http://emilygoligoski.com/

I haven’t done a triathlon in the past, oh, ten years, but I figure there’s no better way to honor my late cousin Julia’s life than getting out there and trying something crazy that also helps other people. She was always quick to break into a wacky dance or run, and she’d love the idea of meeting a bunch of people around you to do something unexpected (such as say, an Olympic distance tri). And if there were costumes involved..well, forget about it. You can see a little tribute of her here on Current.

Team in Training supports research for blood cancers that are a bit different from the kind that Julia had, but I’m participating with thoughts of her and the 823,000 Americans currently in need of cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. My teammates and I are going to be training around the Bay Area this summer to offer hope, support, and, of course, funds for people with these diseases. I hope you can help (even if it’s with a comment). 

I’ll keep it updated with photos of myself (hopefully upright) on the bike and run. Donations are tax deductible and enable life-saving research. I cannot tell you how much the help is appreciated.

And now, off to the races.

As a longtime reader of Bitch Magazine’s commentary on popular culture, academics and media, I’m excited that a piece I wrote about SF arial dance troupe Flyaway Productions last year landed in their pages. Choreographer Jo Kreiter’s performers have an ethereal quality and are breathtaking to watch, even (or especially) above Chinese donut shops in the Mission. See the magazine’s latest Genesis issue–it’s a great tribute to Bay Area dance pioneer Kreiter’s vision.

Tokyo-based culture blog PingMag turned me onto new designs from Afro Coffee, a South African roaster whose iconic packaging is instantly memorable. It doesn’t take much to get me talking about my affinity for coffee or Cape Town, but this company’s efforts to get people thinking about where the coffee they drink comes from is admirable. As Ping quoted Afro’s Grant Rushmere:

“‘Our goal was to refocus people on the origins of coffee – that it in fact originated in Africa before being discovered by the Arabs and from Yemen, exporting around the world. Many people don’t know this, so we attempt to capture and celebrate this African spirit in our packaging and all we do.’”

Primary colors and beach-themed fabric are used to create coffee bags and tea tins that I’d love to see stateside. I’m not sure that drinking Afro Coffee will people’s solve problems of “no money and no ladies” as the roaster promises, but it’s certainly fun enough to help you get past that. The caffeine helps too.

My high school art history project research and affinity for painter Frida Kahlo’s work came back when I was in Mexico City recently. The colors! The monkeys! The imagery! But my frustration with her art being on tour during my visit was relieved by the exhibition’s upcoming stop at the SF MOMA this June. Locals need no explanation of why the museum is such a good one with its frequently changing exhibits and a size that’s more manageable than New York’s. They’ll be doing timed appointment-style tickets for the Kahlo show (which is here until late September) to limit the number of attendees at any given time. Ticket costs are a steep $20 but I can’t resist.

Two upcoming Bay Area events for the gadget-and-film set:

• Women 2.0, a Silicon Valley-focused entrepreneurship group known for its business plan contest sponsorship, is hosting a conference in Palo Alto with Stanford Women in Business on May 10. Frog Design, Google.org and a handful of startups make for an intriguing list of presenters. I’m excited that so many forums are opening for us novices working in this space to interact with the people we look up to (I’m a Girls in Tech fan myself but also able to get behind the idea of the more, the merrier).

• Bay Area Women in Film and Television’s monthly meeting on May 14 will focus on marketing your media and will include panelists from online video analytics and distribution company Tubemogul and PodTech. The get togethers are a fun way to meet other young producers, video hosts and the like. The SF School of Digital Filmmaking is worth a visit even if not for this event (although I’d eat beforehand–the falafel at the April meeting had me running scared). The $5 to attend will be money well spent, and signing up in advance is recommended.

Had a most enjoyable time at this weekend’s Maker Faire at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. The creators of Make Magazine and the Weekend Projects Podcast I dearly love drew an eclectic group of crafters, kids, and tech-heads. A Lego truck and wooden bikes invited participation, and it was fun to see the reactions hundreds of people had to seeing the visual explosion of Diet Coke and Mentos (my video from the back of the crowd doesn’t do it justice–the original viral clip is much more enticing).