Thursday, December 30, 2004

Wireless rocks! Oh, and I'm momentarily back in my apartment.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Have I mentioned how much I love Peyton Manning?

Thursday, December 23, 2004

I was going to write about the cold, about rape, about ipods, about good books I've been reading, about the absurdity of gift exchanges. But instead, I am going to go home, pack, and go to bed because tomorrow I get to go HOME! (Yes, it's a little complicated to have to leave home to go home, but it's nothing new for me.)

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

When you work on the fourth floor, hearing someone trying to break into your office through a window is more than a little frightening. Luckily, it was just a window washer and what sounded like a break-in was simply a cleaning. I think I've been alone in the office a bit too much this week.

In other news, I finished my Christmas shopping on my lunch break and almost managed to walk out without a present for myself. But when you find a book at 20% off that you've been thinking about buying for months and you forgot to put it on your Christmas list, you just have to purchase it. (And don't tell me to go to the library. I do go, and I have countless books out right now. Some books you just need to own.)

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

I think I need to just be single/celibate for a long while. I don't know what makes me think I'll be any more successful at that right now than I ever have been before, but it's a nice holiday thought :) Breaking hearts, however inadvertantly, just sucks.

Saturday, December 18, 2004

You know you're overeducated when...

Jacki and I went to a show last night, at an upstairs theater of Second City. A few of her friends from college were involved with the show (writers, actors), so she wanted to be supportive. The show was a series of comedic sketches. The sketch that should have been the funniest for me involved Matthew going to a publisher with his Gospel. The editor's response was that he'd already seen similar stories from Mark, John, and Luke, and they needed to spice up the story a bit to sell it. The sketch had definite promise, but I could get past the idea of Matthew being last. See, most biblical historians agree that the chronological order of the Gospels is: Mark, Matthew, Luke, John. John was almost certainly around 20 years after Matthew, so the sketch makes no sense. There were countless other historical/biblical inaccuracies in the sketch that bothered me too. Dammit, I want to be able to enjoy comedy shows and DaVinci Code just like everyone else. Stupid education :)

Friday, December 17, 2004

"Today is a slacker day in my office so I'm just reading company emails but I figured that yours was more of a priority at this point."

That kind of shit freaks me out. I don't want to be anyone's top priority :)
I almost tripped over a pigeon this morning. I found that disturbing, especially since I was walking, not running.

I think you have to admit you're an adult when you start getting Christmas cards from your dry cleaners. Especially when they're addressed to "Mr. and Mrs..."

There is such high turnover of staff at my Thai place that they have once again forgotten who I am. Thank God.

At what point in this whole personal ad thing do I have to actually meet the guy? With one guy who responded there's now been ten emails sent between us. He asked for my picture, so I sent it. I didn't ask for his, and he didn't volunteer it. I know his favorite authors, how he spent Christmas as a kid and where he will be next August. I don't know his last name, where he lives, or what he does for a living (except that money is not a motivating factor and he told me that unprompted). This quasi-friendship/relationship or whatever that's developing seems a little unnatural. And honestly, I don't really want to know what he looks like or meet him or anything. It's really nice just the way it is. I like emailing him. Maybe I wouldn't like him in person, and part of me doesn't want to risk that :)

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Yes, I'm a big dork, and I'm VERY bored at work right now. So I sat down and figured out exactly what percentage of hours next year I will spend at work (figuring in weekends, vacation time, etc). The answer: 19%. My math could be way off, but if it's correct (and I think it is), I should probably stop complaining about work :) Even assuming 8 hours of sleep a night (which I never get), work is still only 29% of my awake hours. That's pretty rad. I'm not going to figure out the percentage of my life I spend commuting because that would just depress me!
My favorite new response, from a guy with great taste in books and movies but who's listening to the all Christmas music radio station this month (eeeek!):

"I'm the most cheerful and upbeat cynic that you will ever meet. I moved to Chicago from Florida so that I could go to Cubs games. I'm popular with the building staffs at home and work. I'm useless at parties because I small talk at a preschool level. I laugh at everything, occasionally to the point of inappropriateness, except while driving at which point I morph into the Grim Reaper. I hold doors. I've never been in a fistfight. I fear spiders and public speaking. I also have a crush on Peyton Manning.

What am I looking for? Well, the killer reading list is what prompted the logorrhea before you, so intellectual curiosity is obviously a good thing. The vastly underrated "politeness" is something I look for. As for the more general relationship issues, I've unfortunately narrowed it down to something between "one-night stand" and "white picket fence." Anyone looking at my history would say I don't know what the hell I want or label me with the dreaded "commitmentphobe." I say society is full of commitmentphiles who are far too quick to subvert their personalities to a codependent state, and I'm looking for someone with a strong personality that isn't going to let that happen."
Advice to the men out there replying to personal ads: If she doesn't ask for your picture, don't send it. The trick is to woo her before she sees what you look like.

In case, any of you were wondering what prompted the responses I got, below is the ad I placed. (Feel free to share it with the single men in your lives...)

A little (ok, a lot) about me:
• Last five books I read: The Effect of Living Backwards, Name of the Rose [re-read], You Shall Know Our Velocity, Foucault’s Pendulum [re-read], Reading Lolita in Tehran,
• Books I’m currently reading: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Middlesex, Friday Night Lights, The Namesake
• On my to-read list: Everything Is Illuminated, The Divine Comedy, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Kite Runner, The Devil in the White City, The Known World, The God of Small Things, Brothers Karamazov, Infinite Jest, War and Peace, Dreams From My Father, Will in the World
• Number of marathons completed: 1
• Number of half-marathons completed: 4
• Favorite distance to race: 10 miles
• Languages studied: French, Russian, Hebrew (Modern), Spanish, German, Greek (Attic)
• Favorite musical soundtrack: Evita
• Favorite musical to see live: Rent
• Favorite recent movie: Garden State
• Favorite musical artist: Ani DiFranco, through Alison Krauss is growing on me
• Favorite football teams: Northwestern Wildcats, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts (I have a crush on Peyton Manning)
• Favorite baseball teams: Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs
• Way I like my beer and coffee: very, very dark and rich
• Dietary preference: vegetarian
• Favorite food: Thai red curry with eggplant and tofu
• Favorite place to get burritos outside of Mexico: Freebird’s in Isla Vista, CA
• Favorite radio stations: Chicago Public Radio and WOXY
• Political leaning: liberal
• Current salary: not high enough for the work I put in, but more than enough to support my modest lifestyle
• Degrees: BA, MA, both in the same useless—though fascinating—subject
• Favorite physical activity: hiking
• Favorite city other than Chicago: London
• Favorite guilty pleasure TV show: Desperate Housewives
• 5’5”/130/blond/blue

What am I looking for? Given my less-than-perfect experiences with guys who were exactly what I was looking for, I’m going to decline to answer that. Instead, why don’t you tell me why you are who I *should* be looking for.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

I have made another foray into the world of Craigslist. This time, instead of saying what I'm looking for, I just listed things about myself (books I've read, etc). Thus far, this has been an astounding success. I have yet to get any of those cut-and-paste, respond-to-everyone emails and have instead attracted seemingly intelligent thoughtful guys who actually engaged with the material I gave them. Fabulous!!

Seriously, though, in approximately one hour I've received THIRTEEN legitimate (or at least personal) responses. I give you one quote from each:
1. "Yet, I am not exclusively brawny. I read classical
literature, serious fiction; enjoy coffee and teas,
cooking a lot."
2. "Why am I who you should be looking for? Hmmm...a tough question to answer without sounding pretentious. How about because - I have two tickets for the Ani Difranco show in February and need someone to fill that second ticket - I love to run, but you could probably kick my butt if you've done a marathon - I only go between 4-7 miles on my daily runs.
3. "I go to London about once every 2 months for the weekend and just indulge in culture. I'm middle of the road politically, I volunteer at one of the city's cultural institutions and literally can go from drinking beer (good beer, mind you) to black-tie events with zero problems."
4. "I am not a huge reader,
but I love to give books as gifts and I think learning is always
important."
5. "I'd say I'm a sincere, kind, honest, loyal, and cool person. I like animals a lot, and nature. I'm fond of thai food...basil fried rice is good or pad thai. I'm a cubs fan. I havent' been to london but would really enjoy to visit there."
6. "God, you sound amazing. I wish you nothing but the
best of luck in your search....I only wish for the
best for my fellow vegetarians....."
7. "(Funny story that just crossed my mind. A few years ago I met this
really attractive woman and I mentioned Plato and made a reference to him. She
honestly thought I was talking about the clay we use to play with as kids.
What floored me was that she has NO idea who Plato the philosopher was....
Moral of the story is I don’t care how attractive you are, please be intelligent....)"
8. "i work at chicago public radio and tutor/teach hebrew and judaica, am applying for a masters of theological studies program, like to read and listen to music"
9. "former Foucaultian now a Churchillian"
10. "You come across as warm, intelligent and nice...so I'm writing back to you in your own format which I hope you will take as a compliment rather than just
imitation...."
11. "Sweetie, and you have a hard time finding good guys why?
You would be such a catch."
12. "Job - Attorney, work for the govt. but not the man
Salary - not as high as if I sold out, but enough to keep me from
selling out."
13. "Way I like my beer and coffee: beer is all good and i like my coffee
like i like my women, tied up in a burlap sack and thrown over the side of a
donkey"

God, I love Craigslist :)

EDIT: I have more to share. Unfortunately, the guys who don't read before replying have begun to find me. And the guys who don't quite *get* me. But it's not all bad:
14. "You sound a little bit, well, determined. I'm not sure you "should" be looking for anyone. I think it happens in God's time, not ours and happens when you least expect it, so stop the search, it's a lot less stressful that way. But if you want to see if we might be compatible or at least able to be friends, then let's grab a cup of that dark coffee and find out."
15. "Umberto Eco is one of my most favorite writers - and to see someone else who has actually (re)read two! of his books is amazing. "
16. "Cool ad. My, we are into Umberto Eco. I'm with you on the beer."
17. "Well I am six foot five inches tall, blonde hair, blue eyes....weigh about 240. I live in the burbs but drive so do not worry aboyt that. You should be looking for a guy like me because I enjoy a woman who enjoys and demands to be pampered. This includes paying for her manicures, cleaning her house, washing her dishes, and doing her laundry."
18. "Sweet God you've done a lot in your 26 years!!!! congrats!!! Well, to be honest, I am looking for that girl I get along with 95% of the time. No relationships are without conflict, I think 95% is an attainable goal. I want someone I can converse with first, be on the same level with, and basically someone to miss when she leaves!! I am not materialistic, nor do I wish to "own the world". I am happy doing what I do and taking time to help others who may need my help.
I would bet that I am not as smart as you are, but I am educated. I may not be able to speak modern Hebrew with you but if you are willing to talk in English I would bet we could have a good time ; )"
19. "So u really speak how many languages?"
20. "You didn't lick your fingers to turn the pages of "Name Of The Rose", did you?" [Editor's note: If you haven't read Name of the Rose, I'm not explaining this to you. Read the book- it's one of my all-time favorites]

Friday, December 10, 2004

Most of you know that while I generally like my job, I kind of hate the place where I work. Here's a shining example of why:

Today we had a staff meeting. These meetings always run to long and simply rehash information we've already gotten 12 times over email. Today was a mini computer training, which is useless because anyone who knows enough to follow the training could figure out how to do this shit on their own. Nevertheless, we had a training. And the tech geek running the training used his own laptop for the presentation AND LEFT AIM RUNNING. And he had it on one of those super annoying settings where a little alert comes up every time someone comes online or goes idle-- all projected onto the big screen, along with his buddy messages. Ok, that's a dumb, dumb move, but maybe he just forgot he had it running. Mistakes happen. I can accept that. But during a break, when he was playing with computer settings and opening new programs anyway, HE DIDN'T SIGN OFF. Hmph. If anyone in that room besides me knew a thing about computers he would've been reprimanded on the spot. As is, no one seemed to even notice.

I either need to get out of here or completely stop associating with anyone outside my own office.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

I'm an idiot. The "mouse tail" was dust and hair. It held up surprisingly well when poked with chopsticks, but the hair dryer effectively destroyed it. At least I didn't call maintenance or get married ;)

Lesson learned yesterday: sometimes honesty actually *is* the best policy. Who knew.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Nothing like a gray rainy day to help you mourn the loss of something you never had.

And something that looks suspiciously like the tail of another dead mouse is sticking out from under my bedroom heater. As I didn't have the time or energy to deal with it this morning, I'm still holding out hope that it's nothing more than dust that happened to form itself into that shape in the night. I'm also debating with myself about how much of a wimp I would be if I called the maintenance people and asked them to deal with it. It's tempting. I need a husband before I buy a place and have to deal with such things without the help of building maintenance.

Monday, December 06, 2004

I'm alive. Had a good weekend. Still single. Details possibly available upon request.

Friday, December 03, 2004

A little freaked out about The Boy coming to visit tonight, but I think I'll get over it. I hope. If anyone believes they must meet him and pass judgment let me know and it may be arranged. There's talk of heading to the NU basketball game Sat night if anyone's interested.

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

So yes, I had an excellent and happy weekend, with lots of good food (including eggplant tofu curry!!), hiking, meditating in the woods, and eventually, watching football. Couldn't have possibly been better :)

There was one bizarre moment when I looked out the car window on a very random stretch of road (not in SB) and realized that we were being passed by my ex boyfriend, the same ex who's coming to visit this weekend. You'd think in a state the size of California with the number of cars there are on the road that you could easily avoid seeing people you know, but apparently that's not the case.

We did stop by SB briefly. I thought I was ready to be back there. I'm not sure that I was. It probably didn't help that Spikey now lives in what I affetcionately like to call Neighborhood of Ex Boyfriends :)

And then, of course, I came home. Flight was good, got home early. Walked in my apartment ready to fall immediately into bed. And found a dead mouse next to my nightstand.

I was pretty feaked out, I must admit. Somehow I don't mind sleeping in a cabin full of spiders or outside in the desert with snakes and spiders, but when I'm in my own apartment I do not want creatures invading my space. And since I had never even found a bug in my apartment, the appearance of a mouse was a tad unsettling. I remember seeing a sign before I left saying that there would be exterminators in the building over the weekend and that we could request their services. My guess is that the mouse was poisoned elsewhere and struggled into my apartment through the heater to die (its body was right next to the heater).

Anyway, I disposed of the mouse after an inspiring pep talk from Laz, and I slept on the couch Sunday night so as to be far away from other possible carcasses, which I was too tired to find. When I got home yesterday I went on a mad cleaning spree (not difficult in my small and already clean apartment). I found no other dead mice and no signs of mouse life in the apartment. I *think* it was a freak occurrence. But I have asked the maintenance people to come look at my heater and ensure the absence of other dead mice before I turn it back on. Ewww.

Anyone want to lend me a cat? :)

Monday, November 29, 2004

As of late last night, I am back. We did get snowed on, but not snowed in. :(

Much more to say, but I suppose I should do some actual work at work.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

I didn't write this! But it did make me laugh. :)

25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP
1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 PM!
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. If you're a gal, you go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to," replaces, "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt. Then you forward it to a bunch of old pals & friends 'cause you know they'll enjoy it & do the same.
I'm ridiculously happy to be heading out to the mountains for (un)turkey day. No work for 5 days! Hiking and seeing a million stars in the sky! Lots and lots and lots of wine! Seeing my little brother and his fiance for the first time in 6 months!! 3/4 of the Jeppesons being together! (Lately we've been stuck at 3/4, especially sad since the fourth member will actually be here this weekend, but I'll be gone... guess another one of us will have to get married to get the whole back together again, but not me since my wedding will be a strictly immediate-family-only kind of affair... so maybe Chryssi or Spikey can get married soon... we'll have to find a man in the mountains for one of them...) Cornhole and horseshoes! Tofurkey!

With any luck I'll be spending tomorrow night in a cabin by a lake. That's assuming, of course, that LA traffic lets us out of the city and that we don't get lost and sleep in the Xterra again. I feel a little more confident about the second than the first.

I hope you all have a terrific holiday! Don't be too jealous of me-- I don't get to watch football on Thursday!

Maybe when I get back I'll try to write something coherant about how much I am thankful for right now, but that might be quite the lengthy post :)

Monday, November 22, 2004

Somehow I imagined that this being a 2-day work week for me I'd have plenty of energy and motivation and be super productive. Nope. I've barely managed to keep up with work email, much less accomplish anything. Oh well.
Quick, go to sunbowl.com and vote for NU as the team you'd like to see represented from the Big 10. Unless, of course, you'd rather go to Nashville or Detroit than El Paso. Never mind the fact that we're not even bowl eligible yet :)

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Who wants to do Russian homework when there are Manning brothers to watch?

Friday, November 19, 2004

CORRECTION: The strategy outlined below does not accomplish its stated purpose.
My (purely hypothetical) way to scare an ex-- when he says he misses you and asks why you were always so good together, responsd, "Maybe we're soul mates. It's unfortunate we now live so far apart."

I, of course, have no idea if this would be successful in frightening him into keeping his distance from you.
I have one fervent wish... that the people who blare songs through their headphones on the train will learn to listen to better quality music.

You should all go to the NU game tomorrow. Or at the very least watch it on CBS.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

You know you're life is sad when...

...you wake up at 6am and think, "wow, it's great to sleep in."

...your boss tells you you work too hard.

...the highlight of your day is watching a fictional character pretend to sing your college fight song on TV.

Nope, not multiple choice; just a day in the life of me.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

So I decided to respond to The Recycler, as Kim has now dubbed him. He sounded perfect for me, except that he's into big weddings, which is of course a problem. But I figure the chances of us getting to a place where that would be an issue is close to nil, so it couldn't hurt to write. Anyway, I spent forever trying to figure out if I should write and then another forever trying to figure out what to write. And which pics to attach. And then the email bounced back from two different email accounts. Stupid aol. Why would I even want to date a guy who uses aol anyway? Hmph. I have one more email address to try sending from. I'll keep y'all posted.
Things I've learned so far today.
- All guys my age are named either Mike or Kevin. (Actually, I already knew that, but I always included John and Brian in the mix)

- There are apparently a lot of guys on CL who simply cut and paste the same response to every girl's ad. Maybe it works somtimes?

- There is at least one cute (if the pic's accurate), smart guy out there who said, "I contributed a great deal of time and money to the Kerry and Obama campaigns. Now that the election has passed, I'm looking into how to revitalize Chicago's recycling program." Wow. Actually, he sounds pretty cool, and he uses lots of big words, which always gets me hot. :) I probably won't respond, but hey, it's nice to know guys like that exist.

- I tend to attract Asian guys. I had already experienced that in real life, but I never knew it had more to do with my personality than my looks ;)

- Apparantly, saying that I hate diamonds sets up off from "typical Chicago girls." One guy, who's run three marathons, said, "You hate diamonds? Every guy on earth would fall in love with you..." Sure, right up until he realized he could never apologize by buying me a tennis bracelet...

Anyway, my conclusion from this experiment is that CL is not a good place to meet a guy. But it's still pretty damn hilarious.

I leave you with my favorite response. He even included a phone number.
"Hi,
I am an adventurous, aggressive, assertive, caring, charming, chivalrous, loving, gentle, (sometimes a little rough), dominant 5-11, 175 LB,brown haired, blue eyed, surfer cowboy, turned international businessman.
I own an investment banking firm and develop projects all around the world. Recently I have built a University, a toll bridge, banks and factories, all in Europe.
I am currently working on one interesting project. California's ultimate health spa resort, where the beautiful people will come to play....on a hot springs location. Offering programs, and accommodations of the ultimate in a luxury adult pleasure spa. You could even serve to inspire the creation of that incredible resort.
Locally I am starting to design a glass house on top of a sand dune on property I own overlooking the water with a panoramic vista of the city's skyline, dunes trees and birdies as far as your eyes can see. I love the water. I have also lived in Hawaii, Florida, and British Columbia all right on the ocean. Sailing, power boating, scuba diving and walks on the beach with pantherra, my used to be pure black, slightly graying, slobbery mastiff. Breeding and riding my Arabian horses, snow and jet skiing are also too much fun.
I love art. All art, Gallery parties and showings, museums all around the world, movies, the performing arts, dance,ballet,opera and yes even the symphony.
I enjoy shopping, traveling, reading and learning via all methods. I have simple tastes, so therefore "SIMPLY THE FINEST WILL DO" :-) ! I appreciate fine gourmet, both cooking and eating out, good companionship, intense intellectual and physical stimulation,and building an empire!
Care to be empress?
Or at least have too much fun along the way checking it out?
I wish to get to know you better. I have much to offer on many levels.
Let's chat."

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

So I figured I had a list anyway, might as well post it on Craigslist. Plus, we all know I just want more excuses to be on Craigslist. Within two minutes I had two responses. What amuses me most about this is that the second response was from a guy who had clearly not read my ad. How do I know this? 1) The only thing he really said about himself was that he works at "a Fortune 500 company." 2) He attached a picture of himself with his BMW. Oy.

And has anyone seen the previews for this week's Joey? I only got a glance, but I think Matt LeBlanc is wearing an NU shirt in one scene. Might need to watch just to find out why.

Monday, November 15, 2004

I would like to reassure everyone that I don't actually have any intention of pursuing a PhD in Medieval European Christianity. Or Underwater Basket Weaving. Or Contemporary American Paganism. Or Historical Slavic Linguistics. In fact, I do not intend to collect any more degrees at all, useful or otherwise.

Of course, that is always subject to rapid change.

Friday, November 12, 2004

Bad sign: when you call the Thai place and give your phone number, and the guy says, "Hey, how are you today?" I may have an addiction.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Tonight on the train, the woman across the aisle and I were both reading novels by Umberto Eco. I almost commented that she had good taste in books, but she seemed to be quite engrossed in Brother William's crime-solving techniques.

On a totally different subject, I'm thinking of going back to school to get my PhD in medieval European Christianity.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

You know what's been missing from my life for the past month? RUNNING!! That's right, I'm back. (And for all you worrywarts out there; I took a whole freakin' month off after the marathon... I'll be fine...)

[Note: You may now once again quit reading my blog, unless you really really care about things like hydration and pace and race strategy.]

Monday, November 08, 2004

As my boss was leaving the office today at 4:30, he turned to me and said, "I'm glad I get to leave right now, even if you don't." Hmph.
***
Speaking of bosses, I don't think I'm a very good boss. I have a slight problem delegating. I'm not a control freak, really.
***
And, you know what, I love Desperate Housewives. I am mystified how I feel such a connection to a show that depicts the kind of women I would normally hate. Anyway, I'm hooked. Just wish I'd discovered the show after a season or two was on DVD. The suspense is killing me.

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Troy and Eulalia have requested that I prioritize my list. That sounds like a lot of work. So, let's just say if you know a straight, single, not-horrible guy you think I wouldn't hate at first sight, let me know. I think you all know me well enough to know what would work and what wouldn't! And if there are no guys in this city I'd be compatible with, well, c'est la vie. I *think* I might be ok with being single. ;)

Saturday, November 06, 2004

I've been saying for awhile that if my neighborhood just got one good independent coffee shop and one good independent bookstore I'd never leave. Well, we're halfway there. One of the best coffee shops I've ever been to (and that's saying something) just opened a block from my apartment. If you ever need to find me on evenings or weekends, you know where I'll be :)

Earlier today I was all set to blog about how I think I'm ready to put myself back on the dating market, and a friend called to talk about a bad date and about how much she hated dating. Hmm. Even so, I think I might want to date. If I can find the perfect guy. So I'm enlisting the help of my friends. If you know a 25-30 year-old single guy with all the following characteristics, whom I have not met, then please let me know.

-tall
-sexy
-speaks at least one language other than English
-well educated, and even more important, well read
-loves football and all other sports except basketball
-recycles
-has been in enough relationships to know what he's looking for
-doesn't want a traditional wedding
-ambitious, but not motivated by money (it's ok if he has money; he just can't care about money)
-has a good relationship with his family
-from the Midwest (or has at least lived in the Midwest for a while)
-leans liberal in his politics
-will be there when I need him, but doesn't want to spend every day together
-adventurous
-loves to travel, but also loves to be at home
-physically fit, and especially likes to run
-lives within the city of Chicago, preferably on the north side
-has never been married and has no kids, and is not desperate for either, but is not necessarily opposed to either
-doesn't hate vegetables
-willing to watch foreign films or dumb comedies
-knows the meaning of life

So, get going, people. You must all know at least 20 or 30 single guys who meet all my criteria :)

[BTW, for you grammar freaks-- I know I did not use parallel construction in my list. It bothers me, too, but I'm trying to deal with it.]

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Today I become a boss. HA HA HA!! Drunk with power.... (I'm kidding; I'm actually a little terrified at the thought of being in charge of someone, and I'm going to miss my complete independence in my job, but this is a good and necessary thing)

****

Oh, and I'm not going anywhere. I am staying right here to work for what I think is right. I am disgusted with the partisan split in this country, and I want people to once again start recognizing what we do have in common. I am, at heart, a small-town Midwestern Catholic, and I refuse to blame "Middle America" for ruining the world, or whatever it is we're doing. I know this is a flip from some of my initial reaction after the election. I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking. (Thanks Jim! Thanks Dad! Thanks Mom!)

And I've been spending a lot of time thinking about my grandparents. They've spent their whole lives working hard, providing for family, helping strangers, and teaching others to do good in the world. I am who I am because of them. If I value respecting all people and helping those less fortunate, it is because they taught me to do so. And yet, two of my grandparents vote Republican. If Granddad were still alive, he would too. And if Granny still votes Democrat, I know she does so with hesitation.

And I know and understand their reasons. The only difference between us, really, is that I have had different experiences. My morals, my values, are still very much Midwestern Catholic. I may not believe in God or go to church, but I am about as Catholic as it gets. Maybe it's because my Mom is a crazy liberal, or maybe it's because I spent college reading the writings of radical theologians, but I very much believe that Catholicism is completely compatible with feminism and environmentalism and everything else I hold dear.

So I'm not happy about this election, but I understand it. And I'm going to forget that I don't agree with those in power at a national level and work to change things on a local level. It's not enough to simply call myself a liberal.

Mind you, I still think Dick Cheney is an evil man who's misleading the very people who are voting for him. But I'm not mad at the voters.


Wednesday, November 03, 2004

I'm thinking Belgium right now, but I'm open to other ideas if anyone wants to flee the country with me.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

I was on the phone with my mom yesterday, and she said that the Republican party has been calling for my brother about 10 times a day. Apparently my brother is registred as a Republican, which is hilarious considering that my brother is far to the left of me. Anyway, he's voting absentee, so they've been calling to make sure he turned in his ballot, which they will regret later. At one point they asked my mom if they could count on my brother's support, and her response: "I highly doubt it." Hee hee. Thank God there are people like my mom and my brother and his fiancee living in Ohio. Now if only I could convince my grandparents not to vote...
Getting eight hours of sleep helps. A lot. And I managed to do that even with getting up ridiculously early to go vote.

Speeaking of which, in the 10 minutes I waited in line at the polling place I almost saw a fight break out. Some guy took his ballot up to the worker feeding them through the machine and said that he'd messed up on his ballot and wanted a new one. Instead of listening, the poll worker went ahead and fed it through the machine, and the guy was not allowed to start over. He was none too happy and started cussing out all the workers. It was just lovely. Sadly, not the only incompetance I saw at the polling station. Gotta love our electoral process. And I had a hanging chad I had to fix :) I miss voting in California, using big magic markers to fill in the circles and having more Green Party candidates than Republicans on the ballot.

With that ringing endorsement, GO VOTE.

***

Oh, and I forgot one of my favorite moments of the weekend. Went to the Wilco concert Halloween night, and for the start of their encore they played "Don't Fear (The Reaper)." Even having seen BOC in concert I can tell you that this was a tremendous performance of the song. But it was all I could do to keep from shouting out "More Cowbell!"

Monday, November 01, 2004

Work sucks. I don't wanna go back.
No matter how much I love seeing out-of-town friends, I think it just makes the separation more difficult. You just about get used to a person being far away and then you see them and realize just how much you miss them. The goodbyes this weekend were pretty tough. At least last time I said goodbye to Chryssi and Spikey I could say "see you in four days." This time it will be three-and-a-half weeks. I realize that sounds a little crazy. But couple that with saying goodbye to Mikey and John with no idea when I'll see them again, and it was all a bit hard.

Though on the other hand, if every weekend was like this one was I would quickly die of sheer exhaustion. And I would run out of money even quicker.

Lessons learned in the past two days: apparently assigned seats to events are highly overrated. And if you want tickets to a sold out concert, you can just go on to ticketmaster and order them.

Must sleep well tonight. Need to wake up early tomorrow to vote. Wearing my "Run Against Bush" shirt to work tomorrow :)

Sunday, October 31, 2004

I would try to recount my weekend, but it's pretty much a blur. Partly because of alcohol, but mostly because we've been doing something almost every second. Still have a concert tonight to get to. Oy. Much much fun has been had. Much alcohol has been consumed. And four people slept in my 300-square-foot apartment last night, which is a little insane.

Not going to want to go to work tomorrow!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Stupid postal service. I have an unhealthy obsession with tracking packages, so I check a little too frequently to see exactly where by package is. The package I am currently tracking just traveled from Kentucky to Ohio to Wisconsin. Why Wisconsin? Why not drop it off when they were driving by from Ohio to Wisconsin?!? Hmph.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

I was just running across campus and a leaf fell from a tree and hit me in the head. My head now hurts quite a lot. Who knew Autumn could be so dangerous?

Monday, October 25, 2004

I am home. SF was good fun. Chryssi and the moms and I survived the walk. Now Mom wants to walk a full marathon :)

Thursday, October 21, 2004

I just heard three men speaking HEBREW on the train! It was so unexpected (I have never once randomly encountered spoken Hebrew) that I didn't even recognize it at first. Which is especially funny because I could pick up a word here or there. But I've studied--and been exposed to--so many languages that comprehension does not necessarily identify the language. In any case, I couldn't tell you what they were saying, but I did understand little things, like when one of the guys started counting. I sat next to them for half an hour, and I really tried to not be too obvious in my attempts to listen in. I think I may have been successful because I'm sure they didn't expect for me to understand them. After all, no one knows Hebrew, and I'm blond, and I was sitting there studying Russian :)

And I may be just a tad tired from my night out with Jacki and her co-workers and free beer. Proof that I'm tired: I just tried to make coffee without putting water in the coffee pot. It didn't work.

I have stuff to say about the Yankees-Red Sox. Maybe later. When I wake up.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

I just had a sudden (and fleeting) urge to see an ex of mine. In times past I may have just gone to his house when that urge hit, which is one of the many many reasons I moved. In any case, what went through my mind in response to this longing was, "Well, I can't jump in my car and go see him." Took me a sec to realize just how true that was.

The secret to happiness is not having what you want, it's not wanting what you don't have. :)
Marathon pics

Monday, October 18, 2004

Nothing to say, except that I love when life slows down a bit. And, at the same time, I can't wait to fly across the country on Friday :)

Friday, October 15, 2004

If Bush really thinks Kerry is on the far left bank of American opinion he's clearly never met me. :) Actually, I'm not on the far left bank either, just far left of Kerry.

Still waiting for my work-study student. Oh how I'd like someone to come deal with the precarious pile of papers on, under, and around my desk...

Got a 99% on my Russian quiz yesterday! And a 98.5% on the one I thought I'd fail last week. How great would it be if I set the curve in a class that doesn't count for me?

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Ok, last computer post, I promise... switched my laptop to Linux, and I am soooo much happier.

Anyone else hear that it might SNOW this weekend?!? I need a winter home somewhere warm.
I am a computer genius :)

Ok, not really anywhere near, but I had fun with Mac to PC conversion today.

More people speaking Russian on the train this morning. I must learn enough to eavesdrop!

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Two computers, no waiting :)
Chryssi says not to run tomorrow. We shall see. I may just walk really, really fast. :)

Sometime today I should have two computers in my office. Yep, that's a good use of our money...
I get to run tomorrow!! I know, I know... I said I was going to try to wait 2 weeks, but Hal Higdon says it's ok if I run 2 easy miles tomorrow. And since my soreness has virtually disappeared (and I haven't even taken drugs in 24 hours), I think it'll be ok. Yay for quick recoveries!

In other news, you know when you have those dreams that you're in a classroom taking a test in a subject you've never studied? That was my Russian class yesterday. I didn't even look at Russian for 3 days and missed a class and suddenly I was totally lost. And in a four-person all participation class that's a problem. Time to play catch-up!

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

I survived! The out-of-town guests are gone, the excitement is over, and I'm left with a broken toe, an ankle that won't stop pronating, and hamstrings that feel like rocks. And a medal :)

Thanks to everyone who tried to see me!

More to come.

Next marathon: Cleveland Marathon on May 22, 2005 at 7:00am

Friday, October 08, 2004

I managed to get a full 8 hours of sleep last night. That helped. A lot. And today's been so busy at work that I haven't had much time to think about running. Tonight I get to go to the expo and pick up my race packet. Once I get the shirt, there's no turning back :)

Ok, probably the last post until after Sunday unless something wildly exciting happens before I leave work (I hope not).

Oh, and to answer the question that a co-worker just asked (and which I hope is irrelevant): no, they don't cancel the marathon if it's raining.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

I just ran into my Russian teacher. She assured me that I will do fine. That seems to be a running theme.
Ok, official panic mode has now set in. I am totally and completely freaking out. And I don't panic easily, so this is a whole new thing for me.

I just know I'm gonna fail my Russian quiz today.
You know you're tired when.... you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and see not only dark circles under your eyes but also mismatched earrings. It could have been worse-- it could've taken me till later in the day to notice. Oh well, the people on the train with me must've thought it was a fashion statement :)
Even though I no longer have a car--and I wasn't driving it much when I did--I still find myself looking for parking every time I walk down the street. I never did that anywhere else I've lived. Strange how even the little bit of time I spent driving in the city could condition me.

I was already very pleased to be car-less, but now that GEICO sent me a check I am even happier!

And if I'd ever realized how conducive the train ride is for studying I would've lived a lot further from school :) Yesterday I heard two men speaking Russian on the train. I really tried to listen to their conversation, but my week-and-a-half of Russian was not quite adequate. Especially since the girl next to me was talking loudly (in English) about her recent nervous breakdown.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Everyone who expressed interest in coming to watch the marathon (and a bunch of people who didn't) should have received an email from me about it. If not, go here.

Well, I finally have internet at home again, and now I have some sort of adware or something slowing down my computer. Hmph. I have two different virus protection programs running and updated daily. I have really high security controls on my browser. But something still got through. I blame Service Pack 2. I need a Mac. And yet at work, they're switching me to PC. Yep, that's smart. Oh well-- gave me something other than running to think about :)

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Last night I was so excited about the marathon that I couldn't sleep :) I still woke up at 5am to run, so maybe I should try to actually sleep tonight. Tomorrow I run 3 miles and Saturday 2 miles. I realize I'll be running a lot on Sunday, but this whole no running thing is just making me more anxious, and I'm already pretty anxious! Logistics and coordination for this weekend are already getting complicated. I think I need to hire a cruise director.

Good news-- Mom, Dad, and I are going to family day at Dyche Stadium, er Ryan Field, on Saturday. I'm sure it won't live up to last week, and we're sitting on the visitor side, but I'm still very happy. I'm going to try my best to get to all the home games this year. I've been to two, and they've won both times. I think it's a sign.

Ok, back to work, really. I keep saying that this morning...

Monday, October 04, 2004

I reached my goal!

Details about the course coming very, very soon. For those interested, I'll even give you my parents' cell phone numbers so you can figure out where I am and when.

Still totally freaked out, but in a good way, I think.

I love Russian. More later. Now I need to be in bed.

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Post number 200! I think I can be syndicated now or something.

The internet has returned. Thus, NU will win tonight. And I will be there to see it.

There's a defensive end for Georgia with the same name as my uncle [last name spelled differently, but it sounds the same]. The announcers have said his name approximately every five seconds so far in the Georgia-LSU game. Every single time I've looked up. I think I need something else on as background noise.

Friday, October 01, 2004

I just got a raise! A whole $0.23 an hour! Ok, actually I got the raise a while ago, but it took a long time for it to actually show up on my paychecks. Which is really nice because today, in addition to my larger paycheck, I also get backpay for 812.5 hours as $0.23 an hour. Even though I knew it was coming, that still feel like a fortune to me.

And the gods of public transportation did not listen to my plea. Yesterday on the way home from work, I again heard the operator-is-stepping-off-the-train-to-fix-it message during a five-minute delay. But, even worse, on the way to work yesterday I heard the following: "The train is stopped due to a medical emergency. Officials have been notified. We hope to be moving again shortly." Not only did we have to sit there for 10 minutes, but we also never got any more details. I wanted to know who had the emergency and what kind it was and why the sick/injured individual couldn't wait in the station for the paramedics instead of on the train. The whole thing seemed kind of shady/scary to me, but no one else seemed to mind.

Tonight I masquerade as a grad student. The grad students in my department want me to go drinking with them, and they have a student reception first, so I'm joining them at that. I think I *might* be able to act convincingly like a grad student. Just maybe. I don't really want to drink tonight, and I definitely want to be home very early, but I'm so flattered that they like me enough to ask me out that I wanted to at least hang out for a bit. And the way this week has been I could sure use a beer.

Tomorrow internet shall return. And NU shall beat OSU.

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Ok, marathon is just a little over a week away, and I still need to raise $142 to meet my goal, as an email from the Liver Foundation just reminded me... So, if you haven't donated yet, and you can give even $5 or $10, please do! Thank you to everyone who's already done so. Very, very soon I will tell you all which section of the race I'm dedicating to you. If you have a preference, tell me soon!

I'll return you to your regularly scheduled blogging soon :)

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

I can now write in cursive in Russian. I only know like two nouns and no verbs, but still, I've mastered the alphabet. That means I know FOUR different alphabets!
It's a bad sign when you're sitting on the train, within sight of the next stop, and the train comes to a grinding halt with the announcement: "The train has stopped due to mechanical difficulties. Your engineer will be stepping off the train for a few minutes to attempt to fix the problems." I knew seeing a cat crawling around under the platform at my stop was a bad omen. Luckily, the engineer really was able to fix the problem by crawling around on the tracks, and we were moving again shortly. I made a quick bus connection, and I was only a couple of minutes late to work. But I still never want to hear that message again.

{Internet's still down; I feel mostly better, but still dragging; more good news on the car front.}

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Internet will be down until at least Saturday. RCN sucks. Maybe more on that later.

I may be *almost* better. Ran 6 miles this morning and didn't ever feel like I may pass out. I take that as a sign of improvement. 12 days. Eek.

Monday, September 27, 2004

From a (man seeking woman) ad in Craigslist today:

"My only deal breakers are vegetarians, dog owners, religious zealots, and super ambitious types."

Um, I think this guy may have some unresolved issues. That, or he just really knows what he's (not) looking for. In any case, I obviously don't qualify. If I used hardcore drugs, had served time in prison, or had a kid, I'd be fine. But since I'm an ambitious vegetarian, I'm definitely not ok.
Two pieces of good news today:

1. The car is a total loss. I know that sounds like bad news, but trust me, it's a good thing.

2. I get to hire a work study student to help me!!!! Now maybe I can do my actual job and not get bogged down filing. Woo!
My home internet connection has been down since early Thursday and is still down. I didn't have the energy over the weekend to find a coffee shop with wireless. Work is crazy today b/c it's the first day of classes (and my first day of Russian, so no lunch break). SO- if I've owed you an email for a while, it may be quite a bit longer. I tried to answer quick ones, but not sure how thorough I was. Call if anything's urgent.

And my head is still in a fog. I did not leave my apartment the entire weekend, spent much of it sleeping. I really, really thought I'd be better. But I'm not. Ran 4 miles today (first running since the race Thurs night) and felt like I would surely pass out. Still feel that way. I have less than 2 weeks to get completely healthy. So the next two weeks will be spent mostly sleeping and drinking water and eating protein. No alcohol or late nights (not a good idea when sick anyway). I'll see you all again sometime around or after Oct 10 :)

Friday, September 24, 2004

I hate feeling like I'm hungover when I'm not. Dammit, I need to get better!

One would think Nike would be capable of planning a good race, especially one with 10,000 participants. But one would be wrong. I know I've never tried to design a race course and get it past a city board. But seriously, I think I wouldn't assume that 10,000 people could fit on the bike path. And I'd try to take advantage of the gorgeous nighttime skyline. And I'd set up the bands a little better. And I sure as hell wouldn't start a race at 8pm. Sooo tired. On the upside, Scott somehow managed to get us into VIP, so we got free food (most of which I couldn't eat) and free beer (which ran out pretty quickly-I had one), and Scott got to network, which is what is was really about. But I was too tired to enjoy that much. Oh well, last road race before the Marathon. And whatever else that race may bring, I'm quite certain it will be well organized.

Anf finally, RIP little Paseo. You served me well for a time, but I can't say I'll miss you.

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Since my favourite London call girl has permanently closed up shop (on her blog, not her sex career), I've found a new fun blog to visit-- Zach Braff's! You should read this blog. And watch Scrubs. And go see Garden State multiple times. And surely someone reading this knows someone who knew someone who knew Mr. Braff at NU?? (I tried the alum directory; it just lists his agency) Hmm, I may have been hanging around Scott a bit too much lately. This is a tad too reminiscent of the Ms. Bhardwaj situation...
My mom keeps calling me all freaked out because, according to some wacko radio show she's listening to, there's big-time military action going on in NE Ohio/NW Pennsylvania. Something about seeing way too many planes in the air, GPSs going offline, army trucks blocking the road??? I think they're all a little paranoid, but strange things have happened before. Anyone heard about any of this or seen evidence yourself? I'm hoping Mom, et al, are just a little paranoid.
I hate this weather. I just cannot handle highs of 80 and lows of 50. My body gets all confused, and, as I should have predicted, I'm sick. I can't take a sick day because I haven't been here six months yet, at least according to their calculations. Never mind the fact that non-union people can take sick days starting at three months...

Monday, September 20, 2004

First to answer the questions:
- My calves felt terrific. I didn't take any painkillers before or after, and I didn't even wrap my right calf. I just wore a band under my right knee. In retrospect I should've worn my brace on my right knee and the band under my left knee. That's the plan for the marathon.
- 2:08:56 (my official time) is a good for me, at least right now. It's not world record pace or anything. In comparison, the world record for a men's marathon is 2:04:55. It took me (slightly) longer than that to run a half :) At this point I'm happy to be doing anything near 10:00 miles. My average speed was about 9:51. Importantly, I was incredibly consistent. Every mile was between 9:30 and 10:00. My halfway split was 1:04:34. I didn't walk, except through water stops. So is 2:08:56 a good time? Yep.

Ok, so I spent over 2 hours running, and we all know I'm not capable of turning off my brain. I wasn't running with anyone else, and while I listened in on a few conversations, I didn't really talk to anyone else. So what did I think about? Well, running, mostly. Sad, I know.

What I'm sure most non-runners don't realize is that races are the reward. The reward for waking up at 5am, for spending your entire clothes budget on a new pair of running shoes, for not drinking on weekends so you're not too hungover to run the next day. It's all worth it when your running down Lake Shore Drive (which they closed down for your run) with spectators cheering, bands playing for you, the NU cross country women handing you water. And when you finish someone hands you a medal. And you can forever proudly wear your white cotton race shirt and exchange knowing smiles with the 6,000 other people wearing the same shirt. I'll never win a race, and in this case I didn't even set a personal record, but I love the cameraderie with total strangers, even if we didn't say a word to each other.

Best fan: guy wearing a t-shirt that said "my girlfriend can outrun me" and holding a boombox over his head that was blaring "Eye of the Tiger." Now that's a boyfriend!

Sunday, September 19, 2004

13.1 miles in 2:08:58.

Will share 13.1 miles of reflection later. Right now I am going to eat a pizza and sleep for 5 hours.

Friday, September 17, 2004

Hmm, Kim's report on my car leads me to think it may again be worth significantly less than previously reported.

I did too much work today. I'm exhausted, but I'm still an hour and a half from quittin' time.
According to Kelley Blue Book my car is worth somewhere around $1750-2100. I find that amusing since apparently the loser who stole my license plate didn't think it was worth the effort to steal the whole car. Of course it's difficult to exactly quantify the value effect of such things as the huge dent in the side (a theft deterrant, in my opinion), the 3 brand new tires, the $700 stereo, or THE SPIDERS. I think that the relatively low mileage (91,000 miles in 12 years) may be the biggest factor in the car's worth. Anyway, it made me think. I mean I've just been viewing the car as a waste of my money, mostly because of insurance and registration (since I don't drive it I don't pay a whole lot for gas, tolls, or oil changes). But I never thought of the car as something that could bring in money, especially since I didn't pay for it in the first place. So now I'm flummoxed. I certainly do not want the car any longer. And selling a car seems like a huge hassle. But it's apparently worth money! I'll have to think on this one for a while.

But not right now. Work is super busy again- hooray!

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Ok, I should just admit it. I'm addicted to the personals on Craigslist. Yes, I generally start out with the men seeking women, but it rarely stops there. I suppose I can justify women seeking men as scoping out the competition and women seeking women as exploring my options. I check out the missed connections, strictly platonic, casual encounters, and misc romance because you never know what might seem interesting. Why do I read the men seeking men section? No clue, but it feels exciting because you have acknowledge that you know there will be explicitly sexual content just to be allowed access. On occasion I do respond (but only to the men seeking women, at least so far). I respond with an email address I have solely for that purpose that does not reveal any personal information about me. I respond not because I am hoping to find a date or a boyfriend (or a husband as most of the women seeking men seem to want), but because the ads amuse me or intrigue me, and I want to continue the conversation. After my last disastrous attempt at finding a date through an internet personal ad, I can't imagine I would want to actually meet any of these people! Mainly I just read the ads to be entertained. I love observing the differences between the male and female approach to this service, and I truly enjoy the utter desperation apparent in some ads. But mostly I like the creative ones, the ones that jump out, maybe because they're really describing me, maybe because they're so brutally honest, maybe because they're excellently written. In any case, Craigslist always manages to brighten my day.

Favorite ad title today: "love me or the terrorists win"

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Owning a car in the city sucks. I'm done with it.
A bit of advice: if you plan to run 15 miles after a full day of work at least make sure to eat properly.

The planned Sunday 6am run didn't happen, so Scott and I rescheduled to yesterday. I actually felt GREAT for the first 13 miles, but then I bonked. Funny how not eating and then burning 1000+ calories can do that to you :) Anyway, I finished. It's still a big leap from 15 to 26.2, but I'm a little more confident now. And the calf only hurt once during the run and then felt better- yay!

In other news... oh, wait, I have no other news. My life is once again solely about running. As it should be.

I realized yesterday that in the course of 7 months I will have done a 10K race, two 10-mile races, 4 half-marathons, and one full marathon-- four of those races are in the next month and a half. I'm running out of room for the t-shirts and medals. (Don't think I'm totally crazy-- I'm walking one of the half marathons with my mom in SF two weeks after the marathon-- yay for women's marathons with finisher necklaces instead of medals!)

If you're feeling really, um, bored, feel free to come out and cheer at one of the following:
Chicago Half Marathon, 9/19, 7:30am, Hyde Park
Nike Run Hit Wonder, 9/23, 8:10pm, Grant Park (includes such bands as Devo, A Flock of Seagulls, and Tone Loc!)
Chicago Marathon, 10/10, 8:00am, the whole freakin' city
Nike 26.2, 10/24, 7:00am, Golden Gate Park, SF

Friday, September 10, 2004

One month till marathon!! Yikes!!

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Every once in a great, great while I start to think that maybe, just maybe, I perhaps might want to tentatively explore the remote possibility of potentially dating again. Someday. It’s not a terribly insistent thought, and it doesn’t happen often, but it’s annoyingly difficult to get out of my head once it’s there. I haven’t decided whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it’s no small relief that I may be recovering from California. On the other hand, I like to do things like go to bed at 9pm in order to wake up at 5am to run and spend whole weekends organizing my music collection and travel at the last minute without consulting anyone. Not only am I unsure how another person would fit into such schemes, I’m not even sure why I’d want someone to.

In any event I don’t have any potential suitors in mind, and I don’t know how or where to meet people. Considering the absurdly large number of strangers I see each day, it seems silly to say that I cannot meet new people. But then I never have liked talking to strangers and take great pains to avoid doing so. From the moment I set foot on the train each day until the moment I disembark, I am engrossed in a book, so much so that at times I have come dangerously close to missing my stop. At the grocery store I head straight to the self checkout line so that I do not even need speak with a checker. When I’m out running I rarely even make eye contact with other runners, much less exchange pleasantries. And I moved back to a town where I already had friends specifically so that I wouldn’t need to meet new people.

Since I am unlikely to suddenly enjoy talking to strangers and since I hate dating I think I should just stick with being single, which has worked very well for me thus far. It’s a good thing I prefer to spend as much time as possible by myself :)

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Back from LA. Falling asleep at my desk, but back. I still don't miss Southern California, but I do miss my friends. Why can't everyone just move here?

Strange discovery of the day-- the iTunes database has the track info for the Asterik CD from 1999. Guess I wasn't the only person to buy it. Still waiting to figure out if the '98 Waa-Mu show is in there. My friends' high school band was not.

Must stay awake until 5. Or at least until lunch.

Friday, September 03, 2004

It's either time to get rid of the spider in my car or time to stop taking walks with Kim where she points out every spider along the way... I decided to "sleep in" until 6:30 today since I haven't been getting enough sleep this week. Bad move. Sometime around 6 I had this bizarre dream. I was driving my car in LA, talking to Chryssi on my cell phone about the spiders in my car, and I looked down and saw a massive spider right next to my foot. Its body was oval shaped and the long side was 5 inches long. Ick, ick, ick! I drove into a courtyard of some sort and jumped out of my car, when I realized that the spider had crawled into my shoe. I was trying to get my shoe off and shake out the spider. Then my dad showed up to kill the spider, but his dog--Ginger--saw the spider as a treat and started to eat it. That's when I woke up suddenly with that creepy feeling that something is crawling on you. And it hasn't gone away. I think I'd be less tired if I'd actually gotten up at 5 to run because at least then I would've woken up with an alarm and not a spider dream. Hmph.

And part 2 of "I was going to start saving money"-- I think I want an ipod. Dammit. I'm in the process of ripping my CDs, and it's pretty clear I'd need the 20GB, if not the 40. I don't have 40 gigs of music yet, but I can see it happening. The problem is that there's really no type of music that I don't like, so the collection can get pretty huge. I can't buy it yet, but it could happen soon.

Ok, off to spend money in LA.

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Big Ten Contest-- Free and fun. No prizes, but you can show up your friends. Enter soon, as the season starts tomorrow.
Ok, breathing deeply, trying to think happy thoughts. Will not get frustrated. Will not hit someone. Ok, better now. (I really, really hate incompetance in the workplace. And I really really really hate bureaucracy)

A big thank you to my public radio member card who introduced me to a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant last night. Ethiopians make danm good vegetarian dishes and even better honey wine. Who knew?

My other discovery last night was that the $1.50 bar also has $7 pitchers. And while the beers are quite small, the pitchers are normal sized. Such dangerous knowledge.

For future reference, Ethiopian food late at night does not lead to a good night's sleep or a pleasant morning workout. Feeling like you might puke at any moment tends to cut short your run. Dammit, if I feel like puking I want it to be because I'm hungover (I wasn't) and not because I ate rich food.

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

I swear this campus is crawling with people I know. Just ran into someone I haven't seen in 4 years. Any guesses? (Most of the readers of this blog know this person...)
Apparently the BBC doesn't think there's much to report on these day, except, of course chimps smoking and bears riding bikes.

Maybe they're smoking 850 pounds of pot.

Monday, August 30, 2004

Eek. I'm not used to having actual work to do at work. The next few weeks could be rough as I re-adjust to having something to do when I come in to the office every morning :)

Saturday, August 28, 2004

Friendster freaks the hell out of me. I've had an account for a while, but I never really bothered to add friends. Occasionally I'll get a request for someone to add me as a friend, and those are the times when I edit my profile to reflect moves across the country, etc.

But today I looked around a bit. Talk about world colliding! I found an ex boyfriend I haven't talked to in a long, long time. Friendster informed me that I was 4 degrees away from him. Now I only have three confirmed friends, all from college, so finding that I was connected through them to a boyfriend from grad school was deeply disturbing :) Turned out to be not that strange--the connection was through Spikey--but I think I'd prefer to be disconnected!

In any case, I sent out "please add me" things to a few people, so maybe at some point I'll have friends. Or it'll take me 12 years to look at the page again. One or the other. There were some people I could've added, but somehow the connection level felt right. You know when there are friends that really are 2 or 3 degrees away? Sometimes they become friends in their own right, but sometimes they will always be friends-of-friends.

And I had trouble looking for some of my female friends because I couldn't remember their new last names. :)

Oh, and if I didn't try to add you it's not because I don't love you. It's likely because trying to navigate around Friendster makes my head spin.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Well I was going to start saving money... Instead I am going to LA for Barlo's birthday/Labor Day. Yes, I hate SoCal, but I love the Jeppies and miss them dearly. And flights are (relatively) cheap at the moment. And Chryssi could probably talk me into anything, especially since she does things like fly here for my birthday :) Oh well, it's only money...

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

I ran again today! Oh, maybe that's not quite as exciting for all of you as it is for me :) But tomorrow I attempt 7 miles!

And tonight I drink with my Liver Foundation team. Yes, I know that seems wrong, but I'm not one to turn down free drinks, and I need to go anyway to pick up my race shirt...

In other news, I'm officially done with Internet Explorer, both at home and at work. The final straw was realizing that IE does not provide Hebrew language support for the Mac. There's no good reason for this. They support a huge number of other languages-- including many with non-Latin character sets-- and lots of languages that I've never even heard of. But no Hebrew, despite an offer by people in Israel to develop/pay for the coding. Hmph. This is not (entirely) a political statment on my part. IE doesn't support Arabic either, so it's not like they're pro-Palestinian or something. I just like to be able to read Hebrew websites, and I am sick of Microsoft refusing to develop code for Macs. Don't even get me started on the problems we have at work with Mac/PC issues (mostly caused by Microsoft). Damn monopoly, anti-trust rulings notwithstanding. I'm switching to Linux on my home PC. Soon.

Monday, August 23, 2004

I ran today! I ran today! I ran today! And it felt SO GOOD!! Oh running, how I missed you. My life for the past month has been miserably incomplete.

Yeah, so I may be mostly recovered, and I can stop being depressed about not being able to run, jump, walk, etc. But now I am going to be completely paranoid about getting hurt again. I don't mind being sore, and I don't mind running through pain, but I do mind having shooting pain down my leg just walking down stairs. I've got to figure out how to run without getting injured because I feel like I've spent more of the past nine months injured than well.

And I've got to get back in shape in the next 47 days. Eek.

Sunday, August 22, 2004

I LOVE distance racing!!

It seems like for the majority of Olympic events, you have a pretty clear idea going in of who will win. Sure, there are suprises along the way, but the favorite in an event is probably going to medal. At the very least the favorite will always finish the race. Not so in marathoning.

The heavy favorite in the women's marathon this year was Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, the world record holder. Radcliffe's WR is over 3 MINUTES faster than the best time of the second fastest woman. Forget these sports where best times are within hundreths of a second; this is a true contest. When Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, she finished 15 minutes ahead of her next closest competitor.

So everyone thought Radcliffe would win. After all, she'd never lost a marathon she'd been in. But then she'd also never run a marathon in 100-degree heat with nasty hills. Unlike most marathons where the course designers try to make the flattest, fastest course possible, this marathon followed the "original" course run by the messenger during the battle of Marathon. At is was not designed for world records.

So what happened? Pretty early on in the race ten women broke out ahead and ran together for ten miles or so. The American favorite, Deena Kastor, dropped down to 18th and was over two minutes behind. Radcliffe was right out in front where she always is. But she has a really ugly stride that causes her to waste ridiculous amounts of energy. And she's BIG for a marathoner. Most female marathoners are very compact-- often under five feet. The upside to a small frame is that you have less weight to haul around for 26.2 miles.

Anyway, long story short, the Japanese favorite, Mizuki Naguchi, eventually pulled out in front of the pack and never looked back. She finished first in 2:26 (the world record is 2:15). Catherine Ndereba of Kenya managed to keep her in sight through the whole race and finished second. After Radcliffe fell to fourth (a position she'd NEVER been in in a marathon) she broke down and couldn't even finish the race.

And plucky Deena Kastor just kept running her race. One by one she passed the women who'd gone out too strong, and in the last mile she pulled into third and easily won bronze. And she had a freaking kick at the end, looking totally comfortable. Kastor became the first American woman to medal in the marathon since Benoit. You know why? She's a machine. She does three practice sessions every day-- running in the morning, weights in the afternoon, and running again in the evening, and she trains at altitude with sweats on to simulate the heat. I love any race where preparation makes that huge of a difference. Yes, these women have natural talent that I don't, but they also work their tails off.

And they're old! Kastor is 31. One of the other American women (who finished about 10 minutes back) is 40 years old! There's still time for me! The gold medalist is exactly one day older than I am, so I've got till tomorrow to win the gold :)
Woo! The women's marathon is actually televised! This is the only event for which I can name all the top competitors and their best times, and for which I can intelligently discuss strategy. This promises to be a brutal marathon, no world records here--should be exciting! Don't try to call me for the next two hours; I'll be glued to my tv :)

Thursday, August 19, 2004

I'm not exactly sure why I'm watching the Olympics when I already know all the winners, but I had fun with the Olympic drinking game the other night. I don't know if Scott made it up, but he shared it with us, and Conor, Abby, and I added our own elements. If we'd actually drunk every time we were supposed to, we would have been smashed off our asses. But we're old, so we just sipped beer occasionally and commented on the funniest moments :) Times to drink (at least the ones I remember)-- unexpected medals, shots of beach volleyball cheerleaders, stories about athletes overcoming personal tragedy, sappy comments about swimmers' teddy bears, use of unusual words (like amplitude in gymnastics coverage), Bob Costas mentions his Greek heritage, an American athlete exhibits bad sportsmanship, there's a token nod to sports where Americans aren't top competitors. I'm sure there were more, but you could just make up your own.

Sunday, August 15, 2004

I have lived in four different places in the past year. One result of this nomadic lifestyle is that I'm slightly less organized than I'd like to be (as evidenced by my recent inability to find my car title) I pay most of my bills online, so I am always up-to-date on those, but the paper statements I continue to receive have just been accumulating in precarious piles on my "dining room" table. I hate this.

Having decided I want to move in the direction of home ownership I sat down to make a budget, a difficult task when your finances are a jumbled mess of papers. So my preliminary step was to organize every piece of paper in my apartment. I'm about halfway done and already feeling quite relieved. But my apartment is horrible messy, which is driving me crazy.

And now I'm off to buy food. According to my budget I can only spend about $100 a month on food, which sounds ridiculously low to me, so I may be quite discouraged at the grocery store. Luckily I don't spend anywhere near the $200+ the budget suggested for entertainment, so I should be ok.

Soon, very soon, I will throw a dinner party for my Chicago friends (not sure if that's the food budget or the entertainment one). Just need to clean up the apartment a bit first so that people fit in it. I'll keep you posted.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Anyone know how to get rid of spiders living in a car (preferably without killing them....) When I first started noticing spiderwebs on my car I assumed that the problem was that I drove my car so infrequently. However, I have now driven it 400 miles home, washed it, driven it 400 miles back here, and driven 13 miles each way to work three days in a row. And still, every time I go to my car it's covered in webs. Dad killed two spiders that jumped off my car, and I'm not sure how many are left, but the one I saw today was nasty. I've only ever found two webs in the interior, so I don't think they spend much time in there. My guess is that they live behind the driver's side mirror because that's the most consistent web spot. So--ideas??

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Being the dork that I am I took several classes in grad school about oral cultures and the transmission of knowledge. I've always been fascinated by non-literate cultures because I learn best through reading. I often recall things I've learned by picturing the words on the page, and I've rarely been able to follow a story or game just by listening. But in the past year, as I've been working office jobs, I've started to spend hours a day listening to public radio, and I believe my listening comprehension skills have really developed. I have recently begun to notice the linguistic clues of public radio and the ways in which public radio is an oral culture, not just the oral component of a written culture. The best example of this is the tags that public figures are given. One of my old professors studied oral epic poetry. He said that the poems were never performed in exactly the same way. But somehow the performer could re-create the poem by knowing the basic story. The difficult thing is doing improv in the right rhyme and meter. One trick for this was to always use the same tag for a character-- something like "blue-eyed Odysseus." Although I don't usually notice any emphasis on rhyme or meter in public radio, these tags are still used. And they help the listener (especially those of us who don't listen well) by cue-ing us in for what we are about to hear. Sometimes these tags are job tittles (e.g., National Security Advisor or Iraqi Prime Minister). But often the tags are descriptive. I'll be you can't hear the following tags without filling in the name blanks: "Rising Star ___ ____" and "Rebel Cleric ____ ____"

Has anyone else noticed this? Have a favorite tag?

Thursday, August 05, 2004

After work tomorrow I'm off to Ohio for football fun!

Saturday starts out with the parade, sponsored by Dad's (soon-to-be-defunct) company. So I'm sitting in VIP seats, where (apparently) donuts are provided. WTF? We don't have to get there in the middle of the night to stakeout our seats AND someone just hands us donuts? That's not a real parade experience!!

And then fancy dinner with free drinks and famous people. This could be very bad :)

Yay! I'll be back Tuesday.
The universe is fucked up.

Y'all would scoff at my proof, but trust me on this one.

And trust me on this, too--synchronicity can be a cruel mistress.

Monday, August 02, 2004

I can walk up AND down stairs without pain!!

And I ran a half marathon yesterday. Wasn't a PR or anything, but I finished in 2:26:25, so my pace was 11:11. That's certainly nowhere near where I want to be, but considering the heat/humidity and the fact that I hadn't run in a week due to injury, I suppose it's much better than I anticipated. Every time I passed a race official I considered asking how long they were going to keep the course open, but as it turns out the last-place finisher came in at 3:52:44, with a pace of 17:46, so I could have just walked the whole thing. I tried to find out ahead of time whether the course was walker friendly, but maybe it's better that I didn't know, or I would have walked more.

Anyway, tonight I do yoga, and tomorrow I RUN!!

And I need to run because I have now raised $698.20 for the American LIver Foundation, and I have lots and lots of people counting on me finishing this marathon thingy :)

Sunday, August 01, 2004

Walking down the street yesterday I saw a sign for a new condo development. The condos looked reasonably priced; the location was awesome; and the condos hardwood floors, lake views, and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. For a brief moment I was excited and wondered if there was any way I could afford a condo. But something was tickling at my mind--the address of the condos sounded familiar. And then it hit me: it was the former address of Marigold Lanes. No way could I live there without feeling like a horrible person!

Friday, July 30, 2004

Soooooo tired of political speechifying. It's all meaningless.

Gotta love when the presidential nominee mentions your hometown by name to talk about job loss. Nice touch, though, adopting Bush's tactic of talking about people by name to bring out larger issues (or to avoid actually talking about anything of significance).

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Ok, I haven't run since Sunday, and I still cringe every time I get to stairs. Hmph. This had better change soon. Not running puts me in a very, very bad mood.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Funny how you can be so wrapped up in your own life that you forget not everyone is in the same world as you. After the keynote last night I picked up my phone to call my mom and see if she'd watched. And realized I'd missed a call from my mom. Her message: "I'm just calling to see if you watched the speech by, um, Barack Obama. I guess he's running for Senate in Illinois. I just heard something about him this morning on NPR and I watched the speech just now. I think he's going to be president someday. I hope you were watching."

I was dumbfounded that yesterday was the first she'd heard of Obama. I have no idea why I thought my mom in Ohio should have heard of a state senator in Illinois, but since I hear his name every 5 seconds I just assumed everyone else did too.

Obviously I loved the speech. I did take exception to one thing, and it was the thing a lot of people seemed to love. I am NOT "my brother's keeper," and I dislike that phraseology. Let's forget for a moment that it limits us to an exclusively Judeo-Christian worldview. In my opinion it's also a misreading of Genesis to think that even in the BIble being someone's keeper is a good thing. Remember it was Cain, who'd just murdered his brother, who asked God if he was supposed to be his brother's keeper-- a word usually meant in the Bible to mean jailer or animal herder. God didn't say, "Yes, you should be."

I think when Democrats adopt the rhetoric of borther's keeper, they are living up to the worst stereotypes of Democrats as painted by Republicans. For me, it does not follow that because I care about fellow humans I should be a jailer, guard, or even babysitter of those same humans. It should not even mean that I have a responsibility for every person in the world or the country.

I do care about other people; I do care about the environment. I would like to think I am not overly selfish. But to me the true difference between Democrats and Republicans (and mind you, I am only a Democrat because it's the lesser of two very big evils for me) is not that Democrats are compassionate and unseflish and Republicans are not. The difference is how to best serve one's own personal interests.

Le's be honest. Am I an environmentalist because I think it's the right thing to do or because I believe the natural world is sacred? Well, maybe in part. But, really, I'm an environmentalist because I get cough when I breathe in smog, because I like my air to be clear enough to see beautiful mountaintops and my water clean enough to keep me healthy. I recycle because we're running out of anywhere to put the trash.

Do I care about education because I believe it's an inalienable right? Sure. But I also believe that a more educated society is likely a less dangerous society and one I'd rather live in.

Do I like welfare? No. I'd prefer everyone could earn their own money or had families to help them get back on their feet. But I'd prefer welfare to robbery when people can't afford to eat.

Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit here. But I honestly think the best rhetoric for the Democrats is not to rely on the slippery slope of brother's keeper but instead to focus on the interconnectedness of all people in a way that demonstrates how wanting to help others is actually a selfish concern (not in those words). Let's show people how it helps them to focus on things like education and hurts them to focus on war and big business.

Just a thought.

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

After Granddad died Grandma started cleaning out her house in anticipation of moving to an apartment. She hasn't moved yet, but we have inherited a lot of stuff. When I someday have more than 300 square feet I will have several Hummels to display. What I have now is lots and lots of books. Two of them are very cool-- a nursery rhyme book from 1914 and Robinson Crusoe from 1915. They were gifts to Granddad's older brother from his grandmother. My brother inherited a physics books from 1898. Teaching in physics have changed just a bit since then :) But I also took two boxes of random mystery novels, some I'd read and some I hadn't. On my way out the door this morning I grabbed a book from the box and stuck it in my bag. It wasn't until I opened it on the train that I realized the book was large print. Now I love large print books. I stare at computer screens and small print books so much I go cross-eyed, and it's nice to have large print every once in a while. But reading a large print book with lots of sex scenes on a crowded train was a whole different experience.

Monday, July 26, 2004


I ran 16 miles yesterday!

I can barely walk today.

I'm going through major Tour de France withdrawal. Need Olympics now.

Saturday, July 24, 2004

I was watching a rerun of Becker the other night. One of the main characters is blind. Near the end of the show they did the commercial for the sponsor of the closed captioning. It made me think. Which would be more difficult--being blind or being deaf? And by this I mean for someone who had previously had been able to see and hear.

For me, it wasn't a difficult question-- it would be far more difficult to be blind. I don't hear very well. I don't listen to much music. I don't remember things if I only hear them. I always email/write letters if I can avoid making phone calls.

But I LOVE to read. I remember facts by remembering how they looked on the page. I love numbers and stats. I figure out math problems by seeing them. And I love sightseeing and peoplewatching. Not to mention, of course, that while I may not enjoy driving, I love hiking, running, walking, biking, backpacking-- and I really enjoy doing all of those things alone, difficult if I could not see.

Not that anyone is ever given the choice, but for me, it'd be obvious. I could handle being deaf, and I often wonder if I'm losing my hearing. But being blind would be very tough for me.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

I was having dinner with my mom last night at FlatTop (mmmm...), and I ran into a girl I knew in high school! High school-- which was two states away and eight years ago. Even stranger-- she and I now work at the same place :) Sometimes it's a very, very small world!

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

My just-keep-running strategy appears to be working. That, and wonder-drug Alleve.

Yesterday, King Lance recovered le maillot jaune AND won Stage 15 in a sprint to the finish. I want to be in that kind of shape when I'm 32. Or now. And I want to stop thinking in the foreign language that is cycling-speak.

Monday, July 19, 2004

Sweet. In reading up on the pain in my calf, I have begun to think I may have Lateral compartment syndrome. This means that my calf muscle has grown beyond the sheath that surrounds it. If it's chronic, the only real solution is surgery. Woo hoo. Or I suppose I could stop running and let the muscle atrophy. Hmph. I think I'm just gonna keep running and see what happens. After all, I have health insurance now.
Weekend recap:
Burlesque show good
Calf injury bad
Mom in town good

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Aujourd'hui La Tour de France était très passionnante!

Yes, I got up early this morning to listen to a live feed of the Tour. Or at least the end of stage 13. And Lance won! At this point I think the Tour is his to win or lose, as I can't see anyone beating him. Voeckler may have retained his overall lead (by 22 seconds), but I can't see him holding on to that once they enter the Alps on Tuesday. Ivan Basso--the yummy Italian--seems to be Lance's fircest rival at the moment, but I think Basso will come in second this year. Lance will get his 6th and hand over the reins to Basso next year. That's my totally unscientific and only partially informed predicition :)

And I've decided not to challenge Sheryl Crow (or Chryssi) for Lance.

Friday, July 16, 2004

Sooooo bored at work. Want to go home and sleep and sleep and sleep.

I'm also suddenly very obsessed with the tour de france. That's great in the morning when I first get to work... I can follow the end of the day's stage live on the internet. However once I "watch" the finish and read the instant analyses there's nothing to see until the next day. Damn 7-hour time difference. Go Lance and US Postal Team!
Maybe you have to be a former grad student/ current university administrator to find this as funny as I did, but anyone who's been to college should be amused.

Thursday, July 15, 2004

7 miles without the knee brace!

Sadly, that's not only the most exciting thing in my life this morning; it's also the only thing.

But tonight I walk with Eulalia, so that's something.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

I forgot the best part... I ran those 3 miles without knee brace for the bad knee or band for the good knee. I haven't run braceless in months. I still won't try it on a long run, but I may be slightly better.

Oh, and I swear that I woke up to someone on xrt talking about the primacy of woo and how they dissected the meaning of woo. But I fell back to sleep, so I don't know what that meant or if maybe I was just dreaming.
I ran 3 miles! 10-minute miles and felt like hell, but hey, I did what the schedule said.

Monday, July 12, 2004

My 14-mile run yesterday became a 14-mile walk. Today I feel miserable-- nauseous and headachy. I don't think A caused B or B caused A. I'm pretty sure C (humidity) caused A and B. I hate humidity.

Friday, July 09, 2004

I just checked the weather online, and the current visibility is 800 miles. I don't know about all of you, but where I am the clouds are so dark I can barely see across the street.
What a shitty way to start a day.... As soon as my door clicked shut this morning I realized that my keys were on the other side. I guess there are some advantages to living in a big apartment building. I called the management company and got a message telling me to press 2 if this was an emergency. Once I pressed 2 I heard a list of emergency situations--including fire, flood, burst pipes, and lock out. Perhaps I'm odd, but if there were a fire, I think I would call 911 first, not my management company. Eventually, a maintenance man came and let me into my apartment. I knew I had to pay the $25 fee upfront. I didn't realize it had to be cash. Apparently it's in the lease, but I don't carry around copies of my lease and no one at the management company mentioned this before sending the maintenance man. I finally convinced him that a check written to him should be fine. He claimed in the past those kind of checks often bounced. WTF? He knows where I live! Anyway, it ended ok. I got to work on time; I now have my keys. I still don't know anyone in my building, so this won't cause me to leave a key with a neighbor or anything. I just won't ever set down my keys again! I would've gone to work and dealt with the key thing in the evening, except that my work keys-- office, desk, etc, were also on the keyring, and it would've been a hassle to be without them.

While I'm complaining, I saw a commercial for low-carb dogfood last night. Yes, dogs probably need more protein than carbs. Yes, there are overweight dogs in the world. But this whole low carb things has just gone too far. Cutting out carbs should not replace actually thinking about nutrition. Am I the only one in the world who remembers that a GRAM (not ounce, thanks Pete!) of protein and a gram of carbohydrate (simple OR complex) have exactly the same number of calories--4. Am I the only one who remembers that a gram of fat is what will hurt you-- 9 calories. You lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. Not by cutting out vegetables and bread. Ok, done ranting.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

From my Dad:

Kelly

Any interest for Hall of Fame stuff this year? Inductees are John Elway (boo), Barry Sanders, Bob Brown, and Carl Eller. If any of your friends are Detroit fans, they might want to see Barry Sanders. I'm not sure I will allow any of your friends who are Elway fans to come, but .........

Parade is Saturday, August 7; Enshrinee Dinner is also Sat.; Induction is Sunday; and game is Monday - Denver Broncos vs. Washington Redskins.

Let me know - I can get you tickets to anything.

Dad

So, anyone in for a trip to Ohio? I'm definitely going, at least for the weekend, probably the game, too.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

I just had a sudden craving for a Whopper.
There's a sign hanging on my front door staring me in the face every time I leave my apartment. It provides a whole list of bad situations, following each with "run anyway." For instance, if you have a hangover, run anyway. I suppose I meant it to be motivaional, but I don't actually follow its advice. Instead, I try to avoid those situations. If I suspect I'll be hungover on a given day I schedules my runs so that that's a rest day. If it's snowing I run on a treadmill. Etc.

But yesterday I followed one of the lines: "If it's raining, run anyway." And it was fun! I called Scott around 4pm when I observed a hurricance outside my office window and asked if he still wanted to run. Of course he did, and by the time I got home at 6:30 and saw clear skies I felt silly for even calling. But we ended up running in a massive downpour. Other than the rain getting under my contacts rendering me blind and the guys along the path staring at my white t-shirt, it was quite enjoyable. Maybe in the future I'll actually follow my own advice and run anyway. Especially now that Scott says it's ok to call myself a runner :)

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Best birthday ever! Ok, I guess my best birthday was the actual day I was born, and any birthday where you're still alive and healthy enough to celebrate (and run a 10 mile race) is a good one. But this was definitely the best in recent memory, thanks to good friends :) A big thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy Mexican food and sketchy bars or who called to wish me a happy birthday!
Does bocce ball count as cross training?

Friday, July 02, 2004

Chryssi lands in a little over 21 hours! :)

This weekend is beginning to fill up very, very quickly. With any luck it will be a good birthday. I tend to be disappointed with my birthdays. I suppose that's the problem with a holiday birthday. There's an upside-- I never have to work on my birthday (and this year I get paid not to work!). But there's also a downside-- the day is just not about me. I've always had to contend with friends going out of town, busy with family functions, etc. I remember going to three parties on my birthday one year, but not a single one of the parties was for me, and in fact most people had no idea it was my birthday. Last year was definitely the worst though-- I was at a wedding on my birthday. The reception was certainly not designed to celebrate me, and I was seated at a table of my high school friends, who all had spouses/significant others with them. I was alone. Not that I mind being alone, but they kept bringing it up, asking me when I was going to settle down. And I had too long a drive home to be able to drink heavily!

A far cry from the days growing up when my parents would tell me the fireworks and bbqs and parades were all for me!

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Ok, since Kim posted her training program (which, btw, I heartily endorse), I thought I would show you all the madness that is now my life. Note especially weeks 8, 6, and 4. Nothing like running 50 miles in one week.

I broke down yesterday and sent mass email to a whole bunch of my SB friends. I really wasn't going to do the group email thing, but there were SO MANY of them that I hadn't spoken to in 7+ months, and the thought of writing 20 different emails that all said the same thing seemed daunting and also pointless. So now the burden is on them! If they respond, great (and maybe I can hit them up in the future to support my Run for Research). If not, a few less people I have to keep in touch with. If I'd realized what a relief it would be to send the email, I would've done it a while ago. Though, to be fair, I was waiting in part to have a steady job, etc to report. Maybe I'll be inspired to find old high school/college friends and send them a version of the email. Don't want to go overboard though. I dislike having too many friends :)

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

I had a dream about my mom last night. In my dream she was on a spiritual quest. I remember telling her it made no sense to me that she would study Wicca and physics to understand Catholicism. That led to a revelation of sorts. I need to ruminate a bit before I write it out.

Incidentally, it is my mother's birthday. Gift ideas? Keep in mind tomorrow is my parents' anniversary, so I should really send two gifts. I would just go home to celebrate with them, but dammit, this weekend is my birthday, and I want to celebrate here! :)