Daffodil Day

Daffodil Day is the Cancer Society's annual flagship event and one of the most important fundraising and awareness campaigns in the country. As well as providing an opportunity to raise awareness of cancer in New Zealand, Daffodil Day is a major funding source for the Cancer Society. They are proud to be regarded as one of the country's most trusted charities and this is reflected in our fundraising practices.

The daffodil is one of the first flowers of spring, whose bright yellow blooms remind us of the joys the new season will bring. It represents the hope there is for the 1 in 3 New Zealanders affected by cancer.

The donations we receive go towards vital scientific research into the causes and treatment of all types of cancer, as well as providing a wide range of support services, information, health promotion and education programmes to reduce cancer risk, awareness campaigns and programmes for people affected by cancer.

The National Bank of New Zealand is the proud principal sponsor of the event, and the hard work of its employees helps focus the nation's attention on our cause every year.  

I supported by buying a bunch of them at the grocery store, with the profits going to support cancer research.

Engaged

This year at the Star Trek convention:

More Snow Pics!

it's been snowing here about 20 min of big fat flakes

an hour

sign dude dancing in the snow

my snowman

Snow in August!

Sensei Keiko Fukuda is 98-year-old and the first woman to ever earn Judo's highest-degree black belt. Totally my hero.

This is an article from Yahoo News:

Is earning a black belt on your life list? Then this elderly woman in San Francisco just might be your ultimate hero.

Just two years before her 100th birthday, Sensei Keiko Fukuda has  become the first woman to achieve a tenth-degree black belt—the highest rank in the martial art and combat sport Judo. Fukuda is now one of only four living people who've earned the tenth-degree (or dan) black belt. To put the accomplishment into better perspective, throughout history, only sixteen people have ever achieved this honor.

Fukuda began practicing Judo in 1935 and is the sole surviving student of its founder, Kano Jiguro. At her teacher's urging, she learned English to help spread Judo internationally.

During a time when getting married, building a family, and becoming a housewife was the norm, Fukudo bucked tradition, opting out of marriage to pursue the martial art.

"All I did was Judo...this was my marriage," Fukudo reflected tearfully to the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is when my life destiny was set. I just never imagined how long this road would be."

She described the Jiguro’s school, known as the Kodokan, as "old-fashioned and sexist about belts and ranks." In fact, an edict that prevented women from achieving any higher than a fifth-degree black belt kept Fukuda at that level for thirty years. She was finally elevated to sixth dan in 1972 when a woman's division was created.

Fukodo said she approached Judo and her life with the intent to "be gentle, kind and beautiful, yet firm and strong, both mentally and physically." Fukuda says this kind of beauty is decidedly not external. "A compassionate soul is inner beauty," she explained to the paper. "I believe this is true beauty...All my life this has been my dream."

Dream realized, the 98-year-old Sensei Keiko Fukuda continues to teach Judo three times a week at a woman's dojo.