09 August 2008: Happy engagement Jen and John!
On Saturday, 9 August, 200802 August 2008: I was told my mountain bike ride around Lake Clearwater was a true New Zealand outdoor pursuit adventure.
Getting lost, bush bashing, bike bashing, extreme, and in-stream.
My rear gears broke and I was stuck huffing and puffing uphill or spinning my wheels downhill. We even attempted mountain biking through snow...
Needless to say, I had a blast!
Image from: jackie
24 August 2008: Last week, Christchurch welcomed the 6th most powerful woman in the world of 2004, US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
This week, the Auckland University Students Association is offering a $5000 reward for a citizen's arrest of the 1st most powerful woman in the world of 2004, US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
19 July 2008: Here's the scene from a West Coast birthday bash in a backyard tent:
Country blokes standing in a line, gripping their beer, and looking bored. Across from them, the drunken birthday girl drags defenseless family and friends onto the dance floor for a creative version of the can-can.
In one corner, rests an entire lamb roast and carnage in pieces. In the adjacent corner, the massive lamb oven radiates beside a sizable pool teeming with ice and alcohol.
And then - suddenly - a dancer leaves the dance floor to leap and swing around a tent pole. Inside twirling leg tucked, outside leg straight. A smooth revolution.
The effect was like turning a switch. The country blokes are now gripping their beers, with smiles beaming...
And to my complete amusement, then the entire drunken hoard gave it a go - drunken birthday girl, drunken environmental conservationists, drunken country mothers, and drunken overweight blokes. All trying to grab the main tent pole to swing over a table.
The poor table didn't stand a chance. No one but the trained pole dancer could clear the table, let alone the floor!
She did a encore quadruple swing over the crushed, 3-legged remains. I lost my voice laughing.
Image from: jackie
18 August 2008: Today I had a chat with former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
Here's a press statement: O'Connor is in Christchurch as an Eric Hotung Fellow after retiring from the Supreme Court in 2005. Hotung donated $HK1 million ($NZ185,000) to Canterbury University in 2005 to bring lawyers of international standing to the city and enhance the profile of the school.
She's been giving a series of law seminars: Rule of law around the world, Reflections from the US Supreme Court, and Guantanamo Bay: Legal black hole?
After today's talk, I introduced myself as a fellow American, shook her hand, and welcomed her to New Zealand. She was pleasantly surprised and asked what everyone else asks me: Why are you here?!
I told her it's the same reason she was brought here: funding.
Image from: the press
10 July 2008: Krissy (high school classmate and volleyball teammate) has been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).
MDS is a primary bone marrow condition, where her bone marrow does not produce normal blood cells. The condition is otherwise known as "preleukemia".
Typically diagnosed in 60+ year old men, Krissy is a vibrant 25 year old woman. Her treatment requires a bone marrow transplant. Complicated still by needing to find a tissue match given her mixed Asian and Caucasian heritage.
Attached, please find her letter to high school classmates and an article in the newspaper. She is calling for people to register with the National Bone Marrow Transplant Registry.
I am going to register, if I can from overseas. Details of the registration, commitment, and donation procedure can be found here.
Much love and good health.
Love,
Jackie
image from: krissy
