Indoor Skydiving

Last weekend we celebrated Scott's birthday by going indoor skydiving. There's a place in Union City called "iFly" that has a vertical windtunnel. The tube is approximately 40 feet high, and the wind clocks in at 110 mph for beginners (though they can turn it up much higher than that!). We each flew for 2 1-minute rotations. It was so much fun, we can't wait to go again! Our flying debut video was overlaid with music by Scott and is posted in four parts on YouTube. Part I is below, while the other three parts are here, here, and here. If you watch the last part you'll see them turn up the wind speed so's our instructor could show off some moves. The promotional video on the iFly website is also pretty nifty.

Christmas 2007

This year we were able to stay in Berkeley while family came to us! Marc, my mom, and her husband Don flew out from the east coast for a few days of the northern california experience. The first day they were here we visited aunt Tomi and her family. After a few glasses of Jim's homemade eucalyptus-laced wine (so good!), mum's tarot cards came flying out for readings. We then swung by Genentech, where I had to model my science gear with Scott's help. The day before Christmas we had breakfast with Paula and her two cute kids, who occupied themselves with building fortresses our of sugar cubes and then watching them dissolve in water. A natural affinity for chemistry, those two. We saw a good deal in San Francisco that day: starting with the charismatic sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf, we meandered over to the Mechanical Museum (full of vintage coin-operated carnival machines), went up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower, then Haight Ashbury, ending at the Beach Chalet restaurant for dinner.

On Christmas day we had fun walking about the neighborhood. We made the short drive to Albany bulb, which used to be a landfill but is now a waterfront dog park dotted with intriguing garbage sculptures (like the wooden man pictured below). For dinner we made ginger flank steak with sake-glazed vegetables, and a yummy double chocolate torte. Sad to say, I think it was the first time I've ever cooked dinner for my mother!

The pictures below are a mix of my favorites from what Marc and Mum sent me. Marc has more pictures posted on Flickr.

An unfortunate juxtaposition of ads

From CNN.com: A picture of the burned boy from Iraq undergoing reconstructive face surgery... below the ad for an apparently miraculous skin care-product. Real needs versus perceived needs.