here, there, everywhere

Since early Friday morning I’ve been without internet access. Due to an error in billing our office internet was shut off and resumed this afternoon. Now I’m back and ready to blog–sort of. I’m still working on laying out the magazine. Hopefully it will be ready to go to the printer on Friday afternoon, if not by Monday. So far I’m in really good shape and confident Friday will be the day. However I’m still very, very busy.

Here’s a recap of what you missed while I was gone.

Ran in the Azalea Trail Run 10K on Saturday morning. Adam was supposed to go with me but got held up at work. So I had to speedwalk downtown, pick up my registration info and get ready to run in less than 40 minutes. I went to the registration table, told the woman my name and picked up a bag full of what I could only guess was brochures and an envelope with my number in it. She told me where to go to pick up my t-shirt, which I didn’t want to do because I had no one to hold all of this stuff but I did because I wanted to make sure they didn’t run out of t-shirts before I got one. I put the shirt on (no one to hold it, remember) over the two tank tops I was already wearing (yes, I got very hot), pinned my number to my shirt and threw everything else in the garbage can on the way to the start line.

My goal: Run the entire thing without stopping and do it in less than 70 minutes. And I did it! I only walked for about 10 seconds when getting water–it’s too hard to run and drink out of those tiny cups. And I ran for 68 minutes. I crossed the finish line, and people were stopping to have something removed from their shoes. It turns out there were tracking devices everyone was supposed to clip to their shoes that I didn’t know about and threw in the garbage before the run. Thus I have no proof that I actually ran it–no official time in the paper or on the web. This was slightly devastating.

Saturday afternoon/evening, Adam worked. I vegged out in front of the TV.

Went to church yesterday. Then Adam and I went to the Y, ran two miles and played basketball. We went home, watched the March Madness games, did laundry, ate a delicious dinner that Adam whipped up and went to bed. It was a much needed, seriously relaxing day.

No, we’re not really that interesting. Especially when busy at work. I got more to say, but it’ll have to be later. I gotta get home to feed the pup.

Ciao.

feeling wine-y

Of course, I often enjoy a nice glass of chianti or merlot at the end of the day. Who doesn’t love a little wine? Or a good book, for that matter? Reading while intoxicated, I don’t suggest or condone. But pairing great literature with great (or even mediocre) wine is a simple pleasure. Here’s a list of suggested pairings.

And a little food for thought about drinking in front of the kids. I’m not sure how this will be handled with my future kiddies, but I’m guessing if we don’t make a big deal out of it and drink responsibly it shouldn’t be a big deal. It wasn’t when my parents drank in front of me growing up.

5 unusual things

OK. I don’t usually do things like this, but I thought it might be interesting to reveal a few little-known, unusual things about myself. It was a lot harder than it looks. I picked up the idea here.

1. Once I move on from the car I currently drive I never ever ever want to drive a vehicle with an automatic transition again. I learned how to drive on a standard transmission and all my other cars have been standard. I’m not happy with an automatic. Side note: This should prevent me from EVER driving a minivan.

2. I don’t like having a cell phone. Yes, it’s convenient and can come in handy if you’re stranded somewhere or you’re going to be late, but–let’s face it–it’s an electronic leash. Last year Adam and I went over six months without cell phones, and it was liberating. It also made me feel like we lived in the Stone Age, though there’s a lot of comfort in that simplicity.

3. I love the snow, but I moved away from snowy upstate New York to live in the deep South. It’s hot here and very rarely ever snows. Boo.

4. I have a friend from college that I consider to be like a sister to me, and I think about her often but never call. I’m not sure why. It’d be nice to hear her voice once in a while.

5. Cucumbers are my favorite food, and I could happily eat them every day. Adam even grows them in our garden because he knows it makes me happy. He’s good like that.

mid-day breakdown

I must admit my days are being happily frittered away working on layout for the magazine. I expected to be more stressed out–maybe that’ll be next week. I’m in a fairly good mood, which can surely be attributed to my long night’s sleep last night (9.5 hours!) and the sushi I had for lunch today (tasty). I’m also really excited about what I’m working on, so things are shaping up nicely.

A few notes:

This article is hilarious and should be read before any emails or text messages go out. Stat!

Reading reviews replacing reading books? Ce n’est pas vrai! Worth taking a *quick* peek.

A year ago 500 women kept a log of their workday. Thirty-five of them made it into this book, now on my to-read list.

And I dare say I’m fascinated by Funny Games and shocked that Relevant has this review of it, post-modern analysis and all. I haven’t seen the film, but this review seems to have hit the nail on the head.

NaPoWriMo

So, I did NaNoWriMo in November. I wrote *part of* a 50,000 word novel that so far has sat dormant in my GoogleDocs. Since I championed through that month, I figured a great way to celebrate April as National Poetry Month is to participate in NaPoWriMo. Write a poem a day for a month. It’s that easy. No crazy word counts. No sweating over characters, dialogue or the “arc” of the story. How refreshing.

As a former graduate student in poetry who has lazily called herself a poet in the last year, I purpose to NaPoWriMo away. Anyone care to join?

young adult fiction

Did you ever read any R. L. Stine books as a kid? I did. I remember various “Fear Street” books I’d find at the book fair at school about teenagers in scary situations, where they’d invariably solve some mystery and everything turned out A-OK. Kind of like Scooby-Doo times ten, and in book form. One I particularly remember was called The Babysitter, the story of a girl who babysits for a neighbor and gets constant, harassing phone calls from someone who is stalking her. Not original, I know. But what kept me reading was Stine’s cliffhangers that kept me turning page after page, and for a teenager whose unsophisticated tastes and semi-protective parents made those books taboo, the act of reading them became an adventure in themselves.

I write all of this because Stine is adding to his “Goosebumps” series, aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds (“Fear Street” was for older teens), and a whole new generation will soon become acquainted with this author. No news on whether “Fear Street” will ever get new life, but Stephen King seems to think Stine helped usher the way for J. K. Rowling and her work.

As a side note, Print magazine has an article on reissuing young adult fiction with newly designed covers. The evolution of covers for books like the Sweet Valley High series is quite fascinating considering the books were written in the early 80s and have had several cover incarnations, as have The Outsiders and Judy Blume novels. In spite of the new contemporized covers, the content remains the same.

TV strike changes

Here’s a comprehensive list of schedule changes for TV shows post-writers’ strike. It’s humorous to me that TV Turnoff Week, April 21-27, coincides with many shows’ re-starts. My guess is a lot of TVs will be flipped on, not off, that week.

10k training, week five, and wind-up

I realize I didn’t hardly blog at all last week, and I feel bad that this week will likely be more of the same. Last week at work we finished up photo shoots, and I had Good Friday off. This week and next will be long since I’m putting together all the pages of the magazine in that time frame. Wish me luck.

In addition, I have the 10K race on Saturday and need to run this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeak out a few two-milers. Last week I totaled 9.2 miles. Saturday I was going to try to run seven miles, but my left knee started to hurt so I cut it at five miles instead. My hope is to be able to run the race in less than 70 minutes. Then, once the race is over, I’m cutting back a bit on the running so I can start strength training regularly, which has been sadly neglected due to the enormous time commitment the running has required. I also want to continue going to yoga on a regular basis–it’s good for my spirit.

Over the weekend we watched I Am Legend–did not like it–and My Kid Could Paint That, about the little 4-year-old girl from Binghamton, NY, who became a worldwide painting phenom, though the film raises the question of whether or not it’s all a rouse. I started reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, a book that’s sat on my shelf unread since college, and I adore it. I wish I could stay home all day today reading it.

I feel rushed, so here I go. Check in again soon.

weekend recap

Friday night Adam and I went downtown to Wintzell’s for a beer before heading down to the artwalk. The art was really disappointing, which we attributed to the big arts & crafts festival on the other side of the bay this weekend that must have sucked all the good art away.

Saturday I finished reading The Year of Magical Thinking, a well-written and wrenchingly honest memoir that was almost too much at times. Didion’s writing is lovely, with almost a poetic quality to it, and interspersed the present pain of losing her husband with the memories that she clung to so hard. Then we went grocery shopping, I ran my 4.2 miles, and we sat outside on the back deck with Penny tied up. I rented Dan in Real Life, which Adam didn’t like (and didn’t finish) but I did. I’m not much of a Steve Carell fan, or a Dane Cook fan, but both have their moments.

Sunday Adam was at work all day, leaving me home to watch all the discs of Gilmore Girls I had stacked up from Blockbuster. I also ran 6.2 miles (quite a feat, I tell ya), finished reading The Trial, and made myself a nice little vegetable, garbanzo bean, pasta dinner.

All in all, a restful, quiet, lovely weekend.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and we will be headed out for some green beer. First I’m headed to yoga and then home to whip something together quickly for dinner.

Happy St. Paddy’s. Be well and wear green.

10k training, week four

Not much to report. I took most of the week of due to my business trip and my sore, sore legs. I ran 4.2 miles on Saturday in the high wind and humidity and 6.2 miles (a full 10K) yesterday. I think–knock on wood–that my body is starting to find its stride and comfort zone. The 10K race is less than two weeks away. My goal is to try to run 7 miles for my long run next weekend.

2008 stats update
Distance: 81.5 Mi
Time: 13:55:52