3 Weeks to NEAS 2014

8:09pm Wow! It's scary to see that only 3 weeks remain till the big day! I believe I've done the best I can to prepare, & feel very confident that I'll do a decent job of presenting it; however, I'm going to remain pessimistic about the expected reaction so that I won't be too disappointed on the ride home.

Today I received my NEAS conference badge, & promptly Paleo-Hebrewized it:

I made another rehearsal video last weekend, & here are 2 bloopers:



I've been yawning quite a bit during my late-night, before-bed rehearsals, so that one Saturday morning was unexpected. I think it's cute, & will have it in my arsenal in 3 weeks, but only use it if I sense the audience's mood to be appropriate. I'm hoping it'll be fun/pleasant.

Yesterday began on a fun/pleasant note, as can be seen in this video of me reciting 2Ch31 on my way to work in the morning, not missing a single word, even as I rode through a busy intersection (Aviation Blvd & Marine Ave):



Things went well at work, & I received my first paycheck, which covered the 2 days I worked in September. On the way home, I stopped by my financial institution to deposit it while singing one of my favorite Gospel Reformation hymns:



I continued singing, all happy & everything, minding my own business, but about halfway home, I crashed. It was by far the worst bicycle crash ever for me.

It happened along Redondo Ave, adjacent to the MBS Media Campus (formerly named Manhattan Beach Studios, click here for a list of films & shows recorded at this facility). On this occasion, there were no celebrities hitchhiking or any traffic at all when I fell. As usual, it happened so fast that I don't know what caused it. All I remember is that I was singing, riding in the gutter, slowing down from about 10 MPH as I approached a stop sign, began to stand up ... all of this totally normal that I've done a gazillion times over the past few years, 4,200 miles ... & then something happened. It's as if something pulled the bike forward out from under me, & I ended up going down face-first, landing hard on both knees & both hands.

My hands got scraped against the concrete & turned red, but never bled, & they're totally back to normal tonight, a day later. I have a long/wide but shallow trophy-scar running about 2/3rd's of my left forearm (just in time for Halloween), which I suspect was caused by it rubbing against a part of the bike as I went down. My right knee is scarred & sore, but usable. My left leg has several deep but small cuts, one of which was still bleeding a little when I went to bed last night, but I haven't removed the bandages today, so I presume it's scabbed by now. My left knee is in bad shape. It hurts no matter what position it's in, but I'm grateful to God that neither of my kneecaps was smashed, nor any broken bones. Great design on God's part, those kneecaps are!

I've been exercising to maintain my staircase racing skills, using my 40# weight-vest & 10# ankle-weights, which I occasionally switch to my wrists when going for short (half-mile) walks during work-breaks. I thought it was time to crank it up a notch, so last week I ordered a 20# set of ankle-weights, so I could keep the 10#ers on my wrists for a total of 70# overall. It's truly ironic that after limping home from the crash/injury last night, wishing I were about 150# lighter, the new weights were "waiting" for me on my front porch!

9:14pm

G.M. Grena