Successful first bike commute of the year! Sort of...

I know, I know, I'm late to the ball game. It's been spring for a few weeks at *least*. Kind of. It can't seem to make up its mind here in the great Pacific Northwest.

Last year, frustrated with how little riding I was able to get in during the evenings, plus the gas prices (and we thought they were bad then...), I made up my mind to try riding to work. It's 12.5 miles each way, which isn't really at the extreme end of bike commuting, but still nothing to sneeze at. I scoped it out in the car for weeks, then rode it on the weekend, and finally figured out a route that is almost entirely wide shoulders, bike lanes, and bike paths. There's one small bridge where I have to merge into traffic, and two left-hand turns that also pretty much require joining the big scary cars. Other than that, it's pretty stress-free.

I'd not ridden yet this year, partly because of our changeable weather and partly because I'd had a nice long winter in which to build up my phobias again. I'm scared of riding on the road. But then, I'm scared of merging on the interstate, too, especially at night. If I do it often enough, I at least get to the stage where I figure I'm more likely to make it than to die. That's about the best I can do. ;-) Same goes for the bike commute.

Yesterday at work, one of the other gals in the office, who knew that I rode in last year, came to talk about her determination to ride in today and the sorts of obstacles she anticipated. I got all wistful and decided I *had* to ride in today - this despite the fact that I'd not even been on the bike this calendar year. Yes, I am a slug.

But I'm a very stubborn slug. That's in my favor, at least!

It was a grey, cool morning - actually very nice weather for biking, IMO. No glaring sun or confusing shadows. After a mile, I thought about giving up and going back. My legs were already burning. Then, the first of the mishaps occurred. I got my shoelace looped on a pedal - something that *never* happened last year. In about two pedal strokes, my foot was completely stuck, twisted sideways, and I was unable to control the bike or free my foot. So I did what I had to do - dumped myself into the grass at the side of the road. There I was, sitting in a dip with one foot sticking up, one foot glued to the bike, and cars slowing down to watch. Yeah. Lovely. As a co-worker said, they probably figured I'm one of those folks who are starting to bike because of the gas prices, but who haven't been on a bike since about second grade. Heh... I had to take off my shoe to get my lace loose, but nothing was broken, on the shoe, the bike, or me. And it made me mad enough to go on instead of going back.

The rest of the commute was equally imperfect. I took a left turn too soon and had someone slam on their brakes and honk at me (they made it into a much bigger deal than it was, but I was at fault, for sure - again, something I didn't do alll last season. Ungh...) I ran over broken glass, which fortunately didn't cause any flats, but sure made me nervous.

But I made it. And I also had the chance to remember how much of the riding experience I'd missed - in the car, you miss the sounds of the world going on around you; the smell of flowers or cut grass or wood (or sewers) as you go past; smiling and waving at pedestrians and other cyclists; the joy of cresting a steep hill under your own power, even if you slowed to a near-walk for the final third; the rush of the wind - sometimes friend, sometimes foe....

It's good to be back again.

Typecast #2: In Which I Wonder Why I Bother Writing At All

I think I need NAA (Notebook Addicts Anonymous)...

I think I officially have too many notebooks going at once right now. Currently:

1. A large Moleskine that is my current journal. I like these - they lay absolutely flat when open (no writing up to and away from a hump), the covers are stiff enough to allow for writing without a table nearby, the pocket is handy for interesting receipts and ticket stubs and whatever other little souvenirs I care to put in there, the elastic keeps everything tidy, and the ribbon means I don't have to hunt for my last entry. Downsides: they're ridiculously expensive, for one! I have a batch right now that I got from someone on a message board, and therefore didn't pay all that much for 'em...when those are gone, we'll see if I keep using them. Other downside is that the paper isn't altogether fountain pen friendly. There's bleed-through using anything but a fine pen, and even with a fine pen some inks don't work. And feathering occurs pretty much no matter what.

2. The large Rhodia A4 sized notebook I just started for story writing. I <3 Rhodia paper. Loooove. It's a tiny bit thinner and maybe not quite so slick as the other gold standard for fountain pens: Clairefontaine. I've used both, and I'm not sure I have a definite preference, but the Rhodia pads are cheaper and more readily available, and are easier to find in graph format, which I like...

3. An Ampad Gold Fibre notepad at work, used for meeting notes, tracking my time, taking notes on tasks and procedures so I can remember 'em, etc. It's my memory. Can't function without it.

4. A logbook I've been keeping in addition to the journal. It just has a brief rundown for each day, to help me remember when I did stuff: "Ordered still more Rhodia paper from Swisher Pens. Made stuffed peppers for dinner - not as good as recipe A. Started reading Jane Eyre again." That sort of stuff. It's a good quick reference. My journal has a lot more thoughts and complaints and other fluff...

5. The mini Moleskine I keep in my purse or coat pocket, and use for story ideas for future stories, current-story brainstorming, current-story notes for easy reference (things like time lines, minor character names, scenes-to-be-written).

6. A mini memopad for reminders, grocery lists, to-do lists for home. I used to use sticky notes, but this is tidier, and I can refer back to earlier lists more easily.

7. A mini Rhodia pad for pocket-carry - for poems, mostly.

8. A tiny Japanese notebook I got when visiting my brother in San Francisco, used for fountain pen ink scribbles and comparisons, so I can remember what a particular one looked like with a particular pen or in comparison with similar colors.

I *think* that's about it. It's a lot. I could probably combine 5 & 7, I suppose, but they do all serve their purposes. Legion though they be, they get used. It makes me feel a *tiny* bit less guilty about all the additional notebooks waiting in the wings. I'm a compulsive paper buyer. I can't help myself. I love papery goodness...

Playing the building

This is mondo cool.

I don't really care much for the Talking Heads. In fact, they're one of the few artists / groups my favorite radio station plays that make me start groping for the dial the instant I hear one of their lead-ins. (The exception to the rule is "Psycho Killer," which I crank and sing along with...not sure what that says about me...) I like David Byrne's solo efforts even less.

But this is very, very cool. You remember how, as a little kid, you'd wander around tapping various household items with a pencil or drumstick to see what tone you got from it? Everybody did that, right? This takes that to a whole new level. As Neo would say, "Whoa!"

In which I make my [messy] typecast debut

Guess who's a typewriter collector?

Ralph Bakshi.

Ungh. It brings to mind a mental picture; something along the lines of a seething, rolling, motion-sickness-inducing mass of typewriters, complete with double-vision style blurred keys and distorted clickity-clacking noises, marching toward you on walking grey typewriter tables, through a sea of twitching cartoon ink-ribbons.

In case you can't tell...I was forever scarred by some of the Bakshi Lord of the Rings footage. I *hate* rotoscoping. Hate, hate, hate.

*shudder*

Blawg vivisection

Today I did some poking around in the guts of my template. I found the HTML and figured out the images that make up the background and adjusted them, as well as playing with some of the widths. It gives me a little more wiggle room for pictures, though I think I did a bit of a messy job of it. I don't really know what I'm doing, but it does open my eyes to some possibilities. Now I'm wondering about maybe replacing the background with a real paper image...hm.

Hasty pudding

The other night I really, really wanted something sweet-creamy-chocolatey, like pudding or ice cream, and didn't feel like actually leaving the house for it. I also didn't have all that many ingredients on hand, or the patience to spend much time on cooking. I did a Google search for "quick chocolate pudding", and voila, this recipe from AllRecipes.com came up. Here's my version:

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 2 cups milk
* 2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch. Whisk in milk a little at a time so the mixture does not have any dry lumps.
2. Place in the microwave, and cook for 3 minutes on high. Stir, then cook at 1 minute intervals, stirring between cooking times for 2 to 4 minutes, or until shiny and thick. Stir in vanilla. Chill.

That's it! I'm not going to say it's the best chocolate pudding I've ever had - it's not. But it's pretty good, and very, very quick and easy. Changes I made from the original: cut the sugar in half, for starters. I ended up discarding almost the entire first batch because it was gaggingly sweet. Bleh. I also upped the cocoa and vanilla for richer flavor.

The original recipe also had this step:
3. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming

To which I say...why?!? Why would you do that? Why would you kill the skin? The skin is what sets homemade pudding apart from the competition! Don't mess with the skin!

I didn't have any regular milk, so I used powdered and water, which worked just fine. It *might* be cheaper that way, too, not sure. Using the powdered milk, and cooking over a burner of some sort instead of in the microwave...this could be a good pudding to make when the revolution comes...

Everybody's doing it...

My first attempt at a...well...what would this be, considering it's not a typecast? This is using a very unfriendly scanner at work...it doesn't like anyone, especially me. Click for a better view of the image - I made it too wide this time around!

Verbal pitch

I've been on various music-related mailing lists over the years, and every so often, the subject of perfect pitch comes up. The general consensus is that it's not necessarily a fine thing to have perfect pitch (at least according to the strictest definition of the term), because it makes most music impossible to enjoy, as even the slightest deviation from absolute pitch becomes painful.

Sometimes I feel like I've got a mild form of the verbal equivalent of perfect pitch. Irregularities and imprecise speech annoy me, depending on the context. I can watch a movie or TV show or read a book where characters don't speak perfectly - I'm not quite that uptight. But...well..sometimes...

Yesterday, for example, my boss said he was feeling "nauseous", and I just *had* to give a lecture on why that was the wrong word. Nauseous does not mean "nauseated" - or it didn't until people misused it to the point where that definition got added to the dictionary. Strictly speaking, it means "causing nausea or disgust". If you're feeling queasy, you're "nauseated". You aren't "nauseous" unless you're causing other folks nausea; which could, of course, be the case if you insist on detailing your symptoms, I admit.

Signs and labels also annoy me sometimes. I have a few bottles of Bath and Body Works' aromatherapy shower gel stuff. They each have a word describing what they're supposedly for: the Ylang Rose stuff says "Sensuality" on it, for example. Umkay. Anyway. The Mandarin Lime says "Energy." All good so far. Both nouns. But the third bottle is Eucalyptus Spearmint, and it says "Relax". "Relax" isn't a noun. It doesn't fit. It should be "Relaxation." If I just had the one bottle, it wouldn't bother me, but in the series, it bugs me every single morning.

Another bottle from Bath and Body Works says to use a "button sized amount." What does that mean? Are we talking shirt button? Coat button? Elevator button? I can't use the stuff without pondering this imponderable. It's mentally paralyzing. Not a good way to start the day...