6 Days Back. 6 Days Forward.

Race

Race

Rest

Tough

Tender 

Test

Hill

Ridge

Dew

Concrete

Beach

View

Pin the Tale

"Mapping Emotions in Victorian London" ranks near the top of recent internet finds.  This project is a child of the Stanford Literary Lab and used crowd-sourcing to give emotional context to varied passages citing London places.

Books + data + visualization = you could lose yourself for hours (well, not technically, since there's a map...but I think you get my point).

Can I Get a Motion?

Things one can do when the weather is less than optimal:

• Long run at 32 degrees
• Drink coffee and make breakfast
• Buy "Love" stamps for love letters
• Clean out your closet (including the lingering bridesmaid dress that you, in fact, never wore again)
• Bike at 43 degrees
• Drink coffee and make dinner
• Wear compression socks
• Knit
• Binge watch Netflix

Hope your Saturday has been warm and full of things that make you smile.

Sundays to Mondays

Sundays and suitcases and selections for Kindle.

Coffee and cakes and watching time dwindle.

Grateful not Grating

Perhaps it takes the really hard, awful, long days to fully appreciate the early morning crispness of a dark starry sky, the wisdom from an older man solicited because you made the time, the arm around the shoulder in comradery from a fellow athlete, and the pause for a photo for a visiting stranger now friend.

At least this is what I'm thinking for Wednesday.  

Saturday Night's All Right

Reading, knitting, biking, baking.

Hope your Saturday has been filled with things you love.

Bring me a Dream Catcher

Driving out of the Exxon station Saturday, I saw a picture frame upside down in the drive.  It looked accidental so I stopped to pick it up.  A few minutes earlier, my receipt had not printed from the gasoline pump so I went inside to see the cashier.  On the way out of the store, I noticed a gentleman with a pickup truck full of a variety of items.  (It was the three stuffed deer heads that drew my attention.)  Forgetting any Southern manners, I yelled "HEY" across the lot to get the guy's attention and walking toward him asked if the picture could be his.  I held up the wood and he said, "oh, wow, did that fall?"  He took the frame from my hands and said as he dusted off the glass, "That's my home."  We both stood there for a few seconds in silence admiring the aerial photo of the farm house and the surrounding lands, both nostalgic for our ideas of home.  He offered me a wind catcher for the find and told me how much he loved them but he lost most of them driving along the interstate. (I declined his gift hearing that he had lost most.)   He said, "if you find one, pick it up.  It's the prettiest thing you'll ever see."

Today, I left yoga and walked through petals of crape myrtle trees falling like rain and I thought of his wind catchers, spiraling through the air, like petals.

Saturday Night Fractions

One-half frozen pizza
One-quarter reading water
One-third of a book

Wholly content.

13 for 15

Thirteen weekend musings that may or may not be related to books or trips around the sun:

* Never underestimate the power of someone handing you a cup of coffee

* Full moons and Friday the 13ths are great combinations for good things

* If you find yourself without formal shoes for a formal dress occasion, wear the pink Converse.  

* Sometimes the best present is an impromptu off-Broadway performance of a recent film for a party of three in a foyer.

* Reading water is always a good gift.

* So are puzzles

* Even late planes are good planes.

* Croquet is under-rated.

* Cookies are a good gift

* Surprisingly, so are small painted pieces of plaster in a Ziploc bag

* My ipod will always select a David Gray song within the first three songs of a new shuffle

* If you play the piano, play it often.

* Sing

Hope you had a great weekend and made good progress with this month's reading!

Raising the Bar

It's not my usual day of writing but it hasn't been my usual morning.

The week has been intense, tiring, the five hour a night sleep because I've pushed the boundaries of work, play, and Skype.  By yesterday afternoon, I was spent and the last thing I wanted to do this morning was to awaken at 5:00, gear up the car and drive an hour to try my hand at open water swimming with my fellow aspiring half-iron training group.  I wanted to sleep in not publicly flail.  My post-reading-water-and-a-movie self reasoned that an 8:15 barre class would be a good start to the weekend.  I have never been to a barre class but have heard it described and thought, why not?  Knowing that it had a reputation for being quite intense, I was beginning at the Y; I knew they didn't have a bar but instead use chairs and add in a few other exercises.

"Chairs, I can do that."

So this morning, I snoozed my alarm until 7:38, left the house at 7:45 and arrived promptly to the gym at 8:00 for the 8:15 start.  So far, so good.  I knew the instructor, and she and another student helped me with the set-up.  Oh, and no shoes.  With all the props and bare feet, I had the thought that it was like Iyengar yoga.  This would be removed from my brain with the warm-up set.  The instructor mentioned planks.

"Planks?  I do those every day.  I've got this."

"Will I sweat?", I asked the veteran student?  "A little," she replied.

And so it began.  At the beginning of the class, I was aware there was music but at some point the echo of my heart beat replaced all rhythm emanating from those little speakers.  I was sweating.  Not the dainty sweat of the rest of the class but the "I just ran 5 miles" kind.  My legs trembled in spots I didn't know had muscles.  As I sip my coffee, I'm still trying to forget the words "pulse" and "tiny movements" and "on your toes."   ON YOUR TOES.  Who knew such words would cause my hips to scream for mercy as we did the "double-time" set.

We started to stretch finally.  I was excited.  "Are we finished?" I asked hopefully.  No, she said, "we're only halfway!".  Oh my.

Enter stage left:  planks.  On gliders.  GLIDERS.  Elevated.  "Just 10 more."  These were the words that nearly brought spontaneous tears.  I won't write the words that went through my head like a mantra, but let's just say they were "Holy".

"Gliders can be put away."  Grateful.

Enter an ab ball.  Not grateful.

Now I've used a ball once in my life to the entertainment of my sister.  Now I was miraculously rolled on it with my "heavy" weight set dangling over my body.  First set, fine.  Second set, burn, but fine.  Change to the smaller weights?  Mine were out of reach.  "I'll just use these so I don't fall off the ball," I thought with assurance that I had made the right choice.

Weights above my face?  Change hand position while arms elevated?  I began a series of earnest prayers entitled "Please don't let me drop one of these on my nose" while my arms trembled overhead.  And raised bridge with pulses on a ball?  I wasn't sure I would make it.

With the remaining energy and a "dig deep" pep talk, I finished the class.  Apologies to the person who uses my blue mat as I forgot to wipe it down after.  This thought only occurred to me much later.  I hope you'll understand and have forgiveness for a newbie with trembling arms and legs.

Namaste.

See you Later Alligator-ade

Some events happen in slow motion; dry Gatorade powder falling from the top of a refrigerator does not.  One appreciates the full thrust of 9.82 meters per second square as the canister slips just out of your reach onto the floor.  At this point, a cloud of dust (orange in this case) will rise like a summer storm enveloping your kitchen space only to fall gingerly, slowly, encompassing regions you never even considered with a grainy powder.  It's worse than glitter.

As a nod to anyone else who has vacuumed themselves as their last departing act for a Monday morning, First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon by Darren Rovell.

The Bike is Right

Matt* seemed like a really nice person.  He grabbed the bike beside you in spin and you guessed that during the winter he would occasionally be mistaken for Santa.  Gentle white beard and hair, jolly posture, and a smile.  You were a bit tired; you had given up some sleep this weekend for more play.  He said something about being there because of the bad things he ate over the weekend; you mentioned a cheeseburger.  You both laughed.

The spin instructor is a substitute.  She's wearing a West Point sweatshirt.

The music started.

It was a short warm-up today but you were okay with that because your legs felt like lead.  (You would later change your mind as you moved into the three-minutes "on" and three minutes "off" section of the class.  Hello, West Point?!)

A song plays during the three minute break.  Matt asks you about the band; you say "Santana" and you think as the younger, you're educating him a bit.  He says "That is correct," and your stomach drops for no particular reason.

Work set.  "Do you feel that cheeseburger now?", he asked.

Work set.  "Never let them see you sweat."

Work set.  A series of "Who is this band?" and you don't know anymore if the sweat is from the bike or the barrage of questions which is starting to feel like an oral exam.  (You have a flashback to Materials class.)

You start glancing at the clock a little more often and wonder if you will make it.

You waver on The Beatles to close things out but you manage a smile and back slowly away on the stretches.

Today's Spin lesson:  Don't judge a book by its cover (unless they are in fact wearing West Point, because you will hurt a little.)

*Matt is not his real name but it rhymes with bike.  

a Run, a Drive, a Dance, a Twist, and a Song

I wish I were a better writer so I could adequately capture the emotions around weekend events and convey them with sequenced letters to assemble words into pictures so that you could see them too.

A hill that was steep but you managed it.  The woman, your mentor, who said she heard your breath "rattle" which you normally associate with death in the South so your mind drifted early to the memorial hours before you would attend.

The woman who wore red instead of black and you thought it was a much better sentiment and that if the moment comes and you should wear black, perhaps you would want to wear red because that is her favorite color:  the color of nails, toasters, cars and who knows how many dresses.

The elderly woman listening to Irish music who kept tapping her feet while she sat beside her friend.  You suggested that she had a dance in her and she told you she was busy dancing with ghosts.

The teacher who moved your spine into a twist of epic proportions while you held your foot with one hand.  

The collections of voices raised into song that makes your list of unexpected beauty in a town not known more for rockets than music.  

No books.  Five stories.  

10 for 15

Tips for giving up Reading Water for a month (while only two weeks in):

1. Target your second busiest work season.  Your team will love you.
2. Incidentally, your team will call you nuts and/or crazy with brilliant (but not for polite company) adjectives preceding.  You will get used to this after a few days weeks.
3. Drive over random things, preferably one each week. Fiberglass insulation at 30 degrees?  Piece of cake.  Two nails in the tire at 30 degrees?  How else would you have discovered your gauge reads down to 3 psi?   It's fun to work on your car, and weren't you just mentioning something about tires?  
4. Increase your intake of caffeine by one-third.  It gets tiring [pun #3] drinking only fizzy water and juice.  Why not supplement your espresso with two more cups of daily tea?  You will enjoy the extra hours stretched into your day so you can...
5. Start ambitious knitting projects.  That pattern that you've been afraid to try?  Do it now.  Use three colors and really small needles.  It will be such an accomplishment.
6. Speaking of accomplishments [#5], sign up for a LOT of races.  You're already at the gym because you need some outlet for stress [#1] and since you're not sleeping anyway [#4] and stepped up your workouts to two-a-days on three days of the week, you'll be just fine. Trust me.  The soreness will go away in about two weeks.  
7. Buy a TEN dollar half-gallon of heavy whipping cream instead of milk.  While it was an accident, you'll enjoy the puzzle of trying to create various recipes to use the cream so that it's a) not wasted and b) you don't gain 10 pounds.
8. Don't check your receipts while you are in the store.  Wait until you are home and it's raining before you discover [#7].  Bonus points if you also get charged for your single artisan cheese twice. 
9. Embrace the wardrobe malfunction.  Twice.
10. Carry protein bars, preferably a variety so if you have to eat one for breakfast, lunch and dinner [#1], you will have variety.  Luna, the spice of life.  

Also:

Laugh a lot.  You've got a good story.

Throw Back Thursday (and the rest of the week too)

Frozen milk.
Insulation run.
Would readily admit
this week is no fun.

Computer fails.
Crazy dreams
An item of clothing
losing seams.

But still yet

Deep breaths
Laughter creeps in
New discoveries
Adventure's your friend.

Ready Set Go

something about...

  running
      reading
        cleaning
  resolution-ing
      rebooting
        caffeinating
  reusing
      recycling
        creating
  writing
      riding
        contemplating

Cut it Out

It was a combination of GBC K1m's snowflakes and my spending Thanksgiving evening with an eight year old and her book Can You See What I See? that has left me thinking about pop up books.  Robert Sabuda has a number of pop up books, cards and picture books to capture your fancy.  Look for him tomorrow on the Today show and consider adding one of his books to your wishlist.

To Do do do, De da, da, da

Saturday goals:

* Long workout (already in the books)
* Copious coffee consumption (in hand)
* Bring music back (in your hands, Apple Genius)
* Finish a book and start a new one (hello hardback and Kindle)
* Take a drive (and sing!)
* Eat, drink and be merry (probably the easiest one)
* Be grateful (always)

If I'm lucky, I will snag a nap, but I don't want to be greedy.

African Queen

I have had Katharine Hepburn at the front of my mind this evening.  It began with my late evening task of selecting a suitable reading water for my frozen entree.  (Monday at its finest.)

She has a host of memorable quotes from her Me:  The Stories of My Life.  I'm opting for this one for my Monday:

“Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.”
― Katharine Hepburn

A close second:

“If you obey all of the rules, you miss all of the fun.”
- Katharine Hepburn

Lost Cups and Old Cookies

This morning's NPR news noted a variety of statistics about the upcoming holidays, shipping days, shopping days, and general rushing the end of the year before we even adjust that beloved hour back on our clocks.  I appreciate the view forward, but I'm still trying to find the measuring cups I packed six weeks ago.  [I found cookies with my knitting if that tells you anything about the spatial way my mind works...perhaps it does actually..just forget I mentioned it.]

We'll also just skip how listening to Arcade Fire's new album reminded me of a series of movies watched this weekend which led me to a bookstore which led to a list which led back to knitting which led to:  I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen.  There's also the follow-up This is Not My Hat (2013 Caldecott Medal Winner).  Either of these might make good reads for the young ones for that end of year list that I should be making (right after I find the measuring cups).