Learn to Scuba Dive - Completed 12/28/07

I completed my PADI Open Water SCUBA certification through Mermaid's Dive Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The course was 4 days, one in a classroom, one in a pool, and 2 days in the open water in the gulf of Thailand. My primary instructor, Russ, was from New Zealand and had been diving for years and was quite the pro around the dive school. I also worked with Rich, a British diving instructor doing an internship at the school, and Frank, a Belgian diving instructor. Everyone at the school was friendly, helpful, and encouraging. It was a very international group of people. We sailed out to some islands about 1-2 hours from Pattaya beach, where we could do some coral diving. The boat provided lunch between dives and gave us a chance to relax. The most exciting part of my dive was when I stepped on a spiny sea urchin. Luckily none of the spines were embedded in my foot, but it sure did hurt!











Our tanks lined up on the boat.











Fish (probably Sergeant Majors) playing off the side of the boat.












Getting ready to go with my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) vest on and lifting the tank from the rack.











Getting encouragement from my instructor, Russ (from New Zealand).











Giving the "OK" sign after jumping in the water.











Post dive celebrations with my other instructor, Frank (Belgian), and some Scottish instructor who jumped in our photo.

Get on Stage with a Band - Completed 12/18/07

Okay, so this is not exactly what I had in mind, but I did it...and maybe I can revisit this one again sometime. My parents rent a condo at the beach that has a marina and a seafood restaurant downstairs. The restaurant has a 3 piece band that performs each evening. They play and sing all sorts of songs and often will invite the few people dining in the restaurant to come up and sing a sort of live-karaoke with them. So my mom and I got up and sang Christmas carols.

Attend at least 2 showings at the Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival- Completed 11/28/07

Click here for more info about the festival: ACP

On 11/18/07, I went to Après Diem with Marty and Steve Remis to see an exhibit of work by Juliet Marateck, called "What If Jack Kerouac Had A Camera?" Inspired by the writings of Jack Kerouac, she documented through her photographs, a road trip across America. Here you can see Marty and I carefully contemplating the photographs.













On 11/28/07, Marty Remis, Ben Park and I went to check out an exhibit at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Health Odyssey. It was especially convenient since we all work at CDC! The exhibit, called "The End of Polio: Photographs of Sebastião Salgado" documents the global effort to eradicate polio.



For more information, visit End of Polio






It's all about finding solutions...

Try Kayaking- Completed 10/20/07

I finally got to try out Kayaking. I went to Charleston, South Carolina with Heather, Theresa, and Michele for a girls' weekend. We booked a kayak tour with Coastal Expeditions, a company that organizes kayaking, canoeing and other types of explorations of the coastal waterways.

The four hour tour was a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work. My arms, shoulders and back were exhausted at the end of the day. Heather and I shared a kayak and had to learn how to coordinate our paddling and steering. We took a break from all the paddling to stop on a little island and search for shark's teeth.

The tour was very interesting and we got lucky with perfect weather for our trek. I think I'd still like to try white-water kayaking, but next time I'll get my arms in better shape and do a little training first.