Did you know that your couch could kill you?

Yes, that inviting haven ofcomfort in your living room could actually be overstuffed with carcinogens. Every day, your friendly sofa may be burping off deadly gases and cancer-causing dust may be gathering on your lovely wool carpet.

Go flip over the cushions on your couch right now and look for a tag. If it says that it complies with “California Technical Bulletin 117,” then you’ve got a killer couch.

Arlene Blum has the data to prove it, but so far not enough people are listening. Arlene, a biophysical chemist at the University of California, Berkeley, is the founder of the Green Science Policy Institute. She also happens to be a pioneering mountaineer who led the first all-women teams up Denali and Annapurna in the 1970s.

The sands of time play before my eyes as I type.  I see an hourglass, half-full, half-empty, depending on how you look at it.  Today is my dog’s birthday, and mine too.  She’s nine years old; I’m 48.  Sometimes, getting older can be a good thing- like when you enter a new age group for PPP.  But, the grey sprinkling Sprocket’s muzzle and the bag of blue ice resting on my shoulder make me only too aware that we are past the out-and-back turnaround and headed toward the finish line.

A friend posted this familiar quote on his Facebook wall the other day: “Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘WOO HOO what a ride!’”

The closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are almost here and most of Bend will probably go into TV withdrawal. I mean, how can you sit there and watch Desperate Housewives after the thrill of seeing Apolo Anton Ohno in action?

ICE CRIT

Seriously, is there anything more fun to watch than a criterium on razor blades? The next best thing,  at least for those fans missing the winter sports action, may be the 2010 Ice Crit on March 6th at Wanoga Sno-park. Registration happens at the event at 6:30 p.m. and the race starts at 7 p.m. Any kind of bike is OK and costumes are encouraged. If I recall correctly, there was some bare skin at the last one. Race fee is $10 with profits going to COTA.

I should have really written this column last week to make it into the pre-Valentine’s Day Source “Love Issue.” But sometimes you just come up a day late and a greeting card short. At any rate, I thought it might be amusing, if not timely, to comment on the outdoor dating scene in Bend.

The other day I skinned to the top of Tumalo with a girlfriend and discovered an impromptu party at the summit. There were shiny, happy people everywhere, munching on Clif Bars, peeling off skins, soaking in the view. My friend and I noted especially the good-looking guys clad in soft-shell and beaming endorphins who were quick to strike up friendly conversation. Advice about the best line in the bowl, homemade brownies and cell phone numbers were shared. OK, I made up that part about the phone numbers, but on the way back down, we declared the top of Tumalo on a sunny winter day the best pick-up spot in Bend. At least way better than the Astro Lounge. Apparently, though, Cog Wild is now hosting Mountain Biker Happy Hour at the Marz Bistro on Wednesday nights.

We have it pretty good here, but sometimes you just get a little jaded with yet another lap of Woody’s or Zig Zag. So last week I decided to try something new—the 2010 Sierra Avalanche Ski-Orienteering Championships, a week full of Ski-O races in Tahoe. The field was stacked with several top Ski-O-ers competing for spots on the U.S. National Team for World Championships next year in Sweden.

Although I’ve done a little “Foot-O,” this was my first time doing it on skis. Ski-O totally breaks up the drudgery of just another ski race. Sixty seconds before your start, you receive a map plotted with about ten “control points” (orange and white one-foot cubes generally hanging from trees) to go find in order. Sounds easy… until you get to Intersection 15 at Tahoe Donner with nine trails radiating outward.