Rocket Town Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Every year (well, as of two years ago) in the later parts of summer, Indianapolis becomes a biker heaven when MotoGP comes to town for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. As Sean has been a speed bike fan for several years now, having owned and ridden one himself, naturally he was keen to get tickets as soon as the event was announced. I blogged about our first trip to the event - and how we survived the inland hurricane (but our tent didn't).


This year, we were blessed with spectacular weather - not too hot, not too sunny. No one got rained on, no one got burned. They changed the shower truck vendor on us this year (not cool, IMS, not cool at all) but other than that, it was a great time! I realized again how lucky I am that I, for the most part, find Sean's motor-related interests even remotely intriguing and/or fun. Plus, I love camping!

Commence slide show:









You want to know the coolest part of it all? Sean submitted our photos from the weekend's events (He probably took 60% of them - particularly the midrace and paddock shots) to Superbike Planet for inclusion in their fan photo galleries - and several were published! See one here of Valentino Rossi adjusting his...umm, well you know, three here - one of me, one by me (of the wall), and one by Sean (of the Ducati stands), and one here. So if you ever wondered who my favorite rider is, NOW YOU KNOW.

My Life Was Just a Cheap, Meaningless Void Until Now Thursday, September 23, 2010

How is it that I've survived the past 31 years without this website?! HOW?! Found it via Swistle whose adorable husband bought her 2 pounds of pens for $10. Which makes me love her (and by extension, her husband) even more. Not only because I really abhor pencils, but also because freebie pens always end up being the best and longest-lasting - like county fair goldfish.

Anybody need some plastic graduates for Christmas? A Figure 9 Carabiner makes an excellent (if a bit sharp) stocking stuffer! Hannukah just wouldn't be the same without a Digital Multimeter, now would it? I DON'T THINK SO.

Nerdy as it is, this might be my new favorite website. Everybody is getting science stuff for the holidays! You bring the egg nog, I'll bring the 500 mL Erlen Flasks.

Happy Trails Sunday, September 19, 2010

There are things about camping that I find serve as a refresher to my system - maybe not distant, community restrooms, but fresh air and laughter? Definitely. I had a chance this past weekend to spend time with my favorite people in the world (outside my biological family that is) and it occurred to me several times throughout our time together that we are so incredibly, ridiculously lucky to have one another near by.


I mean, c'mon - with who else am I supposed to discuss things like the origin of tampons, ankle goatees, weird vocabulary, and fracture mechanics? (well that last one was an education for me, really - mah frendz r RLY smahrttt). Despite the initially frustrating weather, and those last two fireside cocktails that I REALLY didn't need last night, I had a great weekend. We are all so busy these days and I know it will only get more difficult to figure out once our lives become happily complicated with children, pets, or whatever else the universe has in store for us.


I am so blessed to have people in my life that aren't afraid to shush me when I become very loudly animated in my speech, who go camping when they *really* don't want to, who support my bitching out of a long training run when I really just want to sit and chatter and read magazines, and who know how to make a mean flapjack breakfast taco. How do you say "pigs in a blanket" in Spanish?

I'm sure one of them could tell me.

Have a great week, everyone. I'm off to go do another load of smoky laundry.

Top 3 Reasons Why Working from Home is Awesome Thursday, September 16, 2010

1. I'll take this view over the Chicago River any day.


2. When I'm alone, no one can see me eat yesterday's Pumpkin Cupcake for breakfast.


3. Sweatpants and no make-up! Love it.

Reading Sunday, September 05, 2010

Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth...So the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow.

Book excerpt by Pema Chodron, as published in the May issue of the online magazine, Fear.Less.

I'm not entirely prone to Eastern thinking, but who can deny the appeal of this Buddhist take on the challenges of life? I'm always looking to calm down, to settle, to rest. This article was like a philosophical safety blanket - and a welcome realization that my inner chaos is not unique, nor should I allow it to rule my decisions and actions.

Reading Thursday, September 02, 2010

Elsa walked slowly through the narrow streets looking around her at the way life went on. The people washed the sidewalks in front of their little stores and laid out their wares. In the cafes and restaurants they were laboriously writing their menus on big blackboards. There wasn't the same carefree, cheerful way as before the accident. But at least they were getting on with it. Or pretending to. Like Elsa herself.

Things I Don't Understand Wednesday, September 01, 2010

1. Why can't it be, when I say that I am LMAO, I am not *actually* LMAO. Hey, I'm not a mathematician, but even I can recognize that laughter = skinny is just about the best equation ever. Eat my pencil dust, Fermat!

2. Why McDonald's apple pies taste so incredibly good. How is my diet going, you ask? Oh...um...fine, I guess.

3. Season 11's DWTS lineup

4. The way the summer has disappeared so quickly. I have recently issued a scheduling moratorium for September and October. All plans that are already made are kept - any other requests for my time will be denied. Yes, you heard me. No more plans. I'm fresh out of patience, so you'll have to ring me back in November.

5. How I could suddenly have crow's feet this week, but not last week. NO REALLY, they are for real and they appeared Monday morning, and it doesn't appear (regardless of the amount of water I consume) that they are going away anytime soon. I hate you, 31.