Raleigh Obscura

If you don’t live in Raleigh you may not know that it is one of the very best places to live. In the world country. At least, according to these lists (and others):

• Forbes: Best Place to Live for Business
• Bloomburg Businessweek: Best City in America
• Portfolio.com: Best Quality of Life

Raleigh is not always the most interesting place to visit (every time I have visitors I stress about what to do with them), but it is a nice place to call home. Seeing all those lists come out caused me to do some thinking: If Raleigh is so great, there must be people who are doing things to make it great. Who are they? What are they doing? What do they like about the city?

I didn’t have answers, but I figured I could find them. This thought process turned into a writing idea — I could interview people who are doing interesting things in the city and write profiles of them. It sounded fun, but time consuming. And then I lost my job. So, with nothing but time on my hands I thought I’d go for it.

Anyway, after several months of doing interviews and writing them up and driving around the city taking pictures, here’s the product: Raleigh Obscura

Take a look, I hope you enjoy it. I hope to publish a post a week until…well, until I run out of people to interview or energy to write them up, I guess.

So Long 2011

2011 was an odd year – there seemed to be a lot of changes and unknowns and odd little spots. Or, at least that’s how it appears now, three days into 2012, from where I sit on my couch. Instead of a countdown like last year or a year’s best list like 2009, here’s a year in photos, capturing one great memory from each month.

Freezing almost to death in New York City in January.

Skiing in February; also the very first photo I took with my iPhone.

Riding the greenway in...okay, this is from April, but I don't have a good March photo.

Celebrating Katie and Andy's wedding in Jacksonville, also in April.

Jessie shaved her head in front of her school in May. It was a very impressive thing.

Celebrating my dad's 79th birthday in Buffalo in June. Of course no one was looking at the camera...

A morning on RAGBRAI in July.

Sunset over Asheville in August.

Enjoying sunshine and beer at the Asheville Brewgrass Festival in September.

We went back to NYC in October, the weather was much better.

Visiting Hawaii in November for my oldest friend's wedding.

One adorable Christmas tree livened up my living room in December.

Childhood Favorites

All of this talk of getting another year older made me remember a question Charles once asked me:

What was your favorite year growing up?

This was about two years ago, but I think my answer is the same: third grade. It was a pretty great year. Here are a couple highlights:

• My friend Colleen and I were in the play Scrooge and got to skip school a lot to do performances for other schools.
• Colleen and I also tied a hose to a tree and tried to swing off my roof by it. She went first and smacked right into the tree. I still laugh remembering this incident.
• The fourth graders always organized amazing games of tag on the Upper Big Toy*, making recess the most fun ever.
• I think I was the smartest kid in my class.
• I learned to roller skate down this big hill in front of my house without falling down repeatedly. I was a really klutzy kid.
• We had a dog named Ziggy who was adorable. We ended up getting rid of him (her? I have no idea) because it would always escape and go up to the local elementary school and run around causing a ruckus.

Of course, some bad things happened too:

• One day a wasp stung the top of my head and the nurse put all this smelly stuff on it to make it stop hurting, but then no one would come near me all day. It was really embarrassing.
• I started losing teeth (so late), a process I hated so much — just thinking about it now makes me cringe.

* Big Toys are those big wooden playground structures (like this). Our school had two: Upper and Lower, based on their relative location on a hill. The Upper Big Toy had a cool net thing you could play on, that’s actually where the wasp incident happened. The Lower Big Toy had big bars that you could do gymnastics tricks on and some tall(ish) pedestals we would stand on and chicken fight on when the teachers weren’t looking.

What was your favorite year growing up?

Crafty: Upgraded Bamboo Trays

This post is one of two craft-related posts that are long overdue…back when Hurricane Irene came through I took advantage of the rainy day to sit inside and start a bunch of crafts. Most of them I’ve even finished — a huge accomplishment since most of my projects generally end up in craft-purgatory for years quite a while.

The first of the hurricane crafts: upgraded bamboo trays.

I’d been wanting some trays to cart stuff around on. I like to sit on the porch or the couch with some crackers and hummus, a book, and a glass of wine, but I’m lazy and get annoyed carrying things around.

I found these useful, but ugly, trays at Goodwill:

So, I painted them white:

Then traced out the inside onto a piece of scrap paper:

Then I traced the scrap paper shape onto some oil cloth and cut that out to line the tray with. I must not have done a very good job though because I had to trim quite a bit off. As I said, I’m lazy, so this step was sort of tedious.

Anyway, add some hot glue glue and (ta-da!) much improved trays:

Very handy.

30

I turned 30 last week. The birthday was lovely — church, brunch, seeing turtles and snakes and four-inch-long flying beetles at the science museum, napping on the couch, delicious cake, and drinks with friends. A very, very nice day.

I’ve noticed that people in their late twenties tend to approach this event with trepidation that sometimes borders on fear and anger. On the other hand, people in their thirties seem to be enthusiastic about what a great decade it is. Things like, “That’s when I hit my stride!” Or, “It’s the best decade yet!” Etc., etc.

It’s no secret that I love birthdays, but while I adore the days themselves, I tend to not care too much about the age factor. That said, I did have about a day when I was not too thrilled to hit thirty. After all, if you pressed pause on my life at just this moment, it doesn’t look like I’ve accomplished too much — I’m jobless, don’t have any of those things people are ‘supposed’ to have (a nice car, a house, two and a half adorable children, etc.) by this age and, according to the calendar, I’m clearly not getting any younger.

Lucky for me, I’m refusing to think of it that way. I’m usually quite good at not measuring myself to others and not throwing myself extended pity parties (I mean, we all do that sometimes, right?). I liked my 20s more than my teens, so I expect to like the next decade more than the one that preceded it.

So, cheers to the next 10 years! Here’s hoping I don’t grow moss on my back like this guy.

Unemployment, 2011 Edition

As of a month ago I’m unemployed, which means it’s time for…Operation Get a Job! This obviously entails applying for and interviewing jobs, which is sort of a terrible way to spend a day.

To break up the soul-stealing process of constantly promoting yourself and sending cover letters into the ether, I came up with an unemployment to-do list that includes things I actually enjoy doing. I meant to post this a month ago, so some of the items are accomplished.

• Make a bunch of Christmas gifts
• Work on a writing project (more on this later)
• Go to NYC
• Learn how to make good soups
• Go to Hawaii
• Learn how to make bread (this is not going well. At all.)
• Read!
• Renew my license and car registration
• Make quilts for Jessie’s babies
• Bake things
• Take some photos
• Write a bunch of blog posts (also not going well…obviously)
• Take Oscar to the vet

Truthfully, I’ve really enjoyed this break from work. I’m very, very grateful to have qualified for unemployment so that I’m able to eat while I look for work.

More to come on how the job search and to-do list pan out.

RAGBRAI recap (finally)

On our way to Iowa my bike suffered a flat tire. We had no idea how this happened since it had just been sitting in the rack on the back of the car. We (Jessie, Amy, Heang, and I) tried to patch the tube before replacing it completely. Then, as someone was pumping it back up the whole thing exploded, which meant I had to get a new tire as well as tube. Not really a big deal, but mildly annoying since we were not even in Iowa yet.

Then (450 bike miles and many car hours later), when we got home from Iowa I realized it was flat again. Finally we put two and two together and realized it was the heat from the exhaust pipe that damaged the tire – melted it really. (Exhaust pipes and I do not get along well on long trips, but that’s another story.)

Somehow it took me until today to go to the bike shop and get the tire replaced. Yep, over a month. So, in honor of finally coming out of biking retirement, today seems like a good day to post some RAGBRAI photos and do a little recap.

The team (minus Steve and Kelly), sporting our "Heang and Chicks" shirts on day one.

The scene, all day every day: farmlands and bikers from horizon to horizon.

Hot and tired and ready for a pie break. We ate pie every day. Usually more than once. There was a lot of pie.

World's largest bike. It wouldn't go very far though.

Elkhorn, Iowa - My favorite town of the whole trip. Amazing cinnamon rolls, great windmill, and the friendliest mayor.

Tasting the goods at the Templeton Rye Distillery.

219th Street.

Biking through the sunrise. The mornings were wonderfully cool and clear. You'd almost forget it was 6:30 a.m.

Meet Baron, the most adorable sock monkey. Here he's on a train in Boone, IA.

Lots of people would sit out in their yards and greet the riders. Sometimes they brought farm animals to pet. This calf is named Mudball.

Me and a llama.

The last overnight town, Coralville, had the best arrival to town. On the other side of this entryway (put up just for us) were bleachers full of people cheering you on. So charming.

The trip was great. Iowa is not flat, and actually not boring. The scenery was lovely, and the pie delicious. I loved the freedom of just riding a bike all day and having nowhere else to be. And eating strawberry shortcake for breakfast. And having a ‘last-leg beer’ early in the afternoon. I didn’t love trudging around with my impossible-to-carry duffel bag, but I loved the sight of the tent city each night. I loved hanging out with my friends for a week straight.

My favorite part was riding into the towns and being greeted by what felt like literally every resident waving and cheering and saying, “Welcome, we’re glad you’re here!” Sure, the towns benefit from having us come through (quite a tourism boost for the day), but that isn’t the motivation for the families sitting in their yards waving at us and welcoming us to sit under the shade of their trees and rest. That’s just RAGBRAI.

Fa La La Felt

I tried to come up with a more creative title for this post, but unfortunately everything with the word ‘felt’ in it ends up sounding dirty to me. So instead, you get the title of this fun book:

It’s apropos because this is a crafty post about felt creatures.

I found this book on Amazon and asked Charles to get it for me at the bookstore where he works. This led to a (apparently) slightly embarrassing episode when a male co-worker caught him looking it up and he felt a little emasculated. Oops. What’s not manly about a book called “Fa La La Felt”?

Yeah, pretty much everything.

Anyway, they didn’t have it, so I borrowed it from the library. And it’s because of this book I’ve discovered a love of making felt things. They are great because….

• It doesn’t fray so you don’t have to worry about raw edges.
• It’s chunky and awkward as it is, so you don’t have to worry about stitching perfectly.
• It comes in fun colors.
• It’s stiff, so it’s easy to work with.

Fa La La Felt has some very cute Christmas ornaments and stockings in it, along with some ugly odd projects that I would never make.

I’ve started making some ornaments as little gifts. Like this guy:

What’s great about these is that you can pretty much just cut out a pattern and sew. No seam allowances, no folding or ironing. Just add a button eye, a loop of ribbon, stuffing, and you are done.

Step one:

Step two:

It’s also very easy to make up patterns. Turn this:

Into this:

That’s a felt Charles…Not emasculating at all, right?

RAGBRAI

In just one and one half short weeks, team Heang and Chicks will set off for Iowa to participate in RAGBRAI 2011.

What’s RAGBRAI? It’s a great big group ride across Iowa. By great big I mean about 8,000 strong. And by across Iowa I mean like this.

That’s this year’s route. Every year it changes. Why Iowa? That’s just where it is. And why not? I’ve heard it’s magical there (yes, I’ve been told that).

We shall soon see.

Here are the awesome shirts we had printed, designed by Brent.

The team is:

• Heang (duh)
• Jessie
• Amy
• Me
• Steve
• Kelly

I don’t know Steve and Kelly, but I’m hoping sure they are nice.

I’m really excited about this adventure, but I’ll admit, a little nervous about riding 474 miles in 7 days. I’ve been training. 713 miles to date. The RAGBRAI people suggest riding 500 – 1000 miles in the months leading up to RAGBRAI. I’m in that window, but still pretty sure that by day three my legs are going to try to remove themselves (think127 hours here people) and walk home, leaving the rest of me stranded amongst the corn.

Thankfully, it looks like there will be a lot of pie and beer and fried food along the way, and I’m sure that will be good motivation.

Also serving as motivation will be thinking about great bike trips some friends of mine have taken and the perspective they give me.

• Last year Heang rode from Astoria, Oregon to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – all alone, pulling a trailer, in the heat of summer. Pretty impressive. But even better than just the facts of that ride are the stories that he shared on his blog. Here’s my favorite one (part one and part two) but there are many more if you have a few minutes to peruse.
• Right now, as you read this, another adventurous friend is biking with her husband and another friend from Sitka, Alaska, to Glacier National Park – 1200 miles through Alaska, Canada, and who knows where else. Every post I read about their trip makes it sound like they are having the time of their lives (though they look freezing and exhausted!). Emily describes the trip here and has been posting updates every few days.

I’ve been reading the RAGBRAI blog now and again and every time I do I get excited about how ‘into it’ people are. All the towns seem genuinely excited to have 8,000 sunburned, tired, probably smelly people ride through, grab a bunch of food, probably leave a bunch of litter, and ride off again. I’m also excited to see parts of the state that you’d probably never experience (other than gas stations) driving through. This will be my first trip to Iowa and I can’t think of a better way to get to really see the state. I mean, we will certainly see lots of it. Close up.

Also, I’ll be seeing a lot of this beauty.

A while ago I posted a farewell post to my old bike (which I actually still own), but never got around to introducing the new one. Well, there she is. Pretty, huh? Also, she’s a nice bike to ride, and for that I’m thankful.

One thing I hope not to see a lot of on RAGBRAI is this:

“Aaand We’re Off-skies”

A year ago yesterday Jessie, Brent, and I set off for England. It’s hard to believe how fast time flies. I had a big plan that in honor of that anniversary I was going to splurge on some Magner’s cider and reminisce. That didn’t happen because instead I spent the afternoon at the mall shopping for various wedding and birthday presents and then going to a birthday dinner. Not a bad afternoon and evening at all, but just not my plan.

Oh well!

So, in lieu of the Magner’s I’ve got wine and in lieu of reminiscing, I’ve got a quick story…

One of our stops, after our great jaunt through Ireland with Aker, was Edinburgh. We flew there on Ryan Air for something like $3 and our flight was at some ungodly hour. Then we rented a car, figured out how to drive and navigate on the other side of the street, and headed into town — all in a half-awake, certainly needing a shower and a large coffee type of state.

By the afternoon we were beat but had that “We’re here, we’ve got to make the most of it and do something” feeling. You know the one. So we opted for a bus tour of the city so we could simultaneously sit and explore. The best most memorable part was our guide. I don’t know what she looked like, but in my head she has fuzzy hair. She also had (in real life, not my made up version) a very high pitched, lilty voice. She liked to point out things that we could see “through the fffoooeeliajjje” (that’s foliage, but spread out and lilted) and every time the bus started we got a chorus of:

“Aaaanndd we’re off-skies.”

I still hear her voice at least once a week when I set off to do something.

Some Edinburgh photos: