From the Huffington Post, Seth Grahame-Smith compiled a list about John McCain, opening with this, "John McCain is having such a bad July that writing about his collective woes would require the patience and talent of David McCullough. Since I have neither, I turned (as I often do) to the wisdom of Jay-Z, and listed the first 99 that came to mind:"
22 July 2008
Things I want to buy when I get a job
This has come up in conversation quite a bit lately... I guess the two years of student living are finally taking their toll on my inherently consumeristic being ;)
I'm a bit embarassed by this list, but thought it'd also make you laugh a little. Or maybe I've been complaining about something that I need/want and forgot to add it to the list. Let me know.
So, in no particular order, 30 things that I would like to buy when I get a job:
I'm a bit embarassed by this list, but thought it'd also make you laugh a little. Or maybe I've been complaining about something that I need/want and forgot to add it to the list. Let me know.
So, in no particular order, 30 things that I would like to buy when I get a job:
- Wedding presents
- Haircut & color
- Jeans -if before the end of the Nordstrom sale... these or these
- Alarm clock
- New bed frame
- Eye glasses
- Rudy Project bike helmet
- Rudy Project sunglasses
- Garmin watch with GPS to show my distance & pace when I'm running
- Pedicure
- Bike gloves
- Cell phone with a data plan
- Professional tune-up for my road bike
- Tea kettle
- Saddle for my road bike
- Vest for biking
- Front light for my commuter bike
- Jacket that's appropriate for SF weather and style
- Organic bed sheets
- Facial
- Kitchen knives sharpened
- Printer
- Flowers
- Clothes in general
- Shoes in general
- Weekly CSA veggie/fruit box
- Dinner at many, many restaurants in SF
- Brakes fixed on my commuter bike
- Surfboard
- Surfing wetsuit
Update to my once a week vegan plan
So far, so good! Week three of my weekly vegan habit was a success. How many more times until this becomes an actual habit?
I'd like to work on a good rice & beans recipe - potentially gallo pinto - to enjoy on future vegan days. Strangely enough, my cooking experience with beans is quite limited. Any great recipes or tips out there? Any "must do" tricks for decreasing the potential for horrendous post-bean gas?
I'd like to work on a good rice & beans recipe - potentially gallo pinto - to enjoy on future vegan days. Strangely enough, my cooking experience with beans is quite limited. Any great recipes or tips out there? Any "must do" tricks for decreasing the potential for horrendous post-bean gas?
18 July 2008
Hero
In keeping with a previous t-shirt theme...
Since I know that many of my readers are band geeks, I need to share this lovely website with you (thanks should actually be directed to my friend, the Audiophile Librarian):
Since I know that many of my readers are band geeks, I need to share this lovely website with you (thanks should actually be directed to my friend, the Audiophile Librarian):
http://www.torsopants.com/bandgeekhero
Not that I would have necessarily worn such a shirt in high school - I was way too busy wearing my oversized Phish concert shirts along with lovely flannels and that chambray denim button down that was all the rage. Anyway, now's not an option either as I'd be a poseur. Still, a hilarious option for the current band geek set.
14 July 2008
Greywater system for your bathroom
I found this post on the Cleantech Blog and had to share - what a great idea - the Environmental Designworks Sink Positive Toilet Tank Lid allows the greywater (used/dirty water) from your sink to flow directly into the toilet. You wash your hands... and the next time around, that water is used in the toilet to carry away your waste.
You know that old saying, reduce, reuse and recycle? Totally holds true for water. Clean drinking water is already a huge problem in many parts of the world, so let's be smart about how we use it.
If any of you lovely homeowners out there are redoing your bathroom, please check out this water-saving (which translates into money savings, donchaknow) device! (And let me know how it works. I imagine it'd be tough for kids to reach, based on the over-the-toilet design.)
You know that old saying, reduce, reuse and recycle? Totally holds true for water. Clean drinking water is already a huge problem in many parts of the world, so let's be smart about how we use it.
If any of you lovely homeowners out there are redoing your bathroom, please check out this water-saving (which translates into money savings, donchaknow) device! (And let me know how it works. I imagine it'd be tough for kids to reach, based on the over-the-toilet design.)
11 July 2008
My charming personality, in Tshirt form
My BFF says that these Ts would fit me, well, to a T. I can't say I totally disagree...
http://www.noisebot.com/free_
http://www.noisebot.com/find_
http://www.noisebot.com/
http://www.noisebot.com/come_
http://www.noisebot.com/jesus_
http://www.noisebot.com/give_
http://www.noisebot.com/i_
06 July 2008
Poorly written post on my once a week vegan habit
I'm going vegan.
Hahahahahahahaha.
I'm going vegan ONE day a week. (Come on, I can only survive without yogurt for so long.)
Eating lower on the food chain is better for the environment. Just trust me on this, I don't feel like looking up the stats right now. (But I'm about to start reading In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. And I'll try to pull some #s from that for you.) In helping to combat climate change, many groups are encouraging people to decrease their consumption of meat and try being vegetarian one day a week. While I'm not a vegetarian, I do have plenty of vegetarian days due to my own cooking inadequacies, financial constraints and just because I like tofu and other meat-free meals. So the "less meat" or "vegetarian once a week" isn't really a big change for me. Going totally vegetarian would be a big change. I was a vegetarian for quite a few years - and then added fish back in, then a few years later poultry, then there was the return to filet mignon that just opened the door back up for everything. While I'm pretty sure I'd do a better job with my nutrition today than I did during my high school and college vegetarian days, I'm still not convinced that vegetarian is the way for me to go to stay my healthiest. Once I added seafood back into my diet, I had more energy and healed faster from random cuts, scrapes and bruises. Anyway... back to today's plan...
So a once-a-week vegan thing. That's a change for me. Something I'll notice. And something that, if everyone did, would make a big impact. If we're not growing as many milk cows or egg chickens, that means that less resources are used for those animals - resources like land, water and food. (And cows fart methane, which is a really potent greenhouse gas. Eeewww!)
Interested in joining me? Or perhaps you'd like to go vegetarian once a week? I just started today :)
Hahahahahahahaha.
I'm going vegan ONE day a week. (Come on, I can only survive without yogurt for so long.)
Eating lower on the food chain is better for the environment. Just trust me on this, I don't feel like looking up the stats right now. (But I'm about to start reading In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. And I'll try to pull some #s from that for you.) In helping to combat climate change, many groups are encouraging people to decrease their consumption of meat and try being vegetarian one day a week. While I'm not a vegetarian, I do have plenty of vegetarian days due to my own cooking inadequacies, financial constraints and just because I like tofu and other meat-free meals. So the "less meat" or "vegetarian once a week" isn't really a big change for me. Going totally vegetarian would be a big change. I was a vegetarian for quite a few years - and then added fish back in, then a few years later poultry, then there was the return to filet mignon that just opened the door back up for everything. While I'm pretty sure I'd do a better job with my nutrition today than I did during my high school and college vegetarian days, I'm still not convinced that vegetarian is the way for me to go to stay my healthiest. Once I added seafood back into my diet, I had more energy and healed faster from random cuts, scrapes and bruises. Anyway... back to today's plan...
So a once-a-week vegan thing. That's a change for me. Something I'll notice. And something that, if everyone did, would make a big impact. If we're not growing as many milk cows or egg chickens, that means that less resources are used for those animals - resources like land, water and food. (And cows fart methane, which is a really potent greenhouse gas. Eeewww!)
Interested in joining me? Or perhaps you'd like to go vegetarian once a week? I just started today :)
03 July 2008
Knee pain
Bike? Have knee pain? Easy remedy from the folks at RBR:
Knee Rx. Here's a simple remedy that's been known to quickly solve a developing knee problem: If the pain is in the front of the knee, raise the saddle. If it's behind the knee, lower the saddle. Don't go overboard. Just 2-3 millimeters can be enough to restore pain-free pedaling.
If only diagnosing knee issues due to running was so simple.
I just started marathon training this week and I'm really trying to remember to stretch out my IT Band before and after I run. The IT Band is the long group of fibers runs along the outside part of your leg from your hip, down to the bottom of your knee. I've encountered knee pain in the past due to my IT Band being tight AND patella-femoral syndrome. P-F is when your outer quad muscles are stronger than your inner quad muscles (looking at my legs in college, this was highly un-shocking) and your knee cap gets pulled out of the knee joint, towards the stronger quad muscles (yes, it hurts like a b!tch). Biking helps with P-F syndrome because the pedaling motion forces your inner quad muscles to work. Mine are getting better, but I'm never going to have the inner quad definition of this guy...
... but I can keep trying. Too bad I like to eat!
Pic taken from the Williams College Cycling page.
Knee Rx. Here's a simple remedy that's been known to quickly solve a developing knee problem: If the pain is in the front of the knee, raise the saddle. If it's behind the knee, lower the saddle. Don't go overboard. Just 2-3 millimeters can be enough to restore pain-free pedaling.
If only diagnosing knee issues due to running was so simple.
I just started marathon training this week and I'm really trying to remember to stretch out my IT Band before and after I run. The IT Band is the long group of fibers runs along the outside part of your leg from your hip, down to the bottom of your knee. I've encountered knee pain in the past due to my IT Band being tight AND patella-femoral syndrome. P-F is when your outer quad muscles are stronger than your inner quad muscles (looking at my legs in college, this was highly un-shocking) and your knee cap gets pulled out of the knee joint, towards the stronger quad muscles (yes, it hurts like a b!tch). Biking helps with P-F syndrome because the pedaling motion forces your inner quad muscles to work. Mine are getting better, but I'm never going to have the inner quad definition of this guy...
... but I can keep trying. Too bad I like to eat!Pic taken from the Williams College Cycling page.
02 July 2008
Costa Rica Trip, Part IV
So... to the Arenal Volcano I went. The volcano is about four miles southeast of Tamarindo. It was really easy to get there on a bus/van - basically a tourist transport service. I met some great folks on the bus who were also going to the volcano and we all ended up staying at the same hostel :) A woman around my age later told me that she thought, "Woah, she's tough, I'll stay out of her way." when I boarded the bus and my sunglasses fell down, exposing my black eye. Ha! Just a few hours later we were chatting it up in the bathroom at a rest stop and ended up hanging out at the volcano.
The area around the volcano was beautiful. Lush, green, rolling hills... and then the unmistakable shape of the volcano, seemingly coming out of nowhere.
That first evening that we were there was great - the rain stopped just in time for us to do a hike in the forest near the volcano. Then, at dusk, we watched as the hot rocks tumbled out of the top of the volcano. These giant, glowing rocks would just pop out of the top and roll down the side of the volcano. At times it looked like red fireworks - the kind that look like waterfalls.
After the "show" at the volcano, we went to a local hot springs spa. I learned that volcanic hot springs are not sulfury. And also, my concept of a hot springs spa does not hold in CR (at least where we went). It was not a spa at all, more like an adult water park with "natural" hot water at varying temperatures. The 80s music took away from the relaxation we had expected, but it was fun to run around and try all the different pools - and the waterslide that went 45 (?) kph.
The next day a group of us went to a local waterfall. There was a great rope swing and rocks to climb. It was sunny in the afternoon and it was great to take advantage of the beautiful day with some more time in warm water. Especially because that evening it poured and we were stuck inside... drinking 40s of Imperial and playing Canadian drinking games.
My last day was just another van ride to Liberia and a chill day wandering around town... pretending I spoke some Spanish, finding Linzano sauce to bring home and enjoying more gallo pinto (CR beans and rice).
Overall, I'm really happy that I went on this trip by myself. It was very calming and I got to be completely selfish, just doing what I wanted to do. Still, I'm looking forward to taking my next vacation with friends!
26 June 2008
Costa Rica, part III
Well, I've been back now for a while. First I was avoiding my computer. Then I was busy with family in town... then I was just plain lazy. Today - I am back to feeling productive. So, here's a bit of a conclusion to my Costa Rica trip...
I tried surfing two days after the whole board to the nose incident. Went out on a boat trip to Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point - both are amazing, world-class surf spots that were totally beyond my ability. I enjoyed the scenery and watching the other surfers. Got up a few times, but the waves were really moving too fast for me to stay up (yeah, I chickened out). I also realized that I had hurt my ribs pretty badly (I've since decided that they're bruised) and it hurt to lay on the board and pop-up too much. The hour long boat ride back from Ollie's Point was pretty dramatic because we were caught in a storm.
A big storm.
There was hail. And wind. So much wind. And rain. Biting, cold rain. We couldn't see land because of the fog and the rain. The water was incredibly choppy. I was crouched down low, on the floor of the boat to avoid the rain and hail and just had to brace myself for the bumps. Sometime during that hour, I just started grinning, a stupid, silly grin. Yeah, the boat ride sucked. But I was in the ocean. Off the coast of Costa Rica. Learning to surf. Wow. My life is pretty darn awesome.
Oh yeah, I found out the next (still very rainy) day that I was in the ocean during Tropical Storm Alma.
Anyway, the next day I didn't surf because of all the rain. The ocean was a gross brown color from all the run-off and it was just generally kind of crappy out.
The day after that I tried to go out. Conditions were pretty ideal... but I couldn't do it. When I tried to paddle, I wanted to cry. The pressure on my bruised ribs made them hurt so badly (at this point, it hurt to go from laying down to sitting up, so laying down on my stomach and paddling, or pushing-up to standing was kind of a ludicrous request).
So... the next day I left the beach. It was so sad, but I would have felt even worse to be so close to the water and not been able to surf. Plus, I'm alone and I was pretty much done entertaining myself.
Next... Arenal Volcano
I tried surfing two days after the whole board to the nose incident. Went out on a boat trip to Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point - both are amazing, world-class surf spots that were totally beyond my ability. I enjoyed the scenery and watching the other surfers. Got up a few times, but the waves were really moving too fast for me to stay up (yeah, I chickened out). I also realized that I had hurt my ribs pretty badly (I've since decided that they're bruised) and it hurt to lay on the board and pop-up too much. The hour long boat ride back from Ollie's Point was pretty dramatic because we were caught in a storm.
A big storm.
There was hail. And wind. So much wind. And rain. Biting, cold rain. We couldn't see land because of the fog and the rain. The water was incredibly choppy. I was crouched down low, on the floor of the boat to avoid the rain and hail and just had to brace myself for the bumps. Sometime during that hour, I just started grinning, a stupid, silly grin. Yeah, the boat ride sucked. But I was in the ocean. Off the coast of Costa Rica. Learning to surf. Wow. My life is pretty darn awesome.
Oh yeah, I found out the next (still very rainy) day that I was in the ocean during Tropical Storm Alma.
Anyway, the next day I didn't surf because of all the rain. The ocean was a gross brown color from all the run-off and it was just generally kind of crappy out.
The day after that I tried to go out. Conditions were pretty ideal... but I couldn't do it. When I tried to paddle, I wanted to cry. The pressure on my bruised ribs made them hurt so badly (at this point, it hurt to go from laying down to sitting up, so laying down on my stomach and paddling, or pushing-up to standing was kind of a ludicrous request).
So... the next day I left the beach. It was so sad, but I would have felt even worse to be so close to the water and not been able to surf. Plus, I'm alone and I was pretty much done entertaining myself.
Next... Arenal Volcano
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