So fun! So sore.

This weekend some friends took me and Goof bouldering! For people too lazy to click the link, bouldering is like rock climbing, but you never get very far off the ground. Instead, you try many short-ish climbs (never higher than 8-10 feet up). Because you don't go that high up you don't need ropes or belayers - you just climb! Underneath are many padded mats, and your friends spot you. It can be done outdoors (as in, you actually climb a boulder...) or at a gym (which is what we did).

As I expected, I did not do very well. While the friends we went with had done this before, and Goof has a wingspan of a pterodactyl, I had neither reach, nor experience, nor strength going for me. But I did successfully climb a few of the courses, and made noble attempts at others. And I have to say, I had a fantastic time :)

Photo is from a random internet site, to show you what it sort of looks like.
Although, at the place we went, I think the ceiling was lower than the guy in the green shirt, and there was actual padding on the ground.

It turns out though, that climbing up a wall uses some muscles that I really don't have. For example, did you know that a lot of daily activities use the muscles in your forearms? Yeah, me either, until my forearms became centers of muscle fatigue and soreness. I'm talking about daily tasks including, but not limited to:
-holding and carefully pouring a kettle full of hot water
-typing (sigh)
-pushing a door (or anything else for that matter) with a flat palm
-squeezing brakes on a bike (doh!)
and of course,
-trying to massage your sore forearms! (oh, the irony...)

I think all this means is that there'll have to be a next time. Next time, I'll make it up courses I couldn't scale this time around. Next time, I'll be stronger, so hopefully I'll get less sore. Next time I'll take my camera and get a few action shots to share.

Who wants to come? :)

Road less traveled

Overheard in a public garden not too far from my place, said by a neighbor's almost-4 year old boy:

"I'm gonna go down that path, cuz I never been there before an' I don' know where it goes."

"Oh!" (delighted) "It goes to roses!"


Note: I fully recognize that this is not a picture of a rose. To the almost-4 year old eye however, it's close enough.

My first ever Sunday Googleage!

I love Sunday Googleage over at Lara and Aly's places, and I couldn't wait to start some Googleage of my own. Now, my blog is not nearly as interesting as theirs, nor has it been up for as long, so I knew it would take a while for the good searches to accumulate. But really, I couldn't wait any longer, because this is just too fun.

In case you're new to the program, the way Googleage works is thusly:
1) People search for all sorts of things on Google
2) Sometimes, those search terms cause them to click a link to my site
3) My sitemeter keeps track of those searches that brought people here
4) I compile lists of funny(er) ones, and present them with commentary!
5) Fun times!

Without further ado .... let the Googleage begin!

All about Bali

Let me just say first that there must not be a lot of websites based in Bali. I'm assuming this, because I get a lot of people clicking overto here who are searching for things having to do with Bali. To wit:

bali nice - sure is, I bet

Bali humor - I'm guessing it's humorous.

yarn stores bali - probably sell yarn, just like they do in the states.

bali pants dancers love - sounds good! If you find some, get me a pair would ya?

sudafed in bali - will probably work the same as sudafed anywhere.

I'm giving these my best guess, but seriously? You are in the wrong place people. I do not live in Bali. I do not know anything about Bali. Bali simply rhymes with my name.

More people in the wrong place

tpiglette - she's over there

pretty bird woman house - is over here

idan raichel i want to get closer to you - that's lovely, but idan raichel is not in right now. Also, I sincerely hope he knows you, otherwise your intense desire to get closer to him may be perceived as creepiness and backfire...

pretty deep thoughts - are not typically found here. Try these thoughtful people.

You got questions? We got answers.

What's in your purse? - stuff

how much alcohol can i bring to bali - how much can you handle? (again! with the Bali!)

what should tali wear to her birthday party - Good question. I'd be surprised if typing this into Google was the best way to get the answer though...

DO BALLROOM SNEAKERS HAVE SUEDE BOTTOMS - YES I THINK THEY DO. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO REMOVE CAPS LOCK?

what kind of name is Tali - a totally fantastic one!

Search o' the week

I'd like to close this edition of Sunday Googleage by awarding the WTF Search o' the week. Drumroll please.....

...and the winner is....

tali i shot myself

Seriously! At one point I was the first hit for this on Google, and I'm still in the top 10. WHY?!?! And maybe more importantly, why are you trying to communicate with me instead of going out and getting medical attention!?!?

This concludes my inaugural Sunday Googleage. If you're bored or otherwise not amused, give it at least one more try so I can accumulate some wackier search terms and a better sense of humor. If you're still bored after that, or generally have no faith in my ability to acquire a better sense of humor, then just ignore posts with Sunday Googleage in the title, because I'm having fun goshdarnit!

Have a great week y'all :)

Still quiet places and padded rooms

One of the ironies of my job is that I am involved in running a research study on mindfulness meditation, but do not, myself, have a regular meditation practice. I have read (some) about meditation, mindfulness meditation in particular, and I once took a low key mindfulness class for a few weeks, but even during the class I was pretty terrible at actually taking the time to practice meditation at home. Still, from time to time I just sit and breathe, or walk and notice, or otherwise attempt to calm my mind through meditation.

The teacher of the class that I took says that meditation is about finding a "still quiet place, inside." With this phrase in mind during my first few meditation attempts, an image formed in my mind that has come up on other occasions when I meditate. I see myself, in my minds eye, sitting cross-legged on a smooth wooden floor - like I'm watching myself from outside of myself. I see myself sitting cross-legged even when my real physical body is not in that pose, even if I am lying down, or sitting in a chair. The room has many windows, and natural light streams through generously. Sometimes it seems like this room is near the ocean, other times I imagine it to be deep inside my heart cavity in some way (remember, it's my still quiet place, inside). Other than the windows and the sunlight, the walls are bare. I'm not fully sure where the door is - it's never come up. There is no furniture.

When I first started, I thought of the emptiness of the room and the bareness of the walls as symbolizing my newness at meditation. I thought that as I meditated more, I would discover in more detail what my still quiet place looks like, and fill it in accordingly. So far, this has not happened.

But last week, I got a new twist. Last Thursday, two things were going on - some interpersonal issues at work were raising my blood pressure, and it was a beautiful day outside. So I left the office for a few minutes, sat on the grass, and meditated. As I breathed in and out with the sun on my face, and thought about how silly I was being to be as amped up and stressed out over small things, I "saw" myself in a totally new room. This room was small and rectangular - on the long sides it was slightly longer than my fingertips outstretched, but the short sides were only as wide as my elbows stuck out, no more. One long wall was steel or metal of some kind and I was standing, leaning against the long wall opposite, facing the steel wall. The long wall I was leaning against and the two short walls were cushioned with something soft and puffy. This time, no windows.

As I thought about what my minds eye had put on display for me, it seemed like a nice metaphor. I am blessed that 3/4 of my small world is cushioned and supportive, even when I'm facing an oppressive and cold metal wall right in front of me. And I'd like to appreciate and be able to comfortably lean on my soft support, and let the cold wall be, rather than bash my head up against it.

It's fully possible that I'm reading too much into a daydream, or that my brain was trying to tell me I've gone mental, and should find myself a nice padded room. But either way, I felt quite satisfied with the image. It felt like a true reflection of my thought process and mental state, and it helped me focus on the good things in my life and in my job. After a few more breaths I smiled, opened my eyes, rose, and got back inside and back to work.

The mind is truly a wonderful mystery :)

The times, they are a changing

Every once in a while, it feels like life goes through a small transition. Not the move-across-the-country or major-breakup type life transition, but a smaller change, in the day-to-day pattern of life. In the past couple weeks, the pattern of life in Casa de Tali has been undergoing just such a shift, because my Goof has a new job!

I suppose for the matter of all that, our lives were a bit in transition for a while, since he quit his previous job in November, then ramped up to full-time volunteering by January, and now has transitioned to this new paid job. But the big difference with this job is that it is faaar away. It takes Goof about 1.5 hours to get to work. And 1.5-2 hours to get home (traffic).

To me, that sounds like a crazy amount of your day to spend on public transit or in a car (he uses a bit of each). But I recognize that this job is perfect for Goof, and it's working out well for him so far.

Still, the patterns of our lives are changing. It was a bit unsettling at first, for sure. Goof now wakes up before I'm even approaching consciousness and comes home 1-2 hours after I do. This means that in the mornings, I usually haven't spoken a word until I get to work. And I have similar me time in the evening. But while we used to get home hungry and throw something together, now I have no excuse. I have time to go to the store and cook a meal between when I get home and when he does =) On nights (like tonight) when I decide it's quesadilla night, I have time set aside to myself to blog, fiddle with the guitar, or work on the new knitting project I just started.

So while it's unsettling to have the pattern of my life shift and change, I've been enjoying trying to capitalize on the momentum to start new habits that I want to keep - like waking a bit earlier, cooking more, and working on fun projects. It feels good to feel things change and know that I'm moving those changes in a direction I like.

How about you, readers? How is the pattern of your life changing/about to change?

Once bitten, twice shy

A couple months ago, Goof and I got a knock on our door from a friendly young man we had never met. He said he was from the local high school, and that he was part of this program where if we buy newspaper subscriptions from him, he gets money for college. I had just heard from another friend of mine that she had had a similar visit, and how great it was that she could just get the paper for a few months and some kid can get some help paying for college. We chatted with him some, and agreed to buy a subscription (I'd been thinking of getting the newspaper to read off-line with my coffee, so I figured I'd buy it through him and help him out). We got receipts from the newspaper and wrote him a check. He happily went on his way.

Trouble is, I Googled the company. Turns out, it's a scam.

Well, OK, in this case not a total scam. We did receive the newspaper, until I canceled the subscription (one weekend was enough to convince me that I don't need to waste all those trees and get a paper full of ads when I can read all the articles for free online). But in all likelihood, that kid is not working towards an upstanding college scholarship - instead he's likely to be working on commission, making minimum wage or less, for a company that trains him to give a smooth sounding pitch. In other words, they've trained him to be a good liar and play on people's sympathy.

I felt pretty awful when I found out. I'd been swindled, and worse, I'd fallen for it. I'm supposed to be smart! I felt like such a sap. However, I still believe that any earnest kid that comes to my door deserves to be given a fair shot. They really do seem like good, kind people, trying to make a buck.

Tonight, there was a knock at the door while I was making dinner. Figuring it was my friend who lives down the street I hollered "come in!" A friendly young man I had never met stuck his head in and said "umm, it's a stranger."

First he had a story about how he's going door to door to hear about other people's careers as part of some career development program. Then he says trying to earn points in some contest. If he gets enough points he gets $5000. If he's really a top point-getter he wins a trip to Europe. He asks me if I've ever been to Europe. He hands me a laminated card that verifies his membership as part of this contest, but talks too much for me to be able to really read through it. I'm still trying to figure out what he wants, when he pulls out a card with pictures of magazines on it. Aha.

The story: I buy magazine subscriptions, and he gets points in this contest.

I told him that I'd been scammed with this type of program before (he agreed that sometimes these things are scams but said this one was legit). I said he seemed like a nice guy, and I'd like to help him out, but I'd want to check on the program first. I suggested that he leave some info about the program or the company, I could look it up, and he could come back another day and if it panned out I would absolutely get a subscription from him. No dice. He did tell me that all the info is on the receipt and that he lets people write down all of his personal info off of his ID (because clearly no one under the age of 21 has fake IDs, ever...). He did not offer to have me look things up while he waited. He did not offer to leave me with any info to verify, and he said he would not be able to come back.

When he left, I felt pretty awful. It's important to me to believe the best of everyone I meet, and to help people when I can. It would not have been a big deal for me to get a subscription as a donation (even if I never saw the magazine), and it probably would have meant a lot to the kid (whether he gets his 5 grand/trip to Europe or just a commission of $10). But ultimately, I don't want a magazine, and I don't appreciate being conned. The odds of him and his organization being legitimate are almost nil, especially given his reaction to my saying I'd like to check up on the company.

So anyway, I think I made the right decision. In the future I think I will take it one step further and maybe Google the organization while I have him right there at the door. That way if I find something that suggests it is not what it seems, the kid will know in case he doesn't already. I can give him the benefit of the doubt about that.

Moral of the story: don't buy any subscriptions from people going door-to-door with sob stories!! Live and learn.

Ode to my Goof (a haiku)

My Goof is so great
He is my sweet Valentine
I love you! From, Me