloose. But I could care less, because rocking that look in class makes you look like a PRO. In addition to my normal, 2008 gym clothes, I forgot my yoga mat. I love my mat because it's purple and I know that my feet are the only ones that will get anywhere near it. Since I forgot my mat, I had to borrow one. My borrowed mat was blue and it was sponsored by Silk soy milk. And I'm not even going to think about how many feet have been on that mat. 

Ramone begins his class by reminding us how important it is to breathe. "Breathe in, letting the warm air enter your nostrils. Now let the air slide down your throat like water. As you exhale, let the breath leave a little bit warmer than when you first inhaled it." Hmmmmm. As the class got underway, I was struck by what a great storyteller our new friend Ramone is! He encouraged us to be trees, then pretended we were cats, and then we were warriors. My coworker and I laughed every time we had to do the warrior pose where you pretend to have a bow and arrow. Because Ramone would tell us to pull back the bows, and then as he told us to "release" them (so slide arm up diagonally to the sky) he would make a loud "SHOOOOOSH" noise. He sounded just like an arrow, so good for him. The other part that we got (figuratively) tickled during was when he had us stay on our stomachs and rock back and forth while arching our backs, reaching behind us and holding our feet. If you have never tried that, please get on the ground and try it now. 

The humor from tonight negates any physical pain I might be feeling (and that pain is considerable). Don't think for a second that after class I didn't sit in my car making a list of my favorite quotes from Ramone. Didn't want to run the risk of forgetting them on the drive home. I'm really looking forward to Tuesday when I can focus more of my attention on developing nicknames for my yoga classmates.

Until then, namaste.

Relax

I really like swimming, I really like the night time and I really like looking at different skylines. I'm excited to end my day with all three.