Spring Reads

As luck would have it, I did indeed have ample time to attack my stack of vacation books. I've been really trying to whittle them down before school starts since Lord knows what will happen once I'm in the throes of the 4th Edition of "Understanding Pathophysiology"...

"I feel ambivalent about selling my services in a world where some can't buy them. You can feel ambivalent about that, because you should feel ambivalent." 

"I think whenever a people has enormous resources, it is easy for them to call themselves democratic. I think of myself more as a physician than an American... Look, I am very proud to be an American. I have many opportunities because I'm an American. I can travel freely throughout the world, I can start projects, but that's called a privilege, not democracy." 

A couple of the girls I met when I interviewed at UCSF mentioned Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder to me when I told them I was interviewing for an Advanced Community Health and International Nursing specialty. This book chronicles the work of Dr. Paul Farmer and his home base clinic in the mountains of  (pre-earthquake) Haiti. It is his story, of course, but it also focuses on how Dr. Farmer's methods of combating TB and Multi-Drug Resistant TB have affected the World Health Organization's approach to the disease worldwide. It was a fascinating and timely book for me. Might get a little boggy-downy for the non-medically interested reader, but if you're into the "health as social justice" movement... it is a must read.

Oh my GOSH. The Hunger Games. SO. STINKIN. GOOD. Let's back up... I was poking around the bookstore listening to Sarah and Vinnie (my never-miss-a-second morning radio show) and Sarah started RAVING about the book she snatched from her preteen son and how she read it in one sitting the night before because she couldn't put it down. Since I am quite secure in my identity as a reader, I have no qualms about taking up with a worthy teen fiction series (although I do acknowledge that Twilight was nothing more than a guilty pleasure). And like Sarah, I busted through The Hunger Games at lightning speed. The quick synopsis is this... it's set in kind of a post-apocalyptic America that has been divided into twelve districts. Every year, one male and one female between the ages of 12-17 are selected to represent their districts at the Rockies-based capitol where a HUGE television-ready outdoor arena has been set up for them to fight each other to the death until the sole victor emerges. "Tributes" are required to survive harsh conditions, hunger, limited resources, whatever the Gamemakers throw at them to make it more interesting for the watching world, and of course - each other. That summary should tip you off to whether you should pick it up or not... some people love this stuff, some don't. It's fine. But I am DYING to get my paws on Book Two.

"The moment he walked into the shop I knew he was going to be my kind of trouble. Some people carry a charge, you know - you can see it in their colors, and his were the pale yellow-blue flare of a gas jet turned very low that could explode at any time."

The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris is the sequel to one of my favorite stories called Chocolat. I am a little embarrassed to admit I only saw the Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche movie and didn't actually read the book. Oh well, the movie is one of my favorites so I still feel protective over my claim on it. I pledge now to read the book. As for the sequel, it's kind of a same main characters in a same same but different situation in a same same but different community. But the sequel's storyline is driven around... well... witchcraft. Was Chocolat the book like this? There are wonderful mystical elements in the movie... was "mystical" actually "occult" in the book? In any case, it's a full-on fact in this book that Vianne is a witch and so is Anouk and also the Vianne-Roux lovechild named Rosette. And it's kind of a "good witches" against the "bad witch" villain story. Ok wow, this really was a weird book, wasn't it? I admit I liked some of the writing and got through it quickly, but if you're going to read Joanne Harris... read The Five Quarters of the Orange, which was wonderful I recall. 

Ok last one. Confession: I haven't finished it. I've been trying to get through it for about three months now. My mom and Linda Carey RAVED about this book and I think they just got my expectations a little too high. So high, in fact, that when I read Roy Goble's "Junkyard Wisdom" blogpost on it (click here!), I was determined to get through the book armed with an arsenal of reasons he was dead wrong about Dr. Verghese needing a major length overhaul. Well Roy... here I am three months later... only half way through... and standing very, VERY corrected. For the record, I echo Roy's thoughts on wonderful characters in a great story. But I, too, cannot get past the wordiness.  

Don't you wanna curve away?

Off to Palm Springs for Kayti and Carrie's "every odd year" getaway!

This year's agenda?
1. Pool
2. Pool
3. Pool

So... a slightly less aggressive trip than our past Jamaica, Europe, or Vegas to say the least. Hoping for a very productive week of reading though!

UPDATE: #15 Paint on Canvas

I presented my work from the semester in front of my painting class this week as a final assignment. So I thought it only appropriate to showcase them here as well - because, faithful blog readers, you deserve to see the good, the bad, and the ugly :)

First, my color chart... which I am quite proud of...

Nextly, my abstract... which I also like but did very early in the semester so want to re-do now that I have some extra tricks in my arsenal.

Annnnnd... my still life. Let's just say it is probably not done, but I am DONE with IT...

This is my landscape, which I did from a picture I took in Tahoe about ten years ago. Pretty crazy, right? 

And lastly, my first attempt at a portrait. I did this one from a photo I found of a Salvador de Bahia, Brazil woman - one of the gorgeous black women in the white dresses and colorful head dresses that sell street food in Salvador. I need to make her skin tone brighter so she doesn't recede into the background so much. 

A Napa Birthday for Nicku

I've said before in this blog that one of the sweetest blessings of this last year is my heart group. Those eight women have been a source of encouragement, support, prayer, commitment, growth and LOTS of laughs.

So when one of us turns 30... it's time to break out the heels and good pearls! Nicku planned a BEAUTIFUL birthday celebration on the Napa Wine Train last night with family and friends both local and visiting from out of town!

The birthday girl is someone who is always quick to respond and up for anything. She is my res-walking, bachelor-watching, puppy-sharing, soul-disclosing friend. She is willing, introspective, social, enthusiastic, supportive... and girl has got some TASTE!

Wishing you love, friendship, and blessings unimaginable in your 30s, Nicku... so glad you are in my life!

Hiking Season is BACK

And in the words of Jenn Kleist, "We're going to kick that mountain in the FACE!"

My light blue Camelpack has been my trusty solo-hiking companion for over four years now. I keep some basic safety stuff in there like a compass (along with the directions on how the use it since I have no clue whatsoever), a whistle (to ummm... scare away animals?? make known my wilderness location to rescuers??), some mostly-blister-fighting-first aid items, gum, and a lighter. I used to carry a dinky little swiss army knife but after seeing 127 hours, I'm convinced I need something much more heavy duty in the event I need to cut off my arm. (Seriously. I could have to cut off my arm sometime.)

My Merrells are a little snug but I don't think I'd like them bigger either. I usually download some Sarah and Vinnie podcasts, peruse www.bahiker.com for a game plan on what hike to take (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that site!), load up on almonds/snap peas/Luna bars, fill up my hydration pack (which is leaking/sweating by the way... I guess I need to visit REI for a new one), soak myself in sunscreen, and GO.

I did two different Las Trampas Regional Wilderness hikes recently - I started both in the main staging area off Bolinger Canyon and went right through the cattle gate up to the Las Trampas Ridge trail to the peak for the first hike. For the second, I went to the left and followed the Elderberry Trail up to the Rocky Ridge Trail and back down through the Cuesta Trail. There are some great elevation-change butt burners on both but more treacherous is the INSANE wind coming off the Bay for the mile or so you tightrope walk along the Rocky Ridge that has views of Mt. Diablo on one side and the Bay on the other. Of course, I'll take some wind over the 100+ enormous grazing COWS I had to navigate through on the Cuesta Trail. Sometimes I could walk around them but if they were in a tree grove on a narrow trail, suffice it to say I was like Vicki from Parent Trap banging sticks together to "scare the mountain lions."

This weekend, I joined Jenn Kleist and Rachel Higuera in their first hike of the season at another BA Hiker-recommended hike at Mt. Diablo State Park. We started on the Ygnacio Valley/Clayton side of the mountain early on Saturday morning.

It was definitely chilly, but we were glad to beat the trail-ruining rain last night! We started at a neighborhood trailhead to avoid paying state park entrance fees and did a 5-ish mile modified loop along Donner Canyon and Cardinet Oaks trails. There was a 550 ft to 1700 ft elevation change to add some challenge, but we made awesome time and felt amazingly invigorated. Cheesily enough, we even appreciated some of BA Hiker's info about the foliage and geology along the trail.

When I hike around here, I am further reminded how special of a place California is. It's unbelievable to me that I live within 10 minutes of some amazing state parks with full trail systems that are surprisingly well kept and used. The views from summits don't disappoint... and the friendliness of the hiking community certainly doesn't either. So get your butts moving, people! Not all of you are lucky enough to live where I live, but I challenge you to find the trails in your area and kick them in the FACE!

Yeah, Everybody Gotta Get Away Sometime...

It ain't Hill Country, but a trip to Houston still calls for some Pat Green or Robert Earl Keen on the ipod.

As the countdown to starting school begins, I have managed to sneak in a few trips on the calendar including visiting Rachel a few weekends ago. I love me some Texas but I am really Austin-biased. So needless to say, Houston challenged my high esteem just a bit ;) 

No really, all jokes aside, I love visiting anywhere new - especially if it means seeing good friends and living in their world for a few days. Rachel lives in a beautiful apartment complex with a ZEN POOL (!!!) in the middle of it that we took full advantage of during the days I was there. I definitely went at the right time of year because any later than April/May would have been death heat for this temperate-loving Northern Californian.

Serendipitously, I came on a weekend Rachel and her friends were signed up for a) a champagne brunch and Royal Wedding viewing party at a cute local restaurant and b) the "Crawl for Cancer" bar crawl. There were teams of about 10-12 people who all got assigned different colored shirts. Some teams just wore the shirts, others went "80s", and our team was a VERY creative "where's waldo?" theme. I'll say no more.

It goes without saying that Texans can and do eat like no other. Anyone who visits Texas would be remiss not to make SURE to get some good TexMex and BBQ and we managed to squeeze in both despite burning zero calories the entire time since Houstonians drive EVERY. WHERE. TexMex after the bar crawl was unreal - queso and all, David McWilliams - but Goode's Co. BBQ took the stinkin' cake. You basically chose whatever meat you want (brisket, duh) and it comes with two "vegetable" sides. Apparently Texas understands how to eat, but doesn't grasp what a vegetable is because my side options were - no joke - jambalaya, two kinds of baked beans, potato salad, or macaroni salad. Am I missing something?

Rachel lives directly across the street from Joel Osteen's church, so once we figured out he was actually scheduled to speak that Sunday, it was a no-brainer that we were going. I would be lying if I said my hands weren't flailing around in the air to the awesome music and shouting some hallelujahs and amens and God is good all the times'. And Joel and his wife Victoria most certainly were in the Lord's house that Sunday... prosperity, positivity, encouragement message and all. I'll keep my impressions about it all off the written word on this one, but Jen said it best when I was telling her about it: "I mean, I'm not saying there's anything WRONG with being a televangelist or anything... but that doesn't make it not WEIRD." Amen, hallelujah. 

Great weekend with Rach and getting to know Holly. Rachel knows southern hospitality... so now I just need to get her to personally sail that ship right into the San Francisco Bay.