Happy New Year -- Eat 12 Grapes! 40*25' N, 3*4' W

Madrid Spain:  I read this morning an article about unusual New Year's traditions in various parts of the world. In Columbia, for instance, people walk around the block with any empty suitcase so that they will have a year full of travel. I'd do that too if there was a guarantee that the travel would be for pleasure and not just for work.

In Spain, people eat one grape at each bell stroke at midnight to ensure a year of prosperity.  Each grape represents one month of the year. The key is to get all 12 grapes into your mouth before the last bell stroke. We have fresh grapes in our refrigerator, so I think I will try this one tonight.

I hope the world is more prosperous in 2014. I look around and see so much good, but there is also a lot of bad, especially if you are a child. Hundreds of millions of people do not have access to life's basic necessities, including clean water and food. According to the United Nations, in 2012 nearly 870 million people, or 13% of the world's population, suffered from chronic undernourishment. Millions more have uncertain access to a steady and nutritious food supply. Nearly all of these people, 852 million, live in developing countries. And while progress to combat hunger has been made in Asia and Latin America, the number of hungry people in Africa has risen steadily since 2007. Also, this is not just a third world problem; hunger also is a growing concern in the developed world.

Sadly, children are the most visible victims of hunger. Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year, and poor nutrition plays a role in millions of child deaths annually. Here in the United States, the Department of Agriculture estimates that 49 million Americans—including 16 million children—live in households that lack the means to secure adequate and nutritious food on a regular basis.

Rates of food insecurity, the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, are highest among households with incomes near or below the federal poverty line, among households with children headed by single parents, and among Black and Hispanic households.  Twenty-five percent of urban households battle food insecurity, although the problem also exists in rural areas.

I would hate to think that this is just the way things are.  Some people have food and some do not.  I think about how much food we waste in this country.  Even in my own household, we are constantly throwing out uneaten leftovers or spoiled food.  It is shameful and unnecessary, and I suppose the first step toward solving a larger global problem is to adjust my own behavior.

Jim and I are very fortunate.  We have a roof over our heads, food on our table, good jobs, and access to health care.  By any measure, we already are prosperous, and we try to do our part to provide prosperity to others.  So tonight, we will join the Spanish and pop 12 grapes at midnight with the hope that the world, especially hungry children, will find some prosperity. 

Happy New Year.

Has it Been a Year Already? 37*59' N, 122*32' W

San Rafael, CA:  Seriously Jim, you need to learn how to keep your New Year's resolutions.  One post since January 1st.  Pathetic.  Let's try this one more time.  I promise that I will delete this blog entirely if I don't do better in 2014.

My last post, way back on January 1, 2013, was about my annus horribilus - 2012.  I am happy to report that 2013 has been a thousand times better, and I go into 2014 feeling happy and chipper.

Overall, I credit the good year to four major happenings.  First and most importantly, my mother is much healthier.  Her disease is under control.  Medication and dialysis are doing the trick.  She moved back home last summer, is walking and generally feeling good.  Given that she was bed-ridden less than a year ago, everyone in the family is so happy and pleased with her progress.  She has some bad days every now and then, but for the most part all is well with my father and her.  They have settled in nicely to the house that Jim and I bought in Rancho Mirage, CA.

Second, Jim and I got married.  Although we celebrated 19 years together in early December, we officially and legally tied the knot in September after two landmark Supreme Court rulings that paved the way for same sex marriage in California.  Our ceremony was small, but very special.  Hannah Blumenstiel, a former partner at my firm and a current federal judge, officiated.  The only people who attended the ceremony were our good friends Julie, Chip, and Denise.  To celebrate, we had a wonderful post-ceremony dinner in downtown San Francisco and spent the next day touring Napa Valley.

Third, in April we adopted LouC, a male dachshund and a friend for Dezi.  Having the two of them in our lives has been a joy.  They are incredibly cute, mostly well-behaved and very affectionate.  I still tear up when I think of our dear Hat Trick, but love our two new kids so much!!!  I can't wait to go home every night to see them.

Finally, Jim and I took the vacation of a lifetime in February when we spent 2.5 weeks "down under."  We first flew to Sydney (via Auckland) and then hopped on a two week cruise to various ports in Australia and New Zealand.  It was incredible.  We met some lovely people on board the ship (M.S. Oosterdam) and saw many amazing sites.  Each port was prettier than the last.  I particularly enjoyed Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, a small, but vibrant city.  Jim and I actually talked about moving there (half seriously).

In addition to our "down under" trip and a long weekend visiting family in New York and New Jersey, I was on the road a lot for business.  I continue to spend part of each week in Los Angeles (and sometimes I tack on an extra day or two to visit Mom and Dad)  I took three business trips to Chicago and one to Washington, DC.  Also in 2013, I made three business trips to Brussels to work on an office buildout.  The trips were long, but the experience was fantastic.

In 2014, I expect the San Francisco-Los Angeles travel to continue, but don't expect to take three business trips to Europe.  Our big vacation this year will take us to Hawaii in June.  I probably will need to do a "mileage run" if I have any chance of keeping my 1K status with United Airlines in 2015.

Stay tuned for more on my travels around the block and around the world.

The New Year is less than a week away.  I hope it is a happy and prosperous one for all.   Please look for a lot more postings in 2014.

Where Am I and What Time is It? 1*59' N,157*21' W

Christmas Island, Kiribati:  Welcome 2013.  The New Year made its first appearance when the clock struck midnight on tiny Christmas Island, part of the Republic of Kiribati in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Because this archipelago country stretches across the International Date Line (see geeky explanation below), Christmas Island welcomes the New Year before the rest of the world.  For the record, the last place to welcome 2013 is American Samoa.  When it does so, it will already be January 2nd on Christmas Island.

Here at home, Jim and I rang in the New Year on the couch watching a rerun of the ball dropping in frigid Times Square as Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin bantered playfully.  As I post this, 2013 is just a few minutes old in California.  

For as long as I could remember, I have been obsessed with time and spatial relationships.  Maybe it is my deep seeded fear of being lost or maybe I am a reincarnated version of Magellan or Columbus, but I am fascinated with maps, globes, time zones, dates and seasons.  I may not know how to change a tire, divide fractions or make a chocolate soufflé, but I always know where I am, where I am going and what time it is.

Jim and I have traveled extensively across the United States and around the world.  Whether it is hiking through Yosemite National Park, driving through the hills of Tuscany or navigating the crowded streets of Tokyo, we never get lost.  Whenever we travel and regardless of where we go, I closely study maps and make sure I know the location of important sites and landmarks.  And once I know where something is and how to get from Point A to Point B, it is seared in my brain forever.  Most of the time I can’t remember where my keys are, but I can find my way via subway and on foot from Buckingham Palace in London to the Prime Meridian in Greenwich without looking at a map or asking for directions.  My built-in compass would come in very handy if Jim and I ever decide to audition for The Amazing Race.

It should now make obvious sense why I call this blog “Latitudes & Longitudes” and why each entry has a latitude and longitude coordinate.  Creation of mapping techniques using latitude and longitude coordinates dates back to ancient Greece.  Eratosthenes in the 3rd century BC first proposed a system of latitude and longitude for a map of the world and in the 2nd century BC Hipparchus was the first to use such a system to  specify unique places.

But how did we get to today’s complicated, but exact system?  Once humanity came to a general agreement that the Earth was round (although I think Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachman and those of similar remedial development still think the earth is flat), a methodology needed to be developed to facilitate travel, trade and exploration. Over the course of many years, scientists, navigators, mathematicians and bureaucrats developed the modern latitude and longitude system.

Latitude, which is important when talking about weather and the changing seasons, is based on two simple observations about the sun: (1) it rises in the east and sets in the west, and (2) is in the south in an American winter and in the north in an American summer.

The imaginary horizontal line around the Earth’s center is the Equator, referred to as zero degrees (0°) of latitude.  Extending both north and south from the Equator is a series of parallel lines.  The northern-most and southern-most lines of latitude are the North Pole and South Pole at 90°N and 90°S.  Other important lines of latitude are at 23.5°N and S - the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, as well as 66.5°N and S - the polar circles.

Because the Earth is wider at its center than at its top or bottom, lines of latitude vary in length.  The Equator, for instance, is 24,900 miles long.  The polar circles are only 10,975 miles long.

Longitude, which is important when talking about time, is a more difficult to explain.  Lines of longitude run vertically around the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.  In effect, they divide the earth into a series of pieces, much like the slices of an orange.  At the equator, the distance between each line of longitude is at its broadest, but as they approach the North and South Poles, the distance between them becomes narrower and narrower. 

All lines of longitude are measured in degrees (up to 180°) as either east or west of the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, also known as 0° of longitude.  If you follow the Prime Meridian all the way to the North (or South) Pole and then come down the other side of the planet (literally halfway “around the world”), you would be at 180° of longitude, commonly known as the International Dateline.   Technically, if you straddled the International Dateline, you would occupy two different calendar days at once.  Regardless of the time of day, if it is Monday on the east side of the International Dateline, then it is Tuesday on the west side.  There are exceptions, of course, to accommodate local geography.  For instance, although Kiribati straddles the International Dateline (with Christmas Island on the east side of the line,) the country operates as if all of its territory is west of that line.

To find or "map" any unique point on earth, all you need to do is combine its line of latitude with its line of longitude.  The couch where Jim and I rang in the New Year, for instance, is at 38° North Latitude (our house is literally just feet south of the 38th line of north latitude) and 122.32° West Longitude.

My OCD is not limited to physical geography.  I am equally obsessed with my location in time as well as space.  Last May, Jim and I made plans to spend two weeks in Australia and New Zealand to celebrate my 50^th Birthday.  Although I was born in July, we are heading “down under” in February so we can enjoy the southern hemisphere summer.  (I’ve never crossed the equator, but told Jim that we are going to toast the occasion as we fly over it on our overnight flight to Auckland – even if I have to wake him up to do so.)  While it is important to live in the moment, I must admit that in the 36 weeks since I made our reservations I have been counting down the time until our departure – in months, weeks and days -- 4 weeks, 5 days and 19 hours to go!!!!!

Although time is relative, for the past couple of weeks I have been reminding Jim of the time in Australia and New Zealand.  We went to the movies on Christmas Day, and as the show started at 12:20 p.m., I felt the need to remind him that it was 9:20 a.m. the next day in Auckland.  I still don’t know how he puts up with me.