Two-wheeling

In case you weren't aware, next week is National Bike to Work Week, May 17 - 21 with Friday being official Bike to Work Day! Lots of cities are doing exciting things so you should check out what's going on around you. Bicycling to work offers great benefits to individual health, and it can also benefit your local environment (Coe, 2010). The League of American Bicyclists has several resources to use during the week!

However, I do not support or endorse the Critical Mass organization and their actions.  Critical Mass tends to attack car drivers and instead of "Sharing the Road," they want to take over the road.

References
Coe, E.E. and Chancellor, H.C. (2010). Exploring motives, benefits, constraints, and needs of bicycle commuters. The Journal of Park and Recreation Administration. In submission.

Bloomington, IN

It pained me to leave my Washington, DC network on Facebook as I headed west on I-70 in 2007.  It took me months after to even change my "Current City" status to Bloomington.  The girl who took me to look at apartments said I'd love this place, it was the, and I quote her directly, "cultural mecca of Indiana."  Let's reinforce that the clarifier in that statement is most important, "of Indiana."  Can you tell I am a skeptic?

Okay, was a skeptic.  Despite my apathy, I have actually come to love my Midwestern town, and if you have to live in Indiana, this is definitely where you should be.  The video below was created by a local church to show new members of the community a little bit about their new home.  Watch it - especially my friends who have yet to visit. This is all part of my ploy to convince you that Bloomington needs to be your next vacation destination!

Yikes!

Ummmm, on behalf of the world, I would like to say thank you to the parents of this entitled "intern."

From Gawker.com

The (Potential) Intern From Hell

Every season, at every company, there has to be that one terrible intern. Usually they just fall asleep at work, or show up drunk. Allow us to introduce you to one intern candidate who sounds much, much worse.

A tipster sent us these emails from a real intern applicant at a company in New York. After the company didn't get back to him after one full day, the would-be intern sent them this reminder note:

The (Potential) Intern From Hell

Goodness! The company wrote back to the applicant saying that the internships had already been filled, and by the way, the note he sent was rude. This was his response:

The (Potential) Intern From Hell

Interns: Always teaching.

Little 500

Most current and past students of Indiana University will tell you the love Little 500 - "The World's Greatest College Weekend," but I doubt they could tell you anything about the actual bicycle race which takes place during the weekend.  I'm not sure where the tradition came from to turn the weekend into a party weekend, but year after year, the population of Bloomington probably triples from all the people who come to take part in the festivities, mostly to attend outrageous fraternity parties where concerts headlining artists like Snoop Dogg, Luda, and DMX take place.

I hadn't really heard of Little 5 until I was at the MS150 in Texas in 2004, and at the fairgrounds, we watched "Breaking Away," a movie from the late '70s about the bicycle race and how the Bloomington townies - Cutters, as they are called, decide to form a team and win the race.  I thought the movie was pretty cool, so when I got to Bloomington in 2007, I decided to find out a way to be involved.  I found a random email address on the IU Student foundation website (hosts and coordinators of the race), and asked to be a volunteer.  I didn't hear anything until about a week before the race, and then I got an official email, thanking me for volunteering and that I needed to be at the women's race early on Friday to be briefed on my role as a pit judge.  I had no clue what pit judge even meant.  

Well, it turned out to be quite the role.  I was assigned 3 teams to judge and I watched from the infield, basically just making sure they make proper exchanges, communicate any info during the race to the coach, nothing too bad.  The best part is that judges get to wear a headset and hear everything that the race directors are talking about, and the commentary is way better than what is being said on the PA to the audience.  

2010 was my 3rd race to volunteer. My dear sweet friend, Sarah, came out for her second time, and we had such a great time on the infield with the insider's point-of-view.  Since the field is predominantly Greek and I'm not affiliated with a Greek organization at IU, I cheer for the Independent teams.  Namely, the Cutters.  Not because they always win, but because my first experience with L5 was the movie.  The Cutters don't have a women's team, so I cheered for my residence hall, Teter.  Both Teter and the Cutters have a long history of winning teams.  Because they are independents, they have the ability to recruit all sorts of riders, hold try-outs, and equip themselves with the best teams.  The Teter women are lead by junior Caitlin Van Kooten.  Caitlin placed first at individual time trials (ITTs).  She's awesome.  She led her team to victory on Friday with such ease.  They rode smart, stayed out of the crashes (two really bad ones, 4 total broken collar bones), and it was a refreshing victory after coming in second to Pi Phi last year.  

I love the women's race.  It gets me pumped up for the men's race.  The women are great, but the competition doesn't exist the same for them as it does the men.  The men's race is a totally different playing field, there's not much fear, and they ride hard and fast.  In the final laps there were still 6 teams on the final lap.  Junior Eric Young rode for the Cutter's and by the end he turned it on.  Their big threat in the end were the Delts, who had a crash going into the final lap on a bad exchange.  Young took the lead by about half a lap.  It was a great finish and overall a good race, despite bad weather.  

Here's a little taste of it, the video is from 2008, but it's a really good one:

An Evening with Martin Sheen

Brian landed free tickets for the Ralph L. Collins lectures series at the IU Auditorium this spring, so last night we were entertained by Martin Sheen. He talked about his time on West Wing (did you know 75% of Americans say they would vote for him/Josiah Bartlett?), other aspects of his acting career, personal life, and his vocation as an activist.  He put in a big push for the San Carlos Foundation, an organization which places professionals in developing countries to provide communities and their people with resources for education in order to create jobs and aid in decreasing poverty.


My only critique is that he called us the University of Indiana...

'An Evening with Martin Sheen' this year's free Ralph L. Collins Memorial Lecture Award-winning actor, social activist and humanitarian Martin Sheen will appear at 7:30 p.m. April 19 at Indiana University Auditorium. Sheen will present the IU Department of Theatre and Drama's 2010 Ralph L. Collins Memorial Lecture.  Full Story

Plug for my roommate

After so much hard work, my college roommate is now a Licensed Professional Counselor Intern.  She is working on marketing to clients and putting together counseling groups.  If you're from the Dallas area or know anyone there, please refer them to Stephanie.  Visit www.haraburda.com or check out her website here! Yeah Steph!

Spring Break Recap - Post 4 of 4

Our decision to cut out from the original route ended up being one of our best decisions.  We decided to explore a new part of the park we hadn't seen before, Cades Cove.  We took the main road all the way through the park, a pretty, but long drive.  We set up camp at the campground there and had a delicious jambalaya dinner.

The next morning, we wanted to hike up to Rainbow Falls but needed to stop at the ranger station to find out where to park and if the trails and roads were open.  One question was answered quickly.  As we headed to the main station, we had to detour around the northern part of the Park.  Upon arriving at the station, we learned that there had been a pretty major rockslide as a result of all the snow and rain.  The rockslide occurred sometime just after we drove through to Cades Cove.  Phew we weren't a little later!  Anyway, due to the road closures we couldn't get to Rainbow Falls but a helpful ranger sent us back over to Cades Cove to climb the Rich Mountain Trail Loop which offers spectacular views of the Cove.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  It was warm and completely clear and the sun finally made us feel officially dry.  The total loop was about 8.5 miles and we got see some deer and the views were great.  Toward the end of the hike, we explored a late-19th century cabin which was pretty neat. 

Pictures below are our beautiful views and last days in the Park.  If I continue to stay in Indiana, I'm hoping to make several more trips to the Smokies. 

 

Spring Break Recap - Post 3 of 4

Picking up where I left off, we packed up Wednesday morning and hiked almost completely downhill from Cosby Knob to Campsite 37, about 3.3 miles from where we started that morning.  Because the thru hikers had gotten up so early to head to their next via point, we too were up and back on the trail early without having a campsite to break down.  It was barely 11 am  by the time we reached #37, and here, we came across a misfit group of campers.   When we first walked up, these guys were trying to build a fire, and they had a pretty pitiful result.  The group of three had hiked all afternoon and evening after a late start and didn't make it to camp until after 8 pm the previous evening.  They were cold and wet from the snow and their gear, a huge axe and a pair of sad-looking tents, didn't seem to accommodate the weather.  It wasn't until we were about to leave them that I noticed one had on a pair of IU shorts - of course - fellow Hoosiers!

Since it was so early when we arrived, we ate our lunch, and debated about what to do the rest of the trip.  Originally, we had reservations for Campsite 37 on Wednesday night.  We were to do the short hike there, explore the watershed area for the day, rest up, and then the following day head up Mount Sterling.  Mount Sterling is one of the Park's highest points, but the night before, we had already decided to cut Mt. Sterling out our route after talking with a Ridgerunner about the snow conditions at high elevation.  (A Ridgerunner is an employee of the Appalachian Trail who literally runs the ridges, hiking fast and light to clear the trails and clean up shelters and campsites in order to keep the trail  in good condition despite to the heavy use it receives.)   We considered our options to either stay the night at #37 and hike out the next morning or go ahead and finish the hike to the car and make other arrangements. There was an alternate route out on the Big Creek Trail to where we had parked, only another 5.2 miles.  In the end, we decided to head out that afternoon, and it was a mellow walk in the woods back to where we had started only the day before.  We also saw our first wildlife of the trip, a wild turkey. 

This map shows the northeast area of the park where we completed the majority of our hike.  We started at Big Creek and took Chesnut Branch Trail to the AT and stopped at Cosby Knob.  Went back down to Low Gap to #37 and then out Big Creek.  The Swallow Fork trail over to Mt Sterling Ridge is the part we nixed due to weather.

Spring Break Recap - Post 2 of 4

Thru-hiking the AT does not sound like something I want to do. 

When we arrived at the Cosby Knob shelter on Tuesday night, it was just a little after 5 pm.  Ten thru hikers had already made it there. The majority were already in their sleeping bags and eating cold food.  All headlamps were out by 8 pm, and although it was gray and snowy, it was still light out.  It seemed kind of lame.  I like to hike and do backpacking trips so that I can enjoy the time outside, stop for views, experience creation, take time to sit around a fire or a stove and cook a nice meal while chatting distraction-free with friends.    

This group was all work and no play.  They were concerned only with getting to their destination each night which is a lot of pressure.  They had been cold and wet for almost a month, hiking through waist-deep snow for days, sometimes even up to their armpits.  All of this a result of wanting to hit the trail in mid-February to avoid crowds...?  I'm not sure how worth it is.  One guy, a Canadian, took 4 months off work.  He started early Feb so he's planning to be finished by early June- it's not even warm yet in Maine, the trail's end, in June.  

I have often thought about doing a long thru hike, something like the AT, the PCT, or after a friend hiked it later, the Camino de Santiago de Compostela from France to Spain.  But, I think I may have crossed the AT off my list.

'Suum Cuique'

Spring Break Recap - Post 1 of 4

After passing on Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods," to Brian earlier last fall, he got excited about doing something for Spring Break on the Appalachian Trail.  But, break came up so suddenly this year that trip planning didn't get done too far in advance.  The week before I finally called the ranger station in Smoky Mountain National Park and got us reservations for a backcountry permit, and found what I thought would be a nice little route in the northeast corner of the park.  


We drove down Monday to Tennessee and had a chance to walk around Gatlinburg, a family-oriented, tourist trap with at least three 'old-time photography' studios per block.  Brian made this observation and although neither of us could explain from where the phenomenon stems, I did reveal that I, myself, was subjected as a participant in one of these studios in 1988 along with my older sister and two cousins. (Please see figure one below.  I'm on your far left.) Figure 1.

Figure 1.

We managed to contain our enthusiasm and opted not to go home with our own old time photo, but instead had a decent meal and headed to bed at the Elkmont campground in the National Park.  So let me preface the next part of our trip by saying that I did in fact read and acknowledge the March 8th warning of a current 40+ inches of snow at higher elevations, and I assumed that since the helpful ranger pointed out a route for us, I was not expecting it to be too affected by snow.

  


Oops! You can probably sense my exasperation in the above picture.  We were energetic and excited on Tuesday morning when we put the final things in our packs and headed up to the Chestnut Branch trailhead.   We didn't hit snow until we were about half way up Mount Cammerer, and all of the sudden, there was a lot.  The excitement somewhat dissipated along the way with my boots sinking 15 to 20 inches down while trying to navigate several down trees since we were so early on the trail, it hadn't been cleared.  It was a long day but we finally made it up 4500 feet in 8.2 miles to the Cosby Knob shelter.  This hike gave us a chance to hike over 6 miles on the AT which we thought was kind of neat to say we had done. At Cosby Knob shelter we met 10 AT thru hikers, which I'll come back to later, spent a chilly night with den mice, and woke up the following morning excited about going to lower elevation. 

Google Announces Google Biking Directions

 Of all the newest Google ideas, this might be my favorite! 

Washington, D.C. - March 10, 2010 - The League of American Bicyclists is proud to be the forum for Google to announce what all bike riders have been waiting for - Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps. Google is announcing at the Opening Plenary Session at the National Bike Summit that they are adding biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps."This new tool will open people's eyes to the possibility and practicality of hopping on a bike and riding," said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. "We know people want to ride more, and we know it's good for people and communities when they do ride more - this makes it possible. It is a game-changer, especially for those short trips that are the most polluting,"

  Finish reading more here: Bikeleague.org Blog » Blog Archive » National Bike Summit 2010 – Google Announces Bike Google Maps at Summit Today!

To check out the new feature for yourself, visit here:
http://maps.google.com/biking <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103167038569&s=1060&e=001pYbKTip6NGUMp5vvnnFtNxTAw4z-60rI9dIaf05UbwpcjZdHOG46E4Da7Vg2vZLP8eW7FGF4kaZ3ZWqxvmMibcv53lqHnVKvaCzRrp5QI4o-5iDoYvW4pw==

Someone needs to buy Rick Barnes a new tie

Preferably a green and gold one.  According to my college roommate, he apparently doesn't wear a tie to Waco because he doesn't respect the Baylor Bears or Scott Drew.  After last night's game in which the Horns were destroyed (as my brother-in-law said) and Quincy Acy put down 10 dunks, Barnes should get a new tie before the next game, this Thursday at 9:30 pm (EST).  The Big 12 tournament starts this week - Sic Em Bears!

As the snow melts

The sun is shining so brightly today, and I know I'm not alone in hoping that the last piles of snow will be melted out of existence never to return for another 7-8 months - fingers crossed.  Brian and I finished a wintery puzzle this weekend in honor of what is hopefully the end of the cold, snowy season. Thanks for the great puzzle, Ila!

I gave up a lot of hours over the past 2 weeks, hence my online absence. But if you weren't aware, the Olympics has been on.    It's been a rough go staying up until midnight every night to see Olympic stars like snowboarders Hannah Teter and  Kelly Clark and Sean White win medals in the halfpipe, Lindsey Vonn overcome injury to finally win a gold, and it's been stressful every time Apollo Ohno steps on the rink for big race- even in the heats, my heart rate increases by 30 beats a minute! (Can you tell I might be obsessed?) 

The Olympics give people and countries a chance to come together and celebrate so many beautiful forms of athleticism and competition. Some athletes are there representing a country that's never before been represented like "The Snow Leopard," the first Ghanian to ever represent his county at the Winter Olympics.  Others, though, are seeking only one thing, the gold medal, which is often times, the one thing that continues to elude them after a successful career in a sport.  I'm still a little bitter that Michelle Kwan, winner of 5 World Figure Skating Titles, somehow, never achieved Olympic Gold.  

Even besides the competition, every Olympian has a story.  Dan Jansen is a US speed skater that lost his sister the day before he skated at the Olympics in 1988.  This year he was able to reach out to Canadian skater Joannie Rochette when her mother passed away the day she skated her short program.  She also went on to win a bronze medal last Thursday night.  The men's nordic skiing team made US history by earning medals in the sport for the first time ever.

My only criticism is the money involved with the production of the Games.  Canada spent $40 million on the opening ceremony alone, and then when it was time to really cap it all of with the torch lighting, they had a mechanical error.  Apparently, Greece is now several decades into debt to the EU because they still owe so much money for Athens.  Perhaps in the future, they could award the Olympics to a city with the most sustainable plan, both economically and environmentally.

But for now, as I watch the gold medal USA v. Canada hockey game, which is tied by the way and just got even more exciting,  and prepare for the tonight's Closing Ceremonies, I will mourn for a few minutes that I can't watch any Olympic event again until London 2012, but also be relieved that I can get back to a normal routine.  

Economic news

I'm sure it was the first time I've heard to a lecture given by a Nobel Prize winner.  Earlier this afternoon,  Elinor Ostrom, the first female winner of the Nobel Prize for economic sciences presented her lecture to the Indiana University campus.  Her lecture, entitled, "Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems," was given in layman's terms, unlike the official lecture she gave in Stockholm when she was awarded the 2009 Prize.

Ostrom and her husband, Vincent, have had significant impact together on the economic field and on the IU campus, and for that, they were awarded the University Medal together by the President.  The Medal has only been awarded 10 times in University history, so it was pretty neat to see the historic event. Read more about it here.

Las Cataratas

Meaning waterfalls in Spanish, and this is the pretty frozen one in front of Oliver.  Beeea-utiful!

In other news, my dear friend Sarah and I may or may not have stumbled on to the homepage of the Chicago Marathon and made another commitment to a marathon within 2 years.  Are we crazy?  We'll tell you in the 247 days, 6 hours, and 47 minutes when we're at the start line.  I'm also recruiting any and all runners (casual, amateur, pro) to run it with me, so beware! If you see me any time soon, I will be mentioning this and asking you to also participate.

LGG Winter Farmers' Market in full-swing!

Saturday morning gave Brian and I the opportunity to visit the Winter Farmers' Market hosted by the Local Growers Guild, and pick up some yummy stuff.  Included on our shopping list this week was Brown County coffee beans but we found a few extras. We discovered Brown County coffee early last fall, and we love their beans.  We are starting to become more chummy with owner, Nick Schultz, and this week he gave us a free sample of the Ethiopia which was really tasty, but we're also really happy with our Papua New Guinea.  I bought some honey produced by a local bee farm from Martinsville, and we also picked up some farm-fresh eggs and made our favorite breakfast on Sunday using the eggs.  We dice a couple potatoes, chop up peppers, onions, and garlic, and throw it all in a skillet with olive oil and add plenty of spices.  Then, throw pre-cooked sausage in to re-heat.  After the potatoes are cooked through (we like them crunchier),  cook eggs over-easy on top the potatoes and sausage.  Finish off with some cheese.

Chop Chop!

When I was in undergrad at BU, a friend of mine grew out her hair and donated it to Locks for Love. Locks for Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who suffer from long-term medical hair loss.  I always thought this was a unique and easy way to give a little something to someone in need.  I started growing it out around summertime 2008, and then last spring I finally had enough to chop off.  You have to be able to give at least 9 inches, and I think in the end I donated about 11.  I wouldn't say this was something necessarily on my 'thirty' list, but if I get 29 accomplishments complete, and I need one more thing, I might count it.

Before I donated:

After:

*- This is definitely the shortest my hair has been since 1995 when I was in junior high.

My official letter from Locks for Love!

Puzzling Thoughts

In an effort to do something interactive and watch the least amount of tv possible, Brian and I have integrated one my favorite pastimes into our leisure- jigsaw puzzles! Jigsaws have been a longtime staple of my family's holiday get-togethers.  But there's tons of great puzzles out there that aren't holiday-themed at all, so we thought it would be fun to have an ongoing puzzle from now on.  We just finished the first- it took less than a week! Our garage sale find was only missing five pieces and is entitled "Here's to Happy Hours!" It was just a 500-piece so I think we'll go for at least 1000 on our next one.

When life gives you lemons...

Make lemon cupcakes!

They're a little more springtime-ish but when it's chilly and wet in January, who can resist these lemon cuties?  The recipe calls for safflower oil which can run pretty high in price, so a cheaper sub is canola.  Both oils help keep the amount of saturated fat down and the monounsaturated fat up.  I won't go into the science of fat, but monounsaturated is the stuff you want.

When I first looked at the recipe, I didn't like the sound of the powdered sugar-based icing.  We've always used that as Christmas cookie icing, so I didn't think I'd like it on a cake.  I was definitely proved wrong!  It makes a really easy glaze that dries smooth and it's prettily accented by the orange zest.

Zesting proved the most challenging for me since I do not have a good peeler or grater.  I just carefully shaved the orange and lemon with a good knife and then finely chopped the pieces which wasn't too hard. Also, I got plenty of juice out of just one lemon and one orange.

Since they're citrus cupcakes, I justified pairing one with my coffee this morning, and it was delicious, Enjoy!

*Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.


Cupcakes                                                    
1 2/3 c flour
1 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c safflower oil
2 eggs
1/3 c skim milk
1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Combine the oil, eggs, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla extract in a separate smaller bowl.  Add to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups and bake for 17-19 minutes or until light golden.  Cool for five minutes before transferring cupcakes out of the pan to cool completely.

Icing
1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
2 Tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp freshly grated orange zest

Combine confectioner's sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a bowl and stir until smooth.  Spread over each cupcake with a small spatula.

To the Max!

Happy 2010! It's been almost a month now since the holidays, but in order to move on into the future, I need a short recap of 2009's end. I spent the holiday season in Texas with my family which included all of my favorite things- waking up to delicious pots of coffee already brewing, collaborative crossword completion each morning, working on the annual holiday jigsaw, various other board and card games, lots of food, AND the newest addition to Christmas fun...my nephew Max!

I'm a first time aunt, and I am not bashful about how cute I think Max is, i.e. Exhibit A.

Exhibit A.

And I couldn't find a good one of us together, but here, Santa's Helper, is helping himself to my delicious Christmas morning breakfast roll.  If you'd like to hear/see more about the Incredible Max, you can visit his blog by clicking 'A New Chapter' in my blogroll to the right.  He is a much better blogger than I am.

Exhibit B.

When I first found out my sister was preggers, I had recently started learning to knit from a coworker, and decided that I would make a baby blanket to award Max when he was born.  I started in the fall of 2008, but when little Max came into our lives in January, his blanket was not near completion.  I could use the fact that he was a month early as an excuse, but really, a month, schmonth.  Let's be honest, I still wouldn't have had it done.

Nevertheless, Max did eventually receive his blanket just a couple weeks ago for his first birthday! (That's right, Fall 2008-Winter 2010.  Now that my mom's seen my handiwork, she has requested a winter scarf, which means I should probably start on it now so that she can have it by Mother's Day 2011.)  The blanket is a pinwheel design that I nabbed off Ravelry, and I used Knitpicks ShineSport yarn in colors Leapfrog and River.  The ShineSport is great for kids, soft and machine-washable.

A detail view of the pinwheel design from the middle going out.

You can see I had some problems with it curling up on the edges, which may or may not be from me knitting too tightly. Pro knitters could tell you the actual root of the issue.  I used an iron on low to help smooth and stretch it, and it seemed to do the trick.  I think washing it can help as well.