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May 9, 2006
Changing the World, Guns and Geeks, Sea Lions
I am at a conference in Monterey, California, and we’re staying at the Hyatt Regency Monterey . The hotel is beautifully landscaped, the staff attentive, a nice golf course next to the main building, etc, etc. Between the restaurant and the golf course is a nice little gazebo with a gas fireplace, and I wandered over there with my drink before heading off to bed last night. 
Hoping for some solitude, I was a little disappointed there were three women there already, sitting around the fire, engaged in animated conversation, an older woman and two very attractive younger ones talking intently. There was a chair sufficiently removed from the group to be separate, but within earshot. After a couple of minutes the women included me in the conversation – they were talking about where they were from. The older one was from the Albany NY area, and the two younger ones were from Los Angeles, actors taking a break from the “craziness” in LA.
At this point I was bracing myself for the worst – I was expecting some banal conversation about the movie world, how hard it all is to be beautiful and trying to get an honest job acting, but…it didn’t quite turn out that way.
The two actors were taking a break all right – from the pressure of making a documentary on the plight of AIDs orphans in Kenya on a shoestring, about struggling with the moral imperative of making the world a better place surrounded by vain, rich and self-centered people. They both had graphic stories of what they had seen in Kenya – the poverty and neglect, of what they had experienced – the compassion that the orphans extended to them. They had a clear, well formed idea of how they could help – raise enough money through the documentary and other means to create a self-sustaining village for the orphans, founded on micro- investments, utilizing ecologically sustainable farming and manufacturing techniques.
Sometimes I despair about our future, given the young people I know (aside from my own kids of course ;-), but these two young woman gave me hope – that there are people out there who understand, who care, and are trying with all their might to make a difference. They believe that they can change the world. I think they can too.
I’m was a little surprised at meeting the two young women last night – usually these things take over the whole hotel. Typically at these conferences there are “security guards” making sure only registered participants with a conference badge can get into the meeting rooms. I would expect to see the normal crew of retired school teachers and bus drivers mildly standing next to the door checking badges. Mind you, I’d be shocked if anyone else would want to join, but maybe it’s just me – I don’t have a very suspicious mind.
However, the folks organizing this conference apparently are more concerned. The security company making our presentations safe are Off Duty Officers. Now there’s no problem with a police officer picking up a little extra money, but these folks forgot to leave their guns at their normal job. It’s more than a little creepy going in to see a presentation on graph based floorplanning, but to have to pass muster by a guy with a gun on his ( “her” in one case) hip.
But moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, we were escorted on a kayak tour of the Monterey harbor this afternoon. In the past I’ve been on these kinds of outings, and they are usually so rubber padded that it’s difficult to really see or do anything interesting. Not so this time – we were all given spray suites, trotted out to the waiting kyakes, given a 2 minute “lesson” and then pretty much pushed out on our own. There was a “guide” who followed us around, offering interesting insights into the local flora and fauna, including some of the human types.
My co-worker Brion and I were in the same kayak, and we completed our tour a little early. We sat about a quarter mile off the beach, bobbing in the waves, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. It was wonderful – sun, surf, beautiful scenery – For a moment everything was perfect. I could use more moments like that.
Posted by pgutwin at May 9, 2006 8:16 PM