...when it comes to rocking something fierce, boy do i....

Playlist for 45 minute kickboxing workout with heavy bag:

Song	Artist	Album
Never Let Me Down	Kanye West	The College Dropout
Welcome To The Jungle	Guns N' Roses	Welcome To The Jungle
D.R.E.A.M.	The Transplants	Transplants
Mob Squad	Dragon Ash	Mob Squad
The Message 2002	KRS-One	The Mix Tape
The Heretic Anthem	Slipknot	Iowa
Cursive (F/ ISO)	Grayskul	Deadlivers
Live @ Scribble Jam 2002	Mr Dibbs	Turntable Hardcore Vol.1
No Friend Of Mine	Blood For Blood	A Tribute to Slapshot
Hanging On The Corner	Blood For Blood	Serenity
463	Buck 65	This Right Here Is Buck 65

Today's thought...

"To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you aren't doing them. Once you are standing in front of the sink with your sleeves rolled up and your hands in warm water, it really isn't so bad. I enjoy taking my time with each dish, being fully aware of the dish, the water, and each movement of my hands. I know that if I hurry in order to go and have a cup of tea, the time will be unpleasant, and not worth living." From Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings, page 30.

Damn the weather!

Was planning on long bike ride (at least 75 miles) on Saturday. Woke up to a temperatures in the low 40s, very windy. Decided to go running instead. Got to 10 miles in total, although I had to walk a good deal of the way back, due to how heavy the wind was...

Chicago trip

As promised, here's tales and pics from our Chicago trip, in roughly chronological order...

We got into Chicago on March 26th, and spent the day at Ikea and Mitsuwa

Y'all are crazy...Natto kicks ass! I want more. Lots more.



Sunday night, we had dinner at Trio Atelier. No pictures, but I had the following:

• French Rillettes (potted Rabbit, pork and duck, garnishes Parisienne (horseradish cream, capers, onion, pickled cabbage, and lemon)) and Brandade of Salt Cod, accompanied by 2003 Chateau Ducasse Bordeaux
• Caraway Veal Cheek with Root Vegetable Puree, Mushroom, and Lardon, accompanied by a Vina Izadi Tempranillo
• They sent out brownies and almond shortbread w/ cacao nibs while we were deciding on dessert
• I ended up going somewhat savory for dessert, and got the Cashel Bleu Profiterole with Preserved Lemon and Walnuts, accompanied with a Donnelly River Muscat.

Monday was Rheingold at Lyric Opera, Tuesday was Walkure, Wednesday was dinner at Bin36 for Kathleen's birthday.

(Above is not my meal - I had the oysters, as usual, with a glass of Perrier Jouet, followed by the Sauteed East Coast Skate, rosemary & meyer lemon flan, tomato-fennel-olive confit & shoestring potatoes)

Thursday was Siegfried at Lyric Opera. Friday was haircut for Kathleen



Spa for me, and then Edible Book Festival at Columbia - highlight photos below:















After that, we walked to To Pho

Predictably, I had the Pho

...twas fantastic!

Saturday was Gotterdammerung at Lyric Opera. Sunday, back to home. The Ring Cycle was great. Very long, but terrific.

update/disclaimer

No, it does not look like the bike crash is another in my string of entertainingly catastrophic injuries - I'm dinged up, but nothing's broken, and I was able to bike again this morning.

meta-update + biking fun

Will be posting re: Chicago trip with many pictures and much food geekery over the next couple days.

Went biking for about 4 hours on Saturday. Biking good, new clipless pedals good, wiping out while firmly attached to new clipless pedals bad. Is my knee supposed to be this color?