True story: my first time hiking amidst the misty, ancient grandeur of coastal California redwoods, I traipsed for nearly an hour wearing old 99-cent-store flip-flops. No rugged moisture-wicking boots, no performance fleece, no specialty gear of any kind. Just a free map, my poor sense of direction, and two thin slips of rubber underfoot.

So how did it all turn out? Well, I got out alive. Eventually. I also learned a few things-about old-growth forests and the unexpected delight of being unprepared--but you'll have to stay tuned for future installments of The Outsider, my new tell-all blog on LIME, for all the embarrassing details.

In upcoming posts, I'll share my latest (mis)adventures as I strive to be more physically active and have fun moving my limbs, both indoors and out. Every other week, I'll answer questions like:

• Do tambourines really belong in a yoga [0] class? (True story #2.) And what's this I'm chanting?

• When your kayak's headed straight for rocks covered with barking sea lions, do you a) panic, b) paddle like hell c) cry?

• What's yoga class like in a foreign language?

• Camping: fun or miserable?

For now, I'll let you in on a secret: I'm horribly unqualified to blog about nature and fitness. I have no immediate plans to scale Everest [1] and regale you with the harrowing tale. I'm a proud beginner and a humble outsider (especially when I'm literally outside). I may live in dreamy California, with its toned surfers, hikers, hang-gliders, and ashtanga [2] addicts, who move through a surreal Western landscape of forests, dunes, beaches, lakes, bluffs, hot springs, and alpine meadows, but at heart, I'm an east-coast urbanite. I find poetry in street grids, mass transit, well-mixed cocktails, performance art, and staying up late.

Don't get me wrong--I'm equally awed by Sequoia sempervirens [3] as by soaring skyscrapers. They both point me to the sky. I'm just new here, so forgive my mistakes. Or laugh at them! Then watch me discover new pleasures, new limits, and a bit more of myself.