blk: lj [entries|archive|friends|userinfo] blk [ website | blk: home ] [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ archive | journal archive ]

[introduction] why is the world in love again? [Jan. 1st, 2020|12:00 am] ( permanent post ) Link Leave a comment

honesty is such a lonely word [May. 15th, 2012|10:22 pm] [ Tags | rant ] Last Saturday was the last home game for the jboys's soccer this year, so it was also "8th grade recognition" day. The graduating 8th graders got a personalized jersey, and all the soccer parents were called on to bring brunch supplies for parents and players to feast on during the three levels of games that day. As is often the case with this school, people brought TONS of foodstuffs, so that even after two games had been played and the opposing team invited to partake of their fill, there were still two tables of food left over. I had been working casually trying to make sure the food was spread well and available, to encourage the eating of, and also with some cleanup. As a result, I got a handful of snacks to take home as leftovers, including some Honest Kids juice pouches. Oh, neat, I thought, those juice boxes look like they might be regular, wholesome fruit juice mixes, which are tasty and nice to have around. After all, they advertise "all natural" and "no corn syrup" and things like that. Silly me, I forgot to look for the singularly important phrase to have on those things: "100% juice," which, as I'm sure everybody at home is shaking their head sadly, of course did not exist. One sip from the "goodness grapeness" made me regret my grab. It turns out that "low sugar" fruit drink is along the same lines as "low carb orange juice," where they take regular, normal, yummy 100% juice from fruit, water it down, and add sugar. The first two ingredients on 3/5 of the options: water, sugar (sugar is third on the other two). No I don't care that it's "organic" and "natural" or that it's supposedly more healthy because it's less sugary. I don't want watered-down sugar-added juice-flavored drink, I just want juice! Grar. Does anybody I know actually like that stuff? I suppose I'll keep them around for parties, but I feel bad peddling that crap to people I like. Link 18 comments|Leave a comment

hell I don't see no holes in the road but you [May. 7th, 2012|10:17 pm] [ Tags | biking ] Ah, spring. With nice weather comes more cyclists coming out to play, and with more cyclists comes more stupid cyclists. After watching several cyclists make really stupid riding decisions over the past week, I'm going to pretend to be xuth and go into rant/lecture mode about cycling safety in order to blow off steam. Having ridden seriously for about a year on mostly quiet roads, I feel I am obviously fully qualified to spout off advice as an expert on everything. Of course, I suspect none of the riders who would benefit from this will ever see it, but it will at least make me feel better. Feel free to add your own opinions in the comments. How To Ride Your Bike In the City More Safely ( BE SEEN ) ( BE PREDICTABLE ) Other things include: Make sure your bike is sized appropriately and is in good working condition. Know how to brake suddenly without tipping. Ride in locations and at speeds that you are comfortable at.4 A uncomfortable cyclist is a less alert cyclist. Oh and wear comfortable bike gloves, shoes, clothing, and a well-fitting helmet5 if you prefer, to help protect important things if something does happen. A helmet is not the most important aspect of bike safety, though, because it won't actually keep you from getting hit. The best way to be safe on a bike is to avoid getting into an accident at all, and I believe the two categories above are by far the most important bits. Basically, do your best to make drivers aware of you and what you will do. Remember, People do not look for what they don't expect to see. Too many drivers do not remember to look for cyclists. People often do not see what they are not looking for. Following all this will not, unfortunately, assure you will never be hit. There will always be impatient, stupid, inattentive and/or asshole drivers6 or other idiot cyclists. But it should lessen the chances of a serious or an accidental hit. 1 Yes, these are all things that I've observed directly (or for a few, heard about in person). 2 Yes, really. I've seen multiple cyclists riding on the road, against the left (wrong) curb, moving against traffic, on streets with no shoulder. Occasionally with no lights, at night! Do they really think they are safer that way?? 3 Again, it seems common around here for cyclists to ride the sidewalk instead of the road, then cross a street on a green light with traffic going the same direction, without pausing. This is a GREAT way to get hit by turning cars. 4 My personal rule-of-thumb is that I try to stay off roads where I cannot travel more than half the ambient speed. Which mostly translates to keeping to side roads where posted speed limit is < 35MPH, and even that fast is only if I'm going downhill. 5 But wear the helmet correctly. Wearing a helmet with the chin-strap unfastened does not provide any standard helmet-wearing benefits. Neither does carrying a helmet in your hand while you ride.1 6 Try to get their license plates if possible, if one of them does hit you. Link 114 comments|Leave a comment

hold your breath, and play the part, race towards the finish line [May. 5th, 2012|02:42 pm] [ Tags | awesome, biking, running ] This morning was the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K event, and xuth and I both ran in it. Last year I was part of a relay team, but I didn't register early enough this year and all the Marathon events except for the 5K sold out before I remembered that I wanted to run. So the 5K it was! I hadn't planned on doing anything spectacular here, as it had already been a pretty leg-intensive week for me on the bike, having done not just the regular commute to work, but a couple days of biking to appointments, another to a friend's house in Morningside, and then another to downtown (and home again) just yesterday to pick up race packets. But hey, the fun was in the doing and the getting better, so I figured that I could just pretend it was a fast training run with 1320 of my closest friends. Xuth and I got up stupid early (after a poor night's sleep, ugh) and biked downtown (in a bit of a hurry, since we left the house later than I wanted, but fortunately I had planned in plenty of buffer time). Parking a block from the start and finish lines was a cinch (compared to all those poor people in cars), so we could just change into running gear and join the pack for an 8am start. Weather was nice, if slightly humid (and warm, good thing it was early in the morning). Xuth jumped ahead of me from the start, so I ran by myself, but I set myself a good pace and kept it up successfully the entire time, bumping it up on the last big downhill, and then pushing into a desperate sprint for the last couple blocks, as the announcer was just saying "here's your chance to break a 10 minute mile, if you finish in the next 45 seconds!" And since I'd started towards the middle of the starting pack, and my chip time was a minute off the clock, that meant my final chip time was 29:41, which is by far the fastest I've ever run a 5k. Woo, go me! I'm quite happy with that. We had plans to go out for lunch afterwards, except my intended lunch place didn't open (I thought) until 11am, and even after wandering around, cooling off, recovering my jelly legs, chatting with a couple friends, and getting our picture taken, we still had another 2 hours to kill. So we hopped back on the bikes and explored some of the recently updated bike trails along the South Side, wandered through REI to browse their clearance racks, and finally ended up at Local Bar + Kitchen, where I had a humongous, delicious burger and fried donuts. Then there was more biking home, including up All The Hills In The World (at least it felt like it). Total distances for today: Run - 3.1 miles. Bike - 23.8 miles. Ow my legs. Now I am home and get to sit on my butt and not move for the rest of the day. Oh, who am I kidding, the gardens need planting and mulching and the grass needs mowing and the weather is so beautiful I couldn't sit still if I tried. But no more running or riding! Definitely none of that. And some part of today will involve a hammock and a cold beer. 4:30pm - Edited to add: I have determined that I am lightly sunburned from all the biking around today, so I'm going to do the responsible thing and retire from outdoor chores early. Guess that leaves me no choice but to sit around on the couch with a beer. Link 6 comments|Leave a comment

my pie party brings all the geeks to the yard [Apr. 23rd, 2012|09:19 pm] [ Tags | carnival, cmu, party, pie ] ... even when the yard is chilly and slightly damp. This year's Carnival seemed a bit quieter than usual, although I'm not sure if that was more because this was the first year in a while that I didn't have the jboys for it, or that there were simply fewer people (from my alum groups) around for it. The more subdued nature didn't actually make it less horrendously busy to plan for, though, particularly since our bedroom remodeling project was dragging its little legs out and making the final crunch cleaning time even more crunchy. In the last few days before Carnival-start, we moved out of our temporary bedroom in the basement, cleaned the living daylights out of the basement in prep for cat-allergic houseguests to stay there without dying, then did additional cleaning to the entire first floor in prep for the party. ( and they're like, it's better than yours ) Link 7 comments|Leave a comment

I wanna build you a bicycle faster than life [Apr. 14th, 2012|12:18 am] [ Tags | biking, pictures ] blk, with helmet hair I've been commuting to work primarily via bike for a little under a year now. My commute is about 20/25 minutes to work/home, total of about 5.5 miles (depending on the route I take). My bike has been nicely accessorized. I've added a computer (although I accidentally lost the miles of the first 6 months when I changed the battery) and a rack so I don't have to carry a backpack. I've added lights, fenders, a new seat, reflective velcro straps, and some cute helmet bling (that I promised a picture of, so here it is!), clip pedals and shoes. I'm pretty good at estimating how many layers of clothing I need to be comfortable. Above 60 °F, shorts and a wicking shirt, and not much else. Below 60, pants or shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt. Below 50, add a windbreaker and switch to full-finger gloves. Below 40, add ear warmth, and have warm socks or booties, and warm gloves. Below 30 (freezing), swap to balaclava, add a base layer, add another layer of gloves (although they'll still end up half-frozen), and definitely have booties. Sun bumps the effective temp up at least 5 degrees, and going more uphill generally means one less layer. Add optional glasses in case of sun, dust or precipitation. Physically, I'm definitely stronger, although it's annoying hard to tell, sometimes. My average speed and total speed vary so much depending on the lights that there's no real change. It took me about 6 months of riding up the hills before I no longer felt like I WANTED TO DIE after going up the biggest ones. And another few months after that before I was able to generally up my ride by a gear. I still feel wimpy and slow, particularly as warmer weather means more cyclists on the road, and EVERY SINGLE ONE of them zooms past me while I'm working up the hill. I try to appreciate the exercise and fresh air and general niceness of bicycling, and not compare myself to other people, but some days it's hard. I'm putting effort into getting better, though, trying to get at least one big push/sprint into the ride each way to build more muscle. One improvement I CAN see is that my bad knee almost never hurts anymore. That's awesome. The schedule freedom is nice, particular with the craptastic bus system here, that keeps getting worse. I'd like to eventually switch out my current rack + box for a better fitting rack + panniers. And maybe a more powerful light. Or maybe a faster bike. But overall things are working well. Link 4 comments|Leave a comment

yeah you're getting scared now, piggy [Apr. 2nd, 2012|04:56 pm] [ Tags | food, health, life, science ] Some random updates: I'm not into holidays for the religion; I'm in it for the food. Easter time means delicious, delicious ham on sale, so I got one. A whole one. Cooked it yesterday, then realized that I hadn't thought ahead on people to feed. I've come to the conclusion lately that I have a dearth of 1) nearby friends I know/think about 2) who are available on last-minute notice to 3) come eat food based on mammal meat. Still, I managed to pull together five of us who together made a small dent in the ham. I now have more leftover ham than god, and man is it yummy. This week will be soup-making and leftovers-freezing. I really like having people over for food and hanging out. However, the aforementioned combination is not a good one. I need to start a) planning ahead a bit more, or b) coming up with more dietary-versatile meals. I also succeeded in introducing the guests to Factory Fun, which is my latest favorite board game. They were gracious enough to let me win, probably because I neglected to emphasize just how important efficiency bonuses were to getting high scores. Last week, I got a ( broncoscopy for science ) This week is spring break for Pittsburgh Public Schools and a dad-week for the jboys, which means xuth and I get an ENTIRE WEEK to ourselves. Which is amazingly nice. Of course, the house remodel work is still happening (and we're impatient for it to finish) and takes plenty of our focus, so we're not getting a whole lot of quiet downtime. But I am stealing him away for a couple days to escape and go hiking in Hocking Hills, which I'm really looking forward to. The weather is so far promising to be REALLY NICE, which makes me REALLY HAPPY. Link 9 comments|Leave a comment

[announce] you see me I've got my magic pie [Mar. 25th, 2012|12:58 pm] [ Tags | announce, carnival, cmu, party, pie, pittsburgh ] CMU Spring Carnival: Apr 20-21, 2012 ... "When someone asks if you'd like cake or pie, why not say you want cake and pie?" — Lisa Loeb It's almost time for the 11th annual after-Carnival Pie Party! Come socialize, play games, play on bouncy stilts, run around in nice spring weather (hopefully), and/or eat pie! Bringing pie is not a requirement, but if you do bring one, it must be homemade. Pies can be sweet, savory, satirical, silly, or any combination thereof. Other contributions of food, drinks, guests, bouncy stilts, or games are also welcome. Well-behaved children of all ages are welcome. There will be one (1) friendly cat and up to three resident boys. In the event of good weather, there is a hammock and a grassy yard available for playing in. Party attendees are welcome to give out this invite and my address to people they know. Directions available upon request. RSVPs are nice (especially if you're bringing pie or someone I don't know) but not a requirement. See the FB event page for people planning. Due to the unavailability of some usual attendees this year, we are currently houseguestless for that weekend. If any Carnival visitors still need crash space, feel free to contact me. Link 5 comments|Leave a comment

spring is coming earlier this year [Mar. 19th, 2012|11:30 pm] [ Tags | biking, equinox, garden, house, running, seasons, spring ] There's no question, spring is early and it's definitely here. The clocks flipped forward to give us more evening daylight, and the weather has been hovering around 70s and sunny for the past week, with occasionally thunderstorms rolling through. And it feels GOOD. The only downside is that with all this awesomeness comes the desire to GET UP AND DO STUFF and there is, of course, never quite enough time to do EVERYTHING that I want to do. But here are some of the things I've been up to: biking I am biking to work nearly every day, which isn't much but it's something. I've gotten the commute down so that my biking time is about similar to my optimal bus-riding time, but much more reliable and flexible and less crowded. I made myself awesome helmet bling. I have another entry to write on biking eventually. Sunday a week ago was nice and sunny and I had plans to go rock climb as well as do a cat feeding for a friend, so I decided to bike there. I'd nearly forgotten how pleasant it is to just ride around, not having a deadline and a preset route and a work destination. I'd also forgotten what it was like to be able to go miles without a big hill to push up. Then I had to come home from Shadyside, but a waffle and ice cream stop on the way home made it worthwhile. running After my biking trip out that day I tossed on some shorts and went out for a run, because the day wasn't over yet and because I could. I've done that a couple other times in the past recent while. I'm delighted that I can go exercise outside and not worry about cold or ice or darkness. Also I have this idea that I could maybe possibly do a triathlon this summer. I haven't done any longer runs this year yet because so far I'm finding it hard to find the time (see requirements: warm, daylight), but I figure I can concentrate on getting my 5k down to a time I can be proud of would be a fine accomplishment (instead of feeling snail-ish). There's a nice almost-exactly 5k loop around Schenley park that starts and ends near by office. I am hoping to do that one more regularly over the summer. gardening OMG it's outdoors growing time already. Last year I started seeds indoors about now, but it's nice enough out that I decided to go ahead and risk planting some of my cooler seeds out there, so in the past week I've cleared out a bunch of garden spaces, and yesterday got peas, cilantro and some leafy greens into the ground. I've also been working to clear out the dead brush from the front flower garden and then working to eradicate the hairy bittercress which has started invading sections of said flower garden. I think it might still be possible to keep it from taking over, but it's work. Daffodils are blooming wildly, other plants are leafing out nicely. Mutant green onion and last year's swiss chard are greening. Asparagus may have survived, as I saw a couple teeny stalks yesterday, but will have to wait and see on the rest. Compost is starting to send up some green things. Need to turn it soon, then wait. Considering the millions of tomato seeds I composted last year, I'm expecting to get a full crop of volunteers. Anybody who wants some, speak up and bring over pots in a few months. remodeling The bedroom remodeling project is progressing at a reasonable pace. There have been a lot of decisions and a lot of spending money, and will be still more to come. Most of the parts are ordered and just need to be put in place and finished. Hopefully not too much longer of sleeping in the basement (and storing my dresser in the living room). Pictures are being taken and there will be a review post eventually. Of course, while we had the dumpster here and the nice weather outside, xuth got it in his head to Do Something about our back porch railing and benches that are splintering and cracking, and tore them out yesterday. Now this means he needs to put something back in their place before we have guests over on Saturday... Link 10 comments|Leave a comment

raise the roof, that I might see the stars [Mar. 7th, 2012|11:10 pm] [ Tags | help wanted, house, life ] So we're getting some work done on the house next week. It started with a leak in the bathroom tub seal, which made a nice hole of damp, peeling plaster in the ceiling of our kitchen. xuth, wonderful person, fixed the leak. Eventually we start thinking about fixing the ceiling. Neither of us want to do it, so we'd probably hire someone. While we're hiring someone for that, we should also do something about the ceiling in my bedroom, which has cracks in it from a previous roof leak and other cracks from wear and tear. ( we couldn't just stop at one ) ( the plan so far ) ( oh god oh god we're all gonna die ) I'm hoping that writing this all down and getting commiseration will help me calm down and start being useful again. Link 18 comments|Leave a comment

navigation [ viewing | most recent entries ] [ go | earlier ]