I went out for my first open water swim this afternoon.  I had intended on getting out to the lakes this past weekend, but considering it was only in the 50s I thought I'd let the wetsuit wait a little bit.  It was in the upper 90s yesterday and mid 90s today, so I figured the water would have warmed up a little bit at least.  The problem was the wind.  Weather.com is saying that the wind is blowing at 30 miles per hour.  Needless to say, there were some waves on the lake.  Oof.  Swimming in waves and whitecaps is hard.

So I was at Lake Nokomis and had my swim suit on under my shorts.  I took off my shorts and shirt and put on my wetsuit.  Very shortly after I got the suit on a small gaggle of giggly girls (and one boy) came over to investigate.

"Are you faster than Michael Phelps?"
Not quite.
"Is the water cold?"
I don't know.  I've not gotten in yet.
"Are you going surfing?"
Do you see any surf or a board?
"Are you going to put your swim cap on over your ears?"
We'll see how well it fits.  I've not put it on yet.

Then they ran off.

The water was cool but not cold.  Once I allowed the water to get in my suit, it didn't take long to warm that up and I was pretty comfortable (temperature wise) for the rest of the swim.  I swam back and forth a bit, but was just getting battered by the waves.  After maybe 150 yards, I made my way to shore and up to my bag.  Glasses back on and just surveyed the scene for a bit.  Then one of the girls comes back.

"Is the water cold?"
It's a bit cool.
"I have a nickname for you.  Wanna know what it is?"
Wha-
"It's Spandex Man."
But this isn't spandex.
"I don't care.  Bye Spandex Man."
Bye now.

I decided that I needed to swim a little bit more.  What's the point of driving to Minneapolis, paying for parking, and donning the wetsuit if you don't do some swimming?  Battling the waves, I did maybe 300 more yards before I was pretty tired.  It kind of stinks not being able to see (should have worn contacts), and not having any buoys to guide with.  So I packed it in.

First open water swim out of the way.  Maybe if it is calm this weekend, I'll try to get in a proper swim.

Simple pleasure - *Dun duh duh duuuuuuuuh*  Never fear!  Spandex Man is here!
Peace

This evening I went to a forum with the two candidates for the open judge position in Minnesota's second judicial district.  I went in recognizing the names of the two candidates, but knowing absolutely nothing about them.  Too many times in the past (actually, probably every time in the past) when it came to judges on the ballot, I was clueless or had armed myself with the knowledge gained from reading a paragraph on them at startribune.com.  When I saw there was going to be a forum with the two candidates, I decided it was time to get me some learnin'.

Honestly, would I find myself in a courtroom, I don't think I could be happier seeing either candidate on the bench.  Both seem very qualified and wise even though they come from very different places.  Howard Orenstein has practiced law for a long time and has been involved in a wide range of legal cases and has served several terms as a state legislature.  Gail Chang Bohr had a long tenure as a social worker and has spent a fair amount of time leading the Children's Law Center of Minnesota.  They both talked about restorative justice, and balancing punishment with rehabilitation and involving the community.  There wasn't one thing that made me think less of one than the other, qualification or philosophy-wise.

After the event was over, I turned around to a man who was sitting behind me whom I had noticed was taking many notes the whole evening.  I asked him what his thoughts were.  Well, it turns out that he's the member of the St. Paul School Board and had much to say.  Basically, he reinforced my idea that both candidates were very strong, but that Chang Bohr's closer connections to the community and more specifically the disadvantaged and minority communities is worth quite a bit.  He then went on to say that there are disproportionately more minority youth that appear in the judicial system than the rest of the population and for them to see a woman that looks like them (let alone her past experience with people like them) and having her, instead of an aging white man, telling them that they did wrong can only help.

Far be it for me to tell people how to vote.  I have to say, though, that I was very happy that I went and got a chance to learn about these candidates.  I'd highly recommend that you take the time to learn about judicial candidates that will be on your ballot.  It's not as easy to do as to learn about senators, and the like, but no less important.

Simple pleasure - fuzzy pants
Peace

I will start this post as I start so many conversations...

So I heard on public radio, this morning, about a new program that the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has started.  They are selling tickets to any and all of their shows for $10 for people aged 20-39, AND they will sell the best seats available for those shows too.  This is a great deal.  All you Twin Cities folks should go to http://www.thespco.org/ and sign up.

Simple pleasure - Wind and snow!
Peace

Today was my last day of work, and that makes Aaron a happy guy.  People rolled in later than usual and the plan was to leave at eleven to go have lunch.  As there was nothing for me to do aside from clean out my filing cabinet, I sat and looked through notes, listened to music, and generally wasted time.  At ten I loaded up my panniers and headed home so I wouldn't have to carry to packs full of books, a computer, and various things I had at school.  I got home, unloaded my mountain bike and then got ready to head to Ol Mexico on my road bike.

I like riding fast.  I like going as fast (and sometimes faster) than traffic.  I crossed 94 going north on Lexington.  The road goes downhill a little bit and I was pushing quite a bit as traffic was heavy and in heavy traffic I feel safer traveling with traffic rather than having cars zoom by.  So I was pushing and keeping up with traffic when I noticed there was a SUV keeping right with me in the next lane.  I should note:  I don't particularly like cars.  I like (and trust) them even less when I'm on my bike.  I looked over and prepared myself for any defensive riding I may have to do.  The SUV is totally pimped out (big rims, custom paint, tinted windows, the whole nine yards) and the driver, a young hip-hopper yells out the window to me, "Damn!  You're going 32 miles per hour!" and he grins real big.

"I know!"  I yell back, and flash a peace sign to him.  Not the snappiest thing to say, but with cars, potholes, etc. I didn't have much time to think.

Yeah, fast = good

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Lunch with the co-workers was good.  Trivia was good. 

On the way home, I took it a bit easier and decided to bike through the good old Commonwealth Terrace Co-op (married student housing) where I lived from 3rd to 6th grade (still the longest I have lived in one place).  Except for different colored doors, new storage boxes outside the buildings, and new playground equipment, the CTC looks pretty much like it did when I was two feet shorter.  Kids who hailed from different continents and who were too young for school played and chased each other while tired-looking moms looked on.  One woman with three toddlers in tow hung laundry on the line.  Toys of all sorts were scattered around open areas and in front of individual apartments. 

Reflecting on my time at the CTC, I am glad that we lived there.  I had friends from all over the world, we played games, had petty little kid feuds, we built snow forts.  I hated that my family was poor and was mortified that friends at school would figure out that we were poor, but at the CTC everyone was poor.  How could college students with families not be poor?  It would probably be beneficial to anyone to spend a few years growing up in an environment like that.

Simple pleasure - moose cup
Peace

Once a week maybe, I have gone across the street from where I work to get a coffee from this tiny coffee shop.  It is little more than a counter, and a little window seat.  Since it warmed up, the guy who runs the shop put a patio table outside more than doubling the seating.  I think his name is Mark... maybe... I'll just say it is. Mark is a really friendly guy and there have been numerous times where I found myself still standing at the counter ten or fifteen minutes after I walked in, just chatting away about this and that.  We talk quite a bit about cooking and restaurants, but he's quick to ask about how things are going at school here.  There have been a couple times where I either forgot my wallet, or didn't have enough money and he gave my coffee anyway and told me not to worry about it or to just bring in a couple bucks the next time I came in.

Since I rode to work today, I wasn't able to bring coffee with me, so I went over as I have done so many times before.  Just like all those other times, I got to talking with Mark.  He asked how many days were left in the school year, and when I said that tomorrow was the last day and that I wouldn't be working here this summer he told me to make sure that I came in tomorrow.  Cool guy.  Genuine, kind, friendly, quick to smile.  Connections like this with people who own/run some business seem pretty rare.  I mean, Joe Associate at Target and Lucy Hashslinger at Perkins probably couldn't care a whole lot less about their customers.  Maybe friendly relationships with business people are more common in small towns, I don't know.  Regardless, I will be sure to make my way to Buckaroo Coffee again tomorrow to thank Mark for all the good coffee and a good place to go when I need a little mental health break from work.

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No students so far this morning.  It took me ten minutes to clean out my mail box, filing cabinet, and email in-box.  I'm not sure what else I'll do today.  Everyone else seems to have something to do, but when I ask they all say that there's nothing that needs to be done.  *shrug*  I guess I'll look around to see if I can find something to be done, and if not I'll work on my paper

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Check out The Buffali, they're good stuff.

Simple pleasure - a leisurely bike commute
Peace

I was riding the bus home from a dentist appointment when I saw a woman at a bus stop.  She jumped up and down a couple times as the bus pulled up.  She had long gray braids hanging down under a fedora and she was wearing a long skirt.  As I was in the back of the bus, I couldn't hear what she said, but she and the bus driver exchanged a few words and then she gave him a twig of flowering lilacs and got off the bus.

That made me happy.

Simple pleasure - a sunny evening
Peace

For my friends here in the Twin Cities.  The annual May Day parade put on by In the Heart of  the Beast Puppet Theater is coming up soon.  I've been twice before and any time that I am in town on the weekend of the parade I will be at the parade.  It is one of the best annual events here in the cities.  If you're here in the cities, go to the parade.  It will be worth your time.  Just be sure to claim a good seat along the route early 'cause it's a popular thing.

I was going to write about this in my previous post, but it deserves a post all its own.

I'm sure I've extolled the virtues of KFAI before, but I have to do it again.  KFAI is a local independent radio station in the Twin Cities.  It is not affiliated with Minnesota Public or National Public Radio at all (which I couldn't function without).    Like MPR, KFAI depends on membership, so I want to encourage everyone to listen to KFAI - online even - and support them. 

I became a member of KFAI maybe a year and a half ago.  I called in and pledged on Sunday during one of my favorite shows, Women Folk (which follows another great show, Urban Folk).  A couple weeks later I got a hand written thank-you note from the host of the show.  It was very nice,  sincere, and written on Wonder Woman stationery. 

Most of the shows on KFAI are produced locally (very few syndicated shows), and the hosts often say that it is like a different radio station each hour.  It caters to different cultural and immigrant communities in the Twin Cities.  Some of those shows include Somali Voices, Hmong Wameng, Bonjour Minnesota, Khmers in Minnesota, Eritrean Community Radio, and more. 

I like to listen in the middle of the day.  Every weekday from noon to one is Democracy Now followed by a different world music show each day (Latin, world, African, Caribbean, etc.) 

My favorite shows are:
Louisiana Rhythms, Corazon Latino, Global Beat, African Rhythms, Radio Antilles, House Party, Sugar Shop, New Scandinavian Cultural Hour, Radio Rumpus Room, Crap from the Past, Sabados Alegres, Century Spring, and Fubar Omniverse.

Other shows of note are Fresh Fruit (a GLBT show), Wave Project (public access), RSE Radio (hip-hop), Strictly Butter (techno), and a few spoken-word programs.

Take a look at KFAI's weekly programming grid.  Listen to KFAI at 90.3 in Minneapolis, 106.7 in St. Paul, or online.  Pledge to KFAI.  It is a voice for so many underrepresented communities and voices in the Twin Cities.

Ok.  Go listen now. 

Simple pleasure - a tapestry of voices
Peace