All the... dumb things

The thought came to mind this morning of something a past roommate said to me in conversation. I was advising her that after showering she should run the bathroom fan for approximately 20 mins after to get the moisture out (at least that's what I've been told). She then said that she was so glad we had a fan and that her last apartment didn't have a bathroom fan she continued to exclaim questioningly "could you believe a bathroom not having a bath fan?!" I was dumbfounded a little but managed to chime in supportingly something to the effect "like yah that's unheard of" oh the horror! I mocked sarcastically in my head till this day. So when you think people forget the dumb things we say- no, it just may be what they remember most.

Green is good

This year has been a green year. I have been looking for signs of green because everything that has been green has turned out to be a good thing for me. It all started when I moved in to my new apartment and someone gifted a pot set that they were getting rid of and it was all enameled green. It was so cute and suited me just fine. Since then all throughout the year I had met with green things for my kitchen all gifted. Then it applied to something totally unexpected when I was searching for internet service and I didn't want Verizon or AT&T/Comcast (you can't fool me) both of which I have sworn off years ago as being terrible companies on principle and customer service. I also don't believe in cable. It's a hoax! plus television isn't any good these days and robs us of our creativity. So I started searching for something like a start-up company with smarts. I thought in this day and age of ipods and innovation, dsl must be outdated and that's when I came across CLEAR. The website looked professional, had green everywhere and here they were offering 4G using WiMax technology! when last I heard Verizon only had 3G. It sounded like the future to me exactly the kind of innovation I knew was out there. To explain the 4G techno a little I borrowed the following explanation from Wikipedia:

"The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards compatible transmission technology, higher spectral bandwidth and new frequency bands. New generations have appeared about every ten years since the first move from 1981 analog (1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2001, by 3G multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbit/s, in 2011 expected to be followed by 4G, which refers to all-IP packet-switched networks, mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access and multi-carrier transmission."

WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) on the other hand well that simply allowed lifting the constraints of wires and cables. Bottom line - bigger and better.  Signing up was a breeze. I had the choice of purchasing my device or leasing it and they didnt have to call my preschool principal to verify that I was me and that I was honest about it. They simply posted at the interaction "because that's how we roll". I was thrilled. I purchased my device, signed up and when it came in the mail, I plugged it in usb and voila! I was on like corn. Thanks to Craig McCaw the Steve Jobs in telecommuinications.

The eternal denim Jacket

Is it really eternal? Is it out? Is it ever? Should the wearers be be told to stop? I have recently pondered these questions because lately pairing a denim jacket with a pair of jeans brings to mind eighties multicolored tube socks and one-sided pony-tails with bangs (although that's making a comeback too). I cringe at the sight of women 30 and up wearing the combination really. Which makes me think - when is it ok to wear a denim jacket? Is it that the design makes the difference? Does it belong to the young only? I can't imagine grandma wearing a denim jacket unless she's gardening or is the regular hippie. I've been reconsidering the popularity of jeans altogether and wondering if there is anything that might replace it as the most worn article of clothing ever. Well... what makes a pair of jeans the go to piece of clothing no matter the occasion? seems to be these days it's worn to restaurants, theatre, opera house, the Board room...just about any and everywhere. Think, durability-jeans last forever and if not forever a darn long time! blending ability - jeans go with every fashion dressed up or down and with any color, chameleon ability - it takes on many forms (hmmm jeans underwear anyone?)

Shoe Snob

I've become a shoe snob. At some point in my recent life I developed an aversion to shoe shopping. Don't get me wrong I love to admire shoes; I might go crazy over a new style or even design one in my head or dream of having a shoe company but that soon turns into a slow churning feeling of needing to expel my lunch. It gets worse when I go shopping for shoes. It has seriously baffled me as to what has occurred in my psyche. I have reasoned that it could be associated with the lack of comfortable shoes wherein shoe wearers these days always have to sacrifice comfort for style; or maybe it's my inability to withstand the stilt walking heights heels have gone to when I can't even bear to walk in 2 inches. But then again I have also developed malcontent and boredom of shopping even for clothing. It might have started when my shoe loving -bordering on hoarding that could soon enough warrant an episode of the program Hoarders on A&E- aunt Gloria (recall your favorite Gloria song here mine being by U2) offered me a look into her stash to pick out any I liked. I recall an ecstatic cry as I dove in like a contestant on Supermarket sweep then I picked so many that I eventually paused as my eyes dilated and inside me something changed. I dropped most of the ones I picked and chose a few rather simple ones turned my back on the rest and never looked back. I have since never feigned any excitement except for a mere appreciative comment on a particularly interesting design and color. Another issue I have with shoes is lack of arch cushioning because my arches seem to be high and the pressure places can shift your bones and cause bunion forming and bone pain. All in all I really would like to design shoes with both fashion sense and common sense but it may be a dreamscape.

Velox Pride

Summer was busy. I rode 155miles and raised over $1700 to support a cure for Multiple Slerosis both numbers more than I set out to accomplish but both worth it. It went down without a hitch but for a minor upset on my first day where somewhere around mile 40 something a woman drove up behind me overtaking and turning right in front of me while I was going down hill then she stopped suddenly right on the corner in front of me and all I could mutter before realizing how fast I had to brake and how sure my collision with her car was going to be was "Please drive, pleeeeease drive!" To no avail she just sat there panicky looking and glancing into her rearview mirror until my bike hit her bumper head on and I jumped onto the trunk and rebounded onto the street. It was surprising that I did this without seriously injuring myself and I got up a bit bruised and annoyed that she abbreviated a perfectly good descent after a climb. She came out of the car pleadingly for forgiveness, her son in the passenger seat seemed to be inquiring of her, what was she thinking! because she kept going back and forth explaining herself to him as he murmured questions. I had a sneaky feeling she was extremely nervous for another reason that I couldn't be bothered with, although the cops came and brushed everything off probably because the whole ride seemed like a bit of a nuisance to the town officials and those who didn't seem to care for the hoards of riders upsetting their weekend routine. I was eager to get back on the road and see that my twelve hundred dollar women specific Trek was not damaged except that of my white handlebar taping which now had a tear. All in all, the days were enjoyable and the Bourne bridge not as hard as I thought to ascend at 5 in the morning. I swore up and down Route 6 on my last leg of the whole ride on the second day only simply because the stretch was just torture being a long boring highway of cars and riders so distant. Although I thought doing the ride with a partner would be so much more encouraging I would do the ride again for the sheer exhilaration and to help others in the process. I learned that although it's a charity ride many of the riders are extremely competitive - the men especially (testosterone levels were up there alright). However keeping focused and seeing how dedicated the supporters along the way were was enough to keep my spirits high. I finished both days and partied my way back home on a ferry. After that I haven't gotten many major rides and like an addict I crave long bike rides. Now that it's getting colder I'll be back to cycling with Michael at the gym but non one would have to convince me next year to do the MS ride. If you're interested in riding with a good team check out Team Velox Rota. Michael is the team captain and although you might end up with a super crush, once that's past, you'll find a group of really enthusiastic true blue friendly folks who believe in making a difference and just pedaling.

Book Beginnings ... never endings

Cuanta la mera sang the busker in the subway; Dorika was beginning to feel nauseous for some reason and the train was barreling noisily down the tunnel tracks. The sudden rush and confusion in her brain was always eminent when so much was happening at one time. She was heading North to Cambridge on the MBTA redline away from the city or Boston proper into education territory. As the train violently pulled into the station for just a brief moment she thought of what it would be like to jump in front of it. 'The pain would probably be so intense yet abrupt. I’d probably be knocked unconscious first then crushed. If death had an easy way out? She always ended suicidal thoughts this way. 'But I am too much of a coward to kill myself and a bigger one in living'. ‘This is the best description of purgatory’ she thought, then she remembered what it was like when she used to be Catholic and then she thought of her mother and felt even sadder and worried about her health, her medications, her doctor’s appointments…
So were her thoughts constantly rehashing ideas and ongoing sufferings and worries of herself and those she loved. The doors to the train opened and she entered wanting to find a seat quickly, one not close to anyone and one no one was likely to sit next to. She always hoped no one would sit next to her all the way to her destination whenever she rode the trains. She especially didn't like the Chinese passengers because they always sat down if there was an empty seat and talked loudly, 'they smell like an oily Chinese restaurant' she thought. They would not be deterred no matter how uninviting she positioned herself. She was reading Earnest Hemingway’s “The Sun also Rises” and it had just begun to get interesting. She was annoyed for most of the first half. The constant post war indulgences, getting into taxicabs, getting out of them, going to the cafes, clubs and hotels and all the descriptive streets of Paris. The hotels and everyone seemed depressed and touch and go. The second half moved on to the Spanish countryside and picturesque mountaintops and springs and wine country and fishing and goats and she was escaping. She wanted to be there to breathe the cold mountain air, wade in the cold streams of trout and drink the red wine that she imagined and was apparently all they drank.

Idomeneo, neither do I.

I wonder what's playing at the opera tonight? Idomeneo, but I'm not going. See that's not the funny line I thought of yesterday morning - Shall we go to the opera tonight? Idomeneo, depends on what's playing! paddumpum ching! That's when I thought I'd be seeing the opera by Mozart but I must have psychologically willed it not to happen when I started thinking how lame the story of Idomeneo is with no real tragedy but some soggy love affair of the 'perfect couple', perfectly in love with each other. So basically after the Trojan war the king of Crete Idomeneo take Trojans captive back to Crete along with it's princess Ilia who then falls in love with his son Idamante and he with her but she is caught between her hatred of his father and her love for him. Meanwhile the princess Elettra is jealous because she loves Idamante too and is maddened when he releases Trojan prisoners to appease and win his love Ilia. Keep in mind Elettra is crazy because she and her brother killed their mother and her lover so she was exiled from her home in Argos. Then Idomeneo and his crew get shipwrecked at sea and is reported to have drowned but he makes a deal with Neptune to offer the first creature to greet him on land if Neptune should spare them. He and his crew is saved and the first person meeting him is his son. Totally stolen from the bible. So anyway, Idomeneo doesn't do what he vows but exiles Idamante instead to escort Elettra back to Argos but about to embark on the journey Neptune sends a storm and sea monster that terrifies the people (probably the Kracken haha!) and forces Idomeneo's confession. The people demand the name of the person Idomeneo was supposed to sacrifice. Idamante fights the monster, kills it offers himself to sacrifice but Ilia tells him she loves him and offers herself to sacrifice but Neptune steps in and says no sacrifice needed if Idomeneo steps down from the throne and gives it to these two. He does, the people are happy and everyone lives happily ever after except Elettra. Naturally! Although I kinda felt sorry for her. It's all about politics and false god worship for the sake of entertainment. It's just lame. But maybe it was a spectacle to behold onstage, Idomeneo and I'll never Idomeneo I guess!...