Fear of a Female Planet

1. Sadly, we had to reschedule our trip down to Arches and Canyonlands due to Nick's frisbee injury (cracked rib or torn muscle - just not getting better). Hiking would be fine, but sleeping on the hard ground might exacerbate it.

2. So instead, we are going to get some more work done (new chapter for me, second article for him) and take a break to see Jodorowsky's Dune at the local film society. Maybe a hike on Sunday out to one of the Great Salt Lake islands (Saturday is supposed to be rainy and gross).

3. I scored a great point in frisbee last night - diving catch of an upside down disc by the fingertips - best score of the game if I do say so myself :)

4. I think I might do some gardening today :)

5. I made a YouTube playlist of my half-marathon setlist:

What happens when you get 7 frisbee teammates at a wedding? You have a complete line!

This year we got rid of some dead weight, picked up some experienced players, developed a roster of people who wanted to get better and loved playing, and went from not winning a single game last year to a .500 season and a win in the playoffs. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Landshark 3.0!

Last night was my last Fall League game - but I couldn't play. I still had a bad ankle from last week and the flu. I knew I would be tempted to play so I left my cleats at home and cheered on the team instead. We lost, but had a great second half, playing 6 against 6 with no subs (they had four). Then we had a great turn out at the Dane.

I really loved Fall League - in fact, I'm pretty sure I'll play women's night again in combination with a coed night because I got so much out of it. I learned so many new skills and relearned skills I had been taught wrong, but most of all I got the chance to put those skills to use. I feel like a pretty competent handler now, I'm not afraid to offer to pull the disc, I know how to play every position in a zone and an H-stack, and I make much better cuts now that I've been on the handler side of the disc.

Here were our brave 6, lined up for the Pull:



It was very dusty and chaotic looking, but this was a score!



Team Fitchburg (also known as Abbys and Amys)

Nick took a great shot at our last frisbee game:



Me tossing the disc to Peter:



And me catching it:



and a nice pic of Molly with the disc:



Some flooding by my house after a huge downpour:



The band at my birthday party:



Clearly up to no good:

I'm going to save "curves" for Monday with a post reflecting on the experiment because I leave for camping today :)

So, today is "skin." I have very pale skin and burn easily, so I try to take care of it and protect it. This is my morning routine:


The Soap Opera stopped making my favorite cleanser so I am trying new ones now, right now it's this Aveeno one (Positively Radiant). Then, about once a week, I might use Lush's Ocean Salt, followed by a mask.

In the past year I have developed a dark spot on my right cheek (I refuse to say age spot), so I'm trying this new Clinique Spot Corrector, which I apply with an under-eye cream, and then put moisturizer with SPF on top of everything. If I'm going to be outside a lot (frisbee, long bike ride, long walk, etc.) I will put on regular sunscreen.

Finally, since I am photosensitive (allergic to the sun - that's right...) I get Polymorphous Light Eruptions on my hands in the summer, so I take a Beta Carotene supplement, which seems to do the trick.

Clean faced!


Yesterday was frisbee, so instead of showing you the boring outfit I wore during the day, here is the team jersey!



Cleats: Middleton Sports
Socks: Berkeley Running Company
Shorts: Gap
Jersey: MUFA!
Bandana: Target
Disc: MUFA!

I don't have any action shots from games, but here are some pics that Nick took on our Spring Break of me catching and throwing the disc (in Rhode Island):





Unfortunately we lost our game last night, 13-3 :(

Oh yeah, remember that Dress Your Best Week I was going to do? Okay, for realz this time!

The first item on my list was my nails. I'm not quite sure how to dress to show them off, but I can tell you what I do to keep them nice. Honestly, I don't do a lot - I shape them (squarish tips), keep them clean, clip hangnails if they pop up, and usually just use clear polish on them.

Before:


After:


I suppose rings are a way to show off your nails - these are my four most commonly worn rings:


When I want to do something fun I have a bunch of polishes:


Some are tame (pale pink or mother of pearl), some are totally for fun (blue, yellow, black) and some are mostly for toes (bright pink):


The main problem I have is frisbee - it's very easy to break a nail when handling the disc. I keep clippers and a file in my gear bag to take care of any breaks right away. There are two ways you can throw a disc:

Backhand (what most people are familiar with):


And Forehand, which is more common in Ultimate because it is harder to throw (and especially harder to huck it) and therefore you force the person you are guarding to throw this way by guarding against them using their backhand (for example, standing on their left side if they are right handed):




Anyway, somehow this turned into a post about frisbee - sort of like how picnics go around here. This is what I ended up wearing today:



Danskos - Ebay
Khakis - Old Navy
Belt - Old Navy (shortened at local cobbler)
Black t-shirt - Banana Republic
Glasses - Zennioptical.com
Bracelet - Handmade by me at Anthology
Ring - Art Gecko

Fitness: Ultimate Frisbee Takes Off
By BONNIE TSUI, The New York Times, April 30, 2009

When Susan Batchelder first played Ultimate Frisbee, 11 years ago, it was with the ultimate hippies.

“It was in Omaha, where I grew up,” said Ms. Batchelder, a 29-year-old fourth-grade teacher who lives in Oakland, Calif. As a senior in high school, she started dropping into a pickup Ultimate game that went on Wednesday nights in town.

“This was Ultimate Frisbee the way it was played in 1975: all men, all of whom had been playing together for the last 20 years, wearing funny outfits,” Ms. Batchelder recalled. She was often one of only two women on the field. “Clancy, he wore his athletic tube socks pulled up to his knees and these short shorts. Another guy, he played in a onesie with rolled-up boxer shorts. They were the funnest, nicest guys around.”

It wasn’t until Ms. Batchelder got to Middlebury College in Vermont that she realized that Ultimate, as players today call it, could be a real sport. She joined the women’s team and learned how to throw a forehand — the quick-flick sidearm throw that is crucial to any advanced game.

Today, Ms. Batchelder is a member of Zeitgeist, one of the top competitive women’s Ultimate teams in the Bay Area. Most players she knows don’t subscribe to the old-school “Burning Man” aesthetic anymore — skirts, colorful costumes, funky clothes. Instead, they’re Patagonia-sponsored athletes, wearing sweat-wicking uniforms, who do plyometrics and strength training. And they’re well equipped with a repertory of throws that include flicks, hammers, scoobers and high-release backhands.

In the last 10 years, Ultimate Frisbee has become one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. It is played in more than 42 countries. Ultimate’s success at the college level, attracting traditional athletes from other sports like soccer and football to compete on its teams, is largely what has elevated the game to this stage.

And the rise of women in Ultimate is another crucial part of the sport’s growth. Watching these women play, one can see the athleticism that has attracted them: gorgeous arcing throws, full-extension dives, insane vertical leaps, and discs pinched out of the sky with the barest of fingertips. “I play pickup most every week, even in the winter,” said Fi Cheng, 33, who works for a solar backpack company in New York. She helps run a spring and fall league in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and is treasurer of Westchester Ultimate Disc, the biggest Ultimate organization in the metropolitan area. “I’ve noticed a lot more women playing than when I started. There are women in their late 20s or early 30s who have been playing for 10 years now.”

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