Just . . . life.

How Many Champions Can You Find?

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:45:38 -0700

It seemed worth taking another look at this picture after the American saber women’s sweep in Beijing this weekend. I’ve had this photo on my fencing page since I created this website, but I still haven’t been able to figure out exactly when and where it was taken. I’m guessing that it was a Cadet (16 & Under) event during the 1999-2000 season (and therefore probably Pittsburgh in November 1999), since the 1999 Nationals that July in Charlotte was Kate’s first national tournament, but I’m not positive about that. In any case, this turned out to be a pretty high-powered group.

From left to right:
Gold medalist:
Sada Jacobson—Well, we know how she turned out.
Silver:
Amelia Gaillard or Sarah Parker?—Amelia was a five-year member of the Junior WS national team and fenced saber and then foil for Ohio State; Sarah Parker fences for Stanford University.
Bronze:
Amy Macarrow—very strong saber fencer in Y14 and Cadets, but gave up fencing, eventually attended Scripps College.
Julia Gelman—daughter of US men’s saber coach Yury Gelman, competed internationally and for St John’s University in the NCAA.
5th Place:
Mariel Zagunis—Yeah, we know about her, too.
6th Place:
Unknown—Any ideas? I thought it might be Dominika Franciszkowicz, but she would only have been 9 or 10 at the time.
7th Place:
Kate Griffith—Solid fencer who quit due both to a chronic injury and to the fact that she truly didn’t care whether she won a bout or not, as long as she was having fun fencing—which drove her coach nuts!
8th Place:
Valerie Providenza—Another strong international fencer, attended Notre Dame and was the 2004 NCAA women’s saber champion.

Missing from this line-up, of course, is Becca Ward, who would still have been fencing Y10 and Y12 events. She’s had a pretty decent fencing career since, too.

I LOVE this map!

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:49:55 -0800

Back in August, when I spoke at the 2007 HSC Conference in Sacramento, the speakers’ booth, where my books were being sold, was opposite a booth from a company called MapLink, which, naturally, was showing a huge variety of maps.

I kept staring at one of them, not quite able to figure it out from a distance, and finally I went over to get a better look at what turned out to be the “World History Timeline: the rise and fall of nations,” produced by Oxford Cartographers.

I’ve had it on my wall above my desk for the past three months, and I’m still fascinated by it. It shows continents on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis, so you can see what was happening when in the world.

That big orange blob is the Roman Empire. The United States is a smallish purple blob down in the lower righthand corner, which looks larger than it should compared to the Roman Empire because as you move right—toward the present—the timeline stretches out, so that more recent times take up more space.

Even so, it rather puts American history in a somewhat larger perspective.

My kind of website

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:41:29 -0700

One of my favorite things about the Internet is that whenever I think of some project that I think would be great to exist, I can Google the idea and discover that someone’s already done it. Today, I didn’t even have to Google—via DailyKos comes Government Is Good, a perfect place to visit when political cynicism gets you down:

Why a website extolling the virtues of modern democratic government? Because for years conservative politicians and pundits have been disparaging and demonizing government and too little has been done to defend it. The idea that "government is bad" has been one of the overriding themes of the Republican Party; and it has pledged to reduce government programs to a minimum, except for a few areas like the military and national security. And whenever and wherever conservatives have been in power, they have tried to put their anti-government philosophy into practice by cutting taxes, neglecting social programs, and undermining environmental, consumer, and workplace regulations.
This online resource is a response to this political attack on government and an effort to set the record straight about this much-maligned institution. It will show that government is not a scourge on society; it is a valuable and positive force in the life of every American. Government is not the problem; it is actually the only solution to most of the pressing problems we face as a nation – from global warming to our growing health care crisis. If we want an America that is healthy, secure, well-educated, unpolluted, compassionate, prosperous, just, and free, we need a strong, active, and well-funded public sector.
The site was created by a politics professor at Mount Holyoke College and has lots of great stuff, including a quiz, a guide to rebutting right-wing arguments against government, and tons of resources.

Colbert (& Rally) update

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:09:25 -0700

Colbert’s definitely getting bigger, though the video still doesn’t do his (ever larger) paws justice. He’s quite well-behaved indoors, but happy to get silly when he’s given the chance. (Video below the fold.)

Rally, by the way, has reached Level 10 in his Guide Dog training, and is expected to graduate within a few weeks.

lunch pal

Thu, 6 Sep 2007 15:36:32 -0700

I went to lunch with my friends Jenniene and Lisa this week, along with Jenniene’s current (9th?!) Guide Dog puppy, Colbert (yes, pronounced as in Stephen Colbert) is 13 weeks old and was a big hit at the Panera where we ate--lots of oohs and ahs and people reaching out to pet him but suddenly realizing he’s working. He’s a bit strange as company for lunch—we’re all used to his predecessor, Rally, who’d take up every bit of space under the table we ate at, and Colbert’s practically petite in comparison—for now, anyway. (Rally, below, is currently in Phase #6 of his training in San Rafael.)

LEGO me

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:15:53 -0700

I couldn’t resist—I had to make a LEGO me. The hair’s not quite right, but it’s close enough. You can make one, too. it’s fun. Just click the “Read More” to see my LEGO self.

BB saves California

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:55:45 -0700

A couple of months ago, my mom gave us a nice big homemade fleece bone for BB, our 7-year-old Vizsla. Knowing how much BB delights in destroying stuffed toys, she used good, heavy fleece and worked extra hard to make the seams strong. She was convinced this toy would hold up far better than any mundane store-bought toy.

It lasted ten minutes.

BB did proudly carry the empty carcass around for a few days, though.

best aquarium ever

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:06:32 -0700

We held our 2nd Annual One Last Time to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Before Christie Leaves for Temple Excursion a couple of weeks ago. A trip to Monterey is just doable as a day trip, but it’s always worth the driving time. We get coastal weather—always a nice change from summertime baking in the Valley—and there’s nothing anywhere like standing in front of that kelp forest. You just can’t help swaying gently along with the kelp as you watch the leopard sharks scatter clouds of sardines and the garibaldis lurking within the fronds. (It doesn’t have nearly the impact of actually being there, but the Aquarium’s Kelp Cam gives a bit of the feel.)

Christie sent me a bunch of the pictures she took—she likes to use them as desktop photos on her laptop