wonderful world of disney

last year on president's day, i got to go to malibu and spend the day at the beach. this year, i went to the Walt Disney Family Museum. chris was in town visiting, so he, three of my friends, and i met up early monday morning and headed out to san francisco's presidio.

it was a gorgeous day to be out at the bay, and the museum's building was gorgeous! after staring at a giant display case housing more Oscars than i could count (of academy award fame, not of grouchy sesame street fame), we headed into the first gallery.

the museum followed walt's life from birth to death, chronicling his personal and professional life. as we walked through the museum, i quickly realized that i was way more interested in his professional life. first, let me say that the man was a genius. a lucky genius. i learned about walt's early successes and struggles. ever heard of oswald, the lucky rabbit? he was one of walt's early creations, but rights to the character were taken from him by the production company (or something along those lines). walt, being who he was, went back to the drawing board (literally) and came up with mickey mouse. ever heard of him? ha! take that greedy production company that stole oswald!

i could easily write and write and write about all of the things i learned and saw. one of the highlights was a section of the museum that was built with a window-wall facing the golden gate bridge. in addition to the innate beauty of the scene, the fog was dramatically (and quickly) rolling in as we walked past that section of the museum. it was gorgeous!

the museum was designed incredibly well, with a good mix of displays, postings, and video displays. one of my favorites was an interactive exhibit where you could (and two friends) could accompany an animated clip by playing a few small instruments. one of mine actually made a cat sound - hilarious! although photography wasn't allowed, i sneaked in a picture of us playing our instruments - or more accurately, chris sneaked a picture... 

i really could go on and on about the museum. it was great. we had a great time spending the day together, and got to enjoy all things disney!

reconnecting

i finally got to spend some time with my dearest girl friends. it was much-needed!

i spent friday night having dinner and catching up on project runway with my bestest friend, who happened to turn 30 this week. i don't know how it's possible that we have been friends for 15+ years! the next day, i met up with another high school friend to help her move. we took a break to have lunch at Coco's. neither of us had been there in years, so we thought we'd give it a try. it didn't start off well - they were very busy, and the waitress in our section was literally jogging from table to table. maybe it was more of a jaunty quick-step. either way, she was clearly frazzled. part way through the meal, when i finally got the milkshake i had ordered, i received the shake in a glass, and the extra in the metal tin. i offered the extra to my friend, who was happy to enjoy it. she took a small sip and commented that it tasted like frosting. mine definitely did not taste like frosting, so i took a closer look at her tin - it was a powdered sugar glaze - no milkshake at all! my friend called the waitress back over, and started to explain the situation. halfway through my friend's explanation, the waitress shouted, "OH! i grabbed the wrong one!" grabbed it out of my friend's hands, and jogged off to the kitchen. 30 seconds later, she jogged back to our table, milkshake tin in hand. she set it on the table, and jogged off to the next table. i guess she didn't feel like she needed to say anything else!

after spending the day moving, my friend whipped up a delicious chicken and veggie pasta, and our two other friends (one with husband in tow) joined us. it was fantastic to catch up over dinner, play a game that involved red plastic headbands and really poor clue-giving, and then try to beat each other at wii. man, we sucked at baseball!

viva las vegas

this weekend i visited las vegas for a conference. it was especially great because there was a big bunch of us all attending. we stayed at circus circus, which has the benefit of being inexpensive, but the caveat of being very popular with families. there were a lot of kids!

the vegas portion of the weekend was a lot of fun. we walked around a lot, and did a pretty good job of keeping costs down. i still had a great time, though. we ate at some great places - a delicious little italian place in the venetian was probably my favorite. we even met miss california (who came in 2nd place at the next night's miss america pageant). she was pretty, but a little too orange. i gambled a little, didn't win any money, but did enjoy playing some blackjack. and taking a ride (and winning a cute stuffed bulldog) on the circus circus midway.

i also learned some interesting new things at the conference sessions i went to. for example, 18-month olds who saw pictures of dolls holding hands were more likely to help a woman who dropped a bag full of pencils than kids who saw pictures of blocks or pictures of dolls standing back to back. it was awesome! the worst part of the conference was when, during one of the coffee breaks, i walked into the mens room. yep, that's right. in my defense, as i was walking toward the door, i saw that the men's room sign was on the other side of the alcove, and assumed (wrongly) that this facing side was the women's. i thought it was weird that a male janitor was taking out the trash, but i shrugged it off. until i walked up to a guy who was trying to exit as i entered. "man, you must be embarrassed," i thought. then i realized that the bathroom was FULL of men. i cocked my head to the side, turned on my heels, and started to walk out. to add insult to injury, another guy was coming in the door as i was hurrying out, trying to hide my hotly glowing red cheeks.

anyways... unfortunately, i ended up missing a few of sessions because i was working on my talk for my interview. there were a couple of days there that i was absolutely petrified about the interviews and talk i had to give. not just that, but i had such a sense of dread that i could hardly make it through the day. it crossed my mind that i might have made the wrong decision, giving up a perfectly fine job offer to pursue a dream. but, i showed up tuesday anyways.

my interview and 90-minute talk went alright. i don't think i blew them away, but i wasn't terrible, either. most importantly, i survived, and didn't look like a complete idiot. there is a chance i looked slightly likely an idiot, but i'm trying not to obsess about the one comment i wish i could take back. at least it was only one! part of the reason that i'd like to work at this place is that they produce incredible research. the downside of that is that i feel like i am definitely below the level of average researcher there. i have to remember that all of them have been doing this for a long time, and i am still new and have a lot to learn. they have to hire younger people too, right? i'll keep you posted.

as a side note, the taxi driver who took me to the airport asked me if i had ever been to the san jose conspiracy convention. apparently, there is an annual meeting for conspiracy theorists in the bay area. he went on to show me his current issue of their monthly magazine (it was in the front seat with him). at least he didn't try to convince me of any theories in particular.