October 24, 2009
NaNoWriMo Repeat
I am doing something I thought I would not do again. At least I told myself that after the first time I did it in 2007! I thought it was too out of balance. But I seemed to have forgotten or recovered from the effort two years ago and it now sounds like fun again!
November is coming in a mad rush!
Posted by carl1236 at 12:45 AM | Comments (0) | Writing
September 25, 2009
Ngon Vietnamese Bistro
Today I had lunch at the Ngon Vietnamese Bistro on University Avenue in St. Paul. Amazing! Just amazing. Not because of place, style or trendiness, but because it really tastes authentic. I was surprised by the flavor in the eggrolls. Vietnamese eggrolls to me are the best of all traditions. They are like stir fries in tube, or scandinavian hotdishes, in that everyone makes them slightly different, based on what they like and what they have on hand, yet they all remind you of your favorite comfort food. I've tried eggrolls all over the city and find the vietnamese eggrolls the most flavorful. And I happen to have been spoiled by having in-depth trainining by a close vietnamese friend on how to make them. Each time I asked her how to make the eggrolls, she told me something different. You see, it's not defined by specific ingredients as much as it is by the muse. Kind of like poetry to the taste buds. That's authentic. And in this restaurant, the muse rules. The eggrolls have the flavor!
And for the main course, I had the Bánh Xèo, a traditional street vendor comfort food in Saigon...It's a Vietnamese crepe with scallops, bean sprouts, mango chutney, & a locally grown greens salad. I've had different versions of this also, but on this one the chutney is absolutely fantastic.
A quirk? They play vinyl record albums, have a bar with great wines, beers and other good stuff. They also have an outdoor patio and a bicycle rack in back to lock up your bike. Unfortunately, today it was raining so I did not experience the patio. But next trip... Overall, my visit was not what I expected. It was better.
Here is their info...Ngon Vietnamese Bistro
I loved it.
Posted by carl1236 at 11:19 PM | Comments (0) | Food
July 10, 2009
Bike Adventure 2
Hey we are taking this one step at a time. Today I rode my fixie to work. After work I decided to revisit the little book shop I found last weekend. And since I was going to be in the area decided I need to visit my friends Jim and Kevin at Hiawatha Cyclery. Last week when I rode by their shop it was the fourth of July and they were out riding bikes too! They have a great shop in South Minneapolis and if you are looking for a commuting/touring bike, they know their stuff. Another cool thing? They are having a ride from there to the St. Paul Farmers market in the morning at 8am. Bring your paniers and baskets, cause the farmers market is awesome. I never leave that place without some really fresh veggies and cheese. For a change of pace, and to get back into exercise, I'll be going on that ride! Fun huh? I am totally into rides with destinations - much more fun than rides for training, unless, of course you enjoy training. Which I might sometimes.
Here is the link to Hiawatha's information:
http://hiawathacyclery.blogspot.com/2009/07/sidewalk-sale.html
They also have a sidewalk sale going on this weekend - nice bikes!
ride on. or ride again. or ride some more. It does feel good.
Posted by carl1236 at 8:52 PM | Comments (0) | Bicycles
July 5, 2009
Lovin your fixie!
I built a new fixed gear bike on a 1984 Motobecane Super Mirage frame. I built the wheels from Weinman DP18's and Dimension hubs, DT Swiss double butted spokes.
I replaced the bottom bracket, regreased the headset bearings, put on new cane creek road and cross levers - this is a cool setup by the way, I love being able to brake from the top!. And I put on Tektro long reach brakes. Crankset is Origin-8. The seat is by Fizik. Here are the pics.
Now for the ride. Yesterday I went on nice ride on my new bike. I headed south out of St. Paul along highway 13, to the mendota bridge, past fort snelling, past the VA hospital to Lake Nikomis, up the west side to Lake Harriet and Calhoun, then on to the Midtown Greenway, Lake Street, Marshall avenue, with final stop at Sibley Bike Depot. And finishing my ride at 3pm was perfect timing, because the skies opened up in a torrential downpour, which I completely escaped. What a beautiful fourth of July adventure!
A couple highlights:
I discovered this unique, interesting, packed full bookstore and owner; "The Book Trader" I love books anyway, so how can I not love the self-proclaimed mistress of books, the great Fluffy! She's an interesting person I'd like to get to know better. A sign on her door stating her "New hours," basically every day of the week, has a statement at the bottom which says something like, "Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."
Very true given I found her quite alive and kind of feisty. Especially when talking about Wally world. Fluffy claims that through informal polling she discovered that the same people that shop at Wally world do not read books. I didn't admit to having shopped at Wally world, but I have and she knew it. And I do read books. And books she has. Fluffy also knows where everything is in her store. Amazing since there are five or seven rooms full of books floor to ceiling, and stacked up in the isles. This is a cool place. But hm. I was supposed to be out for a ride. I didn't want to carry books on my ride so I left the store promising to come back a different time to explore.
Posted by carl1236 at 7:29 AM | Comments (2) | Bicycles
July 1, 2009
Changing body
One thing that can be said for sure is that my body is changing. Exercise is different now than when my body was still growing. Now it seems that recovery is slower and I have other problems, such as breathing issues.
Physical issues can be overcome and change can be focused with the use of therepy, inhalers, vitimins, massage, special exercises, stretching, different running shoes, etc. And changing the mind to accept new physical challenges can also be done. Once I accept that I have a physical challenge, I know what I have to work on, changing my mind to accept and overcome each challenge, and changing my body to respond to special needs.
Posted by carl1236 at 6:49 AM | Comments (0) | CHANGE
January 19, 2009
The Bubble
I hurried in from the cold rain, soaked, shivering.
The entire place was empty but the waitress seated me next to your group;
Loud, boisterous laughter, sipping coffee or tea, pontificating.
I really had no particular place to go that night, or any night.
As I listened to your stories, I was slowly drawn into your web.
Maybe you noticed me listening with my glances and expressions.
Then you asked me my opinion and it seemed natural to roll right into it.
I had already been thinking about my thoughts on your subject.
I was already snared but did not know it yet.
As the night unfolded, I was wrapped in your bubble of warmth and laughter.
It had long ago stopped raining and the shivers were forgotten.
My clothes were almost dry by the time I left!
Many memories may fail me, but that evening was one of those permanent memories,
Like sticky notes on life. The one on the fridge that says, I am not alone.
You heard my stories too.
As we changed over the years, aged, many of us had the same stories to tell.
Our lives were forever changed by each other. We were in a bubble together,
sheltered from the rain. What I did not know then, was how these bubbles are made. Life is full of them. We are part of them. We are in and out of them and in several bubbles at once. But then the bubble is larger. Warmer. More humane.
You told a story the other day and we all laughed so hard. I realized that I knew this story before the punch line, because I was there. But I still anticipated the ending, reveling in the knowledge. But it wasn’t just a story. It was lives we were talking about. Our lives. And then I realized that it wasn’t the individual stories that mattered so much. Oh they should be heard. Like you, I am an individual in my own individual ownership and responsibility for my own life and experience, and I have a unique view. But these were shared experiences. That means that I was there also and had responsibility to each of you for your experience, not just for mine. It always became much bigger than the me, myself and I. And that meant something. That mattered.
I don’t have a clue what I was doing out in the rain that night long ago. When I came in to get out of the rain, and dried out in your bubble, you were all there too. That you remember well. You told this story many times since, from other perspectives. But, it’s not the stories of individual that I remember, it’s the shared ones. Stories are always better when experienced. Because those are memories of our shared lives, how we pass through changes together. We were there on that rainy night, in our bubble, together. I remember it well.
Posted by carl1236 at 7:08 AM | Comments (0) | Life
November 6, 2008
A new Venture
I created a new "Store" on Etsy.com to sell my artwork...
http://www.johncarlson.etsy.com
Posted by carl1236 at 11:36 PM | Comments (0) | Art
November 1, 2008
Second aett of Elder Futhark rune
I was creating this natural, pine-wood grained sculpure and titled it "moon dream." It has a moon arc with a transfigureation between human in a prostrate position and crane in a uplifted head position Ths sculpture wasn't a problem until I decided to add a rune to one of the pieces. I displayed the symbol Jera to represent the cycles of change, representing change toward completion. The problem is. now that I added the symbol on one side of the scplpture, it's now out of balance and I need to add more to it. And I'll balance it out, but this is my comment about art; Art is a mixing, fluid thing.
So my end product is not what I started out to create.
Posted by carl1236 at 11:36 PM | Comments (0) | Art
September 28, 2008
Renfest 2008 Photo
Here is a photo of me at the renfest. My beautiful wife made these costumes for us a couple of years ago. Although we've been going for years, we've just started going in costume. It's fun and festive. Kind of theatrical. Like being in a Renessaince play. A lot of work goes into making these costumes. I spent several hours friday night reworking a pair of boots to better fit my costume. But the event was fun! We spent all day walking around, socializing, shopping, eating and drinking. A fitting end to the dark ages, don't you think?
Posted by carl1236 at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Art
September 11, 2008
Living in Sim City
What if we are really living in Sim City? With rules programmed in that make us respond in certain ways to different situations. For instance, when we are hungry we stomp our feet and get frustrated. Then our moral goes down and we lose points. We also lose energy and lose our jobs. Then we lose the game.
And when we play by the rules we prosper within an artifical environment that means nothing in the real world. In Sim City we control the destiny of our artificial selves. It's great. WE are what we create in Sim City. Now if only our Sims could be happy in their simulated lives.
Posted by carl1236 at 11:37 PM | Comments (2) | Philosophy
