To the red, to the black

Panda!!!! is incredibly lucky to have the Swerve, a group of gal-pals whose enduring friendship began more than a decade ago, in a brightly-lit pool at a liberal arts college in nowheresville, CT. Through our common experiences as members of the same university swim team, we have bonded through thrillingly close races, traumatic early morning runs in Florida, mountainous breakfast feasts and marathon boozey dance parties, fueled by Madonna and Prince.

We're now spread across three countries in four time zones, but we manage to have real-time conversations on topics ranging from blood doping in professional sports, frightening academic endeavors with unkind professors, superhuman triathlon triumphs, impending parenthood, touchy-feely co-workers, theories about "Lost", the bleak state of the American educational system, confusing punctuation rules, Rihanna videos, global efforts to bring organizational structure to the internets, and most importantly, what we've eaten for lunch.

More than helping me get out of my Corporation-assigned cube on a daily basis, the Swerve offers unwavering support, sound advice, an eager audience for my frustrations and above all else, the opportunity to chuckle.