Best Time Ever

You all know I was a little excited/nervous for my half marathon, which was on Sunday the 18th. However, as you all predicted, the day of the race went just fine. But let me back up a little.

My Dad came for the weekend to cheer me on and to run the 5k that was also happening on Sunday. On Saturday night, like any good, healthy runner, we had to carb load. At the fair. Yum (Okay, honestly, I had pasta for lunch too. But I did eat almost that entire funnel cake).

Then I got everything ready for the next day (the race was at 7:30 am). 

The next morning, we got up bright and early and went to the starting line. This guy was checking out my butt during the National Anthem. Don't you think? I think he was.

The race was good! I was trying to get under a 2 hour half, which comes out to about 9 minutes per mile. To do this, I set my Garmin so that the PACE was showing and I just made sure to keep it under 9. I didn't look at how many miles I had gone or what my total time was; I just kept making sure it was under 9 minutes/mile. So I did not try using the Yasso method, just the old tried and true.

Afterwards, I had a beer with Dad. Because beer is a really good post workout fuel.

And then we went and did the most important thing, rewarded ourselves with a huge meal, complete with cheeses and a huge desert! 

It was a great race! I am so glad my Dad could come. It sure is nice to have some company, moral support, a cheerleader and a photographer! He even jumped in at the very end and ran the last tenth of a mile with me!

In case you are interested, below is the pace (blue) and elevation (green) graph. It was really hilly and I had to stop and pee around mile 3, but otherwise I kept under a 9 minute pace the whole time.

And the numbers: 

Miles: 13.1

Race Time: 1:52:36

Average Pace: 8:37

Which is 7 minutes faster than my goal had been overall!!

 And 10 minutes faster than I have ever run a half, which makes this:

A NEW PR!

How was your weekend? Did you run any races? What races do you have coming up? How do you reward yourself after doing something tiring?

Make sure to link up with Jill for Fitness Friday! 

3:12 White Balance

Welcome to Week Three of 12 Weeks To Better Photos! This week our task was to learn about White Balance. Even with a point and shoot, this is a fun experiment to try! The button should look like this one on the left, the little plus and minus in a box. Don't forget to go to Kate's page where you can link up after you've tried this experiment! HERE is the pdf for week three. It's also not too late to try weeks one and two as well! The links will be up until the end of the 12 week course!

source

Here are the common WB settings (missing from this list is Auto and Custom, which is different for each camera). In case you were wondering, Florescent is office or warehouse type lighting. Tungsten is the normal yellow bulbs you use at home. I think the others are self explanatory. 

Our task this week was to try all the different settings to see what the differences were. We were also tasked to learn how to set and use our custom setting (which is not on the above menu) which you have to do using a white piece of paper (so your camera knows what "white" should look like in the current light).

The question to answer was: What can I do to combat color cast in indoor photos? 

The subject once again was, you guessed it, Papa P. But today for you penguin lovers out there, we have a surprise guest... MAMA P (I know you were wondering about Papa, but don't let the top hat and bow tie fool you)!! Here they are, in all their penguin glory, in 5 settings: Custom, Auto, Tungsten, Florescent and Sunny.

Notice they are each a little different in coloring. Some are more yellowish, some more bluish. Actually, since Papa and Mama are dark and the chair behind them is dark, this is not a great example. I just wanted to introduce you to Mama. Here is a better example. My white shirt has a better contrast.

So now you see. Sunny is a little too yellow; tungsten is more blue and florescent is more pink. Custom is supposed to balance out the white, but I may have set it wrong, becuase I still prefer Auto. I definitely need more practice. This is a good experiment though becuase even though I did not show my face, it too would be...yellowish, bluish or pinkish. And nobody wants that. It is important to have the right White Balance, or you may look jaundiced, sad or drunk.

Which one do you think is the "truest white"? Have you experimented with White Balance? Do you have a favorite photo you'd like to share? Put your answers and the link in the comments below!

Join us next Thursday for Week Four: Flash.

Getting Over The Hump

Everybody likes new music, right? And everybody likes FREE STUFF! No? Huh, well I do. If you like alternative music, I just found out that Urban Outfitters gives away 5 free songs every Monday (you can still download last Monday's songs) and a full album every couple of months.

HERE is the latest album (25 songs). I already downloaded it to make sure it was legit before suggesting it to anyone else. It is! HERE is the previous album (25 songs). This is a great way to test out new bands!! And I like this music! All you need is iTunes.

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I have a post over at Women Rockin the Road today about 10 Beautiful Places in The World. Above is a sneak peek. You want to go over there and take a look. They are Beautiful. Some you may know, and some may be new to you. You may have a recommendation for me! You can tell me "where to go" either in the comments here or on WRTR!

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Do you have any travel stories? Do you want to write a guest post? Email me if you do! We are looking for writers! 

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Speaking of email, it helps me to respond to your comments if you have yours enabled. I am lazy today so in lieu of doing a tutorial, I will direct you to Kim's site, where she shows you step by step how to do this.

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Next up this week: 

Thursday - Week 3 of 12 Weeks To Better Photos - White Balance

Friday - Fitness Friday - Race Recap and Tips on Carb Loading, Carnival Style

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Now, I have a tiny rant. I am not much of a ranter, so this couldn't be a whole post. If I were Jess or Kim, I would be able to Rock this rant, but I am not. I would be better at making a list about rants, than actually making a rant. Is that what you do to a rant, you make it?

Do you guys comment on people's blogs (a lot sometimes) and never, ever have them respond? Am I the only one who does this? I was just wondering. Because there are a couple blogs where I liked the premise of the blog and I commented a few times a week for a while, and these people never comment on my blog, which I can handle. If you don't like it, I am cool with that. But these people also never even respond with a thanks or a how-do-you-do, not via comments, not via discus, not via email. NADA. And all of a sudden the other day, I thought, wait, WHY am I wasting my time when there are other bloggers and blogs (not to mention IRL folks) who I like better? 

Am I being unreasonable? Do you normally comment multiple times and never, ever, EVER get anything back? If so, do you keep on keeping on or do you drop the person already?

This actually happened to me in real life. I used to send out a bunch (I mean A BUNCH) of handmade Christmas cards every year. They would take me FOREVER to make. And I would write a note on the inside of each one and I would HAND address the envelope (and I do believe, lick the stamp!) And then I wouldn't hear back from people at all. Not a phone call, not an email, not a text, not a letter. NADA. Even the next time they saw me, there was no, "hey, thanks for the card" or "hey thanks for thinking of me". NOTHING. So lately I have been keeping track (yes, I am anal) of who says thank you, who gives something (even just an acknowledgement) back! Screw this giveth and not recieveth. I can only giveth so much to people who are "too busy" for a simple "thank you". Especially when I am busy too and I took time out of my busy day to think of them, to do something for them, to interact with them!

I know I don't always respond to every one, and I don't always respond right away, but I try to respond as much as possible, which I hope means that I am not missing someone completely!

What do you guys think? I know everyone is busy. Should I chalk it up to that? Or are these people just plain rude?

(whoa, okay, not such a "tiny" rant after all)

**whew, I do feel better though**

Where My Heart Is

The most beautiful city I've ever been to is San Francisco. I have traveled the world and seen many different cities which are also great, but San Francisco has a beauty that cannot be rivaled. I know I am bias and partial to the city that is not only in my state, but is where I lived for several years. I remember first trying to find an apartment in the city. I had been living in Sacramento and working for Nordstrom when I got a promotion to manager in downtown San Francisco. For a while I drove back and forth every day. On a good day, that could be under two hours; on a bad day the drive was sometimes almost 4. Each way.

Getting an apartment was not easy. This was at the tail end of the dot com era. Young, smart kids with money were lined up, and I mean LINED UP to pay cash on the spot for an apartment. Not only would they pay the asking price; they would pay more, lots more. There were bidding wars for rentals. You had to fill out your application, print out your credit score, have your deposit in hand and then BID extraordinary amounts of money in order to get a 300 SF room in this wonderful city.

I got lucky. A friend of a friend of a friend was moving out and I could take over her lease. It would be easy and cheap ("city" cheap, that is). I didn't know the new roommate. I didn't know if he was messy or clean, nice or mean, taken or single. I didn't care. He could have been an axe murderer; at least the rent was cheap.

I spent the next several years exploring. All the different nooks and crannies, each with a different world, were there for my pleasure. You could walk from Mexico to China within minutes. You could taste all the food, experience the culture, all within steps of your own back door. You could see the water from many different vantage points. You could take a walk along the ocean and stare at the Golden Gate bridge. It was never hot and never cold. It was perfect.

I don't need to tell you that San Francisco is pleasing to the eye, with it's hills and it's skyline, it's water and it's bridges and it's buildings like this and this. But I need to tell you that it is much more than just physical beauty that draws me to the city. It's the mish mosh of cultures and neighborhoods and languages and people. It's the traveling the world without even leaving one city. It's the cool, crisp fall weather (in summertime).

It's the life. And the life is beautiful.

(PS Some close second place cities: Seattle, Sydney, Shanghai, Paris, Venice, Istanbul)

What do you think the "Most Beautiful" city is? And why?

Ye Olde Hovel

Today is officially "Talk Like a Pirate Day". I'm not really good at accents though, so I will probably just write normally. I think my title is about the extent of my knowledge of Pirate Speak. Oh and, "aye matey" and "arrrrr". FACT: My local library has a language program and you can learn to talk like a pirate, this month only.

**Q-What's a pirate's favorite letter? A- Arrrrrr**

**Q-Where do pirates go for a drink? A- The bARRRRR**

(okay, that's all the bad jokes I have for today)

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If you know me, or have been reading for a while, you may already know that I pretty much live in a hotel. If you don't know me, let me quickly explain a little. I work a job that takes me to different places in the US, usually for a few months at a time. So, once we figure out where we will be, we move in to "our new home", whatever hotel is available in the city (or tiny town) that we will be working in. Usually this is anywhere from 90 - 350 days a year. 

Sounds great, right? Vacation, 350 days a year, you say? Where do I sign up? 

It is great sometimes. I don't have to pay for cable TV (although I rarely watch TV anyway), electricity or heat. I have a gym, a pool and sometimes a hot tub at my disposal. I don't have to wash my own sheets or clean my own toilet. These things can be good. Sometimes you get to stay in Five Star Hotels.

However, Hotel Living is not all it's cracked up to be. For example, sometimes you don't have a kitchen. When this happens, you end up cooking a lot of things in your coffee pot or microwave (which usually is not very healthy). Sometimes living in one room all the time kind of gets to you. You have people over, where do they hang out? On your bed. That can be kind of weird. 

Also, moving around a lot means you work with different people and live in different cities every 90 days or so. It is hard to make connections with people in 90 days. It is hard to establish a routine, to join a soccer team or a running club or even a gym. It is hard to eat healthy. Things are all done in "single servings", like Brad Pitt says in Fight Club. Single serving coffee, single serving shampoo, single serving friends. Just when you finally start to get to know your boss and how he operates, your coworkers and your surroundings, you move once again to somewhere else, to another hotel, where you have a different boss, new coworkers and have to figure out once again where the nearest grocery store is. 

I don't have much stuff. One suitcase. What fits in one suitcase? One pair of running shoes, flip flops and one nice pair of shoes. One dress. Two pairs of jeans and some shirts and sweaters. Each time I move, they move with me. I am a turtle, with my house clothes on my back.

Even though I don't have much stuff, it seems like a lot when you have to pack it all up. I work out of my room, so any time I want to go out of town for the weekend, I have to pack up my "office" as well as my suitcase, and leave it at the front desk or a co-worker's room while I am away. This makes weekend trips a little harder. 

This time I have a kitchenette, which makes it nice as far as eating healthy. But I also have to pack up food etc when I leave. So each time I am going to go somewhere, I try to "eat myself out of house and home", so to speak. I try not to buy anything new, only to use what I have. This makes for interesting meals. I think I mentioned before that I sometimes eat chili every day because I am cleaning out the fridge. Sometimes, even the backup food (ie non perishables) finally gets eaten. 

I also have to leave myself notes. I have had to buy at least three razors, since I tend to forget them in the shower. If I am leaving early in the morning, I get my coffee ready and then pack it away.

Oh, the joys of hotel living.

What do you do to prepare when you are going to be away for a while? Do you stay in hotels a lot? Do you like it? What's your favorite part of hotel living?

I'll Drink To That

So I have only heard this song a couple of times, and it is SO stuck in my head! So, Happy Sunday and here it is for your head.
So, like she says: Cheers to the Freakin' Weekend, I'll Drink to That!!

Now, for another episode of Kim Inspired Grab a Beer and Look What I Did Last Week!  I took a little road trip. It's very important to have plenty to eat and drink when you are in the car. (ps I use old cottage cheese containers as Tupperware. Classy, I know)

 This store had a bit of everything. Need a wedding dress? No? How about a Snuggie?

This guy has the right idea.

I went out for Fondue. I love cheese! 

Yum, yum, yum.

 

You may have noticed that I have a tiny pony fetish. It can't be helped. Look how cute they are!Is it just me, or are there a lot of tiny ponies in MO? I don't remember there being this many at home.

OH! There they are, my Tupperware! They even come with labels. Notice the one on the left. Be good or I will put you in there too!

I went Thrift Store Shopping! Yay. And they had everything but the kitchen sink. 

Oh wait, there it is!

 Instead of the sink, I bought all three sweaters, a pair of jeans, some books and three long sleeved shirts and a jacket.I didn't pack for cooler weather apparently. Obviously I didn't have enough books before.

Stephany, if you are reading this: I lied. I do go shopping more than once a year. Sorry.

In total (3 sweaters, 1 jacket, 1 pair of jeans, 3 long sleeves and a "few" books) = $25.

 

 

On 9.11, my uncle and my cousin, who are Firefighters, were in the pregame ceremony at AT&T park in San Francisco. They are my heros. Plus they are Giant's fans. 

(Did you read THIS POST? The Uncle below was the one that took me to my first game!)

(I did not take this photo. I am not sure where it came from. I think it's a freeze frame from a TV station)

The Fair is in town! Below is my running trail, plus, if you look closely, in the background is the fairgrounds (and my favorite ride!) I can't wait to eat some fried butter! (<-- seriously, click on this if you want to have a heart attack).

Just kidding. But I think a funnel cake may be necessary for my pre-race carb loading. Right?
 

 I sent some books to someone. I was trying to recycle an envelope and all I had was scotch tape, so this is what it ended up as. My Mom would scorn me. Don't I know how to properly wrap a package? Don't I have a few dollars to spend on proper tape? 

Apparently not. 

Sorry Ma.

We had a huge storm which darkened the sky and sent the rabbits scurrying. This photo was taken around 4 o'clock. It looks like 7 o'clock, right? The good thing is that it was about 95 that day and the next day, it was in the 60s! Sweet!

 And then I rode off into the sunset on my trusty steed.

How was your week? Have you ever eaten deep fried butter? (or been to see the butter cow at the Iowa State Fair?)Do you like Thrift Store Shopping? Or Rihanna?

The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth

I was going to take a Day Off today, but when The Lightning and The Lightning Bug picked me for their writer of the week, of course I had to join in with their Dare to Share link up! In case you don't know about it, each Saturday, Katie picks a topic for the weekend. You write on the topic, post it and link up HERE. It's one of my favorite link ups, since I frequently blog in "laundry list" form. It gets me out of my laziness comfort zone and encourages me to write about topics I may not explore otherwise.

This week's topic is: Fight For Your Right: write about something that involves standing up for something you believe in. You can stand up for a cause, support your opinion, or just rant about something that makes you mad.

I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things, but generally I do not voice them. I do not fight for as many rights as I should be fighting for. I would rather seethe with anger under my skin than say anything. Actually, I wouldn’t rather seethe, not really. I would like to know how to effectively stand up for what I want, to voice my opinion without getting unnecessarily angry. 

My boyfriend and his family are very vocal. If they have something to say, they say it, and in my mind, sometimes it’s a little much. To them, this is the way they are, honest, sometimes brutally so. To me, it is scary. This is not to say that he or his family are wrong in the way they express their anger and opinions, they just do it differently from my family, which probably has a lot of un-spoken issues, just waiting to explode. 

This makes for an interesting relationship. There are many instances where he is yelling at me to, “tell him what I want” and I am silently staring him down with the evil eye and my mouth drawn tight in a line and my hands clenched in my lap. He thinks I am thinking what an A-hole he is, while really I am thinking of all the things I could have said or should be saying. I am crafting a discussion in my head, as if it were an essay. First I will say X and then, he will say Y. If he says Z, I will say W. But he will probably say V instead. 

So when I finally squeak out my answer from my clenched lips, which of course NEVER comes out the way that it was playing in my head, I never really feel as satisfied as I thought I would. It usually comes out gruffer, more hurt or angrier than I really am. Why can’t I just say what I mean, and say what I want, and say it nicely? Why can’t I stand up for myself without making it a big deal? I don’t know. Maybe it would work better if my relationship were letter based, like in the olden days. 

“My love, I have missed you so much. Perhaps when we finally see each other, we can go to that brunch place I have wanted to try. Love, your sweetheart forever. “

Did those people fight over nothing when they finally met up for brunch?

I am learning, however. Learning that it is better to just say what you want, what YOU need. This may not avoid an argument, but at least all bets will be on the table and you can go from there. You have to SAY what you want to even come close to working to get it. It’s like winning the lottery; you are never going to win if you don’t play. 

As Mick Jagger said, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” 

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Also on a totally unrelated note, I have a race tomorrow and here is the weather forecast. Bummer. So please everyone, cross your fingers for clarity (and lower humidity) between 7:30 and 9:30 tomorrow morning! Thanks! 

Do You Yasso?

Have you ever carried around something that you didn't ever use? Are you an expert packer? Do you love to travel? If you can say yes to any of these, hop on over to Women Rockin' The Road, where I have a post up about Things That I Could've Done Without!

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Where I Run These Days

And now for our regularly scheduled program: Jill's Fitness Friday link up.

My friend Lisa joined a running club recently and although she had her doubts beforehand, she loves it now! She has talked a lot about the fact that they are running less, but longer and stronger and each run has a focus. She has told me some of the details of her training runs and I have taken some of her group's ideas and run with them (he.he.he.)

The other night she mentioned that she had just finished doing Yassos and they had really kicked her butt. I wasn't sure what language she was speaking but asked her to elaborate. She explained them as this.

Take what your goal marathon pace is. For example, mine would be 4 hours flat, since I am attempting to run the half marathon in 2 hours flat. Now, run 800s meters (half a mile) at your goal time, but in minutes. For example, my goal is 4 hours. I have to run the 800 meters in 4 minutes. In case you are having trouble with the calculations like I did at first, that is an 8 minute mile. So I asked her, "and then what?" She said then you have a 400 M (.25 mile) "shag", which is a recovery period, where you run a slow jog. She suggested a 10 minute mile. I looked online and it says to run it in the same amount of time you ran the 800 meter, which for me would have been a 16 minute pace, which is a walk.

You are supposed to start at 4 intervals and work your way up. Her group did 8!! I decided to try it, and the next day, started with 4 of them. First I did a 1.5 mile warm up. Then I did 4 repeats and a 1.5 mile cool down. I did not run at a 16 minute pace during the recovery; I just ran at what felt comfortable.

Let me tell you, these things are magic! I have been doing intervals once every two weeks and hating them, although they DO usually get me about a 9 minute mile (which is my goal pace for a 2 hour half). They are strange because even though you run fast, then walk, then run fast etc, you still end up with a good combined pace. However, the Yasso beat my puny little intervals to shreds.

Don't get me wrong. These were hard. An 8 minute pace for me...is hard! But not impossible. My normal pace is about an 8:45 or 9 (for 6 miles). So my total was 6 miles and my average pace was about 8:25, which is 20 seconds per mile faster than normal! This week I decided to make sure it was not a fluke, so I did 5 of them this time. I ended up running 6 miles at an 8:10 pace. I was tired afterwards, but not completely dead, although I did almost lose my lunch around mile 3. But I recovered.

So, my question to you is this: For my half on Sunday, should I do this, or a variation of this, the whole time? Or maybe just part of the time? Have you tried doing intervals during a long race? If so, at what point during the race -- the beginning, middle or end?

I feel like I may not be sure of what I am doing, since the farthest I have gone on a Yasso day is 6 miles. Will it last for 13 or will I hit the wall somewhere in the middle? What do you think?

Have you tried to Yasso? 

PS EEEKKK... If you've popped out of Reader, note the "1 day and some odd hours left" until the Half!

Go over here

for more Friday hoppers!

2:12 ISO and Shutter Speed

Hello everyone and welcome to Week Two of the 12 week photo course, which focuses on ISO and Shutter Speed.  Hopefully you have joined in this week. If not, it's not too late. You can find the assignment for  Week Two HERE. Also, if you want to catch up, the pdf for Week One is here and you can still link up for the assignment over at Twenty-Six To Life. <---- click there to get to the week one link up!  Click HERE to go to her site for this week's link up!

This week the question was: When should I use a faster shutter speed?

I often shoot in Shutter Priority (the little S) Mode, since it allows me to manipulate the light by changing the shutter speed and ISO. However, I always need extra tips and it was nice to go through step by step instead of just playing around with it when I am trying to take important photos! 

Our assignment was to put an object (I used a glass) in the sink under running water and try changing your shutter speed (and consequently your ISO) in order to see what happens. Here is what I ended up with. Excuse the quality, or lack of it.

For the first photo, I used a slow shutter, which gives the water a silky effect. However, the light was hard to control. If I upped the ISO, it was too bright, but as you can see, this one is not really light enough.

The second. Better light, not so silky water. You can start to see the bubbles, which means the higher shutter speed is stopping the motion a little.

Here we have a faster shutter speed, which means you have to put the ISO up even more or else you don't get enough light in that little bit of time. Notice the bubbles are more pronounced.

In this last one, you can see the individual water drops. However, the shutter speed is so fast, barely any light is getting in, so I had to bump the ISO WAY up, which causes the photo to be grainy.

After we were done playing in the sink, the assignment was to use your manual setting and your light meter to find a good light balance, becuase as you can see from the (bad) photos above, the light is the most important element. 

Below, once again, is Papa P. He will probably be a regular feature. He holds nice and still. (click over to Kate's site and see who HER regular feature is!)

After doing the assignment, I experimented indoors and out to find a good balance of light. 

Inside: Slow shutter, high ISO

Outside: Fast shutter / low ISO

So, what I have decided is that I need more practice, especially with moving objects, as the shutter speed will change a lot when the movement changes a lot.

Have you experimented with different shutter speeds? 

Have you used the manual setting on your camera?

Join us next week for Week Three: The Color of Light

Re-Re-Re-Read Me!

One of the bloggers I follow, Hula Seventy, did a list project and one of her lists really inspired me. What books can you read over and over? My list is below.

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith (one of my all time favorites)
A little girl who loves to read, growing up in Brooklyn with an alcoholic father who spends all the money for food on booze and a hardworking mother who puts up with it, she somehow rises above. Plus she reads all the books in the library, one by one. My hero.

2. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Although it switches back and forth a little, I was still able to follow the story of a little girl who finds a naked time traveler in her father's field. Enough said. 

3. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (I've still never seen the play -- it's on my Life To-Do List)
France. The Revolution. A man goes to jail for stealing a loaf of bread and some candlesticks. He turns out to not be a bad guy after all.

4. Capitan Correlli's Mandolin - Louis de Berniers
Greece. WWII. A native Greek girl from a small island meets a rouge Italian during the Italian occupation. . Plus this book has my name in it. See if you can find it.

5. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Goblins, Hobbits, Dragons, Greed, Courage, Friendship and more. You know what this book is about.  (I can't wait to see what Jackson does with the movie)

6. Anne Frank, The Diary of A Young Girl - Anne Frank
The Netherlands. WWII. The diary of a young Jewish girl hidden from the Germans during the Nazi occupation.

7. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
This book is about so many sisters and much silliness, but you love them and by the end you will wish they were part of your family.

8. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
A book about a young girl living in the south talks about race and inequality but in a way that is not offensive. She also addresses courage and understanding.

9. The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue
A child gets stolen by hobgoblins and learns to adapt to his new family. In his place, a fake child is left with his original family. Years later, their paths intersect again.

10. Wicked - Gregory McGuire
The Wizard of Oz, but instead of from Dorothy's perspective, you see things through the eyes of the Wicked Witch of the West. In the end, you hate Dorthy and her little dog and are friends with the witch. I love how he twisted the classic version into something different. 

You can find these and more on my favorites shelf on Goodreads! Also check out my Bookshelf Page to see where I stand in this years Bookmark Break Challenge!

What books can you read over and over? What is your absolute most favorite book of all time?

(PS I actually wrote 80% of this post about a year ago. Do you ever start an idea, save it as a draft and then come back to it later?)

Message Received

source

Communicating is sometimes hard for me. I don't always like to talk on the phone; I am not very good at expressing myself vocally; I prefer to write things in a letter or a journal or on a post it note. When I was young, my mother used to yell at me and I would just glare at her wordlessly. I am not good with words. If there is a "wrong thing" to say, I may accidentally say it. I take that back, I will probably say it. So I sometimes keep quiet instead.

When I went to college, I received my very first email address from CSU, Sacramento. I had no idea what to do with it. The only people I knew with email addresses were the other students in my classes, and I could just talk to them. Why would I go all the way to the computer lab to email someone that lived right next door to me in the dorms? However, I did go over there to sometimes play solitaire on the computer between classes. Other than that, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about, maybe because there was no fuss.

The first time I went abroad, I lived and worked in France for three months. Every couple of weeks, I would buy a phone card and go and stand on the street at a pay phone and call my parents to let them know that I was okay, where I had been and what I was doing. I sent post cards and letters and beer labels home to my friends. I wrote in my journal and kept a box of scrapbook worthy items (mostly beer labels). There were internet cafes, but they were mostly full of people smoking and drinking coffee in front of empty computer stations. I did have an email address, but I still did not know a lot of people who had emails themselves, nor was using email as a means of communication yet a habit.

I am learning to communicate. I am still not very good at doing it vocally. However, through the means of email, I have learned to ask questions and to ask for help; I have asked people out on lunch dates that I may not have asked before; I have learned things about people that I would not have asked them about. I have made friends that I probably would not have made if I had to pick up the phone and talk to them, not only around the world, but even on a smaller scale such as around the office at work.

Both the internet and I have come very far since the 90s. I did not have that first email address until I was 18. I didn’t really use it until I was 22. And then that was ALL I used the internet for. I didn’t even own my own computer until I was 26. I didn’t need it! I went to the computer lab to study and to write papers and to do research on the internet. Now I use it to find knowledge and different worlds and great people.

The communication lines are now open.

I always wonder if I would be different if I had been a child in a world full of Internet. Would I know more or less? Would I be more outgoing or less? Would I still hand-write Thank You cards or not?

This post is part of the Write on Edge RemembeRED prompt. Today's assignment was:

Many of us remember life before the internet. We wrote letters instead of emails, used encyclopedias instead of Google, and went to parties that weren’t of the Twitter variety. For this week’s prompt, we want you to recall those early memories of being online. Tell us how it impacted your life and what it meant for you. Write about your experience in 600 words or less.



Now tell me -- do YOU remember the days before the internet? When did you get your first email address? When did you actually start to use the internet regularly?

Wine & Love (3)

I decided to do Nora's Wine and Love today, since Thursdays are now dedicated to 12 Weeks to Better Photos posts! And I like Nora's Wine and Love, so I thought I would do it today and link up with her when she posts later in the week. I hope she doesn't mind! You know how this works, you list what made you whine, or makes you need to have a glass of wine (or is just plain bad) this week and what you love this week! You can link up with Nora on Thursdays!

WINE:

- They are trying to get our work wrapped up soon. This may mean that in the next month, I will be (a) jobless or (b) moving somewhere else. Which is not always bad, but it makes it REALLY hard to make plans with other people, you know the ones who have a "normal" life and a "normal" job. (also see: love list)

- I slacked on my workout schedule last week. I was tired, and I went to visit a friend and it was a short week at work so I just put it to the bottom of the to do list.

- Because of this, I ran a very slow pace on my run on Sunday. I just wasn't as motivated / energetic / into it as I am sometimes. Which is strange, because my run on Thursday night was really good. Running is weird.

- This week at work is really busy!

- I still don't feel ready for the half marathon on Sunday.

LOVE:

- As I said above, I may be moving. This could be good. Right now I am two hours from any airport, which means that I am at least 6 - 8 hours away from my friends and family. Soooo, if we move, I may be (a) closer to an airport or (b) closer overall (driving distance) to some of my friends and family. Which would be awesome.

- I got to see a good friend last weekend. Girl time was much needed and much enjoyed. Isn't it nice to be around someone that just knows YOU? It is.

- I am going to also see my Dad this weekend! I am excited about that. He is going to come to cheer me on for the Half Marathon on Sunday. It is also the District Fair that day, and although he may not go on the zipper with me (my favorite ride!) he will hold my purse while I spin around madly!

- I found this great deal online for a 8 x 11 photo book (10 dollars for a 35 dollar value!) I think there are a couple more days to buy it if you want it!

- The weather! Love, love, love! I hope it stays this way for a while and doesn't descend right into winter.

- Yes, work is busy, but it means I am feeling productive!

- The next few weeks should be crazy busy, what with busy work, busy weekends and trying to fit in training and fun, it will zoom by!

- I went to the thrift store and bought a bunch of great books for 50 cents each! I am excited to read them....whenever I find the time!! (see above comment, category: fun) I may also need a new suitcase just for my books! It's a disease, this book buying business, but it sure makes me happy!

Notice many of my wines are also loves? I guess there IS a silver lining to every cloud! 

Do you have anything exciting or stressful going on this week? 
Make sure you go to Nora's page to link up!

A Horse is A Horse, Of Course of Course

This post is brought to you by Budweiser. 

Not because it is my favorite beer, but because I went to the Brewery the other day! 

Did you know that Anheiser Busch makes hundreds of beers? Including these:

•Bass Ale

•Boddingtons

•Beck's

•Hoegaarden

•Leffe

•Stella Artois

And this, which is funny, because my friend Lisa was JUST talking about Clamato and I was like, "what the heck is that?" and she told me. Once she told me, I realized my grandma basically drinks THIS DRINK below! Now it's pre-canned for her! Cheers Grandma!

I got to meet the big horse. 

My to do list, courtesy of Jimmy's Johns. 

I found a new running path.

I burned 912 calories.

Then I went for brunch. 

And ate 1200 calories. 

Que sera, sera.

I have been volunteering at the local library. 

Which gives me a chance to brush up on my reading. 

I didn't know they still had these!

I made a nice summer salad. 

Gotta get it while the getting's good! 

In Missouri, the corn has been picked. 

Bye bye corn!

I found a new local hangout. 

In case you can't read the sign, this is the local bar.

When looking for more tiny ponies, I found these instead! 

I heart looking for strange animals in Missouri. 

(PS I swear I saw a camel. Maybe I am hallucinating) 

To all the brave heros of 9.11, I salute you! 

How was your week? What are you doing this weekend?