Drapetomaniac

Tonight I take a bus to Houston so that I can bike for two days back to Austin.

Here’s a few lessons I’ve learned from going from zero miles to 150:

• If it keeps raining every time you want to bike or train, ride in the rain. Turns out it’s supposed to rain the weekend of the ride, so at least I have practice now
• If you’ve never used gears on a bike, ask a few people, because you’re probably still using them wrong
• Higher gears means about 20 lower hearts beats per minute and a saved min per mile. After figuring this out, my fear of a heart attack decreased substantially.
• Don’t bike at high speeds with your mouth open unless you don’t have any protein bars handy and need the extra nutrition
• The “old” ladies passing you aren’t illusions, but your youth might be.
• Don’t get discouraged with the big guy in a Santa suit passes you. Especially if you’ve already gone 25 miles and this is his only lap of the day
• Bikers aren’t whiny (Well, many aren’t). You really will be honked at by aggressive drivers who, even if you are nowhere near them and in a bike lane
• When the driver honks at you, both of your heart rates are racing. One from stress, one from exercise. Guess who lives longer?

Having pulled off the first successful nonprofit film festival, the team at Lights. Camera. Help. has started filing for 501(c)(3) status to better fulfill out mission.

Last year, we received over 140 submissions and showed 20 films for or about nonprofits.  The results was the movie “Art From the Streets” winning $1,000 for a Austin, TX charity which helps homeless artists sell their works.

You can help nonprofits have their films shown, as well as take advantage of our education programs and workshops to tell their story using movies.

Donate now if you want to help kick start this mission.

http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/?p=521

Austin Time Exchange Network

The Austin Time Exchange Network (ATEN) is one of the many Time Banks in the United States and around the world which allows local communities to exchanges services without depending on cash for absolutely everything.  This has become more important as people find themselves with less cash, strained employment and crunched credit.

Boasting almost 300 members, the Austin Time Exchange is approaching four years of exchanges between members of the Austin community and surrounding cities. More »