The Incredibly Powerful "The Lives of Others"

Movies about loneliness; about people looking in on someone else's life and wishing it were theirs; that help you understand the inner thoughts of those you might not think about twice, who quietly lurk in the shadows, or appear to be monsters to the outside world; these are the movies I often find most powerful.

And the German movie, "The Lives of Others," was an exception, even for this standard. The subtle foreshadowing, the contemplation of what it means to be an artist, the suffocating atmosphere of East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell, and the life of one incredibly caged and sad man, all combine to make for an unforgettable movie.

Maybe I love these types of movies - Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to Her," also comes to mind - because the characters are such a departure from my own personality; I'm not someone who lives in my own head - I need the company of others, just as much as these characters long for it. Or maybe it's the expression of the same common need among all humans - for touch, for conversation, for comfort and for a meaningful relationship. And the very different ways we go about interacting - or trying to interact - with each other.

The quiet, thoughtful, even painfully shy, main characters often live lives of yearning and desperation, trying to understand and make sense of the world around them that they, for some reason, can't seem to become a part of. They want to connect with people, but they don't know how, and it's excruciating to watch, all the moreso because the absence of this feeling is so sorely missed, if even for a day or two, when I'm by myself; I can't imagine never experiencing the closeness of friends, family or a spouse.

How true, then, Thoreau's observation: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." The movie eloquently does this notion justice.

Knee-d Help

Today I went to my orthopedic doctor - Dr. Gottlob - to get my knee checked out. I had surgery to repair my ACL in April, and it's still not feeling better, which really stinks. I had another MRI taken, and I found out today that my body is not really dealing with my surgery so well. Apparently, the area around the graft is really inflamed, especially in the spot where a screw is supposed to be dissolving - and what do you know - this is where I've been having most of my pain.

It's also possible that I have this thing, called a Cyclops, where scar tissue forms on the front of your knee and causes it to be really sore and feel like it's hyper-extending.

Argggh. I am so sick of all this business.

So cute Dr. Gottlob (my mom and I have a mini-crush on him) gave me a shot of cortisone to see if that will calm down the inflammation. This shot was HORRIBLE. It didn't hurt that much, but it just felt gross - they inject the stuff into your knee joint, so you can just feel this pressure that hurts a little bit.

Now, however, my knee feels pretty good - but I think that's because the first stuff they put in is a fast-acting numbing agent, then a longer-lasting numbing agent, and then finally the cortisone. So in a few days, it's possible that my knee will feel worse than it did before - at least until the cortisone kicks in.

I hope this does the trick, because Dr. Gottlob said my healing is way behind the bell curve - by now I should be able to run, play sports and ski with no problem. If it isn't 100% after a year, he said he'll likely want to go back in and scope my knee to see what the problem is.

Bahhh. At least the doc's cute.

The Cheeeesy Sisters

Megan and I have this ritual established now for when I come to visit her in New York. I usually head to Williamsburg at some point during my stay, we hop on Megan's scooter - or just walk - with nephew Toni somewhere in tow, to the Bedford Cheese Shop.

We'll taste a couple of cheeses - chevre, blue, brie - you name it, and act like we know something about what we're tasting (some of the signs say, for example, "tastes like manure," so I pretend like I would enjoy eating something that tastes like manure). Megan says she likes the "gnarly" cheeses and usually opts for some blue cheese that smells like rotten feet - fitting, since this is all too often the smell of her own feet. We usually grab a loaf of ciabatta bread as well.

And since little Chichi is a starving, tortured artist (I did Megan a favor by torturing her when we were little - I helped put the torture in the tortured artist), the big sister usually pays. Sometimes, I think we think we're rich, buying expensive cheeses and generally living the high life in New York City on big sister's dime.

Next, we head to the wine shop, and little sister has to remind me that there are no - zero, zilch, nada - good wines in New York City to be had for under $10. So, we proceed to find the cheapest, but best tasting, bottle we can get and head back to Chichi's apartment, where we'll drink the wine, eat the cheese and bread, put our feet up on her coffee table, try to defend our cheese from ever-encroaching Toni and perhaps watch a little Chelsea Lately.

As Ned has been known to say, "I wonder what all the poor people are doing today."

Ahhhh. We do live the good life in New York City.

Science: Both Popular and Fun. Who Knew?

Yesterday and Monday, a colleague and I took Rena Pacella, a reporter for Popular Science, all over Metro Denver to tour companies in the region. I love my job - I get to see some of the most spectacular things going on in the world. Really.

Monday

First, we met with David Hiller, the executive director for the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a research partnership among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado School of Mines.

Next, we met with the most amazing professor, researcher and business owner - Claude Selitrennikoff, who's also the Vice-Chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He's an incredible character - he has an excellent sense of humor and explains complex biology in laymen's terms - and he got us all (well Susan, my colleague, and I) really excited about science.

Through his company, Mycologics, he's working to find a vaccine for Leishmania, or Baghdad Boil as it's affectionately known - a fungus carried by sandflies in the Middle East (so lots of Iraq and Afghanistan vets are getting the disease). This same vaccine will likely work on malaria as well - fascinating science that has the potential to save millions of lives.

Apparently, diseases like Leishmania are migrating, thanks to yours truly, Global Warming, and may be coming to a desert near you soon. After meeting with Claude, we started singing, a la Flashdance, "She's a Leishmaniac, Leishmaniac on the floor...."

Next, we headed to CH2M Hill, where we met with Thomas Searle, the president of CH2M Hill's international division. Mr. Searle told us all about his company's incredible work in Singapore, including the upcoming Singapore Deep Tunnel Sewage System, the Panama Canal Expansion program, and the 2012 London Olympics. (They are also working on the Masdar Initiative in Abu Dhabi.)

Then, we met with George Douglas at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden.

We wrapped up the day at the Colorado School of Mines, Center for Space Resources and its Eighth Continent Project. Although the School of Mines has its history in - what else? - mining engineering, it is now using this expertise for space - mining the moon, mining in conditions that are inhospitable to humans, such as under the ocean, and for mining uranium. I never thought about trying to mine on the moon, but they told us that you essentially need a miniature Bobcat that is light, requires virtually no energy, has parts that won't get clogged up by moon dust (super sharp and corrosive stuff, apparently) and can keep the mining material in one place (oops, I forgot that the stuff floats away...).

Also, the Center came up with a system for suppressing fires in space - tiny, tiny droplets (sounds easier said than done) - but apparently this application has uses on Earth, too - the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, is now using this system to protect its art, because the water droplets evaporate quickly after putting out fire - and so, won't ruin the paintings.

They have also come up with this thing called Space-DRUMS, a machine that uses sonar sounds to keep a sample from touching anything and getting contimated. Many people wonder why we go to space when there are so many issues on Earth. Well, we discovered that many of the findings in space have applications here, such as - in space, cells hold chemotherapy for a longer time than on Earth, meaning the treatment is more effective in this environment. Maybe George Bush was right about one thing - getting back to the moon.

That night, we ate at the Walnut (Jeb waited on us - and Joy showed up later, too) and stayed at the Hotel Boulderado, a historic hotel in Boulder.

More on the Tuesday events tomorrow...

Staff Retreat Par Excellence

Our DCI offices are in Union Square in New York City. It's an amazing neighborhood - tons of shopping, excellent hot spots for eating, etc.

And from Jan. 3-4, our staff met at our offices for our annual retreat. It was a great time, as always. We talked about goals, the past, the future and all things DCI. We learned more about our pro bono client, Aid to Artisans, and also learned about sales from Bill Whitley.

But the best part about the staff retreat? Socializing. The first night for the 3rd Annual Teddy Awards (named after our founder, Ted Levine), we ate and drank at Borgo Antico Ristorante at 22 E 13th Street (off University Place). A good - and raucous - time was had by all.

The next night, Friday night, we went to Haru Restaurant. It was a cool atmosphere, but we got kicked out, because we hadn't reserved the space for the full night. So everyone migrated to The Coffee Shop in Union Square. I thought it was a fun place, but this review (linked) is dead-on; the waiters and bartenders are "the beautiful people," waiting to be discovered.

Christiane Amanpour at the LaGuardia Baggage Claim

Christiane Amanpour was on my flight from Denver to NYC for my staff retreat at DCI on Jan. 2. She was standing in front of me, and I thought she looked familiar, but I decided to wait to hear her speak before saying anything. Once she opened her mouth, I knew it was her; her voice is so distinctive. I said, "Excuse me, are you Christiane Amanpour?" To which she replied politely, "Yes. Did you have a good holiday?" I told her I was a big fan of her work. Waiting around, I tried to think of something intelligent to say. I asked if she had spent the holiday in Denver (genius question...); she replied she was just passing through. I said, "I can't believe no one is recognizing you. Don't you get recognized? But it must be kind of nice not to." (Another brillaint move on my part - was I trying to imply she's not that famous?) To which she replied, "Yes, I do get recognized, but not like this. People aren't used to seeing me in this environment." I guess people shoving and trampling each other at LaGuardia doesn't exactly qualify as a war-torn region. I then proceeded to tell her I liked the series, "God's Warriors." Then, I realized this whole starstruck thing wasn't working so well for me, so I decided to be quiet for a change.

It seems like I always see famous people on flights from Denver to NYC. A few visits ago, I saw Colorado's former Governor Bill Owens. He could see in my eyes that I recognized him and gave a polite smile. Must be weird to be famous.