It's that time again when daylight lasts just long enough to get a 25-mile ride in after work. A small group of us started about 15 minutes earlier than the rest of the pack so we'd have time to finish before dark. A little over an hour into our ride, the sound of many wheels, like the west wind, rushed up behind us and flew away again in their lycra of many colors. Up until then I thought I was going along at a good clip, averaging about 18-19 miles an hour and taking gallantly long turns at the front of my little péloton. The riders that passed us gave me a feeling of standing still. But they were glorious to behold, filling up the entire lane on the River Road, like a semi truck made of bicycles.
We ran out of steam in the last 20 minutes and slowed down to about 15 mph while the other group was probably already home, showered, dined, and moving on to dessert. Some day I'll have a speedy speedy bike that weighs less than my cat, and speedier legs to go with it. For now, I'm doing fine.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Maybe I like this one better. Can't decide.
I guess being one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century doesn't mean that you always make good decisions about facial hair. Well it's alright, it's alright.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
American Tune
The brilliance of this song is that it captures the spirit of America at her best while acknowledging somehow we got on the wrong road, that there are times of great despair and loneliness, life batters our souls, we're uncomfortable, weary to our bones, good times come and go...but it's alright, it's alright, it's alright. And it gives us a charge: we come in the age's most uncertain hour, and sing an American tune. What's your tune?
This is the only song about America that honors the myth, the ideals, the symbols, without glossing over the pain of living in the America we've made. 35 years after it was written it seems to fit better than ever.
Still tomorrow's gonna be another working day and I'm trying to get some rest. That's all I'm tryin' to get, is some rest.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
blowin' in the wind
I was invited on a spontaneous roadtrip to the central coast this weekend so naturally I wanted to bring my bike (my old KHS road bike, not Karla) Unfortunately, when I loaded it in the truck on Friday after work to meet up with my friends Lisa and Anita and Syd the dog, I left the front wheel in the parking lot. Didn't realize that's where it was until three hours later when I arrived in Santa Rosa. A friend of Lisa's had a spare wheel I could borrow though. A much nicer wheel than the one I left at home, in fact. So it all worked out.We stayed in Watsonville in a somewhat funky motel chosen for its alleged pet-friendliness. Yesterday around 4:00 I set out riding south to Monterey. Didn't figure on how strong the wind would be blowing off the bay. As you can see in the picture, I got there, and my friends met up with me for dinner just a little bit before hypothermia set in.
Today I rode north to Santa Cruz in the late morning sunshine and not nearly so much wind. Made it all worthwhile. Rode out to Lighthouse State Beach and watched the surfers paddle out, ride in, paddle out, ride in.
I've been having some sinus issues...without wanting to go into an unnecessary level of detail, I just really wanted to spit at one point on my ride today. While this behavior is not culturally inappropriate for distance runners and bikers, it's not something I tend to do. But sometimes even a young lady of good breeding (and not such good breathing) can't take it any more. So I spit, as daintily as possible when pedaling at a good clip, over my left shoulder. Only seconds later two guys passed me on the left. Either I didn't hit 'em or they didn't pay it no mind.
Total bike mileage for the weekend: about 50 miles. With several good refueling opportunities. Hoping to finish it off with a spinning class tomorrow night before I get on the plane for New Orleans on Tuesday.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Set up, part II
Sometimes the NY Times has interesting timing. Here's an article for my right-wing gentleman from last night, all about the problems of government-subsidized housing.
I've actually not discussed, or really heard discussed this issue with someone of very conservative views. I would like to know what (or if) they think about it. They're always ranting about big government, lamenting the 'welfare state' created by the government's provision of social safety net...everybody should just work hard and take care of themselves, or at least go to church so that the church can help them if they really need it. I've just never heard any of them complain about spending more and more money on prisons. Is it because more and more prisons are privately operated? Maybe next we'll have a prison voucher program. Also, the more people there are who go to prison, the fewer are eligible for public benefits. Ex drug-felons can't get food stamps because we want them to be punished not just for their prison sentence but forever and ever. The character of a convicted felon would probably suffer if it were too easy for him / her to find economic alternatives to crime.
Funny that I'm saying all this here...considering that my readership mostly, if not entirely, consists of the proverbial choir. Maybe some inflammatory key words would help...somebody from the Alliance Defense Fund or the Pacific Legal Foundation or the Heritage Foundation or the Cato Institute might be googling along and run across the phrase "why are many conservatives so xenophobic and short-sighted and hateful of poor people?" Or the phrase "why don't conservatives argue for more government spending on education and less on corrections?"
I've actually not discussed, or really heard discussed this issue with someone of very conservative views. I would like to know what (or if) they think about it. They're always ranting about big government, lamenting the 'welfare state' created by the government's provision of social safety net...everybody should just work hard and take care of themselves, or at least go to church so that the church can help them if they really need it. I've just never heard any of them complain about spending more and more money on prisons. Is it because more and more prisons are privately operated? Maybe next we'll have a prison voucher program. Also, the more people there are who go to prison, the fewer are eligible for public benefits. Ex drug-felons can't get food stamps because we want them to be punished not just for their prison sentence but forever and ever. The character of a convicted felon would probably suffer if it were too easy for him / her to find economic alternatives to crime.
Funny that I'm saying all this here...considering that my readership mostly, if not entirely, consists of the proverbial choir. Maybe some inflammatory key words would help...somebody from the Alliance Defense Fund or the Pacific Legal Foundation or the Heritage Foundation or the Cato Institute might be googling along and run across the phrase "why are many conservatives so xenophobic and short-sighted and hateful of poor people?" Or the phrase "why don't conservatives argue for more government spending on education and less on corrections?"
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Set up like a bowlin' pin
Went to a county General Plan Citizens Advisory Committee meeting tonight. First presentation was on sustainability. What it means, how it should impact planning considerations, and so on. No information or ideas that were new to me but I knew as soon as I saw a particular powerpoint slide that the presenter, a geology professor from CSU Chico, was likely to catch hell from somebody for it. Little grumbles of concern and disapproval rose from various corners of the room. The offensive comment was "Capitalism concentrates wealth and power." Other than that I didn't hear anything I thought would be controversial. Wrong!
Several times in her presentation I was pleased to hear her talk about poverty as an environmental as well as a social problem, and that racial and economic equity (thank heavens she didn't suggest gender) are key components of sustainability...that environmental justice issues (i.e. the historical tendency for heavily polluting industry and poor people / people of color to be sited together) must be addressed in sustainable development. Yep. She even talked about affordable housing and ways of increasing the supply of it, such as by adopting inclusionary zoning ordinances. I love it when people use those words in public places of their own free will. Hmm. I suppose I wondered if somebody would take exception to the inclusionary zoning reference too, as I've been in other public meetings where it was an inflammatory idea, but she didn't dwell on it very long.
Listening to all this I felt like I should try to think of a question to stand up and ask her, or some way of saying "Hear hear! Jolly good!" when she was done, or some relevant comment that would galvanize all this in public consciousness and make the Committee to go out and demand affordable housing or something. I was having a hard time formulating a question, and a couple other people had already stood up mostly to comment, not to inquire. Then a gentleman stood up and said, "In all your talk about protecting minorities I didn't hear you say anything about protecting religious groups." Ah, here we go, I thought. Because medical waste incinerators are so often opened next door to white people's churches. He had taken many notes and was going over them point by point. "And illegal aliens? Are we going to protect THEM too??" My eyes started rolling uncontrollably. "And you said Capitalism concentrates wealth and power! Capitalism is what made our country great!" Duh. Absolutely great, in wealth and power. That's why slavery was / is a hard habit to break. "Our traditional values are being destroyed by all the liberalism!" (Dang, no more slavery.) "There's no such thing as affordable housing because somebody always has to subsidize it! Doesn't equity just mean SOCIALISM?" Oh please, don't let it mean that. Etc. etc.
He was just on a roll, all but accusing the poor geology professor of advancing a godless Communist agenda, and I felt it was my duty as the legal aid lawyer with the little ACLU button on my bag to stand up and at least express some support for the speaker. I don't feel good about impromptu speaking. I had a few things I was rehearsing in my head, and hopefully they came out making more sense to other people than they did to me. I got up and said I found her presentation quite timely because it happened that I would be attending a summit in New Orleans next week on Regional EQUITY and SOCIAL justice. (Hmm...) That regardless of one's political views or preferred coping strategy, poverty is an environmental and social problem that we have to address. I recommended some books on the synthesis of capitalism and sustainability. I misspoke, though, by saying that capitalism and sustainability can "coexist." It would have been more correct to say that since capitalism is the economic reality of the world, it has to adopt the principles of sustainability or it will put the world out of business. All the externalized costs (such as the inner city kids with asthma from the medical waste incinerator) are really bad accounting in the long run. Maybe he'll read Paul Hawken's books and learn all that anyway. Ha.
And I realized that all my buttons, including the ACLU button, had been pushed by some ignorant fool, and I was annoyed that it was so easy to do. But it was a good exercise for me to stand up and try to say something, and I might not have done that if I hadn't been all riled up and eye-rollin'. At a Buddhist retreat center I visited a couple years ago, a sign said that the person who is the most irritating / difficult for you is your greatest teacher. So many great teachers in the world.
Several times in her presentation I was pleased to hear her talk about poverty as an environmental as well as a social problem, and that racial and economic equity (thank heavens she didn't suggest gender) are key components of sustainability...that environmental justice issues (i.e. the historical tendency for heavily polluting industry and poor people / people of color to be sited together) must be addressed in sustainable development. Yep. She even talked about affordable housing and ways of increasing the supply of it, such as by adopting inclusionary zoning ordinances. I love it when people use those words in public places of their own free will. Hmm. I suppose I wondered if somebody would take exception to the inclusionary zoning reference too, as I've been in other public meetings where it was an inflammatory idea, but she didn't dwell on it very long.
Listening to all this I felt like I should try to think of a question to stand up and ask her, or some way of saying "Hear hear! Jolly good!" when she was done, or some relevant comment that would galvanize all this in public consciousness and make the Committee to go out and demand affordable housing or something. I was having a hard time formulating a question, and a couple other people had already stood up mostly to comment, not to inquire. Then a gentleman stood up and said, "In all your talk about protecting minorities I didn't hear you say anything about protecting religious groups." Ah, here we go, I thought. Because medical waste incinerators are so often opened next door to white people's churches. He had taken many notes and was going over them point by point. "And illegal aliens? Are we going to protect THEM too??" My eyes started rolling uncontrollably. "And you said Capitalism concentrates wealth and power! Capitalism is what made our country great!" Duh. Absolutely great, in wealth and power. That's why slavery was / is a hard habit to break. "Our traditional values are being destroyed by all the liberalism!" (Dang, no more slavery.) "There's no such thing as affordable housing because somebody always has to subsidize it! Doesn't equity just mean SOCIALISM?" Oh please, don't let it mean that. Etc. etc.
He was just on a roll, all but accusing the poor geology professor of advancing a godless Communist agenda, and I felt it was my duty as the legal aid lawyer with the little ACLU button on my bag to stand up and at least express some support for the speaker. I don't feel good about impromptu speaking. I had a few things I was rehearsing in my head, and hopefully they came out making more sense to other people than they did to me. I got up and said I found her presentation quite timely because it happened that I would be attending a summit in New Orleans next week on Regional EQUITY and SOCIAL justice. (Hmm...) That regardless of one's political views or preferred coping strategy, poverty is an environmental and social problem that we have to address. I recommended some books on the synthesis of capitalism and sustainability. I misspoke, though, by saying that capitalism and sustainability can "coexist." It would have been more correct to say that since capitalism is the economic reality of the world, it has to adopt the principles of sustainability or it will put the world out of business. All the externalized costs (such as the inner city kids with asthma from the medical waste incinerator) are really bad accounting in the long run. Maybe he'll read Paul Hawken's books and learn all that anyway. Ha.
And I realized that all my buttons, including the ACLU button, had been pushed by some ignorant fool, and I was annoyed that it was so easy to do. But it was a good exercise for me to stand up and try to say something, and I might not have done that if I hadn't been all riled up and eye-rollin'. At a Buddhist retreat center I visited a couple years ago, a sign said that the person who is the most irritating / difficult for you is your greatest teacher. So many great teachers in the world.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
I found out a few days ago, but I'm only now (that I have flights and hotels and conference registration all set) believing that I'm going to New Orleans in two weeks. Slightly less than two. For the "Third National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth." The managing attorney of our Sacramento office called on Friday and told me about it. Our office will be able to send two of us, and it turned out that by flying to NOLA a day early we got a much cheaper flight. I'm going to ride a streetcar and hopefully not have to depend too much on the kindness of strangers, though kindness never hurts. This will be my first time visiting a place that has always captured my imagination. A little bit like San Francisco, but much older, sultrier, scarier. And a place that pointed out to everybody that poverty is alive and well in America, maybe a much bigger issue than we wanted to think, and that race is a factor as much as some would like to believe it doesn't. [So much for your colorblind society, Heritage Foundation.]
New Orleans is its own character in so many stories, not just a place where the story happens. Figures so enormously in so much creative work. Not the least of which is Johnny Horton's classic. Not that I've ever been a fan of Ol' Hickory. He probably would have belonged to the Heritage Foundation if it existed in 1814. Or the John Birch society...hahaha...hickory, birch...ahem.
Anyway. I will arrive there early evening on March 4. Conference starts gearing up late afternoon on the 5th, but isn't full swing until the 6th and 7th. Saturday there's breakfast and apparently some opportunities to work on some service projects. Flying home late afternoon on Saturday.
New Orleans is its own character in so many stories, not just a place where the story happens. Figures so enormously in so much creative work. Not the least of which is Johnny Horton's classic. Not that I've ever been a fan of Ol' Hickory. He probably would have belonged to the Heritage Foundation if it existed in 1814. Or the John Birch society...hahaha...hickory, birch...ahem.
Anyway. I will arrive there early evening on March 4. Conference starts gearing up late afternoon on the 5th, but isn't full swing until the 6th and 7th. Saturday there's breakfast and apparently some opportunities to work on some service projects. Flying home late afternoon on Saturday.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
I Have Confidence
What would this day be like...I wondered.
I headed out to my first official group training ride for the NCAC this morning wondering if I'd be able to keep up or even keep going for 43 miles. Before the ride there was some not so reassuring talk of the hills on the route. With Karla still at the shop (I picked her up this afternoon, though) I was riding my skinny-tire bike (Billie, the blue KHS Flite 300 that survived some very heavy loads while I was in law school) with clipless pedals. Can someone can explain why they're called "clipless pedals," but we "clip in" when we ride them? Anyway, I haven't ridden "clipped in" since before the knee injury and it took a few miles into the ride to get over that fear of falling over if you forget to unstick your foot from the pedal before you stop.
The ride took us through the countryside southwest of Winters (about 30 miles west of Sacramento). Here's a map of the route. Except for a little bit of the first big hill that I had to hike after I stopped and couldn't start again because it was too steep, I kicked some hill butt. I didn't fall behind. Rather the opposite. I surprised myself. I guess those 5:30 - 7:00 a.m. spinning classes twice a week at my gym have paid off. I think I'm going to be a bit stiff tomorrow but so will a lot of other people. Felt good to know that there's nothing at all deficient in my bike legs.
Plus, when I picked up Karla, looking good as new (or perhaps even a bit better since the person who wrapped the handlebars knew what he was doing) at the bike shop, all the bike shop people said how super neat she is. Gosh. Kind of like when I take my cat to the vet and everyone compliments his glossy fur and linebacker physique.
I headed out to my first official group training ride for the NCAC this morning wondering if I'd be able to keep up or even keep going for 43 miles. Before the ride there was some not so reassuring talk of the hills on the route. With Karla still at the shop (I picked her up this afternoon, though) I was riding my skinny-tire bike (Billie, the blue KHS Flite 300 that survived some very heavy loads while I was in law school) with clipless pedals. Can someone can explain why they're called "clipless pedals," but we "clip in" when we ride them? Anyway, I haven't ridden "clipped in" since before the knee injury and it took a few miles into the ride to get over that fear of falling over if you forget to unstick your foot from the pedal before you stop.
The ride took us through the countryside southwest of Winters (about 30 miles west of Sacramento). Here's a map of the route. Except for a little bit of the first big hill that I had to hike after I stopped and couldn't start again because it was too steep, I kicked some hill butt. I didn't fall behind. Rather the opposite. I surprised myself. I guess those 5:30 - 7:00 a.m. spinning classes twice a week at my gym have paid off. I think I'm going to be a bit stiff tomorrow but so will a lot of other people. Felt good to know that there's nothing at all deficient in my bike legs.
Plus, when I picked up Karla, looking good as new (or perhaps even a bit better since the person who wrapped the handlebars knew what he was doing) at the bike shop, all the bike shop people said how super neat she is. Gosh. Kind of like when I take my cat to the vet and everyone compliments his glossy fur and linebacker physique.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Assalaam Alaikum
I am about 100 pages into the book Three Cups of Tea. Already I'm finding it to be one of the most inspiring and interesting books I've read, yet I doubt whether I would have, of my own volition, ever picked it to read. I admit that the story of an American mountain climber building a school in a remote mountain village in Pakistan sounded like it could be interesting but was not at first much of a hook. And now I wonder why. Was it because I was reluctant to spend my free time reading about poverty in some corner of the world I knew nothing about? Was it because the news has seemed so saturated for so long with Taliban this, Al-Qaeda that, etc. etc. that when I saw the words "Pakistan" and "Afghanistan" on the cover I just didn't think there was more I wanted to know? As if I knew much of anything.
Fortunately for me, someone else in a new little reading group I'm in decided it would be our first book. It is making me wonder if I would / could ever be so committed to and focused on a goal...any goal, whether a charitable or entirely selfish one...that I would choose, as did Mr. Mortenson, to sleep in my car and be hassled by the police for appearing to be homeless, for a whole year, so that I could save as much of my earnings as possible toward the goal. Now there's some faith and commitment. It seemed to come not from any outside mandate on how he ought to live his life, but from inside him. In addition to all the other things the book is about, this seems to me to be a story about true religion and the genuine practice thereof. The something that transcends culture and theology and "isms" of all sorts, that is, hopefully, the common root of all beliefs and practices aimed at promoting human well-being. It seems that a person rooted in this way would be pretty much at home wherever s/he goes, and be able to recognize everyone as a neighbor. As family.
Fortunately for me, someone else in a new little reading group I'm in decided it would be our first book. It is making me wonder if I would / could ever be so committed to and focused on a goal...any goal, whether a charitable or entirely selfish one...that I would choose, as did Mr. Mortenson, to sleep in my car and be hassled by the police for appearing to be homeless, for a whole year, so that I could save as much of my earnings as possible toward the goal. Now there's some faith and commitment. It seemed to come not from any outside mandate on how he ought to live his life, but from inside him. In addition to all the other things the book is about, this seems to me to be a story about true religion and the genuine practice thereof. The something that transcends culture and theology and "isms" of all sorts, that is, hopefully, the common root of all beliefs and practices aimed at promoting human well-being. It seems that a person rooted in this way would be pretty much at home wherever s/he goes, and be able to recognize everyone as a neighbor. As family.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Karla update
I got a call from the bike shop in Sacramento where Karla is getting fixed up. Frame is fine, wheels are fine (though probably will need some adjusting), hubs are probably fine. Just need a new front axle, a new left crank and pedal, and new brake levers. This shop, Bicycle Chef, offers a 10% discount to participants in the NorCal AIDS Challenge, so I feel fortunate about that too. Some of the parts have to be ordered and could take a couple weeks to arrive, but Karla is on her way to recovery. [Special thanks to the medical transport service...]
Meanwhile I discovered this today. Maybe my next truck will run on bananas, oatmeal, tofu, squash, broccoli, salmon, cupcakes, and the occasional cheeseburger and fries from In 'n Out (In fact this would be just the thing for a drive-thru). To name a few alternative energy sources. It even has an electric power assist motor to help out the carb motor out a bit.
Meanwhile I discovered this today. Maybe my next truck will run on bananas, oatmeal, tofu, squash, broccoli, salmon, cupcakes, and the occasional cheeseburger and fries from In 'n Out (In fact this would be just the thing for a drive-thru). To name a few alternative energy sources. It even has an electric power assist motor to help out the carb motor out a bit.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
When bad things happen to good bikes
Karla (my Surly touring bike, just to make sure everyone knows I'm referring to a beloved object but not a living being) is a bit roughed up from being dragged behind a truck for several yards on the freeway. Surprisingly intact though. Found a small dent in the top tube but otherwise no visible damage to the frame. Brake levers all messed up, quick releases scraped off, and one pedal bent and scraped. Wheels look fine though. They were advertised as "bombproof" and I can almost believe it.
So what happened. I was taking my bike down to Sacramento for a ride this weekend (that turned out to be canceled due to rain). Rain? I thought maybe I should put a raincover on my bike in case it rained on the drive down. I have a bike cover...not specifically made for car transporting, but I tied it down really well. My rack attaches to the bed of the truck, near the cab, with a tension bar. I happened to have a cinch strap tied around the rack and tied to a tiedown in the truck bed.
I got on the freeway in Chico and noticed the cover was flapping a lot in places, but like I said, it was well tied down. I thought the worst thing that could happen was that the cover would come loose...I was thinking I should pull over and check it at the next exit, when in the rearview mirror I see the whole BIKE come loose and fly up and out of the bed. I saw in the side mirror that it was dragging behind. I thought it was destroyed. I was all the way over in the left lane. Nobody was behind me (whew) so I pulled over to the right and off into the shoulder. I saw then that the bike was still attached to the rack. The wind resistance with the tarp was enough to pull the whole rack off the truck. I've had this rack for at least five years and ever had a problem with it. Never had a cover on any of the bikes though.
I'll be able to ride my old bike for awhile until I can get the replacement brake levers, etc. and have a shop check out the frame to make sure it's okay. If it had been aluminum instead of steel it would have been trashed. Maybe the Surly company would like my story for their website (provided that the frame is really okay). Most bicycles don't crash at 65 miles per hour. Or 70 miles per hour, either, though I probably wouldn't know.
Better news is that with help from friends and family, my fundraising for the NorCal AIDS Challenge in May is off to a great start. I'm a over a quarter of the way to my $1,600.00 goal.
So what happened. I was taking my bike down to Sacramento for a ride this weekend (that turned out to be canceled due to rain). Rain? I thought maybe I should put a raincover on my bike in case it rained on the drive down. I have a bike cover...not specifically made for car transporting, but I tied it down really well. My rack attaches to the bed of the truck, near the cab, with a tension bar. I happened to have a cinch strap tied around the rack and tied to a tiedown in the truck bed.
I got on the freeway in Chico and noticed the cover was flapping a lot in places, but like I said, it was well tied down. I thought the worst thing that could happen was that the cover would come loose...I was thinking I should pull over and check it at the next exit, when in the rearview mirror I see the whole BIKE come loose and fly up and out of the bed. I saw in the side mirror that it was dragging behind. I thought it was destroyed. I was all the way over in the left lane. Nobody was behind me (whew) so I pulled over to the right and off into the shoulder. I saw then that the bike was still attached to the rack. The wind resistance with the tarp was enough to pull the whole rack off the truck. I've had this rack for at least five years and ever had a problem with it. Never had a cover on any of the bikes though.
I'll be able to ride my old bike for awhile until I can get the replacement brake levers, etc. and have a shop check out the frame to make sure it's okay. If it had been aluminum instead of steel it would have been trashed. Maybe the Surly company would like my story for their website (provided that the frame is really okay). Most bicycles don't crash at 65 miles per hour. Or 70 miles per hour, either, though I probably wouldn't know.
Better news is that with help from friends and family, my fundraising for the NorCal AIDS Challenge in May is off to a great start. I'm a over a quarter of the way to my $1,600.00 goal.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Coincidence?
I'll try not to mention American Gladiators again for awhile after this (maybe), but I found out today that Ms. Jennifer Blum of the New York Sharks football team and recent Gladiators victory fame is a lawyer. And after hearing her pre-competition comments detailing the injuries she's sustained playing football, I hope she is the sort of lawyer who has really good health insurance coverage. That might be one way that we differ (apart from my never having carried the ball in a game vs. her being the scoring leader for her team, and her being on Gladiators vs. my watching her on Gladiators).
If you want to see her in action but would rather not suffer through the ads and first couple minutes of the show, her bit first comes up at about 08:11 on the counter for this video. Unfortunately the show is just a little too silly to be very interesting for more than two minutes or so. But I liked the fight with the giant Nerf gun.
If you want to see her in action but would rather not suffer through the ads and first couple minutes of the show, her bit first comes up at about 08:11 on the counter for this video. Unfortunately the show is just a little too silly to be very interesting for more than two minutes or so. But I liked the fight with the giant Nerf gun.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
How I Spent My Long Weekend
Tough gig.A month or so after I started my job here in Chico, I was sent to a week-long residential training for new legal services attorneys, advocates, paralegals and support staff. The organization that runs these trainings and recruits the all-volunteer faculty of trainers is the Benchmark Institute, founded in 1989 by Rosemary French and Marie Contreras. Benchmark provides a number of other trainings including a week-long Trial & Hearing Skills program culminating in a mock jury trial, and trainings on substantive areas of legal services practice.
So Rosemary and Marie invited me to attend Benchmark's annual planning retreat again this year, which traditionally occurs over MLK weekend. It occurs in rather a lovely place on the coast between Santa Cruz and Monterey. We get to do good AND feel good at the same time. What a novel idea.
We had a few hours' break from meeting and planning on Saturday afternoon, so I went for a bike ride here (started and ended at a different point than is shown on this map, however). We'd been talking about ideas for mobile learning (podcasts, webinars, all that) and I got re-inspired to do some audioposts from the bike route.
This 49-cent per pound squash was for sale at the Gizdich Ranch. Unfortunately I didn't have a way to transport it conveniently on my bike. I settled for a small apple-ollalieberry juice that I chugged before riding the second (much harder, it turned out) half of my ride. 
Strawberry fields forever. They must be something to see (and smell) when all the plants are big and the berries are ripe. Not just strawberries though. 
Maybe these are the Ollalieberries that got mixed up with my apple juice.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tour de squash
From the site reluctantgourmet.com:
I don't know if it's a little-documented side effect of medication I've been taking, or if it's just what my body needs and I'm listening a bit better, but I have been craving squash. Since Christmas Eve or thereabouts when there was a big bowl of buttery peppery bright orange mashed-up butternut squash with the buffet-style family dinner. I looked at it that night, and I thought, "I want that. I want a lot of that."
Then on New Year's Eve I had baked acorn squash. It was just the thing. And I thought, you know, there are so many kinds of winter / hard squash, and I encountered so many in a previous career but didn't eat them very often, I want to sample every available kind. I want to have squash for dinner and lunch a few times a week.
So here are the squash(es) (see, I'm not even sure whether the plural of squash is squashes, or just squash--and I don't know anyone who speaks Naragansett) I have consumed in 2008:
Acorn (technically not 2008, though I had a bite of some on January 4)
Spaghetti
Butternut
Kabocha
Delicata
Red Kuri
So, you may ask, what's the favorite? They're all tasty, and the spaghetti squash is unique, but maybe the good ol' butternut is my favorite. The traditional mashed-up-with-butter (or olive oil), salt and pepper way is good, but baked, chopped into cubes and fried to garnish lentil soup was really good too.
Squash was introduced to the colonists by our native Indians when they first arrived in America. In fact, there is evidence that squash was eaten in South America more than 2,000 years ago. The English name for squash comes from the Narragansett Indian word askutasquash, which means green-raw-unripe, which was the way the Naragansetts ate it.
I don't know if it's a little-documented side effect of medication I've been taking, or if it's just what my body needs and I'm listening a bit better, but I have been craving squash. Since Christmas Eve or thereabouts when there was a big bowl of buttery peppery bright orange mashed-up butternut squash with the buffet-style family dinner. I looked at it that night, and I thought, "I want that. I want a lot of that."
Then on New Year's Eve I had baked acorn squash. It was just the thing. And I thought, you know, there are so many kinds of winter / hard squash, and I encountered so many in a previous career but didn't eat them very often, I want to sample every available kind. I want to have squash for dinner and lunch a few times a week.
So here are the squash(es) (see, I'm not even sure whether the plural of squash is squashes, or just squash--and I don't know anyone who speaks Naragansett) I have consumed in 2008:
Acorn (technically not 2008, though I had a bite of some on January 4)
Spaghetti
Butternut
Kabocha
DelicataRed Kuri
So, you may ask, what's the favorite? They're all tasty, and the spaghetti squash is unique, but maybe the good ol' butternut is my favorite. The traditional mashed-up-with-butter (or olive oil), salt and pepper way is good, but baked, chopped into cubes and fried to garnish lentil soup was really good too.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Age-appropriate activities
I had a checkup with my knee surgeon today. He has a good reputation for his work, and is not unpleasant, though his affect is...warmly robotic. However, today he greeted me with a hearty handshake and asked what I'd been doing (with my knee, I reckoned he meant). I described my activities thus: "Well, I went for a 30-mile bike ride yesterday...I've been doing some weights at the gym...I've started jogging a little (described the jog 3 minutes / walk 2 minutes routine that I might kick up to a total of 15 minutes this week)..." and he seemed fairly impressed. Got a little raise of the eyebrows even.
He said, "let's see, you're 4 months out? If you were on an accelerated program you could go back to full activity now, but I'd rather you waited two more months...are you going to play football?" I said no, I wasn't. Then he said "it is probably best if you stick with the age-appropriate activities if you want to extend the lifespan of your joints and your ability to participate in athletics as long as possible. Women are much more prone to this type of injury." Okay, I know all that, but age appropriate? What exactly does that mean? He hasn't met the elder half of my football team, I guess. But I realize that in NFL years I would probably be about 62.5. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love Brett Favre. He's older than I am.
Then he did his usual knee bending and pushing to see how much sideways movement there was in my knee, and seemed nearly...dare I say...delighted? with whatever he found. "Oh! That's Super!" he said. "I'm going to cut you loose, unless you have any trouble," he said. He shook my hand again and headed for the door. So I don't need to go back. I'm glad we ended on a such a happy note.
He said, "let's see, you're 4 months out? If you were on an accelerated program you could go back to full activity now, but I'd rather you waited two more months...are you going to play football?" I said no, I wasn't. Then he said "it is probably best if you stick with the age-appropriate activities if you want to extend the lifespan of your joints and your ability to participate in athletics as long as possible. Women are much more prone to this type of injury." Okay, I know all that, but age appropriate? What exactly does that mean? He hasn't met the elder half of my football team, I guess. But I realize that in NFL years I would probably be about 62.5. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love Brett Favre. He's older than I am.
Then he did his usual knee bending and pushing to see how much sideways movement there was in my knee, and seemed nearly...dare I say...delighted? with whatever he found. "Oh! That's Super!" he said. "I'm going to cut you loose, unless you have any trouble," he said. He shook my hand again and headed for the door. So I don't need to go back. I'm glad we ended on a such a happy note.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Gladiator Redux
I got some email news from the IWFL (Independant Women's Football League) today announcing that a player for the New York Sharks is going to compete on Gladiators.
Lucky.
I guess I'll have to watch it again.
Lucky.
I guess I'll have to watch it again.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I-am-a-robot-that's-all-I-can-say
I think every time I've seen my nephews in the last...oh, two or three years? at least one of them (if old enough to talk) has repeated this phrase, sometimes repeating it a great many times (because it's just that kind of a phrase). They seem so taken with it.
I was originally going to title this post "Need more reps," and I was thinking about the body as machine, and that naturally brought me just now to the robot mantra. I was thinking of machines because I worked on some leg extensions at the gym tonight and tried to figure out the approximate difference between the amount of weight my right quadriceps (as my sister would say, my "withered leg") and my left quadriceps can move. Seems to be about 20 lbs difference. Or perhaps more, because I'm not supposed to be doing full extensions with the right (only for purposes of that exercise), and in fact it's kind of painful to extend too far with weight. Ten pounds with the right leg, in a shorter extension, let's say from 60 degrees to 135 degrees, felt about the same as 30 pounds with the left from 60 to 170. (I'm fishing for someone to impress me with his or her math and physics skills here.)
It was a good reality check, to see that even though stairs are feeling better and better, and I'm riding my bike, and I can jog 2-3 minutes at a time without any pain, there is still a big difference. I need more reps. I need to do a lot more of those exercises the physical therapist said to do. That's all I can say.
I was originally going to title this post "Need more reps," and I was thinking about the body as machine, and that naturally brought me just now to the robot mantra. I was thinking of machines because I worked on some leg extensions at the gym tonight and tried to figure out the approximate difference between the amount of weight my right quadriceps (as my sister would say, my "withered leg") and my left quadriceps can move. Seems to be about 20 lbs difference. Or perhaps more, because I'm not supposed to be doing full extensions with the right (only for purposes of that exercise), and in fact it's kind of painful to extend too far with weight. Ten pounds with the right leg, in a shorter extension, let's say from 60 degrees to 135 degrees, felt about the same as 30 pounds with the left from 60 to 170. (I'm fishing for someone to impress me with his or her math and physics skills here.)
It was a good reality check, to see that even though stairs are feeling better and better, and I'm riding my bike, and I can jog 2-3 minutes at a time without any pain, there is still a big difference. I need more reps. I need to do a lot more of those exercises the physical therapist said to do. That's all I can say.
Monday, January 07, 2008
The Arena
I have to confess that I watched the first, oh, 20 minutes of the new American Gladiators show last night. And a little bit more tonight while I was at the gym. It's even possible that there is some correlation between having watched American Gladiators and being at the gym tonight. The show has some flaws and doesn't seem to have been all that well thought out in places (you're saying to yourself, 'Oh really? Not that well thought out? Hm).
But one part that was personally quite interesting and / or distressing to watch was the female competitor who appeared to have blown out her ACL and maybe a few other knee ligaments in the first event. "Powerball" is quite similar to football in that you're trying to run around with a ball and some big scary Gladiator chick is trying (quite successfully, in the case of poor Jessie Adams of Donahue, IA) to flatten you. The article doesn't say exactly what injury she sustained, but it was classic: she got knocked down with her foot sort of out sideways, got up limping and tried to keep running on it, then it just buckled under her and she fell the next time she planted her foot to stop and turn around. Something like that. A few minutes later they showed her on crutches with a knee immobilizer. I couldn't find a Youtube video of it yet. Maybe later.
Football seems like a much simpler way to...gladiate. I don't understand why I find the idea of these combative games so appealing, and the reality of them (to the degree I've experienced it) so scary. Maybe when it comes to appetite for warrioring, my eyes are a bit bigger than my stomach. However, if not for my knee and the expenses arising therefrom I would definitely have gone back for another season of football, scared or not. I was less scared at the end than I was when I started. That's something.
But one part that was personally quite interesting and / or distressing to watch was the female competitor who appeared to have blown out her ACL and maybe a few other knee ligaments in the first event. "Powerball" is quite similar to football in that you're trying to run around with a ball and some big scary Gladiator chick is trying (quite successfully, in the case of poor Jessie Adams of Donahue, IA) to flatten you. The article doesn't say exactly what injury she sustained, but it was classic: she got knocked down with her foot sort of out sideways, got up limping and tried to keep running on it, then it just buckled under her and she fell the next time she planted her foot to stop and turn around. Something like that. A few minutes later they showed her on crutches with a knee immobilizer. I couldn't find a Youtube video of it yet. Maybe later.
Football seems like a much simpler way to...gladiate. I don't understand why I find the idea of these combative games so appealing, and the reality of them (to the degree I've experienced it) so scary. Maybe when it comes to appetite for warrioring, my eyes are a bit bigger than my stomach. However, if not for my knee and the expenses arising therefrom I would definitely have gone back for another season of football, scared or not. I was less scared at the end than I was when I started. That's something.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
How I Spent My New Year's Day Vacation
On the American River Parkway bike path. Found out, to both my delight and muscle fatigue, that I can manage a flat 20-mile ride at a pace averaging maybe 13 mph. It felt so good to be hungry enough from riding that I was willing to eat someone's partly eaten Clif Bar at the halfway point. Someone we were riding with, though...I have in the past been in other distance events (SF and Avenue of the Giants marathons) when I was hungry enough almost to consider eating one that was smashed on the ground. A sign of inadequate aid stations. I trust that the organizers of those events have since corrected that inadequacy.
Anyway, it was a beautiful, sunny day, though cold enough that I was glad for long tights and a jacket. Nothing like the weather we've had here just lately. Funny how fast everything can change.
Anyway, it was a beautiful, sunny day, though cold enough that I was glad for long tights and a jacket. Nothing like the weather we've had here just lately. Funny how fast everything can change.
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