Quick Bits

* In China they call the Milky Way the Silver River. I like that...it seems very magical and beautiful. I heard a man being interviewed on the radio about the planets and stars and he said that astronomy terms are always very understandable. Spots on the sun are called sun spots; places in the universe with no light are called black holes etc. He said this makes the science accessible to people in a way other areas of science are not. I thought that was interesting and true. But I still did miserably in my Earth as a Planet class in college.

* I heard this line today from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke: "...be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now."

I am not prepared to intelligently write about the Rilke quote, but to say that I agree with it and it helped me gain a little perspective in the midst of a crazy week.

* We had fun with Neil's dad and sister last weekend. They liked the balloons and we enjoyed them even though we went two weekends in a row. Sunday we rode bikes to the zoo and saw a baby gorilla in a nursery with a diaper and a baby kangaroo in its mom's pouch. Very cool.

* I have been helping coordinate a visit from the U.S. Department of Treasury to one of our credit unions and then to a financial education program we help teach. The visit is tomorrow and I am petrified that it will be turned into a campaign speech for the administration. Why else would they be coming to this swing state at this time? My dad suggests I get up and interrupt if the speech by the Assistant Secretary begins to go awry. However, if I want to keep my job, that may not be a viable option. In the meantime, I am exhausted and behind on other work because I'm helping with all of this crazy Treasury stuff. Tomorrow, I report to work at 6:30 a.m. to drive to Santa Fe for the first event.

* Friday begins weekend 3 with house guests. Neil's mom rescheduled her visit for this coming weekend. Looking forward to seeing her, but if I don't get some down time to recharge soon, I don't know what will happen.

* The last presidential debate begins in a couple hours. I am having political nightmares already. I'm tempted to tune out the debate and watch a movie instead, but I'll probably watch because I want to be able to talk about it tomorrow. It's all so nerve-wracking...