Dating is quite an interesting pastime.

For the past few months, I’ve been diving in head first, meeting women every chance I get and feeling my way around in a world I haven’t experienced in over five years.  I definitely feel somewhat blind.  I’ve tried my best to be open-minded, knowing that I am in no hurry to settle down, but also acknowledging that I’d much rather have a lot of dates with one woman than one date with a lot of women.

I’m heartened by the fact that my best friend, someone who had (and I am sure I can say this without him disagreeing) pretty bad luck in dating for a number of years, has found someone wonderful who he’s spent over a year with.  At the same time, however, a good friend who seemed to be in a great long-term relationship recently found herself single again.  While there is always more than meets the eye in such situations, it was a shock to me, and somewhat settled my optimism back to reality.

Dating is a contact sport.  Hockey without the icing and instigator penalties.  Football without fifteen yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and late hits.  Boxing without the low-blow disqualification.  It chews you up, spits you out, and leaves you to bake on the hot summer pavement.

I’m trying not to take my own dating life too seriously at this point.  I’ve met a few women who were very much into me, but I had no interest in them.  On the other hand, a few women I’ve met who I thought I had potential with have expressed no interest in a second date.

I guess I’m par for the course.  It’s not very enjoyable, but at the same time, I am not that far removed from the heartache of my past that I wish to bring that upon myself again.  If anything, it’s exciting to get those butterflies when you meet someone and believe there’s potential.

It also feels good to know I can go out all weekend this fall to watch football and play in my fantasy leagues and not get yelled at.  I can basically do what I want with my life.  That’s freedom, and it’s surprising how many people envy me for having that.  I guess I should enjoy it while I have it, and hopefully when I lose it, it’s because I want to give it up for someone who won’t actually expect me to.  Maybe then dating will feel more like golf than MMA.

What a week it has been.  Revolution in Iran.  Ed McMahon, an icon of television with Johnny Carson, dies.  Tragedy on the Metro here in DC.  South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford cheats on his wife.  70s icon Farrah Fawcett dies tragically of cancer.  Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, dies mysteriously.  Today, Billy Mays, the king of infomercials, dies only a few hours after being on a plane that had a rough landing and had luggage fall on his head.  Now there are also rumors that the Walter Cronkhite, one of the greatest journalists of the past century, is on the verge of death.

It seems quite overwhelming.  So much death, tragedy, unrest, and scandal in such little time (Senator Ensign’s affair was only a few days before this week, as was David Carradine’s mysterious death).  I’m really not sure what to make of it.  I’m a believer in fate, and that things happen for a reason.  (How else is it possible that one of the four people who missed the Air France flight that disappeared over the Atlantic was killed in a car crash a week later?)  But weeks like this just leave you shaking your head.

I went into writing this post believing I had something insightful to write.  I was wrong.  It’s just strange, all around.  At this point, one can just hope for less of everything.  Normalcy and a few days of no tragic news would be great right about now.

I was born a Trekkie.  My mother, God rest her soul, was the ultimate Trekkie.  Age 18 in 1966 when the original series first began, she turned her love for the emerging American space program into a passion for the fiction behind the science of space travel.  A huge fan when there were few, this love for the five-year mission immersed her life until the day she passed in 2005.

When I think about my youth, Star Trek was a part of it in so many ways.  Along with the Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars was my personal favorite as a child), Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan were the first movies I watched when we purchased our first VCR in 1985.  My love for astronomy came in reverse order from my mother…I grew up watching the fiction, only to learn to appreciate the reality with the explosion of the Challenger on January 28, 1986.

As I got older, I read the books, went to see the movies, even attended a few of the conventions my mother went to.  I even dressed up as Commander Riker for Halloween once.  I never loved it like my mother did, but I appreciated her passion for it, and hoped as a child to have such dedication to the things in my life that I was passionate about.  My mother belonged in the stars, and when she died, I had a star named after her in the International Star Registry.

So it was appropo that I went to see the new Star Trek last night, and that by the time it was over, it was Mother’s Day.  I was skeptical about it going in, because while I may not have the same passion for it as some, I do consider myself a Star Trek purist.  I have a great appreciation for the history behind the story.  Coming out of the new movie though, I found that I really enjoyed it, and while it will take some time to come to terms with the history of this great story being rewritten, I believe my mother would have loved it even more than I did.  And since I believe my mother still lives within me, I will make sure to keep the passion for Star Trek that lived within her alive within me.

Today is Yom Ha’Shoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.   It’s an opportunity every year to remember the atrocities committed during World War II and to recommit that never again will we allow such terror to be committed against any group of people.  This day has both personal and professional meaning to me, both as a Jew and as someone who works on issues relating to the Holocaust and anti-Semitism in Congress.

I have been to Israel, where I visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.  When in Berlin, I toured the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  I’ve been to a number of museums and memorials dedicated to this tragedy around the country, and have been fortunate to build a relationship with staff at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here in Washington.  None of these experiences, however, prepared me for my visit to Buchenwald concentration camp back in 2007.

The gate at Buchenwald. "to each his own" or "everyone gets what he deserves"

When I traveled to Germany in November 2007 as part of a congressional staff delegation to witness the opening of the Holocaust archives at Bad Arolsen, I spent three days in these archives seeing the evidence of this tragedy first hand.  50 million documents about 17 million prisoners.  Arrest records, medical records, deportation records, personal effects.  It was emotional beyond belief, and it is an experience I will never forget, but it honestly paled in comparison with the feelings I had when I walked into Buchenwald.

Ovens where many met their fate.

The spirits of so many could be felt.  It was a cold day, and a fresh coat of snow was on the ground where barracks used to stand housing thousands of laborers.  You could feel the pain so many felt, and you could feel the absolute hatred that motivated the Nazi terror.  As I stood there looking around and feeling the cold chill go through my body, I realized it wasn’t the weather.  It could have been 90 degrees that day and I still would have felt the chill go through my body.  So many died.  All because they were Jewish.

It was one of those moments in your life you never forget, and it is about an event in the history of humanity that should never be forgotten.  I believe this is an experience every person should have, to see with their own eyes where this happened, how this happened, and to feel the spirits who remain behind to remind us of what we must tell future generations.

If you can’t make it to Europe, visit your local Holocaust memorial, or do some research on the internet.  Support the cause of the many organizations who are working to protect the victims of the Janjaweed in Darfur and other peoples around the world who are being persecuted.  Do whatever it takes to make those around you aware of the injustice so many peoples have suffered throughout history.  Whatever you do, just do not ever forget.

Most of my posts are full of substance.  This one will have none.  It will have lots of beauty, however.

I’m watching Law & Order and once again was treated to the beauty of Alana de la Garza.  I don’t need an extra reason to watch Law & Order (it’s one of my favorite shows), but having the pleasure of seeing her as Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa just makes spending an hour watching this show that much more enjoyable.

In honor of her beauty, here is my Top 10 list of most beautiful women.  Comments are welcomed and suggested.

#10 – Katherine Heigl

#9 – Annie Wersching

#8 – Elle McPherson

#7 – Scarlett Johansson

#6 – Heidi Klum

#5 – Kate Beckinsale

#4  – Alana de la Garza

#3 – Katy Perry

#2 – Charlize Theron

#1 – Bar Refaeli

I’m a big fan of the show House.  It’s one of the few shows I watch religiously, and the fact that Kal Penn was on it made it even more enjoyable.  I’ve enjoyed his acting since the Harold & Kumar movies, and I gained a lot of respect for him last year when I saw he was working on the Obama Campaign.  My colleague Ashley was able to meet him when he visited the Florida campaign headquarters in Tampa and, along with many others, I was impressed he would spend his time volunteering for a cause he believed in.

Today, I have an even higher level of respect for him.  Obviously sold on the importance of the success of this administration and having a great passion for public service, Kal Penn left what was a well-paying career in acting (and a great role on a top television show) to take a position with the Obama administration in the Office of Public Liaison.  While he will no doubt end up back in Hollywood down the road, the fact that he made this choice is admirable and deserves praise.  It’s nice to see someone with means and with talent choose to help others rather than themselves for once.

Kal, hope to see you around the District!

Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14, 3/14 being the first three digits of pi. It can also be celebrated on March 4 (when 14% of the month of March has elapsed). Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22, due to π being roughly equal to 22/7.

Pi Minute is also sometimes celebrated on March 14 at 1:59 p.m. If π is truncated to seven decimal places, it becomes 3.1415926, making March 14 at 1:59:26 p.m., Pi Second (or sometimes March 14, 1592 at 6:53:58 a.m.).

The first Pi Day celebration was held at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, and then consuming fruit pies; the museum has since added pizza pies to its Pi Day menu.^[1] The founder of Pi Day was Larry Shaw,^[2] a now retired physicist at the Exploratorium who still helps out with the celebrations.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology often mails out its acceptance letters to be delivered to prospective students on Pi Day.^[3]

Some also celebrate Pi Approximation Day in addition to Pi Day, which can fall on any of several dates:

• April 26: The Earth has traveled two radians of its orbit by this day (April 25th in leap years); thus the entire orbit divided by the distance traveled equals pi
• July 22: 22/7 in the more common day/month date format, an ancient approximation of pi
• November 10: The 314th day of the year (November 9 in leap years)
• December 21, 1:13 p.m.: The 355th day of the year (December 20 in leap years), celebrated at 1:13 for the Chinese approximation 355/113

On Pi Day, 2004, Daniel Tammet calculated and recited 22,514 decimal digits of pi.^[4]

The U.S. Congress passed a non-binding resolution (HRES 224),^[5] recognizing March 14, 2009 as “National Pi Day”. (Congrats to you Ellen for writing this!)