Plants are my current obsession. Not being eaten by plants but eating only plants! Recently completed a certificate program in Plant Based Nutrition offered through Cornell University. It is entirely online and is an excellent series of courses put together by T. Colin Campbell PhD Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry. His book based on decades long research is called "The China Study". The New York Times has called it the "Grand Prix of Epidemiology.
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| Sydney by United flight attendant Robert Gallant |
the Academy Awards especially enamored of the the film "Up in the Air" since I have followed the progress of the movie before it was filmed. The lead character played by George Clooney is named Ryan Bingham. That Ryan is just a fictional character. The great coincidence is that a very real Ryan Bingham born in Hobbs was a very real Oscar winner that night. He wrote the song 'The Weary Kind' and won for best original song for the movie Crazy Heart. Ryan is a true and deserving artist that grew up with a lot of character building experiences which are reflected in his music.
Went last week to my 'One on One' at the Apple Store and had a discussion with my teacher about my favorite website. Ted.com Ted has a conference every year that I have so longed to attend but it's a bit costly and certainly the airline business doesn't pay enough for me to attend. One of the teacher's customers had just been to the conference and she told him about Bill Gate's talk. Both my teacher Josh and I agreed that although we both love Apple products, Bill Gates has set the world on fire. Anyway, at the TED conference, he actually let loose a jar of mosquitoes into the audience. He had showed a map of the countries where malaria is a major killer and they are all poor countries. He was just trying to even the score and naturally the mosquitoes were malaria-free! Too funny and such an example of guerrilla marketing. His foundation is fighting malaria and his talk is inspiring. I have mentioned him in an earlier post when he was a passenger on one of my flights. He is good buddies with Warren Buffet, another personal favorite of mine who has advised him in his philanthropy efforts. Gotta' love people trying to make a difference!
Now it may appear I'm on some sort of a shoe obsession but I don't usually notice shoes that much, unlike my pal Rebecca who claims that "Shoes make life more fun!" and has the shoes and experiences to prove it. That said, you can see that Rebecca must have influenced me because I seem to be taking more note of shoes these days! The shoes pictured here belong to a scientist that completely changed my image of the scientific community. I was commuting to work on a 6am flight. Didn't have to work until that night but flying space available, didn't want to chance a later flight. Had no makeup on and flat shoes and as luck would have it, got seated in first class next to the owner of these incredibly stylish shoes. This picture which I asked him to send me, does not do them justice. The gentleman, Chris Airrless; is a brilliant Phd and the head of CA Stem Cell . He is also a flight instructor, and bears a slight resemblance to the motivational guru, James Ray. (James, you could take some fashion advice from Mr. Stem Cell.) He was so charming and said he thought me a female counterpart to Sir Richard Branson. Obviously, the man can "talk the talk" as far as women goes and what I admired even more about him was the high regard with which he spoke of his wife. (Ladies, you knew a man like this would be married!) His wife is a blogger and I suspect might have influenced him in his clothing selection. His shirt also did not fit the culture, I have come to picture of your typical scientist. The potential in Stem cells provide hope to those with ALS, SMA and cardiovascular disease. To top it off, an article about his company was published that day on the front page of my hometown newspaper, The Orange County Register. My close friend, Allison and I were journalism students in high school and have that newspaper on a pedestal in our hearts.
One of my flying partner's from our heydays' at the long gone Hawaii Express sent me this photo which has been bouncing around the internet. The successful ditching of USAir's flight into the Hudson River made anyone who has ever been a part of the flight attendant profession so proud. While our job has it's share of mundane tasks, we all have the training and have proved ourselves in plenty of practice scenarios so we are ready to conduct an evacuation should the need arise during any takeoff or landing. Kudos to FA's Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent for directing a textbook perfect event and of course the expert piloting skills of Capt Sully and FO Jeff Skiles for making it possible for there to be an intact aircraft to get out of in the first place.
It seems the only airline stories one hears these days are those of miserable service and higher costs for everything. My personal experience contrasts with those tales of woe. At Legasy, I have pampered and been pampered with Fijian coconut oil skin treatments. Here's how you can live the high life! You need to bring from home: 1 small vial of coconut oil (up to 3 ounces are allowed as carry-on) , and 2 plastic bags (recycled from the grocery store). When offered an inflight beverage, ask for a packet of sugar and you are ready to begin.
