Well, it's February.

Right now it's 7 degrees below zero.

Feeling guilty that three-rings has actually been somewhat active in the past month and I hadn't noticed . . .

At least I remembered to post something.

Going through hell.

Be back soon.

I hope.

Thought #1: "I should check my horn and tune it before rehearsal."
Thought #2: "$#%%^&, the tuner battery's dead!"
Thought #3: "If I borrowed the battery from the smoke detector I could put it into the tuner . . ."

but I didn't . . .
. . but I DID think about it. (But smoke detectors are scary and loud when they beep, and I would have to stand on a ladder right above a long flight of stairs.)

Have taken up running again -- I try about every two years -- and have a nice pair of Brooks Adrenaline shoes (yay, more new shoes!!) with which to run. Progress is slow, but I keep trying.

Have, as of yesterday, taken up playing the tenor horn (aka alto horn, aka the brass instrument in Eb that looks like a little baritone) in a brass band. Have approx. one month to learn how to play the thing before the first concert. Have not started to panic just yet, but maybe soon. Like really soon.

Have seen mousies in the house . . . specifically in the neighbor's place downstairs. The neighbor cat has taught my cat how to catch and kill a mouse!! So far the cats have caught 7 mice or maybe more. The various and sundry mousetraps (oldskool-vicious, newschool-modern-reusable, and circular-hidey-spot kind of traps) have caught 2. The cats are hero boys!!

Have my new dishwasher finally up and running!!!!!!!

Have been busy at work.

Have acquired a new mild obsession with the notion of ultralight camping. I don't even own a sleeping bag yet, but have decided to go camping next year and be all self-sufficient and all that crap. Sounds good, right??

Have been scheduling concerts to attend. I'll see more concerts this fall than in the past five years combined.

Have been proofreading. Fortunately I still have red pens left.

Have been wondering if sleep is really all that necessary.

Note to all new parents, upon beaming down at your brand-new healthy baby boy who is perfest in every way:

Do NOT give yer kid the first name of GENESIS.


I'm so serious. Last night I was shopping at a home-improvement store and was waited upon by a very subdued clerk whose apron read: "Hi, my name is Genesis ." When I finally noticed it, fits of muffled laughter commenced. It didn't help that by the time my friend read the apron, there was a PHIL COLLINS song playing!!! You wouldn't think two people would be able to construct a half hour's worth of Biblical and Phil-Collins-related jokes, but we did. It just . . . look, just name your kid Adam if you must, fine. "Genesis" should never be a first name (or a last name. Or a middle name.)


"She seems to have an invisible touch . . ."

Attn all three-ringers: is anyone going to be in Chicago this fall? It looks like I'll be making the pilgrimage to Chicago in mid-October. Right now, even in the planning stages, the trip logistics are complicated enough that I might as well see what else I can throw in to complicate matters even more. :) To any friends who meet up with me in Chicago: I will buy you a sandwich at the Noyes St. deli.


Most recent bikeride: 34 miles (last Sunday). This weekend I'm not sure where to go . . there's a town 20 miles north of here. Then again, I checked out a USEFUL bike-book from the library, and I might try bunny-hopping practice in the park, instead . . .


Note to self: next time, do not pick a 'travel' theme for writing if you don't have enough to write. Umm, lessee . . tomorrow I travel to pick up my new dishwasher (!!!!) which is a countertop dishwasher that should fit in the sink-room of my kitchen. I'm pretty excited about this. Also, my mom gave me her old KitchenAid mixer, which means I have arrived as an adult, or something. (I guess it just means that I'll be able to make bread.) Still, it's cool.


Now: I travel to my own kitchen in search of pita bread.

1. The next town over NNW from here. I went bikeriding there: 27.8 miles round-trip. The bruises count is at 9, scratches at 2 -- everything's getting better!!
2. NEW CD PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Rainier cherries. Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum!!!!!!!!!!
4. The "Pop Art Stupid Toaster" (there are others available, but why not buy the one that makes your toast say 'BITE ME' on it?)
5. New summertime clothes from the Volunteers of America store: two pairs of shorts and two tanktops for $12. Yessssssss.

I hate it being a hundred degrees!!!!!


When it's a hundred degrees, bike rides are flat-out a foolish idea. Moving around quickly's no good either. Wandering in the nature and/or walking to the convenience store to buy popsicles is dumb. Chocolate melts. Shirts stink. Doors swell. Cats get mad. Everything itches and sticks to itself. The windows are open; the neighbors are loud. A cold Diet Coke is barely refreshing . . .

Distance: 21.74 miles
Ridetime: 1:25:13
Avg speed: 15.41 mph
Max speed: 31.3 mph (this was from a few days ago; I probably only got to 27 or so today)

Bike computers are the best inventions ever.

I went riding at the @$%^$% crack of dawn today, like 7:45am. (For ME it's the crack of dawn, anyway.) NOBODY was on the roads . . . I got to just zip through the city (technically, three cities) unharassed, and even see some trees and birds and the like.

That's what I've been doing these days: that, working, and reading.

Ohyes, another ride statistic:
Bruisecount: approx. 19 (both legs) and 2 (left arm)

The scratches tally is currently (only) at 3.

Just saw another highschool friend who I hadn't seen in eight years (we did meet up once, two years after highschool). Confidential to Scott: that was really, really, freaking hilarious. We need to catch up again sometime, ideally before 2014.


Otherwise: it's life as usual here. Ohwait, not quite:

today I saw a big orange Persian cat who had "up and got itself a lion cut", and boy, was it pretty much the funniest thing I've seen in the past two months. Unbelievable.