peanuts

"Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed."

~Charlie Brown

african proverb

when there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.
~african proverb


i don't think i'm dealing with internal enemies at the moment, but the quote struck me for some reason so i thought i would share.

teaching, sunrises and the piano

today i taught my first recitation! my biggest concern was that there wasn't a whiteboard in the room in which i was scheduled to teach. luckily i was able to track one down before class. call me old school, but i'm of the opinion that solving ordinary differential equations should not be taught, or reviewed as the case was, via powerpoint.

i've been getting up earlier and earlier lately, readjusting my body to being up before the sun. the past couple days i have been blessed with views of beautiful sunrises during my morning run. this morning i was out the door running a few minutes past 6a and was hoping to be on the mopac pedestrian bridge at the right time to get a good view...as it turned out today has been overcast, so there was no sunrise this morning. i am going to try and bring my camera with me, so i can share with you some of the beauty i've been seeing lately!

yesterday morning at 4a, i was unnaturally awakened by loud heavy metal music being played right outside my room. i eventually fell back asleep (after someone else had apparently knocked on his door and told him to turn it down), but was a little unsettled when i got up for real. after my run, i went across the street to the institute and, for the first time in 8 or more years, sat down at the piano. half an hour and a few hymns later, i was in a much better state. actually, i have been thinking i might just wander over there to play a couple days a week in the mornings before heading into work. by no means do i want to play in front of people anytime (there were awkward pauses to be had as i found the right keys), but i was surprised at how quickly playing music can come back to you. i didn't think i'd even be able to get something out that was recognizable!

teenage mutant ninja turtles

i have had a lovely and very busy weekend. friday night some of my housemates, brooke, jason, eric and i went to a viewing of Fresh. its about local, sustainable food production. michael pollan, author of the ominvore's dilemma and in defense of food, among other things, is one of the people involved in the project. the movie was very good. i'd highly recommend it...that said, if you haven't done any research into how food gets to your table today, be prepared to change before you go see the movie...

after the movie, eric's new friend adam met up with us and eric, adam and i ventured to amy's for ice cream...but we ended up in whole foods, eating gelato, checking out the local selection of meat, fruits and vegetables and smelling all sorts of yummy spices.

vegan chocolate gelato...and eric's way too large pink sorbet!

adam just moved to austin from utah. he speaks spanish fluently and he likes gelato and organic food. i suspect he's going to fit in just fine.

yesterday i had my car reshod...the road feels a little different with new tires! after tires and a stop at the motorcycle shop, eric and i made our way to a park to play catch. when i was relating this story at church this morning, someone asked what catch was...i replied, you know, when you have mitts and you throw a softball at each other. i found the exchange kind of funny because i guess as we get older, we don't really take time out anymore to do things like play catch, unless we have a child with whom to play.

and speaking of things kids do, last night for dinner, eric and i had pizza...and then watched teenage mutant ninja turtles. yep, that's right, the one with real people that came out when we were about 10, or maybe younger. and you know what? its still as good as i remember it.

i'm currently reading fast food nation. its been on my list of books to read for years and while some of the information in it i have heard before from other things i've read, its still enlightening (disturbing?) to see how advertising basically infiltrates everything we do these days. crazy.

where is time going?

i find time passing by very quickly these days. the new semester has just started and despite being done with classes, it still looks like its going to be a busy month. work has been pretty crazy to the point that when i get home at night i just want to sit and do nothing because my brain is fried. while sometimes this is a very satisfying feeling, other times its downright frustrating as i have other commitments most evenings, so i still have to be functioning. i happen to be dating one of the most patient people i've ever met who is happy to agree when i inform him i'm cranky and then we move on to whatever needs to be done or wherever we need to go next. i'm realizing that trying to balance all of this and find peace amidst the business will likely be very useful in the future if i have kids and get home from work and still have to be going full steam ahead.

i got an email last week indicating that my manuscript is "acceptable pending a few minor revisions," which is very exciting. i have most of the edits done and am just waiting on input from my co-authors for the rest. in other work news, i got to take apart a $10k treadmill earlier this week and re-configure it in a way that i can use it in our lab. its very empowering to be able to take stuff apart, figure out which wires are going where, which ones you do or don't need and then be able to hook it all back up and make it *gasp* work!

last thursday eric and i started our sign language class, and tonight we have class #2. its a lot of fun. the teacher is deaf, so the entire class is taught in sign or by writing a few things on the board. its amazing how much more attention you pay to body language when no spoken language with all its intonation is being conveyed.

i'm still trying to figure out spring break...i was supposed to go to hawaii for my friend's wedding on 3/6. i bought the tickets, and then yesterday found out that two weeks ago she changed the location (to slc) and hadn't informed everyone yet. so now i have a plane ticket to hawaii but she's not going to be there. my spring break is about a week after the wedding along with her reception on maui, so i'm thinking i might just push the tickets back and spend a week and a half in hawaii instead of a few days. part of my soul is longing for the peace that i have always found in the islands.

in running news, i'm finally back up and moving! i took my vibram's out for a 6-miler on tuesday...when i did this back in california, i had no problem. this time however my calves have suddenly become tight, and i'm wondering if its because about half of the run this time was on asphalt as opposed to less than a mile of the run being asphalt at my parents house. hmmmm. i'm still working on my race calendar for this year. unfortunately its looking like leadville isn't going to happen because i'm supposed to be in rhode island that weekend for a conference for work. i'm thinking headlands 100 instead, which is in early august in california...at least that way i can train with my friends who are racing 100s in late summer. i'll keep you posted!

now that the daily grind is back and i'm not traveling for a month or so, i should have more regular blog updates again.

back in austin!

too many things have happened in the last two weeks to do a detailed re-cap. suffice it to say that i enjoyed the rest of my time in california with my family. utah was great (but FREEZING). we spent new year's eve in temple square listening to music and checking out the lights. it was beautiful. new year's day and several days in at the beginning of the new year had me enjoying trail running in the snow in the foothills (?) of the wasatch mountains. last monday we went skiing at powder mountain.

wednesday i left utah only to be stuck in the denver airport for four hours. it was snowing and cold there too. i finished a book though and finally arrived back in austin during the wee hours of thursday morning.

since then i've been going full steam trying to get things done. a fellowship application was due yesterday and a grant application is due this coming tuesday. luckily i'm waiting for my advisor's input on my draft at this point so i could afford to do other things today. for example, i had a trainer date with michelle and ali. it was too cold outside to ride bikes, so we just rode them inside. it was nice to be on a bike again.

i've gotten pictures framed, thank you notes written, lots of clothes ready to be donated and thrown out lots of stuff that was taking up space. i'm glad to be doing stuff again. lots has been running through my head and its nice to be able to work.