"Im always surprised when people leave New York. I mean, where do they go??"
"The real world?"
- Sex and The City

george: How's the bicycling comin'?
JPennant: oh sweet
JPennant: although I think Im gonna have to do some walking for strength
JPennant: I definitely have to start riding out West
JPennant: not start, make it an almost daily routine
george: Walking for strength. Speed walking?
george: Walking with hand weights?
JPennant: Nah, just walk. Briskly. Not drive or catch a bus when Im going less than a mile.
JPennant: But the cycling actually is helping the midsection (subtle hint :-D )
george: Not the sit-ups?
george: That's what I figured was going to do it.
JPennant: crunches definitely help.. but that doesnt help the other component.. your back and gluteus
george: And cycling does?
JPennant: oh yeah
JPennant: specially as Im doing four miles a day
george: There's a lake near me. Lake Merritt.
george: Three miles all the way 'round.
george: I could try to hit that.
george: Last August. I went around two or three times a day for a week or two.
JPennant: you know though
JPennant: the cycling sux if youre not riding to a destination, just riding around
george: Then I might have to go head up Telegraph Ave. to Berkeley.
JPennant: ooh, hills :-)
george: Yes, hills.
george: Not those central Florida flatlands.
JPennant: Hey, Im suckin wind on some of these gentle crests :-)

I think Im gonna die on the hills of the Bay Area... :-)

Today's horrorscope:

There are times when everything goes wrong and times when it all comes together - when everything you try works out for the best - and this is most definitely one of the latter.
Today's Venus-Jupiter aspect promises that in all areas of your life, you'll meet with unparalleled success. You don't even have to make much of an effort. Sit back and let success come to you.

Wow.

Pity that doesnt apply to lotto tickets. ;-)

You KNOW you're in the south when:

You buy a lean turkey wrap sandwich...... and discover its also wrapped in bacon.

Liberally.

Hey, you know.. for the flavor.

What would be in the wrap in California, I wonder.
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Daydreaming of living out west.... while I wait for a new camera... a few recycled views of Out West:












I did not stage that picture...





















This might not make much sense .. but I now realize I was in a different place then.

But I knew then I was headed out there, even though I wasnt warm to the idea.

I wasnt prepared then.

Recycled blather.. posted in response to George's comment about joining a gym:

Heh. So G - youre gonna become a born-again exercise *cough*havent even seen a situp or crunch in 10 years*cough* freak like me and start riding the hills.. maybe taking to the bike/commuter lifestyle?
(Thats effing dedication to the granola, Im tellin' ya..)

I wanna become like the Brendan Frasier character in Bedazzled, who when he found out the Meaning of Life, started whizzing up the SanFran hills on his Beach Cruiser like they were speed bumps.
Thas my current daydream, ayuh. :-)

By the way, back when I was a weight room wonk - I despised those modern weight rooms in the sports clubs/gyms.
I was uncomfortable cuz theyre essentially social clubs.
The only machines I used were the bikes (to warm up), and the lat machine - as that is still the best way to hit that lat spread..

Other than that - gimme a well-equipped free weight room wit da chalk and mirrors to check form.. and to preen and pose.
And grunt in sweaty happiness.

The other advantage was that the free-weight room was blissfully machine and estrogen-free and therefore an inviting place to come to daily.
(The women who came to use the free-weights were always welcome, as they usually knew what they were doing - ie: not whine about being afraid of bulking up using free weights.)

Personally, i think those designer gym places actually DISCOURAGE people from exercising long term, cuz going in become these big productions and drama (machine, rotation, dress, preen etc etc) - thereby making most clubs profitable.
Most folk would just like it to be a simple routine.

I truly think the 'sport club/gym' operators want you to join, but not really use the facilities.
Stay with me here: They market to get people to join, and the more who join but hardly use the facilities, the more people they can sign up!

< end conspiracy theory of the day >

Wow. That was a good rant.. I think I'll recycle this for the blog.

Posted by Joe at February 13, 2002 02:27 AM

I've always had this entrepreneurial spirit in the back of my mind, and I always wondered what puts people to the point where they live their dreams," Peets, 45, said. "It's harder to take the plunge in a secure job. I was winning awards and getting recognition, and I got chicken.

"But when I got laid off, it was an unbelievable turning point."

"It's not my character to do high-risk things, but the circumstances gave me the courage," Peets said. "There is a silver lining here. I just had to believe in myself, ask my wife and business partner whether they believed in me, and take a leap of faith. Now I'm unbelievably motivated." "

For probably the first time in 20 years, I went riding in the dark last night.

For the first time in 20 years.

Sometimes you forget.

-------------
As I rode around, safety lights flashing (Florida law) - I realized that with money, the simple pleasures wouldnt be as simple as this.

I want money, as well as the will to enjoy the simple things anyway.

Hell, the *discipline* to keep things simple.

Hows that saying go?

"Rough work, iconoclasm, but the only way to get at truth."

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Indeed.

I never intended to be an iconoclast....
--------------

One of my daydreams/nebulous goals:

To be one of those people who cycle around San Francisco/Berkeley, taking their trail bikes on BART.

Heh.

I can also see myself doing a LOT of walking up those hills with da ' bike.

Thas real. :-)

Not having ridden a bicycle since I was a teen-ager, I went riding this morn.

Hey, the Dunkin Donuts is 2 miles down the road and I'd been feening for my morning Donut and Coffee for weeks now.

So, I saddled up and rode.
Hey, it aint like NY or even NJ, where my morning sugar and caffiene is within walking distance, mere blox away.

They say you never forget how to ride - although things like backpedaling to get the pedals in the right position, shifting without thinking etc etc things you remember - and within a few minutes, I wasnt even thinking about it.

*Hooo*.. for the first mile or so, I was hurtin and suckin wind like a banshee. Ho ho, verily.
Then I got into the rythm, and it got better.

I was drenched when I got back, legs a little sore.

Felt good.

So did the chocolate donut.

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My grandfather, into his 80's rode a bicycle daily.

Back in Chicago, I had a mature friend from the Netherlands, who carried her bicycle in her car taking it everywhere.

Although I understood intellectually, that it was a good idea to ride - I dont think I appreciated until now, what was their motivation to do ride.

I think Im starting to get it now.