16. go on a shark-tooth hunt (33x33) #hilarityensued

we had difficulty deciding on the excursion title, which actually had a few different hashtags:

#drawesomesweekendadventure
#secondannualbffadventure
#sharktoothhunting
#wetookthescenicroute
#virginiaisformisnomers
#nerdvacation
#bestboyfriendever

suffice it to say, my best friend since high school graduated from the uniformed services university of the health services last May (although was granted her doctorate in philosophy last August), and we celebrated last weekend by going on a hunt for sharks teeth in Colonial Beach, VA: hilarity ensued.



first off, it looked a lot easier on the map to get to Shark Tooth Island.



granted, just because it looks easy to get to on the map, if you are concerned about being arrested, it is another task entirely. all of the land is owned, there is very little public access... and we would have had to swim... I brought my suit.

we drove all over trying to get down to the water. first, to the george washington birthplace, which is where we heard the locals go to look for sharks teeth.



no access to the water, well, that wasn't through a swamp.

then we tried Poor Jack's Road...

where steph wouldn't let me out of the car because she feared for my safety. trespassing is a delicate point around Colonial Beach.

we then stopped at Birddog's Grill for directions and souvenirs (I got a hankerchief with ducks on it, which my brother and sister proceeded to fight over. I think Xy should get it since she likes Duck DyNASTY so much)



we were directed to Westmoreland State Park... to FOSSIL BEACH. duh. In order to get to Fossil Beach, we had to take the Big Meadow Trail which had nothing to do with a meadow, big or small.


Steph found three sharks teeth within three hours. I sat for about 30 minutes, didn't find anything, and went back to swimming.


After shark tooth success we returned to the Plaza Bed & Breakfast, which was seriously very awesome (although they seemed to think we were lesbians and were not at all impressed with the graduation from a phD program, weirdos)







here's to best friends and great adventures xoxox

13. climb Jacob's Ladder (33x33)

not in the biblical sense...(which for anyone who doesn't know, Jacob's Ladder refers to the prophet, Jacob, in the book of Genesis who dreampt he saw the straight path into Heaven)



Last year when I was driving back from the retreat, I noticed an area on the side of the road which alluded to Jacob's Ladder and the name stuck with me. Before I returned to the Berkshires for the against the stream vispasana retreat this year, I did a bit of research on it to see if I could work it into the trip:

The Jacob's Ladder Scenic Byway is a pleasant alternative to the Massachusetts Turnpike, which it roughly parallels. It winds its way through five towns in the Berkshire Foothills, beginning in Lee, Massachusetts and continuing through Becket, Chester, Huntington and Russell. Also known as the "Jacob's Ladder Trail," the 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 20 was designated as a scenic byway by the state of Massachusetts in 1992. From the Boston area, it takes only about two hours to reach the Jacob's Ladder Scenic Byway; from New York City, it is about 2½ hours (by car, and about a day by bike).

Jacob's Ladder Trail traverses the scenic southern Berkshires. The scenic byway follows the same rivers and streams that guided native Americans of the Mohican and Woronoake tribes as they traveled between the Connecticut and Hudson River valleys. In 1910, the road was opened as the first highway built specifically for the revolutionary new horseless carriages. Crossing the Berkshires as it does, it was dubbed "the First of the Great Mountain Crossovers,". The Trail attracted automotive pioneers from far and wide to test themselves and their machines against the rugged terrain. Within a few years, the Trail had become a part of a continent-spanning highway linking Plymouth Rock with Seattle Washington, known as the "Yellowstone Trail." (maybe that will be on the 60x60)

According to a few guidebooks, a ski area called Jacob's Ladder operated 4.1 miles east of Lee, from around 1947 until at least 1951. Originally operating with a 750' tow and a slope and a trail, the area expanded to include 2 trails and 2 slopes by 1949. The vertical at this area was 155', with runs that had a maximum grade of 24 degrees. A ski dorm (Here U R Inn) and restaurant were located on the premises. The area was operated by Floyd Rossi.

This year, I made arrangements to ride my buddy's bike, the Baroness, from the retreat to Brooklyn over Labor Day weekend and to climb part of Jacob's Ladder.

A little Foster-Wallace on the Baroness... Matt didn't name her. She's a Masi, which due to free association, I link to Masochist. According to wikipedia, the term “Masochism” was named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. He practiced masochism and wrote novels expressing his masochistic fantasies. These terms were first selected as professional scientific terminology, identifying human behavioural phenomena and intended for the classification of distinct psychological illnesses and/or malicious social and sexual orientations. Leopold wrote a novel in 1870, Venus in Furs, which I downloaded via Project Guttenberg. After partially reading it, decided to name the Masi, The Baroness after Wanda von Dunajew, the novel's central female character, was modelled after Fanny Pistor, who was an emerging literary writer. The two met when Pistor contacted Sacher-Masoch, under assumed name and fictitious title of Baroness Bogdanoff, for suggestions on improving her writing to make it suitable for publication.

this is how we climbed Jacob's Ladder:
Day ONE - Earthdance to the Old Creamery Coop to Guido's (the worst name for a) Fresh Market to JACOBS LADDER (there wasn't a sign for it) in Lee, Massachusetts to renegade camping at Butternut Ski Resort

the plan...


Old Creamery


commuter treasures


renegade camping


Day TWO - started at Riverbend Cafe (yay Mirza for finding ALL the vegan places along the way) to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail in Millerton, NY to Carmel (where I hit a wall and dropped my basket) along the Putnam Trailway to Mahopac and ended at the no-tell motel.

outside Sharon, CT and my favorite road of the whole entire trip (we passed a lot of names of places which I have heard about from stories of my dad's youth)


murder tarp at the no-tell motel...


Day THREE - the Putnam Trailway south to the North County Trailway to the South County Trailway to the Old Putnam Trail. The North County Trailway is the longest of the four connected rail-trails breathing new life into the former New York Central Railroad's Putnam Division line. The "Old Put" provided passenger and freight service between New York City and Brewster, in Putnam County, from the 1880s. Passenger service ended in 1958 and freight services ended in 1980.

Though a portion of Old Putnam rail corridor extends south, it is heavily overgrown. We headed south from the entrance a short distance to see the remnants of an old passenger platform. All that remains is the rusted metal framework. The trail's best scenery and its most unusual sight are immediate. The trail skirts Van Cortlandt Lake and then passes 13 large stones along the west side of the corridor. Railroad baron Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt had these stone slabs shipped from quarries to determine which would be best (most impervious to weathering) for building Grand Central Station in New York City. Despite the results of his experiment, Indiana limestone was chosen because it was cheaper to transport. The Indiana limestone sample is the second southernmost stone in this lineup.

after the Old Putnam Trail:


Then we were pretty much in the city, we rode along the Hudson River and down into Manhattan. We rode through Times Square and Union Square with the touring bikes, which tickled Mirza pink. We ended our trip at the Greene Point Dharma Punx meditation group. which was perfect. and beyond words.

Before cleaning the Bronx off the Baroness:


After cleaning the Bronx off the Baroness:


...i suppose i could say that this trip was so amazing, that i did die and go to heaven... in which case... i did climb Jacob's Ladder in a biblical sense. namaste.

24. visit bat bridge in Austin, TX (33x33)

this year for the Fourth of July I decided to travel into the middle of 'merica to join Erik's road trip. He's tattooing in all the states. I met up with him in St. Louis, Missouri at Ironworks Tattoo. We went to the St. Louis Zoo, where we met "Curious" George and a pack of stinky penguins.



We drove from St.Louis to Kansas City for fireworks. There's a bike trail underneath Interstate 35 in Kansas City with wrought iron railing along the bridge crossing the Missouri River, it was absolutely gorgeous. The map said it was a 15-mile trail along the river, but I only got a mile and had to turn around.



Then at 11:00PM we set out for Austin, TX. Erik drove until dawn and I picked up in Love County Oklahoma.



We arrived in Austin a little before noon. We found some eats, a cheap place to crash, and promptly did so. Set our alarm clock for 6PM so we could get some dinner before going down to the bat bridge... otherwise officially called Congressional Bridge. I had heard from friends to not sit below the bridge at dusk because that musky mist is guano. yum.



They started to leave their roost at 8:30 and kept on waking up for about 20 minutes. They flew south and east along the Red River, making swirls of black bat clouds along the cityscape. I think the chirping was the best part.






austin isn't so weird...

23. Write and illustrate a children’s book. (31x31)

A decade ago, I walked into Video Americain because a buddy of mine from highschool worked there. Inside, there was a man who would change my life, Adam. He worked at an art museum and at the video store, he's a musician and an amazing illustrator.

Our lives weaved about for a while and when I play the movie in my head, the contrast is off. Adjust the bunny ears. Static. Those horizontal interference lines moving down the screen to settle to the off contrast but that’s the best I’ll ever get. Standing on the street corner. Slightly drizzling. 2 AM. Four-inch shiny black calf boots. Jeans. The lucky fuck-me shirt. Dangling purse. Under the noire streetlamp, holding and wasted steadying with my fingertips. One foot inclines outward, relieving the weight on that leg. Across the street from his apartment. A three story dilapidated flaky quintessential city row house. Hazy heavy air. The light on the third floor is on. It’s the front apartment. Too drunk to realize that he lives in the back apartment, where the lights are off. call his home number. The sleepy, mumbled, fake, “hello?” my breathy response, “hello” and then *click.* And he turned off the ringer.

Innumerable calls, repeatedly. Confusing, pursed lips, wrinkled forehead. Turns to anger. The phone flies, breaks, but is still functional. I called so many more times. I walked two miles in the 4-inch heels, ruined them and I couldn’t figure out why my calves hurt so much in the morning. At home, sitting on the floor legs akimbo, sobbing. So hurt, rejected, sad, lonely. An old coworker called me the next morning to ask why I had called her fifteen times the night before.

Some time afterwards he started to write a comic about a telepath, Penelope. He would run ideas by me about what she might say and I'd help out in little ways. Four years ago, I left for California to break down to rebuild. He kept writing and then he started publishing.

The person who lived in that front apartment, the one whose light was on, that I drunkenly mistook; he died this summer. He and the Adam would watch each others' cats when on vacation and while they weren't very close anymore I thought that Adam would want to know that he had passed. After four years of radio-silence, we started talking again. He directed me to the comic A Typical Girl and asked me to help him write dialog. We've been collaborating since the middle of the second chapter.

While it's not a children's book, it is PG rated. While I'm not the final illustrator, I have sent some sketches for different bits and pieces... so I think it counts.

20. finish trunk projects (32x32)

Nori bought me this trunk in 1994, just before I went off to boarding school (from which I would soon be "expired"). It went off to school with me and then it came back with me. It has become the Trunk of Incomplete Projects:

1. my own personal memory quilt which I started in 2009




2. honey-comb quilt started in 2009


2. erik's porcupine quilt started in 2012 - FINISHED APRIL 2015


3. california thrift store sheet quilt started in 2009 - TRASHED


4. knit mohair and button blanket started in 2007


5. Jen's Toki Doki t-shirt quilt started in 2013 - FINISHED 2013


6. Xy's pillows, made from a t-shirt lee gave her for her birthday - FINISHED April 2013






7. Lee's memory quilt started in 2012 - Finished WINTER 2012








8. Dick's memory quilt... not quite started yet… - FINISHED 2012

28. raise an anxiety-provoking amount of money for a good cause (32x32)

In October 2012 I felt restless. I was anxious about the upcoming winter blues and the fact that I was providing direct service as an employment specialist for people who have been diagnosed with serious mental illness. I thought that a good way to mediate the winter blues would be to create a training schedule, and I could hold myself accountable to the schedule by signing up for the Lavaman triathlon in Hawaii in March 2013 and compete with Tiffany like we did in 2011. I went to sign up for the race only to find that all race slots had been sold and that the only way to get in on the race was to sign up with Team in Training (which I knew about due to tagging along with the Greater LA team in 2011 at Nation's Triathlon).

Here is the most brilliant crowd-sourcing ever thought up: team in training.

and it all started organically:

"In 1988, Bruce Cleland assembled a NYC Marathon team to raise money in honor of his daughter, a leukemia survivor. Thirty-eight runners raised $322,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) work to discover new treatments for blood cancers. During the next 25 years, LLS's Team In Training (TNT) has become the leader in endurance sports training for charity, funding significant therapies like chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants, which have a significant impact on blood cancer patients. Only Team In Training has trained over a half a million runners, walkers, triathletes, cyclists and hikers and raised over $1.3 billion to fund lifesaving research. Once you sign up, you'll be training with our huge network of certified coaches who will have weekly group runs with you and your team. You'll even have mentors for fundraising support as well as your own website for online fundraising."

LLS basically developed one of the most effective and cost-efficient fundraising models to date. In exchange for endurance sport training, the participant raises a certain amount of money for LLS. It creates a team of people all purposed and focused, supporting one another, and helping each other raise their fundraising goals. Participants have choices about which event they want to enter, then depending on the event, the participant raises an amount of money which ensures that LLS keeps their overhead to 22%.



"LLS receives no federal funding. Because of the continued support of you and our partners and sponsors, in fiscal year 2010 we were able to:

1. invest $72 million, which includes funding for 103 new grants to researchers in academic institutions and $8 million in
2. contracts through the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program
3. support 347 research projects in the United States, Canada and 9 other countries
4. provide financial assistance to patients
5. sponsor scientific conferences around the country
6. produce educational materials and videos
7. run dozens of Family Support Groups nationwide."

In order for me to ride with TNT to Lavaman I would have to raise $5,000 minimum (and buy my own plane ticket). I sent out some feelers on facebook to see if my fundraising idea (making memory quilts) had any legs. After 10 people committed to "buying" memory quilts from me, I signed up.

In January I started to sweat that I wasn't near 50% of my fundraising goal so I sent a letter to a wider group of potential donors:

“Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”
― Thomas Jefferson

In six weeks, I'm getting in the water to swim 1500 meters then getting on a bike to ride 26 miles and then running 6.1 miles to help find a cure for blood cancer... in Hawaii! I'm going to get to swim with turtles and cancer survivors; ride along a tropical coast-line with heroes; and run alongside men and women who never ever ever ever give up. My goal is to raise $5,000 by March 1, 2013 and so far I've raised 30%! I'm going to try to raise $1,000 each week and I need your help! http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/lavatri13/banannas

My main fundraising event is making memory quilts. Over the past three years I have collected a trunk full of event shirts, maybe you have a friend/spouse/sibling/parent who has a drawer full of old concert t-shirts which they never wear; maybe they can be more efficiently used as a blanket! You don't have to give away your memory shirts to GoodWill (I'm probably going to have to pay back some dharma for that statement) you can repurpose them and keep them close! Make them into a quilt that can be given to your children's children etc. Check out my blog, it has pictures of recent memory quilts made for the TNT fundraising! http://twoneedlestosay.blogspot.com/

Prices:
9 shirts for a child's blanket = $ 250
16 shirts is roughly a twin bed blanket = $350
25 shirts is roughly a queen bed blanket = $500
36 shirts (because I know some avid concert-goers who have more than this) is roughly a king bed blanket = $650

Please say you'll join me in this fight against blood cancer and donate money in exchange for a memory quilt!

Or, if you're not interested in a quilt, I also knit hats, scarves, and baby blankets and would love to exchange my crafty skills for a donation to the cause! Really, any donation would be much appreciated :)

Go TEAM!"

My buddies Kevin, Adam, and Kristina were all very helpful giving me feedback and direction on how to implement a fundraising campaign on facebook. Kevin said I had to update my status almost daily with information about training or fundraising. Adam suggested that I needed to solicit smaller donation amounts and to update my fundraising page (which TNT provided) because people still might think that I was looking for hundred dollar donations. Then Kristina reminded me to make my gratitude public, I needed to tag people in posts denoting that they were donating to my fundraiser, building social capital.

In the end, I raised $5,732! 115% of my fundraising goal! It took it's toll though. For an impetus based on decreasing mental illness during the winter, it had an opposite effect. From what I understand, there are some tacit rules to fundraising: if someone donates to my fundraising goal I should donate to theirs within the next two years and I should also not solicit further funds from them for at least two years.

All that anxiety but, now I have the fitness from winter training which makes my Spring that much more beautiful :) and i got to swim with turtles, in hawaii, with my best friend, learned how to hula, improved my race time, visited a volcano, played otter, went bowling at the white house, established Needles to say, smelled a coffee plantation, and ate a few things I never knew existed.

25. improve race time on another triathlon (32x32)

From Nation's Triathlon in 2011: "We got our times from the timing tent. My initial transition was 0:03, ride was 1:25, transition to run 0:06, and run 1:27; for a total of 3:01. This is not the most awesome time, BUT means that next event I am going to shave significant amounts of time off!"

This year I did 3:39! 0:37 swim, transition 1 0:08, 1:33 bike, transition 2 0:04, and then a 1:17 run. So I added 8 minutes to my ride (which is a bit disconcerting since I was riding the steel cherry bomb, Dottie, in 2011... with the rack still attached!) and shaved 10 minutes off of my run (which means that I've decreased my speed by about 1.15 min/mile!)

practice run along the coral:


National Capital Area Team in Training team


Me and Tiffany at the pre-race dinner


the night before, laying out all the items to pack in my backpack


Tiffany had the coolest head lamp


Some might say that my swim speed was due to a fear of blood in the water...(sent from Cara the morning of the race)




Go Team!


running along the coral, the final mile!

27. eat something I can't pronounce (32x32)

gochujang (which is an octopus chimchi, pronounced go-choo-jang) from da Poke shack with Donna, Tiffany, Elise, and David!


tsubugai (pronounced sue-boo-guy) clam from Kenichi Pacific... was very fishy. with Jen, Audry, Bobbi, and Tiffany


poke (pronounced poh-key) not like the verb to poke... but like you do the hokey pokey...


and rumbutan isn't hard to pronounced but I had never seen one before, found it at the farmer's market in Kona after Matt and Kait raved about it. it tasted a little bit like a combination of a kiwi and a grape with the pit of a peach. delish!

17. smell a coffee plantation (32x32)

Tiffany and I went to a coffee plantation after a 18% grade hill climb in Kona, HI.

1350ft ascent in 5 miles.... which I walked the last mile.






the roasting hut smelled like caffeinated heaven. There was a bit of nutty flavor in the air. It was smokey and heavy.


The islands of Hawaii actually have 10 out of 13 of the climates which is why coffee grows so well in Kona.


my christmas in april stash


ladies be crazy!

5. go play seal/otter/walrus (32x32)

played otter one day in Kona. I rode my bike to the old abandoned air strip and out onto the rocks. I found sea urchins and coral and crabs and snails. I watched the tide come in for four hours.