the end of the world

I wonder what (if?) 45 thinks of the future-- what air his children will breathe, and what food they'll eat. This sculpture is heartbreaking and powerful. Obviously,  I am disgusted with his and his cronies' lack of respect for our planet and the threat of climate change, his focus on "bringing coal jobs back" instead of supporting renewable energy sources, and his efforts to reverse the hard work Obama did to commit to limiting Americans' effects on environmental destruction (I mean, really, who needs the E.P.A. when you have such intelligent, moral people leading our country?). If you care about your children, your children's children, your land, your health, and this planet's future, I'd hope you feel the same way. "Happy" Earth day in April...

TryPOD

I am not sure when I got into Podcast-listening but I think it was about a year ago. I have always preferred reading to "auditory learning" and really have never gotten into the audiobook craze (I did, however, just listen to Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, which he himself narrates, and I will agree that it's worth a listen).  However, the requiring-shorter-attention-spans free podcasts, to which you can easily subscribe on your smartphone, are now part of my daily routine. Because many of the ones I listen to have recommended evangelizing this month to others to "TryPod," here's my plug.

I think I first started listening to "15-minute History" while walking Pepper in the mornings, which helped me hear and digest varied topics from renowned history experts in their academic fields.
I really enjoyed the first season of "Serial," which chronicles Adnan Syed's (unjust, in my opinon) murder investigation and trial.
When we moved houses last summer, I remember listening to a lot of "Stuff You Should Know" while packing boxes (this may be my favorite Podcast of all).
In the last year, I've become a huge fan of passing the time listening to (largely political) podcasts while walking the dog, driving, cooking, or cleaning. Below are some of my favorites.

- Stuff You Should Know-  Josh and Chuck tackle all kinds of topics, from "Racial Profiling" to "Puberty" ("Poop" was a really funny one!); their humor, chemistry, tangents, and obscure references makes this, I think, my most favorite (and very educational) Podcast. I assure you that you will learn a ton, and will not be disappointed my tuning in to this duo.
 - Freakonomics- Stephen Dubner tackles relevant (social, and other) economics principles and topics in an interesting and very understandable way.
- Ted Talks are short bursts on a variety of topics (like how to talk to people of a different political persuasion, why pediatric palliative care centers are much needed, and how to beat Hollywood sexism).

Due to the current political reality, I've started listening to and really enjoying the following political casts/commentary.
- Pod Save America - three former Obama White House employees talk politics, always keepin' it real and taking it to Trump & associates. They bring on really interesting political guests and provide some very humorous commentary in these crazy, dark times.
- NPR Politics is informative and objective
- Slate Gabfest is a pretty entertaining summary of the week's events.
- Left, Right, and Center provides political commentary with guests and viewpoints from across the political spectrum.
- With Friends Like These - Ana Marie Cox has some uncomfortable conversations with people unlike her, in various different ways.
-Amicus - Dahlia Lithwick comments on cases discussed by and workings of the U.S. Supreme Court (currently discussing Neil Gorsuch's confirmation hearing).

How do I have time for all of these podcasts, you may ask?
Well, I have a completely Lifeproof/waterproof phone case, and I even listen in the shower.
I also listen on 1.5x speed, which is actually perfect (when I listen at 1.0 speed, the voices sound sooooo sloooooooooooow).

I hope you will learn to love Podcasts as much as I do.
I'm open to suggestions of other ones I may like. I may have become a Podcast-a-holic.

More (extended) family time, sun, and tennis: as good as it gets

After their week in NorCal, my parents flew down with us to SoCal for some time with Kelvin's family (and some tennis).

They got a taste of little Saigon and more Asian (Korean) food at Shik Do Rak (and what the small task of "eating out" with a large family, including a toddler, is like).

 

My parents were very interested in visiting the Gene Autry Museum of the American West in L.A., so we headed there on Wednesday.  While as I've gotten older, I've found that my attention span is shorter than it used to be (and I have less patience for horrible traffic), the museum was worth a trip. I enjoyed the exhibits on immigrants in the expanding frontier, the environmental consequences of humans' activity on the northern California fish and waterways, and the entertainment section on the history of the TV Western.

The "singing cowboy," Autry.

I found the following quote to be particularly relevant:
 

"White men seem to have difficulty in realizing that people who live differently from themselves still might be traveling the upward and progressive road of life." - Chief Standing Bear, 1955

As their anniversary gift (from their 40th last year), Kelvin and I took my parents to the Indian Wells tennis tournament (the "Fifth Slam") for a couple of days.  This is the third year that K and I attended this very impressive and well-run tournament (if you recall, last year's two days of toddler-free tennis-watching was the highlight of my 2016).  Kelvin's parents graciously agreed to watch our munchkin for the second consecutive year, and it was again incredibly relaxing and enjoyable for a tennis aficionado like I am.  We enjoyed the time in the warm sun (retreating to the shaded lawn periodically or when it got intolerable), good food, frozen lemonades and margaritas, time to read/relax, and some great tennis/ sightings of tennis greats.

 

Here is Jack Sock, the top-seeded American, horsing around playing football on the lawn.

 

Here is him playing (and beating) the world No. 5, Kei Nishikori to get to the semifinals.

 

We watched the esteemed Martina Hingis (with her partner, Yung-Jan Chan, who ended up being the eventual tourney champions!) and the grand slam-winning doubles team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

We saw the legend, Martina Navratilova (and Hingis' namesake) giving an interview. 

Venus Williams, definitely one of my tennis idols and one of the classiest humans around, unfortunately lost to Vesnina.

I caught both the practice sessions and a great match by Wawrinka, one of my most favorite and one of the most clutch, "Big Match" players in the game.

  

He played an extremely high-quality (and close) night match with the nearly-as-hard-hitting and likely future champion Dominic Thiem, which was a huge treat to witness. I think watching the speed of shots of live tennis from the side (net) area is much more impressive than on TV!

 

 

We saw night matches between Kristina Mladenovic and Elena Vesnina and the hard-hitting Svetlana Kusnetsova/Karolina Pliskova.
 

Vesnina

Mladenovic

Pliskova

 Kusnetzova

 

Here is me sporting my new "RF" Federer Shirt and St. Patty's Day garland

  

Now THIS was the year I was pretty sure I'd see the "Greatest of All Time" and my tennis hero in action. Roger (who has been fortunately very injury-free over his long career) missed last year's tournament with his knee injury (requiring surgery and after which he took six months off). We were bummed, and looked forward to seeing the great champion this year. Roger miraculously trounced his rival and nemesis Rafael Nadal in the round of 16, and we were set to see him take on Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals on Friday; however, in the last hour, Kyrgios pulled out with probable food poisioning and alas, there was a walkover.  I'm not sure if I'll ever see this great in actual tennis action (unless we come back here some more years and the stars align so that the rounds, as well as his performance through them, all come together; I definitely will hope), but I was fortunate to see him in person, signing autographs. 

While I only got a blurry, poor quality cell phone photo, my sister-in-law, Katherine and brother-in-law, Eddie, had stood in line to get wristbands (of which there were a limited number) to get photos autographed (with which she surprised me later!!! So awesome!). I love this guy (and I love my family-in-law, too!).

Kat also got a ball signed!

While we were away, Iver had a great time with the family in Orange County. Auntie Theresa took him to Disneyland one afternoon.

 

 

 

Iver also spent time with Ba noi and ong noi at the mall.

 

There was cousin time with Kingston

Library

Counting

 

Building

 

Gardening

On our last night, we had a big family dinner at Kelvin's parents' house, and it was awesome to see the cousins play together.

Angel (4) and Iver were especially bonded

This was supposed to be a "Cheese!"

"Too many monkeys/kids jumping on the [air]bed!"

What a fun, relaxing mini-break! Now it's back to the cold, rain, and work...