Today I attended a presentation by an Ashoka fellow, Trevor Dudley, who started The Kids League in Uganda. His innovative approach that started by educating the children of Uganda on HIV prevention through sports has made major impacts to the children living there. Not only have the children learned about HIV, but the program has also taught values of personal wellness, education and literacy. Furthermore, it has brought together children that were separated from families and society by guerilla warfare. Much of Uganda's strife in the 70's was apparent in the movie The Last King of Scottland
The following video shows the Ugandan Kids League star team as they meet the famous FC Barcelona soccer club:
Recently in Life Category
I attended a talk today with Losang Rabgey, co-founder of Machik, where she discussed many of her experiences in starting a sustainable primary school in rural Tibet. Losang is a Tibetan refugee who was born in India and raised in Canada. She has recently been recognized as an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic.
Moreover, the talk today really left an impression on me as to what great work Ashoka is doing and how they stimulate change. The idea is all about empowering the individual (the one in one million) to bring about change. More recently they have expanded on this ideology to allow everyone in the world to participate in these changes. I highly encourage everyone to look into the competitions at www.changemakers.net where YOU can provide input on how to solve some of the world's major social problems.
In the past 10 months I believe I have cooked a total of two meals for myself with the exception of grilling out in the summer. Having some time at home over the holidays has given me an opportunity to get back to a little cooking.
My most recent creation is baked mahi mahi over couscous with green beans. What little ingenuity I have was used to create the marinade for the fish: balsamic vinaigrette, fresh parsley, and some other assorted spices.
I have finally found the headphones I've decided on buying. The Shure E4c sound isolating earphones will hopefully be my next step towards not losing my hearing. Currently when traveling, my headphones are so poor that I have to crank the volume in order to hear Bill say "Excellent" to Ted. It's a real bummer.
BTW: I did not pay the retail price for these, so don't think I'm Mr. Money-bags all of a sudden.
I've been busy. I've been lazy. I continue to forget that I have a website. Temporarily I will remember my blogging roots and post a bit about what's going on in my life...
First, I work too much. This is becoming more of a constant reality than it really should, but I continue to drag along at near 70-80 hour work weeks. This, I feel, is a very good excuse for not posting anything, but moreover I am just lazy.
This weekend I did take some time to finally upload some old party pics that I've been meaning to get to for some time. The photos are from a roll-off party for a colleague. It was my favorite type of party, because it was free. Photos can be found here.
Anyway, I'll try to keep posting to the site... Wish me luck!
In an attempt to inflict pain and torture into my mundane life, I have decided to run a 195 mile relay race across Colorado. I will be running the Wild West Relay ("Get Your Ass Over the Pass") with 11 other coworkers in August. Each of the 12 runners will have three legs to run averaging 6 miles long. The catch is the elevation of the course is between 5,000 and 10,000 feet which I'm sure will fill my lungs with needles.
I have created a team site for the race that may look surprisingly familiar to another site you may be looking at right now (www.acnwildwestrelay.net).
So... it has been quite a long time since I've updated this website thing. The funny thing is that I don't have an excuse at all for my lack of updates. I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on even though it isn't much...
Of course, I made it back to Cedar Falls, IA for Christmas and celebrated with the family. I also made it to what has become an annual evening of drinks and food with old high school friends the day before Christmas Eve (a good time). It is always interesting to hear what old friends are up to or married to. Although Cedar Falls was fun, I didn't choose to stay there for New Year's Eve, but instead hit the town in Minneapolis.
Even after the holidays, my vacation did not end. I fought through a blizzard with a member of my ski posse, Mystery Steve, to Iowa City to visit some friends. We left Iowa bound for the snow capped peaks of Steamboat Springs, CO. Four wonderful days followed of perfect skiing in perfect conditions (a minimum of 8 inches of fresh white each day).
Since returning from skiing, I have been leading a training course for a few new employees to my company. That will finish up at the end of this week, and then it is off to San Francisco to start my next project.
Every month the project I was on in England would have a big social event that was put on a chosen country. For the month of July, the United States of America won this honor. Being the red blooded American that I am, I decided that I'd help out with some of the event!
Little did I know that helping out would lead me to be dress up like a cheerleader with two other guys and shout anti-Bush cheers. Someday I may actually remember what the cheers were, but until then you will only have this picture to attempt to experience the performance we put on.
At last I made it back to the U.S. and was able to partake in the traditional Thanksgiving back in Cedar Falls, IA this past weekend. Along with eating a bunch of turkey, I was able to be with my family and see some high school friends that I have not seen in almost a year or more.
Now that I'm back home, I have some time to catch up posting some things that I didn't have a chance to before. First, I have posted more pictures from my trip to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Leeds with Megan K, Megan O and Abbie.
For the past 9 months I have been working and living in Leeds, England and for the past 4 months I have been waiting to return home to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Well, good news for me and unfortunate news for everyone living in America... I'm coming home!
That's right; I will be returning home and staying there starting Thanksgiving weekend (24 Nov). Although I have been awaiting this return for some time, my time in the Europe has provided me with a number of opportunities...
I have visited York three times, Edinburgh twice, London, north Whales, Birmingham, Prague, Barcelona twice, Amsterdam twice, Paris, Nice, Munich, and Rome. As well as cities visited, I have had the chance to drink like a European, cruise the English countryside, drive on the wrong side of the rode, play football (soccer), learn about cricket and rugby, go skiing and rock climbing, and above all meet many great people.
I would just like to tell everyone I have came to know through my work and travels that is has been a pleasure and to keep in touch.
I thought I'd add a little info about my work life and how long I will be in this foreign country...
During the week, work is about all I have time to do. The days are averaging at about 12 hours a working day. Of course that is an average, so it isn't uncommon to work a 14 hour day. The size of our team has doubled in the past couple weeks, so hopefully as people catch on, I won't need to work so much. I still have my weekends though, and I hope to make it to more hot European destinations such as Venice and Nice.
I will be returning to the U.S. once again in August (13th - 16th) for an extended weekend visit. I will try to extend this long weekend to a full week as work permits (thank you flexible tickets!). The end of my time here in the U.K. has not been determined. It is definite that I will be staffed here until the end of October, but I am estimating it may be closer to Christmas before I get to come back to the U.S. for good.
Another week has passed in the city of Leeds and only one new thing was discovered: student night at Bar-Risa. As a former student with a valid student ID (thank you ISU for not putting expiry dates on your cards), I was welcomed in along with my friends. The club was completely packed, and it was a great last night in Europe for my Australian colleague.
However, this week I expect to be much more exciting. A couple of friends are coming to visit, and we will be going to Amsterdam, York and Edinburgh. While I work the next week, they will also be visiting London. It will be great to have some quality Iowa friends to experience with me what Europe has to offer.
My four month stay in the English frontier has been extended by an additional two months. I have been extended on the project until the end of August, though I have yet to decide if I am happy about the extention. I just don't want any more extentions.
I made my way with a few friends to the St. Paul Winter Carnival to see the 2004 Ice Palace. The oversized igloo was quite the attraction for the wannabe Eskimos of Minnesota; the line was at least a half mile long to get in and that doesn't include the line to buy tickets. Needless to say the bar sounded like a much better/warmer idea, and we made our way there instead.
The Ice Palace in all its glory...
Proud wannabe Eskimos marveling in the grandeur of the massive igloo...
A cleverly told joke whips up a riot of laughter...
Today I said goodbye to a dear part of me, my teeth (and not figuratively). My wisdom teeth left me today in a more painful way than expected. All my remaining pillars of knowledge (one was removed previously) were said to be easily removed, but instead, they completely refused to be withdrawn. The oral surgeon used some convincing drilling to finally coax the calcium deposits from my mouth. Consequentially, I will look forward to a diet of soup, pudding, and ice cream and a vicodin induced haze for the next few days.
The New Year is upon us, and I welcomed it with a series of fireworks, bars, and drinks. To preemptively respond to an incorrect assumption, the pictures posted for "New Years 2003" are pictures from the last New Years Eve and not this one. Luckily no pictures or this New Years were captured to futher incriminate me as a drunken bafoon (or at least I don't think there were any).
On a somewhat different topic, a Charles Archer of the Independent provides a list of predictions for techology in the coming year. One in particular I would like to comment on is the use of USB flash/thumb drives will become more prevelant, and software will be written to boot an entire OS from such a device. In fact, there are already OS's capable of doing this: Linux and Menuetos OS are just a couple.
An end to a long week and a long project has finally been reached. Last week, during the go-live days of my project, I was very ill. I do not believe my temperature fell below 100 degrees from Monday until Thursday, with a recorded maximum of 102.4 degrees. Needless to say, I didn't feel too well, but I finished up my project anyway.
Wrapping up the end of the project is a nice segue to my holiday vacation; during which I will be traveling to see friends and family in Iowa. If I do not get a chance to meet up with you, I wish everyone a happy holidays. My postings will remain sparse for the next couple of weeks as my Internet connectivity will undoubtedly will be limited.
-Happy Holidays!
IT IS SNOWING!! It is unbelievable; snow is falling in Minnesota. Though it may come to many people's suprise, these crazy white flakes may come from the sky throughout the winter. I plan to make use of the frosty hills by skiing, snowboarding, and sledding all winter long; the later of which I did tonight, much to my own enjoyment.
So really no news here. I have been keeping on keeping on. I have been caught up in the monotony of working life, so I have been without anything interesting to post about. I may have to post some interesting readings or nerdy computer stuff just to keep this site active.
The Thanksgiving weekend is drawing to an end, and I hope everyone's holiday was at least as good a mine. I braved a winter storm Wednesday night to make my way to the homestead of Cedar Falls, IA. That same night and Friday night were spent at the wonderful bars of downtown CF where I had a chance to see some friends and enjoy the comforts of my hometown.
Thanksgiving Day was spent with my family. We had the traditional turkey dinner and lounged around the rest of the day. During our relaxing period, we browsed through the old photo albums. I was reminded of just how cool I was when I was little and contemplated what must have went wrong as I grew up. Any suggestions will be accepted, but possibly ignored.
Another year has passed in the life of your's truely, and I am enjoying it in a relatively relaxed spirit. The pace of work has slowed once again to the fourty hour work week enjoyed by union workers and not so common to developers in the heath care field (I feel ya Steve). My project appears as though it will continue well into the next year, and all I can hope is that I'm not stuck working through the holiday season.
My birthday weekend was shared by my roommate and a good friend. We managed to make it out to the bar on Friday night a little late, and this seemed to anger a guy that none of us have ever met before. He proposed death in a less than friendly manner to our group as though it was to be expected. I believe his threat was based mainly on Jack Daniels and was about as serious as such. At least I thought it was funny.
Anyway... with some of the newly found time I have not working, I am thinking of making a few updates to this site. Of course this time may also be used for watching tv; so don't expect anything soon.
Well, another week has passed, more bars have been visited and new friends have been found, yet I continue to compose this message on the floor. Slowly the creation of what could be considered a furnished apartment is occurring. As of now, the furniture tally is at a couch, a chair, a TV and a bed. Soon I hope to have the bed replaced, a new dinning table, and a new desk.
Attempting to furnish the apartment has resulted in some trips to the local stores with my new roommate, Clint. One such store was Linens and Things; a home store frequented by decorative women and very fashionable men. Our presence was met by whispered questions and subversive pointing, as other patrons were incorrectly assuming the relationship between my roommate and me. At no other time I have ever been treated in such a cheerful way by females. I guess discrimination is not all bad.
A much needed break is coming this weekend, and I plan on enjoying every minute of it. As of Wednesday, I had completely moved to my new place in downtown Minneapolis. That is, all my stuff is moved, but no furniture has been purchased yet.
The new location provides a great commute time now, though the means of transportation have changed. Currently, I enjoy a brisk morning and evening walks through the streets of downtown, but as the weather turns cold my walk will undoubtedly find its way into the maze of skyways.
It's complete ...well almost. The fresh new look of HappyCynic is partially in affect. In between trips to work and the bar, I will attempt to finish this design (or maybe come up with a new one) so everyone may enjoy some eye candy in contrast to my ugly mug.
I believe I have found a place to live. It is a two bedroom condo that I will share with the owner. Of course the pad comes with all the required ammenities: dishwasher, pool, tennis courts, and a gym. Plus, it is downtown Minneapolis. Cross one street to the river and another street to the skyway.
Since I found such a great deal on the condo, I have been looking at rewarding myself with a new toy. This should take care of all my music,video and picture needs. I just hope I don't lose it like everything else.
