Exams, presentations, oh my!
Why am I just visting these: Tin Tin and Etsy?

Because it's more fun being an elf than an accountant.

Cranky Laughter

Katie: I'm a nice person.

Andy: Yes.

Katie: But I am not always sunshiney... like a sunflower with that obnoxious center part. I'm more like a petunia or a dogwood flower.

Andy: What are those like?

Katie: More subtle. And moody sometimes.

Andy: Yes.

Katie: (Pause) But I'm super nice all of the time.

Andy: (Quiet with dubious look)

Katie: C'mon!

Gift Wrapping

As I scramble to order the last book for the semester, this note came up on the Amazon check out:

We're sorry. This item can't be gift-wrapped or sent with a gift note.
The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in (Conscientious Commerce) - Bob Willard
$13.26 - Quantity: 1 - In Stock
Condition: New
Sold by: healthy-eating


This item can't be gift wrapped.

Booze and Turkey

Here's a forum post I wrote for my economics class. It is about statistics, drinking while pregnant, and myths by the National Turkey Federation. Enjoy!

Because I haven't used statistics much in my professional life, I found a website called STATS that is based out of George Mason University. It is devoted to checking out numbers thrown around in the media and using statistics and science to explain current events or trends. There are many articles on this site, and there's a great tab called "STATS Simplified" that explains how examples of tools like percentages and margin of error are sometimes misrepresented; here are two examples of articles which use statistical analysis:

In Light to Moderate Drinking During Pregnancy, Rebecca Goldin explains why the US Surgeon General recommends abstaining from all alcohol during pregnancy while the Department of Health in the UK and many OB-GYNs say that light to moderate drinking (three to six small glasses of beer or wine a week is considered moderate) is okay during pregnancy. While it is known that drinking heavily during pregnancy causes problems such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Goldin references studies that show light drinking has no ill effect on babies. So why the stringent recommendation? It comes down to statistics and reporting!

One reason is that "light" or "moderate" has not been defined the same way by all researchers or by the women. "If a study is meant to examine the effects of consuming two drinks a day, but it includes some women who actually consumed five drinks per day, the statistics will be skewed" (Goldin); conversely, if women who have only one drink a week were lumped into the study, then the statistics would be slanted the other way.

Additionally, because the women in the studies are told about the health risks of drinking heavily during pregnancy, they might underreport what they are really drinking or convince themselves that they are sticking to a moderate level. Interestingly, at the end of the article, Goldin references a study by Willford, Leech, and Day (Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2006) which compares IQ levels of 10 year-olds whose mothers drank moderately verses those who abstained from all alcohol in the first and second trimesters. There was a small shift in African-American children whose mothers drank moderately, but no "statistically significant" change in Caucasian children; for mothers who drank lightly, there were no changes in anyone.

Goldin uses standards of statistical reporting to caution against making sweeping conclusions about genetic differences from this study. She references social and cultural effects that were not mentioned in the study; for example the interviewers were Caucasian, which might have affected the African-American mothers’ reporting. Additionally, she suggested that the researchers should have reported estimates for the Caucasian children's IQ results, even if not significant, because could hint at a trend.

Finally, Goldin mentions, "And because they were doing a “racially stratified” analysis, they should have reported the number of black vs. the number of whites in the study; statistical significance depends on these numbers, and the significance for blacks and not whites could be an indicator that there simply weren't enough whites to make the same conclusions as they did for blacks." At the end of the article, Goldin says women shouldn't just "have a hay-day" but should just relax, whether they have a drink or not.

A lighter article referenced on the website is about how numbers can be misinterpreted:

In a Claims of Thanksgiving Excess Fueled by Feast of Fuzzy Data in The Wall Street Journal, Carl Bialik uses logic to sort through the statistics that are often thrown around by the media and special interest groups about Thanksgiving.

The first set of numbers, generated by a market research firm called IBISWorld USA and the National Turkey Federation, estimated that about 46-47 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving Day and another 22 million are usually eaten on Christmas Day.

The "USDA says 23% of the 270 million turkeys processed in the U.S. last year" (Bialik, A20) were slaughtered from October to December. If the research is right, that would mean almost all of the 68.3 million turkeys eaten in that quarter would be eaten on those two days alone; if this were true, people's "turkey consumption on other days in October and November would have been about half the daily average the rest of the year” (p.A20). He states that these numbers are exaggerated because of an assumption that all turkeys bought in November must be for Thanksgiving and all those in December must be for Christmas.

Bialik also debunks the myth that Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days to travel in the year. He writes, "In fact, no day last November figured in the top 220 out of the 366 days in 2008, based on the number of flights reported by airlines to the Department of Transportation" (p.A20). However, it does have one claim to fame: "busiest plumbing period. The day after Thanksgiving typically brings 6,200 jobs for Roto-Rooter plumbers. That is more than any other day, and about 50% higher than the typical Friday volume, according to spokesman Paul Abrams" (A20).


Resources:

STATS at George Mason University. http://stats.org/index.htm



Bialik, C. (2009, November 20). Claims of Thanksgiving Excess Fueled by Feast of Fuzzy Data. The Wall Street Journal, A20. Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125910575363163091.html



Goldin, R. (December 12, 2007). Light to Moderate Drinking During Pregnancy. STATS at George Mason University. Retrieved from: http://alcoholnews.org/ALCO_pregnancy.html

Good Thoughts

When our screen froze during the climax of the movie because of a scratched DVD, we didn't want to skip to the next frame. Ben said, "When this happens, just don't think about it. Think about something else... like teddy bears!"

350 PPM

There was a big movement to get people from around the world to stand up for getting CO2 back down to 350 ppm... the safe upper limit for amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Right now we are at 390ppm. Trouble.

Here's a link for Presidio Graduate School photo at Fort Mason:

I'm not in the photo, but these are some of my classmates. Here's a link for the website with photos from around the world and more information about 350 ppm that is easy to read. Check it out.

Procrastination

So I have a lot to do. So I have looked at people's photos on facebook for a little bit. I feel like I'm clenching my jaw. Here are a few beautiful photos from the last week. Ben reading TinTin while lounging on Daisy (aka Pig). He told me that he hoards the TinTin books at school library by hiding them behind the Hardy Boys until he can check them out.This is the Ferry Building. It has farmer's markets with really great pastries. I passed by it on my Saturday residency day.

This is the inside of a street car I took. When a fellow rider asked if she'd tell him where to get off, the driver lady snapped, "I told you I would! If I tell you now, I'll just have to tell you again because you'll forget!"

I met a dentist who was talking about driving his big truck all around and trying to kill the environment. The conversation continued with a couple of stories about dentists killing their spouses. After I listened for a while, I said, "Wow, dentists seem crazy."
He said, "Don't worry, I'm not about to kill anyone."
I said, "No, you're just killing us all slowly with your emissions."

Maybe I'll get extra credit in school for that one.

For my sister.

Sarah asked me to send an update of life via a blog post.
Here are highlights:

Busy month of work.

Returned from San Francisco last week-- highlights include a Saturday hike to a Bavarian Social Club (see the beer stein photo... the hiking photo after was to get to the beer). Classes are great and exciting.

Went apple picking with Andy and the boys on Saturday. More photos to come.

Limited time to blog or see friends....
Here are photos:











This is my campus at Fort Mason (see the Golden Gate in the background?). They are moving it to downtown, though, and we students are sad.

Reflected Best

Some have written lovely notes about my positive traits for a class that I am taking. It feels a little bit decadent to ask for them. It reminds me of when a friend would pass along good things she heard about me in exchange for good things I heard about her. Delicious.

It makes me a little bit uncomfortable and at the same time flattered to read these memories. I've had to close emails to come back to them...

Now, I'm off to San Francisco to see my new friends. Andy teases that I like Alessia (the 12 year old) the best because I came home with stories that had a lot of, "And then, Alessia..." She is sassy and has an old soul.

Ode to Accounting

Strophe (pronounced /ˈstroʊfiː/; Greek στροφή, turn, bend, twist, see also phrase) is a concept in versification which properly means a turn, as from one foot to another, or from one side of a chorus to the other.

Oh, Net Income why do you take me from the east to the west? I've subtracted the dividends declared and dispersed to those stockholders. And now I just want to know your number. Now the school system is in maintenance mode and I can't even log on.
I just want to look at Pottery Barn catalogues and dream up a house on Cape Cod. I want to bake cookies and write letters to my friends. I want to go for runs and drink beer at 4pm. I want to read poetry and think, "Ooh, isn't that interesting."

Antistrophe (Greek: ἀντιστροφή, "a turning back") is the portion of an ode sung by the chorus in its returning movement from west to east, in response to the strophe, which was sung from east to west.

I guess I could read my text book or write another one of those papers... I guess I could go back east and do what I need to...

Epode, in verse, is the third part of an ode, which followed the strophe and the antistrophe, and completed the movement.

At a certain point in time the choirs, which had previously chanted to right of the altar or stage, and then to left of it, combined and sang in unison, or permitted the coryphaeus to sing for them all, while standing in the centre.

Out to the text books I go. A beer and a run after work is done.

Thursday the 17th

As we've read on Writer's Almanac.

It's William Carlos Williams birthday today. Here are his words:

It is difficult
to get the news from poems,
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.

We were asked to respond to Peter Drucker's quote that said organizations and enterprises have the ability to enable ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I wrote about the need for extraordinary people to create these organizations; of course one needs collaboration to make things happen, but groups also need a burst of individual energy. I wonder what other people think. Here is my post:


My friend, Doc, was appointed to represent the Outward Bound School in a Florida Coalition meeting. This group, mostly consisting of politicians, environmentalists, and activists joined to discuss how to protect the Florida Everglades, especially as the sugar industry was polluting Lake Okeechobee. As the first day of the meeting went on, no one seemed to listen to Doc; they seemed to discount his opinion because of their perception of Outward Bound and of him as an instructor.

Before the panel discussion on the second day, Doc slipped into the conference center and wrote the same question on each participant’s notepad. It read, “Are you creating the future that you want to see or just reacting to the sugar industry?”

When the panel discussion started, one panel member huffed into the microphone, “Who wrote this?” No one responded. He continued, “I just want to address this right now. I am not just reacting, I’m creating the future!”

Someone from the audience asked, “Well, how are you creating an image of the future instead of just reacting?” And with that reaction, with that question, the conversation shifted.

Although I agree with Peter Drucker that when the working well, “Organizations and enterprises enable ordinary people to do extraordinary things,” I’d also like to challenge it. Sometimes, I think that it takes extraordinary people to shake up, create, or re-create the extraordinary organizations and enterprises by finding creative ways to ask big and difficult questions or shift conversations.

Additionally, the world needs the spark of visionaries such as the physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer, who helped start Partners in Health, which is working to fight tuberculosis and other health issues in the poorest nations in the world. It needs innovators to lead the way and create new technology or ways of thinking.

Conversely, if someone is focused on being the extraordinary person, then organizations run the risk of falling into what Maurice Evans identified as “process loss” in his forum post. Feeding status or personal goals instead of feeding the direction of the organization creates a stagnant or even failing organization.

There was another paragraph about Presidio, but that seems less relevant to the subject. Here is a link for a 15 minute Parker Palmer interview. If you go to the second section, the link that says, "The Divided Life and the Quest for True Self" is the free excerpt. It was a nice reminder about making a single mission that everything else (work, relationships, spirituality) feed into.

San Francisco Photos

My first residency went well. Ben sent "business buddy," a replica of Connor, with me so that I wouldn't be lonely. He also sent a framed photo of himself. Here's my suitcase:


The Isolani family has taken me in. We had a dinner party one night. Here are some photos:




I sure had a wholesome time in San Francisco and Berkeley. Here's a photo of the girls reading Archie comics.
Here are some of my classmates outside on a break. That's Alcatraz in the distance.

Now, I've been busy studying and adjusting to a completely new life. I hope to post at least once a week.

San Francisco Choo Choo

I guess it's the Chattanooga Choo Choo, but I'm in San Francisco now. (Actually, Berkeley at this moment.)

After a morning of riding in the casual carpool, the MUNI train, a bus and a bit of walking, I arrived at class just on time.

Tired now, so here are highlights:

Accounting for 8 hours.  Beautiful Fort Mason. A clear view of Alcatraz from our classroom.

Clear, blunt, professor. Slow talker, especially with new concepts or questions.  She would describe herself as a "blunt numbers person who wanted to do better for people and the planet."  The bluntness was great, especially when she was describing why a debit and credit T have "dr" and "cr" at the top of each column as, "Because some idiot came up with it that way." I laughed at that one. 

A few times in class, she teared up and had a quivering voice when talking about her kids.  She became very emotional when also talking about the pollution, poverty, human rights issues, destruction of the environment and the future.  Here are some notes that I took: 

This was the end of class with no crying:

Current Ratio= Current assets/current liabilities

assets 202,000/liabilities 94,000=2.15

Acid Test Ratio= (cash+ accounts receivable)/current liabilities

$99,000/$94,000=1.05

Order of doing work

Income Statement

Owner's Equity

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow

And then she gave a presentation on her  PhD dissertation on 

Good Corporate Citizenship. We didn't have to take notes, but I wanted to track her tears:

Teary when talking about family and the future about children and plants, etc

Talk about numbers and pull it together.  Tired of talking only about bottom line focus.

Social accounting and auditing

Triple bottom line focus

people, planet, profits

leads to sustainability

Teary again, voice quivering, when talking about destruction

food supply, wildlife, climate change, pollution

Back to research

Interesting. Then back to Berkeley where I'm staying with a family who has adopted me for my visits. On the way, I had a view of a man with unusually long and silky hair walking up Marin  (Tasha--the mom-- said her niece always admires it).

Then there was a little bit of baby Luca crying and then not crying when Alessia-- the 7th grader-- got out her violin and played several classical pieces, an Appalachian type song that Andy taught her, and then "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  Baby likes that one.  Tasha's niece, who was over the house, said, "I know that song. It's from Pirates of the Caribbean."  Arianna said, "No, it's from the Wizard of Oz."

Took pictures of Alessia, Tsede and her baby Luca.  Looked at their pictures from a recent trip to Mallorca. Watched a youtube video of a man channeling a message for us humans. Tasha's mom said she doesn't believe it... but she has other beliefs that are too many to share on a blog.

For now, sleep, sweet sleep in this basement lovely basement. Off for Economics tomorrow. All shall be well.

Running all over the place

In addition to working some TAASC trips this summer, Andy and I went on a running vacation to Saint Thomas and California. It wasn't really meant to be a running vacation, but we ran in both places. Here's my salty hair after one of our morning runs at Megan's Bay in St. Thomas.

Andy's friend, Tasha, used to run at Megan's Bay when she lived in St. Thomas. It was one of the few places on the island in which people can run and not think a taxi or safari bus would run them over. So we woke up early to avoid the heat and the parking fees, ran, and then swam in the bay before cruise ship tourists.

This one was actually after a run in St. John in which I could have cursed a whole lot more. It was a trail that matched the steepness of the Shut-In trail but with the heat of a Caribbean island. It didn't have as much elevation gain and loss (or as many miles) as our usual runs, but it was HOT and the elevation gain was all in the first little bit.

Here's a Garmin map. I usually hate that watch that records time, calories burnt, average pace (and usually I hate it for the average pace), but it can gain points if it can help me show you this map. Andy recorded it as "f&(*&* hot and steep but great beach at Honeymoon!" The first words are mine and the second ones belong to my always-the-optimist-dearest-one.

It WAS a beautiful and nearly empty beach, though. One of the other people at the beach was one of the many folks from New Jersey in the US Virgin Islands. I like to call him Murray. He was probably in his 60s and pretty hairy. He promptly asked (with thick NJ accent), "So you run here? How far did ya run?"

I told him that it was just a couple of miles on the trail from town over Margaret's Hill (more like Margaret's Hell... although the views were heavenly) and that we were going to run back to town after a swim. He then told me that, "Yeah, I ran over two mountains from one side of St. John to the otha, but pulled somethin' and have ta take a rest day. Ya run at home? Any marathons or anythin'?"

I told him that we live in the mountains and run mostly on trails. I told him I ran the Boston Marathon a few years ago, but just as a bandit. He said he ran New York back in the '80s. Twice. Not ta brag or anything... Anyhow, I mentioned that although I'm living in North Carolina that I'm from New Jersey. He said, "Oh yeah? Me too." (Duh.)

He's from Middlesex County, though, and I told him Bergen was my stomping grounds. He told me that he was married at the Fiesta on Route 17 in Paramas. Now this is what it looks like now, but he was married 30 years ago. The last time I saw the place, it was all dressed up in gaudy reds and yellows. Like a McDonalds mustard and ketchup on fire. I usually don't talk to people like Andy does (I don't like to have to even sit next to them on airplanes or subways), but Murray really could chat. I was glad when I could run in the crystal water and swim. We ran back, took the picture above, and had a wonderful lunch.

We then went to Marin where it was cold and clear. See the Golden Gate Bridge behind Andy? We brought the camera after I interrupted our run to use a public toilet. Nice toilet, but no soap. California must have real budget issues if it can't even have soap in public bathrooms. This photo below shows a little hamming up for the camera.



Legs and shadows.

This one showed my stellar form. Look at those arms. Look at the Golden Gate... Runs in Tilden and then, back to our Asheville land. It's good to see our mountains again. Maybe I'll get to run in Tilden for the next two years?

BACK

Okay, this is a pathetic summer for blog posting. I know that no one is probably even reading this right now. Photos and news to come.

June 29th.

I'm back from 10 days in the woods with teenagers.

TAASC JR.

 Ben designed this trip for us:

He said he'd map out our best routes for us.

Snapshots of a Week Past

Paddling in big water.

Two portages around big technical rapids. One portage in a lightning storm.

Poison Ivy.

Sleeping on jagged rocks.

Wasa crackers.

Hot Chocolate.

Evacuation for busted stitches. Poor little paddler.

Rain.

Middle of the night tent moving; "How high's the water mama? Three feet high and rising. How high's the water mama? Four feet high and rising..."

Steering canoes.  Ah sleep.

Back to comfort.

Atlanta.

Andrew Bird concert.  Amazing. Theatrical.

Breakfast with Meghan at this place.

Water lilies and Monet at the High Museum.   And Richard Misrach.  (Mom, this is the exhibition that I told Dad about...).

Great food. Wonderful company. Runs. Pool. Gin and tonics. Wine. Ahh. Now back out there for 10 days.

Image

Event: Carolina Day School's "moving up" ceremony

Scene: 9:30am.  A bunch of little bankers singing in subdued voices and speaking about falling down and others helping them up... awards, preppy parents, weaving from one grade up to the next.  CDS gymnasium.

While sitting on bleachers, we looked down to see a dad pushing a stroller with a two year old strapped in and screaming to be let out. The mom was pushing another stroller which had a cup holder the pushing handle.  Inside the cup holder was a fresh can of Red Bull.  Ah, the morning.

Like a hedgehog

When I was overwhelmed and teary,  little Ben came upstairs and told us that his favorite animal was a echidna.  He said he'd find images on Google for us to check them out.

I felt better right away.

Final Image

After a flailing, ducking, crouching, sprinting, invasive-species spreading game of hide-and-go-seek-tag at the Mills Ridge campsite, we called in the kids for the night.

They asked to play two songs on Ari's iPod. We said sure.  The older kids told the younger ones, "Turn off your headlamps," and we sat on logs and huddled around little speakers.

The first pick was their obvious "Eye of the Tiger" which seems to be the latest theme on these trips.  The second one was "Stairway to Heaven."  We all sat in silence as the song weaved through the slow parts to the fast parts, and, when it was over, they all got up and silently walked to their tents.

All my bags are packed...

Godspeed, as a word, is a wish for a prosperous journey, success, and good fortune (from Middle English God speed you, meaning "May God help you prosper").

For Deb

I have been slow to post.   

This week has been full of Outward Bound work;  a conference about offering diverse activities to middle school students;  a children's health fair at Martin Luther King Park (Deb, I wanted you and your people to visit us there, but didn't have your phone number); an ice cream social/awards ceremony for taasc;  being an emotional shooting star;  and getting ready for the trip that starts tomorrow.  I am tired, but we have four hours on the bus to get pumped up to paddle and portage.

These sound like excuses, but I am to please.  So this week's for you, Deb.

I've scheduled a couple of entries to post throughout the week. They aren't my best Passover writing, but hey, they offer a distraction from every day blah blahs.  Keep checking and I'll be back for real on Sunday night.

Godspeed... to me.

Sunbathing and Sleepwalking

There's Lyssie showing a little leg. We've been having a lovely, chilly (cheery) time.

Here's a little conversation we had this morning as I was a little foggy.

Lys: Katie, you're doing okay for the morning.

Me: What?

Lys: I mean, for how you are in the morning. A little grumpy sometimes?

Me: I'm being grumpy? Are you being sarcastic?

Lys: No, at least I didn't mean to be sarcastic... maybe you are grumpy?

Me: Oh, no, I mean, I don't feel grumpy. I thought you were saying I was acting grumpy.

We talk things out over here. I don't even know if this is an accurate account of the conversation.

now

Alyssa is here.

I am happy.

For Blondish

Here are some more from that Craggy weekend. You should get a little puppy.

Time to Move On

I realized that going to grad school might be a good idea when:

1. Theresa told me not to over-think it
2. I saw another Outward Bound job announcement advertising a full-time job to replace my 10 hours a week. Shit, I could apply, but wouldn't want it.

Congratulations to Me

My sister is now Dr. Sarah Dunn, but you'd never know it from these classy photos of me in her gown and floppy cap. The one on the right I like to call, "Oh, YEAH."

I guess the name on the diploma proves it...

And this photo with us.



And this one with these other people.

Yippie to my sister.

Thanks, Sass, for all the medical advice to come.

Craggy and Misty.

Connor, Daisy, and Spot found this turtle.

They call Daisy, the black one, "pig nose."

Ben's feet don't touch the ground. We enjoyed hot chocolate at the top of a misty Craggy Garden hike.

Pictures of Sass's graduation to come...

Plagerism?

Beth, Greg and I were brainstorming baby names for Beth's new niece. I suggested one.

Greg: Oh no, that was the name of our crazy student in Colorado. She tried to plagiarize the Bible.

Me (laughing): What?

Greg: Yeah, she got up in front of the class with her "poem." She started out reading, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want..." and all the kids looked around at each other saying, "I think I've heard this before.."

She said, "No you didn't! I just wrote it!"

Now, if it were like our little kids they might have been like, "Oh, okay." But these were 9th graders. She kept insisting that she just wrote that poem.

We had to say, "Please sit down."

Tinker Beauty

It's Annie Dillard's Birthday today.

Here's an excerpt from the first part of A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:

Mountains are giant, restful, absorbent. You can heave your spirit into a mountain and the mountain will keep it, folded, and not throw it back as some creeks will. The creeks are the world with all its stimulus and beauty; I live there. But the mountains are home.

My favorite book.

Surprise

When I returned from my weekend TAASC trip, Ben threw me a surprise party to celebrate getting into grad school. It was complete with

• red, white, and blue confetti
• presents (a little flashlight, some socks, a running shirt)
• party games (atomic jumper, find Benson...) mostly involving jumping over couch pillows
• party refreshments.

He asked Asa to cut up fruit and made cocktails (orange juice and water in cups that matched the umbrellas and straws).

He pointed out that he's a good party planner. I was tired, but never had a surprise party before so stayed alert for all the party games.

I like how he served our refreshments on a Lincoln Log can.

Look at my tired eyes and sweaty outfit.

Quick Update

I got into Presidio School of Management on Friday.

Overheard

Right now in Atlanta Bread Company.
Pink faced man in his 40s on cell phone: "Tell her to put on some f*ing pajamas!"

Devil's Cellar and Bonfire

Everyone wants to sit next to Connor... even when he wakes us up at 6.

My weekend office.