Now THAT'S a great quote!

Listening to NPR’s Fresh Air, I just heard a rather apt quote from Evangelical lobbyist Richard Cizik on why his views on Global Warming differ from the typical party line. (My bro-in-law will appreciate this one).

“We can’t claim to love the Creator and abuse the world in which we live. To do so is like claiming to be a fan of Shakespeare and then burn his plays.”

Overheard

I like wine bars. Unlike most bars in LA, you can actually hear each other talk. Unfortunately, you can also hear your neighbors. Which is how I heard this gem of a comment made by a woman on a first date with a rather anemic looking young man.

“I tell my parents EVERYTHING about my dates.”

Yikes. He MUST be desperate.

Yikes

I think Born Loser says it all when it comes to the news lately.

Topic: Sir Edmund Hillary

Remember Sir Edmund Hillary? He's the British guy who first reached the top of Mount Everest. Most people have never heard of his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, who deserves credit alongside him as being first to the top of Everest.

Other little tidbits:

• Hillary was by profession a beekeeper, of all things.

• Hillary left a crucifix at the summit in honor of George Mallory who had gone missing on Everest 30 years before.

• Hillary continued to love adventure long after Everest, venturing to the South Pole in 1958 and battling up the Ghanges to its source in 1975.

• He maintained a deep connection to Nepal and its people, serving as ambassador to India, Nepal and Bangladesh,  and founding the Himalayan Trust to build schools, hospitals, and airfields in Nepal.
  

Wanna know more?

Britannica

Encarta

Wii Fit

So, my boyfriend managed to nab one of the last Wii fits available on opening day in Los Angeles. He was so excited that he took it quite good naturedly when the Wii Fit baldly called him overweight and made his little Wii character look quite pudgy. On the other hand, my wii mii looks quite anemic and the Wii keeps trying to fatten me up.

There has been some outcry because the Wii Fit is not all that accurate when evaluating kids (there are so many factors in the health of a growing child) and will often end up calling a quite normal child "fat." Perhaps the wii needs to restrain from making BMI judgments on children. Should be a simple fix since the game asks for your birthdate anyway.

However, all in all, my take is that the Wii Fit is the most powerful tool we've seen in a long while for fighting childhood obesity. In a society obsessed with TV and video games, it's nice to see a video game that gets people up and moving. I wouldn't say that the Wii Fit offers a vigorous workout routine but I'd say it's probably just about perfect to get a typical couch potato's blood moving. Hey, every little movement helps!

Keeping your computer organized

I have the bad habit of saving everything to the desktop so I can find it easier. Of course, that means I can't find anything. If I'm good, I have a To Org folder in my documents where I stick things if I don't have time to organize it into a folder in my documents. Every couple of days I make sure I organize everything out of that folder. Another idea that works for me is to organize everything in my documents in a logical file structure. Then I have a folder on my desktop called Current Projects. In it are links to all the files and folders that I'm currently using regularly. That way the game show I'm developing stays filed with all the other gameshows I've developed previously and the schedules I'm working on stays with all the past schedules but their shortcuts are easily accessible to me without having to dig through all the past projects. Anyway, I like it! Everyone works differently of course!

Continued learning

Education these days can be massively expensive. What happens then when you have that degree and venture out into the workforce, but still want to keep on learning? It can be hard to justify spending the money if the classes won't in someway further your career (and as far as I know, modern philosophy rarely does). Yet look at it another way. Since you wouldn't be taking the classes to put a degree on a resume, you don't need to pay big money for a big name in education. Community colleges are amazingly inexpensive (in California, a 3 credit class can range between $60 and $80) and you'll still get a good overview of whatever topic you are interested in. Some community colleges even offer online classes so you can learn at your leisure.