Halcyon Daze

Beautiful day today. I went to the coffee shop, then the gym, then Nature's Way, then Genesis where I bought a new multitool, which is what caused me to beable to find the one I though I lost... Then I went for a hike at Dunfield Creek. That place sure looks different since I was last there, before the hurricanes of 2004. I miscalculated the amount of daylight I'd have left, and had to run down the mountain to get down before sunset but I made it in time -- good thing because all I had were my prescription sunglasses, I'd have been blind in the dark.

Now I'm off to Which Brew, where I-don't-know-who is playing (I expect the answer is "nobody") but they have Magic Hat Number 9, my all time favorite beer, on tap. Woo Hoo! Think I'll walk down... Tomorrow is a long day in the saddle, riding downtown (coffee shop brunch) then to Sals for a ride plus a little trailwork. The weather should be really nice again tomorrow.

The Beavers Are Moving East

Rode the towpath tonight, abbreviated ride because the wheel I'd had repaired had a flat, tube probably got pinched when it was put back together -- doh!! I happened to notice lots of signs of beaver along the trail, only much further east than I've ever seen them, very near to the Bethlehem Boat Club launch. Now more than ever, don't drink the Lehigh water...

Curses, Foiled Again!

Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 178#, 10% BF
Morning weigh-in (Friday): 175.5#, 7% BF

Went to pick up my wheel last night. I dropped it off the night before, actually expecting the work to be done on the spot but the mechanic/owner wasn't in; when I went to the shop last night (plan: run in & get wheel, run out, rush to Jacobsburg before it gets too close to dark for a worthwhile ride) I find that the service tag left by the counter girl was cryptic, and the mechanic hadn't even started the job, "but I can do it right now for you." Well OK, but he's the only one there and a bunch of people come in, then problems arise during the fix... um, I didn't go riding last night. Very frustrating, should have just done it myself.

So instead I played around with awk, went to bed at midnight & forgot to eat dinner. Interesting tool, at least to me it was last night. Tonight is definitely the towpath, then maybe I'll go out but I'm not really in a party mood, so we'll see.

Meantime, here's more about those magic mice, and here's more about Korean stem cell medicine, and here's one about religion. In the immortal words of Emily Dickenson, slipping is crash's law...

A Fun Game for Bookworms

I found this via Pharyngula and Majikthise: the American Library Association has posted its list of the 100 most frequently banned books from 1990-2000. How many have you read? Here's the list; the ones I read are in red bold:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

I got thirteen total, not great but then again they look like "young adult lit," with a bunch of "what is sex?" books thrown in -- in other words, the kind of stuff that:
1.a library would want to carry, and
2. would eventually get challenged by someone.

An Amazing Difference

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 12.5% BF

I got a new rear derailleur and cables/housing last night and put them on the bike, unbelievable how much of an improvement it is. Unfortunately, I found a broken spoke which I'll hopefully get fixed tonight. Went to Which Brew afterward for my usual Tuesday Night visit, and the usual crew were there. The music was pretty bad eighties, so I busted out my Rhino Postpunk Chronicles CD Scared to Dance, and we jammed to the "good eighties" for a little while. No exercise tonight, must finish up the weekend chores/errands that were pushed back by the VT trip.

Bounceback

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 11.5% BF

Ate an entire pepperoni pizza, all but one slice, for dinner last night. Guess what I'll have when I get home tonight? Meantime, I must pick up a new rear derailleur and cables on the way home, start fixing the ol' drivetrain -- other than that it's just laundry nite...

Vermont 50-Miler Photos

Saturday: Ascutney Mountain
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I posted my photos from our road trip to Vermont, you can find them here. This shot was taken on Saturday, the day before the race, by far the better day weather-wise. The sky was so blue-and-gold it looked more like California than New England.

Road Trip Review

Morning weigh-in: 174#, 12.5% BF

Friday: Travel Day. Got to VT at about 2:00 AM.

Saturday: Tourist Day. We got up around 10:00, couldn't get breakfast so we had lunch at the general store, then drove around that part of Vermont, sightseeing. "Sightseeing" in this case meant: going to Woodstock and getting turkish coffee, then going to the Long Trail brewpub, then returning to the hotel for race registration, then going to the Harpoon brewpub, then having dinner in a train station in Windsor. Bedtime was 9:00.

Sunday: Race Day! The weather was mostly cloudy and a lot cooler than I expected. Since we'd have to stage before sunrise in the freezing, foggy dark, & stand around like that for about an hour, we were dressed appropriately (arm/leg warmers, jacket). The layers came off as I warmed up, but went back on as the day cooled...
The course itself was great. The first half reminded me a lot of Blue Marsh, except with hills, while the second half was a mix very hilly dirt roads, and "real" Vermont singletrack, ie hardwood forest, with lotsa roots etc. I felt better on the second half, and I think miles 30-45 were my best -- after that I was just tired and trying to get it done. Finished with a time of 7:21, which gave me 99th place in Sport Vet. I came home with a few bike problems, which gives me something to work on this week.

Sunday was also a travel day; we were home by 10:30 but that was one tough drive. Luckily, I slept through most of it...

UPDATE: Fixed some typos.