Year In Review

So. 365 days of blogging. Who knew that would happen? So, time for meta-introspection.

The blog itself changed over time. Wrote at first about working out a lot. My knee injury which still aches at times (last Saturday during swing team aerials practice, for example). iTunes (oops, back up to 900 unranked music tracks...). Spirituality. And my relationship with a disappearing female friend.

I went through some journeys. Dated a friend of Friends. Got over Awkward girl. Got exposed to swing dancing and went completely overboard with it.

Ah screw this. Let's just look at the resolutions:

• continue to live healthy
  Doing very well. Knocking on the door of breaking out of the "Clydesdale" label.
  
  
• live my life with more thought about spirituality
  Meh. Been in and out of Quaker Meeting, been an infrequent visitor at the non-Institute class that the Remys invited me to. Meh.
  
  
• compete in a sprint triathlon
  Knee injury cured me of all running aspirations.
  
  
• complete a "Century" ride (100 miles)
  I rock! My first Century was a Cool Breeze
  
  
• take more pictures each week
  Not so much. And not so important-seeming.
  
  
• update this blog with consistency
  Hey, not a bad job. I don't think I've let it go quite for more than 10 days at a time or so. And almost 400 posts in the year? Good for me!
  
  
• increase my social circle
  Definitely did this. Through the Remys to parts of their social network, to swing dancing, swing teams (where I'd like to congratulate myself on being a social catalyst).
  
  
• contribute positively to the communities I belong to
  Not so much with the Quakers. Bit more with the dancers.
  
  
• take a vacation that requires an overnight stay
  Not so much.
  
  
• take positive steps towards finishing my degree
  Kind of. I took a math class last spring, but haven't followed up.
  
  
• write 5 minutes of stand-up comedy
  Not so much. And don't care so much.
  

And from August:

• Go On Casual Dates
  I did do this more in the latter part of the year, going on dates with, uh, three different women. And one of those has sprouted into a full-blown relationship. So I fell short of dating five different women, but that was an arbitrary goal compared to real-life.
  
  
• Be More Organized
  Not so much.
  
  
• Cycle
  Yeah, not in the latter half of the year. Darn.
  

Tomorrow, another year, another set of resolutions.

Make Me A Muslim

Wow.

Very interesting. And so reminiscent of the LDS limitations my friends tell me about in the areas of modesty, homosexuality (hilarious misconceptions about that, by the way), alcohol, etc.

Soap

Just listened to a Fresh Air interview with Sarah Chayes, who founded and is running the Arghand Cooperative, which produces boutique soaps infused with the metaphorical (and literal) fruits of the south Afghanistan region. The goal is to wean the farmers off of the opium poppy by providing alternate products that add value to the local crops and are able to travel to Wester markets. They've been unable to meet the demand they've generated.

Chayes wrote an article in the Atlantic, Sents and Sensibility, about the journey of founding the cooperative, the frustrations of dealing with USAID, which is supposed to be helping groups like hers, and the amazing outpouring of direct support that actually got them up and running.

My brain: "Government-sponsored redevelopment can be extremely wasteful. Sometimes it's handled better by small, independent groups."

What am I, a Republican?! It's easy for me to say that we should foster an atmosphere of imagination and creativity in these agencies, but probably much tougher in practice. Accountability is a big factor.

My brain: "Why can't the government just fund independent groups with the flexibility and local expertise they lack?"

That's sooo problematic. And exactly what we're doing with the office of Faith-based initiatives, isn't it? :-(

Skating By

Saturday was the Atomic Swing Team outing: ice skating at Anaheim Ice. I made sure P could come along as well, which was kind of the deciding factor for going. The pizza was a little sad, but had a nice chew to the crust. The skating... Well, I hadn't been since I was four-ish, when my father was attending Rochester Institute of Technology. So about 30 years ago. I briefly toyed with in-line skating back in the early 90's but spent less than an hour on skates. My feet were too wide for my skates and would quickly cramped up.

But all that aside, it came back to me quickly. The skates fit fine, if without enough arch support. I still don't know how to cross-over, but I was balancing on one foot fairly easily.

(Joy and I are too cool for school)

I only fell once, literally on the last lap before finishing up.

I think I'm done. Oh, the exit's too crowded. One more lap. Ouch!

Fun times! But my butt was sore the next day. Lots of near falls that I'll pretend didn't happen.

(Lindy Hoppers under glass, waiting for the Zamboni to finish)

(everyone, post cake and cocoa)

Funny conversation with Jeremiah.

Someone: Why didn't you get that girl's number at Lindy Christmas?
J: I'm young. I have plenty of time.
Me: Don't worry, I got her number and you can have it. [ducks right cross from P]
J: What?
Me: Why are you surprised?
J: Shut up.
Me: She had a teal top on and was from San Diego, right?
J: Er... Yeah...
Me: And her name was....
J: Yeah.
Me: Yeah, don't worry, I got her number for you.
J: Shut up.
Me: I'm just kidding.
J: I know you are, but I'm freaked out that you know who we were talking about from five seconds of conversation.
Me: Wasn't I the one who told you to dance with her?
J: Maybe. She had great connection, didn't she?
Me: Yeah, she did!

Later on:

Me: This was the girl you were talking about, right?



J: No, this is the one:



Milk came out of my nose!


The woman in the second picture was taking the OC Swing intermediate Thursday series when I first started the beginner classes last February. She's really nice, and Jeremiah is really mean.

Scary Dick

Too awesome for words.

Scary Mary

Too awesome for words.

Loot

Books:

The Elements of Cooking
The Reach of a Chef
Generation Kill

Watch by Kenneth Cole (I think that's it, but with a stainless steel band)
All-Clad Stainless Steel saucepan
Apples To Apples game
Travel Boxer underwear by Exofficio

Breaking update:
Ninja bag from the Remy family!!!