Reporting live from the RiverMarket...
So tonight I must get to bed early. There's a lot to do tomorrow, but I decided to venture out to the river to see what festivities might be taking place tonight. Under the rivermarket pavilions, they are having some kind of Power 92 Jams Skate Party. Everybody is out there with their old school skates showing off some skills. Very unexpected.
Yesterday, I officially turned my apartment into a microbrewery. I've had a Belgian Ale fermented and bottled for a few weeks now. It should be ready any day now, and I plan on cracking one open tomorrow after the race. A few weeks ago, I picked up some muscadine from my friend's dad. He has a small vineyard bigger than 4 or 5 people's gardens. Well, I finally got around to crushing them up. I had to hurry up and do it or else my roommate was going to eat all 30 pounds of them (They taste like candy). My roommate and I actually ended up crushing them by hand. We found that just getting down in there was easier than using a potato smasher or any other method we could think of. Then, for the next step. I had no idea what to do next. I added too much water, forgot about the sugar, had to take some water and a few muscadine out, then put the sugar in. The end result looks like something that would turn into wine, but we can only hope.
I decided that while I was at it, I might as well put another batch of beer in the fermenter, so I went through that whole process. I started all of this at 7 PM and it was 1 AM before I had everything cleaned up. So now I have 5 gallons of beer and wine fermenting and 4 gallons of beer bottled and ready to go When I woke up this morning, our entire apartment complex smelled like a brewery. It was delicious.
Well, I better go. My friend just arrived back at my apartment. We've got to get up early tomorrow for the Big Dam Bridge 100 miler. I'm mostly prepared for it. If you live anywhere around Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Mayflower, Conway, or Hwy 89 lookout tomorrow because a lot of cyclist are coming your way.
Alright, I've gotta go fix a flat. I just found it as I was heading out the door to the River. I hit a bad pothole Wednesday on the River Trail. I'm pretty sure it's the one on the North Little Rock trail down close to Dickey Stevens Ballpark. When I hit it, I figured it was going to cause a flat. At least I found it tonight and not tomorrow on my ride.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
BeaverFork Tri
It was a perfect weekend, well except Saturday which was a little crazy, but Sunday was gorgeous and that's all that mattered. It was the day of the Conway Sprint Tri.
Every time I do this event, it's a completely new experience. I focus hard on what I lacked the time before. It all starts with the swim. Arms and legs everywhere all tangled up. You can feel the current in the water from all of the bodies swimming in the same direction and you begin to understand why fish swim this way. My swim was the strongest swim I have put together of all of my 3 sprint Tri's, however it wasn't flawless. On the first leg I caught 2 big mouthfulls of water. We were churning the water enough to make white caps which makes it harder to breathe when you come up for air only to get splashed by a wave. This must have kicked up my adrenaline a notch because I ended up swimming faster than my breathing rhythm, but the reason I liked my swim was when I finally reached shore I wasn't wore out at all. I had plenty of gas left in the tank.
The bike was a piece of cake. I was feeling really good at this point, actually too good, almost let down. I was cruising at about 19 mph. My heart rate was staying low and my breathing was normal. I know what you're thinking then, why not go faster if it was so easy? Well, I couldn't. My muscles were set to go at 19 mph. Any faster would have exponentially increased the amount of work that I would be doing and I wouldn't finish.
As I coasted back in to the transition area, I felt good about the energy that I had left, until I hopped off of my bike. Immediately, all my thoughts went from ease to panic. I was seriously doubting whether I would even finish. I had been racing right alongside a friend of mine. We had been going back and forth the whole race, and I just knew that I was going to blow up end finish 10 minutes behind him. My left shin felt like I had kicked a post at full swing. I couldn't build up any momentum at all. That feeling of being let down by the course. . . gone. So was my breath and I could not find it. This is the moment where it stops being about the physical activity and becomes 100% mental. You have to will your legs to keep kicking. Halfway through the run (1.6 miles), my friend, Jacob, had put about 50 yards between him and me, but I started to build some steam. It's something about running back that is so much easier than running away. My shin loosened up. I closed my eyes and found my Happy Place then opened them real quick when I realized I was running off of the road. I slowly picked up my pace the whole way back, but I never caught Jacob. He must have done the same. I finished in 1 hr 25.5 minutes. Jacob beat me by 1 minute. I can't complain though. My goal was to just beat 1.5 hours, but I was really aiming for 1hr 25 minutes so at least I hit my mark.
One thing that I promise, I will be more prepared for the next one. I know I always say that, but this time I am publicly declaring it so it will happen. Hopefully I will be able to do more events as well next year. As for what's left for this year, the Big Dam Bridge 100 mile Bike Tour is coming up in 2 weeks. I hope you'll be there. It's a lot of fun.
Tomorrow: Rest is over, resume training
Every time I do this event, it's a completely new experience. I focus hard on what I lacked the time before. It all starts with the swim. Arms and legs everywhere all tangled up. You can feel the current in the water from all of the bodies swimming in the same direction and you begin to understand why fish swim this way. My swim was the strongest swim I have put together of all of my 3 sprint Tri's, however it wasn't flawless. On the first leg I caught 2 big mouthfulls of water. We were churning the water enough to make white caps which makes it harder to breathe when you come up for air only to get splashed by a wave. This must have kicked up my adrenaline a notch because I ended up swimming faster than my breathing rhythm, but the reason I liked my swim was when I finally reached shore I wasn't wore out at all. I had plenty of gas left in the tank.
The bike was a piece of cake. I was feeling really good at this point, actually too good, almost let down. I was cruising at about 19 mph. My heart rate was staying low and my breathing was normal. I know what you're thinking then, why not go faster if it was so easy? Well, I couldn't. My muscles were set to go at 19 mph. Any faster would have exponentially increased the amount of work that I would be doing and I wouldn't finish.
As I coasted back in to the transition area, I felt good about the energy that I had left, until I hopped off of my bike. Immediately, all my thoughts went from ease to panic. I was seriously doubting whether I would even finish. I had been racing right alongside a friend of mine. We had been going back and forth the whole race, and I just knew that I was going to blow up end finish 10 minutes behind him. My left shin felt like I had kicked a post at full swing. I couldn't build up any momentum at all. That feeling of being let down by the course. . . gone. So was my breath and I could not find it. This is the moment where it stops being about the physical activity and becomes 100% mental. You have to will your legs to keep kicking. Halfway through the run (1.6 miles), my friend, Jacob, had put about 50 yards between him and me, but I started to build some steam. It's something about running back that is so much easier than running away. My shin loosened up. I closed my eyes and found my Happy Place then opened them real quick when I realized I was running off of the road. I slowly picked up my pace the whole way back, but I never caught Jacob. He must have done the same. I finished in 1 hr 25.5 minutes. Jacob beat me by 1 minute. I can't complain though. My goal was to just beat 1.5 hours, but I was really aiming for 1hr 25 minutes so at least I hit my mark.
One thing that I promise, I will be more prepared for the next one. I know I always say that, but this time I am publicly declaring it so it will happen. Hopefully I will be able to do more events as well next year. As for what's left for this year, the Big Dam Bridge 100 mile Bike Tour is coming up in 2 weeks. I hope you'll be there. It's a lot of fun.
Tomorrow: Rest is over, resume training
Monday, September 6, 2010
Movin' to the Rock
Long time no see. Things have been busy as always. First off, I should explain that I have been without the internet for a few weeks. I just made the big move from Conway to Little Rock. Guess that makes me city folk now. Obviously, I'm still having trouble blending in and looking civilized. I probably should start out by putting on a shirt and some shoes. We'll see.Shortly after my last post was the St. Joe Bazaar. For those who are unfamiliar, it is a school carnival. We put up all kinds of booths to win ham, bacon, cheese, goldfish, hats, and my personal specialty: dishes, glassware, and rabbits. Our booth, the dimetoss, always dresses up with some sort of theme. This year was "Cowboys and Indians." Dressing up as a cowboy would have been too easy, so I scoured Hobby Lobby for anything I could call Indian. I found some cheap leather and beads and whipped together an outfit. My elm tree had to sacrifice a low limb for the bow, but it didn't seem to mind.
In the meantime, I've been training hardcore for the CATS Sprint Triathlon. It's coming up this weekend. 500 meter swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run. Winning time is usually under 1 hour. I'm hoping to just break 1.5 hours. Wish me luck.
P.S.
I've been told that the ghost was actually urinating on me. I was in the bathroom when I took that picture. I thought I was standing in front of the sink, but actually I was standing in front of the urinal. Also, there is a strange bit of lightness where his ghostly extract would be coming from. . .
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The Haunted Hotel
If you are from Arkansas, you probably are somewhat familiar with the Haunted Hotel in Eureka Springs. It is the Crescent Hotel. It was my fate to end up there two weeks ago for my cousin's wedding.
At first, I wanted name this Title "The Not So Haunted Hotel" because, at first, I was extremely unimpressed with the "Hauntedness" of the hotel. The hotel was amazing by itself, but seemed to lack something very important to be "haunted" namely ghosts. I paced the halls all night long. Every floor I searched high and low. Every mirror, every window, every room was inspected for anything extraordinary. It seemed to be too well lit. No dark eerie hallways to make your hair stand straighter than a New Mexican Interstate. There were no creeky floors or banging pipes to make you hear things that aren't really there. The only thing that seemed to be possessed was the shower. The hot and cold water interchanged at will never meddling in the middle creating one of the worst experiences in my life.
The only sort of ghost that I caught was an orb, but orbs are just camera flash return so it doesn't really count. I did not sleep all night, afraid that I would miss a ghost. It d
idn't help that we were going to wake up at 3:45 to go fishing on Beaver Lake either so I figured it would be just as easy to stay awake all night. Like I said, I looked everywhere and took probably 200 pictures. I found a few strange things, but upon further inspection found that most were light "glowing" spots on the wall that were actual impurities left from where a painting use to hang, or light streeks caused from the reflection from other paintings or piano tops.
Upon further review, I did find one series of pictures that stood out. I actually noticed it when I took the picture, but I thought it was just my shadow. When I showed my aunt the picture, she freaked. She couldn't even look at it. I admit it is not rock solid evidence of a ghost. You may call it a "stretch," but isn't that what a picture of a ghost be anyway. I mean, if we could always touch and feel and see ghosts, then they would not be so mysterious would they? We would have all kinds of proof that they existed. So believe if you will or. . . don't. It's your choice.
PIC 1
PIC 2
PIC3 close up
Altered (what I see)
The higher the resolution of your monitor and the smaller the picture size, the clearer you can see it. You can clearly see what appears to be a well dressed man (or maybe a straight jacket) looking right at me. He has long enough hair that it hangs over his ears and he has a nice full beard and sideburns. You can see his arms folded in front of him touching me and even the worn out spot on his elbow.
I have included the three unaltered pictures along with one that is obviously altered that I sketched what I see. I hope you see it too!
At first, I wanted name this Title "The Not So Haunted Hotel" because, at first, I was extremely unimpressed with the "Hauntedness" of the hotel. The hotel was amazing by itself, but seemed to lack something very important to be "haunted" namely ghosts. I paced the halls all night long. Every floor I searched high and low. Every mirror, every window, every room was inspected for anything extraordinary. It seemed to be too well lit. No dark eerie hallways to make your hair stand straighter than a New Mexican Interstate. There were no creeky floors or banging pipes to make you hear things that aren't really there. The only thing that seemed to be possessed was the shower. The hot and cold water interchanged at will never meddling in the middle creating one of the worst experiences in my life.
The only sort of ghost that I caught was an orb, but orbs are just camera flash return so it doesn't really count. I did not sleep all night, afraid that I would miss a ghost. It d
idn't help that we were going to wake up at 3:45 to go fishing on Beaver Lake either so I figured it would be just as easy to stay awake all night. Like I said, I looked everywhere and took probably 200 pictures. I found a few strange things, but upon further inspection found that most were light "glowing" spots on the wall that were actual impurities left from where a painting use to hang, or light streeks caused from the reflection from other paintings or piano tops.Upon further review, I did find one series of pictures that stood out. I actually noticed it when I took the picture, but I thought it was just my shadow. When I showed my aunt the picture, she freaked. She couldn't even look at it. I admit it is not rock solid evidence of a ghost. You may call it a "stretch," but isn't that what a picture of a ghost be anyway. I mean, if we could always touch and feel and see ghosts, then they would not be so mysterious would they? We would have all kinds of proof that they existed. So believe if you will or. . . don't. It's your choice.
PIC 1
PIC 2
PIC3 close up
Altered (what I see)The higher the resolution of your monitor and the smaller the picture size, the clearer you can see it. You can clearly see what appears to be a well dressed man (or maybe a straight jacket) looking right at me. He has long enough hair that it hangs over his ears and he has a nice full beard and sideburns. You can see his arms folded in front of him touching me and even the worn out spot on his elbow.
I have included the three unaltered pictures along with one that is obviously altered that I sketched what I see. I hope you see it too!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Go Cubs Go
Time to catch up. It appears that I actually do have 1 reader out there, but that's still unconfirmed. They might have come in from Tim From Little Rock's Blog. If you don't know who that is you should check it out.
Last weekend we went to Chicago. I've been to Chicago probably 3 times now so this was not my first time. It was also my 4th Cubs game. I think this makes 3 in Wrigley and one at Cynergy Stadium however you spell it in Cincinnati, but I had never seen the Cubs win. It was 9 guys who made the pilgrimage for my buddy's bachelor party. We met a local at the Green Door who was a Cubs fan. He asked if we all had tickets so we said that 4 of us still hadn't. He went out to his car and came back with 4 tickets that he gave us for free. (face value $100 apiece) Then he tried to pay for our $100 tab at the bar! Q.E.D.: Cubs fans are the greatest fans there are.
I thought I would have pictures by now that I could post, but they have yet to surface. We had a crazy time in Chicago. The Cubs spanked the Phillies. We saw 5 home runs (3 by the Cubs) and they guy behind us made Cubs hats out of animal balloon balloons for us so we were in heaven.
One thing that was odd was the Cubby Bear was out of Leinenkugels. They didn't even have PBR or Old Style! How does a Cubs bar not have Old Style? It just doesn't seem right.
I wish I had more time, but I'm tired and have to go. I'll try and post some more pictures tomorrow.
Last weekend we went to Chicago. I've been to Chicago probably 3 times now so this was not my first time. It was also my 4th Cubs game. I think this makes 3 in Wrigley and one at Cynergy Stadium however you spell it in Cincinnati, but I had never seen the Cubs win. It was 9 guys who made the pilgrimage for my buddy's bachelor party. We met a local at the Green Door who was a Cubs fan. He asked if we all had tickets so we said that 4 of us still hadn't. He went out to his car and came back with 4 tickets that he gave us for free. (face value $100 apiece) Then he tried to pay for our $100 tab at the bar! Q.E.D.: Cubs fans are the greatest fans there are.
I thought I would have pictures by now that I could post, but they have yet to surface. We had a crazy time in Chicago. The Cubs spanked the Phillies. We saw 5 home runs (3 by the Cubs) and they guy behind us made Cubs hats out of animal balloon balloons for us so we were in heaven.
One thing that was odd was the Cubby Bear was out of Leinenkugels. They didn't even have PBR or Old Style! How does a Cubs bar not have Old Style? It just doesn't seem right.
I wish I had more time, but I'm tired and have to go. I'll try and post some more pictures tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Goat Roast
This weekend I roasted a goat. Apparently people look at you funny when you tell them that. I don't fully understand what the difference goat meat is from any other meat, but apparently not a lot of people eat goat. It was surprisingly good as we had no real idea what we were doing. I wanted to roast it with a spit all day. This is not something that I have ever done with any type of animal so it was a totally new experience.
Materials: 1 Goat, lemons, rosemary, onions, garlic, potatoes, and mushrooms.
After we cleaned the goat, we rubbed him down with lemon juice and rosemary and garlic and fixed him to the spit. Then we stuffed him with the vegetables and sewed him back up with wire and placed him over the coals. Drink beer and rotate every 20 minutes (or 40 on accident) and take off when the inside temperature of the meat reaches 150 degrees which worked out to be about 5 hours. We started cleaning the goat at 10 AM, put him over the coals at noon and pulled him off around 5:15 PM.
The potatoes didn't seem to cook though, so we pulled all of the vegetables out when we were cutting the meat off the bone and we threw them into a pot with some chunks of meat and made goat stew. In my opinion that was the best part.
The Cubs actually won the day of the roast. This is obviously proof that we reversed the Curse of the Billy Goat so everybody get ready the Cubs will win the World Series this year. Speaking of baseball, Jose Conseco boxed Gary Hogan this weekend at the Arkansas Travelers game. It was awesome. Hogan fought like a champ. It was great to see Jose Conseco. He is still huge. I did my part and boo-birded him. I'm pretty sure that if he wanted to he could snap somebody's back in half. That guy is solid.
Well next weekend I'm headed to Chicago. We're going to a Cub's game as a bachelor party for my friend. It's gonna be great hopefully, I'll fill you in with the details. This will be bachelor party #2 for this summer, and like the 4th wedding and I still have more to go...
Materials: 1 Goat, lemons, rosemary, onions, garlic, potatoes, and mushrooms.
After we cleaned the goat, we rubbed him down with lemon juice and rosemary and garlic and fixed him to the spit. Then we stuffed him with the vegetables and sewed him back up with wire and placed him over the coals. Drink beer and rotate every 20 minutes (or 40 on accident) and take off when the inside temperature of the meat reaches 150 degrees which worked out to be about 5 hours. We started cleaning the goat at 10 AM, put him over the coals at noon and pulled him off around 5:15 PM.
The potatoes didn't seem to cook though, so we pulled all of the vegetables out when we were cutting the meat off the bone and we threw them into a pot with some chunks of meat and made goat stew. In my opinion that was the best part.
The Cubs actually won the day of the roast. This is obviously proof that we reversed the Curse of the Billy Goat so everybody get ready the Cubs will win the World Series this year. Speaking of baseball, Jose Conseco boxed Gary Hogan this weekend at the Arkansas Travelers game. It was awesome. Hogan fought like a champ. It was great to see Jose Conseco. He is still huge. I did my part and boo-birded him. I'm pretty sure that if he wanted to he could snap somebody's back in half. That guy is solid.
Well next weekend I'm headed to Chicago. We're going to a Cub's game as a bachelor party for my friend. It's gonna be great hopefully, I'll fill you in with the details. This will be bachelor party #2 for this summer, and like the 4th wedding and I still have more to go...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Where Did May Go?
Wow! May flew by. Things got a little busy around here. Way too many tornadoes for my liking. A couple of weekends ago I heard tornado sirens going off for 24 hours straight. I heard them all night in Little Rock and then all the next day in Memphis while helping my cousin move there from Kentucky.
2 weekends ago, I went to the Buffalo River. The Buffalo River is one of those places that is mandatory for any good Arkansan to experience in their lifetime. It seems like every summer there is always a good excuse to head up that way at least a couple of times. This time, it was with my Boy Scout Troop. We took the boys up to Buffalo Point, which is down river a few miles from Gilbert. We put in at I believe the Highway 14 bridge and floated down to Rush. The water was a little slow and shallow, but perfect for the new scouts to learn on. . . and perfect for me to test out my new kayak. I learned that I'm going to have to start doing some yoga or something because my legs were falling asleep the entire time.
As promised (to make up for driving so much lately), I did Mother Earth a favor last week and I plan on doing it more often. Last week was Bike to Work Week so I rode my bike part of the way in to work 3 days last week. I can't really ride the whole way as I live 40 miles away, but I was able to cut off 10 miles both ways by parking at the Big Dam Bridge. Now this took a lot of thought whether or not I was going to do this or not. It wasn't because I didn't want to inconvenience myself, it is because of the location of my work. My work happens to be located at the corner of Roosevelt and Asher in Little Rock. It's in part of town where your parents tell you not to even stop at stop lights, just keep rolling. I've been working there for 6 or 7 months now and I have found that it really isn't that bad. I mean, every month it seems somebody gets shot, but for the most part the people seem to be well... people. Really, the problem wasn't even that. I had already decided that it was worth risking life and limb to save the environment. It was my coworkers and superiors that had a problem with it. I had ridden in to work a couple weeks before and they strongly suggested that I never did it again. My boss was really uneasy about the thought of me riding in. Then, 2 days later, I had some bad chicken and called in sick kind of late one morning. Apparently, they had freaked out because they thought I was laying in the ditch somewhere. I didn't want them freaking out on me every time I showed up a little late (We are kind of on flex time. Most people show up at 8 and leave at 4:30, but it's no problem to come in at 9 or 10 even and just stay late). I didn't really want to have to put up with them being so worried, but after all this BP stuff, I decided that this was more important than anything I was dealing with so I did it. I don't know how bad this spill is going to end up. I don't know what impact it will have on the environment or the economy of the Gulf, but I do know that I, along with all of you, share the blood that will be payed for it. Every animal and plant killed. Every dollar in revenue and wages lost from the people that live in the Gulf, we are all held accountable for it all. Sure BP slipped up, but they are just reacting to the market, and the market can only be changed by one person, you. It all starts with yourself. That is why I knew that I had to get out there and bike no matter, and I plan to bike to work more and more days this summer, and I challenge you to do the same. Don't do it because you will be healthier and have more energy. Do it for our future.
2 weekends ago, I went to the Buffalo River. The Buffalo River is one of those places that is mandatory for any good Arkansan to experience in their lifetime. It seems like every summer there is always a good excuse to head up that way at least a couple of times. This time, it was with my Boy Scout Troop. We took the boys up to Buffalo Point, which is down river a few miles from Gilbert. We put in at I believe the Highway 14 bridge and floated down to Rush. The water was a little slow and shallow, but perfect for the new scouts to learn on. . . and perfect for me to test out my new kayak. I learned that I'm going to have to start doing some yoga or something because my legs were falling asleep the entire time.
As promised (to make up for driving so much lately), I did Mother Earth a favor last week and I plan on doing it more often. Last week was Bike to Work Week so I rode my bike part of the way in to work 3 days last week. I can't really ride the whole way as I live 40 miles away, but I was able to cut off 10 miles both ways by parking at the Big Dam Bridge. Now this took a lot of thought whether or not I was going to do this or not. It wasn't because I didn't want to inconvenience myself, it is because of the location of my work. My work happens to be located at the corner of Roosevelt and Asher in Little Rock. It's in part of town where your parents tell you not to even stop at stop lights, just keep rolling. I've been working there for 6 or 7 months now and I have found that it really isn't that bad. I mean, every month it seems somebody gets shot, but for the most part the people seem to be well... people. Really, the problem wasn't even that. I had already decided that it was worth risking life and limb to save the environment. It was my coworkers and superiors that had a problem with it. I had ridden in to work a couple weeks before and they strongly suggested that I never did it again. My boss was really uneasy about the thought of me riding in. Then, 2 days later, I had some bad chicken and called in sick kind of late one morning. Apparently, they had freaked out because they thought I was laying in the ditch somewhere. I didn't want them freaking out on me every time I showed up a little late (We are kind of on flex time. Most people show up at 8 and leave at 4:30, but it's no problem to come in at 9 or 10 even and just stay late). I didn't really want to have to put up with them being so worried, but after all this BP stuff, I decided that this was more important than anything I was dealing with so I did it. I don't know how bad this spill is going to end up. I don't know what impact it will have on the environment or the economy of the Gulf, but I do know that I, along with all of you, share the blood that will be payed for it. Every animal and plant killed. Every dollar in revenue and wages lost from the people that live in the Gulf, we are all held accountable for it all. Sure BP slipped up, but they are just reacting to the market, and the market can only be changed by one person, you. It all starts with yourself. That is why I knew that I had to get out there and bike no matter, and I plan to bike to work more and more days this summer, and I challenge you to do the same. Don't do it because you will be healthier and have more energy. Do it for our future.
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