Saturday, 31 MAR 07    


Big Business - 'Hands Up' - 'Here Come the Waterworks' (Hydra Head Records)

It's been a short week and now it's the weekend again. Kelly was in Washington D.C. from Monday through Thursday, so I was home alone again. I've been continuing with my PT 3 times a week and Matt has me doing more exercises each time. I've been doing squats and 'jumps' on the Total Gym (Matt only has the basic glideboard), and doing a series of going up and down the 3-step staircase that he has. This week he also added in some balancing exercises. I stand on a balance mat (a square, spongey foam pad) with my feet shoulder width apart, then bring my arms outstretched at my sides to my front, crossing them while closing my eyes. There are a couple other routines which have my feet side by side, but the heel of one foot touching the back of the pad, and the toe of the other foot touching the front. Then the last one is one foot in front of the other. I realized that I still haven't gotten my balance back completely. Kind of like when I tried the standing squat the previous week, and found out that I had trouble balancing with all my weight on my injured ankle. I did go to the gym and rode the stationary bike a couple of times, the first time was 5.5 miles in 22 minutes, the second time was 8.5 miles in 30 minutes. That makes me feel a little better, although I had to put ice on my foot/ankle last night because it was kind of sore. Pain comes in and out, but not a constant, so I have to think it's getting better very slowly.

Last Sunday I made some sourdough bread with the starter I had purchased from King Arthur Flour Co. and had been 'feeding' for the past couple of weeks. It wasn't that difficult, although it was time consuming. The final product wasn't bad for a first try, but not great. It was a bit dry and very dense (more than most sourdough bread usually is). I talked about it with my mom later in the week and decided that I should have used regular instead of whole wheat flour, because whole wheat flour doesn't require as much due to it's density. I'll try again tomorrow.

I went to Gary's after work on Wednesday to start back into the routine of working out my upper body muscles with the Bowflex. I was surprised how I hadn't lost as much upper body strength as I thought I had, but I still have some work to go before I'm back at previous levels. I think I may have pulled or strained a muscle in my back because it's been sore the past couple of days since working out. I'll ease up on it and maybe stick to doing only the stationary bike this week until it feels better. I want to get my leg strength back quickly anyway and start road riding again. My latest issue of Bicycling magazine arrived a couple of days ago and it had some reviews of good road bikes under $2000. It may be time for me to start looking again soon at bikes. I'll have to wait a bit longer before hitting the trails again, following the doctor's advice.

The Avs won a couple of games this past week, but lost another. Calgary also beat Minnesota twice to put themselves ahead of Colorado by 7 points going into today's games. Colorado is currently playing Minnesota and Calgary plays Vancouver tonight. Mathematically it seems that Colorado has to win all 5 of it's remaining games and get the full 10 points (2 per game for a win) and Calgary has to lose it's remaining 5 (two of which are against Colorado) for Colorado to make it into the 8th playoff spot. We want to belive in the Avs, but it seems like quite a longshot, especially since as good as Colorado has been lately, Calgary has stepped up their game as well. Really too bad, but it will make our playoff picks game more interesting not having 'our team' in the playoff run. We're still waiting for the end of the regular season to see the final playoff match-ups and schedules so we can plan our playoff roadtrip. I had a dream last night about going to a game in Vancouver. Weird.

Yesterday Kelly went into work for a few hours after we slept in a bit. I stayed home and went to the gym in the morning, then waited for the pest control guy to come spray our house for bugs (annual schedule). After he left and Kelly came home we went out to Gulfport to get lunch and buy some things at Sam's Club. We came home and started clearing out the Tivo of shows to watch. We're getting there slowly. One of the programs I had recorded was the mini-series on Discovery, Planet Earth, which has been really fascinating. It's a six-part series, and we finished watching the first three this morning. As it goes along though, some of the narration makes you wonder who's ulterior motive is behind the series. We joked that it was the Democrats and Al Gore. We're also enjoying new series on Showtime (well, new to us mainly because I just recently added Showtime to our programming with DirecTV) like This American Life, and Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.

Tonight we're finally going back to Jia at the Beau Rivage with Jason and Ellen. Ellen is supposed to get off work early, so we made 9pm reservations. We have a couple of $50 coupons, and we've been looking forward to going back after dining when my brother Matthew and Tymbre came to visit last month. After cleaning this morning and watching hockey this afternoon (basically a lazy day), it will be nice to go out with friends this evening. Tomorrow will be grocery shopping and cooking. Another weekend passes by...and I can't believe that it's April already (well, tomorrow). Still no word on any of the jobs Kelly applied for, but this morning she was encouraging me to start looking into culinary schools, especially if we end up staying here for awhile. She said that it would probably be more affordable for me to quit my job now and go to school, but I'll have to do a bit more research and think about it. Too bad there aren't really any local bakeries that I could apprentice at. I think that's something for when we move elsewhere, closer to a big city with an actual bakery. I could look for other things though in the mean time.

-posted by Chris


Sunday, 25 MAR 07    

It's been a nice weekend, kind of busy but not too bad. I came in Thursday night late, my bags didn't (showed up about 6pm the next day). I had every intention of going to work for part of the day on Friday, but with my bags MIA and on top of that I wasn't feeling well. Luckily I got in to my ENT and he hooked me up with the usual brew of meds to combat the usual sinus infection. I laid around for the rest of the day, sleeping on & off and waiting for my bags. We spent the evening munching on pizza that Chris picked up from Mellow Mushroom & watching the Avs play Edmonton (they lost in overtime - at least got 1 point out of it).

Saturday we slept in kind of late and then headed off to Ocean Springs for the Herb & Garden festival. It was very disappointing (very few herbs/garden stuff). Most of the booths were arts & crafts or food related. We did pick up several Thai Basil plants and some other items before leaving. We then headed to a few nurseries for more garden items & dropped off a couple of plants by Jason & Ellen's. We rested at home for a short while and then headed off to New Orleans for shopping, movie and dinner. We stopped by Whole Foods for a few items and then over to B&N for book browsing before the movie. We went to see Black Snake Moan (it had already left the MS coast). The movie ended up being really enjoyable, I mean Samuel L. Jackson as a blues man & a nearly-naked Christine Ricci chained up in his house. How could that combo be wrong? Christine Ricci has lost a lot of weight and Chris was wondering if she had breast-reduction surgery. Quite possible...I guess I ought to look through my trash magazines for the answer to that one. After the movie we ate at PF Chang's. It was pretty good...we hadn't been there in awhile.

Today we got up kind of late again. I ate a quick breakfast and then headed outside to start weeding in the herb garden. I was surprised by how many things from last year returned (rosemary, sage, parsley, cilantro, chives, oregano & thyme - which had spread everywhere). We added basil, mint, more oregano & cilantro, marigolds, grape tomatoes and a variety of peppers. I ended up digging the thyme up, because it had turned into quite a ground cover. So I re-planted the thyme plus some additional thyme plants in another area out back (Tura has already found the new dirt pile to roll around in). Plus I planted some watermelon out back, we'll see how that works out. Chris was inside making bread for a good part of the day - it's still rising, so we shall see how it turns out. We watched the 3rd period of the Calgary v. Chicago game - Calgary won in regulation. Bastards! Avs play Vancouver later tonight.

So I spent about the last week and a half in Phoenix visiting my mom & friend, DeAnne. It was a lot of fun going back home. Mom and I went out to eat a couple of times, did a little window shopping in old-town Scottsdale, went to the library to research an historic bank robbery that Mom had read about, and went on a massive road trip (details below). I also met up with my high school friend, DeAnne, and had dinner with her, her husband & the kids a few times. We also watched a couple of movies - Employee of the Month (kind of stupid, but not completely horrible) and Holiday (actually a good chick flick, a bit long & kind of a lame ending). I shopped at a couple of malls and bought some new clothes (J Jill, Talbots, Dillards). Plus I went to 2 Phoenix Coyotes games. The first one was them against the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks totally smoked the Coyotes that night, and the fans were starting to boo their own team. On the way home I got irritated because I couldn't find my way back to the freeway easily (several of the on-ramps were closed for construction). I don't know Glendale all that well (the new Coyotes arena is way the hell out in West Phoenix aka Glendale...one fan was yelling "I drove all the way out here for this?!"). Anyway, being frustrated by several blocked attempts on to I-10, I made an illegal U-turn in front of a cop and got pulled over. Luckily he only issued me a warning and told me where to get on the freeway (which was also blocked, stupid cop!). The other game I went to was against the Avs. I had awesome seats (5 rows up from the Avs bench) & the game was great. Not only did the Avs look great, but Phoenix actually showed up to play...so it wasn't a complete blow-out. The two stars of the game are below (Paul Stasny & Joe Sakic):

Stasny               Sakic

So the massive road trip that my mom & I took spanned over 3 days. We started out on Sunday the 18th and drove north through Jerome (my fave town in AZ), Sedona and Flagstaff. Then we continued north into Navajo Nation territory. We stayed the night in Kayenta and ended up eating at the hotel, since there were limited other options. The next morning we did some quick shopping in the hotel gift shop (they actually had some nice Native American jewelry and other items), before heading north to Monument Valley. I can't believe I lived in Arizona for 20 years and never went to Monument Valley. Turns out, it's not really identified on most maps. This is because the Valley is on the Navajo reservation and the Navajos control entrance & the visitor center. I had to dig up info on the intenet to make sure we'd know how to find it. It's due north of Kayenta, cross over into Utah and then take the first right back into Arizona. We drove around Monument Valley, stopping to take pictures and buy some jewelry that a Navajo woman was selling. The area is beautiful & I definitely want to come back with Chris and take better pictures.

burro               mom
Stubborn horse at Monument Valley                                                                          Mom

After Monument Valley, we started our slow track across Southern Utah to Bryce Canyon. I've never been through this part of Utah, we took back highways the whole way - which made the drive gorgeous, but incredibly long.  We stopped off for a quick lunch at Natural Bridges National Monument before continuing on through other federal parks (like Grand Staircase Escalante and Capitol Reef). It was just past sunset by the time we rolled into Bryce, so we didn't get to see the bright pinks that would have lit up under the sun. Yet another park where I would like to have more time to hike and see more of the sights. I definitely want to go back sometime and camp, hike/bike throughout the area that we drove through. Plenty of beautiful country.

Utah scenery                me at Bryce
Scenic view of Utah                                                                            Me at Bryce Canyon

We ended up that night in Kanab, UT. The next morning we headed east to Page, AZ...past Lake Powell (another place I haven't been to & would love to see by boat). Then south to Flagstaff (stopping off at several Native American Trading posts and jewelry stands along the way). We ate lunch at a little diner in old-town Flagstaff and then drove back to Phoenix just in time for some rush-hour traffic (luckily we were going to opposite way for the most part).

So my Arizona visit was a lot of fun. This week I head off to DC for a couple of days for a conference. Then it'll be back home & continue with spring cleaning, etc...  Time to end this and go cook dinner.

-posted by Kelly

Wednesday, 21 MAR 07    

I was intending to update this last night, but my browser shut down before I had a chance to save what I had started, so I'll give it another shot tonight. I've been keeping myself busy while Kelly has been away, and she'll be home tomorrow night.

Last Thursday evening after work I loaded up the Element with a bunch of bags and boxes of items we were planning to donate to the thrift store from when we cleaned out the guest room last month. It was a bit painful on my ankle carrying the extra weight, but I managed and filled up the vehicle pretty well. Friday morning after PT I drove to ATS (America's Thrift Store) in Gulfport and dropped everything off. It looked much more manageable (we still have to get rid of some things) in the garage after loading all the clothes, books, cd's, and other items up. After my drop off at the thrift store, I went over to Books-A-Million in Edgewater Village across from the mall in Biloxi (a few stores down from where Be-Bop used to be). It was only 11am on a weekday, but the store was pretty dead and there seemed to be more employees than customers. Pretty sad. I don't know if it's just that people aren't aware it's open or they still just don't go down to that part of the coast as much anymore. It was kind of a surprise considering that Barnes and Noble is pretty busy almost any time of the day I've stopped in, but part of that could be location. I enjoyed browsing their decent selection of magazines for a bit before I left to meet Kendra for lunch at McAlister's at 11.30. Since she still works in the Gulfport office we've emailed back and forth from time to time, but it's been a few months since I've seen her. It was nice to sit down and chat about work, employee's personal lives, and things in general. I really do miss working with her because we really had a pretty good handle on things at the office at the time, besides the personal issues of certain employees, plus she was one of the few people I considered a friend at the office. At least we still can see each other from time to time. After a nice long lunch she went back to work and I went to get the oil changed in the Element, then got coffee at Barnes and Noble before heading home for a few hours. I was heading back out to meet Gary in D'Iberville for the 7pm showing of '300'. Gary was really looking forward to this film, and I had been interested in seeing it at well. Kelly had expressed no interest at all in seeing it (kind of like me not wanting to go to 'chick flicks' with her), so Gary and I had decided to see it while she was out of town. The reviews have called it 'artistic' and 'stylish', especially the blood-spattered killings. I thought the color tones were interesting and the special effects were decent, although at one point it appeared as if they had looped some footage of the opposing soldiers running across the screen in the background making it appear as if the same two soldiers were continually running across the screen. I also got a laugh at some of the 'metal' guitar riffs during the battle scenes. Overall it was a decent film, with a relatively simple storyline (300 BAD ASS Spartan soldiers position themselves in a canyon to defend against the millions of soldiers in Xerxes attacking army and die in glory after holding their own for a good while) and some great one-liners: 'Our arrows will blot out the sun,' to which Leonidas (the Spartan king) replies, 'Than we shall dine in the shade.' It may sound like I'm making fun of it, which I am a bit, but I really enjoyed it, for the action-adventure flick that it was. Gary was impressed and pleased that it lived up to his expectations, so that was good. After the movie we were going to eat at Outback, but the wait was 40 minutes, so we took the electronic buzzer/beeper and walked down a few stores to Strami's, where we ended up eating calzones instead of waiting. While eating the buzzer went off, but we ignored it and I took it back after we had finished. We were discussing during dinner that whoever planned out the businesses in that area did a really shitty job of planning. All the shops and restaurants have been built around the super Walmart, but traffic is a nightmare and it's really difficult getting from one point to another, and then out of the area completely because there aren't many outlets and it's all bunched up together. I'm sure the planners didn't initially intend for that area of Biloxi/Di'berville north of the interstate to expand so rapidly (thanks to the hurricane and a bunch of people moving further inland), but it's a real mess.

Saturday morning I actually was up in the same area, but there was much less traffic. I met Jason at Coffee Fusion where we got coffee and bagel sandwiches for breakfast. He was going to follow me to Gary's where we were going to watch the Fullmetal Alchemist movie. It was good to watch it again, and I think Jason really enjoyed it as well. After watching it we went to Mellow Mushroom for lunch (and I even had leftover pizza for a couple of days). Jason left to run some errands and head home after eating, but Gary and I went back to his place to watch more anime. We watched a few discs of Tsukuyomi Moon Phase (one of my favorites) and almost finished the Negima series. We finished watching around 11pm and I headed home to watch the Avs/Coyotes game Kelly was at that I had recorded on Tivo. Kelly called me as I was driving home and told me the Avs had won and it was an exciting game, but that I should go watch to see if I could see her in the stands (about 5 rows up from the Avalanche bench). Unfortunately I wasn't able to see her in the stands, but the game was fun to watch, especially in fast forward to the 'good' parts (goals and the one fight at the end). I then stayed up to watch 'Bleach' as well after the game (which wasn't as funny as usual, but had the mix of seriousness and humorous elements) and went to bed after 3am.

Sunday I slept in late, then got up and watched 'Blood +' (the newest anime series on adultswim) and 'Eureka7', which seems to be winding down in it's final story arc. Hard to tell what kind of ending it will have. Showered and went to pick up some groceries and an ankle brace at Walmart. My ankle has been bothering me some since I ditched the boot cast a couple of days after going to the doctor (along with the crutches) and have been limping around in my high top Keens. I had a bit of swelling on my ankle which I had put ice on, but I figured it wouldn't be bad to have the extra support. I still need to get over the mental image of stepping wrong and re-breaking my ankle. After getting back from the store I watched a bit of the NCAA basketball before heading over to New Orleans. I was going to see one of the few (five) live shows The Good, The Bad, and The Queen were playing in North America. They've been described as a Brit-pop supergroup of Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz),Tony Allen (Fela Kuti), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve) with hints of dub, and production from Dangermouse. Pretty fitting description, and I figured that since New Orleans was one of the few live shows they were playing I'd kick myself if I didn't go. I had downloaded a podcast from All Songs Considered on NPR last week, and it sounded good, so I was looking forward to it. I had dinner first at Rock n' Sake (the usual) since it was on the next street over from the venue, then I sat in the car for a bit and read while listening to part of the Avs/Sharks game on Sirius before heading into the club. I could have listened to more of the game because I waited over another hour more before they started playing (doors at 8pm, show at 9pm my ass!). It wasn't packed at the club, but a good-sized crowd of people who were actually into the music and not necessarily there just to be seen (although there were some of those people in the audience as well). I sat on a couch in the back for most of the show so I wouldn't put too much stress on my ankle. It was kind of funny how the set seemed very similar to the NPR show recorded a week or so earlier in Washington D.C. It was all good though, and I was happy to hear them play 'Kingdom of Doom', which along with 'History Song' are probably my favorites. It was over just after 11pm, so I was home a little after midnight. I watched the Avs/Sharks game in fast-forward from where I had left off in the car and was pleased with the exciting come from behind overtime win.

Monday morning I was supposed to have PT, but when I arrived Matt had called in sick so it was rescheduled for Tuesday morning instead. I went to work and afterwords was going to go back to New Orleans for the RJD2 show, but instead ended up transporting some packages to Gary's house after work and decided that I wasn't going to drive all the way back to New Orleans that night, so Gary and I ended up watching the final disc of Negima. It took a different turn from most of the rest of the episodes, but had a decent ending and we're looking forward to a possible second season since the manga has covered many other storylines that weren't touched in the anime.

Tuesday I had PT and Matt had me do some squats with both legs for 10 minutes, then alternating legs for another 10 minutes before having me do some exercises with a stepping block. I was kind of sore after the workout, but talking with Matt about how I'm going to progress, level out, decline a bit, plateau some more, level out and decline again before I'm back to 'normal'. It made me feel a lot better about how I'm doing since he said that I'm going at a faster pace than most patients in the same situation. I still have episodes of mild pain, and limp most of the time, but feel that I'm moving along pretty well. After work I went to the gym and rode the stationary bike for the first time. It wasn't too bad, but I had to stop after 15 minutes because it was getting to be a bit painful. I also did some bench press and lat pulldown exercises and was pleased that I hadn't totally lost my upper body strength in the two months I've neglected to do any exercise at all besides hopping around on crutches.

Today was my second PT appointment of 3 for the week and I did more squats along with walking on the treadmill at a slight incline and ending with pushing down on my leg which was placed on the second step of a small set of stairs. I felt today's workout and still do tonight. Matt gave me a sheet of step exercises to do, but we don't have any aerobic steps or substitutes at the house, so I stopped by a couple of sporting goods stores as well as Walmart, where none of them carried what I was looking for. Gary said he might have some wood in the garage and could use his nail gun and put something together for me. Since I'm going over to his house tomorrow night to watch 'Sakura Wars- The Movie' before I pick up Kelly at the airport, maybe he'll have a step for me to use.

Tonight I'm listening/watching the Avs whomp on the struggling Edmonton Oilers in the other room as I write this. After two periods they are up 5-0. It's a good thing to have a win as they attempt to sneak into the playoffs, but it's kind of sad to see Edmonton in such poor shape after such a great run last season and not looking too bad earlier this season. The trade which sent Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline really sent the team into shock. I don't think they've won but maybe one game since then, and that was at the end of February. It'd be pretty exciting if the Avs made it into the playoffs as the #8 seed. They'd probably end up having to face Nashville in the first round, which would be perfect for us considering the road trip we've been thinking about. Only a few more weeks before we'll find out who's in and who's out. We're loving it! Hopefully the NHL will have a couple more of their promo commercials that Kelly mentioned in a previous post. The latest ones we've seen are 'Swedish Twins' and 'Joe Thornton'. Of course the All Star Road Trip promo is still a favorite.

-posted by Chris

Wednesday, 14 MAR 07    


Helmet - 'Born Annoying' - 'AmRep1993 Sampler' (Amphetamine Reptile Records)

 I went to the physical therapist today, and he told me, 'You're trying to run before you've learned to walk.' This was after I had told him that I ditched my crutches yesterday after getting the okay from 'Dr. Hottie' to bear weight on my ankle again. He (the doctor) did tell me that I could stop using them in the next 3-4 days but to still wear the boot cast for another week, then get an ankle brace to wear with normal shoes. Of course I opted to continue physical therapy in an attempt to hasten my bike riding and strengthening of my leg/ankle muscles, which I'll be attending 3 times per week for the next 4 weeks. After hobbling around yesterday (Kelly asked me on the phone if I needed a cane like Dr. House on television, which wasn't a bad idea actually...) in my boot, I came home and took it off and was 'walking' around the house with bare feet. It was kind of painful, mainly getting used to walking, but no more than I really expected, and it felt really good to take off the boot which is kind of heavy and gets really hot with the thick 'ski' sock I have to wear with it. This is what Matt (my physical therapist) was making the comment to in response to my telling him this. He told me that it wouldn't set me back, but that I should wear shoes around the house, then later next week as it starts to strengthen I can bring a shoe to work and wear the boot half day and a regular shoe for half day. Gee, thanks. Well, he knows more than I do, so I won't push it and re-injure myself because that would really piss me off. He did have me sit in a chair and alternate leaning on my left knee (putting weight on the ankle), then sitting back in 15-second intervals, then I did some squats on one of his exercise machines. Low-impact, but I actually could feel it as I pushed up extending my legs. Finally I ended with 'shock treatment', or electrical stimulation through the applicator pads placed around my ankle and foot and hooked up to 'the machine'. I don't know how much of a charge was being sent out, but it wasn't very high, although I could feel it tingle when the charge went through it's timed pulse. Interesting.

The other day I received a letter from Lili, one of my best friends since junior high school in Alaska. We stay in contact somewhat frequently (mostly through email), and discussed how nice it is to receive 'real' letters, but that it isn't done very often anymore because of the convenience of email. I wrote her a letter last month inside a nice card, which she told me (ironically) that a large portion was missing because it had gotten caught in one of the sorting machines at the Post Office (strange since it was a normal size card and wasn't very thick) and they told her, 'sorry, it happens' and she pointed out that it was ironic that it doesn't happen to bills. And now the bastards at the Postal Service want to increase rates again, but think that people are going to want to continue using them and buy the 'forever stamps'. Are they high or what?

One of the things that Lili suggested is that since I have considered going to baking school, and working in a bakery or Kelly and I opening our own eventually, that why should I wait? She reminded me that we were both 36 and weren't getting any younger (thanks, Lili) and that was her 'academic advisor advice' for me since that's what she does at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I've actually been thinking about it more and more. If Kelly is offered one of the job positions that she has applied for, then I may consider it more seriously. Today I was really feeling the 'sinking black hole which is the Pascagoula Medicaid Office' today. It was as if I couldn't get anything done this morning and was feeling more blah than usual. It doesn't help that 1/3 of our staff has left (quit, moved) in the past 2.5 months and that our State Office hasn't really done anything to help the problem. I've brought this up before, and don't want to beat a dead horse, but usually I can just ignore most of it and plug away. I think it's finally getting to me though. I'll be glad when we do get to move away and I can wash my hands of it completely.

At least this weekend I'll be able to put it off my mind for a bit. Gary and I are having an anime fest and Jason is coming over to watch the Full Metal Alchemist movie with us since he's watched the series, but hasn't gotten to see the movie yet (he didn't ride along with us last year to Lafayette, LA to see it in the theater). Slowly we're getting him hooked on anime with the new shows on Cartoon Network and others that we watch, and soon he'll spiral downward in otaku-ness like Gary and I. Mwuah, hah, hah, hah- our plan is working. Soon he'll be collecting figures or putting up anime wallpaper on his computer like we do.

Oh, one final thing, besides reading manga lately (just finished Rurouni Kenshin), I recently read the third book by the metal cowboy, Joe Kurmaskie, entitled 'Momentum is Your Friend'. Here is a review I posted to Amazon.com: This is an entertaining and humorous account of the 'Metal Cowboy' biking from Portland to Washington D.C. with his young sons, Enzo and Quinn, in tow behind him (which add a whole new point of view and laugh factor). I particularly enjoyed Joe's musical references along the way. An unimaginable adventure that leaves one in awe of this achievement, plus inspires one to venture out on their own bicycle journey and experience their own cross-country excursion. A great addition to his previous books and the only disappointment was that he didn't have more to share in this adventure. I really did find the book entertaining and inspiring. I've been thinking about doing some epic bike tours with my dad in the next year or two. He's not getting any younger (and neither am I), but I think if nothing else I want to do the Ride the Rockies tour with him, and possibly my brother and sister. Of course that depends on if we get selected in the lottery of riders, but if not that, then maybe Ragbrai. I've been itching to ride for the past two months, and as soon as my ankle has strengthened enough and I'm able to ride again, I'm planning to start training for some big rides. The doctor said I could start road riding sooner than mountain biking, so I'm going to get one of the road bikes I was eyeing for Christmas and start racking up the miles.

-posted by Chris

Sunday, 11 MAR 07    


Air - 'Once Upon A Time' - 'Pocket Symphony' (Astralwerks)

Ah, another couple weeks have passed and gone. We've been following the Avalanche as they've been playing much better and won five consecutive games including four on the road and against league-leading Buffalo and Detroit (although they did lose this afternoon in overtime to Minnesota). I've been emailing my friend Andy in Boston who is the co-sponsor of our annual 'Stanley Cup Playoff Picks' game. It sounds like he's going all out this year, designing a website with the 'tree' brackets showing who picks each team as well as a forum for comments, trash-talking, and photos. He even said we may have up to 25 players this year, which it seems he's gained enthusiasm by showing off his Cup trophy he received last year and taken all over the place. Awesome! It's only a $10 entry fee (kind of like our poker buy-ins) and we try to split the money between the top 3, although the #1 winner gets the Cup trophy engraved with their name and bragging rights for the year. I'm excited.

What else have we done? Oh, we went and saw the movie 'Zodiac' last Friday. It was either that or 'Black Snake Moan', but we opted for Jake Gyllenhaal and a serial killer over Christina Ricci chained up in her underwear. We'll save the latter for another time. 'Zodiac' ended up being a really great film, that even at 2.5 hours it moved at a good pace the whole way through. It kind of interested me in reading about the history of the Zodiac killer (Kelly found this link when she was searching) and gave Kelly some creepy dreams and 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' playing in her head.

Saturday afternoon and most of the day Sunday I spent out at the Bethel mountain bike trails doing registration and calculating times for the Briar-Badlands-Battle race. The weather was great on Saturday with plenty of riders pre-registering and checking out the course. I was envious and wanted to be out riding myself on such a great day, but no luck. The next morning I had to be there bright and early, which wasn't a problem, but the blowing wind made it chilly. A couple of riders that had camped out overnight were generous enough to loan us (me) their propane heater to warm my fingers between typing information on the laptop computer. Overall it was a successful day with 89 riders. Klain and I only made two slight miscalculations of time results when doing our figures, but those were corrected and it seems that all the riders that came from around the state and region had a good time. Maybe I'll be able to participate in one of the races later in the year.

Wednesday was my birthday and after work we went to dinner with Jason & Ellen to Jourdan River Steamer, right down the road in Kiln. It was surprisingly really good. Kelly had gone once before, but I was a bit hesitant. They had great steamed seafood, and I had the red shrimp and king crab. Yum! Kelly had a tuna steak with some other seafood on top. Jason and Ellen shared one of the steamed platters called the 'Love Boat' which had crab, shrimp, and mussels. Kelly had also baked me a chocolate cake after she got home, so the four of us all had a slice back at home after dinner. It was rich and delicious. Thanks.

Not too much else the rest of this week. We had thought about going out on Friday night, but ended up staying home. Yesterday we spent the day at the house then went out to get a new kitty door at Petsmart, coffee at Barnes and Noble, and dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant in Ocean Springs. It wasn't busy at all, unlike the other places we had considered, which had lines out the door. This was a good selection, I had soup and Kelly had noodles. Next door was a bubbletea place where I had an iced coffee drink. We also purchased tickets for the Police reunion tour coming to New Orleans at the end of June. I purchased extra tickets in case some friends who wanted to go didn't get any, but also because my third selection had the best seats. Go figure.

Kelly is leaving for Phoenix on Tuesday morning to visit her mom for 10 days. That same morning I also go back to the doctor for the six-week check up to see if it's okay for me to bear weight again on my ankle. I am thinking that it will be alright. I've been 'cheating' the past couple of days, kind of sliding my foot across the ground while walking, attempting to get used to having both feet planted on the ground. Not really too much other news.

-posted by Chris

Thursday, 01 MAR 07    

Ask and you shall receive...

Music Link
Krookid Ledder Youth - 'Metal One'

Music Link
Krookid Ledder Youth - 'Metal Three'

Music Link
Krookid Ledder Youth - 'Side A'