Adventures in Daily Life

MH3

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:35:03 GMT

On most Sundays of the last couple months, I've been running with the Minneapolis Hash House Harriers. They describe themselves as a drinking club with a running problem. It is a very inter-generational group of runners (20-something to 60-somethings, and the occasional infant) that likes beer as much as running. We meet, have a beer, tell dirty jokes, and then head out on the trail. What we do is based on an old school game called Hare and Hounds. The "hare" runs out ahead of the pack of "hounds" leaving marks in chalk or flour for the hounds to follow. Some marks are meant to throw the hounds off the trail or to slow them down. The hounds do their best to try to catch the hare. In the middle of the trail is a beer stop where people catch their breath... and have a beer. Then the hounds head out on the trail again. Depending on the length of the trail, there might be another beer stop before the end of the trail. At the end, there is more beer (or water, or pop for those who prefer). We then circle up to talk about the trail, and celebrate/accusinate the hares, the hounds, and anybody who deserves some ridicule. Bawdy songs are sung, and a good time is had by all.

This weekend is the 20th anniversary of the founding of MH3 and there was a pretty good crowd at the trail. Old-timers were celebrated. New-comers and visitors were welcomed/made fun of. I was finally given a hash name.

Hash names sometimes have something to do with the hasher - something dumb they did, etc. Obamamama, for example, skipped a hash to go see the President. Many hash names are simply dirty or juvanile (which fits perfectly with this group). Sno-ho, Jack Off All Trades, Felt Up, Hardware Skank, etc.

A few times in the past the hash tried to name me, but no conclusion could be reached. Yesterday, though, I was christened F*** Her She's Pregnant. One of the other hashers, a new mother who is often pushing her daughter (Mini-Donut) on the trails, suggested the name because she knows Sarah is due soon and I didn't bring my phone in case she goes into labor.

So FHSP is what you can call me when you join me on a hash some time. It's a lot of fun.

Simple pleasure - sleeping in four days in a row!
Peace

How to pad your writing

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:11:50 GMT

Short part of the assignment:
1. Compare and contrast the city states of Athens and Sparta
2. Write a paragraph about which city state you would rather live in and why.

"I would rather live in Athens. I would rather live in Athens because they are a democracy. I wouldn't like to live in Sparta because it is very disciplined. That is why I would rather live in Athens."

Excellent.

A little sad

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:21:08 GMT

When I was pretty little, my grandparents gave me a Tonka tractor, plow/disk, and trailer. I played for hours with those toys in their garden. After my grandfather died and I went up to help my father and uncle clean out their house I took the tractor, plow and trailer home with me. They've sat on my desk at home, and on top of a filing cabinet by my desk at school ever since. I got to school this morning and immediately noticed someone had moved the three pieces around because I usually hang my hat on the hitch of the trailer. I went to hook the plow back up to the trailer when I realized that part of the hitch was broken and it would no longer attach.

Now it's just a little plastic piece that is broken and it looks just fine if it is just sitting on a desk, but I was really looking forward to playing with them again in the dirt in a couple years down the road with my boy. I may certainly be able to find a replacement part (maybe... the plow is almost 30 years old), but if I can't I am going to be really sad that I won't be able to play with these things with my son.

It turned out that one of my students was back behind my desk, where they know they're not supposed to be, trying to see something or somebody out the window during a class when I am up at the high school. he accidently knocked the tractor and plow off the filing cabinet and it broke. I realize there was no malice in the kid's actions, and maybe it is true that he didn't know that the little piece broke, but this kid's lack of personal responsibility still wound up breaking a treasured posession of mine. He apologized, which I accepted without question.

I don't know. I guess I'll try to find a replacement part. I really hope that I can get it fixed.

Archaeology Interpretations - 9th Grade

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:38:04 GMT

Here are some snippets of interpretations written by my 9th graders of the artifacts from my "farm dump". After going around 11 stations looking at bones, old cans, broken kitchen wares from the '50s that were dumped in a ravine in northern MN, students were supposed to use their observations to make some suppositions about the people who had lived there. Here are some of my favorites.

They could have had a big or small family or they could have been rich or poor.
I am guessing that these things are not verry, very old, but kind of old. Like from the late 1900's. So these people must have been the first to invent these things.
One of the objects was a shoe, I think it was used for some event like the war or some thing, it was well used it looks about 40-80 years old.
There were items from possible in the B.C. era to the 1950's. I, for certain saw a taken apart radio from possibly the '50's. I also saw a boot that was most likely from the late 1800's.... When some things were broken, put the pieces together made it much easier to guess what it was. Like the broken rubber item that was in 4 pieces. I still didn't really know what it was though.
They didn't seem to be a whole lot into sports because I didn't find any sports artifacts.
The bones looked like it was an dinosaurs bone so this was like right after the dinosaurs died. It also seems like back than they drunk a lot of beers like Ham's. Not only all these things came from the 1950's but it was in Minnesota.
Family appears to eat mainly soup; this idea came from what appears to be the cup part of a ladle.
I bet the people that invented these objects were rich because a lot of people bought that stuff. Their lives were probly great and I bet they were smart if they invented those things. I wish I could invent something that would be cool if I could invent something.

I was getting looks from the people at the table next to me (I was in Groveland Tap watching the Gophers and grading papers at the same time) as I was laughing every few minutes about what my students wrote. Though it's going to be a busy school year for me, these kids are going to be fun, and I'm sure there will be no shortage of amusing writing.

Simple pleasure - listening to Sarah be angry at the Vikings... it's a little funny
Peace

Another Student Gem

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:21:24 GMT

Vocabulary assignment. Student was supposed to come up with a sentence. The word is Cannibalism:

"That man is committing cannibalism by eating his legs." This is accompanied by a picture of a person with his legs in his mouth and two people pointing at him.

What a teacher does and what students do

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:26:23 GMT

Well, I've survived the first week of school. I averaged about nine and a half hours each day at school as well as a couple hours of working at home each day. Four preps with three new classes is a lot of work!

Cold War - I wasn't sure I'd be teaching this class until just a couple days before school started. It's the larger of my two classes at the CLC. It may be a struggle to make sure class starts on time since school starts at 7:45 this year (and many students had trouble even getting to school by 8:30 last year. The staff is trying to change the culture of the CLC to increase student accountability and studiousness this year. I think we're off to a good start.

Geography - Second year of teaching this class, so this will probably be my easiest class this year. It's also my smallest class with about twelve enrolled. That's good for us at the CLC because it allows me to spend much more time with students individually when they need help.

Area Studies - My eleventh graders at the high school. This class has gotten off to something of a rocky start. This is easily my loudest class at the high school. Between some more patience-trying students and a couple activities that didn't go over quite so well, it'll be good to move on to new material next week. This class will probably take the most prep time for me.

World History - Two classes of ninth graders. I like these kids and I think we're going to have some fun. Some of the observations they made on the archaeology lesson really impressed me. I'm looking forward to reading what they had to say in their individual interpretations.

Overall things are going well eough. I've got a long list of things to, including organizing the piles that have already accumulated at my desk. Ugh. Now if I could only snap my fingers and instantly learn the names of all of my students.

-----------------------------

I've got to share a little student work now. This was for an assignment in my Area Studies class. The students were supposed to write, make a collage, or do anything to express what they know or what they think they know about people around the world. The point of the lesson is to talk a little bit about stereotypes and to reinforce that there's a whole lot that we don't know. The student who produced this can be a handful. Though I think he may be difficult at times, this assignment is making me rethink my initial impressions. He came up with a list of stereotypes and though some are a little less than positive, it is clear that most of what he wrote is pretty tongue-in-cheek. I also like that he worded many items diffferently when he could have gone The French are like this. The Australians are like this. Etc. I think my favorite are Brazil, Switzerland, and Canada.

Chinese people like to eat dog

Somalians have a distinct aroma

Irishmen like to drink beyond belief

Russians enjoy vodka more than any other race

Every Brazilian is phenomenal at soccer

Columbia’s cocaine business outsells its coffee enterprise

Individuals from Switzerland spend their time yodeling

Middle Eastern people keep extra bombs on tap

People from France smoke heavily and are afraid of conflict

Canada enjoys syrup and has a 90 man army

Germans often wear lederhosens and don’t enjoy the Jewish race.

Japanese people like to do calculus for fun

Nigerians often dig for diamonds

About ¼ of Spaniards are homosexuals

Italians make pizza and enjoy plumbing

Jamaicans smoke weed in abundance

Cubans like cigars and communism

Englishmen start the day off right with a healthy portion of tea and cru… [paper was cut off at this point]

Simple pleasure - going to the South St. Paul football game tonight with Sarah
Peace

School

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:58:01 GMT

I'd love to talk about how the first few days are going at school... but I've got too much to do to get ready for tomorrow and at the moment I'd rather be in bed. Ugh. This could be a long school year.

Full Time Work and Bike Stuff

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:27:16 GMT

Less than 70 hours until students arrive at school... and so much to do.

News about school:

I was hired for the additional .20 FTE at the CLC. That means I have my first actual full-time salaried job since 2002, and the first one in my field! Considering I was .80 FTE last year and only worked for 80% of the year, this is like a 40+% pay increase over last school year. Holycrap. It comes at a pretty good time too, as babies are pretty darn expensive. Maybe after crunching some numbers I might even be able to accelerate paying back the student loans a bit. It sure would be nice not having those hanging over my head any longer. OH! Since I'm full time, I'll be able to take advantage of the federal loan forgiveness program this year. I think the feds will knock off either $3000 or $5000 for teaching in an urban district. Woo-hoo!

I have meetings at school at least twice each week. Ugh. The meetings are at the high school, but my day starts at the CLC. That means I will go to the high school, attend a meeting, duck out early, go to the CLC, teach, go back to the high school. Since I am planning on commuting by bike as much as possible, that probably rules out biking on days I have meetings in the morning. I just wouldn't have time to shower and change. I also need to work out the feasibility of going between schools without being a sweaty mess for my 4th period class. They are only about a mile apart, but that is plenty of time to get sweaty, or dirty, or something. Do I ride between schools in my teacher clothes? Do I change just for a 5 minute ride? I don't know. We'll see.

I'm planning on going in to school today, and probably Sunday and Monday too. I've got the first week or two mapped out for myst of my classes, but I don't necessarily have lessons completely set. I have syllabi to create/modify, papers/packets to create and copy, physical set-up of the classrooms to mess around with, and in the case of my Cold War class, curriculum to create. Yeah, I'll probably be in every day before Tuesday.

Bike-related news:

I spent a bunch of time yesterday working on the single speed. Despite what Joe said, that bike is too small for me. It is also old enough of a frame, where some parts aren't made any longer and are very hard to come by. The seat post, in particular, is too short for me. I can deal with the short length of the bike, but I'd really like to be able to raise the seat. Maybe I will have to move the strip/polish/paint the bike project up from next summer 'cause I don't know if riding this small bike is even a good idea.

Bike work yesterday consisted of the following:

Installing a rear brake
Installing new brake levers
Installing new brake cables/housing
Re-taping the handlebars

All of this was new work for me except taping handlebars. It wasn't very hard, but I know I could have done some of it better - particularly the fact that I didn't have any ferrules for the ends of the cable housing and I don't know that the second length of housing for the rear brake cable is routed quite right. It will work, but I don't think it is quite the way it is supposed to be. Oh well. It is a working bike.

Bike work for the not too distant future:

Put a larger chain ring on the single speed
Strip the paint, shine the lugs, paint and or clear-coat the frame on the single speed so it isn't so darned ugly. Then sell it.
Figure out whether the lock nut or the threads on the fork are stripped on the mountain bike and fix that problem.
Clean and lube the road bike
Taller and longer stem on the road bike

That's it for now. Since this journal entry was something to postpone my leaving for school, I should probably wrap this up.

Simple pleasure - sleeping in
Peace

Viva and Jerry's Country Music Videos

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:19:41 GMT

Instead of watching football *yawn* I started channel surfing and flipped through the local access stations. There was this blue-haired couple that were laughing about something or other. They shared a "touching moment" where they talked about a gorilla in a German zoo. Then they started sharing little toy bears and having a grand old time doing so. It was like nothing I'd ever seen, but I couldn't take my eyes off the TV. At the end of the show we learned it was Viva and Jerry's Country Music Videos. According to their Facebook page, they've had their show for 20 years! This is what they do on their show according to their Facebook page:

We pride ourselves on making people happy. We first bring you two of Nashville’s music videos by today’s hottest country artists. We then feature a tender moment that we find necessary, ALWAYS an Elvis moment (from any thrift store I find it at) and then on to the SPOOFS! Our show has themes and we find things at church sales, garage sales and our favorite VALUE VILLIGE to help us make this show possible.

Anyway, here is an episode to watch. The music videos are over at 10:45 if you want to get to the meat of the show. Enjoy!

Simple pleasure - public access tv
Peace

Inservice

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:15:13 GMT

First day of school today for first and second-year teachers. I must admit that I feel a bit overwhelmed. I still don't know if I am being hired for the additional .2fte, and school starts in less than two weeks. While I really want to be full time, not having one more prep would be less stress. It would also mean that i am at the CLC for fall trimester only since I'm at the high school for four periods instead of three for the remainder of the year.

I guess the reason why I am nervous has a lot to do with my teaching self-esteem. I know that I am not going to be able to just hang on like I did at times last year, and it will be much more difficult to make things up as I go here at the high school than it is at the CLC. A presentation this afternoon on differentiated education, only increased my apprehension. Differentiation is important. Good differentiation isn't easy, though. So I'm thinking about standards-based lessons, differentiation, trying to make lessons relevent, assessments that require higher order thinking but that also don't rely on heavy reading and writing, making sure that I am solid on the material that is new to me that i am going to be teaching, etc. etc.

Then during another presentation, a slide was in a presentation that made me think a bit.

I have a hard time with the "See" part of things and being positive there. This year is going to be difficult in many ways. I just need to keep positive about what I am doing and what is going on. I feel like I was better about that in the past. Maybe it's time to read some more Thich Nhat Hanh or go back to the Dharma Center. I think that was a pretty big help in general. Positive outlook. I need to start now.

I have a great opportunity to use some great curriculum this year and learn more about topics that I find interesting. I will be getting to know many more people in the district who are great resources and connections. My second year at the CLC won't be easy either, but I'm established there now and have a better idea of how things work and what I am doing there.

Now if I could only be sure that my job is secure for next year. But that's a whole other matter.

Have to take care of a few things here in my classroom before running a couple errands yet this afternoon, and then we go tour another daycare facility.

Simple pleasure - getting my classroom set up
Peace

The Prince Myshkins are good folk

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:17:41 GMT

In the fall of 2002 I was directionless and unsatisfied with life. After my first summer of canoe guiding I found myself and my bumper sticker-clad old minivan in Indiana crashing with my dad for a couple months. I got a job at a little coffee shop during the day and spent many evenings at a different coffee shop reading Thich Nhat Hanh and playing backgammon with the regulars. One evening, The Prince Myshkins played some music at that shop. They're a duo with guitar and accordian playing all sorts of socially aware and satirical music. I bought a CD right after they finished playing.

I came across that CD a couple weeks ago and copied it to my computer and played it for the first time in a couple years. Some of the songs are a little dated (for example... "So President Somebody drops a few bombs on Iraq, exactly like President Whatsisname couple years back"), but they're pretty clever. There's one song in particular that I like. On a whim I decided to email the Prince Myshkins to see if they would send me the chords to the song so I could try to play it on my ukulele. A week later I got a response!

---------------

Hi Aaron!

Glad you like the song -- I think it'd be nice with uke! I'm putting the chords below -- they repeat with every verse / chorus. I hope this makes sense. Most of these chords are pretty normal and will work well on the uke, but there are a few which might be incomprehensible. We always include bass notes in our guitar chord tab (like the chord D/G is a D major chord with a G bass note) -- the uke doesn't really have "bass" notes so in most cases you can just skip the bass notes and it'll be fine. In the case of D/G, I'd say it's more like a G chord with an added A note -- maybe play around with that instead of a D chord.... okay here goes:

[E] Now that the mist has blown away[A], the stockholders will pay[B]
for something on the moon[E]
And now[E] that the daily smog report[A] has been taken twice to court[B]
there’s something on the moon[E]
And now[A] that the fog is not allowed[g#m7], they’re ticketing the clouds[D/G]
and suing the monsoon[f#m7]
So now[B], the good visibility[A] allows[f#m] us all to see[g#m]
the slogans[B] on the moon[A -> am]
...
2nd verse same as first except the very end, transitioning into chorus:
”Hey look what’s on the moon”[A -> F#7b5/A#] (this is a chord which includes an F-sharp, an A-sharp, a C natural and an E natural -- any way you can make that happen on a ukelele is fine)
...
[B]Capital[A] collects[E] itself[A] [c#m]cosmic [c#m/B]copyrights [A]
[G]Corpora[bm/f#]tions [dm/f]corpulate[f dim], [F]corpu[Db2]lent and [D2]white

last vamp: (nothing on the moon.... nothing on the moon....)
g#m bm f#m am (repeat many times) -> E

Let me know if any of this needs clarification or makes no sense whatsoever.
(and hey, you can play it in public if you want to -- no pressure -- the song isn't registered with BMI or anything so you're totally safe.)

Enjoy!
Rick

-----------------

Here are all of the lyrics of the song. It's pretty good stuff.

Nothing on the Moon

Now that the mist has blown away, the stockholders will pay
for something on the moon
And now that the daily smog report has been taken twice to court
there’s something on the moon
And now that the fog is not allowed, they’re ticketing the clouds
and suing the monsoon
So now, the good visibility allows us all to see
the slogans on the moon

Now that the Social Darwinists have the heavens in their fists
there’s something on the moon
And now, when we look into the sky, and it tells us what to buy,
there’s something on the moon
And now that the tambourine man’s gone, his jingles jangle on
like a crook who’s learned to croon
So now, as the sunlight disappears, he’s warbling in your ears:
”Hey look what’s on the moon”

Capital collects itself cosmic copyrights
Corporation corpulate, corpulent and white
Markets, markets everywhere, no respite in sight
Capital conducts itself at the speed of light

Look, there’s a monkey with a gun in the year 2001
or is it a baboon
Cracking the key to outer space like an ether easter egg
that’s dyed just like the moon
And look, there’s a soldier with a sign selling weapons as he’s dying
endorsed by his platoon
And look at the ads for the police, selling crack out on the streets
and also on the moon

Soon, we’ll be traveling light years to find logos for lite beers
emblazened on the moon
And soon, they’ll be marketing sunsets in the shape of cigarettes
to babies on the moon
And soon, when the dimple in your face is an advertising space
contorted by cartoons
There won’t be a thing to stop these creeps from fucking up our sleep
with slogans from the moon

Capital has left the Earth short of oxygen
Welcome to the third world out of nine or ten
Markets, markets everywhere, market us again
Capital has left to Earth to the market men

Don’t break the perfect picket light
When the moon man goes on strike,
stand steady with the moon
And don’t buy your moonlight at the mall
Don’t buy anything at all,
especially from the moon
And don’t be respectful to your boss
Don’t believe in Nafta Claus,
that elliptical tycoon
Until the idea of ownership’s been totally eclipsed,
and there’s nothing on the moon

So after I figure out just what some of these chords are, I'll have to practice this one. Good stuff.

Simple pleasure - rediscovered music
Peace

Archaeology Lesson Plan

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:25:38 GMT

I haven't posted any lesson plans before, but I am quite proud of this one. I won't include the packet that I've created for students to take notes on, but the basic lesson plan is there. I didn't include a lot of the pedagogy mumbo-jumbo (never liked all that anyway) that we were supposed to put in our lesson plans in college, but you've got the idea.

My step-father gave me a box of junk he dug up out of a small ravine on his land. It is essentially a bunch of garbage from the 50s from when the land was a farm. People threw their trash in the ravine with the idea that it would all rust/disintegrate/return to the land. These artifacts (beer can with bullet holes, a bit of broken china, an oil lamp, bones, mended boot, etc.) paint a picture of life on this farm and I am asking my students to carefully examine them and then make interpretations about life on the farm.

Farm Dump Lesson

Introduction to Archaeology

Outcomes

1. Use observation skills to interpret artifacts uses, identities, meanings

Prep

· Have Farm Dump spread around the room on different tables with labels “Artifact Group 1” “Artifact Group 2” etc.

· Have a transparency of the Station Worksheets ready to do an artifact as a group

· Packets for each person

Anticipatory Set

· Students should have read chapter 1 section 1 before class.

· Define Anthropology and archaeology

· Show YouTube clip “Dinglehopper” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi5u2OSzz2s

· What does Scuttle do wrong and what does he do right?

· Show a fork as an artifact that was recently “dug up” from an archaeological site.

o What could it be?

§ Fork? What’s a fork?

o Describe it and everything about it

§ Metal, sharp at one end and blunt at the other, fits in the hand, specialized, tool perhaps.

o What kinds of questions to ask about it?

§ Where was it found? How old is it? What other things was it found with?

o What kind of interpretations can we make?

Lesson

· Examine one of the artifacts with the class.

o Rabbit

§ Plastic

§ Slot in ear

§ Cartoonish

§ Probably a bank

o Probably means there’s a kid in the house

o Saving money is important

· Students go around room in groups of 3 from station to station examining and interpreting the artifacts. Confer with group members

Assessment

· Students will describe the artifacts and try to interpret what the things are (attached packet)

· Students will write a description of who these people were and what their life was like (1/2 to 1 page). Can be bullet-pointed

Archaeology Lab

NAME_______________________

GROUP MEMBERS____________________________________

In this lab, you and your group members will go from station to station examining the artifacts and making notes on as many details as you can. Discuss and ask questions of each other to try to come to some conclusions. Interpret what you see, but try not to project your own feelings, or wishes onto the artifacts. Remember, you are not Scuttle the Seagull trying to impress your friends.

When you are finished, you are finished with the stations, write a half page to a page of your interpretation of what these people were like, who they were, what they did, what their values might have been, etc. Be sure to base your interpretations off of the evidence that you saw. You may write in bullet-point format if you like.

I'm pretty excited about this one. Should be good.

Simple pleasure - take a wild guess
Peace

Tofood, and my dentist

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:42:55 GMT

Not much of a post of consequence. Just a few random things today.

Punted for dinner tonight. I decided to make burritos but wanted something in addition to the beans, rice, onions, tomatoes, and cheese I was planning on putting on. Lund's didn't have any tempeh, so I picked up some extra-firm tofu. I really like the idea of cooking with tofu. I know it can be really good, but I've only had what I would call successes with tofu a couple times. But I thought I'd try again. My thought was to use tofu instead of taco meat. Here's what I did:

Squeeze as much water out of the tofu as you can
Shred it (thank you food processor. I love you.)
Squeeze some more
Saute chopped onion and minced garlic in veggie oil until tender
Add tofu, chile powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, crushed red pepper, cayenne, and some of this sauce stuff Joe got me from Nicaragua
Saute, stirring ocassionally.
Add some oil now and then when things are looking a bit dry
~10 minutes later (maybe more, maybe less, I don't remember) it will start to crisp and brown

I have to say, the texture was decent, and it didn't taste half bad. I was rather pleased with myself and will call this a tofu success story.

-------------------

I like my dentist. I am not much of a fan of the poking, scraping, fiddling around, etc, but I do like my dentist. Once he brought me into one of his back offices to show me a certificate of some conference he went to decades ago because he thought it illustrated a funny story pretty well. It wasn't terribly funny, but he was amused. I can identify with this.

His taste in music and art leave much to be desired, though. I certainly don't mind classic rock from the late '70s and early '80s, but if I was his hygenist, I'd go nuts. There's only so much Styx and Phil Collins a person can take. I was surprised, this afternoon when I went in, that he had different music on... smooth jazz. *hork*

So I'm in his waiting room, and then an exam room listening to some Kenny G wanna-be staring at these fantastic (not in the "Gee, that's fantastic!" sense) tropical landscapes. We'll just say that whoever painted those paintings would be honored to have them at the starving artist sales at the Radisson in Roseville, let alone the Uptown "Art" Fair.

So, good guy though he may be, I can't help but be a little amused by the environment of his office.

-------------------

Got a prescription from him for a tooth issue I'm having. I went to the pharmacy and did some grocery shopping. I get back to the pharmacist, and he says that our insurance won't cover the drug, and that it would cost $200 if I wanted to pay for it out of pocket. Holycrap! Thanks, but no thanks.

Dear Health Insurance Industry,
Go away.
Sincerely,
Me

Simple pleasure - recording Burnell's old social studies VHS tapes to DVD
Peace

Family Canoe Trip Report

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:56:27 GMT

Twelve people on a canoe trip makes for a rather different trip than two or three people on a trip. Even though it meant one and a half food packs, eleven packs total, and five canoes, we survived and had a pretty good time all told. I couldn't help being a little nervous as the comfort and enjoyment of the canoe trip (the first for several of our crew) was at least somewhat dependent upon me.

The weekend before the trip was the Free Range Film Festival. That was fun, as always, and Sarah came up to Wrenshall for that. While we were staying with Lindsey and Rick, she was appalled to see that Rick and I decided to shave all but mustaches. My facial hair must not know that I'm 31, 'cause what you see in this picture is probably about a week's worth of growth and you can only just barely tell that there's anything there at all. Maybe someday I'll grow up to be a man.

Everyone met at their house the evening before so I could go over personal gear and hand out dry bags and packs for people. I was all concerned about getting everything together, that early the next morning as we drove away I didn't realize I hadn't put the life preservers and paddles into the truck. Fortunately Drew saw the paddles and threw them in... but nobody saw the life preservers. So a car drove a half hour back to the house to get them. So much for an early start on the water.

We eventually made it up to the Ash River ranger station where we unloaded everything. We put in the water in Kabetogema and paddled east to an island on Namakan. I was delighted to find the camp site we were looking to take open. Based on my Boundary Waters experience, and the relatively small number of camp sites in Voyageurs, I was a little concerned that our six mile paddle could wind up being twice as long. But we lucked out and after everything was set up, people went for swims and relaxed for much of the rest of the day.

Here Lindsey and Rick are enjoying a sunny afternoon among the pines.

I knew my fishing skills were essentially non-existant, so I didn't get a license, but Matt, Drew, and Isaiah did a bunch of fishing, and we ate fish a few times. This picture is an homage to the family trip we took several years ago when Matt and Drew had at least one picture each day where they were pointing at their food.

I have to mention that I tried a couple camp food experiments. One of the cooking shows I like, Primal Grill with Steven Raichlen, showed the host roll up salt-crusted tenderloin in cotton cloth and put the loins directly on hot coals. I tried this with pork loin. It didn't turn out. Booo. They were under-cooked, so we butterflied them and braised them over the fire to finish them. It was good, but salty. The other experiment I tried was mushroom risotto on the fire. I am proud to say that tis actually turned out pretty well, though I don't think I'll do it again as I had to pack fresh minced onion and garlic.

The first night was rainy, and the rain lasted until about noon the next day. People were a little cold and wet. Those who weren't napping/reading in the tents were sitting under the tarp or just dealing with being wet. Fortunately for us, though, it dried up and warmed up a bit in the afternoon and evening. Since it was wet in the morning, we didn't really go anywhere that day except for those who went fishing or on little trips near our island.

Mom braiding Lindsey's hair at the camp site.

Mom looked pretty comfortable reading here.

And Burnell is pretty good at finding comfortable places to recline as well.

Chris is filtering water for us here.

The third day was dry, so we went on a day trip to the Kettle Falls Hotel. The falls were dammed up, but the hotel was darn cool. It's a little hotel on an island in the middle of the woods where the only way you can reach it is by boat. The fishing guys stopped at the general store to stock up on fishing gear before joining the rest of us at the hotel bar. The hotel was built about 90 years ago and was restored about 30 years ago. In restoring the building, though, they decided to keep the severely sloped floor of the bar. In a matter of about 15 feet, the floor of the bar curves and slopes down probably a foot and a half. The whole place just reeks of northwoods cool that probably hasn't changes substantially in decades. I chatted with a guy who'd been coming to Voyageurs for the last 14 years while we sipped Lake Maid beer.

After relaxing and visiting at the bar, we had our packed lunch and paddled back to our island. Along the way, Rick made a friend.

I paddled a while with mom and Burnell.

A largemouth bass that Isaiah was very proud to catch, and I was very happy to eat.

The whole crew at our campsite on Kubel Island

Lindsey and Molly visiting and reading. Molly was coveting Lindsey's Harry Potter book the whole trip.

Matt, Isaiah, and Steph were checking out the map plotting where they could find the most fish.

If not for Chris, Drew, and Burnell, our camp site wouldn't have been as cozy. We had plenty of firewood and a nice fire to warm up to all day long because of their work gathering wood.

Here Abby is busy making wild blueberry pancakes for us.

The last morning dawned dry, but by the time we got everything packed, it started to rain. It rained pretty much the whole paddle back to Ash River. Dry clothes and lunch at the Sawmill in Virginia were welcomed by all.

Lastly, a bit of goofiness down in the basement in Wrenshall.

It was a great trip, and probably the last trip that the family is going to be able to all make together for several years with mom and Burnell going to Egypt. Next time, Sarah will have to make it, and so will our little boy and maybe even other little children too. A houseboat might be a nice welcomed change, though.

Simple pleasure - lots of good memories
Peace

Voyageurs National Park Canoe Trip

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:53:23 GMT

Some time last year, family started talking about a canoe trip with as many people attending as possible. As a former canoe guide, I volunteered to plan and lead the trip. I've said several times over the last few days that if I didn't want to do this, I wouldn't want to. But that being said, planning a trip for 12 (twelve!!!) is much more hectic than planning a trip for two or three. Though we are only out for three nights and four days, the amount of food we are taking is unreal.

I am actually delighted that so many people are able to make it on this trip. As far as spouses and significant others go, everyone in the Peterson/Fistler/Olson/Atkins clan is going to be there except for Sarah. Being as she is rather pregnant, though, I suppose it is wisest that she isn't out in the middle of the wilderness. Twelve people, though. That's a big group.

Twelve concerns me in a couple ways. First, as I haven't been to Voyageurs before, I don't have any idea how large the camp sites are. Joe says they're pretty big with many tent pads, but since we have five 2-4 person tents, one 1 person tent, and one hammock, I am concerned that there will be enough tent pads. One thing about being part of a family that includes adults and young adults (as opposed to kids) is that couples tend to want to stick together and often don't particularly want company in their tents. The four-person tents could hold three people without too much trouble. Four would be a bit cramped, though, and would necessitate splitting people up or adding guests.

Also, twelve people meeans a lot off stuff. People actually did pretty in packing minimally. Even though people packed pretty well, we still have eleven packs. Eleven packs!!! That's on top of five canoes. I certainly don't have a problem carrying a smaller pack and a canoe at the same time, but I'm not going to expect everyone carrying a canoe to do the same thing, nor for every person carrying a pack to carry two packs on the portages... especially since I understand a couple of our group members are unable to carry much due to one thing or another.

We'll have a good time though. The first paddle stroke is really the best. That means we are finally moving, and we have a whole wonderful trip in front of us. I'm really looking forward to it.

simple pleasure - being done packing
Peace

If you think health care reform is going to be substantive or effective, think again

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:30:36 GMT

It should be news to nobody that our health care system is broken. I am no expert and I don't have the statistics to make a dissertation out of this (I will leave that to others), but the fact that things need to change is without question. The president and congress are debating health care "reform". It certainly appears that something is going to happen. Don't get your hopes up for meaningful reform, though. Our lawmakers don't have the backbone for true reform. Until profit is taken out of our health care system, costs will continue to rise out of control. The availability of care will be unevenly distributed among the people not to mention the fact that like any other important service, the quality of available care will certainly be poorer for the poor of our country.

Our government's insistence that the market can work out problems for itself is a fallacy. If the free market were so perfect, we wouldn't have to have non-profit community health centers all around the country that are understaffed and underfunded. But heaven forbid our lawmakers tamper with the lucrative health care industry. Heaven forbid that we go down the commie path of single-payer health care (I understand that there were no people at President Obama's panel studying health care reform that represented a single-payer option) . "Jobs!" they will scream. If you dismantle our for-profit health care system, it'll cost people their great jobs. "Money!" It'll cost too much and we'll have to raise those evil, evil taxes. In these dark economic times, we can not afford to start a whole new governmental bureaucracy.

Spineless bastards. Maybe when the welfare of the people is at the top of the minds of our lawmakers, we will have some meaningful change. If you want any proof that perhaps the people aren't being heard, take a look at the pictures in this link. It is a picture of a room in the Senate Office Building where Senators were working on their "reform" bill. The picture isn't of the senators, but of the lobbyists in the room. When our lawmakers are bombarded by industry groups that spend millions of dollars each year to influence legislation, do the people have any hope of getting a law that benefits them? I doubt it.

Don't hold your breath for any meaningful change, friends. Yes, something is going to change, but when prices don't stop going through the roof and people still go bankrupt because they can't pay for their medical bills don't think that quite a few of our lawmakers aren't going to point their fingers at this attempt at "reform" and conclude that if this reform didn't work, that nothing will work.

Meanwhile, let's go marching on with a smile on our face knowing that the poor will continue to get the shaft, and that hard-working families will still have to weigh health care bills or food.

Graniteman: Sister success and swim success

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:53:32 GMT

The Graniteman Triathlon was yesterday, my fourth of five races scheduled for this summer and the first race for my sister, Lindsey. I'll spare you the full race report, but if you are interested, you can find it here. Considering how spotty my season has been, I wasn't sure what to expect with this race. I've been training regularly again, but not at the volume nor the intensity that I would like. That said, I knew I was in better shape than I was for the Lake Minnetonka Tri late last month. So I decided I was going to leave it all out on the course and just see how I would do.

Before I get ahead of myself, though, I want to give a big congratulations to graveylump for completing her first triathlon and beating her goal time by 15 minutes! It was a real treat to be able to cheer for her in the race. I was hoping to see and cheer for her out on the bike portion, but I must have just missed her. I did get to watch her second transition and cheer really loudly (and probably obnoxiously) for her as she finished up.

This is Lindsey and I just before the start of the race.

Here she is coming out of T2, looking pretty good for having just gotten off her bike.

And here she is sprinting past a couple competitors right at the finish as I am happily cheering.

My race went quite well. There was a first for me, in fact. I got off to a pretty good start in the swim and soon found myself in front of the swim pack. I was expecting at least a couple people in front of me, but after a couple hundred yards, there was nobody near by any longer. After I rounded the turn-around buoy, I realized that I was in the lead by a fair amount. As I was the first swimmer in the first wave, I was actually the first person out of the water and in the lead in the race! The crowd of spectators on the shore were cheering for me as I ran by to the transition area. Then I heard the announcer announcing me as the first person out and into the transition area... but with the wrong name as I had accidently shouted out the wrong race number. After a little confusion and good-natured shouting to the announcer we got things straightened out and I was out on my bike.

A triathlon can be lost in any leg of the race, but it pretty much can't be won on the swim leg. Though my swim was excellent (40 seconds faster than the next person and about a minute faster than the 3rd), I knew my bike and run legs weren't going to be strong enough to hold the lead. 2 3/4 miles into the bike, I was passed for the first time and almost 5 miles into the bike, I was passed again. I expected this and cheered on the other racers as they passed me and encouraged them to go faster still.

I was in 7th or 8th place by the time I got to the run, and amazingly didn't give up any more ground during the run, which is unusual for me. In the end, I finished 19th overall (people in different swim waves finished in a faster time than I did), but my swim was tied for 4th best out of over 400 people including relays. I am very proud of that. Now if only I could bring my run to be as good as my swim.

Anyway, a few more pictures:

That's me there. If you squint, you might be able to tell. At this point in time, I had a tail wind for the first time in about 12 miles. Felt pretty good.

It hurts. Make it end. The last 1/4 mile or so of the run was pretty hard. I could see the finish line the whole way, but it just never seemed to get closer. Isn't it cool too, how I was able to finish this race so well with one leg missing below the knee. I am a wonder of nature!

Boo, no race t-shirt for Lindsey's first race, but I suppose a towel to use for transitions instead of a bath towel is good too. This was right before our post-race pizza and beer. It was well-deserved by both of us, I think.

So another good race in the books. Sounds like Lindsey is interested in doing more races some time. Now we'll just have to convince Matt and Molly to join us (if not Sarah and Rick as well).

Simple pleasure - sweaty hugs
Peace

Back in the saddle again

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:58:31 GMT

I've got another physical therapy appointment tomorrow morning. Stupid me, though, I scheduled it during the Tour de France team time trial. They didn't even have a TTT last year. Grrrrrr. This is an exciting enough of a stage where I might have to go find a sports bar somewhere and commandeer a TV and have them put on the VS network. But I digress.

I've been doing my core exercises every other day and I think I can tell the difference a little at least. They're easier now than they were two weeks ago. I am also working out regularly again. Though I'm not at the intensity nor duration that I would ideally like to be at, simply training again feels pretty good. My bike rides are up to 45 minutes now and my ride tonight and a couple days ago were at a higher intensity than they've been in quite a while. I know I'm not where I was this time last year, though. During my ride tonight, I climbed a short hill and I definitely don't have the climbing legs I usually have by this time in the summer. I miss the Gears, Tears, and Fears ride. Maybe in a few weeks I'll be back to multiple-hour long rides.

While Sarah and I were up north last weekend, I went for a short swim with Lindsey. I gave her a few pointers on the start of the race and exiting the water. Then we talked about transition set up as well. Though I am no expert, by any means, I do enjoy sharing what I do know. I am really excited to be doing a race with her this weekend. I will have to share sweaty post-race pictures with the two of us. I hope she gets hooked like I am. We talked too, about trying to convince Matt and Molly to do a race with us some time too. That would be a heckuva lot of fun. I don't think that would take too much convincing. If nothing else, maybe Molly would do Burrito Union with Lindsey and I next year.

Ah, that was a good post-ride beer. Thank you Sierra Nevada.

Simple pleasure - climbing hills
Peace

Physical Therapy

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:52:13 GMT

I went in for physical therapy again this morning. The guy I saw recommended a couple minor bike fit adjustments. Aside from core strength (which I will talk about in a moment) one problem he saw with my bike is that one of the shifter/brakes is a little higher on the handlebars than the other causing one shoulder to be higher than the other and twisting my back slightly. Though that in and of itself may not be enough to account for my back pain, that combined with very little winter riding then suddenly a lot of riding in the spring as well as a relatively weak core together probably did it.

This means there are some solutions.

1. Adjust the placement of my brakes
2. Don't neglect riding the trainer this coming winter (assuming I have any energy at all)
3. Start some core-strengthening exercises.

I know my core isn't very strong. I've never liked working on strength. That goes back to high school where the weight room was dominated by football players. Without rehashing high school politics (and nobody wants to hear that), we'll just say that I just couldn't stand the weight room so I avoided it at all costs. That distaste for lifting and being in weight room carried over to college and beyond. Now I know that core fitness is an important part of training for triathlon and that there are plenty of ways to go about taking care of my core fitness... but since I've never really stuck to any designed plan I've pretty much ignored strength exercises.

Now I'm paying for it. So I've got a slate of exercises I need to do here at home. If I want to get back out there and pound away on the bike, I need to take care of my core. The physical therapist said I could start going on short rides (short is better than none, I guess), so that is good, but I need to be good about these exercises. Hopefully this will get me back on the road to training regularly again. That would sure be nice.

Simple pleasure - the wonders of air conditioning
Peace

Things that a pregnant wife might not find funny... oh and it's a boy

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:01:15 GMT

We went to Sarah's second ultrasound this evening. We walked up to the receptionist. After she asked if anything had changed since last time (referring to insurance), I really wanted to say, "Aside from circumference? No." But I bit my tongue.

During the first ultrasound I was a complete wreck. We knew that she was pregnant, but hearing the heartbeat made it real. Not that we weren't ready, but it suddenly became pretty serious. Now that we've had a few months of getting ready (buying baby clothes, considering car seats, thinking about names, etc.), the ultrasound tonight was nowhere near as nerve wracking for me. I won't say that I wasn't a little anxious to be sure that everything looked alright, but compared to last time, this was a breeze. The baby is now one pound and change and looking perfectly normal, if a little bit big for its age... but look at his parents. Sarah is taller than average, and I simply lay outside the bell curve of normal height. Everything looks good.

Before we found out, I usually thought of the baby as a girl. Sarah thought of it as a boy. I guess she's got a closer connection than I do. I didn't really care one way or another, but now that we know name negotiations will start soon. Unfortunately, there are far more nice girl names than boy names... especially for ethnic names. I like the idea of a Scandinavian name, but a kid named Asgeir, Gjurd, or Sverre would probably just be trouble. I'm sure there are some more reasonable Scandinavian names. We'll see. I can be open minded. How about German. Sigfreid, perhaps?

Simple pleasure - summer lightning storms
Peace

Far more nervous than I should be

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:02:25 GMT

All of my gear is together. I know where we are going tomorrow. The drive isn't far. There is no rush. I've done both the bike and run courses. I went to the OWS clinic on Thursday. I've done two olys in the past. I am still nervous as heck, though. This whole non-existant training for the last month and my back pain have got me concerned about my race. I am used to pushing myself pretty hard in the race, but I'm not sure how my body will do tomorrow. I keep telling myself to take it a bit easier tomorrow, but I'm not sure I know how to do that. When I get out on the bike I want to put the hammer down and go. My standards are pretty high for myself and finishing out of the top 10% or so will, honestly, be a little hard to take. In the last year I got so used to actually competing that simply completing is just a given.

I want to finish in under two and a half hours. I should be able to do that. That would be a 25 minute 1500 meter swim (no reason why it should take that long), a 72 minute bike (I sure hope I can keep up a 20 mile per hour average. This may be tougher), and a 52 minute 10k. That's about 8:30/mile. That may also be pushing it a little bit. That leaves about 5 minutes for the transitions, and I should be able to do better than that. Of course, the run up to T1 from the water is a bit long and uphill. So we'll see. Two and a half hours is still my goal. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

Entertainment Tonight

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:08:50 GMT

I can't stand Entertainment Tonight, nor anything that resembles celebrity worship. I can't think of anything more inane. We watch NBC news, and there are commercials for Entertainment Tonight on during the news. Invariably I groan or when I am able to control myself I roll my eyes. Sarah knows this... how can she not? After an ET commercial, she often looks over to see how I am reacting.

This afternoon Sarah was sitting on the couch watching the French open when I got home (she's off early on Fridays for the summer now). I sat and watched some of the Gonzalez/Soderling match when an ET commercial came on. When she looked over at me, I was beating my head with my fist.

"Maybe if I hit my head hard enough I'll be a good American and like this crap." I said
"Oh, why don't you just go upstairs and read something revolutionary or radical and not wear any pants. That'll make you feel better."

It's true.

My wife knows me pretty well.

Simple pleasure - having so little to do at school that I got some long overdue filing done
Peace

OWS Workshop

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:57:05 GMT

I went to an open water swim workshop on Lake Minnetonka this evening. The race director for the Minnetonka Tri brought in a local coach who talked about many of the basics of open water swimming in triathlons. While I didn't learn a ton, it was nice to see some of the things I'd read about before. The 40 or so of us all practiced dolphin dives in our entries and exits, sighting, mass starts, and some of the skills that go along with those things. I also got to ask him about drafting. As the only open water group swimming I've done has been races, I've never really figured out where I need to be in order to draft off of another swimmer. After the coach explained it, another guy and I went out into the lake to give it a try. When I was right on the guy's feet, I could definitely tell that I wasn't working as hard for the speed we were going.

I'm sure a personal coach is pretty expensive, but it sure was nice to see some race skills demonstrated and explained. If I were a rich man yaba dibi dibi... I'd hire a tri coach.

The lake was nice, but I have to say... Excelsior? Too darn yahty for me. Holy crap. Everything looked expensive. There were a lot of people walking around in office attire for a sunny early summer evening. I also saw Miss Minnesota, sash, tiara, and all. Strange. I'll stick to St. Paul, thanks. You can have your 'burbs.

Simple pleasure - visiting with other tri folks
Peace

Pico de gallo and an aching back

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:34:28 GMT

I got home after work today not knowing what to make for dinner. Tabbouleh was definitely on the menu because we have a bunch of fresh parsley that needed to be used, but I wanted something else as well. Then I decided to make pico de gallo since we also had some cilantro that needed to be used too. I went to the Co-op (I love you, Mississippi Market), and spent most of my time in the produce section (I love you produce). Tomorrow I will make vegetable pasties (I love you food that comes from our mining history), but first things first.

My recipe for pico de gallo
~6 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 halapenos, minced
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 can corn, rinsed
a whole bunch of finely chopped cilantro
~2 tablespoons of lemon juice
a few teaspoons of salt to taste
~1 teaspoon of Lizano Salsa
~1 tablespoon dry oregano
~1 teaspoon cumin

Mix it all up real good. Adjust seasoning to taste. Try not to eat too much all at once. I'd be willing to bet that this will taste better after a night in the refridgerator. Yum!

---------------------------

I made an appointment to see a doctor tomorrow about my continually sore back. It's a little worse today than it was the last couple days. It's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago when I was hobbling around and almost forced to lay down, but it is keeping me from bending and moving naturally. I think I am so tight that my posture is a little funny too. It's been enough of a bother that I really havn't trained regularly in about a month. Though my race schedule isn't super demanding this summer, I was intending on seriously competing in my races. Not training is bad news. So no, I am not incapacitated by this nagging soreness, but it is enough of a concern that I am ready to see a doctor.

I'm not sure what he'll tell me tomorrow, but I need something. Maybe all I need is a core-strengthening program to follow. Maybe there is more to it than that, but I need something. Not training has really gotten frustrating. 5 days to my first oly of the season and though I know I'll be able to finish, I'm not happy with my overall fitness right now.

Simple pleasure - throwing a dish together without any guidance and having it turn out really well
Peace

Buffalo Triathlon Next Week

Sat, 30 May 2009 22:24:43 GMT

I drove up to Buffalo late this morning so I could check out the race course for the Buffalo Triathlon next weekend. This is my second of five scheduled races this summer, and my first oly. I've heard from quite a few people that it's a good race and a pretty good sized race too. On top of that, the race brings in a pro or two each year to compete as well. This year the 70.3 world champion will be racing. That's pretty cool. Maybe I'll be coming on the bike in time to see him finish up his run.

I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about this race. A sore back has kept me from running and off my bike for about three weeks or so. I've also done less swimming (almost none, actually) than I really should have too. Not that I'm concerned about finishing, but this won't be a super fast race for me. There will be no age group placing for me next week.

The bike course is pretty, but pretty wide open in a number of places which will make the bike leg pretty difficult if it is windy like it was today. There are also a number of rolling hills to contend with. They're not big, but big enough to drop you down into your low gears. A couple concerns I have about the course is the lack of road shoulders in some areas. I doubt they'll close down the roads completely for us. I guess I will just hope that there are enough cyclists around me that the cars on the road will have to respect us. The other thing I am wondering about is that there is one turn that is part of a major downtown intersection in Buffalo. That means it's sharp, there's little room to swing wide to keep up the speed, and there will probably be cars.

The run is nice too. Most noteworthy about it is a pretty long and steady hill about half way through. It isn't steep, but by that time in the race, any hill is an unfriendly hill. On the bright side, it is an out and back course, so I'll be coming back down the hill. It's a little funny, though 'cause the turn around is at the top of the hill... in a cemetery. I can see it now. "Oh god! I can't make it. Let there be a hole in the ground somewhere where I can just lay myself into right now."

We'll see about the swim. I just got an email from the RD of the Lake Minnetonka Tri saying that there will be a swim clinic on Thursday. I may take advantage of that to see if there are any good tips I can pick up before Saturday. I swim pretty well in general, but swimming in a pack is nothing like a pool lap swim. I will also have to get to one of the lakes this week (tomorrow maybe) and practice my swim to bike transition with my wetsuit. That'll be a new thing for me.

For now, though, it is shower time. I am coated in a layer of salt and have an aroma. I don't mind the aroma that much, but I will take pity on Sarah and the cat.

Simple pleasure - getting out in the sun
Peace