“Do you know what a Humanist is? I am honorary president of the American Humanist Association, having succeeded the late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in that functionless capacity. We Humanists try to behave well without any expectation of rewards or punishments in an afterlife. We serve as best we can the only abstraction with which we have any real familiarity, which is our community.

We had a memorial service for Isaac a few years back, and at one point I said, "Isaac is up in Heaven now." It was the funniest thing I could have said to a group of Humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, 'Kurt is up in Heaven now.' That's my favorite joke.”

Goodbye, Kurt. We'll miss you.

Standard Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft.

October is 'Giving Campaign' month at Microsoft. During the campaign, employees have the opportunity to set up contributions to the charitable organizations of their choice, which Microsoft matches. Donations can be spread across pay periods and Microsoft, with the help of United Way, manages the distribution of funds. Last year, employee contribution and matching totaled over 39 million dollars.

This year, as in years past, Lorien and I are using the Giving Campaign to donate to Breast Cancer Action. We donate to several other agencies as well, but BCA gets our largest donation.

Both of my grandmothers and my father's sister-in-law have survived breast cancer. In each case, they've undergone surgery and life-altering chemical and radiation therapy. In my family, we're no strangers to breast cancer and its impacts.

About 14 years ago, I worked for a small software development company which was owned and managed by a guy named David Shayer. While working for Dave, I met his mom, Belle Shayer. Belle had recently co-founded Breast Cancer Action, and I watched as she and the nascent organization began to gather momentum.

Today, BCA engages in the fight against beast cancer on a number of fronts. Most compelling to is me the work they do to advance the identification of the root causes of breast cancer. BCA is fearless in their willingness to identify the cosmetics industry, which ironically has positioned itself as a force for good in the fight against breast cancer, as potentially contributing to the epidemic through the use of carcinogenic compounds.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. During this month, pink ribbons are on food products, cosmetic products, and they adorn malls and supermarkets.  BCA's response to the marketing frenzy is the "Think Before You Pink" campaign for which the slogan is, "This October, do something besides shop."

The Think Before You Pink website is full of eye-opening information about pink ribbon campaigns and the actual impact they have on the fight breast cancer.

Take a look at Breast Cancer Action and, if you're a Microsoft employee looking for an agency to donate to, consider them as a recipient. They're a small, grassrooots organization, and your donation will make a material difference to them. Even if you don't donate, consider signing up for their free newsletter - it's always an interesting read.

About Breast Cancer Action

Breast Cancer Action (BCA) carries the voices of people affected by breast cancer to inspire and compel the changes necessary to end the epidemic. Founded by a group of women who realized the power of community, BCA was born from a need for a grassroots organization with a unique understanding of the political, economic, and social context of breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Action

• Provides information to anyone who needs it via our newsletter, web site and toll-free number.
• Organizes people to do something besides worry.
• Advocates for policy changes directed at achieving true prevention through understanding and eliminating the causes of breast cancer; working toward a true cure with treatments that don't nearly kill people or cause other diseases; and providing universal access to quality health care.

We're on the final leg of our return trip from Ixtapa, Mexico, where we spent a week at Club Med. I'm using Live Writer to write this post, which I'll upload later.

We had a great time in Ixtapa. One of the highlights of the trip was Lorien's amazing acrobatics on the trapeze. The Ixtapa Club Med has a circus school where guests can learn trapeze skills. It's the real thing - guests climb a tall, very narrow ladder, step across a gap onto a high platform, grab a trapeze bar, and swing out. Of course you wear a safety harness and there's a net, but it's still a pretty thrilling experience.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it over to the trapeze until Friday, which was the last day of our vacation during which the trapeze was open. Lorien gave it a try first - she climbed up the ladder like a monkey, and did the first drill - a "knee hang". Basically, you step off the platform, swing back and forth a couple of times, then pull your knees up under you and wrap them around the bar. You then let go with your hands and swing upside down. After a couple of swings, you grab the bar again, and unhook your knees. At the apex of your final forward swing, you release the bar and do a backflip down into the net.

Next it was my turn. We'd just come back from a boat trip to Ixtapa Island, and my shirt and shorts were still wet. The trapeze folks didn't want me to go in wet clothes, since I'd get the bar wet which would cause others to slip. I had to trek back to our room to put on dry clothes. The round trip took about twenty minutes. I got back just in time to see Lorien do her second knee hang. As I got in the back of the line, the trapeze guy told Lorien that she was ready for a "catch".  A catch involves releasing your bar and being caught by one of the trapeze trainers, who is swinging from another bar. He later releases you and you try to grab the bar you came from. As we'd sat watching other people attempt catches, we were impressed by how hard the maneuvers are - people who'd been working on trapeze tricks all week were struggling to make the catch and rarely managed to return to their original bar. None of this phased Lorien - she just agreed to go for it.

Next it was my turn. I made my climb up the ladder (rotating around the ladder about half way up to get over to the correct side), and stepped over to the platform. Stepping across open space at over 30 feet up is quite an interesting experience. I grabbed the bar and, when the trainer gave the word, swung out into empty space. I pulled off the knee hang trick, and did my back flip onto the net. The whole thing was much more exhilarating than I would have thought - acrobatic tricks at that height seriously get your heart pounding.

Next Lorien was up. Time for her catch. I was proud of her for trying, but having seen most people fail to make the catch, I didn't expect her to succeed on her first attempt. On top of that, it was almost 6pm, which is trapeze closing time.

Lorien climbed the ladder, and launched. She wrapped her knees up and, when the catcher yelled "Hep!" grabbed his arms and released her bar. She'd pulled it off!

Meanwhile, back on the launch platform, the trainer that launched Lorien grabbed her bar and held it for a couple of seconds. Then he released it, timed with here return swing. The catcher yelled, "Hep!" again and released Lorien. She spun in the air and, with her left hand, managed to catch her original bar! She hung with one hand for a fraction of a second, and then grabbed the bar with her right hand, too! She'd pulled off a catch and return on her first attempt! The crowd clapped like crazy, and Lorien flipped off the bar and into the net with an enormous grin on her face.

On Friday nights, the club gives out awards for sports. My guess is that over fifty people tried the trapeze over the week. Anyone who successfully achieved a catch was given a certificate. Only about seven or eight people had pulled it off. Lorien's certificate is for "Knee Hang Catch & Return". Maybe we'll frame it.