My day started off poorly yesterday. Have YOU ever brushed your teeth and then tried to gulp down cold water? It hurts bad. It's like pouring hot water on an ice covered windshield. I felt like my teeth we're going to explode.
You wouldn't know it from looking at me, but I go to the gym five times a week. That's twenty times a month which means I pay $1.75 for every visit. I could have paid $12.50 for my visit last night. As I climbed up to my nemesis, I noticed a class that was happening just in front of me. The instructor was happy and swinging his arms with authority. Sounds good, right? Not quite. He was 5'8" and weighed 220+ pounds. He and the six participants were doing pilates. I tripped like six times in 20 minutes on the stair climber. That's a trip every 3.3 minutes.
My night got even better when I saw a young man on the bench press. He was benching less weight than I bench. It's remarkable really. In my 13 months at the gym, I've never seen anyone bench press less weight than me. It hangs over my head like the thought of drinking water after my morning brush. If you must know, he was benching 95 pounds. I bench more. That's all you need to know.
November 18, 2006
November 3, 2006
We just booked 2 one-way tickets to Hong Kong on February 6. There is no turning back now. Beyond Hong Kong, we have no idea where we're going or when. We have no plans and no agenda.
It's ON.
We put a world map on our wall a few months ago. We're slowly adding pictures of places we'd like to visit. Who knows if we'll get to all of them or none of them.
It's ON.
We put a world map on our wall a few months ago. We're slowly adding pictures of places we'd like to visit. Who knows if we'll get to all of them or none of them.
November 2, 2006
I'm at the library because our neighbors' internet, which we steal, has been turned off. Don't they know I have work to do and BLOGS to write?
Our library is in our backyard so it's not a big deal. It's a unique place here. You've got half 20-somethings with Apple computers who are studying or writing the next important screenplay or - how stupid is this - blogging . Then the other half is a collection of homeless people and/or mentally challenged people. For example, the homeless guy next to me just ate a pack of jellybeans louder than I ever thought it was possible to eat a pack of jelly beans. And now he's passionately reading an encyclopedia. Out loud. And the older cat lady from our building just walked by with her stained shirt unbuttoned to her belly button. I think I may have seen nipple. Then there's the burn victim. He gets a million stares a day, but he always has a ginormous smile on his face. And last in my range of sight is the older homeless man with the trench coat and Starbucks cup. He always has that cup in his hand. I think Starbucks is paying him to advertise. I bet the thoughts and ideas that go up from this building are as crazy as any place on earth. It's like a running comedy show that only God knows about.
Our library is in our backyard so it's not a big deal. It's a unique place here. You've got half 20-somethings with Apple computers who are studying or writing the next important screenplay or - how stupid is this - blogging . Then the other half is a collection of homeless people and/or mentally challenged people. For example, the homeless guy next to me just ate a pack of jellybeans louder than I ever thought it was possible to eat a pack of jelly beans. And now he's passionately reading an encyclopedia. Out loud. And the older cat lady from our building just walked by with her stained shirt unbuttoned to her belly button. I think I may have seen nipple. Then there's the burn victim. He gets a million stares a day, but he always has a ginormous smile on his face. And last in my range of sight is the older homeless man with the trench coat and Starbucks cup. He always has that cup in his hand. I think Starbucks is paying him to advertise. I bet the thoughts and ideas that go up from this building are as crazy as any place on earth. It's like a running comedy show that only God knows about.
October 29, 2006
I think in another life I could have been a small mountain town kind of guy. The kind of place with a walkable downtown, apartments with fireplaces and hiking trails nearby.
Three days in Rapid City was all it took.
Despite the awkwardness of being the lone 20-something on the plane from Denver to Rapid City, I arrived to clear sky's and see-my-breath cold weather. My reason for spending $10 on a frequent flier ticket was to visit Paul Kind.
I've spent time in Flagstaff, Bozeman, Great Falls and Spokane and none compared to the mountain town feel of Rapid City. We spent most of our time downtown and in the Black Hills. Downtown has it all. Great local restaurants, movie theatre, bars with cheap drinking and pool tables, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, local shopping, post office and even some mixed zoning (Paul lives downtown). The Black Hills have just as much to offer as the downtown. High altitude lakes, beautiful colors and ample hiking trails make the Hills around Rapid City highly underrated.
What I expected was a touristy Mount Rushmore town (ala Gatlinburg). What I got was a true mountain town experience.
Three days in Rapid City was all it took.
Despite the awkwardness of being the lone 20-something on the plane from Denver to Rapid City, I arrived to clear sky's and see-my-breath cold weather. My reason for spending $10 on a frequent flier ticket was to visit Paul Kind.
I've spent time in Flagstaff, Bozeman, Great Falls and Spokane and none compared to the mountain town feel of Rapid City. We spent most of our time downtown and in the Black Hills. Downtown has it all. Great local restaurants, movie theatre, bars with cheap drinking and pool tables, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, local shopping, post office and even some mixed zoning (Paul lives downtown). The Black Hills have just as much to offer as the downtown. High altitude lakes, beautiful colors and ample hiking trails make the Hills around Rapid City highly underrated.
What I expected was a touristy Mount Rushmore town (ala Gatlinburg). What I got was a true mountain town experience.
October 21, 2006
SO...we're moving again. In the sort-of-kind-of way. This difference between moving and what we're doing is we're not going anywhere in particular. And we're not selling all of our stuff like we have in the past two moves. We might actually have a storage unit (those Temper-Pedic pillows have to be kept somewhere).
I'll cut to the chase.
Two days after Super Bowl Sunday, Kari and i will be boarding a plane heading West...to the Far East. And we probably won't be coming back for a long time. We've saved enough money to be out in the open world for at least a year. We have no real agenda, no real itinerary. We can do whatever we want, wherever we want. If we meet some friends who are going North to Russia for a few weeks, well, we can go with. If we love a certain country, we can stay as long as we want to. If we get bored and want to come home after six months, we can. Essentially, we'll be winging it every step of the way. That's piece one.
Countries we'd like to spend time in? China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Bosnia, Croatia, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa. Countries we'll actually spend time in? Who knows.
Piece two: We'll be doing as much as we can by land. If we can get there by boat, car, train, bus or by foot, we'll probably take that way. One of the luxuries of having no plans or itinerary is that you can really see the world, from the ground. Avoid planes is our motto.
Our map is gonna have a little more red in it after 2007.
I'll cut to the chase.
Two days after Super Bowl Sunday, Kari and i will be boarding a plane heading West...to the Far East. And we probably won't be coming back for a long time. We've saved enough money to be out in the open world for at least a year. We have no real agenda, no real itinerary. We can do whatever we want, wherever we want. If we meet some friends who are going North to Russia for a few weeks, well, we can go with. If we love a certain country, we can stay as long as we want to. If we get bored and want to come home after six months, we can. Essentially, we'll be winging it every step of the way. That's piece one.
Countries we'd like to spend time in? China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Bosnia, Croatia, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa. Countries we'll actually spend time in? Who knows.
Piece two: We'll be doing as much as we can by land. If we can get there by boat, car, train, bus or by foot, we'll probably take that way. One of the luxuries of having no plans or itinerary is that you can really see the world, from the ground. Avoid planes is our motto.
Our map is gonna have a little more red in it after 2007.
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