Got some things to talk about/here beside the risin' tide
Llama's wide awake at 5am and there's no one awake to talk to (and who would not appreciate being woken up for the purpose). Luckily for Llama, Al Gore has already invented teh intarwebs! (Though according to M., teh intarwebs were actually invented by some shady organization called "DARPA", which I think must be run by kittehs. Other unlikely kitteh-conspiracy theories. )
M. and I get an inordinate amount of robo-calls from our synagogue, mostly regretting to inform us of the deaths of members of the congregation. Sometimes, we get calls inviting us to synagogue social functions, which we delete, because we're mostly anti-social. But this week's robo-call announced a talk on high-technology development in Israel, which M's engineer radar seized on. "Hey Llama, wanna go?" he asked. Surprised at his enthusiasm for a synagogue event, and impressed that he wanted to go, I said, "Hells yeah!"
The talk was presented by a local patent attorney who lived in Israel for 3 1/2 years and still represents Israeli companies for patent work. There were only about 10 people gathered in the synagogue library, but it was a really neat discussion about the patent process, venture capital and inventions. (M. and I were also the youngest attendees by probably about 15-20 years, with the exception of the presenters 4 year old, though the median age was closer to 75.) What was particularly interesting to me was local Kansas City presence of Israeli high-tech. I should have realized that "TEVA Neuroscience" in bright green neon from an office park off of i-435 has something to do with Israel (teva means "nature" in Hebrew) though I didn't realize how big they were globally. The presenter's wife also runs her own business importing organic Israeli olive oil from from the Galilee, which sounds awesome. (And a nifty gift for foodies!) I got her email address and hope to try out some of her product.
Lying awake early this morning, I was seized by a flood of ideas for stuff to do, people to call and email. Probably, because I got to catch up with Arsenic, which reminded me how enjoyable it is to talk with humans for fun. (This has proved a marked contrast to the last 5 days, when I was sick with a pretty yucky head cold and only wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep.) Maybe Llama's purpose in life is emerging once again, from the obscuring haze of being not-a-lawyer and the lousy economy and depressing global news. (While my love of the NYTimes, compared to say, In Touch, does expose me to a lot more global suffering, it also provides a source of hope through renewed interest in the environment, science and intellectual pursuits. Yay hope in the president-elect. Maybe he's hiring Llamas for something?)
M. and I get an inordinate amount of robo-calls from our synagogue, mostly regretting to inform us of the deaths of members of the congregation. Sometimes, we get calls inviting us to synagogue social functions, which we delete, because we're mostly anti-social. But this week's robo-call announced a talk on high-technology development in Israel, which M's engineer radar seized on. "Hey Llama, wanna go?" he asked. Surprised at his enthusiasm for a synagogue event, and impressed that he wanted to go, I said, "Hells yeah!"
The talk was presented by a local patent attorney who lived in Israel for 3 1/2 years and still represents Israeli companies for patent work. There were only about 10 people gathered in the synagogue library, but it was a really neat discussion about the patent process, venture capital and inventions. (M. and I were also the youngest attendees by probably about 15-20 years, with the exception of the presenters 4 year old, though the median age was closer to 75.) What was particularly interesting to me was local Kansas City presence of Israeli high-tech. I should have realized that "TEVA Neuroscience" in bright green neon from an office park off of i-435 has something to do with Israel (teva means "nature" in Hebrew) though I didn't realize how big they were globally. The presenter's wife also runs her own business importing organic Israeli olive oil from from the Galilee, which sounds awesome. (And a nifty gift for foodies!) I got her email address and hope to try out some of her product.
Lying awake early this morning, I was seized by a flood of ideas for stuff to do, people to call and email. Probably, because I got to catch up with Arsenic, which reminded me how enjoyable it is to talk with humans for fun. (This has proved a marked contrast to the last 5 days, when I was sick with a pretty yucky head cold and only wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep.) Maybe Llama's purpose in life is emerging once again, from the obscuring haze of being not-a-lawyer and the lousy economy and depressing global news. (While my love of the NYTimes, compared to say, In Touch, does expose me to a lot more global suffering, it also provides a source of hope through renewed interest in the environment, science and intellectual pursuits. Yay hope in the president-elect. Maybe he's hiring Llamas for something?)