The Shaking Knee

Yebo Man

Pretty amazing day in Nairobi. Barely slept last night (second night jet lag) but powered through the day. The deep dive was incredibly interesting. Who wouldn't want to sit in a room full of African students from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa and Tanzania and listen to what they think are the most important priorities for the continent? Very cool. Interesting how Africans think of both their own nation, and as Africa as a single entity. It doesn't seem like it from the popular press, but there is a unity among Africans. You cannot say the same thing about North Americans, Europeans, or Asians. And the African people are full of humor and candidness. But many are exceedingly quiet. Makes me feel like an obnoxious American. But they seem to like it.

By the way, I heard today that somebody ripped off my totally original theory that autistic people are actually more evolved than normal humans. My theory said that in an increasingly specialized and digital economy, autistics are better suited for success. Bill Gates is only the beginning. I think autistics are the next step in the evolutionary chain.

Way behind on the photo front. But here's a few snapshots of the hotel. I'm hoping to go for a jog tomorrow morning and snap some shots of the monkeys. The kids would love that. Here are the latest shots for now...

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Africa Hot

Funny thing about blogs: the more interesting your life becomes, the less inclined you are to stop what you're doing and type words into a computer. I guess that goes for all writing.

The reason I'm saying this is that I'm currently in Africa (Nairobi, Kenya, to be exact.) I'm working on the Global Innovation Outlook down here, and we're exploring ways to boost Africa's socio-economic condition by way of, well, boosting Africa's socio-economic condition. I have a lot of early thoughts on Nairobi (dusty, dirty, different), but I'll hold off because all I've done at this point is drive through town on my way from the airport to my swanky country club of a hotel (The Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club.) It's definitely not as hot as I would have expected, this being the equator and all. But I did see a monkey today. So that's pretty cool.

Other than that I'm having a good time listening to the locals speak Swahili, and learning some South African slang. Yebo means yes. Sharp-sharp means good. And Jambo means hello. The pace of life is very different here. It's strange to hear so many stories of aggression and civil war and then meet so many kind and, frankly, passive Africans. There is a disconnect. But the Africans that I've met are deeply saddened by the things that happen in their home. They know how it is viewed elsewhere in the world. They are not the isolated, unworldly people we've read about in our papers and seen in documentaries. They understand their place in the world, and they desperately want it to change.

More on this trip later. We'll be in Nairobi until Friday, then a quick safari over the weekend to the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. We fly to Dakar, Senegal, on the west coast of Africa, on Sunday.

E Pluribus Anniversum

Me and the missus had a splendid 5-year anniversary adventure in NYC over the weekend. Funny how my favorite bits often come from our car trips to and from the destination. This time we had a few gems on the way down. 1.) Jazz music is cool until you actually have to listen to it. 2.) I love what my 1994 honda accord says about me. It says "I don't care what my car says about me." And 3.) It used to be that when the weather got screwy, it was God's doing. These days, it's all about us.

We had drinks at a little speakeasy in the village called Little Branch. It's on the corner of Leroy and 7th Avenue. Blink and you'll miss it. No sign (typical West Village). But the bartender takes loving care of each and every drink he makes. Maybe that's why it takes 15 minutes for him to make your drink. But it's time well spent. The drinks are fantastic. He wouldn't tell the Michelle the name of the drink he made her, but promised me I wouldn't have to peel her off the floor later that night. He was half right.

Then we had dinner at Little Owl on Bedford (yes, it's small too). We had to wait nearly two hours for a table, but again, it was worth it. The duck breast appetizer was phenomenal (just a touch of truffle oil) and Michelle's steak was out of this world.

California Dreaming

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with no idea where I was. This has been happening a lot to me lately, a sign of two things: I'm not getting enough sleep, and I'm traveling too much.

The whole family just got back from Los Angeles, where we stayed at the fancy-pants Shutters on the Beach resort. It's a great hotel, right on the beach in Santa Monica, walking distance to the pier. The kids loved it. And Michelle and I were reminded that vacationing with kids is not much like a vacation at all. That said, we all had a good time and caught up with lots of old friends. L.A. is an amazing, compelling place. You can just feel the youth and energy of a million hopes and dreams. It's packed with elements of "the good life" all tainted by smog and traffic. People from the East Coast commonly use the pollution and congestion of L.A. to justify why they don't live there. But the truth is, life is better in California, and anyone who says different is selling something.

Before that we were in St. Louis for my cousin Mike Mahowald's wedding. St. Louis was hot, but the wedding was good fun, and the reception was in Tilles Park under the Gloria Rodgers shelter, which kept us a little cooler.  The entire  Briody clan from the Rockaways made it out, and the Ridgefield Briody's were represented by John and Lori, L.P., and  us chickens.

D.C. United

Down in D.C. for the day. I'm working on a very cool new project that brings together members of the healthcare community (pharma, researchers, academics, doctors etc.) and challenges them to collaboratively address infectious diseases, especially in developing countries, especially in Africa. It's convened by the folks at the Academic Alliance Foundation, an organization that combines private and public interests in the efforts to make positive change. Hard to argue with that mission statement, eh? More on this later.

It's good work. But I'm eager to get back home tonight for our softball opener. It's a double header, and by the end of last season, I was playing pretty well. Shaky in the field, but more consistent at the plate.

Question of the day: Why are the Braves good this year? Very annoying.