riding around
there was an interesting segment on yesterday's talk of the nation on NPR. they had two guests talking about the importance of learning to swim and how some demographics, particularly african-american men and women, who tend to not learn how to swim at all. the host asked people to call in and talk about if they don't know how to swim and why they didn't learn. it got me thinking about my relationship with the water and with swimming.
my parents tried to get me to learn how to swim. i was in water babies when i was a infant. i think we even have some photographs of me at my class with my mom and my brother and sister. my grandparents had a really nice pool in their backyard and although i would play in the water, i didn't really swim. my grandpa taught both me and my sister how to swim, but neither of us really had much of an interest. my sister ended up being better at it, but i never did well. i had swim lessons at the YMCA when i was in kindergarten. i remember swimming in the indoor pool and not enjoying it a whole lot. it was loud and stuffy and smelly. when i got older, my mom tried to introduce me to swimming again and i had semi-private lessons when i was in elementary school. i did well, but since i didn't spend a lot of time at my grandparent's house, what i learned eventually was deleted from my brain. i know survival swimming, like doggy-paddle, and i know how to tread water. both of which, the guests from yesterday's show, are important to know to decrease the risk of accidental water death. marshall insisted i learn how to swim properly. that has stuck more and now i know how to swim the freestyle and breast strokes well enough to move efficiently through the water. i still would not consider myself a swimmer and whenever i jump into the pool, my instinct is to play and not to swim laps. :)
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this weekend i managed to eek out more riding than i have in a while and i loved it. i squeezed in 9.4 miles in 40 minutes saturday morning before breakfast. i love when there's no one on the roads yet. although it's difficult when crossing a major thoroughfare and there are no cars to turn the light for you, it's just so calm and peaceful. i especially love the foggy and overcast mornings we've been having for the last month or so. it's beautiful and definitely more conducive for exercise, than when it's 80F at 8am. i'm definitely more apt to go running when it's cool and gray outside, than if it's sunny and warm. i'll even swim when it's gray outside. but riding my bike around san jose, campbell, and saratoga at 8am on a saturday is lovely. riding my bike around 6am on fridays is great, too, which i was able to do a couple of weeks ago and i plan to do again this week.
i'm getting a lot more comfortable on my bike, which is great. i'm still a little wobbly when it comes to clicking in and out of my pedals, but i'm definitely getting better. i need to start getting used to waiting at stop-lights when there's no curb for me to rest against. when it comes to pushing off, i'd much rather have a curb than nothing at all. all it takes is practice. once i get going and start feeling comfortable, i can introduce left-hand turns into my rides.
yes, all my routes so far have consisted of right-hand turns only. shut up.
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i managed to do some catching up on my cooking blog last week. i'm still not completely caught up to what i'm cooking now, but i'm a lot closer than i was before last week. i managed to go through the food photos i had on my computer and then finally dump all the new photos from my camera onto my computer and those are waiting to be posted. there are a couple of items which i'm looking forward to posting. i made this awesome pasta with cauliflower and croutons which was amazingly delicious. you wouldn't think looking at it that it would taste that amazing, but it did. there are a few others which i'm looking forward to posting, too. if i power through, i might be able to get completely caught up within a couple of weeks. i'd really like that to be the case, but i know with school starting, it's going to be difficult to keep up. :)
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marshall and i saw scott pilgrim vs. the world this past weekend. it was so totally awesome. we both walked away smiling from ear to ear and were so impressed by how the film came out. i really want to read the graphic novels, now, to see how the story was originally. i don't think they changed TOO much, but there will always be little thing that won't translate. however, they managed to get all the video game references and feeling into the film just beautifully. i loved it. i told marshall that watching that movie felt like watching someone play a video game and i LOVE doing that. i mean, i really like playing video games, but i definitely get the same enjoyment watching other people play, too. i mean, i was cheering, laughing and gasping along with the movie like it was just me in the theater. sadly enough, the theater we were in was not as packed as i would've expected. even though there's a huge cult following, i don't think this movie is going to skyrocket in the box office. plus, there are not as many theaters playing the movie and even those which are showing it are only showing it on 1 screen. but yeah, i wholeheartedly recommend seeing this movie. it truly is a beautifully-made film. :)
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i officially start school next week. i know that for one of my classes i will need to log into our class website and get the assignments and materials needed to start the semester sometime this week. i need to drag down my laptop and get that going again. marshall ordered a 3-pack of windows 7 for our household and hopefully it arrives before school really starts, so i can upgrade my laptop and get things set up. i'm really hoping that upgrading the OS on my laptop fixes whatever is causing it to crash at random intervals. i know at this point dell isn't going to do a thing, so it's up to me to trouble-shoot the issue. i would rather not have to toss a piece of machinery so soon after purchase and i certainly do not want to have to buy another laptop so soon either. i've got my fingers crossed. i need to order my books for school, though. i'll do that later this week. i'm really looking forward to school. being out of school for the last 9 months has been a love-hate situation. i love that i can do what i want when i get home from work and i don't have any huge deadlines or projects to work on. at the same time, though, i'm bored. my brain has gotten rather mushy and i am really looking forward to taking my classes, learning new things, and working on projects.
+_+_+
alright, this post ended up being way too long. i always say i'll try and post more often with shorter posts, but...we've seen how that's panned out before. *sigh*
my parents tried to get me to learn how to swim. i was in water babies when i was a infant. i think we even have some photographs of me at my class with my mom and my brother and sister. my grandparents had a really nice pool in their backyard and although i would play in the water, i didn't really swim. my grandpa taught both me and my sister how to swim, but neither of us really had much of an interest. my sister ended up being better at it, but i never did well. i had swim lessons at the YMCA when i was in kindergarten. i remember swimming in the indoor pool and not enjoying it a whole lot. it was loud and stuffy and smelly. when i got older, my mom tried to introduce me to swimming again and i had semi-private lessons when i was in elementary school. i did well, but since i didn't spend a lot of time at my grandparent's house, what i learned eventually was deleted from my brain. i know survival swimming, like doggy-paddle, and i know how to tread water. both of which, the guests from yesterday's show, are important to know to decrease the risk of accidental water death. marshall insisted i learn how to swim properly. that has stuck more and now i know how to swim the freestyle and breast strokes well enough to move efficiently through the water. i still would not consider myself a swimmer and whenever i jump into the pool, my instinct is to play and not to swim laps. :)
+_+_+
this weekend i managed to eek out more riding than i have in a while and i loved it. i squeezed in 9.4 miles in 40 minutes saturday morning before breakfast. i love when there's no one on the roads yet. although it's difficult when crossing a major thoroughfare and there are no cars to turn the light for you, it's just so calm and peaceful. i especially love the foggy and overcast mornings we've been having for the last month or so. it's beautiful and definitely more conducive for exercise, than when it's 80F at 8am. i'm definitely more apt to go running when it's cool and gray outside, than if it's sunny and warm. i'll even swim when it's gray outside. but riding my bike around san jose, campbell, and saratoga at 8am on a saturday is lovely. riding my bike around 6am on fridays is great, too, which i was able to do a couple of weeks ago and i plan to do again this week.
i'm getting a lot more comfortable on my bike, which is great. i'm still a little wobbly when it comes to clicking in and out of my pedals, but i'm definitely getting better. i need to start getting used to waiting at stop-lights when there's no curb for me to rest against. when it comes to pushing off, i'd much rather have a curb than nothing at all. all it takes is practice. once i get going and start feeling comfortable, i can introduce left-hand turns into my rides.
yes, all my routes so far have consisted of right-hand turns only. shut up.
+_+_+
i managed to do some catching up on my cooking blog last week. i'm still not completely caught up to what i'm cooking now, but i'm a lot closer than i was before last week. i managed to go through the food photos i had on my computer and then finally dump all the new photos from my camera onto my computer and those are waiting to be posted. there are a couple of items which i'm looking forward to posting. i made this awesome pasta with cauliflower and croutons which was amazingly delicious. you wouldn't think looking at it that it would taste that amazing, but it did. there are a few others which i'm looking forward to posting, too. if i power through, i might be able to get completely caught up within a couple of weeks. i'd really like that to be the case, but i know with school starting, it's going to be difficult to keep up. :)
+_+_+
marshall and i saw scott pilgrim vs. the world this past weekend. it was so totally awesome. we both walked away smiling from ear to ear and were so impressed by how the film came out. i really want to read the graphic novels, now, to see how the story was originally. i don't think they changed TOO much, but there will always be little thing that won't translate. however, they managed to get all the video game references and feeling into the film just beautifully. i loved it. i told marshall that watching that movie felt like watching someone play a video game and i LOVE doing that. i mean, i really like playing video games, but i definitely get the same enjoyment watching other people play, too. i mean, i was cheering, laughing and gasping along with the movie like it was just me in the theater. sadly enough, the theater we were in was not as packed as i would've expected. even though there's a huge cult following, i don't think this movie is going to skyrocket in the box office. plus, there are not as many theaters playing the movie and even those which are showing it are only showing it on 1 screen. but yeah, i wholeheartedly recommend seeing this movie. it truly is a beautifully-made film. :)
+_+_+
i officially start school next week. i know that for one of my classes i will need to log into our class website and get the assignments and materials needed to start the semester sometime this week. i need to drag down my laptop and get that going again. marshall ordered a 3-pack of windows 7 for our household and hopefully it arrives before school really starts, so i can upgrade my laptop and get things set up. i'm really hoping that upgrading the OS on my laptop fixes whatever is causing it to crash at random intervals. i know at this point dell isn't going to do a thing, so it's up to me to trouble-shoot the issue. i would rather not have to toss a piece of machinery so soon after purchase and i certainly do not want to have to buy another laptop so soon either. i've got my fingers crossed. i need to order my books for school, though. i'll do that later this week. i'm really looking forward to school. being out of school for the last 9 months has been a love-hate situation. i love that i can do what i want when i get home from work and i don't have any huge deadlines or projects to work on. at the same time, though, i'm bored. my brain has gotten rather mushy and i am really looking forward to taking my classes, learning new things, and working on projects.
+_+_+
alright, this post ended up being way too long. i always say i'll try and post more often with shorter posts, but...we've seen how that's panned out before. *sigh*