tahoe this weekend. woo hoo! i have to go home and pack still, but i'm not going skiing so i shouldn't have too much to bring. there are going to be something like 28 of us in one house. that'll be interesting for bathroom use... heh.

from bryan:


create your own visited states map

i've visited 50% of the states! i didn't include states like missouri, texas, and illinois, which i've been to airports in but never visited the states. however, the numbers are still somewhat misleading because it's not like i've seen extensive parts of ohio (columbus only), indiana (indianapolis only), louisiana (new orleans only), or tennessee (chattanooga only). oh well... but then, i've also been all over puerto rico, which isn't technically a state but it counts for me! this settles it, i need to travel more.

last night i actually got to take advantage of the benefits of working with very cool projects in this office. one of liz's recipients (coworker/teammate liz, not to be confused with camp/athletic trainer liz), chris beaver, produced a very cool movie about the history of the san joaquin river. it was quite depressing and enlightening at the same time, to see the way friant dam (and the owner, the bureau of reclamation) and irrigation efforts have destroyed the river. to replace water in the river (to irrigate central valley regions north of fresno where the river runs dry), the bureau of reclamation built a canal (the delta-mendota canal) south from the mouth of the river near the san francisco bay delta, all the way down to just north of firebaugh. the water then runs northward for a little while until it is yet again diverted for agricultural use. eventually, the merced river, the stanislaus river, and others flow down from the sierras into the san joaquin river basin to continue the flow to the bay, but large parts of the original river are now desolate. historical photographs and narrations tell of a half-mile wide and 15-foot deep san joaquin river that no longer exists.

last night's event premiered the film in all its glory at a bay institute-sponsored event at the aquarium of the bay on fisherman's wharf. it was a very successful event, with lots of partners present, food, wine, and of course being able to tour the aquarium and view the film. a bunch of people i know from the san francisco bay joint venture were in attendance, which is cool for me because i'm actually starting to know people when i go to events! i haven't gone to enough of them (like heather or claire) to know people well, but i'm working on it.