Little things make me happy, and cigarette butts are pretty darn tiny. Actually, I think cigarette butts are one of the vilest creations on earth, they drive me up the wall, their putrid stench lingers, and they seem to be asexually reproducing, but fighting back against them makes me smile.
Yesterday was a great day for karma building (and I didn’t even plan it that way, it just happened which should get me bonus karma points…but then I’ve probably had a few deducted for bragging about it…sigh). After work I cycled (note: didn’t drive) to the library to return a dvd (note: checked out instead of bought).
Then I went back to work to store my bike, grabbed my yoga year and a book, and strode off to “my” bus stop (note: not driving AGAIN). “My” because I’ve official adopted it through Capital Metro’s Adopt-a-Stop program and the trash can proudly bears a sign with my name on it. So there I was on the side of South Congress picking up cigarette butts by the handful, with cars whizzing by wondering why this normal looking girl was groveling on the ground, and it struck me that I’m happy. Nobody will notice that for one afternoon this particular bus stop was cigarette butt free, there’s a pretty slim chance that anyone will notice my example and pickup a butt on their own or not put it there in the first place, but I don’t care. I saw something was wrong, I took action, and when my bus pulled up and I wiggled my way onboard I left a clean bus stop behind.
And the afternoon kept getting better. There was a gaggle of flustered looking ballerinas on board, and one of them whispered to the other one that none of them knew where to get off. I overheard, asked her where she was going, and told them exactly which bus stop to get off at.
After a relaxing yoga class I headed back to the office, grabbed by bike, cycled over to Barton Springs to meet John for a run. While I was waiting I noticed lots of bottles/cans in the trash cans RIGHT next to the recycling bins. Brushing bees aside I bravely picked them off the top of the can and put them in their rightful place. John’s always late, so I made it to 7 or 8 trash cans and saved dozens of misdirected recyclables from an unfitting end by the time he came for our run. My efforts were duly noted and John’s going to take a bag with him to his next meeting since he’s always been dismayed by the amount of recyclables his colleagues throw in the trash but never stood up to offer them another option.
And karma paid off, I got to end my day with a relaxing 3 mile run, good conversation, swim in Barton Springs, and bus ride home where I got to read instead of worrying about traffic.
Three cheers for cigarette butts! …now where did I put that hand sanitizer?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
A picture’s worth a thousand memories
Well actually a good memory is probably worth more than a thousand pictures, but recently I’ve needed pictures to help me remember anything at all. Who needs a photographic memory when you’ve got a digital camera? I do, since I don’t remember to take it every where with me.
Today I was driving and trying to work out why I felt like I needed a nap, so I decided to think back over the week.
Sunday – photo with Rachel & Sarah at Hippie Hollow (must have been swimming and taking photos all day)
Monday – no pictures (ahhhhhhhhh catching up on chores after a long weekend of fun)
Tuesday – photo of Jim, Doug, & Saraya out at Pace Bend (so that’s why odd muscles in my body ache, I left work a couple of hours early to rock climb and splash back into the lake…it’s starting to come back to me now. I don’t have a photo of it but we went to Polvo’s afterwards and I had a refreshing margarita and veggie enchiladas with tomatillo sauce and then made everyone laugh when I put my leftovers in a reusable container I had in the car, good thing I had a trigger for that memory.)
Wednesday – photo of a huge crowd around a big xylophone at Barton Springs (crazy hippies dancing and swimming at night always makes me smile, how could I forget?)
Thursday – photo of friends board members working on the McKinney Falls SP amphitheater (that explains the white paint on my arm)
Friday & Saturday – nothin’ no photo….WAIT. Did I stay in on a Friday night in Austin? Can’t be…….must check outlook calendar. OK, I read for Angela Howard after wrapping up work for KAB but nothing’s scheduled after that. Pause. Rack brain for what feels like hours. Whew, thank goodness I haven’t fallen in senility just yet. Well maybe I have considering it’s only Sunday.
Friday & Saturday (without the aid of my camera):
Friday - After “working” for Angela for a couple of hours I took my bike over to Doug’s place and we cycled to Blue Dahlia for dinner. There was a cool breeze and somehow the roads were incredibly quiet. We cut through Rosewood Park, and I impressed myself by popping the front wheel over the curb without looking like a total girl (sadly Doug was in front so I don’t think he noticed my super cool tomboy move). We sat in their back garden section with an overhead fan, candle light, and a guitarist gently playing in the corner. I had a four cheese salad, candied walnuts, basil pesto, and fresh bread on the side. I forgot to tell Doug that one of the slices of bread had olives in it and he made an awfully funny face when he bit into it (the first time I cooked for him I asked for a list of foods he didn’t like and one of them was funny bread with olives in it). After dinner we cycled over to Club DeVille to meet Holly Vandrovec, a friend from the Nacogdoches Swim Team who I hadn’t seen since she graduated in ’97. We sat outside in front of what’s one of the coolest stages in Austin with a limestone cliff backdrop and listened to three bands while trying to catch up on 10+ years. She’s been married for 6 years and is a lawyer!
Saturday - Slept in for a little bit (a luxury I rarely allow myself since I’m normally jumping up to go volunteer somewhere). Played around in the garden, watering, re-potting stuff. Went to a VERY relaxing yoga class at Ruta Maya. At the end of each class you get to my favorite part, lying on the floor and letting your body go. After a few minutes the instructor always asks you to slowly bring the senses back to your body, and I did not want to. I would have been happy lying there and slipping into sleep. I managed to pull myself together and make it home for a nap. Everything was going well with my day of relaxation when BOOM my bedroom door slammed shut. I had my bedroom window and the living room open and a storm rolled into down, yeah for rain, boo for shocking me out of sleep. Then it was out to Lake Travis for an afternoon of rock climbing. I’d improved by leaps and bounds from Tuesday, and we had a quite a crowd this time. Doug, myself, Ralph (who was sooooooo stubborn and burnt himself out on one climb that he just couldn’t master), Wilson, Alex, & Jim. There were a lot more folks out at the lake, so big waves kept bashing us up against the rocks when we were starting our climbs. I was happy though and had a great time diving off the cliffs (not the top, just little ledges), “climbing” (one day I’ll be able to get rid of the quotation marks), drinking a couple of beers we found floating in the water, and saving stray fun noodles that kept floating off. After that, I drug my tired body into the shower, dressed, and headed up north for Amanda’s 30th birthday party. We all had name tags on that described how we knew Amanda in 3 words or less. Mine was “16 Girl Co-op”, Angela W’s was “West Mall Bump.” Amanda gave herself a streak of purple in her hair for her 30th birthday and was a very fun drunken b-day girl.
And sleep.
Today I was driving and trying to work out why I felt like I needed a nap, so I decided to think back over the week.
Sunday – photo with Rachel & Sarah at Hippie Hollow (must have been swimming and taking photos all day)
Monday – no pictures (ahhhhhhhhh catching up on chores after a long weekend of fun)
Tuesday – photo of Jim, Doug, & Saraya out at Pace Bend (so that’s why odd muscles in my body ache, I left work a couple of hours early to rock climb and splash back into the lake…it’s starting to come back to me now. I don’t have a photo of it but we went to Polvo’s afterwards and I had a refreshing margarita and veggie enchiladas with tomatillo sauce and then made everyone laugh when I put my leftovers in a reusable container I had in the car, good thing I had a trigger for that memory.)
Wednesday – photo of a huge crowd around a big xylophone at Barton Springs (crazy hippies dancing and swimming at night always makes me smile, how could I forget?)
Thursday – photo of friends board members working on the McKinney Falls SP amphitheater (that explains the white paint on my arm)
Friday & Saturday – nothin’ no photo….WAIT. Did I stay in on a Friday night in Austin? Can’t be…….must check outlook calendar. OK, I read for Angela Howard after wrapping up work for KAB but nothing’s scheduled after that. Pause. Rack brain for what feels like hours. Whew, thank goodness I haven’t fallen in senility just yet. Well maybe I have considering it’s only Sunday.
Friday & Saturday (without the aid of my camera):
Friday - After “working” for Angela for a couple of hours I took my bike over to Doug’s place and we cycled to Blue Dahlia for dinner. There was a cool breeze and somehow the roads were incredibly quiet. We cut through Rosewood Park, and I impressed myself by popping the front wheel over the curb without looking like a total girl (sadly Doug was in front so I don’t think he noticed my super cool tomboy move). We sat in their back garden section with an overhead fan, candle light, and a guitarist gently playing in the corner. I had a four cheese salad, candied walnuts, basil pesto, and fresh bread on the side. I forgot to tell Doug that one of the slices of bread had olives in it and he made an awfully funny face when he bit into it (the first time I cooked for him I asked for a list of foods he didn’t like and one of them was funny bread with olives in it). After dinner we cycled over to Club DeVille to meet Holly Vandrovec, a friend from the Nacogdoches Swim Team who I hadn’t seen since she graduated in ’97. We sat outside in front of what’s one of the coolest stages in Austin with a limestone cliff backdrop and listened to three bands while trying to catch up on 10+ years. She’s been married for 6 years and is a lawyer!
Saturday - Slept in for a little bit (a luxury I rarely allow myself since I’m normally jumping up to go volunteer somewhere). Played around in the garden, watering, re-potting stuff. Went to a VERY relaxing yoga class at Ruta Maya. At the end of each class you get to my favorite part, lying on the floor and letting your body go. After a few minutes the instructor always asks you to slowly bring the senses back to your body, and I did not want to. I would have been happy lying there and slipping into sleep. I managed to pull myself together and make it home for a nap. Everything was going well with my day of relaxation when BOOM my bedroom door slammed shut. I had my bedroom window and the living room open and a storm rolled into down, yeah for rain, boo for shocking me out of sleep. Then it was out to Lake Travis for an afternoon of rock climbing. I’d improved by leaps and bounds from Tuesday, and we had a quite a crowd this time. Doug, myself, Ralph (who was sooooooo stubborn and burnt himself out on one climb that he just couldn’t master), Wilson, Alex, & Jim. There were a lot more folks out at the lake, so big waves kept bashing us up against the rocks when we were starting our climbs. I was happy though and had a great time diving off the cliffs (not the top, just little ledges), “climbing” (one day I’ll be able to get rid of the quotation marks), drinking a couple of beers we found floating in the water, and saving stray fun noodles that kept floating off. After that, I drug my tired body into the shower, dressed, and headed up north for Amanda’s 30th birthday party. We all had name tags on that described how we knew Amanda in 3 words or less. Mine was “16 Girl Co-op”, Angela W’s was “West Mall Bump.” Amanda gave herself a streak of purple in her hair for her 30th birthday and was a very fun drunken b-day girl.
And sleep.
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