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Fact: I have a bike box

April 7, 2013
Fact
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bikes

Last-year-me would look at present-day-me and think that I’m crazy. Present-day-me looks at right-now-me thinking, “She’s definitely crazy.” What I’ve come to learn is that all people are a little crazy.

So last year, Tommy was practically my in-house bike fixer-upper. He would pump my tires, change my bike tubes, and help me fix things if I felt they were broken. I took advantage of this not knowing the physical work that went into owning a bike because Tommy did most of the work for me. But then he moved out and I was doing fine for a couple of months…until I blew my bike tube.

I felt like a stray dog in search for a home and guidance. I turned to people that knew about bikes but in the end, no one could help me, I needed to become self-sufficient. So last semester I learned how to change my own bike tube…and the only help I got was from my brother via Gchat video + multiple YouTube videos (Internet is wonderful). It only took me 2 hours (because I got frustrated) but hey, I DID IT.

That moment shook me because there were things that I realized:
1) Tommy isn’t here to [physically] help me anymore
2) YouTube is helpful, who knew?
3) I did it, I can do it, I can do anything

Since I’ve changed my own tube, I’ve cleaned and lubed my bike chain by myself, got a designated bike box [with all the makings of what one needs to take care of a bike], and I can pump my own tires! I know, I know, “huge” accomplishments, but really, these accomplishments lead me to seeing things differently. Seeing things differently about bikes, cyclists, and myself. It’s not always about the big wins, most of the time, it’s the small victories. You don’t know how awesome I felt when I replaced that tube and could ride again. It’s indescribable, it’s crazy.

As Kid President says, “We were made to be awesome.” I think being able to fix my bike makes me awesome and if I can do it, anyone can do it. What makes you feel awesome?

 

Fact: I read a lot but I’m working on it

July 24, 2012
General
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Some people draw, some people talk it out, some people solve equations. We all have our own thing that induces creativity when we feel like we’re running a little low on inspiration. A huge thing I’ve found for myself is reading. My mom started me young and even when high school English ruined it for a bit, I know reading is where I draw a lot of my inspiration from.

And I read everything. I read books. I read articles. I read blog posts. I even read tweets. I read a lot. But now I’m starting to think I’m reading a little too much. I find myself answering, “Oh, I’ve read about _______” but never experiencing it myself. It could be about a destination I’ve Google-d but never gone to, some movie I’ve read but never seen, some DIY I read the instructions to but never did myself, some restaurant I’ve heard of but never been to. I haven’t been doing.

By no means am I discouraging reading (more about the importance of reading in another post), but I’m saying that when I read- I must also do. This post is going to act like a reminder to myself. To read but to go too. Because they are two different things and sometimes I think doing one can compensate for the other but I know that is not true. Silly me. Truly, silly me because I am the girl with UP as her favorite movie. You know, that one movie about adventure [among other things].

So I’m going to try and do…and go. Starting with a road trip [with my bro!]. Can anyone help me with that because thus far I’ve only mapped out where we want to go on Google Maps. Where do we stay? How do we know it’s not some sketchy motel we’re paying $$ for? What if we get a camping pass but reach the wrong camping grounds because I didn’t read he fine print? These are all things I need to figure out hopefully by the end of the month but we’ll see.

As one of my favorite characters from UP said, “It’s like America…but SOUTH.” I’m not going to South America but isn’t one of the funniest scenes in the movie? (Maybe…except this.)