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Biking for Rest
Apr. 16th, 2011 04:18 pmI've been really burnt out these last couple of weeks. Probably one part problems-with-Cobweb, one part post-book-collapse, and one part finishing-up-an-iPhone-game. So I opted to avoid plans with a couple of different people and instead relax as much as I could this weekend
A couple of years ago I learned that biking == relaxing if I don't overdo it, so that's what I did today.
Nothing too adventurous. My main goal was to go to Uptown Oakland, drop yet another load of games at Endgame (as part of my yearly clear-my-house-of-stuff-as-much-as-possible during the month or so that they accept games) and then buy some new shoes. Both goals accomplished, check. So there was some lunching and some biking beyond that.
To really have an enjoyable ride, I varied from my usual route to and from the Endgame area. I took Shattuck down, and the traffic was light enough for it to be nice today.
On the way back, I headed over to Lake Merritt, rode around until I hit the Lakeside Park, biked around that for a while, then stopped at the bird area. There were herons! And ducks and geese and sea gulls. Watching them for a while was quite relaxing.
I took a very unusual route home from there, pretty much heading straight out of the Lake up a street called Perkins and from there wandered around the Oakland Hills until I got to Piedmont Ave, which was my next destination.
The ride was enough to tell me that I've gotten considerably better on hills over the last years. I barely noticed most of them. One-half block I did walk my bike, but just because I decided I'd enjoy myself more if I wasn't tuckered out.
I was shocked at one point to totally recognize where I was. It was somewhere that Kimberly and I used to go: I think I was at Nancy's condo where we used to do a writing group. Not totally sure, but it was all entirely familiar from there to the freeway.
Over at Piedmont I stopped at two places.
First was a bookstore called Spectator Books, I think. It's a nice used book store that I'd never seen before, not even when I was looking for other used book stores in the area last year. Ah well. They had lots of great books that I was looking for ... last year, including a half-dozen Doctor Who New Adventures, a pile of E.C. Tubb, and possibly all of the Butcher Dresden books. Nothing I was actually looking for now (well, they did have Lensman book #6, but given I haven't gotten any of #1-5 yet, it seemed like putting the cart before the horse; I need to see if I like Smith's writing first). But, I'll go back there.
Second was the Piedmont Library, continuing my tour of Oakland's libraries (or at least my tour of Oakland libraries in areas where I probably won't get shot). This was my fourth, I think. Given the affluence of nearby Piedmont (nearby, affluent Piedmont that's just stopped paying Oakland to use their libraries), I was surprised how tiny the library was. It looked like another one-room building, like the one on Lake Meritt. Looking at the website, it was built in the '30s and is indeed one of the two smallest branches, but also the fourth busiest (out of almost a score). The most impressive thing about their collection was the GLBT section, which was a couple of rows in the library and 1000 books according to the web site.
As is often the case, I mainly browsed the graphic novels, and picked up a couple I wanted to read (as well as one I knew was there and knew I wanted, from the card catalogue). Everytime I browse at a library and find so many more books than I found searching online, I'm struck by the inadequacies of our current bookstore/library models as they exist online. The majority of the problem is an inability to casually browse a collection.
Back home now. Kimberly and I will get groceries in a bit and maybe watch a movie tonight. But I have no other plans for the weekend.
I do have some bits of writing I kinda want to do (rest of last session's Pathfinder AP, my next Traveller column, some reviews for upcoming weeks, some emails) and I need to start putting together one final batch of games for the auction. But beyond that there will be lots of reading and maybe some napping in the sun room. Lucy Cat will probably join me.
A couple of years ago I learned that biking == relaxing if I don't overdo it, so that's what I did today.
Nothing too adventurous. My main goal was to go to Uptown Oakland, drop yet another load of games at Endgame (as part of my yearly clear-my-house-of-stuff-as-much-as-possible during the month or so that they accept games) and then buy some new shoes. Both goals accomplished, check. So there was some lunching and some biking beyond that.
To really have an enjoyable ride, I varied from my usual route to and from the Endgame area. I took Shattuck down, and the traffic was light enough for it to be nice today.
On the way back, I headed over to Lake Merritt, rode around until I hit the Lakeside Park, biked around that for a while, then stopped at the bird area. There were herons! And ducks and geese and sea gulls. Watching them for a while was quite relaxing.
I took a very unusual route home from there, pretty much heading straight out of the Lake up a street called Perkins and from there wandered around the Oakland Hills until I got to Piedmont Ave, which was my next destination.
The ride was enough to tell me that I've gotten considerably better on hills over the last years. I barely noticed most of them. One-half block I did walk my bike, but just because I decided I'd enjoy myself more if I wasn't tuckered out.
I was shocked at one point to totally recognize where I was. It was somewhere that Kimberly and I used to go: I think I was at Nancy's condo where we used to do a writing group. Not totally sure, but it was all entirely familiar from there to the freeway.
Over at Piedmont I stopped at two places.
First was a bookstore called Spectator Books, I think. It's a nice used book store that I'd never seen before, not even when I was looking for other used book stores in the area last year. Ah well. They had lots of great books that I was looking for ... last year, including a half-dozen Doctor Who New Adventures, a pile of E.C. Tubb, and possibly all of the Butcher Dresden books. Nothing I was actually looking for now (well, they did have Lensman book #6, but given I haven't gotten any of #1-5 yet, it seemed like putting the cart before the horse; I need to see if I like Smith's writing first). But, I'll go back there.
Second was the Piedmont Library, continuing my tour of Oakland's libraries (or at least my tour of Oakland libraries in areas where I probably won't get shot). This was my fourth, I think. Given the affluence of nearby Piedmont (nearby, affluent Piedmont that's just stopped paying Oakland to use their libraries), I was surprised how tiny the library was. It looked like another one-room building, like the one on Lake Meritt. Looking at the website, it was built in the '30s and is indeed one of the two smallest branches, but also the fourth busiest (out of almost a score). The most impressive thing about their collection was the GLBT section, which was a couple of rows in the library and 1000 books according to the web site.
As is often the case, I mainly browsed the graphic novels, and picked up a couple I wanted to read (as well as one I knew was there and knew I wanted, from the card catalogue). Everytime I browse at a library and find so many more books than I found searching online, I'm struck by the inadequacies of our current bookstore/library models as they exist online. The majority of the problem is an inability to casually browse a collection.
Back home now. Kimberly and I will get groceries in a bit and maybe watch a movie tonight. But I have no other plans for the weekend.
I do have some bits of writing I kinda want to do (rest of last session's Pathfinder AP, my next Traveller column, some reviews for upcoming weeks, some emails) and I need to start putting together one final batch of games for the auction. But beyond that there will be lots of reading and maybe some napping in the sun room. Lucy Cat will probably join me.
