#158 - hindu take two

I made it down for my second Hindu fix. At the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, UT, every year they celebrate the coming of spring at the Festival of Colors! About 30,000 people (ironically, 90% mormons) all squeezed together, splattering one another with color. (more pictures to come...)

• religious rejuvenation - kinda check
• inner peace - mostly check
• multicolored powder in every orifice - check
• destroyed clothes - check
• March's monthly excursion - check
• loving bonding - double check
• a blast! second year in a row! - hecka check

The only, potentially life-ending, struggle was the drive home. I apparently got a lot of chalk powder in my right eye, completely inhibiting my contact. If I opened both eyes at once, they would cross - suddenly launching cars in front of my car, or cause the road looking all screwy. Thus, I could only open one at a time, and for some reason my mouth had to be open and eye brows had to be raised as well. It was extremely exhausting for my face and caused a pounding headache. I discovered a trick about half way home and that was; if I was sucking on my water bottle straw, my eye no longer hurt. Don't ask me questions... it just worked. If I stopped drinking, searing pain and tears flooded from my eyes. Constantly having to drink water though, led to the need for frequent pit stops.

PRO: vision, hydration, life

CON: frequent stops means getting home later, prolonging the drive, thus causing more stops in a vicious circle of tired frustration

#157 - lost whiskers

TOGETHER, LET'S LEARN: Whiskers help the cat feel his way around. Whiskers are so sensitive that they can detect the slightest directional change in a breeze. At night, for example, this helps a cat slink its way through a room and not bump into anything. How? The air currents in the room change depending on where pieces of furniture are located. As the cat walks through the room and approaches the couch, he'll know which direction to turn based on the change in air current around the couch. But the whisker's primary use is to help a cat judge whether or not he'll fit through an opening. A cat's whiskers are roughly as wide as his body -- sort of a natural ruler. The whisker tips are sensitive to pressure. You'll probably see a cat stick his head in and out of an opening before he puts his body in. He's judging the width of the opening, and is determining if he can fit into it.

I feel as though, lately, I am a cat with my whiskers cut off. I apparently am back in a phase where I have no spacial perceptibility. I keep bonking my head, face, arms, legs... bumping into walls, cutting corners too closely... not ducking low enough and just not seeing certain things entirely. Owiee....

#156 - lady belle

My qualifications were thus: needs to be light-weight (because I will be keeping it in my apt; two flights up), have a classy retro look, street/cruiser/commuter (already equipped for mountainous terrain), needs to be a well known quality brand, needs to have a warranty, needs to have good reviews, needs to be in my $300 price-range.

I went to a couple of bike shops, just for browsing. The last one I entered: Bob's Bicycles. I went to the front counter and told the help exactly what I was looking for. I had a particular bicycle envisioned in my head and wasn't planning on settling. She showed me a few in my price range... errrr! Showed me one that was what I had described WAY outside my price range... errrr! The owner laughed when I told him what I wanted and he said $700 is minimum starting price for a bike like that. Thinking I would probably have to find my new bike in a second hand store, I just perused for a little while. After, I don't know.... 30 seconds, I found it! MY bike. It was perfect, exactly what I was looking for and was even on sale for the exact price I was looking for. It is simply put, the perfectly imagined bike.

I took it out for a test spin yesterday and still loved it. Then later that night for its official debut. I was riding along the green belt and whenever I would adjust my headlight, my hand would sweep across the front handlebar and accidentally 'ding' the bell. It was the happiest little sound and would always surprise me! I would then say, "Oh! Hello Belle!" as if my bicycle didn't want me to forget that she was a part of the bike ride too, and not to just use and ignore her. Belle and I had a beautiful ride and I love that she is waiting for me at home, as we speak. Another bike ride is in my future, for Saturday.

My favorite is the little wood panel on the back for my purse/backpack for downtown grocery shopping or long trips, for a bag filled with water and snacks.

#155 - whuppah

There's no place like Idaho. Very much so, I live in the desert. No green pine trees, no beautiful mountains in the distance, no soft lay-able grass. There's sagebrush and ... tumbleweeds, and brown. Could just be that it's felt like winter has lasted forever and I'm ready for glorious sunshine, or it could be that I live in Idaho. It's been so windy and the weather has been very bipolar lately, I'm ready for continues rays of happy.

Today is no exception: this blew by work today. I've never seen a tumbleweed so large! Whenever I see tumbleweeds, I always think of that song I heard when I was little, "Rollin' rollin' rollin', keep them doggies rollin'. Rawhide! Whickchu!"

#154 - ogling google

So I have a crush on the super-cool, Google. They are always coming out with extremely user friendly, fancy features and products. I'm really into the Google Reader, iGoogle, Google Earth (woah!), blogger ('course), Google Desktop, Google Calendar, Picasa, YouTube, Docs, Gmail (beyond rad... I have a public account, a private account, a personal account, and a super-special-happy account. AND thank you very much I was one of the first test-gmail accounts), and the highlight today: Google Maps. Not only does it show you everywhere and routes (better than mapquest or other others), satellite imaging and the street views (like you're actually driving down the road), BUT I recently discovered the "more" selection. You can pick to have bike paths illuminated for easy routing, and even see pictures and movies posted from those areas.

#153 - february flight

Keeping in line with my 2010 goals, I went on my second trip of the year to Colorado. I hadn't seen my sister's family since, a year ago, Christmas; plus, hadn't seen new Norah yet. My friends Adrienne and Corrine were kind enough to let me fly on a buddy pass, making the flight very affordable. Catching my plane from Boise to Salt Lake, and then Salt Lake to Montrose was a breeze. Each time, they called my name and I was allowed onto the plane. I spend Thursday - Sunday with my family; playing, going out to lunch, attending my sister's book club [The Book Thief], reading stories, piggy back rides, late night movies, and delicious meals.

Flying back Sunday, though, was a bit of a waiting game. I got to the tiny baby Montrose airport and noticed a plane was loading. I asked the desk if this was my flight (no flight read-out screens). She said it was for Denver and my flight was not for some time and to take a seat. There were no loud-speaker announcements, so I tried to sit close to the counter. I delved deep into my book while the other flight loaded. After about 10 minutes (i

f that), I hear someone yell, "Vanessa Park, your plane is leaving." I jumped up, handed over my seat request with a shocked look on my face. Apparently in 5 minutes, Denver had loaded, closed, taken off; and Salt Lake had been announced, boarded and was moments from leaving the strip. Guess I delved deeper in my book than I thought...

Once to Salt Lake, plane after plane was over booked. Requests were made for people to volunteer to step off each of the planes, so a second-list-little-stand-by-girl was a low priority. 3:00 flight - full. 5:00 flight - full. 8:00 flight - full. My friends who offered the ticket had, granted, warned me a Sunday evening flight from Salt Lake was a long shot, but I could try. They showed me the way to the VIP "Crown Room: Fancy dressed men and women can sit in a quiet, luxurious room with free drinks and food, on cumpfy couches and watch big screen televisions. Although it was a long day, it was nice to sit in a quieter place, away from the insanity that was the SLC Sunday afternoon, and watch the Olympics, or read my book.

Finally, the 9:45 flight rolled around and my name was called. I've never been so happy to hear my name before, "Park, Vanessa... Please come to the front terminal for your seat assignment". GLORIOUS! Seat 33 F. My wonder-seat home.