Vanilla smile and a gorgeous strawberry kiss.

Today was a great day for a mini-road trip. Some relatives that I only see once per year were visiting in Palm Springs, so myself and several other long-long relatives who live in So Cal all drove up to meet. It was an afternoon of family stories, old memories, lazy breezes, cool drinks and sunshine by the pool.

On the drive out there, I got reacquainted with my good friend Robert Smith. Robert and I go way back. He's helped me through some rough times/some happy times by providing a constant soundtrack to life in the back of my mind.

The Cure have a song, an album, a style, a lyric to suit every mood.

On this particular sunny day with blue skies that went on forever, the absolute perfect song to listen to with windows down and Robert blaring is "Mint Car". People unfamiliar with the band pigeon-hole them into a mopey/goth/dark/depressing band. But really that couldn't be farther from the truth. However, there are even hardcore fans who chastise Robert for making happy, poppy songs because they want to pigeon-hole the band into mopey, dark, depressing band they can so often be.

Mint Car is a beautiful song that Robert sings with almost tongue-in-cheek sweetness. It reminds me of that excitement you feel at a new ("mint") relationship where you feel giddy and lying awake at night full of wonder about what lies ahead. The lyrics to this one aren't too cryptic about the meaning.

Robert couldn't be cuter in the video too. I've been known to stop the DVD and just stare at Robert in his red CCCP hockey jersey. (Check out around 2:40 in the video).

"Mint Car" - The Cure, Wild Mood Swings, 1996

The sun is up
I'm so happy I could scream!
And there's nowhere else in the world I’d rather be
Than here with you
It's perfect
It's all I ever wanted
I almost can't believe that it's for real

I really don't think it gets any better than this
Vanilla smile
And a gorgeous strawberry kiss!
Birds sing we swing
Clouds drift by and everything is like a dream
It's everything I wished

Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it again?
I know we should!!!

The sun is up
I'm so fizzy I could burst!
You wet through and me headfirst
Into this is perfect
It's all I ever wanted
Ow! It feels so big it almost hurts!

Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it some more?
I know we should!!!

Say it will always be like this
The two of us together
It will always be like this
Forever and ever and ever...

Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it all the time?
I know that we should!!!

Mint car video
Uploaded by mellonsmile. - News videos hot off the press.

Flip flops should come with a warning label.

Surely, you must be wondering what happened to me. Why haven't I posted for 2 weeks? You probably thought that I must be outside bounding through green fields and riding my bikes to new heights.

Wrong.

I've really been depressed and de-motivated after what I'll call "the incident".

What happened you ask? Well, first let's review Newton's laws of motion:

1. First law: Every body remains in a state of rest or uniform motion unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force.
2. Second law: A body of mass (m) subject to a force (F) undergoes an acceleration (a) that has the same direction as the force and a magnitude that is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass, i.e., F = ma.
3. Third law: The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear. This means that whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force −F on the first body. F and −F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

For this story, we'll say that I'm the mass (m), my forward motion is the acceleration (a), and the concrete sidewalk is the opposite force (-F).

I was casually walking into a store with my Mom to shop. It was raining and I was wearing flip flops. All of the sudden, I had a realization that I was hydroplaning.

"This may not end well", I said to myself.

My right foot instinctively shot out to stabilize my balance and in doing so, the friction force of my foot on top of the flip flop was compromised due to rain. Therefore, my toes went off the edge of my flip flop directly. into. the. concrete.

So if we apply Newton's Law, my rather large mass, times the acceleration of me hurrying into a store to get out of the rain exerted a rather large force all onto one unlucky toe. The toe next to my big toe.

You know that feeling you get when something is really, really wrong? Well I didn't have that feeling just yet. I was in the mode of standing on the hurt toe with my other foot to apply constant pressure. I wasn't sure what I would see if I looked down. My Mom told me it would be okay if I cried, but I do want to point out that I did not cry. I acted very strong. I acted like this sort of thing happens all the time and that I have appendages of steel. I was also very proud that I managed to stay upright despite the hydroplaning.

For several minutes I stood there, afraid to stop the constant pressure. The pain was pretty intense. Following those few minutes I started to feel like I was going to pass out because I remembered my fear of finger and toe injuries.

Yes, I have a phobia of injuring fingers and toes. You know how when a football player jams a finger on the field and he goes to the sidelines and the trainer pops it out, slaps him on the butt, and tells him to get back in the game? Well that is one of my biggest fears. Not the butt slapping part, but the finger pulling part.

The next phase of my coping turned into denial.

"I'm fine Mom. It'll be okay." I said.

But it wasn't. It hurt like a &$^@. I could tell that something wasn't right. For the next 4 days, I hobbled around thinking that it would get better on it's own without any external pulling. However, by Day 5, I was less afraid of the pulling and just wanted to know why it wasn't feeling better. So, I went to the doctor. The doctor did not pull on it. The doctor sort of laughed and said that wearing flip flops in the rain isn't a very good idea. I disagree. A billion Chinese people do it every day.

The x-ray came back and showed why it wasn't better. There was a triangular chunk of bone floating at the joint where it should be attached. Ouch.

No activities for 6 weeks, the doctor said. No biking, no high heels, and certainly no running. Ironically, I can't even wear flip flops because the part that goes between the toes hurts too much.

So I was depressed. I was looking forward to getting back into my training routine to prepare for my next triathlon on 2/26. Now that plan is out the window.

But, I'm trying to pull myself out of the depression because this soon will pass. Just hope my motivation returns when my body is healed.

Glancing back, charging ahead.

It's 2011.

Hard to believe, but it's here. I have been reflecting on some goals (I don't like to call them resolutions because resolutions are so often broken or forgotten) that I set last year and I'm happy to report that I did pretty well! I took more time for myself, I got into better shape, and I completed my first triathlon.

While I still have a long way to go in terms of where I'd like to be, I'm looking at this challenge as a journey and I plan to savor each step along the way until I reach my goals.

I'm looking forward to meeting new people along the way and clearing out those who I incorrectly judged as having my best interests at heart. I find that for many years I've been expending too much energy chasing after those who do not deserve my time and attention. My energy and affection is not infinite and would be better spent internally and among those I hold dear. Friends are those who you can count on...someone you know you can call at midnight when you've locked yourself out and need a place to crash and know that they are happy to have you there. Friends know all there is to know about you and when they don't know something, they ask because they are interested. Acquaintances are those who enter your life from time to time when it is convenient, but don't care to check in for the long haul. While it's important to have both in your life, I'm going to spend more time focusing on my friends.

My motto for this year will be "Less is More." This is true for a lot of things: holiday sweaters, bath salts, flip flops, brussel sprouts. I'm planning to make an inventory of my personal belongings and evaluate the items that I use and those that I don't. Items that I haven't used or clothes I haven't worn in years will be donated to charity. So, if you've had an eye on something at my place, now might be the time to let me know! Also, this new motto might be from watching several episodes of "Hoarders" on TLC. Just to be sure, I'm going to wait 30 days like they make you wait before you buy a gun. Also, I have not applied to buy a gun.

"There comes a time in life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. So, love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy." -Author Unknown