There is nothing more satisfying that having the correct tools for the job!

Chimps!

A close friend of my mom's had an article in the Seattle Times today about her work in Cameroon. When she attended our wedding in July she had just returned from another six month stint in Africa.The full text can be found here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2003278517_nwtraveler01.html

Random Photos

Race for the Cure 2006

Today was the Orange County Race for the Cure. We joined an estimated 25,000 people in Newport Beach. For reasons on which I don't particularly care to elaborate on right now, I was not able to participate in the 5k coed run; however, my doctor didn't say anything about not walking the course. Chris completed the run and then joined me in the last mile of the walk. We had a fun time and it was for a great cause.

The Hats Have It.

I had the opportunity to tour a shampoo factory the other day and I got to wear these nifty little paper hats. Bailey tried one out when I got home.

Today was not my best day. Sometimes it seems like bad news/things conspire to all happen on the same day. Here's to wishing that tomorrow is better.

I'm thinking good thoughts for you and the madre, M.

Slightly obscene but also rather humorous

Why its nice to have a tall husband

You can always find him in a crowd.

Not much is happening right now so this will have to do...

Living in the Desert

I’ve come to the conclusion that most people living in southern California have forgotten that our area, prior to “borrowing” vast quantities of water from the Owen’s Valley and the Colorado River, is a semi-desert environment. I was stuck in LA traffic for four hours today so I had plenty of time to contemplate this puzzling regional misconception. Every single house on our block has miles of fresh green lawn. Most of our neighbors also choose to water their lawns around 2 pm in the afternoon when it’s a sweltering 90 degrees outside. It wouldn’t be so bad if we lived in the Pacific Northwest and weren’t required to expend vast amounts of water to keep the lawns looking so perfect. Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of grass. Visually, it’s rather boring. Think of all the fantastic flowers, trees and shrubs that you could plant in those areas instead. When I visited Arizona I saw some amazing desert gardens that were water friendly in addition to looking beautiful. I’ll be the first to admit that we use our back lawn everyday for playing with Bailey, setting up the pool and playing softball. But, this summer Chris chose to save water and let the lawn revert back to it’s natural summer state. Plus it saves on mowing. Yay for being earth-friendly!


J

Race for the Cure

Chris and I will be participating in the Orange County Race for the Cure on September 24. I decided very early in my athletic career that I was not designed to be a runner, preferring sports like crew and swimming; however, I'll be willing to make an exception in this case since it is for a good cause. We would be very grateful of any donations. Donations can be made here. Actually, I suppose I should be fair: Donations to me can be made here. Donations to Chris can be made here. We're participants in TEAM UBOC so it's a bit of a competition to see who can raise the most dinero. Thank you!!
Love, Chris and Sonja

Weddings on the East Coast

Bob and Cherie went down to Florida to celebrate Chris' cousin Kristina's wedding (Congratulations Kristina!!!). From all accounts they had a delightful time and they also had an opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing on the side.

 

Race Cars

We went to the Saleen factory in Irvine yesterday for a grand tour of the facility. It was kind of neat to see where Chris’ (and Greg’s) car was assembled. They had the new 2006 versions as well as some very cool older Fords.
The Saleen S-7; It's worth a cool 500,000 dollars. Hmmm, this is obviously not the car for me as I tend to acquire minor scratches and dings on the Subaru quite frequently. The paint shop. These cars are all carbon fiber.

The factory.

Art in the Park

We took a trip down to San Diego this weekend to visit Balboa Park and an Andy Warhol exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art. On display were screenprints of Marilyn, Chairmen Mao, and the well-known Campbell Soup prints. It was a fun trip. I wish that Orange County had a place a bit like Balboa Park which is composed of approximately 10 museums, the San Diego Zoo, and a delightful conservatory. It’s a great place to have a picnic or take the dog for a run.

The dog attacks again (or Snow in September)

I was just telling someone the other day that Bailey hasn't quite grown out of his puppy habits and here is another shining example. We originally acquired him from a lab rescue organization so his exact age is unknown but we're guessing that he's in the 3 to 4 year old range. We had four large bags of packing peanuts neatly packaged in the corner of the yard that were left-over from wedding present packaging. Chris was going to take them down to a special recycling facility since we didn't want to simply throw all the material away. Too bad Bailey got to them first. He must have gone on his chewing rampage early in the morning because by the time I got home the wind had nicely distributed the contents over the entire yard. It looked like it had snowed. What a mess. I guess that’s one way of letting us know that he needs more attention.

We had a bit of an interesting incident in the parking lot at work today. Evidently some undercover cops were following a known criminal who was suspected of driving around town with a loaded gun. They apprehended him, with guns drawn, directly outside of my office. We peeked out the door to find (literally) eight undercover police vehicles, a very surly man in handcuffs, and lots of curious bystanders.

The gentleman in handcuffs was very belligerent and was yelling at the police until one cop came along and promptly stuffed the man’s face into the ground. I’ll admit to being a bit sheltered; I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. It made me reflect a bit on police officers being accused of brutality. (This was no gentle tap; it was a slam-your-face-into-the-ground shove) The police were following this guy, knowing that he had a gun and that he was going to feel very strongly about going back to jail. The threat of violence and harm is definitely an adrenaline rush and I can understand how this can completely take over a person’s emotions and actions. But I wonder sometimes about the people that are drawn to the police force. Do people join the police force because they want to help and protect their fellow citizens? Do they care that much about people that they are willing to put their lives in danger every day? What about the fact police officers are more likely to abuse their spouses than your average American?

I don’t have an opinion either way; I will say that I know two people in the police force and both of them are genuinely very good, caring people who joined to protect the public. A very admirable action. And I was very thankful that today we had the police in our driveway instead of just a crazy felon with a loaded gun.

A Nice Way to Start the Day

This swallowtail butterfly was resting on our garage door. It must have been a bit cold because the camera was about two inches away and it didn't budge an inch. Hopefully it had enough sense to move when Chris opened the garage door later in the morning.

The Question of Animal Ethics

This has been an interesting week in animal related incidents for Chris and I. On Thursday we watched “Grizzly Man”, the story of Timothy Treadwell, who lived with grizzly bears in Alaska for 13 years. The documentary, much of the footage shot by Treadwell himself, clearly depicts Treadwell’s passion (obsession is probably a better word) and desire to save the grizzly bears. He names the bears, touches them, and talks to them constantly. Not surprisingly, he also was also killed by one of these bears in 2003. He and his girlfriend were found partially eaten at their campsite on the last day of their summer stay in the wild. While his devotion to the cause was admirable; I couldn’t help but come away from the film feeling that his crusade had done more harm than good. I came to mostly the same conclusion that the director did: while the bears were impressive animals, I simply couldn’t feel the connection that Treadwell so obviously did and I cringed every time he approached a bear, already knowing the eventual outcome. While these animals are certainly to be admired and studied, I think that I’ll do so from a distance.

And, of course, Steve Irwin died today after being stung by the barb on a stingray. Mr. Irwin, the self-styled “Crocodile Hunter”, was also obsessed with animals and shared some of the same characteristics as Mr. Treadwell. He constantly put himself in danger, talked to his animals, and, of course, was constantly touching (or wrestling) the animals.

I think that at some point you have to draw the line at acceptable behavior towards wild animals. Mr. Irwin was accused of disturbing animals in Antarctica while filming one of his documentaries and I was certainly disturbed watching Mr. Treadwell petting grizzly bears. Also, I think you have to consider your actions and the affect that they will have on the general welfare of the animals. But I don’t think it’s entirely fair to lump Mr. Irwin into the “animal crazy” category along with Mr. Treadwell. Mr. Irwin was especially noted as a conservationist and he had bought large tracks of land in Australia and New Guinea in an effort to provide a sanctuary to endangered species in addition to donating large sums of money to various causes. Of course, the ethical questions of zoos can also be brought into this discussion, but I think we’ll leave that one for another time.

It’s too bad that people that are especially passionate about animals are often killed by the very animals that they are trying to protect. The very occurrence of their death causes a lot of fear in the public and perhaps even adds to the notion that the dangerous animals should simply be exterminated rather than left alone. Of course, leaving wild animals alone these days is not a simple matter; incidents of mountain lion attacks in California have increased significantly as people encroach on land that was once their habitat.

Have fun in Hawai'i, y'all

Bailey stayed with my parents while we were on our honeymoon in Hawaii. Somehow I don't imagine that he was pining away from our lack of company. He spent his days chasing cats, learning how to swim, and embarking on adventures with some new pals. Sounds like an ideal life to me.