Schiavoni Files

Our Network Hour in DC was a success! We had about 100 people. It was a great mix of young and old, experienced and fresh faced, those seeking resources and giving. It was gorgeous outside and our event eventually migrated to the rooftop of the venue (Local 16). I was jacked up on redbull trying to compensate for a sleepless--middle seat--baby next to me screaming--redeye flight I had taken the night before. Arguably, I could have taken a nap in the morning instead of shopping for a new dress for the event (found one from ann taylor--very DC--when in Rome). I figured adenaline and redbull could carry me through and for the most part they did. Picture on top shows the other NPC ladies that flew out for the event: Catalina, our Investor Services Director, Kirstin, my friend and boss (ED) who I've followed to 3 jobs by now and Deb our Community Resources Director. We do have 3 men on staff but it was kind of neat that only the ladies were at this event.

Did a lot in a couple days in DC. Walked around Dupont and had my favorite apple blue salad with blackened chicken at Luna Grill. Went to my favorite second hand store Second Story, my old nail place Q-West, got coffee at Tryst in Adam's Morgan, hit up Stetsons (and got my first free drink ever after years of patronage), went with Wesleyan college friends to hipster bar Wonderland, went with NPC ladies to some terrible club in Georgetown where Derrick Jeeter was just leaving as we were arriving. It was a great weekend all around. Good to be back in DC but also reminded me how glad I am to be in SF. DC for me was mostly about working, bars, drinking, eating, shopping, working and drinking some more. I get out more in SF. I Have more adventures and live a more balanced life. I've decided DC is a nice place to visit, but I'm glad to call San Francisco home.
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Off to our nation's capital for our inaugural DC NPC Network Hour event there.

I'm taking a brutal redeye tonight where I have to change flights in Detroit but I'm taking it for the team because the ticket was so cheap.

It's an invite-only event so I probably shouldn't have posted the invite online, but I doubt anyone from DC reads this thing and if they do then I bet they are cool and might want to become members of NPC?! We are psyched because we expected around 40 people would show up and our RSVP list is already up to 110! Not too shabby. It's a quality list too. Okay, I'm rambling. Good stuff. Gotta go pack. I really need a new outfit. Oh well.
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Went camping.

First day climbed 3,000 ft. to a 9,000 ft snow-covered summit (pictured right). Didn't realize that the trail was closed due to snow until it was too late. Came back wet and tired from trail-blazing.

Second day traversed logs across mountain river rapids (pictured right). Didn't realize that the trail was closed due to high water until it was too late. Came back wet and tired from trail-blazing.

Remind me to stop by the visitor's center next time before starting an 8 mile hike. So fun though.

Also saw General Sherman, the world's largest tree (doesn't look too impressive in picture but was really big).

Cool thing about CA is how varied the terrain is. One minute you can be freezing in 2 ft of snow and 20 minutes later you are dying of heat in 90 degree dusty valley. Makes it hard to pack light though.

Reminded me of Beirut, Lebanon where you can ski down a mountain and swim in the ocean all in one day.

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Saw this really fun show last night: The Ditty Bops. The two women are touring across the country on their bikes. They played a sort of playful, lively folk music and were really entertaining. One of the girls is super cute and smiley and the other girl was really serious. We thought she must be in a bad mood or maybe tired from the biking but then we saw their website and it looks like that is just her stilo. I think I'm going to buy their CD. They had a funny song called Your Head's Too Big and the smiley girl sucked in helium from a baloon. I thought that was pretty creative.
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Man, that new Al Gore movie on global warming scared the crap out of me. We're looking at catastrophic consequences over the next 20 years unless we make some serious policy changes.

Gore was good. Don't know how well this movie will play to the masses (I was enthralled but it's a lot of Gore standing on a stage drawing graphs), but as Roger Ebert points out, everyone owes it to themselves to see this film. Seriously. Go see it as soon as possible.

So what is our fearless president focusing on this week to keep us safe and secure from impending disasters of all sorts? Banning gay marriage. Wonderful. We definitely have our priorities straight.
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Going to see the premiere of Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" tonight and then to an after-party with the producer. Should be interesting.

Yesterday I was at an event for this new group 3650 that is putting eco-friendly messages in cartoons and animation to help educate the masses about climate change and global warming. The group includes some of the top animators from cartoons like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Family Guy and the Simpsons. Al Gore is also involved with this project.

Global warming is definitely a popular issue right now. So is Al Gore. Seems like he's peaking right now. Heard he was treated like a movie star at the Cannes Film Festival.

Some say Gore could have won the 2000 election (won by more I should say) if he had talked about his passion, the environment, instead of listening to his consultants who told him it was a dead issue.

Not only is it an issue that cuts across party lines but it also may have helped loosen him up to talk about something he was truly passionate about. But hindsight is always 20/20.
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