Inaugural "No pants day" in San Diego

It was started in NYC almost 10 years ago by an improvisation group.

And by 2010, it has become a world-wide event. San Diego had its first event this year, today. The idea is to ride the subway wearing no pants and act like everything is normal. "Agents" were instructed to meet at a park by near the convention center trolley ride. We were broken up into teams and given routes to start with, but as the idea is for us to act like we are not connected, we could break up and go our own way. We all took our pants off at the first trolley station, in front of the news cameras (who interviewed the hottest ladies and the guy in the suit.)

We were given instructions to be courteous to authorities, who were extremely nice to us (except the security guards near the art museum). My "cell" of 7 people went around town a few times, one of the highlights was when we got to the fancy shopping center - Fashion Valley- and some teenagers asked us completely sarcastically if it "was, like, national don't wear pants day or something". She asked the guy in the business suit why he wasn't wearing pants... he said they were at the dry cleaner. A few older people shook their heads, and a few younger people were trying to figure it out... "it must be hard to put pants on for some people..." One of the last guys I saw before leaving the trolley was a guy who looked at me and the gals I was chatting with got a big smile and nodded his head, like he'd been given a gift of seeing women in their underwear. One woman said she accidentally sad down (pantsless) next to a nun. Another woman (who was in her 20's wearing leopard print panties and high heels) was given a phone number by a random male trolley car rider.
I told a few people who asked I had taken my pants off because I was hot from running. I'm the furthest thing from an actor and it was terrifically hard not to tell people what was going on when they asked, not to talk to the others who were not wearing pants, and not to take pictures. I can do better next year.

Here's a link to a news clip from the NYC festivities today. I'll post updates when the SD people get their blogs, youtube postings (first one live now), and news reports online.And link to the founding organizations site where you can read about the 44 cities who participated today. I've heard about some of their hijinks on This American Life. New link of photos here and here. 

Inspiration sneaking in

The iron man triathlon. Swimming, biking, and running a marathon all in one day, in less than 17 hours. An awesome accomplishment for any athlete brave and committed enough to accept the challenge, train for the event, and get out there and do it on raceday. It's not something I have ever considered or had much experience with until a few weeks ago.
An acquaintance introduced me to a group called Insulindependence, which is geared toward encouraging and supporting people with diabetes to explore, exercise, and have adventures. The folks at the Ironman were with the Triabetes part of the organization, a group of athletes with diabetes who do triathalons. So I went down to AZ in November to help out. What an amazing experience.
Activities started with the premiere of a documentary (link to trailer) that followed Triabetes athletes training for and competing in the 2008 Wisconsin Ironman. Between that, the artsy short film Extension (link to video), and the kids with diabetes who spoke about their experiences, it was a very heart warming event.
But watching the athletes on raceday was downright incredible. Starting with the swim just after sunrise in the bitter cold, followed by at least 4 hours of cycling (often much more), then running a marathon which ended as it got dark and cold again. What a triumph for the athletes to keep going and finish the event! And beyond just keeping forward movement, the athletes on the Triabetes team all had to monitor their blood sugar, food consumption, and give themselves insulin. The athletes had been mentoring triabuddies (children with diabetes) who were in town for the event with their families to cheer on their heroes.
Watching them exercise for up to 17 hours made me decide to step up my running a bit and stretch from the 1/2 marathons I do at least once a year and try a full marathon. So in 2010 I will move to the 26.2 mile club. The Insulindependence organization's logo has 3 words: inspire, educate, explore. Well, they definitely succeeded in inspiring and educating me when I spent a weekend with the amazing people who are part of the organization.

Culture sneaking in

I had two awesome arts experiences in the last month or so...
The first was something I'd been looking forward to for a few years, listening to David Sedaris speak. His stories are funny in print, but listening to him and watching him tell them in real time, unedited, with giggling and audience interaction was tremendously fun and exciting. The theater was sold out - a recently remodeled theater in the heart of downtown that I had never noticed in my 3 years here. Copley Hall, nestled right in with Horton Plaza. Might need to take the theater tour one of these days.
And the second art experience was a suggestion from my sister, who wanted to go to the SF MOMA over thanksgiving holiday. While I'm generally not one for modern art, this was the last weekend of the Richard Avedon exhibit, which was well a trip to the city. He's known for portaits and did fashion shoots in the 50s and 60s which got him off the ground. One of the most moving rooms was filled with larger than lifesize portraits of people taken in the late 80's and early 90's who were regular people in the US West. Several carneys, an oil worker, a drifter, a twelve-year old. They all have thier mouths closed and are serious. I wanted to breathe for them. Lift their burden somehow. The fashion models looked perfect of course, but a lot of the impact of the portraits is the honesty and faults (wrinkles, sun spots, exhaustion) present in the subjects' faces.
I'm probably not ready for that much honesty, but will attempt a few minutes of seriousness when taking holiday photos this weekend.

Trolley dances 2009

This has been going on for years, but I just found it (thanks to my Opera star friend who's expanding my horizons). The idea is you take the San Diego metro trolley to a station, watch a dance performance, get on the train, go to another station, watch a dance, etc.
And it was fun! Especially fun for someone who's not into dance because the music, theme, choreographer for each of the pieces is different. Between the six I saw, there was be something for everyone. Heck, I liked four of them and I'm not a dance afficionado. (link to San Diego dance company)
They also do something similar in San Francisco which is this coming weekend (oct 17-18, 2009) - Check it out! (link).

San Diego Film Festival

I'm amazed how many people I talk to who don't know there's a film festival in San Diego. I've lived here less than 4 years and attended twice - enjoyed myself fully both times. Last time I saw a lot of the short films and a fun thriller. This time the highlights happened to be the films that brought their famous stars.
William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet was a film documenting a ballet that was created in response to "Has Been" an album created by William Shatner and Ben Folds. Not only did I fall in love with the music and enjoy the story of creating the dance, but am so much more endeared to Mr. Shatner. He's a total goofball who manages to be somberly serious while making you laugh. So glad to have seen him speak.
The other star was James Van der Beek who starred in a movie about the historic struggles of Taiwan, Forsoma Betrayed. He acted well but the story stole the show. Based loosely on true events, it told of a US professor who was murdered and an FBI agent who goes to Taiwan to investigate. I was captivated, and gosh I appreciate the freedom we have her in the US. Wow.
So next September, if you like movies, check out the SDFF (san diego film festival).

Hiking in the heat for stripes

Last weekend I walked from 7:45 am 1:30 pm with only about a 30 minute break, my drive between hiking and the wild animal park. Hot and exhausting but I had good conversations, burned a lot of calories, and... got to see the tigers cubs!

Arts community events

So I had a busy May arts-wise, but missed my goal of hitting a community event in June (unless I get out in the next 3 hours... unlikely). In May I went with a friend to the San Diego Opera's production of Madama Butterfly. Opera is not something I would have been drawn to, but a friend offered me a gift ticket, so time to expand horizons. There was a pre-show lecture that was interesting and informative given my complete lack of knowledge about music. The professor spoke about themes, recurring melodies that represent ideas, like knives. The production was lovely, but next time I'm going to pick a show with grander sets and costuming. And I couldn't help being annoyed at the male lead character who is a caricature of arrogant, heartless American. Now the people watching was extraordinary, from floor-length gowns to funky clothes. Even a cougar represented, wearing bedazzled jeans and a white lace shirt with ruffles at the wrists and cleavage.
The same week as the opera, I made it to the San Diego film festival's Tuesday night series showing short films and raising money and interest for the annual festival. The films were introduced as 2 comedies and 2 dramas, but only one was remotely laugh-worthy. The dramas were despondent and depressing, incredibly moving. Neither had any attempt at a conclusion or summary, they just ended, leaving me speechless. Made me very appreciative for all I have and the good people and luck I've encountered. Needless to say, I voted against the comedies being shown at the main event in September. But I'll go back for more - while crowded, the Pearl hotel is a cool place. Who can resist a bar that shows movies on a screen above the campy hotel pool?

Community, arts, science

Inspired by the thought provoking lectures and events I attended in March as part of the San Diego Science Festival, I decided to make a point of continuing that sort of experience by attending a community event at least once a month.
The first was the a film festival presented by the local underwater photography club, that I stumbled upon on the internet. I'm not a scuba diver and have no connection to this organization, but that might have made it more powerful. Seeing the montages of photos and in some cases videos of fish was breath taking. A few of the films had humorous story lines and one had silly sound effects added to the videos, such as the lobster backed by classical music who's antennae were waving back and forth as if he were the conductor of an orchestra. We only had time to watch the local films, but the main event and foreign submissions were rumored to be even more amazing. You can watch the festival winning film on their site: www.sdups.com
And then I attended a restoration event hosted by the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy. After getting sweaty pruning weeds, they fed us lunch and we were treated to a lecture on the lagoon and global warming. One of the graphics presented was a map of San Diego in 100 years if the sea level rises 4 feet as some predict. Wow! The airport is underwater, in addition to a lot of waterfront property. I live on a hill but there was a river drawn traveling in what must have been the main thoroughfare at the bottom of the hill. Anyways, they are having the opening of the Nature Center this weekend, seems like it will be a lovely place. If you are in or near Cardiff, I'm sure it's worth a stop. www.sanelijo.org

Second nerd lecture

So this one was also part of the local science festival and featured an author, David Anderegg (Nerds). Quite different from the other speaker. Anderegg is a clinical psychologist who sees patients who are children, and has seen first hand how the stereotype of "nerd" can manifest itself. Seems like those experiences have formed his extremely passionate view to the extent that he's become an activist. He argues that adults should not use the word nerd around kids the same way they would not tell dirty jokes around them. He's looking for the media and all adults to change our ways so that children will start doing well in school, instead of pretending to be dumb so that they don't get called a nerd. (Disclaimer that I haven't read his book - just listened to him speak.)
Interesting. The word nerd gets used in a lot of ways. The middle schooler on the panel discussion said that the most common time she hears people labeled nerds is when they are poor performers in physcial education class. The panel and audience were teachers and parents who were very energized and turned the discussion from "what's happening" to 'how to do something about it". Kinda fun! They talked about bringing scientists into classes to show them how scientists and smart people can be normal, successful, popular, etc.
But the part that struck me the most is how different east coast people are (compared to Californians). As a way of explaining how complex the nerd stereotype can be, Anderegg described a man who wears some particular brand of shoe, dines at a certain restaurant and vacations mostly on islands that he refers to by part of their name - example "the vineyard". I figured out the vineyard was Martha's Vineyard (I travelled to Cape Cod once). But I had no idea what he was talking about for the first two clues, and did not solve the puzzle he was presenting us with - he was describing a WASP (white anglo saxon protestant). I have heard this acronym before but it means nothing to me. I have never heard a Californian talk about WASPs and have no idea what the cultural significance of them is... (And yes, I am absolutely blaming my ignorance on his strange East Coast metaphors and my Californian-ness.)
I'm not quite as fired up as Anderegg is about the anti-nerd movement (haven't removed "nerd" from my vocabulary) but will be sure to provide positive reinforcement to the few young people I interact with about the value of doing well in school and knowing things. And maybe I'll eventually read the two nerd books, excuse me, the books about the stereotype formerly known as nerds.

Learning I'm not a nerd

Before today, I thought warmly of nerds and proudly called myself one. But the expert on the subject said otherwise when he answered a question by declaring, "The person who gets straight As and is the captain of the swim team is not a nerd."
I learned this at a talk tonight by Benjamin Nugent who wrote a book entitled, The American Nerd: A History of My People. He started by partially reading from the book and partially speaking about his research into the nerdy stereotypes (although the term nerd wasn't used back then) first portrayed in British novels; Pride and Prejudice was one example. He then treated us to a funny glance into the fun teenage boys have with PVC swords on a soccer field, and a view into the world of aging fantasy and sci fi role players who meet in person to play but there is no influx of new blood because young gamers play online.
His definitions and examples of "what is a nerd" came close to mine. But I was focusing on the positives: the smarts, the technologically savvy, the focus and determination to study something closely and know a lot about it. Sure there is an interpersonal aspect -- a nerd is an introvert. No big deal. But I was completely missing the social stigma. Ben said to call someone a nerd is to put them down. It's calling them a misfit, an outcast, a loser. And that is not a good thing to hear, especially as a kid. We each have our own definitions and perceptions of what things are... We can both be right about what a nerd is?
But then after the lecture I spoke with a good friend who was a dungeon master as a teenager, who did not attend the lecture but almost immediately keyed into the insult factor. That those who called others nerds were trying to gain power, acheive social dominance, in the only way they can by physically or verbally insulting the smart kid, the shy kid, the fantasy gamer. Even though you might realize they are just jealous because you're smart, it still didn't feel good to be called a nerd, to be further ostracized.
Me and my impressions of nerds? I had the rose colored glasses on, again. Ben Nugent's thoughtful answers to the many questions from the inquisitive audience was a stimulating way to be reminded of my silly, rosy outlook.
For you? I recommend the book. Aside from the interesting topic, he's a nice guy who had dinner with us afterward.