Red Elephant

Start Small

So, Kat and I jumped on the iPhone bandwagon. And, I'm pretty impressed. Nice interface, snappy 3G signal here in Madison. Great on WiFi. Great for most trivial internet usage.

What I've been impressed with is how it refocuses experience. Websites that design for the device get stripped down to the bare essentials. Text & thumbnails.

It makes you look at one thing at a time. One photo. One webpage. One email. I like that. I like that a lot. It's helped me start to clean out my inbox, which has sat at about 100 message for a long time. I haven't replied to everyone or sorted everything, but it's coming along.

Likewise, I finally jumped on the twitter bandwagon. Same reason. One thing at a time. One thought. One message. What am I doing right now. No great revelation in the scheme of things. Plenty of other people have had this thought. But it's my turn.

No promises this time. No manifestos. [Am I right, Max?]

Just one word after another. Then one sentence after that.

Keep going.

How I've Been Spending Time

[And How I've Been Keeping Track Of It All]

Right now, we are selling our house, buying a new house in Madison, finishing Kat's graduation plans, and finishing wedding plans -- some of the most stressful things one can do in a life. And we're doing all of them within a couple of months. Things seem to be moving along well, though. I'll have more definite news on the first two things on the list by the end of the week.

To keep track of everything, I've been using Backpack for lists, and Google Calendar for organizing time. Similarly, Kat was looking for a replacement for her current email/calendar setup with Outlook and her school/cox email accounts. She has been thinking about a Gmail account for some time Add Google Calendar [GCal for the rest of this post], and you've got something, at least via web access.

I set up Thunderbird as a replacement for Outlook, at least for email. Thunderchicken [as Kat calls it] just reached version 2.0, which has some new bells & whistles. The trick was finding a way to access Google Calendar when away from internet access. I have tried out Calgoo, a stand-alone application that syncs up with your GCal, and allows you to work offline. I like it pretty well, since I only use web-based email. However, for Kat, we wanted an all-in-one solution.

Then my friend Max chimed in. Max is an award winning comic book creator, diligent reader of Lifehacker, and all around internet resource. He found a post on how to add use your GCal through Thunderbird. The Lifehacker blog post is here, but the actual how-to article is here. Basically, you need to add Lightning, a calender plug-in for Thunderbird. Then you need to add the Google Calender Provider Extension. There are more steps, but the article takes you through them pretty well.

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Also in the world of the interwebs, I am excited about the new features over at Achewood. Chris Onstad has some pretty rabid fans. Just look at the Great Outdoor Fight fan site, and all the fan-created lore there. Give them a chance to rate & discuss the actual comics, and they're going to go ape wild.

I say "them" but I mean "us."

I admit to being a pretty big Achewood dork. I talk it up whenever I can, and support Mr. Onstad by buying merchandise when I can. I've only gone through the archive once or twice, so I don't know if I qualify for "rabid" status.

That said, I think I'll be revisiting some older favorites, which are much easier to find now. I'm not sure when the archive switched over, but now you can view a month's worth of thumbnails at once. That seems a pretty intuitive way to find a strip. Then again, you can always search for dialogue on the  main page. The search box should be below the comic.

Burgers for MS

Well, May is here again. That means that my father and I will be riding bikes to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. We've been doing this for several years now, and it's always a good time. I'm sure some of you already got hit up by Joe for the MS Walk in NYC. Joe's mother is living with MS, so he takes raising money pretty seriously.

I'll be doing my part by hosting a little fundraiser at my house this Saturday, May 20, at 7pm. I'll be grilling burgers and asking for a $5 donation.  No, you don't need to donate to come. Yes, there will be turkey burgers & soyburgs for those who are not into cow. Yes, dogs are welcome. Yes, I will provide drinks. Yes, you can bring your own side dish.

If you can't make it, you can always pledge over the web through my team's webpage. [Thanks to Lindsy, who was the first to do this. It's not hard, is it Ms. D?] Thanks also to Dan & Erin, both of whom have sent checks already.

While we're on the subject of food & drink, check out this great article on fat v. skinny asparagus in the NYT.

And feel free to try out the new wine tagging / review site Cork'd.

Mad Loot

Junior's Cheesecake delivered from New York City. Thanks, Nick and Micahla.

Thanks also to Max for the Slimmy wallet. I needed a replacement since my last two wallets, a billfold and an old metal cigarette case, have all but fallen apart.

Max has expressed interest in drinking tea. So I got him this starter set, from Adagio Teas

Thanks to Paul, for his always appreciated gift of Basil Hayden's Bourbon.

Thanks finally, to Dan Walker, for his generous contribution to Multiple Sclerosis, which kicks off my fundraising drive for Celebrate Cycling 2006. I'll set up a webpage for our cycling team, once I get registered, which should be this weekend. That way, those of you who don't see me on a semi-regular basis, can pledge online, if you so choose.

Also have to give a shout to Chris Onstand. The Achewood strip on my birthday contained the best gift ever, Airwolf. Spoiler/backstory -- Ray bought Airwolf off of eBay Platinum, while high. You kind of had to be there, or just be a fan of the webcomic in the first place.

But come on, it's Airwolf. Christian thinks that "Airwolf" should be the new "Deck/Hawt/Cool/etc." As in, "Dude, check out my new wallet. "

"Oh, that's totally Airwolf."

[*EDIT*] Thanks also to Sonali who hooked me up with the iTunes gift certificate. I bought $20 worth of music before I could figure out how to enter my gift card code. Next time, I RTFM.

Age is how you feel it

So, Max made some ado about his birthday yesterday. I can't help feeling that it came out of a conversation we started during the Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert.

But let's take a step back, see if I can put you in the scene. Pun intended.

I'm late to the concert for a variety of reasons, including an extra ticket that I can't sell or give away. I get into the show and get into line for a drink, a line which is ridiculously long. Long because it's the final break in between sets before the YYYs come on. I'm people watching, as you do, especially as you do when you come alone. I see a few faces I know & nod.

After waiting for twenty minutes in line, the band comes on and the area in front of the bar clears out. I grab my drink and look around to see if I can find a decent place to see the stage. I hear my name shouted, turn around, and see Max waving me over. He's in the back of a suddenly very short line, and standing with a couple of guys. He says, "Meet these guys. I'm buying them beer. This guy just turned 21."

I think that's where it started. Max started spinning yarns about seeing Morphine & other shows back in the day at Sokol. The kid starts talking about shoegaze, and I can see the generation gap. Max buys him a coke, and the other guy in line a beer, and we head over to where his wife and some other friends are.

We're watching from the fringe, stage left to be precise. We can see occasional glimpses of the band through the speakers, but we're really more just at the show rather than part of the crowd.
He says that he feels old. He points that we're watching the show from the edge rather than getting down in front and going berserk.

"But you could be," I said.

Max isn't one to shy away from the pit, from getting down to John Spencer, to Morphine, or Gwar, if memory serves me right. But I see what he means. We're the old guys in back, watching from the fringe. That's the rule, isn't it? That as you get older, the farther back you stand. That you're less a part of the frenzy, and more just there to watch.

I remember one of the first concerts I saw in high school, Soul Asylum at the Civic Auditorium. We started out up in the seats, but by the end all I wanted to do was be on the floor in the middle of it all. So, I went.

Nowadays, I'm as likely to be hanging back, enjoying an adult beverage, as I am to try to push to center stage in front of the band. Sure, catch me at a Faint show, and I'll be shaking my ass in the middle of the crowd, on the edge, wherever. Hell, I have friends older than me that are always pushing up as close as they can get.

But I don't think it was just the distance Max was talking about. He said that whenever he sees kids -- actual kids, high schoolers -- he just has to smile and pay respect to those days. He even gives props to the younger college kids, but it's the spirit of youth he's talking about. The getting silly drunk, having bad sex, and the most of your worries be about the test/exam this week.

Never mind that those of us pushing 30 -- some of us in less than a week -- have on our mind:  mortgages, day jobs, wives, husbands, children, dogs, whatever. As opposed to the blissful ignorance of school days, we've got plenty to keep us grounded.

On the other hand, Max did think that being a comic book artist was pretty cool. That it gave him a little more credibility than just wearing old school vans, or being the guy at the concert down front with the band's shirt on.

Personally, I like being this seasoned. [cough, old, cough] I think I've really got the best of both worlds. I can go to a show, and not wake up with a cheap beer hangover. I can be good at what I do, and not be so caught up in the identity crisis that is high school/college. I'm not just studying to be something. No disrespect to studying. I still study yoga as well as being a yoga teacher. The difference is in potential versus actuality. I will be someday versus I am.

I am a yoga teacher. I am an office manager. I am a guy with a house. I am a guy who goes to rock shows. And yes, I am almost 30.

I feel like I get the best of both worlds. I'm lucky to keep a few stars in my eyes, even if I'm a bit jaded around the edges. I'm not as concerned about what people think about me, what I wear in public, whether people are watching what I do and approving. Sure, I have to give the kids respect for their immortality, their blissful ignorance, and their own set of problems.

But I also have to give respect to us kids at heart. We're only the old guys, and we're only in back, when we choose to be.

Yogaversary and other delights

Last night's class marks one year since I started teaching yoga, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I think I've gotten the most out of developing my own practice. Sure, going to classes is a great way to learn, but it really comes down to whether you can internalize the lessons, whether you can teach yourself, whether you can figure out what you're doing right and wrong.

I've also drawn inspiration from my teachers. Jed, who I've been studying with the past few years, has really gotten me interested in exploring things a bit more. It's not just doing the same poses over and over -- though there is some of that -- but listening to my own body. I've started off practices just stretching out, seeing what's tight, and seeing if I can make it feel better.

Another way I've approached my own practice is to take something that I learned in class or a workshop and break it down. For example, I have some students who just don't like Ardha Chandrasana [Half Moon Pose]. I've been trying to find other ways to approach the pose, rather than launching from Utthita Trikonasana, as most people do.

It's somewhat similar to Virabhadrasana III [Warrior III Pose], but I wanted to start from a much more supported and stable place, since that was the complaint that I was hearing, that it was too hard to balance. So, I had the class start in Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), and take one leg back like Warrior III, but with the hands on the ground, just to keep the pose supported.

From there, we opened the hip up, moving towards Half-Moon, but building it up from the floor rather than launching into it. The other variation, I got from Jed, which is to start at an "L" on the wall with your palms on the wall, folding at the hips, feet on the floor. From there, you can take one leg back. You then open the top hip, and move towards a supported Half-Moon with your hands on the wall.

I've had good results, overall. Some people prefer the original pose & getting into it from Trikonasana. Others feel more supported building it from the floor, or using the wall as a prop. In any case, the exploration has been the key. It's not something I would have done a year ago, and that's the difference.

There's a teacher training exercise where you take detailed notes of someone in a pose so that you can re-create the pose with your body. That way, you can approximate the student's position and perhaps feel anything that's grossly out of alignment.

That's what it's really about, trying to figure out what's going on in your own body, and in the bodies of your students. This way you can do more than just practice the pose the way you first learned it. It becomes about learning principles of alignment, paying attention to what's going on in your body and asking questions.

Then you try to answer them.

Son of Brain Dump

And I'm back.

When I woke up this morning, rain was tapping on the roof, and there was a booming in the distance. The rain increased, and the thunder moved quickly our way. I was pleased, very pleased to wake up to these sounds. The first real thunderstorm marks the beginning of spring in my book. I can finally come out of hibernation, leave the house, start writing more, and sleeping less.

[Ed note - we did have a freak thunder-snowstorm earlier in the year, but that's not quite the same.]

It's strange how these things go in spurts. I get excited about a new thing, writing photography, what-have-you, and then I burn myself out too quickly. I've been trying to do this less, to really commit to things, and to begin slowly.

The best example of this has been yoga. I started back in 2002, almost four years now, and built my practice from once a week to several classes a week. This transformed once I began to teach classes and started practicing on my own.

This past weekend, I went to a great workshop with Desiree Rumbaugh. She's a Senior Certified Anusara Teacher, and she's a pretty amazing person. While we all learned lots of technical elements, I think her attitude is what was the most inspirational. She had a lot of fun doing yoga & helping people out. She talked about how it's transformed her life, and how it's helped her deal with the death of her son.

I learned plenty of technical things, including the importance of using your tailbone to solidfy the foundation in a pose and to integrate the whole body. I learned how to apply that, among other things, to make my backbends like Urdhva Dhanurasana deeper & more stable. She helped me re-learn Supta Virasana, which has always been tricky for me.

As important as learning the technical elements in more detail, was just the experience of attending a workshop. It's great to watch someone who is really dedicated to their craft present and practice. It's great to be around a bunch of other people who are eager to learn and practice themselves. It's great to dedicate a weekend to doing something you love.

And it's great when the excitement and energy from such a weekend carries over to the rest of your life. I'm excited to practice yoga right now, to push myself a little further than I have been, to try new things out. I'm excited to share what I've learned with my students. And I'm excited to harness this energy, to do some more writing.

I'll start with a little at first, and then build upon it. That seems to be the best way for me.

Chocolate Biscuits

It all started with a throwaway comment on the daily notes for Questionable Content, one of my favorite webcomics. Jeph was talking about Tim Tams, which just floored me. I hadn't thought about them in years. You see, Tim Tams are these excellent Australian biscuits [cookies to us Yanks], dipped in chocolate.

When I was studying abroad in Oz, Tim Tams were like little chocolate gold. They were a bit expensive, but we all thought they were worth it. We could buy them from the little shop in the residence hall, but they had to jack up the price further to make money.

I guess is that what I am getting at is that even then, when they were freely available, they were kind of precious. And man, were they good. Perfect thing to dunk into your coffee or tea. Or, if you were feeling adventurous, you could go for a Tim Tam Slam.

They're made by Arnott's, which is roughly the Australian equivalent of Pepperidge Farm. That is to say, higher-end brand-name baked goods & treats that you can still find in most supermarkets. The appearance of luxury, but still affordable to most folks. Well, and they were pretty luxurious. Or at least, hella-good.

I suppose the appeal like Walker's Shortbread. You've got a tasty cookie [biscuit, whatever] that they don't make around here. I've always been drawn to new tastes, new flavors, especially if they evoke faraway places. And especially if I've been there.

Erin, friend & former roommate, developed a taste for McVitie's, which are an English "digestive biscuit" [read as:  cookie] widely available in Britain & Scotland. When I emailed her for the name of said treats, she said she'd now have to run out at and get some. She also said she'd have to get some Irn Bru , a Scottish soda, available only at a local import shop.

I've always had a penchant for groceries from other countries. La Buvette, besides being one of my favorite places to get a bite to eat, or a glass of wine, has a pretty extensive import grocery. When I was younger, I used to go in there and check out the [then] strange foods from other places. I pictured myself older, more worldly, drinking wine and knowing what I was talking about when I ordered it.

Likewise, when I lived in Lincoln, I made an occasional point of visiting Ideal Grocery, which was a cross between a local market & import grocery, and King Tut's, which was run by an older Egyptian man. It was my source for feta, frozen falafel mix, and cheap spices. Plus, they make a mean Baklava.

I suppose these things are a little less exotic as the world gets more connected. I've found Milo in Asian markets, and Vegemite at the local Cost Plus World Market. Pocky is available at both. Hell, if I want some Tim Tams, I can order them from an American company that specializes in Australian imports. Hell, they even sell Australian boots -- Rossi's to be specific -- with American sizes.

So, if you've ever envied my R.M.Williams boots, you can get some that are almost as good -- I'm being a boot snob here -- but that are considerably cheaper. Come to think of it, Blundstones sell their boots domestically, now. While I'm all for them expanding their market, it kind makes one more thing less exotic, makes the world just a little smaller. One more thing that was one foreign and strange that is now commonplace, or at least more common.

It's a bit inevitable, I suppose, what with globalization. Still, there's plenty of things that people here in Middle America have never been exposed to. I occasionally meet people who've never had Thai food, or Dim Sum. But, I do my best to introduce them, open their eyes, give them some new flavor.

Write More

I've been a list-maker again lately, and near the top is getting back to writing. For myself, for public consumption, anything to get the old muscles working again.

I'm really interested in short fiction lately. New on my radar is 365 Tomorrows. I love it first & foremost because it's short sci-fi stories, different visions of the future. But it's also a collaborative writing project. Five writers got together [along with a web-savvy compatriot] and decided to publish one new short piece of fiction for a year. Ambitious, but not all that difficult. It just comes down to dedicating the time.

Of course, I'm a fan of McSweeneys, both internet & print editions. But for some reason, I've been neglecting The Believer online. And while I've been a fan for a while, I actually have some bizarre little story ideas that I need to work up & submit. While it would be neat to get a short on the website -- or on something like Fray -- the process is the important thing. Like Max, who decided that he was going to do a graphic novel & then a webcomic, the main thing came down to sitting down & drawing regularly until it was done.

And, oh yes, he also did a novel last November. Again, it's about putting in the time.

...

Speaking of putting in the time, Max and I have been talking about getting fat. About making excuses to write, draw, housekeep, drink, or anything but exercise. Granted, there is still yoga Monday nights, but my personal practice has suffered. Thankfully, Kat & Nick have been good at taking me up on bike-rides. Nick and I did nine or ten miles tonight, so that was really good.

But back to getting fat. I've weighed myself a couple of times in the last week, and it's come out to about 200 lbs. each time. Let me write that out, two hundred pounds. Now, this isn't a huge deal. [Pun not intended, but kept.] I eat fairly healthily, and I do keep active, but it is a big paradigm shift. I've hovered at about 165-170 since high school, when I topped out at 185 while taking weight training.

Granted, I've probably put on some muscle with yoga, but I think there's more to it than that. Seems to me it's a combination of increased muscle mass & then some poor choices in the past couple of months with regards to diet and my yoga practice.

But more than anything else, it's changing the idea of my body image. It's not just my pants that are shrinking, I'm coming in at two bills. And while that may be just what I weigh at this age, I can certainly be in better shape. So, time to replace the biscuits and gravy for breakfast [for only $1.50 at the shop across the street] with some fruit smoothies. Get rid of the candy & get some more dried fruit.

And oh yes, get on the bike & back on the mat.

When I'm not writing, that is.

Treasure Trove

Just got back from my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary party at my parents' house. Man, what a day. It went a lot longer than I had anticipated, but it was their day, so I have no complaints. The food was good, the company was better, and the memories were amazing.

For starters, I found my grandparents' old 8mm projector and a whole bunch of old family home movies. And yes, they are movies and not videos. So, we sat back with the clickety-clack of an old projector, some golden oldies on the stereo, and watched some old films.

We started with some old vacation shots, trips to Minnesota, back before my parents were dating, to some places I've never been, much less heard of. Films of my mom, my uncle, their parents, and their dogs -- half Chihuauas. Pretty much a trip.

The real gems were the films of 'XMAS 1962,' my dad & uncle's state championship for baseball, and my mom's senior prom. The Christmas film was pretty amazing, as there were all sorts of great aunts & uncles, some of whom are dead. There was also footage of my great-grandpa Frank, who I've heard about but never really seen before.

Then there was seeing my mom as a teenager, and a prom queen no less, on a date with some guy who was not my father. My dad was on the same reel, as he was the same age as my uncle Joe, Mom's bro. There's mom in a prom dress with long white gloves. There's my dad at about fifteen or sixteen in a black suit with a skinny black tie. And there's my grandma with 60s glasses and a killer lavender dress.

It was really amazing. I've never been much for home movies, but then I never knew these existed. It's one thing to see pictures of your parents as kids, but another thing altogether to see them getting ready for dates, fishing, or playing ball. It was amazing to watch them as they saw people they hadn't seen in years, sometimes struggling for names, sometimes instantly transported as the faces reminded them of other stories.

I'd really like to restore these old films, maybe transfer them to DVD for the rest of the family. As for me, I'd rather keep the old school projector and make that part of the experience. There's something about the medium that has it's own charm.

Furthermore, my Aunt Karan -- dad's sister -- was reminded of some old films from her mom & dad, both of whom have passed on. She doesn't even know what was on them, and had no way to know until now. So, that's another exciting development.

And, for what it's worth, I hope to find the old camera and maybe shoot some footage myself. I never put much stock into home movies before. However, there is something about it, about knowing that your parents were once your age, that they were young & beautiful, that they partied hard in their own way.

And there's the simplicity of how it can bring back memories. I don't have any home videos from my childhood, not that I regret not having them. But I think there is something to be said for preserving. Not spending all your time trying to capture every memory, but for saving a choice few & letting time dictate what memories it will bring back.