Saturday, October 25, 2014

Living a creative life

Does a creative person wake up every morning feeling productive? A possible answer is yes, to varying degrees. I feel grateful to have a job where I could be creative every day. Some days I follow a prescribed plan, but other days I introduce a bit of uncertainty and see where that leads us.

Creativity can happen spontaneously (like weeds in an abandoned plot of land) or it can be curated (like an English garden). I think both types of creativity should be encouraged. Sometimes unexpected ideas can grow into something amazing, other times they need to be rooted out to make room for the more disciplined tasks that are known to grow into something productive and beautiful.

Creativity takes time. Reading "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron was a life-changer for me. She encourages artists to leave room in their schedule for events that replenish creative energy such as watching a film, visiting a museum, or hearing the symphony. Lately we have been taking long bike rides, which I think might accomplish a similar effect.

She also suggests taking a week long break from listening to outside influences. Imagine a week without reading the paper, browsing the Internet, or turning on the TV or radio.  This allows your own inner voice of creativity begin to whisper ideas to your conscious mind.  At that point, it's up to you to write those ideas down or get out your sketchbook and start drawing outlines.

As a blogger, I don't write every day. I do think that regular writing eases my mind and removes self-doubt so that when I do need ideas to flow from my brain to my fingertips to a manuscript on a computer screen, that process is not hindered by a lack of practice. I've implemented some fun activities in my classroom lately that worked well and I feel my confidence growing in that arena.

Sometimes you have to try ideas that will fail several times before you get something working. The fear of failure can prevent implementation, but the joy of success can only be reached if one has the courage to understand that many ideas are good and can only grow if they are allowed to be tested and optimized.

For example, this week we did candy chromatography in honor of National Chemistry Week.  I had an idea that it would be pretty and we had to try a couple iterations of how to achieve separation of the food dyes, but in the end it was a learning experience for the students who attended our first Chem Club meeting of the year.  Now we can use this activity as a hands-on demonstration for schoolchildren at some of our outreach events this year.


In closing, I will say HAPPY NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK! I'm off to a study jam and afterwards I will drop by the chem club rock candy making event. I hope you find yourself free to be creative, even if it is making a crazy Halloween costume or testing a new recipe for dinner tonight.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Ride Report: R2R California Challenge, Day 7

There are bike rides and then there are Ride 2 Recovery rides.  One is pure fun and leisure, while the other is a testament to all things orderly, businesslike, safe, and efficient.  There is no "i" in teamwork and I felt that I was a part of something greater by participating in this ride.

79 miles, 6 hours 30 min, 12 mph, 4360 Calories
We had been wanting to try taking the train out to Ventura and riding either North or South from there and this organized ride gave us an opportunity to go for it.  Leaving work at 4pm on a Friday, we visited CycleWorld in Northridge for some last-minute adjustments to our bikes.  Then we hopped the Metrolink train to East Ventura station, arriving at almost 7pm.  We forgot our directions to the hotel, but Ventura has plenty of marked bicycle routes, and we followed the sunset West until we arrived at our destination.

A short walk to The Habit provided a Santa Barbara burger, Cesar salad, pastrami sandwich, and sweet potato fries.  We could see the meeting place from there, so we went to bed knowing we were very near the start of the next day's ride.  In the morning, we ate continental breakfast in the hotel: oatmeal, yogurt, eggs, potatoes, and sausage.  Also, the coffee was strong.  We headed over to the Crowne Plaza hotel and found a congregation of riders and support vehicles waiting.  Just before we left, we used the restroom and snagged a banana.

Most everyone there had been riding all week and were outfitted in the R2R jersey.  We did our best to fit in.  Mike had the R2R bibs and I had an R2R hat, but it was clear that we were "day riders" just joining for the last day of the challenge.  The ride briefing was informative and there was a speech from the city of Ventura.  At this point, we had no idea yet of the coordination that must have gone into planning a ride of this scale.  The riders were organized into groups: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.  We opted to ride with Delta group (12 mph), thanks to the guidance of our friend who originally exposed us to R2R via a facebook event last year.

We rolled out to the sound of bagpipes and rode 2 by 2 alongside the Naval CBC Port Hueneme.  Folks came out and cheered us along.  We entered CA-1 (East Pacific Coast Highway) at Hueneme Rd.  Until this point, I did not realize how amazing the support was for the ride.  We didn't stop after this.  There were escort vehicles including motorcycles, police cars, fire engines, ambulances, and boats along the water.  They would sound their sirens and flash their lights and even blow a stream of water out to salute as we passed.  It was incredibly moving.  And we were literally moving!


Riding to our first rest stop, we chatted freely.  People started to wonder where we were stopping when a bathroom break was needed, but we all made it to Sycamore Canyon (Pt. Mugu) without much difficulty.  There were water bottles, Gatorade, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and port-a-potties for us to use.  Everyone was stretching and talking, making sure that all riders were doing OK.  There was a person making rounds with "second skin" spray for those who had spills on previous rides and had open sores that would have been painful if sweat dripped across them.  Torn shorts and jerseys were further evidence of difficulty on previous days' rides.

We rolled through Malibu (the "boo") and it was gorgeous.  The most striking thing about the ride was that we didn't have to fight traffic at all.  I would say the organizers did a fantastic job of streamlining our trip.  There were a few climbs, but nothing too grueling.  It was particularly exciting passing Neptune's Net and Moonshadows, two restaurants that I had always accessed by car.  We had a regroup stage at a parking lot in Topanga, just past Pepperdine University.  We were handed Gatorade chews and water bottles, much needed for the final climb to LA.

After joining all groups together we stepped up the pace to 16-19 mph.We arrived at the West LA VA Hospital just after 2pm.  A food truck from In-N-Out Burger provided us cheeseburgers and Lay's potato chips and we drank Gatorade and Coke Zero.  There were speeches and live music.  We stayed about an hour, then used the port-a-potties and headed out to Wilshire.  The ride home was uneventful (in a good way).  We took a "Copenhagen" left onto La Cienega to get up to Fountain Ave.  We rested at the top of the hill and then hurried across Fountain to the McDonalds before turning to Hyperion.  I had many moments along Fountain where I thought I couldn't make it all the way home, but we did it!

Our trip was epic.  We brought with us 6 Gu packets, one packet of Clif Blocks, one package of electrolyte Jelly Beans, a camera, two phones, our ID and health insurance cards, our train passes, one change of clothes, flip flops, 2 bike pumps, 2 spare tires, tools (Allen wrenches, patch kit, tire irons), sunscreen, chap stick, helmets, gloves, and bikes.  Traveling so light was liberating and we learned to trust our instincts and the power of riding with a large group.  We are looking forward to riding with R2R in the future, both for training rides and challenges.  It was humbling to be among so many motivated and inspiring leaders in cycling rehabilitation.


Saturday, October 4, 2014

Body Positive

There's something about a beat that can shake off the blues.  Although I don't like lyrics that are degrading.  Instead of "in the backseat of your car" how about "groove is in the heart" and let it shine.  I like body-positive songs and I don't think there's anything wrong with Meghan Trainor's new song and video "All about that bass."  I don't like how Young MC calls someone "Fatso" but I do like the call to dance "just bust a move."







One of the most fun dance videos "Fire Burning" [on the dance floor] used to be the ultimate (last) song on my 8 hour playlist.  I would listen to it on my .mp3 player while working late in the lab and know that after 8 hours of pipeting, it was time to go home (or at least take a break for dinner).  Lab accidents happen when you're tired.



I love Beyonce and will never forget the anthem "Bootylicious" which celebrates the power of curves.  Another SUPER-FAVORITE is Mika's "Big Girl (You are beautiful)" which has a great message and a fun video concept.  The colorful dancers of all sizes remind me of "Sweatin' to the Oldies" with Richard Simmons, a staple of my teenage body issue years.





I always idolized Hollywood and Los Angeles, and now that I live here I have a different concept of what it means to pursue fame.  I like Niki Minaj and Iggy Azalea but sometimes their music (lyrics) degrade women rather than empowering.





I commend JLo for her acknowledgement of the body she has been given.  Even though Shakira isn't as classically well endowed, she is also known for her style of dance.  I used to hate skinny girls so much because they had something I thought I could never have.  I embraced my curves yet I felt I didn't fit society's mold for what a desirable woman should look like.





Artists like Beyonce are working to start a conversation about #WHATISPRETTY which I think is a good idea.  I'm as guilty as the next person at focusing on the negative.  I recently watched myself on video, teaching a lesson entitled "How to start a blog."  My first though was "Wow my hips are so wide."  What kind of academic conclusion is that?





I would say that pretty is skin deep.  Compassion is much deeper.  Lecturing is disseminating knowledge.  Teaching and learning are more holistic.  Beauty is the sum of behavior.  What you wear is not as important as how you carry yourself and how you feel about yourself and others.  I'm not afraid to have fun and let loose when I'm among my friends.  I hope this post encourages you to stay positive regardless of your size and let go of hate.