I met an awesome Kappa alum tonight for a drink and decided to take the new bike for a spin. It was about a 30 minute ride in traffic to the pub but so worth it! Riding in traffic is a new natural high for me. I am not that fast on my bike or all that talented. Denver has quite a few badass bikers. They are really fast. Anyway, I got this single speed track bike that I can convert to a fixed gear pretty easily. Sweet. Just that I really like having brakes on my bike. The fixed gear would result in fixed fear!
So I was riding home from having a beer at a pub in Wash Park and took the scenic ride home, still on a busy traffic street at 9 PM. It was uphill for a while and a single speed means you don't switch gears because there is only one gear. The hill was not that much of an incline but I had to take a break. When I started to ride again I noticed I was barely moving. Weird, I am not that tired. Then I realized - my back tire was not rotating. At all. The back bolt was loose. Luckily I have this amazing roommate who has a 15 mm tool (that I need to go buy) and she and her boyfriend biked over to save the day! Hooray! I biked home.
you know you are a kappa when....there is a loose bolt around.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Cutting Sheers
So today started a new era. I took some gardening sheers and whacked away at our front yard. The management company is supposed to take care of the landscaping. Lo-and-behold: Jaclyn has a green thumb! I went wild on those shrubs and trees. They were so overgrown (in my eyes) and I trimmed them to have some shape - in my opinion. The only time I have ever really worked in a garden was with my Mom when she had me distribute mulch on about a quarter of an acre of landscaping. So why did I choose to do this? Was it punishment or control over the landscaping? I am thinking beautification project.
The sheers were like weapons of destruction. I took out every unnecessary limb and branch. The thicker ones? Oh, I got them good. It was when the moths came out of their hiding places and the bees were a little upset that I was on their territory. No problem. I had the sheers. My roommates stood back in awe (or terror) that their new roommate was going to town on the shrubs and trees. I was so mad at this one tree that lines our front entry. It is more than 8 feet tall and it tilts because there is just too much there. So I wanted it cut. I was swinging that tree for a good 3 minutes trying to swing and get the sheers on the lonely, out of place branch. I cut all the limbs around that branch but could not get the darn branch. I need a ladder. That means I am getting serious about this gardening business. I might need to let the people that get paid do something.
I did see a pretty neat little spider - it had a neon orange body. Then for the next 2 hours I thought he was crawling around on my body. Yuck.
Tomorrow is a new day in the garden. The next big project is to empty a planter that has been the home of a big ant colony. I saw about 15 hunter ants so there are a lot. Not quite sure if my gardening gloves and hand-held shovel is going to be enough. The wheelbarrow just won't cut it - these ants are quick!
Let's hope I don't get stung, bit or swollen from the ants that called this their home.
This is my home now, beetles :)
The sheers were like weapons of destruction. I took out every unnecessary limb and branch. The thicker ones? Oh, I got them good. It was when the moths came out of their hiding places and the bees were a little upset that I was on their territory. No problem. I had the sheers. My roommates stood back in awe (or terror) that their new roommate was going to town on the shrubs and trees. I was so mad at this one tree that lines our front entry. It is more than 8 feet tall and it tilts because there is just too much there. So I wanted it cut. I was swinging that tree for a good 3 minutes trying to swing and get the sheers on the lonely, out of place branch. I cut all the limbs around that branch but could not get the darn branch. I need a ladder. That means I am getting serious about this gardening business. I might need to let the people that get paid do something.
I did see a pretty neat little spider - it had a neon orange body. Then for the next 2 hours I thought he was crawling around on my body. Yuck.
Tomorrow is a new day in the garden. The next big project is to empty a planter that has been the home of a big ant colony. I saw about 15 hunter ants so there are a lot. Not quite sure if my gardening gloves and hand-held shovel is going to be enough. The wheelbarrow just won't cut it - these ants are quick!
Let's hope I don't get stung, bit or swollen from the ants that called this their home.
This is my home now, beetles :)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Inspiration for a blog
A few months ago my sister (on the right above) shared with me an amazing poem by Walt Whitman title "Song of the Open Road." The poem hit home with the way I hope to live my life. Because the poem meant so much to me it might explain the motivation behind a blog.....
| AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road, | |
| Healthy, free, the world before me, | |
| The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose. |
This is only the first verse of a very, very long poem but it gives some insight. I've basically been floating among houses, roommates and cities for the past 7 years. I started in Chicago with Loyola, studied in Santiago, Chile, moved out to Phoenix for Teach for America and recently relocated to Denver, CO to open a new KIPP Collegiate High School. Michigan will always be close to heart because that is where I first stepped out onto the open road. The ease with which I move around stems from my passion for sound and inspiring people. It sounds a little cheesy but I love to float around and see who comes in and out of my life and try to figure out why. I think the purpose of this blog is in part informing my global friends and family of where I am physically but also holistically. There are going to be serious stories that come with the job, funny episodes that might have been retold to me through pictures and friends, and memories of the amazing people that have come into my life!
"I don't need a passport to walk on this earth,
anywhere I go 'cause I was made of this earth,
I'm born of this earth, I breathe of this earth,
and even with pain i believe in this earth
....faith in the people rockin' under the sun"
-michael franti
anywhere I go 'cause I was made of this earth,
I'm born of this earth, I breathe of this earth,
and even with pain i believe in this earth
....faith in the people rockin' under the sun"
-michael franti
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