Cheap Date, Hot Tea, and Prayer Requests

Welcome to another day when I'm supposed to seriously hunker down on a project but feel compelled to write. I'm giving myself 10 minutes to share some very random thoughts that normally would/should not appear in the same entry:

• Celebrated our 7-year anniversary earlier this week with a day off and a low-budget date. Caught a kick-ass matinee (literally) of The Forbidden Kingdom. Very entertaining, 'tho if I was supreme ruler, I'd lose the white kid; let the Chinese people speak Chinese; and add English subtitles, regardless of the language spoken (no offense, Jackie and Jet, but even I struggled to understand at times). Then we split a satisfying combo meal at Buckhorn Grill for 31 cents, thanks to a generous coupon. Oh, and lots of hand holding. One of our best dates ever.


• Appreciating my new Narita hot water dispenser, which allows me to savor hot tea on-demand with a press of a button. So what if its label "vacuum bottle ardometer" doesn't make sense to me. Mmm...warm...


• Mourning the loss of Kenneth Arthur, Jr., described as "a proud father, loving husband, engaged community member and Habitat for Humanity San Francisco's first homeowner", who was stabbed to death on Monday near his home in Bayview. (Dammit.) He is survived by his wife Angela and three sons Kenneth, Kendall, and Karl.


• Bracing for the sentencing verdict of a Uyghur Christian, Alim Yimit, accused by the Chinese government of subversion of the government and terrorism. From what I know, though, his only "crime" is owning a Uyghur Bible and believing in the Christian faith. If convicted, he may be put to death. The verdict is supposed to be announced in a few days, at the end of this month. As the country races to catch up with the industrial world, any success is for naught if such persecution continues.
  

Okay, so that took more than 10 minutes.

A Guiding Light

"The meaning of life is to help others find meaning in theirs," according to Austrian existentialist Viktor Frankl. The most recent issue of my grad school's alumni mag made a pitch for mentoring to others -- a student, co-worker, or anyone seeking guidance and wisdom from someone with more experience. A few "mentoring how-to's":

• Be a good listener
• Give advice (when solicited)
• Be trustworthy
• Lead and teach by example
• Discourage negative attitudes and behaviors
• Raise self-awareness by asking reflective questions
• Be committed to your mentee
• Be genuine and compassionate

I consider mentoring something that you don't ever outgrow needing and doesn't requires you to be "old enough" to offer.  We can always benefit from the wisdom and experience of others.

All Hail Chanting Warrior!

Thanks to a friend's birthday party, we entered the world of horse-racing at Bay Meadows in San Mateo the other day. It was my second foray into this other realm since my Chicago office's annual picnic at Arlington Park 10 years ago. Beginner's luck won me $20 back then, and it came through again this time for my guy's maiden voyage.

After being burned in a previous race on bets to "win" (where, to collect, the selected horse must finish 1st), we timidly bet to "place" (horse can finish 1st or 2nd) in Race #5. The horses in this race were in the category of "4-year olds and upwards which have never won three races". The old fogeys were going to run "five and one half furlongs" or about 0.7 mile.

While I lost another $5 on beautiful gray speckled horse Roaring Springs (#8), my date's pick of Chanting Warrior (#11), came in 2nd place and won him $22! Before our addictive personalities got the better of us, we excitedly pocketed our winnings, gave our hosts big hugs, and made a wide-eyed and swift exit soon afterwards.

With this 74-year old landmark slated to be torn down for redevelopment later this year -- and campaigns being waged to stop it -- this may have been our one and only visit. Kinda sad, as historic racetracks continue to be a dying breed.

"Your mind powers will not work on me, boy"

This guy freaks me out. A frog with no lungs that breathes through its skin. Almost as cool as this relic...(as we scientist types go, "Whoa, dude!")

Heroes/Transformers (cont'd)

Last night, I learned about a few more humanitarian Heroes/Transformers. While I'm not a regular viewer of American Idol, I tuned in to their Idol Gives Back episode -- enticed by mentions of Bono and Annie Lennox -- and found myself riveted. I laughed, I cried,...it was better than Cats. This star-studded fundraiser concert supported several charities, including:

One, combating AIDS and extreme poverty around the world. American Idol alum Chris Daughtry and his band were in Uganda a couple of weeks ago and shared a recording from their trip. "What about now? What about today? Before it's too late."

The Children's Defense Fund, highlighted by Board member Reese Witherspoon and which supports Freedom Schools in New Orleans, "a free after school program to inspire a generation of community leaders."

Malaria No More, showcased by Forrest Whitaker and his wife who reported from Angola that "An African child dies every 30 seconds from malaria." Damn. "One net, one pill, one life. $10 per net, $2 for the medication. Let's do it together." Then British PM Gordon Brown came on and committed his country to donating 20 million mosquito nets (or $200 million) to support this cause. Wow!

Save the Children, which, according to NOLA boys Eli and Peyton Manning, is helping young survivors of Hurricane Katrina overcome the trauma and move on with their lives (among other global projects).

Memorable moments? When Annie Lennox's rendition of Too Many Rivers To Cross made me cry...after her video report about the four orphaned boys in South Africa made me cry. When Miley Cyrus (she's 15??) exclaimed to Billy Crystal, "You're famous, too? That's so cool!" When Alicia Keys, in her cool eloquence, said, "It's amazing to think that we can change someone's life forever...for the cost of a pair of shoes. If the media gave half the amount of time to this as it gives to celebrity dramas, we would be well underway." And when the Idol contestants (and a gospel choir) sang Shout to the Lord as the closing song.

Making A Memory

I re-lived my younger years and cherished new memories at the Bon Jovi concert last night. OMG, it was more incredible than I had expected! I shouldn't have been surprised, considering the last two times I saw them (during the Slippery When Wet and Keep the Faith tours in '87 and '93) were life-changing, at least at that age. But 'tho I was speechless when AT gave us the tickets in December, my adrenaline didn't really start surging again until we embarked on the hour-long journey to the South Bay, and I slipped in a Bon Jovi hits CD that I had burned only 10 minutes prior.

My excitement continued to mount as we dined at 71 Saint Peter, where I savored halibut next to a window view of "obvious" Bon Jovi fans en route to the HP Pavilion. Women in tight jeans, even tighter tops, and stiletto heels. Men in tight jeans, old concert t-shirts, leather jackets with tassels, and leather boots. I may have looked out of place in my REI ensemble, but I gave a knowing nod to this familiar crowd.

Daughtry kicked ass as the opening band. And then Jon, Richie, David, and Tico took over. And we the audience, as a single 18,000-celled organism, paid homage by belting out every song with them for the next 2 hours. Contact highs kept us grinning; swaying BIC lighters were replaced by glowing cell phones during the ballads; and the decibels we hit during the old favorites -- Living on a Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive -- were literally heart pounding.

Amazing.

1,2,3...1,2,3...Back-step

I picked up the basics of the East Coast Swing the other day in a 1-1/2 hour class where I was among the youngest on the dance floor. As expected, the moves were tamer than the ones I learned from Beginner's Swing/Jitterbug class at the Discovery Center 10 years ago. No fancy lifting or carefree flinging of ladies across the room, but I did have to concentrate whenever my aged partners went wild and led me into consecutive inside and outside turns, followed by a hand change behind the back. Whoa!

Rocky Mountain High

It's been awhile since I last wrote, so I'm making up for lost time. Hold on to your butts...

We had a Small Mammal Bus reunion in the Colorado Rockies a couple of weeks ago. Two other former co-workers and I, all of us biologists, gathered with our families to catch up and frolic in the late winter snow. During that week, I discovered the Top 5 Things To Do in the Rockies in winter:

1. Stroll through the picturesque cowboy town of Grand Lake, where friendly greetings met us at every turn and store hours were, "10 to 5, sometimes earlier, sometimes later,...if we're closed, that means we're away."
2. Rent snowshoes for $15/day from the nice folks at Never Summer Mountain Store in Grand Lake and trek up to Adams Falls and the meadows beyond. Be careful of the tree wells!
3. Soak in hot sulphur springs. Start in the 100 degree pool, then take a deep breath and sprint in 20 degree temps to warmer ones up a snow-covered hill, finally settling in a 116 degree pool at the top and staring at the stars.
4. Cruise through Rocky Mountain National Park with eyes peeled for moose and elk. Spot an impressively large mother moose and her calf, chomping on pine leaves and settling down for the night.
5. Ski in fresh powder at Sol Vista in Granby. And it's okay if it takes you 15 minutes to zigzag down the bunny slope!

Thanks, SMB et al., for a fun week in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Next time: the Yukon?

Why is it...

...that I get most inspired to write when I have a gazillion other more pressing things on my plate? As I tear myself away from the juicy bait of procrastination, I'll leave you with some fascinating stories by other chicas. More later...