---
title: "Trying New Things, Changing Interests"
date: 2012-05-09
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2012/05/09/trying-new-things-changing-interests/
---
# Trying New Things, Changing Interests
My wife, [Shannon](https://seagullfountainblog.wordpress.com), seems to follow the same path as well at times. About six months ago, she discovered yoga. Shannon has never been so fully engaged in any activity like this (other than reading, which she'll do all night). Now she goes to yoga about three to four times a week. At her encouragement, I tried yoga -- in our living room following a DVD, mostly because I wanted to do some stretching. I learned that yoga is much more than stretching. It involves difficult poses and movements -- more than I had the energy for.

Like Shannon and her discovery of yoga, I too have discovered new things. Since I started [biking to work](https://idratherbewriting.com/2012/04/11/finally-biking-to-work/), I've gotten into cycling more. Last week I biked 97 miles. My commute is 11 miles each way, if I go the regular route. If there's a headwind, it takes about an hour. If there's a tailwind, it takes about 40 minutes. Winds are strong in Utah, so they aren't something to underestimate.

I've made quite a few additions to my bike since I first brought it home from my dad's house in Florida: new pedals and toe clips, a pump, pannier bags, and new tires. I've supplemented the gear with cycling clothes as well -- padded bike shorts, bike gloves, sports shirts and pants, wind breakers, and so on. I'm now on the lookout for a helmet mirror and a screaming yellow cycling jacket.

While searching for cycling tips, I came across a really interesting guy on the Internet: [Durianrider](http://durianrider.org/). At first, I just thought he was just a cyclist, and I listened to his [tips for riding](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlbveG2Qrhg), which include techniques like hydrating, using clipless pedals, sleeping longer at night, and so on. But it turns out Duranrider is much more than a cyclist. He's a major health activist and has more than 400 videos online, many of them very blunt, [like this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQr-pE_KQU).

Durianrider is a strong proponent of the raw, high-carb vegan diet, and so he eats something like [30 bananas a day](http://30bananasaday.com) (mostly in smoothies, I think). His philosophy is that you need to eat carbs to have energy. Despite the fact that other diets, such as the Paleo diet, dismiss carbs, Durianrider says you have to eat carbs to have energy to lead an active lifestyle. He says you must eat, but you must eat the right foods -- plants, fruits, and other real food. Anyway, I am more and more fascinated by the way diet affects life. Mentally I align with everything Durianrider says, but food is a lifestyle choice, and it's sometimes hard to change that lifestyle to change the food.

Biking to work has another side effect: audio books. I have about an hour and a half each day to listen to audio books, and [I really enjoy listening to fiction](https://idratherbewriting.com/2012/02/21/why-i-love-audible/). I just finished *[The Eye of the World](http://www.qksrv.net/click-5620807-10273919?url=http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B0036NHZ10&qid=1336491139&sr=1-1&source_code=COMA0213WS031709)*, a fantasy book by Robert Jordan that has a cult following so much than [JordanCon](http://www.jordancon.org/) is a conference dedicated to his books.

After *The Eye of the World*, I needed a break from the fantasy genre, so I'm currently listening to *[State of Wonder](http://www.qksrv.net/click-5620807-10273919?url=http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B0052OUFO0&qid=1336491187&sr=1-1&source_code=COMA0213WS031709)*, by Ann Patchett. It's about a scientist who goes down to the Amazon to study a tribe of people where women bear children throughout their life (until they die in old age). The scientist who goes to study this tribe -- ultimately to create a fertility drug for post-menopausal women -- doesn't communicate her research for more than two years, so another employee is sent down to persuade her to return. That employee dies of a fever. Another employee is sent down, this one a former student of the scientist. When she tracks down the scientist in the Amazon, the scientist turns out to be nearly mythic in her dominating character -- and her research takes an interesting, ethical turn.