How I'm Livin. . .

Hello Nackebuhsers, it's been a long time. Rest assured, I have been a busy beaver! As some, or many, or all 3 of you know, I've been taking part in UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design's [IN] City Summer Program. I've learned and thought more about climate change, sustainable communities, transportation, land use, social equity, environmental justice, and density, density, density in the past two weeks than I ever have in my entire life up to this point. I've also got a slew of new acronyms under my belt, including CAP, BRT, TOD, VMT, UGB, SOV and MURP (not to be confused with MERP).

To be honest at first I felt that I was in way-ay-ay over my head. This is the graduate student's nightmare: to realize you are the dumbest person in the room. However, after splitting into smaller groups and really getting to know some of the 70-odd other students in the program (who are from places as diverse as Seattle, Boston, Ohio, Montreal, Port-au-Prince, Bogota, and Kuwait City) I'm kinda finding my place and becoming more confident with the material and the challenges it presents. And boy howdy, are there some challenges. . .

One of the highlights of the program thus far was the tour we took of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge last Wednesday. We boated out to the site on a 40 foot yacht (with a full cash bar!) and were treated to a talk by a fella from Caltrans (the state government department managing the new bridge's construction). The day was capped off by a sighting of the ever elusive Bay Bridge Troll!

So yeah, I really don't know as of yet where this program will lead me. Maybe I'll go back to school to get my very own MURP, or maybe I'll find an internship in a local agency or non-profit. Perhaps I'll simply end up a more educated and concerned cheesemonger. Whatever happens I do feel as if suddenly the world is full of attainable possibilities to make it a better place, and coming from me that's a very good thing.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that my lil band's going on our first tour in just over a month! Opening for the Mummies!!! I'm still kinda in disbelief. . .