To be a weatherman...

I swear I would be better off looking outside each morning than relying on the weather forecast.  As of yesterday afternoon, it was supposed to rain yesterday and it was supposed to rain all day today and possibly into Wednesday.  Ok, that's fine.  I'll forget about riding my bike until Thursday and just focus on "training" instead.  This morning?  Beautiful sunshine and it's supposed to be that way all day long.  Sigh.  That's enough about the weather.

Speaking of training....  A month of so ago I took a weekend trip with a buddy to Dupont/Pisgah for a weekend of riding.  The trails there were eye opening to say the least.  Not eye opening in awesomeness.  I had been there before and knew the trails were outstanding in comparison to the trails in Charlotte (don't get me wrong, the trail builders do the best they can here but they are just limited).  Dupont/Pisgah was eye opening in terms of the fitness one needs to ride there comfortably.  My buddy and I took a 12 mile loop in Dupont on Saturday and it was a blast.  It also crushed me physically.  Pisgah just added to the pain on Sunday morning.  On the way home, while basking in the happiness of a successful trip, I started to reevaluate myself.  Biking every weekend wasn't enough if I wanted to be good at it and not feel like my lungs were about to stage a revolt.  Enter "training"

This is week 4 of me caring about my fitness again.  The first trip to the gym 4 weeks ago left me sore for days and dreading going back.  Now I'm excited to visit.  I've been going 3 days a week during lunch and trying to get in at least 1 mid-week ride on an off day.  Last Saturday I rode Beatty faster than I ever have, passed some people for once, and didn't stop to take a breather at all.  So I'm starting to see some results and that makes me happy.  But not complacent.

Today is a gym day and I'm going to focus on hip and leg strength as well as some exercises aimed at loosening up the hips.  I've found this has really helped out with the lower back pain I'm used to having from riding.  Unfortunately, every time I look outside, I'm reminded that this would have been an awesome day for a mid-week ride, provided the weather man gave me some correct info.  Sigh.

Gag Me

It's almost 12:30 am ET and I haven't gone to bed like I should have an hour ago.  Sigh.  Work will show no mercy on my poor soul in the morning....  Long hours of writing tedious discovery questions and angry letters are on tap.  Unfortunately, all I really want to do is get out and ride my bike.  But, Charlotte has turned into Seattle over the past week so that would be a no go even if I had the time.

I guess my minor fun tomorrow will be a lunch time trip to the gym.  Gotta get ready for some Shining Rock backpacking in a couple weeks and improving my overall "fitness."  Should be a blast...not.

Gag me.

A brief thought

It's been a while since I posted and someone asked me why I stopped the other day.  I had no real answer other than laziness so I'll try to get back in the swing of things.

I don't much about online poker or poker in general but it seems a little wild that the US government apparently just took down the whole industry in the US the other day.  I'm not really sure why people can't gamble online, or gamble in general, but I guess that the system we've created.  It just seems like such a waste of money for the government to really care though.  Over the past weeks I've seen plenty of coverage on the Barry Bonds perjury trial and now the DOJ concluded a 5 year investigation to take down online poker.  Why aren't they investigating the people at the heart of the subprime mortgage industry instead or something that actually matters!

Late Wednesday Night Linkage

So when I was driving home from work on President's Day, the radio station I was listening to had a "name your favorite president" call-in deal.  Somebody actually called in and said Millard Filmore was their vote.  Millard Filmore?!?  Seriously?  So of course I had to do a little investigation on who exactly Millard Filmore was (the 13th President of the United States from New York no less), and you can too, by clicking here.

I just finished an excellent book today call Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes.  The novel, which was simply impossible to put down, follows the journey of USMC Second Lieutenant Mellas as he navigates the travails of battle and politics in the middle of the Vietnam War.  Buy it here.

As of late I've been interested in finding some quality clothing items that are made in the US.  I like to think I'm doing my part to help the economic recovery.  Anyway, I wore a new tie by Southern Proper (based out of Atlanta, Georgia) this week and was impressed.  They have interesting designs and the ties are well made, aren't too thin, and tie a nice, thick knot.  I went with the Sweet Magnolia in Navy, which can be found here.  When in Charlotte, Southern Proper ties can be purchased at Fairclough & Co, which is simply a great shop over in the Myer's Park area and where I purchased my tie.  Here's their website.

I was happy to get an email from my favorite outdoor shop today, Diamond Brand Outdoors in Arden, NC, to let me know they've launched their new online store.  The brick and mortar shop is cavernous, stocked with a great selection of gear, and staffed with a cadre of knowledgeable and useful employees.  Needless to say, I'm excited that I can give them my business when I'm not in Arden.  Check it out!

Good Riddance 2010 Taxes

So in between cleaning the house today I devoted time to filing our taxes.  A little while in it became pretty obvious that there's a strong policy in favor of marriage and in favor of home ownership.  We always talked about this in tax class, but having never been married or owning a home until last year, I just sort of took it for granted.  Well I saw how thing would've shaken out without being married or owning the home and now I'm pretty happy with both decisions.  Ha!  All this being said, I think things could be a little better.  For instance, why do we eliminate a credit for mortgage insurance premiums once people make a certain amount of income per year?  The only reason we, and I mean my wife and I personally, have mortgage insurance in the first place is because we devote a large chunk of our income towards student loans and not towards a nice down payment on the house.  This only leads to another point, why do we limit the credit for student loan interest?  Married couples filing jointly only get a credit of $2500 paid towards student loan interest per year.  That's absurd.  One of my law school loans managed to cover this.  I hear all the time how the federal government is in favor of people owning homes but are they not equally in favor of people pursuing higher education?  It just seems silly to me.

The one bright side of the tax ordeal today was that TurboTax made it relatively uncomplicated. So that's something.

So who am I and what am I about?

So obviously my name is Stephen and I was born in Marietta, South Carolina.  After attending the University of South Carolina for many years, I finally graduated law school in 2008 and moved to Charlotte.  After passing the bar exam, I got a job in Monroe, NC, where I currently practice family law, among other things.

I met my wife, Kirsten, in law school and we were married last September.  We recently returned from our honeymoon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and also have a dog, Harry.

Kirsten and I snowshoeing in the Tetons

In my free time, I really enjoy photography and hanging out in the outdoors.  I'm a big fan of hiking and backpacking and hope to use this blog to detail some of my trips.  I also enjoy reading, music, and a little of bit of fashion, all of which I plan to incorporate here.  I was diagnosed with melanoma last fall and after successful surgery, these days I'm really focusing on living each day to the fullest.  I think this will be fun, and who knows, maybe someone will actually read this blog from time to time.