In March, I spent two lovely days in sunny San Diego (stay classy!) filming a video series on athletic recovery and hanging out with two fantastic and inspiring role models: the preternaturally prolific fitness writer Matt Fitzgerald and the lovely, fiery, and fun yoga teacher/attorney Ingrid Yang. (You can find Matt's books here and Ingrid's classes at Prana Yoga in La Jolla and online at YogaVibes.)

Here's the first of the series. I could have gone with brighter lipstick and glitzier earrings, but I think it's beautifully produced. What do you think?



If you're interested in learning more about recovery and you'll be at USA Triathlon's national championships in Alabama next month, please join me for my two-hour presentation on Friday morning, September 24. If you can't make that, download my hour-long webinar on the subject and read my column at Lava Magazine.

Tuesday, August 17, I'll be leading a webinar on my new pet passion, recovery. There'll be CEUs offered for USA Triathlon coaches, but the content will be useful for all athletes—not just endurance athletes. Those who attend the live webinar can ask questions. If you can't make the time (it's 6 p.m. EDT), you can still register and you'll be e-mailed a link to download the webinar after it finishes. Please join me!

You can register here. The full description:

A USA Triathlon Webinar

Topic:  Enhancing Recovery

Presenter: Sage Rountree

Date: Tuesday, August 17

Time: 4-5pm Mountain, 3-4pm Pacif, 5-6pm Central, 6-7pm Eastern

Cost:

USAT Member or Coach: $24.99 (0 CEUs)

USAT Coach: $34.99 (1 CEU)

Non-USAT Members: $39.99 (0 CEUs)

All the hard work put into training is useless if the athlete doesn't take time to recover, absorb the effort, and grow stronger. USAT Level II coach Sage Rountree explains the physiology of recovery, describes ways athletes can track their own recovery, and explains methods to ensure athletes recover fully between workouts and races. These methods include everything from ice baths to compression socks, power naps to powerful massages. You'll learn which methods are proven to aid in recovery, and which aren't worth your time and money.

If you cannot attend this webinar at the specified date and time, you can still register in advance and the complete webinar recording will be automatically emailed out to you after it is completed.

From the beautiful little book A Wheel within a Wheel, by Frances Willard, which my fantastic athlete Julee gave me a few years ago, a lovely thought on learning and progress:

Once, when I grew somewhat discouraged and said that I had made no progress for a day or two, my teacher told me that it was just so when she learned: there were growing days and stationary days, and she had always noticed that just after one of these last dull, depressing, and dubious intervals she seemed to get an uplift and went ahead better than ever. It was like a spurt in rowing. This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.

In spare moments over the last month, I've worked my way through Nick Morgan's book Trust Me, on public speaking. It's full of interesting information about the interaction between the verbal and the nonverbal conversation. Morgan explains that the nonverbal conversation dominates; if there's a conflict between body language and spoken language, the audience will default to body language, believing the speaker's movements and gestures over the speaker's words.

It's been a busy month of teaching travel, and while I have some posts brewing, I wanted to share a physical representation of what I've been up to. Click here for the Carrboro Yoga Company's spring schedule, available for downloading and posting on your virtual refrigerator. You can always see the live, up-to-date version of our schedule, including workshops, on our schedule page.

Snowed in at home, across the street from our closed pool, I finally made the time to watch my colleague Marty Gaal's swim-technique DVD, Powerstroke: Speed through Force and Form. On the disk, Marty, head coach of One Step Beyond Multisport, gives a clear, accessible discussion of good form, along with illustrations; this was useful review for me as an athlete. The second section contains shots of swimmers both from the deck and from underwater. This was my favorite feature as a coach, since I got to hear Marty's analysis of swimmers' strokes. Then Marty explains the Powerstroke approach (which emphasizes a very strong pull) and outlines how to practice it correctly, including various drills. The disk finishes with some stretches and strength exercises to practice. Marty has some seriously flexible shoulders—my linemen yoga students, who break into a sweat trying to bring their elbows together in garudasana arms, would be aghast!

It's Yoga Day USA, a day of free or deeply discounted yoga across the country. You can find a local option by searching the map at the Yoga Alliance's site.

To my delight, Runner's World's Best of Running list contains a favorite yoga pose (which appears on page 2, just under Best Training Advice: Value Rest, on which I plan to write much more in 2010). To my surprise, that pose is Bird Dog, in which you're on your hands and knees, with one arm (say, the right) reaching forward as the opposite leg (say, the left), reaches backward. (You can see an illustration on page 34 of The Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga, searchable by using Look Inside the Book on Amazon.)

As this year wraps up, I'm planning my 2010 teaching schedule. I've reserved the fabulous facility at ZAP Fitness in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for two weekends, May 14–16 and October 22–24. It's a wonderful place to spend the weekend doing yoga and running (and eating, and sleeping, and hot-tubbing), and my 2008 and 2009 retreats were both wonderful.

I've just put up a new episode of Sage Yoga Training—my podcast of short yoga routines for athletes and everyone—this one with some very relaxing, gentle folds and twists using a wall for support. You can download it in iTunes, watch it on YouTube, or simply play it from here (though the quality of the pictures is lower, I think you'll get the gist).

I had a blast at the New York Marathon—not just during the race itself, but for the whole long weekend. There's a full report at my site, mostly pictorial. Marvel at Joan Benoit Samuelson, the bunny-head runner, and the crowds! Thrill as I pose pretentiously in front of banners! Sigh at the cuteness of my children in Halloween costumes! Find it here.

Athletes have a love/hate relationship with pigeon pose. Most who hate it at first do so because it hits all the tight places in athletic hips. Once those release, folks learn to love it. But in its traditional orientation, facing downward, pigeon pose can be far too intense in an athletic body, causing more trouble than it solves. That's where changing the pose's orientation to gravity can be really useful. Practicing the leg action of pigeon (external rotation and abduction) from your back helps you target the stretch while holding your back in neutral alignment. It's much safer for your knees, since—provided you move into it safely—it doesn't transfer any tightness from the hip directly to the knee joint.

Today I was asked why we call hip stretches "hip openers." I don't have a good answer! Are we opening something that's locked? Is "openness" of the hips even desirable, given the stiffness that's required for good running? I decided that a better term might be "hip balancers," since there's so much going on anatomically around the pelvis, and much of our work in yoga is to stretch the tight parts and strengthen the weak parts.

For many of us—not just athletes, but Westerners, who sit in chairs and cars, with our hips and chests closed off under desks and over keyboards and steering wheels—the problem is tightness in the front of the hips, usually in the iliopsoas, the major hip flexors, combined with weakness in the glutes and hamstrings that attach to the back of the pelvis.

Weakness? Indeed. The number-one complaint I hear in yoga class is "my hamstrings are tight." What do you mean by "tight"? Are they tight because they're so strong, or are they tight because you spend most of your day with the hamstrings in a state of overstretch? If, when you come into a low crescent lunge, you feel more stretch (or, yes, "opening," which leads to balance) in the front of the back leg than in the back of the front leg, it may be the latter. In this case, you'll want to target the hip flexors.

Last week in my yoga for athletes classes, I taught a sequence with a ton of hip-flexor stretches, which got us primed for some nice backbending. (Without that release in the front of the hips, any backbend just crunches the lower back and doesn't target the thoracic spine.) Here's what we did (not all of this may be appropriate in your body!):

Supine warm-up

• One knee to chest, releasing the other leg straight along the ground (apanasana)
• Reclining lunge position, bent-leg foot to the sky (half happy baby)

In both, keep reaching through the long leg to target the front of the hip. Next, we flipped over to enjoy six moves of the spine before . . .

Main sequence

• Downward-facing dog to three-legged dog, bending raised leg slowly to feel a psoas release
• High lunge
• Low lunge
• Low lunge with closed twist
• Low lunge with reach behind body to quadriceps stretch (i.e., with left leg forward, left hand reaches around to the left to grasp the right foot)
• Crescent lunge with lateral stretch (if leg leg is forward, right arm reaches over left shoulder)
• Low lunge with straight-facing quadriceps stretch (right hand to right foot)
• King Arthur pose (back leg against the wall)
• Bow-pose sequence (as in The Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga)
• Revisited three-legged dog with psoas stretch, flipping to a three-point backbend

Finishing sequence

• Supported bridge with block under hips
• Psoas exercises on the block à la Jill Miller (her Hip Helpers DVD is fabulous)
• Supported fish over two blocks
• Knees-down reclining twist
• Full happy baby

You asked me to email you, so here it is: as measured on an Inspirometer, a simple device that provides a gross measurement of exhalations, my lung capacity increased from 3.0 liters to 3.5 liters as a result of class tonight. It's not consistent, but most likely could be with time and practice. Very exciting for me as a professional brass player. I have tried many things to increase my lung capacity and have never been able to exhale over 3 liters.

It's been a year since the last episode of Sage Yoga Training, but at last I have put together a new episode, and I have more on deck for the coming months. The podcast is a series of brief routines, generally under ten minutes, for practice after a workout or on their own. You could string them together to create a longer sequence, of course. They are presented in slideshow format for reference, and I measure how long each pose is held so that they're quantitatively even. You might prefer to hold these poses longer, so please use the routines as a starting point, and customize the practice to suit your own needs.

This episode features some reclining twists to stretch the hips, spine, and chest. These are some of my favorite poses, and you can find them elsewhere, too:

• In my classes and workshops
• On my class at YogaVibes
• In The Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga

You can find all of the podcast episodes in many places:

Here are three stretches based on a lunge, designed to get your hips open and balanced. Benefit: increased range of motion, yielding a greater stride length. Plus, they feel good. Remember: static stretches should come after a run, not before.

For a full series of postrun lunges, see the "Lunge Series" episode of Sage Yoga Training—you can view it as a slideshow at the podcast archives or on YouTube. And for a book full of routines for practice before and after your workout, please check out The Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga.

Please check out my instructional vignettes and class for athletes at YogaVibes.com. The vignettes, available here, include my take on yoga for athletes, an explanation of ways to access the hamstrings, and more. We had a great time filming the class, which focuses on hips and hamstrings and is appropriate for athletes (and nonathletes) of all levels. From now through September 30, you can use the code sagevibes2009 for 20 percent off streaming a class on the site.

All summer, I've been avoiding the work of cleaning up my office. It's not a horrible mess, but the shelves have books wedged in sideways, and it's growing harder to find what I'm looking for. It got bad enough that I was more interested in analyzing why I felt so resistant to the work than in doing the work! Today I began, and I quickly realized what the issue was.

After my PhD graduation, I moved into academic publishing instead of into academia per se. Around that time, in conjunction with the birth of my elder daughter, I moved my office into our former guest room, so the office could become the nursery. It was a big shift, physically and professionally, and I cast off virtually all of the books I'd accumulated over four years of college and seven years of graduate study in English literature. Of course, it was a literal load gone (and a little diaper money earned at the secondhand bookstore); figuratively, it was a lightening, as well: a turning away from reading and analyzing books, and toward shaping them. I reasoned that if I were to want to revisit any of the books, I'd get them from the library. I haven't wanted a single one. I set a rule that I'd spend money only on books I'd use for reference, and I accumulated a stack of dictionaries and style guides to shelve alongside the few remaining "reference" books from my studies: The Riverside Shakespeare, Hamilton's Mythology, Holman and Harmon's Handbook to Literature.

Most of my money, though, went toward accumulating a library of books on yoga and on endurance sports training. One day a few years ago, in a moment of procrastination in work on someone else's manuscript, I turned and gazed at my bookshelf. VeloPress, VeloPress, VeloPress, read the imprints on the spines of most of the books. Hmm, I thought, and contacted VeloPress; a year and a half later, The Athlete's Guide to Yoga was published. Now copies of my own books join the nonfiction on my shelves.

Today, as part of the housecleaning, I boxed up the books to which I'd contributed essays during my academic career; another box now holds the copies of the books I have edited thus far. I'm not letting go of editorial work entirely—Chicago 15, Words into Type, and Strunk and White keep their position close at hand—but I recognize that this packing represents a shift away from shaping others' books and toward creating more of my own. Someday, I know, I'll be packing up the books on sports; in time, I'll be putting away some of the yoga books, too. Today's been a good chance to practice nonattachment. Now back to the shelves.

Try as I might, I couldn't quite tie the preceding post into this video! Here is my take on downward-facing dog for runners. You do not need to get your heels down, now or ever, for this pose to work. In fact, you don't even need to get your hands down; try taking the pose against a wall (or a boulder), which will be kinder to your hamstrings and will stretch your shoulders nicely.

While my trip to Ironman Coeur d'Alene* has occupied most of my thoughts in the past week, another project that's taken a lot of work has reached fruition: The Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga has been released! We arrived home from Idaho late, late Tuesday night (actually, early Wednesday morning) to find my shipment of books.

I'm trying to minimize the effects of my Ironman training on my family. This means doing my long run midweek (a good idea for anyone in IM training who can swing it, in fact) and, until it gets too long to fit in logistically, my long ride on Friday while the kids are in school. With the sudden return of winter to North Carolina—39 and drizzling today, with a forecast of gloomy weather through the weekend—this meant I put in an epic ride on the bike trainer today.

Last week's webinar presentation was an interesting experience. I shooed Wes and the girls out of the house and sat at my desk, facing my computer, talking to people I couldn't see or even receive a reaction from. (This last point is not necessarily true of all webinars; because I work on a Mac, I had some limitations.) It felt a lot like my former work as a radio announcer, and I found myself clicking back into some of the habits I developed over those six years. I tapped my foot slowly to help slow down my speech; I turned away from the mike to clear my throat or sip water. I did not, however, put on a twenty-minute Ornette Coleman tune so I could duck out and smoke a Camel, as I used to do!

I enjoyed leading a workshop on yoga for strength yesterday. Now, when we Northern Hemisphere endurance athletes are in the base period, is the time to amp up your yoga practice. (When your training is less intense, your yoga can be more so: keep them in inverse proportion to maintain balance.)

Wes got the last copy of USA Today at the Wellness Center paper box this morning. I'm hoping that means a lot of people read today's paper, because I'm quoted in it, in an article on figure skater Sasha Cohen and her yoga practice.

Registration is now available for the hour-long webinar on yoga I'll be giving Tuesday, January 27, at 6 p.m. EST. What's a webinar, you ask? It's a seminar delivered on the Web, in this case using software called GoToMeeting. You'll see a slideshow and hear my voice, and you can submit questions for me to answer at the end of the presentation.

Happy new year! I've spent much of my holiday downtime working on a new Web site, which I've launched today. If you have bookmarks to my pages, most of them will work, but some won't—most notably, the podcast pages. I'm working on moving the RSS podcast feed to the new site, but it might take a week or two. Meanwhile, you can see the podcast episodes at iTunes and on Facebook. (When I get that squared away, I vow to make a new episode of reclining stretches, appropriate for practice in bed, at the gym, or on a grassy field near the finish line.)

I've been booking some fun workshops for the new year, aimed at showing how yoga can aid your training and racing in various ways.

I'm in Boulder, Colorado, where I have spent the last three days shooting pictures for my next book, a practice guide, about which more later. It's been a treat to be in a place whose beauty is so different from that of my native North Carolina. Yesterday, I ran on a semi-icy bike path toward the sunrise, then turned around and ran back toward the mountains, lit by the dawn. Today, remembering my previous experiences with altitude, I didn't even try to run. Instead, when the shoot wrapped, I ate a hot bowl of spicy tomato-tortilla soup, then headed to Chautauqua Park for a hike on the icy trail into the Front Range.

In the last few months, I've explored a few new options for social networking (read: procrastinating from other work). I've enjoyed learning to use Facebook (friend/fan me!), and I'm really having fun with Twitter (follow me!). What better way to quickly alert my friends that I'm now the proud owner of a Jeff Burton NASCAR Crock Pot, or to confess that I now have a deep bruise on my belly after meeting the business end of my resistance band when it wasn't properly anchored in the doorframe?

Now that I've mentioned the availability of my yoga DVD on Amazon, it's backordered! You can always order direct from Endurance Films. While you're at it, order a copy of the Rides: North Carolina DVD (trailer above).

This DVD was a lot of fun to work on. I assembled a group of my clients and friends to ride the course of the Carrboro Classic Duathlon (formerly Powerman North Carolina). The producers filmed the riders as I drove ahead of them—very closely, and very slowly—in a rented Sebring convertible. There are also some fun "helmet cam" shots mixed in. The workout starts with some hills, then segues into three long tempo intervals, making it great for triathletes. We added a brief series of standing stretches after the ride.

You can choose whether or not to listen to my voice-over, which makes me glad. I can hardly stand to hear my voice on the trailer, so I can't imagine doing the workout more than once with the coaching track playing.

A viewer in Hawaii pointed out that the customizable menu of my DVD doesn't list the time of each individual segment—information that's useful when you are pressed for time and trying to fit in a short practice.

There's a nice introduction for athletes on how to get into yoga—appropriate for both women and men—in November's issue of Her Sports magazine. (Apparently, it's also the last issue under the Her Sports name; the periodical has been rebranded as Women's Running.) It's also available online here.

There's an interview with me up today on the great blog Fitness for Mommies. I sound halfway articulate because it was an e-mail interview!

My training plan for a 5K using yoga as a complement has just gone online at Athleta Chi. Let me know what you think and how it works!

While it's been a little over a year since I posted a new podcast episode, I haven't forgotten about Sage Yoga Training. In August, my mother shot some pictures for a backbending episode (thanks, WalkerRuns, for the request). I was waiting for a rainy day to work on production, and this was it. Along the way, I remembered how much fun these episodes are to make. My six years in public radio weren't for naught!

I managed to eke out my PhD in twentieth-century English literature without reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. Heck, I never read all of Ulysses, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I have, though, read (or at least run my eyes over the words) all of Thomas Wolfe's novels, none of which I really liked, and all of which are very, very long.

Here's the latest edition of my newsletter, detailing my fall workshop and clinic schedule. You can sign up from the newsletter page or by using the form to the right.

In working on a new project, I realized that I allowed a silly, if obviously Freudian in its yogic description, typo into the bibliography of The Athlete's Guide to Yoga. Instead of calling my yoga-for-runners hero Jean Couch by her real name, I inserted an r, yielding Crouch. The egg is spread thicker on my face because as someone with a missing letter in her last name (Rountree, no d—no relation to Richard Roundtree, as awesome as that might be), I should know better. Sorry, Jean!

The Search Inside feature for my book is now online at Amazon.com. You can (virtually) page through it there. If you weren't sure whether you wanted to buy it, just have a look and now you'll know you should! The design won an award, and rightfully so; it's really beautiful.

Spurred by the new applications for the iPhone, I just signed up on Facebook. I know, I'm ridiculously behind the curve. Right now, my friends consist of my brother and my officemate from grad school!

Here's my first official action as a member of the Runner's World advisory board: encouraging you marathoners to take the marathon survey on the front page of the Runner's World site. While you're at it, check out the great forums, including many threads on yoga (where one of my biggest fans has promoted my book; I'm a fan of hers, too). My first yoga column for the magazine will run in the September issue.

There's a nice list of online yoga resources, including my long-neglected podcast, here. What better nudge to get me working on the next planned episode of my podcast? It'll be a routine for dynamic warmup before a workout. Let's call it an August episode; I'm swamped with work as I start writing on my second book!

One creative way Vivi and I have spent our week—apart from watching ABBA videos on YouTube—was a trip to the Red Cross blood drive. Vivi was fascinated by the process; as she watched the blood leaving my arm, she suggested, "You'd better drink a lot of wine."

Starting today, posts from my blog will syndicate not only to the Amazon page for my book, but also to Are You Living It, a beautifully designed site partnered with the Live Your Passion gear. Live Your Passion offers ecofriendly t-shirts with cool designs; it's a green, up-and-coming company based in Northern California. Check them out!

Now that summer's (almost officially) here, I have to be creative to get work done. Lily is at camp all week, but four-year-old Vivi is home and waiting to be entertained. After a weekend of overstimulation, she really needed a nap today. I let her choose any surface in the house for her nap (my bed? the futon in the bonus room?), and, as she did last summer, she chose my home office couch. It's backed with throw pillows that let her really nestle in.

Last night I dreamed that John Grisham insulted my book in print, writing something like:

As part of the local authors showcase at the Southpoint Barnes and Noble in Durham, NC, tomorrow (Thursday, May 15), I'll be talking about my book and the intersections between yoga and endurance sports. If I were a novelist, I'd read from the book, but unless I were to read from the preface, I don't see a pithy section to choose. Perhaps the one on the eight limbs . . . anyone have suggestions?

It's my month of national exposure. The June issue of Runner's World has some quotes from me on page 50. I am pleased to report that I wasn't just planning to run the Boston Marathon, I did it.

If you look in the June 2008 issue of Yoga Journal, on pages 90 and 91 you'll see the result of an interview I gave on yoga for runners. The model (not me) beautifully demonstrates three poses of use to runners (my students this week were treated to ardha chandrasana with eight different approaches and flavors). My only quibble with the piece is that the hip rotators and IT band work to hold us in line so that we can move forward—they aren't the mover there. But hey, they spelled my name right, and my sound bites came through nicely.

This story from our local paper is brilliant. I remember well the bizarre drunken butchering of an older Rameses in 1996. "Just tusslin'" drawn to epic proportions—awesome.

If you vote in the Webby Awards (and why not? you're using the Web right now!), please cast a vote for Yoga Journal in the Best Magazine category. You'll need to log in, but it's quick and easy, and you can also choose from a number of other fun categories.

My full-length DVD is now shipping! It's available through Endurance Films. (While you're there, check out their many other fine products, especially the DVD on triathlon transitions. It will shave many seconds off your next race.)

I have a post on yoga up on Joe Friel's blog today. When I first considered writing a book on yoga and training, I wondered where to pitch it. I looked on my shelf at Joe's books, which pointed me to my wonderful publisher, Velo Press. His authority is unparalleled—they don't call his books the Training Bibles for nothing!

I'll stop the overt self-promotion soon—really I will—but I see that my book is now shipping from Amazon. (Barnes and Noble, too.) That means that reviews could be posted . . .  

As the picture below shows, I received a few copies of my book, most of which are now with my family members. If you're in central N.C. and looking for one before Christmas, drop by the Carrboro Yoga Co.—they received a full case today.

My long-winded answers to the great questions raised by readers of the CBC Web site are up here. Thanks to everyone for their interest—it makes me excited for next week's book release!

This week, the Canadian Broadcasting Co. is hosting an Internet interview with yours truly. Readers can submit questions, which I'll answer at the end of the week. It's all online here. (Can you guess which question my father submitted?)

I was all set to make a catty statement about how it's great to be on this Hot New Releases list, right behind The Yoga Face: Eliminate Wrinkles with the Ultimate Natural Facelift. Then I read the first chapter of that book online, and it was actually quite good. There's a yoga lesson in that, obviously, as well as a more subtle lesson of publishing: the author rarely chooses the subtitle.

I've just added a page to my site with details on my book and where to order it (including overseas). The marketing engine is starting up; the book is receiving endorsements (blurbs—feel free to send me one of your own!) and review copies are being sent out to magazines. When someone asks me if I'll sign a copy for them, I'm almost able to answer with a straight face.

Did I mention I was a gear geek? An article I wrote on HR variability—and the watches that measure it—appears in the November issue of Running Times, pages 14–15.

An excerpt from my book, complete with pictures, appears on pages 52 and 53 of the October issue of Inside Triathlon. Check it out if you are in a bookstore—it should be on shelves soon.

There is even a headline on the front cover, alluding to yoga's dopey qualities!

Today we shot the video for the sampler DVD that will be included in my book. It's two short routines—a little like having a video version of the podcast. Filming took place against the exact same wall where I posed for the picture (below) for my first article in Endurance Magazine.

This was also a test run for the shoot of material for the full-length DVD, which will have two models alongside me and be produced by Endurance Films.

I'd wax philosophical, but I am on deadline on an editing job. Suffice it to say the full-circle location was a treat, thanks to Donia and the Carrboro Yoga Company.

Last week Wes received a promotional razor with, seriously, five blades on it. We were reminded of this brilliant Onion piece, with its memorable line, "I don't care if they have to cram the fifth blade in perpendicular to the other four, just do it!"


Today, while stocking up on paper products at Super Target, I learned they're now making toilet paper with three rolls' worth on one cylinder. More is more.

Last night I posted a new episode of the podcast, featuring repeated holds of challenging core poses, with some stretches interwoven. I've been doing this routine for a few weeks with my cycling students, and I think it's an efficient way to include core work in your workout. I'd love to hear what you think.

An instant classic from the girls' favorite new show.

I've just finished some stripping-down of the Web site, particularly the coaching section, with added content and a little raise in my pricing. Comments are very welcome. I'd especially like to know how it looks on a PC and using various browsers (I've seen it on a Mac in Safari, Firefox, and IE. The latter wouldn't load the photo credits, but whatever—if you're using IE, your loss.) I'm hoping the Leopard OS and iWeb 2.0 will let me do some drop-down menus, so I can farther compartmentalize everything at the next update.

I actually won something in a sweepstakes: this promotional shirt for HBO's Rome. It just arrived in the mail; I snapped this shot with my low-res iSight camera (hence the flip; it says TEAM ATIA, not MAET AITA, though that's intriguing) to make Pica jealous.

We are unabashed American Idol fans—yes, even Wes. Lily does her own judging, with hand gestures: "I like the song. The singer, not so much."

In a few lines that appeared first in an essay and were included in The Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman notes, "Here is something true that I have observed regarding people who have written books: their clothes fit well. They seem relaxed and happy as if they are thinking, well, at least I got that done. At least I wrote a book."

My clothes are as unexceptional as ever, and I'm not yet relaxed and happy (perhaps some Champagne will help?), but I turned in my manuscript to the publisher today. It's been a strangely emotional process, with all the highs and lows of childbirth, to which a nurse friend compared it. It was simultaneously a lot of work and an organic, natural process to get to this stage. I want it to be healthy and successful and able to stand up to criticism. And it's both terrific and terrifying.

I was delighted to see some press this morning about a new movement, Birthdays without Pressure. I thought I was merely being curmudgeonly when I tried to singlehandedly buck the party-favor-bag trend. One year, I handed out plastic rats to Lily's guests. This year, we scheduled her birthday party—only three days ahead of time—as a small playdate and billed it as "no gifts, no favors." Everyone still brought a gift.

Our goddaughter has just turned seven, and her party this weekend was just right. A quick bite of pizza, a decent cake, and we were all unleashed into the wilds of the local skating rink, where we were left to our own disorganized devices. In our case, it meant propping up the girls for a 3/4 loop of the rink, from one door to the other, with them in tears for most of the circuit.

The single best kid's birthday party I've attended as an adult was a book exchange. Everyone brought a wrapped book, the books were redistributed, and everyone left with a new book. There was some trading to prevent overlap, but it went off smoothly, without the concomitant cheap bubble solution, unsanitary bendy straw, stickers, pencil, and candy. (The second best had those things, but it also had champagne cocktails for the grown-ups and homemade pizza for everyone.)

This Times article is music to my ears—and my ankle, rolled twice in two months. It makes sense, too, that if exercise doesn't increase the pain, it's safe to continue.

The iPhone has struck me with a serious case of object lust. I don't use my cell phone much, but I do rely on Apple's iCal, Safari, and Mail for much of what I do all day. What a beautiful thing.

That's bow, as in "Bow down before the one you serve, you're going to get what you deserve," not as in "baubles and bows." This episode is a toughie, and I did put it together quickly, so I hope it's clear enough. As always, feedback is welcome. The pictures and poses don't match one-for-one, since adding pictures = bigger file, less server space, slower loading. Also, I finally figured out how to get my logo in the address bar as a favicon. Woo-hoo.

Today I was subjected to the maudlin "Christmas Shoes" song. I resented every second of it. Of course I cried, a knee-jerk reaction that I wish I could control better. Among the most irritating questions the song raises: What child really knows his mother's shoe size, let alone thinks of getting her shoes as she is dying? Wouldn't a nice blouse or earrings have been equally suited for the mother about to meet Jesus? And, biggest of all, why would the singer feel that God made a family suffer just so that his own Christmas spirit could be renewed? Solipsistic and disgusting. The whole ditty is constructed along the same lines as the grammatic atrocity, "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free." (And that would probably make me weep, too.)

The report was good, and I didn't sound as silly as I did last time. Phew.

One of the Triangle's biggest moms is going to be on the local NBC news again (tonight at 7 p.m.), this time rambling about the yoga podcast.

I have such a weakness for this. Catchy tune; poignant video, with a narrative turning on a brooch (!): brilliant.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I've got the tenth episode of my yoga podcast up. Its stretches are great for unwinding—whether after a race, at the end of the day, or on a "coffee break." It finishes with a long hold in legs up the wall, one of my favorite poses.

You'll see the girls appear, without comment, in a few of the photos. I thought about mentioning them in the sound track but didn't want to break the restful vibe. I like the DIY aesthetic: they wandered into the shot and participated, so why cut them out?

As ever, comments and requests are welcome. The seed for this episode came from a listener, Stephanie in western Massachusetts. Thanks, Stephanie!

I know the podcast episode 10 is overdue—if not from the calendar, from my bimonthly cold, which always seems to wreck my voice when I should be recording.

I'd been planning a postrace/prebedtime calming routine, though now race season is about over. I guess it applies to the holidays as well as to athletic events, though.

This NYT article starts out a little alarming, gets good in reference to The Three-Martini Playdate, a clever little book that promotes a healthy attitude toward parenting, then returns to alarming quotes on page two. Still, the meat of the sandwich is good.

Working on my book manuscript is reminding me of writing my dissertation. There's the same procrastination, a misdirection of the writing energy into other projects; the same good feeling of flow once I overcome that urge; the same amazement when I look back at stuff I wrote a month ago and think, "Huh, that actually does read well and make sense." Intermittently, there's the same what's-it-all-worth-it's-gonna-suck-I'm-a-phony fear that needs to be assuaged. I presume that's normal—it sure is for dissertation writers.

The years of copy editing I've done since writing the diss have influenced my writing style. I'm finding myself editing as I go, which makes for slower progress. Still, it's happening. In 2000, I had Lily's impending birth as my deadline. This time, there's a real date deadline. Back to work.

This nice article in the Durham newspaper talks about the ladies' race. Wes is teasing me for using a word like "Byzantine," echoing an instruction my agent gave me to tone down my vocabulary in the book. I gotta be me.

John says Amy was too serious, out of habit once the camera is on. Colbert is especially rowdy.

This study evaluates the content of fake news with (perhaps) surprising results.

My brother just called from the set of The Colbert Report, which apart from The Office is our favorite show. His boss, Amy Goodman [not Goodwin, as I'd originally typed—as if I haven't heard and seen her name enough!] is the guest tonight, and he was part of the entourage. Check it out at 11:30 or in reruns.

One of my yoga students, Rachel, rode to class Monday with a great sticker on her helmet reading $0.00 9/10. The actual visual is much better, and you can see it—and get your own—at Zero per Gallon.

Click the link to the right to find my latest podcast, a series of shoulder stretches with optional leg configurations. You'll hear the cold that has become a full-on sinus infection (I laid awake last night with the telltale toothache and clicking sounds coming from the left side of my face—what was going on in there?). I could use some of Franco's minestrina advice! Or, barring that, a Panthers blowout of Tampa Bay on Sunday.

We caught this the other night while channel surfing. Lily and Vivi were intrigued, understandably.



Pica expounds.

I was on the local news last night, in a piece with the best introduction ever. The anchor misread the script: "She's a part-time yoga instructor, a mother, a runner, a fitness trainer—let's meet one of the Triangle's biggest moms! Uh—busiest moms!"

The video, which isn't online, has some silly shots of the kids being squirrely. They were in spasms of laughter at seeing themselves on TV. The piece was edited very well, so I didn't sound like the idiot I felt like during the interview. Still, I'm not at my most eloquent, and there are no props to Wes or any of my other inspirations, most importantly my fellow "biggest moms."

A few misrepresentations made me laugh, especially that I've done "two races!" Yes, and then some! But two marathons, true: one for each child.

I was delighted at the cross-promotion for the all-women's triathlon, and the clinic Monette and I are teaching (which, incidentally, will start at 6 and not 6:30, since daylight will be waning by October). Note that it's for triathlon, specifically the Ramblin' Rose, not the marathon.

Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, who took the girls to the museum in the morning, then shot the photographs after lunch, I've gotten the next podcast episode together. The poses in this one multitask, working on strength, flexibility, and balance all at the same time. By design, it's a little shorter than usual, for days when six minutes is all you've got.

Driving home from Winston-Salem today, we saw a bizarre accident involving a pig truck that somehow unleashed at least two pigs on I-40. Maybe local news will carry the story tomorrow. Suffice it to say that when you glance at a roadkill carcass, you don't expect to see a 300-pound pig.

I've finally posted episode 7 of the podcast. With the girls home from school for the summer, it's hard to get the house quiet enough to record the audio. If you listen through to the end, or use the chapters feature to listen to the closing credits, you'll hear how tired I was by the time they were in bed last night. (Got up at 5 a.m. to race and didn't get the typical postrace afternoon nap in; instead, enjoyed good French and Italian food and sparking wine from both countries while watching the World Cup game—fun, but not the best recovery protocol.)

The keystone pose of this episode is Cow-Face (Gomukhasana). I've heard various explanations for where we should be seeing the body in the pose as a cow face. Are the arms the ears? Are the legs the horns? Are the knees cow lips?

Kika correctly points out that I'd hastily written SAGE for GURU when prompted "Wise teacher" (22 down). She snapped this picture on Monday. Obviously, number 9 down isn't BALLS. (And 17 across shouldn't have been FIRE.)

Yes, Kika came over for a lovely visit, introducing me to the dangerous joy of Vietnamese coffee. She witnessed Vivi's restaurant wildness (mild wildness, comparatively), Lily's "magic" tricks that make coins disappear (Lily now says she wants to be a scientist by day and a magician by night), and my lame attempt to fill in the crossword puzzle.

My problem is that once my brain has conceived of an answer, I immediately begin to fill it in—in pen. Four letter word, clue "Actor Grant," must be CARY. ("Or Hugh," Kika pointed out, after I'd precipitously filled in CARY.) Ingredient in gas, starts ETH, must be ETHANOL. Never mind that it didn't fit, there was room for the L outside the grid (ETHANE). And I was convinced that a five-letter word for confidence was BALLS. (TRUST.)

It's a character flaw: shoot first, ask questions later. I wouldn't have finished the puzzle without Kika's help, because I quickly lose patience when it gets too hard. Again, character flaw.

The girls and I got amazing gourmet cupcakes from Bittycakes at the Farmer's Market. Such a treat, sweet, light, and individual-portion-sized, they were packaged separately in Chinese take-out boxes, which greatly enhanced the girls' experience as they carried their packages home. The baker's Web site shows a brilliant approach to eating them: the cupcake sandwich.

Wes is very proud of Vivi's coloring job.

Our friend Bunny pointed out ten years ago that "Family Circus" always reads better if you substitute "I just shit my pants" for the caption.

If you find that funny, you'll love the "Dysfunctional Family Circus."

1. I have had my hypothesis confirmed: it feels worse for me as a fan to lose a Super Bowl than it does to win a Stanley Cup. In 2003, when Adam Vinatieri ruined my best chance at happiness, I was gloomy for a full three days. My hockey interest is much lower, but I got only three hours of pleasure, tops, from the Canes' victory. I believe when the Panthers win it all, I will not be glad for as long as I was upset after their loss.

2. Lily got scooped up by a hunky lifeguard at the pool today. He had great instincts: she was doing her vertical doggie paddle (and I sat watching, thinking, "Boy, her doggie paddle is vertical!") but tired and started to panic. He said, "I could see it in her expression." She was embarrassed; I was very pleased at his quick reaction.

3. There's an updated picture at my home page, which I put as full background. It's fanny-forward, but I liked the green grass, so I kept as is. For all my efforts, I can't get the lower two links darker. I welcome feedback on its appearance.

4. Our buddies are moving to Vermont for culinary school and selling their awesome house in Durham. It's on a luxe park, half a block from the American Tobacco Trail (great running, riding, and an easy walk to good beer on tap). Here is their listing:

704 E. Forest Hills Blvd., Durham NC
$348,500
Contact Bryan C. Andregg 919-612-2509 or
bandregg@loopback.net
Web site for house: http://www.loopback.net

This desirable home in the historic Forest Hills neighborhood is within walking distance of downtown Durham, the American Tobacco Campus, and the Durham Bulls ballpark. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths in 2250 square feet. It sits on a quarter acre lot with old growth trees on a quiet street directly on the grand Forest Hills city park. French doors opening onto the back patio, a large bay window looking over the front yard into the park, and a finished basement with fireplace and wine cellar add to the spaciousness of this home. Outdoor entertaining is easy with large decks front and back, outdoor speakers, and a luxury hot tub. The home has hardwood and tile floors throughout and an extremely useable kitchen with a breakfast area sunroom.

The sixth episode of the podcast is up, a series of stretches using the wall or some other vertical prop. Lily had to take some of the pictures, and she did a fine job—the camera is very heavy, but as she pointed out, she ate a spinach salad the other night.

Off to the Latta Plantation Triathlon, with the goal of slogging through despite my lingering head cold and unusually high resting HR. Not a race, but a workout. I want the series points. This time, I think I'll carry my flat kit along; hopefully, that's not asking for a flat!

Since I've returned the goth book, I've had time to tie up loose ends around the office. That also helps me procrastinate from the file-clearing that should get done—there are stacks of corrected manuscripts on the floor, soon destined for the preschool. (Reminds me of the great scene in The Corrections where Chip discovers his screenplay has become coloring paper.)

In classic procrastination fashion, I checked on the status of my podcast on the iTunes Health Top 100. The health podcasts fall into two camps: those on fitness, and those on sex. They're about evenly split. Today, "Sage Yoga Training" is number 82, a climb up since the last time I visited to find it at 100. This is probably in part because it's featured deep on the front page of the podcast section, screen three of four under "Healthy Living."

I want to get the next episode up to capitalize on this minor success, though I can't say I've put much energy into getting a sponsor. I've briefly considered adding advertising here, as my peers have, but it all seems like so much work, and it goes against my view of this podcast as seva, or service. (Well, it's an egotistical kind of service, and not selfless as it should be, but it's not blatantly commercial.)

I've lucked into a network of kindred souls who also blog and podcast and are obsessed with triathlon: Simply Stu, who's going to interview me for his great podcast later this week, and Roman Mica, an entertaining writer who invited me to contribute to the Race Athlete Performance Network, where today you can find me hashing out ideas for the first chapter of my manuscript. These guys are much savvier than I; they have ads and PayPal and great content. Check them out.

Wes has composed a few lines of retort:

You wake up at dawn to manicured lawns
The athletes are runnin' and the Wellness Center is pumpin'
Mercedes, Volvos, SUVs
Some of these folks are liberal but none hug trees
It's Meadowmont
The past lane it's not
It's Meadowmont
Quarter mil per lot

Anyone care to add more?

Inspired. Wes and I met in a house on Lindsay Street in Carrboro, and we lived for more than five years in a classic Carrboro neighborhood, surrounded by funny neighbors. Now, of course, we live in the antithesis of Carrboro. And though we walk to the grocery store and to restaurants and to the gym and the UPS Store, I don't think anyone's making an "It's Meadowmont!" rap anytime soon. In Carrboro, we regularly had potluck meals with our neighbors. Here, we cluck our tongues disapproving of our neighbors' overgrown lawns.

I've been deliberating over whether to put my USAT sticker on my new car. Does it make me more of an asshole? Less? Probably the former. Discussing it with Pica, who is antisticker, I remembered a project my friend Charlie and I worked on back in college, during Bush I and Gulf War I. Using permanent markers and contact paper, we set out to write

DON'T BLAME ME, I VOTED FOR CARTER

but were so taken by

DON'T BLAME ME

that we stopped there.

The new podcast episode is up. On my friend Brad's advice, I made sure to create chapters in the file. You can skip ahead to the various transitions using the fast-forward key, and you can pause to linger, which would be especially fruitful in Pigeon.

I've laid down the voice and music tracks for my fourth podcast episode, a classic yoga for athletes sequence of Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, Janu Sirsasana, and Marichiyasana III. (It's easier to do than it is to pronounce—I use the English names of the poses on the podcast.)

Now for the art. My friend Bryan asked whether Wes cringes when I announce it's time to take more pictures, and I had to admit that he does. Sunday's the most likely day to get the pictures done, so the episode should be up by Monday. It clocks in at exactly 10:00, 9:00 or so of asana—the perfect postworkout routine, if I do say so myself. (At least, it's been working well for me; though my progress in the poses might not be noticeable, they are good "maintenance" poses, keeping my level of flexibility good.)

In case your appetite is now whetted, you can find more banjo jokes at these sites:

http://bluegrassbanjo.org/banjokes.html

http://www.ahajokes.com/banjo.html

http://www.tradcentre.com/dialup/banjojokes.html

http://www.firebottle.com/flatpik/bj.cgi

http://www.hamishsutherland.com/bjokes.htm

Etc. Just Google "banjo jokes."

Courtney rightly points out that I called the banjo in "Take It Easy" a mandolin. A mandolin (the Sage-o-lin) my father made me hangs over my desk, so maybe that caused the slip, but since my father's grandfather name is Banjo, you can tell I should have known better.

Our favorite song of Dad's is called "Mr. Happy Banjo Man"—hence the nickname Banjo—and it features some great lines, such as

I'm Mister Happy, Happy, Banjo Guy, laughing on the outside while inside I cry

and

I'm Mister Happy F***ing Banjo Man, if you think I'm happy you're from La-La Land

Some jokes Dad has told me:

What's the difference between a banjo and an onion?
No one cries when you cut into a banjo.

What do you call a hundred banjos at the bottom of the ocean?
A good start.

Obviously, any lawyer joke can become a banjo joke.

On the verge of buying a new car (the old one was about to drop its transmission on NC 54), I've learned that . . .

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Maybe you'll be something more attractive. At least the description is right on.

Here is my ad for the April issue of Endurance. It shows up a little funny here but looks good in reality. Spacing didn't let me say exactly what the lessons are in the lessons line; I hope it's obvious enough from the word YOGA below.

You'll see that I've gone with a different format for the coaching credit line. I've been looking at my gorgeous business cards, on which I committed to the en dash because it was the right thing to do, and I think "USAT certified coach" works OK, too—less clutter, though it trusts folks to know what USAT means. I reason that it's like "Sara Lee chocolate cheesecake," in which I consider "certified" an adjective, like "chocolate."

Can you tell I've thought too much about this?

It also presumes that people will visit the Web site and not need a phone number. Is that fair?

My mother, whose photographs I've often posted here, has created a Web site as part of one of her photography courses. There are some beautiful pictures on it—I invite you to cruise over, browse through, and send her a comment: cindyhamiltonphotography.com.

Podcast episode 3 is up, with some nice if slightly eerie music from Magnatune. It will work your core from a number of different directions, so prepare yourself for some effort!

The photos and voice cues are a little subpar, in my mind. Wes framed the pictures wonderfully when he shot them, but I needed to crop them to square, and they were too tight, so I'm missing a head or feet in some. The flow is particularly hard to cue, since it involves continuous motion rather than a static pose; once you know it, you can proceed faster than I'm calling for—that's a good way to add repetitions, anyway.

As ever, I welcome feedback, constructive as well as adulatory.

My daily pop-culture update comes from reading "The Fix" on Salon while eating dried apricots as a lunch dessert. After that, I turn to Go Fug Yourself for some schadenfreude. The writing is catty but brilliant, and the post-Oscar rundown is inspired.

Now that I have a gorgeous logo, I'm going to change my ad in Endurance Magazine to highlight my expanded services (private lessons, podcast, the USAT credential). I can run a color ad as part of the editing trade arrangement, and I can run one in the Charlotte issue, too. (Thanks, Steve!)

How should I phrase it? What would draw you in? Here's my draft:

TRAIN WISELY
Be flexible, be strong, be focused

Private, group, and podcast yoga lessons
Referrals happily given

and then the text of my business card.

Comments???

My brother, who works for the independent news program Democracy Now, has just become a New York Times photographer of sorts! He shared footage that he caught wearing his in-line skates at a Critical Mass rally. You can see the credit (John Hamilton) in the pictures, but if you click the "multimedia" button, you'll hear him working to keep up with the cyclists.

I've gotten the second podcast together, with some help from my friend Alex. He showed me how to record the voice track in a "tent" created by draping my blanket over my head, desk, and monitor. (He tells me it would sound even better if I crawled into my coat closet with the mic.) And he contributed the second track of music for this episode, which by his description is "too creepy and minor" for yoga, but it beats replaying the music from the first episode. (Anyone got non-copyrighted ambient music to share?)

My voice isn't at its best—you can hear the congestion that's dogged me for ten days now—but I met my self-imposed schedule of a new episode every two weeks.

As ever, comments are most welcome.

Is it a contradiction in terms for a Web site to be both "beta" and "live"? At any rate, you'll see it here.

I'd love to get feedback: "That color is weird," "That link didn't work," etc.

Podcast episode two is just waiting for music. Hope to have it up tomorrow afternoon.

I'm looking out the window at falling snow, while yesterday it was, literally, 77 degrees.

The pretty-much-final logo design. It'll go on the podcast, the Web site, an ad in Endurance, business cards.

I have an elaborate interpretation of the semiotics: the wavy line represents the upward trend of training results, supported by the sage green (yeah, I know), while also looking like the curves of a bottom (heh, heh) and back, etc., etc. Mostly, I just think it's simple and beautiful.

Thoughts?

You Are Skiing

Graceful, athletic, and gusty - you're willing to put it all on the line. You're willing to take big risks for big rewards.

Apparently I am skiing. I feel more like I am curling.

Usually I sleep very well. Sometimes, though—like when I'm sick, or before a race—my brain seems to lapse into a loop cycle, and I wake repeatedly with the same information spinning through my brain. But it's not important information, nor is it something that's obviously troubling me.

Last night, for example, it was the image of my Web site, which I've been working on, and a snatch of the song "D & W" off my kids' latest They Might Be Giants album. Over and over again.

Why?

Wes and I were happy to see that Stephen Colbert is the subject of a story in Newsweek. Of course, we got this information from Colbert's show, which we have watched religiously since it began airing in October. The single episode we have missed (friggin' DVR!) was the one where he slammed the AP for not recognizing him as the originator of "truthiness." (Luckily, the Newsweek article has a link to the clip.)

We enjoy The Colbert Report more than The Daily Show. It's consistently ridiculous, and the interviews are never boring. Best of all: the screeching eagle that sails through the opening credits. Brilliant.

Well, it's not perfect (I ran out of time and energy before I'd figured out how to edit the voice track, and the pictures were a rushed job), but my first podcast is up! You can get it from my Web page, where you can subscribe to it, or you can look for it on the iTunes Music Store, where it ought to appear soon.

I'd really love feedback, especially about whether the technology was easy to use, whether my instructions were clear, and what should be the topic of the next one. (I'm thinking another six-minute piece, with a core flow, and then for #3 a Pigeon/Head-to-Knee pose mix.)

A great big thanks to Courtney for proposing this idea!

A shout-out to Dave Williams for valuing yoga! I'll be talking on incorporating yoga in triathlon training--you know, the subject of my book-to-be!--as part of March Multisport Madness at the Wellness Center. You can sign up for the whole weekend or à la carte. Dave and his crew are great coaches--it's going to be totally worthwhile.

Another Pica find, this is Design Within Reach's annual champagne-cork construction contest. Amazing.

Taking a cue from my longtime best friend Pica, and in the spirit of having completed my first exam (the USA Triathlon coaching certification exam, complete with multiple choice, true-false, short answer, and essay questions) since my nine-hour written and three-hour oral doctoral exams, and in honor of my friend Jen, who has just been accepted for her own PhD program and who scored very highly on this quiz last year, just missing a prize: the State of the Union quiz.

My very fast friend Heidi sent me this piece on my very fast new friend, Henry. Between them and my very fast friends in the Janes, I am in good company, a tortoise among hares.

I've been working my trade connections to get a logo for Sage Yoga Training (the tentative title of the "boutique"). I think it's going to look great; when it's final, I'll share it here. I've grabbed the domain name sageyogatraining.com, though I haven't figured out how to direct it where I want it to go. And I've started working on an updated Web site, to pull it all together.

I'd love to hear what y'all think.

The blog might move from here to there soon, if it seems prettier and easier on my end. (I won't miss manually typing HTML code for links, and the photo uploading process here is tedious and unpredictable.)

Subject: Re: congrats
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 16:50:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Wes Rountree
To: billy hamilton

Billy,
I must tell you that I just got the ring and that I will be unable to
keep it for very long. My plans have changed, so I ask you for Sage's
hand in marriage. Actually I will ask her tonight, but I feel bad that
I did not ask you earlier, yet I did not plan to do it this soon. Write
me back tonight if you see this.
Wessie


Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 16:55:56 -0500 (EST)
From: billy hamilton
To: Wes Rountree
Subject: Re: congrats

Hi Wes,

Great that I was on the net when you asked. The answer is a
resounding YES YES YES YES YES YES OH JESUS YES YES YES HELL

YES!!!!!!!!

That's really cool. I have been telling Sage not to expect
anything. Apparently your tactics have been fairly successful.

Cindy and I are delighted. We love you. And Sage.

Go for it, Dude. I'm right behind you.

Love,

DAD

Two things (at least two things) have made us laugh in the last few hours. One was the ad, the Web site, and the concept of the Fathead, a large poster of your favorite NFL team's helmet. Last night we were very close to getting them at Christmas gifts for Wes's father and my mother, until we thought better of it this morning.

The other was the list of proposed names for the new high school to be built in town. The main debate is between those who want to name it Carrboro High, since it sits in Carrboro's planning district, and those who feel it must have the name Chapel Hill in there (South Chapel Hill High, Chapel Hill South High) because of the prestige and association of education the town's name confers. (One woman was quoted in the paper as saying, "What does one think of when told 'Chapel Hill'? EDUCATION. What does one think of when told 'Carrboro'? FUNKY ECLECTIC. . . . I want EDUCATION, not FUNKY ECLECTIC.")

The best name on the list of all those proposed, though, is James Brown Funk Spirit High School. Wow.

I've been wanting to see inside this house, three blocks away and in the school district (versus the other big one I discussed Sunday). My friends say it was even more modern but the sellers toned it down. The stainless-steel countertops are great. Check out the pictures.

Now, what could Dad mean by "obsessed by capitalism"? It sounds like something that would affect a poli sci student. I think he had the wrong offspring on that one.

Using only nine questions, they pegged me. I got the same answer on the forty-five-question version.