And the dogs are lightning to attack*

Ah yes, quite a bit of news to report. I've been so so busy of late that I haven't had time to write much. In fact, I'm too busy to be writing right now, but fuck it. I'm a list kinda gal, I like the order of it, and also it will save me the time of composing transition sentences.

1. Cross country skiing I hate the winter. And by that I mean: I really fucking despise the winter. I always have. When I was a kid even I hated the cold and snow. As such, since I moved to this warmth-forsaken place I have studiously avoided any sort of outdoor winter activity, or really going outdoors at all unless it were absolute necessary. You will not find me sledding at Elver Park with the cool kids. Sure, I ride my bike despite the cold (although the ice has been thoroughly sketching me out for the last month and a half enough to keep even that to a minimum), but that's just stubbornness on my part, a refusal to admit defeat at the hands of evil winter. So when my friends D & L convinced me to go cross country skiing with them a couple weeks ago, no one was more surprised than I. I rented skis, etc. from Fontana and we took Big Red to the Arboretum, which I was assured had good newbie skiing trails. Holy crap, it was so much fun! I fell down a lot but it didn't hurt - um, yet. I could barely walk for the next 4 days or so but I'd say it was worth it. I'm even considering spending my hefty REI dividend on a pair of skis. I'm set for climbing, camping, and bike gear at the moment, so why not?

2. Weight lifting Yeah, so I've lifted weights before, but only infrequently and haphazardly. The day after my first-ever skiing (probably not the best choice for timing), el señor B took me to the Shell to put into action the 2008 Trunk Junk Campaign, i.e. bump up that booty. Romanian Deadlifts, Good Mornings and Squats were first on the agenda. Since then I've also added Sumo-style Deadlifts and Box Squats. Luckily for me proper form comes pretty natural, I assume because I already have decent flexibility and posture awareness from yoga, pilates, dance, climbing, and the like. So far I haven't added a ton of weight - my Squats are around 20kg, my Deadlifts around 25kg - but I'm having fun and am managing to smuggle lifting into my schedule once or twice a week. I feel kind of shy at the Shell because there's not a lot of ladiez there and my weights are pretty weak-sauce, but still I say fuck it. Also, it's pretty sweet of el señor B to let me crash his workouts. I doubt that having a weak lady following him around beefs up his gym cred much.

3. Writing an exam I have mentioned previously that I'm teaching a general chemistry class at my local community college this semester and IT IS PRETTY AWESOME. A couple weeks ago was our first exam. I agonized for days over what items to include, in what format, and how long to make the exam. I was really worried that the exam would be too hard or too long. I had 2 word problems starring el señor B (calculating his annual peanut butter consumption and related calculations) and roomie D (calculating his body's specific heat whilst skiing), which amused me greatly. At the start of class I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. But most of the students finished with time to spare, and the average score came out to a solid 80%. I'm pretty proud of myself and my students.

4. Solo tattoo For each of my first 6 tattoo sessions I have had a friend holding my hand (or more like I squeeze the bejesus out of theirs) the whole time. All because I am a wuss with a needle phobia. Last Friday was set as my final sitting for the piece on my shoulder/back (touching up the big flower). Originally, el señor B, designated hand-holder of the last 3 sessions, was going out of town for a bike race and so I had steeled myself to do this one on my own. Weather intervened and so it seemed that el señor would be with me after all. But the ice and snow and the lack of its removal from the bike paths made for one cranky señor, and thus I sent him packing anyway. So I did it! All by myself! It fucking hurt, but I'm a big girl now. I'll add some pics in here as soon as I'm done with the big peel.

5. D&D I've played plenty of Talisman and Risk (mostly while impaired) but to date had avoided the ultimate nerd game. Roomie D finally snagged me in, though. He was just so excited that I didn't want to disappoint him. Um...D&D kind of blows. Maybe I just think that because I kept getting killed ("accidentally" scythed in the back by a teammate, for instance) within the first 5 minutes of every game. Next week I think I'll be washing my hair.

I think there was more but already this is a long entry. Various photographs are slowly making their way to this page, promise.


* "New Orleans" - Silver Scooter