The Woman Inside the Man

That's the title of a class listed in the Granite Peaks community education Spring 2010 catalog. Here's the course description:

"Every man has a Y, or feminine, chromosome. That Y chromosome is called balance. The real man confidently shows his feminine side. Our instructor shows you that this is a power and not a weakness. Focus is on men. Use real information to find the strength that is hidden inside you. Discover the secrets of this power and in the end, the freedom that comes with it."

Yay for men and women showing whatever side of their personalities they feel like! But to me, this description is A) Hilarious and B) More Hilarious, when the poor guy's "real information" is completely wrong. Ah, well. It added laughter to my day.

Here I sit, on a Sunday afternoon, waiting. I got called in to the lab to work up an organ donor, which involves two 4-6 hour chunks of actual work separated by sometimes interminable sitting around.

Most of all y'all imaginary people reading my blog know that I'm a medical labby by day, but you may not know that I moonlight as a potential grad student in world history. My non-matriculated stay at the University of Utah may turn into a new degree or career, or just entertain me for a bit. The difficult thing is that while learning is one of the most delightful things I know of, learning because someone is telling you to is less fun, and studying is worse.

Waiting for my eyes and attention is a 400 page tome on Madeira wine: its creation, shipment, consumption, and influence on American trade and taste. Yesterday, I read a good chunk while sitting on my lawn in warm sunshine and cool breezes, pretending it was spring. Lovely. I enjoy learning the small moments in history, the personal stories, the humor and perspective to be found. Less charming to me are the minutiae of, for example, the evolution of wine glasses and decanters. But I will be strong, fight onward, and skim the boring parts. Have a good day, y'all.

Film Festival Joy

For my inaugural post, I give you my report on the Banff Outdoor Film Festival world tour. Awesome! You should go next year! Short films on extreme rock climbing, rafting through Africa, and saving birdies in the Arctic. My two favorites were one about a British guy who rode a tandem bike from Alaska to Argentina, and all the people he picked up on the way to help him pedal, and one about another Brit who became one of only 6 women in history to row solo across the Atlantic. She had cameras on through the whole thing--broken oars, broken satellite phone, and all.

I have mixed feelings about the fact that since humans no longer have to fight for survival, we make up dangerous things to do and then learn from them. But it really was inspirational to see a person face physical exhaustion, frustration, and complete solitude on the wide, wide sea and continue to trust herself and use her emotional and physical resources to finish the course.

Plus, I won a drawing for a really cool wool and polar fleece Outdoor Research beanie. Swag on top of pondering the tenuous relationship of humans and nature? Yeah, baby.

Check it out:
http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=021010-1
http://www.chestnutmtnproductions.com/banff/banffhome.htm
http://rozsavage.com/