April's CR Diary

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December 11, 2005

It's Great To Be With People Who Believe In the Future

So said Ray Kurzweil about the Three Hundred Member Dinner. I couldn't agree more. It was quite an amazing event.

Full disclosure: since I was responsible for logistics, my view of the entire event was largely influenced by thoughts about: does everyone have enough to drink? Is the food hot but not burnt? Did anybody get lost looking for parking? So I probably missed some of the heavy scientific discussion while I was busy removing plastic wrap from spinach phyllo pies. All the same, I enjoyed the fellowship of like-minded folks just as much as everyone.

More than thirty people attended: Three Hundred members, their partners or friends, and Jason Pontin, editor of Technology Review, who hosted us, as well as his angelic staff person Leila who went above and beyond the call of duty to make the event work... including chilling a Methuselah of champagne in her own car all day!

We started with fruit, cheese, bread, and veggies in dip. I had two pieces of cheese on green apples in between greeting new arrivals and getting everyone drinks. The Southern hostess in me was in full swing, and I had a great time showing everyone where to hang their coats and pouring wine and beer down everyone's throats. Lots of people drank pinot noir, and a few joined Aubrey in consuming the Bass Ale. At about 6:20, Aubrey opened the Methuselah of champagne and proposed a toast to the end of aging as we know it and the success of the Methuselah Foundation. Then we had a presentation from Aubrey about the SENS project, and I was pleased that with the work of Ray's director of systems, Ken, the AV equipment worked perfectly. One fewer thing for the logistics coordinator to worry about. My friend and blogreader Mike helped me out with serving: opening wine bottles, pouring wine, and giving directions to everyone who called wondering where to park. One of the auction winners, Tim, was quickly pressed into service to carry cases of wine and fetch a corkscrew.

During Aubrey's presentation I removed the wrapping from the spinach phyllo pies and the lids from the serving dishes for the entrees while Aubrey convinced the assembled crowd that the SENS approach to ending aging is indeed sensible. He focused this time on the shfit in the debate around SENS among biogerontologists. The level of attention given to Aubrey in the popular press has forced critics who once ignored and then laughed at his ideas to confront them in both the popular press and increasingly in scientific forums such as the recent EMBO Reports letter and the debate at the last Gerontological Society of America meeting. This represents significant progress.

Everyone lined up to get their dinner, and all seemed to eat well. The vegans were pleased with the tofu dish I assembled for them: tofu marinated in balsamic vinegar and fresh lemon, and some ready to eat herbed smoked tofu that I picked up at the Whole Foods.

I had decided in advance to make this day the "seventh" day, since there was no way I'd have time to weigh and measure my foods at the events. For those of you who are new to the blog, one of the secrets to my CR success has been that I very carefully control my calories and nutrition for six days a week, weighing and measuring every bite and keeping to 1200 calories a day or just under, then about once a week I go out for a meal with friends or colleagues and I don't worry too much about the calories. It makes it easier to socialize, and I don't feel deprived, but I still maintain an average calorie level of about 1350 a day, low enough to maintain a body weight of around 102 (six pounds underweight for my height, according to those height and weight charts, and almost 40 pounds less than my pre-CR weight) but high enough to keep from feeling too hungry. So I tried a bite of the spinach phyllo pie, which was excellent, and a piece of the chicken with artichokes and lemon for a little protein. I didn't eat much with the lunch, so busy was I checking to see if the frittattas were done, so I was pretty hungry. Amy from Rebecca's Cafe had done a great job setting up a good combination of foods, and the guests seemed to enjoy their dinners.

We sat down for Ray's presentation, and I was fascinated by his discussion of the progress of technology, and how he predicts where we'll be technologically in a few years. I was also starting to get cold... it appeared that the heat was turned down at about 8:30. I put on MR's mittens and wondered if it was just the CR folk who were cold, but when one of the non-CR'd brothers put on his coat, I knew it was cold. Ray perservered, and everyone found his talk inspiring. We're all looking forward to reading the autographed copies of his new book, The Singularity Is Near, that he gave us as gifts along with copies of Fantastic Voyage.

By the time Ray's presentation concluded, I was starting to feel really tired. MR and I get up at 5 am -- NO MATTER WHAT -- because he is a former insomniac so sleep hygiene is a big deal to him. Due to late flights, we got to our hotel the night before close to 11 pm, so I had gotten little sleep and then run like a crazy person all day. Add that to some delicious food and a couple glasses of wine and a champagne toast (I am such a post-CR lightweight/cheap date!), and I was about ready for a long winter's nap. But we stayed to socialize, and had even more fun with our fellow Three Hundred members. The connections were amazing... I met people from Chapel Hill, NC, where I spent much of my childhood. I met a physician who works at a hospital where I've known some nurses. I met one of my very few fellow female Three Hundred members, a physicist, and her husband, who rescued us from a freezing death by driving us to our hotel so that we didn't have to walk. I wished that we could all get together more often. I feel such a sense of community with my fellow Three Hundred members, even though we come from different places and different professions, even from different countries. It's a big commitment to pledge $1000 for 25 years, and it's not something you do unless you really believe that curing aging is possible. As Ray said, it's great to be with people who believe in the future.

One of the most interesting conversations I had was with Jason Pontin, the editor of Technology Review, who hosted the event in his large conference room. Many were dismayed by his rather scathing editorial on the subject of, among other things, Aubrey de Grey. We chatted mainly about CR... and like Ray, Jason pointed out that I don't look particularly like one would expect a CR person to look. Most people seem to think that CR folks are all rail-thin and odd looking, but it all depends on where you started. When I started CR, I weighed 137... now I fluctuate between 99 and 104. I've gone from 33% body fat to 18%. I'm just lucky not to look very odd. I found Jason's conversation enlightening and entertaining... it just goes to show how rational, thoughtful people can have honest disagreements and still enjoy a glass of pinot noir together. I extracted a promise that he would allow me and MR to make him dinner at our house the next time he's in Philadelphia, and I plan to hold him to it.

It was wonderful to see Aubrey again, as always, and we made some good progress planning upcoming SENS/Mprize events... stay tuned!

One of the highlights of the event was seeing fellow CR'd Three Hundred member Aaron and his beautiful wife Christine. When last we saw Aaron in February, he had just started on his CR journey... now he has lost 40 pounds and looks fabulous! He looks like he just graduated from college. Christine has also started down the CR path, and looks even more fabulous than when last we saw her. It is so encouraging to see people who are having success with their CR program and contributing to the Mprize. Aaron doesn't look rail thin or odd at all... in fact, if you didn't know him before, he'd look slim but quite normal. Both of them just look very, very healthy.

All in all, it was a wonderful event. Though I was exhausted, I was pleased with how everything turned out. And I can't wait to see my fellow Three Hundred members again!

When I look back at my recounting of the event, I notice how much of it is about food, socializing, and logistics, and how little of it is an in depth discussion of the science of SENS or Ray's predictions about our technological future. I hope that others who were able to focus more on the science aspect of our dinner will write in detail about that. But my talents are not for doing rodent experiments or theorizing about biotechnology: my talent is for knitting people together, using food, drink, Southern hospitality and the occasional well-placed laugh line. The Methuselah Foundation is very important to me, and I feel that the way I can best contribute to its mission is to do what I know how to do well: bring people together and make them have fun. When I look back at the event, I am pleased to recall that all the guests had drinks in their hands, food on their plates, and smiles on their faces. As Emma Goldman famously said, "I don't want to be a part of your revolution if I can't dance." Well, more people will want to be part of the anti-aging biotech revolution if they know they'll have a good time there.

Cheers!

Posted by april at December 11, 2005 5:08 PM

Comments

Posted by: zeynep at December 11, 2005 5:55 PM

Posted by: Laura at December 12, 2005 6:44 AM

Posted by: Lindsay at December 12, 2005 8:32 AM

Posted by: John Navin at December 12, 2005 1:16 PM

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