Bats!

Bats create vortexes to stay afloat - http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080228/full/news.2008.633.html - I love how much we don't know about how animals do what they do. Apparently this is how bugs do it too which is why bats developed this way to fly too - Life is cool.

Stupid Snowplow Drivers

At least I know the snow plow drivers still have an effin sense of humor.

So I live on a street that is inbetween a couple of more traveled streets, so quite often, it gets overlooked by our local snow crew. BUT NOT TODAY. Today is snowed a couple of inches and I guess they decided to take some sort of sick twisted pity on our street and did an EXTRA good job of plowing today - which means that all that packed down snow from the past few weeks (all nice and heavy and icy) also got plowed, so when I came home there was a big ole' berm at the end of my drive. I had to shovel for an hour before I could actually pull into my driveway. And you know the drivers sorta giggled as they drove by, because they could see the size of that sucker (a few feet, not the worst they have done, but still not driveoverable).

Bob Seger Status Message 2:12pm

Sometimes at night, I see their faces, I feel the traces they've left on my soul. Those are the memories that makes me a wealthy soul.

Bob Seger - you are wise wise man. I was thinking about this today - the people I have met, those that I have been in relationships with and how those interactions have changed my life. I am not saying that all those relationships have been good or healthy, but the fact that I got to go and have them and (eventually) learn from them I think really does make me a better me.

Every once in a while I meet or see someone and there is something about them that tells me there is something I am going to learn from that person and that I should try and meet them. It may not be a big things or important things, but there is something that I need to get out of that interaction. It is a weird feeling and I feel very anxious and sometimes it never happens and I am left with that what if feeling - what did I miss by NOT having that interaction.

Status Message 11:34 am

People tell me to keep on dreaming. That is just what I'm gonna do.

Great quote on Debt

They end up with big credit bills for good reasons--medical bills, a move, a lost job, helping out a child--and not because they're living the champagne lifestyle on a beer salary.

Status Message 12:56pm

And you never know 'til you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb.

There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.

(from Avenue Q)

Status Message 8:00 am

Plans every night this week, apparently the phrase no sleep for the wicked applies...

Quotes from the Tick

Destiny dressed you this morning my friend, and now fear is trying to pull down your pants. If you give up, if you give in, then you are gonna end up naked with fear just standing there laughing at your unmentionables.

How did you find me - I just walked around and yelled a lot.

That is just icky times infinity

Does it really matter - Does it really anti-matter

Every time I see her I feel like I am putting on the toupee - a full body toupee!

You are on a first name basis with lucidity - I have to call him Mr Lucidity!

She makes 5.25 per hour, she can't afford to be nefarious

Arthur: "Apparently super heros are just a bunch of egotistical, self-centered, sexually frustrated kindergartners. No offense intended."
The Tick: "None comprehended."

Status Message 10:34 pm

Does anyone have any elephant remover? I seem to have one sitting atop of my sinuses.

Status Message 3:10 pm

World - I give up today - See the white flag - isn't it against some convention to keep coming after me when I have already surrendered?

Status Message 1:15pm

Dear Static Charge - I am already not feeling well and having a bad day. You are just trying to push me over the edge, aren't you.

Status Message 11:31 am

I am so freaking tired of getting yelled at for doing what I am asked to do.

Status Message 8:02 am

Sometimes even I get tired of the dating games. I swear boys just love to be riddles, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma and I don't have the damn cypher.

A letter to my legs

Dear Legs,

I am sorry I have ignored you the past few weeks. There was a new boy that I am trying to woo and although I know that really isn't a proper excuse, it is what happened and I am so sorry. I know you have been pretty good to me (unlike those ungrateful feet). If you could find it in your heart (well technically our heart) please forgive me and make the next few weeks less torture than I am expecting them to be. I promise to take hot Epsom salt baths and do all the extra stretching I am supposed to, if only you won't be too cruel to me.

Begging you on bended knee,

Lana


P.S. Ungrateful Feet - I just bought you new shoes - bribery works doesn't it?

Status Message 6:11 pm

Gmail: They CAUGHT ME! I will be doing my civic duty starting March 24th. Funny enough I already have that day off work :P

Everyone else: Lunar Eclipse tonight! 8:45-midnight, Peak at 10-10:15, Full Moon, clear sky, last time to see a total lunar eclipse in Michigan until 2010! Go out and see it people!

Status Message 12:00pm

Dear Body, you need more than 5 hours of sleep a night, no matter when you actually go to sleep. Please get with the program. Hugs and Kisses, Lana's brain.

What a weekend...

Well ths isn;t that exciting of a weekend, but a quick summary:

Friday: Dinner with Katie D then off to Vinology for a delicious glass of wine and then home again. SO exhausted from this past week.

Saturday: Up with the dawn (or when the heat turns on) and it is time to clean the office! Got all the crap out, much filing and going through of stuff. I went through my postcard collection (I need to start that up again, but for some reason in the US, using post cards as advertising is not as big as it was in Australia - or maybe it is just metro-Detroit. Good thing I'm heading to Chicago next week. Then I cleaned some more, reorganized the graphic novels, and realized that i have a TON of prints that I really should put up since they are so cool. Then my finally showered and headed to the bike shop with my friend Jenn and then off to WinterBlast - SO cool. Got to make smores, watch snowshoeing, check out the nifty ice sculptures, the spirit of Detroit, dog sledding, people waiting in INSANELY long lines for the snow slide and skating, and then finally dinner at the Detroit Brewing Company (yummy frambois) . Best Part - I didn't even have to drive!!

Sunday: Woke up early again (How come I can't do that during the week?) and did a bit of cleaning, but mostly vegging and watching DVD's - watched Antonia's Line which was AMAZING, some hockey, made a list of all the size frames I would need and went to Michaels to get some - better than custom framing, but still sorta expensive, but my house is gonna look SO much better with all the prints up. ESP the Eames Lounge Chair print on special Eames paper which will hold the spot in my living room until I can get one of the real chairs for myself (in like 30 years). Then putting the pictures in the frames, and figuring out where all of them are going to go - I'm playing the pictures version of 'musical chairs' right now. This afternoon's goal is to finish up in the office - I have a TON of stuff to put away that is currently chilling in the office, but if I want to have people over, that will need to be taken care of tonight (or maybe tomorrow). And finish up this icky report for work.

God, I'm an old boring fart sometimes :)

When Regular Carb Loading Just Isn't Enough...

So tonight was groundhog's night and since it is a holiday we party (or so I have been informed). After a fairly decent workout, I showered, grooved to 100.3's Flashback weekend and scooted over to Libby's. I hadn't had time yet for dinner and neither did some of the people at the party, so we ordered food ONLINE from NYPD (I was not aware you could order food from there online but I am SO in in the future) and since I am racing tomorrow, I though that some good pasta was in order. They group also ordered some pizzas and garlic knots and what not. So after I had eaten some pasta, I decided a little half slice of pizza was in order and at the same time someone opened up one of the packages of garlic knots. So I had a slice in one hand and a garlic knot in the other and I had a delemma - how can I keep eating pasta and drinking beer if my hands were full. First I requested a straw, but there was none to be found. Luckily one of the people at the party was able to help me out by both feeding me pasta and beer while I also had my pizza and garlic. I am so glad that friends are so supportive of my racing that they would be so caring as to make sure I got as much carbs as one person could handle. I'm just lucky that way.

Water Bottles - An Adult Sippy Cup

As I was coughing up a lung last night I had an epiphany about a few things. 1) Excedrin might be great for getting rid of my headaches, but the caffeine is not good late at night 2) a nap in the middle of the day will keep me up at night 3) these two things together are dangerous and cause me to sleep weird and 4) all a bike water bottle is is an adult sippy cup - whenever I want a glass of water, but I fear my clumsiness, I just use a bike bottle. Great for when those cold meds make you a bit loopy. I couldn't fall asleep until 2 am and I was WIDE awake by 7:30 am. Which was good because I learned how to caramelize onions (which takes forever) and made quite a decent scramble. After spending all day cleaning my room (I banish you dust bunnies to the vacuum!) I decided I should be a good minion and get my training done for the day - some arm cycling to loosen up, the whole evil workout and then home for some quality time on the trainer. After trainer time (during which I IMed - bet you didn't know you could balance your lap top on your aero bars.... well sorta) I got to my favorite part, stretching. My trainer gave me this great new stretch, which really helps with my hamstring, but it takes 6 minutes on each side. Since I was so engrossed with my IMing, I decided some multi-tasking was in order. And that I should share that with all of you. What you can't quite see is that my other leg is stretched out along the floor, for that extra deep super hami stretch. I couldn't reach a pillow without getting up, but the shoe box worked perfectly - bet you didn't know they were also usefuly for super pillows!

Urban Skiing - or - Enjoying Myself on the Backs of Other People's Lazyness

So it snowed today - in such a potentially dangerous way that we all decided to give ourselves a 3 day weekend :) That being said, it didn't really snow much - not the snowpocalypse that we were all promised, but it was snowy enough for one of my favorite winter training - cross country skiing! And since the city of Ann Arbor decides to be really lazy snow plowing on days that the kiddies don't have school, the roads were delightfully snow covered. Additionally, since most sane people also stayed home, and by home I mean IN the home, the sidewalks were also snow covered. What did this all mean - it meant instead of running to the mail box and getting some miles in for the USAT challenge, I instead skied there. It doesn't count for miles, but it was a LOT more fun. I encourage most people to shovel in the middle of snow storms so there is just that dusting on the sidewalks - makes for great urban skiing!