small chain ring commute

during my last race, i tripped and aggravated my IT band by proceeding to run 43 more miles. it took several weeks for it to feel normal again, but in the mean time my other IT band got aggravated. i haven't properly rehab-ed the other side though and this has come back to haunt me as lately its been very tight. i have cut back on the running and decided that i would also try only cycling in my small chain ring so that i'm not straining it too much by non-running activities. riding only in the small chain ring slowed my daily 7.5 mile commute to campus down a little bit this morning. that said, i arrived at work less annoyed at people in cars than normal. i liked that. i think i may stick with this slowing down thing.

though it is not necessarily reflected on my blog, i have been writing a lot the last couple weeks. i finished first drafts for the last two chapters of my dissertation and this week i'm working on edits to another one. when i send my advisor my revised draft tomorrow, i will commence editing the introduction to my dissertation. i'm actually enjoying writing at the moment because i'm getting to sit back and think more thoroughly about the meaning of my results. i feel fortunate that my job doesn't entail doing exactly the same thing everyday. at any given time i am somewhere in the brainstorm-propose-experiment-analyze-writepapertobepublished process, but fortunately, i'm constantly repeating this process with new data and new questions. this works out well because when i get sick of coding, its time to write. when i get sick of writing, its time to read, and when i get sick of that, its time to find subjects and interact with people again! (ironically, following this chain, when i get sick of people, i code again...hm) at this point, i'm thinking that my defense will end up being in april...which means my dissertation will leave my hands and head to my committee in just over a month. its a good thing i'm enjoying writing because there's a lot to do!

on a completely different note, i just finished reading two interesting books. one was called 'harvest for hope' by jane goodall. part of the reason i find her fascinating is because i've been to gombe stream national park in tananzia where she did all her chimpanzee research. to me, it was a magical place. her book reflects on the state of food production in the world, with a lot of references to what is currently happening in the united states. while she tries to remain hopeful, much of the book has a rather bleak outlook (warranted or not), unfortunately. she definitely supports the case for eating local organic food. if you've never read anything in this area (none of michael pollan's books, for example), you might find this interesting.

the other book i finished was 'how to live well without a car' by chris balish. in many ways i hope to be able to live without a car at some point and rely on walking and biking to get places. the book did cause me to reflect, but not necessarily in the way i would have thought. the author makes suggestions about moving to within a certain distance of work, for example, so that you can get to work without your car and about how you can grocery shop on a bike. i had never really thought of issues like this in the way he expressed them; i had simply gone out and done them because they fit with my lifestyle. so it was interesting to have someone else point out other reasons for adopting habits i already had and to have a few more suggestions of things to try that are already along the lines of my appreciation for walking and biking everywhere. if nothing else, i suppose the book has inspired me to enjoy my 7.5 mile commute to campus even when its cold because at least i am in touch with nature and not stuck in traffic on the freeway!

brussels

i've been writing a lot this week, though not as much for the blog. i finished the first draft of another chapter to my dissertation. one chapter and an intro and conclusion for everything left to write. my goal is to have the draft of the last chapter done before the end of the month. i've set a pretty aggressive timeline for myself writing-wise, but i would like to graduate this semester. the last of my recommendations for faculty positions went in yesterday...so now i am waiting to hear back on everything job-related and keeping my eyes out for any other postdocs that come out this spring that look interesting.

last week, i also put together the first of two abstracts for the international society of biomechanics meeting this summer. it will be held in brussels, belgium in early july. assuming the abstracts are accepted i plan to be heading to europe for a bit this summer!

the weather here has been helping make all this writing happen efficiently (and the time waiting to hear about jobs pass quickly). its been in the 30s and raining. my hands have been numb as i've been biking to work sometimes because its been so cold. i could take the car, but there is something about heading to work by bike or foot that i really enjoy. i was sharing this with eric one evening only for it to be followed but a bit of irony. the following evening it was pouring rain and dark outside. though i had lights for my bike, i decided it might just be safer to take the bus home. i waited at the bus stop for 35 minutes at which point, i saw the bus turn the corner a block down the street...bypassing the bus stop entirely! i waited a few minutes longer to see if the bus would go around the block and come back and get us, but it didn't. the bus only comes once every 40 minutes (i can bike home in less time than that) so instead of waiting for the next one i walked a couple miles down the street and met eric for dinner. the next morning i ran to campus to pick up my bike. the weather ended up being worse than it had been the previous evening and i arrived home, with my bike, soaking wet and freezing. i guess i should have just ridden home in the first place!

cheap

i just finished reading cheap by ellen ruppel shell. i highly recommend it although i'm not sure i will shop the same way again. the author examines discount culture in america, how it affects our economy, how it affects works rights, how it affects product quality and more.

my head is spinning with reflections on how it all fits in with my life. its especially timely as i am finishing up school and possibly will start making more money than i do now. i feel lucky that eric and i are on the same page when it comes to investing in quality products--be it food, clothes or what have you. he doesn't look at me like i have two left eyes when i say i want to try something new, which will invariably affect him as well.

in completely unrelated news, i have begun writing the last chapters of my dissertation. i figure if i write just a few pages a day i will be done in a few weeks...and then it will be a matter of editing text and changing figures. sometimes its difficult to sit down and concentrate on actually writing, but when i get going the words seem to simply flow out of me.

minimalism

i have recently been meditating on actually DOING things and how at some point we have to stop being formally trained and just start learning as we go. i didn't start playing the piano again in theory. i had to actually start playing again to get comfortable with reading the music and getting my hands to move. i had to start playing while people were singing (and hitting a lot of wrong notes) to understand that playing while people are singing is a different animal than practicing or even just playing for others to hear. when i signed up for my first 100-miler, i stopped wanting to do one in theory and started actually preparing for one.

i have been following a number of minimalist and simplicity blogs for the last year and have been reflecting a lot on the choices i make and how my lifestyle does or does not allow me the time and energy to do the things i want. i came across a statement this morning which really seemed to resonate with me. dave bruno of a guy named dave described what he felt the purpose of the 100 Thing Challenge was for him. he wrote:

"The 100 Thing Challenge is about getting out of jail — the prison of American-style consumerism. It’s about breaking free from the shackles of always feeling like we need to get more stuff in order to get to the dream life."

i am not participating in the 100 Thing Challenge, but what struck me about this statement was the second sentence and what happened if you substituted "formal education" for "stuff." don't get me wrong. i like school. i think education is very important. i'm about to finish my phd and i like what i do. however, i have recently been confronted with the search for jobs--faculty positions, postdocs, etc and the fact that while there is a certain type of learning that happens in school, a type of learning of equal value happens outside of academia...or, i suppose, even in academia when you're not a formal student anymore. in other words, only taking classes cannot prepare you for your "dream life."

in academia, faculty are expected to conduct independent research and obtain grant funding. a phd is designed to train you to do this; however you are constantly under the supervision of your advisor(s). the first year or two of a faculty position will probably be accompanied by a very steep learning curve on what it actually means to be a professor, whether or not one starts said position with postdoc experience.

so i suppose the question is, what does "stuff" mean for us individually? is stuff physical stuff that keeps us buying new things and having to have a high-paying job we don't enjoy so we can buy and maintain all that stuff? or is stuff extra degrees we don't really need in order to be able to do what we want and that take our time and money when we could be spending those resources elsewhere?

paperwhites

our apartment complex gave us paperwhites for a holiday gift this year. when we got back after travelling there was a small glass bowl with the bulb in it. it had only a small green sprout. it was supposed to take 4 - 6 weeks to bloom, but our little plant shot up and started blooming in the last couple days. the flowers are small but gorgeous.

service

You never know when someone
May catch a dream for you
You never know when a little word
Or something you may do
May open up the windows
Of a mind that seeks the light
The way you live may not matter at all,
But you never know--it might.

And just in case it could be
That another's life, through you,
Might possibly change for the better
With a broader and brighter view,
It seems it might be worth a try
At pointing the way to the right
Of course, it may not matter at all,
But then again--it might.

--Helen Lowrie Marshall