How Cool Is This? Apple Computer has unveiled its new iMac desktop computer design, which integrates all disk drives and processors into a flat display less than two inches thick.

Put Your Wallet Where Your Mouth Is (If You Want): Tonight at midnight, the Democratic Party will reach its critical August fundraising deadline. Every dollar you contribute today will be matched by a group of dedicated Democrats.

Awesome Camping Pictures: Thanks to the photo hound Peter, here are LOTS of pictures from our rainy, and VERY fun camping trip from last weekend. I recommend clicking the slide show in the upper right corner...it goes fast. Pay particular notice to picture around 60, of people climbing into the bunker. This is where (but not when) we went to during the monsoon. Enjoy!

A Perfect Game for My Brother: The Beer Game, created in MIT's Sloan School of Management, that asks MBA-types to simulate a beer supply chain. As Homer Simpson said, "Here's to alcohol: the source of, and answer to, all of life's problems."

Tooting Someone Else's Horn: (ohhh...sounds kinky!) From the Assoc Dean at Case Law School (sent to me by his proud wife), I am pleased to announce that Professor Chip xxx won the 1L Professor of the Year Award, selected by the class of 2006. Professor xxx's students expressed deep admiration for his "impressive teaching style," stressing that he made Civil Procedure "stimulating and entertaining through his articulate delivers and fine sense of humor." Students observed that he was "phenomenal at keeping our attention," and took "an extremely detailed subject and boil[ed] it down to simple concepts." One student summed it all up: "Case is lucky to have xxx." Yeah Chipo!

A Yale-y: I forgot to mention that Susan Hockfield, the new President, comes from serving as Provost of Yale. Sorry Dad.

New President for MIT: A redheaded WOMAN is the next President of MIT, as Pres. Vest steps down after 14 years. I have heard great things about Dr. Hockfield, in terms of her getting along well with students and really working on issues of diversity and women. Guess I know who I will be asking to be my featured speaker at my Women's Event this spring. Couldn't be better time for me to be planning an event for women alumnae...a women President of MIT, a women as the Exec VP of the Alumni Association, and a woman as the President of the Alumni Association Board for this year. Girl power!

Clearly something's wrong: When I took the quiz called "What Flavour Am I?", it said I am tea, which is desribed as I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain." I took it twice, with slightly different answers (once I saw you could chek more than one answer) and it still said tea...or maybe bread...which is also kind of a wall flower. What are you?

Age Old Problem: Also in the magazine section was a little antidote about the drama of speed dating. I only did it once, about a year ago, but I seem to have had an experience similar to the author. "Unfortunately, the two men I selected to meet again didn't pick me. And 12 men whom I didn't pick selected me. Now, that is an age-old problem I would love to see a solution for."

More News from Outer Space: Sunday's Boston Globe (which I didn't get around to reading until last night because of the camping trip) had another interesting and fun article about MIT's astronaut Mike Fincke. "If anybody says, 'Where did you grow up? 'I almost want to say, well, not Pittsburgh. That's my hometown, and I love it as such, but I really grew up at MIT."

Weekend Recap: On Friday night I went to the Lowell Spinners game with Emily. This was our 4th (and last) game of the season...and they finally won! I went camping on Lovell's Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands, with 9 friends during the MONSOON on Saturday night. We got soaked (funny stories available if interested) but had fun...much rain, climbing into old WWII bunkers for protection, tons of junk food, playing Uno (and other adult games), hiking, etc. Sunday was beautiful so we stayed on the island longer than initially planned so we could take advantage of the great weather. Sunday night I went out to dinner with a group of friends to celebrate someone being in town...went to Christopher's, one of my favorite places.

Anti-Bush Funny: (Not that there is anything funny about the President, Mr. Homeland Security who is undoubtedly reading my blog) Check this out!

News of the Weird: Hopefully no such occurrence will happen during our camping trip tomorrow...a bear drank 36 beers and passed out at a camp site! Guess it won't happen to us, cuz we won't have beer....but wait, if the bear doesn't pass out on our beer, what if it eats our food?!

Kim’s “We Gotta Catch Up” Friday Five: This is ridiculous how long its been since I wrote…Emily even had to do last week’s Friday Five while I was in Cleveland. So….in order to catch up with all of you (whoever you are) here is my special Friday Five.
-- What was the last trip you went on? I went to Cleveland from last Friday morning until Monday night. On Friday, I had lunch with my dad at That Place (formally That Place on Bellflower), met some of my dad’s colleagues who do alumni relations, met with an alumnus (yes, a little work on my vacation), and had dinner with Chip and Abby at Ooma. (I think that’s what it was called) I was so excited to see Abby’s very pregnant belly, and I am so looking forward to the arrival of their daughter! I stopped by Jeff Stear’s parents’ house on my way home, because he was in Cleveland from GERMANY for one one more night. Saturday I hung out with family (including my traditional grocery shopping with mom) and saw my aunt and cousin from Israel (one of the main reasons I went home last weekend). My mom had a nice picnic on Saturday night, and my grandmother, her “special friend”, three aunts, one uncle, one “special friend” of an aunt, and two cousins came over. Sunday I had brunch with Arin at Yours Truly, and hung out with family for the rest of the day. Monday I had a meeting with 3 alumni, had lunch with my brother (who had just gotten in town), aunt and cousin, watched Kevin and Karin play basketball for awhile (Karin is my cousin who plays for the Israeli national basketball team) and then went to the airport.
-- What was the last major purchase that you made? I bought myself an early birthday present when I was in Cleveland, a Fuji F410 digital camera. Love it! Look for pictures soon!
-- What was the last disappointment you “suffered”? I came into work on Tuesday (after finding a flat tire on my car…but that’s another story) to an email from my cousin’s friend, asking me if I wanted to join her and some friends at the sold out Prince concert that night. Because I was feeling broke, plus I had plans that evening, I told her that I regrettably would need to decline. Just as my friend who I had plans with that night came into my office to say “Are you insane!?!! You’ll find the money, and we’ll reschedule!,” I got an email from the woman saying the ticket was FREE! I grabbed the phone to call her and say I would love to come, but she had just given away the ticket! Dumb me! I ended up meeting them for dinner beforehand, but was majorly bummed that I passed up an AWESOME chance to go to the show!
-- What are your plans for this weekend? Tonight I am going to dinner and the Lowell Spinner with Emily. Tomorrow there are 10 of us going camping on one of the Boston Harbor Islands (where it appears that we will be soaked) Sunday night I am going out to dinner with a group of people because a friend who moved to Texas is in town for the weekend.

-- What is yor last "overcoming procrastination" success story? I fianlly have the painters at my house finishing the job they started about 4 months ago! Now if I can just get my act together to call an electrician to put in a new outlet in my bedroom...so there isn't an extention cord going across the room.

Groundbreaking Research Out of MIT: CNN reports, Linguist Amy Perfors of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology posted photos of men and women on the U.S. Web site "Hot or Not," which lets viewers rate pictures according to how attractive they find them. When she posted the same pictures with different names, she found that the attractiveness scores went up and down depending on the vowels. (Also a shout out to Mandy Dandy, who talks about the high-brow site Hot or Not in her standup comedy routine.)

"Happy Thoughts" Friday Five:
What is your favorite dessert? Either really good cheesecake, or coffee Oreo ice cream.
What is the best thing that happened to you this week? I got a double in softball, and just had a great time at our final game of the season.
What is the last thing that made you smile? The email my colleague sent me about women over 30 (see below)
When was the last time you cracked up laughing? Last night when I went out for drinks with some co-workers to celebrate someone's birthday...it was so great to laugh so hard.
Who would you most like to show up at your house unannounced tonight? Judi....but don't do it Jude, won't be home. I would love to have a women's night of conversation and laughter with someone who knows me so well.

More Women Power: Miss Emily already posted this article, but I thought one section was particularly fun. When Barbara Ehrenreich, guest op ed writer for the NY Times, published the answers to some of the questions she has been asked you wrote:
Q. 10. Why don't you make fun of any women? John Roark, Oberlin, Ohio
A. Hey, give me some more female CEO's, generals and presidents and I'll happily make fun of them!

Women Power: My colleague sent me this, which was just what I needed today...Andy Rooney says, "As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

• A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.
• If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And it's usually something more interesting.
• A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.
• Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.
• Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.
• A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women.
• Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.
• Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always know.
• A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women or drag queens. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
• Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Tawanda!

Good Motherly Advice: When asked to comment on how she reacted upon learning that her daughter had stuck out her tongue at cameras while campaigning, the first lady said "Her advice to her daughter? "Maybe you should work on your issues of impulsiveness or something," she recalled."

News of the Weird (and Unlikely): A man in England has killed his wife, as he fell from a ladder while pruning some bushes. He was holding a running chainsaw in his hands and fell on his wife and slit her throat. Yikes!

Bring Back the Old Mayor: Today's Globe reports that the mayor of Newburyport, MA "acknowledged conducting what she called an inappropriate relationship by electronic mail with a city gym teacher, the man her husband was charged with assaulting and threatening over the weekend." Prior to Mayor Clancy's time in office, Emily/Paul/Judi's frined Liz's sister was the mayor. Apparently the city may need her back!

Great Title, Scary Reality: I am really interested to ready Senator Robert Byrd's new book "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency" As he was quoted in today's Globe as saying "Byrd excoriates President Bush as callow, trivial, and arrogant, all hat and no cattle. The Senate let the people down, he said of the war vote. I was amazed. It hurt me to walk on that Senate floor, where the great stalwarts had lived and spoken -- Lister Hill, John Stennis, Everett Dirksen, Norris Cotton -- I could hear their echoes, and here we were, silent. No other senators were on the floor, just one in the chair, with this great question of war and peace confronting the people of the United States. I was so disappointed that men and women in the Senate would walk away from the Constitution and vote to shift the power to declare war. The framers put that responsibility in the hands of Congress. How they must have been whirling in their graves."

BBQ for AMY: On Saturday night (at the end of a 90 degree day) Phil hosted a bbq birthday party for Amy (not the same Amy that I went to the Vineyard with, although SHE is the open am talking to in the picture holding the baby) I spent a fair amount of the early evening on grill duty, which even though it was damn hot, was fun. Mmmm....Emily's kabobs and beer!

Backing Up a Bit in Time: On Sunday, I volunteered at the DNC. Too many stories to post here, but one of the "highlights" was when the anti-choice (pro-life) protesters came and surrounded the table I was staffing in Fanueil Hall. About 200 of them fell to the ground at the same time to "pretend" to be fetuses. Other volutneers went around to trace their bodies so there would be a record on the pavement of their protest. As you know, not only was I not intimidated, I was into it. Also, earlier in the day I got into a conflict with one of the leaders of a Lyndon LeRuche group. Ah, the fascinating political process.

Getaway from "Reality: Last Tuesday through Thursday I was on Martha's Vineyard with my friend Amy and her two adorable 13-month old twins. This is Andres and me hanging out on the beach. It was rainy for much of our time there, but we just shifted our expectations and loved the feeling of staying in our p.j's until 11:00, listening to the rain, talking about everything in life, and playing with the boys. We also toured the whole island (Amy was a great tour guide) and eat good food, including Mad Martha's ice cream. It was an amazing time!

My Favorite Ironman: Last week, my friend Jed (husband of my friend Lauren who I work with) finished his first Ironman! It is an absolutely awe inspiring accomplishment. His goal was to finishing under 13 hours, and as you can see, he finished in under 12! Just listening to Lauren tell me the stories brought huge tears to my eyes. Yeah Jed!

No More Noma: A moment of silence for our dearly departed (from Boston) Nomar Garciaparra..........

Let's Not Elect Bush Again in 2004: Am I the only one who finds it upsetting and oh-too-appropriate that Bush did not watch Kerry's acceptance speech? (Read it in Time, but can't find the article online right now) Suppose he was too busy playing golf or learning to pronounce nuclear.

Still Alive: Yes, I am still here...just a little delinquent on my blogging of late. But I am going to try to make it up to you all...including some photos. (I can only post those from home so I will have to do it tonight) I had a good weekend (albeit ridiculously hot) and am having a fine week thus far....