One Step in a Girl’s Rite of Passage

I remember when I was 12 and finally got permission from my mom to shave my legs. I was in hog heaven as this was a big rite of passage (or so I thought at the time). I ran across the street to my friend’s house and told her the good news. Her mom gave her permission as well and we proceeded to sit on the edge of her bathtub and proceed in shaving our legs. Were there nicks? Yep. Did we miss a few spots? Oh yeah. And what did we do as soon as we were done? Put on our bathing suits and jumped in her pool. Not the smartest things to do as all you heard were screams across the neighborhood because chlorine filled water and freshly shaved legs do not mix.

Fast forward to today and I sat on the edge of my bathtub (easier than balancing myself in the shower) doing this task now, 26 years later. I wondered why I thought this was so exciting at the tender age of 12 when now it is one of those tasks that I dread. Now that spring/ summer is upon us, I have to do it more often as shirts and skirts are pulled out the closets and drawers. and the kicker is that I still nick myself (sometimes gash) and have occasionally missed a whole strip on my leg only to notice when I am out and about and can’t do a thing about it. Shaving is truly one of those things that I despise and wish wasn’t something that had to be done.

Oh what we women do to make ourselves look good. I seriously need to look into laser treatments.

Planning, Planning, & Some More Planning

OK, today’s entry will be short and sweet. The November hours for the parks at WDW were released yesterday, and I need to get serious about planning out our days for the upcoming trip. I have a small window of time with the hubby tonight to get some quality input as time is a precious commodity at this point due to work and school. So I am armed with the park hours, my PassPorter, and notebook to determine what is in the cards for this trip! Hope to have the ADRs settled by the end of the night and any extra curriculars we might do.

Stay tuned as I will be back to normal broadcasting tomorrow.

Breaking Away

I mentioned yesterday that I would introduce you to how I was baptized into the world of the Little 500. At the time, I thought it was a pretty stupid movie (hey, I was young), but even though the movie came out in 1979, I truly love this movie and watch it at least once a year.

Breaking Away is a 1979 coming of age film that tells the story of four teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana who have graduated from high school and are not sure what they want to do with their lives, other than hang out and go swimming in an abandoned limestone quarry. It stars Dennis Christopher (Dave), Dennis Quaid (Mike), Daniel Stern (Cyril), and Jackie Earle Haley (Moocher) as the main characters.

The highpoint of the movie is when Dave’s friends soon persuade him to form a cycling team for the annual Indiana University Little 500 bicycle race. They race under the name “Cutters” (a euphemism for “stoners”, the industrial stonecutters who worked the Indiana Limestone quarries of southern Indiana) against university intramural teams. Dave is so much better than the other competitors, he rides without a break and builds up a large lead, while the other teams have to switch cyclists every few laps. However, he is injured and has to stop. After some hesitation, Moocher, Cyril and Mike take turns pedaling, but soon their lead evaporates. Finally, Dave has himself taped into his bike and starts making up ground, winning on the last lap.

It’s a great feel good movie in my opinion. The underdog wins despite the road blocks encountered. One of the best things is that it was filmed on the IU campus and in Bloomington. I can recognize where a lot of the shots of the campus and city. So stay tuned as my good camera is coming with me on Saturday, and I hope to get some good pictures of the race, as well as the campus.

Already Looking Forward to the Weekend

It’s only Monday, and I am already ready for the weekend. I’m headed back to Indiana University in Bloomington, IN all day Saturday. So what brought on this little adventure? Two things. 1) My dad now lives in Bloomington working as a professor at IU and it’s a chance to see him. 2) Little 500.

The Little 500 (also known popularly as the “Little Five”), is a bicycle race held annually at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the IU Campus. The race was founded in 1951 by Howdy Wilcox Jr., Executive Director of the Indiana University Student Foundation, who modelled the race after the Indianapolis 500. Racers compete in teams of four, racing relay-style for 200 laps (50 miles) along a quarter-mile (440 yards) cinder track.

Little 500 is a tradition that I grew up hearing about all my life. My dad would tell me tales of the days when he was in the race, the triumphs and horror stories, the history, and even shared pictures with me of this special time for him. My dad loves riding bikes even now so when the opportunity presented itself this year to attend the event with my dad, I didn’t hesitate to go buy my ticket. I know I am going to appreciate the race and the history it entails now as an adult and the special link it has with my dad.

Dad Practicing for Little 5

The last time I went to the race with my dad was my sophomore year at IU. I actually went to the race that year. It was the best Little 5 week during my time at IU. The concert that year at Memorial Stadium was John Mellencamp. I camped out overnight for those tickets that year. Can you tell what stuck with me regarding that year’s race?

Urban Dictionary had a good description of the events from the college student point of view. “The greatest college week of all time. Where a campus of 40,000+ students celebrate a seemingly ordinary bike race by engaging in a week of mind blowing, wasted beyond your wildest dreams, non-stop parties. Where class shuts down and drunken students stumble from bar to bar, frat to frat, street to street, drinking everything in sight and no amount of alcohol poisoning can stop them.” Yep…that’s a good description of Little 5 in the eyes of a college student.

Tomorrow I’ll go into how I was introduced to the world of Little 5 at a young age.