call me scrooge, but i don't think america should win the world cup. (admittedly our chances aren't great, so it's kind of a moot point.) i love living in and being from america, and when the game is on, yes i will cheer for our team. but there are countries where people live and breath soccer year-round, and this isn't one of them. realistically, thinking about major sports in america, soccer comes in what, fifth? maybe? canada may dominate us in hockey, but football, baseball, and basketball - those are OUR sports. we cheer our usa soccer team on because we are a nation of winners and thus we want to win this world sporting event because that's awesome ... but not because we love the game of soccer. let a country who cares about the game take the glory on this one.
relatedly, i decided today that part of the reason why we think soccer is a great sport for our kids to play is the same reason why we don't love watching the sport professionally: lack of structure. when you're 5, it's the perfect game because you just get out there and run and kick the ball and it's all great. to watch the game, though? yikes. yes, there are rules, but there are like five of them, and overall it's more about skill than play-by-play strategy. no time limits, no special teams, no time outs, and at the end of the game, the ref adds time to the clock based on a formula known only to him!
pre-use pack review
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labels:
hiking,
photography
got my mountainsmith tour lumbar pack in the mail today, and having tried it on for a grand total of 10 minutes thus far - i like it!
since i hadn't looked at them in stores, i was unsure how big or small it was going to be (other than the fact that i knew it's only like 488 cubic inches, but it's hard to visualize what that really means). it looks a little smaller than i had hoped, but once i put my camera and extra lens in there, it actually felt more spacious. we just got scott a camelbak backpack a 100oz water reservoir and 1500 cu. in. of storage - ie, he'll have more than enough space to carry most of our food and whatnot on hikes, which he has typically been doing anyway. in addition to my camera and extra lens (and i may end up finding it unnecessary to carry both lenses), i have compartments for two water bottles, a strap on front that i can hook my rain jacket or extra layer onto, and two big-ish pockets for things like cell phone, keys, bandaids, map/compass, and still have plenty of room inside for some snacks and other incidentals. not to mention, if you've ever seen my purse you'll notice that i tend to fill whatever space i have available, and i really don't to be lugging around a massive, heavy pack.
scott asked if i'd like having the weight around my hips, and i think my answer is a resounding yes! it honestly felt way more comfy to me than backpacks usually do. granted my backpack to date has been the jansport i've used since high school - thus i've never used a properly sized backpack with the waist belt and chest strap and all that to really distribute the load - but i usually find hiking with a backpack draining and end up with really tense shoulders. when i'm actually on a trail for a few hours above 10,000 feet, ask me again how i feel about the lumbar pack, but so far i think i'll like it. as i was playing around with the tour, i noticed that adjusting the side compression straps distributes the weight more evenly against my back, which is handy.
we have a meeting on saturday morning, but afterward scott wants to head up to the mountains for a short-ish day hike ... as long as our plan pans out, i should be able to give you an action-shot and full review next week! and hey, if i end up thinking it's too small and hating the experience, i can always sell it on craigslist for probably close to what i paid (since i got it for around half off online) and upgrade to the 854 cu. in. mountainsmith day pack.
since i hadn't looked at them in stores, i was unsure how big or small it was going to be (other than the fact that i knew it's only like 488 cubic inches, but it's hard to visualize what that really means). it looks a little smaller than i had hoped, but once i put my camera and extra lens in there, it actually felt more spacious. we just got scott a camelbak backpack a 100oz water reservoir and 1500 cu. in. of storage - ie, he'll have more than enough space to carry most of our food and whatnot on hikes, which he has typically been doing anyway. in addition to my camera and extra lens (and i may end up finding it unnecessary to carry both lenses), i have compartments for two water bottles, a strap on front that i can hook my rain jacket or extra layer onto, and two big-ish pockets for things like cell phone, keys, bandaids, map/compass, and still have plenty of room inside for some snacks and other incidentals. not to mention, if you've ever seen my purse you'll notice that i tend to fill whatever space i have available, and i really don't to be lugging around a massive, heavy pack.
scott asked if i'd like having the weight around my hips, and i think my answer is a resounding yes! it honestly felt way more comfy to me than backpacks usually do. granted my backpack to date has been the jansport i've used since high school - thus i've never used a properly sized backpack with the waist belt and chest strap and all that to really distribute the load - but i usually find hiking with a backpack draining and end up with really tense shoulders. when i'm actually on a trail for a few hours above 10,000 feet, ask me again how i feel about the lumbar pack, but so far i think i'll like it. as i was playing around with the tour, i noticed that adjusting the side compression straps distributes the weight more evenly against my back, which is handy.
we have a meeting on saturday morning, but afterward scott wants to head up to the mountains for a short-ish day hike ... as long as our plan pans out, i should be able to give you an action-shot and full review next week! and hey, if i end up thinking it's too small and hating the experience, i can always sell it on craigslist for probably close to what i paid (since i got it for around half off online) and upgrade to the 854 cu. in. mountainsmith day pack.
july commitments
for the last year or two, scott and i have instituted july as a no tv month in our house. july's a good month for it because, well, all of our shows are on summer break and there aren't any sports scott'll be missing (although we do allow for watching major sporting events, like the world cup or olympics). it's oddly refreshing, too. we usually allow tv to be our relax time at home - get home from work and working out and veg on the couch watching tv for the night. when tv's not an option, though, we talk more, read more, get more little projects done around the house, are more active, sleep more.
last july we were in the midst of our commitment to explore colorado with our vacation time, so we had a few small trips lined up that month, which made the no tv thing easier. my favorite was a two day trip to a cabin in twin lakes, co at the base of mount elbert - no tv, just a two room cabin in the cool mountain air surrounded by aspens with a hummingbird feeder hanging in the window and a babbling brook running behind. it was glorious and refreshing, and made us really glad we didn't have tv to distract us from relaxing and enjoying the world around us.
anyway, this july we're again doing the no tv thing. we don't have any trips planned (i'm sure we'll come up with a few hikes to throw in), but we do have several friends coming in for a day or three at a time. it'll be very different from last year's experience, but hopefully just as refreshing and meaningful.
in addition to no tv july, though, we're also doing no dessert july. (this is beginning to sound like "no fun july"!) i've been working out more regularly for the past year or two and have certainly gotten into better shape and maybe lost a pound or two but have been holding pretty steady for a while. not that i think i have a ton of weight i need to lose, but i could stand to give it a shot. anyway, i realized over the past month that i eat a lot of sweets. chocolate chip cookie dough ball after i get home from work here, mid-afternoon cupcake from the denver cupcake truck (yumm) there, brownies with small group on occasion, etc. anyway, i decided that it can't be good for me. not in terms of the fat and sugar i'm putting into my body, and not in terms of the habits i'm getting into. so, i'm taking a break from it. (as is scott.) i think i'm going to have a lot of sugar cravings at the beginning of the month, but hopefully by the end i'll be happy i did it.
last july we were in the midst of our commitment to explore colorado with our vacation time, so we had a few small trips lined up that month, which made the no tv thing easier. my favorite was a two day trip to a cabin in twin lakes, co at the base of mount elbert - no tv, just a two room cabin in the cool mountain air surrounded by aspens with a hummingbird feeder hanging in the window and a babbling brook running behind. it was glorious and refreshing, and made us really glad we didn't have tv to distract us from relaxing and enjoying the world around us.
anyway, this july we're again doing the no tv thing. we don't have any trips planned (i'm sure we'll come up with a few hikes to throw in), but we do have several friends coming in for a day or three at a time. it'll be very different from last year's experience, but hopefully just as refreshing and meaningful.
in addition to no tv july, though, we're also doing no dessert july. (this is beginning to sound like "no fun july"!) i've been working out more regularly for the past year or two and have certainly gotten into better shape and maybe lost a pound or two but have been holding pretty steady for a while. not that i think i have a ton of weight i need to lose, but i could stand to give it a shot. anyway, i realized over the past month that i eat a lot of sweets. chocolate chip cookie dough ball after i get home from work here, mid-afternoon cupcake from the denver cupcake truck (yumm) there, brownies with small group on occasion, etc. anyway, i decided that it can't be good for me. not in terms of the fat and sugar i'm putting into my body, and not in terms of the habits i'm getting into. so, i'm taking a break from it. (as is scott.) i think i'm going to have a lot of sugar cravings at the beginning of the month, but hopefully by the end i'll be happy i did it.
bargain hunting
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labels:
bargains,
photography
in case you're curious what i decided on scott's ipod situation, i opted for choice "d) none of the above": a newer shuffle for his birthday, procured (used) for about $20 off on ebay! i decided on this largely because i'm curious what features the new nano will have - specifically, if they'll add a built-in app for the nike+ like they have with the touch and iphone 3gs. if they do, great; if not, they'll still have dropped the price on the current 5th gen nano to close it out - either way, i can get scott a nano for christmas either at current price or (likely) lower, and if we want, we can sell the birthday shuffle on ebay.
bigger bargain, though: a hiking pack! i've been in debates about this for a few months - constraints on my pack purchasing have included 1) the fact that i'm short and have a small-ish frame (ie, men's sized packs don't fit me well, and a good fit is kind of key for longer hikes), 2) i have a dslr i'd like to be able to take hiking - but i also want to be able to fit things like layers and water into my pack, and 3) i'm picky. i'd been leaning toward a lumbar pack for ease of use with getting camera in/out and the fact that they allegedly work better for women since the weight is around your hips rather than your shoulders - center of gravity and all that. anyway, in my recent infatuation with amazon.com and their wishlist feature, i've been stalking the mountainsmith lumbar packs for a while now, and today happened to notice that the price range on the recycled tour pack started at $34.37. the only color they had for that price is the cobalt blue which may not have been my first pick, but hey, those packs normally retail for $70 (although amazon seems to have them for $58)! for 40-50% off, i'll take not-my-first-color-pick. plus, free shipping and free returns, so if i get it and hate the color or find it won't work for me, no biggie!
next up on my list is finding an inexpensive neoprene camera sleeve (i'm envisioning the dslr inside the neoprene camera sleeve, and then rigging up velcro to keep the sleeve in-place-but-removable inside the pack) and i'll be ready to go for our summer adventures!
bigger bargain, though: a hiking pack! i've been in debates about this for a few months - constraints on my pack purchasing have included 1) the fact that i'm short and have a small-ish frame (ie, men's sized packs don't fit me well, and a good fit is kind of key for longer hikes), 2) i have a dslr i'd like to be able to take hiking - but i also want to be able to fit things like layers and water into my pack, and 3) i'm picky. i'd been leaning toward a lumbar pack for ease of use with getting camera in/out and the fact that they allegedly work better for women since the weight is around your hips rather than your shoulders - center of gravity and all that. anyway, in my recent infatuation with amazon.com and their wishlist feature, i've been stalking the mountainsmith lumbar packs for a while now, and today happened to notice that the price range on the recycled tour pack started at $34.37. the only color they had for that price is the cobalt blue which may not have been my first pick, but hey, those packs normally retail for $70 (although amazon seems to have them for $58)! for 40-50% off, i'll take not-my-first-color-pick. plus, free shipping and free returns, so if i get it and hate the color or find it won't work for me, no biggie!
next up on my list is finding an inexpensive neoprene camera sleeve (i'm envisioning the dslr inside the neoprene camera sleeve, and then rigging up velcro to keep the sleeve in-place-but-removable inside the pack) and i'll be ready to go for our summer adventures!
birthday gifts
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labels:
family
i'm very up in the air about what to do for scott's birthday. we normally don't exchange birthday gifts, just get an extra allowance for buying whatever we want (which normally goes into scott's play-poker-at-a-casino fund). a few months ago, though, scott declared that he wanted a new ipod for his birthday. right-o. i started pondering the idea and thinking about it in terms of christmas.
then a few weeks ago, scott got back from picking up a new sprinkler head (to replace the one he'd shattered with the lawnmower), pulled the ipod shuffle out of his pocket where he'd left it from doing yard work that morning, and found that he'd apparently sat on it in the car and broken off the clip. as in, the thing that attaches the ipod to his clothes while working out and running. it's still useable, but it's now a four year old, 512mb ipod shuffle with a broken clip.
as regards the new ipod, i had been thinking of getting him an ipod nano, you can connect to the nike+ipod system so it keeps track of miles run, time, calories, that sort of thing. you can even set a special song to play for your cooldown every run. he'd love it! and apparently you don't even have to get the special nike+ shoes to hold the sensor anymore - you can get a thing that straps onto any shoe's laces to hold it in place. i was thinking of doing the nano for him and having his sisters get him the nike+ipod kit and armband. perfect, right?
well, according to my wikipedia research, apple has released a new nano every september for the last 5 years. which means that if i get him a nano now, in less than three months, there'll be a new one on the market (and the current one will be probably dropped by 1/3-1/2 the current price). scott's not really up on gadgets, so he probably wouldn't care, but i remember how bitter i was that apple released the color ipod within months of me getting my "classic" ipod for graduation from my parents. so what to do? get him the nano now, or wait and make him use the old one in the meantime?
then a few weeks ago, scott got back from picking up a new sprinkler head (to replace the one he'd shattered with the lawnmower), pulled the ipod shuffle out of his pocket where he'd left it from doing yard work that morning, and found that he'd apparently sat on it in the car and broken off the clip. as in, the thing that attaches the ipod to his clothes while working out and running. it's still useable, but it's now a four year old, 512mb ipod shuffle with a broken clip.
as regards the new ipod, i had been thinking of getting him an ipod nano, you can connect to the nike+ipod system so it keeps track of miles run, time, calories, that sort of thing. you can even set a special song to play for your cooldown every run. he'd love it! and apparently you don't even have to get the special nike+ shoes to hold the sensor anymore - you can get a thing that straps onto any shoe's laces to hold it in place. i was thinking of doing the nano for him and having his sisters get him the nike+ipod kit and armband. perfect, right?
well, according to my wikipedia research, apple has released a new nano every september for the last 5 years. which means that if i get him a nano now, in less than three months, there'll be a new one on the market (and the current one will be probably dropped by 1/3-1/2 the current price). scott's not really up on gadgets, so he probably wouldn't care, but i remember how bitter i was that apple released the color ipod within months of me getting my "classic" ipod for graduation from my parents. so what to do? get him the nano now, or wait and make him use the old one in the meantime?
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