A Katy Rank Moment

I was in the parking lot at the new Target, and there's a brand new sign that reads:

OTHERSTORES ->
Other Properly Spaced Words ->

I almost called Mrs. Lev to vent my complaint to someone who would understand. Aren't there people who proof these things?

got these in my email

And I love them.

Where was this mousetrap when I needed it? And I thought mice didn't actually like cheese because of the sugar content...was that some mice-preserving LIE when we were told to use peanut butter?? hmm....

And this is simply a PSA (ignore the unpleasant wording). Really, you don't look cool and it takes a lot of my self-control to not fix it for you.

doing it

I beat Katie Holmes by over an hour at the NYC Marathon, which I think is awesome (in part because I assume she has access to trainers and such that I don't have!). Amazing experience, but I wouldn't make running my sole extracurricular. Too solo (obviously). Everyone around you at the finish line is concerned with themselves, and not that excited about your accomplishment as a group.

That being said, I'm wearing my medal to work tomorrow. And did enjoy the random congrats from strangers on the sidewalk in NY.

Peacocks in the city

There's a peacock that lives on the west side of the Schuylkill River. I think it a female, since its not too brightly colored. I've seen it a few times, and every time I wonder how it got there. Did it escape from the zoo? I don't think they can fly (though Wikipedia oddly doesn't mention it). I'm starting to wonder if it was placed there in an effort to reguvinate the wildlife of Fairmount Park. It does have an ankle bracelet. Sounds like an obvious plan to me...use your limited park maintenance budget to bring in a fancy bird or two to break the monoteny of all the geese!!

Other sightings in the park:
~ Guy on bike with gun. While stopping at a water fountain during my short jog last night, I noticed two guys on bikes riding into the parking lot. They looked average enough, like Joe 20-Somethings Who Played High School Football and now are a little chubby and leisurely biking the city in their Random College Sports Team tees for exercise. Then one wiped his face on his shirt, exposing his gun. After mildly panicing for about 20 seconds, I also realized they both had on headsets and radios, and that there's a police substation in the side of the boathouse I was in front of. OK, so glad they're patrolling the park, but shouldn't bike cops look a little...fitter?

~ Woman jogging in a bikini top. Spandex shorts, fuel belt (how people run with these I have no idea), Ipod, and string bikini top...Granted, she wasn't well endowed, but I'm not either and I don't think a triangle top with a tie in the back and at the neck offers sufficient support. Then again, the only fat on my body was what's in said top, maybe I'd feel differently. Or maybe not.

Commentary

I have yet to figure out why some males (I say males because I've never seen a female to do) think it is OK to make random comments/yells/give advice to total strangers. Some gems from various dates as of late:

From a car on Kelly Drive:
Run Faster Fatass

Guy on stoop on the walk home from Kelly Drive (different day):
You don't need to sweat so much, you look fine as it is in those pants!

On the walk home from Kelly Drive (different day):
Random Guy 1 at Gas Station: I need to run too. Will you take me on your trail?
Random Guy 2 (noting 1 was ignored): Hey, I don't think she knows what you mean by trail.
Random Guy 1: I want to go on the trail, come on, take me on your sweet ass trail!

Balding guy in convertible as I walked to work:
Nice ass!
(side note, I thought, somehow, he said nice bag and was being sarcastic about my lovely canvas shoulder sack filled with shoes, a sweater, lunch etc., until he turned the corner and waved to me and I realized the sad truth.)

And my favorite...
Random Middle Aged Jogger passing me on the Off part of a HIIT series:
You know, you could run for longer if you slowed down.

rolling rolling rolling

Today I drove to work in an effort to ease my trip to and from our fundraiser at the Linc tonight...so I had to pay a ridiculous fee to park on campus...I accept this today, sheerly because of the amusement factor of the parking garage.

It has a 7.5 MPH speed limit.

Does your car show 0.5 mph increments? Mine barely shows 1 mph increments.

Maybe I'm tired, but that was really funny at 7:52 this morning.

Also amusing, this garage must have the only 7.5 mph speed limit signs in the world, because a search for google images didn't turn one up! But I love this cartoon!

Are you kidding me?

Do people really base their dinner choices on their conception of what their date will think?

"red meat on a date has become such an effective statement of self-acceptance"

"Hamburgers, she added, say you are down-to-earth"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/fashion/09STEAK.html?em&ex=1186804800&en=f269f7a170e39f66&ei=5087%0A

I have never given my order thought beyond a) what do i want and b) will this make a mess and on occassion, c) will this reheat well...

The Poor Constitution

Actually, I'm not exactly sure how this falls with the seperation of church and state, since technically, the government doesn't control the media. (But this article is referencing newspapers in Texas. I can't help but have some leaping conclusions).

I don't even know what to say, aside from quoting a quote in the article: "Do you have any idea how blatantly offensive this boneheaded move is to the thinking public?” I am somewhat amused, although not suprised, at the 'Christian' backlash/fear of Bibles being disgarded.

And to answer the question at the end: Yes, I do mind getting AOL Disks. Who uses AOL anymore? Such a waste of plastic.

On a side note (its on my mind because someone referenced it on NPR the other day), lets remember that these Bible Belt folks who keep talking about the importance of keeping "family" life "traditional," have a significantly higher divorce rate than us heathen-area-dwellers.

Lastly, lets give a bit of props to the Pope, who is appearently at least slightly openminded/logical and is hopping a little bit on the Go Green bandwagon. (Side note: He's been "spending his time reading and walking scenic landscape"? How is this relevant to the article? And doesn't a (sort of, depending on how you look at it) world leader have...things to do?)

how can you not love this?

I don't know how Katy found this, but I LOVE it (how can I not? cookies!)

Higher Ed makes GAWKER

History in the making. And a great read for higher ed dorks (And love to the write in vote for those of us who took "Administration of Student Life/Why XXX Thinks Everyone Should Go To A Small, Very Expensive Liberal Arts College").
For extra amusement, check out the original poll.

Also, the TIME article on Obesity and HE would be more interesting if it tied in socioeconomic status. For some reason, I think obesity rates increase as income drops. But, confirming that could blow the article, since we all know college going drops almost exponentially with income.

Ok, I'm done being a nerd for this afternoon.

Addendum:
There's a good discussion on this topic HERE, Thanks Em!!

How do you know you're an adult?

I have found two clear lines:

1) Cool summer weather is not disappointing, but a blessing (especially when it falls on moving day). Doesn't matter to me if its 60 degrees out at night and the pool water is getting chilly. I haven't even been in a pool (well, a non-hotel pool) all summer. Or last summer. And weather in the 70s? OK!

2) You need movers. There is a point in everyone's life when its just not practical anymore to scrounge up friends/acquaintances/anyone you know who likes beer and pizza enough to haul boxes and furniture out of one apartment and into another. This point is clearly demarkated when said friends would hate you forever after spending their entire day on said move (especially when it involves two flights of steep, narrow stairs and a pretty substantial amount of furniture that has never seen a dorm room).

Hello late-20s.

On Traffic.

I've gotten spoiled having moved out of the NY Metro area. I don't content with serious traffic on a daily basis anymore. But yesterday...karma, or something like it, bit me. After an 18 hr flight (plus 2 hours check in/exit customs and and hour luggage collection/entrance customs), I got to chill outside JFK with my bags and about 20 people waiting to pick up their relatives from some (presumably Caribbean) location while my parents meandered for two hours through early morning rush hour (why they didn't leave prior to 7:30 am, when I called to tell them I was through customs, I have no idea). Then we took a two hour ride for the 18 miles home. I bummed around for a while, had lunch and a pedicure, and saw my grandmother, who gave me six bags of Chips Ahoy. I managed talk her out of the Ensure. (I'm not sure if just doesn't like it much, and has it because the doctor recommended it for her to put some weight back on, or if she really thinks I could possibly have a need for it, in which case she needs some glasses.) And I got on the road to PA at 2:50 pm, thinking I'd miss the traffic and slide into Philly well before 5...

Not so much. The day turned into a even crueler joke of the roads, beginning with a ten mile backup from an overturned dump trunk on the turnpike. 3.5 hours later, I made it to my new apt to sign the lease, and then sat in construction for another 90 min to go to my till-next-Monday-abode. Sweet.

But this time in traffic did have some positive yields:

1) Apparently there's fake cows out there somewhere. The Cream-O-Land truck's graphic (sadly somewhat hard to view on their website) clearly says their product is made from "real cows," leading to me question where the rest of our milk is coming from. Perhaps I should be buying organic, or I'm risking milk from...fake cows??

2) I saw a billboard for 1060AM. So, it turns out, there IS a Philadelphia equivalent of 1010WINS, one of the few NY things I miss. It even has a "give us 22 minutes we'll give you the world" thing going on (Both are CBS radio stations though, so I guess its not slogan-theft). While I am very pleased with this find, they need to recruit less grating announcers.

off off and away

I leave for South Africa tomorrow night. Actually, I'm driving up to NJ tonight and South Africa at 5:20 tomorrow night. For some reason I am unaware of, we're supposed to be at the airport 3 hours prior to departure. Since the traffic to JFK can be horrid, my poor dad is taking the day off to drive me and one of my cohort/co-travelers to the airport. I'm reasonably sure that if we leave at noon we'll be there by 2, but poor Dad is going to hit serious Friday afternoon traffic leaving the city. Oh well.

I also just found out this guy I went to college with is going to some sort of rugby camp in Durban the same time I'll be there. Our paths won't cross, since I'll be in Cape Town and Johannesburg, but its still sort of cool. (Not that having half of my cohort come on the trip isn't cool too!!)

I'm really excited. It took a while. This has been in the works for so long, its almost snuck up on me. I've spent a good portion of today printing out our "recommended readings" to read on the plane, since that just hasn't happened. At least I finished Mandela's autobiography...and I did manage to pack without staying up half the night (probably over pack at that). I'm pretty convinced I forgot something though. I don't need contacts anymore, so its not that. My passport and tickets are in my purse, so not that...my earrings are lost at the gym (so I might buy myself a present abroad!)...I know my camera and charger is in my backpack along with the converter, and my roommate is bringing an Ipod plug and a blackberry (eek, but could be useful)...oh well. Not like I'm going on Safari.

On a side note, lets note how not flat South Africa is...I was reading a little blurb recently about a woman who set a new world record for time (as in total days) to run a marathon on every continent. She remarked that the Soweto (just outside Johannesburg) marathon was not only crazily hot, but also really hilly. Runners World mag also did a write up on the Comrades Marathon recently. Its not actually a marathon, but an ultra -- 50+ miles and HILLY, hills that according to the article, dwarf Boston's Heartbreak Hill. Scary. The elite take 6 hrs to finish, and the training programs on the site aim for sub-9hr and sub-11hr. I'll pass, thanks :)

oh, prom

I had an interesting discussion with an old friend last night, who was lamenting the fact that the majority of her friends have gone from single to married/otherwise seriously involved in the past two years. While that's only about 50% true (and hence more of a perception), my arguement that its not a factor of said friends 'changing' but a factor of the fact that said friends are in their mid-20s+ fell on deaf ears.

Anyway, the less frustrating part of the conversation turned to her randomly running into my HS prom (and date-night) date at some corporate drinks event. Appearently he's going to Harvard Business School next year and got married recently. And I saw this card on Postsecret this morning, and kind of want to send it to him to see if he knew. But I don't have his email (and haven't seen the guy in 8 years, aside from 5 min at the Thanksgiving football game a couple years back), so obviously I can't. Oh well :)

need a laugh?

or a cry?
I don't have time to discuss this right now, but wow. (Also, some of the imbedded links are amazing...in a very...interesting defination of amazing).
http://crazytalk.typepad.com/bluegrassroots/2007/06/fun_at_the_crea.html

the progress of women

Overheard on the train platform this morning:

Woman 1: Why you here?
Woman 2: I going to work.
Woman 1: I didn’t know youse got a job. Why you git a job? You got a nice booty, why you git a job? Girrrl, you should get yo self a man instead.

I kid you not.

ok, so...

I start work on Monday. This is excellent for a few reasons:
a) I'm broke
b) I'm broke
c) I'm bored
d) I'm really unproductive when I have nowhere to be

And I think I'm really going to like my office and it'll be a good position for a couple of years. I figure I'll have to stay in some capacity at Penn for 5 yrs or so if I opt to go for it and pursue an Ed.D. starting this spring (and figure if I should take out more loans to cover the taxes on that or what....)....but that's ok. I think I like Philadelphia. I've seen more of it the last few weeks since school ended, and its pretty cool. Its amazing how much time school takes up (which makes me not terribly excited to do a doctorate part time but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes).

I'm also kind of hoping going back to the working world gives me more time for my extracurricular life, er, rugby. This year I missed two games and probably half a dozen practices, which is about what I missed in the last 6 years. I may not be a super-star (or even a plain star) but at least I'm reliable (that count for something, right?). While I have a horrid guilt complex, the priority shifting that paying massive tuition (read: over a year's salary) brings also inadvertently helped me realize its ok to not make rugby tops all the time. Given the time of year, I haven't seen any rugby people in weeks (which is true, though I doubt it was noticed since I didn't really have the opportunity to hang out this season anyway)...and there were actually events the last two weekends, but I missed them for long-standing plans with family. That priority shift probably is a good thing, seeing as I hardly ever see the family and noones getting any younger...

I have a question

What do (chronically) unemployed people do all day?

On the one hand, having lots of time on my hands is nice. My apartment is pretty clean. I've started cooking again. I've opened books with titles other than "Declining by Degrees" and "Higher Education Finance" recently. I bought a couple of trashy magazines (eg. Glamour, such guilty pleasures). I've not only been sleeping more than 6 hours a night, but I've been sleeping well past 7 am!! And I think I'm finally going to wash my car and clean the rugby dirt out of my drivers seat today...

But on the other hand....daytime tv is is awful (not that nighttime tv is much better!). I find it really easy to spend hours doing nothing, and then wonder how its 7 pm and I haven't been to the gym yet. And while its been nice this last couple of weeks, I know I'm going to need more in my life soon....

And that's a real possibility!! A job I'm interested in checked my references...and I had another good interview....so...we'll see....with some luck, things will be more in line in the next couple of weeks!! YES. I hate having life "pending". Organization is so important to me.

checklist

• papers: check
• comprehensive exam: check
• degree: check (though the diploma proof is pending in the mail!)
• job: hmm, working on that one.
  

3 out of 4 isn't bad, right?

Tear

I'm an emotional basketcase this week anyway, but Matt's final GSE-Admissions Blog brought a tear to my eye. Seriously.

One week. 16 pages.

Happy hour.

(I heart Tequila.)

feeling very

One week to write a cohesive legal research paper. Did you know these things are generally about 1/2 footnotes?

I feel like this wouldn't be a big issue if I had, oh, any legal background.

If I do well on this paper, I should be offered immediate admission to any law school of my choice for being simply amazing.

heh.

The Mullet

In Philadelphia on a dreary "spring" day in 2007, I saw what I believe to be one of the most impressive mullets in the world.

Since I (sadly) don't carry a digital camera all the time, I must describe it (Google Images won't yield anything even close):

20ish male with dirty blond curly-ish hair about 2 inches long

from the front: a bad lack of haircut/semi-mop, as is popular with the college-aged artsy and/or trendy set

from the back: waist length dreadlocks...but only from the region that at one point in time would have been used to create a tail...

weeeee!!

I just finished writing 11 pages about rugby, specifically the "movement" to make women's rugby varsity on the collegiate level. While its in case study format (and I don't completely consider case studies academic work), I'm pretty excited about it...mostly because I get to monopolize 15 minutes of the class' time tomorrow talking about rugby.

teehee.

feelin' green

Last weekend I went to a conference for school/work/interviewing. The keynote speaker was Al Gore (who is surprisingly funny). He also had a 95% or so liberal audience of student affairs professionals, so the cracks about the election and current politics were well received. This 2 hours was by far the highlight of the conference (especially considering I spent 2/3 of it in the dungeon of placement interviewing, which may or may not pan out...). For the first time in my life, I'm motivated to recycle...and glad I have a gas efficient car for reasons other than my own wallet!!

Due to the T-4 weeks countdown to the end of the semester, and accompanying T-(2 case studies, 2 short-ish papers, and 2 long papers (one of which I haven't even done a lit review for)) countdown, I am going to refrain from detailing all the best parts, but I did find his website:

http://www.climatecrisis.net/

I am also planning on going to Alaska sometime in the next couple of years now, because I want to see the glaciers before they're tiny or gone...

Pledging

your virginity to your father?

Right now the Today show is doing a segment on the Purity Ball. The claim is that its growing out of the "abstinence movement" and is to help reduce the 80% (!?!) of high schoolers who have sex by their 18th birthday. First, I find it pretty hard to believe that 12 yr olds (well, at least the 12 yr olds I grew up with, maybe "things are different now") REALLY understand what a vow of chastity means. Also, its unclear (to me at least) if this is a vow of purity till marriage or till their 18th birthday. And I don't think that this can be good for parent-child communication. What if they ARE "involved" in HS and thinking about sex and then don't feel comfortable talking to mom/dad about it because of this pledge from middle school?? Lastly, I really get the impression that part of this vow is having your father "protect" you till you have a husband to "protect" you. Ugh. What happened to empowerment?

However....My biggest issue....

There's no mention of the sons. The boys these daughters are (or are not) have sex with. Appearently noone cares about their purity.

I hate double standards.

on the road...

Things I've seen while on the road in the past few days:

1) The Toddler Spa. This is disturbing for so many reasons that I don't think its necessary to type out.
2) A lady that got hit by a car. I heard the screech while on 17th and rounded the corner onto Walnut in time to see people rushing to her. By the time I was close enough to see what was going on, it was obvious she was ok. She was sitting on the curb and people were retrieving her shopping bags and shoes (ballet flats) for her. The driver was in tears and calling someone (the insurance or police I'd guess). On a side note, she was not in a crosswalk. Us jaywalkers should probably keep this incident in mind.
3) A taxi driver that let someone (me) unparallel park....seriously, the driver waited for me to pull out of my space, despite that it made him miss the green light. I'm not sure if he was trying to run up the meter, or if Philly cabbies are just that much nicer than NYC cabbies.
4) 6 girls with beehives camping on the grass outside the library. I wish I had a camera with me this morning. I also am rather curious as to why they had beehives, and why they were camping out on Penn's campus (sleeping bags and all, assuming they didn't drag them out there for an 8:40 am study session).
5) The finish line. I finished my second half marathon (the first being in fall 04) on Sunday in 1:59:58, just shy of my two hour goal. Not bad considering that miles 4ish-9 were uphill and I lost about 20 seconds/mile on my pace for that segment. Luckily, what goes up must come down, so 9-12 were pretty nice....then the 1/4 mile uphill to the finish line! A masochist planned that.

Free

from comps!!! (At least for the next 4-6 weeks, until I find out if I passed, or just didn't fail and have to re-do a portion)

By 1:30 pm on Friday, I was drunk off $16 worth of Mad4Mex's best. Excellent. We do have the best cohort ever. Seriously. I need to make time to hang out with these folks more before we scatter back around the country. (On the downside, the end of comps signals its time to REALLY get moving looking for jobs!!)

techno-jealousy

I'd like to preface this with the admission that I am a huge geek. (sort of...I used to actually be a computer geek, sans gaming, and then I went to college and technology really took off while I kept my 1996 hand-me-down desktop. I've fallen so far behind I've become a "user." My dad had to recover my pc for me when it crashed last year. He's a miracle worker; he managed to save all my music and photos.)

Lately I've been a little jealous of the sleek Mac Books (or iBooks or whatever the latest one is called). I love how light and thin they are. I love the little magnetic power plug (and I want to know how it works). I love the jewel-like graphics. I find the bubbly open-and-close a little annoying, and I dislike the commercials where the young and hip guy isn't nice to the pudgy middle aged guy, but I can overlook these things. 2/3 of my comps group has these little numbers, and I'm jealous that they don't consume 1/2 of their backpacks. Also, EW showed me how she can color code her iCal and file folders, and I want to color code too.

But I've always been a PC girl, and my laptop is only 6 months old, so I haven't been browsing options....until today. We had a group presentation and one of my group members brought their laptop. Its a newer version of mine, essentially the same computer, but with Windows Vista. And Office 2007. Its beautiful. It has lovely desktop features. Its WAY nicer than my circa 2003-release software. Instead of studying for my huge exam of Friday, I've spent the better part of the last hour browsing upgrading so my PC can have pretty software too, but its way out of my price range at the moment. Sigh. I hope MK brings his computer to class more often so I can drool from the next desk.

the crackberry

I cut class for the first time in grad school today. I just couldn't go. My prof wasn't there anyway, and was sending a PhD student as a guest speaker. I'm sure he was good, but I couldn't do it. I went to the gym instead (this was way more appealing, and will also allow me to go home after class at 9, instead of rolling in at 11 pm all gross and still unshowered). I'm not going to revert to my undergrad days and make a habit of this, but man it felt good.

Karma did nab me a smidge and I had to run with a flimsy hairtie and floppy hair. Granted, I did pack my bag this morning instead of last night, but I bet its somehow divine punishment anyway. I have NO IDEA how people run -- or do anything hot -- with their hair down. The one piece I couldn't get to stay back was driving me batty, not to mention the parts sticking to my neck. Yuck. Gross.

Anyway....while I was on the treadmill (I cannot wait for warmer weather/later sunshine) I noticed the girl next to me had a blackberry....sitting on the ledge (like where one would put an ipod or similar)...and she had an ipod too, so it wasn't some new fangled musical one or something. Now the kicker...she kept checking it!! What the HELL is so important it can't wait 30 or 40 minutes till you're off the treadmill? She looked young, maybe 19, but even if she's somehow way older, what can't wait? I don't ever want to be that tied to my email. Ever. (I check it like 34242 times a day as it is....)

insanity in the snow

I thought I was a little ridiculous this morning since, rather than waiting for the weather to pass, I left my apartment at 7:40 this morning to make it to the gym more or less in time for work (under the assumption that everyone would be a little late anyway). Then I saw a guy out running.

It was still sleeting a bit.
There's 3 inches of snow covered with a layer of ice on the ground.
Philadelphia appearently doesn't believe in snowplows.
I fell (and am admitting it) walking to campus wearing my snowboots.

How the HELL was he running?

I thought the people who've been out running the last couple of weeks were a little crazy. I admire their dedication -- and cold tolerance -- but I'll stay partial to the treadmill when conditions call for any gear commonly associated with snowsports. This guy though, running on ice with winddriven sleet pelting your face...that's not dedication, that's insanity...

with the money that will be spent on this

You could feed the homeless of at least one city for what I'm sure consumers will blow on this one....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17120663/

"...a sweat-free four-minute workout that will give you the same results as a grueling 90-minute session at the local gym."
"four minutes aboard her company’s machine is equivalent to 45 minutes of resistance training, 30 minutes of running and 20 minutes of stretching."

sorry folks, nothing is equivilent to 30 min of running but 30 min of running (not that there's not similar cardio that is, well, similar)....and how the hell do you speed up stretching?

sigh.

So many better things those marketing dollars could be spent on.

good and bad ideas

Across the weekend

Friday
good idea:
making cupcakes
bad idea:
making cupcakes on an empty stomach

Saturday
good idea:
going to the most productive (yet still enjoyable) practice you've attended in years
bad idea:
having a small breakfast and not bringing a post-practice snack, so that by the time you've arrived home to work on school stuff, despite the fact its Saturday afternoon (sigh), you are literally nauseous from hunger.

Sunday
good idea:
doing your long run in the evening so you can be productive (eg. read for class x2, draft a paper, and attend a comps meeting, and go grocery shopping and make dinner for mon/tues) during the day
bad idea:
eating a cupcake and cookie during the meeting which is conveniently scheduled over dinnertime, then running 10 miles on a 1 pm lunch and said dessert items. (lack of nutrients + high fat content = unhappy tummy)

oh wow

how I want a cupcake

I also have this urge to make cupcakes and send them to Katy and see if I can beat the cupcake shop. Considering I've never made a cupcake (well, I probably helped my mom when I was a kid, but I don't really recall it and they probably came from mix), I might need to do a few practice runs first. Shame. teehee. Maybe this will replace cookies for my Friday-or-Sunday afternoon baking project.

brrrrrrr

It is incredibly cold.

Its currently 11 degrees here, with a windchill of 10 below. The high -- 19 degrees, with a wind chill of 3. Granted, I shouldn't be complaining. It was in the 50s until, oh, 3 week ago. And I could be in Madison or Ann Arbor, where the wind chill is another 10 degrees lower......and that's not going to happen.

So Mom, I think you'll be happy -- I've officially deleted the job/HR sites of Michigan and Wisconsin from my favorite places and will no longer be considering jobs in the upper-middle portion of the country, as appearently I am a huge pussy about the cold. (Also, side note, thank goodness for treadmills, or I wouldn't be getting any cardio exercise for quite some time, seeing as we're not forecast to break freezing until at least Friday).

Lets blame it on the 5 years I spent in Texas. Wind chills in the 40s don't even make the map!

(Also, side note #2: I just noticed the wind chill in central IL is 20 below. Moments like this I thank the heavens that I left my plant job -- I don't even want to think about spending the day working around the stills or --eek-- loadout (which was right on the river) in this kind of cold.)

I rock

For the second time in as many weeks, I've given myself a (very mild) black eye.

Last week, I held (something close to) crow pose for about 15 seconds and was busy congradulating myself when suddenly, plop, my face was on my mat. I really don't remember falling. I do remember landing though, because I hit my nose square on. It was sore for days. My eyes tend to be puffy anyway, especially if I haven't gotten my beauty rest, so I didn't notice the mild brusing -- on both sides -- till a classmate asked me what happenned the next day.

And this morning, as I was reaching for my water bottle, the bar on the Smith machine decided to pop out right in front of me and smack me in the face. These things have minds of their own, I swear. So I have a little abrasion under one eye and its a little swollen. Nothing serious, although I did warn my mom so she doesn't freak out when I see her Saturday like she did last year when I turned up to Easter (or sometime around then, I forget) with a legit, although not overly swollen, black eye.

I'm amazing.

I am SOOOOO excited

I just ran downstairs to tell a coworker about this and I think she thought for a second I had a serious emergency.

I found this today---

www.mapmyrun.com

Its AWESOME. A new google-earth integration. You can put on the hybrid map and trace out a trail in a park or similar point by point. Much cooler than the clip-on-free-from-the-health-insurance-vendor pedometer (that I'm not sure is so accurate anyway). Of course, this will be much more useful when I make it off the treadmill and outside again, but that will require some nicer/warmer weather and longer lasting sunshine!

Oh. Seriously, nothing can be more exciting today.

brrrr

Ok, so its really not THAT cold outside.

But in comparision to the "winter" we've been having....we might as well be in Alaska. While I HATE the cold for the most part, I'm excited for two reasons (as my office has been hearing me discuss pretty much all month):
1) I would like to go snowboarding sometime this winter. And since I'm a poor graduate student, it needs to be on the east coast. Hence, we need the cold to allow for snow (or snow making).

(Now for the more exciting point)
2) I shut my window last night for the first time since that bizarrely cold day in December, before it hit 65 around Christmas. While I do like having fresh air and all, I don't like being forced to have it because the heat in my building is set at approximately 90. Seriously, with the window closed I can sit around in my skivvies when its 40 degrees out. Such a waste. I'd complain, but technically the place is a condo, so even if the heating costs drop, only my landlord might reap the benefits.

Also:
Stinks to live in the ice-covered parts...especially when you're in the south and a freeze is news, much less actual ice...
Really though, the most disturbing part about this article for me is that the strawberry crop may be damaged...sigh...

friday amusement.

Despite a fairly disappointing premier, this is pretty amusing. I can't get it to link into here, so scroll down to Lizzy.

Also, in response to Bush's new military announcement:

tact

The federal government never ceases to amaze me, in both its effectiveness and ability to control the news media. For instance, I doubt this would ever make the news on any American held station, even the more "liberal" ones.

"The letters were sent to more than 5,100 Army officers listed as recently having left the military. But this figure included about 75 officers killed in action and about 200 wounded in action."

How appalling. How horrifying that must be for the families. It angers me that more money is spent on "defense" than education annually, and yet the military cannot even keep track of their personnel well enough to not try to reenlist the dead.

Update: Amusing video, good point. Thanks Val.

I made another pie

Its also pretty. Lattice work. Though not as pretty as the one I made for Clifton Christmas a couple of weeks ago. I cheated this time and made the lattice strips fat...mostly because I was starving and needed to get it into the oven (what a lame excuse). But its for work people tonight anyway, so I guess as long as it tastes good, noone will mind. Here's my best-pie-to-date (from the CC event):

Amazing and captivating, I know.

Maybe despite my recent success in graduate school I should consider opening a bakery.

Or not. I can't see myself getting up at 4 am for work, at least not on a regular basis.