Who is your governor and what does he do?!

Look! Looklooklook! We met AHHNOLD! We met the Governator! We SHOOK hands with the Terminator and lived to tell the tale! The man is very friendly and understanding of star-struck kids swarming around him and asking for a photo op.

(You might not be able to see me so well, but trust me... I'm there. Look in the top left hand corner. )

He's also a good bit shorter than I had imagined. He also glows with an orange tinge that I hadn't expected, either. Either someone takes long weekend trips to San Diego or hits that bottle of self-tanner pretty hard...

So here's the story that surrounds the fateful evening when I shook hands with Arnold. Our team leader, Morgan, told us about a documentary screening that was taking place after work at a theatre downtown. This theatre is beautiful... it's big and old and has velvet curtains and these gaudily beautiful golden curlicue decorations all over the wall and overpriced popcorn in the lobby. (But vegan cookies were also for sale!) That night, the Crest had been rented out for the screening of a documentary about Sargent Shriver. "Sarge," as I feel comfortable calling him now, is the dad of Maria Shriver, and Maria Shriver is the wife of the illustrious Mr. Schwarzenegger. As a good husband should, he was in attendance at the screening, supporting his wife and her endeavors.

Sarge Shriver was a very interesting character. He was the man who got the Peace Corps up and running, started "The War Against Poverty," began a lot of community-based programs to help people hold their government accountable, and instituted numerous programs that gave people the tools and education to lift themselves and their children out of poverty. Some small setbacks like the Vietnam War made plans derail, but he was a very interesting man who had a serious, idealistic passion for creating change. The documentary took a look at his life, the politics that surrounded it, and the accomplishments that he made in a way that definitely made him the hero, but it was also very interesting to learn about some eras in American history that I know embarrassingly little about.

I don't think the Peace Corps is in the cards for my future, but I'd like to share some of the passion that Shriver had for making positive change in the world with others and make sure it is present in my own life, even when it sounds like a daunting task. There are opportunities all around us.