1. The Social Life – You know you’ve been in the Peace Corps for too long when you consider a week of drinking and partying with people in your community to be “productive.“
The real world is gonna kill me…
2. World’s #1 Dad – I saw a twelve-year-old girl walking around my village this morning in a shirt that said: “World’s #1 Dad.” While it’s not quite as good as the old woman who I sometimes see wearing the “Hip Hop Never Dies” shirt, it still gave me a pretty good laugh.
3. More Photos - Here are some more Indonesia pictures that I found on Facebook…
(For more pictures and a lengthy trip recap, check out my friend Nathan’s blog: (http://cambodiandays.wordpress.com/)
4. Cambodia News – A few interesting stories from VOA Cambodia news…
- “Little Cambodia” under development in Lowell, Massachusetts
- United States extends ban on Cambodian adoptions
- “Judges continue to use mobile phones in court”
5. Monsoon – I hate to bring up the weather two times in one week, but as miserable as the hot season is, there is nothing I enjoy more than when the Cambodian sky opens up…
(video taken from my hotel room in Phnom Penh)
6. Infinite Jest – For the last year I’ve had a copy of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest sitting on the table right next to my bed. On at least ten separate occasions I’ve picked it up and tried to get into it, but not once have I been able to make it past page fifty. I just can’t do it. It’s amazing to me that people love this book as much as they do.
7. Harry Potter 7p1- You would think that I would eventually grow out of my Harry Potter phase, but I just saw the 7th movie this week and I loved every minute of it. Can’t wait for part two.
8. Facts and Figures - Taken together, I think these three quotes go a long way towards explaining the current state of America…
A. U.S. multinational corporations employ one-fifth of the American work force, but they would apparently prefer to have the work done overseas: They cut their U.S. employment rosters by 2.9 million in the 2000s, while boosting overseas employment by 2.4 million jobs. That’s a big turnaround from the 1990s, when they added 4.4 million jobs at home and 2.7 millions jobs overseas
B. The site, 2011 Executive Paywatch, notes that total compensation for C.E.O.’s averaged $11.4 million in 2010, up 23 percent from the previous year, based on the most recent pay data for 299 major companies.
The Web site notes that the C.E.O.’s at those 299 companies received a combined total of $3.4 billion in pay in 2010, enough to support 102,325 jobs paying the median wage.
C. New data released by the IRS reveals that, over a period of 12 years, tax rates for the richest 400 Americans were effectively cut in half. In 1995, the richest 400 Americans paid, on average, 29.93% of their income in federal taxes. In 2007, the last year for which the IRS has released data, the richest 400 Americans paid just 16.63%.
9. Injustice - Check out this story from Rachel Maddow on Benton Harbor, Michigan…
So corrupt!
10. Pure Guts – Now I know 99.99% of the world doesn’t care about women’s professional running, but it’s worth reading what Weldon Johnson at LetsRun.com had to say about Desiree Davila’s Boston Marathon performance….
Time after time, just when it seemed Desiree might be dropped for good, she’d surge back to the lead. Finally right at the 2:20:00 mark, right before the women turned for home on Boylston street, it seemed the real kicking was beginning and Desiree was finally being dropped for good. She started sliding backwards into third, and no one would have blamed her for giving in to the pain and finishing third. We all know Americans don’t win the Boston Marathon – especially Americans who weren’t NCAA Champions and run for Brooks instead of Nike. Hell, Desiree never even scored a single point at NCAAs during her collegiate career when she produced a 5k best of only 16:17 – how could she possibly kick with the world’s best? But then Desiree did what we all dream of doing in such a situation, she dug even deeper. It was like she said to herself, “F*** this, this is MY chance. Who cares if I can’t go any faster, what do I have to lose?” Throwing logic and everything else out the window, she somehow sprinted by Cherop and then by Kilel. She was now leading the Boston Marathon with less than 800m to go.
However, Kilel herself responded to Davila’s move and soon was back in front. Now surely the race was over and Davila would get a very respectable second in Boston. Just seconds before she had been in third place falling away, had given it one final surge, and now was completely exhausted but at least in second. To get second was quite an accomplishment. But once again, Davila seemed to say, “This is MY Chance” and she dug even deeper. Next thing I knew, Davila was leading the Boston Marathon with less than 400 meters to go.
At this point, I imagine if you were watching Boston all across America, you spontaneously did what I and Alberto Salazar did – you stood and screamed at the TV/computer screen.
In the end, the record will say that the storybook victory did not occur for Davila, as Kilel had her own dreams of greatness and managed a way to dig deeper herself to get the win before collapsing after crossing the finish line. While Kilel was the champion, Desiree was the embodiment of the very best that the sport has to offer. There was no doubting Davila earned all of our respect. Most of us will never have the chance to win the Boston Marathon, but if somehow we were put in the situation, we hope we’d respond like Desiree. Twice defeated the final 800m, Desi easily could have given in, but she never wanted to be left wondering “What if …?” She may not have won the race, but she won our hearts and souls. There is nothing more American than the underdog believing against all odds that anything is possible.
The motto of this website is “Where Your Dreams Become Reality.” Some would say that Desiree’s dreams didn’t become reality on Monday, but I think they did.
And on that note… I’m going for a run.
Love Davila! The new hero in 5a. Talk about monsoons! The girl is amazing and a force to be reckoned with! Another Joanie B. in the making.
Hope you had a dog free run.
xo
Definitely takes a few hundred pages to grow into Infinite Jest, but if you can power through it’ll be worth your while. Hands down my favorite book ever.
You’re a better man than I am. I’ve already given up…
Couple random items:
1. The photographer who directed Restrepo, Tim Hetherington was killed in Libyia today. Think you liked that movie..
2. Boston appealling to get the 2:03 marathon certified as a world record.
3. Stock market at a 3 year high. Tech companies going strong.. OneNews on the horizon
4. NFL lockout still on-going, but going to do the draft so the new players get to experience that event.
5. NBA playoff started – only care about Knicks losing with Melo. He put up 42 points last night, but still fell to the Celtics. Celtics up 2-0.
6. Baseball season 16 games in.. Rox and Yanks in 1st place. doesn’t get any better than that.. Second half of the season awaits you..
Super sad news about Tim Hetherington. Restrepo was amazing – you should see it if you haven’t already.
And I’m rooting hard for the Knicks. I care about them way more than I do the Yanks right now.
Thanks for the update!
To make some sense of David Foster Wallace, read the Jonathan Franzen piece in The New Yorker (4/18) “Farther Away: Robinson Crusoe, David Foster Wallace, and the island of solitude.” Not sure it will make you want to attempt
“Infinite Jest” one more time, but it might make you want to read “Robinson Crusoe.” And more Franzen.
xo
from “‘Three Cups of Tea,’ Spilled” by Nicholas D. Kristof
“The furor over Greg’s work breaks my heart. And the greatest loss will be felt not by those of us whose hero is discredited, nor even by Greg himself, but by countless children in Afghanistan who now won’t get an education after all. But let’s not forget that even if all the allegations turn out to be true, Greg has still built more schools and transformed more children’s lives than you or I ever will.”
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