Three months ago I thought I would probably never ride a bike.

Two months ago I couldn't really imagine feeling safe riding alongside cars on a major street, never mind one without a bike lane.

Seventy-five minutes ago I was flying south on MLK somewhere near the top of my third chainring (downhill on a well-paved road with a breeze at my back), because someone I love wanted to see me and I don't have to wait on anyone else's schedule or permission to go places any more.

I want to talk to myself three months ago and just say "Hey, Fizz. Guess what? You're going to love this."

This is the sort of thing I'd normally restrict a bit but I thought Stephanie would like to see it. Thanks, Stephanie.

I enjoyed this whole video of an 86-year-old WWII veteran speaking against Maine's Prop 1, which would rescind gay marriage rights in Maine. The gist of it, for those who dislike watching internet video as much as I do, is that he fought for the rights of all people, not just some, and that he didn't raise his four sons to be good men just so that the three straight ones could have more rights than their brother. There are, not surprisingly, pages of supportive comments following it. But the best one of all was this, posted anonymously:

"I'll be honest I was on the fence before hearing this man. Not anymore."

People who already agree each other can blubber all they want without accomplishing anything. That comment is what matters. Somebody watched the video and made up his mind to treat people who are different from him with as much respect as he gives to the ones who are like him. That gives me hope.

I can't mount the bike with the basket on it. It goes where I want my leg to go. I'm sure there's another way to do it but I suspect there is no other way which is nearly as comfortable for me.
I cannot stand over my bike with the new seatpost. Well, I can, but on tiptoes. Annoying when I'm trying to stretch at lights. Despite that, my knees and quadriceps hurt more with the new post. I think this has to do with different stresses put on them when I'm trying to relieve my hands but can't, so I end up kind of propped awkwardly against my pedals and my seat and my handlebars.
I suspected the new height was causing me to put more stress on my hands, but asrabkin reminded me that I'm also now wearing thinner gloves. More intact, but thinner. Anyway, I FEEL more stress on my hands. And I have a lot more trouble sitting back in my seat to relieve that stress. Yes, the more level seat is easier to sit in without slipping, but it also puts me a couple inches further from my handlebars when I shift my weight back, and I cannot pull back far enough to ease off on my hands for any length of time while maintaining anything resembling a line.
When my derailleur is changing gears on its own, it does it a lot at a time or else not at all--as opposed to doing it every once in a while, spaced out over the course of a ride. This suggests that it's triggered by certain conditions. I've only ever noticed it while riding uphill, but that's not surprising since I do much more pedaling there. Also, I didn't try on the way back, but on the way to game night I could not shift to my large chainring. (I could do it just fine with the bike upside down on the floor.)
I do not need to keep up with Ari's natural pace and it's comfier not to try. This is exactly the same as walking with him. I forget how much better shape he's in than I am!
I should eat and drink before going upstairs because once I go to bed I'm not going to want to leave.

Edit: Forgot, also the front corners of the basket press into me. Not hard enough to be really painful but enough to be suboptimal.
Also, that eating and drinking thing? Definitely needed to happen. I have a headache now and I'd bet a dollar it's just dehydration.

I have the loan of a rack + bag for my bike from Jim, which is awesome. One of the bolts for the rack interferes with the gearing, which is not awesome. Dan and Stephanie adjusted the limit screws so I couldn't shift into the bolt (and derail my chain), which, uh, is sort of awesome, but now I can't get into my top gear.

So now riding is like this: *pedal a couple times* *pedals go slack* *slowly glide to a crawl* *start pedaling tentatively until they catch* *pedal a couple times* *pedals go slack* ... mid-block this is merely annoying, but in an intersection it's downright scary. I actually cannot cross streets at what I feel is a safe speed. Also, it's hell on my knees, because I'm doing so much more work per distance.

I got fed up around Berkeley Way, dismounted, and walked for a few blocks to give my knees a rest. It wasn't literally faster but it felt a lot more useful because I wasn't spending so much time waiting to be able to accelerate. When it started to get hilly I got back on, because I would have been coasting down the hills anyway and the lack of high gear doesn't matter as much going uphill. I rode all the way up the last hill, which I hadn't done before, and then apparently while carrying my bike upstairs snagged the sleeve of my relatively new shirt. Ugh.

P.S. If you're curious, my worst ride was the exact same route in -only- my highest gear, because I didn't know any better yet. I had company for that one, which was a vast improvement, but it was really hard and hurt and made me feel like I can't do this and shouldn't try. I've since learned that the feeling that I'm too weak to propel my own weight on a bicycle means I need to downshift. (Going slow drives me nuts, though. If I wanted to go slow I'd be walking!)

I am (disproportionately? What is the "proper" proportion?) creeped out by the number of my friends who have been raped.

Part of it might have to do that these are all women friends, and I don't have a whole lot of women friends, so as a percentage of them it is especially horrifying.

Part of it, of course, is that the crime is so disgusting and knowing that it has happened to my friends brings it into my life, where (I am thankful) it would not otherwise be.

I find it interesting that I am not nearly so bothered by the number of my friends who have been suicidal. There are fewer of those, and it's also something much easier for me to understand and relate to. destinynova points out that the impetus there comes from the individual, not from the outside, which reduces the creepy factor immensely--although it's still scary, and I don't want (any more of) my friends dying either.

I don't want to give the impression that I don't want to hear about it! Honesty is important, as is education of the public, as is privacy, and it is your right to tell or not tell your own story as you choose. I'm mostly just examining my own reaction. I don't think of myself as particularly squeamish. Maybe I'm just naive, never having thought about the statistics in much detail.

I'm not looking for any specific kind of feedback but I'm screening comments so you can speak freely if you wish.

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."

We showed up at about five thirty and I dutifully looked over the license. Shortly, R- arrived, calling out ahead of him,

"Hi, I'm here for the C-C- wedding?" as he entered their home. We laughed, and chatted for a bit, and then someone said,

"Well?"

"I'm ready when you are," I said. We were spread around the living room, and R- said,

"I feel like you guys should at least be at the same table." So they traded seats, putting S- and D- across from each other. I stood up, thought about the various things I had considered saying, and picked the one part that was common between all of them.

"S-, do you promise to take good care of my friend D-?" I asked.

"Yeah. I can do that."

"D-, do you promise to take good care of my friend S-?"

"Absolutely." His tone was briefly serious enough to stand out against the mood of the room.

"All right. In that case, you're allowed to be married. And you don't need anybody's permission to kiss!"

They laughed, and S- said, "Okay, I think we have some paperwork to do." The witnesses signed, I signed, and they folded up the license to mail to the county clerk on their way out.

Yes, I married two of my good friends today--really and actually. And yes, it was that quick and informal (the lady and I were in jeans, the gentleman in board shorts, witnesses similar). The emotional commitment implied by marriage is something they'd long since made to each other; this was merely an exercise to satisfy the state and make sure that the house they're in the process of buying will belong properly to both of them. They decided to do it over the weekend, asked me to officiate on Sunday evening, my ordainment with the Universal Life Church was confirmed on Monday morning, they obtained the license, and we did the wedding in the afternoon. They are emphatically not making a big deal of it, being uninterested in supporting an institution which is based heavily on someone else's religion and excludes many of our friends from participation, but I was still glad to be able to participate.

Click here for my solution to yesterday's geometry puzzle.

If the side length of the whole diagram is 2 and the things which look like quarter-circles are, what's the area of the red sections? Answer will follow. :)

It is known that to the right of the Indies there exists an island called California very near the terrestrial paradise; and peopled by black women among whom there was not a single man since they lived in the way of the Amazons. They had beautiful robust bodies, spirited courage and great strength. Their island was the most impregnable in the world with its cliffs and headlands and rocky coasts. Their weapons were all of gold

. . . because in all the island there was no metal except gold. And there ruled over that island of California a queen of majestic proportions, more beautiful than all others, and in the very vigor of her womanhood. She was not petite, nor blond, nor golden-haired. She was large, and black as the ace of clubs. But the prejudice of color did not then exist even among the most brazen-faced or the most copper-headed. For, as you shall learn, she was reputed the most beautiful of women; and it was she, O Californias! who accomplished great deeds, she was valiant and courageous and ardent with a brave heart, and had ambitions to execute nobler actions than had been performed by any other ruler — Queen Califia.

(Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Las sergas de Esplandián)

Finally bumped into something on the bike for the first time; giving a wide berth to the cars stopped at a sign, I ran gently into the side mirror of a parked car. It swiveled obligingly and the only harm done (other than to my pride) was that I derailed my chain ... but I try to make a point of watching people when they fix things I might have to later, so I knew how to put it back and I went on my merry way. 8)

And it was merry. I took Milvia to Berkeley Way without further incident, then walked the bike the last block up to Missing Link. Picked up a cable so I could lock both my (quick release) wheels and the frame at the same time, and then ran into centaur on the way to the library. We stopped in a gelato place, then I dropped off my books and picked up a bike map for zigdon.

Looking at my own copy of the map, I had noticed that we weren't really farther from Alan's place than Ashby BART, so we walked to it. (I was just as happy to avoid dealing with the end-of-school-day traffic around Berkeley High on a bicycle.) The new apartment is quite something--big, comfy, and it even had a bike rack for me! I said hallo to his roommate when she arrived, watched them bustle around discussing how to arrange the place, and then headed back out and rode to Dan's to deliver his map.

After a break on the porch, I rode back along California, which was uneventful. Crossed University without a problem, mostly because the light was good to me. I took a break in Ohlone Park to watch frisbee players and dogs. The bit I wasn't looking forward to--coming up the hill on Virginia--was tough but fine, and Josephine was worse (except it had downhills too). At Josephine and Rose I said screw it and walked the last couple of blocks. :P

I started writing this shortly thereafter, while making myself a big bowl of polenta to refill some of that energy. (Boring food + butter, salt, parmesan, red pepper, paprika, and tarragon = tasty food.) Then I got distracted by the arrival of destinynova; we watched Dr. Horrible and then walked to the grocery store for supplies so he could make sausage, shrimp, and black bean chili while I made cookies for dessert. He departed, arisrabkin swung by to partake of cookies (which is not cannibalism, since he specifically is not one), and then I found the time to finish this. Phew!

I know I mentioned these ages ago but I only just got around to taking photos of the jewelry I made for me and Aaron:

( Read more... )

Click either for pictures for gallery which includes the other sides of both.


Also. Today I did something that I have been putting off, afraid of, or just figuring I'd never do for almost two decades: I learned to ride a bike. (Newcomers: Yes, for the first time, at 23.) There was a lot of wobbly balance practice, and then Stephanie had the good idea of using the sidewalk next to arisrabkin's apartment for its length and continuous slope (as opposed to his driveway). That was helpful, and then we wound up in a driveway across but parallel to the street, and at some point while over there balancing clicked for me. So Stephanie had me try starting to pedal from next to a curb, which I didn't quite get the hang of; I kept tipping over. I'd try a few times, moving along the curb each time, then loop around and coast back to where I started and try again. After a few such loops, Stephanie had an epiphany, and called out, "Why don't you try pedaling -now-?" while I was mid-coast ... so I did ... and pedaled off around the corner and turned around and came back.

Still a lot of work to be done: practice balancing until it's second nature and I can focus on steering, practice steering until it's second nature and I can focus on safety, etc. Need to be able to start on a level surface, too! But ... I got it. And for two hours' work that's not too damn bad.

Much love to S for instruction and patience and encouragement, and to A for the use of his bike and helmet (and gloves, although mostly because they were already in the helmet and I didn't know where to put them so I wouldn't lose them other than my hands).

Also I sold several more games, also I finished the pants-skirt conversion I made for Stephanie and it looked fantastic and she loved it, and I have two more things to sew for her, and I bought more lemons to make more lemonade out of. Life is good.

Hm, haven't updated my to-do and done list in a while. I made two more skirts out of my other pairs of ripped pants. All three are quite different from each other and they look great. The blue denim skirt is a little below the knee, flared from the hip, and frayed at the hem; the olive green one is straight and has panels a bit like a peasant skirt, but only one row because it's knee length; the black denim is a pencil skirt, slightly shorter than knee length, with a slit on the right side.

We did a bunch more cooking and I think I cleaned the kitchen twice since I last mentioned putting it off. I am going through a lot of dishes, but also a lot of tasty food. Pork roast, cornish game hen, beef and veggie shish kabob, soup stock from the hen carcasses, more cookies. Things my hands have smelled like at different times recently include mint + rosemary (which is an amazing smell combination), metal (from button-making), and butter.

I ran my various errands, mostly successfully. I need to shunt some money around, but I'm waiting on a new PIN for an old account before I finish doing that. Then I need to use that account a bit and it will give me some more money out of gratitude. I have money to shunt because of a big button order which just came in with very good timing.

Things currently on my plate: inventory fabric (gonna do that right now), try to do a page of buttons a day, mail out a game. Get Pinpoet buttons onto Etsy and Ebay. Oh, and go to Books, Inc. in the city some time ... apparently they're inviting the coauthors of World According to Twitter to sign copies for them and that sounds like fun. Anyone want to tag along? It's a bit out of my way to go without company.

Okay, Livejournal right now is Fizz's short-term goal tracking. Hope that's okay.

I did the sewing! Most impressively to myself, I remembered how to thread my sewing machine! Those jeans are now a knee-length skirt which I think came out quite well. I took it for a test wear to dinner and then a friend's place for cheese cake and chat, and got complements and no trouble at all from it. Still haven't tidied my kitchen although now I need to even more. I made the fried rice--a little sesame oil in the pan, rice, tiny bit of soy sauce, the leftover mongolian beef, a little can of water chestnuts I had sitting around, and a couple of eggs. Very tasty. I'm glad I didn't use the pork; it's too good for that, and will be tasty on its own (maybe accompanying eggs in the morning!). I remembered, barely, to get the garbage and recycling down to the curb tonight, and need to remember to have the car moved across the street tomorrow (after they sweep the side it's not on and before they sweep the side it is).

Tomorrow ... shower, breakfast, clean kitchen if I have time, move car, go to the Academy of Sciences, dinner with the boy. Next day, party. Day after, game night. I am a busy girl this week!

Also, everyone go give zigdon a big hand! He put an offer in on a house earlier this week, received a counteroffer, and as of a couple of hours ago accepted that counteroffer. New high score in the house-buying process! Wouldn't it be nuts if he had a place up here by the end of the summer. :) I went with him to look at this house and liked it.


Edit: Pictures of the skirt. There may be one of it on me tomorrow. I need to press the seams, but can't decide if I want to press them flat or make kick pleats. This is all assuming I can lay hands on an iron, of course.

Following up on my goals from this morning, I didn't do any tidying or sewing (although I may check out those pants before I go to bed), but I did make the lemonade and also a whole pile of coconut chocolate chip cookies. Both are edible (or potable, as appropriate) but neither exceptional. The cookies might do well crumbled onto ice cream or something similar--or maybe microwaved to make them both warmer and softer.

destinynova was kind enough to appear with some ingredients I was missing for the cookies, as well as some pork and ingredients for a marinade. Specifically, I believe the full list of things in the marinade turned out to be: apple juice, apple vinegar (to help get the flavor in since it only had about 90 minutes), mint, garlic, tarragon, and lemon pepper. Long story short, it was DELICIOUS. Tomorrow, the leftovers will be in a sandwich for him and probably fried rice for me. (The rice was a little undercooked. Will it still fry well, do you guys think?)

Tomorrow ... meet friend at airport and really actually tidy the kitchen because we used a hell of a lot of dishes for all that. Possibly not in that order. If I feel like it/there is extra time, scan stuff, sew, etc. Mail back scam tea (long story).

By the by--I alluded to this in my previous post, but wanted to give it one of its own so it's more linkable. As I've been spamming on all other channels, I'm selling copies of the Metroid game for DS (I picked up a whole bunch of 'em for cheap on ebay). For my friends and their friends, I'll sell them directly for the price I'm starting bids at ($10) and cover shipping if applicable. Please pass this on if you know someone who might be interested.

You can tell because I've been up for four hours and am not whining about it!

Specifically, I got to bed early enough last night that I could get snuggled awake this morning, be well rested, and have time to appreciate having company before he headed off to work. About an hour later I hopped a bus downtown to check what Gamestop will give me for Metroid DS (it won't), and on the way back stopped by my old work to say hi. I hadn't thought about it, but of course my manager was there (she normally works mornings); she was in the middle of a long vacation when I got laid off, so it was really nice to see her. I dropped two copies of Metroid in the mail and then toddled off for groceries. I'd been intending to go to Safeway, but I figured I'd stick my head in the little market on Cedar & Shattuck for produce, and they had pretty much everything else I needed tucked away in one corner or another. I caved and bought the bag of coconut I'd been ogling; it may soon be cookie time.

Net result: games sold, proceeds spent on tasty foods at a local place, got a li'l exercise. I even remembered to grab the canvas shopping bags when I left the house. My karmic reward for all this? The last game I was waiting for, Jam Sessions, arrived this morning, and I got to see a beagle puppy and a dachshund on walks on my way home. And, of course, that it's not even noon yet and I've done everything I needed to do today. Plans for the rest of the day: make lemonade with the lemons life gave me I just bought, and some combination of kitchen tidying, room tidying, and pants sewing.

I would buy houses for my friends who need houses, including needed work. That would use almost all of it, but anything left would go to friends who could use it to help their transportation situations or go to school. Generally, I would help friends before I would donate it, because it lets me see the effect.

Poll #1441148 Pants
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

I have a pair of old jeans with a horizontal tear across the knee. What should I do with them?

Any other suggestion, opinions, advice, etc.?

So I was listening to a bunch of this dude's music and talking to him in IRC. And I said, man, this makes me want to draw. I'ma draw you an album cover. Okay? So I did.



(Click for bigger.)

It was fun and completely accidentally almost exactly the right size for my desktop. So I trimmed it until it WAS the right size. And now it's my desktop image.