Tales From The Dark of Winter: Short Stories
- Location:Wandering the paths of my inagination...
- Jammin' to:Corvus Corax - Suam Elle Ires
The Long Yuletide War: A short-story cycle
I'm ready to move on to the marching in the streets part.
Fuck this bullshit, murderous war. Troops home, now.
Fuck this bullshit, murderous war. Troops home, now.
she's just trying to find someone she can trust to take care of her baby. I'm outraged by this
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- Location:Oaktownbootyville, CA
- Jammin' to:Edwin Starr - War
The first one was a whole lot of fun (that's Lexica and me in the middle of the photo, sitting down behind the bike in the foreground). if you're in the area, you should definitely check this out.
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- Location:Oaktownbootyville, CA
- Jammin' to:"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike!"
11K+ words.
Call of the Forgotten Hunt. Soon...
- Location:Wandering the paths of my imagination...
- Jammin' to:George Thorogood - Gear Jammer
Krampusnacht is December 5th...
Srsly, Krampus-cards are an authentic tradition in alpine Yurp. And this is a fucking badass image. And it supports an artist. What's not to love?
The Long Yuletide War, Part 5: "Call of the Forgotten Hunt" is this close -><- to done. I can hear the engine revving...
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Unto Ashes - Krampuslied
I got some of this stuff at Vik's in Berzerkeley because, well... monkeys.
I tell you what, though: my teeth haven't felt this clean in ages.
I tell you what, though: my teeth haven't felt this clean in ages.
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Previously in O,DIKTO?:
-Three words: "Monkey-Poo Dodgeball"
-FUCK NOT WITH THE MONKEYS!
-I'll take mine neat, squeeze of lime
-Birfday Monkey!
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:NOW On PBS - Water World | Powered by Last.fm
-Was supposed to be a long run day, but Lexi's ankle was/is feeling a little tender. not an injury, but Team LexiMonkey decided to take it easy and not do the run. We were scheduled for 9 miles, but we ended up doing somewhere close to 20 on the bikes instead.
The Team plan is to do something like an ~8 miler this coming Sunday (scheduled for 10.5) then in the coming weeks we can tack on an extra mile, mile-&-a-half & play catch up with the schedule to hit our 26 miler 4 weeks out from the marathon proper.
In general we're feeling good endurance wise and the Galloway walk/run program is designed to avoid injury. So we're avoiding it.
MON: 11/02
-Visit to the SF Egoscue Clinic for a session and new personal menu to add to the book. Had a nice chat with David the Clinic Director and Johnny one of the therapists about our progress, training for the marathon, stuff in general.
It's been a while since either of us got a new menu. I mentioned my left knee & ankle as being sensitive, but not in pair, or even feeling weak. But those are still the old issues. And the left shoulder is still a little out of alignment. But the difference in my posture photos from months ago is astounding.
I keep thinking about tensegrity:Tensegrity is a portmanteau of tensional integrity. It refers to structures with an integrity based on a synergy between balanced tension and compression components.The human body is a tensegrity machine; the internal structure of the bones are what the musculature etc push and pull against to cause motion.
And one of the central characteristics of a tensegrity structure is that if one adjust one part, the entire structure adjusts in response. Pull on one of the bars on the structure to the right, and the tension and position of parts all the way on the other side of the structure are affected. It's one long chain of energy transfer.
The human body is a tensegrity-based organism. Our general shape is determined by evolution, but like the sculpture, our "posture" can be shaped and adjusted by tensioning or loosening the connecting bungees (or in our case, musculo-fascial tissue).
This is why in The Egoscue Method, if you have pain in one area, you're often given work to do on another area altogether. Because working on the other area, strengthening it, will pull your whole structure more into proper alignment, and the pain that is caused by moving when you're not properly aligned goes away.
TUE 11/3
-New Egoscue menu. Ooh... that's the stuff I needed to work in that shoulder, fo sho!
-10 x snatch/get-ups w/ floor-press, 20kg alt-RL
Looking forward to tomorrow's run.
POWER TO YOU
Pirate's workout diary
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
It must be going on something like seven years running, but once again I went as Bill Hicks. Simplest costume ever. Although disappointingly more obscue every year. If you haven't already watched It's Just a Ride, do yourself a favor and meet Bill.
When Hugo saw my points, he broke out his bunny ears. Nice. Plus, Hugo and I both demonstrated that a steel cocktail shaker and a bottle-opener make an excellent substitute-cowbell. Luckily, the bar was hella slow during Honkey-Tonk Women. ;-)The view from the bar is a great one for costume viewing. There were a couple of Davey Joneses (though none with a tambourine), lots of pirates, and a really cool overall variety to the crowd.
One of my favorites was the couple I dubbed "The Whitechapel Duo". Love classic references.
Best costume of the night? Hands down favorite was The Zombie.
And lastly, big shout-out to The Cocktail Monkeys for putting on a great rock show and keeping the dancefloor jumpin'.Cheers!
Previously in O,DIKTO?
-B-o-F: Working the Museum Circuit
-Goatboy's Halloween '08
- Location:Oaktownbootyville, CA
- Jammin' to:"I had to put up some kind of a fight..."
Previously in O,DIKTO?:
-Mah woman is so damn HAWT! BOO-YAA, baby!
-Please for to my sweeteh's wisdom noticing be....
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Luke Bloom - Acoustic Motorbike
First 10 minutes of the new documentary on H.P. Lovecraft. Including interviews with Neil Gaiman, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Guillermo Del Toro (among others).
It says available for a limited time. Fyi.
Previously in O,DIKTO?
-Must! Get! This! DVD!
-The Memento School of literature appreciation (Caitlín R. Kiernan)
-Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu Lego R'lyeh wgah'ngal fhtagn!* [EDITED]
-The H.P Lovecraft Musical
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:A suspicious quiet...
via
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
oletherosLordi, Blood Red Sandman
And once again, I will be going as Bill Hicks (Goat-boy is here to please you...) to pour @ the USS Hornet Halloween Party. My "points" via Pan's Devil Horns. Quality stuff.- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:"Once again there is pain, I bring flames, I bring cold!"
I'm not advocating indiscriminate U-lock justice. I'm not in the least bit advocating instigating violence.But we're the ones getting honked at from behind while in the bike lane.
We're the ones getting run off the roads and killed.We're the ones who get blamed when some fucking oblivious cagers kills a cyclist with a right-hook, then gets no charges filed against them.
We're the ones under attack out there on the roads.
You. Cager.
The one in the personal automobile.
Your choice sucks. And you're killing the planet. And we're fighting wars in order to keep your car running.
The one that's killing you slowly, and killing us rather quickly and messily.
Rearrange your lifestyle. Make better choices. But if you insist on keeping your fucking cage, SHARE THE FUCKING ROAD GRACIOUSLY, PAY ATTENTION, AND STOP RUNNING US DOWN!
Personally, I'd like to see the laws written like they are in Holland:
in the Netherlands, a driver is presumed to be negligent in any collision involving a cyclist, unless the driver can introduce evidence rebutting that presumption.Start fucking being less oblivious, cagers.
You hit another cager from behind, you're presumed to be at fault. Why shouldn't cagers be presumed to be at fault when they hit a pedestrian or cyclist? I see no reason that people should be legally allowed to be oblivious when piloting a 4,000 weapon around in public.
Yes, I'm demanding higher standards just for the privilege driving around, BURNING GASOLINE, getting weaker and unhealthier, poisoning the air. Suck it up and deal.
Start seeing bicyclists. Stop fucking honking at us when we're taking up the full lane as is our right as a vehicle.
Because an American soldier (and who knows how many impoverished, brown-skinned locals) just died to keep your fucking cage ferrying your lazy ass around AT HIGH SPEEDS. You fuckers are in such a fucking hurry, you're so fucking impatient, and having to slow down behind a bicycle sends you into paroxysms of confusion and rage.
TOO FUCKING BAD! WE'RE NOT AT WAR TO POWER MY BIKE, CAGERS! YOUR OBSESSION WITH NOT BEING IMPEDED IN YOUR FORWARD MOMENTUM, EVEN FOR A MOMENT, BORDERS ON THE OBSCENE! EVERY OUNCE OF PRESSURE YOU PUT ON THE GAS-PEDAL = A CUPFUL OF SOMEBODY'S LIFEBLOOD HALF A WORLD AWAY!
AND I'M THE FUCKING BAD GUY FOR SLOWING YOU DOWN?
We're fucking sick and tired of taking shit from you and your gas-burning, poison-spewing, muscular-atrophy-inducing cage. We're fucking sick of your aggression and your horns and your "GET OFF THE ROAD!"
FUCK YOU! STOP KILLING US!
I'm not advocating instigating violence. But if you try to crowd me off the road, well... I do make it a habit of locking up my bike with a U-lock that's QUITE HEAVY at one end. And physics goes both ways, suckers.
</ANGRY_RANT>
Previously in O,DIKTO?:
-This is how I roll
-Team Wonderbike: have you taken the pledge?
-I, Cracker
-Laughing from the sidelines
-Done. Over. Last link to the dinosaur-burner is CUT!
-If I can't bike with a broken collarbone... [MAJOR anti-personal-automobiles rant]
-I don't want to hear about running privately owned cars on alternative fuels
-# Automobile = Pollution, Terrorism, & Jellybutt
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- I'm all:
pissed off - Jammin' to:Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It!
This is why Rep. Kaptur was telling people facing eviction to squat in their own homes, refuse to be evicted, and make the bank demonstrate in court that the debt is legitimate.
Possession is 9/10 of the law. And the Wall Street motherfuckers made these things so complex that no one can unwind them.
I predict that this is the first tremble of a massive shock-wave about to move through our economy. Imagine how many evictions and foreclosures are going on.
How many of those do you suppose no one actually knows who owns the note? What if millions of failed real-estate transactions have no way of being understood and have to be voided by the courts??
Possession is 9/10 of the law. And the Wall Street motherfuckers made these things so complex that no one can unwind them.
I predict that this is the first tremble of a massive shock-wave about to move through our economy. Imagine how many evictions and foreclosures are going on.
How many of those do you suppose no one actually knows who owns the note? What if millions of failed real-estate transactions have no way of being understood and have to be voided by the courts??
This little problem led to a curious scene in White Plains, N.Y., federal court earlier this month when Judge Robert D. Drain eliminated more than $460,000 in mortgage debt on a delinquent borrower's property after PHH Mortgage failed to prove its claim to the property, as reported by The New York Times. In essence, the judge's ruling made the mortgage disappear. So how was it that the mortgage company was unable to prove its claim? It goes back to those pesky mortgage-backed securities. Their structures are so complex that it's unclear what's in them notes that left a trail, proving who owned what, weren't maintained
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Those complex financial instruments known as mortgage-backed securities, which famously caused so much damage in the banking sector and the nation's economy when the housing bubble burst, are causing another problem for some mortgage lenders: the inability to prove that they have a legitimate claim to homes entering foreclosure. - Location:Oaktownbootyville, CA
- Jammin' to:Belly - Untitled and Unsung
oletheros
Previously in O,DIKTO?:
-Calling Robin Williams...
-Shiny!
-More t-shirt disreputability
-MUST HAVE!
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Oingo Boingo - Wild Sex in the Working Class
That is all.
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Raymond and Joe - Disinformation: The Podcast - Life Inc. with Douglas Rushkoff | Powered by Last.fm
-Egoscue personal menu. Oh yeah, e-cise before a long run, fo sho!
-Long run, ~7.5 MILES! 30/30 walk/run. Holy freakin cow, Team LexiMonkey ran up to Berzerkeley and back to Tha' Town, finishing up at Bake Sale Betty's. OH yeah, we earned those fried chicken sammiches. And to that Yelper who said that they could get just as good a sammich down the block at E. Coli in the Box...
I've lived here in NorCal for over 12 years. And you're smokin' better stuff than I've ever HEARD of anyone getting a hold of.
Wow, over 7 miles. And we could have gone on, if we'd had more hydration and nibbles to keep us going. For nibbles, I had a little squeeze tube of honey & organic peanut butter. Gotta go with the smoother PB, and a more liquid honey. But oh yeah, that's the stuff.
As far as hydration, we're totally sold on the benefits of coconut water. It's a little pricey, but think of how much people spend on stuff like Gatorade. And as 7.5 miles is officially longer than I've ever run at any pace, I have nothing to compare it too. But Team LexiMonkey definitely felt refreshed and pleased.
Fuck that synthetic corporate sugar-water in weird colors, give this monkey some coconut water. That's real food.
After our long run & lunch, bike shopping. And about another 6 miles home on wheels. WHEE! Srsly, I felt like a million bucks at the end of our run. I felt like a million bucks all day long. This wasn't the traditional "runners high", an endorphin rush to block out the pain.
No, this was the sheer physical joy of exertion. The elation of moving under one's own power. Our brains are wired to enjoy movement and exertion. Our brain functions better, rewires itself, and heals itself through motion. It's the sedentary, car-ferried lifestyle that is unnatural, that makes us weak and soft and unhealthy.
A million bucks, baby.
Mon 10/19/09:
Yesterday was the long run, so today was a take-it-easy day. No running, nothing to put undue strain on the legs like stair-work.
-Egoscue menu
-Full Callanetics program. Lexi commented at how strange it was that this video that we used to groan and moan and struggle to get through is now what we do on our easy days
Today my left foot felt a little tender, but I soaked my tootsies in some borax foot soap and epsom salt, and they felt much better. Fuck this "run until I injure myself" shit. Long before TLM started running, the Go Run Easy campaign had posters all over the Bay Area. And I thought "Ya know, if I was a runner, that would make a whole lot of sense to me."
Little did I know...
POWER TO YOU!
Pirate's workout diary
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Kenna - Sunday After You
greygirlbeast, "LJ: Long-winded or die!"And now
xtingu (Metal bra! Metal bra! Best bra ever!) has hipped a simian to a snippet of code (& directions on how to insert it) that automatically prevents LoudTwitter content from showing up in his F-list.I still love y'all. I'm still interested in what you have to say. I just hate Twitter's entire paradigm and the interface that flows from it.
Previously in O,DIKTO?
-Quitting Facebook
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Earlly-morning sirens in the rain
This is my new Felt X:City 2. And it FUCKING ROCKS!Team LexiMonkey, after the longest run either member has ever done (more on that later) went by Tip Top Bike Shop. We'd been in before, when we were shopping for bike shops. And some in the area didn't... really click with us. The last time we came through, the folks @ TTBS took the time to show us what they had, and were in general really helpful and pleasant. So when it was time to drop a chunk-o-tax-refund on wheels, we knew where to go.
Charlotte (one of the owners) helped us take a several bikes out for test rides. I went in thinking I wanted one style (a Jamis Commuter 3), but that particular one wasn't in stock in my size. So I tried something similar. Which was OK. "What else would you recommend for a guy my size?" And while I am 6'1", most of my height is in my torso. I've got comparatively short legs for a guy my heights.And Charlotte introduced me to the X:City 2.
Light, OH, so lightweight compared to the old bikes. Those old beasts feel like they're made out of cast-iron. Plus, I did crash mine. We bought them over 10 years ago, with no more thought than "If we get these at REI, we get a member rebate". Today, Team LexiMonkey invested in some bikes that are gonna suit our needs much more personally.
I love the 8-speed internal-gear hub. I don't need 24 gears, I'm not going to use most of them. Eight good ones, that's what the monkey wants. And this bike is so freakin' light, I don't even come close to noticing any weight. Then there's the fact that clumsy-monkey used to smack his derailleurs out of alignment all the time. Nice to have that bit gone. And it shifts like a dream.
The matte green/black coloring made me think think of ever-camoflage-clad Udo Dirkschneider, vocalist of the German metal band Accept, one of the staples of my 80s youth, whence I left that sizable chunk of my hearing. The price on my bike? $666. Srsly. How fucking metal is that?
I think my bike's name is Udo.
"Ever bike? Now that's something that makes life worth living! I take exercise every afternoon that way. Oh, to just grip your handlebars and lay down to it, and go ripping and tearing through streets and road, over railroad tracks and bridges, threading crowds, avoiding collisions, at twenty miles or more an hour, and wondering all the time when you're going to smash up.
Well now, that's something! And then go home again after three hours of it, into the tub, rub down well, then into a soft shirt and down to the dinner table, with the evening paper and a glass of wine in prospect - and then to think that tomorrow I can do it all over again!"
-Oakland native son Jack London
Previously in O,DIKTO?:
-Team Wonderbike: Have you taken the pledge?
-Bicycles have long been associated with womens- and workers-liberation movements.
-Need an alternative to the family car?
-Pirate's anti-car, pro-bike rant
- Location:Team LexiMonkey HQ
- Jammin' to:Accept - Midnight Mover
