Dear Pittsburgh Pirates,
Thanks for being in last place in the National League. I feel very good about myself for choosing to be a fan of your team this year. My self-esteem needed this boost, and I am sure yours did too. Could you try hard not to completely suck for the rest of this year? If Baltimore ends up with a better record than you do, we’re through.
Sincerely,
A Newly Devoted Fan
Posted in Just for Fun, Just Random Stuff
The title of this post sounds a bit like an essay that I would never assign to any of my critical writing classes, but it is one that I would assign every semester to any creative writing class I might teach. I think this is a fascinating topic for many reason. One: I think our phobias say a lot about who we are. Two: By writing about our phobias, we get to explore not only what we are afraid of, but also why we are afraid of it. Three: Who doesn’t love delving a little bit deeper into her own psyche just to find out that the irrational fears she faces everyday are possibly very rational. Here are my phobias that I would like to one day write about:
So goes my list of irrational fears.
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I am thankful for people who understand my idiosyncrasies.
Food: I ate everything in sight. It happens on the first day of, and the few days leading up to, your period. Sue me.
Exercise: See above sentence. I was too lethargic to exercise. Tomorrow, though, I am going to kick the heck out of five miles.
Posted in Food, Just for Fun, Just Random Stuff, Personal, Relationships, Running, Writing
I was surfing around online yesterday and started fantasizing about living in Door County. More specifically, I imagined moving to Washington Island, though I am not sure what I would do for a job there. Hey, it’s a fantasy. It’s imaginary, so I can do whatever I want. I decided I want to live here. And then I thought, well, since this is a fantasy, I might choose this one. The only drawback is that it only has two bedrooms, so when people came to visit they could only come two at a time. 🙂
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I think I have been consumed by the running bug. I haven’t simply been bitten by it; it’s eating me alive, which isn’t a bad thing. Rather, I would say it is a very good thing. In fact, it’s such a good thing that I can honestly say I feel better than I have ever felt.
Even in high school when I swam all the time, I didn’t feel as healthy or as in tune with the world as I feel now. There is nothing that beats the feeling of running along next to the river, listening to the water slip past the jagged rocks slowly wearing them down, refining them. As I run, I think about how I, too, am being refined, polished.
Tomorrow is a 10 mile training run for the Indy-Mini which is only a few short weeks away on May 8. The 10 mile run is the longest training run on the plan, and I am going to try hard not to think about how it is only half as long as the longest run on the marathon training plan I have chosen. Really, there are twelve runs in the 18 week plan I have chosen that are longer than 10 miles. I just keep telling myself I can do it. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can, said the Little Engine.
Possibly the thing I love the most about running is the solitude of it. There is no way for me to deny that I love some time alone. In fact, I probably require more time alone than most people do, because it takes quite a bit of energy for me to be with people. There are some people I love to be around, who require little to no energy, but then there are others who just leave me feeling like a child’s new Christmas toy that has been played with until it doesn’t move anymore. A little rung out. In order to get over that feeling, sometimes I just need to get away.
On November 6, I am going to get away for about 5.5 or 6 hours while I run my first marathon. I know, I am a little obsessed with this topic right now, but I have to exult about the fact that I just registered for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I spent $60 of my hard-earned money in order to run for a ridiculously long time. I suppose this will give me a measure of my ability to go the long haul. I think relying on my friends, like Molly and Nagelkirk, will be my biggest asset in this long, arduous process. I have to say that I am torn between wanting to rejoice and wanting to throw up.
Twenty-six point two miles.
26.2.
20+6+0.2
2 x 13.1
A really long way.
Here’s the course map: Marathon_Map_full_perspectiveWEB It should open quite nicely for you.
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Haphephobia: A morbid fear of being touched.
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I spent about two hours today working on my dissertation, and I plan to spend a couple more tonight. I think once I go through it one more time, it will be ready to send out to the committee. Excitement: I will send it out tonight.
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I am thankful for too many things to list today!
Food: banana, juice, short bread, iced coffee, bean/rice/veggie/cheese quesadilla, pasta, M&Ms
Exercise: walked the dogs two miles, eleven-mile bike ride
Posted in Biking, Dissertation, Food, Just for Fun, Relationships, Running
I wasted time today. In a big way. So what’s new?
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I am thankful for the ability to run.
Food: banana, juice, grape pop tart, chocolate milk, bean and rice homemade pot pie, popcorn, apple, beer, almonds and M&Ms
Exercise: jogged 3 miles, walked dogs 2 miles
Posted in Just for Fun
A Wish List by Me.
I wish that in academia we could have time to do everything we want to do. I wish we could have ample time to write without distractions and ample time to prepare for teaching. At the same time.
I wish I would have gone to a school that offers dissertation fellowships.
I wish I could compartmentalize my brain to think about class when it needs to and to think about my dissertation when it needs to.
I wish that I could do a Bunny Foo Foo on some of my colleagues. I wouldn’t mind scooping up a few of them and bopping them on the heads.
I wish that they could Bunny Foo Foo me when I need it. Sometimes I need to be bopped on the head.
I wish it didn’t take a couple of beers to put me in the mood to write. I wish I didn’t get tired so fast.
I wish Coke Zero didn’t taste so good. I wish all soda could be made with cane sugar, like Faygo Rock-N-Rye in a glass bottle.
I wish that my dissertation proposal would edit itself. I wish someone besides Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Larry Page and Sergey Brin would invent some software that could do that revision. They already make enough money.
I wish that someone would invent software that could hook up to my brain and read what I am thinking, but only if I want it to.
I wish I could get paid just to love people and give them grace. By that, I think I mean I wish I could be a youth pastor again.
I wish I could steal my daddy’s cue and make a living out of playing pool, or find myself a rock-n-roll band that needs a helping hand.
I wish I could write well enough to score a major book contract and write about the snow and the birds and my dogs and how I need to finish painting my house.
I wish writing wasn’t something only a few people could get paid to do, but if it has to be, I wish I was one of those few people.
I wish I could wave a magic wand and have everyone have everything they need, not want. Need. Huge difference.
I wish I had a pair of socks, like the ones I am wearing that my god-daughter picked out for me for Christmas, for every day of the week.
I wish I could wear sweatpants to teach in.
I wish I could swim the English Channel. Or just start running and never stop. Forrest Gump it without Tom Hanks or the stupid feather.
I wish I could be anywhere, doing anything else, but this. That’s how I feel right now. Tomorrow I will feel just fine.
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I am thankful for fun.
Food: banana, juice, pizza and bread sticks, chips and salsa, Lorna Doones: not a good food day at all
Exercise: walked the dogs in huge snow! shoveled the driveway and turn around
Posted in Just for Fun
Reason Breeds Insanity 