Picture perfect morning.

I was one badass bitch on the bike this morning; must've been equinox energy. Drove to the trailhead 'cause I thought I had only 20 miles in me ... but at Eagle I was feeling so good I just kept going and did 30 after all.

I've never ridden with my iPod before. I know it's dangerous, but damn! it was fun. I usually prefer the quiet crunch of my wheels on crushed limestone, the breeze and birdsong as soundtrack, but this morning I was singing to the wilderness at the top of my lungs. On shuffle, no less (though I skipped anything that wasn't hard and fast).

Windy on the way back -- gusts to 30 mph! -- but I sliced through it like butter. Great ride. Though I missed an overseas call that I might've heard if not for the iPod, and that was a bummer.

The trail is lovely, summer's greens turning to fall's orange-yellow-browns. Wisht I'd brought my camera.

This afternoon I added some pansies and mums to the front steps. We'll see if they take.


Currently reading:

"The Middle of Everywhere: The World's Refugees Come to Our Town" by Mary Pipher

Recommended by the lovely volunteer coordinator at the People's Health Center, a low-income clinic that serves Lincoln's many refugee populations. Lincoln is one of the top 10 refugee sites in the United States. Bosnians, Vietnamese, Iraqis, Sudanese, Kurds all have substantial burgeoning populations here. Pipher gives detailed insight into the multiple ways newcomers are overwhelmed by their new home. Never mind being dropped into a dingy apartment in a strange city where you can't understand the language. Imagine all that plus not knowing such social norms as daily bathing, what a toothbrush is, not knowing even how to turn on a light or a faucet. Just for starters.

Unfortunately, I don't think that volunteer position is going to work out. I need to find work where I'll have actual contact with people, instead of just filing paperwork. Trying to get the Nebraska AIDS Project to return my calls ... but this book has me wondering about what Pipher calls "cultural brokers" ... who help individual families learn to acclimate to their new society. I wonder if that'd qualify for my Peace Corps work?

Another chapter by Miss Cellanea.

Photo of the day:


Which doesn't exactly make me want to join the fight for a women's running of the cows, to compete with the running of the bulls at Pamplona.

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Hooeee, was this a disturbing movie!

Good soundtrack, though.

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For the second time in a week, some cute boy has complimented and fussed over my badass bicycle. Now that is a benefit I hadn't considered when I bought it.

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The other day I spotted my first sweet corn stand of the season.

Then Miz Amy came by that evening with a lovely bowl of tomatoes from her garden ... cherries and "Fourth of July," which are simply perfect, sweet and meaty and just a bit bigger than a golfball.

Then I realized I must have tomatoes of my own ripening out by the fence. SO I went out and there they were. Seems like a week ago it was full of little yellow flowers with a little green ball here and there. Now the green balls are everywhere, several have started to color and a few are full-fledged red. I like to put them on the roof of my mouth, still warm from the sun, and squish them with my tongue. "Supersweet 100s" ... my all time favorite.

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Bad News: O Asian Garden has closed -- the whole thing, market, restaurant and all. My fault once again ... I haven't been there in ages, and hadn't even had a chance to try the sushi bar they put in over the winter.

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Also my fault: Thanks to my near-constant use, "ginormous" is now recognized by the fine folks at Merriam-Webster Dictionaries. What's next, fantabulous?

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Can anyone explain to me how one can accuse someone of rape, and be expected to testify without using the word "rape"? Anyone? Bueller?

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Lazy afternoon.

After a great (for me, anyway ... sorry, Korb! and glad you came, Krista!) bike ride (35 miles!) this morning, been spending the afternoon at Jones' Coffee, my new favorite coffee place. The owner is lovely and enthusiastic, the paint scheme and big windows make it cheery, and the coffee is fair trade. It's at 11th and G, next to DaVinci's ... go check it out for yourself!

(I'm a coffeehouse whore, I guess; I have no plans to give up my relationships with The Cup, Meadowlark or The Mill. Pretty strange for someone who claims not to drink coffee. Iced coffee is my gateway drug, I suspect ... I'll be freeloading espresso in no time!)

Mostly, this afternoon, I've been uploading more of my photos to Flickr. Finally bought a pro account so I can use it to organize all my photos and clear out my hard drive. Check it out often, as I plan to keep adding sets -- several years' worth to organize! -- whenever I have time.

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I've also just finished the Barbara Kingsolver book. Anyone who wants to borrow it, just let me know; I'm happy to push it on anyone who might be interested. The power of stats/facts about how much energy/waste it takes to produce all the processed food we consume, combined with an amiable, personal account of trying to jump offa that train.

Hers is a mammoth undertaking: Her family spent a year eating only food they'd grown/raised themselves or bought from local, organic farmers. Fascinatingly unattainable as that goal is, she isn't all preachy about it. Instead, she offers up a multitude of information and encourages the reader to attempt any viable changes. Start small, make the change a habit, don't get discouraged, keep expanding.

I've made some small but positive health/environmental changes in the past few months:

* Buying only organic milk -- free of bovine growth hormone, antibiotics, pesticides. (Kingsolver, btw, mentions a local pediatrician who is telling his patients to drink only BGH-free milk; since it's become the norm, he's seen a sudden and drastic increase in cases of early puberty.)

* Buying all my lettuce from Shadowbrook Farms at the Farmers Market, and buying as much other produce as possible from local/organic growers at the Market instead of the grocery store.

* Bringing my own mug to The Mill, etc., for iced coffee, etc. (no more styrofoam!)

* Using agave nectar to sweeten said iced coffee, instead of carcinogens/nutrasweet

* Biking (or walking) to/from work at least once a week.

One change I'm attempting but so far extremely annoyed with: Discontinuing the birth control pills. (It's been years since I had a "real" period. I want to get better about not putting extraneous chemicals in my body, but geez! I'd forgotten how annoying/uncomfortable this particular natural bodily function is.)

One change I really *want* to make but haven't taken the leap yet: Getting the Diet Coke monkey off my back.

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Speaking of Shadowbrook Farms: They're opening a restaurant later this summer! Bummer that it's way out at 56th and Pine Lake, but it sounds organic/healthy/original, and of course it's locally produced. I can't wait to try it!

www.shadowbrooksalad.com

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In less substantial news:

I am seriously thinking of chopping off my hair. I need a change; I think it looks dated. The only thing holding me back is the fact that I wouldn't be able to put my hair up ... but lately, I can't seem to put it up in any type of attractive manner.

On the other hand, I vainly/superficially worry about the Samson effect -- that chopping it off will eliminate all of my personality/attractiveness.

Entonces, I am taking a poll: What the hell should I do with my hair? Status quo, or a change -- and if so, what? All serious suggestions welcome!

I'm a badass.

Cyclone-force winds are shaking the windows and rattling the blinds, so much so I can barely hear the stereo 5 feet away. "Gusts to 50 mph" -- surely this constant gale counts as more than a "gust."

And yet, staring down brute nature, I am an Amazon. Rode home in the face of it (walked to work this morning, as I'd left the bike downtown after Jazz in June) and was only fazed a couple of times. Did briefly think it was going to get blown right out from under me on 11th Street.

But I don't plan to tempt fate again tomorrow.

I'm committed to riding to work at least once a week; so far this week, I've commuted solely under my own power (save hitching a ride home with Miz K last night). It's a bit addictive, actually. I start thinking things like, if I pack my clothes then I can still wear skirts to work. If I walk one day a week, it's a day I don't have to work out. ...

Hope this ill wind doesn't blow all the fat new buds off the clematis vine.

Now to start Barbara Kingsolver's new book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" -- I'm writing a review.

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Anyone wanna lay bets on how long it'll take Dubya to pardon his buddy Scooter? Anyone? There's a free T-shirt in it for you ...

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PS: MizNealy, thanks for the call and I'll hit you back tomorrow! Crazybusy day at work today ...

"We're on two wheels, baby."*

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Well, we were on two wheels.

First, here's Miz JezeBelle, in all her (mostly) virgin glory:


Purdy, huh? Short like me (she's only 14" ... the smallest "adult" bike available); cushy like me (80mm RockShox); and so light that even uphills feel like we're flying. I can't believe the difference a lighter frame and narrower handlebars make ... and the thinner tires really help with the speed, too, yet plenty sturdy enough for the creekbeds in Wilderness.

We broke her cherry gently, with a leisurely Saturday afternoon ride on the Rock Island.

Then, on Sunday, we headed out to Pioneers Park to give the trails a real workout. Six of us: Me and JezaBelle, Miz K on Suzette, and the juggler with his Rockhopper.

Here's what happened, only about a mile and a quarter out:

That snap you see near the elbow? That's what we call a displaced olecranon.

It's Miz K's story to tell, not mine ... we all went down, but she took the brunt of it.

Surgery on Thursday, to install pins and a cable. They call it an "open reduction internal fixation," which sounds kind of dirty to me. Suzette's gonna be lonely for awhile.

Throw some love Miz K's way, eh?

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I wish I had the fortitude to live off the grid ... create my own energy (wind, solar), recycle my graywater, eschew all paper and plastic products ... but stories like The Year Without Toilet Paper just serve to remind me how much more I could do.

This family's recording a year's attempt to live without using paper, creating trash, participating in carbon emissions or purchasing anything but food -- and only organic food grown within 250 miles.

Here's his blog: No Impact Man

And a couple of similar practitioners:
Tree Hugger
Green as a Thistle

I need to not give up because I'm not (yet?) so hardcore. Instead, look to people like this for ideas I can practice in my own life, and keep adapting ...

Starting with: Does anyone know anyone who has a push/reel mower I could try out? I'd like to see if I have the muscle mass to push one effectively before I buy one myself.

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If you happen to be in upstate New York on Friday evening, check this out: A party to comemmorate the devil's last 666 days in office.

And here's an easy way to thank the 10 representatives who voted against throwing another $100 million at an unjust, un-"winnable" war. This ain't a quagmire anymore -- it's a full-blown sinkhole. At this point, there's absolutely nothing the U.S. can do to improve the situation; even if the violence is temporarily brought under control in Baghdad, it's just going to pop up elsewhere -- like an ugly, deadly game of Whack-A-Mole.

Our very presence is causing a good portion of the violence. We need to get out and let the U.N. get in.

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Quote of the day:
"That's almost as bad as a mosquito bite in the crack of your ass." -- Miz K

*Song of the day:
"Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle," Be Your Own Pet

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Oink if you had a great weekend.

And so, "oink!" I say.

Friday night we went to see the inimitable Billy Bacon @ The Zoo. We danced. We drank. We danced. We drank. I confessed my longtime crush to my favorite Self-Righteous Brother -- a crush that was later dimmed when he called me a "stone cold fox" on our way out the door. Who says that? Was I missing some ironic '80s lingo?


We were looking pretty hot, though -- no?


Even better, on Saturday I ordered a new addition to the household. Miz K and the nice manager at Blue's helped me test-drive quite a few, and I went with the best I could afford -- a new Trek 4500. Rock Shox/80mm on a teensy 14-inch frame and thinner tires than the standard issue. Compared to my old behemoth, she's completely effortless and weightless.

Poll of the day: What shall I name her? Thinking to keep with the French theme (Lola = la casa; Suzette = Miz K's ride). Fifi, maybe? Or Jezebel, which no is not French but is kind of naughty so I like it ... Thoughts?

She'll be coming home by the weekend. Oh, I hope it's nice Saturday ... we'll open our Wilderness season and grill out in the evening on the new Weber I scored at a yard sale in the brother's ritzy 'hood ...

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Here's to not reaching Year 6.

It's the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the USA’s war against Iraq. In all the excitement, I missed the Saturday vigil in Lincoln.

But: If you're in Omaha on Monday, Nebraskans for Peace will hold a peace vigil 4-6 p.m. at the footbridge over Dodge Street, just east of UNO’s campus. After the vigil: A gathering at McFosters, 38th and Farnam, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

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When's the last time you cried over a book?

I just finished "A Farewell to Arms." Even I saw it coming -- and I don't like to let myself see it coming. But even though I knew, I didn't *want* to know, and so when I did know I cried.

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Welcome to the Terrordome.

Public Enemy was the free SXSW concert this year (see video below). Why, oh why, do I never commit to going to Austin in March? Crappy video but worth a listen just to hear Chuck D chanting "Fuck Dick Cheney! Fuck Condoleezza!