Get Well

Ha ha.

2010-10-13T11:00:00.002-04:00

My coworker made me smile this morning:

Two engineering students were crossing the campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"

The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want."

The first engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't fit."

Bump, again.

2010-03-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

Wow! Already a year later. Shazaam!

Bump

2009-02-04T16:36:00.002-05:00

Just a mindless entry to get me back into the habit of blogging. I'll admit that my Status Updates and Twitter tweets have captured my attention at most opportunities. I do keep a list of things to blog about, but obviously haven't gotten around to it.* It is indeed much easier to jot down a random sentence or two rather than a cohesive set of paragraphs. But that certainly won't kill my entries here. Well, at least I hope not. :-)

* Btw, I really do have "a round tuit" somewhere tucked in a box in the basement.

Yay, 2009!

2009-01-07T08:50:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year, all!

Back from a long hiatus of little to no workouts. Typical. And such is this terrible cycle I go through of weeks of constant exercise to weeks of none. This time it was too too too long of a break. Anyway, I did start up again yesterday. Only 25 minutes on the stationary bike. A token ride, but one to start building up the habit and momentum yet once more.

May 2009 be a better annum.

E.L.E. -- Evil League Of Evil

2008-09-30T08:50:00.007-04:00

I'm considering applying to the "Evil League Of Evil". Don't know if I'm evil enough, though. I do sooooo badly want to hang out with Bad Horse*, just as Dr. Horrible is already doing.
* Bad Horse rules the Evil League Of Evil with an iron hoof :-P.

In workout news, this morning, I did a 45 min "random" hill workout at the gym, level 16/17. I don't like the gym's stationary bikes -- some crappy brand -- since the feet straps come loose and the pre-programmed hill interval workouts just aren't as good as those of the Lifecycle models at my previous gym. But alas, I suppose I should just do what I can, with what I have, where I am. (Thanks, Teddy.)

Now on to filling that E.L.E. application.

Papermates and workouts

2008-09-11T07:09:00.006-04:00

Bought these Papermate mechanical pencils. Four for $9.99! Do I need these? Probably not. But I'm a stubborn impulse buyer, and I got excited, and they look so beautiful! Gold detailing for goodness' sake! Probably goes back to my loyalty and love of the smooth blue Papermates that I had in high school. Geek? Yes.

On the workout note, I did the stationary bike today for 30 min, level 17, doing standing hill intervals. Not too shabby. I felt strong. Gonna try to build this wkout time to 2 hours eventually at the same or higher level.

Write on! :-P

Twitter

2008-09-07T23:08:00.006-04:00

Alright, so I bit. I'm now trying out Twitter. This YouTube video seems to sum it best. I like the concept that life's true conversations are composed of the fragmented text we converse to each other throughout the entire day.

And although it sounds like a good idea, it certainly would be more effective if everyone had free unlimited text plans on their cell phones. Unlike the $20 per month additional that I HAVEN'T shelled out to do unlimited text. So I guess for the time being, all my twittering will be done on my computer, unfortunately. Which kinda defeats the grand purpose of Twitter, doesn't it?

Oh well, I shall try anyway and see if it catches on with me.

Tyler wins 2008 USPRO

2008-09-06T09:10:00.005-04:00

Whatever you're doing in life with whatever job you're doing, it's the chief reason; go out and enjoy it or what are you doing it for? -- Tyler Hamilton (interview)

Geez, what's the deal with these photo finishes. First, Michael Phelps vs. Milorad Cavic, then this between Tyler Hamilton and Blake Caldwell, a win by .002 secs!

Congrats to Tyler for winning the 2008 USPRO Road Championship. How 'bout that -- age 37 and still kicking ass in the pro-cycling circuit.

Kudos, Ty!

2008 Olympics

2008-08-19T11:38:00.005-04:00

Sorry, I've just been so wrapped up in the Olympics. Generally, I've had little time to view any of the events, so I've been doing the NBC Olympics On The Go thing, where my PC caches all the events of my choosing; then at night after work and dinner, I just stream all the on-demand content from my PC upstairs to the TV (and with nice resolution, too) via Windows Media Center. Definitely highly recommended for all you on-the-go dudes.

Gym stuff? Yes, there IS stuff. I did the hand ergometer this morning, and weights and stationary bike yesterday. I feel the momentum building again. Amen to that. Perhaps I'm drawing on the power from the Olympics. From Michael Phelps perhaps -- god of last microsecond winning lunges.

All promises and none to keep

2008-07-24T07:51:00.005-04:00

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away? – Lord Chesterfield

Okay, so I mentioned potentially entering next month's bike tour in my last post. And then there's this sprint triathlon this August 3rd that I might be doing with a friend -- my first tri in eons. And as I can't quite seem to put my foot down on the decision to enter either one, thus is the revealing pattern of lofty promises that I can't keep lately -- i.e., all goals and no plans.

Self-reflection time.

Joseph Hill Whedon

2008-07-16T22:34:00.003-04:00

Dr. Horrible is da bomb! And Neil Patrick Harris is da man! Hip-hip-hooray for Joss Whedon to come up with this entertaining thingy. Can't wait for Act II this July 17th.

ps: A very hilly bike tour awaits my participation next month. Shall I or shan't I register? I am soooo not feeling very endurancy this season. :-P

Yawn :-O

2008-06-25T05:29:00.003-04:00

Gosh, I've been in a lull for too long now and am in need of some inspiration.

I woke up way early today to cruise online from some music to rekindle my workouts. Other than the grunge techno jams that I like to spin my peddles to, I've been in the mood for some folksy acoustic stuff. And as I'm a big Jason Mraz fan, I downloaded his latest album for a listen on the way to work.

I saw his latest video of "I'm Yours" on YouTube. However, more delightedly, I came across this official "Jason Mraz Bebo Competition" winner for his take on that tune. Now there's the witty inspiration that I was looking for. And it even wasn't a workout song.

Yay! Me smilin' now :-)

Firefox 3

2008-06-06T23:11:00.003-04:00

My obsession for the week: Firefox 3 (RC2). Release candidate only. Nevertheless, they've sold me. [biting my nails and insanely smiling in anticipation for the official release. heh heh :-))]

Mike Beltzner, phenomenologist at Mozilla, offered this Flash presentation of Firefox 3's new features. Not bad for those web browser power users.

I've also pledged to get Firefox 3 during Download Day as an attempt by Mozilla to set the Guinness World Record for Most Software Downloaded in 24 Hours. Might as well join in the fun.

Geez, talk about being such a bandwagoner.

ps: Oh, what about my cardio stuff? Uggh, dare I pick up my Tony Robbins book for some motivation? :-P

Gettin' ready for Bloomin'

2008-03-15T07:19:00.006-04:00

So I finally put in 30 minutes on the stationary bike at the gym yesterday (RPE=12). Certainly not much, but it's something from all the previous days (weeks?) of doing nothing. Yeah, it's unfortunately because I'm letting my projects at work get in the way. Suckie.

The Bloomin' Metric bike tour (100k) on May 18 is what I'm working toward. Lot's o' rolling hills there, so I'd best do hill intervals in my workouts to keep up with my mates on the tour.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's weekend, all.

Everyone loves Pi!

2008-03-14T17:45:00.005-04:00

Happy Pi Day!

3/14/2008

Ummm, let's see now... 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971 ...
That's all I can recite off the top of my head these days, very much unlike Daniel Tammet.

Misc

2008-02-25T08:37:00.003-05:00

No worries, mate. A good workout is coming soon. In the meantime:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

6 inches or more expected

2008-02-22T09:04:00.005-05:00

Yay, snow! And a 2-hour delay at work. Woo-hoo! Unfortunately, I left for the office AFTER they posted the message on the company hotline. C'est la vie. :-(

At least I get the worm, and a nice wintry work pic.

Je t'aime beaucoup, mon amour!

2008-02-14T09:50:00.009-05:00

It's the day of Love. What more important theme is there?
Happy V-Day, everyone!

[The Simpsons: the Red Hot Chili Peppers are performing on Krusty's show]
Krusty the Clown: Now, boys, the network has a problem with some of your lyrics. Do you mind changing them for the show?
Anthony Kiedis: Forget you, clown.
Chad Smith: Yeah, our lyrics are like our children, man. No way.
Krusty the Clown: Well, okay, but here where it says, "What I got you gotta get and put it in ya," how about just, "What I'd like is I'd like to hug and kiss ya."
Flea: Wow. That's much better.
Arik Marshall: Everyone can enjoy that.

Ironman, anyone?

2008-02-11T07:27:00.000-05:00

Alright, alright. It's a brisk 5 degrees F right now. But that's no reason for me to feel so sluggish about getting back into training. And I must admit, "nada" has been the word of the week, and for the last 3 weeks, mind you :-(.

To kick off the self-psyching, the 2007 Ironman Championship in Kona, Hawaii is being re-broadcasted this Saturday 2/16/08 on NBC @ 2pm EST. YouTube has a preview of it.

That and some litany hopefully should get me going. And so let's bow our heads and reflect on bended knee: Oh my dearest Greg Welch, patron saint of sub 5' 6" endurance athletes, pray for us.

Stressing less

2008-02-06T18:38:00.000-05:00

"Keep the deadline. Change the deliverable."

Just as I'm feeling swamped with things that I HAVE to do and things that I WANT to do, a coworker says the above to me. And boom, his magic was done. I felt peaceful.

Thanks, JP.

—

The able-bladed

2008-01-14T17:51:00.000-05:00

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
— Theodore Roosevelt

He is why you should never give up on anything.

Unfortunately, the IAAF decided today that Oscar Pistorius is ineligible to compete in Beijing 2008 because his running "blades" give him an unfair advantage [eyes rolling] over able-bodied athletes. Hmmmph, who would've thought? :-p

[Fade out]
[Fade in, show text]

The Olympic Creed
The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

The Olympic Motto
Citius, Altius, Fortius.
(Faster, Higher, Stronger)

[Fade to black]

Best wishes to Oscar in his continuing pursuit toward excellence.

—

PhotoPhlow

2008-01-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

A cool article on Photophlow that I just had to plug. I managed to get an invite from the author and log in, since usage is currently limited. I will definitely check the site in more detail this weekend. Btw, from registering with Photophlow, I now have 3 invites that I could send out. Anyone interested in one, please let me know.

Bag of Bones

2008-01-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

I'm embarrassed to say, but I shall say it: I finally finished Bag of Bones (Stephen King) this New Year's Day morning. Don't even ask me how long it took. I read it sporadically with tons of literary and nonliterary interruptions in between, read the first few chapters oodles of times over, under, and sideways to recapture the catharsis, and eventually dedicated some focus to reach the last page.

Yay me. Next book please.

2008!

2007-12-31T21:46:00.000-05:00

Rum and Coke is da bomb!
I'm drunk, and still I can type. :-)
2 hours, 12 minutes til the new year.
I'm drunk, and playing bingo.

I'm drunk.

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

I'll drink 2 dat.

Done.

Drink, drank, drinking, drunk, drunker, drunked up.

Effin drunk. dat's me.

A toast! Let's drink!

Drunkedddd.

hPpy nwyr !!

puflish post.

Waning workouts

2007-12-11T10:19:00.000-05:00

My gym workouts have dwindled to about 35 minutes x 2 days/wk these last two weeks. It's been just so difficult to make more time. Today, I felt my slacking off in the pain of my 24-min speed intervals session (level 14) -- I'd say "18" on the perceived exertion scale. I'll do the same session again on Thursday or Friday and take note of any endurance improvement. And hopefully, I'll workout longer. Tomorrow, I'll be lifting.

***

ps: With my baldness, I'm in need of some head warmth. And thus the 5-o'clock shadow, or goatee. Still a bit sparse, but me likee.

Photo storage

2007-12-09T23:32:00.000-05:00

My new 120 gigabyte hard drive is now down to 16 gigabytes after only a few months. It's all due to the space being quickly taken up by our family digital pics and avi files.

And so Melinda and I have decided we need a new method of photo storage. Our answer is Flickr. We've had a "pro" account for some time now, but I really hadn't considered maxing it out for archiving full-resolution original photos.

This afternoon and evening, I uploaded 2 gigs of full-res shots, which took several hours. This week, I'll do some more reading on how to take advantage of my Flickr Pro account.

Thinking short term

2007-12-04T12:01:00.000-05:00

My problem is that I think all projects, no matter how monumental, can be completed in 3 hours or less. So now I'm starting to feel swamped at work because it's quarter-end, the deadlines are just around the corner, products need to be shipped, and my focus is constantly being diverted by endless meetings and reams of paperwork.

"Calgon take me away!" Id est, I need to get to the gym. Tonight, I shall make it so.

Steady spinning & cholesterol

2007-11-27T07:13:00.000-05:00

So I gave it a go yesterday. Thirty minutes on the stationary bike at the gym. A steady cadence of 96 rpm across levels 11 through 14. This is sort of the way my bike workouts have been for the past two months--lower intensity but faster spinning. A better deal for my foot. I'd say that I'm currently in maintenance mode until spring when I'll pick up the pace, and hopefully schedule some endurance events to take part in.

On a bad note, my cholesterol level is borderline high at 216. I rec'd my blood drive card last week from donating blood at work a month ago. The card listed my blood type and overall cholesterol level. I'll be receiving the full report, which shows the breakdown of my HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and other stuff, in the mail perhaps this week. Quite a bit disappointing since I thought I was taking care of myself rather carefully. I guess my family genetics is starting to show its influence (sigh).

BSG lesbo lovers rock!

2007-11-26T12:17:00.000-05:00

Someone has got to give a raise to the guy who pitched the "lesbian" commercial during the Battlestar Galactica "Razor" episode last Friday. The station break immediately followed the implicit scene between the two women. Just 10 seconds and soooo funny:

"It's been revealed. Helena Cain and Gina Inviere are lovers. Brought to you by Quiznos."

Comet 17P/Holmes

2007-10-31T09:20:00.001-04:00

So I saw the comet last night: 17P/Holmes. Space.com posted an article on it and I had to see if I could "naked eye" it from my backyard since the skies were clear. There was some light pollution from the moon and nearby Newark (boooo!), but there it was, below Cassiopeia and to the left of Mirfak. A fuzzy star-bright celestial body. Pretty cool.

Happy Halloween! :-)

Fix my gddmn sole!

2007-08-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

I've been so immersed in my new baby, my new job, and my year-long aching foot that I've pushed aside the workout interjections in my entries. Nonetheless, I really have been exercising.

Last Friday, Dr. W injected more cortizone into the heel of my foot. Geez, it grossed me out. I couldn't help but flinch. It went like this: he stuck in the needle, injected some juice, pulled out and reinserted at a different angle, injected more juice, pulled out and reinserted again, ... and again ... and again ... and again. Oh, and again. [wince]

The treatment was kinda like the way you would swish a drinking straw in an almost empty beverage container, searching for that last sip. But more painful.

The lesson for you all: for heaven's sake, ~~have lots of sex~~ / ~~suck face~~ take care of your plantar fascia!

"Math Doesn't Suck"

2007-08-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

Thank you, ~~Winnie Cooper~~ Danica McKellar. I hope to give your book a read to get a glimpse of your "fun" perspective on arithmetic.

You go, Wonder Girl!

One, two, three, push!

2007-08-18T07:49:00.001-04:00

She's here! She's here! She's here!

Sweet little Claire popped into the world Thursday afternoon. And after only less than three hours of labor -- a new family record! :-)

That's 6 lbs, 15 oz, and 20 inches of life-formed love.

Go baby go!

Pre-birth day

2007-08-15T20:50:00.000-04:00

A cute little button and still in her mother's womb. This sonogram of little C's face was taken a week and half ago (Aug 6). Much sooner than that -- tomorrow, in fact -- she'll be popping out probably just around noon. Melinda is already at 40 weeks and at full term and still not contracting. Go figure.

Because of this and because she has gestational diabetes, she's scheduled to be induced soon after we check into the hospital bright and early at 7 am.

So yeah, tomorrow's the day. Baby 4 is on her way.

***

ps: We've already picked out the cutie's first name. Anyone want to take a guess? However, her middle name has yet to be decided, and my suggestion unfortunately has been denied by the mrs. (Sorry, Red Sonja 2.) So feel free to throw in your two cents.

Burning up the hills

2007-08-04T23:11:00.000-04:00

A 39.5 mile hilly bike ride with Jay today. A casual conversational pace, as we normally prefer. Hit the road at 6:30 am, back at the parking lot at 9:30 am. And the whole day ahead to spend with our families. A transparent workout is what I call it; hardly anyone notices our time away. That's the way I like it -- minimal time impact.

The highlight of the ride was the culmination of my gym workouts in me tearing up the last and hardest hill of our route. A personal best as I perceived it -- upping to the big chainring and bigger gear ratio (53/19, I think), faster cadence, and a lower RPE of 13 (vs 20, last year). Yeah, baby!

Alpe d'Huez, here I come! :-)

My work toys

2007-07-25T22:13:00.000-04:00

Yay, I get to play with a thinga-ma-scope! Actually, it's a portable patient monitoring device. And an ultra expensive one too. My coworker plopped it on top of my desk yesterday, since it'll be part of one of the projects that I'll be working on.

So I've been playing doctor with myself all yesterday and this morning. Been keeping my arm strapped to the device's accessories, which has been auto-reading my blood pressure and heart rate at intervals for hours. I averaged a BP of about 110/70 BP and a heart rate of 56 bpm. Ahhh, the cardiac benefits of road cycling are finally showing their colors. Now if only I could determine if my genetically ill-fated cholesterol level has lowered.

Can't wait to play with myself some more. ;-)

My career -- moving on

2007-07-20T23:49:00.000-04:00

Yay, I got another job! A permanent position this time. With benefits. Yay, again! I start Monday.

It's been quite a busy few weeks. (I apologize for the lack of entries.) My consulting assignment ended today and I spent the afternoon sporadically visiting my coworkers' cubicles to say goodbye. I'd been consulting at that company since the end of February 2007.

Melinda says that I should have taken one or two days off before starting my new employment so we can have the family spend some time together. I agree, but after I set my starting date. What was I thinking?

Nonetheless, I'm excited. And Melinda and the kids are too. So celebrate we shall. Alrighty then ... Applebee's, here we come! :-)

Go job go!

Taking it up a notch

2007-07-04T23:31:00.000-04:00

Finally bumped the LifeCycle up to its max level of 25 @ Hill Intervals, 36 minutes. In all the peaks, I kept my cadence at 51 rpm, to the beat of the song 19-2000 (soulchild remix) by Gorillaz. In all fairness, I think the the exercise bike really was outputting at level 21 or 22. At least it felt that way. Perhaps I should suggest to the gym manager that their bikes be tuned up or calibrated to provide accurate resistance. Or maybe I could be wrong and just got that much better.

Nonetheless, since I've maxed the hill levels, it's time that I start upping the rpm's.

BTW, this is a fitness plateau that I've focused on for a long while and worked really hard to reach. Glad I finally got there. Can't wait to see how it translates on the real roads.

Go bike go! And oh ... Happy 4th, yo!

Perkins Tower

2007-06-24T07:10:00.000-04:00

I didn't finish the bike climb to Perkins Tower at Bear Mtn, NY yesterday. My friend Jim didn't have it in his lungs to make it all the way up. It was just too much for him.

Our group of 7 riders started at Mike's house, which was about 17 miles south from the peak. We biked 12 miles along the Hudson River through loads of rolling hills (at too hard of a pace IMO) and just reached the Bear Mountain area into a long climb when Jim couldn't take it anymore. He pulled to the side for a long gasping breather and then said he was turning back. He was really spent.

Jay accompanied him to make sure he was alright. I went ahead to catch more of our friends further up, told them to just keep climbing, and then turned around and chased down Jim and Jay for a threesome ride back to Mike's house. The 4 others of our group eventually reached the Perkins Tower summit, made a fast descent (40 mph max, they said) and met with us three about 90 minutes later at the house.

To celebrate, we grilled burgers and hotdogs, sat around Mike's backyard deck and listened to the guys' war stories of the day's climb. Oh, how I wished we all could've made it up there. Maybe before the end of the summer, Jim, Jay and I will do our own Perkins Tower ride to make things complete (and at a much easier pace this time so as to not burn out). Already, we were starting to plan a date as we were eating our burgers.

So the lesson learned this weekend: there's no 'i' in 'Team', but there's an 'e' in 'We'. :-). All for one and one for all. Birds of a feather stick together. We three kings of orient are. "In good times and bad times, I'll be there forever more ... that's what friends are for." Ummm, yeah. And I'm glad Jim's okay.

Now on to the next tour! Allez!

I'm ready to climb!

2007-06-22T07:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, enough of the leg porn in my last post. I was getting tired of looking at that bloated picture. My apologies to the offended.

Last Saturday, I totally smoked up the hills in my last long training ride before tomorrow's climb to Perkins Tower at Bear Mtn, NY (1200 ft over 5 miles). My friend Jay and I did about 35 miles of ups and down, and my legs didn't feel weary at all as in previous rides.

It's probably due to my obsession with doing hill intervals on the LifeCycle at the gym for the past six weeks. And I do mean almost every day of the work week. Started out at level 13, upped it methodically (and painfully) over the days and now I've tapped it at level 22, all with an RPE of 17-18. Tour de France, here I come! :-)

It's a rest day today and I've taken the day off for a doc appt and to watch the kids while mommy's taking an important nursing certification test. Tons of stuff to do around the house, though. Mowing the lawn, laundry, staining the deck, cleaning the garage, etc-- whoopie (sigh). I just hope it'll be beneficial to my endurance. :-)

Chore on!

Workouts, baby!

2007-06-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

"Shave and a haircut. Two bits."

A yearly physical ritual to signify the start of outdoor riding: the shaving of the legs. Plus, Melinda thinks I look sexier. Although in my early twenties, I deluded myself thinking it'd make me go lightning fast in the swim leg of my triathlons.

Since the Bloomin' Metric 100k, it's been workouts galore. I've been hitting the gym every day of the work week, doing tons of cardio on the LifeCycle exercise bikes, and then hitting the weights every other day.

It's all methodical. I keep track of my progress and try to up it just a tad in the next workout. In theory, I'll be running a 4 minute mile at the end of the season, benching 500 lbs in no time and competing in the Tour de France by next year. Well, that's just the theory. But I really am getting better in my personal bests for this season, which is good enough to keep me coming back to the gym for more.

BTW, the foot still hurts but is slowly getting better. Slowly.

Bloomin' Metric 2007, CT

2007-05-21T06:19:00.000-04:00

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. --Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"

Hills galore. 100k of ups and downs.

This has got to be one of my favorite rides. Beautiful tree-lined roads, minimal traffic, picturesque New England scenery and, of course, pain-inducing air-gasping stand-on-your-pedals rolling hills. Ahhhh, heaven and hell together once again.

I did the tour with three other friends in just over 5 hours, including 3 food stops (4.14.56 on my cyclometer of actual riding time). Pas mal, I'd say, although we certainly weren't racing like madmen to finish. Just an enjoyable pace to smell the roses but fly on the downhills (15 mph avg and 39 mph max recorded on the cyclometer).

At the registration area, they posted an elevation chart of the course, which I thought was a nice way to get a feel for the terrain. I sent an email to the organizers asking what software they used to create the chart as I'd like to do the same for my personal weekend bike routes.

'Til next year, ride on!

Dig it, man. I've got sole!

2007-05-01T22:32:00.000-04:00

"Pain...Love it, hate it, get angry at it. Breathe it with every breath, feel it with every step and use it. It lets you know you are still alive, more alive than most people will ever be in their whole lives." -- Rich Strauss

More foot porn.

Actually, my custom insoles finally arrived at the podiatrist's office--a partial remedy for my PF. (This was last week.) How excited I was to try them on! While the doc was opening the ziplocked package, I felt giddy inside as if I were buying a new car. So how do they look? Sexy, ay?

Now it's been a few days of test driving. I've walked in them, biked with them, and ~~done the naughty with my wife while wearing them~~ even napped with them :-). Call me a believer--they're awesome! While the heel pain isn't totally gone, it's significantly reduced.

So goodbye, Dr. Scholl's. "Custom" is where the phat is at!

The weightless Dr. Hawking

2007-04-29T09:08:00.000-04:00

"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," -- Stephen Hawking

I'm curious to see how inspired Stephen Hawking became after his zero-gravity flight last Thursday. I can't imagine what he'd be thinking and contriving after being free from his wheelchair for only 45 seconds of free fall. I am indeed happy that he could experience such a feeling--to add that much more joy to his life. Let's just hope that he didn't munch on too big of a breakfast :-).

And I agree with Dr. Hawking and periodically delve on the same scenario (actually, I think about it quite often): 1 to 7 billion years from now, our Earth will indeed die and we humans MUST find somewhere else to live beyond Earth if we are to continue to exist. And for that to happen, I can't help but think that faster-than-light travel would need to be possible (would HAVE to be possible!), given that the Andromeda Galaxy is our closest galaxy neighbor at 2 million light years away or otherwise a closer solar system in our own Milky Way Galaxy.

(I always remember the incredible opening scene of the movie Contact, staring Jody Foster, as it gives an amazing perspective of how huge space is.)

The possibilities of how we would exist in the far future are infinite. How fun it is to take just one and imagine life then.

Daniel Tammet

2007-04-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

"I was born on January 31, 1979 -- a Wednesday. I know it was a Wednesday, because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue"... -- Daniel Tammet

Last week, I finished reading an enjoyable and moving Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant -- a memoir book of Daniel Tammet. He's a 28 yr old Englishman diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a high functioning form of autism. That is, he has autistic symptoms but can function quite normally and independently compared to other autistic individuals such as Kim Peek on whom the movie Rainman was based.

The beauty to Daniel's high functioning condition is that he can explain how he thinks. And in fact it is beautiful. He says he "experiences" numbers and dates as colors, shapes, sounds and textures. The number 1 is bright like lightning, number 9 is tall like a skyscraper and Thursdays are fuzzy like fur. How beautiful indeed!

Daniel holds the European record for memorizing Pi up to 22,514 digits. He says that 22,500 was the agreed upon limit, so it seems likely he could've easily memorized thousands more digits if officials had requested.

The Discovery Channel had a really nice piece on him called Brainman, the highlight of which was when he journeyed to Utah to meet Kim Peek. He appeared on The David Letterman Show and described David as being the number 117 -- "tall and lanky". The show 60 Minutes also did a segment some time afterward, some videos of which can be found on youTube.

Finally, Daniel has set up his own website called Optimnem, on which I enjoy reading his blog.

*********

ps: Ages ago for our college dorm talent show, my friend and I memorized Pi up to 314 digits (or at least I'd like to think). We dressed up in grim reaper costumes, stood on opposite ends of the stage, and recited the digits in slow deep voices in unison. Didn't win, but got lots of laughs. Ahhhh, good times. :-) pi=3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 ...

pps: Other interesting links...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=2794451&page=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet

Care for your feet!

2007-04-13T23:15:00.000-04:00

I love my Disney Beach Crocs. Notice the Mickey Mouse holes? So darn comfy. Can't wait to get the Off-Road model--the SUV of them all.

Today's topic is feet. As in, "three weeks ago, I went snowboarding and f*cked up my feet." Yes again--good ol' plantar fasciitis was inflicting its nasty bite once more.

So this morning it was another trip to the podiatrist, a refilling of my Nalfon prescription and the doc's assessment that I be fitted for custom orthotic insoles. Nothing eventful really. But through my examination, I was phasing out and daydreaming about being back at 100% and doing some tri races and bike tours this summer. Could competing still be possible? [sigh] Anyway, end of exam.

But oh, what an end of exam finale it was: I was treated to a soothing foot massage from the doc's assistant Ruby. After casting my feet for orthotics, she loaded up with wads of lotion and rubbed out the residue plaster around my heels and arches, letting me know that I was in for a bonus [wink-wink]. Ooooooh baby, it was soooooo relaxing. Obviously my moans of appeasement would've probably put her off, so I sat still, sounded out nothing and tried to act indifferent. Like, "Gee golly, Ruby, that feels swell!" (How's that for indifference?) But really, thanks Ruby, I really did need that.

Anyway, being inspired by the rubdown, I'm planning to treat Melinda to a massage of my own this weekend. So sweetie, put the kids to bed, break out the Nivea lotion, prop up your dainty footsies and come to papa! ...

This little piggy went to the market ... :-)

Saturday morning ride

2007-04-07T16:31:00.000-04:00

I don't need water. Water is for quitters! -- Spongebob Squarepants

Thank goodness I didn't pay heed to Spongebob's statement (although that was a really funny episode). I biked a hilly 3 hr 40 miler this morning and made sure to fill my Camelbak-like hydration pack with 2 liters of Gatorade so I wouldn't cramp toward the end of my ride. Last Saturday, that was unfortunately the case as I had brought only two water bottles.

BTW, I knew it would be 32F this morning, but I went out for a spin anyway. I don't quite know what drove me to do it other than the urge to get back into a good habit. That is, it was hurting inside me that my workouts were so few these past months. And what a relief it was to have that feeling creep in. I was worried that I was getting apathetic about tri-racing this year.

So one of my primary focuses of spring: chip away at the nonessential 40lbs of crap that've been bogging me down from hammering up the hills. (Cheer with me: Hell no, crap is slow!)

Time to get back into better form than that of a potato.

Theme music, please...

the need for the everyday

2007-04-05T06:06:00.000-04:00

The routine things that are good to do in one's life should never need incentives. They simply should be habits.

(March 25, 2007)
The above I thought to myself at a dance competition for my daughter today. On stage the kids were leaping and tumbling to beautiful music. All done lightly as a feather. Not a look from them of any hard effort at all. Suddenly, I found myself dashing to the car and off to Target and back for a pair of forgotten socks that Tina needed for her number. Huffing and puffing hard all the way to my crooning of some Third Eye Blind song. The dichotomy was obvious.

All the while, my belly was bouncing, my man-boobs were bobbing and my feet were hurting, and I started thinking: "geez, these extra pounds can't be good for racing this year" and "why the hell have you been slacking off, dude?!" and "what happened to your routine?!"

And there it was. My words of wisdom: I needed to get back into a good routine.

To be continued...(hopefully, to a more positive chapter)...

Grow up, will ya?

2007-04-03T23:47:00.000-04:00

I don't know what you think of, but when someone says to me, "Have a good one!", I think of...get this...fellatio. (Whhhhaaat?! You say.) You know, a bl*wjob. (But in an innocent non-sinister professional working man sort of way. Of course.) There, I've said it.

Like take today for instance when I was leaving work with my coworker. As we exited the front doors, I said, "Alright Karen, good night." And then, unflinchingly, she said those ill-fated words: "Thanks. Have a good one." So I paused, squinted a bit slyly, and then walked away and smiled a rather naughty smile. I mean what else was I suppose to think of? C'mon, grow up, will ya?

Maybe it was an old Rob Lowe movie that initiated and perpetuated the thought. Or maybe some dialogue from "Sex In the City." Or even as far back as highschool where every little comment had some sexual innuendo. Who knows and who cares. I'll be forever grinning whenever I hear that remark and it'll always make my day.

And maybe now that you've read this and the thought has been planted, it'll make yours as well.

Have a good one. ;-)

Le quatrième! (cont'd)

2007-03-20T13:16:00.000-04:00

Il est une fille! Looks like it'll be A GIRL come mid-August! The top picture is her foot. The lower picture is the bottom view of the baby's butt, like the photocopy from a female office worker sitting on the copy machine. (Sorry, that's my best analogy.) :-) The arrows are pointing to her ... well ... y'know ... her thingy.

(previous)

Richard Jeni -- Rest In Peace

2007-03-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." -- Charles Kingsley

I know that the clinical depression that comedian Richard Jeni was diagnosed with before he took his life may be a much complicated matter. Still, I'd like to think that Charles Kingsley's insight above would be the cure-all for life's grievances.

Here's to Richard and the smiles he gave us, and the best of comfort to all his family and friends.

Le quatrième!

2007-03-11T18:53:00.000-04:00

That is, número cuarto! Our fourth child is on the way! Yay, my rock band is now complete! Or now we can pair off nicely at the amusement park rides. Or now there's more love in the air. Or something good newsy like that.

Melinda is currently at four months and is due this mid-August. As for girl or boy status, we'll know by next week at our scheduled obgyn appointment. Then we'll be better settled on a name; a cool one like "Winter" or "Stealth" or "Neo" or "Airbender", although I'm not so sure on how keen Melinda is about it. :-)

Anyway, that's the news and all that's implied that are keeping me quite preoccupied.

Go, baby, go!

(cont'd)

James Dyson sucks the best.

2007-02-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

I couldn't help but take an extra long lunch today to finish reading the last chapters of James Dyson: Against the Odds. Simply brilliant! Quite an enjoyable biography, mainly focusing on Dyson's never ending struggles from start to present as an inventor/entrepreneur. All working up to the culmination of his famous and successful Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner. And then some.

It read for me like a self-help book, giving life-experience anecdotes followed by lessons learned, all of which were insightful and perhaps arguable. And oh, such poetic verse--wish we could all speak as eloquently as James Dyson--with flavorfilled descriptive paragraphs typical of a well-educated Englishman. And how could it not be? After all, it's British lit.

Cheerio!

Snowboarding 2007

2007-02-11T20:18:00.000-05:00

Finally! Today, I got a chance to surf the white stuff for the first time this winter season! It's my second year of snowboarding and I'm still liking it a lot. Granted, I'd still say I'm a newbie at this thing. I spent my entire first two runs constantly falling on my butt, chest and face before I felt sort of at ease. I think I need at least 10 or more trips to Mountain Creek before the newbie feeling subsides. With the winter weather arriving severely late, I'd say I should go twice a week to MC before spring to feel like my season pass was worth the splurge.

Go snow!

TH & Etoile de Bessages

2007-02-08T23:28:00.000-05:00

Good o'l Tyler Hamilton, in his "comeback" career, raced in his first stage yesterday. He finished 66th in the first stage of the Etoile de Bessages race, 11 secs behind the winner. A day before he rode in the GP La Marseillaise and finished in the main pack. So far so good.

Outside posted a snippet of Tyler's recent magazine interview regarding his return to cycling.

His Tinkoff team sure has a busy 2007 race season ahead. The Tinkoff team member Q&A profiles also are a bit interesting (although the site seems rather slow). A couple of entertaining answers:

Do you have other sports people in your family\ what are the sports they practise?
Vasil Kiryienka: Oh, sure thing! My wife is a World champion in the sport of embracing! ,-))

Your favorite pastime \ hobby
Alexander Serov: Nothing special, just spending time with my girlfriend.

1st Workout of 2007

2007-02-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

Just a brief but eventful note.

My first workout of 2007 officially began today. Wuup wuup wuup! Yes I know, it's late. But what with the job thing and the foot thing filling my worries, I was just so out of sync. However, now that the former and latter are doing much better, I can finally settle into a daily routine.

So anyway, it's just a small start -- 30 deliberate minutes on the bike trainer -- as I'm still a little wary of my foot, but a start nonetheless . That journey of a thousand miles is now one step shorter... among a thousand other journeys, mind you.

***
Personal Notes:
2/6/2006: bike trainer @ 30 minutes; gear ratio 42 x 21?; 80-85 rpm; RPE (6-20) = 11 (light)
Notes: Bent over riding position felt a bit awkward; palms hurt a little bit from the weight bearing; quads, feet and legs felt great afterward. --- 2/7/2007: no soreness in the legs or anywhere still; a good sign that my body still feels adapted to cycling

Treating myself for a job well gotten

2007-02-04T09:24:00.000-05:00

This is not a flog, so let me just provide aliases.

It's my handy dandy Molarola L6. The latest in design innovation "that can keep up with trends and manage your busy lifestyle." Yup, I'd been caught in the hype. "It can dice, slice, brew your coffee, mop the floors and wipe your sh*t-filled ass. How can you do without one?!"

But seriously folks, Melinda and I upped our service from one to two cells since we just can't keep our vocal cords off each other when we're both out of the house, and especially now that I'm employed. Oooh, how romantic ;-).

Anyway, I'm a bit obsessed with the phone features; there just are soooo many! And I suddenly feel like I'm crossing over into old fogie territory since all I really wanted was something simple with a keypad that can make and take calls. That's it. But the two phones we rec'd were free with a 2 year agreement. And since you can't get any cheaper than gratis, we took the plunge and signed our indentured contract.

Let's see, what else. Oh, the best part is keeping the phone in my shirt pocket. More easy to answer than fishing it out of my pants, and having it ring while on vibrate mode is quite exhilarating against my nipples. Ummm, yeah. Now if you'll excuse me, my tits are convulsing. It's probably Melinda checking in. Coming, dear.

Oh the sweet little pleasures of life.

ps: Go Bears!

You're hired!

2007-01-23T23:58:00.000-05:00

Psssst! Come here!
.
.
.

Closer.
.
.
.

No, closer.
.
.
.

Are you listening?

.
.
.

I got a job!

.
.
.

Yeah, really. No bullsh*t. A real J-O-B.
.
.
.

Yay, me!

Tyler back on track

2007-01-17T10:42:00.000-05:00

The latest news has it that American road cyclist and overall nice guy Tyler Hamilton will begin his renewed career on February 6 at the GP de la Marseillaise. Yeah, I know ... drugs, denial, two-year ban, Puerto investigation, framed, innocence ... . The point is, here is a guy at 35 getting back on the ball after a two year hiatus from the pro circuit. I gotta give'm props for that for having such moxy -- yo yo yo! Anyway, can't wait to see how well he performs in 2007.

Here's to those in their mid-life who dare to climb to the next plateau. Cheers.

Go get 'em Tyler!

No more delays!

2007-01-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

There's a newly published paper on procrastination titled The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure. I couldn't find the entire paper online, only news articles and this summary quote from the author Dr. Piers Steel:

"Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task... Perfectionism is not the culprit. In fact, perfectionists actually procrastinate less, but they worry about it more."

Hmmm, confidence is key. Confidence, confidence, confidence. Thank you, Dr. Steel, for proving that scientifically, especially with your equation: Utility = E x V / ΓD. I do believe you've made me that much more self-assured in completing my New Year's resolves.

Now to get back to business at my hand.

:-)

My 2007 priorities

2007-01-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

I have three New Year's resolutions:
1. Get a job.
2. Get a job.
3. Get a job.

I shall list my other resolves when the first three have been met.

(Off topic, I must say I'm still impressed with the macro/spot focus capability on my trusty ol' Canon G1. Even picked up the newspaper fibers quite sharply in my original pic. Note to self: must try it on my private parts some day ... in macro mode, of course ;-p).)

A warm 2007 already?

2007-01-06T08:17:00.000-05:00

Holy mother! It's going to be 69/70F today! Yes, today! January 6, 2007. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit! That's crazy talk! But what about the snow? My snow? My snowboarding snow? Going, going, gone. Kaput. [head draped down in defeat]

Curse you, Colorado, for taking it all away from us!!!

(Oh, Happy New Year everyone!)

Happy Ho Ho Ho!

2006-12-25T00:36:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! :-)

Free affection

2006-12-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

I am amazed at how popular this video became since it was launched on YouTube.com this past September. After all, it promotes such a feel-good atmosphere, how could it not be endorsed? My props to its producer, editor and sickpuppies soundtrack.

So in the spirit of goodness for the holidays, I'd like to add to the film's popularity and advocate its message of selfless affection.

Now come here, you big lug.
Let me get my arms around ya
and give you a great big hug.

Free hugs for everyone!

Peace.

Energize me!

2006-12-19T23:43:00.000-05:00

Geez, talk about obsessed! I can't believe how giddy I was about getting a great deal on batteries today!

Let's see now:
$18.80 for twenty AA NiMH rechargeable batteries
$12.53 for ten AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries
$7.23 for shipping
-$10.00 credit for using 'Google Checkout'

(whirr whirr, kah-ching kah-ching, beep beep)

Equals a whopping $28.56 TOTAL.

Did ya hear that, ma? That's $28.56 for 30 rechargeable batteries! I say, I say that's 95 cents per NiMH battery. An unbelievable price if you ask me thank you very much. Beat that, Wal-effin-mart! Oh good lordy lordy, I must be in heaven! Help me, jeezus!

Ain't no friggin' toy gonna go dead this holiday! Can I get an Amen?! AMEN!

Hallelujah!

12 Days BEFORE Christmas

2006-12-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

Today is Day 3 of our little Twelve Days BEFORE Christmas event for the kids. This is the two weeks before the 25th when Santa puts out daily little gifts for the wee ones at the front door or in their stockings. The gifts come with a little snippet of the Twelve Days Of Christmas poem and an addendum. Here was yesterday's:

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
two turtle doves.

Unfortunately, those little birds flew away.
So here's some Play-Doh, of which I know you're aware.
Just a couple things to note:
Always be kind to each other and remember to share.

Love,
Santa Claus

The kids are certainly ecstatic over this, which occurred last year as well. It's amazing how something like a simple box of cereal and a gallon of milk could put an all day smile on them when they know it's from the big jolly himself.

Here's to the goodness of magic. Glad they still believe in it.

James Kim (1971-2006)

2006-12-06T17:39:00.000-05:00

I was hoping for the least likely of good news, but unfortunately authorities found James' body at about noon PST. (Geez, he was still young! born a few years after me.)

The swiftest of comfort to all his family and friends.

Rest in peace, James. :-(

Update: 12/9/06
1. This is the best timeline article of the event that I've come across.
2. This is a nice Google mapping where the Kim's were stranded.

James Kim

2006-12-05T23:53:00.000-05:00

I'm just hooked onto this story. Are they going to find James Kim or not?! Just a pair of pants as of the latest news. It's now day 4 that he took off from his car and family to find help.

Where is he?! (Refresh, refresh, refresh.)

Leonid Meteor Shower

2006-11-18T09:45:00.000-05:00

"Keep looking up!" -- Jack Horkheimer

Tonight's the night—Nov 18th. This is the peak time at which to view the annual Leonids. Here on the U.S. east coast, a bustling 30 minute window of activity is predicted to occur starting at 11:30 pm, with diminishing sitings before and after. The streaks should be coming from the east, emanating from the constellation Leo and the planet Saturn, which unfortunately will be close to the horizon. Jack Horkheimer has a really nice video (.rm) about it, although he states Nov. 19 @ 3 am as the best viewing time; perhaps he's from Europe. The great thing about the shower is that it's a new moon or that is, no moon, so the skies will be dark and won't be polluted with moonlight.

Check it out. Remember, it's a free show and you don't even have to pay for parking. Plus, y'know, it sets the stage for a nice romantic makeout session.

XXXOOO

Yay, I swam today!

2006-11-15T23:56:00.000-05:00

"Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow."

I managed a solid 25 minutes of lap swimming at the Y while Miguel was doing his weekly lesson in the open lane next to mine. I focused on technique and efficiency, trying to maintain my streamline position by looking more downward than ahead. Currently, I'd say I'm an awful freestyler; I can't figure for the life of me what other inconsistencies cause me to take 21 strokes per length while I've seen countless others do close to 12. Perhaps my fat ass has something to do with it.

As for Miguel, he finally broke the floatie barrier four weeks ago and can finally swim on his own without flotations—about 8 feet to 1/4 pool length with me alongside him for visual support. Yeah boyeeee! Little steps sure go a long way. Nice going, Mig.

The last tidbit: It bothers me that I often fail to recognize people with whom I've had casual conversations. Like today as we were leaving the Y, one fellow had a table set up in the foyer to offer some free chiropractic advise/plug. And then he just goes to me and shakes hands, "Hey, long time no see, buddy! Still doing your morning laps? I've been 3 times in the pool this week." And I go, "Ummm, yeah. I'm still doing it. Ummm, how's it going?" And then my brain fires up its neurons for some recollection. Searching. Searching. But nooooo, the pink squishy thing responds: "Cannot compute. Target unidentifiable. Who the hell is he?! There is no goddamn sanctuary!!" Boooom!!!

Anyway, the funny of it was my end thought: People sure look different when suited up than when in the buff in the locker rooms. Best that I continue the conversation when we're all in our shirts and shoes to keep the recognizable factor intact. Ummm, that is, focus.

Have I said too much? :-)

Planning with peers

2006-11-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

"Chief! Pull it together!"-- Colonel Tigh, Battlestar Galactica (Exodus, Part 1)

I did no triathlon this 2006 season. I'm quite disappointed. I was hoping that I'd make it a personal tradition to compete in at least one tri-race per year since my 2005 comeback. In hindsight, I ended up spending most of my training on the bike; I guess I just didn't have my heart in it to spend more time swimming and running. So much for dedication.

And then I got that plantar fasciitis thing in June and went on holiday overseas for 3 weeks in July. Blah blah blah. Certainly that offset my momentum; that is, if I had any at all.

But then I read of another blogger sort of in similar design: a man without a plan. Made me want to adopt him as my virtual training peer. [pause, peering up into space, eyes squinting] Hold the phone, what's that I said--a virtual training peer? [sitting up, eyes wide, eureka moment of expression] Hmmmm. By joe, that's it! I think I'll do just that and take a peek every once in a while at his posts to see how his plan is going; perhaps to give me a little perk for my own workouts.

Alright then, my 2007 season training has begun! Yeeeeehaw! Break out the 7-layer cheesecake, tiramisu leftovers, Ben&Jerry's triple fudge and my 2-liter Diet Coke. I've got a reason to celebrate and her name is Kona!

[burp] Excuse me.

Cheesecake & a workout

2006-11-03T09:18:00.000-05:00

Diets don't apply at the Cheesecake Factory, not even with the greens.

I ordered a Riviera Salad yesterday night in celebrating my nephew's birthday just so I could make room for dessert. But holy smokin' moly! that entry was sooooo big. I swear they jammed an entire head of romaine lettuce, two huge tomatoes, three whole hardboiled eggs, ten thousand potatoes and the rest of the farm into my crater sized bowl. WTF!

With that said, I must say it was good. Deeeelicious! Throw in a big diet Coke with 2 refills and I was good to go. I had no choice but to pack the dessert for take-home.

***

Three hours prior: my workout.

Time: 45 minutes
Method: CycleOps indoor trainer
Gear Ratio: 42/16
Cadence: about 80-85 rpm (no cyclometer)
Distance: ??? (no cyclometer)
Perceived Exertion Scale: 13 (somewhat hard; quite an effort but can maintain)
Trigger Songs: Dive (Steven Curtis Chapman), Here and Now (ZoeGirl) and misc.

Comments: 1st workout in about 2 weeks, I think. Felt great. Could endure and maintain the strain in my quads. My plantar fasciitis not a bother. Easy visualizations with trigger songs. A+++.

I really should be logging my workouts more consistently. At least this is a start.

Strumming again

2006-11-02T03:08:00.000-05:00

Hey, I picked up the guitar and restarted my umpty-umph attempt at learning it yet again. I went about it for just over 30 minutes until my fingertips got achy. So far I know the open C-A-G-E-D chords and with quite bad form--slow finger placement, muted strings, y'know what i mean.

I blame two youtube.com videos here and here (1st song only) for today's inspiration. Thanks, Ortopilot. Also, I stumbled across a video of one of my highschool jazz bandmates, Bruce Gatewood, who was an amazing player then but has turned out to wickedly burn fire on the strings now. A totally cool guy. Go, Bruce!

Say cheese! I mean, acorn!

2006-10-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

Awwww, just wook at this weally cute wittle girl. Took a 12x zoom snap of her crawling just twelve feet outside the kitchen window with a new camera we rec'd from my sister-in-law. An advance xmas present and an extremely generous one at that. A super rrrrreally big thanks, sis.

Our previous digital camera was a Canon G1 (a gift as well; thanks, Dad) and although now dated (they're currently up to G7), I had yet to tap its amazing potential as another user had done.

I love photography, so I certainly don't take these latest gadget gifts for granted.

Stay tuned for some future visual awesomeness. Maybe porn, perhaps :-). Oooh, la la!

A foot problem

2006-10-26T18:57:00.000-04:00

Plantar fasciitis sucks.

I've had it since June and I've failed to pay it some serious attention to successfully treat it. Just thought it would go away after a few calf stretches, I guess. Well, four months later with some inconsistent stretching, an occasional night splint and no curbing of any foot loading activities like walking or standing, the pain is still there. Go figure.

I haven't seen an orthopedist yet but will likely schedule an appointment in the next few days. Time to get my act together, discipline my treatment and finally nip this thing in the bud.

The Devil Wears Prada

2006-10-22T23:22:00.000-04:00

Last night I finished reading The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. I began it in mid-July through page 327 and let three months pass before resuming the last 105 pages. A typical me as I figured. (Don't even ask about my still hiatus from Stephen King's Bag of Bones.) And then I read about this guy's pace of a book a week! My hat's off to him.

Anyway, The Devil read exactly like a movie to me, although I haven't yet seen the film version. I even auto-filled the last page with my own ending soundtrack--John Mayer's Bigger Than My Body:

Someday I'll fly
Someday I'll soar
Someday I'll be so damn much more
Cause I'm bigger than my body
I'm bigger than my body
I'm bigger than my body now.

Dolby Digital Digital DTS SDDS
All material is protected by Copyright laws of the United States...

[Fade to black]

An alien insect!

2006-09-28T21:31:00.000-04:00

Holy sh*t!!! Google maps has just discovered a 50 meter arthropod in Germany! Run for your lives!

Dance Dance Revolution / PIU

2006-09-24T00:39:00.000-04:00

Watching people dance can be just as motivating and inspiring for me as watching athletes give their all in their sport. I've only tried playing DDR at an arcade once just this past summer and had quite a delight with it. If only I were two decades younger, I'd be aspiring to jive like that guy in the video above. (I watched it closely and I do believe he lands on most if not all of the correct lights dead on!)

He's definitely got the moves and is the coolest ~~DDR~~ Pump-It-Up (PIU) dancer I've seen yet.

Groove on!

Update: 9/30/06
It's not a DDR but rather a Pump It Up (PIU) machine in the video--both of which are arcade competitors with different dance pad layouts. Also, I've found out that the guy is James "Smidget" Devito, arguably the top U.S. competitor in PIU. I believe he's sponsored and involved in promoting the home console for Andamiro (see interview). Below are youtube links to his other performances:
1. WPF 2005 in Korea (I think James placed 2nd in the freestyle category.)
2. USPF 2005 (?) in Greenhorn, US.
3. Misc (unknown info)

Our 2006 MS Bike Tour

2006-09-22T01:52:00.000-04:00

September 16th & 17th: 150 miles in two days.

It's the 2006 NJ "City-To-Shore" MS Bike Tour that three of my friends and I just did. Actually, they did the round trip 150; I only rode Saturday's 75 miles and took a long bus ride back to my car, which is how I signed up to do the Tour. Just can't stand to leave Melinda and the kids for too long, y'know. :-)

My lesson learned: sleep, sleep, sleep and drink, drink, drink. I barely slept 1.5 hours the night before due to a lot of irresponsible last minute preparation; and then on the ride, didn't grab any of my water bottles until the first rest stop. (Good lordie, why the halibut was I not thinking!?) So as you probably guessed, the inevitable occurred: severe fatigue and cramp city in both my calves. Ouch.

But yeah, I made it through thanks to my pals and the miracle of drafting. But I certainly was mad at myself the whole ride home as well as the next day for having such inept hindsight.

Our next tour is October 1st: The Pumpkin Patch Pedal @ 100 miles. So last night, I did an exact two hours on my trainer: hill intervals. A lot of huffing and puffing. It was my penance.

Ride on.

2 blogs become 1

2006-09-08T23:59:00.000-04:00

I maintain a separate 'workout' blog that I may soon merge into this one. I'm getting tired of having to bounce among entries. After all, life is the whole enchilada, n'est pas? Might as well dish it all here to convey the bigger picture.

For now, I'm just changing the colors. How pretty.

A time travel flick

2006-08-31T23:50:00.000-04:00

I saw Primer today on cable. Holy smokes, this movie was good. And it cost only $7000 to produce!! A personal favorite now. I'm watching it again this weekend and currently trying to find out more* about the film. I give Primer four super shiny stars: ****

* Shane Carruth is the writer, director, editor and composer of the movie. He also plays one of the two main characters. Talk about a really small budget! I found his change in career from engineer to filmmaking inspiring.

Bike like Ned

2006-08-27T17:17:00.000-04:00

I'm inspired to climb.

Being a bit of a fan of cycling great Tyler Hamilton,--drug related drama & two-year suspension all aside--I read last week he had won the Mt. Washington Hillclimb in New Hampshire. It's a 7.6 mile all uphill race with an average 12% grade. And that's only the average. I think the steepness goes up to 22% in the last hundred yards. Lynne Tolman writes an engulfing description of the climb that makes me want to sign up.

As for the inspiration, it comes from another rider in the race results: 2nd place finisher Ned Overend, age 51. Excuse me, come again? Yes friggin frodo, he's fifty-one! He finished just two minutes behind Tyler. What a dude!

Reminds me of triathlete legend Dave Scott who did an amazing comeback at age 40 to finish 2nd in the 1994 Hawai Ironman Triathlon, and then 5th in '96 at age 42!

Can't wait to be 51 now. Greatness awaits! :-)

Our New Solar System

2006-08-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

I'm a little sad that Pluto is officially no longer a planet. Neither is UB313--nicknamed "Xena", which is actually larger than Pluto. However, it does up the status of Ceres--formerly an asteroid--that lies between Mars and Jupiter. These heavenly bodies are now officially "dwarf planets."

Whether or not this decision holds up as well as the "planet" definition, I'm not sure. The vote was done at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague. And although 424 astronomers voted, that's only less than 5% of the world's astronomers.

So now you can be the know-it-all of your nephews and nieces. Go ahead and ask 'em: What are the EIGHT planets of our Solar System? Oh, and the THREE dwarf planets?

SNAP!

2006-08-22T09:12:00.000-04:00

I got 'em! I got 'em! I got dat wascally wittle wodent! :-)

A wascally wittle wodent

2006-08-18T23:43:00.000-04:00

I have a little mouse to catch tonight. Saw a few of its little doo-doo droppings in the kitchen floor cabinets yesterday. Grosses me out that he/she was crawling around the canned foods taking a dump here and there.

I set two traps by the stove. Mwuuu-hahhh-hahhh!!

Here, little mousy mousy...

The Perseids are here!

2006-08-13T02:46:00.000-04:00

I saw two shooting stars tonight!

It's the annual Perseid Meteor Shower every August. The peak of the shower is actually occurring right now as I type this. (Sorry that I forgot to mention this news earlier.) And so at 2:15 am this morning (jetlag still?), I walked out onto our backyard deck and looked up for only a few minutes. And lo and behold, in the first two minutes, I saw two bright streaks.

Quite unfortunately for this year, the moon is close to full and is polluting the skies with excess light and limiting the number of shooting stars to be seen. Nevertheless, the brightest of the Perseids are still visible and shouldn't disappoint with their long streaks. Technically, you should be able to see about one every minute, more or less. (Note, stay very well tuned for next year: it's a new moon (i.e., no moon) and the skies will be dark dark dark for a great show!)

So go on. Tomorrow night, get out there. Bring a blanket, bring a beer, lay back and be very patient.

Space is soooo beautiful.

***

More info:
http://www.jackstargazer.com/scripts0SG0632.html
http://www.jupiterscientific.org/sciinfo/perseid.html

Floyd Landis

2006-08-11T15:26:00.000-04:00

I feel backlogged from my vacation. I have tons of stuff to catch up on and many blog thoughts that need to be expressed.

Right now I'm trying to get caught up on the Tour de France. Thankfully, I have recordings of the stages, which I'll try to watch this weekend.

The Floyd Landis drama (I just saw him on Leno on YouTube.com) made me rethink about having real life heros to look up to. Certainly it seems natural to want to put someone up on a pedestal as a reference for success. But then they'd be susceptible to fallout from scandals and other vices the media would turn up. What then happens to their hero status?

So for now, I'm going the "Batman Begins" route:

"But if you make yourself more than just a man...
If you devote yourself to an ideal...
and if they can't stop you,
then you become something else entirely."

I'll be putting up my Buffy The Vampire Slayer posters all over my workout area now. Beware, all you forces of evil!

Back from the Philippines

2006-08-08T11:08:00.000-04:00

It's been a week now that the family and I are back from our overseas trip. And yet still we're very well jetlagged. Yesterday, we all slept at 3 pm and awoke at 2 am! We've been awake since, and now it's noon and I feel my brain is starting to turn off.

Anyway, this blog deserves a long awaited entry. So just off the top of my head:

1. Still jet lagged. It's a 12 hr difference between New Jersey and Manila.
2. It's taken me almost 7 days now to sort and retouch our digital pics for posting.
3. I've already posted most of the pics on my flickr.com account, although I'd recommend you wait just a few more days for me to get them reordered, labeled and more cohesively presented.
4. I have an awakened view of life, as a visit to the Phil. Islands never ceases to culture shock me.
5. What the hell happened in The Tour de France!??? Pre-race drug accusations? Amazing stage comebacks? Post-victory scandals? WTF?!
6. I think I've lost my addiction to my bike workouts. Yesterday, I did my 1st workout in almost a month on the trainer. Didn't workout a bit on vacation and ate like a pig. Well actually, I ate pig. Lots of it! Yummy, yummy. But what a belly I've acquired.

On vacation

2006-07-19T19:07:00.000-04:00

I'M IN THE PHILIPPINES! Yes, at this moment! Now! Ngayun!

All the pre-days planning and the trip are what have caused my lagging entries. Sorry. Anyway, so here I am with my family. We're staying in one of the big cities called Makati. And we're lucky with our location, staying in a hotel/condo building just across from the Greenbelt, which is a shopping/restaraunt/cafe/fast food but naturesque area -- I think the heart of Makati really. It's like staying at a hotel right smack in the middle of Times Square with a fraction of Central Park tucked in. Convenient, trendy and hip.

So I found this 24 hr internet cafe about 100 feet from our building at some basement location. Melinda says to use it at only 'safe' hours of the day, although I think this area seems really safe most of the time if not all.

We've been in the Philippines for a week already but today is really the only time I was able to find to get on the net. I'd taken it for grossly granted that 'hotspots' would be all over the place and that I'd be able to connect easily with my laptop or at least 'tap' into someone's unsecure network. Well as I've discovered, there are no wireless networks to be found and that 56k is still a hot item. Don't even think about hi-speed broadband here! Oh, and we don't have a cell phone. Talk about communication withdrawal. Boy, do I feel like a princess trapped in a wet market. Ummm yeah, whatever that means.

So hopefully, local pics of the area are to come in future entries now that they guy behind the desk says that I could upload stuff into their computers via usb.

Sigi na, as they'd say here.

Le Tour. Le Drugs?!

2006-06-30T10:46:00.000-04:00

Geezus friggin' christopher!

This just in: Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso are barred from the 2006 Tour de France by involvement in a doping investigation!

Looks like the yellow jersey (and the win) may arguably lie in the hands of George Hincapie or Alex Vinokourov.

And so now my anticipation for watching The Tour has diminished a bit, knowing that the favorites have been scratched out.

Sucks.

PS: In other news elsewhere somewhere remote, I hear that Greg Lemond, Miguel Indurain, Eddie Merckx and Lance Armstrong are coming into The Tour as replacements. Something about Old Timer's Day or that it would bring about some comic relief. Hooray!

It's alive! Mwaahhh-ah-ah!

2006-06-23T23:21:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't been an idle triathlete. Well, maybe just ~~a whole friggin' lot~~ a tad. That is, been only on the bike side of things really. So much for a diligent attitude. Still, I've had my moments of obsession, whether in my spur of the moment workouts (unlogged, sorry) or in building up of an old friend—my 91' Cannondale. The frame is bent below the right seat stay after a pile on accident years ago (i.e., they and their bikes piled on top of me and my bike). Nevertheless, it's still strong and rideable. And I'm convinced she'll hold up, Captain. Thus, the rebuild from total naked frame ground up.

This is my 'spare' bike built from spare and new parts. It's for use on my indoor trainer and some outdoor rides. Also, I'm continuously experimenting with the setup as my sweet little 'Dale will hopefully evolve into a fixed gear bike. The bullhorn handlebars are already in the mail :-); I've installed a new cassette: 8 speed 11-28 (11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28); and a threadless stem system is soon coming. Other future enhancements include Turbonium, force field and death ray, as usual. Oh, and windshield wipers and a cup holder.

Bike building sure is turning out to be fun.

Picasa Photos

2006-06-19T19:29:00.000-04:00

Yay! I've been invited by Picasa to start using the beta version of their web based photo albums! And wouldn't ya know it, just a few weeks after I became a Flickr Pro member. Anyways, just an FYI since I felt like I won the lottery or something.

Water water everywhere!

2006-06-15T23:14:00.000-04:00

As I type this, we're relaxing our butts off at the Great Wolf Lodge in PA. It's a log cabin style resort with a HUGE indoor waterpark--water chutes, a wave pool, swimming pools and tons of comfortable fun for the family. I really really like it.

We're only staying for one night this time since it's a bit pricey, but maybe next year we'll try for two.

Cluttered footwear

2006-06-05T23:22:00.000-04:00

It's a nonresolving issue (Get it? Iss-shoe? :-)) day after day. I organize and clean it all up, yet still chaos manages to rule the shoe shelves. And so I'm currently brainstorming a way to make it is easy to neatly don out of our sneakers, flip-flops and feet what nots without making such a mess. And all without bending over. Is it possible? (Hell no!) Well I'll try anyway. Here's to hope. Stay tuned for a future snapshot of a better catalogued collection.

Another jerkoff statement from the big guy

2006-06-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

"Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society," Bush said in his Saturday radio address. "Marriage cannot be cut off from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening this good influence on society." -- George Bush (radio address, June 3, 2006)

Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh-choooo-bullshit!

Sorry, I have a cold.

To Do List: post family pics

2006-05-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm on the very verge of finally posting our family pics online. I just need to weigh the pros and cons of using our domain name webspace versus flickr.com's service, yahoo photos and the like (e.g., privacy/anonymity, spiders, hackers, user interfaces, fees, etc). Any advice would be appreciated.

Biking in CT

2006-05-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

A done deal at the Bloomin' Metric bike tour in Norwalk, CT. It was definitely a fun ride, but in a masochistic, exasperating, heart-attacking sort of way. Hills, hills and more hills. Talk about lactic acid city! At some fork early along the route was a sign that pointed in two directions: a right arrow toward the 75k ride and a left arrow toward the max 100k ride. So we stopped, thought and talked a little, and then went left. A long 100k or bust.

I loved the tour. I think it'll be an annual tradition.

Ride on!

Mom's Day plug

2006-05-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

If it were my day, I'd want the The Mighty Bright Triple LED Telescoping Book Light. Well, it wasn't my day, but I bought it anyway, actually yesterday at Waldenbooks in the mall. I'm getting tired of spending money for ebooks when there's a plethora of free books to be had at the library. And since I do much of my reading (which in truth is very little) in the dim, this portable LED book light does the job eons better than the 'bulb' type that I have. Plus, my new light is a hit with little Miguel as a flashlight, doubles as a metal-cutting laser, does text messaging, is iPod compatible, has force field and death ray settings, serves as a portable tanning booth and runs on nuclear fusion trilithium everlasting crystalite batteries. Sshhhh!

Happy Mother's Day!
xxxooo

Bike tour

2006-05-10T08:08:00.000-04:00

This morning, I signed up for the Bloomin' Metric Bike Ride in Norwalk, CT. I'll be doing the ride on May 21st with three of my cycling homeboyz. We haven't decided yet, but I think we'll be doing the 75k distance. Hopefully, it should be a nice scenic tour. We'll only be there for the day and hope to be back home by early afternoon.

Ride on, dudes!

I'm a big girl now.

2006-04-24T09:32:00.000-04:00

"It's okay, Daddy. I know where to go."
"You sure, sweetie?"
"Yes."

And off running toward the school doors little Tina went. I had brought my camera thinking we'd get a little daddy & daughter self-portrait within the school just before I'd give her my hugs and goodbye-for-the-day kisses. No such luck. Just a quick peck on the cheek and a trailing "I love you too, Daddy" yell as she darted away. At least I managed to shoot a pic before she made it inside.

Here's to another growth plateau reached. (sigh)