random thoughts

I just had a thought and since this is my blog I'm going to post it.

I was just perusing some of my favorite design blogs and I thought - what about designing a house in that stark, straight line, everything white or grayish, nothing on any surface kind of way but on the walls put large photos of clutter (black and white photos of course).

Clutter as art - hmmm??? I'm just saying, maybe we need a little clutter here and there.

Sometimes I think that interior design gets a little out of hand.

River Wild

For a really great look at the wild Spokane River, take a look at this video journal by SR photojournalist Brian Plonka




More video journals here

24 hour race - breakdown

Here's a brief description of the 24 hour mountain bike race:

Get a bike, get a team, get a tent, ride your bike, eat or drink, sleep and ride your bike again.

The race began at 12 noon on Saturday and ended at 12 noon on Sunday. Each lap is 15 miles.
In this case Richard was one of a 9 man team and their goal was hour laps or better which they managed to do because they ended up with 25 laps in 24 hours.

We camped over night but were serenaded by Journey's greatest hits so sleeping wasn't exactly an option but we'll never stop believin. The weather was diverse we started off thinking we might get thunderstorms but a light rain with light winds and really lovely patches of sun came instead. The temperature went down at night as the humidity went up which made for a very damp tent and sleeping bag. In the morning the sun came out and it was 65 by 10am and close to 80 by 1.

Fortunately the race was uneventful. A couple guys had brain farts that sort of launched them off their bikes in strange places like right at the start line. One guy locked his keys in his car while getting ready for his 2am lap and had to call his wife, who was at home with two young daughters, to come and let him back into his car. On the very last lap the rider got a flat which meant that the team lost 3rd place overall by 1 minute. They did win their division with, I think, 2 laps on the second place team. This made them happy and overall really pleased with the way the whole thing went. No one gave up, no one whined, no one wrecked and they got sweet vests and medals. Add beer and a cow bell to all that and I believe you've got a perfect day of bike racing.

I took a tone of photos but I don't think it was a stellar effort on my part. The whole thing is kind of a blur for me - I kept making trips home to check on the dogs and I think I'm typing this while still feeling a little sleep deprived.

Anyway, here are some snaps - Congratulations to David, Craig, Dan 1, John, Dan 2, Kevin, Shaun, Richard and Alan (sorry if I spelled your names wrong, I doubt if any of those guys read my blog anyway...) You guys did a great job!

And here's to Amy, Cassandra and I for being there for the guys. Hope we can get those pedicures soon. We deserve it!

Monty visited for a little while. This made his little doggy heart happy.




the boat in the background is where the Journey experience happened - yes that's a boat.


getting dark - the lights on the bikes had to be one by 8am so this must be around that time. Can you see the streak of light? That's a rider passing our compound which was right on the track.


around 10pm we decided to walk up to the timing tent. These photos shows riders waiting at the exit of the tent to grab the wristband timing transponder and head out on their lap.




results were updated on an hourly basis


this one shows a rider coming in


the timing tent


back at the camp site - Richard played movies from the DVD player implanted in his stomach


and David warmed up on the trainer


more riders passing the tent at night




Getting late - time for sleep




David heading out on his last lap


while the rest of the team carbo loads


clean teeth are a must


the buffet


I know you probably want the name of our interior decorator


finally getting some rest


waiting for his last lap to start




Richard heading out on his last lap


and the crowd goes wild


the return - that was fast!




fun with food. What used to be a vegan breakfast brownie (which I worked really hard at making) formed into a piece of poo and placed on the track. Call it sleep deprived humor.



hour 26 - waiting for the final results and awards.






and finally...


now I need to get some rest....

Sunday - my church

THAT LIVES IN US

If you put your hands on this oar with me,
they will never harm another, and they will come to find
they hold everything you want.

If you put your hands on this oar with me, they would no longer
lift anything to your
mouth that might wound your precious land-
that sacred earth that is
your body.

If you put your soul against this oar with me,
the power that made the universe will enter your sinew
from a source not outside your limbs, but from a holy realm
that lives in us.

Exuberant is existence, time a husk.

When the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space;
love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.

Why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and future?

The mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities
will find no rest.

Be kind to yourself, dear- to our innocent follies.

Forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance.

You will come to see that all evolves us.

If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving
every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm
and we will be, we will be
so happy.

-Rumi

please help save the bees

Bike to work week ends - now what

I'll tell you what - More biking to work thats what!



Today is the last day in Spokane's Bike to Work Week. For most of the year I had been taking the bus to work and school, Richard had been riding to work quite a bit. The weather finally changed and the days were long so I jumped on my bike a couple of weeks ago and have been riding ever since.

I don't want to wax poetic about riding my bike but it's a good feeling to know that I'm saving more than gas. I'm also saving my body and my environment. I take tougher routes to get a good workout. I'm more aware, when I am in my car, of the world beyond my four doors. The other thing I really like is that I get to feel connected with the communities I ride through. I can stop along the way and look at the view or talk with a neighbor. I get to ride through the park and smell the apple blossoms. Ok, I'm waxing.

Yes, there have been a few chilly mornings and a mindless driver here and there but let's just say bike commuting totally rocks!

I don't know if it's the gas prices nearing $4.00 a gallon, the 90 degree weather or the intense amount of PR and community ground work that the city and volunteers did to get the word out about Bike to Work Week but our bike cage at work is totally full today - in the six years that I've worked here there has never been more that 5 bikes including mine in the bike cage and today it is full! I'd say that BTW is a huge success this year. Congratulations Spokane, well done!



I hope to see a full cage like this more often. We need more bikes on the road!

Know anything about marmots?

Richard and I have a new backyard inhabitant - a sole marmot.
We call him Charles or Charlie because Charles Marmot sounds sophisticated, for a marmot.

Wiki says that "marmots are basically large squirrels, that they are highly social, and use loud whistles to communicate with one another and that they mainly eat greens." Which seems to be true because our marmot has being dining on dandelions.

Wiki also says that "marmots are credited with transmitting numerous coughing ailments to humans and that they may have been the primary carriers of the Bubonic plague during several historic outbreaks. Making them second only to the malarial mosquito as a killer of humans."

So, I'm wondering...





friend or foe?

somebody needs a blog

this is my sister - she used to be the 'balcony girl'.


now who is she? Don't you want to know?

Let's all send her the blogger vibe so she might one day
type and post again.