Fron Thursday Morning

I'm feeling a fair amount of grogginess this morning. I suppose i am burning the candle on both ends, staying up later than i might normally reading and trying to get up in time for me to settle my thoughts.

My presentation apparently went quite well yesterday. I'd watched a TED talk on Monday (http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks.html) that outlined a pattern for presentation of going back and forth between the state now and the future of the idea you are presenting. I did not spend enough prep time to be able to say i emulated that pattern, but it certainly encouraged me to have more energy in the narration.

That TED talk, by the way, has an extremely problematic ending, where she shows the photo of MLK giving his "I Have a Dream" speech. Her rhetorical analysis of the speech is useful (presented in a different video here, also with the problematic ending), and i understand how she's trying to persuade the listener to use a similar structure to present ideas to change the world. Her slide to help the listener visualize their opportunity to be just such a powerful presenter is to take that iconic image and cover King's face with a "your face here" graphic. I'm not sure why i find the image quite so repulsive: if it was an iconic JFK photo would i feel the same? If it was an image of Ghandi? Or is it the insensitivity of the privileged to the erasure of the contributions of the oppressed, and the different resonance this image will have for different groups of people?

(no subject)

I can't wait to be home!
I can't wait to be home!
I can't wait to be home!

I got in a more strenuous walk on the treadmill last night, and then *drumroll* New Director remembered to ask my lead engineer and i to join him and the crowd of Brits, Germans, and Dutch out to dinner. There were ten or twelve of us and i was the only presenting female. I think i had to prove something.so i chose to have whatever mysterious Indian dish New Director ordered for me "medium hot." It was QUITE. No harm, and i took a great deal of geeky ribbing for choosing python as a quick language to learn.

We ate at the Indian restaurant just up the strip mall from Thai Orchid: very good and very caring service.

Stopping by the cafeteria before leaving the Whale HQ, i made the mistake of grabbing a lovely Chef Salad Wrap from the cafeteria. Why mistake? Because i forgot that a Chef Salad likely included some sort of meat. I reflected on how different Christine and i can be: the honorable moral thing, to me, is to eat the sandwich, not wasting the life that went into providing it, while Christine would have turned it down. However, blech. I have apparently lost a palate that would appreciate such a meats.

I drove down the river road on my way to the airport, enjoying the old stone walls, the exposed limestone, and glimpses of the river and reservoir. I am unwinding in the restaurant just across from my gate, indulging in the wheat-y goodness of a tall beer after gin and tonics all week. I ordered fries, not because i needed them, but because it looked like the waitress could use a larger tip. I hope i can take them home.

By the way, Dear CMH Wi-fi, I think you are so slow this will be posted when i get home. Me