Zurich

I went. I loved the week long of class. Hated the rest of my time there. Were you really expecting me to enjoy myself? You really don't know me if you did.

The class was great. I loved meeting everyone, and have a slight crush on my professor. It's not the first professor I've had a crush on. And it's always the Middle-Eastern men who get crushes on me. We met Monday-Friday and worked from 9:00 am - 9:00 pm working on projects. We did a large multi-class lunch on Thursday and I met even more interesting people. I wish the group was doing more classes together but this is the last class for most of us. Definitely should do this as the beginning of the program, not at the end.

The rest of the time I found very stressful. I don't do vacation. I don't even like a three day weekend. So two weeks in a foreign country, in a tiny hotel room that doesn't even have a chair to sit on, with lots of idle time, is not my idea of fun. I don't like to shop (couldn't afford to even if I did like it) and don't enjoy eating out. (Definitely couldn't afford to eat out in Zurich where lunch started at $20) And even this introvert needs a little human interaction so going alone was extremely lonely. In fact, both border patrol, Zurich and US, when asking length of stay, purpose of visit, was I traveling alone, did a double take when I said "Yes. I'm traveling alone." "Really?"

This is the other sad thing I realized I'm now not normal for the rest of society. Out of 30 classmates there were only four women. And there were only three single people. I realized I am now not part of a larger statistic. Up till 30 it was abnormal to be single and LDS, but the rest of the developed world was still single. But now I'm in a demographic that pretty much everyone is married, or married and divorced. People, even non-LDS people, think its a bit strange for someone my age to be never-married and childless.

Anyway, I'll post additional Zurich photos in the next post.

Tennis

I love tennis. We didn't grow up in a house that watched football or baseball, rarely even basketball even though we all played. We watched things like tennis, track & field and swimming. I think this may have been because my dad worked over seas where those sports were more popular and televised so we watched them when he was home as well.

I've been a fan of tennis since the days of Boris Becker, Ivan Lendle and Stephan Edberg. There were some heated debates in the house about who was better looking; as I have a tendency to be attracted to red heads, I favored Becker.

Every now and then, when we were in town, Dad would take us to the tennis courts. He'd be on one side, we would all be on the other and he'd still win. Granted none of us knew much about technique and such. When I moved out on my own, I would find a court with a backboard or wall and play by myself. But again, I've never known technique.

Liberty Park, a short two mile walk from home, has adult tennis classes. During the summer break I signed up for the adult beginner class. It was a short, fun six week class. Now that school is back in, I think I have to postpone taking the second class, but I have had so much fun the past six weeks and can't wait to take another class.

To end my summer tennis, I decided to watch a little Boris Becker vs Stephan Edberg on YouTube. They were amazing tennis players.

Google

I am usually okay with changes and updates to software and search engines, but Google, you have failed with the new way that you search. Hate it Hate it Hate it. May start using Bing instead.

In about six months I have to decide what I'm going to do with Pennywhistle and Maltie. If all goes according to my master plan, I will start a PhD programme next fall in the UK.

Do I take the cats with me? I hate the idea of putting them on a plane for that trip. Plus, to take pets into the UK you have to have a six month quarantine to prove they are rabies free. (I'd start that process in January. The vet test them for rabies, then puts a chip in them, and if the cats don't go outside for six months they can safely enter the UK.)

But the idea of giving them away also makes me really, really sad. Who is going to love them as much as I? Who is going to cater to their every strange quirk? (They have many.)

Here are two photo's that capture a snippet of their daily lives:

This is Pennywhistle fanning herself. She LOVES to sit in front of the fans!















I call this hydration station. They both love to drink water from the running tap. They both have different techniques. As you can see from this photo, Maltie likes to lap straight from the running stream. Pennywhistle sticks her paw in the stream and licks from that. Or licks from the base of the sink where the water is hitting.





















Strange creatures.

CSBG

This past week I attended a two day conference on The History of CSBG (Community Service Block Grant) hosted by David Bradley. I know, the title makes it seem like the conference would be as interesting as watching mud dry. But it actually was a very intriguing, inspiring, and informative conference.

CSBG was started as part of Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty and was headed by Sargent Shriver. (Yes, Maria's father.) CSBG is a large part of what funds Community Action Agencies throughout the U.S. (Who I work for, hence the conference.) I won't go into much detail here because I'm afraid my blog post will not be as intriguing as the conference was.

But, I had quite a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you.

One - I believe humility is an important tool in powerful leadership.

Martin Luther King Jr has always been one of my favorite leaders of the 20th century. As part of the conference we watched several news clippings of his work and speeches and I came away more impressed than ever. I believe there was humility in his non-violent approach to activism. I also think to understand people in humble circumstances takes a like heart.

We also learned much about Sargent Shriver. He is now my 2nd favorite leader in the 20th century. Watching his interviews is what got me rethinking the importance of humility. He was so competent and passionate and called on to lead many important organizations (He was the first director of the Peace Corps!) but watch interviews of him and he comes across as the most sincere and humble person. You want to follow him not because he forces you, but because you want to emulate him. Seriously, if you are into watching historical podcast and such, try to find some interviews with him. You will not be disappointed!

Anyway, that will be the one thought I share today. Look for the next untimely installment which may be on the immigration debate, Albert Bandura's work on Self-Efficacy, or on my upcoming trip to Philly...

Yes. I'm still alive. Just busy working on that five year plan.

Just submitted finals a week ago. Can't believe that I only have two courses (and one major dissertation!) left and I will be done with my MBA! Holy-Smokes!

I have a few weeks before the next course so I am busy working on the novel. Sometimes I read a few pages and I think "Wow! Where did I come up with that?" And then sometimes I read and I shake my head in embarrassment.

I did have a great weekend meeting up with friends from the past. Heather Durst and her husband and children came into town, and Tara was driving through so we met up for lunch. I haven't seen either of them for well over *gulp* 15 years, but it was like no time had passed at all. It is truly great to be in the presence of people who have probably seen you at your worst and still like you!

On Saturday one of my roommates from Boston got married. There was a little mini-reunion at the reception. It was lovely and I am homesick for Boston.

(when am I not?)

Twist

I just finished a popular novel written by a popular author, and that has been made into a popular movie. Most people who've heard of the book/movie knows that there is a twist at the end. Even the brief description on the back of the book says "and so-and-so isn't who he really is".

After finishing the book I've decided I concretely hate twist endings. Even the most well done ones (like the just finished book) don't seem that clever to me.

First, it seems the author is afraid the reader can't commit to the fairy story created and so gives and easy out. Think "Life of Pi". There were moments of complete magic and crafted well enough that I could accept what I was reading, even though I knew it couldn't happen in real life. probably. But then there was the escape hatch for the realist at the end.

Second, I don't like committing myself to a character, hating or loving him, and then 300 pages later, find out that none of him is real. All those emotions that I went through were for nothing. Most good novels are worth at least a second read. I want to study my faulty hero again, what did I miss, what more should I feel. But a novel with a twist? Why bother?

Last week LOST ended it's six year run. A lot of people were disappointed because all the mystery's of the island were not revealed. I'm glad they weren't. I think some major twist and escape routes would need to be created to end the show on time. Instead, despite all the weird twist that happened DURING the show, the characters ended true to the fashion that they began. And I'd be happy to take the journey with them again.

I won't tell you the book I just read, just in case you've been thinking of reading it, and didn't know there was a twist ending. Just don't wait in anticipation for me to write a twist/dream/face story anytime soon.