Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Christmas in Death Valley

This year's winter vacations were EPIC to say the least.  We spent time with family in the great outdoors, which gave me perspective and filled me with gratitude.

I took the train to see my sister at Cal State Fullerton.  Her team (NDSU Bison Women's Basketball) played against the Tritons of CSUF.  I got a bit lost coming off the platform at Fullerton and ended up on a big horseshoe to get to the hotel.  A 3 mile bike ride quickly turned into an 8 mile tour with 400 ft of climbing, but it was a great way to become familiar with the area.  Bastanchury Rd was not the best choice but it was pretty to pass by Vista Park and fly down State College Blvd.

My sister and I also went for a run, which was fantastic!  We ran along the south edge of campus, through some really cute neighborhood and straight up into the foothills.  It felt really good to strap on my running belt again and climb a steep hill to get a great view.  It's always awesome to run with a buddy, to have a conversation, and to go somewhere together.  On the way back to the hotel, we snagged an orange straight from the tree.  We did a bit of a walk through campus and some yoga on the hotel lawn, which was a great way to get grounded and lengthen our muscles after our little jaunt.

After seeing my sister, I got picked up in Fullerton by my husband and we drove down to the beach to see his family.  We parked the car (and bike) and walked around Balboa Island.  I found a great hat for hiking that has 360 degree coverage, a wide brim, and it is 100% cotton (washable) in a soft yellow color.  Hey, there's nothing wrong with looking fabulous while preventing skin cancer.

We headed back to our house in Glendale and loaded up the car for our camping trip.  We used the same packing list as the previous trip.  We have a long list of items that we would add to the list for next time, but we had a phenomenal experience.  We left the house in good condition since our friends were coming there to stay while we were gone.  Sadly, we took our dog Melle in to the vet and found out she was suffering from kidney failure and possibly a cancerous growth on her eye.  Bless her heart, she spent 12.5 good years protecting me and although it was difficult, we had her put to sleep.

Heading out to the desert, with our bikes and our dog Edna in our old car was the only way to distract ourselves from the pain of being separated from old Mel.  We arrived too late to check in to our campsite, the guard shack closes at 4:30pm.  But our names were listed on the board of late arrivals, so we set up our tent and went to buy firewood.  Our first night in DV was horrible because our air mattress had a slow leak.  At some point in the middle of the night, I felt like I was sleeping in a giant egg crate.  I had Edna stashed in my sleeping bag and it was very uncomfortable to move around.  Lesson learned!

Day 1 of DV was a sweet bike ride.  We climbed for about 5 miles to Zabriski Point, which had just closed for repairs on December 1st.  It was a bummer not to be able to climb out on the overlook, but we decided it was enough adventure for our first day and turned back to camp.  We went for a short walk along Airport Road and near the visitor's center before returning to the store for more firewood. My aunt and cousin arrived and set up their tent, which doubled the fun!  Our second night was better because we slept on top of the deflated air mattress, a thick Mexican woven blanket, and used an extra-thick yoga mat to pad below our shoulders & hips.  Basically we slept on the ground.

Day 2 of DV was a SUPER SWEET bike ride.  We rode across the valley toward the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.  The majority of the ride was below sea level with one long gradual climb to just above sea level around the base of Tucki Mountain.  It was absolutely peaceful riding single-file (because the ranger told us we had to) on the shoulder of a recently resurface highway.  There were so many miles to cover and so little daylight.  We did a little yoga at the turnaround and ate some POWER NUGGETS!  This batch was made using a roasted, mashed Carnival Squash and a cup of Chia Seeds.

http://www.everytrail.com/guide/golden-canyon-and-gower-gulch-loop
Day 3 of DV (Christmas Day) we opened gifts around the morning fire.  We packed up and hiked from Golden Canyon, around Manly Beacon, and through the Badlands towards Zabriski Point.  We didn't hike up to the point this year and we avoided hiking along Gower Gulch, going back to Golden Canyon the way we came.  It was stunning and there was no need to go a different way back because the changing angle of the light changed the way the canyon looked anyway.  I believe we turned back at the far end of the Badlands Loop.  It was so fun hiking with family, and although it was windy, the canyons provided both shade and a wind-block.  We also learned (I think) that no dogs are allowed on this trail.

Day 4 of DV the winds were so bad and the blowing sand and dust reduced the visibility to the point where we decided to leave one day early.  It wasn't so difficult to make that decision since everything was covered with dust, we couldn't keep Edna's food and water clean, we couldn't sit down to a nice meal, and our tent was shaking all night long (and not because of us).  We pulled out of Furnace Creek around 10am and drove through Trona. I've always wanted to go through Trona, named after the mineral Na5(CO3)2(HCO3)×2H2O, which is a source of sodium carbonate. Lucky thing we were able to get there, we almost ran out of gas! Note for next trip: When you are sitting at a gas station (Panamint Springs) for 20 minutes doing nothing, just pump some gas into your car even if you still have half a tank. Cities in the desert are very spread out!

Instead of going home to Glendale, we took the 118 to the 23 (Moorpark Fwy), cut across the 101 in Thousand Oaks for just one exit, and cut through the mountains on the 23 (Decker Rd) to get to the 1 (Pacific Coast Highway). We were using our Rand McNally Road Atlas (very anachronistic I know) to navigate, which I found to outsmart the digital Garmin GPS when it came to locating campsites. We arrived at the first campground on the right side, Leo Carrillo State Beach. Campsites were $45 per night. Firewood was $8 per bundle. Each campsite had a wooden picnic table and a tall fire-pit.

We realized quickly that our equipment was lacking. We had propane and a camp stove, but no pots and pans. We had food and instant coffee, but no silverware or dishes. We had a tent and sleeping bags, but no camping chairs to set around the fire. I want to use the word pathetic, but I don't want to be too hard on myself. We were so happy to be out of the wind in DV, we staked our tent and headed to the nearest grocery store (Vintage Grocers) to see if we could buy any cookware. Unfortunately they didn't carry any so we decided weakly that we would return in the morning to the nearby Starbucks for our morning meal. That sounded better than using the dog's water dish to boil some water.

Not to be forgotten, the winds picked up overnight in Malibu. Looking back at the weather reports, we survived 34 mph gusts. In the morning, we woke up and went for a walk after breakfast. The campground has beach access through an underpass and one of the beaches is completely dog-friendly. This was great news and Edna Jo was in good company. We scouted out campsites that we might like to visit again. We even proposed the idea of taking the train to Ventura on a Friday night and biking in to Leo Carrillo for a night. We could ride home all day Saturday or Sunday. Definitely keeping this in mind for 2015.

Another great thing about Leo Carrillo, even though they are not cheap, is that they have showers (for a small cost) and you can have 3 cars (8 people) per site. Due to the winds, we decided to take one night in a hotel. We returned to a Residence Inn we had been before in Camarillo, so we knew it would allow dogs. They have bathtubs, a pool and jacuzzi, it is near a large park (Pleasant Valley Fields) for recreation. We took a family shower to rinse off all the desert dust that wasn't blown away by the winds in Malibu. We slept well and ate the continental breakfast at the Inn. Again, this stay wasn't cheap. The room rate is $150 and there is a one-time pet fee of $100. That would make sense if you were staying for a week but for one night it was kind of a bummer.

Now it's back to business as usual. I will try to make a separate post with our revised packing list. For now, it's time to focus on the new year ahead. We'll ring in 2015 by riding our bikes to the rose bowl parade. Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

CicLAvia ~ South LA 2014: Ride Report

The most recent CicLAvia through South LA on December 7, 2014 was superb.  We rode in fluorescent yellow through Exposition Park to Leimert Park then back to the Central Ave Hub.


We had a great time at the Leimert Park hub listening to some Reggae music.  We saw lots of artwork and food for sale but we forgot to bring cash with us.  We got interviewed by some students on their tablet and are still looking forward to seeing our interview on the web.


Our full route is shown below.  We took Vermont south to USC.  On the way home we passed Skid Row and Dodger Stadium.  We did some off-roading in Elysian Park.  Even though it looks flat on the map, our ride home was quite hilly.


Video for counting participants here.  I counted 57 people in 1 minute which extrapolates to over 20,000 people!



In other bike-related news, we have launched an advocacy landing page to ask for support of our efforts to get a dedicated bicycle car on every metrolink train.  You can follow our progress on Facebook at 'Bikecar101' and on Twitter @bikecar101.  If you agree that cyclists and non-cyclists would benefit from having a guarantee of a bike car on each train, add your zip code and email address to our google form on the landing page, like us on Facebook and follow us on twitter.


CicLAvia ~ Heart of LA 2014: Ride Report

The CicLAvia that went through East LA on October 5th, 2014 was so neat, but came in the middle of the semester so I didn't have time to write about it right then.  The official route is shown below.  Ten miles of closed streets with hubs at Echo Park, Mariachi Plaza, and the East LA Civic Center.


There were many iconic points along the route.  This one reminds me of the film To Live & Ride in LA (2010) about 15 minutes in where there's a nighttime race through LA that seems like it starts on this bridge with a view of downtown.


I didn't take a lot of photos, but I love the one above. We rode to the ride from our house, meeting at the library to ride with a group called Walk Bike Glendale which is a local chapter of Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.  Our entire route is shown below.


Tallbike video here



Video for counting participants here: I counted 67 people in a 30 second window.  This extrapolates to over 50,000 people!



Awesome tunnel video here

Saturday, November 22, 2014

She++ #includewomen

Last night I had the good fortune to attend an event at Pasadena City College aimed at empowering women to pursue STEM careers, specifically computer science. There were a suite of panelists from industry that presented themselves as role models:

Jillian, Lan, Waverly, Dr. Wilkinson, Brandii, and Natalia
  • Brandii Grace, game developer
  • Jillian Greczek, Ph.D. candidate USC robotics
  • Orjeta Taka, IRobot
  • Lan Dang, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), PCC Alum
  • Natalia Alonso, CS B.S. (in progress) CSUN, PCC Alum
First, Dr. Paul J. Wilkinson gave a stirring introduction to the program with a quiz covering common misconceptions and little-known facts about women in computer science.  Women are 5 times less likely to pursue STEM.  U of Akron and U of Winnepeg studies show that females hold negative attitudes towards computers.  Some women do not pursue CS because they are afraid to be seen by their peers as outcasts, plain, unfeminine, or nerdy.

Second, Brandii spoke about the reasons why women are not found in CS.  Self-labeling theory is the idea that we (women) allow ourselves to be seen as "less than" by using diminuitive terms for ourselves, such as girls or gals, that keeps us out of the ranks of the "boys club."  No role model theory is that since there are so few female CEOs of tech companies that women don't see opportunity for advancement in that field.  Pretty girl theory is the idea that parents positively reinforce girls, valuing their appearance, while parents positively reinforce boys for their actions.  Differentiated criticism is the idea that boys are allowed to try things and make mistakes that they can learn from whereas girls are taught that when they do something wrong, they should have known better, which prevents them from trying new things.  She has seen this in her experience as a game developer, when girls test a first-person shooter game and they are killed, they put down the game controller and never want to play the game again, whereas boys will try repeatedly to "beat" the situation.

Brandii cited the TV program "Silicon Valley" as a poor example of Hollywood reinforcing the stereotypes of men in programmer roles and women in adversarial or "window dressing" roles.  I have a similar problem with the show "Big Bang Theory."  How about some equality?!  Differentiated learning theory is the idea that men tend to store information in a linear (procedural) fashion where women tend to store information in a story, therefore giving men an advantage in a linear profession such as CS.  She counteracts this theory by arguing that 

ANYBODY CAN LEARN ANY SKILL 

but some people have an easier road due to some innate ability (biology).  Altogether Brandii highlighted many reasons for the lack of women in CS, including also: Hiring Bias Theory, Investor Bias Theory, and Bros-Hire-Bros Theory.  She told us a personal anecdote about her own journey to startup where an investor said to her face "obviously you have no tech experience" because she is an attractive blonde woman who in fact had many years of experience working for Microsoft and other companies.

Third, Jillian gave us an overview of Robotics and described her work with socially assistive robots.  She highlighted the subdisciplines in her field: Machine Learning, Manipulation, Localization & Mapping, Computer Vision, Multirobot Systems, Remote Presence, and Human-Robot Interaction.  She told a personal story about herself as a Type I Diabetic and described how that motivated her to work on robots that could be issued to children as a "buddy" to help them through the first month of their diagnosis.  Her goals are to create robots that would withstand long-term relationships through adaptive programming and socially appropriate (not annoying) charateristics.  She encouraged the students in the audience to get into research through a DREU or REU program, which supports women and minorities specifically.

Fourth, Orjeta gave us a perspective starting in communist Albania and ending in a fulfilling career in Pasadena at iRobot.  She had a love of mathematics, and her mantra or "battle cry" was

IF YOU LOVE SOMETHING, WHY NOT?

which means that if you love math, don't hesitate to study it just because you don't see other mathematicians that look like you.  She told students that it's good to pursue your passion and experience it first without letting social roadblocks prevent you from getting into it.  Then once you're in the field, FIGURE IT OUT.  She told us that she loves her job because it's never boring.  Although working in robotics is frustrating sometimes, it feels like she's still in school because she's always learning, except she gets paid a lot.
Warrior

RP-Vita
Orjeta expressed her frustration with the way robots are portrayed in movies because the robots we have today are nowhere near as sophistocated.  With that being said, she told us that there are 100 RP-Vita robots in hospitals today that monitor stroke victims so that doctors can login remotely and monitor patients to decide if a medicine to save their life is needed.  She also told a story about the Warrior robot which was deployed to the Fukushima nuclear disaster and is also used for explosive-disposal work in Iraq and Afghanistan.  She said that sometimes robots come back to the company completely blown up and they throw a party since it means that no human soldiers were killed.  She worked on a Robotic Rodeo and a Self-Driving Car.  When she looked at photos of the event she was the only female in a team of 30, but she said "Just ignore it."

After the presentations had concluded, a panel was available to take questions, which included the three speakers and added two PCC alumna.  Brandii encouraged all CS students to stay up to date with new languages including Ruby on Rails and Objective C.  Natalia told us about her current project CSUNSAT-1 CubeSat: A Collaboration Between NASA, JPL, and CSUN to conduct experiments in space.  Lan told us that FORTRAN language is still preferred by scientists at JPL but they package the code in C afterwards.  The #1 hirer of CS grads is the US government, so jobs being outsourced is not an issue.  Natalia shared her experience of teamwork: if the problem is challenging enough, the team will rely on the strengths of every team member regardless of gender.  To break down stereotypes, make yourself available to the team and they will see your skills.

MINORITY DOES NOT MEAN NOT VALUABLE

Brandii concluded the panel discussion by reiterating the importance of networking.  There are many avenues, Women In Tech and ACM-W, and it is important to inform your network when you are looking for a job.  Rely on networks, they will be with you forever!

The event was well put-together and I found my way there by following the balloons.  Grace and the CS club did a great job and I even got a T-Shirt that I wore proudly riding up and over Colorado Blvd to my study jam today.  I got to catch up with my friend Paul at CalTech, which was great.  I hope events like this can inspire more events like this and we can form a web of women to catch more of the talent that is currently being underutilized.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

No More Using Women as Window Dressing

Several items have come to my attention recently that make me cringe. Sexual objectification of women involves "reducing a woman's worth or role in society to that of an instrument for the sexual pleasure that she can produce in the mind of another." This is "taking place in the sexually oriented depictions of women in advertising and media..." The danger of sexual objectification of women is that it "can give women negative self-images because of the belief that their intelligence and competence are currently not being, nor will ever be, acknowledged by society."

First item:

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/31/happy_halloween_actual_phds_respond_to_amazons_womens_sexy_phd_costume_and_it_is_a_treat


Second item:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Grant 



To me, it is not funny or thought-provoking to have a woman's cleavage as the focal point of an advertisement or lesson.  I spend my mornings carefully selecting modest clothing that neither shows nor draws attention to my femine assets.

http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/26/-sp-female-academics-dont-power-dress-forget-heels-and-no-flowing-hair-allowed

People in general are "taught that power, respect, and wealth can be derived from one's outward appearance." It's not untrue. In a recent discussion in Jonathan Wolff's column, he points out that "A woman needs a different dress for each event, for fear of being spotted in the same thing twice." Perhaps this is a commonly held belief among people, particularly in Southern California where image is sometimes more important than substance

We claim to do science in a meritocracy, but Wolff claims that a female academic colleague of his takes "as long to decide what to wear to project her 'I don’t care' look, as it does others who dress to impress." Francesca Stavrakopoulou says in a follow-up piece that "Dressing in order to be taken seriously indicates that the spectre of older, more explicit forms of sexism still hovers over us: a woman who adopts a more feminine style is too preoccupied with pretty things to be a serious academic, because a woman can’t be both attractive and intelligent – if indeed she can be intelligent at all."

So that brings me to the Delicious Women's PhD Darling Sexy Costume and outrageous Rachel Grant as Professor Myang Li, on Brianiac asking the question: Which fruit floats?  My friend Candy Bless said "this 'sexy fill-in-the-blank' halloween costume thing has gotten out of hand." I've been as guilty as any twentysometing girl at embodying stereotypes of female sexuality as halloween costumes (self-objectification), but in my 30s I am totally over it. And I guess making a PhD sexy isn't a bad thing, but the comments about the costume by actual female PhDs were hilarous.

But when one of my students showed Rachel Grant as Professor Myang Li in a lesson about density in a Teaching Assistant Development Workshop, I went insane. Not only is Rachel Grant NOT a professor (she is an actress), but the lesson had no value in terms of explaining density.  Strangely enough, none of the other students in the class (men or women) were offended by it.  Instead they thought it was funny. I've written before about using women as window dressing, which is unacceptable and should no longer be a way of advertising products.

One bright spot in my week was the HuffPo article where images of Disney Princesses were depicted with realistic waistlines. This has the potential to reduce body anxiety in young girls who already have a hard enough time as they start to develop adult female body characteristics. "The sexual objectification and self-objectification of women is believed to influence social gender roles and inequalities between the sexes," which is interesting since EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK is becoming a campaign issue in this election cycle.

Another positive moment happened while watching America's Next Top Model season 21 (The Girl Who Says It’s Over, air date: October 11, 2014). Matthew, an aspiring model, dresses his co-contestant as a "slut." Totally offensive. “The word slut is something that should be taken out of your vocabulary,” demands Kelly Cutrone. Mirjana, an aspiring model asked to supervise a creative project involving 2 other models, didn’t want to take charge because she was afraid to look like a bitch. Tyra gave Mirjana a Beyonce-inspired lecture about how women who take charge are often called bitches. “I’m not bossy, I’m a boss,” Tyra forced Mirjana to repeat over and over. Totally empowering.

Third item:




NotBossy on Make A Gif
make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Living a creative life

Does a creative person wake up every morning feeling productive? A possible answer is yes, to varying degrees. I feel grateful to have a job where I could be creative every day. Some days I follow a prescribed plan, but other days I introduce a bit of uncertainty and see where that leads us.

Creativity can happen spontaneously (like weeds in an abandoned plot of land) or it can be curated (like an English garden). I think both types of creativity should be encouraged. Sometimes unexpected ideas can grow into something amazing, other times they need to be rooted out to make room for the more disciplined tasks that are known to grow into something productive and beautiful.

Creativity takes time. Reading "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron was a life-changer for me. She encourages artists to leave room in their schedule for events that replenish creative energy such as watching a film, visiting a museum, or hearing the symphony. Lately we have been taking long bike rides, which I think might accomplish a similar effect.

She also suggests taking a week long break from listening to outside influences. Imagine a week without reading the paper, browsing the Internet, or turning on the TV or radio.  This allows your own inner voice of creativity begin to whisper ideas to your conscious mind.  At that point, it's up to you to write those ideas down or get out your sketchbook and start drawing outlines.

As a blogger, I don't write every day. I do think that regular writing eases my mind and removes self-doubt so that when I do need ideas to flow from my brain to my fingertips to a manuscript on a computer screen, that process is not hindered by a lack of practice. I've implemented some fun activities in my classroom lately that worked well and I feel my confidence growing in that arena.

Sometimes you have to try ideas that will fail several times before you get something working. The fear of failure can prevent implementation, but the joy of success can only be reached if one has the courage to understand that many ideas are good and can only grow if they are allowed to be tested and optimized.

For example, this week we did candy chromatography in honor of National Chemistry Week.  I had an idea that it would be pretty and we had to try a couple iterations of how to achieve separation of the food dyes, but in the end it was a learning experience for the students who attended our first Chem Club meeting of the year.  Now we can use this activity as a hands-on demonstration for schoolchildren at some of our outreach events this year.


In closing, I will say HAPPY NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK! I'm off to a study jam and afterwards I will drop by the chem club rock candy making event. I hope you find yourself free to be creative, even if it is making a crazy Halloween costume or testing a new recipe for dinner tonight.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Ride Report: R2R California Challenge, Day 7

There are bike rides and then there are Ride 2 Recovery rides.  One is pure fun and leisure, while the other is a testament to all things orderly, businesslike, safe, and efficient.  There is no "i" in teamwork and I felt that I was a part of something greater by participating in this ride.

79 miles, 6 hours 30 min, 12 mph, 4360 Calories
We had been wanting to try taking the train out to Ventura and riding either North or South from there and this organized ride gave us an opportunity to go for it.  Leaving work at 4pm on a Friday, we visited CycleWorld in Northridge for some last-minute adjustments to our bikes.  Then we hopped the Metrolink train to East Ventura station, arriving at almost 7pm.  We forgot our directions to the hotel, but Ventura has plenty of marked bicycle routes, and we followed the sunset West until we arrived at our destination.

A short walk to The Habit provided a Santa Barbara burger, Cesar salad, pastrami sandwich, and sweet potato fries.  We could see the meeting place from there, so we went to bed knowing we were very near the start of the next day's ride.  In the morning, we ate continental breakfast in the hotel: oatmeal, yogurt, eggs, potatoes, and sausage.  Also, the coffee was strong.  We headed over to the Crowne Plaza hotel and found a congregation of riders and support vehicles waiting.  Just before we left, we used the restroom and snagged a banana.

Most everyone there had been riding all week and were outfitted in the R2R jersey.  We did our best to fit in.  Mike had the R2R bibs and I had an R2R hat, but it was clear that we were "day riders" just joining for the last day of the challenge.  The ride briefing was informative and there was a speech from the city of Ventura.  At this point, we had no idea yet of the coordination that must have gone into planning a ride of this scale.  The riders were organized into groups: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.  We opted to ride with Delta group (12 mph), thanks to the guidance of our friend who originally exposed us to R2R via a facebook event last year.

We rolled out to the sound of bagpipes and rode 2 by 2 alongside the Naval CBC Port Hueneme.  Folks came out and cheered us along.  We entered CA-1 (East Pacific Coast Highway) at Hueneme Rd.  Until this point, I did not realize how amazing the support was for the ride.  We didn't stop after this.  There were escort vehicles including motorcycles, police cars, fire engines, ambulances, and boats along the water.  They would sound their sirens and flash their lights and even blow a stream of water out to salute as we passed.  It was incredibly moving.  And we were literally moving!


Riding to our first rest stop, we chatted freely.  People started to wonder where we were stopping when a bathroom break was needed, but we all made it to Sycamore Canyon (Pt. Mugu) without much difficulty.  There were water bottles, Gatorade, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and port-a-potties for us to use.  Everyone was stretching and talking, making sure that all riders were doing OK.  There was a person making rounds with "second skin" spray for those who had spills on previous rides and had open sores that would have been painful if sweat dripped across them.  Torn shorts and jerseys were further evidence of difficulty on previous days' rides.

We rolled through Malibu (the "boo") and it was gorgeous.  The most striking thing about the ride was that we didn't have to fight traffic at all.  I would say the organizers did a fantastic job of streamlining our trip.  There were a few climbs, but nothing too grueling.  It was particularly exciting passing Neptune's Net and Moonshadows, two restaurants that I had always accessed by car.  We had a regroup stage at a parking lot in Topanga, just past Pepperdine University.  We were handed Gatorade chews and water bottles, much needed for the final climb to LA.

After joining all groups together we stepped up the pace to 16-19 mph.We arrived at the West LA VA Hospital just after 2pm.  A food truck from In-N-Out Burger provided us cheeseburgers and Lay's potato chips and we drank Gatorade and Coke Zero.  There were speeches and live music.  We stayed about an hour, then used the port-a-potties and headed out to Wilshire.  The ride home was uneventful (in a good way).  We took a "Copenhagen" left onto La Cienega to get up to Fountain Ave.  We rested at the top of the hill and then hurried across Fountain to the McDonalds before turning to Hyperion.  I had many moments along Fountain where I thought I couldn't make it all the way home, but we did it!

Our trip was epic.  We brought with us 6 Gu packets, one packet of Clif Blocks, one package of electrolyte Jelly Beans, a camera, two phones, our ID and health insurance cards, our train passes, one change of clothes, flip flops, 2 bike pumps, 2 spare tires, tools (Allen wrenches, patch kit, tire irons), sunscreen, chap stick, helmets, gloves, and bikes.  Traveling so light was liberating and we learned to trust our instincts and the power of riding with a large group.  We are looking forward to riding with R2R in the future, both for training rides and challenges.  It was humbling to be among so many motivated and inspiring leaders in cycling rehabilitation.


Saturday, October 4, 2014

Body Positive

There's something about a beat that can shake off the blues.  Although I don't like lyrics that are degrading.  Instead of "in the backseat of your car" how about "groove is in the heart" and let it shine.  I like body-positive songs and I don't think there's anything wrong with Meghan Trainor's new song and video "All about that bass."  I don't like how Young MC calls someone "Fatso" but I do like the call to dance "just bust a move."







One of the most fun dance videos "Fire Burning" [on the dance floor] used to be the ultimate (last) song on my 8 hour playlist.  I would listen to it on my .mp3 player while working late in the lab and know that after 8 hours of pipeting, it was time to go home (or at least take a break for dinner).  Lab accidents happen when you're tired.



I love Beyonce and will never forget the anthem "Bootylicious" which celebrates the power of curves.  Another SUPER-FAVORITE is Mika's "Big Girl (You are beautiful)" which has a great message and a fun video concept.  The colorful dancers of all sizes remind me of "Sweatin' to the Oldies" with Richard Simmons, a staple of my teenage body issue years.





I always idolized Hollywood and Los Angeles, and now that I live here I have a different concept of what it means to pursue fame.  I like Niki Minaj and Iggy Azalea but sometimes their music (lyrics) degrade women rather than empowering.





I commend JLo for her acknowledgement of the body she has been given.  Even though Shakira isn't as classically well endowed, she is also known for her style of dance.  I used to hate skinny girls so much because they had something I thought I could never have.  I embraced my curves yet I felt I didn't fit society's mold for what a desirable woman should look like.





Artists like Beyonce are working to start a conversation about #WHATISPRETTY which I think is a good idea.  I'm as guilty as the next person at focusing on the negative.  I recently watched myself on video, teaching a lesson entitled "How to start a blog."  My first though was "Wow my hips are so wide."  What kind of academic conclusion is that?





I would say that pretty is skin deep.  Compassion is much deeper.  Lecturing is disseminating knowledge.  Teaching and learning are more holistic.  Beauty is the sum of behavior.  What you wear is not as important as how you carry yourself and how you feel about yourself and others.  I'm not afraid to have fun and let loose when I'm among my friends.  I hope this post encourages you to stay positive regardless of your size and let go of hate.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

going green

With the UN Climate Summit 2014 going on this coming week, I was inspired to write about all the small things that we do for the good of Planet Earth.  Everyone was complaining about the record heat wave we had last week.  We closed the blinds in my classroom to reduce cooling cost.  We dried our laundry on a clothesline.  We ate our food raw.

We bought our groceries from the Farmer's Market. We brought them home on our bicycles. We conserved water, allowing water-loving plants to die, but the basil and peppers are still trapping carbon dioxide. We have a variety of CAM (high temperature/low water availability) plants in our garden.

We think twice before printing, all my teaching materials are available electronically.  We take the train and our bicycles to work.  We use reusable coffee cups and a large thermos.  When paper cups are purchased, they are saved and repurposed for starting seedlings.  For the first time in 3 years, I am eliminating miles that would have been spent in a car.  I bike instead more miles than I drive.  I even biked to my office hours yesterday.  When I drive, sometimes I carpool with my husband.  When we go out for frozen yogurt, we walk.

I got to ride my road bike this weekend.  Cowabunga!

CicLAvia is in 13 days.  We practiced riding with our malti-poo (dog, Edna Jo) in the basket of my bicycle.  We even took her to the pet store for her haircut on the bike.  We live about 7.5 miles from the Echo Park hub, so we'll ride to the ride, which starts at 9am.  Hope to see you there!

http://mic.com/articles/98972/21-photos-of-women-who-shatter-the-stereotype-of-what-a-real-biker-looks-like
#iBikeBecause

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

personal style

Thinking back to my earliest attempts at personal style, I remember the grunge era. I had a couple of flannel shirts and a few pairs of Dickies and one sweet pair of Airwalk shoes.  I always felt like a tomboy and these were the first clothes that I picked for myself.  After grunge gave way to the Spice Girls, I identified with Mel C and styled myself "sporty spice" which didn't make much sense since I didn't play any sport.

In college, I didn't give much thought at all to my clothing. Partly because I went to school in a rural area where the shopping options included Wal-Mart and a really expensive department store. In graduate school, I started teaching. I lived in the Sonoran, Mojave and Chihuahua desert regions therefore my clothing consisted mostly of culottes and a pair of white eyelet capri pants.  My tops were not given much thought either, but I started wearing bright colors more.

My first year of teaching in the community college, I wore slacks (or jean-like pants that were not blue denim).  I loved plants with spandex on the first day after washing, but after wearing them for awhile, they tended to be effected by the gravitational pull, exposing the top of my underpants.  Or my belly.  Either way, totally unacceptable.  I found a large set of polo shirts to be perfect tops.  Some were short sleeved, some were elbow-length, and some were three-quarter sleeved.  They were in a variety of pastel and non-threatening single colors (absolutely no horizontal stripes).  I liked things without prints.

When I started graduate school (again) I survived mostly on the same outfits that I had used for teaching but my dress got even more casual with days of working in the lab and no longer teaching.  I dressed up a bit more if we were hosting an invited speaker, but nothing like a business suit and certainly no skirts or dresses (with the exception of my wedding!).  I amassed a great collection of 'nerd shirts' which are given away at conferences and have slogans printed on them like "lab rat," and "give precise details of sample preparation."

After school, I landed a fantastic job at a private liberal arts college.  My friend's mom had been a teacher and offered me two gigantic bags of her "teaching wardrobe" for my new work environment.  She liked prints (flowers mostly) and the color purple.  She gave me lots of dresses!  I found a store called "It's A Wrap" that sells second hand clothing from television and movies.  Each semester I spent at least $200 on work clothes.  Somehow that doesn't sound like a lot, but it was a time that I felt free to express my personal style and invest in myself.  I was conscious about my appearance and I wanted to highlight my femininity since I was teaching at a women's college (in the Spring semesters, at least).

For the fall semesters, I got a bunch of brightly colored skinny jeans from Express and a new pair of glasses à la hipster.  I like to make fun of LA hipsters and their fixed gear bikes, but maybe I'm closer to one of them.  I am artistic, but not pretentious, and I do incorporate vintage (read: thrift store) pieces into my wardrobe.  When I left that school, I got a faux-hawk and my department chair told me they were losing the most unconventional dresser in the department.  I still can't decide if that is a compliment or something that I should have considered during my appointment as a direction to tone down my wardrobe.

I moved to the school I'm at now and my style has evolved (or devolved).  I backtracked to Old Navy for a half-dress, half-business casual wardrobe at the beginning of working there.  Now I am sporting a $40 wardrobe from Goodwill.  I do think it's a shame to wear brand new clothing that was probably sewn by child laborers in Bangladesh.  That's why I prefer second-hand.  I'm teaching labs again so I need all natural fibers and clothing that won't suffer sticker-shock if it is ruined by acid or dissolves in a solvent.  I don't take the liberty to consider myself a fashion icon, but that doesn't mean I don't have a personal style.

I would like to think that I dress age-appropriate and work-appropriate.  One lifestyle consideration is that I get to work by bicycle, which is why skinny jeans are so great.  No excess fabric to get caught in your chain.  I do enjoy biking in skirts, with bloomers or bike shorts underneath of course.  It's fun to have a dress flapping in the breeze, but pencil skirts don't work so well.  Neither do the trend of longer skirts.  There are certain colors I like, such as turquoise.  I think it brings out my hazel eyes.  
I have a few pairs of shoes that I like but they're starting to wear out.  One pair of red Pumas I got in Switzerland brings back good memories.  Another pair of hot pink Nikes I bought for the Color Run makes me smile.  I also love my tennis-ball fluorescent yellow shoes I found at Old Navy.  When I completed the statement "I need more _________ in my life," one of the words that came to mind was "shoes."  I would probably get this pair of Toms if they weren't $54.  Another thought I had was "I need more flowers in my life."  I still wear lots of solid colors, but I'm more open to prints, especially ones involving flowers.  I won't say women in science have it easy, but we do have choices.  What we choose to wear under our labcoats makes us unique.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

What is learning?

Reflecting on great moments in my life, I realize that painful lessons are the most indelible.  Therefore when my students cry out "this is too hard," I think of the phrase "no pain, no gain."  I'm not a weightlifting coach, I'm a chemistry teacher.

I have my own experience as a learner and at least 9 solid years of experience teaching dance and chemistry.  Tell me you've taken a dance class that was pain-free.  You're training your body to move in new ways that are unfamiliar.  You may get your foot stepped on (in a ballroom dance class) or reach for your toes (in a ballet class).  These painful experiences create muscle memory and your body will attempt to avoid this pain by either correcting your steps or limbering up your hamstrings.


In science, these pains are invisible but no less real.  As the mind stretches to comprehend new paradigms of atomic theory and reactivity patterns of elements, it will balk at the complexity and abstraction associated with this mode of thought.  This is like your tight hamstrings that have trouble loosening up to accommodate your port-de-bras.  When the mouth articulates a name like "Avogadro" or a phrase such as "Kinetic Molecular Theory," the tongue and lips may fumble at the new words.  These experiences are no different than forgetting to break-on-two.


I wanted to do some reading about "learning" to see what other people thought about it.  After all, I am of the "educational variety" and want to know the professional buzzwords that are currently being tossed around.  But when I hear the word "pedagogy" it's like my brain turns to jell-o.

Plant a seed...be a teacher!

I can understand the definition of "pedagogy" is the art and science of teaching.  This is how my students must feel when they first enounter the word "stoichiometry."  It's a strange-sounding word with a lot of consonants and vowels that represents a pretty complex idea.  My approach to pedagogy is to challenge students, kind of like punching a bop bag, and then let them recover before challenging them again.  I don't know if this is supported by neuroscience, I've just found that students can take only so much pain before they give up.

Besides the "how" of teaching, there are students' learning styles to consider.  After all, it's not so important to talk at students (lecture) but more important to focus on how students acquire new skills and ideas.  This depends on individual's learning styles.  Since each individual is a hybrid of all these styles, it's important to be a dynamic teacher that can cater to all of these styles.  Cognative psychologist Daniel Willingham argues that this theory pigeonholes students unnecessarily and that the content you are trying to cover should determine the mode of delivery. Either way, I try to be mindful of employing all of these styles in the course of a semester.  I have also read that when students are more aware of their learning preferences, they can employ metacognition to enhance their success in any course.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/16/who-inspired-you

Why study STEM?  Quantitative science is essential to understanding the world around you!
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/nine-characteristics-of-a-great-teacher/

References:

Competencies / Learning Objectives
Learning Styles
Lesson Planning
Buzzwords in Pedagogy
Metacognition

Monday, August 18, 2014

248th ACS National Meeting Digest

Whew! What a conference experience~!

Sunday, August 10, 2014 *Improv Day
9:00am "From transient to persistent propargyl radicals: Exploiting a steric factor" Gadik Melikyan
10:20am "Total synthesis of polycarcin V and exploration of its DNA-binding properties" Tom Minehan
Lunch = ACS Board of Directors "The wonders of the periodic table" Sam Kean
1:30pm "Improvisation Training for Chemists" Lydia Franco-Hodges
6:00pm "Asymmetric bis(terpyridine) ruthenium dimers as ketone transfer hydrogenation catalysts" Eric Kelson
BIKED HOME WITH ANNE!!!!!!!!

Monday, August 11, 2014 *SciMix Day
7:00am ACS Member Insurance/Younger Chemists Committee 5k FUN RUN!!!!!!!!!!! Loved running by Keith Haring, "Untitled" (Three Dancing Figures), Version A, Edition 2/3, 1989, painted aluminum.
10am-2pm Naptime... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! I was wiped out from traveling and doing the fun run...
8:00pm SciMix poster session
"Metabolic profiling of the rat gut microbiome" Cynthia Larive
"Preparation of asymmetric bis(terpyridine) ruthenium dimers: Ligand substituent effects on ketone transfer hydrogenation energy" Eric Kelson
"Assessment of three dairy waste management practices in the removal of common vetenary antibiotics" and "Chemical and biological assessment of the change in endocrine disrupting chemicals through a pasturization-digestion treatment of dairy manure" Diana Aga

Tuesday, August 12, 2014 *Communication Day
Slept in... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Lunch = hot dog
1:00pm "Communicating Science to the Public" Introduction byTom Barton (ACS President)
1:10pm "Engaging different audiences" Panel: Susan Morrisey (Assistant Managing Editor, C&EN), Christopher Avery (AAAS Policy Fellow, DOE), Darcy Gentleman (ACS Office of Public Affairs), Terri Taylor (K-12 Education at ACS), Amanda Yarrnell (Assistant Managing Editor, C&EN) and breakout sessions
Video reporting of discussion breakouts
3:00pm "Laugh, share, and demo: Chemunicator advice" Rudy Baum (C&EN), Peter Ludovice (Georgia Tech), Matthew Hartings (American U, @sciencegeist), Diane M. Bunce (The Catholic University of America)
4:10pm "Effective videomaking" Adam Dylewski (@ACSReactions)
SWAM IN THE BAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014 *Conference Hookey Day
BICYCLE ADVENTURE!!!!!!!! Rode from Pacifica State Beach along Half Moon Bay.
We biked a 16.77 mi route through Devil's Slide and along Hwy 1 (scary) to a bike trail along Half Moon Bay. The route had a total ascent of 828.63 ft.  This route burned 966 Cal even though we decided to take Bus Route 17 back to our car.


Thursday, August 14, 2014 *Global Stewardship Day
Slept in... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
10:15am Monitoring and Evaluating Environmental Exposures: Case Studies Incorporating Statistical Approaches to Evaluate and Predict from Large and Fuzzy Datasets
Lunch = hotdog
12:40pm "IUPAC: Emerging Issues and Challenges Global Food Production and Food Security"
"Global Food Challenges and trade policy considerations" Tim Josling (Food Research Institute at Stanford University)
1:00pm "Sustainable improvement of agricultural yields through the application of modern biotechnology" Bruce Chassy (Food Safety and Nutritional Sciences, U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Poster session "Synthetic elicitor, CMP442, increases innate plant resistance to pathogens" Thomas Eulgem
2:00pm "Enhancing global food security through sustainable pest and disease management"
Terrance M. Hurley (Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota)
Panel Discussion = very interesting!
Made risotto for dinner = YUM!
ZYDECO DANCING at Yoshi's Oakland, Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, August 15, 2014 *Dharma Day in Marin County
Friday Morning Meditation and Yoga Class with Dana DePalma and Ashley Sharp (yoga) at Spirit Rock
Pt. Reyes BIKE RIDE!!!!!!!!!!! We biked 17.88 mi. The route has a total ascent of 1626.54 ft. We saw a herd of Tule Elk.  This ride burned 965 Cal.

Saturday, August 16, 2014 *Thank a Farmer Day
We rode our bikes to the Alemany Farmer's Market. It was HUGE. Immense. Sprawling. Diverse. Our route was 4.91 mi. The route has a total ascent of 316.8 ft and has a maximum elevation of 242.16 ft. After we got home, we headed over to Walnut Creek for "An Afternoon of Rumi" which was spiritually fullfilling. We had an All-American summer family farewell dinner with hamburgers, corn on the cob, and watermelon.


The greener meeting challenge was a no-brainer since I biked to and from the conference center, staying with a family member negated the need for changing sheets and a maid service.  I biked a total of 40 miles that week via Route 47 and 50 in San Francisco.  I walked to and from Union Square and Moscone many times on Sunday, August 10th.  I enjoyed the Fun Run with City Running Tours as a way to see the city in a running group.  I had the water bottle from my bicycle, which I refilled at the bottle station in Moscone North.  The conference theme was inspiring!  Thanks ACS.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Perspective

Today I am writing in a post-vacation conference whirlwind!  It's hard to believe it's already mid-August.  July flew by, for me at least.  I left sunny Southern California on July 21st and headed to the Pawnee County Fair in rural Nebraska.  It was a great time to connect with growing food, raising livestock, and crafting.  The 4-H'ers that I met were creative and caring, fun, serious and knowledgeable about their animals.  I got to hear the Governor of Nebraska speak about the importance of being a Livestock-Friendly county.  Nebraska is the number 1 feeder of cattle and is the number 5 state in production of popcorn!

I loved riding my bike down gravel roads, alongside tractors and horses, through small-town America.  I loved drinking $0.60 coffee at the Little Brown Jug and transporting salads from Subway to my sister's house by a bag thrown over my handlebars.  I loved the driving tour to see the buffalo and all the lakes for fishing in Pawnee county.  I loved spending time with family, including the 4-membered she-wolf pack of dog-cousins.  It was so relaxing to be there, and so fun to watch tractor pulls, rodeos, and mud volleyball.

My time in Omaha was also exciting.  We went to a botanical garden and the zoo.  We went for a nighttime ninja bike ride through the city.  We made "Cycling To Sanity" t-shirts with iron-on felt lettering.  We gathered supplies for a cotton/wool/silk dye-day.  We did a pre-sunrise bike ride along the Keystone Trail.  We dyed silk, tencel, and cotton skeins for my mom to weave her scarves.  We dyed bamboo socks.  We indigo dyed silk scarves.  All in all, it was an amazing time in Omaha.  I especially loved the day my whole (nuclear) family was there and we went out to dinner.


The days in Lincoln were no less awesome... I spent time with my grandparents at their domiciles.  My aunt and uncle joined us for dinners and lunches.  We went on a couple Hot Dog Runs (not literally running) eating outside, inside, and at a pub.  We ate on "O" street and downtown in the Haymarket.  We visited the sunken garden and places where we used to visit as kids.  I went on a solo bike ride along Billy Wolff trail that took me to the outskirts of the city and then back.  We went to Pioneers Park.  I loved honoring the heritage of our family, from the farm to the big city.  I loved hearing old stories about living without electricity and surviving the dust bowl.

All good things come to an end, just like my time in Nebraska.  I drove out here to San Francisco for the American Chemical Society national meeting.  It's been great hearing professors from Northridge give their oral presentations.  The Improvisation Training session was completely wonderful.  Running with the Younger Chemists Committee was a blast.  The SciMix poster session was very busy and I met some people I didn't expect to see, which made it more valuable than I could have planned.

This afternoon I am participating in the session "Communicating Science to the Public" which should be fun.  Tomorrow there are some session about chemistry education that I would like to attend.  Thursday there are two oral sessions that I may drop by called "Contaminants of Concern" and "Resistance Management" which are fitting considering that the theme of this meeting is "Chemistry & Global Stewardship."  Speaking of which, I had better get going.  I am LOVING riding my bike to and from the conference center.  It's 4 miles from where I'm staying so I'm getting my fill of riding in this bike-friendly city with its green lanes and totally rad bike culture.  It's like CicLAvia every day here, seriously.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

goals

I think it's important to set goals.  Awhile back, I set a few big ones:

*Finish PhD
*Take cross-country bike trip
*Write a book
*Make fitness (exercise) video(s)
*Open a wellness center

Some of these have happened, some are yet to come, but I'm not going to lose sight of these goals.  I started this blog around the time I set the above goals.  There were many thoughts in my head and multiple directions I thought my life could go, but I know I want to help people in a broad sense.  I know I was born to teach and be a leader.  Even if I try to deny these paths, I am redirected back to them.


I want to promote a blog that I read, because it's full of good (thoughtful) content.  It's called Voices in Echo and the writing is on topics related to wellness, education and science.  The author Mike writes nearly weekly posts about the news.  He is widely-read and open-minded.  If you enjoy reading my blog, you might also enjoy reading his.  Did I mention Mike is my husband?

One fitness video I want to make is a spin workout.  Surely I could make something more engaging than this:



For me, when I get centered on "burning fat" with my workouts, they aren't fun anymore.  When you see fitness gurus that look like all they do is workout, it's hard to relate to them.  Also, riding a stationary bike is a challenge because you lose sight of where you could have gone if you were on a real bike and traveling forward, up, and down some hills.  I know you can feel the endorphins from getting your heart rate up, but where's the sense of accomplishment looking back at the monster hill you just climbed?  Or looking forward to the COWABUNGA downhill you're now able to cruise down!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Notorius RBG

"We do not have a proud track record of flattering female ambition or strength. Short a handful of super-heroines—Wonder Woman, and some characters usually most effectively embodied by Angelina Jolie—we have rarely been able to put a positive spin on the kinds of women who present an intellectual, economic, professional, or political threat to entrenched male power. Throughout history, we have acknowledged male strength, especially in its seniority, as serious and authoritative. Older women, on the other hand, have existed mostly as nanas, bubbes! Those sturdy, ambitious souls who also staked claims to public eminence were cast as problematic; tough ladies who no longer slide easily into Lycra are ball-busters, nut-crackers, and bitches." ~ Rebecca Traister


And I love this video...law students and female MCs.  A rare and refreshing combination!  If you don't know, now you know.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Lycra doesn't last forever

Today I aimed to solve a very important problem: the full moon view through my cycling shorts!  My husband in his infinite wisdom handed me a couple hundred dollars and told me to buy some lycra for my birthday in 2009.  I bought a couple jerseys and 3 pairs of cycling shorts.  Two of them were Performance Ultra shorts and the third is only meant to be worn under another pair of shorts (in other words, it was see-through the day I bought it).

I've been wearing skirts and dresses over my cycling shorts for about a year now, embarassed at knowing that my goods are on display if I don't.  Like these suspecting (or unsuspecting women).


At least these women have underwear on.  I've tried wearing panties under cycling shorts but it kind of defeats the purpose of having a comfy chamois when you get your knickers in a bunch between your tush and the cycling shorts.  It's been suggested that you have your shorts inspected by a cycling friend once at the beginning of every season.  Hilarious (but a good idea)!


I bought a UC Riverside kit in 2012.  To my dismay, the thread is unraveling in the leg area.  I will attempt to mend it and continue to rock those bibs.  They are my most comfortable chamois.  I don't wear them often, partly because they have a white panel and I would hate to see them covered in grease.  I reserve these bibs for special (long/technical) rides.

Independence Day Ride 2013
I've already got two new pairs of yoga pants so I can get my Zumba and running on.  Bought them at Target. Both have 'secret pockets' for your ID and a house key.  They are both from a Champion line of athletic wear called C9.


Now I have bought two new pairs of cycling shorts.  Bought them online through Nashbar.

Hopefully these will last another 5 years. They are called Women's Vineyard Shorts and have a gelpad chamois.  And while we're on the delightful topic of chamois... I tried chamois butter for the first time.  It seemed like a good idea for our Independence Day Ride to be free from chafing.  I used it both days and it relieved the feeling of needing to adjust my toosh to the saddle.  You know that moment where you're squirming around trying to find just the right position?  Well I didn't have to do that.  Everthing just slid right into place.  I even used it as aftersun lotion.  If it's soothing to my bum, why shouldn't it be soothing on my arms, right?

I will close with this list of things I look for in excercise clothing:
*REFLECTORS
*Bright Colors

Based on my previous posts about bras and lycra, I wanted to mention the buzz about Nike's new line of sports bras.  Will they live up to the hype?  Will they have reflectors and bright colors?  In my size?

References:
http://www.blokespost.com/bicycles/check-your-mates-cycle-knicks-day/5268
http://nikeinc.com/news/the-right-fit-and-the-right-support-the-nike-pro-bra-collection
Album of my 'best ride' photos
https://plus.google.com/photos/114038315072081187656/albums/5779170335416490209?authkey=CPGH_ZP43MXotgE