#blessed

Posted on by Lindsay
Here is what I do not understand about Thanksgiving: People moan about having to spend all day in the kitchen preparing so many dishes for a dinner they all agree is excessive and guilt-inducing that will be shared with family they complain about having to see. Then when it's all done, people frantically shop for the same family members they didn't want to deal with and kick off a month-long holiday season focused around repeating this same ritual several more times. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happier than a pig in Redlands.

Posted on by Lindsay
Our host family in Redlands has a pig. A tiny, five-week-old pink pig. Her cuteness is almost too much to bear at times. She waddles around, wags her tail, grunts a lot, and always wants to climb into your lap and fall asleep. She drives us all to distraction: nobody rode bikes yesterday. I tried to do corework but ended up holding the pig for 90 minutes instead. If photographing the pig was a sport, I'd be an Olympian by now. But then Courteney put her in my room this morning and stepped out for a moment, and the pig pooped aggressively under the bed. It was messy and disastrous and required a good bit of clean up. The pig wasn't looking so clean herself and badly needed a rinse to be restored to her glowing pink self. Somehow I found myself holding the tiny pig in the kitchen sink trying to ...continue reading.

The Internet is a magical place

Posted on by Lindsay
From NYMag.com: By extension, the NSA leaker Edward Snowden (“a little narcissist”) and “the pack of idiots” that see him as their hero were also on her mind. “Surveillance is important in the war against terror, which exists,” she said. “Snooping into what? Most sane people would say, 'Go ahead, look at my e-mail correspondence, what do I care? As long you stop the bombers in Boston.' I mean, that is the normal, visceral American response.” .......................... On the bikes otherwise benign human beings become menaces, because they don’t feel bound by traffic laws. “Unless I was having too much wine after dinner, I actually saw somebody on a bike stop at a red light,” she said. “Once. That may have happened. If it happens more than once, I will submit myself to psychiatric examination on the grounds I'm having a delusion.” Also from NYMag.com: How has your life changed since [the EP] ...continue reading.

The American Dream

Posted on by Lindsay
My trip home from Redlands earlier this week began with an American Airlines flight from Ontario, CA (ONT) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), followed by a 90-minute layover before the second flight. I was waiting at the gate at ONT before the scheduled departure of 2:25pm, but by 2:15pm, there still was not a single airline employee in sight. I looked the flight up online and saw that there was a delay, but no announcement was ever made at the gate. This was not unlike my trip out to Redlands, where the American flight was delayed by 90 minutes without explanation or apology. I started to get anxious; the flight was now scheduled to land 19 minutes before my next one was due to depart. It didn’t look promising. A phone call to the airlines and a visit to the gate counter indicated that (a) if I missed my connection, the ...continue reading.

Chicken or Pig

Posted on by Lindsay
While reading the blog of a fellow racer recently, I came across something interesting. She talked about the book “Base Building for Cyclists” by Thomas Chapple and included the following excerpts: “Commitment to being the best possible athlete must go beyond following a schedule and completing workouts. Commitment is the details of how you live your daily life, how you track your training, how you listen to and take care of your body, and how you act to change whatever is holding you back from reaching your goals.” (p. 243-244) “The athlete who attempts to train through an injury rather than adjust his goals always believes he is committed, but he is not. He is acting obsessively rather than remaining committed to his objectives. Remaining injured is not the way to progress, and by not resting he creates long-term setbacks. This is when obsession is mistaken as passion or commitment.” (p. ...continue reading.

All Smiles!

Posted on by lindsay
Reasons I Am Delighted By Life: 1. Colavita. For the win! Like a boss! 2. M Coupe. This car is the shit. I've never really understood that expression, but that doesn't stop me from using it. I recently learned a new term: contronym. This term is used to refer to "words that, by some freak of language evolution, are their own antonyms." I think 'the shit' qualifies and thus that elevates it from common slang to linguistic art. 3. Sausage. One of my new team sponsors happens to be the maker of the chicken apple sausage I have eaten every day for the past eight months. I don't know about fate, but I do know about sausage. Reasons I Just Poured A Very Reasonable Serving Of 12-Year Old Irish Whiskey: 1. Work. I love my job and my company, but I have a lot of concurrent projects at the moment and ...continue reading.