Veterans Day
Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul. ~Michel de Montaigne
This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis
Thank you Dad, and all the other veterans, for your service and your love of this country.
Well done Dad, Be Thou At Peace.
Moments and Boston
This blog is a week or two old, but it's been a busy few weeks, so here ya go:
Every few moments (and I define a moment as a small event, such as a new commercial on TV, a question from someone, or perhaps a memory triggered by something simple) yesterday, I felt lonely or sad. And I didn’t mind. In fact, I kept thinking about it, maybe trying to prolong the feelings, partly because I haven’t been feeling much lately, and I desperately wanted to feel. It’s like stopping to smell the roses, which I do sometimes even when I’m on a run. Being able to pause and relish in my feelings, whether they are happy or sad, is something I haven’t been doing much of the past few weeks.
On top of that, I didn’t really want to leave Boston last week. It was so great to see the whole gang, old and new, but it was such a brief trip, really. I know part of it was great because I was visiting and people are excited to have me there, which made me feel very loved. I never thought I would say this, but Boston felt homey, smaller, and even slightly more welcoming than LA (even though everyone says people in the Northeast are much more unfriendly and cold). I was reluctant and sad to leave. I mean, I love JPL and California, and I have a lot of great friends, but it, for probably a good reason, feels a tad lonely.
But I bet you want to know what I did in Boston. Well, Lucy’s birthday was the day I got in, so we went out dancing with everybody. We didn’t go to our old sketchy stand by; we went to the best dance club in Boston, so they tell me, and it was great. We need to do more of that in LA (which we actually did on Halloween, so yay us). The next day, I met up with 4 of my sorority sisters. I was in XOT (or Coyote), which was a small, local sorority, so I find it amazing that 5 of us were in Boston at the same time (me for work, Rebekah for an internship, and 3 for school). We had a fantastic historic day in the North End and on the Freedom Trail. I could even impress them with my history tidbits that I learned on a tour of the Freedom Trail when I started MIT. That evening was a chill night with Lucy, Marissa, Nareg, and Jess, and at that moment, it felt like I was back living in Boston. I also went to church, which is a great small community full of vibrance and warmth, had lunch with Danielle, helped teach a salsa class to the deaf community, danced with my old group (I miss that small community too!), hung out in the SSL, celebrated Jeff’s birthday, spent some time with V, and oh, worked too to recruit people for JPL! What a weekend. I can’t wait till Vegas guys!
Since when did California become about inequality?
Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted. I actually have about 5 blogs half-written, but none posted yet. I am going to work on that (perhaps today on the plane, as I head off to DC/Baltimore for the Society of Women Engineers conference). I should first say that I'm nervous and excited about Obama, but what a great day for America. Californians were also amazing in their support for farm animals. They chose to eliminate certain types of crates for veal and pigs as well as battery cages for chickens. That means the animals will be able to move and turn around their whole lives, which is NOT how they have lived so far! This is a great step toward reducing animal suffering (prior to when they are killed of course, but we don't have to go there now). This is a great step.
What I really wanted to write about (and now I'm almost out of time since I need to get to my flight) was how disappointed I am that 52% of the Californians that voted did so to ban same sex marriages. This is not just a law - it goes in the state constitution. I am even more disappointed, as a Christian, that other Christians chose to vote yes. We, as Christians and as Americans, are supposed to be about equality and separation of church and state, and this amendment that now looks like it is going to pass violates BOTH of those things. I am saddened for my state, the people of the state, and especially for my gay friends who deserve the right to marry.
