spacemonk

5.5 mile skating race today. last night, the band's THE LAST WALTZ was on (that and STOP MAKING SENSE are the best concert movies. ever.). only could watch an hour of it though, cause i had to get to bed. got up really early 5:45 AM. made it to the reace plenty early. my race number today was "1" - even though it was only because i was the first to register, i still got a sense of what lance must feel like when he signs up for the TdF. anyhow, i finished in 27 min and 48 seconds, if memory serves. last year i finished in something like 30 min 42 seconds, so it was a fair improvement and i'm satisfied. again, for real speed skaters,the time would be no accomplishment, but for me and where i'm coming from, it's just fine - chopped off around 30 sec per mile. i kinda wanted to do it in around 25 min, but in doing the math, that was prob unrealistic. so i am satisfied. a couple of gits passed me in the finishing chute (which is not allowed, you are supposed to hold your place) hope that doesn't effect my official time/standings - somehow i really doubt if it matters one way or another. after the race got a great free massage - legs and lower back - lower back was cramping a bit. massage felt sooo good and i can't imagine having to rub down sweaty skaters and runners (yuck). i've heard conflicting reports about post-race massages - but i had never had one and what the heack, it was heavenly. i felt good throughout the race though - only at the very end started to feel fatigued. next week, i go over twice as long - 12 miles - will definitely have to pace myself... i guess i'm shooting for 1hr 10 min or so... but really i just want to finish - next week is a longer, unfamiliar course

it's only 9:30 and it seems like i've put in a full day - i need coffee, a nap or both so i can enjoy the rest of my weekend...

i know a lot of people hate the self-serve check out line in the grocery store. other than the fact that they probably cost jobs, i love them. having programmed in assembly language, no technical challenge served up by a grocery store seems all that intimidating to me, and i can take advantage of my technophobic community to zip right thru...as a very busy person, i can use that extra time to do something important. for example today i spent the time i saved wandering around the parking lot trying to remember where i parked my car.

my youngest daughter is full of insight these days...i forgot to post what she said yesterday. she asked if you were doing nothing, that is not sittng, not standing, not laying down, not sleeping, etc. would you be alive?

inquiries on the nature of existence. shucks, that's pretty heavy...

true story

got my tire fixed. kept losing air. a small nail that eluded detection by previous garage. so i got home and cut the grass and as i'm cutting i hear an odd noise and look up. it's the goodyear blimp. on the scrolling marquee is this message:
"do yourself a favor...check your tire pressure"

WTF?

a message from god that arrived a few days late because god chose to send it by blimp? is god telling me to double check the garages work? or was it a message for someone else that just happened to go over my house?

saw a woman on campus today carrying a pillow. i wonder if she was:
a. an exceptionally well-prepared student with really boring teachers (not me, i hope)
b. a homeless person who uses our campus to crash
c. none of the above

also, long overdue, i've added rainbow to my links

think this kinda says it all

as i was coming downstairs this morning, my youngest daughter looked at me and said: "dad, where are your eyes?".

real tired. but today is last long day, and i'm facing a 4.5 day weekend. my tire keeps losing air, both literally and metaphorically. i will, of course, have work to do, but at least i can work at home and on my own schedule...today, just trying to get through and i have already excused myself for slacking off today while not in class (if i feel ambitious and do a little work, all the better - but i'll pick and choose and only do fun stuff)

started my grad school class - on the surface boring info - but i always feel it is what one brings to a subject - i.e. anything can be interesting if approached with the right attitude...


i have a 5.5 mi skating race saturday. i completed last year in about 1/2 hour - the winners completed around 15 minutes, but i was fairly satisfied considering i'm a "just for fun" skater. i guess i hope to do a lot better this year, but don't want to set myself up for a disappointment. ultimately have to keep my focus on my main reason for skating: having fun! last year the race was a blast as i expect it to be this year...

has my blog become boring? was it ever not?

delivered kind of a mediocre lecture - just wasn't clicking - machine problems didn't help. tomorrow's another day...

food survey:

favorite style of cooking: indian
favorite junk food: pizza
favorite snack food: potato chips
favorite fruit: mango
typical breakfast: banana and coffee; bagel and coffee; coffee
favorite condiment:padang sauce; frank's hot sauce
favorite all-purpose food: peanut butter
favorite "healthy food": spinach
favorite pasta: mushroom ravioli
favorite pasta sauce: pesto
favorite sandwich: portabello mushroom
favorite soup: black bean
favorite fast food: taco bell - bean burrito - no onions
most despised food: onions
suprising exception to most despised food: green onions
favorite dip: hummos; baba ghanouj
favorite quick meal substitute: protein shake - usually soy protein, banana, pb and soy milk (next one i make will include flaxseed oil)
favorite pizza topping: jalapenos; GOOD mushrooms (fyi most pizza places serve yucky mushrooms)
food i love to order cause i love to say it: baba ghanouj
oddest combination that worked: Spinach pie, falafel, bananas, cheese, curry, sesame sauce from tommy's in coventry

in sports, if a referee blows a call, there is "the makeup call" where the referee will make sure the next close call goes in favor of the team that was hurt by the bad call...

i think the grammies do this as well - hence the big victories a few years back for santana and more recently steely dan. they were ignored during their prime, so they get rewarded for new, sub-par efforts...

those who read me regularly probably know i am a HUGE stelly dan fan - their recording career - from can't by a thrill to aja produced record after record of classics. i was once going to list my favorite solos in rock songs, but didn't because they were nearly all were from steely dan songs. their last pre-comeback album gaucho was a bit sub-par compared to aja - but what isn't - but still a great record. when two against nature came out other fans might have been excited, but not me. i did not like the new york r&b revue or whatever it was called featuring mr. fagen, nor did i like fagen's solo albums all that mcuh - so i feared for the worse - the single: cousin dupre didn't help matters. i FINALLY listened to the whole thing - got it from the library - it's not quite as bad as i thought, but still - instantly forgettable. not much here we haven't heard before done better - and their hipper than thou, sardonic sense of humor which i once found cool, now stikes me as a bit smarmy. some of the songs were pretty good, i'll give you that, but if i never heard them again, i really wouldn't be concerned...my suggestion to aging rock starts comes from david byrne's psycho killer "when i have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. say something once, why say it again"

i tried kimchee last night. a guy i used to work with would bring in big old jars of it that smelled so rancid, i avoided it like the plague. i mean, among other things, something that smells that rank, how can you tell when it goes bad?

anyway, in a less threatening, perhaps better venhilated setting, i decided to give it a go...it literally exploded in my mouth - muy caliente - but was oddly tasty,,,