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Friday, April 29, 2005

Bells from Everest is yet

Bells from Everest is yet another neat way to turn trash into art. A bit too expensive for my tastes though...

Friday, April 29, 2005

Last night I came home

Last night I came home from softball, messed around on the computer for a while, and finally sat down with some dinner to watch The O.C., which I had TiVoed. Imagine my shock and awe when, at the beginning of the recording, a little "FOX SPECIAL NEWS REPORT" popped up. President Bush apparently decided to hold his first prime time news conference in over a year right when I wanted to watch The O.C. I fast forwarded, hoping that it would be a quickie, but no, it lasted the whole freaking hour. And of course since the news conference wouldn't have affected all time zones, I can't find out whether they are going to replay it or not.

GAAAH. Stupid president. He should really try harder to work around my primetime soap opera TV schedule. Really.

We had a decent softball game last night even though we ended up losing. I went 2-for-3 though with an RBI and a run scored, so that was nice. Lately my luck has changed. I haven't been hitting any better, still dinking dribblers in the infield, but they have started going to the right places where I can make it to first before the throw.

Clemens and Maddux are facing off tonight at Minute Maid, but alas, I already have tickets to go see Stomp at the Grand Opera House down in Galveston. Two 300-game winners. Wow. Is it me, or have there already been a ton of marquis pitching matchups this year? Pedro vs. Smoltz twice already, Clemens vs. Hudson, Oswalt vs. Sheets, Clemens vs. Maddux... if only the Astros were playing above .500, everything would be lovely.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

YESTERDAY'S SUMMARY: 3.1 miles, 33:40

YESTERDAY'S SUMMARY:
3.1 miles, 33:40 = 10:51 min/mile pace
Avg heart rate = 186

I thought I was running well last night, and at ~2.1 miles I glanced at my watch to see 22:something, on pace to equal my run on Saturday. But maybe I saw wrong, or maybe I slowed down a lot in the last mile, or maybe I'm just measuring my route incorrectly!

I'd planned to run on the Gilruth trail, but ended up going home and running from my apartment complex instead. This means following a very boring route, since my street is a half mile semi-circle that intersects a very busy road on both ends, and the idea of running along the very busy road in the 5:30-6:30 timeframe doesn't really thrill me.

Anyway. One lap around my apartment complex is half a mile, one length of the semi-circle street is half a mile, and from my complex entrance to one end and back is ~0.6 miles, so in the right combination it adds up to a 5K. More or less. I'm not really sure, and it's probably not even accurate to compare my runs from one day to the other because I'll run a bit farther based on whether I'm waiting for a car to pass, etc. I should ride it on my bike and measure.

But it was good to get out running. The weather was nice enough, though it's starting to get a bit warm for my liking (which begs the question, how do I even attempt to run in Houston between May and September?). But the sun was bright and the breeze was cool, and I had my mp3 player going. I was wearing the knee brace, but my knee still ached a bit. The doctor said I could keep running, so I will continue to do so at least until I go back in 6 weeks for a followup. He said if it's not getting better at that point, we'll have to do something more aggressive...

Thursday, April 28, 2005

I've been a Matchbox Twenty

I've been a Matchbox Twenty fan for a while, especially since the free CD they sent "me" when I was Entertainment Editor back at the Technique. So I bought Rob Thomas's debut solo album last week after hearing the first single on the radio an insane number of times. But then, fortunately for me, I have never been one of those people who tires of songs if they are overplayed. On the contrary, I can often listen to the same song three or four times in a row if I'm enjoying it. And then three times again the next day.

But I digress.

Anyway, it's a great album. If you like that type of music, I highly recommend it. It also got me thinking about other albums I've bought (yay iTunes) and enjoyed lately. Not just songs, but entire albums. So here are some music recommendations, in no particular order, if you like standard (yet varied!) mainstream stuff like me. ;)

• Rob Thomas, Something to Be - Same type of music he did with Matchbox Twenty. My current favorite song on the album is "Problem Girl."
  
• Green Day, American Idiot - This album totally rocks. You should really buy it. Favorite song off it for now is probably "Wake Me Up When September Ends."
  
• Bonnie McKee, Trouble - I think she's only like 16 or something. But she can sing, and has an interesting variety of songs on one small album. I like the first two songs best, I think. "Trouble" and "When It All Comes Down."
  
• Marc Broussard, Carencro - Bought this one back in the fall sometime. The first song on the album is this great rock/blues combo that I imagine I'd hear somewhere deep in New Orleans. The rest of the album is a bit more standard, but I still love it. Favorite song is probably "Hope For Me Yet."
  
• Matt Nathanson, Beneath These Fireworks - Also bought this one a while ago, last summer maybe? Good stuff.
  
• Dirty Vegas, One - Bought this one after I heard "Walk Into The Sun" on one of the cheesy TV dramas I watch. The O.C. maybe? Anyway, I ended up liking the whole album.
  
• Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams - I first heard about Jack Johnson when I was out at Stanford four years ago, which makes sense because he's very California/surfer/good vibes/laid back. Good songs for mellow, rainy days.
  
• Ryan Cabrera, Take It All Away - I know some people won't like it, and maybe he's a bit too "boy pop star" but oh well. He can at least carry a tune, which is more than I can say for his girlfriend.
  

I had dinner at Mely's with Becca and Cari last night. It's hard to believe that I hadn't been to Mely's in at least a month. WOW. That's saying something, since it tends to be our default restaurant of choice, and even more so for those that live in League City. My enchiladas al cardon were good and the margarita was strong, as always. Afterwards I went to Target for socks, superglue, and Swiffer cleaning stuff. A very random combination, which is why Target is so great. And the greater thing is that I actually left Target having bought only two additional items. Marvel at my willpower, people...

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes?

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes? That is just...weird. And slightly gross. Ew.

Here's a great new blog: Plunk Biggio. "Dedicated to Craig Biggio and his (probably unintentional) Quest to break the all time major league career record for getting hit by pitches." Ha!

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Cari wants to TiVo 60

Cari wants to TiVo 60 Minutes tonight because they're doing a story about Return-to-Flight. Becca wants to TiVo Alias. (Forget for a minute that they are not on at the same time. People in that household don't check the obvious things.) Becca provides the following summary for Cari as an argument for Alias. (Plus, I provided the helpful input that Alias has better costumes.)

Ok.

Let me summarize what is going to happen on 60 Minutes:

Dan: So, Eileen, tell me about what changes have been made to the space shuttle for Return to Flight
CDR: Well, Dan, blah blah blah blah blah (everything we know)
Dan: Sounds like a lot. What about these rumors I hear about us not being able to fix any problem?
CDR: [flashes a confident smile] Well, Dan, spaceflight is a risky business. We did our best to mitigate the risks, but there's still some technical challenges we haven't managed to solve.
Dan: Aren't you worried?
CDR: Not at all, Dan, I wouldn't be flying this mission if I didn't think it was the best thing for this country and our crew.

Flashes over to SMS.
Dan Rather is flying the space shuttle.
Big red flashing light appears on the screen. CDR starts waiving her hands in the air and saying "Wooo wooo woo no survivors."

Then she shows him how its done by greasing a perfect landing.

Dan says: Well, that settles it, NASA is ready to return to flight. Now we go into a hearwarming story about prisoners who have taught dogs to rescue snowboarders from avalanches.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

What's on Jesus' iPod? "After

What's on Jesus' iPod?

"After all, Jesus was a rebel. Jesus was the Original Liberal. Jesus was a devoted pacifist and a badass egalitarian and his best friends were all whores and dissidents and freethinkers and miscreants, artists of every shape and size and haircut and of course, were he walking around today, Jesus would be pretty much loathed and ostracized if not outright hacked to bits by the Christian Right. "Goddamn hippie liberal tree hugger," they'd sneer, waving scythes and Bibles. "What the hell?" Jesus would say."

"Jesus, on the other hand, is a monster music fan. You just know it. After all, Jesus was an agitator. Jesus protested. Jesus battled the demons of the status quo and he defied the sad dictatorial norms of his day and as such the Holy iPod is surely home to a huge number of songs of protest and resistance and hope, rebellion and triumph and joy. Just for starters."

"Jesus knows this Big Obvious Secret: All music celebrates God, because God is merely another word for life and life is merely another word for "hot divine energy force" and "hot divine energy force" is merely another word for, well, "Steven Tyler." So there you go."

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Every so often I get

Every so often I get a handwritten letter from my grandmother in Pennsylvania, my dad's mom. She lives in a big old house on a dairy farm now run by my two uncles and cousin. Her letters always entertain and amuse me to no end; I think it's because of the way she words things and what she thinks of to write about. She is one cool old lady. Excerpts from the most recent two-pager dated April 13:

"You must have had a wonderful weekend. Your card [postcard that I sent from Seattle] is beautiful. Vicki's [my aunt] brother goes to Seattle from time to time and has brought back lovely pictures. I think Joe [my uncle] was in that area on a farm tour once and he remarked about the rain in that area."

"Of course we have had lots of rain and the weather map looks like Charlotte is getting its share. Week before last we had at least 5" in all, and during the one storm it really poured. My sump pump ran for about 24 hrs. After that it was more just rain - no pouring. The creek was flowing bank high both times but didn't flood our roads. Above us and York County had lots of trouble and Lisa & Frank [my cousin and her husband] drove down to Conowingo so Frank could see the dam. There were 18 gates open and they were getting ready to open more. All that rain above us flooded into the Susquehanna and it rose and rose."

"Are you still working on a Mars project? I try to read all I can find but these papers up here are not the best. I did see the moving of the shuttle to the launching pad. I am watching closely. The overall record on the shuttles is not that bad and I think they will get this trip without any trouble."

"I was going to EMail some while Steven [my uncle] is away but there is a message on the screen I don't know how to deal with. I hope my writing is decipherable. It certainly isn't the best."

The funniest part is that every time I get a handwritten letter, it ends with a remark about how she really meant to email, but couldn't figure out the computer. My grandmother is cool. I haven't been up to the farm to see her in almost four years, but in theory one of my uncles or cousins is going to drive her down to Charlotte for Katie's wedding. I'm glad.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

JSC held its first Open

JSC held its first Open House in four years this past Saturday and there was a nice little article in the New York Times today. (Thanks to Christina for the link.)

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Last night Becca and I

Last night Becca and I had a royal bitch-fest via IM while I drank Smirnoff and ate dinner after finally going to the grocery store. (I had not been on a "full" grocery run since, I kid you not, February 28. I looked it up.) Anyway, it was great. We both got out all our GRRRs. Of course griping doesn't get me what I want, but it made me feel better for the time being.

I have lost all ability to cope with teenage drama. I had enough of it in college. I can't deal with it anymore.

I flipped on the TV last night just in time to see the Astros lose. They are now 8-11. I flipped the TV right back off. The pitchers are throwing great, and the hitters are giving them no support. Boo.

I can't believe it's almost May. I figure life has to slow down at some point. I have been out of town all but one weekend since my birthday, and will be gone the next three weekends as well. This weekend I am heading to some ranch near Pedernales Falls with Debbie, Jason, Paul and Sonia. It's just a quick trip, up Saturday and back Sunday, but should be fun. The weekend after that is Katie's graduation; the weekend after that is Brian's graduation. Then three weekends here, a trip to Austin for the Danskin triathlon and two weekends home for Katie's wedding.

So much traveling, so little time.

Monday, April 25, 2005

"It's their loss." Why do

"It's their loss."

Why do people always say that? When you tell someone that you didn't get what you were hoping for, is that just the default response? Is it supposed to make you feel better? It doesn't, really. Sure, it might be their loss not to have you, but they don't know that, and they probably don't care. But if you wanted it, even just a little bit, well... It's your loss not to have gotten it. Hearing the equivalent of "it's not you, it's me" doesn't really lessen the disappointment.

It is raining tonight, and the rain always makes me mellow. It makes me feel quiet, and if there are things on my mind, it makes me feel sad.

A month ago, I applied for a new job. I was really excited about the possibility of it, even moreso after my final interview. But I didn't get an offer because my ability to recall equations and technical details doesn't rival that of someone who is still in school and graduating this May. I was very disappointed, as I'd already begun picturing making the move. A friend got an internship with the same company this summer, and she got in touch with them via me, before I interviewed. I'm happy for her, but it stings that she gets to be there this summer doing what I wanted to be doing as well.

Five weeks ago, I applied for the JSC Fellowship in hopes of going to France next year to study for another Master's degree. I didn't get the fellowship because of timing and bureaucracy that was totally out of my control. I was most qualified, and was told that. What I wasn't told was that despite being most qualified, I would not be ranked first because there was no known threat of losing me in the office head count. My application was fine, but it went nowhere because of bureaucratic decisions. Knowing that I was helpless to do anything is comforting, and also extremely frustrating. I hadn't mentally moved to France yet, but I had thought about the possibilities.

I had two great options, and two weeks ago my fear was that I would have to choose between them. Today, neither is available to me. And it's disappointing to have crashed and burned, and ego-bruising to have been told I'm not smart enough for one of them. I feel embarassed, because it was impossible to go for either opportunity without at least some friends knowing, and impossible to hope that they'll just forget the things I was applying for and hoping for. I now have to face them and admit that I failed.

Most of all, I feel lost, not knowing where to go next, and stuck, not having a third road to aim for.

Monday, April 25, 2005

I have been putting off

I have been putting off buying a plane ticket to Atlanta for Katie's graduation (on May 7), hoping the price would come down. On Saturday, I was about to buy one for $300, tired of waiting, and annoyed that plane tickets are becoming more expensive. When I expressed dismay, figuring that as soon as I clicked "purchase" the price would inevitably drop, Mom told me to just wait a couple more days. So I listened to Mom. This may have been a mistake.

If anyone can find me a plane ticket from Houston to Atlanta, leaving May 5 evening or May 6 and returning May 8 for less than $350, I'll...I dunno, love you forever, or something.

UPDATE: Jen is the winner of my eternal love (sorry Gavin). She found me a deal for $330, which still makes me go ugh, but on the plus side, it leaves from Hobby and includes a rental car. I will be pimpin' through ATL in my compact car. Woot!

Monday, April 25, 2005

Thanks Gavin. ;)

Thanks Gavin. ;)

Saturday, April 23, 2005

OH! I should also mention

OH! I should also mention that I am headed to Corpus Christi tonight because I am shooting (photographing) the CC Triathlon there tomorrow morning for Karen Thibodeaux. I shot a race for her two weeks ago as well and as a result, received a check in the mail on Thursday. I have officially earned money for photography! I am officially a photographer. I am SO excited.

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Running of the Bulls 5K

3.1 miles, 32:42 = 10:33 min/mile pace
Avg heart rate = 186

Well I went running this morning for the first time in a month. I know -- how bad am I!?

I didn't know how well the race would go, because it's not like I haven't been active with soccer and softball and oh, riding my bike from here to Austin (!!), but at the same time, none of those things equal running. And while they keep me in shape, they don't keep me in running shape.

So I was pleasantly surprised to pull off a 10.5 min/mile pace this morning without much trouble, in fact, I felt pretty good. I ran side by side with Debbie, who was running for the first time in a while and always has major knee trouble slowing her down. If her knees were normal, she'd leave me in the dust, but as it is, they slow her down to my pace. ;) We started off at a comfortable jog, and I was a bit surprised to see us go through the first mile at 10:45 (surprised because I thought we were slower, not faster). We kept the same pace, hitting mile 2 in 21:35, and then we obviously sped up in the last 1.1 miles to finish in 32:42. I felt good the whole way, even with my own knee brace on to counter to overuse injury I've developed.

So it was a good, encouraging run. Gotta get back to doing it regularly, even with the heat and humidity on its way...

Friday, April 22, 2005

For Jo.

For Jo.

Friday, April 22, 2005

A fellow Team Mission Control

A fellow Team Mission Control member sent a photo of me crossing the day 1 finish line in La Grange.

Friday, April 22, 2005

So I've been thinking of

So I've been thinking of getting a dog.

Specifically, a chihuahua, or a chihuahua mix. A girl on my soccer team has one, and it is so adorable. They're small, and so one could easily live in my apartment. They don't like lots of people so they're good for people who live alone. They're very loyal and attached to their owners.

However, I don't commit to things easily. I worry about getting something, especially a living something, that will be with me for 15+ years. I worry that this "I want a dog" thing is too impulsive. And of course the largest potential problems is that I have a very active life outside of work, and go out of town fairly regularly. However, this doesn't seem to be a problem for any of my other active friends with dogs.

Comments welcome. Perhaps this weekend I'll check out the local shelters.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Round the World by Bike

Round the World by Bike is an amazing thing. The trip reports alone will take me hours to get through, but are totally engrossing.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

I should preface this by

I should preface this by saying that in no way am I intending to offend any Catholics.

I'm wondering how much the conclave resembles junior high student council elections. I mean, becoming pope is sort of like becoming president. You know, rising to the top of whatever group you're involved in. The pope is to Catholics what the president is to US citizens or the class president to the school, that kind of thing.

Do you think the cardinals were jockeying for position in the conclave? Do the "popular" cardinals form cliques? Are there "nerd" cardinals that suddenly do something unexpected and thus get some votes? Do they vote for the guy who's their buddy? And I wonder if the guy who gets elected, while outwardly looking all magnanimous and holy and peaceful and serene while being introduced on the balcony, is inwardly doing a little jig and going "I'M THE POPE! OH YEAH!!"

'Cause that's totally what I would be thinking.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

I can't believe I didn't

I can't believe I didn't think of this! Virtual tourism courtesy of the awesome Google Maps.

Justin Ouellette of chromogenic.net (a photoblog I surf) wrote a great little article about how to Become Your Own Lab for $49.38. After reading it, I'm inspired to do it myself. I bought all the equipment for a bathroom darkroom when I first moved to Houston almost three years ago...and never used it. My laziness, and the proliferation of digital cameras in my household, has left the stuff sitting in my bathroom gathering dust.

Bat-Girl wrote a hilarious blog entry covering both the new pope and the Twins baseball game. My favorite lines:

"'I knew they could do it,' said Lew Ford. 'I mean, what are they? The Vatican or the Vati-can't?'"

"And over the course of the Twins' at-bats, as conversation progressed from the players favorite popes (Most popular choice — Gregory VII who totally excommunicated the Holy Roman Emporer after the H.R.E. got up in his grill)..."

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

I am participating, via telephone

I am participating, via telephone and in a rather peripheral way, in a meeting at Langley today and tomorrow. It's hard to pay attention to a speaker phone when I am at my desk surrounded by other things to do and the computer calling to me.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

So I just remembered that

So I just remembered that last night I dreamt that Carter was getting married, and half an hour before the ceremony I realized that I had forgotten to find white sandals with a 1-2 inch heel that I needed for my dress. (Which, I don't really know why I needed this, because I wasn't the bride. Nor was I a bridesmaid. But the white sandal with 1-2 inch heel is totally thanks to my sister's impending wedding. Katie, your specifications are showing up in my dreams now. Heh!)

So Kent and I jumped in the car, and Carter came too, despite the fact that, you know, he was getting married in a half hour. And we drove to Payless, only it was closed. And I was freaking out, and Kent was just laughing hysterically as he is prone to do. And then Carter missed his wedding, and didn't seem too upset about it.

It was weird.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

I knew it!!

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful. You like to kick back and enjoy life.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Jen's sister ran the Boston

Jen's sister ran the Boston Marathon yesterday in 3:29, which reminds me that Chris's friend Cheri won the Boston Marathon yesterday (wheelchair division). Also, my sister ran the Pi Mile Road Race at Georgia Tech on Saturday in 26:22, so I totally feel Jen's pain about being the sister with less natural athletic talent. I've been running for three years and can barely get under half an hour, while Katie starts running to keep in shape for her wedding and reels off a 26:22. Big dork. ;)

Last night Jason and I headed downtown to watch the spectacle that was Roger Clemens vs. Tim Hudson. It was a fantastic game, the pitchers matching each other pitch for pitch, and the teams matching hit for hit. Hudson got hit on the leg by a line drive, and a couple innings later Jason remarked "what if Clemens get hit on the leg?" No sooner had he said that, and I'm talking like, seriously, two seconds after he said that, Clemens got hit on the leg with a line drive. It was SPOOKY, I'm telling you.

Clemens threw seven scoreless innings with Lidge coming in for the 8th and 9th, while Hudson tossed a nine-inning four-hitter. At the end of "regulation" the score was still 0-0 (and it wasn't even 10:00), so we went to free baseball! Qualls pitched a scoreless 10th for the Astros, while Reitsma got into trouble when the Astros loaded the bases with no outs. They failed to score, though, which I still can't wrap my head around. How do you fail to score with the bases loaded and no outs?? All you need is a long fly! Geez. Anyway, on to the 11th, where Wheeler pitched scoreless inning and Sosa did the same for the Braves. Wheeler came back out for the top of the 12th and made one bad pitch, which Ryan Langerhans (who??) hit for his first career homer. Kolb came in for the bottom of the inning and the Astros continued to not be able to hit for crap, and lost 1-0.

It was a great game, minus the outcome. It was sort of a shame that neither Hudson or Clemens got the win after they both pitched such stellar games. Clemens has a ERA of 0.43 for the season so far, and yet he hasn't won a game because he's gotten only one run in support. Ugh. Such is baseball, I guess, but it sure is frustrating to watch.

Afterwards, I found myself thinking about other great games I've attended. The best baseball game I've ever been to is (as if there were any question) last year's NLCS Game 5 when Brandon Backe pitched an 8-inning 1-hitter and Jeff Kent won it 3-0 for the Astros with a three-run homer over the railroad tracks in the bottom of the ninth.

The best football game I've ever been to was the 1998 Georgia Tech vs. Virginia game when Tech came back from being three touchdowns behind to win 41-38. Virginia had been ranked #7, and we all swarmed the field and took down the goalposts.

Ahh. The memories.

Monday, April 18, 2005

I arrived back at home

I arrived back at home just before 8:00, safe and sound after riding my bike from Houston to Austin. I updated the whole way by sending photos to my Flickr stream (at right) so if you weren't checking over the weekend, you can go back and review them now.

Got up at 4:30 on Saturday morning and picked Nacho up at 5, and from there we were off to Rhodes Stadium in Katy for the start. Leaving Clear Lake on I-45, you see the occasional car next to you with bikes in tow as well. As you get into downtown, you start to see more. By the time you're on I-10 West past the 610 interchange, it seems like every car on the highway has bikes either inside or on a rack on the back, and "every" is not much of an exaggeration -- with 13,000 bikers converging on two stadium before 6 a.m., there really isn't much else on the road.

Because we'd dropped off our luggage at the Team Mission Control truck Friday afternoon, there wasn't anything left to do except make sure we had all our numbers and bike gear and head to the start line, where we quickly found the Mission Control team. We were underway by 7:20 or so.

I hit the lunch stop around 9:45, same time as last year. I think my lack of training this year was made up for by this year's lack of wind (and when there was wind, it tended to be tailwind). I think my pedals and shoes that I got for Christmas helped too; I didn't have the clipless pedals last year. And thankfully, I never fell over with my feet stuck in the pedals! Though I was overly careful about taking at least one foot out of the pedals while I still had some good speed and balance going on... ;)

The hardest part of the first day came on the ~10 mile stretch between breakpoints 5 and 6, where the rolling hills really started to get on my nerves and my back and neck starting complaining. I took some Advil at a breakpoint that seemed to help get me through the last 20 miles into LaGrange. I enjoyed the afternoon by first taking a shower where, for perhaps the first time in history, there was no line for the girls, and a line at least 100 people deep for the guys. I took my shower and came back outside and Nacho was still waiting in line. Take that, boys.

Later that afternoon I got my bike gears adjusted and said hello to Fred, who was doing massages at the Halliburton tent. I also stuffed my face with a variety of food available in our tent, everything from hot dogs to ice cream Snickers. Mmm. They started putting away the tables at 7:30 or so, when I was finally able to lay out my air mattress. I read for an hour as it got dark, and finally crashed at 9:15. Apparently there were a few trains that passed during the night, but I didn't hear anything until the first team started up their generator around 4 a.m. As generators came on all across the fairgrounds and breakfast was prepared, I dozed for a while longer and finally got up a bit before 5. I took my time eating, drinking coffee, packing up, and getting ready for the day. Nacho and I headed for the start line around 6:20 to get in line, and were on our way by 7:20 or so. We chose to go the "express" route.

The second day, though more painful in terms of neck, back, and butt, seemed a bit easier, just as it had last year. I guess there is something to be said for knowing you are getting closer and closer to your goal. After crusing along the rollings hills of Highway 71 (which get more intense as you approach the lunch stop in Bastrop), I got to lunch around 9:30. I wolfed down my Subway sandwich and got back on the road, eager to cover the remaining 35 miles to Austin. I stopped at each of the last four breakpoints to do a bit of stretching and just get off the bike for a few minutes, and finally rolled down Congress Avenue in front of the Texas state capitol at about 1:10 yesterday afternoon.

Somehow I managed to finish ahead of Steve (another guy from my division at work, and my ride home -- Nick drove Steve's truck to Austin yesterday morning to pick us up and drive us home, very nice of him to do), so I showered and gathered my things and we headed out of town soon after Steve and his friend Jason finished. They took the longer route yesterday, which must explain how they finished after me because I know Steve is a better biker. We were on the road by 3:30 and back at my car in Katy at 6:30.

I was home by 8:00 and in bed by 9:30. I'm still really tired and sore today, but happy to have finished the ride despite my horrid lack of training. I want to go home and sleep tonight, but alas, there is no rest for the weary! The Braves are in town and I want to see tonight's marquee pitching matchup -- Roger Clemens vs. Tim Hudson. Should be a good one!

Friday, April 15, 2005

To bed, to bed, to

To bed, to bed, to rest my head, before starting the MS150 tomorrow morning. Crappy camera phone pictures to be sent to Flickr, so watch the three-photo bar at left if you're interested.

Friday, April 15, 2005

This looks like a good

This looks like a good flick. How come "limited release" doesn't include Houston? Grr.

Friday, April 15, 2005

I posted five new photo

I posted five new photo galleries last night for your viewing pleasure.

• Seattle
• Astros Opening Day
• Softball last week
• Yuri's Night Educational Stuff at HMNS
• Yuri's Night Celebration at the Outpost

Softball last night was pretty good. We won for the first time in a while, I went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, and I only fell down once.

Fell down. I had to play second base for an inning and as I was going to catch the ball, slipped on the base. My knee is all scraped up, and I am retarded.

Friday, April 15, 2005

if we launch in the middle of the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

The next space station crew, Expedition 11, launched last night from Russia, but you probably didn't hear about it from a NASA webpage.

Melanie walked in yesterday and mentioned that a bunch of the main NASA web portals had no headlines about "Next Crew Launches Tonight!" or "Expedition 11 Takes Off!" I was skeptical at first, giving NASA public affairs the benefit of the doubt. I mean, launching a new crew is a pretty big deal, right?

But then I went and looked around a few pages and...nothing! At the NASA Human Spaceflight website, the headline under the Space Station side is simply telling you that the web location of info is changing. They have only a tiny link to the Expedition 11 Preflight Briefing Materials. So you click on "Space Station" to go into that section. And there under "Latest News" you find info about last night's launch, but yesterday, hours before launch, there was nothing.

Even on NASA's main homepage, a headline about the launch is tiny under the "News" column, while the huge splash feature cycles through something about our new NASA administrator, then Return to Flight, and then shows something about Expedition 11.

I know the new administrator and RTF are important, but last night we (via the Russians) were launching people.

How can we expect the public to truly support NASA if we don't do a kick-butt job of selling ourselves?

Friday, April 15, 2005

I only had one materials

I only had one materials science class in all my years of engineering education, so I don't really understand all the mumbo-jumbo that Christina has been working on in grad school, but I think it's very cool that she's filed for a patent. Neat.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

I, like Becca, am amazed

I, like Becca, am amazed and somewhat appalled at the New York Times' recent "Frugal Traveler" article about doing Paris on...drumroll...$250 a day.

$250 a day? That's frugal?? I'd hate to see what the daily cost of seeing Paris non-frugally is!

Becca and I and countless other friends could get you through a week in Paris on $50 a day or less if you don't mind staying in a youth hostel. $100 a day would be downright luxurious and would get you a decent hotel room. You might not eat at four-star restaurants, but the sidewalk cafes and random restaurants you find on back streets have far more character anyway.

I think Becca and I should offer to write a Times article on what frugal really means.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

I went to the final

I went to the final pre-MS150 team meeting yesterday evening and got all the little details I hadn't heard yet. Our team -- Team Mission Control -- has its own luggage truck, which is going to be nice. No walking all the way across the LaGrange fairgrounds and schlepping my stuff back to the Team MCC tent. Yay! But it does change my "schedule" a bit, because luggage drop-off is tomorrow evening between 4:30 and 6:30, which means I have to pack tonight. No biggie. It's only one night on the road and so I really don't need much in the way of luggage except my sleeping bag and air mattress and a comfy change of clothes.

I picked up my Team MCC jersey on Tuesday evening, and it's really cool! It's a tad smaller than I'd prefer, but tight is good for biking, right? And the design is awesome. The front and back have two different images of an astronaut biking on Mars. The team logo says "On Earth and someday on Mars."

If you would still like to sponsor me on the ride, please do it today!

Thursday, April 14, 2005

The Apollo 13 oxygen tank

The Apollo 13 oxygen tank exploded thirty five years ago today.

Also, the photo at APOD has been very cool the past two days.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

I'm Groucho Marx!

Me playing around in Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle, taken by Irwin with his shiny new Digital Rebel XT! What you can't see is that the mustache hairs were really tickling my nose.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

A cool optical illusion that

A cool optical illusion that I hadn't seen before.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Poyehali!

Yuri's Night has come and gone, and the 44th anniversary of manned space exploration is behind us. 44 years. Do most people realize that the time between the first man in space and the first man on the moon was barely more than eight years? Eight years, two months, and eight days. April 12, 1961 and July 20, 1969. Twelve years until the shuttle launched. And we're still flying the shuttle. Our pace has slowed down; we need to kick it into gear again. If we were given an unconditional green light, I wonder what we could accomplish in eight years, two months, and eight days.

The party last night at the Outpost was great. We had some people that probably didn't pay, but all in all we had a good crowd, the bands were great, and the weather was amazing. If this weather came around more than 5 days a year, perhaps we wouldn't all hate Houston.

I do hope we can find someone willing to take over the organizational lead for Yuri's Night next year. I think each of us is a bit burnt out on the whole thing. I enjoy handling the race, but am not that interested in the other stuff; I just need a break. I was telling a couple people that it's sort of funny how each of us has "our" Yuri's Night event. If we had to pick one of the three, I would choose the race, Jen would probably choose the educational stuff, and Becca would choose the party. And yet planning it every single year gets a bit stressful. We're going on three years now. It'd be nice to have some new help next year.

I'm tired. I have to make a very strong effort to get a good amount of sleep tonight and tomorrow night, because somehow I have to ride my bike to Austin this weekend.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

This survey, about homosexuality and

This survey, about homosexuality and sports, is a bit disturbing:

• 27% say that greater acceptance of gays and lesbians would be a bad thing for the country
• 22% say it is not ok for gay athletes to participate in sports, even if they are open about their sexuality
• 24% would be less of a fan of a particular athlete if they knew he or she was openly gay
• 21% would enjoy the sport less if they knew a player was gay
• 37% think it is not appropriate for homosexuals to be little league coaches
• 19% think that positive portrayals of gay athletes in the media may encourage children to become gay

We (as in, the public) are mostly ok with the fact that Barry Bonds may be on steroids, but we're not ok with the fact that there might be a power hitter out there who is -- gasp -- gay? Pardon me while I gag.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

After getting to know Nancy

After getting to know Nancy and Emily (Becca's aunt and cousin), I can only imagine that Emily's brother/Nancy's son Graham is similarly cool. (Link is to an article about Graham and an underground paper he started after being fired -- for a silly reason -- from his job as editor of his high school paper.)

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

1/10 of what I'll do this weekend

I went for a bike ride last night. 17 miles in just over an hour. Not a bad pace or distance...if it weren't for the fact that this weekend, somehow, I have to push through the MS150. And I haven't trained. And saying I haven't trained is probably an understatement.

I can't ride tonight because of the Yuri's Night party, but will hopefully get in another 15-20 miles tomorrow night. It won't prepare me for the distance, but I figure it's better than nothing.

On the bright side, I'm a bit more comfortable with my shoes and pedals and hopefully won't fall off (knock on wood) my bike.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

maybe I can join the Red Sox and their self-proclaimed "bunch of idiots"...

I am trying to figure out what my role is going to be in all our Mars work now that a coworker who has previously done 90% of the work is scheduled to retire this summer. Gavin is going to take the lead role in it, which is probably as it should be, but I'm concerned that he might not have time to do everything and that a portion will fall to me. And I feel totally lost as to what the project is, where it's going, and how exactly to do the work they need from me. I keep telling Gavin that I don't know what's going on, and he keeps asking me why, and I keep saying I don't know. I think he's getting frustrated with me. Actually, I know he is.

He keeps asking what I need to do to understand it, and I keep saying I don't know. Because I really don't know. But that's not helping anything, and it's frustrating to me to feel out-of-synch with the project and yet not really know how to put it into words or how to fix it. All I know is that I just feel totally clueless about the technical details and, as has been pointed out to me multiple times in the past couple weeks, let's face it -- I suck at technical details to begin with.

God, some days I really don't think I was meant to be an engineer. What if I gutted it out through 6 years of school and 2 aerospace degrees and I'm just now finding out that in reality, I'm a bad engineer?? That technical matters aren't my strong suit? I mean, I can't remember the specifics of the work I did six months ago, much less the classes I took three years ago. Poof! The knowledge is gone. I know everyone thinks I'm doing fine work, but that doesn't change the fact that half the time I feel like I'm an idiot and have no real contribution to make to the space program. Not only can I not come up with new ideas, I can't even understand the old ones.

Somehow I've gotten to the point where instead of treating my lack of understanding as a challenge and committing to figuring it out, I just give up in frustration. And whine. I whine too much.

With the Mars stuff, I just feel like if it were all -- all meaning the concept, the history, and the design process -- just written down somewhere in a nice step-by-step order, that would be all I need. But of course such a document doesn't exist.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

cause I will be your safety / oh, don't leave home

I'm pleased to report that the 2nd annual Yuri's Night 5K this past Saturday went very well. The educational activities in the afternoon went well. And Saturday evening sucked.

When all was said and done, we had 123 people at the race -- 107 runners and 16 kids. That's about 20 fewer people than last year, but we still made over $500 for the charities. Overall, I felt like race day went much more smoothly than last year; I at least was much less stressed out. We had a few more volunteers, and that was a huge help as well. Until about 7:45, I actually had volunteers sitting around with nothing to do. I felt a bit bad, but then again, it's better to have too many than too few.

I am crossing my fingers that I get the fellowship, and on the off chance that I do, I will have to find someone else to organize the race next year. Which could prove difficult. Won't think about it now.

Sunday morning I got up early again to shoot photos at the Run for the Rose. The light was bad, and my camera was acting up. I was pretty disappointed in the results, but I think I still got enough usable images that it wasn't a total loss. And I'll get paid. Yippee. I've also volunteered to go to Corpus Christi on April 24 to shoot the CC Triathlon. That should be fun; I've never been to Corpus. I think Becca may come along for the ride.

Sunday afternoon I watched the Braves/Mets and was very sad that Smoltz ended up with the loss despite his personal record-tying 15 strikeouts. Stupid Carlos Beltran. After that game got out of hand, I turned to the Astros/Reds. Happily, the Astros won.

We had a soccer game Sunday night, and for the first 15 minutes we looked as bad as we'd ever looked. I have no idea what was wrong with our team, but we were all (me included) running around like chickens with our heads cut off, totally disorganized. The other team took advantage with 2 goals. After 15-20 minutes we finally settled down a bit and held them scoreless for the rest of the game, losing 2-0. But it was a weird, crazy game. We were just off, moreso than usual. Cari, we could have used you. Get better already.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Just got back from Dr.

Just got back from Dr. O'Neill's office, where I did a lot of sitting for 15 minutes of action. Turns out that the pain in my knee, and the random bump that has formed on my kneecap, is my knee trying to build new bone to compensate for the fact that it has been over-stressed. So it's an overuse injury, and in response my knee is forming something like a bone spur, I guess:

"The reason for bone spur formation is the body is trying to increase the surface area of the joint to better distribute weight across a joint surface that has been damaged by arthritis or other conditions. Unfortunately, this is largely wasted effort by our body as the bone spur can become restrictive and painful."

He checked my flexibility (which is great, no loss of range of motion or I would have noticed by now), gave me a few stretches to do, and did some x-rays which showed that despite the fact that the "knee lump" feels hard, it's not actually bone yet. Just gunk that might eventually form bone. Anyway, for the next eight weeks whenever I do anything athletic (running and soccer, basically), I have a lovely little knee brace to wear with two tubes in it. One tube goes across the top of my kneecap, one right underneath it. It's supposed to take some of the stress off my patellar ligament (the ligament that holds your kneecap in place). Then after 8 weeks I got back for him to see if the "knee lump" is fading/softening. If it is, that's good, if it's not, we'll try something else.

So, the appointment was uneventful but hopefully I'll now be on my way to getting rid of the knee ache. I had a good time at the doctor, as I usually do. I find orthopedics so interesting, and Dr. O'Neill is nice but moves very fast. I always want to stop him for ten minutes and start asking all sorts of knee questions just to satisfy my own curiosity. I don't think I could do the doctor thing, but if I ever decide to change careers entirely, I think being a physical therapist would be very interesting and rewarding. You get all the knowledge and get to help people get better. But you don't have to do the surgery thing. ;)

Sunday, April 10, 2005

I bite my thumb at you, sir!

No matter how the rest of the season goes, I'm going to bask in the fact that while the Astros are off to a healthy 4-1 start, Carlos Beltran and his precious Mets are 1-5, the last team in baseball to record their first win this year. I'm going to giggle silently today and hope ol' Carlos is having at least a few second thoughts.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Oh man, I finally got

Oh man, I finally got around to watching the latest Strong Bad email, Long Pants, at Jo's suggestion. And it is too, too funny.

Friday, April 08, 2005

biking for bucks

This morning after a "reminder" email, I met my $300 fundraising goal for the MS150! Hooray. If you would like to sponsor me as well, you still have time. Just click that link! All money goes to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Friday, April 08, 2005

So I went to the

So I went to the clinic on Monday for my yearly checkup as well as flight physical for my Vomit Comet flight this fall, and discovered two interesting things. (Well, interesting to me, but probably not to you. Oh well.)

My resting heart rate is 52 beats per minute, which I think is pretty good. It's no Lance Armstrong with his 32 bpm, but hey, we can't all win the Tour de France. Considering that the average for a women is somewhere around 70-75 bpm, I was pretty excited to find that mine is only 52. If you'd asked me, I would have guessed in the 60s because that's the lowest I've ever seen my heart rate monitor go. But of course I'm not wearing my monitor when I wake up in the morning and haven't started moving.

So my resting heart rate is great, and my "active" heart rate is still crazy. When running at my 5K race pace (anywhere between 10 and 11 minutes per mile, depending on how in shape I am), my heart rate averages 180+ bpm. Theoretically I shouldn't be able to maintain that, but I do.

I also had an EKG and got the usual feedback: something normal "with sinus arrhythmia." I've seen that sinus arrhythmia thing before and never bothered to look it up, because no doctor has ever told me it was a problem. I finally remembered the term this time and Googled it. Turns out it is a fairly normal term that simply describes how my heart rate speeds up when I breathe and slows down when I breathe out. It's actually a phenomenon I'd noticed before when taking my heart rate, so now I have the proper terminology to go along with my observation. :)

And in other health news, I finally made an appointment with the orthopedic doctor to get my knee checked out at last. Same doctor that helped me with my dislocated knee almost five years ago. (The dislocated one was my left knee; it's my right knee that's currently giving me the slight issues.) I'm going in on Monday afternoon, so we'll see what he says. It was aching again last night despite not having run or biked in almost two weeks. Stupid knee.

Friday, April 08, 2005

every word is just nonsense / but I understand it all

A few months ago, the door and card reader that gives access to the other side of the building was replaced. Now I need only wave my badge in front of a sensor and the door automagically opens. Here's the thing though -- going in, the door unlocks and you don't need to turn the handle. In fact, the handle doesn't turn at all, you just grab and pull. Going out, on the other hand, requires you to turn the handle, turn, and push.

You wouldn't think this would be too complicated for a rocket scientist like me, right? Wrong! Every freaking time I go back and forth to the other side of the building, I turn when I don't need to, or pull when I should push, or don't turn when I do need to. And every time I just look totally retarded.

On to other subjects.

I am in major stress/near panic mode for the Yuri's Night 5K that will happen tomorrow morning whether I'm prepared or not. I keep going over and over everything in my mind, making sure I haven't forgotten anything vital. This afternoon Becca and I are splitting shifts at the running store so that people can pick up their packets early, and then tonight Jason and I are going food shopping. At 6:30 tomorrow morning I'll be knocking on the gates of Challenger Park ready to get in and get set up for the 8:00 race start time. Then, as quickly as people gathered, the race will be over for another year. Whew.

My drive over to Alvin last night to pick up race t-shirts went better -- quicker -- than I expected and I made it back to Clear Lake for softball in plenty of time. I listened to the Counting Crows unplugged album the whole way to Alvin and back; for unexplained reasons, when I am majorly stressed out I find that that album, or a James Taylor album, helps me relax. Who knows why. We played a great game, and great defense, until the bottom of the final inning, when we bobbled a few plays and ended up losing by a run. Ah well. Later, at 9:00, Nick, Cari, Jason and Gavin all came over and helped me stuff race packets, so big thanks to them.

Those who know me are aware that I am not a particularly religious person, and definitely not Catholic. But the pope's death saddened me and I have been reading a lot about funeral plans and how the church elects a new pope. Here's a small thing -- I have often wondered why Catholics (and most religious figures in general) wear such elaborate garb. I guess it dates back hundreds and/or thousands of years, but sometimes it seems a little dated to me. But today, looking through photos from the pope's funeral, I was struck by what I'll call the "visual spectacle" of the cardinals all dressed in brilliant red and white, and bishops (I think?) dressed in a more muted red/pink. Surrounding them were all the foreign dignitaries in black. It was such a nice image.

The other interesting thing about the funeral to me is how many of the world's power players came together in one place. I don't know for sure, but it's got to be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in recent memory. I think that's amazing. In a good way.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

t-minus 43 hours...

Frustration.

I have been planning the Yuri's Night 5K basically alone. No help. Now, for the most part, I can handle it, and a good part of the solo operation is my own desire to make sure everything is just so. However, my "I can do it better if I just do it myself" attitude is only reinforced by the times I do ask for help and receive none.

Tonight I have to stuff race packets. It's a simple job that won't take more than half an hour if I can get 3-4 people to help me; if I don't get any help, it will probably take me more like 1.5 hours. The only slight issue is that I'm not free to stuff until 9:00 p.m. because of softball and soccer commitments. It's a little late, but like I said -- it's a half hour job. Done by 9:30.

I sent an email asking for help. Only one person has responded, and they can't help because they'll be in Sugarland. And I know that one person can't help because they're frantically finalizing arrangements for the museum activities on Saturday afternoon. No one else has even bothered to write back.

So perhaps if some of them see this post, they will be guilted into helping me!! (Obvious hint, people.)

That said, the race is starting to come together here at the end. I've been working frantically all week taking care of last-minute issues. This morning we passed 70 entrants and our budget officially moved from the red into the black. Hurrah!

Thursday, April 07, 2005

rollout

Discovery rolled out to the launch pad yesterday. Very exciting news. One of these days we may actually launch again! I don't work on the shuttle directly, but these are still the moments that make me like my job. There are many things wrong with it, but it's nice to be reminded that in the grand scheme of things, my job is damn cool. No matter what happens in the future, I'll always know that I helped put people in space.

This shot, taken by Leroy Chiao aboard the International Space Station, is also pretty dang cool; you can see the shuttle inching toward the pad.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

take me out to the ballgame / take me out with the crowd

So I should say that Google Maps is, like, the coolest thing ever. I thought it was neat when Gavin first showed it to me, and they have now incorporated satellite photos which is awesome. I can zoom all the way in on my apartment complex! If I was in the pool, you could probably see my little shadow!

Dad left a message on my phone last night (obviously he didn't realize that he shouldn't try to call me while I am at Opening Day) and as a result, I should clarify that when I said yesterday that I got into ISU, that does not mean that I got the JSC Fellowship. It just means I got admitted to the degree program. Like getting into college. Which was not really a surprise, because I'm a space professional, and that's who ISU targets.

Opening Day was great fun, except for a fairly dismal performance from the Astros. Craig Biggio was stellar in his return to second base, and accounted for all three RBIs, but some of his teammates weren't quite so great. Morgan Ensberg at third was especially shaky, and Roy Oswalt has certainly pitched better games. In the end, the 'Stros lost 7-3 but on the bright side, baseball is back! It was great to return to the ballpark.

In other assorted news, Carter is in Buenos Aires for a week and I'm jealous. The Yuri's Night 5K is on Saturday and I still have a ton to do. I'm doing a piece for the second issue of Photoblogs Magazine that has to be done by Friday. I have Kara's paper that somehow needs to get through Export Control in 48 hours. We have softball tomorrow night, and I haven't done any sort of exercise in 10 days. Whew.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

it's not confidential / I've got potential

I knew as soon as I woke up this morning that, despite being pretty tired, this was going to be a great day because OPENING DAY IS FINALLY HERE! The Astros play the Cardinals at Minute Maid tonight and I am SO there. Ding dong, winter is over, and baseball is finally back. Hooray for Opening Day!

That alone would be enough to make this a great day. But then I got to work and lucked into an extra seat on an hour-long SMS (Shuttle Motion Simulator) run. We did one ascent, where the entire cockpit rotates 90 degrees such that we were lying on our backs in the seats and then the whole thing shakes to simulate the vibration from the solid rocket boosters. We also did three entries from 50,000 feet. I got to fly one of them, and landed pretty smoothly and successfully and almost on the runway centerline. I did blow the left tire, which apparently is not that uncommon and has actually happened in real life before. The guy who was with us said that I pitched up just a hair too much at the end and ended up floating a bit, then coming down with a slightly harder sink rate than I should. The tire didn't pop until later though.

Fun fun fun.

Oh I just looked over the sheet they printed out for me and under the Contact Fault Display box it says "WING TIP GROUND CONTACT" and "BODY FLAP SCRAPE". Um, oops. Of course it also says "MAX XWIND LIMITS EXCEED" and that's not my fault.

Then I got back to my desk just now to an email saying I've been accepted to the MSM program at ISU. This was not really a surprise, but still nice to hear.

Monday, April 04, 2005

So it turns out that

So it turns out that even after going to Georgia Tech, the influence of my mom, my little brother, and my home state burn strong. Yes, I still bleed a little Carolina blue.

I was so nervous watching the end of the game just now. Pacing back and forth, all muscles tense, barely breathing. But they won!

The Tarheels won!

Wooooooooooooo!

My brother's probably going crazy on Franklin Street right now. What a great night.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Jen caught me in action.

Jen caught me in action. See it on her photoblog.

Monday, April 04, 2005

excuse me, I believe I ordered the *large* cappuchino? HELLO!

I know that the above line is from So I Married An Axe Murderer, a film which I believe is set in San Francisco, but that scene in the coffee shop, and that line, always make me think of Seattle.

I have a nice, if wet, weekend in Seattle with Jen and Irwin (Jen for the whole thing, Irwin for a quick two hours). We went to the Public Market, I made a quick pilgrimage to the first Starbucks, I saw the men throwing fish, and almost ran off the road while staring at Safeco Field and wishing it was a day later and I could catch a game. We also spent an entire afternoon tiptoeing through the tulips (and daffodills) at the Tulip Festival about 60 miles north of the city.

Alas, I have fallen out of first place in my NCAA bracket, as I knew I would. I am currently third, with no possible points remaining. If UNC wins tonight, three people will pass me including both Katie and Joel (punks didn't pick their own school to win). If UNC loses, I'll remain in third. But I'm rooting for Carolina-lina. (Rah rah.)

Less than a week remaining until the Yuri's Night 5K! Lots left to do.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Great and thoughtful post from

Great and thoughtful post from Gabe Rodriguez's blog (he's one of Houston's fastest runners):

I was conversing with a customer the other day at the store who had "crossed over", a term I endear to runners who have taken up cycling or triathlons. We spoke about bikes, gear, the cost involved, the training time involved, and then he mentioned something I found very interesting.

He said, "I enjoy the running community more. In the cycling community, everyone thinks they're Lance Armstrong..."

Interesting. Everyone thinks they're Lance. I asked him to expound on the subject and he further mentioned the mentality everyone would have on even a simple ride, where the riders would try to drop one another, constantly testing the pack, edging for a breakaway ride into glory.

I mentioned this to my wife, an accomplished Marathoner and Duathlete, and she emerged with quite a pearl: she found that in cycling there is a machine between you and your success. She believes the cyclist gets inspiration and motivation from the dollar signs between their legs. Hey, out of shape, no problem, I've got a $6000 Cervelo. Haven't done the 100+ training rides, no biggie, I just dropped $1500 on a pair of Zipp wheels. It is like their fitness level can be purchased with equipment, and that equipment can be pushed harder and harder and the feedback is real, very real in the concrete nature of heart rate, cadence, miles per hour. Whereas, in running your "equipment" is yourself, your body.. take it or leave it. Out of shape, your body will let you know. There is no coasting, no relaxing, every step may hurt, may reverberate reality up your joints and through your bones until you realize you cannot purchase your fitness (but a nice pair of shoes doesn't hurt).

Saturday, April 02, 2005

So I am in Seattle.

So I am in Seattle. It's colder here than I expected, and I forgot both a raincoat and an umbrella. Fortunately, it has only rained about half the time. Today we're off to see men throwing fish, and fields of tulips.