More differences between the beach and the shore

Thanks to my pal Steve72 for contributing to this list; we have been scatting and riffing off each other over email. As he noted, "The shore buries the beach up to its neck in sand, and then kicks tide foam in its face."

Here are some more differences between the beach and the shore:

1. At the beach people wear sarongs and Givenchy sunglasses. At the shore people wear checkered Vans and acid-washed cutoffs.

2. At the beach, people show off their bodies. At the shore, people show off their t-shirts with other people's bodies airbrushed onto them.

3. At the beach, people winter in Palm Springs and summer in Tahoe. At the shore, people spring bad news on each other and fall down drunk.

4. At the beach, bikini tops are filled to bursting with silicone. At the shore, bikini bottoms are filled to bursting with sand.

More to come, certainly.

Untitled (Forgot to title it)

I did end up going walkabout. By the time I post this (motel wireless is uncooperative), I will be back from Ojai, which is about 2 hours north of Whittier, where my little apartment is. Actually, I HOPE my apartment is still there; I understand there were a couple pretty big earthquakes there on Thursday. This means my streak of not experiencing an earthquake is unbroken; I always manage to be out of town or in the car or something when an earthquake hits.

Anyway, Ojai is a little arty community near Lake Casitas. Yeah, I don’t know where that is, really, either. It’s on the way to Ventura. My friend Adamarie loves it in Ojai and figured I’d enjoy it too.

It’s a good trip. Ojai is kind of sleepy, and I’m not really deviating that much from my normal routine. Yesterday I arrived and walked around a little, had some tea, went to a used bookstore. Today I will (or will have) hike(d) the Gridley trail, which originates about a mile from the ranger station in town and ends at Nordhoff Peak (4,485 ft). So it’s not terribly exciting or eventful, but something good did happen: I realized that I’ve been kind of skating through the past couple weeks instead of actively choosing what I’m going to do with my time. I’m financially secure for the summer, so I can basically do whatever the hell I want to. And I remembered that when I was even planning the trip. On Wednesday, I started thinking of which weekend I might be able to go away. And then I remembered that I could conceivably pick up and go at that moment, which is something I used to do, obviously, when I was in the thick of my trip.

So I did some Internet research and found a motel room and some info about Ojai, and then yesterday I CrossFitted and took off. It was incredibly energizing to be spontaneous, and I realized I haven’t been doing much of that lately. There is a tennis tournament in Ojai this weekend, so I was only able to get a room for last night, but that was enough to get the wheels turning again.

And in the timing-is-everything vein, I just got some feedback from my agent on the narrative part of my book proposal. I had submitted it to him about a month ago, and then he promptly got swamped under all the other things he does. But I probably wouldn’t have been as excited to get to work on the revisions any earlier because I’ve been sort of treading water, so I’m glad it took the amount of time it did. Working on a book is already proving to be an incredible and challenging learning experience; I really haven’t seen as much red ink (well, red strikethrough using the track changes tool) on something I’ve written since the first drafts of my dissertation. So it’s a little daunting, but I’m going to repeat that I’m up for the challenge until I believe it. Let’s just say that I have a crapload of work to do.

I neglected to describe the SoCal CrossFit Games Qualifiers, which happened last weekend. This is the third year that CrossFit will hold its own Olympic-style event; this year it will be in Aromas, CA, in July. In previous years, it was a first-come, first-served situation, but this year there is so much interest that they had to hold regional qualifiers. The SoCal quals were in Tustin last Saturday and Sunday, and a bunch of people from our “box,” CrossFit LA/Petranek Fitness, participated. The top 6 men and top 6 women competitors were chosen to be on the SoCal team, and I’m happy to report that our own Andy Petranek finished third overall! So he’ll be competing against CrossFitters from all over the world in July. Congratulations, Andy!!

So how do I describe the event, the workouts, the absolute studs (male and female) who participated? First, it was hot as balls, which means that the performances were that much more awesome. Second, there were lots of very fit people in skimpy outfits—never a bad things. Third, the workouts included many things that I physically cannot do, like 105/155lb clean and jerks (first number for women, second for men) and chest-to-bar pullups (though I can do some of those now), and they also included things that I can do but would not be able to do the required number of times within the cutoff times, like 65/95lb overhead squats, box jumps, wall ball, 2K row. There were three workouts, two on Saturday and one on Sunday, and even though Andy’s the only one who qualified, everybody from our box showed incredible heart and did amazingly well. I was proud to be cheering them on.

Okay, now it’s Saturday and I didn’t end up going hiking—before I left on Thurs, I did a nasty walking lunges workout that I am STILL feeling. Plus, it was rainy (so much for triple digit temps; it's back into the 50s and 60s). So I wussed out, came home, saw a movie, and got a massage. I was SPONTANEOUS.

Today I'm continuing to play hooky from training, and the trend will continue until Monday, when I'll hit it hard in preparation for ADCC and the Mundial. They are coming up! Dang.

Summer comes early to SoCal

I think I’m feeling a bit of wanderlust. I have really been enjoying driving around lately, even in LA traffic, and that’s making me think maybe it’s time for a road trip. I don’t know where I want to go, though. There’s a Grapplers Quest in Vegas the weekend of May 9, and that could be fun. Or maybe I want a complete break from the regular routine, which would mean avoiding grappling in all its forms, not to mention eschewing the burpee and the thruster. Maybe I should go to some kind of spa or something. Well, I’ll tentatively shoot for the weekend of May 9 and see what I end up wanting to do.

This urge to travel could have something to do with the fact that it’s balls hot in SoCal right now. Triple-digit temperatures. So it feels like summer. And summer is when I hit the road/air/water, it seems. I have for the past 3 years, at least. I do have some fun trips planned this summer: to Virginia once or twice, to Canada once or twice, and to Boston in May. But I am feeling a twitch RIGHT NOW. I suppose I could actually hit the road this instant, seeing as how I tend to be pretty successful at avoiding working and generally answer only to myself. Right now, I’m thinking it’s naptime, but maybe I’ll leave after I wake up. And have some lunch. While watching Judge Judy (she’s not gonna watch herself).

I’m feeling a little nostalgic for the Jersey shore. I grew up going there and have lots of fond memories, which were jogged some when I went to see Bruce Springsteen in concert last week. Amazing, amazing show, and while he didn’t sing Jersey Girl (with the line, “Cause down the shore everything’s all right”), he sang enough about the shore to remind me that I’m clear on the other side of the country, where people go to the “beach.” The beach is fine, but it ain’t the shore. People at the beach are really put together. People at the shore have enormous hair and say, “Oh my gawd.” People at the beach live in Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. People at the shore live in Weehawken and Trenton. People at the beach eat filet mignon and bananas Foster (okay, not really). People at the shore eat hoagies, bomb pops, and salt water taffy. People at the beach do capoeira and gawk at celebrities. People at the shore play putt-putt and gawk at the syringes and trash that wash up on the sand. People at the beach enjoy sunset dinners at cozy neighborhood bistros. People at the shore spend evenings tromping on the boardwalk and drag racing across the causeway.

I’m sure you can see why I miss it, my beloved shore!

I will be on the east coast in May, as I mentioned. I’m going to Boston for the Wearers of the Green ceremony. I got in touch with my college pal Naomi, and not only am I going to stay with her, she is also going to be my “date” for the event! I haven’t seen Naomi since we were both at our friends Jen and Pat’s wedding in London almost 2 years ago (many of you LOVED all the detail I included about it), and I haven’t been to Boston since I was in college, or shortly thereafter, when it was the closest civilization to my small-town undergrad institution. I’m assuming this is why my small-town undergrad institution is hosting the event in Boston rather than in the small town. It’s going to be at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, which is right around the corner from Dartmouth Street. So that’s kind of fitting.

I need to buy a cocktail dress to wear to it. Funnily enough, two of the guys at my academy, who shall remain nameless, have volunteered to take me shopping. They are in touch with their feminine side. And I recently got a great haircut from another of the guys at the academy. They are multi-talented, these tough grappler dudes!

Okay. I have more to write, but am serious about that nap. Back in a little while.

Apparently I just learned to read

As some of you know, I had been trying to decide whether to go to the Wearers of the Green ceremony being held by my alma mater in Boston (it's their athletic Hall of Fame and they want to induct me into it for my accomplishments in BJJ--they have me listed as a "World Grapply Champion." Clearly I will be doing some educating.) or to stay in SoCal to either compete in or at least watch the Abu Dhabi Combat Club North American qualifiers. I had thought they were on the same weekend.

I am a dumbass. It turns out the Wearers of the Green is the week before ADCC. And I have been thinking the past couple months that I had to choose one. I guess I never learned to read very well.

So now I get to do both! Here's the info for the induction ceremony: http://www.alumni.dartmouth.edu/wearers. I had to choose a pendant or a pin for my induction bling. I chose a pendant. And yes, I am the only person being honored for grapply. Somewhat surprisingly, the sport that will be most greatly represented is figure skating. followed by water polo, skiing, men's rowing, and women's rugby. Nice!

Anybody who is still reading (Jeebus, I've been remiss in posting) train in Boston? I'll probably arrive on Thursday eve, which gives me all day Fri to train and sightsee, etc. I haven't been to Boston probably since I was in college, or shortly thereafter.

Congratulations to Natasha!!

Yesterday my dear friend Natasha was awarded her purple belt in Chicago by Carlson Gracie, Jr! She has worked her keister off for it, and I am thrilled for her! Junior also awarded our friend Jason Sullins his black belt. It was a great day in Chicago!

I know I've been remiss in writing about the PanAms. I can't remember much of it anymore--convenient, I know. For me, the important takeaway was just the shift in my perspective about competing. And it came at the right time, because my parents have just confirmed that they are going to come out to CA to watch me compete in the Mundial at the beginning of June. It's kind of the last frontier of my journey that they haven't shared. They have seen me train, have read my book proposal, and were with me every step of the way while I was on the road, mostly because I called them all the time. So I want them to experience this too; I don't know exactly what it reveals about me, but maybe it will help them understand even better than they already do why I do what I do. Plus, tournaments are a huge spectacle in general.

Speaking of my proposal, I'm waiting on feedback from my agent. He's going to give me line-by-line comments, and then I'll be pretty busy trying to fix things. But I'm looking forward to it.

I'm very boring lately. Happy, but boring. That's sure to change, as sooner or later I'll have some kind of psychotic mood swing. I am a Cancer, after all. We are moody and overly sensitive. Yes we are!!

Happy Easter and Passover too, by the way!

In dribs and drabs

I'll report on the PanAms and other things in dribs and drabs.

The Budo Beach Party was tons of fun! Everyone who participated seemed to have a good time--how can you not have fun doing martial arts near the ocean on an absolutely gorgeous day? It was a bit sandy, but that's what showering and laundry are for. Plus, I got to meet Gary Busey! As I mentioned in my Facebook status update, so far I'm experiencing no major after-effects. He was hanging out with the capoeiristas. His teeth are just as big in real life as they are on screen.

Huge congrats to Andy, Becca, and everyone at CrossFit LA! As of Tuesday, the gym is in a brand new space. They all worked their asses off to clean, drill, lift, move, etc, and get everything ready in time for the opening yesterday. I'm proud to say I made it for the absolute first workout in the new place--6am on the dot. We did Big Fat Helen, which is 5 instead of the normal 3 rounds of 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings, and 12 pullups. And I used a bigger kettlebell than prescribed for chicks. It was a fun way to inaugurate the new place, and of course by "fun" I mean "not fun until it was over."

Getting there

Tomorrow is this: http://budobeachparty.com

and then after that things should settle back down to their normal dull roar. Re: the PanAms, for now, suffice it to say that there was nobody in my weight class, so I got the gold for having enough room on my credit card to pay for the registration fee--AND for having the dexterity to click in the right place on the web page. Yay me!

For the open, my first and only match was against a much larger opponent. She eventually beat me, but I am happy with my performance, save for a couple of tactical errors that might have shifted the balance the other way. It was a very odd PanAms for me, in that I really didn't watch many matches. But I got out of it what I needed to, which mainly was perspective--finally!!--on competing. While I was waiting to compete, I actually had a lot of fun hanging out in the bullpen with my friends and teammates, who stayed till the bitter end to cheer me on. And I actually had fun in the competition itself, and now I want to compete some more.

I will go into more detail soon (I know, I know), but for now, look at me growing! More soon--I promise! Especially about how great it was to see all my out-of-town friends!!