Erin Malone in Colorado

It's been too long, I am catching up and just getting to uploading pictures from Erin's visit in between studying and writing papers...it was a blast, when Erin came, among the highlights were, out running a train that comes through downtown...biking to the bar and Erin falling off once we got there... here is the web album

post comments and enjoy.

Bike Model?

I also got some pics that Karen, my roommate took of me riding my bike in the park to use as examples of how to manipulate shutter speed to blur the background, but not the subject and vice versa....pretty cool stuff, for a couple I was skidding on my fixed gear bicycle, hence the leaning forward.... see a couple below, the rest are in an album, here....

EP

Social Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity

I had a great weekend of fun and schoolwork. I watched a couple of 6th grade football games at City Park and asked parents on the sidelines to take a minute or to to fill out a questionnaire I came up with. Then took another GREAT nap in a hammock in my neighbors yard. Just on the other side of the fence in our backyard there are two great pine trees. Between them is an authentic Jamaican hammock that one of the three sophomore girls purchased on some sort of spring break trip. Regardless of who owns it or where it came from, I love the view up between the trees and watching the wild red squirrels jump from limb to limb.

Then I got ready to go to one of my professor's house in Denver for a Social Psych. dinner. Before I could meet up with another couple to carpool, I had to complete the final touches of the dessert I would be bringing. I made "Friendship Bars" that my roommate in NYC made and gave me the recipe but I decided to add some melted white chocolate over the top.

We had a great time and I learned a lot from the PhD students who are experiencing the woes of funding and TA/GA positions. All in all it was very fun to get to know academics personally. The weekend also brought some work to be done, but the dinner party has started to get me
excited about the program I am in, Sport Pscyhology in general, and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Conference I will be attending this week in Louisville, KY.

In addition to the amazing Keynotes, presentations and speakers, I really enjoyed the networking aspect of the AASP conference last year in Miami, where I made a bunch of great friends, in various sectors of the field. It's also the only place to mingle with the Dr.'s that wrote all of my textbooks....one day...one day....Last year I roomed with a Swedish guy I didnt know named Frederick, and a good ole' boy from Alabama named Patrick, who I still keep in touch with and had heaps of fun with...(along with out English and Scotish "Tobacco Road" crew...talk about adventure...

After 3 days in Louisville, I am off to Orlando, to join Liza for her sister Carolina's wedding, which I am also looking forward to, mostly to see Liza (it's been almost a month and a half) but also for the wedding and to see her family together.

This week is definitely going to be an adventure...

EP

Rox to the Series

The rockies just swept their way into the series, I know because of the eruption of fireworks and cheering, I don't have cable and am working on my sociology of sport midterm and am sick and miss Liza... a lot.

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Work Work Work make Eric a Dull Boy...

This week was really slow...after studying for my mid-term in research methods while doped up on vicodin I think I did pretty well, then I went straight to get my root canal, which was flawless by the way. The dentist and the dental assistant were very nice and took to my jocular acceptance of having poor teeth, but impeccable dental hygiene.

Friday night was a decent time, I went with roommates Erin and Karen to a friends house for a pot luck party and was more than easily amused by a 4 year old who was cute as can be trying to scare all the adults with a not so intimidating "boo" ...With some work we had him erupting in laughter as he learned how to really scare someone, by tapping them on their other shoulder and then making a bear face and growl (of course with hands in the air) he was very sociable and accepting of our teachings.

Also, it rained for most of Sat. and Sun. so it gave me plenty of time to get a jump start on my Sociology of Sport take home mid-term of 15 short essays that cover each topic we've worked through so far. I Finally got to watch French Kiss which now means I will understand the Rojas-Alford women and their Meg Ryan references in Orland0 ( for Carolina's Wedding later this October )

Allison turned 21 last night at the stroke of midnight and I'm sure was out with good friends enjoying her first legal beverages. I really wish I could have been there.

This afternoon, Karen and I went to Target to get some pictures develop which she took of me riding my bike behind some interesting backgrounds which she successfully blurred by manipulating the shutter speeds. Hopefully they will be posted soon!

Looking forward to some sunny days this week.

Dead News

A recent tooth ache lead me to a local dentists office in Fort Collins, where I met a real sweetheart of a man in Dr. Modroski, however, I did feel like strangling him when he told me that an old filling (in my #12) had either further decayed which exposed the nerve or the nerve just died. ( please hold your tears) that means that I will be going back this Thursday for MY FIRST ROOT CANAL IN COLORADO!! He was kind enough to write me scripts for penecillin to settle down the inflammation and infection which was beginning as well as some generic Vicodin, which has saved the day. I will go from taking my Research Methods Mid-term to getting a my root canal and hopefully be sober enough to return to Greeley for my night class (Sport in Society)

The other "Dead" news I have is a Personal record on the Deadlift 255 as part of the CrossFit workout of the day. 7 sets of 1 rep max 215/235/225/225/235/245/255

As part of my recent commitment to CrossFit this was a great WOD (workout of the day) to establish a baseline in one of the foundational exercises. I am lucky that the times which I am available to go to the gym when I am in Greeley are good times to lift, there is usually not a ...weight for one of the racks and I can run around doing warm-ups on various pieces of equipment.

P.S. - Very exciting news, I have been very excited by the research I'm reading about in articles which Dr. Brustad (my advisor) has given me. These are in preparation for my internship at a local elementary school which we'll be starting an after-school basketball program where kids develop teams which will eventually be self-coached to work on issues like conflict resolution andincreasing levels of connectedness and autonomy. Aside from how excited I am to start getting my hands dirty in the program, I talked to Dr. Brustad about the program his colleague is running at the University of Valencia in Spain, and he said their program is well underway and by this spring or next fall they will be introducing a program with a curriculum into at least 30 different school as THE physical education program. He also said that there would definitely be a spot for me to get involved if I were interested, AND I AM. I think I am going to try and make it happen for next fall and get some research out of it and make it a thesis. That way I will be able to come back and finish up credits and write up what is left in the spring.

Fall for Real

Today was a great Fall day. The morning crispness of the Rocky air never seemed to dissipate but neither did the sun. After an hour of reading and another hour of Rosetta Stone Spanish lessons on my laptop I was adequately prepared for a CrossFit staple. I completed "Nicole" (which is 20 minutes of continuous rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats) I completed 12 and change. It was the first time that I had competed a CrossFit workout on the outdoor fitness equipment scattered through City Park. It took a little bit longer than usual to get into an aggressive mood where I felt in a zone. Perhaps because there was a table of quasi-crunchies debriefing their game of Ultimate frisbee at a picnic table just behind me.

I returned home after observing a father teaching his son and 4 of his friends how to run a post pattern on an open field. I was impressed with how the kids didn't need to be pestered to pay attention most likely because there were just enough of them that there wasn't much uninvolved waiting and the kids were the ones playing. The father spoke to them, showed them, and then let them do it over and over again and they seemed to be learning from each other mimicking the most athletic and graceful of the boys. There were a few games of soccer and frisbee played by adults on the short walk back home.

I made a great lunch and then did some studying for an upcoming mid-term in Research Methods of Sport and Exercise Science, until the daylight hours seemed to be wasting away and my roommate Karen and I rode our bikes into town for some window shopping and a very tasty apple pie coffee ( which was remarkable, but I noted to the "Baristas" that the only thing which could have made it better was some graham cracker crummble stuck to the lip of the mug...mmmmm) Anyways, we took a bunch of pictures along Mountain Ave. the bike friendly street that has several eccentric houses and historic buildings.

All in all this day captured the essence of Fall even now as I head to sleep I feel peaceful and small knowing the Fall is here, Winter is soon to follow and the natural order remains and another year will come and go. Although I feel particularly inadequate in the world right now it still feels like its spinning slow enough to appreciate it.


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p.s. - what do This
and This have in common?

Plasma

After some morning reading I am off to "donate" plasma for $40 cash....the best, well second best gig in town. bring something to read and pump blood for 45 minutes walk out with cash...its a a dream. It also helps that today is a rest day for me in the CrossFit world and I am looking to get a bunch of reading done in preparation for next weeks mid-terms and the beginning of my internship at Jefferson Elementary in Greeley.

And then...New Belgium to send some more postcards? who knows?

School Day

Thursdays are big days for me this Fall, work in the morning :) and then Research Methods of SES with a 3 hour break which I usually go to the gym during and finally a 3 hour night class in Sociology of Sport. (Which I think flies by because its such a great class)

CrossFit: "Nicole"
Run 400 M / Max reps Pull-ups
For Rounds in 20 minutes

9?

Pottery

Another update. I started taking a pottery class for beginners offered through the City of Fort Collins. They offer studio hours as well as instructional demo's during class. I am off to continue trimming my first set of pots during todays studio hours before class tonight.

CrossFit: 3 mile run 22:40

Colorado

This is the first post of my move to Colorado and will include some background. I have started a 2 year masters program at The University of Northern Colorado in the Social Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity. The semester is 4 weeks underway, my move out here was very successful. (see Pics) Liza (yes my girlfriend spells her name with a "z" where most spell it with an "s") drove out with me in my recently purchased used 2004 Golf TDi.
For the 1600 mile trip we got 42 miles to the gallon of diesel, with everything I owned in the back and 2 bikes on a rack.

Our trip from Ardsley NY to Fort Collins CO was tons of fun, unfortunately this trip was more business than pleasure with school starting and a rush to get life organized in under a weeks time. However, there were a couple of pit stops. Our first break to get out of the car was highly debated. We derailed our plans for a straight shot from western Pennslyvania (where we stayed at a luxurious Motel) to Chicago with a detour to.....NOTRE DAME! Liza persuaded me that with one of the richest academic and athletic histories of any college in America, it would be a worthwhile stop. It was. Touchdown Jesus and All. However, I will add a conciliatory note that in the 15 minutes we were there and the 15 minutes off the highway the rain storm that we spent 3 states out running didnt make any pit stops and was waiting for us as soon as we got back to the highway. Still worth it.

The second stop worthy of noting was to visit to my friend from Keene State College, Brandyn "Supe" Suprenant who lives and works in Chicago. My first time to Chicago, won't be my last, but it definitely will be my last that I spend 5 hours sitting on the highway on the way into Chicago. Supe and his roomate were a gracious hosts and took us to a funky restaurant right down the street from their house.

The next place was a I-80 Worlds LARGEsT TRUCK STOP! This was actually very much fun. Even the people that were using the rest stop seemed to fit in as props with their fake mid-west accents, plaid shirts and "authentic" cowboy hats. I picked up a couple of "wiener" post cards and Liza and I had an incredible photo shoot on the full size semi that rotates in the "Chrome" wing of the rest stop.

(side note: Liza lobbied with a cogent argument to stop at THE Field of Dreams in Iowa, but it was 6 hours round-trip out of the way and it just wasn't happening for us, with 13 hours drive left to push into Colorado through Nebraska and Cheyenne, as it was we started to get a little Loopy at the end.)

Another noteworthy aspects of the trip:

- Immediatly we started a game to make the highway miles more fun. First person to call out the following things received a point per:
- Each states' license plate ( we saw 47 missing Louisiana, West Virginia, and Rhode Island) , A sign for Dairy Queen (which Liza has an incredible eye for), the word "Truck" on signs, any red barn (this was a mid-west addition, go figure) and finally a point per each bike that was attached to a trailer.

- Also, we almost got swept away by a twister half way through Nebraska, not really, but almost.
- There was a giant sign for an Adult bookstore RIGHT NEXT to a GIANT white wooden cross. I dont think the farmer that owned all the land next to the highway was pleased when the adult superstore moved in. It is a funny picture for us though.

- I know half of The State Song

- Bye Bye Miss American Pie

It was a great trip that ironically ended with us stopping for pizza in Fort Collins at a NY themed Pizza place that everyone in Fort Collins claims to be great NY pizza....I've had better. But its Great to be in F.C. anyway.

CrossFit Log: RX's 5 Rounds for time of 95# Thrusters/ 95# Sumo Dead Lifts 15x each. Since I am phasing back into CrossFit I altered ti Thrusters with dumbells of 35#/25 for the last 4 and Sumo Deads of 85# which was plenty. I finished in 15 minutes after a true CrossFit Warm up.

Bike Rides Are Back

HOORAY for cycling... 2 loops around Central park for the welcome back to cycling on a gorgeous morning was great. Thomas and I averaged 16.5 mph, which is not bad for a crowded morning ride. We passed a really attractive runner on our first lap. I wonder If I'll see her again. (wink wink)

This Saturday Liza, Jackie, Nate and myself will have our second Swing exhibition at Swing 46 where we will let loose the new steps we've learned since our first public dancing experience. (Full Swing Dancing review to follow)

Sun is shining, flowers are bloomin, things are Swingin.....

Also, last Sunday I had Liza up to Ardsley for hanging out and a little grill action... felt good to be back...

Back again

I am committed to documenting the rest of this year for strictly private purposes to follow love, education and adventures.