"Quoted"

".... Even though you say your practice is not good enough, there is no other practice for you right now. Good or bad, it is your practice." Suzuki Roshi

Bike your drive!

Ok so, for those of you who aren't already aware, this week is bike to work week. I know that this post is a little late as I should have made a post informing the fine reader of this blog before hand so you could mentally prepare, but whatever.

So yesterdays ride was good. I don't ever really make an early morning commute so it's hard for me to tell if anybody actually stepped outside their cars and biked to work with us already bad ass commuters. Yesterday was a little cloudy and it was a wet morning, so I hope that if that scared anybody off, they got out their bikes today as I'm looking out the window at sunny skies and 68 degrees.

So why ride a bike to work?

There are a million reasons why one could and/or should ride a bike to work.

-The health benefits are unbelievable as many can attest. And in a day in age when counting calories is becoming as normal as checking the time, I think this would help people tremendously.

- Riding a bike means freedom. When I was a kid their was nothing better than being able to hop on my bike and just ride around the block and bomb some hills. It made going to a friends to play their newest video game even faster. Still today, I love to ride around and bomb hills.

-Not being trapped inside steel death, desensitizing yourself to the world, you really become a much more happy person. Stress levels drop dramatically the longer you pedal and when your ride is done you can't help but smile a little.

-Likewise not pretending your a NASCAR driver, you have a little more time to experience the world in which you live. (Not saying some of us don't occasionally don't pretend we're racing in le Tour de France)

The list could go on and on, and well I'd rather be out riding than making a list of why I should be so I'll be getting to the end. If you're not sure where the nearest trails are to get you to work, Google now offers biking directions to get you there fast and safe. Need a bike? A tune up? Helmet? Water Bottle? There really isn't any excuse good enough not to be riding, stop at your local bike shop and ask questions. There is nothing more bikers like to do than get more people out and pedaling.

My miles yesterday: 17.8

Planned miles today: 23 (taking some detours)

OH! I almost forgot!

This weekend is the Capitol City Criterium and Pioneers Park Grand Prix! I plan on being a spectator for both. If you are racing I wish you luck, if not maybe I'll see you out there watching with me.

Cheers,

Homestead

Puddles, I just have to jump in the puddles!

Well I've spent the last 3.7 minutes trying to conceive some sort of cool intro to this post and well, that was it. Pretty lame. But that's not the point so lets cut to the chase shall we?

Woke up this morning at the crack of noon, though I couldn't sleep last night for some reason and managed to eventually drift away to neverland sometime around 7 this morning. Anywho, woke up with the usual morning routine, coffee, cereal, yoga, zazen, and the weather channel. My favorite way to start the morning, well most of the time. Anywho.

The weather channel was forecasting a rather dreary day of rain and wind, to which I would later have to bike in/against to get to work. For some strange reason I was really pumped to ride and wasn't all that bothered that riding conditions weren't going to be post card approved. Generally I don't mind riding in a bit of rain, it keeps me rather cool. Lets just say it's a hell of a lot better than 90 degrees with 100 percent humidity in the summer. (Though those days can be equally as fun.)

The ride to work was rather pleasant I saw a huge falcon just chilling on the side of the bike path, it had to at least be 15" tall. For some strange reason when it looked up at me as I rode by it stared me in the eyes and I suddenly felt like a little rat that was about to meet my demise. Magnificent creatures, very intimidating. But, thankfully instead of attacking the sour apple before him, he carried on doing whatever it is that hawks do. I also got to ogle at the design of the water way for the Antelope Valley Project. After all the rain we've had everything was full and flowing exactly as I imagine the designer wanted it to. It's pretty cool. I think I could enjoy some hot summer afternoons there maybe munching on some picnic baskets. (That I've stolen of course)

Anywho, work was a blur. I did a little of this, little of that, little of nothing. Your basics. And then it started to downpour. I was a little worried that I might have to find a ride home as it started hailing and what not. But I called my weather man up (my dad) and asked for a status update on what the storm was supposed to be doing. He said it should all clear up by the time I got off, which it did.

The ride home was awesome. I love the point when you realize your gonna get wet anyways so you might as well have fun with it. That's when I hit the puddles. Everyone I come across I have to ride through, hell I rode under the bridge by the Zoo in hopes that it would at least still have a couple inches on the trail the whole way, but no luck. I just find it funny that most people think I'm absolutely bonkers for riding in such weather, when really it's when I get to have the most fun.

When I got home I decided it was about time to check out Google's Bike Maps feature to see exactly how long my route is to work. My estimate was around 10 miles. I was a little disappointed to find out that it is only 8.9 miles. Though it is still a fairly decent commute.

This makes my total milage for the day 17.8.

Pedal forth,

Homestead

What's a "Jarrod Homer"???!!!

Okay, so I've finally submitted to it - writing an actual blog. Let it be known now that I make no promises to continue to do so, but I admittedly say that I would like to. Why? Well let's start with the basics and we'll come back.

So what is a Jarrod Homer?
Some of you may know me really well, some of you may kind of know me. Just the same there may be some of you who have only met me and well, last and certainly least (I kid - sorta) those of you who haven't met me at all. So this is going to be my attempt to (re)introduce myself to you all. Well, at least how I think I should describe myself in this 15 minute time span of typing away. (I reserve all rights to change without notice any viewpoints, information, status etc. to be stated hence forth.)

My name is Jarrod.
I'm a pretty nice guy. (Suitable to change)

I've lived in Lincoln, NE my entire life and I genuinely enjoy the place. It is in my opinion that there are far too many people that bitch about this city, but I don't understand those people at all. Though to be frank, I would be absolutely satisfied no matter where I was from, because that's how I do things. Some might say (this is me being narcissistic really) I am a professional at being happy. How do I do it, well if I told you I'd have to kill you and that wouldn't make me so happy.

Some of you may have read my bio on the profile of this little sector of the internet and read:

"Well you can understand me to be a 21 year old free spirit and creative who loves life and lives out loud. My work is to discover the world; give myself up to it. My blogs generally tend to be random thoughts about life in the form of shitty poetry. Enjoy :)"

Well to start off with I'm lying to you. I'm now 22 so how the hell can you believe anything I say?! But onward we go. Free spirit and creative you say? Well this is just a nice way of saying that I'm a super crazy, super random son of a bitch who love's to have a good time. I suppose I have my own way of thinking about things and I do love the arts, which also works as an explanation - you choose.

Discover the world?! Who the fuck do you think you are? Christopher Columbus?! Well, I must say I would absolutely love to travel the world, even by boat, but that is not really what I'm eluding to here. Sorry. I'm really just paraphrasing the Buddha, "Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." Let it be known, that I consider myself to be what is labeled as a Buddhist. I seek the truth. I seek a happiness that isn't covered in a layer of paint with shiny new rims. (Though I would like a new bike - but we'll get to that later) I stumbled across meditation a couple of years ago, slowly started reading some books, and have been actually practicing for the last year. I try to meditate everyday, sometimes I don't - but thats ok. I won't get into a whole lot of details on this right now, but if you wondered why I'm so chill, this is one of the factors.

Random thoughts and shitty poetry?! Well, I assume if you read this you'll read some of my earlier posts and well this is rather self explanatory so I'll save you some time. Or whatever.

I love to ride my bike. It's a 09 Specialized Hardrock - sour apple green. It has gotten me to everywhere I've wanted to go in the last year, and I love it. Biking is the best. I'm a big bike advocate and I'm sure some of my posts - assuming I continue with actual posts - will be one of the subjects. (Actually everything I've mention thus far could be a subject but I digress) I'll try and skip some of the details, but if you ever want to go for a ride, hit me up.

I'm starting to get tired so I'll fast forward to the end for this blog post.

So why an actual post Today?

Well as a part of my practice I try to be mindful at all times. I thought to myself, "Well Jarrod, you do have a blog already you could just make small posts about your day to keep track and make sure you're paying attention to your day." And so that's the goal. Though I kinda enjoyed writing this one, so I'm sure I'll have more random blurbs about stupid shit that you don't really want to read anyway.

Until then,

Homestead