It's been a long time

It's just over a month since my last post, so I'll attempt to provide a concise, entertaining and complete overview of the excitement of February. Again, anyone viewing this in Facebook, click here for the full color version, and check out some of our other photos here.

February 10th - Shooting!
It was with some apprehension that I joined a couple of my friends for the American equivalent of a morning at the driving range. We drove south to where I'd taken the kittens to be put down back in September, and I hoped I'd be able to hold it together, as memories flooded back. Thankfully the shooting range was not affiliated with the SPCA, (not as good American version of the RSPCA, i.e. no Rolf Harris), although I think there is probably a market for this method of humane termination.

We had a lesson, teaching us such vital things as "don't point a loaded gun at anyone", "don't press the trigger unless you're ready to shoot" etc. The instructor had a bullet proof vest on, and a large weapon holstered on his back (concealed but I spotted it), which was a little disconcerting. More worrying though was our time spent waiting for a lane. The people/regulars who stumbled in and out were terrifying. They all had big cases containing overly polished and devastatingly well equipped firearms which they brandished with a glint of deranged exuberance. A couple turned up with his and hers cases, initials emblazoned on the lids, and could barely contain their excitement at the prospect of shooting a piece of paper 7 meters away.

Our time came to finally shoot, and in all honesty, I was a little uncomfortable holding a gun. I got over that quickly and began to master the beginners gun, which had similar power to a Super Soaker 500. We upgraded, I got a little bit excited and would like to think that the next set of new comers were equally perturbed by the look in my eye. I left with my target peppered with surprising accuracy, and presented it to Madeline like the carcass of a stag from a successful hunting weekend. She was less impressed than I thought. Good experience, feel a little bit more American, but I prefer the driving range.

February 17th - Presidents weekend - Skiing in Tahoe!

Another first for weekend #2 in Feb - Skiing, (well actually snow boarding). Emilie and I picked Greg, Kathleen and Madeline up on Friday and made good time up to our little cabin. I found it, and still find it, strange that a few thousand feet up, (8) its cold enough to support snow, and a lot of it! A night of poker and an early night prepared us for a big day on the slopes.
Saturday morning - we hired our stuff, I played the ignorant, English card in the rental shop and emerged looking more than a little uncomfortable.
Emilie snowboards a lot, so she gave me a run down on the basics, and before long we were on a chair lift rising high into the mountains for my first descent! After falling off the chairlift, hitting my head and knocking my tail bone, I strapped in and proceeded to fall down the slope with some style.
Things picked up quickly and I began to master turning...I mean carving. I was spurred on after Emilie said I was the most natural beginner she'd ever seen, (maybe she hasn't seen many beginners), and accidentally was led down a black diamond slope by Greg and Kathleen. My ability to bounce rather than crash and my tireless determination soon paid off as we began exploring the intermediate slopes.

Lunch was well deserved, as I tried to dry off and muster some hidden reserves for the afternoon. We made our way over to the back of the mountain to a huge fluffy wide run, where I got chance to practice my carving some more.
Back to the cabin for cards, food, wine and another early night. Whole body hurting.

Day 2 on the slopes, and a slightly later start as we waited for a fresh snow fall, and enjoyed some bacon and eggs. After picking up some goggles ($75!) for K and G, we started where we finished the day before. I was much more confident, enjoying the fresh layer of powder, and wasn't falling very much. It was a little windy/blizzard until early afternoon when the sun came out and I really began to enjoy it.
G, M and I explored the front side of the mountain, before G and I hit the back side for the last run of the day - v. steep, poor visibility, but amazing fun. Legs couldn't take much more so back to the cabin to conclude our 3 day poker series.

February 24th - R
Who would have thought that I'd ever volunteer my Saturday to learning about statistical software? Very good course. Sunday, recovering from not the best night ever.
March 3rd - Petaluma
Thought I had the follow up course this weekend, but the instructor fell ill. Took the opportunity to drive north to play for Berkeley against Petaluma. Not a very good game, but no concussion this weekend, just a bruised nose.

On the drive back, we stopped at the Marin headlands because it was a clear day. This is where I wanted to take Katie and Paddy on the way back from Sonoma, just before the GG bridge:

We spent Sunday on campus after I'd been to yoga and Madeline had been to brunch. Nice weekend.

A weekend of Sport

I'd like to think I could summarize the events of January at some point, but in fear of getting further behind, I'm going to review this weekend. You should really read this Here if you're on Facebook.

Friday 2nd Feb 2007
The only thing I don't like about this semester is my 3 hour 4-7pm lecture on Friday nights. Mercifully it's a really good one (Bioinformatics) and the lecturer could stand to be a good source of information/contacts/references.
Madeline went to the gym while I was in class, then I came home and cooked some rice and marinated chicken (nicer than it sounds). We drove to Safeway to get some shampoo but didn't have the energy to do a full shop. Lazy night watching TV, (Madeline asleep on the couch) in anticipation of the big day ahead!
Saturday 3rd Feb 2007 - Out of retirement
On Thursday night I gave into temptation/boredom/my body's plea for activity, and attended my second Berkeley RFC training session. I went with a mind as open as I could and was blown away by how much they had improved. The back line had a sensible defensive strategy, players knew the basics of running and passing, and there was a good spirit throughout.
Saturday morning, I woke a little earlier than I wanted to, and made the short journey to Treasure Island in record time thanks to some clear Saturday morning traffic.

The team arrived; we set up the pitch and did a little training in beautiful sunshine. As the team was announced, I found myself playing on the wing for the first team - a nice surprise. The game went well. We were playing against the San Francisco Fog, the biggest gay team in the bay area, and many of the Berkeley boys were worried at having their masculinity compromised through a loss. An early Fog try fueled the unease in the BRFC camp, but we showed real determination, dominating possession and territory for much of the game. I received a wide pass and beat my man to score the equalizing try, and shortly after we took the lead.
The rest of the game is a little blurry as I made a break, attempted a little grubber kick and was tackled in the head, knocked unconscious, came round, assured my teammates I was fine, played out the remainder of the game and then started asking if we'd played, if we'd won etc.
Madeline was contacted, came to pick me up with Emilie and kept checking my eyes all day for signs of death.
I got an email with some photos on today. I was a little disappointed that I had left before they were taken. Imagine my surprise when I find that I was more than there, I was being hugged by Benny Whisky! The brain is a fragile thing, as Madeline and her family keep reminding me
Madeline took Saturday afternoon as an opportunity to express concern about rugby, watch Nip Tuck and abuse my condition as an excuse to spend an hour or so in Emilie's Jacuzzi sipping herbal tea. I felt much better after some Greek food, (Mission) and we indulged in a little of San Francisco's high life by going to watch Kelly play water polo at the very fancy/expensive Olympic Club! We arrive too late for the whole game but got some free beer. Water polo looks exhausting.

Madeline dropped my off in the Marina to wait for the rugby boys to come out for an evening of japes and hi-jinks, before she met up with friends and did a similar thing in a different part of the city. Text book evening, back around 3am - lots of good sleep!
Sunday 4th Feb 2007 - Superbowl Sunday
Woke up feeling like I'd been beaten repeatedly by a large bat (cricket, not fruit). Lazy morning building up the the weekly grocery shop. Safeway was busy with people stocking up on chips, dips and beer. We joined them, baked some cookies and made our way to my first Superbowl party at a friend of a friend's appartment in a very nice area of the city.
Good to socialize a little, good mix of people and excellent food! The game was excellent, Prince rocked during the half time show, and I claimed the $40 grand prize for having the correct final score.
Home for a snack and some TV before fatigue kicked in. Lovely weekend! Weather is still amazing, but I'm incredibly sore. I have a busy week ahead of me as school work builds and my research begins properly. Next weekend we have an early/late haloween party to attend, and I will doubtlessly have to do some work, hurrah. I hope everyone is doing well, I'm aspiring to reignite the Facebook love this week sometime.

Yoga and Bagels

I was going to write about our week at home, but you'll have to wait for that chapter in our life, like Harry Potter fans waiting for the 7th over hyped book (sorry Simon). I'm busy at work and feeling all warm and loose thanks to a morning at the gym :) If you can't see the pics (and they're good this time!) go to http://bendalziel.blogspot.com

Mike, (a friend from Durham) is staying with us this week, and this morning we got up around 6am and jogged to the gym (pre sunrise!). I smuggled him in, almost blowing it by revealing my English accent and raising suspision but we infultrated their single line of defence, and made our way to the "studio" at the rear of the building. We ambled in, were told to remove our shoes and were briefly grilled about any past injuries or health conditions. We each got a mat and waited for the fun to begin!
The lady instructor told us that we'd be working on a very specific and small (and insignificant) muscle in our groin/pubic region. It had a name, but I forgot it. Her identification of where exactly the muscle was located was frankly a little too graphic for 6:30am, but after the initial shock and supressed laughter, we settled in and began yogering!
She explained everything very clearly, although obviously my body didn't follow the instructions very well. There was a suprising amount of holding the contorted positions we struggled to manouver our bodies into, for longer than I felt was really necessary. Yoga might be a bit femenine, but the instructor has some serious muscle strength, endurance and flexability! A particularly memorable moment will be Mike and I attempting the position above for about 5 minutes before making eye contact and realising how ridiculous we were. Something to work on...
Yoga is on Tuesday and Thursday mornings; let's see how long this lasts. We got back and had a nice breakfast of bagels (Tickle, have you introduced them to Durham?), orange juice, milk and tea. It's going to take a few more weeks to get this good though:
This afternoon I'm going to get some graduate advising about a Maths class I want to take, and about my failure in the Graduate Essay Test (GET) which "no native speakers have really had any problems with". I was ill for the exam. If I have to take a make-up class with other retards and foreigners, rather than taking the exam again when I'm in good health, I may go insane.

A New Year

It's been quite a big 10 days. I'll start with the bad stuff and work upwards.

On Sunday morning I got a call from my dad. I thought he was phoning to remind me to call Mandy - it was her 30th (Woo!) - but instead he gave me the news that my Grandma had passed away. She had been in good health and was wonderfully alert as ever, so it came as a shock to us all. I'm not sure it's really settled in for me yet - it's so hard to take in what has happened when you're so far away - but on Friday, Madeline and I are flying home to be with my family and to attend the funeral.
Recently (September) she celebrated her 80th birthday. Although I wasn't there, my dad took some nice photos. I liked this one.

When I got to America five months ago, I knew that I had a fresh start, a chance to redirect and focus my life and change things without the ties of preconceptions and a stale routine. I'm here to study first and foremost, which in all honesty, was a shortcoming in my previous lives. I'll never forget arrogantly downloading my second year results in the garden of team house with Simon, Katie et. al. all standing by, only to watch my face drop as I hurried inside to put on shoes to go and argue that "there must be some kind of mistake". There wasn't of course, at least not on the behalf of the markers. The day was made significantly harder by a raging hangover because of an attempt by AJ and I to spring clean Team House's spirit cupboard in a night celebrating the blissful ignorance of our (my) impending downfall. I struggled through my final year, beginnning to put the foundation stones of independent learning in place (something which should maybe have happened a little sooner) and surprised everyone in the know by sneaking a 2:1. This wasn't in the same league as Bean's 2:1, but I was relieved none the less! I also remember speaking to Dave Jones outside the library at the end of second year and trying to convince him (myself) that all I needed for a first was 81%. Easy right? After a night drinking it had got the the stage where he was willing to put money on me, so sure were we that "if anyone can do it, it would be you Scouse". Maybe nobody can do it? Times have changed; this semester I managed to pull off a resounding 4.0, which in English is straight A's. More importantly for me though, I'm enjoying what I'm doing and my new approach to it all is working and I'm getting results.
I'm looking forward to next semester like I used to look forward to going back to primary school at the end of the summer. (Pic below is the first glimpse of our apartment interior design - picture selected by Madeline, quantity selected by me).

With the success of my educational 360, I thought that I might attack a different aspect of my life, and embellish it with New Year's resolutions - something I normally care little for. My general, all encompassing New Year's resolution is to make better use of my time. This will hopefully impact when I get up, what I do in down time, how I study, and how much time I spend with Madeline. It didn't get off to an amazing start - I slept in late from the 2st-5th, but it's picking up pace and we're even going to the gym more. A sub goal is to achieve something each weekend. This weekend we strolled through the Castro, brunched, and went to 2 new places in San Francisco - Twin Peaks (See pic below and flickr for more) and Buena Vista Park.

I'm also hoping to take more photos and continue blogging. For those of you who don't know, my photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bendalziel/

and my blog is here:

http://bendalziel.blogspot.com/

If you're reading this on facebook, you're only seeing half the joy!

The only other newsworthy happening I can think of is that last Wednesday, Emilie took Madeline and I to watch Stanford vs. Cal. It was amazing, we had courtside seats and were riding every shot from down town and every alleyoop dunk. Despite being better and more impressive, Stanford were still no Furman.

So we fly out on Friday morning and are in England until the following Sunday. I'm looking forward to putting some pictures up of my family, and spending some time in a normal country where it rains more than it is overwhelmingly hot. This one is for Grandma.

From Christmas 2006 to January 2007

I've had this in draft for a while so I thought I might as well post it - not sure I'll remember the finer details now anyway.
Monday 25th December - Christmas Day with the Johnsons
Ocean swim, presents, Edith and Don's (Greg's parents), Ellen (Greg's sister), Todd, Adam - Kathy (Greg's other sister), Mike, Tom, Sarah.
Presnts for me included:
Subscription to Science Magazine (I'm so excited!), some clothes, flip flops to replace these, a bag of tools, Stem Cell Now, some pajamas, And Another Thing: The World According to Clarkson, a kettle (which doesn't turn off), Adobe Photoshop, tickets to watch Stanford vs. Cal BBall last Wednesday with MJ, Emilie, Kelly etc., Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs, an ergonomic mouse mat, some floss and some other things I can't think of right now.
Tuesday 26th December - Shopping (Returns/exchanges) and
Meal with Edith and Don, Denny and Anne visit
Wednesday 27th December - Cinema, Attempted Bowling and an English pub
Thursday 28th December - Really not sure...
Friday 29th December - Sushi, drinking and dancing in downtown San Diego with Lilly and Rudey
Saturday 30th December - Oil Change and Fondue!
Sunday 31st December - 8 hour drive from San Diego to San Francisco & New Years Eve Party at Michelle's house.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!