Headed off to the New Jersey State Triathlon this weekend to see my newbies in their first race. It’s been a good program this year, and a great group of participants. The trash talking on the club forum has been hysterical to read, and I hope they carry it over into the main forum as well - we could use more friendly competition there.

I’ll be doing what I did last year - taking lots of pictures. This time I have extra batteries, so I shouldn’t run out of juice before it’s over. Looking forward to race day, and also looking forward to the end of the heavy volunteer duties (until next year).

I declare that today's song of the day is "It Happens" by Sugarland.

(as in "Shh! It happens!")

;-)

Current Mood: bouncy

Not personal, but political apathy. I live in the District of Columbia, and while we do not have a vote in Congress (the branch of the Federal government under whose jurisdiction we fall), we do have a vote for President, with three votes in the electoral college, thanks to the twenty third amendment to the US constitution.

However, the District voter base is approximately 8,953% registered Democrats, so the vote is assured to Sen. Obama, regardless of which way I might choose to vote. And that makes it hard to get worked up/excited about the election, since my particular vote isn’t going to affect the outcome in the least. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still get out and vote, but it’s difficult to force myself to care much about the election news I stumble across during the day when my vote doesn’t really matter here.

Current Mood: apathetic

FYI, DC just announced their summer "back to school" tax holiday, from Saturday August 2 to Sunday August 10. All clothing items under $100 are exempt from the usual 5.75% sales tax during that week, as are all office/school supplies. More information can be found here.

Current Mood: awake

Started training again this morning, after a two week mostly-break. Was hot as all get-out, but got through it. My next race is in 4 weeks, in Luray Virginia (pronounced “LOO-ray,” not “luh-ray” as you might think), another olympic race, so I have to get prepped for that. Remind me not to take an exercise break after my next breakup, it’s not worth it, even if I am feeling blue.

In other news regarding the breakup, I seem to have gotten some of my tolerance back. Not that this is necessarily a good thing, but it is nice not being completely worthless after having drinks.

I’ve finally managed to break out of some of the isolation I’ve had especially in this two week period, but also to a degree since having moved down to southwest. I’m trying to be more active about getting myself out of the apartment and around folks, and spent a good part of the weekend doing just that. And that’s been fun. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to work in training for all three sports in the tri, but I’ll muddle through somehow. In the meantime, I’m enjoying getting out of the house more, and look forward to more of this.

As has been the case the previous times I’ve been on DC jury duty, I didn’t even get called back to a panel to get rejected, just sat in the lounge and eventually was let go. Not that I imagine I’d ever actually be allowed to serve - young, white gay male attorney. Yeah, not so much wanted by parties on juries.

Did get a couple inches done on the next hat I’m knitting. Had a couple people ask about it, that was it. May have found an entertainment center I like, too (dropped into apartment zero after they released us). Then it was home to nap. And that’s been about it today. At least work doesn’t have to lose me another day this week - the blackberry was going nuts all day.

I completely forgot I have jury duty today, until I got home from seeing Hellboy II with Steve. UGH. Thank heavens for the work Blackberry so I could email the folks I had meetings with to let them know why I wouldn’t be there. But, damn, what a pain.

Keep your fingers crossed that my usual luck on sitting them out is still in effect.

Make sure you check the mouseover for the comic linked below.

XKCD # 450

Current Mood: amused

Running a little slow this morning. Last night was one of those “my brain will not shut off” kind of nights, with melatonin and exhaustion finally kicking in around 3-something. It wasn’t all a bad thing - the brain was going over some conversations I’ve had over the course of the weekend, and thinking a lot on what it is I want to be doing with myself, and with other people.

I did miss going out to take photos of the training tri this morning with the club, but I’m headed out to brunch at a friend’s house in a little bit, then a potluck birthday thing this evening over in Virginia with one of my body electric buddies.

I did decide that I’m not going to do the IM this fall. It’s not to say that I won’t ever do one, but it’s not the right time, and I think I signed up for it for the wrong reasons. I still have two races I’m currently signed up for, and I can find one or two more for the fall here locally. And perhaps this year I won’t end the season completely burnt out and unmotivated to do off-season fitness maintenance.

I also think I’m going to attend the local Celebrate the Body Erotic course in November. I need the refresher, and I’d like to go back to an earlier plan of mine, to attend one of the week-long intensives next summer. I also need the renewal of my ties to this particular community. I’ve been disengaged from the energies I need for long enough now, it’s time to get them back.

Visited the LYS this afternoon. I think I have the beginnings of an addiction.

I think I finally pinned down what it is I’ve been feeling for the past day or so, and that’s lost. Something I considered an anchor (though whether I clung to that anchor for the right reasons is a whole other story) is gone, and I’m doing the usual soul-searching that comes from such an upheaval.

And it’s not particularly fun.

This on the heels of just having had a “what do you want to do with your life” talk with my supervisor, going over advancement possibilities, and thinking about what else I might want to do with my career. I’m fairly happy with my job, though I will admit these days to being somewhat bored with it, too. Same old issues, same old fights, and in some ways a new crew of managers coming in (not in my office, but in others I deal with) who are not quite as pleasant to work with as the ones I deal with daily now. Do I want to stick with that? But what else would I do? So frustrating.

It doesn’t help me that I’m horrible at cultivating a support network. I don’t reach out to folks as I might, and I don’t really go outside myself when dealing with a problem (save for venting here). “My problems are my problems,” my little brain says to me, “and they’re for me to deal with, alone, until they’re taken care of.” And that’s not always the best solution. In fact, it’s probably rarely the best solution. I work, maybe I go exercise, I come home, I veg, I maybe chat online, but that’s it. And I don’t think that’s enough for me.

I’m also very seriously reconsidering the IM in November. My parents are iffy, because Dad’s going to have some surgery around then and so they don’t know if they’ll be able to travel out. BC won’t be coming, obviously. And frankly, the idea of going out there for a week and coming across that finish line for something that big with no one there to greet me, celebrate with me, or just to see it happen is just not an appealing one. Yes, I wanted to do it because it’s a challenge, but I’m not sure if I like the cost at this point.

Current Mood: sleepy

As I did 3.5 years ago in January of 2005, I’m planning to escape DC for the inaugural festivities. Frankly, I don’t care which party wins, the people who come to DC to celebrate the victory are obnoxious. Add to that the inevitable security craziness, protestors and entitled politicos and you might see why I don’t want to be here.

This time around I think it’s time to make a much-delayed and much-needed return to the Bay Area to visit/meet folks. I think the main question at this point is how long to go out for.

I got carded twice on Sunday, once to buy beer, and once to buy an M rated video game.

Current Mood: amused

Sorry for the overly dramatic last post. That’s what comes of posting in the moment, or right after the moment, as the case may be.

Yes, BC and I are no longer together. ‘Twas the culmination of several factors, and I fear the fault here really is mine. No freak out like the last guy I dated, but still, in the end I just wasn’t enough.

Thank you to the friends who reached out, I do appreciate that.

Today has pretty much been spent alternating between numbness and tears, not helped any by a hangover from last night’s Independence Day festivities. I just realized how little sleep I got last night from the time print on the last post - I had thought we’d crashed right after midnight, but it seems we were up a lot later than that. So for tonight some meditations on what has happened, and lots of sleep. This absolutely, positively stinks on ice, and it’s going to hurt for some time to come, and that’s not the overreaction of last night talking, either.

Current Mood: sad

And then he proved, once again, that he was a failure. And life was what it was. And he was in pain, of his own fault. For he failed, and that was the end of the question, that he failed, and there was naught else that could be done to correct the failure, for it was total and entire.

Current Mood: crushed

Finished BC’s hat this evening (the one to match the scarf). ‘Twas easier than the scarf, actually. I suspect that was so because it was a smaller project, as well as knowing the rib pattern already from the scarf.

Well, fuck. I had ordered a stove a while back from one company, and it was backordered for forever, so I cancelled that order, found it at another company (and cheaper!), so placed an order there. Well, it seems that the manufacturer is no longer making that stove, so they just emailed me to let me know they cancelled the order. UGH! I just want a freakin’ workin’ stove, people. This should not be this difficult.

Damned tiny apartment kitchen (the current stove, and thus the available space, is a 20-incher, so I’m stuck at that size unless I want to pay lotsa money to redo the space entirely, which I don’t, and the selection is seriously limited).

Back to more searching for stoves. *sigh*

Heck of a lot easier to run eight and a half miles at 70 degrees and relatively moderate humidity this morning than it was in the mid-80s with high humidity last Wednesday evening. Just sayin’.

I think I’m finally beginning to appreciate sports drinks while out running and biking. It helps that I’m finally training in a decent heart rate zone and not running too high to take in nutrition. Ever run so fast you felt like you were going to puke? Well, run just below that and you won’t puke, but you can’t take in nutrition, either - your stomach won’t process it. And sports drinks tended to make me feel like I was over-full. Moderated intake, while still mostly drinking water, seems to be working. Which is something I needed to learn, to ensure I take in enough calories while out on long runs and rides.

In other food news, I’m no longer keeping a vegan diet, nor a vegetarian one. As with the original decision to go vegan, this was about my health and what I needed for my diet. This isn’t that big a deal, so I’d appreciate it if folks would refrain from smart ass comments about the change back to omnivory.

For some reason I’ve just been exhausted this week. Enough so that I finally broke down and made an appointment to go talk to my doctor in two weeks about the occasional sleep aid. I’d really like to make it through one entire night without waking up 2-3 times over the course of the night. And be able to go to sleep sooner than a half hour after I turn out the lights. Damned overactive brain.

Was sore enough that I took today off from biking. The fact that Hains Point is closed for the celebration of the Fourth on Friday helped with that, too (they stage the fireworks and other necessities down at the point for the week before the holiday). So grabbed a little extra sleep this morning, but not enough to stave off all the yawns at work. Ibuprofen was also consumed. Who’d have thought golf was so vigorous, but that’s what I get for using muscles that I don’t normally touch in tri training.

I’m trying to find a new dermatologist as well. The first one I went to was a jerk, and his partner is okay, but always feels too rushed to really do anything with me. There’s a spot on my face I want looked at, given the family cancer history, and I know it’ll be months before I get in, even if I go to my current guy, but I’d really prefer someone who doesn’t feel nearly so rushed when trying to get through the appointment.

BC’s birthday was today. His sister, her partner and I took him out golfing (the first time I’ve golfed in over 15 years, if not more). 18 holes, and I think I got in my core workouts for the next week or two. Was a lot of fun, actually. One of the back nine had me asking BC if I were playing golf or croquet due to the number of short, flubbed hits, but so be it. Then dinner with the family, gifts & cake, etc. Good time, and he liked the bracelet he got from me (among other things), to match the necklace he got from me last year. Good time.

Saturday was open water swimming practice with our new triathletes, then a bike ride. I ended up helping one of the slower riders, and we stayed together through the whole 40 miles. No one else ended up doing lunch, but by the time we got near the restaurant we were both dying and needed food, in the form of an exquisite watermelon/strawberry soup. Fantastic stuff. Took forever to get through the ride in and around Annapolis, but was fun nonetheless. There was one absolutely wonderful hill where I got up to 43 mph. Loved it!

Lots of sun this weekend, but no burns (thank heavens for 30 spf). Between the jersey, the watch, the golf glove, etc. the patterns are a bit unusual, but that’s par for the course for moi. I’m no sun-worshiper, though I do enjoy being out and about in the summer, especially on the bike.