Good Thing I'm A Cyborg

Morning weigh-in: 183.5#, 11.5% BF

Rode the towpath to the VMB meeting last night, which was at CAT headquarters -- people were a little surprised that I rode there, but as I said last night, I couldn't drive to the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation. The girl there said "that's as it should be!" (They are definitely not shy at CAT; they shamed us last night into joining as a non-profit organization, which I guess is as it should be since we're using their facilities.)

The ride home was a little easier, since a lot of the mushy ground had re-frozen and the trail surface was hard & fast. Still took me an hour though, and I was pushing it so I'd make Which Brew before the kitchen closed. Got home, called and asked them to cook me a burger (now that's what I call service!) then changed & headed on down.

A Nice Surprise: Megan was was at Which Brew, visiting from Seattle after being gone for more than a year -- she hadn't been back since her moving-away party in 2005, and literally went there straight from the airport. It was really good to see her, and good to get a chance to congratulate her on how well she's doing & how happy she seems to be in Seattle. (I get the emails & see the photos, "thriving" & "glowing" really are the best descriptions.) She's good people, I'm glad things are going her way.

Anyway, the cyborg thing: There was a light cover of snow in some areas on the towpath last night, which was good on the way out because it was firmer than the muddy gravel underneath, but near the access points (Sand Island, Riverside Park) it was a little deeper, packed and icy and lumpy with footprints. This was a pain int the butt especially on the return trip, since the trail had refrozen and was the better surface again, but I was just bumping and bouncing ans sliding along anyway, had to get home... I slid out to the left and caught myself with my foot, and only later realized that was the same move that broke my ankle a year ago (today is the surgery anniversary). Didn't feel a thing -- granted I was moving much slower, and the surface where I planted my foot was smooth, but now I also have a much stronger, titanium-reinforced ankle. Better than it was -- better, stronger, faster, I think I'll go kick something...

That Whole Domestic Goddess Thing

Morning weigh-in: 184#, 13% BF

Gym last night, then leftover potatoes & chickpeas in lemon-tahini-curry sauce, plus a salad. Bedtime was not long after. Tonight is the VMB meeting, and I'm riding to that so I don't know what, or when, dinner will be -- I was going to make bean & tomato stew in the crock pot, but discovered last night that I was missing a few crucial ingredients, so I'll probably just make it on the weekend. That doesn't solve tonight's dinner problems though...

Meanwhile, today is International Women's Day and (Blog Against Sexism day), so I'll just maybe touch on that with the words waitress and health insurance.

Meanwhile meanwhile, I see that the "Gonzales Eight" scandal is growing even more legs.

Still Winter

Morning weigh-in: 185.5#, 13.5% BF

Randomly checking Teh Intertubes...

Bowdlerizing "The Vagina Monologues?"
Wow that's some serious stupid -- Pandagon has the scoop.

But What About the Ponies?
Looks like I wasn't the only one to notice yesterday's trifecta.

Anyway, did a bunch of chores/errands yesterday, around & in-between was the Tuesday Svaroopa yoga class. Gas, groceries, laundry, etc etc, but I also put a few photos on flickr, from last Sunday's trailwork. Foot bothered me yesterday; I knew today's snow was coming.

I got to bed pretty late (12:30) but felt pretty rested when the alarm went off (at 6:00). I usually sleep for another half hour before getting up, but this morning rolled over and saw 8:11 -- oh no! No wonder I feel rested! Turns out I hit the adjusting buttons when I turned off the alarm, it was only 6:11 and I had plenty of time but I realized this once I got into the kitchen, at a dead run trying to get ready for work...

In Like A Lion

Morning weigh-in: 186#, 13% BF

Looks like winter is not quite over: it's freezing out, 10 degrees above zero and strong gusty winds when I left the house this morning. Still, you can fee that spring is on its way... Nothing much to report otherwise. I went out last night after yoga, monthly Mug Club dinner at Which Brew. I thought I kept things under control but the tape tells a different tale.

Oh yeah, Scooter Libby is found guilty on four of five charges, the Walter Reed scandal is starting to reap the whirlwind, and yet another investigation is heating up.

Taklamakan: Way Down in Cocomo

Morning weigh-in: 185.5#, 11% BF (b-b-but it was a chicken cheesesteak!!)

Anniversary: it was one year ago today that I broke my ankle. It's also my brother Kevin's birthday.

Friday: did a road ride, short & sweet & hilly, another Morvale Road extravaganza, and then walked down to Which Brew. Early night, but I wanted to be there to say goodbye to that dude Ryan, who took a job as brewmaster down in North Carolina. Also, they had a special cask-conditioned Weyerbacher Black Hole Stout brewed with arabica beans. Good stuff.

Saturday was a good hard yoga workout, followed by a very intense gym workout (with a trip to the coffee shop and a mile run in between); I followed all that with a nap. I was going to do another road ride, but it was raining -- and when I woke up it was sunny and beautiful of course. Got a call from Doug, he & Lori were down at WB, and soon enough so was I.

Sunday was trailwork at Sals, then the Banff Mountain Film Festival road show. I went with a group of friends; we were a crowd of about 16 people, and saw a whole bunch more familiar faces. The films: I had several favorites, but two that stood out were "Kids Who Rip," a documentary about children (youngest was maybe 6, oldest was 13) who skate/snowboard/surf/ski, either competitively or for fun, but at a very high level of X-games proficiency and craziness, and the other was a documentary of a young Canadian couple who bicycled from Ulan Bator to Calcutta, through some beautiful but godawful-remote and rugged scenery.

Which brings us to the Taklamakan Desert. It's not really as remote as I'd originally heard -- the Silk Road bifurcates to go around it (a Northern route and a Southern route), there are cities along the edges, and of course the couple was riding along a road as they crossed it -- but it is still pretty damn remote, and one of the biggest sand deserts in the world. I became infatuated with the place after reading A Good Old-Fashioned Future, a book of interconnected science-fiction stories by Bruce Sterling. The last story was about some extreme adventurers, recruited as spies to investigate some abandoned top-secret facility deep in the desert, where of course they make the usual shocking discoveries.

There was also quite a bit about the Taklamakan (among many other Siberian and Central Asian wonders) in Against the Day (yep, still reading), so it was very cool to actually see the place. Sand, sandstorms, broiling heat, no water. You know: desert.