* eat grapes
* talk excitedly to sweetie man
* wash dishes
* make pasta with summer squash and garlic
* eat pasta
* organize writing assignments on index cards
* write buyer's guide to bearings
* find Livestrong assignment
* fold and put away laundry
* iron printed shirts

Summer Chart 2.1

I don't need a bigger chart because now I'm down from three to two days of work. This would be alarming if I ever looked at my paycheck, but I don't because I am too busy sleeping in. But seriously I am busy, Apple forwarded me a Craigslist ad to be a Livestrong writer and I was approved. Also I have volunteered to write WCR press releases and features for the website. I have a list of assignments, actually, and plenty of time to write them. Which makes the pear happy, even if the pear is about to be very poor.

SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP
PLAY Second Wind	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	PLAY League
HOBBY	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	HOBBY
PASTIME	HOBBY	HOBBY	PLAY Fury	HOBBY	PASTIME	PASTIME
HOBBY	PLAY League	HOBBY	PASTIME	PLAY League	PASTIME	PASTIME
SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP

Summer Food Plan Falls Apart

So what happens when you make a huge pasta salad to eat all week... for ten weeks... is that you hit the wall and can't eat pasta salad, and then your whole food plan falls apart. Which is pretty much the argument for things like biodiversity, but oh well. Not that I'm not totally for biodiversity, big thumbs up for biodiversity! But I sort of expect my personal systems to work and then not work, and then to have to put them together again, and that's how I keep it interesting.

The basic principles for planning my food around my fitness plan still stand:

BEFORE complex carbs & light protein

IMMEDIATELY BEFORE simple carbs

WORKOUT

IMMEDIATELY AFTER simple carbs & light protein

AFTER complex carbs & light protein

BETWEEN complex carbs & heavy protein

Immediately before/after means within 45 minutes, before/after means within 1-3 hours, and between means more than 3 hours before or after workouts.

Complex carbs and light protein before workout

This means dinner, and this was pasta salad. So I need to think of something that's mostly carbs with a little bit of protein, and it was nice to be actually eating vegetables. Perhaps quinoa, which Helliot is a huge fan of. Could I even make the exact same pasta salad recipes with quinoa instead of pasta? Would that taste different enough? Or maybe some rice and tofu combinations? Something that doesn't take too much time to cook.

If I'm not eating pasta salad, what the hell am I eating? I have no idea. I had a milkshake and pancakes last night before speed. That wasn't bad, actually. Somebody make me pancakes every night.

Simple carbs immediately before workout

I'm still not having pre-workout snacks, still don't need them. I drink CocoOJ2O now during practice now, and it's all I need. If I start doubling up workouts in the fall, I may add back dates stuffed with coconut oil. Can't have those in summer anyway, because coconut oil melts when it's hot out.

Simple carbs and light protein immediately after workout

I bumped cereal to be my post-workout snack. Just raisin bran with sliced almonds and silk, and then I'm good to go to bed.

Complex carbs and light protein after workout

For breakfast, I'm having smoothies now. Good fuel for my Saturday and Sunday morning practices, and also for riding my bike into work. Recipe TK!

Complex carbs and heavy protein between workouts

Oh yes, I also have to rethink this since my work hours have been reduced. I guess I could just readjust to bringing a brown bag lunch on the two days that I work, instead of a whole bag of groceries every week. Instead of bringing nothing, which means that I get my lunch from downstairs and it's always bad. And am back to chex mix and coke for my afternoon snack.

* get tube bra
* milkshakes and glory at Earwax
* speed practice

The Buyer's Guide to Skates: Riedell Vandal vs. Wicked

If you're interested in the next skate up, probably the classic skate for derby girls is the Riedell Vandal; but these days, Riedell seems to be promoting the Riedell Wicked upgrade package.

Let's compare:

	Vandal	Wicked
boot	265	265 with combo last
plate	PowerDyne Thrust	PowerDyne DynaPro
cushions	PowerDyne white/back	PowerDyne white/black
bearings	Kwik ABEC-7	Kwik ABEC-9
wheels	Radar Tuner blue	Radar Mojo pink
toestops	PowerDyne Round	PowerDyne Round
MRSP	$299	$399

265 boot
The 265 boot is leather, as are most high-end skate boots. It laces all the way down to the toe so you can adjust the fit just right, it closes at the top with a velcro strap that you can also adjust as you like, and it has tongue elastic that keeps the tongue from sliding around. It has the advanced interior support of the 695 boot that will hold your foot, heel, and ankle in hard leans and hold the boot's shape for miles around the track. Finally, it is built with a plate mount that is a step up from a beginner mount and is meant for an intermediate or advanced skater who can lean around the track.

A not uncommon complaint about the 265 boot is the fit of the heel, as women often have narrower heels than men. To address this, Riedell has introduced the combo last with a D-width toe and a B-width heel. You can order this, actually, as an upgrade on the Vandal package; it's standard on the Wicked package. Not everybody urgently needs that combo last, but some do.

PowerDyne Thrust nylon vs. PowerDyne DynaPro aluminum plate
The Vandal comes with the PowerDyne Thrust nylon plate, the same plate that comes on the R3. The Wicked comes with the PowerDyne DynaPro aluminum plate. Nylon plates are lighter and more prone to flex than aluminum plates and, of course, less expensive. Aluminum plates, in general, are heavier and stronger­­­—and thus less prone to flex, which can translate to more power and more precision control­—and are also more expensive. Now a lot of engineering goes into the highest-end aluminum plates to make them both light and strong, and more expensive yet. But between a Thrust and a DynaPro, it’s basically about light weight versus strength with your body weight and strength as considerations.

PowerDyne white/black (88A) cushions
Again just so you know, these are medium cushions; the red cushions that come with the R3 are soft cushions. You don't really have to mess around with your cushions until they wear out, which won't be for a while yet.

Kwik ABEC-7 vs. Kwik ABEC-9 bearings
I will just say for now, ABEC-9 bearings are more highly rated than ABEC-7s, which in turn are more highly rated than the ABEC-5 bearings that come with the R3s; and they are all priced accordingly. Whether this makes a difference to your skating or just to your pocketbook is up for debate and to be discussed in The Buyer's Guide To Bearings.

Radar Tuner sky blue (93A) vs. Radar Mojo pink (88A) wheels
Tuners are good wheels, and certainly in the ballpark of what's good for the WCR skate court. Mojos are probably a little too soft for skate court, but they're very good wheels.

In any case, you can certainly start playing around with bearings and wheels at this point. You can order any combination of Riedell boot, PowerDyne plate, Kwik bearings, and Radar wheels from their Minnesota factory. Or you can just order the boot and plate setups and put on other bearings and wheels. Or you can just order the boots and put on other plates, but let's not go there yet—

PowerDyne Round Black toe stops
I think this little round stop is better than the Midi Gripper, at least. Toe stops are a matter of taste, and this little round stop is too small for me. Others like it, though. In any case, they're cheap and easy to swap out.

(Sure-Grip Web Stops!)

Forty Three

* eat spaghetti and cake
* watch Whale Wars and Mad Men
* talk hopefully to sweetie man

* talk morosely to sweetie man
* eat pizza with Shannanigan and Zombea
* pack awareness practice
* drink juice and soda

Pasta Salad with Red Beans, Zucchini, and Peas

Goodness, I completely forgot to put in the red beans.

ETA 7/3/11: Much better!

6 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
12 oz whole wheat short pasta
two zucchini
one bag frozen peas
one can red beans

Put some water on for the pasta.

Measure vinegar into a large bowl. Add generous amount of salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over the vinegar and whisk it in.

Trim and dice the zucchini and toss in the vinaigrette. Cook the pasta according to package directions, about ten minutes or until al dente. Just before the pasta is done, throw the peas into the pot and bring back to a boil before draining. Meanwhile rinse and drain the red beans, and toss them with the zucchini. When the pasta is done, drain and toss with everything else.

Pasta Salad with Pinto Beans, Summer Squash, and Corn
Same as above, substituting pinto beans for red, squash for zucchini, and corn for peas.

* eat pasta salad
* eat pita
* submit resume and sample to Livestrong
* watch Babylon 5
* Second Wind practice
* eat cereal with almonds and silk
* probably watch more Babylon 5

The Buyer's Guide to Skates: Riedell R3

Let's start by saying that you really do not want to go for the cheapest option when it comes to skates. Those forty dollar skates you can find at sporting goods stores just aren't the same animal that you need to skate decently at all. Cheaper skates tend not to have moving trucks, and you need moving trucks if you want to turn. Or they have plastic trucks, not sturdy enough.

If you've been shopping around for skates, you may have picked up that skates break down into several component parts: boots, plates, cushions, bearings, wheels, and toe stops. Advanced skaters build their skates with their choice of components, but nevermind that for now. Go to a skating rink and have yourself properly fitted, first of all, and most likely you will be offered a few skate "packages" that come with their own particular configuration of components in the box, ready to wear.

A very decent entry-level skate package is the Riedell R3, which comes with:

boot	R3
plate	PowerDyne Thrust nylon
cushions	PowerDyne red
bearings	Kwik ABEC-5
wheels	Radar Cayman
toestops	PowerDyne Midi Gripper
MRSP	$99

Let's unpack that a little bit:

R3 boot
The R3 boot is vinyl, which means that it doesn't need to be broken in but isn't as durable as leather. That said, it should last a beginner for a season or two. This boot doesn't lace all the way down as the higher-end skates do, but the toe box is nicely wide and comfortable. Notice, though, the extreme lacing on my skates. I have short, wide feet. Like they're practically square. You can do a lot with lacing to get your skates to fit comfortably.

PowerDyne Thrust nylon plate
This is a fine, inexpensive plate that's very lightweight and easy to skate on.

PowerDyne red (85A) cushions
Cushions aren't something that you have to think about now or in the near future; but just so you know, they can be changed if you want harder or softer cushions and eventually will need to be replaced.

Kwik ABEC-5 bearings
These are decent bearings that will do for now.

Bearings and wheels can be upgraded through Riedell pretty much at will for most of their skate packages, but not for the R3s because they're made in China; additional bearings and wheels will have to be purchased separately, if you want them...

Radar Cayman wheels
...and you definitely want to start with changing out those Cayman wheels as soon as you can; they're noticeably lower quality than the other Radar wheels. If you want me to just tell you what wheels to get, I'd say get Radar Flat-Outs or Atom Stingers if you're a brand-new skater. If you're already steady on your feet, try Radar Tuners or Atom G-Rods. If you don't want to take my word for this, The Buyer's Guide To Wheels is coming soon...

Power Dyne Midi Gripper toe stop
Because I can never leave well enough alone, I never did like this little wedge toe stop. The reason I don’t is because when you do turn stops, the wedge turns bit by bit and eventually loosens and falls off. Just saying, this is something you can upgrade sooner than later.

(I like the Sure-Grip Web Stop, which is a huge round toe stop.)

MSRP
The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the R3 comes nicely under a hundred dollars; if you're a good shopper, you may pay even less than that. But I will say it's more than likely that you will almost immediately want to change out the wheels (~$60) and the toe stop (~$20) on this skate, so you may as well include that as part of the price of this skate package.

Note: The Riedell Diablo is basically the same skate as the R3 in red, but with slightly better wheels, slightly better PowerDyne round toe stops, and a MSRP of $149. So if you don’t change out the wheels and toe stops, the price is comparable to what you’re going to spend on the R3; but I would change them, so that cancels that.

Summer Play Wear

This is what I would look like after the rapture, if I passed muster. Not that I would.

You get that I write about fashion only in the broadest sense of "fabric that covers your nakedness," right? I mostly want clothing not to take up too much of my time, which is why I am all about uniforms. But not in the sense of having a fetish for UPS drivers. I like to find items that work, then stock up to my eyeballs on said items. That means the same perfect khakis in three different colors for work wear, so that I sort of look like I'm trying. What's even better for me, though, is four of the same white tank and two of the same black tank—the Fury scrimmages in white, but sometimes you have to play black at team practice—umpty pairs of cut-off white socks for arm gaskets, three of the same black sport bra (though I got two ultrafancy orange sport bras as hand-me-downs from Kola), eight of the same black leggings, eight of the same black boyshorts.

I have different socks! Though this season I am phasing out all the ones that aren't black or grey, or obviously my (three pairs of) orange Fury socks. For off-skates workouts, I ditch the long socks and wear no-show white socks. I'd like to wear no-show socks for skating, but it's annoying to get on my knee gaskets over just my leggings. They roll up, you know?

I was superexcited to find two more packages of those boyshorts at Target. I thought they had been discontinued, which I was bereft about. They're the same cut as Derby Skinz, but they're $8.49 for a package of two! So I have lots of cotton skinz for practice and my fancy Fury skinz for bouts. Target's been messing around with their leggings, which I wish they wouldn't. I loved those $6.99 Xhiliration leggings; they're so thin and cheap that they're see-through, but that's what the boy shorts are for. Now they're Mossimo leggings and they have this awful wide waistband, which I can't skate in. I bought some of them for work & the only good thing is, I can tell apart my work leggings from my workout leggings by looking at the waistband. And another good thing is, derby means never having to say sorry for having holes in your leggings.

I'm wearing the tanks plain for preseason, because they have to be washed before printing my name and number on the back and why wash a perfectly clean tank. After they've been washed, I will have printing instructions.

* drink water
* do morning pages
* deal with ants
* wash dishes
* shower
* drink smoothie
* deal with car
* do laundry
* redeem bonds
* deal with laptop
* lunch at Filter
* draft wellness article
* make pasta salad
* eat pasta salad
* chill for half an hour
* agility practice
* eat raisin bran with almonds
* watch Babylon 5

Pasta Salad with Black Beans, Asparagus, and Artichoke Hearts

This is the recipe that got me started on these raw vegetable pasta salads, I got the idea from smitten kitchen's shaved asparagus pizza. Just the idea of shaving asparagus and eating it raw, I'm not a DIY pizza girl. Then I was thoroughly defeated by trying to shave that first stalk of asparagus and decided to just sliver the damn asparagus with my knife.

6 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
12 oz whole wheat short pasta
one bunch asparagus
one can artichoke hearts
one can black beans

Put some water on for the pasta.

Measure vinegar into a large bowl. Add generous amount of salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over the vinegar and whisk it in.

Trim and sliver the asparagus very thinly and toss them in the vinaigrette. Cook the pasta according to package directions, about ten minutes or until al dente. Meanwhile drain and slice the artichoke hearts, rinse and drain the black beans, and toss them with the asparagus. When the pasta is done, drain and toss with everything else.

The Buyer's Guide to Wrist Guards & Elbow and Knee Pads: Rector Proformer and Fat Boy

So it's a new season, I need new protective gear. I thought I'd try Rector gear, since Jodi at Orbit Skate Center sells that. But only the Fat Boy elbow and knee pads, she prefers Triple 8 for wrist guards. I always have to try for myself though, and finally picked up a pair of brand new Proformer wrist guards from a retired WCR skater. I paid her the brand new price, and still saved having to order them separately from XSportsProtective; that was the only place I found them. (ETA: Nevermind, found them on Amazon. Still.) I could have listened to Jodi, though. These wrist guards are just okay. They're padded, I think unnecessarily; it just adds bulk. Actually I got a bruise on the back of my hand for the first time ever wearing these, I don't even know how. I think also because of the padding, they don't wrap closely around your hands & I've had them catch on other people's stuff and come undone. I mean, they'll do for now. I wouldn't go out of my way to get this particular brand again, though.

The Fat Boy elbow pads are very nicely padded, and they do stay on. There's a weird design issue with the lower strap, though, like they should have sewed it to wrap the other way around. The way it is, it droops and chafes against your inside forearm. I might mod the pad a bit to fix that, it's not a major flaw. Though I'm going to try the 187 Killer Elbows later in the season, and I don't think they do this. And overall, I don't know that I need this much protection for my elbows and might rather take my chances with something less bulky.

Okay though, I do like the Fat Boy knee pads. They're actually slimmer than the Pro-Tecs, and they're more padded. So, best of both worlds. Also I think the cap is a different plastic, it feels harder and slides better. I was dubious about wraparound versus slip-on knee pads; I couldn't see how they could fit snugly, but they do. They fit better, actually, and I think if they stretch you have more leeway to keep tightening them.

They're a bit more expensive than Pro-Tec or Triple Eight knee pads, but not even so much that it's definitely worth it for playing heavy-duty derby. Knee pads are what you want to invest in. You get that you're not investing in the pads, right? I mean, you're throwing your money away on the pads; you beat them up, and they last you a season. You're investing in your knees, your ability to stand, walk, run, and jump for the rest of your life...

* bike to space for posters
* Fury BBQ
* hang out with Helliot at bus stop
* bike home
* watch The Colony

Pear Is Barking

I love structure, if you haven't noticed. But I also less obviously believe in paying attention to your life as it naturally grows out of you, as I wrote in an earlier life:

Sometimes you can form the days of your life from the outside, like making pears grow into little Buddhas; you clamp a mold around Tuesday and Wednesday, and an outline for a time travel screenplay, amazingly, pops out. I wonder what the failure rate is for Buddha-shaped pears, though. There must be some runty pears that never fill out into full-figured Buddhas, and others that overflow into Jabba The Hut pears. Because life sure isn't a bowl of serenely smiling pears. Well. Possibly the reason for this is that life is nothing like a pear. But pretend that it is! Pretend that it's just like trying to grow Buddha-shaped pears, and sometimes the pears don't turn out. Because that's how my life is. Because inside, the pear has its own instructions. Sometimes you can stop telling the pear what to do, and take instructions from the pear for a change (10/29/09).

Well, this is what the pear wants: nights off practice during the week, I can do housework or bills. Or you know, spend time with the sweetie man while awake. Not: writing. Not even on days off work, when what seems most important is to wash the kitchen floor.

So fine, early morning practices on the weekend. Truthfully, the pear wishes practices were at ten instead of Saturday at nine and Sunday at eight, and actually the pear wishes we didn't have to practice Sundays at all. It likes being on Second Wind, though. It's tough to get out of bed, but practice wakes you up. You're done by eleven and ten, so you have the whole day ahead; you could clean the house then, or sit down and write your screenplay. But no, the pear wants to eat a bowl of cereal and go back to bed. For the rest of the day, pretty much. I really could not care less about cleaning or writing. And I have cured myself more or less of being able to do things that I don't want to do. This sounds pretty terrible, but I'm serious about being serious about recovery. I will have more to say about this later, but it seems that my subconscious has gotten with the program. Though I just heard my subconscious roll its eyes. Just because you're verbal doesn't mean I'm not way ahead of you. But because I'm verbal, I can tell you that I'm doing a lot better now that I'm not struggling with my subconscious or with my body more to the point. I can't expect my body to succeed if I ask it to work and don't allow for rest. Doing derby is like an iceberg, the part that doesn't show is how much rest you need. I mean, everything is like an iceberg. Everything takes more time than you think, you have to calculate the whole volume of the iceberg you're taking on or you're going to sink your little boat.

Except then Monday morning, I go into work and then I want to write. The switch was off, now it's on. Ideas are spewing out of my head, I should probably say, not for my screenplay, but for freelance articles. When what I need to do is redesign this database. If the pear had its way like it does on the weekend, I would chuck the database and work on articles; but the pear has to pay rent, and also, hello, plays derby and needs health insurance.

Just because I'm not answering doesn't mean that I don't hear you, pear. I'm thinking. Don't give me hives or anything to get my attention.

My mom used to say, Dog is barking! when nobody listened to her about dinner being on the table.

CocoOJ2O

This is my new drink for workouts: coconut water for electrolytes, orange juice for sugar, and water. I've been drinking OJ2O for years for fuel and hydration during workouts. Electrolytes are salts, you lose water and salts in sweat. Salts carry the electrical charges that keep your muscles moving, and also keep them from cramping later on.

And the coconut water smoothes out the taste of the orange juice, so this is very easy to drink.

about a cup of orange juice
small container of coconut water
water

I just eyeball this, so I'm just guessing at the measurements. Just fill a liter bottle—that's an empty seltzer water bottle, by the way— with a few glugs of orange juice, a thing of coconut water, and then the rest water. If I'm at the space, I top it off with water with every drink for extra cooling and hydration. So I guess I drink about two liters of fluid per practice?

Summer Fitness Plan 2 preseason

Base: Moderate Endurance and Blocking Technique

So against my better judgment, I have a five workout week planned for the preseason. It's actually doable for now because of my work hours being reduced. Nobody ever tells you that silver linings are a little bit bitter, right? Oh well, boo hoo.

I was fearful about being rushed into hardcore training in that hot practice space with its barely-to-not functioning A/C. I've been reading Brain Training For Runners, which is fantastic. In a very small nutshell, it's about how fatigue is your lizard brain's mechanism for protecting you from bodily exhaustion and not the other way around; but for some reason, lizard brain is not so good at protecting you from heat exhaustion. That leaves it up to your wildly irresponsible frontal lobe to practice moderation when the heat is on, good luck with that. But so far so good, Second Wind and Fury captains have been nicely cognizant of heat issues. We worked on skills at a slow pace at Second Wind practice, with plenty of water breaks—coconut water is great, by the way—and also on communication, which isn't physically tiring, but mentally pretty challenging and probably doesn't get as much work as it needs. For Fury practice, we did outdoor boot camp and played kickball against the Manics. I haven't played kickball since I was a kid, and I still can't catch or throw worth a damn. But I can kick, and I can run!

SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
SLEEP bike	SLEEP bike	SLEEP bike	SLEEP	SLEEP bike	SLEEP	SLEEP bike
PLAY Second Wind	WORK	WORK	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	PLAY League
bike PASTIME	WORK bike	WORK bike	HOBBY bike	WORK bike	HOBBY	bike PASTIME
PASTIME	HOBBY bike	HOBBY	PLAY Fury	HOBBY bike	PASTIME	PASTIME
PASTIME	PLAY League	HOBBY	bike PASTIME	PLAY League	PASTIME	PASTIME
SLEEP	bike SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	bike SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP

Meryl Streep as Julia Child, in Julie & Julia, which I watched when I was sick along with Planet 51 and Bolt, goes "Oh well, boo hoo," when her book gets rejected by Houghton Mifflin, which made me completely love Meryl Streep and Julia Child. Though it did not make me want to cook.

The Buyer's Guide to Wrist Guards & Elbow and Knee Pads: Pro-Tec Street and Park

If you're just getting started, I think there's no need to be snobby about Pro-Tec or Triple Eight protective gear. I skated in two sets of Pro-Tec Street wrist guards & elbow and knee pads through two years of Derby Lite and through my first WCR home season, though most of that was on the Rioters and on the Fury bench.

In fact, I like the Pro-Tec wrist guards. They're pretty much just pieces of leather that wrap around your hands and attach with velcro, with plastic splints in them. It's true that they fall apart pretty quickly with wear, they might last you a season; but I think that's to be expected. Not only do they take a beating, they absorb a lot of sweat from your hands and that's gonna degrade them. If they were heavier duty, I think my hands would just sweat more. Sweat is what makes your gear smell, by the way. Also, a person who depends on whips for survival does not want slippery hands. I'm trying Rector wrist guards now, which are padded; so I will tell you how that goes. Triple Eight wrist guards are made with mesh bindings, I may try those next—

These, actually, are the lighter Pro-Tec Park elbow pads, which I traded from shoalmate Zombea for my 187 Killer Elbows. Because I thought, I'm just skating Derby Lite and I never fall on my elbows and the 187s are a little much & then not two months later, I'm trying out for the Windy City Rollers. Who knew. I still don't fall on my elbows; but I don't love these elbow pads anyway, because they slip a lot. So I'm still looking for an elbow pad to love. But in the meantime I will tell you that wearing cut-off cotton socks as arm gaskets absorbs sweat, which keeps your elbow pads from a) smelling and b) falling apart, and c) the worst thing ever, sticking your arm into an elbow pad that's still wet inside from practice two nights ago. I guess that's the plus of the Pro-Tec elbow pads, they're open on the inside; they're cooler to wear, and they dry quicker between practices.

People did think I was a little crazy for sticking to Pro-Tec Street knee pads through my first home season, but I doubled them up with Gladiator knee gaskets and was mostly fine like that. Mostly. These are slip-on knee pads as opposed to wraparound, so they do get stretched out with wear. A stretched out knee pad can slip at the wrong time. Meaning when you fall on your knee, which you fall on more than anything else. That hurts, and sometimes it punches out a perfect penny-sized hole of skin off your knee cap. I really liked my Pro-Tec knee pads, despite losing that little hole of skin; but I guess I would only recommend them for recreational derby or for just getting started. And also, knee pads and gaskets smell and fall apart less if you wear them over some kind of fabric like leggings.

* sleep in
* stay in bed
* fiiine, get up
* drink smoothie
* wash dishes
* take shower
* eat avocado toast
* write a bit
* take nap
* bike to Borders and library
* eat apple with peanut butter
* research Pioneer Local online
* enter bills
* approve volunteers
* eat pasta salad
* watch Jaws 3
* Second Wind practice
* drink chocolate silk and eat almonds
* watch Jaws 4

Summer Chart 2 interesting times

When I think about how I was bored with my life, I want to hit myself over the head with a shovel. Oh well, I'm not bored now. This week I'm going down to three days of work, I have tomorrow off, in fact, which is relieving now and will be alarming when I get my paycheck. Mostly what I'm doing for my sister right now is coordinating all of her volunteers through Lotsa Helping Hands, which doesn't take all that much time. I mean, it takes some time. I need to have somebody trained to take over my work, though, in the event that I'm needed suddenly elsewhere, and that leaves me a little bit without portfolio. But also out of the blue, I have a few assignments to write articles for a local newspaper, like, for money. Not a lot of money, but you know. Money. For writing. And right at the same time, this week the league starts preseason training in earnest, and also, I have been invited to practice with Second Wind, the league's B travel team.

I'm going to need a bigger chart:

SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT
SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP
PLAY Second Wind	WORK	WORK	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	PLAY League
PASTIME	WORK	WORK	HOBBY	WORK	HOBBY	PASTIME
PASTIME	HOBBY	HOBBY	PLAY Fury	HOBBY	PASTIME	PASTIME
PASTIME	PLAY League	HOBBY	PASTIME	PLAY League	PASTIME	PASTIME
SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP	SLEEP

Okay actually, it is the same size chart. Which is sort of the point, there is no bigger chart. You can add things to a point by being more organized. But mostly to add things, you have to take things away—