Premium Rush

Last night J and I saw Joseph Gordon Levitt's newest action flick, Premium Rush. J mostly wanted to see bike stunts; I wanted to see how New York bikers were portrayed.

We were both left wanting in those areas, but still enjoyed the movie overall. I was impressed by even basic urban biking skills and found myself holding my breath during several intense traffic scenes. Those parts hit pretty close to home seeing as I've had to maneuver my way out of sticky traffic situations on my ways to and from work.

As for biker characterization, the movie paints in broad strokes. All bikers aren't as fixed-gear loving, smart phone savvy, and anti-establishment as movies and TV would have you think. Yes, there is a certain segment of the biking world that fits the hipster-elite stereotype, but many of us are just poor 20-somethings trying to get to work or to a friend's house without having to worry about parking or public transportation. Even more of us bikers are merely trying to incorporate some physical activity into our daily existences, reducing stress and environmental/noise pollution with one swift rotation of our pedals.

Sorry. I've gotten off track reviewing this movie. It's just that bikers in Chicago aren't always welcomed and have even come under attack by newspaper reporters. I'm guessing this is nothing new, but one would think an innocent activity like biking wouldn't be the cause of so much irritation. To every annoyed driver: I'm sorry that bikers don't always follow traffic rules, but please don't treat us all the same!

Horner Park

I'm here with M right now. He's running. I'm people watching. Just now a gaggle of kids went running by, perhaps a children's running team or just a very large family chasing each other through the park. There are dog walkers, stroller pushers, marathon trainers, and bikers. You could pick this park up and plop it down pretty much any where in America and it wouldn't be out of place. I very much enjoy the anonymity.

Aaaaand M is finished. Back to work!

Committed

As many of you know, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert was and continues to be an inspiring tale for me. I went to Rome shortly after reading it the first time, and a second reading helped put into words my spiritual ideologies. I haven't felt the need for a third reading, but I'm open to it.

Before doing that, I had to read her latest work, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage. From what I'd heard, it wasn't quite the same caliber as EPL, but I personally found it engaging and smart, if not honest and unassuming. Gilbert writes of what she knows: intimacy, loving another person, having a healthy fear of marriage. She doesn't set out to top EPL, and I found the two books to be very different, albeit complementary, works of creative nonfiction.

Here's my one critique (and it's really more of a wonder): why is the book titled Committed if there's no commentary on the connotations of that word? Commitment implies confinement. Why do we commit ourselves to people, but also to mental health clinics? Is it because we must be (for lack of a more PC word) a little crazy to commit? Or is it because (in the safety of a healthy relationship) we feel a little saner once we've done so?

Talk Radio: I Get It

When I was younger (elementary through high school), I didn't get why anyone would listen to talk radio. It seemed bland, uneventful, and contradictory to everything I listened to radio for: music and more music.

I know radio and how we listen to it is different, but I doubt things have changed very much. What has changed is I am a grown person who listens to the radio quite frequently, and I get why people listen to talk radio. I used to hear new music on the radio; now I can listen to whatever I want with (and this is a very short list of things I use) Pandora, Spotify, 8tracks, or plain old YouTube. And what does the majority of public radio have to offer me? Piles and piles of the same thing they played yesterday and the day before.

There are two Mainstream/Top 40/Popular Hits stations here, and I can't tell you how often I've tuned into one station, been unimpressed with the song playing, and switched to the other...to hear the same exact song. It's absurd that in 2012 I have to hear a handful of songs played on every station several times a day. The fact that one radio station has so few songs to play is truly disheartening.

So a few weeks ago, I gave up trying to find original music on a radio station. I made the official switch to NPR in the car I drive at work, where I do most of my radio listening, and at home I find music on the internet (see list of music sites above). I don't miss Rihanna, Katy Perry, Pitbull, Gotye, or Drake (apparently the only five artists with music this summer); even better, I've enjoyed what NPR has to offer.

I've been keeping up with politics, local and national, the economy, local news, interesting bits on Chicago, entertainment, sports, weather, and traffic. I've heard from the DJs and people calling in, reporters in Cairo and New York and Missouri, and from the various people interviewed by the station. In the past week I've learned about this and this.

An NPR story is even my latest inspiration for writing. It's a lengthy explanation, but essentially I'm trying out something a different writer did when he was first starting out. He admitted it didn't quite work the way he wanted it to, but I have no expectations for how this new experiment will work, so as long as I'm writing I feel okay about it.

The way I see it, that's a lot of positives replacing a minor irritation in my life, but those little things add up. What I'm saying is, give talk radio a chance!

Year 24 Bucket List

Guys, I'm 24 now. There's a few things I want to happen before I turn 25. I have a job and an apartment, both huge aspects of my adult life. From my job and home I've learned a lot about home ownership, work-life balance, creating a sanctuary, and time and stress management.

In this next year, I want to put into practice things I've gleaned. These are extras that I either feel old/mature enough to have/do or young/inexperienced enough to have no shame in trying.

Replace watch battery and try out life as a watch-wearer
Put loose pictures in frames or albums
Hang picture frames
Install curtains (Check! Did it today.)
Read about writing
Write
Turn the volume down on my inner critic
Arts and Crafts
Travel out of the country
Find my signature shade of lipstick
Get a new laptop
Host a murder mystery party

That's all I can think of right now. Also, I'm really hungry and kept wanting to write 'make guacamole' on the list as if it's a life goal, not something necessary for my immediate survival.

What I've been doing instead of writing

My laptop is officially out of commission, which has been okay for the summer. My iPod fills in for most of my electronic connection to the world and I've given up whatever isn't convenient: streaming tv, reading/getting lost on certain websites, paying bills...jk. Here's what I've been up to instead:

Arts and Crafts
Interior decorating
Taking weekend trips
Sweating/eating freeze pops
Learning how to front flip
Watching the Olympics

baseball & birthdays

Shout outs to Quinn and Mom on their birthdays yesterday and today!

J and I got to leave the city for the day yesterday to celebrate with the fam and watch a Brewer/Cardinals game. I've only been to Milwaukee several times, but every time I'm impressed by the city's architecture/skyline. I wish I knew the city better, besides the few spots I've visited (Miller Park, Summerfest grounds).

I made use of the two hour ride there (In sweltering heat...I'm convinced the A/C was broken. It was like riding in a double-decker convection oven.) by reading a huge chunk of Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. I've seen the movie several times and it's one of my favorites. (I find Shutter Island and Inception comparable--unreliable narrator with a haunted past creating an alternate reality, Leonardo DiCaprio--but I prefer Shutter Island far more. Like piles and piles more.) I recommend the book as well, even if you've already seen the movie. For one, it's an intriguing story, written well and with solid characters. On top of that, the book has subtle layers of depth that a film can't incorporate.

Now I'm back in Chicago, but only for three days. I'm off to Madison on Thursday to see two of my favorite siblings!

Serendipitous

Even though I believe everything happens for a reason, it's a rare occurrence when I learn that reason in a timely manner. Usually it's months or years before I look back and think, "Oh yeah, I'm glad it went that way." Not so a few weeks ago: I experienced instant serendipity, a moment when I knew at least one reason why my day went the way it did.

It was supposed to be a simple Friday at work: my last day with M before his summer camp, finishing up laundry before the weekend, stocking up on groceries, and overseeing a fix to the new cable/internet/phone line installed a day earlier. Enter flash summer storm. In the middle of a 100 degree day, the rain started and didn't let up. It came down, sideways, and in sheets. Hail joined the rain for several seconds. The wind announced its presence by tipping the solid metal patio table over, umbrella and all. Oh, and the power went out.

The AT&T service guy came not long after that, and I had to let him know there wasn't much he could do since we had no power. He answered some questions and left M and me in the humid darkness. Laundry sat sudsy in the washer and damp in the dryer. I begged M to stop opening and closing the fridge and freezer, even though the cold air felt great. Without A/C, we laid on the floor sweating without moving.

I still needed to get groceries, so I left M to his own devices and escaped for a bit to Jewel, but not before having to fix the garage door, which went a little crazy during the storm. I made sure to get ice cream--M and I both needed it and besides, the kid was headed to northern Minnesota in a few days, where he'd miss home comforts.

Back home, I learned the power was back. I also learned the phone line was completely out. On my cell, I volleyed calls between AT&T and H, troubleshooting and explaining the situation. Thanks to faulty installation the day before, plus the power outage, the backup generator had zero charge and wasn't supplying power. M chose all the times I was on the phone to ask me questions, beg me to watch YouTube videos on his iPod, and dribble around a soccer ball.

People: I was frazzled. I left work that day with a shirt damp with sweat and hair plastered to my head. I rode home through a light sprinkle, something I was grateful for as it helped cool me down. Still, I was drenched when I got back to The Naw. I needed a freeze pop and a gentle friend. I called Becca as I unwound from the day, the week. My three day weekend had finally begun and I didn't want to think about work until Tuesday.

We caught up for a bit; I mentioned going to Milwaukee on Monday to see a Brewer game for Quinn's birthday. "I'm going to a Brewers game on Monday too," Becca said. "I think. Let me check." Sure enough, we were going to be at the same game. For two people who used to live together, but currently live in two different states, meeting up in a third state is wonderful. Knowing I'd see Becca the next Monday made my Friday night.

All at once I realized why my day at work was so trying. If not for that, I wouldn't have felt the need to talk to Becca afterwards. I would have came home feeling great about my weekend, ate dinner, had drinks, etc...and very likely wouldn't even know Becca would be in Milwaukee with me on Monday. If not for having a tough day, Becca and I might have attended the Brewer game unaware of each other's presence. And if that would have happened? Unacceptable. Thank you, Universe!

Grounded, Receptive

Tonight's yoga class was like that really fun day camp where the counselors are like older sisters that want to hang out with you. Our teacher could have been the love child of Jennifer Coolidge and Drew Barrymore and she spent the class shouting out personal encouragements and corrections: "Look up, Linds! Breathe, Kels!" She also abbreviated everyone's name. I went from no name newbie to "Keep your butt up, Rach!" in about 45 minutes.

And the highlight of the class? I successfully did a headless head stand! Okay, actually a head stand inversion on my forearms. Alright, alright, you got me. The teacher held my hips while I pressed my feet against the wall and my arms to the ground. But I didn't fall over this time!

And the Living is Sweaty

Today, it hailed. It was also another 100 degree day. Explain that one, science.

Our apartment has no air conditioning, so my routine has been cold showers, freeze pops, fans, and as little movement as possible.

Yesterday Bailey and I celebrated freedom on the beach with the rest of Chicago's young population. We also got to see fireworks aplenty. They are illegal in Illinois, but that doesn't stop enthusiastic Americans from crossing the border to Indiana to appease their need for explosives.

Tonight I'm sleeping at the Charleston, just a few blocks away. They have A/C and down comforters on pillow top mattresses. I'm basically on a staycation except I still have to go to work tomorrow.

Falling for Health

Just this afternoon, I finished reading Drop Dead Healthy, the latest from extreme project guru A.J. Jacobs. During the course of writing it, he tried to be the healthiest man alive, spending about one month per body part for two years: stomach, brain, heart, skin, eyes, ears...he covers a lot of body parts. If I had to write that book, I would have separated it by health categories: diet, exercise, rest, etc, but as a follower of Jacobs' work I heartily (pun intended) enjoyed it.

Sunday for me is overwhelmingly a day of rest, but after devouring Drop Dead Healthy along with these food items today:

cinnamon raisin bagel w/ cream cheese
homemade pizza (3 pieces)
freeze pop (green flavor)
chocolate chips

I couldn't sit around and watch TV, nap, or read more. Off to yoga I went. A lot of what I've read/heard recently has echoed the mind/body relation, namely that a healthy body means a healthy mind, or a stressed out mind means an out of whack body. It makes sense, and luckily a month of chiropractic adjustments sprinkled with yoga and relaxation have done both my mind and body good.

I sometimes surprise myself during yoga with what my body can do, and then I start feeling pretty righteous and my body reminds me I'm definitely NOT the poster child for grace, balance, or flexibility. Just today I started internally praising myself for some great-looking plank push-ups when the teacher suggested hand stands against the wall. Feeding off a so-far successful class, I kicked right up into it...and immediately came crashing to my side. Laughing at myself to ease the embarrassment and thanking the good Lord I didn't knock anyone else over, I settled for a much more accessible downward dog pose. Drop Dead Healthy indeed.

Things I don't understand (a work in progress)

Theorems
Risk: the board game
Risk: financial/banking
The popularity of the Millennium Trilogy
The phrase 'if you want to make an omelet, you have to crack some eggs.'
Kindergarten naps at the end of yoga classes
How divers don't smack their heads on the board when they flip
How it got to be so late so fast
Why I think 11 pm is late
My metabolic cycle

Summer Activities

If you are wondering what I am keeping busy with this summer, let me direct you to this fabulous google calendar, highlighting nearly every event Chicago has to offer:

https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=chicagosummercalendar%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago

It's one of the more comprehensive summer calendars I've seen, but doesn't include nearly all my summer activities. If I am not engaged in whatever's on the calendar for the day, you can probably find me:

Sunning on my porch
Sunning on the beach
Sunning at Holstein Park
Swimming/sunning at Holstein Pool
Eating at an al fresco BYOB
Yoga
Watching trashy summer TV
Playing Words with Friends/DrawSomething
Thrifting
Reading beach mysteries

Oh yeah, aaaaaaand I might be doing a little bit of work. At my job. It's tough being a grown up.

Soul Shapes

I'm back on the yoga wagon, at least for ten classes since that's how many came in the Groupon package I bought. Maybe some day I'll wise up and read my own blog to remind myself some sort of breathing/stretching/meditative activity is beneficial to my life.

Our teacher tonight started by asking us to notice the space our bodies took up in the world, then specifically our kidneys. I think the point was to focus inwards, but it kind of made me have to pee.

Yoga is about super awareness--of the body, the breath, and how those two are linked with our thoughts. The final thing the teacher discussed before we started class was going further than noticing our physical beings. She asked us to consider the shape of our souls in the world.

I don't know what my soul shape is, but if I could describe my ideal soul shape it would be more nebulous rather than rigid, and more thick than light or wispy. I want a soul that has presence, but also adapts to different environments.

I guess I'm treating my soul like a personality: flexible, yet solid. Our souls are essentially personalities, eternal cores of our beings, and hopefully the truest parts of who we are.

I'll end with the class invocation:

'I open myself to receive those teachings that reveal the light of knowledge in me.'

Summer Sounds Like...

The neighborhood ice cream truck playing The Entertainer
Police sirens circling Humboldt Park
My neighbor's sprinkler on her new lawn
The Blue Line making its stop at Western
Passenger planes returning to the city
Fireworks every night

Emerging from my Burrow

Last night I had a dream that I was on a gigantic space station. A lot of people lived there--it had libraries and classrooms and bedrooms and kitchens and it was all very colorful. At one point, the space station lost power and we were going to crash into Earth. Something/someone saved us just in time, but I have no idea how, because as soon as Dream Rachel learned that the station was going down, she began collecting every pillow, blanket, and mattress aboard in one room where she then nestled in and awaited impact. And yes, in my dreams I can carry and throw mattresses.

When I told J about this dream, he laughed and said that's what I would do in real life too. It's true--when faced with impending doom, it's second nature for me to curl up in a ball, swaddle myself, and hide under all my blankets where I wait out the catastrophe, emerging once it's gone. Anytime I was stressed out about a paper or test in college, my solution was to take a nap and hope I was smarter when I woke up.

My last post gives an idea of what I've been stressing over lately: my bike, my closet, my back. My room won't rearrange itself into something with feng shui, M and I started several hefty painting and gardening projects at work and he has a very short attention span, and we always seem to have dirty dishes at home. All of these petty things have piled up on each other and attached to my big fear as of late: that I have no idea what I want to do with my future. Friends, Brit and Brooke can attest to you that I am in bed before the nightly news is over.

Alas, there comes a point when More Naps is not the answer (SO HARD TO BELIEVE I KNOW)...and I've recently taken steps to emerge from the minor hermit lifestyle I've lived in these past few weeks. An amazing man named Jose came last week and re-installed my closet. He also HAND MADE our screens. I started seeing a chiropractor about my back/neck problems. Waking up with headaches was no bueno and after some testing, it turns out I'm in Phase I of Spinal Crapping Outage. So Dr. Estelle & I are taking care of that. This past Saturday, Brit and I hauled the infamous Schwinns up to Bryn Mawr and our lovely bike men, where they spent about three hours reattaching my seat.

I am fixing things that are stressing me out, blogging again, adjusting to my summer schedule, and overall being alive again. Alas, don't think that emerging from this burrow means I'm not still going to bed early...as soon as this posts, I'm crashing.

[Something we have started in my community, ending with a note of gratitude: for bike lanes, Dave Matthews,  our new foot scrubber, our porch garden in the shopping cart, and that summer fireworks have started and I can hear them from my bedroom.]

Weak

Things in my life that can't hold the weight required of them:

My closet shelf
My bike seat
One of the chairs in my dining room
My arms when they lift things over my head

Why is everything too heavy?

I want to ride my bicycle

My trusty Trek got stolen, but this is the beauty I replaced her with.

Crocodile

North Ave Beach