spring break RG

aka the mensa event I attended this weekend... :-)

I had a good time, met some very interesting people. The speakers provided great insights into a wide variety of topics.

The sessions I attended were: crime scenes/forensics, Shakespeare's influence now, storytelling about life in Blue Ridge mountains, good and bad about humor, a short-story discussion of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Court Reporting, claimants/pretenders to the English throne, implications of Moore's Law (the computing power of any given dollar amount will double every 18 months). I also watched/played a couple games Sat. night, and watched two of the Mensa Bowls (team trivia games).

The session that really intrigues me was the Moore's Law one. I already went into the library system online and requested several books on the implications of that. It is expected that in about 12 years a $1000 laptop will have the power of a human brain. But we're not just talking better computers. It is expected that by about 2035, most people will have numerous implants and nanobots that will: keep them healthy, allow them to access information w/o being in front of a pc, communicate with computers/people no matter where they are, etc. Running that theory farther - will it be necessary for a person to become "enhanced" just to compete? just to be "normal"? Will humans become so dependent on computers that we will not be able to function on our own? Will these implants be used as big brother watchdogs? Will people just begin to all think alike? So many many questions in my head. If you're interested, this is the book recommended most by the speaker: http://www.garreau.com/main.cfm?action=book&id=2

apparently, I'm a roller coaster

lol, too funny, this is from http://www.blogthings.com/whatcarnivalrideareyouquiz/
Roller coasters are actually my fave rides. And honestly - this is how I see myself.

You Are a Roller Coaster

You live for excitement, adventure, and the most intense of thrills. Nothing is better than feeling you're truly alive, and you're willing to take risks to feel this way. In relationships, people often feel a bit nervous about what they're getting into... But generally, everyone enjoys the wild ride you take them on. Unless they stay with you too long - then they're apt to feel a bit nauseous! Your life has more low points and high points than most people's lives. But that's okay - you love them. You figure that a smooth ride is boring! Besides, you know that super high highs only come from knowing super low lows. You cherish every emotion you feel and feel it fully. Why deny what life is truly about? At your best, you are loving life and sharing your wild times with everyone you know. You are able to open your friends up to a whole new world of experiences. At your worst, you feel extremely disoriented and even a bit dizzy. There's only so much intensity a human (even you!) can take.

what up??

quick notes on this week in the life of marcia...

We're still talking about getting a new car for me. Honda Civic is still my top choice, but there are a few more I want to look at. I test drove a Civic EX and a Ford Escape. Neither dealership had a hybrid onsite - I really need to drive a hybrid, see if it'll have enuf juice for lead foot me. :-)

We've talked a bit more about our summer bike trip. The dates have changed a little due to work constraints. But no matter. It'll be so good to get away from work, home, all things "normal." Out on the road, with little to do but admire the scenery, life becomes more calm, laid back. Greg and I travel so well together that worries of everyday life just float away.

I went to a Brewers game Wed night with some work folks. Me and a few of the guys ended up finishing our beer after the game, then we stopped at a couple bars. I have no idea what time I got home. I was not feeling the best yesterday, lol, one of the guys didn't even come in! Guess that downing shots does that.

This weekend is a Mensa event that I'm totally looking forward to. It'll be the first event I'm going to also. It's a regional event, with an interesting variety of programs and activities. For example, tonight's activities include : 1) an officer talking about crime scenes and Forensics, 2) Shakespeare's influence in the 21st century, 3) storytelling about life in the Blue Ridge Mtns, complete with playing the bone, 4) the good/bad about humor and comedy, 5) games and 6) Mensa Bowl. I'm not sure what Mensa Bowl is, thinking it's trivia-based. Anyway, the event continues Sat and Sun with more interesting topics and events.

G will be away Sat/Sun - there are some bike club fundraisers near Wausau, and a large group of our biker friends make an annual trip of the weekend. I wish both events weren't this same weekend, cuz I'd enjoy this little trip as well.

And what may be the best news: I will be rolling off this client at the end of May / beginning of June. woohoo!! 3 years at one client doing account reconciliations (which I don't like to do anyway!) is way more than enuf torture. I will totally miss the folks here, they're a great group, fun, nice, etc. But I didn't join a consulting/contracting company to work at any one company long term. I need to move on, get a new challenge, use some of my potential.

150th post - woohoo!

My good friend Carrie recently posted that it was her 100th post. I guess I had never really thought about how many posts I had... but of course that made me curious, had to look. And I was just a couple posts short of 150. So now here I am. At 150 posts. hmmm.... that seems like a lot, doesn't it? But then, I did start blogging Sept 1 of 2005. wow, almost three years ago. I am in my 32nd month of blogging. lol So now that 150 posts doesn't seem like much, does it? That's averaging less than 5 posts per month. Ooh, now that sounds really bad! ;-) Guess I'll have to do a better job in the future of updating my avid readers about my fascinating life. bwahahahaha Ok, avid readers?! - I know of a couple people who occasionally check out my blog. And fascinating life?! - yeah, right, my life is just so dang interesting. bwahahahahaha Funny girl, I am.

Well, the big news right now is that G and I are planning our summer bike vacation. It's a little hard to do right now, since we don't know what's up with his client or mine. But we have some ideas... and fun ones they are...


And I guess the other big news (for me) is that I finally applied for (and was accepted) membership in Mensa. Here is an explanation from mensa.org:

What is Mensa?
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.

What are Mensa's goals?
Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.

Over the years I've thought about joining Mensa, but I just never quite got around to doing it. Recently I've been feeling like my brain is atrophying, with garbage on tv, me not taking classes or being in school, etc. So I decided to take the leap, join a new group all by myself. And I am SO EXCITED! woohoo!! Mensa has a lot of SIGs (special interest groups) ranging from sci-fi to shakespeare, politics to religion, knitting to motorcycling, etc. Some of the SIGs are online only, some are more face-to-face (ie card playing SIGs). So now I get to figure out which SIGs I'd like to join, what I'd like to learn more about, talk to folks about, share my own knowledge and experience about. There are local groups that have regular activities as well. And there are larger regional and even national events. So cool cool cool. More fun for Marcia.

she is me

woohoo!! I finished my album from CKU-Nashville. And I love it! It's so sweet. It was supposed to be "Share" as in Share your Laugh, Share your Love, Share your Humor, Share your Soul, etc. But I've made several albums about me as I currently am. I had lots of ideas as to what to do with my rockin' album, but decided to have it be about my childhood, since I had nothing like that yet. It morphed a little, so it extends from babyhood to right before marriage. I titled it "she is me" - thanks to my friend Amy who used that title on a layout - so perfect for this album. Apologies for the bad color on some of these pictures; I tried to fix them, but it's hard to make up for indoor nighttime shots with flourescent lighting. eekers!

what's up?

Just a quick (relatively speaking) note as to what's up these days:

1) a couple weeks ago we played open play volleyball on a Friday night - ended up playing at least 3.5 hours, almost continuously!

2) I broke down and bought an mp3 player. Well, actually it's a pmp (portable media player) - meaning it can play/display music, photos, video, podcasts, audiobooks. LOVE IT! :-) It's an iriver clix2 - sweet little thing with a big screen - just a little bigger than a credit card, looks like a mini tv. You don't see any controls, do ya? No little spinny thing. Nope, you just click on the sides next to the screen - so easy, so common sense - the arrows on the screen point to where you click. I bought it mostly for working out and doing activities that I'd like mobile music for. These pics make it look bigger than it is - it's really small!! They need to have a photo of it on the chunky arm of someone like me - show off its petite size! ;-)

3) Because I now have this fab pmp/mp3/whatever, I've been ripping all of my cd's to my hard drive, plus downloading some tunes. I'm almost done, which is quite a feat because I have TONS of cd's. But now comes the process of creating playlists, etc.

4) Work is getting me down. It's work. 'Nuf said.

5) We're starting to talk about bike trips. There are at least 5 that folks we know are going to do, and that we've been invited to join. Obviously we can't do them all! So we need to decide which one(s) sound best.

6) I'm thinking about getting a new car. It isn't necessary, the beige Grand Am is doing just fine. But it's been 7 years, the GA has almost 90,000 miles, and I've never really liked it anyway. lol PLUS, I'm thinking I need to start putting my money and my actions where my mouth is: if I get a new car it will be a Honda Civic Hybrid. I should come close to getting double my current gas mileage!! And with fuel prices continuing upward, with no end in sight, that will help annual fuel costs significantly. And I can feel good about reducing my fuel consumption and my emissions.

7) I decided to finish a scrapbook I started at CKU-Nashville. It is from my album track "Start Sharing" - and it is the sweetest album. But I decided to stray from the original theme. I know Margie Romney-Aslett (the instructor) would be enthused about it. She always says "it's your album, make it yours." So this album will be about me thru the years, from baby to marriage. I've had a ton of fun looking thru old photos to find some I want to use.

So, ok, there are the last couple weeks in a nutshell.