log cabin rd. ride

After battling a migraine that kept me from work, drinking some recovery Coffeetree, checking out some houses, and eating cart food, I road my bike 42 miles (mainly in the dark and in the rain, due to the obviously late start). If you have Oscar Swan's book, it's in there under Log Cabin Rd. Ride, though Soupie contests that perhaps we made a wrong turn, in that at some point the rode went at a 90 degree angle, and perhaps we were not supposed to do that on this ride. Oh well, after a good hearty ride, my head's starting to hurt again so I need more water and some sleep, and I can surely put my fork down on the day and say, "Satisfecho!"



In other news, I have been trying to get more upper body strength. More swimming back in my schedule, and more free weights with the arms. I have a hard time holding bikes over my head at work, which I have to do more often in a day than you'd think, and while some arm muscles I can do reps of 10 or 20 lbs., others I can only do reps of 3lbs. How embarassing! But I will be a fearless killer soon, and by fearless I mean able to mountain bike in the mud without hyperventilating, and by a killer I mean lean and svelt. Sure, I have two jobs, work on a farm, and have poetry to write, publish, and read at scheduled events (such at July 10th, if you're in the PGH area, at Most Wanted Fine Arts Gallery), but a little tough love on the bod will do me good.


A good added rule is to think, every time I go to eat something, "what is this doing for my body?" and sometimes the answer is, "something awful!" and I resist. Other times the answer is, "giving me a lot of sugar and fat, which I need right now," and I eat, but in somewhat more sensible amount. Most of the time, though, knowing the question is about to come up helps to pre-emtively choose more healthful foods, such as vegetables from the garden and a side of tempeh and pasta rather than pizza, or the pho tofu (soup) rather than the sesame tofu (deep fried).


I've also added aloe vera juice to my regimen, and drink it a few times daily with my water. It's fairly citrus-y in flavor, and I like it best with some Gatorade powder as well. The benefits of aloe vera juice are muscle recovery, organ/intestine strength, proper bowels, and is an over-all internal healer. While I do still get headaches (see above), my knees have been bothering me, and I am still fairly convinced that I broke my lower rib a while ago, I feel quite healthy in general and have been riding strong.

Ray

The other day, after the morning bikeride, Soupie, Major Tom, and I were in a rush to get to work but ran into one of many flocks of children on our block, along with their (grand)mother, Darlene. The kids don't usually live at the house, but nearby. A couple months ago, two of them were outside Ray's house (next door) visiting and met Major Tom and told me about their mother's dog and how their sister would love MJ. A few weeks later, the little girl met him, and now when we walk through it is all friendly hellos and no more being scared of the white people next door who dress funny or their hyper dog. So my family walked briskly with theirs, being friendly and making small talk. As we approached our car, Darlene stopped us and turned somber a moment.



"Hey, so I know we all don't talk all that much but you probably know I'm Ray's wife, Darlene. Well you know he's sick, and he's not doing so well and, well I know you all are friendly with him, and I'd like to invite you to his funeral when it comes. He's got this new medicine and he won't take it. If you hear us arguing it's nothing [laughs], just me trying to get him to take his medication and him being stubborn to the end."



Crushing. Ray's maybe not a "great guy" as is easily said in these situations, but he's certainly been a great neighbor and despite his problems and human flaws, is a good person who've I've really enjoyed getting to know and having the opportunity to share space with. I hope he lives a while longer, or else goes peacefully and painlessly in his sleep. I doubt either will happen, as he is still up and walking around, washing cars, flirting with all the women on the street. So it goes. Good luck in your journeys, neighbor.



The night we heard the news, the street was eerily quiet. The usual buzz was gone, the house on the other side of us wasn't full of its usual bubbling party or chaotic reverie. No one walked the streets. No one drove by with loud stereos. In the distance, no dogs barked or sirens heralded. Nothing. Once, Water walked by silently on the other side of the street, stopped once and merely stood for a moment facing forward, and continued walking to his house. Other than that, silent, still.



Tonight, we ate dinner on the front porch, played with some candles, and enjoyed the nice evening and the cool air the rain brought. We'd gotten a mountain bike ride in at Frick in the morning and felt lucky we thought to ride early again. Ray stepped out of the house and we made small talk about the weather, general happiness. A few neighbors next door wandered in and out of the front door. Everyone is treading very lightly these days on Trenton Ave.



I'm interested to see what happens to the neighborhood if Ray doesn't make it. He isn't the glue, so much as the vice grip that keeps us all on lockdown. There goes the neighborhood?

re-entering modern humanity

June is here, and its brought with it my ability to re-enter modern humanity in all its dumbfounded glory. Friends? I remember those! Fun? Sure, that rings a vague bell. Bruises and scabs? Got them back like muscle memory.



I graduated from grad school and now have my MFA in creative writing from Chatham University (finally). I was first runner-up for best poetry thesis, which is interesting because my thesis wasn't (solely) poetry, I got my degree technically in cross-genre/experimental, but maybe the poetry stuff was most prevelant? I dunno. Anyway as much as I would have liked to win best thesis, I am glad the person who won (Sara Reiss!) got it because her work is pretty fantastic. Since that's been over, including the stress and planning of the whole graduation ordeal, things have settled down a bit, thankfully.



I had a reading the other night that was PACKED. I was a bit nervous, did fine but probably should have been a bit louder. I set up my watch ahead of time to stopwatch mode so I could time myself and read accordingly (I had a whopping 15-20 minutes to fill up and I have very little idea what that feels like, as most of my readings are 5-10 minutes). After two beers and a few more runs to the bathroom (better out than in, right?) from the nerves, I was up there reading away and had forgotten to press the button. But the way I see it, better to leave them wanting more than have everyone feel satisfied enough to never come to another reading. Laura sold some books, lots of people who'd already read it came up to me and said they were so happy to see me read because they loved the poems in the book. Oh yeah, if anyone wants to purchase my chapbook, let me know and I will post my (work) address where you can send a check for $8. I'll even cover shipping! Although the photos of the event are pretty crappy as far as how I look (imo), the response was great and overall it was a fantastic time. there were a ton of people there who I didn't know, lots of new faces, and the other poets (Kellee Maize and D.J. Brewer) were also fantastic. We all brought our own crowds and it was great to see the blend of everyone in the younger Pittsburgh poetry scene(s) come together. I hope it marks the beginning of new collaborations and a more integrated and collaborative community.



I've also been trying to spend more time actively submitting to publications and (gasp!) keeping track of my submissions using Duotrope's submission manager, which is incredibly helpful in making sure you don't catastrophically screw up (helping you help yourself!). I hae submitted to about ten different journals in the past week, and hope to continue in the battle to not completely drop out of writing now that I've graduated.


M O U N T A I N B I K I N G ! ! On a beautiful day such as today, I feel it deserves such a headline. I won't go into every ride as many of you mountain bike and many of you live near nice parks just as I do and can jump in the woods when you have a spare moment (which is still rare for me), but just this morning's, which took place in Hartwood Acres, a rare treat for me. Soupie and I woke up at 7:30 and were out the door by 10 of 8. Were at Tazza d'Oro by 8 a.m. in time to see poor Braden's sleepy face while he made me their famously perfect iced Americano (the i.A. isn't famous, per se, so much as their espresso in general, amongst other things coffee-related and I could go on about Pittsburgh business ownership and community and whatnot, but this is about biking right??). Sipped those and listened to old episodes of Radio Schizo on cd and got hyped up. Arrived first of the pack, exactly at 8:30 - ON TIME?? Shortly, we saw Speck and then Adam Rosenberg. The four of us hung out for a minute, got situated, and went for a short ride around a trail. By the time we got back to the cars, Drew and Jen had shown up. I was excited and nervous because this was my first time riding with another woman, if you can believe that. It was also my first real group ride! I had ridden of course with Evan and a friend or two of ours before, like Ted or Dingle, or have caught on a ride with Allen and his buddy in the woods, but never a big group of people who all just love to ride. I was the only one on a fully rigid mountain bike, and only Adam was riding a hardtail - everyone else was riding full suspension bikes. While I think that's a bit overkill for a park like Hartwood, it did make me really want to get a hardtail bike especially since I mainly ride Frick Park. Anyway, we rode until 11 a.m. - it was a nice ride, no killin' it, but a pretty good pace the whole time. I would like to do a ride soon that goes all day, where we bring a lunch and hang out and make a whole day of like seven hours of mountain biking and hanging out in the woods. Adam took photos and hopefully he'll have them posted on the internet soon and I can share them. I was pretty happy with myself for the most part, as far as riding challenging things, pushing myself up hills, and keeping a good pace with everyone for the most part. I am still, as always, mad at myself for not doing some of the obstacles that I know I can do, and that are part of what make mountain biking so much fun! I am hoping that a hardtail will help me out a little with that, because it is so painfully obviously psychological for the most part. The point is, who wants to meet me in Frick Park tomorrow at 8 a.m. to get an hour or so of riding in before work?