Statrix Redux

Here’s what I wrote at prompt one. It has not been edited or spell checked. That’s what editors are for, yes?

Lisa Pella was driving an ancient Ford LTD up Hwy 2 from Kalispell towards Libby. The car wasn’t in the best of shape and a slight squeal could be heard from somewhere under the hood. In the back seat her cousin Ted, the car’s owner, dozed, awoke, coughed, snored, and groaned. Ted wasn’t helping her keep her head straight and she so wanted to do that.
 
Lisa hadn’t driven this road since she was teen and her family had vacationed on Middle Thompson Lake at a place her uncle, Warner, built “for the summer,” but stayed in year round till his death by misadventure a few weeks ago. That’s what the police report said: misadventure.
 
Warner had died on this road, though Lisa wasn’t quite sure where, mile marker something or other. The funeral had been held Great Falls, not here in the mountains and no one in the family had come west. A funeral home in Kalispell had handled the arrangements.
 
She thought it had happened somewhere past Happy’s Inn, the post office, gas station, general store, laundromat, and one of two taverns. Funny, she didn’t remember her uncle drinking much during those summers so she didn’t suppose he was drunk, or even tipsy when he’d died. But still, he had gone off the road.
 
Misadventure. The report the state troopers had filed didn’t say accidental in the box marked cause of death. It listed misadventure. She’d had to look that up. It meant that his death hadn’t been caused by a criminal act. There was no blame assigned. But yet, it wasn’t an accident. Why was that?
 
“We there yet Lisa?” Ted said from the back seat.
 
“No,” she said, “another ten, maybe fifteen miles.”
 
The squeal from under the hood rose in pitch, becoming a little more frantic.
 
Great. This would be a wonderful place to breakdown Lisa thought. Miles from nowhere. There were people around, back in the woods every few miles she supposed but her memory of this road was a little hazy but she didn’t recall a big population, mostly she’d been in the car with her parents. Mostly she’d been angry in that car as a teen. But, she thought, what teen isn’t angry?
 
She’d been elected, appointed really, to come to the lake to go through her uncle’s belongings. No, not appointed. She’d volunteered.
 

Okay, so it was one of those afternoons when you are running late, getting frustrated, things aren’t working and…it was getting really close to the time for the writing workshop I’d signed up for and my computer was not cooperating. Isn’t that always the way?
But with just a couple of minutes to spare it seemed things settled down and I was left with existential terror about writing, meeting new people, and…yeah, you know…that stuff.
I signed in on Cary’s Webex site and no one was around yet, though Cary showed up in just a couple of seconds. He’s a very nice guy or at least he plays one on the web. I’ve seen pictures of him with dogs and they seem to like like him and I trust dogs.
And then the ‘room’ was filling up. Cary asked us all where we were from, but didn’t, and I think this is important, ask us much more. We didn’t have to explain why we were there, what our hopes were, what we thought this was about, or what we expected.
I think that’s a good thing. It would have eaten up too much time for one thing, and for another, it turns out this was really about the writing,not about the author. We didn’t have to expose ourselves so we could feel a little more comfortable. For a first timer like me, that’s good. I’d have hated to learn that everyone else, and there were only about six or seven us total besides Cary, was a published writer with years of experience. Not that I’d begrudge them a career, just that I’d have felt even more out of place.
Let me say this, Cary really had a way of making folks feel comfortable.
He opened with a some statements about the Amherst Writers & Artists method. He also stated that because they only certify in-person, live meetings he wasn’t calling this an AWA workshop, but he was going to use the same method (and he does do these in the flesh as it were as well). Cary then gave us the five essential affirmations of the AWA:

1. Everyone has a strong, unique voice.
2. Everyone is born with creative genius.
3. Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.
4. The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice or artistic self-esteem
5. A writer is someone who writes.

Next came the basic workshop rules, as follow from the AWA site:

• Everything in the writing workshop is treated as fiction, to keep the focus on the writing rather than the personal and to minimize the vulnerability of the writer.
• The teacher or leader writes with the participants, and reads aloud along with the other writers.

These practices, along with keeping all writing confidential, responding to just-written work with positive attention on what is strong in the writing, create an environment that is non-hierarchical, honest, and safe. Accomplished and beginning writers learn from one another in a generous atmosphere that works seriously to develop craft and holds personal respect for the value of every voice.

Okay, I guess we were ready.
The process is pretty simple. We are given something to write about, we write for a few minutes, then we were given a chance to read our writing and folks responded in a positive manner.
I really can’t stress that enough. It must be positive and about the writing itself. I have to admit I was very nervous about my writing and sharing. You might think that’s odd given I’m writing a blog, have been an actor, speak in public on a regular basis, but it’s not. All of those things took time to learn and become comfortable with, this is another I suppose.
It would not be appropriate to share who the other participants were, what they wrote, or what they shared about each other’s writings, but I will say that two hours passed by much too quickly and I’m glad to have met them all and heard their voice.
I’ve said enough for the moment. I’ll be putting up two more posts following this, each with what I wrote. Remember, positive comments only. 🙂
Aloha!

I have often, though not always and certainly strongly not enough, felt that I should write more. This blog was, in part, motivated by that idea. As you can tell by the dates on my recent posts…not so much, eh?
Well that’s about to change. I’m going to take over the writing world, exert my dominance over all things fictional, historical, romantical, and…well…perhaps scribble something down.
What, you may ask, am I babbling about?
I’ve signed up for a two hour online writing workshops being given by someone I’ve read and with whom I’ve corresponded (exactly once…via email).
Cary Tennis, a Bay Area based writer, has been hosting workshops, both online and in-person, using…um…it’s better if he says it:

At Cary Tennis Writing Workshops, we specialize in liberating the creative potential of people from all walks of life. We use the Amherst Writers and Artists method, pioneered by poet and memoirist Pat Schneider, to help writers not just speak but sing, to say the hard but true things, to say the funny things in a strange way and the strange things in a funny way, to track the trail of elusive truths through storms and droughts and periods of dead, still air without despair or compromise.

Keep in mind that I’m more or less a fan of despair and have made unwilling compromise an art so I may be out of luck, but I’m going to give it a try.
When did I decide all this? This morning actually. I find that life changing decisions are best made on the spur of the moment, without contemplation or consultation. That explains exactly how I got where I am today…and you know, overall that’s not too bad.
Seriously though, I’ve been on his mailing list for a couple years now; since he left off writing, “Since You Asked,” Salon’s advice column. Actually he hasn’t left off writing the column, he’s left off writing it at Salon. You can still catch it on his website, carytennis.com.
As it is something I’ve though about and he has now peaked my interest by offering a free two hour online experience I thought I’d give it a go. Free. I like that word.
This morning I noticed an email from his listserv today that suggested the first fifteen people who signed up would be able to take part in a two hour online workshop next week Thursday. The time fit my schedule and…I was one of the first fifteen! Score!
But enough already…it would be far better if I reported on what happened than on what I imagine will happen. That’s especially true (are there degrees of truth for things that are true: 150% true?), as I imagine that about 35 minutes into the workshop my connection will mysteriously drop. Later I’ll get a note from Cary suggesting that he’s sorry my connection dropped and that he’s had such huge run on his business that all future workshops are completely filled, in perpetuity.
You think?
That’s it for the moment. I hope to be writing more in the future though.
Aloha!
 

I just watched the 2015 RAGBRAI Route Announcement. I won’t be going this year (again), but it’s always nice to know where the ride will be.
The start town is an ‘oldie but goodie,’ Sioux City. Here’s the description from the RAGBRAI blog entry on the announcement:

SIOUX CITY: This is where it all began in 1973 with Des Moines Register columnist Donald Kaul and Register writer and copy editor John Karras. Of this year’s overnight towns, it’s the one that has been most frequently visited by RAGBRAI over the years — July’s visit to the Missouri River city will be the second in six years.

I haven’t been there (yet). I really do wish I could go this year…but I’ve other plans which I will describe in another post hopefully sooner than later.
The ending town is one I’ve visited, Davenport.

DAVENPORT: RAGBRAI concluded here in 2011, as well. This is where the ceremonial dipping of the front tire in the Mississippi began in 1973. The city has earned its own reputation for impressive outdoor endurance events through the annual Bix 7 race, combined with the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival.

The whole ride is going to be a nice distance, 462 miles with about 16,000 feet of climbing along the way.
RAGBRAI, I wish you the best in 2015!
As for me, no, I won’t be there – maybe next year and for sure I’ll be back sometime. But I’m going to be on another ride this year. It’s going to be a bit shorter, quite a bit, but still it’ll take place over seven days and it should be a lot of fun. As I said, more on that later.
Here’s a hint…

Aloha!
 

If you’ve followed this blog this year you know that I ride a bicycle a lot and that I had a hip replacement back in April, six months ago this coming week. I was lucky enough to be able to keep riding up until about a week before my surgery. I couldn’t walk without a lot of pain, but I could and did ride a bicycle. Finally, the week before surgery, I was no longer able to swing my leg up over the bike and that was it for a while.
I was allowed back on a stationary bike right away after surgery, but was asked not to ride a regular bike. The problem wasn’t the movement involved in pedaling as much as the worry that in an accident I could really damage the new hip. At six weeks I was cleared to ride, though I was told no long distances.
I’ve not ridden over twenty-five miles since my surgery. That’s not a long distance.
The other concession I made during this time is that I’ve ridden my Hunqapillar with it’s wide gear range. Before surgery I was having trouble with my Quickbeam as it’s a very tall 66cm bike and because it’s a single-speed. While I was able to spin pretty well with a bad hip, I couldn’t get started from a stop on that bike, just too hard on the hip.
Well this past week, given that it’s almost my six month anniversary, I decided to pull it out and wow! Really. Just WOW! I’m having a great time riding on it with no problems at all. It’s a really sweet bike, my first Rivendell (Hunq is #2), and rides like a dream.
This image shows more or less what it looks like today (having going through a few incarnations), though the saddle is no longer the Brooks Cambium. I’m back to a regular leather Brooks B-17.

I haven’t quite done more that 25 miles in a day, but I’m ready. Boy am I ready.
 
 
 

At the end of October it will have been six months since my hip replacement. Rather than cover all that time, which I’ve done, perhaps exhaustively, here on Statrix, I’ll just let you know where I stand (ouch) these days.
My hip is fine. Really. Oddly that’s what everyone asks and me, the wise guy, usually replies, “The hip is fine, it’s brand new. The rest of me is the problem.” And you know, that’s not too far from the truth. If only the rest of me were as spiffy and new as my hip. Wishful thinking.
So what’s the deal?
I can walk just fine now. In fact I proved it a few weeks ago when I walked about 85 miles during the week. I’m not doing that again, at least not unless I’m on vacation and hiking (something I haven’t really tried yet). But I am walking several miles a day at an increasing pace.
I’m losing weight because I’ve changed my diet and my exercise patterns. In the past, with the bad hip, I would bike, mostly in the afternoon and sit around the rest of the day because, frankly, it hurt too much to do anything else. Now that I have my freedom back, and I do mean that, I’m walking regularly, moving when i feel like it, and generally have stepped it up a notch or two. In fact I’ve headed back to our gym at work and am working on my upper body. I figure my legs are getting plenty right now. I don’t weigh myself regularly but I’m down about 25 lbs with plenty more to go.
Biking is more fun than ever. With a bit less weight to carry around I’m a lot lighter on my pedals. That doesn’t necessarily translate into speed, I still like a nice steady pace, but I’m more comfortable and hills are getting a lot easier. I can tell because I’m taking them in gears I couldn’t before.
My incision is completely healed and I could go swimming if I wanted. I just haven’t wanted to as yet. Though now that I’ve mention it, it does sound pretty good. I’ll have to look into that. Hmmm…
I’m just might impressed with my recovery. Of course I owe most of it to the great medical team including my PT guy, but I’ll cough up that I had at least something to do with it – I cooperated.
That’s it for now…time for a walk.
 
 

There is such a thing as too much walking, at least for me. I’ve been using the Garmin Vivofit for over a month now and have been learning a lot about my body, my energy, my ability and even, yes, my competitiveness.

During the last four weeks I participated in the Garmin Connect challenge for walking which paired me each week with eight other users. During the first two weeks I was in the 55K Challenge based on 55,000 or more steps, then the 90K Challenge, and finally, last week, the 100K Challenge. I came in first in all three. The last one was too much.

 

As you can see I managed to walk 180,000+ steps. At a stride of 2.5 feet that works out to about 85 miles. 85 miles!

Okay, so I’m not going to be walking around the island in short order, but still 85 miles is a chunk of change.

Here’s the problem…it just took too much time. I didn’t have any real problems with the walking itself, though I have to admit that after about 2 miles it does become a bit troublesome in my right knee, though not enough to keep me from continuing at the same pace.

No, the problem is that pretty much all my time between things was eaten up by walking. For instance on Monday I walked home after work, dropped my stuff and changed clothes, then had to leave almost immediately to walk to a volunteer gig. On my moped I could have hung out another hour and fifteen minutes, on my bike I’d have had at least an hour.

I like a little down time.

What about the positives? Well I got to see parts of the city I wouldn’t normally see, not even on my bicycle. I also felt pretty good about myself, after all, 85 miles in a week on a new hip shows I’ve recovered pretty well. Further, even though walking isn’t hugely calorie burning, it still does an excellent job and I could eat a bit more than otherwise.

And finally, the real downside was my reaction to competition. I didn’t realize how competitive I can be. Basically I tried to walk enough to win before the end of the week. I wanted the other folks to give up after a few days. It seemed, at least with the limited feedback available, that they did. Mostly I’d be just a few steps ahead till around Thursday or Friday and then the other participants would pull back, perhaps sense I was simply a bit obsessive. A bit?

In any case, after four weeks of wins I pulled out this week and decided I didn’t want to participate at that level any more. Instead of 25,000 steps a day I’m back down to about 14,000. That’s a reasonable investment in time. In addition I can bicycle again. Yeah!

On the whole it was a good experience, one I’ll probably repeat next year for a month, just to see what’s what, but something I can live without for now.

 

Aloha!

I came across this today while taking a break (and just before I took a walk). It’s from the New Yorker magazine and while I didn’t see extensive citations it does make sense. You can read the whole article on the New Yorker site.

The way we move our bodies further changes the nature of our thoughts, and vice versa. Psychologists who specialize in exercise music have quantified what many of us already know: listening to songs with high tempos motivates us to run faster, and the swifter we move, the quicker we prefer our music. Likewise, when drivers hear loud, fast music, they unconsciously step a bit harder on the gas pedal. Walking at our own pace creates an unadulterated feedback loop between the rhythm of our bodies and our mental state that we cannot experience as easily when we’re jogging at the gym, steering a car, biking, or during any other kind of locomotion. When we stroll, the pace of our feet naturally vacillates with our moods and the cadence of our inner speech; at the same time, we can actively change the pace of our thoughts by deliberately walking more briskly or by slowing down.

The article talks about the writers Joyce and Woolf and while I doubt I’ll be writing any major fiction anytime soon, I do feel pretty good about my neighborhood walks.

Aloha!

Yes I’ve been walking. This whole activity tracking business has gotten me motivated and now I’m both biking and walking and feeling the benefits. I’ve also been watching my diet and folks tell me I look a lot better. I know I feel better and more energetic.
At work I now get up every hour or two and go outside for a walk around a block or two. Our own block takes about seven minutes to circumnavigate so I’m not taking a big break; it’s just enough. All in all I’ve been making sure I add up to ten thousand or more steps a day. Actually the Garmin Vivofit is rather cunning that way…if you make your goal one day it adds a few steps to the next, and vice versa. I’m up to over eleven thousand a day so I’ve been hitting the mark.
As for my diet, I’ve been tracking calories which probably isn’t the best thing you can do (tracking nutrients might be better), but as I know I’m eating better with all the salads, less rice and carbs, and so on, it’s an okay way of learning how much food I can actually eat. I’m trying to stop before I’m full.
But here’s the deal, while I’ve had no problems with my new hip (yea!), my right knee, the problematic one, has been a bit less than cooperative. It doesn’t actually hurt after a couple of miles, but I do notice it getting a bit…tight. I’ll be seeing my surgeon and his team again, not because I think I’m ready for more surgery (no thanks), but because they are in a good position to assess things. Orthopedics is, after all, orthopedics.
In the meantime I’ll keep walking, eating right, and worry about other things.
Aloha!

Here’s a lovely little film about, well, abiogenesis. That’s quite a mouthful, just think of it is seeding the stars, planets really. Enjoy!

Abiogenesis (Short Film) from Richard Mans on Vimeo.