Le Tour de Dyslexia: Basic Information

As everyone should know, since I mentioned it like maybe 4 times, I am going on a bike tour at the beginning of the summer. Actually, it is not just I, it is Lexi, Dan, and I, who will be going on the tour. We plan on devoting about two weeks for getting from Newark to Portland, Maine, which will probably end up being around 500 miles. The exact route is still in progress (we only have up to day 3.5 completed). The general plan is to ride up through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York and then cut East to the coast of Massachusetts where we will ride the shore North into New Hampshire and then Maine. To get back, we are taking a train from Portland to Wilmington. I have not been updating my blog a lot, but this will probably keep it going strong, at least until school is over. I intend on updating it with the official route and landmarks, gear lists, and pictures. Since I don't have any of that stuff ready as of now I'll just cover the basics today.

For those who don't know what bike touring is, as I didn't even know six months ago, it is basically going on a long bike ride with everything you need to survive with you (tent, clothes, food, etc.). Below is an example of what a moderately loaded touring bike looks like.

There are many options when it comes to the amount of stuff you bring with you on a tour. There is what is referred to as "Credit Card Touring", which means you pack very little and buy things as they are needed, such as food and hotel rooms. Then there is "Light and Fast Touring", which is self sustaining in that you bring your shelter and cooking supplies with you but you try to keep the weight of your load down by packing moderately. The other option for touring is to just put as much on your bike as you can.

For our tour, we will probably be somewhere in between "Light and Fast" touring, and pack whatever you can touring. Not to get into the Equipment List that is to come but we will be bringing tents, sleeping bags, cooking supplies, some food, and a moderate amount of clothes.

I Mean, It Makes Sense

Something that I saw on the internet a while ago put an idea into my head, and yesterday I followed up on that idea. I came up with the title of this blog, "The Mumbler" because it was brought to my attention this year, more so than in the past, that a lot of what I say is incoherent. Often I don't even catch my mumblings but sometimes, especially when I am trying to explain something, I can tell, and so can everyone else, that I am having trouble expressing my ideas. I've had a tough time trying reason out why I am so orally inept when my thoughts, in my opinion, are far more intelligent. As a future teacher, if I gave my thoughts an A+ then my words would get a C. The proposal that I am about to make may shed some light on my situation although I admit it may ultimately be faulty. My proposition may seem like a stretch in order to excuse my poor ability to expresses myself, but I think most of my readers will agree with the connections that I make.

I propose that I have a minor case of dyslexia, "It is [...] very possible for a person to have only mild symptoms of dyslexia."(2) After researching on the internet, I found that there are many symptoms of Dyslexia but not all have to be met in order for a person to be successfully diagnosed with it. I think that I carry enough of the symptoms to base a fairly strong argument on it. I also think that many of the people who have spent time with me would be able to verify most of these symptoms, although not all. Here are the symptoms or quotes from websites that I think I exhibit followed by my further explanation of them.

"Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking." (1)

I think this is the most obvious physical symptom that I exhibit, as anyone who lives with me can attest to. I can remember a handful of times when this has occurred as I recalled stories or something I had seen earlier in the day or week.


"Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces." (1)

I don't know if anyone can verify this but I know I have been complimented on my long term memory a few times in the past. I can often recall situations that occurred at a really young age. I think this symptom is most predominantly seen in my location recognition and memory, though.

"Prone to ear infections; sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products." (1)

Probably only my Mom can attest to this one, but I had a lot of ear infections as a child.

"Most dyslexic children and adults have significant directionality confusion."(3)

Examples of this symptom include confusion between "up/down, over/under, before/after, etc.", but I am fairly certain that I don't have any problems with those. The one I do have a problem with is Left/Right. Anyone who has driven under my directions most likely can remember at least one situation when I said one direction but really meant the other. It usually takes a few seconds of thought for me to visualize left versus right.

"b-d confusion is a classic warning sign."(3)

This is one of the symptoms that I believe I am the only one aware of, mainly because it usually occurs in the notes that I take for classes. This symptom is associated with the difficulty distinguishing left from right, since the only difference between a b and a d is that one faces the left and the other faces the right. I actually made this mistake today in class as I was taking notes.

"Many dyslexic people are, in fact, very good readers, but struggle tremendously with spelling or writing."(2)
"Their spelling is far worse than their reading"(3)
"Written work shows numerous signs of spelling uncertainty--numerous eraures, crossing out, etc."(3)

I don't think anyone can argue against me on this one. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a horrible speller. This is a problem that I have been dealing with for a very long time, but I had always thought that it was just a problem on its own. My problem spelling was one of the other major outliers in my intelligence that made look into possible reasons. For the amount that I read, write, and am interested in English/Language Arts, my spelling has never improved and has always been my weak spot.

"Some dyslexics suffer from poor handwriting skills. The word dysgraphia is often used to describe a difficulty in this area, and is characterized by the following symptoms:

• Generally illegible writing.
• Letter inconsistencies.
• Irregular letter sizes and shapes.
• Unfinished letters."(4)

I have always been confused by my hand writing. It is extremely messy and often lacks conformity. I wish I had a scanner so I could show everyone a page of my school notes. I have recently commented to someone about my hand writing, and how I used to wish that it was uniform like everyone else. If I take my time, I can control my writing a little bit better but it still often lacks consistency. It is odd though because my cursive is pretty good. I try every semester to take notes in one of my classes where there is not a lot to write down in cursive, and it is always a lot more legible than my print.


(1) http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm
(2) http://www.dyslexia.com/qasymptoms.htm
(3) http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html
(4) http://dyslexia.learninginfo.org/symptoms.htm

Procrastination

"Procrastination is like masturbation; In the end you're just screwing your self."

I am currently in the process of procrastinating. I have a 5 page paper due tomorrow but I can't seem to get myself to do it. I sat down an hour ago in front of my computer and all I have accomplished is opening up the "Word" window for me to potentially type in, eating two pop tarts of the blueberry type, and drinking a wonderful mug of white tea. The main contributor to my procrastination is that I get distracted by the internet too easily. So far my web journeys have taken me to: e-mail, letsrun/fourm (here is a good video that I linked to on the site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kspB8upM8rc), Facebook, Youtube (Lilly Allen "Not Fair", Lilly Allen "The Fear", Lilly Allen "Fuck You"), and then Facebook again. I then opened up a book that I need to consult for my paper and briefly skimmed it (about 5 minutes). At this point I reopened the "Word" document window for my paper but as I did so my mind quickly became overwhelmed with the burden of the paper, which honestly isn't all that tough, and I retreated back to the internet, this time accompanied by me eating miniature Resse's Cups and Rollos. I think the miniature Resse's Cups have the best ratio of peanut butter to chocolate, so I ate a bunch.

It was at this point in my studies that I realized that i was procrastinating, and further, that I was enjoying myself (another parallel between procrastination and and masturbation). "How could I continue my process of procrastination?" I thought. Thats when I decided to write this blog. (I realize that I really need to get started on my paper so I take a small break from this entry in order to get some paper done*).

Oh, Jesus, I just remembered that tonight I went to Trader Joe's and my total cost was a lot more than I thought it was going to be. Frustrated by the lofty toll, I looked at my receipt and realize that I am a dumb ass. The chicken that I thought was $7 was actually $7 a pound and had a total cost of $17. Sometimes I frustrate myself. That chicken was no where near being worth $17, but it was probably the best chicken you could get, and that is why I thought it was such a deal for $7. It was individually packaged by piece, organic, ethically raised, and cleaned very thoroughly. Oh well, I guess I will eat it very slowly. Going to places like Trader Joe's always makes me sad because it reminds me that I will never be rich, unless I marry into money. (If anyone who reads this is rich and has a sister* that they would like to propose to me, send me an e-mail with a/s/l and a picture. All entries sent without a picture will not be considered, unless their last name is Bourke. Let me remind all of you that I am respectful, funny, really good looking, and talented. Who would not want that at their Thanksgiving table?)

Right after that little "I will never be rich" rant, I became motivated enough to get working on my paper, and did so for a good hour. During that time, I completed enough to be confident that I can finish the rest tomorrow. That means that I am no longer procrastinating, only putting off sleep, so forgive me if my entry lacks the vigor and passion that it did during my time of true procrastination.

Looking back on my night and past procrastinations, I have generated a theory that I would like all of my readers to consider. Once started on a paper there is no anxiety due to the work that one is consumed in. The process of writing a paper is fairly straightforward and simple: An intro here, a thesis there, a quote, some support, and the occasional transition sentence. I don't mind writing papers. Sometimes, I even wonder if the procrastinating that I am doing (ex. checking facebook for the fourth time in an hour) is more worthwhile than the work that I could/should be doing, and often times it is not. The problem then must lie in the actual act of beginning the work. As I mentioned earlier, I procrastinate because when I try to begin work, my brain instantly becomes overloaded. Don't ask me with what, because I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I would say that it is with the fear of thinking. I do not understand that though, because I am putting more thought into this blog than I did with my paper. Shoot, I need to go to bed I got a tempo in five and a half hours.

On a side note I would like to wish Steve Vincent, one of my many dedicated readers, a happy birthday. He is turning 20 and so hope he will stop whining like moody teenagers do.


*I actually did not take a break at this point, because I immediately remembered how I got screwed with chicken tonight at Trader Joe's.
*Needless to say this sister needs to be good looking.

March 8, 2009: Running Log

Running up to the C.S.B. my legs were feeling pretty good. I wanted to take it pretty easy today because I was trying to recover this week. The pace, once I started running with the group, was faster than I wanted it to be, though. The first mile was around 6:30. By the time we reached the second mile I was already falling off the back of the group but Hallenbeck kept blasting the pace. He didn't care one bit that I was struggling. If it was Mitch or Burke that fell off the pace he would have slowed down, and he -not to mention the whole team-would have stopped if Steve had a seizure. I get no respect on the team, especially from Hallenbeck. As I was struggling today he was blasting at almost tempo pace with no shirt on and his abs and back rippling. Finally at 7 miles he turned around and I ran back with Steve and Kemmerle.

Or Bust

I'm sure everyone has been on the edge of their seats, waiting for me to update my blog. Sorry to keep all of you (I'm thinking at least 75 dedicated readers) waiting. I guess I should first mention how Fast Track turned out. It was bad. I think I might have still been a little sick because everyone in my house raced poorly and we have all been under the weather for the past week. Although it was severely disappointing that I couldn't manage to secure a spot on the final U.D. top 10 indoor 5k times list, I am still pretty confident that on another night (one in which I wasn't sick, and it wasn't so hot on the track) I could have run 14:45. I am now going to go back to the basics for a few weeks until Outdoor season starts.

What to Make of This Thing Called a Blog

Since my resurrection of this blog last night I have been doing some thinking. What do I want the purpose if this blog to be? I am fairly certain that I do not want it to simply be an online journal where I vent on my day, write of my aspirations, or publicize my sexual conquests (or lack thereof). I also don't want my blog to strictly be about running, although, undoubtedly it will come up every so often. I could probably safely claim that this blog will allow the readers a small window into my head, so that they do not have to rely strictly on the verbalization of my thoughts. That is probably all this blog will be, but that is most likely enough to keep readers entertained.

IC4As or Bust

Coming into this Indoor Season I had very low expectations for my performances. Honestly, if it wasn't for the 280 free points (280 dollars worth of campus food) I probably would had taken the season off. I was made apparent very quickly, though, that I had made the right choice to join the team when I ran a 15:02 5k in the second race of the season. That race unexpectedly lowered my 5k p.r. by 16 seconds, suddenly forcing me to reconsider my goals for the season and the rest of the year. I did not expect to drop a time like this so early in the season. I assumed that qualifying for the IC4A meet in Boston would be just out of my grasp this winter but after my new p.r. the opportunity was now in my hands. It is now 5 days out from my last chance to qualify for the meet at FastTrack Invitational that is being held at the New York Armory. I have run some good races and workouts since that first fateful 5k and things are looking good. The only thing that worries me is that I caught a minor illness a few days ago that kept me from steady training for the past 4 days, but things are feeling better now. I have never run Indoor Track in college but I now wish I had. It is a shame that the program has been cut and we will not have the same opportunities next year as a club sport. It is do or die this Friday. There is no "next year" to qualify for IC4As. This is a feeling that I will being experiencing a lot more when my true last year roles around next year. As for now though, the time is 14:46. I will deal with next year when it comes.