i hate skiing and other irrelevant things

up until last weekend i hadn't been skiing in about 15 years. considering that i live a mere two hours from snow this is unforgivable. except, as it turns out, i loathe skiing. and snowboarding (which i've attempted twice in the last 7 years). and everything that takes place at a ski resort aside from riding the ski lift and drinking/reading/socializing in the lodge. i do not like little runs or big runs or moguls or ski parks. i do not like ski boots or having my feet connected together on a snowboard. i do not like heights (which is confusing since i love riding the lift, even all the way to the top of heavenly). i do not like pointing downhill while trying to balance. i do not like making 'pizza' to try and slow down. i do not like people yelling 'keep doing pizza! you're doing great!' none of this pleases me. and even if you tell me that once i get better i'll love it, i will still not love it. m'kay?

that said, i do like bombing down a hill on a sled/innertube/cardboard box and flying off a jump going 75 bajillion miles an hour. which we did in tahoe last weekend in the middle of the night. too bad no one thought to take a picture of me...








upcoming snake & butterfly event

THE SANTA CRUZ CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL

sunday, january 24, 2010 from 1.00PM - 5.00PM
cocoanut grove @ the santa cruz beach boardwalk

"This chocolate-tasting event is a benefit for UCSC re-entry student scholarships. Come and enjoy the finest confections that Santa Cruz and California have to offer! We'll have plenty of space to roam the Festival tables. This year's event will feature a magical demonstration of turning cacao beans into chocolate by Anne Baldzikowski, chef instructor at Cabrillo College."

this should be a really fun event with over 25 vendors: tickets will be sold at the door!

come on baby light my fire

my grandparents bought me a kindle for christmas. i love it. i was a little unsure about kindles when they first came out because there is just something about the weight and feel and smell of a book. that and i'm a book-keeper. only really really shitty books get passed on or donated (left behind anyone?). i have the majority of my college textbooks still. that said, i'm reading a LOT more with the kindle because it can go ANYWHERE. i've been reading in line at the bank, waiting for parker to get out of school, in bed... it holds a bajillion books and in an effort to avoid spending a bajillion dollars this year on books i'm trying to buy only one book a month and read free books once i've finished. my first purchase was stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers by mary roach. a quick and comical ready. *thumbs up* now i'm reading venus in furs by leopold von sacher-masoch. it has curious little passages such as the following:

'why not?' she said, 'and take note of what i am about to say to you. never feel secure with the woman you love, for there are more dangers in woman's nature than you imagine. women are neither as good as their admirers and defenders maintain, nor as bad as their enemies make them out to be. woman's character is characterless. the best woman will momentarily go down into the mire, and the worst unexpectedly rises to deeds of greatness and goodness and puts to shame those that despise her. no woman is so good or so bad, but that at any moment she is capable of the most diabolical as well as the most divine, of the filthiest as well as the purest, thoughts, emotions, and actions. in spite of all the advances in civilization, woman has remained as she came out of the hand of nature. she has the nature of a savage, who is faithful or faithless, magnanimous or cruel, according to the impulse that dominates at the moment. throughout history it has always been a serious deep culture which has produced moral character. man even when he is selfish or evil always follows principles, woman never follows anything but impulses. don't ever forget that, and never feel comfortable with the woman you love.'

a very short commentary on the matter of symbolism

the short version is this: last week when he came over bk was wearing his wedding band (on his right ring finger). this (no duh) surprised me and i blurted out 'what is that?' to which he replied: 'it's my wedding ring. i love this ring...i always have. i wear it sometimes.' to which i replied: '!!!!'

as you may or not recall, i sold my engagement ring and used the money to complete another piece of jewelry. i held onto the diamond (it belongs to my mom) and my wedding band (for the kids, if they ever want it). that said, it never, i mean never, has occurred to me to wear it. yes, in one sense it is just a lovely circle of platinum. but in another, much larger sense it is a symbol of our marriage. our marriage that ended. badly. it's a symbol of broken promises and dreams that didn't pan out. but i suppose if those rings had really meant anything in the first place the outcome would have been different.

i've gotten better at disassociating myself from objects and their subsequent meanings in the past few years which has made me ultimately less compulsive about the stuff that surrounds me. that said, i'm attracted to symbolism and tradition and ceremony on the small scale. if i'm ever married again i won't require expansiveness or floofy whiteness or three hundred witnesses. but shit, i want to believe that a ring can remind you of your promises...and help you stick to them.

the man who changed my life...and saved it

"Michael P. Link, MD, a leader in the field of pediatric oncology, has been elected President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology ( ASCO ) for a one-year term beginning in June 2011. He will take office as President-Elect during ASCO’s 46th Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2010. Additionally, five new members were elected to the ASCO Board of Directors and two new members to the ASCO Nominating Committee beginning in June 2010.

“I am truly honored to have been elected to serve as ASCO President and I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Board of Directors as this organization continues to focus on advancing research and policies to improve the oncology community,” said Dr. Link. “ASCO is dedicated to making real progress in improving cancer care and prevention while working to ensure every patient gets access to the highest quality cancer care available.”

Dr. Link currently serves as the Lydia J. Lee Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Bass Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at the Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1979, after completing his residency and fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Boston and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia College and his medical degree from Stanford University. His research interests include the biology and management of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease in children and the treatment of sarcomas of bone and soft tissue

“Each year, the Board of Directors welcomes new members from diverse backgrounds who help shape the Society’s goals and practices in remarkable ways,” said Allen S. Lichter, MD, Chief Executive Officer of ASCO. “I am looking forward to working with Dr. Link in his endeavor to continue moving ASCO forward and accomplishing our goal to improve cancer care.”

Since joining ASCO in 1982, Dr. Link has provided distinguished service and leadership to the Society. He served on the ASCO Board of Directors from 1999 to 2002 and as a member of the Board’s Executive Committee from 2001 to 2002. He also was Chair of the Membership Committee from 2005 to 2006 and Chair of the Cancer Research Committee from 2007-2008

Additionally, Dr. Link has served as a member of the Cancer.Net Advisory Board, the Public Issues Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee. He is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Link is a member of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and an Associate Chair of the Children’s Oncology Group. He recently completed a term as a member of the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Link has received many awards and honors, most recently The ASCO Statesman Award (2008), The Brent Ely Visiting Professor in Pediatric Oncology, University of Colorado Center and The Children’s Hospital, Denver ( 2009 ), and the 12th Annual Pediatric Center Research Foundation, Memorial Lectureship ( 2004 )."

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