Horay for a Memorial Day 3-day weekend! Well, it was more like a 2-day weekend for me - I went to Harris Hill through Elite Track Days on Monday to take photos... but I was eaten alive by fire ants, got a nice sunburn and feel like a freight train hit me today (it was HOT out there!) So... I took the day off work to recuperate. Horay for a 3-day weekend :-) Here are a few teasers.

I'm keeping my tattoo out of the sun while it heals. As result, I've been riding this thing every day inside my living room while watching TV. I try to watch stuff that's good for the brain. In the mornings, I watch Discovery, and love watching Cash Cab and How It's Made. I've also been watching Time Warp lately, that's pretty cool. Today was extra special though, there's good stuff on TV on the weekends. This morning I watched Shaun of the Dead and Spinal Tap :D

My floor's all torn up from sweating all over it, although I've since put a yoga mat underneath, and that blocks all the sweat. And the dog is over there canceling out my abundance of activity with a long, soothing nap. Good boy buddy, keep our living quarters in "balance" :D

I'm just talking here, about nothing really. I only took this picture because I was about to get on the bike, it was dark and I wanted to test my new Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens! Oh my it's a nice piece of glass! All of these photos are from it.

Boy, it's been a while since I updated this thing. I suppose I'll rectify that with the quickness, ahoramente. Hold on to yer ass, 'cause the internet rocket-ship is about to take off in 3... 2... 1...

1. I recently discovered the amazingness that is liver. And as result, so has my dog. I made homeboy a bunch of liver treats today... and now he won't touch his normal food (which I also make). It's pretty cool. I don't blame him, I bet he feels awesome eating it. He's the equivalent of a 100 year old person, and everyone knows old people like liver! On a personal note, I am hoping to be able to digest raw calf liver within a few months.

2. I got a pair of Alpinestars Octane gloves today from a guy who wore them once. And the best part - I only paid $20 for them. Score! I'm really glad I got those, because I've been wearing dirt bike gloves since I busted a hole in my old pair of gloves. And the Octanes have padding right in the spot where I broke my thumb last year. They're also for supermotos (like mine) which is awesome. I really dislike the bulky, eagle claw feel of traditional street gloves. Anyways, I'm stoked. Now if it would just stop raining!

3. Here are a couple of pictures I took in the bathroom at work. Turning boredom into fun-time in the reflection of our hand dryer.

4. Started two new kombucha brews today. Nothing new, except I'm using a green/black tea mix instead of having separate green and black brews. Oh boy do I love this stuff. It's the first thing I drink every morning. I took some to work the other day, a few people tried it and nobody died! Success!

5. I haven't painted in a while, so I did a quick 15-minute exercise where I just started with a seed of an idea (a heart) and let it flow. Here's what came out :-)

Well folks, that concludes another posting here on your friendly neighborhood internet website, Phat32.com. I hope everyone has a safe and lovely weekend. May your mouths be full, noses be boogerless and may you wake up each morning to a bird singing your song, right outside your window. Shalom.

I donated blood for the first time this weekend. I've been afraid of needles for the longest time, but recently got over it and just realized I can give blood! Actually, I realized this a month or so ago, but a number of people told me you have to wait a year after getting a tattoo before you can donate blood - THIS IS INCORRECT!! Check this page of blood donation eligibility, and as long as you received your tattoo from a Texas licensed facility (meaning they use sterile, auto-claved or disposable equipment), then you're good to go. At any rate, on Sunday, I decided I wanted to donate, and within an hour, I was having blood drawn - it was that easy. As I understand it, there is a critical blood shortage in the world now, too. I got "double points" for donating on Sunday, points that I can redeem online for goodies! I recommend everyone donate if you can - it's a good thing to do. A cold hard fact is that you save 2 lives with each donation. And among males, giving blood is sort of like changing the oil in your car. Our blood accumulates crap over time that it can't flush or get rid of, like iron. Only through blood loss are these flushed from our body. Females get this blood flush once a month, but men do not. Donating blood is like an oil change for the body! Anyways, if you're interested in donating blood, here's a run-down of what to do.

• Start at the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas website. They give all sorts of information on eligibility, what's involved and all of that.
• Then get on lonestardonor.com and register as a donor, then plug in your zip code to find the next, closest drive to you, and sign up for it on the website.
• You will get an email confirmation with the time and address of your appointment - show up, donate, eat a cookie and you're done!

And since this was my first time donating blood, here's how it went down. I'm a skinny guy, an athlete (runner/cyclist), I weigh about 150 and am 6'1". I also exercise every single day. The morning before donating blood, I rode the bike trainer at an 8-8.5 on a 1-10 scale of intensity for an hour and a half, rocked out 300 crunches, 80 push ups, and an assortment of dumbbell activities... then walked the dog for an hour or so. I stay hydrated though, well hydrated. And as I understand it, this is key for donating blood - to be well hydrated, because donating will dehydrate you. Avoid alcohol and caffeine prior to going in, and drink a glass of water about a half hour before your appointment. I drink 96oz or so of water a day, as well as celtic sea salt for electrolytes, lots of protein and amino acids for the muscles and Omega 3's for overall health and brain funxionz. And for what it's worth, I also have a very low resting heart rate - between 35-40 upon waking, and in the low 40's when I'm just sitting around.

When I got to the donation center, they drew some blood from my finger, checked my blood pressure and pulse. Everything checked out extremely healthy, except my pulse was too low :) I've read reports of people fainting after donating, and since I have such a low HR, I was concerned about that for myself. Anyways, the lady asked me to walk around the room a little, my HR got to about 46 (45 was the minimum, I believe) and were were good to go!

Then they transported me to the donation area, covered my arm in iodine and tied the arm off (so my veins would bulge) and gave me a red ball to squeeze. I pumped the ball a few times, he poked my arm... I talked to him for a few minutes, and in just under 10 minutes or so, we were done and I was on my way. No dizziness, no faintness, nothing like that. In fact, I actually felt incredible. I got home and felt somewhat euphoric. I don't know how to describe it other than feeling "clean" and "light," and completely there physically and mentally. I even did some light squats, and a few pull-ups outside while frolicking with my dog in the park. Then I had a hearty dinner, hung out downtown for a little while, went home and went to bed feeling great.

Waking up this morning for my morning exercise routine was a little weird, but ultimately fine. I felt a little "drained," but completely capable of exercising... it just took a little longer to get going, and I couldn't sustain a threshold intensity for very long - my max effort was a little compromised (I couldn't quite push as hard as I can normally), but my HR and activity level were just fine. In the end, I would say my workout this morning was just as good as it is most other days, it just took a little longer. I read a medical trial of cyclists who donated blood, and their exercise levels 2hrs afterward, versus later that evening, and for 3 days after donating... and my results were perfectly inline with theirs. They found that for 2hrs up to 3 days after donating, it's perfectly fine to exercise at moderate intensity, but you would be unable (and not advised) to race or exercise at threshold until a few days after donating, and that's exactly how I felt. Anyways, just wanted to share that bit for anyone, and particularly athletes considering donating blood.

First, Chris finished my tattoo on Friday. All in all, it took us about 5 hours. This last session wasn't painful at all, either. Here's a pic I took of it last night. And here's some background on the tattoo.

Second, I get bored at work. A lot. And end up taking tons of pictures with my cell phone that are of no particular value. Like this one.

Lastly, I met up with Christine & co. at Eeyore's birthday party on Saturday. It was pretty sweet, especially the drum circle, although I was dressed way too nice and had just gotten off an hour and a half on the bike trainer, and was spent. I'd like to go again next year with a tent and a hammock, and make a day of it. Oh, and I need a bongo!! Here's a picture I took on the ride over to the party.

About 4 or 5 years ago, my hairdresser told me a little secret. She said that the best thing you can ever do for your hair is to stop washing it. I responded like most people would - we've been so conditioned to shampoo our hair daily, and going without shampoo for a couple of days leaves our hair greasy and gross, that the thought of going even a few days without washing sounds grotesque. However, as she explained, when we wash our hair, we strip it of its natural oils - oils that moisturize, protect and make our hair naturally beautiful. And if we wash one day, and don't wash the next, our hair overproduces natural oils to help moisturize our hair and replenish the oils we strip from it daily with shampoo, and the result is an oily, nappy head of hair. HOWEVER!! If you can ride it out and deal with the nappiness for a couple (or few) weeks, something magical happens. Our hair's natural oil levels are restored, and what you're left with is a soft, beautiful, healthy head of hair!

So she told me this 4 or 5 years ago, and I was afraid to try it until I finally took the plunge a couple of years ago. I remembered what my hairdresser told me, stopped washing and just rinsed it (quite thoroughly) in the shower every day. For a couple of weeks, my hair was pretty gross - oily, sticky and just kinda icky feeling. But after a few weeks, the oil went away, it wasn't sticky and I got used to the way it felt. And the cool thing was, my hair had a natural thickness, so I didn't really need any sort of styling product. And on top of that, I've always had dry scalp/dandruff, and after a month or so, that went away, too!

And it looks like the no-shampoo idea is catching on to the main stream! Awesome! I've been doing this for a couple of years now, and just wanted to give some pointers/tips.

• You don't have to go all or nothing. If you want to shampoo, or gradually slide off of it, use a good baby shampoo. Personally, I use Burt's Bees baby shampoo and body wash. It's far less harsh for your hair, and I use it once a month or so, just to get the funk out.
• If you still want to use some product in your hair, since you're not washing it every day, it's not a good idea to use something with a lot of chemicals in it. Aveeno makes a number of hair products that don't have a ton of chemicals, and so does Jason. This may be a little out there for some of ya, but I've been using Zum Rub in my hair for a few weeks now and LOVE the results. Zum Rub isn't for your hair, but check out the ingredients: sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, beeswax, carnauba wax, shea butter, goats milk, essential oils and vitamin E. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Not only is it not bad for my hair, it's actually good for it! It's designed for irritated/dry skin, but works wonders in your hair, too. For what it's worth, I use it on my tattoo, too.
• Be sure to rinse your hair every day, if not multiple times a day. There's a lot of funk in the air, and it makes its way to your hair. Give it a good rinse, and that's really all you need.
• Good luck, and hang in there! It's only gross for a short while, and I personally guarantee that the benefits are well worth it, or your money back!

Some beautifulness sprouting up from mother earth :-)

A lovely young lady named Candace contacted me recently, asking permission to use a self-portrait of mine named "Side" in a figure drawing class at NMSU. I'm all about that kind of stuff, so I gave her permission, and she contacted me a couple of days ago with an image of her completed work. She also incorporated a picture of a beautiful woman named Jee into the piece - here is a picture of Jee and here is my self-portrait, "Side". And below is Candace's completed work. Nice!!

Good evening fine patrons of the internets. I hope everyone is doing well, your glasses are full and your bellies are jolly. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, you could always come hang out with me! I'll just be loungin' around. Or help Austin win back the Guinness Book of World Records "World's largest dog walk." Or maybe you'd rather take part in the Northland Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. If that's not your thing, you could be like me and check out Fast 'n Furious. Or maybe you'd rather just look at a flower, and let the weekend happen to you :-) Seen on a walk with zee dog...