How We Met

We met for the very first time in the summer of 2006, when Diana was a student and Will an alumnus and a guest lecturer in the NASA Academy at Goddard Space Flight Center, a NASA leadership training program with a very tighter relationship between alumni and current students. Academy custom is to have alumni kick off the summer’s evening lecture series, and in 2006, Will was one of the very first speakers, talking to the group about his work at the X PRIZE Foundation. Will thought Diana was smart, cute, and quiet; Diana thought Will was accomplished, handsome, and arrogant.

We met one or two other times that summer, always as part of a large group. The first picture Will has that includes Diana is below, from a NASA Academy trip to a Washington Nationals game, which Will and one other fellow alum helped arrange as a free and fun outing for the students. Note the typical Washington Nationals attendance (aytipcally, the Nationals actually won)!



Although we hardly got to know each other at all that summer, there were two very important outcomes from Diana’s term as a student in the program: she decided to transfer from the University of Florida to the University of Maryland, and she was selected to return to the Academy as staff for the summer of 2007. Without these two changes, perhaps we would never have met again.

The next major milestone in our relationship also occurred thanks to the NASA Academy. In the spring of 2007, both of us attended the Admissions Board selection meeting. Arriving late, Will had no choice but to sit next to Diana in a seat cluttered by the power cords for the meeting’s computers and projectors. Will thought again that Diana was smart, pretty, and quiet; Diana primarily thought that Will was clumsy, as he kept unplugging the power cords with his feet.

But there must have been some magic in the air, for as Diana got up to leave, she grabbed Will’s winter coat instead of her own. To this day, Diana claims that this was an honest mistake—Will, however, does not believe this, and points out the fact that his coat is insanely, comically too large for Diana for anyone to possibly make this mistake. But somehow, Diana managed to make it out of the meeting and off Goddard’s campus with Will’s coat instead of her own, and with her own coat and purse still back in the meeting.

Will tracked Diana down and arranged to meet her just outside of Goddard to exchange coats. Upon return the coat, Will asked for a hug and a dinner date. The first request was begrudgingly granted, the second was denied, as Diana had an urgent date with Chipotle and a library.

Thankfully, though, things didn’t stop there. We continued to correspond via email, with Will offering to show Diana around Washington DC, as Diana was new to the area. After a few missed opportunities, we finally met up in downtown DC, starting with a tour of the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian. We talked for hours, had a wonderful time, and basically have never stopped having a good time since.

One year into our relationship, we took a trip to Vienna, Austria. Unbeknownst to Diana, will had a special surprise in mind. At the end of our first day in Vienna, after a day of touring the city and a lovely evening at the Opera (where we saw Falstaff), Will proposed to Diana. Thankfully, neither Chipotle nor libraries were mentioned in Diana’s response—just a simple, delighted, and profound “yes”. Although, truth be told, Will was so nervous that Diana had started packing bags, thinking that there was some emergency that was going to require both of them to leave Austria in a hurry.

And now, one year later, we’ve managed a move across the United States, a new job for Diana and a promotion for Will, and have planned our wedding. We sincerely hope that you will be able to join us in Colombia this December as we take the next step in our adventure and commit ourselves to an everlasting love.

Lonely Planet Colombia

Thanks to my dad, we learned that just this past week, Lonely Planet released a new and updated edition of their Colombia guidebook. Actually, Dad din't just tell us about the book--he shipped us a copy. It arrived at the end of last week, much to our surprise.

We haven't had too much a chance to flip through it yet, but hope to do so soon. We'll pass on any thoughts and reviews we've got. In the meantime, any of you thinking about planning some vacation time in Colombia and interested in picking up a guidebook would be well served to consider this one: we can't yet say whether or not it's the best, but we can certainly say it's the freshest.

Here's an uncensored reproduction of the introductory section about Cali, the city where we're getting married (and Diana's hometown):

Population: 3.5 million
Elevation: 969m

Cali is not an immediately likable city. For one thing, it is muggy and hot. For another, it's an industrial and transportation hub whose business is business, not tourism. Caleños shrug off criticism about their city with the saying "Cali es cali, y lo demás es loma, ¿oís?" (Cali is Cali, and the rest [of Colombia] is just mountain, ya hear?).

Those who dig deeper and spend some time here will find a welcoming, friendly city with great nightlife, good restaurants, and plenty to do, especially in the evening, when a cool mountain breeze dissipates the heat of the day.

Go to San Antonio, the old Colonial Center, and linger over a beer or ice cream in the park, or better still, a champú or
lulada both fruit drinks made with lulo, a unique Colombian fruit typical of the Valle de Cauca, of which Cali is the capital. Wander through Barrio Granada's many upscale restaurants and boutiques, or hang out at Chipichape shopping mall and marvel at the local plastic surgeons' prowess.

Nowhere are Colombia's racial diversity and harmony, and the incredible beauty of the Colombian women, more apparent than here. Cali women are nationally renowned for their sense of style and beauty, and the way they carry themselves.

HISTORY
After helping Francisco Pizarro conquer the Incas, Sebastián de Belacázar (also known in Latin America as Benalcázar) quarreled with his former boss and moved north to strike out on his own. After founding Quito and Popayán, he arrived in the Valle de Cauca in 1536, where he dubbed his new settlement Santiago de Cali.

Over the centuries Spaniards shipped in thousands of African slaves to work the valley's sugarcane and cotton plantations. The Valle remains a major agricultural producer, and in higher regions also produces grapes and coffee.

Cali was a small town in orbit to departmental capital Popayáan well into the 20th century, when railroads, and later highways, overtook the rivers as the dominant form of transport. To this day more than half of Colombia's exports pass through Cali on their way to Buenaventura.

ORIENTATION
Cali is built along the western edge of the wide Valle de Cauca. The city center is laid out in a grid plan around the Plaza de Caycedo. This is where you'll find most of the historic churches and museums.

Southwest of the center lies San Antonio, the colonial heart of Cali. North lies the bustling, upscale Av Sexta, and nearby Av 9, where you'll find Granada, the city's dining district. Further north along Sexta is Chipichape, one of the largest shopping malls in Colombia

Not Bad for a Week's Work

I try not to let work spill over onto this blog, but there were a few points this week that seemed worthy of mention.

On Monday, I had my second ever piece published in the Huffington Post. Check it out: Our Robotic Overlords. I hope to publish more pieces here soon, now that I got my own author account re-activated.

Today, there were two more news articles of note. The Wall Street Journal ran a piece today called The Science Prize: Innovation or Stealth Advertising?, by Pulitzer Prize winner Rrobert Lee Hotz. My hopes for a signature WSJ portrait were dashed--I'm not mentioned in the piece at all, in fact--but it's great to get some exposure for the Foundation and for my prize specifically.

Lastly, the Herald News of lovely Fall River, MA ran a piece called Adults at Play, which is largely about the panel I'll be on at the Boston Museum of Science next week.

Not too shabby! All in a week's work...

Catching Up: Another Concert, Las Vegas

We haven't had a chance to update this blog in quite some time, but we have been up to some pretty exciting things.

Two weeks ago, Diana and I went to another concert--but believe it or not, this one wasn't at Largo. Instead, we went out to the El Rey theatre on Wilshire, just a few blocks away from our gym, the La Brea Tar Pits, and LACMA.


The evening's entertainment? The Squirrel Nut Zippers. But actually, the opening band was just as cool. We'd never heard of them, but that didn't stop us from really enjoying the Fishtank Ensemble--a strange, "cross pollinated gypsy" band. Yeah, that's right.


A strange mix of flamenco, Romanian folk, jazz, and ... probably about ten other things I couldn't name. My best way to describe them would be Django Reinhart meets Gogol Bordello. Definitely a lot of fun--check them out.

The main act was the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Some videos--taken by someone else, but at that night's show:

Put a Lid On It


Good Enough for Grandad

The set list for the show was just about perfect. From beginning to end, they played essentially every song I could want--and pretty much none of the songs I don't particularly like. Hot jazz, calypso, blues, American roots music--it was a touch of everything. They played only one song from their final album, but that one confirmed my suspicion that that could have been a good album if produced differently--some of the material was pretty good. Diana and I are both enormous fans of Katherine Whalen's voice, and I, at least, was a bit disappointed by her performance--but that was quite possibly a symptom of my unrealistic expectations.

So, we kicked the week off with the Zippers, and ended it with ZERO-G. Diana and I both drove up to Las Vegas for a half-day training course for coaches on ZERO-G, the parabolic flight company. We're both really looking forward to becoming full-fledged coaches sometime soon! More on that as we hear it--but we're both in the corps now, and that's the key first step.

We didn't have time to do too much in Vegas--we were there for work, after all--but we certainly did have a little fun. The highlight? Dinner at Spago. Oh yeah, and this:

More on Colombian Food

Building on the theme of my Easter post about Colombian food...

Many of you are already familiar with chef, author, and travel show host Anthony Bourdain. I enjoyed a few of his books, and we've are at the now-closed DC location of his Les Halles restaurant a few times. While we don't watch his TV show No Reservations regularly, I do enjoy it whenever I happen to catch an episode.

Anyway, Tony recently went to Colombia to sample the food. Although he didn't go to Cali specifically, the foods he ate are by in large similar to what the Caleños eat. So, check it out below. It's divided into five parts:

Part 1

Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Easter Lunch

Diana and I went out for a lovely Easter lunch yesterday--Colombian style. In addition to being delicious, the meal doubled as research for this here blog. What better way to get you all excited about going to Colombia that to post more photos like this one:


(By the way, that photo was taken from the camera on my new cell phone.)

Diana had a very nice soup called Sancocho de Gallina--a tasty broth filled with chicken, corn, potato, and yuca. It's simple and delicious, and a very typical Caleño (from Cali, Colombia) meal.

In honor of the holiday, I had the dish listed on the menu as "Ave Maria Pues." It was delicious and enormous. As you can see, it included: carne asada (steak), plantanos maduros (plantains), arroz (rice), chorizo (sausage), frijoles (beans), arepa (similar to a biscuit), and chicharones
(Similar to pork rinds), and a whole lot of awesome.

A Little Bit about Cali

Since most of you have never been to Colombia before, you're probably quite curious about what it will be like. If you're like me, it can be a bit difficult to picture life in Cali.

We found a video online that I think will help. It's produced by a local hotel--one of the ones we were considering, but ultimately didn't choose--so it's definitely designed to give a favorable impression. But it also shows the Cali I saw on my visit there last fall.

Check it out by clicking here. You'll probably want to watch both the main "Concierge Video Tour" and "Discover" at least.

And of course, to learn more, you can always turn to Wikipedia.