Food for Thought

I'm in California this weekend - in Davis now, for Gina's graduation from vet school (!) and off to Manhattan Beach, my hometown in Southern California, on Saturday to see family and friends. So it seems like a good time for a quick "Food for Thought" update! Here's what's on my mind this week:

• I haven't said much about the oil spill in the Gulf because I just don't know what to say - the damage being done to the delicate ecosystems there is terrible and heartbreaking. But one potentially positive idea (well, positive in a "we've got a lot of lemons, so we might as well make lemonade" kind of way) is this: What if BP trained people put out of work by the oil spill in cleaning the affected marshes, coastlines and animals? It would get some of the innocent bystanders whose lives are being turned upside down by this tragedy back to work and would help move the clean-up process along. What do you think?
• The Art of Non-Conformity's Chris Guillebeau has a great post up today about transitioning from one place to another when traveling and the memories that last long after you've left the place behind. One thing he touched on that I forgot to mention when I posted about my "Map of memories" is the sometimes enormous cost of traveling. Many people don't understand why anyone would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars just to go stand on an island, hike a mountain or swim in a lake. Why not buy something tangible that you can use or show off? Beyond the experience itself, you're paying for the memories, Chris says. I agree with him, and those memories are worth infinitely more to me - and most travelers - than any big-screen TV or fashion-forward handbag.
• A little more than a year ago, I recorded my "story" for Translator Tales, a project that's creating an audio database of how translators became interested in translation and why they do it. I had mostly forgotten about it until I stumbled across a posting about it on the American Translator Association's website. I don't know that it's of much interest to anyone outside the industry, but if you want to hear me geek about translation, you can go directly to the recording here.
• Soccer is about the only sport I watch with any regularity, so I'm psyched up for the World Cup, the first games of which take place in South Africa tomorrow! I'm cheering for the U.S. and France, although I don't know that either will make it to the final matches this year. One of the things I love about the World Cup is that it's kind of like an international team-building exercise. We all take a break (well, to some extent) from yelling at and arguing with our international neighbors and let ourselves get caught up in the power struggle on the field instead. Fans of opposing teams heckle one another (mostly) good-naturedly, players clasp hands amicably with opponents who are citizens of countries with which their own governments are locked in conflict and everyone focuses on having a good time that's rowdy and intense in a completely different way from the international arena's norm. What matches are you looking forward to, and who do you think stands a chance to take home the Cup?