#BestAdvice: The Secret To Never Losing Your Hair

(Another blog on the #bestadvice I've received over the years)

Stretching before a race. Photo: Veer Hossain.

When I was in college, I decided I wanted to learn how to cut hair.  I didn't want to actually go to hair cutting school or whatever they call it.  I was just curious to learn how the process was done.  The woman who owned the place near campus assumed this was an attempt by a poor college student to get a free haircut, so she gave me one (that wasn't my intent, but I still took the free haircut :).  The offshoot was that in ensuing visits, the folks who cut hair would tell me different tricks of the trade- cutting a guideline, the pros and cons of clippers, etc.  It was actually quite interesting, and I may have ended up learning the secret to never losing my hair. 

Giant Trolls and The Week Before Your Mission Trip

Photo: Frighttime Prod.

Have you ever noticed that the week or two before your mission trip is generally terrible?  Everything that can go wrong does- you get sick, your kids get in more trouble than usual and somehow its the worst time ever to miss work.  Have you ever wondered why?

Trolls.  Big, giant, hairy trolls.


The play "Wynter's Kiss" by Scott Crain of Oracle Productions fame tells the Narnian-esque story of Sir Galen Wynter, an old knight, who, along with a few followers, goes on a quest to find the cure to save his daughter from a deadly plague called "The Red Kiss".   In the wilderness, they come to an old rope bridge that crosses a ravine.  Some of the men want to try crossing, but Sir Galen declares the bridge is too old, it'll probably take them out of their way, and its not worth the risk.  Suddenly, a giant, club wielding troll appears and bellows that if any of them try to cross the bridge, he'll be more than happy to kill them.

The men fall back. Once out of earshot, Sir Galen begins to devise a plan to defeat the giant troll and cross the bridge.

"What!?" one of his men exclaims.  "Five minutes ago you were talking us out of crossing the bridge, but now that there is a giant troll who wants to kill us, all you can think about is how to get across it?"

"Of course," Sir Galen explains.  "You don't send a giant troll to protect something worthless.  We have to get across."

Photo: Disney/Pixar's Up!

I think our lives can be a lot like this.  We're fine as long as we stay in our cozy little existence, but as soon as we make a break from our lives and attempt to cross that ravine to serve others in need (and in the process, change ourselves), the devil throws some giant trolls our way.  Going to the Dominican in a couple days and your kid gets strep throat? Troll!  Going to Haiti and your car breaks down to the tune of a few thousand dollars? Troll!  Going to Africa for a year and the people renting your house (and therefore covering your mortgage) decide to back out at the last minute?  Troll!   (if you've seen Pixar's 'Up', in my head I say "Troll!" like they say "Squirrel!")

Of course, knowing that trolls exist doesn't make them go away, but it does make them easier to fight.  And, like the old knight fighting to save his daughters life, you know that by defeating that troll and crossing that ravine, you might be saving lives as well.

Troll!

P.S. As I was typing this blog about the dangers of going on a mission trip, the phones and internet shut off, threatening to make me lose everything I'd just typed.  Troll!

Hang Gliding Comic

Click comic to enlarge

 I wrote this comic as a reminder to myself that I need to take the safe path less often.  After being in the music industry, I swore I wouldn't go on a date with a professional singer, and ended up marrying one.  I laughed a friend who decided to run for an entire hour, and now I do marathons and triathlons. I couldn't believe people would actually go to a book store, pick out random books and read them, but years later I was really sad when our Borders closed down.  I'm still who I am, but I'm glad I'm not who I was.


PS- I realized too late that I misspelled 'rather', and now the original of this comic is gone and I can't change it.  Oh, well.

Riding With Lance Armstrong Tomorrow

Non-Tour de France winner on left

OK, OK, so I'm not going out on a one on one bike ride with Lance tomorrow, stopping off at Sonic for a sweet tea mid-ride, chatting about our various athletic exploits.  But, sort of last minute, I am taking off with 1,499 other cyclists, led out by Lance Armstrong and some of his fellow Team Radio Shack riders, out on a 100 kilometer (62 mile) ride through the Tennessee countryside in the Harpeth River Ride.  I'll even be tweeting about it during ride breaks @premierebrian.

How did this come about?  Late one night last week, Krista saw on twitter that it had been announced that Lance Armstrong, who shares a Harpeth River Ride sponsor in Nissan, had committed to leading out the ride.  I'd done the shortened version of the HRR last year, but hadn't planned on doing it this year.  But suddenly, Krista was not only informing me of the Ride, but trying to talk me into doing it.  What's this?  Krista trying to get me to sign up for an endurance event, even though it would mean she'd have the kids all by herself for several hours on Saturday?  What's going on here?  Then it dawned on me- her husband riding in the same event would make excellent blog fodder for her 1,000 weekly readers (and my 13-15 weekly readers :).  Apparently a good blog trumps daddy-daughter time on Saturday mornings.  Before I knew it, she'd signed me up for a 62 mile bike tour, which is more than double the longest distance I've ridden this year (25 miles).

Speaking of Lance Armstrong, this actually won't be my first encounter.  I've booked him to speak before, and even went to one of the events (hence the picture above).  Very nice guy in person.  In the lobby, I'd said hello to his manager, who'd I talked to a few times.  Then up walked the Tour de France champ and said, "Hi, I'm Lance."  He did a great job with the presentation, inspired the audience, and got a surprise (even to the event staff) donation of a generous amount, from the rather unpredictable CEO, to the LiveStrong Foundation. Lance said, "I know you might not think this, but if you run a non-profit, and you get a surprise donation of $XXX,XXX to fight cancer, its a really good day." Great event.

Back to the Harpeth River Ride- I'm a combination of excited and nervous- especially about one thing.  I've never done a metric century before (a 'century ride' is the term for a 100-mile ride.  a 'metric century' ride is 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, for pansies like me who don't have the courage to sign up for the true 'century' ride.), but I think I can handle the distance, especially if I'm able to draft off other riders. You get rest stops in there, where they've got drinks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a variety of goodies. The temperature won't be too bad. It'll be 71 degrees at the 7AM start, and then 'only' up to 89 by noon, when I hope to finish.

What scares me a little happens on mile 33, the dreaded/famed Pulltight Hill.  Its one of the highest places in Middle Tennessee, a hill that basically goes 400 feet up in a very short amount of time, the hill that I've heard other cyclists talk about with fear and respect for the 2 years I've been into cycling.  I'll have to tackle this big hill for the first time after riding farther than I've ridden all year, and then ride 29 miles back.

There are 2 or 3 rest stops, and I'll make sure to twitter (reception allowing) from each one with an update.

The Most Dramatic Spelling Bee Story In History

Last night, Krista and Brooklyn were so hooked watching the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee that they wouldn't let me change it to the Heat-Mavs game (at the time, it looked like the Heat would blow the Mavs out, so I didn't go watch on another TV.  Loser? Brian).  Sydney asked to go to bed, but Krista was so hooked, she told Syd just to go to sleep on the couch. Most of the kids were surprisingly entertaining and quick witted, which only added to the drama. I figure that if the National Spelling Bee is interesting enough for people to pass on the NBA Finals, I have decided to share what could be the most dramatic spelling bee story you've ever read. (too much build up?)