friends

backshot, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

I had a conversation with a good friend last night. We probably hadn't sat down to visit in over a year. It was time.

Some people think (and therefore attempt to make true) this notion that friends should be an eternal gift (or at least while you are on earth). Some how we think them like family, that you must keep working it even it the relationship is strained or no longer serving either of you.

I think friends come and go. they are a marvelous gift that is really without obligations (like you must do this or do that - often seen with family). Friends don't have obligations, just commitments made. You do things because you truly care (or don't).

The lost gift is that often we have friends that no longer serve us (or us them); AND some are stuck working it, yet we are free to fill that void with someone who will teach us, guide us, laugh with or at us. I've even found that some of these friends that don't fit, some how fit later when we've both matured in new ways. So different than family, yet its the only family I've really known.

15 watts

Two words - Fifteen Watts!


To non-cyclists that means nothing. To cyclists that could mean an extra 4 weeks of hard training to gain that kind of power at 30 miles an hour. Well... in ONE purchase I got 15 watts. Yup, these are the bad boy time trial bars that cut the wind like a fine Global knife. Just get a load of those inline brake levers. Look out Sile!

Got them in the U.K under aggressive dollar pricing against the Pound. There are some benefits of global economic meltdowns. income may be down for the year, but I can sure buy speed... for a little while.

Vitamin D

I'm on 50K IU of Vitamin D. I take it every 10 days. Its liquid sunshine. I took another dose last night. I'm flying. Love it.

News?

There is a lot of bad news reported these days; 1000 jobs lost here, market another 200 pts down there, 3300 jobs gone here, friends out of work there, friends worrying they will soon be out of work, yet work for those of us is eerily busy. What to think?

THINK about what you are thinking!
THINK how much of what you are thinking is creating your worry, your anxiousness, your fret about what may happen later in the year.

now... FEEL your knowledge in how resourceful you are;
FEEL the comfort of your many friends;
FEEL how fortunate you are, how wealthy you are no mater the 0's in your account.
FEEL how rich are your experiences; knowing that all our experiences make us more profoundly the person we are to become - even those uncomfortable times made you better, caused a new realization, a new you.

This is an AMAZING time my friends.
pay attention. don't let your mind trouble you in places that don't exist...
realize that those who rise above negative thought will conquer this time; be victorious; thrive not just survive.

this is an AMAZING time my mindful souls.
there are many that will grow ill, sick, terminal in thought; thought that is so venomous they will not survive there own pity perilous party.

this is an AMAZING time my conscious friends.
As Tolle said, in the evolutionary process... the reptile who came upon the land manage to take flight and become a bird. The process to become the bird was painfully slow, yet, the moment the "reptile" took flight happened in a split second.

This is an AMAZING time where all our laborious efforts allows us to fly...
And,... it seems very, very close to the coming second.
Got it?

Bikin' Cougar

DSCN1863.JPG, originally uploaded by b.p.s..

So Brian snapped this one of me as I was slippin' a text to Chels after shooting down Cougar mountain (whooped me). I was running late for brunch at Portage Bay. Damn those IJM.org kits look good.

GrayDays

GrayDay, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Seattle has been particularly gray. Thankfully my MD friend turned me onto sunshine in a capsule! Vitamin D in 50K iu. Woah! Yeah... I take it every 10 days and its like a jolt in the arm. LOVE it. I took this shot last weekend after a full out 4 hour INDOOR workout day. This is taken right by the 99 bridge in Fremont after I ducked into Speedy Reedy for a little bike repair. Oh... I LOVE SEATTLE.

I light a candle....

San Xavier, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

okay many candles about my return to sloggy, wet, snowy weather. Ok... so it rained all night in Tucson and I woke to wet weather - yet still going out for a ride in it; yet I still think I mourn my departure. Oh, but its a new year, new stuff, new light, new work, new things, new learning. YES!

San Xavier

San Xavier, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

After doing a ton of blood work this morning (a way to usher in the new year), I had a great conversation with a like minded soul on the future development potential arising in our next cycle. THEN, I raced home for yet another ride, food then a photo shoot out at the grand ol' white dove of the desert. The image really speaks worlds of why it is so aptly named. This mission was built by the franciscans to christianize the natives (as they came up from Mexico). The settlement dates back to the late 1600's and this church was completed about mid century 1700's. The naive is unbelievable. The spirit and soul of the walls was deep, profound and I must say good. There was a reverent vibration in the space that caused you (or shall I say me) to be no where but the present.

Outside the church the native tribe was frying up some good ol' "Indian Fry Bread" complete with honey, sugar and other non-nutritive empty calories. I abstained and ate my apple on my drive back. Yeah, yeah... whatever.

Chiricahuas!

LMP-2088, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

How much fun did we have???
Too much!

cycle break

LMP-2076-2, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

today i took a cycling break and hike the chiricahuas. its an amazing series of volcanic rock formations along the arizona, new mexico boarder where the apache indians fought some bitter wars against the white man. I felt some old spirits in the lands. it was a great, mellow day of basking in 60 degree sunshine at 7,000 feet. More pictures to come.

Him Salt

Him Salt, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

key ingredient to my cooking. This pink stuff seams to soften the edges of food and bring out the flavors so brilliantly. I only buy and use Himalayan Pink Rock Salt. I have a salt grinder to use each time I need some of these magic morsels. Further.... this is the sole that your body needs (unlike the chemical NaCl Morton's produces).

3 days of ski

Ski, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

So today marked the 3rd day in a row I was able to ski greenlake. Yes, this is historic friends. Conditions were a bit icy, but still fun as I worked up a good sweat for my 60 minutes of effort.

I don't think the conditions will be good for a ski tomorrow, so unless it snows nicely tonight... it might be back to the trainer for me.

2nd time in 10 Years!

Ski around Greenlake, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Today I went out to my garage, grabbed my widest xcountry skis in the lot, slapped them on at my garage door, skied out my driveway and down to greenlake (about 100 meters). I made a full lap around the lake and it being the 2nd time in 10 years we've had that kind of dumpage in Seattle and where there is enough snow to ski the lake without it melting in a half hour. Well there was plenty, a little crusty but not yet skied out! I had the place nearly to myself.... well maybe because I felt like a kid at xmas and I couldn't wait, so I got up at 5am and hit the lake by 6am. This is an actual picture of me on my skis at greenlake. Oh... its snowing again, I might need another lap.

I kept waiting for the groomer to show to set the tracks, but I guess he/she took the day off. Skating was a challenge but because I had my classic skis and with the perfect wax... it was bliss!

2009 Predictions

SAXO bank in Copenhagen (love the Danes) makes some outrageous (extreme) predictions every year, mostly I believe to show where things will trend. They are usually spot on (except for political). Here were 2008:

1) Ron Paul elected as President of the United States in 2008
I actually think this is a good prediction about change.... they just didn't guess how much change.

2) S&P500 falls 25% from its 2007 high to 1182
Well done guys... S&P shows a general economic picture and when our housing market dumps....we dump. S&P as of today was in the 800's.

3) EURSEK falls to 8.8000 (now 9.4000)
Sorry guys, don't track Swedish Kroner pricing...but the quote today was over 10:


4) USDSGD falls to 1.4000, but then rises to 1.6000 (now 1.6000)
Don't track singapore pricing...

5) EURHUF rises to 275
Don't know anything about this...


6) At least 3 of the largest 10 US home builders will go bankrupt
Well done guys - pretty easy guess in 2007 as there was massive over building, and I'm not sure if 3 have filed, but EVERYONE of them is seeking relief.


7) Chinese stock market falls 40% by late summer
Ok.... but everyone has fallen given global credit. They predicted this fall with over extension of production and capital.

8) Grain Prices to double - again!
This was pretty obvious - and it happened. With increases in world population and demand for biofuels... YUP.

9) World oil prices accelerate to $175
Well done guys - futures got to $150, spot at $134 (July 2008), and the year's average was $100. Now? Well we sit at $34. Its a good reason to think the oil countries may engage in some unrest.

10) UK growth turns negative
Duh..., the entire worlds growth turned negative.

NOW FOR 2009...
drum roll please. Read the Details here.

Iranian Revolution (given low crude prices)
Crude @ 25 USD (here come the big SUV's again!)
S&P500 in 500 (ouch) - that's 50% decline.
Italy will make good on threats to leave the ERM
AUDJPY to 40
EURUSD to 0.95 – and then to 1.30 (so travel early in the year!)
Chinese GDP growth to 0% (we buy less goods).
Pre-Ins First Out (something about overseas currency changes)
Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index to drop 30% (to 150)
First Asian currency to be pegged to Chinese Yen (probably USD instability)

healing

Jett Pet, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

This is jett. Jett was put on my doorstep by a friend who moved from Vermont to San Fran. Jett is the type of cat that is not made for the indoors. But jett craves human interaction. I think he's like me in that I can only take so much of it before I need to jet.

Did you know a cat's purr can heal bones? Jett knows when I'm hurt. He seems to locate himself on the injury and perform magic healing. Hog wash you say? Well, check out the statistics on how fast broken bones heal in cats. Could it be that purrrrrrr?

One other note...
my friend who gave me jett just had major surgery. She has had persisting problems with endometriosis. She's not much older than me. For years I've seen this burden she carries, call it worry, call it anxiety, call it a general disposition of being less than optimistic. I know energetically this always concentrates itself the abdomen (root chakra). I try to live my life knowing what we resist, persists.

I think she needs Jett.
Yo mel... Jett send his purrrrrrrrrrrrr.

snow sunday

Sprouted Hum on Endive, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

so what else do I do on a snow/ice seattle sunday. Hmmm. I made some curry pumpkin soup, rode my trainer, 3 hours of yoga, made another website for my prospective project, then completed with some raw (high prana) food.

Yup, that is sprouted hummus with organic tahini and lime zest on endive. What, what you say.... yeah, well it made for a nice shot.

Da Pearl

Portland, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Cruised the Pearl District in Portland this weekend. The quality of development and the care/attention to detail is impressive. Clearly the land cost is lower and developers had to follow a set of market expectations to compete. Why can't seattle elevate its expectations on development? Well, I hope to do just that.... look out, thoughtful development forth-cometh.

PDX Cross

PDX Cross, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Chels and I drove down to Portland to enjoy the PDX national cross race series. MUD, MUD, MUD. We had a good time watching people commence beer drinking at 10am, sloggin' around in the mud and watching the scene. There were a few familiar faces.

Ayurvedic Healing

I've been diving into ayurvedic knowledge because it's so dead on. Its a mind, body, spirit healing knowledge that is older than eastern medicine. I am drawn to use a lot of deep spices that balance my dosha (what is out of balance in my body). Here is a good listing of the ones I'm using and why they are sooooooooooo good.

Spices do more than just flavor foods. in the Ayurvedic tradition, spices also balance and heal the body ; food is a big part of the healing arts. In the Western tradition, research has confirmed that many spices have potent biological activity. To list just a few:

* Turmeric (the main ingredient in curry) has powerful anti-inflammatory properties, comparable to the effects of hydrocortisone. It's effective in reducing symptoms of irritable bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. It's also a potent antioxidant and has cancer-preventive properties.

* Ginger is also a potent anti-inflammatory, acting through the same biological mechanism as the COX-2 inhibitors like Vioxx--but without the deadly side effects. Ginger is also an anti-coagulant, which helps keep the blood from forming clots and also soothes irritated stomachs and nausea.

* Cinnamon helps lower blood sugar levels by making cells more sensitive to insulin (similar to the action of antidiabetic drugs).

Get Google to Bike There!

Sign the petition to get Google to provide the mapping via Bike (as an option). I signed! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/bikether/