Life in NA

It seems the pace of life in North America is fast. I feel like I've been running since I stepped of the plane at YVR. I have managed to attend to several errands and see lots of folks (if you are in Vancouver and haven't seen or heard from me, it's not because I haven't thought of you, it's that I cannot drink that much coffee!).

I've managed to spend time on my bike and on my skis. Skiing on the last weekend of the season at Hollyburn was amazing -- great weather, good snow, and an egg unit at the lodge to wrap it all up. I'm not exactly in "end of season" form, but my ski buddy still let me set the pace (thanks Jane!).

The blogger on skis

Now I'm in LA attending the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference -- a bizarre event where some 8000 academics gather for 5 days to discuss all sorts of things under the broad umbrella of 'geography'. There are physical geographers - those that study rivers and map stuff - and human geographers - those that study things like political economy, representations of the state, and the political geographies of waste.  I've been to some great and not-so-great presentations, but the highlight is definitely seeing good friends that are now scattered across the continent (or world).

These trips rarely afford much time for sightseeing but I did go to see the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Hall -- a walk by since I couldn't stay for a tour.  And, I've seen the Westin Bonaventure, the Biltmore Hotel, the LA Hotel, and the LA Public Library. A weak showing when downtown LA really deserves more time!

Must run, off to another session here.