Saving Grace

I've just finished watching Saving Grace (2000) a very fun and funny film. I've listed the plot synopsis below. It was a nice way to end a busy day. The carpets in my apartment were 'cleaned' today, so the dogs and I had to spend the day out and about leaving the carpet to dry. Went and got my allergy shots, no reaction today, then another appointment, and then we spent the afternoon working at Diane's house. Llelo was bored and restless and Gus was a little bothered by not having his duck to suck on. We headed home around 5 only to discover the floors were still rather damp, too damp to walk around stocking footed, and the dirty high traffic areas were still quite dirty. How does that work, bring someone in to clean the carpets and be left with wet *and* dirty carpets?!? I don't want to return the furniture to their proper places while the floor is still damp so there is no place to sit. After a simple supper in the kitchen, eaten standing over the sink, the dogs and I have camped out on the king sized bed to watch Saving Grace on the laptop. I watched the movie and the boys, having missed their morning, mid-morning, mid-day, early afternoon, and late afternoon naps sacked out on the bed next to me. I think it's time for me to hit the sack, too, have paddling in the morning.


From Netflix:
Newly widowed Grace finds herself in financial ruin when she discovers that her dearly departed husband has left her deep in debt from his failed get-rich-quick schemes. With the help of her gardener, Matt, Grace turns her green thumb to growing pot, and soon, everyone in her small English town is getting high on more than life.

A Period of Darkness

I had a good, hard paddle with the 50+ guys Tuesday night, just over 9 miles. It was just four of us, Doug, Ed, me, and Clem steering. Another beautiful night, it was still light when we slipped the boat into the water. And for a surprisingly long time afterward parts of the sky seemed to remain illuminated as if from some other worldly light, back lit almost.

We went over to Kirkland as we did last week and then south towards the 520 bridge. It was down near the bridge just as we were beginning to turn back towards home that I was hit with the realization that it was this time last year that I last saw my mother alive, was really able to interact with her. It was really hard to keep paddling, I was barely able to keep count and call the changes while the tears streamed down my face and the ache of grief clenched my heart. I did keep paddling and with only one exception was able to keep calling the changes. That one time Ed, sitting directly in front of me, was the only one who heard me and he called the change again so the others would hear it. A while later, perhaps 5 minutes or so, the wind we created by paddling so hard had dried my tears and my grief powered down some for the time being.

We finished our paddle, got the boat put away and I felt as though I'd gone much further than our 9.1 miles. It was definitely time to go home, shower up, eat supper, go to bed early. If that night is any indication I guess I can expect the next month to be an emotional roller coaster.

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Our Wednesday night paddle was a good workout. We had a full boat, a nice change for a Wednesday night. We sat Minnie, Ernie, Nancy, me, Dave, and Neil steering. Nearly 15 minutes into the workout Alan cruised up alongside in his spiffy new OC1 and gave us some coaching tips. I love being coached, I want to improve and being left to my own devices so much of the time I'm not sure whether I'm developing bad habits that need to be broken.

On the left side I was feeling really good, smooth, rotating properly, entering and exiting the water nicely. On the right side, not so much. My timing was good, it just didn't feel as good on the right, it didn't have the same flow as the left side. I was having to think about it more. I think that was my problem. I need to work the right side to the point where it just happens, without having to think about it. Alan was saying with outrigger it's 90% mental and the other half is physical. I think I've got some work to do...

Probiotics

You may remember that I have been in hard fought battle with a sinus infection, two weeks on one type of antibiotic and overlapping three weeks on another. Being on such doses of antibiotics will generally behave in an unfriendly manner towards the friendly flora that inhabits one's gastrointestinal system. My gut flora gave it a good fight but as of Sunday the very last one was dead, dead, dead. And it was making me rather unhappy. Monday after work I went to Whole Foods to stock up on some new probiotics, acidophilus and that type of thing. Probiotic is a general term encompassing all those helpful bacteria. You can get them from any number of sources, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, saurkraut, miso paste, pretty much any naturally fermented foods that have not had their helpful bacteria strained off. Dannon has jumped on the bandwagon with their Activia yogurt; I prefer the less processed probiotics, though. I got two types in capsule form, four bottles of kefir, a quart and eight cups of yogurt, they even have little probiotic candy bars called attune (got three of those, too). As I was walking to the check out area of the store I happened past the beer cooler. I saw a clerk and asked if, by any chance, beer could be considered a probiotic? She smiled and said, I wish!

My wallet considerably lighter, I was shopping at Whole Paycheck after all, and I was on my way. I broke into a attune bar during the drive home (pretty tasty), had a couple capsules, a yogurt cup and glass of kefir once I got home and again after supper. I was wondering if you could OD on probiotics. I thought probably not, but really had nothing to base this determination on. Woke up this morning feeling considerably better. I believe I have reinstalled a complete battle force of probiotics over the last 18 hours. Which is a good thing since I still have another week or so of antibiotics left.

Some of the probiotics I listed above sound kind of nasty. Truly some are an acquired taste. Kombucha, for example, is not unlike drinking apple cider vinegar, only not as tasty. Kefir has the consistency of liquid yogurt and comes in all sorts of yummy flavors, peach is my favorite. Saurkraut? what goes better on a hot dog! And I've had some very tasty miso soups. One time I wanted to make a cheese sandwich but had no mayo, I used a very thin layer of miso paste, it was the best sandwich I've ever made, the miso gave it some zip. You can find most of these things at places like Trader Joe's and your regular supermarket, too, not just Whole Foods. Be good to your gut, give it some probiotics.

A Lazy Sunday

I picked up the B boyz yesterday afternoon and brought them back to my place. Thanks John for taking them Tuesday night through Saturday afternoon. Especially with the prolotherapy on Wednesday, it was an even bigger help that he took them. So, we had a very quiet night. There was a puffed pig ear on the floor. I prefer to give them puffed pig ears to the fried ones, they are lower in fat and enormous, keeps them busy for a longer time. Benjamin found the pig ear on the floor and settled in for a good chew, got up for a drink and Llelo swooped in a stole it. He wasn't interested until Benjamin wanted it. Llelo abandoned his prize shortly afterwards and it was taken up by Bogey. Kept him busy most of the evening, too. Llelo cruised around hoping to get it a few times, again someone else had it, it must be more interesting. Off to bed for a good hard sleep, a good bit of exercise will do that.

Up in the morning at 8 am with Benjamin's tail thump, thump, thumping against the side of the bed and the wall, his subtle manner of requesting a potty trip. Ok, up and out we go. Back in, start the coffee, fix the dogs breakfast, into the bathroom to feed the B boyz. Noticed Benjamin was leaking again, cleaned up after he was finished and made another emptying trip outside. Then I settled in on the couch to contemplate the day. The synapses were firing very, very slowly. Best fix another cup of coffee and watch that remaining episode of Deadwood so I can return the Netflix. If you haven't seen Deadwood, I recommend it, the language is a bit, erm, coarse, but if you can get beyond that the level of discourse is impressive and the level of detail is amazing. I'm about halfway through season 3, the final season. I'll be sad when it's over. Rome is another good series, similar but takes place in ancient Rome, also by HBO.

Around 2 or perhaps closer to 2:30 I decided to pry myself off the couch and take a shower. I had a couple of things to do, I dropped Benjamin and Bogey back at their house, Marth is coming home tonight. I'm sure she will be very happy to see her boys again. And I wanted to buy an new pair of Crocs, unsuccessful; I needed to pick up a couple of meals prepared for me at Dinner's Ready, successful. Spent the evening watching part of a Chris Rock HBO special on Comedy Central. It's been a quality day any way you look at it.

I Kicked Ass Today

I had intended to hit the sack early last night, get a good night's rest before the race. Some idiot pulled a fire alarm at 10:30 pm, moments before I was to bed. Sigh. The shrill, piercing alarm was just special. Thankfully, the fire department has a pretty darn good response time, makes me feel better should we ever actually have a fire or some such. Unfortunately, it took them over an hour to get the alarm turned off. Oh well, the race was in Tacoma, so I could sleep a bit later than usual.

Got down to SSP to load the boats at 7:30 am, Diane was to arrive at 7:45 to help and the plan was to be on the road by 8:15. The tricky part was loading the OC2 on, not so much the boat, but the ama (the outrigger part). The OC1 ama fits inside the car and since we couldn't get both amas tied down properly on top we put that one inside. Finally got the OC2 ama tied down and off we went ... to Top Pot Doughnuts. Leaving this late they were open and we could grab a blueberry glazed and coffee for the road. It's 8:45 and we are onto the highway. We were five minutes from the race site when Ed called to give me a hard time for not being there yet. I am notorious for being overcautiously early, ya well, not today. We even missed the pre-race meeting. Didn't feel so bad about that since I've raced this course before.

Got rigged up and on the water and was thinking about my discussion with Doug during the ride home from the last race. He said I needed to sprint off the start for as long as I could before settling into my race pace, that way the pack wouldn't drop me so completely as they had during the last race. I got lined up with everyone else and when the go was sounded hit it as hard as I could for as long as I could. I could see Stan out of the corner of my eye, slightly behind me, gotta stay in front of him, must stay in front of Stan! I just tried to stretch it out and pull hard, my technique was feeling much better, too. On my way to the first turn I passed one or was it two other competitors! Made it to the first turn (it was a two lap course) and headed back towards the start. I could see Darcy a little bit ahead of me, my main competition in the master women's category. I dug in even deeper and tried to close the gap between us. I did creep closer to her and at the turn to finish the first lap I was right on her tail, called out "I'm doggin' you Darcy!" Then I lost a little distance following the turn, maybe 30-40 feet or so. I had to stop watching her, so I just focused on the next bouy turn and hit the zone. Reach, twist, dig, pull, and again. Next thing I know I'm even with her! I kept at it, she made some comment about someone having eaten their Wheaties today, I laugh and then left her behind me! It was so awesome! I couldn't let her catch me again, I just couldn't. I stayed focused and aimed to pass the next guy in front of me. I made it to the last turn, struggling to put more distance between me and Darcy, digging deep and hard, really pushing myself. I came very close to catching the guy in front of me. In the end he was able to stay ahead of me, though. I could hear people cheering me from the cliff, calling my name, then the horn sounded and I could stop. There was a guy behind me and then came Darcy. I did it, I beat her by shear strength!

There were more people behind me in this race than any other so far. That was a huge confidence boost, too. One person behind me is good, many is better. A few minutes later along come Diane and Minnie on the OC2. They were pushing hard to the finish, I hear Diane call the change and then switch sides only Minnie didn't switch sides. Sploosh! Over they went a mere 20 feet from the finish line, the collective gasp could be heard on the shore. A few guys paddled over to help collect paddles and make sure they got over and back up ok and finally made it across the finish line. A wonderful thing about outrigger is the ohana or sense of family, gotta make sure everyone is safe and ok, then worry about the racing. They were both plenty warmed up from the paddling, but the water was quite bracing. Time to head in and get dry.

So, today's finish gave me my third 2nd place finish. Darcy has a 1st and two 3rds. If I can keep her in 3rds and me in 2nds I will be very happy. The next race is March 8 in Vancouver, BC, then March 29 in Portland, and the last race will be April 12 in Lake Washington. I just plan to keep on doing what I'm doing, paddle hard and take names! Maybe pick Doug's brain a little more.

Cautiously Optimistic

The foot was a bit achy last night, pretty much only when walking or standing, though. And this morning I was able to take the boys out with no limping! It is feeling better. I ran a couple of errands this morning, another round of allergy shots (no reaction this time!) and then to REI to get some new gloves for paddling; having my index finger poke out is proving to be more distracting than the cost of a new pair. While walking around REI foot was reminding me that while it may be feeling better, it's not back to 100% and I should just cool my jets! I think I'll spend the afternoon working, as I intended anyway, and daydream about a bright sunny day for the race down in Tacoma Saturday. How nice to have a race were I don't need to leave town at 6:30 to get there. Planning to leave nearer to 8 am.

More Foot Torture

Saw Dr. Irving Wednesday afternoon for my prolotherapy appointment. We discussed a variety of treatments, the prolotherapy, which is a sugar and numbing solution injected into the site of pain, to put the body into a healing mode. Another is injecting botox, or platelets from my own whole blood, and finally my own whole blood. The doctor was not able to find any real research discussing any of these methods, only anecdotal evidence.

Since the botox and blood/blood products methods were going to be far more costly I opted to go for the prolotherapy injection. I don't like watching needles piercing my skin so I cannot tell you how many jabs I got. I do know that he injected both a mixture of dextrose and numbing solution and numbing solution alone. I did a lot of deep breathing and clenching of my hands. At one point he 'tickled' the tendon in my heal with the needle and my leg gave a couple of involuntary shudders, I managed to keep from kicking the doctor in the face or hands, thankfully. He was quite impressed with how I managed the pain, all that quality time on Carmen's table having my feet massaged, I guess I've built up a reasonable tolerance to pain. I guess if I know it's for the greater good I will tolerate it.

When he'd finished it felt like I had a giant water blister on the bottom of my heal. Not so much painful as just feeling weird. The numbing seemed to be working. Last night I had a couple of waves of "oh gawd, that aches". I was told to come back in 2-3 weeks to see how well it did or didn't work. If it seemed to work but there's more to be done we can do another injection, if it didn't seem to do anything we'll try the botox. If it worked and I don't need any more work on the right foot, I'll do it to the left foot. My 2-3 week appointment will be on April 9, I know, more than 3 weeks, he's going out of town until then.

Today went pretty ok. I'm walking with a pronounced limp and my foot aches some. It's a different type of pain than the usual, I'd like to think that's a good sign. I went for another Carmen massage this afternoon and she said I wasn't nearly as bad off as she was expecting. That's got to be good, too, right?

Full Moon Paddle

A nearly full moon peaking through the clouds, still showing hints of pink and orange from the setting sun.

A full boat, we're off. Water like burnished glass, no wind, sharp, cold air. The sound of water dripping from six perfectly timed paddles, working together as one.

Across to Kirkland, then south, faster, harder we go. In unison, twist, reach, dig, pull, and again, and again ... I can feel the sweat trickling down my scalp, neck, back, hoping it doesn't go into my eyes and burn.

Not sure I can go any further. Finally, we stop for a short break in Yarrow Bay, near-ish the 520 Bridge. Drink my water, pull off extra layers, and we're off again.

Feel the boat glide, twist, reach, dig, pull, and again, faster than the outbound run. My lungs cry for more air, my throat for water, in my head counting ... sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, "HUT!", twenty, switch sides, one, two, three ...

The lights on the shore mixed with the inky blackness, where are we?, doesn't matter, keep paddling, twist, reach, dig, pull, and again ... Feeling my lats start to cramp, doesn't matter, keep paddling, twist, reach, dig, pull, and again, and again ... We must be near home, how long will they keep going?, doesn't matter, keep paddling, twist, reach, dig, pull, and again, working together as one.

Paddles up!

It's All About Context

"...you could stand outside naked for five hours and nothing is going to happen." When I read this line last Wednesday in the Seattle Times I couldn't help but laugh. I want to know where you could stand outside naked for five hours and have nothing happen. Surely someone will notice, perhaps point and laugh?!? Actually, the context of the article was that people living in the Northwest suffer from Vitamin D deficiency and the solar radiation from October through March is insufficient to glean the necessary Vitamin D even if we were to stand outside naked for five hours. Ya, whatever, I still thought the line was hilarious. And even with the sunshine we've been having I think it's a little chilly to stand outside naked!

The B boyz are off to their next caregiver this afternoon. I'm glad I seem to have gotten all the bugs worked out but having Bogey wake me and Benjamin at 2 am because he needed to potty, not really going to miss that part. Better that he woke me than not, but I was awake for a good two hours after that. Harumph! Thankfully John will be able to keep them until Saturday afternoon after my race! I'm sure they will be happy to be home again, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you John!

Tomorrow I'm having the prolotherapy injections in my right foot. Fingers crossed that it doesn't hurt too terribly much and it puts me on the path to a pain free foot. Then I'll get the left foot done as well. I'll let you know all about it tomorrow.

Tonight I'm paddling with the 50+ guys. I'm sure they will make me work harder than I would have left to my own devices. They are good like that. I'll think of it as another training session for the race coming up this weekend down in Tacoma. It starts at 10 am at Jack Hyde Park. If you have any interest in seeing an OC1/OC2 race this one has a better vantage point than many. There will be two laps, twice the opportunity for viewing! Email me if you would like additional details.

It Keeps Getting Better

It is really beginning to feel like a comedy of errors, one thing begets another... Will it ever end?

I was supervising breakfast this morning and noticed that Benjamin had a steady drip of urine happening, steady enough that had it been a faucet you'd have located a new washer for it asap! From the food dish into the kitchen for a drink and back, drip, drip, drip. I tried to locate a belly band, a velcro'd band of fabric to wrap around the boy parts to catch the dripping, couldn't find one large enough here in town. Mail order would just take too long. We are making due with a ratty dog towel and safety pins. He's making a real fashion statement! We have corrected his gas problem, switching him from the chicken based to the lamb based food has cured him, huzzah! I seem to be getting the old guy dialed in pretty well. (photo - Benjamin with make shift belly band)

I've been driving Marth's Chevy Tahoe, it's large enough to handle all four dogs easily. It's also as large as my parking space, much larger than my Subaru Forester. This morning as I was backing out of my space, trying not to hit my neighbor's car, the rear view mirror clipped the cement post. D'oh! The housing was fine but the reflective surface popped out and landed on the ground. The severe spider web pattern of broken mirror was there before it fell out, I don't think I'm the first to do this. It's just one more thing. (photo - Bogey, ready for his closeup)

I found a small lump on Gus' back Saturday. My gut told me it was probably a fatty cyst or something benign, but I needed confirmation from the vet to rest well. And Llelo needed his distemper booster shot, too. We went to the vet this morning. She aspirated the lump and got clear fluid! Excellent, benign, don't need to worry about it. However, the other tooth he's chipped is very tender and needs to be removed. I'll likely have the cyst taken off at the same time, if he's going to be under anesthesia might as well change the oil and rotate the tires. Both boys got lots of cookies, the staff just can't help themselves, they both got jabbed with needles, after all! (photo - above Llelo recuperating from his shot, below Gus not wanting another tooth pulled)

I went to All The Best Pet Care to get more Petastic, the enzymatic cleaner for neutralizing urine odors, and then off to Trader Joe's for more lamb based dog food. Once back at the apartment I met with the manager and have arranged to have the carpets cleaned on February 29.

So, I started out this posting feeling facetious but I'm actually feeling like things are starting to work out. Getting everything dialed in. It's just somewhat of a tiring process. If Bogey can keep it under control it will end up being a pretty ok day. I did get out for a short OC2 paddle this morning with Minnie, it was a glorious morning, bright and sunny, no wind, a bit chilly. A little time on the water helps make everything else seem more manageable.

Free Dog to Good Home

Must be returned by February 24. Bogey and I are, erm, having some challenges.

Second night went pretty well. Keeping everyone out of the bedroom until bedtime worked well, except Llelo likes to nap in his crate, in the bedroom, and Gus likes to nap on the bed, again, in the bedroom. Sigh. They made adequate alternate arrangements and things were ok. I dropped the comforter and bedding off at a laundromat and paid to have them washed. Did you know a queen sized comforter costs $30 to launder? and another $15 for the sheets and comforter cover? Worth it to not spend 4 hours watching the comforter dry!

Saturday night the B boys decided that eating would be a good thing to do, they hadn't really been doing that since they arrived. I think they finally got hungry. I fed my guys in the kitchen as usual and fed the B's in the bathroom and had to stick around to supervise. Llelo was doing his best impression of a hyena, knows there's food there, circling around until the lion (me) isn't watching so he can dash in and get a few bites and dash out when the lion notices. It would have been cute except if I raised my voice at Llelo Benjamin would spook and move away from the food giving Llelo the chance to dart in where I would scold him again. I finally worked out some hand signals with Llelo that got the message that he would be dead dog-meat if he were to continue trying that. Both B's finished their supper, of course my guys finished, but that was a given.

At bedtime Llelo decided he'd been kept from his crate for too long and opted to sleep there instead of jammed up against me. Bogey wanted to sleep on me, ain't gonna happen, dude; up against is ok, on, not so much. I woke up during the night to find Bogey jammed up against a very tolerant Gus, who was very soundly asleep. It was vewy, vewy cute.

This morning we got up, went to potty, came in to breakfast. Llelo and I had our signals down pat, but he kept circling and hoping. With corgis and food hope springs eternal. I'm not used to having to supervise meal times and it really threw off my scheduling. I was to meet a friend in Bellevue, introduce his young son to the dogs and let them all have a run around in a fenced area. In all I wasn't nearly so late as I was expecting. A grand time was had by all tearing around the play area. There were some other dogs for Llelo to play chase with and Gus pulled out all the stops illustrating his fetching prowess. I had four comatose dogs within minutes of returning home. Soon after I was overcome by a nap on the couch, on the weekends I find it easier to submit to spontaneous naps than not. After about an hour I heard Benjamin wake up and begin to fidget, Bogey got up, too. I got up to let them out and discovered Bogey had peed on the carpet rather than ask to go out. I know it wasn't Benjamin because I've seen the volume he pees, the spot wasn't that big.

So, if you'd like a free dog, just let me know. Comes with food, leash, collar, fleece coat, the works. Think of it as a trial period through next Sunday! I'll keep Benjamin, you don't have to clean up after flatulence, keeping the fan on takes care of that!

Made it Through the First Night

A couple of friends came over to watch a goofy Adam Sandler movie (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry). It had the usual toilet humor of Sandler's comedies, but there was a touching message of tolerance to go along with it. The guys fake a gay marriage to try and pass retirement/death benefits onto one guy's children after his wife had passed away. The uber macho guys learn that maybe the guy working next to you, saving your ass (they were firemen), may be gay, but he's still a co-worker and will drag your nearly dead body out of the fire because that's what you do for your buddy, gay or not. Kudos Sandler, better than I thought.

Friends left and I began the machinations of making ready for bed. Dogs out to pee, get things ready for paddling in the morning, the usual last minute things before bed. I got everyone moved into the bedroom and discovered a pee spot dead center in my bed. :-( Gus would rather die than do something like that, same with Llelo, he might dribble on the floor, but I think we have that under control now. Benjamin is too creaky to get up on the bed. That leaves Bogey as the prime suspect. The pee went through the bedspread, the down comforter and both sheets. Thankfully, it didn't make it into the faux feather bed. So, after a long day I find myself changing the sheets and blankets at 11:30 pm, before I can go to bed. Grr! Bogey and I had a little chat about that, peeing inside, not allowed, excessive barking, not allowed. Being cute and lovey, bring it on!

They will be here until Sun the 24th, with the exception of Wed/Thur next week when I'll be working in the office and Sat when I'll be racing down in Tacoma. John, a fellow paddler, will step up and take over for me. Thankfully, all four boys get along just fine. Bogey and Llelo play some, Gus and Benjamin tend to stay out of their way. It was very cute last night once we did get to bed. Gus and Llelo felt the need to lay claim to me as THEIR mummy, not your mummy, Bogey. Both my guys were jammed up against me and Bogey was off to the side but still close. Funny, I have a king sized bed and easily two thirds of the real estate went unused last night. Normal nights only about one third is available. Silly boys.

I plan to take some pics today, will post them later and tomorrow.

If Two Are Good, Does That Mean Four Are Better?

As a pet owner it's always a bit dicey whenever I need to leave town, who do I trust enough to care for my beloved pets, with the understanding, of course, that nobody can do it as well as I can. Sort of a similar thing when you need someone to look after your people kids for an evening. You are entrusting someone to be responsible for those lives you hold most dear. Diane, thank you for trusting me with your boys, it was an honor to spend the evening with them and I would happily do it again, preferably on a non-paddling night.

Marth has gone out of town from Friday to a week from Sunday and has entrusted the care of her two dogs to me. That means I now have four dogs in my 700 square foot apartment, along with all the other standard clutter that is my life. It feels a bit more lived in here now. Benjamin is an elderly lab, sweet but a little flatulent, and Bogey is the weirdest looking chihuahua I've ever met. After the initial barking, barking, barking upon arrival things seem to be settling down. Bogey is learning the command, "No barking", thank goodness. Benjamin has co-opted my boys dog bed preferentially over his own which I brought over and set in front of the wall heater, not like they use it much. Gus prefers my bed and Llelo prefers me. Bogey has taken Benjamin's bed which looks ginormous as backdrop for his 7 lbs.

Dinner will be interesting. Llelo will eat anything that looks like it might be food and Benjamin and Bogey are not known for finishing their meals in five minutes or less. The only reason Llelo doesn't try to finish Gus' food before Gus himself finishes it is that Gus and I would rip him in two. The rule is once the dish has been abandoned it's fair to go scavenge for for any flavor crystals that may have been over looked. There will be many flavor crystals in the visitor's bowls, I'm certain. Well, after a meal or two of going a little hungry they will likely finish what they are given. Nothing like a little competition for resources to make you finish your supper.

More tales (tails) and photos to follow ...

btw: sinus infections suck! I've actually begun to feel a bit worse and this is after being on augmentin for 10 days already, which is why I didn't get around to posting last night, was busy having headache and chills. Went back to the doctor today, got some new antibiotics and some predinsone. Fingers crossed I'll start to feel some better within a few days.

The Hardcore Crew

This winter of the Wednesday night paddlers the most hardcore paddler awards go to Ernie, Nancy, Neil, and me. And Minnie gets an honorary mention. It seems like we four consistently show up for Wednesday practice regardless of weather. Although we *can* be a little wussy when it comes to big wind. :-) Not sure if we're nuts of merely passionate. I'd like to think we are passionate about paddling.

Tonight I sat stroke from seat 2, Ernie seat 3, Nancy seat 4, and Neil was steersman in 6. It was mostly clear out tonight, lots of stars out. We headed east towards Kirkland/Juanita Bay, then north into the top of the bay. We could see the constellation Orion on our outbound paddle. Then we headed southwest towards the dog park at Magnuson Park and then headed west back to the SSP beach. There was no wind and it was nice and cool but not cold at all. We went about 5.5 miles total. As we were backing the boat onto the ramp I looked up and saw the Big Dipper, pretty spectacular. In all it was a very good practice. Thanks people for coming out.

Other People's Kids

I had planned to go paddling with the 50+ crew again tonight, would have been one of five and virtually no wind, not nearly as tough a practice as last Thursday. But yesterday I got a call from a friend in dire need of someone to look after her two boys tonight so she could go to a work function. You know she was desperate if she was calling me! Just kidding, I'm quite good with kids and I like to be around them, I just don't have enough opportunities. Her boys are 9 and 11 yrs and can be enthusiastic as many boys are. I figured I could handle what they dished out.

We all converged on the house at 6 pm, dinner was nearly ready and Diane had to run to get over to Bellevue. Made it through dinner just fine, they passed on the veg having negotiated double rations tomorrow if they skipped tonights. Ok by me, I knew they weren't pulling a fast one, Diane called it out to me on her way out the door. We ate at tv trays watching SpongeBob Squarepants followed by Drake & Josh. After dinner I went over M's math homework, two minor errors which we worked through and then the boys were playing games on the computer. I sat at the table and got to work on some of the stuff I hadn't finished during the day. We popped in a dvd of Apollo 13 and I made some popcorn and not the microwave kind, mind you! I worked with what I'd been handed. Thankfully, Ed had called me about something completely different and had made it this way before, talked me through it just fine, didn't even burn a single kernel and I don't think we had any of the unpopped kernels in there either!

Around 8:30 I brought up the discussion of showers. It came about that since M had taken the first one yesterday then F should take the first one tonight. I decided that at 8:50 F should hit the showers. I gave him a 5 minute heads up and both boys were deep into playing with their lego spaceships. At 8:50 F's ship had a critical structural failure and he wanted to complete repairs before showering. This was the only sticking point of the evening. I played it very cool, offered that if he didn't head for the shower I could carry him there, even got up and walked over to him. Decided a better course of action was to pick up each piece as he set them down until I had all the parts he so desperately wanted. Told him gently that they would all be waiting on the table when he finished his shower. There was a little tantrum and lots of foot stamping as he went upstairs to get his pjs and 'I hate my mother' muttered under his breath (curiously not me, though, go figure) as he stomped to the shower. When the water was running I told M that I wanted him to head straight in as soon as his brother finished. And he did. After showers were finished they wanted to finish watching the movie. I gave them another 10 minutes and then it was reading time. That was actually the part I'd looked forward to all evening. I brought along my Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories to read to them. I was even more excited after I learned that Diane hadn't even read them before. I also brought along the Carl Hiaasen kids novel Hoot. And just as I was about to have them turn the movie off Diane got home. I was actually a little disappointed I didn't get to read to them.

Mission completed. Boys were fine, no tears of rage or frustration from any of us. I think we all had a good evening. I've broken down another personal barrier, anxiety over being left with someone's kids. Especially kids who have been described as potentially challenging. I guess I'm up for the challenge. Hey, who needs a sitter?!?

thursday february fourteenth

The holiday promoted excessively by Hallmark. The holiday designed to make single people feel they are inadequate and lesser merely because they are single. All the commercials on television, to be the best husband/boyfriend you can be you MUST buy a diamond bauble for the woman in your life or chocolates or flowers or better still all of the above else you'll be considered that chump who doesn't really love your wife/girlfriend. It's annoying that so many people buy into that mentality.

I think that love is more than just a flashy bauble or new power tool. I think that love is more the look, the touch, the words whispered while holding your love close. And these sentiments ought to be shared every day, not just one day in the middle of winter. But what do I know, I'm still single after all these years.

Oh, the things I've learned

This whole online dating thing has been very interesting. I think I've had far greater success with the ad I posted on Craigslist (CL) than being a member of eHarmony or Match.com or PlentyOfFish.com. I've found guys still like to be making the first move. If I initiated communication via those other online sites chances were very good that I'd never hear back. In my CL ad I posted a simple message of who I am, no laundry list of what I'm looking for, and the implied 'bring it on, show me what you have', but not so much in the literal sense, if you know what I mean. And I've gotten quite a number of responses (both of the figurative and literal *rolls eyes*) and have had a few first dates from it. In fact I had one last night after I got home from the race.

I'd been talking to this guy since I posted my first CL ad, I've posted the same one twice now. He seemed very nice and not bad to look at. We were having nice e-conversations and I'd told him I'd try to call him on my way back from Portland and depending upon how late I got home and how tired I was perhaps we could meet Sat evening. I called him around 5 pm and we arranged to meet at 6:30 pm at Mad Pizza on Lake City Way.

On first introductions he seemed nice. I quickly concluded the photo he sent me was not a particularly recent one. He has a fair bit of grey in his beard now as well as in his hair, none in the photo. Not so much a bad thing, just not really truth in advertising. I love Mad Pizza, so I knew that portion of our evening was a guaranteed hit. Once the pizza arrived I fished out an antibiotic to take, still working through that sinus infection and I told him as much. Didn't want him to think I was some wanton drug taker!

Please, be honest with me... Is it ever a good idea to discuss your colonoscopy during a first date?!? He was also telling me too many details about his work, he's with the department of corrections, and the line about monitoring tides and currents in the Puget Sound you can calculate where a body was dumped! Eww! Also, not really first date conversation material. Again, eww! My brother tried to convince me that if I were a fan of CSI that I might find that kind of interesting. I am a fan, I didn't find it interesting. I continued to make polite conversation and realized that my eyes were closing, so tired, must go home to sleep, soon. He knew I'd been driving all day, had paddled that race, and undoubtedly looked like I could hardly keep my eyes open, it was an easy way to excuse myself from the date. Now all that's left is to write the tbnt note. Sigh.

Another thing I realized is how important a good sense of humor is to me. I don't expect every moment of every day to be filled with laughter. But I do expect the occasional funny story or play on words. I want to find someone who will enjoy my absurd take on things and laugh at some of the things I find funny and I'll do the same for him. I went out with Diane and her boyfriend, Dave, Friday night. We laughed so hard about the strangest things there were tears in our eyes, my abs hurt, and we were on the verge of wetting ourselves (me and Diane, I can't speak for Dave)! It wasn't any particular joke, it was mostly context, but damn it was funny as hell (details upon request). I laugh like that when I'm hanging out with my friend, Maria, too. I love it and miss it and wish I had more of it in my life.

Portland Race Hosted by Moutain Home OCC

I met Doug down at SSP at 6:30 this morning, got his boat transfered to my car and off we went. Unfortunately Top Pot Doughnuts wasn't quite open yet, we'd have had to wait 10 minutes or something, so off we went to a Starbucks, oh well. The drive down to Portland was relatively quick and filled with good conversation. We arrived at our destination along the Columbia River around 9:45. Weather conditions seemed ideal. Sunny, no appreciable wind, just praying it holds for the duration of the race!

Getting out of the car we began to greet friends and see who else was planning to race. We went down and registered, got our race numbers and then back to the car to unload the boats. It was a little dicey getting down to the beach, there wasn't a proper path, just a bunch of rocks and then a little jump across a gully in the sand to make it up to the beach proper. Then back to the car to change into paddling clothes. The pre-race meeting was at 10:40 during which we learned the race course. The start line was between a bouy and the chase boat, head up river counterclockwise around what google earth called sand island, then a down river run past the launch beach and around the channel marker bouy and back up river between the start bouy and the launch beach. Doug had told me to stick close to the shore on the upriver leg and in the channel for the down river. If only I'd listened!

I probably started out to far into the channel, I was quite close to the chase boat. Shortly aft 11 am the horn sounded and off we went. The next thing I knew everybody was hundreds of yards ahead of me and pulling away fast. Time to dig in and start catching up. Ya well, they all seemed to have the same idea. I finally caught up with Ed M. (different from Ed W. of previous posts) at mile two and edged passed him. Next in my sights was Stan from Wakinikona, I knew I could catch him, I just knew it, just had to dig deeper and push myself a harder. Closing the gap some, a little more, now not so much, how is he doing that!, now a little closer. He followed the shoreline closer, it probably helped him conserve some energy that I spent fighting the current. Once he passed beyond the top of the island I was working even harder to try and catch him. I made it around the island and Stan had completely disappeared. In actuality he'd gotten to the center of the channel and was cruising on the current. I tried to catch the same ride. For the down river run I hit a maximum speed of 8.0 miles per hour, as documented by my GPS, a new maximum speed for me. After I completed 6 miles, as the GPS reads, I realized I could see Darcy, my main (and only) category competition, nearing the channel marker bouy. I glanced at my distance value as she made the turn and again as Stan made the turn. Doing some quick math as I made the turn I calculated that Darcy was less than 0.3 miles a head of me and Stan was 0.15 miles ahead of me. That's about the limit of my multitasking capabilities! After I passed the bouy I gave it everything I had left, which didn't feel like much. I was able to close some of the gap between me and Stan, after my finish horn sounded I realized he was only 0.11 miles ahead, so I made some ground on him. But dang I was pooped. I told him I'd been trying to catch him the entire race. He quipped back, "It's because I'm on a faster boat!" I was confused and staring at his boat, it took a moment to realize he was joking, he was paddling the same make and model canoe that I was!

I completed the 7.7 mile course in one hour, twenty seven minutes, fifty seconds. Quite respectable in my book. I took second in master women, same as the race at Jericho. The first two of my goals were met easily, didn't come close to huli'ing, totally finished the race. I wasn't so certain about my third goal of not finishing last. Turns out a kapuna master woman named Alice was still behind me, allowing me to meet my third goal! It was a good hard race but nowhere near as brutal as the race up at Jericho two weeks ago. With each race I'm gaining experience and confidence, hopefully, next time I'll gain some speed, too! Next race is in two weeks in Tacoma. Anyone want to carpool?

Goin' to Portland

I emailed anyone I could think of that might be headed down for the race and might be interested in carpooling, nothing, no reply, nada, ziltch, zippo. Well, ok, got an email from Doug saying he was going to ride with someone else. It was going to be just me and Scotty, might as well bring the dogs along, too. Then I get a call from Scotty, decided that he wanted to be an active participant in our democracy and go to the caucus tomorrow, the nerve. As we were wrapping up our conversation, mind you this was around 5 pm this afternoon, I sat down at the computer and lo and behold there was a new message from Doug! If there is still room and I'm ok with it could he carpool with me, the other ride just fell through! Huzzah! I get to have conversation during the ride down! And no dog farts! I can subject myself to that but not so much other people I'd like to call friends.

We are meeting at 6:30 am Saturday morning down at SSP to load his boat onto my car. I loaded the boat I'll use this afternoon. And then off we go. Doug has raced this course before, said it has the potential for being as gnarly as the race up at Jericho. There is a long upriver leg before the turn and down river run and ending with a much shorter upriver leg. Again, hoping to meet my three goals and then some: 1) don't huli 2) finish 3) don't finish last! You can bet I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Honorary Member of the Men's 50+ Crew

An acquaintance restrung a necklace of rose quartz chips into a shorter necklace and bracelet for me. She lives in Everett and Ed, good guy that he is, coordinated it's collection for me. I was to be down at SSP to get them from him Thurs evening at 6, just before the men's practice began. Well, it wasn't paddling related so I completely forgot about it, got hung up at work and didn't walk in the door at home until 6. As I was leashing the boys for their potty walk my phone rang. It was Ed, "Grab your gear and get down here!" "But, I *just* walked in the door, dogs, potty, change clothes, take me at least 15-20 minutes to get there. "Well, hurry, we've only got three people tonight!" So left a pile of clothes in the entryway of my apartment and scrambled into my paddling duds, inhaled a quick snack to keep the blood sugar from totally crashing and raced out the door. Of course people were driving sooo slowly, what are they thinking driving the speed limit, people never drive the speed limit on Lake City Way. And every light between my house and SSP was red. Finally got there as they were moving the boat down to the water.

Clem was stroke in 1, me in 3, Ed in 4, and Doug steering for the first time in 6. Wind was looking pretty significant, too. We were faced with a similar situation a week ago and the Wednesday night practice was canceled. With this crew I was confident we'd be fine. We set out to the north, wind to our backs, holding close to the shore to help minimize the effects of the wind. Clem kept a nice pace and we easily slipped into a strong rhythm with me calling changes every 20 strokes. We made quick time to the two point light in someone's yard, it's about 2.5 miles north of SSP, and we kept going and going and going and going. I turn and ask Ed, without breaking stroke, "how far *are* we going?" "until Doug turns us around" he replied, nonplussed. Dang, this wasn't like the Wed/Sat workouts at all. We went a ways further and finally got the call to hold up. Nobody had any idea what time it was but it seemed like a good place to turn around.

The trip back was where the workout really kicked into high gear. The wind was brutal and the wind swell was pretty big. I was thinking that I wouldn't have wanted to be out on an OC1 in that swell or wind. I was also glad that I wasn't sitting stroke after seeing some of the waves break over Clem's waist. It was time to dig in and 'git er dun'. Conditions like that always pump me up, I'll reach further and dig deeper, hoo ya! It's an odd sensation, sometimes it feels like we are paddling faster into the wind than when we have the wind at our backs, can be with just about any crew, too. Don't know why. Past the two point light, keep going, watch out for that bouy Doug, keep going. Finally coming up on Matthew's Beach, only about half a mile left. I swear that was the longest half mile I've ever paddled. I think the wind was stronger there, too. Can see the end of the SSP dock, we're nearly there, can't ease up yet, the wind is still too strong. Finally, we make the turn around the dock and get in close to shore, we can ease up, warm down.

As we were clambering out of the boat I learned that this was Doug's first time steering. Dang, talk about a challenging maiden voyage, all that wind and having Clem and Ed paddling on the same side (if you have more strength on one side the boat can tend towards circles) and me on the other. All that really put Doug to the test. But he did an excellent job, I'd never have guessed that he'd never steered before.

Wow, we went about 9 miles round trip, felt like more with a small crew. Thanks guys, Clem, Ed, & Doug, for letting me come out to paddle with you. I had a great time.

Carpool to Portland / Sinus Infections

I'm going to the winter series race hosted by Mountain Home down in Portland this Sat. I bought a second set of roof racks so that I can carry two OC1s and carpool. With the price of gas being what it is these days the idea of making such a long drive solo seems silly. The carpool I had gotten together has completely fallen to pieces. Anyone want to carpool down with me? I'll be leaving Seattle around 7 am.

I got a call from the allergist yesterday. The radiologist had finally reviewed the CT scan from last week. They saw thickening in the ethmoid and frontal sinuses. Seems I've been cooking up a sinus infection after all and the coughing is probably not due to my GERD. On the one hand that's good, I didn't want to have to add the other drugs full time. On the other hand, blah, another sinus infection. I had sinus surgery four years ago, dreadful stuff to be avoided possible, and have been having far fewer sinus infections since then. But when I get them I get them good. I think we caught this one early, hoping we can clear it up quickly,too.

Reflections on a Vase

Have you ever read the comic Get Fuzzy? As with many comics there are some days I'm left scratching my head wondering if I'm just missing something. But last Wednesday's comic cracked me up. Not sure why, just couldn't stop snickering.

And then Thursday's, too.

I went into science so I wouldn't have to write

I hated English classes in high school, actually I didn't like many of my classes in high school, except photography and math. I struggled with the whole symbolism within the writing thing. Why can't it just mean what it says? An irony of my senior year was that I took lots of journalism classes to meet college entrance requirements and I never wrote a single word, not for the entire school year. I took photos for the school paper and the yearbook, they were very good, but I still never wrote a word.

When I got into college I was very resistant towards any English or writing classes. It took me three tries to pass freshman English. I went into science so I wouldn't have to do any writing. Why didn't anyone tell me this plan was so seriously flawed!?! I took a year off from college to go to Indonesia to teach English, the understanding was that I would be teaching conversation and discussion classes. Imagine my surprise when they asked me to teach a writing class. I think that may have been the turning point in my ability to write. It was after I returned from Indonesia that I finally passed freshman English.

Over the last couple of years I think my writing has really improved. I still don't keep a journal and those free association writing exercises used to annoy the heck out me back in the day. I guess I am journaling, blogging has to be a type of journaling, I guess. I try to write the way I speak, for the most part. I think it makes it more interesting. My technical writing is pretty ok. I subscribe to the less is more school of thought. Who knew I'd finally come around and bond with the written word.

The Thanks-But-No-Thanks (tbnt) Note

This whole online dating thing is tough. On email some (many?) guys seem nice, interesting, certainly worthy of a first date. Then you have that first date, chit chat, amusing anecdotes, whatever, you have finally met in person. Now you both know the reality behind the typed words, good or bad.

I had a first date last Thursday evening, we met for dinner. He was quite articulate and on email sounded very nice. I was totally looking forward to meeting him, he sounded like a 'this could be something'. In person, well, not so much. I made pleasant conversation all the while trying to compose my tbnt message. I didn't want to say "you bore me to tears" or "your looks scare me" or something equally crass or hurtful. I was thrilled that he was interested enough to come out and meet me but that was really the extent of it. I think there is an art to the tbnt message. Thanks for meeting me, but ... And good luck with your search. Inevitably my tbnt messages receive a follow up of "oh, well, I wasn't that interested in you either." Right, that's why you basically asked me out for every night this week and next, because you weren't really interested. Whatever!

The flip side is having the first date, enjoying it, and thinking "wow, this guy was interesting and I'd like to see him again" and then getting the tbnt message from him. Urgh! Crushing blow to the ego followed by what's wrong with me, why don't you want to explore this further?!? Or even worse, they drop off the face of the earth, no reply to emails, just gone. I must say I prefer the tbnt to the magical disappearing man.

Rejection is never easy, it hurts regardless of how gently it's done. Because egos can be so fragile I make every effort to be kind in my tbnt messages, I don't want to kick someone when they are down, I just want to gently direct them away from me. Although I don't enjoy receiving a tbnt note I must commend those fellows who are decent enough to send one rather than leave me to wonder what happened.

Now back to that inbox full of new messages. I reposted my ad today, I guess it was flagged and booted, probably all that inappropriate content. In my first sift through the messages I have culled out all those who have offered to 'ice my cake and lick the bowl'. If I was looking just to get laid you'd think I'd have posted in casual encounters!

Size *Does* Matter

At least when it comes to paddle length. I went out and paddled a bit over 5 miles in the OC6 with the ladies. I used my 52" Lolo and had a little bit of a funky feeling in my elbow, I think I prefer using my 52" Axel II in the OC6. The morning was truly gorgeous, the sky was a brilliant blue, the steel grey clouds were far off in the distance. It was much warmer than I expected, I actually took off a layer, first time that has happened since October. Many on the crew were peeling off layers during our first break and also wishing we'd worn sunglasses. It was a decent workout but afterwards I was not feeling as though I had worked as hard as I could have/should have so I decided to go out on the OC1.

After we got the OC6 put away I brought out the OC1 and put it together. GPS-check, water bottle-check, new paddle-check. Yes, I finally got the opportunity to use my new paddle, a 50" Helium, it has a smaller surface area than the Axel II blade. It isn't yet part of the Kialoa catalog so I can't include a link for it. OMG! It was a beautiful thing, so light, and I finally realized how big a difference the correct length paddle makes. I've been using the Lolo on the OC1/OC2 and it's felt pretty good, but the Helium feels great. Everything was flowing smoothly, I was hitting a really good rhythm ... and then my cell phone rang. Typically I wouldn't stop to answer the phone, but remember yesterdays post? The CL ad, new string of first dates, etc. It was one of the guys, we had plans to meet this afternoon and I wasn't expecting to hear from him unless there was a change, so I thought I should answer it. He wanted to push back our meeting by an hour if that was ok with me. Sure, no problem, means I can paddle a bit longer, too. OK, phone put away, get back into the rhythm, long, smooth, reach it out, rotate, new paddle feels great. I went north 30 minutes and then turned around and came back, the return only took 25 minutes, went nearly 5 miles. Wow, what a great paddle, both the physical object and the act. That had to be one of my better workouts. Size really does matter, the smaller length and smaller surface area works great for me on the OC1.

Went down to Seward Park to meet that Craigslist respondent, brought the dogs along. I figured if I was going for a walk they should be able to take advantage of it, too. We met and started walking around the loop road chatting the whole way. I found him very easy to talk to and pauses in conversation didn't seem awkward, that's always nice. I hope I'll see him again.

Cake Seeking Icing - 41 (Seattle)

I'm not sure if *you* have all made up your mind about me, but I cannot decide if I'm crazy or just want to live life on the edge. Last Wednesday night I posted a personals ad on craigslist. I figure my life is pretty darn good, finding a nice guy would be icing on the cake, hence my post title, it's the same on my ad. If you want to see it you'll have to go look for it. I have tried eharmony and match, have had some first dates a couple of second dates, I just haven't found my icing yet. I really like icing, it makes an already tasty dessert even better. I tried to be pragmatic in my ad, not sound like I'm desperate to get laid, not sound too crazy, and set no limitations on what I was looking for, aside from gender=male, and having heard that some guys like to send photos of their penises in the first communication I requested that they not do that in the initial email. I included the photo I have to the right. Bring it, let's see what happens.

First message arrived 15 minutes after I posted. Dang, that was fast. This first guy seemed quite nice. We exchanged a number of emails that night and ended up going to dinner Thursday evening. He was a lot more attractive over email, talking in person to him he just seemed kind of eh, bland. Now I need to write him a thanks-but-no-thanks email. I just got another message from him this evening asking me out for tonight. I have got to write that no thanks email.

The next message arrived 20 minutes after posting. Very brief, thought the way I ended my post was very funny, deadpan. I wrote back asking if he was looking for someone to spend time with or just reading for amusement. Got back a nice response, he is looking for someone and included the bulk of an ad he'd posted. Turns out I'd read it before, but was too daunted by his list of activities to actually write him. We have plans to meet tomorrow for a walk at Seward Park.

Then an hour after there was the guy with herpes. Thanks for your interest, move along. And then the guy who wanted me to show him my penis, it would be our little secret. ScoobyDoo sounding "huh?!?" Little did he know, I'm a blogger and this would be posted, hehehe.

Two hours post post a guy wrote asking if I like punk music. That was it, the extent of his message. We have now exchanged a couple of messages. Just going along for the ride to see where this one goes.

Thursday morning I got my first penis picture. I told a friend about it, she asked if it was nice, the pic and/or the penis. Sorry to say he was a thumbs down for both. Not sure if he thought he was being cute or was just an ass. Didn't want to stick around to find out. Noon Thursday got a message from a guy willing to relocate from Northern California if things were to work out!?!?! What, are there no women in NorCal? Or have they all shot him down already?

Midnight Thursday brought a very long message from a non-native speaker of English. He had a lot to say and I'm still trying to piece together what to write back to him. Friday got a nice note from a guy in Federal Way asking 'what breed is your dogs?' Big plus points for asking about the dogs, small minus points for poor grammer. I did write him back, we'll see where this one goes, too. And finally around 7 pm Friday evening I got a message from a 26 year old guy. I'm not sure what to think, on one hand had I gotten busy early in high school I'm old enough to be his mother, on the other am I ready to be a cougar?

I can already tell this is probably the first in a series of postings. See what happens when paddling practice gets canceled! Stupid wind!

To Mosh Or Not To Mosh

Just got home from the Toasters show. Still awesome after all these years. I think the last time I saw them was 1998 maybe 1999. There were four opening bands, I arrived about halfway through the third band (Knock Me Down), they had a heavy punk sound but were pretty good. They cleared the deck for the fourth band (Ideal Green) who took for freakin' ever to set up and do a sound check and they sucked! It was bad, out of tune reggae/ska and they looked about 12, ok more like 17-18, but still. And they had a rapper buddy who came up on stage for a few 'songs', he sucked, too. Don't get me wrong, I like reggae, ska, and even some rap, but these kids have a lot of work ahead of them.

The Toasters got their gear on stage and were sound checked in maybe 15 minutes, it had taken the last guys over 30. Immediately the Toasters had the crowd jumping, me too! I remembered many of the songs they played from shows at Lupos Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI, they had a bunch of new ones, too, all rockin' good. The line up was almost completely different, Buck was the only member I recognized, but then he is the Toasters. He does most of the writing, singing, and plays lead guitar. I remember there were at least 7 guys on stage, sometimes 8 or 9 then. Tonight there were only 5, a striped down and lean Toasters, but they brought it.

Studio Seven has an interesting configuration, the bar is upstairs and you can look down over the mosh pit. It is also an all ages venue, at least it was for this show. I met a friend and we went upstairs to drink through the pain of the fourth band and stayed up there through the Toasters set. Perfect viewing of the mosh pit. It hurt just to look at them. I think the average age was probably 17 and they were slamming and pushing and having a grand time of it. Back in RI I would dance so enthusiastically I typically made an appointment to see my chiropractor the next day. There was no way I was setting foot in there tonight!

I got a new Toasters t-shirt, mine are all relegated to the sleeping quality, pretty ratty looking, and their newest CD, One More Bullet. I ordered a couple from their website and I couldn't remember which ones. Thankfully, their newest wasn't part of my order. I even got a photo with Buck taken with my cell phone, just have to figure out how to get it to my computer now. Any suggestions? In all a wonderful time was had by all. Hopefully the ringing in my ears will subside by morning! And now off to bed.