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This is a place for me to express my thoughts on racing, the environment, science, politics, and whatever else might cross my wandering mind.
It will be an overflow of random ideas, reflections, notes and quotes to be enjoyed by those of you who take the time to read it.
Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you down the road...
Peace,
1.16.07 a little story about benny parsons
I have a little story to share about the first time I met Benny Parsons. I had just been hired by NASCAR.com, it was January of 2004 and I didn't know too many people in the Cup garage.
I was sitting by myself eating my breakfast at the media center in the infield of Daytona during Cup testing, and Benny came and sat down at my table. Being the kind soul he was, I think he felt bad that I was all alone so he decided that he would keep me company. He introduced himself and asked me what I was doing in Daytona. I told him how I was on my very first assignment for NASCAR.com and that I didn't really know what I was doing yet because I was so new to the business. He asked how I stumbled upon a position in racing and I told him that because I raced late model stock cars, NASCAR.com hired me to poke around the garage and ask questions that someone who doesn't drive might not think to ask. He said, "Oh! So you're not really a correspondent, you're a race car driver! Well why didn't you say so!"
We started talking about racing and he gave me advice and told me some great racing stories from the old days. He encouraged me to continue on with my racing dream. He was a wonderful person and I will never forget his kindness-- he always treated me like a driver, something that doesn't always happen for me.
We will miss your smiling face in the garage so much Benny. May the four winds blow you safely home.
1.07.06 snowboarding in oregon
Happy New Year! After the Daytona ARCA test (read my Daytona blog at NASCAR.com), I headed out to my
sister and brother-in-law's new place in Bend, Oregon. I went on my first snowshoeing trip, which is basically hiking in extremely cold condtions in funny shoes while hoping to not get lost in the winter wonderland. It was beautiful, magical even, and we felt like we had wandered into Narnia (see photo). My legs were a bit reluctant to work for a few days after, but eventually they came around. We also went snowboarding on Mt. Bachelor, and since I hadn't been snowboarding since I left California five years ago I wasn't sure how much time I would spend actually boarding and how much time I would spend sitting on my rear end getting cold. Luckily I discovered that snowboarding is like riding a bike, once you know how to do it, you never forget. Thank goodness there is still some California girl left in me!
Later this week I am going to Los Angeles and then I will head down to Daytona to cover the second session of Nextel Cup testing for
NASCAR.com. Having just been there testing an ARCA car a few weeks ago, frankly it is going to be difficult to be there holding a microphone instead of driving. But then I suppose I can get some tips from the Cup drivers in case I get to come back and run the ARCA race on February 10. I have a fast race car with an awesome motor sitting in a cream-of-the-crop NASCAR team's race shop waiting for me to slap some stickers on it and take it to Daytona, I will keep you posted when it happens...
Till then, happy travels everyone.
Many cheers, Leilani
PS. This just in: Did you know that 2006 was the warmest year on record? You know, I'm sure it's just the natural fluctuations of the Earth. Let's ignore the fact that 8 of the 10 hottest years on record have occured within the last 10 years. It has nothing to do with the fact that the atmospheric CO2 concentrations on Earth continue
to skyrocket (see graph, left). In fact, we have managed to get them higher than they have ever been in the past 450,000 years.
Don't worry about the fact that these concentrations have proven to be a linear relationship with temperature over hundreds of thousands of years. That is just some magical coincidence and surely something that Al Gore or Leonardo DiCaprio made up to get you worried about the environment. They are just trying to promote their environmental movies. Because they are so selfish trying to bring attention to something that only they will benefit from... and by "they" I mean the Earth and all it's residents. Don't worry that daffodils and cherry trees were blooming throughout the Eastern United States on New Year's Day. That is perfectly normal in the Land of OZ, just ask the man behind the curtain. It has nothing to do with the thousands of scientists who have been studying this for years and are scared out of their minds telling everyone that will listen that we need to do something to stop this. Those scientists are so crazy with their FACTS and everything! Keep drinking the kool-aid kids, keep drinking it.
In an unrelated topic, The Washington Post asked readers to take any word from the dictionary and alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, to supply a new definition and this is my favorite: SARCHASM-
the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it.
12.22.06 harnessing the power of our earth
Great news from California on the clean energy front and of course, leave it to a surfer to come up with this brilliant idea to harness the power of ocean waves.
Cheers to environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio for using his fame to bring attention to our environment.
This video I am posting strictly for fun, regardless of your political party, this is hilarious and very well done: Why Rumsfeld Doesn't Have a Job.
12.9.06 jumping out of perfectly good airplanes
I never thought I would say this, but jumping out of a plane is one of the greatest experiences I have ever had.
I don't even know how to begin to describe it. I must admit that my stomach was turning a bit on the one hour drive to Carolina
Skydiving in Jonesville, NC. When we arrived I was thinking... how did I get myself into this? Do I really want to
do this? I am, after all, afraid of heights. Did I have some sort of mental lapse in reason when I signed myself
up to jump out of a plane at 10,000 ft? I wanted to do it, to prove to myself I could, and yet... there's that whole JUMPING OUT OF A PLANE AND FALLING
TO THE EARTH WHILE RELYING ON A SMALL PIECE OF FABRIC TO SAVE ME THING to get over. I told myself it would be a once in a lifetime experience.
I thought, "You only have to do it this once and then you can cross it off your list of things to do before you die." I had to be brave.
I quietly said goodbye to planet Earth, got on the plane, and hoped for the best.
Well, I lived through it and I tell you what, I can't wait to do it again. It was incredible and much to my surprise, I never felt scared. Something about
having a professional diver attached to me gave me a sense of security-- true or false-- it was some form of security.
We jumped out of the plane from 10,000 feet and
were in free fall until 5000 feet when he yanked the cord of our parachute. You cannot imagine the view up there, it was fantastic!
Yes, you can look out of an airplane at 10,000 feet but the similarity to the view you have skydiving is something like comparing
a drop of water to the Pacific Ocean and arguing that they are both bodies of water. It is not in the same ballpark, period.
If you've never done it, you must try it. You will be glad you did. Don't tell me you're too old for that
kind of thing. There was a photo on the wall of a 76 year old man who was going on his 5000th jump. If he has done it 5000 times, you can do it just
once. And don't give me that line "I will never jump out of a perfectly good airplane" because that's what I said before we jumped and you know
what my instructor replied? There is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane.
Special thanks to all the guys over at Carolina Skydiving that took such good care of me. You guys rock!
PS. Congratulations to my idol Stephen Colbert for coining
the word of the year. His reaction was clever as always, "Though I'm no fan of reference books and their fact-based agendas,
I am a fan of anyone who chooses to honor me." The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report are intelligent
and hilarious. For a shining example of their brilliance, click here.
12.5.06 save the horses
I wanted to use this blog to bring your attention to some terrible things that are happening to our horses. For hundreds of years,
humans and horses have been partners, and now their trust in us is being horribly abused. Watch this video and be warned, the next time you are eating beef,
it might not be beef. On Dec. 5, the HSUS released shocking footage documenting the abuses of American horses quietly funneled to slaughterhouses in Mexico, Canada and three foreign-owned plants in the United States:
Watch video - warning graphic content
Now it's time for the Senate to act on behalf of America's horses by passing S. 1915.
Please visit this page so you can email your Representatives and Senators, it only takes a few minutes and the horses thank you for it.
PS. Tip of the hat to Oprah for having Al Gore on her show to promote An Inconvenient Truth and to
Zenn Motors for working towards the car of our future.
11.23.06 i am thankful
I am thankful for many things.
I am thankful for my parents who love me for who I am because we all
need parents who believe in us. I am thankful for my three older sisters Svenja, Nicolette, and Natascha that watch
over me, because we all want to feel like someone is there to protect us. I am thankful for my nieces Monet, Chloe and Heather
because they give me the chance to feel old and wise for a change.
I am thankful for children who believe in unicorns and fairies.
I am thankful to Konica Minolta Printing Solutions for giving me a full season of racing because that is what I really needed.
I am thankful to Hostess for all the Twinkies and Cupcakes because we all need to treat ourselves to something sweet. I am thankful
for my friends Dennis in PA, Cliff in NC, and Randy in TX-- because sometimes I just want to talk about cars. I am thankful to my friends for making me laugh when I need it most and
I am thankful my dear friend Victoria is finally coming home. I am thankful to Lori for inviting me to her Thankgiving dinner because I couldn't be with my family, she invited me to join hers.
I am thankful for my friends Win and Meggen, who are sick right now, and I am thinking of them everyday. I am thankful for my friends Donna and Betty who have
dedicated their lives to making sick people better because there are way too many sick people in the world. I am thankful for my health.
I am thankful that I grew up riding horses because it taught me that I can control things more powerful than me.
I am thankful I have a roof over my head, because it's raining outside and I remember the homeless man I saw last week. I hope
he is not in the rain but I know that he probably is. I wish I had a roof to give him too.
I am thankful to my friend Pete Scott at NASCAR.com for giving me a job three years ago because I really needed it.
I am thankful for the food in my fridge because I think of all the hungry people who have none. I am thankful that I have money in my bank account because I want to
buy my family gifts for Christmas. I am thankful for my boyfriend Craig who makes me smile when I think I can't and loves me enough to forgive me for my
shortcomings, because we all need to be loved unconditionally. I am thankful for all the engagement ring commercials.
Keep 'em coming.
I am thankful I have a fireplace because it's cold outside. I know there are good people out there in the cold.
I am thankful for the lives that fought for our freedom and founded this great country on democracy.
I am thankful that I live in a country where we the people can have our voices be heard because we all need to be heard.
I am thankful I live in a country that allows for open discussion and satire, even if I don't agree with some of the opinions voiced
because that means I can voice mine too. I am thankful for the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" because it is a movie that needed to be made.
This is the first Thanksgiving where I have thought about how thankful I am for glaciers and polar bears. I hope more people are thankful for them
before they are gone. I am thankful to Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart for making politics funny and cool at the same time. I am thankful for my
fat cat Pushkin because sometimes I just need someone warm and furry to snuggle up with. I am
thankful for lint rollers.
I am thankful that I am home because I remember all our soldiers who are not. I pray for their safe return.
I am thankful there are farmers that let their turkeys live normal lives before they are sacrificed for our dinner tables.
I believe all the creatures on Earth deserve to enjoy sunshine and blue sky before they go.
I am thankful to Andy Hillenburg at Fast Track Racing School for believing in my abilities as a driver and becoming a great mentor to me.
I am thankful to Sterling and Dan for having the business sensibilities that I don't and for guiding my way through the maze with patience.
I am thankful for the small things in life that make it better-- for the warm cup of coffee in the morning shared over a laugh and the smell of rain after a thunder storm, for the roar
of the race car's engine and the crackling of a fireplace in the middle of winter. It really is the small things in life that can make a difference.
I am thankful for every day that I get to wake up and see the sunrise.
Okay, so maybe I do usually miss the sunrise, but you know what I mean.
I am thankful for my life, for the good and the bad, I am thankful. I hope you are too.
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