lemony

TED Day 2

Today was one of those peak TED days, where each talk flows into the next, twists your mind into a pretzel and peels your heart like an onion. The upshot of it all is: human beings are fucking amazing.

John Doerr. We all wept with him - to see man of his accomplishment basically say "it's not going to work. We aren't going to be able to stop global warming in time," gives new meaning to the word horrifying. Quote: I'm scared and I'm angry.

On his heels, cute Robin Chase. I love when a genius wears red MaryJanes. Thanks for the Zip cars, Robin, and thanks for the coming-soon and (again) dire warnings. 4% reduction in greenhouse gasses by using fuel-efficient cars? Not enough. Hello, road taxes.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Thank you for the break from PowerPoint. Who needs it when they have your stage presence. And thanks for changing our minds about Africa.

Rives - thank God - we needed some hilarity. Not fair when someone so smart is so funny. 4 am will never be the same. And Erin McKean - on dictionaries.

Jonathan Harris? Thanks for giving me something to look at the first day of class.

Nathan Myyhrvold, John Maeda, and Maria Kalman - clearly playfulness is closely related to genius.
Maira: "How do we know ourselves? How do we know the sentences coming out of our mouths are real?" "I wanted to tell a narrative story, and I wanted to tell MY story." "Depressed? No. Cranky? Probably. Horrified? Perhaps."

The Jill and Julia show. If I could subscribe to it evey day by podcast, I would.

Then, the burning hot core of I-am-not-worthy-ness, seeing the humble James Nachtway
(how can he persist in the face of such gruesomeness? How does he stay sane? He's like an angel hovering above a battlefield, only with a camera) and E.O. Wilson (limiting his study, because of his blindness- from a fishing accident! - to the creatures "you can hold between your thumb and your forefinger" - and thus illuminating the world) and the captivating Mr. Clinton, looking more and more like Robert Redford - is there plastic surgery involved? - and perhaps chatting with Goldie Hawn a little TOO intimately - however, the gravity and force of his intellect were awe-inspiring, and gave a clear demonstration of WHAT THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD SHOULD BE LIKE.
And then Paul Simon, to send us home.
Where I watched The Last King of Scotland, in case I end up seated next to Forest somehow.
And on to Day 3.

TED Day 1

The contents of this year's TED will be posted online, as were last years, and in fact today one of the little interstital extras was the unveiling of the new TEDTalks site - elegant and useful it appears to be.
So, since the TEDblog is quite thorough and the talks will be viewable by all I'm just blogging here about my own small impressions before they fade. I'm talking voluminous notes this year too.

Day 1:
Philippe Stratck. I loved him. Basically the point: art (and design) is really only important during the times of humanity's "light" when other more "important" issues like war and famine and disease are on the wwane. Now, not sure if I agree because doesn't art help even in the dark ages? His contention that now is one of those shadow times was immediately countered by Stephen Pinker's uplifting talk about the overall decrease in violence in human history. Dramatic statistics. Pretty amazing when you think that voices for peace have only been allowed to speak for the past 200 or 300 years - before that, protest the Man and off with your head (or worse).

Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The humble quietness of this towering icon makes your heart go still and then open up like a lily pad. He talked about heroes, hard work, having a mentor, and growing up "standing on the shoulders of giants." I felt his childhood, his mother and father, shine through his eyes while he talked.

And then to wind up the day: oh my God, Raul Midon. I had heard his music but didn't really know where it came from. It made me swoon and sent chills up my spine - that trumpet-soloey thing with his mouth!!! BUY THIS ALBUM.

Wow. Just Wow.

It's been a year since I started this blog, inspired by Mena Trott of SixApart at last year's TED. And here I am back in Monterey for another mega-mindwarp.
Due to my own ineptness I missed a lot of the pre-TED emails and hence, kind of blundered my way here, but here I am nevertheless, and I'm up for it all.
As a TED "veteran" as opposed to last year's TED "Virgin" I know more of what to expect and am less uptight than last year. I vow to soak it all in, not let any outside distractions make me miss anything, and most importantly I scheduled time to stay for the whole thing this year - I can't believe I let myself leave early last year and missed some of the best talks like Majorca Carter's - thank God they are now all posted online at the TEDTalks section of the TED site.

Also, I have a Mantra this year: I am worthy, I am worthy, I am worthy. I'm sure that paralyzing self-doubt and loathing I tend to drop into sometimes here (not so much while I'm listening to an amazing speaker capuslating their life's genius and achievements in 18 mind-blowing minutes, but more when I meet another audience memeber and they casually mention they just sold their company for 500 million - I'm not kidding - dollars and are looking for their next entrepreneuial venture) is a sign of either
a) my desperate need to belong to any group I'm in and be popular (so shameful)
b) of course related to some deepseated insecurity
c) just a big stick I use to beat myself over the head with to keep myself from going forward.
The task here is for me not to constantly compare myself with these superachievers, but to humbly accept who I am and what my own unique skills are, try to raise the bar of my own expectations and to increase the level of the problems I tackle. I love that TEd crisscrosses the talks with scientists, inventors,humanitarians, artists and musicians - it reminds me that while everyone onstage is at the pinnacle of their field, they all did it by listening to the still, small voice inside and following their hearts. And besides, I'm just here to listen. And I deserve to be here.