Tonight was the last regular choir rehearsal for the summer. And it was one of the few times I didn't have a camera on my person. Wish I had, cause afterwards, I was convinced to "hit the rail" at Old Chicago. Really, those Episcopalians know how to have a good time chatting and eating and getting a beer. I'm glad I went, despite the fact that I work a full day tomorrow (11 hours) and I started today tired. I got a chance to know some great people better whom I hope to see next year in the choir. (there is Schola during the summer, but not everyone is part of that).
I decided today that I am going to Cornerstone Festival in July, somehow. Not sure how I'm getting there, or what tent I'll be sleeping in, but I will be there. So this is a call out to all of my music, nature, art and hippie loving friends to join me. Let's start a caravan (or just drive in one vehicle if that's the most efficient), set up camp, cook community meals, hear some awesome music (MxPx will be there) and just enjoy life. Are you with me?
So, I'm sitting here with summer on the brain and wishing to go camping and see live music. I have long wanted to go to Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. I might even be able to both afford it and get time off of work for it this year. It's July 5-8 and there's a few bands I'd really like to see. Anyone else game? (oh and if you wanna go and you've got a vehicle all the better, cause as it stands, my car has a coolant leak and I'm not sure when it'll be fixed and it's probably wise not to road trip with it. We can share gas expenses.)
Being Memorial weekend did thin the crowd at Sunday's gathering a bit. And the heat made us all feel a little melty, even with the ceiling fans whirling away above us. Bryan attended to see how we do things here. He was welcomed by and chatted with a bunch of Porch regulars and they made him feel right at home. I'm so glad to be a part of a community where visitors can just feel welcome. His impressions? He said it was very "bohemian" and he liked it, though it was very different from anything he'd experienced before.
Sure felt like summer the past couple days. Too hot almost to bear only because we haven't yet acclimated to the humidity. We did what we could to enjoy the day and spent the rest of it trying to keep cool. The wind was hot, maybe as hot as the sunshine when we went for a bike ride around Lake Calhoun before settling under a tree at one of the beaches with our Jamba Juice. If it hadn't been for the wind, we might have stayed longer. Fighting that kind of gust always makes me a little tired (which would explain why I slept like a rock last night). And to fulfill some sort of midwest Memorial weekend tradition, we loaded the grill with many things grillable and feasted until we were about to burst.
Cesario, my very long-haired house tiger, had a trip to the "barber" yesterday. He doesn't really have the patience to sit for a whole haircut, so temporarily, he's walking around with half of one. His underside, his rear haunches and his tail are all still very fuzzy.
Pretty kitty sporting a short new 'do.
He's really not happy with the results and kinda sulking.
Cashew inspecting the very large pile of hair cut off.
Finally found one, fixed it up and will be surprising her with it at church. Now Hannah can have her own bike back. Johnna's become a biking fanatic, taking Hannah's much too big bike and riding every day.
I had a day off from work today. I started it out by sleeping in (actually waking up at 9am and deciding it was too early to be up on a day off and sleeping another 2 1/2 hours). A little lunch and a bike ride to my new chiropractor's office. Got the results of the testing from last week (and some interesting information on which nerves between which vertebrae control what stuff in your body). Then a quick adjustment of my sacrum, a couple middle vertebrae and my neck, followed by pressure point muscle work and percussion massage. The whole wonderful experience was wrapped up with 10 minutes of electrical impulse therapy (basically massaging the muscles with electrodes on the skin and it feels wonderful).
On my way home (by bike) I stopped to deposit my check, made a detour through an antique shop, and then shopped the Wedge a bit (for some essentials I have been running out of and a treat for me). After a snack (today was more like 5 small snacks than real meals), I cleaned out my car. Yes cleaned it out. When I moved this winter, I had left quite a bit of stuff in the back seat from the very last load. It's just been sitting there, taking up space and driving people I know crazy. I unloaded all the stuff and sorted it (some items into the house, the rest into the garage sale pile in the basement). There was only a small bag of trash. I'm sure from the looks of my car, I would not have been the only one surprised by that.
My car then got a much needed interior cleaning. Vacuuming the carpets and seats, and using my new auto glass wipes to clean off a couple years of film from the windows and remove dust from the dash. I also took the time to apply the new bumperstickers I got at the Living Green Expo earlier this month. I feel like I'm driving a different vehicle with it being so open and clean.
I'm now working on cleaning my room (mostly my desk) and coralling my dirty laundry. Perhaps I will get adventurous and weed out some of the clothing I don't really wear for the garage sale pile. Perhaps.
Tomorrow is the day: the day I try to get organized. I have been putting off cleaning my desk and my car for months. Ever since I moved here really. But the time has come. Tomorrow is forecasted to rain, I have bought an organizer drawer thing for my desk and I need to be able to pick up Bryan at the airport in my car on Friday, so there can be no delay this time. I will likely get a late start seeing how I haven't had a day to sleep in for weeks and take a short break to go to the chiropractor in the afternoon and all the car stuff must be done before dinner time as there is a Compline service tomorrow evening. I intend to make the most of my waking hours tomorrow. For now, I'm having a mini vacation and going to veg out with a little TV (something I haven't done much of lately). Perhaps a good classic movie (could be a silent movie on TCM).
My old friend Bryan (whom I nicknamed Lambie way back in the freshman days of college) will be in town visiting for Memorial Weekend. It will be great fun as I have taken a couple days off of work and he is staying at our house. Haven't seen him in forever, literally. Hope I recognize him when I pick him up at the airport.
So I photographed a wedding this weekend (and videotaped a different one). Needless to say, it was a whirlwind. I just now downloaded all the photos from the first wedding (which need to be edited) and am delighted to find that the photo which was my favorite from a quick viewing on the teeny tiny LCD screen is by far one of my favorites from the day. It was a chance moment catching two people in their own private world and capturing their spirit. I'm excited to get into editing these photos and compiling the album for this couple. I hardly know them, yet it was like photographing old friends.
At the gathering yesterday, we had a guest appearance by Jake Nelson, fresh from Afghanistan (and returning there for another tour of duty later in the summer). Boy were the kids glad to see him. He's one of their favorite people and they didn't waste a second of having him around.
Our after-gathering gathering was larger than it has been and it was wonderful. Food was had from many different places. When the Galactic Pizza delivery guy arrived, he humored us by letting us take a group photo with him (he was the USDA Organic Superhero). Too bad he didn't drive the electric car, that thing is awesome!
We also had fun with babies who are now nearing toddlerhood. They are learning all sorts of social skills such as holding hands and hugging. BFF Amelie and Eliot showed off their bonds of friendship with their new skills.
This ride has been thoroughly pimped. Big thanks to Dan for installing the new brake levers and wrapping the handlebars and Jon for teaching me how to overhaul and regrease the whole darned thing. More photos are on the way, I just need to remember to take some in the daylight so I can really get the details in the shot. This one's kinda mediocre.
Don't you think it's great to find money you forgot you had while cleaning? I do. I mean, I knew I had it, I just thought I'd deposited the check in my account already. Hooray for found money!
Excuse me, would you like to sign a petition to end Women's Suffrage?
Okay, so I kinda stole this from Brad. I just had to. I'm ashamed to be female if this is what the world has to look forward to from my gender. And these are the educated ones.
Somewhere we are failing our young women. Something's not getting through to them. Are they so convinced that being a part of a cause (even without knowing the details) is "cool" they would sign any petition set before them? Is any cause with "women's" in the title extra enticing? They act so brainless. Maybe it's all the Mocha Latte Frappachinos and the glossy magazine images and the Abercrombie fashions. Someone tell me, why is it our young women think their most valuable asset is their appearance? Do we need to really get on the horn and get the media to start giving us full credit for our contributions to society? When young women of America are eager to sign a petition to "end Women's Suffrage", I'd say it probably is.
So, I guess I've gotten lazy about my blogging habits. Did I used to blog daily? I was quite regularily for a while, but not sure about daily. Apparently, my blog has become the sole daily entertainment of my friend Chris and without a daily post, he is lost. So, here goes trying to find something to blog about on a day off.
Day off. Doesn't that make you think "day to sleep in"? Me too, but not today. Today I didn't have to work, but I was required to go to Terrace Oaks park and test ride fancy schmancy new mountain and road bikes and get paid for it. Whoo hoo! I should have remembered back to the other 2 times I've tried to really mountain bike and just chalked that sport up as a lost cause for me. But, I just was convinced I could really do it. And having been told by other shop employees that it was an easier trail than Lebanon Hills (which I did complete last summer on my hardtail mountain bike in my first ever attempt at mountain biking), so I knew it would be easier than California and I gave it a go.
My first ever real ride on a full suspension mountain bike. Even though it was a mighty fine Prophet, I will not be putting it in the list of great rides I ever had.
I was okay for a while. Alex (one of the guys from my shop) was riding slow in front of me (I think out of courtesy to me) and it was pretty mild terrain with only a few roots and rocks and gently rolling hills. Not too technical.
We were pretty sure we were nearing the end by the time my asthma (which has been very under control for years now) kicked in. Then we took a wrong turn. And we were back near the beginning of the trail with nowhere to go except forward (taking us where we'd already been once before). At some point I stopped being able to feel my face and my legs were like melting jello. And finally the end came. Yes, it probably was easier than Lebanon, but I will forgo most single track in the future.
But oh the beautiful road bikes. The glorious carbon framed wonders whose sticker price belittles that of my car.
First the women's R1000. Not too shabby for an aluminum bike, but not something I'd ever purchase. Oh how I love to go fast though. I am so enamoured with road biking.
Second, the Synapse Carbon 2. Lovely little thing. The one I was on was a little too big for me so I was sore in my back before the short loop was over, but the frame feels like a cloud and the Dura-ace components never let me down.
My last loop was on a Six13. Not sure exactly which component set, but let's just say for the retail value of this bike I could likely have a late 90s Honda.
I wasn't sure this bike could live up to the hype. There is this aura about the Six13. But oh how lovely. Smooth, light, responsive, so so fast, comfortable (even in a size too big for me), and just plain amazing. If I were independantly wealthy, I'd own one. Alas, I am not.
Today was also my first day riding my new clipless pedals and shoes. I've been scared of them for quite some time. Sure that I would not be able to clip out in time for a stop sign or in the event of a crash I remain connected to my bike. I'm not sure I fully believed until today that clipless pedals really are easier and more efficient to ride. I was pretty sure biking shoes with their stiff sole would make my feet happier. Today I have seen the light. I slapped those pedals onto a road bike, clipped my shoes to them and began to ride. Three pedal strokes in and I was hooked. My effort was cut way way back and my knees didn't flail all over the place with each rotation. The conversation with Alex about my riding clipless today went as follows:
Me: These pedals are amazing. This is so great! Alex: Is this your first time riding those pedals? Me: Yes. I just got them and the shoes the other day and my bike isn't done so I haven't had a chance to ride them. Alex: Is this your first time ever riding clipless? Me: Yes. Alex: If you don't crash I'm gonna be kinda upset. Everyone has to crash their first time riding clipless.
Sorry Alex, I didn't crash. But thanks for riding with me anyways. And thank you Cannondale for letting me ride your fancy schmancy bikes today. Could you think of a better job than one where you get paid to ride bikes? I can't.
I had to be late to the gathering yesterday. I was the only keyholder around to open and close the store and we are open right up until the starting time of the gathering. But what I was really excited about was the music after the gathering anyways. Brad Hoshaw (who used to go to the Porch, but is now off pursuing his dreams in music) was in town. He and other musicians from the Porch did a little private gig for us. Wonderful. Coffee, chinese, and live music. What more could one want? Oh yeah, cuddly cute babies! Some non regular-after-gathering people hung around cause of the music, which was really fun too.
I decided today that I am going to Cornerstone Festival in July, somehow. Not sure how I'm getting there, or what tent I'll be sleeping in, but I will be there. So this is a call out to all of my music, nature, art and hippie loving friends to join me. Let's start a caravan (or just drive in one vehicle if that's the most efficient), set up camp, cook community meals, hear some awesome music (MxPx will be there) and just enjoy life. Are you with me?
My old friend Bryan (whom I nicknamed Lambie way back in the freshman days of college) will be in town visiting for Memorial Weekend. It will be great fun as I have taken a couple days off of work and he is staying at our house. Haven't seen him in forever, literally. Hope I recognize him when I pick him up at the airport.
My first ever real ride on a full suspension mountain bike. Even though it was a mighty fine Prophet, I will not be putting it in the list of great rides I ever had.
But oh the beautiful road bikes. The glorious carbon framed wonders whose sticker price belittles that of my car.
Second, the Synapse Carbon 2. Lovely little thing. The one I was on was a little too big for me so I was sore in my back before the short loop was over, but the frame feels like a cloud and the Dura-ace components never let me down.
My last loop was on a Six13. Not sure exactly which component set, but let's just say for the retail value of this bike I could likely have a late 90s Honda.
