21st Century Mom

I have been tagged by TheMarathonMama with one of these 'tell us about yourself' things. It calls for 7 things which makes me realized that the phrase 'be careful what you ask for' is so true. I've asked that I not be tagged which got me bypassed with people playing the "5 things about you" game. Serves me right!

1). I'm a Buckeye. I was born in Dayton, Ohio and lived in Yellow Springs until I was 10 when my mother, a widow of 2 years, picked us up and moved us to Connecticut where we knew no one. Apparently she had a boyfriend in Boston but I didn't know that at the time. He never materialized in our lives on the East Coast.

2). When I graduated from high school I worked in a plastic bag factory on the night shift from 6 PM to 6 AM, 3 days on and 3 days off. I rarely went to sleep after the 3rd day until that night. After about 6 months of that I took a job with a friend making cheesecakes. I saved my money and went to Europe for 4 months.

3). I ran out of money before I ran out of desire to be there so I took a job as a chambermaid in a dodgy bed and breakfast in Bayswater, London. I lived in a dorm style room with a bunch of Egyptian girls and learned about Ramadan. I was routinely propositioned by drunk Irishmen and lonely Africans as well as the Egyptian boys who also worked there.

4). I spent 2 years working on a PhD in physiology. I quit grad school after 2 years for a lot of reasons. Right or wrong it resulted in my marriage and subsequent production of my 3 favorite people in the world so I'm glad it worked out that way.

5). I am a dyed in the wool commie pinko feminist who lives in an upscale Lilly white suburb where I am a decorated former member of the PTSA. I am a huge fan of community and I can get along with anyone - I like people.

6). I'm a sociable person but I'm also a homebody. Sometimes I can't wait to get home even though I am here by myself and get kind of bored. I need to get out more.

7). I have been unemployed off and on several times and I can't seem to get the hang of weekends not being all that special when you aren't working Monday through Friday. I often put off doing big jobs around the house until the weekend because that's just how I think. Then, when I find myself at Costco playing bumper carts and dodging roaming herds of huge families I wonder why I didn't go on Wednesday at 9 AM when the store is relatively quiet.

So the rules of this game are that I'm supposed to link to some people and post the rules. I don't do the tagging thing, though and there's a lot of it going around so tap, tap, no give backs - YOU'RE IT!

Huge shout out to TheMarathonMama for tagging me and giving me fodder for this last day of NaPloBoMo. I'm done!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I've been a New Yorker subscriber on and off for years. It started when I was in college and read a fantastic short story in my roommate's New Yorker. I was hooked. And of course, no matter how busy you are there are always the jokes.

When I found myself with a house full of unread New Yorkers I quit subscribing. A few years later I couldn't resist and ponied up again. I now have a year's worth of New Yorkers that need to be read. I do read the jokes every week, though.

If that fails me I can always just go to YouTube and get my New Yorker humor that way. Like this:

I'm not convinced that the animation and sound add much to the equation. What do you think?

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I wrote my post about girls and swimming it reminded me of some t-shirts I've seen on these girls so I had to share.

Shirt 1

Back

Shirt 2

Shirt Front

Shirt Back

Go You Girls - Swim Fast!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

There's a terrible movement afoot. A movement that warrants a revolution. A movement that will have us all wearing cranky pants and scowling.

Sesame Street just released some early episodes on DVD and they come with a warning - “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” !!!! I raised my 3 very fine children on Sesame Street only to learn it was loaded with adult only content? How can that be?

It turns out that having a monster who loves cookies is simply not acceptable in today's world. Apparently cookie love = terrible corruption. Who would have guessed? Let the Cookie monster parody a PBS host and be shown smoking a pipe and then eating it and uh oh.... that is WAY too adult. Oh the corruption!

In that same vein, I guess I should have been able to predict the well intentioned parent who decided that providing treats of cookies and candy to the high school kids during finals week was evil and unacceptable. She decided that what they really need is brain food - carrots and string cheese. Oh yeah - that's what hard working students who have stayed up all night cramming for fnials need - carrots. The students, oddly enough are not appreciative of this change in between exam culinary faire. In fact, they are totally pissed off about it.

It's time to fight back, people. It's time to TAKE BACK THE COOKIE! Reclaim your right and the right of your children to indulge in a hot, gooey chocolate chip wonder from time to time. Do not let "them" take this away from you. Today your cookie, tomorrow.....who know? You might go to buy cereal and find nothing on the shelf but Musli.

Farewell Trix - we knew you well.... We knew you when you were for kids.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Greyhound wrote a really great post the other day about kids who swim competitively, probably on US teams (the training ground for future Olympians). He noted, among other things, that the girls at swim practice were confident and when the boys teased them they gave at least as well as they got. No cowering and giggling for them.

I have a perspective on those girls that Greyhound is not privy to, though. I find these young women endlessly inspiring and entertaining if not a tad loud for that hour of the morning. Admittedly I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them I've developed as a result of sharing a locker room with them a couple days a week. A locker room full of women changing from street clothes to suits and from suits to being naked in the shower. .

One of the funniest parts about having them in the locker room is that these girls with their perfect bodies and their little buns the size of a pair of grapefruit use a lot of elaborate maneuvers involving towels and shirts to get undressed without revealing anything - until the towel comes off and they are in a suit that could fit 3 to a band-aid box. Once they are comfortably clothed in their nearly non-existent suits they prance out to the deck like they own the place. I don't think they are self conscious in a particularly pathalogical way - I think they are just at an age where kids have an overblown need for modesty.

Before they go off to lift weights or swim laps I can catch them in the mirror taking furtive glances around the room at the middle aged and older women. I can tell when I catch the expression on their faces that they are thinking "I will NEVER look like THAT! EW!!!!" because even the most fit women sport at least a little cellulite. I want to give these girls my most sympathetic and motherly look and say, "there, there... it's not so bad".

I don't, though. As grossed out as they are they have more important things to think about like themselves, the meet they are training for, the classes they are taking and the boys they are figuring out how to attract without giving up who they are in the process. Just the other day Dear Abby advised a young women who only seemed to be able to attract boys as friends that perhaps she should emphasize your feminine side and present yourself in a different light. This may mean temporarily downplaying your involvement in sports and amping up your "girlishness".

I like to think that my young athletic acquaintances in the locker room would kick her dimpled ass for that crappy advice. I'm pretty sure they would.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Praise Be! for the wine industry. Not so much because I love wine although I do rather like it on occasion. Were it not for the ever growing wine industry California would be wall to wall houses and malls. All available land would be paved over with concrete and asphalt save for the occasional small spot of sod and the air would be filled with the din of automobiles and trucks. Actually that second part is pretty much true but thanks to our expanding need for wine some of the land is covered in vineyards. I noticed some olive groves today, too. Right on! If your head is filled with visions of dipping sourdough bread in olive oil and sipping wine you are so my kind of person.

So it's really true - you really don't forget how to ride a bike . At least I didn't. I went out at 10ish with my friends and went for a comfortable and really beautiful 16 mile ride, mostly on paved trails. When we ran out of trails we rode through the vineyards. My friend Sandy wanted to stop at the Wente Champagne tasting room and see what they had to offer but I was hungry by then and was pretty sure that a taste of Champagne would have me lying in the gutter in no time so I demurred and we rode on.

I tried out the aerobars that Momo so generously gave me (in addition to the ones that DPR so generously gave me. Internet friends are the BEST!). The second I put my hands on them I rode off the paved trail and into the gravel. WHOA! To my credit I didn't freak out and just fall over. I actually managed to get my hands back on the handle bars, clip out and stop. I must be getting better at this biking stuff. I tried them several more times during the ride and I'm getting there. I'll have to practice on the trainer to get really confident though. Riding aero is kind of a wobble-fest, non?

The house is empty, the leftovers are gone and it is entirely too quiet around here. All I hear is the syncopated rhythm of my dog's toenails clacking across the floor against the clicking of my keyboard as I write yet another vapid NaBloPoMo! post. Thanksgiving was over way too soon but the end of this writing sufferfest won't come soon enough. Apologies for the constant drivel. I promise I'll step away from the keyboard after my final NaBlo post on November 30.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I have 2 opportunities to go for a bike ride tomorrow. I could go out at 8 AM when it is still about 40 degrees out but getting warmer. The 8 AM group are fast and ready to really hit it hard after a 4 day weekend of gluttony.

Or I could go out at 10 AM with a much slower, more relaxed group who ride recreationally and don't race.

Or I could snub my bike again.

I haven't ridden since SOMA.

I think I need to go out with the 10 AM group and just enjoy a leisurely ride - just to prove to myself that the old addage about riding a bike is true because at this point I have my doubts.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

One minute you are foot loose and fancy free and the next you are trying to comfort a crying baby. One minute you are up to your elbows in dirty diapers and piles of laundry consisting of liliputian sized garments and the next you are dropping them off for the first day of kindergarten. One minute you are reading them a story and tucking them in bed and the next you are helping them move into the dorm. One minute you are helping them cope with the rigors and stress of college life and the next you are helping them pack the car to move to another state. One minute you are making a Thanksgiving feast and sitting down with your whole family and other guests and the next minute you are taking your daughter and son in law to the airport to return to their very adult and fully independent life.

It was so nice to have all the kids here if only for a moment. Tonight Daughter number one is back in the mid-west, daughter number two is out with her college friends (which might not be tolerable if it weren't for the fact that she will be back in 3 weeks) and small son is off with a friend working on a school project. He'll be blowing back through here for a minute on Saturday night before he heads back to Southern California.

I feel like I've crashed from a sugar high. I was going to go for a run to pick myself up but I managed to sidestep that by reading blogs until it got dark. I suppose I could just go eat some more pie but I don't think that will really do the trick. Where is the teleporter when you need one?

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

And a lovely day it was. There was cooking and eating and visiting and Trivial Pursuit and it was fun and I loved it. No Turkey Trot for me, though - no time! I will try to get a run in tomrrow.

Thanks to all for the Thanksgivng well wishes - the feelings are mutual!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

All the kids are home. Pookie got here at about 3:30 AM and Small Son (who is bigger than me but who I call Small Son to keep him in line) got here at about 4:30 AM. Whereas Pookie came in and threw herself on my bed and declared "Mama I'm SO glad to be home!!" so I knew she was here, Small Son did not. When I woke up at 6:00 to go swimming I was afraid to look out the window and see if his car was out there, lest it be not. It was and the world was right!

My plan for the night was that we would all drink delicious drinks and get merry and play Trivial Pursuit. In reality we drank delicious drinks and we are all ready for sleep at 9:30. We really know how to party - woo hoo!

Tomorrow we will cook and drink and eat and be Merry and we will all tell each other what we are Thankful for. I am Thankful for so much. For good health, good friends, great kids, the means to enjoy the day, and love and wellness. I know that is a little redundant but can we give thanks for love and for good health enough? I think not. Those are the 2 most important things in the world and we have them in abundance and for that I am eternally thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I was at a dinner gathering once when a man said, "If it were left up to women you'd all still be beating clothes on rocks to get them clean." I asked him what in the world he meant by that comment and his response was that women never invented anything and that if it weren't for men we'd all still be living in caves. I was pretty sure he was wrong and I managed to point out that Marie Curie discovered radioactivity and that the structure of DNA was actually discovered by a woman named Rosalind Franklin who had her work essentially stolen by Watson and Crick but that was the best I could do. I told him I'd get back to him, went home and did a google search of 'women inventors' and discovered that women invented Kevlar and the dishwasher among other things.

When I was little my mother used to tell me that there were no female mathematicians or composers because women's brains just didn't work like that. I believed her. She also told me that women couldn't be pilots because their vision changed during "that time of the month" and I bought that, too. My mother spent her whole life believing that silliness. As an adult I read a book called "Fermat's Enigma" that laid the mathematician issue to rest (women were not allowed to be mathematicians but some managed to follow their passion anyhow) and a visit with the Oakland Women's Symphony put the composer issue to rest - there have been many female composers through history. Seeing women in pilot's uniforms heading to the cockpit of the plane I was on dispelled myth #3.

Too bad we didn't have The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz when I was a kid because the man and my mother would have known better. The Daring Book for Girls was written initially in response to The Dangerous Book for Boys, a publication that generated quite a stir about sexism and boy vs. girl interests. I'm happy to say that The Daring Book for Girls is not just a step for step copy of the Dangerous Book for Boys although it is written in somewhat the same style - they both have chapters, for example. I am so happy with how this book was put together because it really honors girls across the board acknowledging a broad spectrum of interests from building a scooter to making daisy chains.

In addition to chapter on the rules of soccer, how to be spy, how to play hopscotch, how to paddle a canoe and what camping is all about are chapters on famous women. There is a full chapter on Joan of Arc, five chapters on Queens of the Ancient World, A Short History of Women Inventors and Scientists (if only I had had THAT info in my hip pocket at my dinner party), Modern Women Leaders and A Short History of Women Olympic Firsts and Famous Women Pirates - YES! . There is a chapter about the letters Abagail Adams wrote to John Adams that explains how important she was to him and how much influence she had on how he ran the country. It is an excellent model of a marriage that focuses on having a peer relationship, something you don't see a lot of on TV or at the movies.

The chapter on the The Daring Girls Guide to Danger talks about dangerous activities a girl might like such as white water rafting and wearing high heels. Guys if you've never tried walking in a pair of hills you have no idea. It also includes 'Stand up for yourself - or someone else' which can be a very dangerous thing to do but also very empowering.

I love it that this book isn't just about building go-carts and climbing trees and making volcanoes out of baking powder and vinegar. It unapologetically covers such 'girly' topics as playing jacks, putting your hair up with a pencil and making a cootie catcher. And there are the more practical chapters on changing a tire, negotiating a salary and first aid. It teaches history, the Bill of Rights, the history of handwriting and more.

Just as the Dangerous Book for Boys has a chapter on "Girls" (which leans on tradition and casts girls as silly unpredictable creatures you can't live with and can't live without), The Daring Book for Girls has a chapter on "Boys". It talks about the kind of stereotypes we assign to boys and the kind of stereotypes assigned to girls. It talks about how what is really important is that we honor people and their diversity and that we respect everyone's individuality. My favorite passage from this chapter reads "[if you like boys there are 2 things to keep in mind....] "One, if a boy doesn't like you the way you are, the problem is him, not you. And two, don't try to make a boy change for you - it's important to appreciate people for who they are."

This book is unabashedly pro-girl without being anti-boy. You would be hard pressed to cast the contents of this book in terms of any of the many gender wars plaguing the media and therefore our culture today. It isn't about girls being anything other than who they are and about feeling good about that. It's about being the most and best girl you can be. It is about how girls can and have made significant contributions in the world because girls don't really just want to have fun - they want to count and they want it to be okay to be strong and smart and creative and to have some power.

I can't recommend this book highly enough to parents of daughters or aunts of nieces or friends of girls or, in my case, prospective grandmothers of granddaughters. It will be a while before I can put this book to use first hand (other than to read it with my grown girls) but when the time comes I will do just that. In the meantime, I think I'll give a copy to my friend from the dinner party.

Clicking the Amazon link will help Kelso, too!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

I'm watching The Bachelor. What a sickness. I know someone is about to have her heart ripped out through her chest wall and yet I watch.

Only I think it wont' happen that way. I think he won't pick either because it is too contrived.

Stay tuned....

-----

I called that! I knew it would come out the way it did. I wonder if this will spell the death knell to The Bachelor the way indecision spelled the death knell for The Bachelorette. I hope so because when all is said and done - that show is just stupid.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

**Update - I added PantherGirl's code to my page so you can click right over there ---> to help Kelso pay his bills. Thanks! This code should scroll the black Friday specials, too.

My friend Panther Girl has a greyhound she rescued named Kelso. Kelso had a spinal disk problem that landed him in the doggie hospital. As luck would have it he didn't need surgery but he did need the well attended convalescence long enough to rack up a bill for $3200. Ouch.

So - do you by any chance have plans to purchase something at Amazon.com in the near future? If so, if you could get to Amazon via The Dog's Breakfast, Panther Girls most excellent blog, she will get financial credit for any purchases you make. You don't need to buy the stuff featured in her side bar - you just need to get to Amazon via her sidebar and then buy something.

Thanks a bunch and Kelso says "Woof!"

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

That would be buh-zah-sted - knackered - whooped. It's Saturday at 9 PM and I"m heading for bed. I had other more fun things to post today but they have wilted away like a ....something, something, old man who can't...whatever, whatever. You get the picture, I'm sure.

I got a bunch of stuff done and will put the pedal to the metal tomorrow AM to finish as much else as possible for my sweet baby girl Humbly Ann and her husband roll in to town. Thanksgiving week starts tomorrow and I could NOT be more excited. I just need some rest so I can enjoy it!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I just finished the entire Sopranos series on DVD. I feel a little bereft - no more Sopranos episodes to look forward to *sniff sniff*

For those of you who saw one or 2 episodes and didn't see the point or thought it was too dark and violent I understand. I thought that, too. Then I saw just enough to get emotionally invested in the Soprano family and I was hooked. I'm not an HBO subscriber, though so I had to wait for it to come out on DVD. Sometimes it took forever, sometimes not too long.

Getting to the 2nd set of discs from the last season took way too long. I was so afraid that I would find out how it ended and yet I managed not to - not really. And now I know.

It makes me feel like getting a boxed set of the whole thing and just holing up to watch it hour on hour.

NB - typo fixed - thanks for the heads up FeLady! And yes Six Feet Under was also a fave. Loved it.

Adieu Soprano Family - I'll miss you.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I had a dream last night that I was racing a triathlon and during the swim the water would suck at my hands as I tried to pull them out of the water for the next stroke. I had to pull hard and break the seal of the water surface and it was hard. Then I was drafting behind some sort of speed boat and going really fast and the water felt like air. The next thing I knew I was in T2, trying to tie my running shoes but there were knots in the laces. They weren't tied together but there were really tight knots along each lace and I had to undo those knots before I could tie my shoes. It was taking a really long time and in my head I was thinking I should just forget about the knots and tie my shoes and get going but I couldn't - I HAD to get those knots out. And then I was running and it was good.

I think it means that I feel stuck and like I can't move forward but then something happens and I can move - I can move really well. I'm still waiting for that part - right now I just feel stuck.

Notice that I skipped the bike portion of the race. I hope that thing about how "it's like riidng a bike - you never forget" is true or I'm in for some big trouble. Meanwhile I've painted 1 room and 1 hallway and almost finished stripping the paint off a dresser and I mowed the lawn and cleaned the house. The bike will just have to be patient - I'm busy!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I had post, I hit a key and poof! - the post disappeared because the 'new post' window closed. You should be glad, too because my post was a mini-rant on today's story about how government inspectors slipped the stuff to make a couple explosive devices past 19 different TSA check points.

Terrific.

The upshot of the news story is that it's okay that the procedures used to scan your carry on are ineffectual because the TSA uses many layers of security to determine if you are a threat or not. What you have in your carry on or on your body is just 1 of those layers and if they aren't that good at picking up on dangerous stuff then *yawn* it's okay because they have other ways of getting your number.

Sort of makes me wonder why they bother scrutinizing everyone's toiletries and then confiscating lip balm and cream rinse from little old ladies.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Painting and getting things in order is becoming worse than endurance sports. What a grind. All the need to carry on with little of the enjoyment. I'm not very good at the fixing up stuff so I'm not really getting deep pleasure from things looking great. Or maybe when it comes to doing this stuff I am as unkind to myself as I am about racing. It's never good enough. feh.

Something I keep figuring out is that I have no endurance. I get whooped and just really want to quit. I think the reason I like triathlon is because I have to push through that and when I do I feel good about it - at least until I start in on the 'not good enough' routine.

Out of this I have 2 goals for next year - develop more stamina by training more and be nicer to myself. Let myself have the victory and pleasure of accomplishment - without qualification. It won't be easy but it feels good to have that as a goal.

I am putting away the paint brushes and drop cloths for the night and tidying up for my drinking club book group. It really is a book group but my kids laugh and call it Mom's drinking group because the only time they are there is when it is as my house and when it is at my house I can drink as much wine as I want. I might have 3 whole glasses of wine! That's more than enough to set me up for table top, lampshade wearing dancing. I need the respite after all this blasted painting!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I have a large group coming for Thanksgiving (YAY!) so I'm doing a little home improvement work in the form of painting. I have 2 bedrooms and a hallway to paint and a lot of trim.

I hate painting - I really do. I don't know why because it can be sort of mindless and meditative and gives me time to listen to music but it's just not my thing. I'm not careful enough and I constantly screw things up. I paint the walls and the, in the process of painting the trim I get the trim paint on the walls. Or vise versa. So annoying. And the taping - OMG! It takes forever.

I find that as I'm working my way through the room I am constantly fighting the urge to quit. My inner voice starts to whine - I'm hungry,,,, I'm tired,,,,, my back hurts.. blah...blah.. blah.. boo... hoo.. and the other voice pipes up "Come on - just one more wall - you can do it! Keep going!l You're strong.. you can make it!"

It's just like being on a long run or needing to swim another 1000 yards.

I can't wait for the big event when the work pays off because it means my house will be full of people - Double YAY!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Shout outs to Language Log for pointing the way to this video and several other hysterically funny videos.

Go here to read more about the fine art of Autour-du-mondegreens

It appears that my brush with Washoe has paid off in that I find a blog about language interesting and funny.

ps - I did not fine LolCat on Language Log and yet there it is. Odd.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

My commitment to run every day has been sullied by sloth. I did not run yesterday. I did not run today. I got a pain in the hiney yesterday that someone told me was "runner's butt". I thought it was "painter's butt" as in the last 2 days I have painted 1 bedroom and 1 hallway which involved 87 trips up and down the step ladder and the stairs into the garage. I have 1 more bedroom and about 22 miles of trim to paint still. Fortunately my butt feels much better.

I have avoided riding my bike since it got home from SOMA. I was SO excited to have my bike back and now I have to avert my eyes as I pass by it for fear it will spit on my feet. My bike avoidance behavior is a mystery to me but it happens. I am SO glad I didn't sign up for tomorrow's triathlon on-line because they are carrying on but without the swim and I got a report today that it was freezing cold and that the roads are so chewed up your teeth have rattled loose by the time you get to T2 T1 (the only T there is in this race).

At least I've remained faithful to this

Visit NaBloPoMo

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today I introduce you to the LOLinator . You can put in any URL and it LOLinates it.

Here is my blog LOLinated (click the kitty)

See what yours looks like - it's fun!

The Treasure Island Triathlon is still on but without the swim. I'm too tired to do it. I'm going for a bike ride and I'm going to run 5.5 as a tribute to Ryan Shay (wrong week!) tomorrow and Sunday I might just eat pancakes and read the paper all day. And paint and clean but you know... a girl can dream.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I had stated last week, rather emphatcially that I was done with triathlon for the season - and I meant it. Except I was sort of maybe thinking I'd do this sprint distance race on Sunday. It just seemed like it might be nice to end the season some other way than coming in 9 out of 9 in my age group and this was sure to be a great event because it's put on by the same people who do Wildflower. It is the same sort of 3 day extravaganza with packet pickup and an Expo on Friday, a longer race on Saturday that is part of the Wall to Wall Series and includes pro athletes, and a shorter distance race Sunday. Fun, fun!

Then I wasn't sure I really wanted to toss my retirement for the season but I figured I could sign up on-site on Saturday if I felt so moved when I went to watch some other women in my team race the Olympic distance event.

Then a big container ship scraped up against the Bay Bridge and dumped 58,000 gallons of fuel in the bay. That's a lot of nasty, oily, volatile fuel. It is washing up on the shore over in the western most parts of the Bay and in Marin and fouling everything. TriCal is still hopeful that this muck will stay out of the little Treasure Island cove the swim is being held in (which is east of the original spill) but I wouldn't go in that water right now. I have no use for a duathlon which is probably what the race will turn in to so it's off for me and I'm glad. I've done 12 events this year and I have a 5K still on the schedule for an even 13 and that's enough. Or maybe I'll need one more to make it an even number but if so it will probably be a 5K or a 10K or a thumb twiddling contest.

I'm heart broken about the fuel spill, though. Those things tend to foul up the marine life for a long time and that's not good. Not good at all.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Today I had my final test for my heart - a treadmill stress test with an echo cardiogram. This was good as it took care of my daily run (which I missed yesterday - drat!)

I guess I wasn't supposed to go swim 2500 yards before I took the test but oh well... I had and we just had to deal.

There is something important they don't tell you about these treadmill tests. Something that cannot be true if you are doing a V02 max test at a sports clinic. Something that would ONLY happen in a doctor's office when they are doing the test for the purpose of ruling out a disease condition.

They made me run on a treadmill with no bra. NO BRA!

It was a first for me, running along with the twins bouncing like a pair of bobble heads in a car's back window. Now I happen to be fairly flat chested so it wasn't a huge deal but I looked at the tech and said, "How in the world does this work if you are a C cup?" The mind boggles - more than the boobs did.

They start the treadmill out kind of slow but on an incline. Every 3 minutes they up the speed and the pitch. By the 4th increase I wasn't running as fast as I could but I was holding on to the bar for dear life lest I go tumbling backward ass over tea kettle. Not fun. She finally told me I was at 100% (of what I have no idea) and asked me if I'd had enough. I said if it was 100% for her it was good enough for me. My heartrate was at 170 and I know I can push it higher but I was ready to stop. I had to exit the treadmill and wobble over to the examining table and lie on my side as fast a possible so they could get another echo shot. I had visions of me twirling and pitching, knocking over aluminum trays and causing computers to crash to the ground but it didn't happen - I made it.

Conclusion - I have no problems. None. I got back my blood work and my cholesterol is great in all the right places. I am one healthy specimen and for that I am quite grateful. It makes celebrating life through athletic competition seem a whole lot less insane and I feel safe now - completely safe. I'm also just rocking my bra - it never felt so good.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

I have a new blog in my blogroll - 15 Mintue Lunch. This guy is hsyterical. He took us all back in time for a walk through the JC Penny Catalog recently and his post was such a hit his readership has gone through the roof.

You may have had this sent to you in email lately. You may or may not have gotten a version that gave credit to the author. So here it is - the funniest blog post I've read in a long, long time. Enjoy!

I would so love to reward him with a donation but alas, I still have no job. I did vote for him over here, though.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After virtually witnessing Runner Susan blaze a trail through 4 boroughs of New York covering 26.2 miles in 5 hours I've decided that I need to get on that 'run every day for x days' plan. I am training for the Bah Humbug 5K on Dec 1 so I don't exactly have 30 days but I'm going to use all the days I have to pump up the jam with my running.

So far I'm 2 for 2 (I just came up with this plan yesterday) I'm hoping for a sub 29 minute race.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

IM FL '08 is sold out - I looked. I have no idea when it sold out but probably long before I looked.

I decided after SOMA that there was no way I was going to do IM FL '08 even though TriMama had tried to tempt me to join their team. Then I spoke with IronMomJenny this morning and she told me about how they were going to do it and for a second I thought "I should be there". I let the moment pass.

So then I looked - and was really glad that I had let that opportunity go by because I'm not ready to train for an IM - I'm really not. Not even one where a team would stick by my side. I've stepped up to a 70.3 and that is quite enough, thank you.

Congratulations to Jenny, defending #1 Athena at IM FL.

** update

Aw shucks - I'm following Runner Susan and David as they run the NYC marathon and they are definitely sticking together. I hope they are having fun!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Dear NA Sports,

Your IM FL coverage BLOWS CHUNKS! I am trying to see what is going on and all you offer is live streaming of a back street with the message 'be right back'. You aren't showing any bike splits. I AM TRYING TO KEEP TABS ON MY FRIEND JENNY! How the hell can I do that when you are being so lazy?

The athletes in this race paid the same money as all the other races. What's up with the craptastic coverage?

Sincerely,
21stCM

ps to my readers - Jenny had a great swim pulling 1:49/100 meters. Same as last year. SMOKIN'!

**Update - now we have reasonable video of the commentators and staticy, impossible to hear audio. (9:00 AM PST)
**Update 2 - they are showing bike splits and our girl Jenny is scareeemin' fast! Go Jenny!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 07:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

My bike came home! Thank you FedEx for doing a fine, fine job and getting it there and back in one piece. Thank you to Momo for helping me pack it up and for being there when FedEx came to get it. It's all back together and I plan on going for a nice ride this weekend. The only bad news is that the aero bars DPR gave me don't fit my fat handle bars.

In other news - look at this:

That's right - I'm all in! I polled some women from my race club who have done this race and who have ridden with me and no one said, "are you kidding me. YOU can't do THAT!" In fact they all said, "this is a GREAT event - do it!" So I signed up myself and IronMomJenny who is coming to do it with me. It will be my first half Ironman distance race. Anyone else out there doing it??

Speaking of Jenny - GO JENNY GO! She is racing IM FL tomorrow, naughty ticker and all so think good thoughts for her!

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I am a graduate of Hampshire College. Hampshire is an alternative institution that was hatched in the late 60s when creating alternative institutions of higher learning was all the rage. If you think Hampshire College = underwater basket weaving please take note that Ken Burns of The Civil War series and the more recent The War series (as well as Baseball and Jazz) is a Hampshire graduate as is John Krakauer of IntoThin Air and Into the Wild fame. There are others but I digress.

Hampshire is so alternative that they did away with the Freshman - Senior structure and replaced it with Divisions I, II and III. Division I is your liberal arts training where you have to demonstrate that you understand how the pros go about learning new things and creating new art. Division II is a multi-disciplinary concentration (sort of like a major on steroids) and Division III is basically a Senior Thesis. It's a great way to go except for the part where you have to really learn about stuff you are not comfortable with. The arty types have to really learn some science and the science geeks have to really learn about the social sciences and in the mid 70s we all had to learn about something called 'Language and Communication'. Now that might not sound so obscure now but this version of L&C had to do not with mass media and marketing, but rather with the intersection of anthropology, language acquisition and computer programming. It exists but I'll leave that explanation for some other time. Suffice it to say that it was so obscure they don't even have it any more - they have something else.

To get out of Division I you have to do some sort of project or write a paper for each of 4 schools (Natural Science, Humanities and Arts, Social Sciences and the dreaded L&C). At that time a couple named Allen and Beatrice Gardner who were psychologists at the University of Nevada in Reno (Washoe County) decided to teach their chimp, Washoe how to communicate with sign language. They actually began this study in 1967 so there was some data. My job was to figure out if Washoe was learning language or just acting like a monkey.

I spent a few weeks reading stuff and I wrote a paper and took it to the professor who read it and said, "this is a book report. This won't do at all. I need you to tell me if that chimp has language or if she's just aping her trainers". I gave him a blank stare. He handed me some books by Noam Chomsky (who was a linguist before he became a political writer and speaker) that gave the intimate details of language acquisition zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............................

Not that language acquisition isn't interesting. It is. A vast majority of children who speak English come up with the word 'pasgetti' before they can say 'spaghetti'. Most kids will say "Me want that - mine!" before they learn to say "I want that and if you don't give it me I'll bite you" . If you look at it from that perspective it is interesting. French speaking kids have a French version of that and German speaking kids have a German version of that and so on and so forth. How you quantify and describe that is not so interesting.

I spent a month slogging through these books trying to be a language acquisition scholar. Then I had to re-read all the papers on what Washoe could and couldn't do and how her signing was measured and how reliable and repeatable it was and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................ Then I had to make my case. I think KoKo the ape was starting to learn sign language then so I studied her, too. I got through it. I came up with something. I think I decided they had limited language and that they really did know some words for some things but had no ability to expand on that. I passed my Division I L&C exam - Yay!

Washoe died today. She was 42 years old and had 3 offspring to whom she taught some limited amount of sign language. She was a shoe freak and is widely reported as insisting you show her your new shoes. I sort of feel like I've lost a long time acquaintance and I can't help wondering if she would have gone ape over Runner Susan's shiny red boots. I'm pretty sure she would have.

Posted by 21st Century Mom at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)