Just a few comments

Well, I don't really have a theme for today's blog, just a few thoughts that are running around my head. My brain seems to have rejected such pithy topics as the economy, simply because as the news seems to get worse and worse with each passing day I have lost all ability to deal. The first is less in my head than my body. Yesterday in crossfit we did a very simple work out.

5 pullups
10 push ups
15 squats

Piece of cake, except the kicker, as many times as you can in 20 minutes. For me and most of the people in the class, that was 16. The after that we did a short core workout that involved walking with very heavy weights. This was basically working out to total failure. I mean, total failure in my arms. When I finished the workout I could barely coordinate my arms enough to wash my hands. I called my mom, and the only way to hold the phone to my ear was to prop it up with my other arm. And while one may not think of cycling as an upper body workout, riding to work today was near impossible because I could hardly support my body with my arms.

What is it mom says? That which does not kill you makes you strong. My arms will either be super strong in a couple weeks, or unusable. On the plus side, extreme body pain makes it easier to avoid thinking about our economic woes.

Subject 2, FOOD. So I have been seeing a naturopathic doctor to try to get over some stomach issues I have had forever. So far I have given up wheat for two weeks. Then, separately, I have given up dairy for two weeks. That was to see if I had sensitivities to either of those foods. The results were a bit inconclusive so my doctor has decided to wage a battle to strengthen my digestive system. This involves no wheat, no dairy and no sugar for two months. In addition, I should not eat things that seem to upset my stomach - which seems to include the large number of nuts I consume at work for sustenance when trying to avoid sugar and wheat. AND I'm supposed to limit for alcohol consumption for two months. I'm wondering what's left. Every thing I can think of eating in a restaurant involves all the above. Excuse me while I delve into my hermitage for the next two weeks! And beyond no fun, I am feeling a little panicy. I am not one who likes to be hungry. I am going to need some at work snacks. I'm taking suggestions.

Okay, I wanted to post something but this may be as much as my spagetti arms can handle. I'm off to watch Brothers and Sisters. Though can I mention, Brothers and Sisters and Grey's Anatomy have both become painfully unwatchable, as they rehash the exact same story lines for a third or fourth season.

How's that for some stream of consciousness. I promise a real live topic next time. Feel free to suggest one and see what I come up with!

Don't believe the hype? Or do?

I have to say my brain has been in a bit of a tizzy all week. For years our fearless leader and republican nominee have been telling us that our economy is strong and stable. The American people are whiners. There is no recession. Now suddenly the economy is falling apart and things haven't been this bad since the Depression. Only a $700 billion bail out can solve the problem. I am scratching my head wondering what is the truth. I am always super skeptical of politicians (more of some than others), but how could there be this huge discrepancy. I am listening to other sources. Many congressional members and senators -- including many I support - seem to think a bail out is necessary. Others, think this bailout sucks. As well, there is a large group of economists who think this particular bail out is a bad idea and we need to look to other possibilities to save the economy. I am finding myself leaning towards the 'it sucks' folks who tending to be very conservative republicans I usually disagree with (see, my confusion).

Now, I consider myself an intelligent semi well informed person, but frankly a lot of this I don't understand. I have heard numerous news stories attempting to explain why we are in this huge mess and my rather fiscally conservative brain doesn't understand. I guess the lure of making huge amounts of money. And the knowledge that no matter what happened down the road you would probably be able to keep a good portion of that money swayed people in power to make decisions that benefited them but weren't so good in the long run? And what should we do? Well, giving those same people a huge pot of money to correct the problem, that feels like a very bad idea.

BUT, I also feel like we're in the huge mess of hype, from the media and from the politicians. And at this point, no matter what the reality of the financial system and the financial bail out, if the bail out doesn't pass, maybe we're screwed. Maybe people have gotten themselves in such turmoil, that the ecomony will enter a downwards spiral if we don't pass a bad bail out package.

I heard from a friend at Washington Mutual, that though they were doing badly, they probably could have held on. However, all the talk of them falling apart led to a huge rush on the bank. The resulting withdrawals expedited or caused their final demise. Maybe it's the same thing happening with the economy, if we weren't all so freaked out, it wouldn't be so bad?

I have found myself this last week going about my life wondering why everything seems to normal. People are going to the gym, going to work, going shopping. I seem to have this idea in my mind that we are in crisis. People shouldn't have jobs. They shouldn't have the money to go shopping because our economy is in tatters. Yet in reality, my life hasn't really changed at all or not much.

I don't really have an answer for this blog, but I am so frustrated by the media and the politicians and not knowing what to believe. How could our economy be slowing but sound and suddenly explode without anyone knowing or talking about it? Or was I just not listening properly?

Moral Support

I'd like to make a little call out to my peeps of the canine and feline variety. I spent the day painting and staining my new doors (or more to the point trying not the stain the paint or paint the stain). All day Otto and Daisy had my back with their moral support and constant supervision. You'll notice frequent changes of position and don't be put off by the posturing of utter boredom.

Crossfit

Kettlebell

Pull up, notice the body swinging.

How will I ever squat like that.

So I started a new work out called crossfit. It's a thing, as in not just my new gym does it, but people crossfit throughout the US. I guess you might describe it as a very dynamic form of weight lifting. You lift heavy weights - in the form of dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells - but you do it quickly and you use your body to do it. So, for example, if you want to get weights from shoulder height to fully extended arms, you bend at the hips and use the energy from straighting your hips to help push the weights up. If you're swinging a kettlebell, you don't use your arms to push the weight, instead you use your body, bending your legs and your hips to move the weight. Instead of just lifting, you lift very quickly engaging your entire body and it ends up being a cardio vascular work out as well as just a weight workout.

I have lifted weights since I was 18. If anyone is counting, that's a very long time. I am strong. I did 36 pull ups on friday. I think if you break atheticism down to three components - speed, strength and flexibility, I will always get the strength easily but have to struggle for the other two. But, I have always lifted weights, done pullups, push ups, and dips, very deliberately.
Sometimes I'll do lots of reps quickly with light weights, but usually I try to lift heavier weights slowly, focusing the full range of motion. Also, with most weight lifting I have done, you use specific body parts for each exercise, not using your legs or core to help lift.

Crossfit is different. Many of the workouts we do are timed, so you're trying to do things quickly Also, the emphasis is more on using your entire body (mostly core) to help you lift so you can do more, more quickly. So it's essentially learning an entirely new work out. Things that seem like they should be pretty easy, are suddenly really hard when you've done three sets of rowing, combined with quick dips, combined with throwing a medicine ball up a wall. Oh and crossfit requires lots of squatting. I can't squat.

So it's fun and it's very hard. I'm learning something new. And I have a few goals for the year. First, I want to try to climb a rope up to the ceiling (20 feet). I have no idea if I can do this now or not, but I want to try. Secondly, there is this thing they do (it has a name but I don't know it), you do a pull up on rings, then you get your body up and over your hands and push yourself up so your arms are straight. This I know I can't do at the moment. Dave, my trainer, said he's not sure any women in the gym can do that. That's goal number two. The third is to do a hand stand with no wall. I've been trying this for years in yoga and can't do it for more than a couple seconds.

So now I've written down my goals. We can touch base in 6 months and see how they're going.

I want Nau now!

Back last spring, I stumbled upon the company Nau (pronounced now). Nau makes clothes. And they have concentrated on making every step of their company clothing production, development, and selling as ecologically friendly as possible. They make their clothes out of really cool stuff like yarns recycled from post-consumer and post-industrial polyester waste, soda bottles, the overflow from a plastic injection-molder, a frilled tuxedo shirt from a 70’s prom. AND, the very best part of all, their clothes are super styley. I bought a coat last year, and EVERY time I wear it I get tons of compliments. And (yes, there is more) they make their clothes to be used. A lot of their clothing is designed with biking, climbing etc in mind, so you can move in them and they last.

After my third Nau purchase in a matter of weeks last spring, I was completely smitten. And then, just as I was getting ready for their spring line that had been promised for May 5. They very suddenly went out of business and closed up shop. It seems all the media attention wasn't translating to sales in our tanking economy.

But then, they came back! I guess someone liked their style and business mojo and decided to fund them with the same business model, but with only online sales. Can you imagine the excitement. There was great cheering in the streets, or at least a mild buzz. Their website promised new clothes by August 1.

Then, (can you handle being jerked around with more emotional upheaval), on August 1, it turns out that they were just preparing their new website for their new clothing launch, mid October. And so I've been waiting and it's almost mid October. They now have a couple teaser items on their website. I'm ready, I've been ready, I want more Nau clothes Now! Or maybe just that cashmere dress! Visit www.nau.com.

Roberta

So, on Friday night I attended a party thrown by my neighbor. At said party I met another, newer, neighbor by the name of Sav. Sav informed me that he would always remember my name because it was the name of his favorite Billy Joel song. (Okay, Sav walked right by me two days later and when I said hi, there didn't even seem to be the slightest bit of recognition in his eyes, but if he remembered me, I'm sure he'd remember my name).

Anyhow, I digress. Billy Joel's album Streetlife Serenade came out in 1974. On it there is a song called Roberta. Now how is it I've never heard of this song? You'd think sometime in the last 34 years (good god) someone would have mentioned that there was a song floating around with my name in the title!

Now, perhaps it's not quite on the level of some name songs such as Suzanne by Leonard Cohen. That song is a masterpiece and rumor has it that is how my sister got her name. And perhaps no one would ever chose Roberta as a love song with which to woo me (it is actually about a, well shall we say, lady of the evening). But it's a very pretty song. And Sav (who seems to know quite a bit about Billy Joel, having won his lady over with two Billy Joel albums and a zebra striped water bed) considers it one of his personal favorites.

I had to go out and buy Streetlife Serenade and now I can have Billy Joel woo me 24/7. I'm very happy with my song. I even like the fact that it makes me a little, uhm, risky? Thanks Sav

Any other songs I need to know about?

I'm back!

Le Porch.

Obligatory art shot.

For all you suckers living in the MW and the NE suffering torrential downpours, it's summer in Seattle. (We have to revel in our two minutes!)

Obligatory Otto shot, meow!

It has been brought to my attention by my 100s of fans (okay maybe two of them), that my lack of blogging has left folks bereft and disconsolate. How could I be responsible for such horror? There is already so much sadness in the world, I must do my small small part to bring happiness to my peeps. So, I have drug myself away from the house cleaning I have been dying to get to and here is a new blog, complete with pictures of the now completed porch!

And what else to say as Seattle latches on to the last days of summer with a true summer. Oh, yes, the best news of all, and probably the lack of knowledge on this particular issue is what has caused the most grief. TOMATOES. Yes, the tomatoes survived August in Seattle and now that it has turned summer in September are actually turning red. Yippeee. I have eaten two and they were delicious. I have another one almost ready and maybe, just maybe will get another two or so. Of course, I ate them with cheese, which contributed greatly to their perfection. Now I'm two weeks without cheese, and perhaps, well, they'll just be different.

Now, anyone and everyone reading this can sleep contentedly. I will try to keep up with the blogs and keep the people happy.