GinohnNews

G: Uh oh. I haven't worked on the old vacation news since last week. I wonder if I ever will.

On Saturday I made a big pot of black bean chili and took it to Liam and Tara's wedding at the Adelphi Mill (the site of many a wedding and nearly was ours as well). Everything was gorgeous. The bride and groom were stunning. Many many friends there. Lovely, short ceremony, with humor. Too many desserts. Dancing. And more dancing. Helped break down and clean up. I got to bring home lots of leftover flowers. We had a lovely time.

Sunday I went to Alex and Renee's to do yoga. Alison showed up too. We had a great session, then I stuck around and did a bit of DDR before coming home. Later TVTom and Dave Chalker came over and we went to Silver Spring and looked for a place to eat - ended up at the Austin Grill - before seeing "In the Shadow of the Moon." Andy, Kristin, and Alison met us at the theater - AFI. They ended up getting in free because Alison's cousin was the ticket taker! But she was only going to be there another week. Our carload came back to our place and we played a ring game of Hold'em, and I came away as the big winner! Yea! 

Tuesday I picked Kevin up at the Park and Ride and we rode up to Harrisburg, PA for an Al show. It was a bit slow getting there because of traffic, but we knew we had plenty of time. I asked Kevin what time the show started and he said 8. So we rolled into town around 7:15, did a far away walk by of the venue (which looked surprisingly deserted, although the tour buses were out front) as we desperately sought out bathrooms. Found a mall where all the stores were closed but found the bathrooms. Then time was getting tight for finding some dinner before the show. We wandered around the mostly closed up downtown until we found an area with a few faster food restaurants open, and grabbed some yummy burritos at Neato Burrito. We kept watch on the time but it seemed like we'd get back to the venue right at 8pm. And we did. Still looked fairly deserted, but we also thought it was the back we were looking at. But we approached a door with an awning, went inside, and a couple of men were there with the will call tickets. They found our tickets while we noticed that the sounds coming from inside were from somewhere in the middle of the concert - not the beginning. I asked, "When did the show start?" The men said 7. Kevin was aghast. We got led to our seats, which were in the FRONT row (first time since the mid-eighties that my seat was so close), right hand section, one seat from the aisle. There were people in our seats and they all moved down. I recognized the person closest to us as another frequent concert attender/friend of a band member, Tara Lyn. I said hi and asked if Al had done "Wanna B UR LVR" yet. She said he'd just done it. I was a bit bummed to miss that - Al comes into the audience during that song and sings to different women, but I'd gotten treated to that before so it wasn't so bad. We really enjoyed the show from so close and Kevin took almost 400 pictures.

And after the show we hung out with Tara Lyn and Bermuda and Al for quite a long time. Much fun was had. It was the last show in the area for this tour, so it will be a long time before I see any of them again. :(

On the way home Kevin checked the web on his blackberry and found out he hadn't been negligent, almost every listing of the show said 8pm (except ticketbastard, and a listing from the venue itself could not be found). Even Al's myspace page listed 8pm! We're left wondering why we didn't see even more late comers.

J: My latest exercise (of the physical variety) involves brachiating across a soccer goal post, almost daily. I climb horizontally, in a hand-over-hand fashion, and when I reach one end I turn around without dropping — tricky — and go the other way. This is after I've thrown the ball for Katy and she's tired out. She waits nearby, lying on the ground and chewing her ball while I climb. On days that I don't brachiate I try to do a few pull-ups.

Standard soccer goals are quite thick, so there isn't much grip available, and I am unable to use my opposable thumb while traversing. I just wrap my hand like a mitt around the pole and hope it holds. My initial goal was to climb all the way across and back again, which I accomplished on my sixth attempt. Now I want to try to do laps.

Here are how my first six climbs went:

1. Made it 2/3 of the way in one direction before I fell off.
2. One complete traverse, barely made it.
3. One complete traverse, faster, and banged my knee on the post at the end. Noticed a slight tearing noise in my shoulder and arm muscles during the climb, but nothing too horrible. (Need to stretch and warm up.)
4. Slight change in technique— more swinging to increase reach. Made it all the way and 2/3 back!
5. Bad day: I fell after the very first grip! I think I was fighting off a slight cold.
6. Good day: There and back again! I even did seven victory pull-ups to celebrate.

Brachiation is an excellent exercise to prepare myself for rock climbing and tree climbing. I'm currently up to three times across (there, back, and there again). I've noticed that my hands have to have just the right amount of sweat— too much or too little and the grip gets tough. My new technique (forward facing swing) does not allow for much hand adjustment; if I grab the bar badly, I just have to hang on and go for it. After two times across, the exercise becomes more cardiovascular. After three times, I'm huffing like I just finished a sprint.

UPDATE:
Well, I overdid it, and (shortly after writing this entry) pulled ligaments in both of my wrists — quite painful. I guess I'll have to take a break from brachiation and find another activity.  In the meantime, lots of ice and a few ibuprofin pills may pull me through.