Go see this movie

Across the Universe

A New Haircut

I feel so spunky!

On Biking and the Tour de France

I have been opposed to bikes since my freshman year of college. I discovered that biking was not easy, especially when faced with the near endless seeming hill from south campus to north. Also, it made me look like a drunken old woman or a spindly legged spider…at least more than I usually did.
My scorn continued after I graduated. I moved to the UofA, where parking permits cost more than saffron encased in diamonds. But a bike provided me with an affordable way to get to and from class. My miserly ways overcame my hatred for the contraptions; I bought a bike.
In foolishness, I bought a used bike that needed some work. It was a cruiser, an old Schwinn with front and rear fenders, a fully steel frame (read: fucking heavy) and maybe 16 gears. It seemed perfect. It was cheap, sturdy, and reliable. Except for one thing: it needed a derailleur cable. For those of you who don’t know, the derailleur cable is what changes the gears. Without one, you’ve got a single speed. Lucky me, my bike’s chain was stuck on a high gear. Which meant accelerating was a bitch. On the whole, I did not enjoy riding my bike.
But every once in a while, I would get this euphoric feeling….I loved the wind in my face, the smells of the desert around me, and seeing the houses blur by me. It was weird and rare, but a welcome respite the normal drudgery of my daily commute.
Amidst all this, I met a very nice boy named Eric. We started dating. He got into cycling and bought a bike. A nice one, complete with derailleur cable and Italian brand name. And suddenly, a completely different attitude toward biking was in front of me. He liked riding his bike. It was ‘fun.’
I’m still sort of skeptical about that ‘fun’ part, but Eric has gotten me to start watching the Tour de France. I thought watching professional cycling would be akin to watching golf. Boring. But its not. Its amazing to watch these guys. They’re machines. Their resting heart rates are in the 40s. That’s basically dead. Honestly. And their heart rates when they’re really exerting themselves are in the 180s. They’re not people, they’re robots! They sustain 25mph speeds up mountain highways, like the one in Oak Creek Canyon. On a fucking bike! Its ridiculous. And sort of inspiring.
Its really got me thinking its time for a new bike.

Nostalgia is a bitch

I miss the past. I miss Flagstaff. After a weekend there the proverbial old days seem even farther away. I saw Gen. Everyone else was gone. And then this morning, little nuances of the past kept popping up. Fraser comments on my bolg this morning. I stumble upon Lobe's myspace page. Andy rhapsodizes about his favorite band, just as he used to. Its all just creeping around in my head and I"m not getting a thing done. I should be packing. I'm moving in a week. Not to Portland like Gen, or even to New Zealand like Chris did, but really just down the street. Its not hard. But I'm sitting here listening to "Growing Pains" and all I can think of is Fraser, Karen and I dancing like crazy hippies and drinking beer and Flag Brew. The beer was the same on Friday night, but instead of shoulder to shoulder dancing drunken fools, the place was packed with yuppie families, reveling in how neat the place was. I miss it the way it used to be. I miss the comeraderie of Flag. How it never mattered who was there and who wasn't...you just had a good time with who was around. There were no plans except for "we're going out tonight...want to come?" We never even had to be doing anything. Just sitting around somewhere talking about whatever was the best time. Where did that go? Away, for sure, and I know people wax poetic about stuff like this, but that doesn't seem right. It just doesn't seem like it should be that hard to find that again, but it seems like "what's lost once is lost forever." I guess all there is is to keep looking, keep having a good time, and the stupidly fun (as in so fun its ridiculous) times come back. At least I still have my Lobe cds.

King of Glory

I don't really care for his show, but the man can dance and praise God almighty! Can I get an amen??

Starting summer with a bang

So here's a recap of the past week:

Eric's haircut

My boyfriend's previously glorious man-hair has been shorn. Instead of flowing locks ala pirate style, his hair is now maybe a quarter of an inch long. The change is quite drastic, and while I miss the whole pirate thing, I really like the new look. Grandma does not, however, which brings us to our next topic:

Grandma's surgery
Grandma went in for triple bypass surgery on Friday. We found out she had chronic heart disease about three weeks ago, and since then the entire family has been waiting for her to get fixed up. The surgery was successful, but it took an hour longer than we thought it would. That last hour sucked. Hard. Grandpa was a wreck. But finally the doctor came out and told us the surgery had been successful. Grandma was in the ICU until today. She's been doing great, but she's very frank about a)her distaste for Eric's haircut and b) her readiness to go home. I can't really blame her. I would want to go home too. Hospitals suck. But she should be home by this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.


Finals
My Greek final was (of course) scheduled the Monday after Grandma's surgery. Last year, Grandpa was in a car accident the day my biggest seminar paper was due and the week before my Latin final. So I was a trifle off my game for finals. This year, its Grandma. Of course I don't blame the g-rents for that; they can't help it that their medical conditions have really shitty timing. But it sucks nonetheless. My test went much better than I anticipated (considering I've spent most of the weekend at the hospital), and I got my paper back with a shiny A on it.

A Raise
I got a raise! Hooray! I still don't have a "career path," something I heard a lot about this weekend. But oh well, a raise is always appreciated.

A visit from a friend
Gen was in town this weekend. I couldn't hang out because of Grandma's surgery, but she and her man-friend stopped by the store on Sunday and I slacked off for a while to talk and catch up. It was awesome to see her, especially since she's moving to Portland in August.

A good week, in all. Grandma's surgery was a little scary, but it turned out great. And everything else has gone swimmingly. Finals are over, I got to see my family and a good friend, and my financial situation got a steroid shot.

Definitely a good way to start the summer

On Rudeness while Driving

I generally consider myself a good driver. I'm not overly cautious, nor am I dangerously reckless. I also consider myself a considerate driver. If someone has their signal on the change lanes, I'll generally make room for them. If someone's waiting for a parking spot, I won't swoop in and take it. And I never pass on the right. So I hate it when people mistake what I consider to be consideration for rudeness.
Yesterday I was driving to work. Sometimes I'll stop at McDonald's for a tasty sausage mcmuffin with no egg. The McDonald's that I usually patronize is at the corner of Alvernon and Speedway. Being situated at a corner means that the right turn lane into the McDonald's is also the turn lane for the intersection. As I was approaching the turn-in, I saw a cyclist ahead of me. I turned on my turn signal and slowed down so I wouldn't hit him. As I moved into the right lane, I checked my blind spot only to see a silver speeding jeep about to careen into me. I got back into my own lane, but as the jeep passed, the woman driving mouthed a very obvious "fuck you!" to me as she sped by. I was a little shaken by the whole experience, but as I started to think about it more, I was pissed off.
First off, I acknowledge that I should've checked my blind spot earlier. But she had come up so quick that I didn't see her before. I was doing something that I thought was right. Cyclists are traffic too, and there was no way for me to speed up and get around him and still get into the McDonald's. I had to slow down. Also, that's usually just a nice thing to do. Its much easier and less scary for everyone if I just put my foot on the brake pedal rather than cut off a cyclist (who's definitely more vulnerable in a crash) and then slow down to make a turn. So braking was really my only option. But this lady seemed to think that the only reason I was slowing down and getting over was to cut her off. She was so pissed that she had to brake that she didn't even think about why I was doing it. To make matters worse, she probably cut off the cyclist in her rage and that was the very thing I was trying to avoid.
I just wish people would think about why other people are acting the way they are. If I'm slowing down approaching a crosswalk, there's probably something in it, so don't be the asshole and pass me. If I speed up and pass you, maybe I need to make a turn at the next light. If I'm slowing down at a right turn lane, MAYBE THERE"S A FUCKING BIKE THERE! Its not like motorists do stuff to deliberately piss off other motorists, as least the great majority of the time. So just hold your horses and think about what someone else is doing and consider that maybe there's a good reason for it before you scream obscenities at them.