D.I.Y. Standing Desk

Being a graduate student is dangerous work. For example, your lifestyle is so sedentary that you may develop severe pain in your hips, lower back, and shoulder and neck areas. Also, this lifestyle will apparently kill you. Recent headlines*:

Is Sitting a Lethal Activity? (NYT)
Your Office Chair is Killing You (BusinessWeek)
How to Stop Your Office Chair from Killing You (Forbes)
How Sitting All Day is Damaging Your Body and How You Can Counteract It (Lifehacker)

The solution probably includes regular exercise, more intentional activity, less laziness. But what to do if you've sworn off exercise until your dissertation is due, despite your persistent and distracting pain? People seem to be pretty excited about the "standing desk." I've seen one or two while walking past the philosophy offices, and they look pretty convenient. But they're also expensive, and though there are some plausible D.I.Y. set-ups described on the internet, I have neither the time nor the space in my studio to construct one.

Good thing that I already have one!

Turns out that all you need is a baker's rack from the Flower (a gift to me when she moved in with the Fat), and a GIANT Cuisinart toaster oven! While I still sit to do most of my writing and editing, I like to grade papers with this arrangement. Here's hoping this keeps my body from completely falling apart in the next month.


*Apparently even on my blog, I can't resist creating a select bibliography.

Le Tour de Washtenaw County

Today was the start of a new adventure: riding a bicycle! Yes, I learned to ride a bike as a child. But it's been a long time since I've "gone for a ride" for pleasure – fifteen years, in fact. The Fat and I had decided to go out on our bikes that fateful day long ago, and while we were passing through a nearby neighborhood, a car passed me on the left. I was so startled that I promptly drove my bike into the curb and flew off into the grass. No real harm done, but I was shaken by my own incompetence, and the Fat swore never to take me riding again! I acquired a few unrelated concussions in high school, so after that, we all decided it was best for me to stick to my own two feet as much as possible.

Dave enjoys cycling, though, and starting suggesting I join him a couple summers ago. Recently, the stars began to align: he acquired a new speedy road bike from my friend last week, so now he had two bikes in his possession – perfect for riding together! I decided that if I were going to get used to bicycling again, Ann Arbor is a good place to start: it has an extensive network of bike paths that are separated and protected from car traffic, and most of these routes are quite scenic. I got a new helmet a few days ago, so we were all set!

Here we go:

Today, we went for a short and gentle ride along the Huron River, made even shorter by the fact that I got a flat tire at our destination, an old historic mill. However, I did not crash the bike into a wall, or another person, and I did not fall off even a little along the way...SUCCESS!

Annual Fitness Day

It's been hot around here. I'm grateful that, despite the record heat and unpredictable storms, my apartment still has power and that I've been able to go to the library to soak up the "free" air conditioning! But now that it's cooled off to normal summer temperatures, D. and I decided it was time for "Annual Fitness Day at the Park"! This rare orgy of sports-like activity reminds me of the annual Presidential Fitness Exam in elementary school. Did you have to do that, too? When suddenly we got all competitive in events that we never practiced, like the "vee-sit-and-reach" and the "shuttle run" and the especially-dreaded "pull-ups." Apparently, if you performed well enough on enough tests, one could receive a certificate at the end-of-the-year awards assembly. I wouldn't know.

Our Fitness Day is a bit like that. All year long, I avoid airborne objects. Suddenly, I'm supposed to try to intercept them? What a bad idea. Fortunately, D. is patient with me and can coax me through that difficult game known as "catch." This year's Fitness Day involved tennis, baseball, catch, frisbee, and basketball. Although we did not play any of these sports competitively, I would like to note that I defeated D. in the basketball game of Horse! Well, not really, since, while D. was playing HORSE, I was playing CAPYBARA.

D. modeling his sporty look and new hairdo

My big family reunion is coming up in August. My cousin Andrew loves to organize games, and with the upcoming Summer Olympics in London, I wouldn't be surprised if Andrew is inspired to put together the Tam Family Olympics. If he does, we'll be ready!