Just a quick note to let you know that if you’re interested, my race report is up from the 12-hour mountain bike race I did two weeks ago. Thanks!
Filed under: musings | Tagged: bikes, personal, sports | Leave a comment »
Comfort Guts ‘n’ Glory
Posted on June 13, 2011 by pagesofjulia
BTT asks, own or borrow?
Posted on June 10, 2011 by pagesofjulia
As usual, I’m late on this one, but the real point, seems to me, is the discussion, not the timing of the discussion. Sometimes I need to let these topics ruminate for a day or days before my own feelings become either articulated in my head, or strong enough to warrant a blog post.
Booking Through Thursday asked, on June 9:
All things being equal (money, space, etc), would you rather own copies of the books you read? Or borrow them?
My response in this case has been shaped and strengthened through reading lots of other responses, so thanks, fellow bloggers. Special thanks to A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook for the mention of supporting his local library!
So. What’s my answer? Like some of these other discerning bloggers, it’s not a simple either/or. Of course, as a librarian, an insatiable reader, and a book lover, I have a collecting problem. It’s too easy to pick up a book I know I want to read someday, but have no time to read now, and put it on a bookshelf or in a stack at home; then I turn around and find that the towering stacks are threatening to eat Husband, little dogs and I for lunch. (Part of the problem is that my job sends numerous homeless books my way.) This would seem to indicate a preference for owning.
But! When given the opportunity to think it through and give a reasoned answer, as here :), I would not always choose to own. For one thing, there are too many good books in the world to ever read, or own, or house, them all. (This is both a good thing and a bad thing.) I know the question presupposes endless storage space, but there has to be a limit. I don’t ever want to live in a space the size of the Library of Congress times 10,000 or whatever it would take. I think the “etc.” in the question (unlimited “money, space, etc.”) is ability to choose! Or maybe time to read! I feel that books are meant to be shared, and passed on. Now, don’t get me wrong; there are many books in my collection, and in my future or dream collection, that I wouldn’t part with. That copy of The Jungle (etc.) that belonged to my parents; the beautifully bound; the unique early editions. My favorite books, especially those with a high chance of being reread or quoted from, I would always want to own a copy of. But I also enjoy passing books on. Recommending a book to a friend is one thing; putting a physical copy in his/her hands is another. (That’s one reason why it’s fun to meet up with Amy or Fil for dinner or drinks: the prospect of physically handing over books.)
Also, as a librarian, part of my life’s work seems to be providing other people with reading material. I work in a library that runs a paperback collection off donations; I’m always happy to put books into this collection, and really, a “light read” of genre fiction may as well go back into circulation as languish on my shelf never to be reread. Also as a librarian, I’m hyper-aware and extremely appreciative of the prospect of a free and unlimited supply of books to read. Even with all the money in the world, I wouldn’t buy every book I’m interested in reading; if it turns out to be a dud (and some do!), I don’t want it living with me afterwards! But with all the money in the world, I would be likely to buy some of the best books I’ve read from the library that turn out to be excellent. (Most recently, that would be Fire Season and The Heroine’s Bookshelf.)
So I guess what I’m saying, to question of buying vs. borrowing is… both, of course! Moderation in all things (thank you Aristotle), and a place for everything and everything in its place (variously attributed). Some I want to own, but most I think I would borrow, even with all the money and storage space in the world. What I most need is not money or storage space, because we have these wonderful libraries everywhere! (Support your local libraries, friends!) What I most need (besides more storage space, certainly) is more time to read. And some really beautiful, well-crafted bookshelves.
Filed under: musings | Tagged: librarians, libraries | 1 Comment »
vocabulary lessons: South Texas Tales
Posted on June 8, 2011 by pagesofjulia
I thought I’d share a few more words I was inspired to look up by my recent read: a Mexican-American collection of short stories.
Cuatro Milpas is both the name of a cantina (bar) and the bartender/owner’s favorite song. Apparently a milpa is “a small field in Mexico or Central America that is cleared from the forest, cropped for a few seasons, and abandoned for a fresh clearing.”
anaphora: “a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.” From the story Dona Porfiria Comes Calling, “Their father was a prolific reader and whenever he spoke to them using anaphora, they knew from past experience that they were doomed.”
Shibboleth: “any distinguishing practice that is indicative of one’s social or regional origin.” In its usage in the story by the same name, the Shibboleth (capitalized in the story, but this does not appear to always be the case) is basically a secret handshake.
menso: “someone who is stupid and/or annoying.” Used in dialog: “Hey! Jou’re not so ‘Mr. high and mighty’ now, eh rich boy? Jou’re daddy’s not aroun’ here, menso!” I like this phonetic expression of accents, a la Twain in Huck Finn and so many more (although I believe Twain was the first).
dècimas: defined in the story itself. Let me just share with you a short passage:
Sebastian remembered the dècimas and their complicated forty lines. A man would challenge another to a verbal duel by nailing a quatrain to the front door or a fence post. The challenged had to answer within a week by producing a complicated forty line poem with four ten line stanzas. Not only that, but the poem had to have a strict octosyllabic beat with an ‘abbaaccdde’ rhyme scheme. Many a man had tried and failed to meet the verbal challenge, but the CÌsneros men were fine ‘dècimeros’ and always relished the competition.
Isn’t that an awfully cool tradition? And so literary! I would be very impressed to observe one of these challenges being met.
merienda: context clues tell me that this is something like a late-afternoon meal of dessert. In my interwebs-searching for a definition, I found a source of information that I especially appreciated. (You may observe that I vary my sources: Wikipedia, About.com, online dictionaries including the urbandictionary.com, or whatever seems most appropriate to my need.) I found a blog that nailed this one, in a surprisingly close-to-home post about eating in the Med Center, where I work. Dr. Ricky defines the term for me:
Although loosely translated to mean snack, merienda cuisine is markedly different from what Americans consider snacks (which appear to me as extended desserts). They aren’t simply sweet items meant to provide a quick spike of blood sugar – merienda foods are proper filling small versions of regular meals, more often savory than sweet.
…and so on, discussing the food he (I think it’s a he? I could be wrong) is accustomed to seeing at meriendas in different countries.
These little cultural learning moments were great fun for me. Have you learned any new words lately?
Filed under: musings | Tagged: historical fiction, reading as education, short stories, vocabulary | Leave a comment »
vocabulary lessons: The Great Night
Posted on June 4, 2011 by pagesofjulia
Sometimes I learn a lot of new words from a book. For bookmarks, I don’t use pretty bits that were designed for use as bookmarks; I use scraps of paper (usually, something that’s been printed on one side and discarded, which I then cut into quarter-pages for just this purpose). I try to carry a pen, and I take notes on the bookmark about questions I have, or passages I might want to come back to later. This way, I can look up that reference to a book, movie, or person I wasn’t familiar with; I can quote a passage in a blog post; or I can look up the meaning of unfamiliar words and go back and reread the sentence with a new understanding.
The Great Night was full of learning opportunities – so much so, that I thought I’d share them here.
Monchhichi – okay, maybe everyone knew this one but me. Apparently a Monchhichi doll is a Japanese stuffed monkey with a certain “look” to it, thus the usage: “…might… run into a girl with a Monchhichi hairdo who could demonstrate that it didn’t matter at all…”
cosmesis – the preservation, restoration, or bestowing of bodily beauty. (very appropriate for fairy-land?) “So she did magic instead, scene by scene, working a sort of dual cosmesis upon the players and the play…”
irenic – tending to promote peace or reconciliation; peaceful or conciliatory. “…her wild spasms contrasting with the irenic strains of the music.”
capacitous – having large or exemplary capacity. “How odd, she thought, and how horrible to see them still there, slosh full of tears and regret, but no more capacitous, and perhaps not as full, as her own.”
These were all so very new to me! (And I had to look up the movie Soylent Green, too. Fairly integral to the plot, actually.) I love learning while I read. Have you spotted any new words lately?
Filed under: musings | Tagged: fantasy, reading as education, vocabulary | Leave a comment »
my hometown.
Posted on May 29, 2011 by pagesofjulia
I found the most delightful blog post earlier this week (last Sunday it was), by Susie over at useless beauty (which, by the way, is one of my most favorite laugh-out-loud blogs. I wish she blogged daily! three times a day! more, Susie, more!). She describes her hometown for us: the mundane details, that is, not the touristy ones. I love the concept, and since she’s a loooong way away from me, I found it fascinating because hers is a different world from mine. Here’s hoping you will also enjoy reading about my home. Thanks Susie for the inspiration.
Houston is a big city: the fourth largest in the US (after New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in that order), at some 2-3 million people in “Houston proper” and an estimated 4-6 million in the “greater Houston area.” We make an excellent picture of urban sprawl; we are “car culture” incarnate. (I think this is true of the US in general, and Texas even more so, and Houston more so still). The climate and the sprawl, and the resulting car culture, conspire against bicycle riding as a way of life. And yet, we have a surprisingly large and vibrant cycling scene (in Houston, and in Texas). Maybe this is due to our large and diverse population; maybe if you put this many people in one place you’re bound to come up with some avid cyclists? Maybe Texans are accustomed to going against the grain? I don’t know, but I’m glad.
We also have a lot of non-native Texans here. Houston is a major port city, and a center of oil & gas and energy industries, and a center for health care, too. We are very international; this big city incorporates little pockets of not only Mexican and Latino populations, but also Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Nigerian, and more. We are a big, international city. I love that about my hometown. Our diverse population definitely does have a tendency to congregate itself into patches of black, white, and Hispanic neighborhoods. I don’t know, maybe that’s true everywhere.
But I’m getting off track. This is about what neighborhoods look like, right?
Well, so again, as a city not terribly conducive to walking or riding bicycles. There are not necessarily sidewalks in every neighborhood, and when there are sidewalks, they’re liable to be broken, have cars parked on them or trees growing them or be littered with… litter. Susie mentions cats in her neighborhood. Well, in mine, it’s dogs – lots of strays, unfortunately, including some who will chase you on your bicycle and too many who get hit by cars. 😦 But also lots of pet dogs. We don’t see cats much – probably something to do with all the free-range canines.
The city itself is, understandably, diverse; there are “nice” neighborhoods with nice sidewalks, nice pothole-less streets, large homes, and big trees (like River Oaks, which wikipedia claims is “one of the wealthiest zip codes” in the country). There are neighborhoods that absolutely feel like Mexico: street vendors, car mechanics setting up impromptu shops streetside, Tejano music blasting, the whole nine. We are diverse economically, too.
The Husband and I have recently purchased a home in a neighborhood in north inner-city Houston, meaning we’re just inside “the loop”, about 10 minutes by car from downtown. We are in a little pocket: surrounded by neighborhoods that are predominately Mexican and less affluent, our small niche has wide streets, old homes set well back from the street on large yards, and huge old trees. Many of our neighbors are original homeowners, or the family of the original homeowners. It’s a very quiet neighborhood. Having lived for years in artsy, hard-partying Montrose or the hipster, young-professional Heights, our current street feels very calm and quiet by comparison. It feels safer. (It was nice being just blocks from numerous stores and restaurants and bars in the Montrose, but I’m willing to trade a few minutes’ drive for some peace and quiet. Down there, the party’s in your backyard! and on the other hand, the party is in your backyard.)
Montrose and the Heights, along with Garden Oaks/Oak Forest and a number of other inner-loop neighborhoods, are very desirable to live in. Houston as a whole is having a little bit of a return to the city center, as gas prices have gone up and folks are less pleased with their 3-hour round-trip commute in from the suburbs. Thus, we see more and more townhouse complexes, next door to storage warehouses, so that folks can move in from their large (much more affordable) homes in the suburbs and put all their large-home possessions in storage while they live in a smaller home in the city (since that’s what they can afford, by comparison). Certain neighborhoods have done better than others at keeping their original “feel”: the Heights has worked hard (and is still working hard) to limit development to buildings that retain the historic-Heights look, while the Montrose is gradually becoming overcome by cardboard-and-aluminum monstrosities. Some creative and artistic construction, yes, but for every imaginative new home design there are ten Hardie-plank homes, built for the short-term. I’m happy to live in a neighborhood that is largely retaining its look and its feel. Here is our house:
(okay, not an ideal picture, it’s all I have at the moment.)
I don’t know that I’ve done as good a job as Susie did in describing her world, but I love where I live and it’s been fun writing about it. Houston’s not perfect; the summers are miserably hot and humid, it’s not the greatest place to be a bicycle enthusiast, and there are aspects of our culture I would take issue with. But it’s so unique: urban, international, and big-city-feeling, but also Southern and calm in a way that you can’t replicate in New York or LA. I like it here.
EDIT! I should have shared this picture of the beautiful deck that Husband built us recently! Yay Husband!
Filed under: musings | Tagged: personal, Texas | 6 Comments »
my target audience
Posted on May 28, 2011 by pagesofjulia
Yet again, Sheila at Book Journey gives me something good to write about. This is another topic that I was just ready to write on! Thanks Sheila.
Her post from last Monday was Who Do You Write Your Book Reviews For?, and it’s a good question. She says that she was turned off, at first, at the idea of blogging just for the sake of other bloggers. It sounds like she felt it was stagnating, for the same books to make the rounds of the same bloggers; where’s the difference she hoped to make? I can sympathize, although I do think that the non-blogging public is listening, too.
So it’s a good question: who do we write for? I started my blog mostly as a way to keep track of what I’ve read and what I thought about it, with my library patrons in mind. I think I considered briefly advertising it here at the library, as a reader’s advisory service, but that idea went out the window pretty quickly. This isn’t a library blog; it’s my personal reading blog. I enjoy having visitors from all walks of life (vocations, locations…) and I really enjoy just writing about books and my personal thoughts; my audience is whoever it turns out to be. I originally just conceived of it as a tool to record my reading for me! But I love the idea that I might help someone else make decisions about what to read or what not to read (what might be suited to one’s tastes). And to the extent that I write about the events in my personal life, it’s also a way to keep friends and family up to date. I enjoy writing and this helps me to develop my “voice” and keep it honed. An all-purpose blog, perhaps.
What about you? Why do you blog, and who do you see as your target audience?
Filed under: musings | Tagged: blogs | Leave a comment »
The Long-Awaited, Much-Anticipated Julia Jenkins 26v29 Official Opinion. (preliminary.)
Posted on May 27, 2011 by pagesofjulia
This one is for my bicycle friends. My bookish friends are welcome too, of course.
Last night I rode my friend KD’s Epic 29er for the first time, at our local Memorial Park trails in town. I’ll have KD’s 29er for two weeks, which will be a great demo period (thanks KD!!). The question is this: now that I’m ready to replace both my hardtail and full-suspension mountain bikes, I need to decide whether I want to stick with the (standard, traditional-for-decades) 26-inch wheel size that I ride now, or move over to 29-inch wheels (which have gone from new-and-trendy to awfully ubiquitous). So, I’ve been fortunate to get KD’s 29er for some test rides. I have a 26er Epic, so there’s a fair comparison there (though hers is much newer and higher-end, thus my desire to upgrade).
Here’s the background: I am, if not change-averse, very cautious about changes and upgrades in technology and gadgetry. I was the last person I knew to get a cell phone; an email address; a facebook account. (And I have a website and a blog, yes. When I adopt, I do tend to do so wholeheartedly. But late.) After years of working in bike shops and racing bikes, I’m out of patience with gearheads – people who get super-psyched about upgrades and fancy equipment. It’s really a lot more about the engine than it is about your gear, people. I’m an anti-gearhead.
Thus my reluctance to “drink the kool-aid” or “go over to the dark side” or some might say, “get with the times” and get on the big wheels.
I know that 29ers hold momentum better, but I know they accelerate more slowly. I know that 29ers roll over obstacles better (any obstacle is smaller relative to a 29-inch wheel than it is relative to 26), but I also know that they’re less nimble in tight, twisty cornering scenarios.
I rode at Memorial last night just as a test ride, to get the bike set up for me. We adjusted the reach and the rear suspension a little. The real test will come this weekend at Comfort. Comfort trails beg for a 29er: wide-open, rocky, and technical. Great opportunity to roll over things with the bigger wheels, and not really any tight twisty stuff to challenge them. Memorial, meh. I’m not a huge fan of those trails these days; they’re pretty eroded and rooty (not to mention trafficked). And then of course, if I wanted to really challenge the 29er, I should take it to Lake Bryan trails, ha. Super twisty and tight; the joke is you’re looking at your own butt half the time. But that’s another story.
Very quickly during last night’s ride, I found myself liking it. It’s true that the big wheels gave me more confidence and rolled over things easier. There’s a slightly different rhythm or timing to the body English in the twistier sections, but it didn’t slow me down any; in fact it only took a minute to adjust, and it still felt right. The bike, ideally, should be like a 26er, just on a different scale. (KD is my perfect bike-trading buddy because we ride the same size – like, precisely, down to saddle height – use the same pedals, everything. So her bike definitely fits me. And this in a world where we worry about millimeters.)
But I made another odd observation: I was fighting it mentally. I didn’t want it to work! I guess I’m even more change-averse than I thought. Am I just hanging onto the thought of 26 inches because I have for so long, and I don’t want to admit I was wrong? Surely I’m not that prideful. I was looking for places it didn’t work. But I didn’t find them. And I’m sure I’m not going to find them in Comfort. In fact, I’m planning on taking both Epics (26 and 29), but I’m already feeling like the 26 might not see any dirt.
I guess if I really want to push it I should take the 29er to Bryan… and I do have the bike for another weekend.
So what do you think, friends? I want a ti hardtail! Thinking about the Ti Mariachi. And then maybe a Spearfish like Husband? Love the color… Then I’ll need a new singlespeed at some point… this is the fun part. 🙂
Filed under: musings | Tagged: bikes, personal, sports | 5 Comments »
working the network
Posted on May 25, 2011 by pagesofjulia
Today’s theme post, as hosted by Armchair BEA, is my favorite book blogs and bloggers. This is kind of an easy one to write! You can see my blogroll over to the right –> and down a bit, but just above it you can see my *faves*! I’ll just give a quick description of each.
books i done read, by Raych, is mostly a book-review blog. I love Raych’s voice: she’s very funny and conversational and feels like someone I could hang out and laugh with. She reads a very diverse array of books: children’s or YA, classics, romance, fantasy-ish, nonfiction, all kinds of things. She exposes me to things I’d never have known about otherwise, and she makes me giggle.
Book Journey is hosted by Sheila, who is very prolific; I think she averages close to two posts a day! She reviews a great many books and a great many audiobooks, too, and she’s very down-to-earth. I like that she includes personal details, too; it makes her feel like a friend, rather than a headless book-review machine.
Stuck in a Book is a thoughtful British blog by Simon, who focuses more on quiet, British and/or women’s fiction and a bibliophile’s choice of nonfiction. He writes about the emotions a book evokes and quotes representative passages.
On a different note, TERRIBLEMINDS is another thing entirely. It’s not really a book blog at all. Chuck Wendig, freelance penmonkey, is a writer who apparently can’t get enough of writing, because he blogs daily, mostly about the hows and whys of writing for a living – something pretty foreign to me, but I find him very entertaining. Caution! This blog is R-rated for language and sexual content and all kinds of disturbing concepts, but he’s great fun if you’re up for it.
write meg! is another writerly blog, but she’s pretty heavy on the book reviews, too. Meg writes about her private life and travels and personal reflections some, which I appreciate (and I often find I can identify with her) as well as her reflective book reviews.
The Feminist Texican appeals to me for reasons that perhaps should be obvious: we have quite a few things in common. I like her feminist slant on the books she chooses to read as well as the lens through which she reviews them (although she’s not militant about it; it doesn’t take over) and I love Frida Kahlo, too. 🙂
cakes, tea and dreams by Katie is about books and also about Katie’s life in Boston as a displaced Texan. Perhaps that’s part of why I identify with her voice. I like her book reviews but I like the other stuff at least as well.
Well, there’s a short list for you of blogs I enjoy; some are more purely bookish than others but we’re all whole people, right? Not just bookies? (Is that blasphemy?) I tend to like at least a touch of the personal in the blogs I follow.
Thank you all for your lovely blogs. 🙂
Filed under: musings | Tagged: armchair BEA, blogs, lists | Leave a comment »
Who are you, and how do you Armchair?
Posted on May 23, 2011 by pagesofjulia
A lovely group of book blogger people has put together a consolation event for those of us unable to attend this year’s BEA (Book Expo America). It’s called Armchair BEA, and it allows for bloggers to network and “meet” each other and share a bookish social event, without traveling to NYC. I shall be playing along by visiting other blogs and following the theme posts every day.
Today we got our first question of the week. Asks Armchair BEA,
Who are you, and how do you Armchair? This is the time to introduce yourself and your blog. Share with us a random fact about yourself. Use the organizer interviews for inspiration. Be creative, share photos, let your personality shine through! A number of new visitors may be hitting your sites, so give us a snapshot of who you are. Simply, share how you are kicking it!
We all enjoy the chance to talk about ourselves, right? 🙂
I live in Houston, Texas, and I love my hometown. I have a wonderful husband and two wonderful little dogs, and Husband and I both love to ride bicycles a lot. I’m a bike racer, too, and although I’m a bit out of shape and struggling this spring, I intend to make a comeback. We spend a lot of weekends traveling to ride and race, and we’re great fans of craft beer, too. I work as a librarian, and aside from cycling, reading is obviously a great passion of mine. Little dogs, bicycles, books and beer, along with my family, make up my life.
To steal a few questions from the Meet the Armchair BEA Team post…
If you could put one book in the hands of everyone you come in contact with, what would it be and why?
There’s always one, but I think it always changes, too! I could name several: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe; The Hobbit by Tolkien; For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway; The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot; My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. But right now, at this moment, I am very excited about Fire Season by Philip Connors, and that’s the book I would be placing in people’s hands.
If you could have lunch with any author, living or not, who would it be and where/what would you eat?
The author that I have been most consistently fascinated by all my life is Ernest Hemingway. I am delirious with love for his work, and I like to read about him, too, because not only did he create beautiful art, but he’s an intriguing figure, too. Not entirely likeable, but definitely intriguing. I would most like to meet Ernest Hemingway, and find out if I would be drawn into his spell! He seems to have been a real jerk, eventually, to all of his four wives; but they all married him (three, after being a mistress while he was married to the wife before), and it seems clear that many other women, besides, were convinced that he was wonderful despite his bad behaviors.
We would eat at one of those sidewalk cafes he describes in Spain, in The Sun Also Rises, or a take-out picnic in a similar setting. I love his description of the cold white wine that Jake and Bill keep in the stream while they fish for trout. Something like that. In my opinion, nobody describes food and drink like Papa; I would share one of his many delectably described simple meals with him.
And finally, in the spirit of personal sharing… a few pictures for you.
I just got my first pair of glasses! Not only can I see better – I’m a real librarian now!
This picture is from last spring, but still representative: amid the bluebonnets (state flower of Texas, no it’s not the yellow rose) at Rocky Hill Ranch, where I raced yesterday.
And finally, here I am being a library-tourist at the public library in Den Haag (the Hague) in the Netherlands. (Also not a new picture; this was January 2010.)
If you’re just dying to know more about me, and see more pictures, check out my personal website.
And thanks for stopping by!
Edit: thanks Jenna for pointing this out: I need a pic of my little dogs here!
Hops (in front) and Ritchey (in back)
Hops, Ritchey, and my parents’ dog, Barley (perhaps a hint of Westie for you there?)
Filed under: musings | Tagged: armchair BEA, personal | 8 Comments »
a surprise
Posted on May 21, 2011 by pagesofjulia
I had been in a bad wreck, and had spent weeks at my parents’ house, being waited on and recovering slowly, and then quickly. I had discovered that my plans of pursuing a graduate degree were not, after all, shot by brain injury. I had been researching and even applying to graduate schools out of state. I was, as we say in Texas, fixin’ to make a change.
I was at work at the bike shop late one night. Several of my fellow members of our sponsored race team had stopped by for a visit/meeting/beer drinking session. One of them was The Man I’d had a crush on for quite some time. I told him of my plans to leave town, and he seemed a bit shocked.
Just a few of us decided to go out for a beer when the shop closed. The Man was right behind us, we thought.
We met up at a local dive bar. We’ll call it Linda’s. Linda’s is a dingy, dark place; it’s best they keep it dark to hide the bugs and filth. You have to specify that you want your tequila cold or you’ll get it warm. They do keep their Lone Star beer cold, at least.
I’d had a few by the time The Man showed up; I was beginning to lose hope. But happily, he sat right next to me! After sundry conversation… he put his Lone Star down and sort of squared his body, and he said, “Okay. I need to tell you something.”
This is where it all comes out. In the paraphrased words of The Man, he had this new puppy, oh, five years ago. He took his puppy to the dog park to play around. He saw the most amazing girl there! She had this urban punk look about her (or some such) and tattoos. He thought she was amazing. She had a little dog, too. But he knew what a singles scene the dog park was, and he let it pass.
A few years later, he was going to buy beer at the liquor warehouse downtown. He found Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on sale, yay! (Yes, there is product placement in this story.) He rounded the corner in the beer aisle, and oh heck! There was Dog Park Girl! She asked if he needed help with anything, and he mumbled and fled with his case of beer.
At the register, the cashier rang his Sierra up, but the price was wrong: it was full retail. He protested, no, this beer is $31 a case on sale (or whatever it was). She pulled her PA mic over… “Beer assistance… I need beer assistance on aisle 14.” The Man looked up to see Dog Park Girl striding towards him; he hurriedly paid full price for his beer and flew out of the store.
A few years later, he entered the bike shop where he’d been shopping for some 15 years – the bike shop that had sponsored his mountain bike racing for over 10 years – and spotted none other than Dog Park Girl behind the register. He thought to himself, well, time to find a new bike shop.
Back to me. I remember this day. I was new at work, and I was behind the register with my buddy who was training me. I noticed The Man as he pulled into the parking lot in his Honda Element, a car I’d been admiring for its (bike) cargo capacity and supposed gas mileage. (The Man was later to tell me, not so much on the gas mileage.) He was a handsome man. When he walked in the door, I asked him about his Element, mentioning that one of our fellow bike monkeys drove one, too. My buddy-bike-monkey snidely informed me that this was aforementioned bike monkey’s best friend, duh. I grinned embarrassedly at The Man; but he just grinned back. He didn’t speak. He passed us by and went to find the best friend.
For the first year I worked at that bike shop, I don’t think The Man spoke to me, certainly not in polysyllables. He avoided me and went looking for the best friend; he asked to speak to the best friend on the phone. I began to despair that he was one of those sexist bike shop customers who avoids me on principle, sure that a woman couldn’t possibly decipher which size inner tube with which valve type will fit his flat tire, let alone anything more complex.
But we did gradually learn to communicate. For example, he put his foot in it when he asked about my Valentine’s Day plans on the day that I moved out of my ex-boyfriend’s house. He was clearly flustered when I explained what my plans were.
By the time I was ready to join the newly re-forming shop-sponsored race team, we were friendly, and he was able to accept my application and then we were teammates. We even had a few beers together. Fastforward to the night in question: we had had a few beers together, met at Linda’s, and sat together at the bar. We were drinking Lone Star, and he was spilling his guts.
He said that by the time he had encountered me at the dog park, the beer store, and the bike shop, and then we had become race teammates and learned to speak in complete sentences, he had decided he loved me.
My chin was on my chest. I couldn’t believe The Man I’d admired and crushed on and tried to invite to events only to be rebuffed, The Man who wouldn’t speak to me at the bike shop for a whole year because he was a sexist, was not a sexist at all. He was just tongue-tied! And in LOVE?
Two months later, we were engaged, on a beach in Mexico; and another two months after that, we were married under a big tree in a park in hometown Houston. Then we opened our cans of Modelo Especial. I did not leave town for graduate school. That night at Linda’s was the last time I was really, truly, outrageously floored.
I wrote this in response to The Daily Post, which gives daily prompts for bloggers who might be writers-blocked. I rarely respond to the prompts, but I find them interesting. After sitting on this for a while and getting Husband’s permission, I thought I would go ahead and share it here.
Filed under: musings | Tagged: personal | 4 Comments »
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