Been listening to Gulag Orkestar by Beirut almost non-stop the last couple of days. Especially this song, Postcards From Italy. The old video footage in it is so dreamy with its washed out colors and takes me back to when I was younger and things were simple. At least, from my child mind things were. There was no war, there were no family problems, no worrying about the world economy. I just mindlessly danced a jig in the yard with my neighbor friends and rode my skateboard wildly down the street. Not caring if I slid across asphalt because papa would certainly clean me up and send me happily on my way. Man, back in Los Angeles I used to love to get a plastic shopping bag and pretend it was a parachute and jump off of my grandparents porch. Oh, and the convenience store down the alley had those candy rings I always loved, too. Those really were the days, weren't they?
On the verge of 31 years of age and a move out of state, I've had a lot floating around in my head. Not in a bad way, though. The crossroads I'm at in my life have me looking in 4 different directions but as Beirut would say, "The sunsets are all breathtaking".
- My mood:
nostalgic - Music I'm rockin':Scenic World by Beirut
I have a total appreciation for watching the sun rise in the sky. I do. But, there are times when you've clearly not had enough sleep and can't appreciate it. That would be this morning.
It's creeping up on 6:45 and I've been up for over 2 hours just laying here. Birds chirping, nice summer breeze, floral scents coming through the window. For heavens sake, I wish I could enjoy it all!
Oh yeah, and my cat has discovered that one of the tall speakers in my livingroom is a great, braaaand new scratching post. I've basically been awake keeping him and his claws away from it. I mean, dude, that's why he has the couch. Ya know? I was planning on throwing it away before I move, so I gave it to him. He can have it. The entertainment system, that's mine, little guy.
This day isn't starting off the greatest, but I do have my Friday morning departure to Washington to look forward to. It'll be pretty sweet to escape this oppressive Fresno heat.
But I won't. I posted one yesterday and I just don't want my next entry to be another bitchfest. I'd like my journal to be reflective of me and I don't think I bitch too much. Just so happens today that I've been highly frustrated about a subject in particular. No, not about yesterdays subject. I'm slowly getting over it. Maybe.
Happy night, happy night....
- My mood:
frustrated
I'm eating a lime (strike that) strawberry frozen pop. You know, one of those yummy ones we Mexican men like to roll around in the little freezers in the street? Yeah, those. I'm on my second and I may have another BECAUSE I GOT 4. Also, a pint of Häagen-Dazs. This is dinner. I like junk when I'm upset.
I'm upset.
I cleaned up my (ya know, kinda) fancy full carbon frame road bike last night to go for another spectacular ride today. I planned to ride a route I haven't been on since last summer.
Road 200.
I had my brekky this morning, got all showered up, shaved the legs and manscaped..... all to find a crack in one of the seatstays of my awesome child as I was putting air in my tires. There I was. All kitted up, my fat butt stuffed in stretchy and nowhere to go.
Well that's not true, I took my baby to the bike shop to have the fellas diagnose the problem. I'm not an expert but cracked carbon= bad, usually. It's my understanding that sometimes the laminate overlay (orsomethingorother) can just crack with there not being much serious damage to the frame. Either way, me no likey a crack anywhere on my bike.
I just finished popsicle 3.
So Giant, the maker of my bike, wants the shop to send in a photo of the crack to see what the deal is. How they can tell much from just a photo, I don't know. I'm like, "The deal is my shit is cracked, yo!" But whatevs. Right now my bike is in the shop. They may or may not send the frame to Giant for a full frame swap. Again, depending on the damage. The shop is supposed to have a loaner bike for me by tomorrow for use until the whole issue is resolved. But I mean, you can't just trade babies and act like it's the same thing. It isn't. Obviously, I appreciate them loaning me a bike. The shop is good to me. Steven's Bicycles, on Palm and Shields. Check it.
So anyway, I just needed to vent. Also, if no one hears from me for a few days, I probably went into a sugar popsicle overdose and am laying passed out on my livingroom floor. And 'Love, Actually' might be on but I swear it wasn't me.
There went popsicle 4. It was a milk coconut job. Mmmm....
I sometimes wonder if my calorie and fat gram counting is an issue.... for anyone else. I try and not talk about it too much unless I know a person is interested in the subject. Numbers are boring. I don't even like them.
I loss tons of lb's last year when I was training for AMBBR. I starting gaining lots of weight back after my trip up north last October and then that just lead right into the holiday season. Oy! I'd really been gluttonous with my food choices and portions. I mean out of control. Whack. Lame. I love delicious and rich food as much as the next person, but what was not cool was how I felt. (I know I've written about this in the past.) I was incredibly sluggish and just didn't feel good at all. All the bike riding in the world could not cancel out what I was doing. I decided to quit the way I was treating my body and mind. (The mind/ body connection is really quite something, isn't it?)
When one starts to think about what our body needs on any given day and compares that with what the average persons consumes in that day, it's really scary. We hear all the time how America is increasingly obese with healthcare costs on the rise. Well duh, we're bombarded at every turn with fast food and restaurant advertising. Food is yummy! Food is pleasant! Food is social! Food can be great tasting, but it can also be full of FAIL. Whether it be an over abundance of calories, fat, sodium, cholesterol, whatever.... it's a problem in this country and increasingly, in others.
I honestly felt that I needed to pay more attention to what I was consuming. I'm not getting any younger and my arteries and metabolism are
I'm back to feeling a lot better than I had been a few months ago. Approximately 400 times better. And I won't lie, I'm also 10-15 lb's lighter as well. The trick for me personally is making sure I actually eat enough for all of the bike riding I do. It's all good and cute to have a beautiful morning out on the country roads for a couple of hours, but depraving the body of nutrition it needs after that is as bad as eating whatever I please and sitting in front of my computer screen all day doing nothing.
*Kidding. I detest math, don't.
- My mood:
relaxed - Music I'm rockin':The Ting Ting's
I try and keep tags organized but as with all things, I can be lazy and forgetful.
I often try and do my part in the fight against cancer, and lately I've been able to help out Fatty's latest fundraising effort with Livestrong. This man routinely raises thousands of dollars. Outstanding. There are currently 4 teams fighting along with Eldon: Austin, Seattle, San Jose, and Philly.
Today Fatty posted a video from Livestrong:
It's quite a moving video and I left a response in the comments section of his post.
- My mood: pensive
I have been feverishly looking for an apartment in Bellingham, Washington. In case I hadn't actually mentioned it to anyone, that's where I plan on relocating with the next month. Or 2. Or, when I actually find a place. Nothing is ever set in stone with me it seems. As is with where I want to move. I glanced at some British Columbia apartments (super cheap and cuuute!) and now I'm thinking of looking to see what's available in Portland.
I'm fickle, and that is one way in which I am consistent.
Anyway, moving on. There's always lots of talk with snow up in the 'Ham and though I'm quite ok and excited about living in some snow, the frequency of it concerns me. Not in a 'great big OMG IT'S TOO MUCH' kind of way, just a little. My only mode of transport is of course, one of 3 bikes I have. When deciding to relocate, moving to a bike friendly town was a top priority. 2 wheeled transport is my life. (And I love it.) Getting around in snow is very possible, people do it in Alaska all the time. Also, I'm dying to have a reason to get a chubby tired Pugsly. Of course, I'm also dying to get my hands on an Xtracycle and a cream colored Long Haul Trucker. I can dream, right? So on the transportation front, Portland sounds like a better idea. Portland is also considered the epicenter of cycling culture in America. Dig? I do.
We'll see what happens. All I know is that I have overstayed my welcome in Fresno. I've been told a few times.
- My mood:
curious - Music I'm rockin':Group Four by Massive Attack
Next up on the CBS morning show: If you're friend is out of work, should you act differently toward them?
I mean seriously, WTF?
- Location:36.771011, -119.811874
I've been watching inauguration coverage all day switching between a few channels and have seen a weight loss commercial a number of times.
The commercial centers around a woman who always wanted to be more active and ride a motorcycle. The commercial goes on to show how with the diet program she lost lots and lots of weight. They then show her finally getting to be more 'active' by riding her new motorcycle, wind blowing through her hair.
Now, that confuses me. I'm all for people wanting and needing to lose weight, (I need to lose some holiday weight myself) but how is riding a motorcycle ever considered active? Shouldn't they show her maybe cycling, running or maybe even in a gym? Wouldn't that make more sense?
Anyway, back to inauguration coverage....
In my jammies and with massive bedhead, I feel a great sense of peace.
- Location:Fresno, E Yale Ave
update: Found and added a few more photos to the 'Back in the day' set.
- My mood: happy
After a year of refusing to give it a go, I just watched Sweeney Todd and am completely in love with it.
My first reaction upon learning about the movie in 2007 was "Oh, another Burton/ Depp film? PASS." I do love their previous films together but there just wasn't any attraction to Sweeney. I only recently learned that it was a musical adapted from a stage play and that pushed me even further away. There are a couple of musicals I like (Moulin Rouge, Mary Poppins) but in general are just not my thing. I tried watching Across the Universe pretty recently but it got switched off in the first 5 minutes. Literally. I do plan on trying to watch it again, though.
Sweeney Todd opens with (what I think of as) cheesy organ music and I almost turned it off, but seeing as how I dropped 5 bucks on the DVD at Blockbuster yesterday, I decided to keep my trigger finger off the remote ;) Good call, because I was quickly enveloped in Burtons deliciously gothic world. (Does Burton do anything but dark?) I have to say, the look of the film from the cinematography to the costumes and make-up, were delicious! I mean yummy. We're treated to a very vivid look at a seedy 1846 London.
I didn't know until watching the film that Alan Rickman starred in it as well. If someone had told me that, I might not have hesitated for so long to watch this movie! He does no wrong in my book. I was impressed to learn that he and all of the other actors involved did their own vocal work. When Depp opened his mouth to sing his first lines, I thought "How did they manage to get Bowie to howl for this thing?" Sacha Baron Cohen was another surprise to see in Sweeney Todd. I didn't even know he did anything but Ali G. and Borat! So he's a real actor, huh? He holds his own alongside Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who as it happens, shines in this film. She was a real highlight for me. All scraggly haired, pale and hysterical. Pretty sure she's the Queen B of goth chicks worldwide after this. She makes me want a meat pie real bad!
Since I knew very little about Sweeney Todd before deciding to purchase it, I was caught off guard by the smidge of gore. Though after learning the plot of revenge sought by Todd early on, it wasn't a surprise that there would be blood, and plenty of it. Director Burton presents the violent acts in a hyperrealistic way, though. Perhaps it's the cartoonish blood or the way in which Todd exudes pure insanity, but the violence, while effective, never made me squirm too much. Much in the way I'm not too affected by the gore in sci-fi flicks. Though admittedly, the blood and guts of a fictional alien are different than that of a human being.
Enjoyment of Sweeney Todd was such that I watched it again immediately after the first viewing. You know, in case there were any punchlines or drops of blood I missed.
- My mood: impressed
~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- My mood: rejuvenated
Wish me luck :)
I've been busy all in my head and busy all in my interwebs figuring and searching and hoping and waiting and......
I'm very excited.
My work/ job/ place I went to make monies to put food in my kitties bowl is shutting its doors after 13 years. Yes, I am losing my place of employment. September 26th to be exact. Mmhm, this month. It's really been 3 years or so in the making and so it wasn't a surprise when they announced it last month and I couldn't be more happy about it. It comes at a perfect time.
My want to get up and out of Fresno and the valley is finally coming to fruition. Currently, I am going to choose between Bellingham, Washington and Portland, Oregon as places to relocate. I mean, there are countless (seriously, COUNTLESS!) lovely places one could choose, but you can't spend all of your time and money going to all of them, can you now? No. You just go. Somewhere.
Right now my itinerary starting the 27th is such: Flying out to Seattle for an overnight stay and hangin out with my friend Sara. (Who is coming from Bellingham.) Back to Bellingham for a few days, then taking Amtrak down to Portland. It's a 6+ hour ride but am I crazy for sort of looking forward to that? I've never even been on Amtrak and I got myself a business class seat because they have power outlets for everyone and that means I can plug in my weave steamer to get the hair TIGHT. That's right, I said it. Also, more leg room to stretch out my stumps and have the Amtrak slave boys massage my feets.
Once in Portland I'm going to stay in a cute little hostel for a few days while I poke around the city. It'll be my first time staying in a hostel as well but I am SO looking forward to it. First off, it's so much cheaper than a hotel, and secondly, though you have the option to have a private room, usually dorm living is the norm. It's fantastic because you often get to meet people from all over the world. It forces you to socialize.
I have yet to decide what I'm doing anywhere I'm going, but I've only today got everything booked and ready to go. If anyone has any ideas on what to do where I'm going, let me know :)
I love my family, and I love my friends here in town. I know I'll miss everyone, but in the end, we all have to take care of ourselves and do what makes us happy, right? That for me, is moving on from where I grew up and experiencing other places. Hell, wherever I move next may not even be a place I stay a long time. Those Eurail passes are looking so extremely tempting....
- My mood: happy
sillyMore details soon.
- My mood: jubilant
It's a matter of this and that, but the part that excites me is that I can really start thinking about relocating now. Move myself forward.
I grew up in Fresno since the age of 7 after moving from Los Angeles with my dad and brothers, but I have wanted to leave for a very long time. If anything, to escape the horrendous summers here! Nowadays, what I am looking for is a bike friendly area. Even though I'm seeing loads more commuters on the road (and am seriously loving that!) Fresno is anything but a bike friendly town. I'd love to live near a community college I can go to, a farmers market to shop at, and a community with an eco-conscious forward thinking attitude. I keep up with many cycling blogs but the ones that are really inspirational to me are EcoVelo, CarFreeDays, Commute by Bike and Copenhagen Cycle Chic.
( I envy the way these people live, and I want in. )
- My mood: hopeful
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2tiretracks- Erik Becerril
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