Freerunning Pt. 2 and folk music

So, my roommate and I started conditioning. Hard...core...conditioning. Well, in summary, we suck at freerunning. But we'll get better, maybe.

It's only been one day (one night) of conditioning and we've both been sore for two full days. I think I'm going to try again tonight.

And of course try not to throw up.

Side note: I recently discovered a new band, which everyone has probably already heard of, BUT I DON'T CARE!!!! MWAHAHAHA

Sorry. They're a folky/mountain band called Old Crow Medicine Show. I've been listening to them on repeat lately. Oddly enough they're extremely relaxing.

Also, after this freerunning thing I might learn banjo. Why the hell not?

Freerunning

So, I think I'm going to start doing freerunning. It looks really cool and I feel like if some dude can do it, so can I.  However, I am currently 220 lbs and 6'0 ft tall. Also, I haven't really worked on my upper body since football 5 years ago. Soooo , I've got work to do.

1. Build up endurance....run a lot. Try not to throw up.
2. Lose weight...repeat #1 and eat healthy food. Try not to throw up.
3. Build upper body strength and core strength. Yoga (currently taking in college) is handling that, but I need to challenge myself more.
4. Become confident that I will not die or explode into a pulp if I fall from a height...just work on pacing myself up to higher heights. Try not to throw up.

So, this is my list. Mostly, I'm trying to get more fit, but if I can make it to freerunning, that'd be rad.

Try not to throw up.

Da Da Daffodil

For some strange reason, which I cannot discern, I've had an English pop style song called "Da Da Daffodil" playing continuously in my head.

It's just:

Da Da Daffodil,
Da Da Daffodil,
Da Da Daffodil.
(and repeat)

There are no other lines to this song, just those lines over and over again. I have no idea where it came from, I have no idea what a daffodil looks like. I know it's a flower, but I am almost sure I have not seen one today and haven't talked to anyone about a daffodil.

This is a daffodil by the way:

It's pretty, but now upon finding a picture of one, I know I haven't seen one today.

I wonder if maybe I can use this song or this flower in a story I'll write....

After reading about the Daffodil on wikipedia, I've found this out about the Daffodil:

Daffodil is its common name and its true name is the Narcissus. Interesting... I could definitely use that. Narcissus is the dude in Greek myth who found the reflection of himself in a pond so beautiful and enchanting that he drowned himself. So, self-centered would be a good characterization if not a bit daft (the dude drowned himself on accident at the side of a pond).

Daffodils are also toxic. Not deadly, but their bulb and leaves contain the alkaloid poison "lycorine."(sounds kind of like licorice)
This poison seems to just cause skin issues, so nothing crazy just annoying dermatitis called "daffodil itch." Still a possible literary addition.

I'll think about it.... well, off to work.

Working With My Hands

So, most of my life, I've wanted to have a sort of project or wanted to be working on something. Most  of the time I'm sort of bored and I don't really have a focus.

Lately, however, I've wanted to learn more about mechanical things and work with my hands. If I'm lucky, I'll be repairing a Datsun 240z with my dad, but unfortunately, neither of us have any money. So, we can't.

I bought a thirty year old schwinn about a year ago for far too much money (like $120), and I should have bargained, but just REALLY wanted the bike. After buying the bike, I meant to sand off the ugly yellow and repaint it.

However, I let it sit for about a year and did nothing. It sat and collected dust with a terrible coat of back paint.

These past three days, I've actually been working on it. I've been spending about 4 hours a day working on my bike: taking it apart, painting it, putting new parts onto the old frame, stringing through new cables. I've been doing it blindly, and wrong, and have since started using a little book to help me as well as consulting a friend.

So, I took it all apart and repaired parts and did all kinds of shit, but I really just wanted to make a point that I enjoy working with my hands. I really have had no chance to do that in a long time. So, I need to do it more often. 

A post will be made when the bike is finished. The "Raging Bitch" will ride once again!!!!!

Resolutions

Every single new years resolution - since I've been dating - has been to be happy with the person I'm with all the way until the next new years (I included "since I've been dating" because before that my resolutions were "get a girlfriend/hot girlfriend").

But, as for the last 5 years of resolutions, I have never succeeded. I have almost always broken up with the girl I was with because I was not "being happy" with them. Then, to accent this circle of "lying to the New Years Gods," I've dated or been with another girl at new years time and made the same resolution.

Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic who just wants to be with someone for the whole cycle of a year. Not so true. Who knows?

But, as referred to previously, I am still continuing this cycle. As if to prove my point, I have broken up with the girl I was with throughout this year, and am now with another girl, who I actually dated before and made this resolution for (do I get to make up resolutions past?).

I think I'm going to stop making this absurd resolution and do something more feasible, like "eat a cheeseburger" or "cook a stir fry that doesn't include wilted/overcooked vegetables"

Well, I suppose I should get to planning. Hmmm....what to do....

I'm Writing a Research Paper

It is becoming damn near impossible for me to write this research paper. So damn near impossible, that I'm blogging about it. Ugh.
My paper is called "Alchemy and Science to Enact Fear in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." And, unfortunately for me, but also slightly fortunate, there is no other article like mine. So, as great as it could be that my article will be one of a kind, there is also almost nothing (scholarly) to base my article on.
It's going to be tough considering my article is due in about 15 hours.
I just want it to be over. It is my final final of this semester and will be a great paper to submit for my graduate applications. I just want to be done.
I want to read books (mostly the books I was supposed to read this semester), watch movies, and just relax.
Oh, and I haven't bought any Christmas presents either and that is coming up WAY too soon.

Well, I suppose it's time to get back to work. Shalom followers and stumblers.

How Much For a Free Lobster Dinner?

           Several years ago, in the bay area, when my father had hair on his head and I wasn’t even a thought, he and his friends were bored, hungry, and drinking. They had gone to a restaurant, a relatively nice restaurant, to drink at the downstairs bar and have a good time. After an hour or so of drinking and joking around, the men decided that it was time to walk back home to the apartment, and maybe make some food.

            “All we’ve got is pasta,” my dad remarked to the other three men.

            He was met with a grumble and a weary nod as if to say, it’s better than nothing, but we’re still going to hate it.

            They all stood up from their tall bar table, drunkenly pushed their stools back to where they found them (sort of), and trudged out of the bar doing their best not to knock anything over.

            Heading back up the stairs into the restaurant area of the building, in a semi-drunken stupor, my dad noticed a large lobster tank in the middle of the foyer. Or, should I say he noticed a prospect that sounded better than pasta.

            “I don’t think we’ll be eating pasta tonight, guys,” my dad remarked.

            His friends looked back at him with confused stares and blank faces. He pointed to the tank, and suddenly as if holy light had shone down upon the large aquarium his friends’ faces went completely aglow and excitement filled their eyes. So, they began to plan.

After what seemed like several minutes of superior planning, which was probably a couple seconds of drunken ideas, my dad’s friend, Rich, went to the host to strike up a conversation.

Rich was a smooth-talking Italian man who would later grow up to be a very profitable real estate agent. If you needed anyone to talk, and to talk well, Rich was certainly your man. He could probably make conversation with a mute.

While Rich distracted the host talking of being a restaurateur and expressing great interest in the business, my dad sneakily waltzed over to the lobsters’ tank. After looking several times in all directions to make sure that the coast was clear, he rolled up his sleeve and reached in. This must have looked extremely odd and extremely illegal to anyone around, but fortunately for my dad as well as his friends it was a busy night and few people were actually paying any attention. After a second he snatched up a very large lobster and held it dancing in his hand. He flashed it at his friends by the stairs and mouthed a silent “WOW!” as they giggled and tried to keep their cool.

            Upon noticing my dad’s fresh catch, Rich started to finish his conversation with the host as the rest of the crew made their escape. My dad and “dinner” hid within the group as they passed the host giggling and mouthing a “thank you” to the preoccupied host. I’m sure the host never knew how thankful they actually were. The men then regrouped outside with Rich and paused for a secret victory dance.

            They sprinted back home and rejoiced that at least for tonight, they wouldn’t be eating pasta.