No, it's not due to flagrant escapades or anything unholy that's making me sore. It's from rock climbing one full week ago, where I was roped into an uncomfortable harness, and I got stuck on a route and so I just clung there for awhile (minutes, seconds, but felt like hours and days) trying to plan my way up the climb. Granted, I could have been lowered down, but I was really PO'ed that I couldn't get up to a certain part of the climb, so I just wasted more energy by reaching for the same handhold, but my left foot kept wobbling and shaking, and then... SIGH. The only reason why I bring up the soreness in the general upper upper thigh region is that.... I JUST GOT A NEW BIKE!!! How ridiculous, with 2 months left in this city/country, that I now decide to get one. But my friend Amy gave me her old Mongoose, and I had a bit of a hooha finding a place to tune it up ($67-$100), then buying a helmet ($35) and lock ($18-40), and now I need t oget a headlight (?). And it is so worth it because now I am whizzing through Boston's relatively flat streets at breakneck speed.
Although I actually didn't know how to ride a bike in the city, and nearly got mowed down/mowed other people down when I took it for its first spin on Friday. I didn't know if you were supposed to bike in the streets or on the sidewalk, and when I was in the street the cars were honking at me and I thought I was about to get hit, so then I moved up onto the sidewalk and almost hit a few pedestrians, including this really pissed off looking runner. Anyway, it was really scary to be shuttling along at this unfamiliar speed--I'm used to either walking (3mph) running (7-7.5 mph) or car (65mph). Now I was cruising at 15-20mph and I kept having nightmare visions of flying of hitting a pothole and flying off my bike. Also, I felt super dorky with my helmet, messenger bag, rolled up jean leg, and showing up sweaty to EVERYTHING, then the awkward handling of brakes and handlebars and almost falling over when I come to a stop at the traffic light. And it's not even like htis is a fixed gear bike! Anyway, I'm really happy to be riding, because getting from Boston to Cmabridge, e.g., is a total pain in the butt via public transport, and biking is actually faster than anything else.
So last night, after a 12-hour work day revising the Thanksgiving/academic flash cards scene in JANE (8:30am-12noon library, 12:00-12:40 home for lunch, 12:40-5:45 back to library, 5:45-6:40 home for dinner/talked with Morgan/my mom, 7:00pm arrived at a cafe in Cambridge, worked till 9:04pm) , I was feeling burnt out. I needed a drink badly. And while Annie was rocking out in F21 heels and hitting up Nicaraguan fare and having rendezvouses with potted plants, this past weekend I was pretty tame. The highlight of my wknd was running a freakin 5k on a COW FARM in Ipswich, for X's Sake. And so, as Annie might call it, the "animalistic" impulses needed to have an outlet.
It turned out my friend Heather was with some of the poets at De-ep Ell. u.m. in Allston, a neighborhood that is overrun by college kids. Namely, BU kids. It's kind of dirty and cheap and gross but with good ethnic food, and weird dive bars and the occasional nice bar. So--thanks to the beauty of the bicycle--I was able to get from Central Sq to Allston in probably what would have taken 15 minutes, but actually took more like 35 as I decided to take a 3+ mile detour along the Mass Ave Bridge, just for the hell of it. Anyway, D.E. was kind of interesting, as I'd been meaning t ocheck it out, and I'd definitely go back, since the crowd skewed a bit older. Even though I looked like I was 14, with a huge backpack, bike helmet tied to it, short American Eagle preppy shorts (um...what the hell compelled me to buy them this wknd), a soaked-through T-shirt, Converses, and a headband.
Then we were off to Silh -ouet.te Lounge, this ridiculously dive bar with 45yo dirty men in the front and college kids in the back. And we were playing darts, and I just felt super old. Heather wasn't sure whether these kids were in college or in high school. After a couple of PBRs, some dart throwing, and some inappropriate smiling at way, way younger boys, we were off to the Model, because Heather was chatting with the bearded boy to our right, and he invited us to head there. Said bearded boy was probably a dozen years younger than Heather, but I think there was a number exchange involved, and some mention of a party Fri night. I, on the other hand, was talking with the bearded boy's age-appropriate brother, who was wearing a Hanes T-shirt, black square glasses, and played in a band. Oh, Allston. Thank God that's not my type (anymore). We're already by the bar, and he excuses himself to go get another beer-- even though MY BEER is running on empty and he doesn't ask ME if I'd like one. I'm thinking, Really? You are a 28yo man and you don't know how to offer a girl a drink? And then this short dude who was friends with them starts talking to me, asking me my ethnicity. Apparently he thought there was a link between my being Korean and he being half-Philippino, to which I almost gave him some sass, but decided it wasn't worth it, since he was a nice boy and I actually had to peer down to look at him.
So, it's 2am, and I'm now tasked with having to ride my bike home tipsy and in the dark. Also, this is about when my groin--well, upper upper thighs--are feeling really sore from the bike seat and from residual rock climbing pains, and I'm biking and there are few cars out but a couple of them honk and I'm slightly swerving... but the happy ending here is that I discovered the Star Market on Comm Ave is open 24/7!!! so I get off my bike and wheel it through the supermarket, pick up some California rolls, burritos, a pint of blueberries and a peach (what?), cradle them in my hands along with my bike helmet, WHILE steering my bike, while trying to get to the checkout. Within 5ish minutes, I am home, stuffing food in my face while watching Kitchen Confidential on hulu. I will wake up dazed and dehydrated at 8:30am, shower, then eat leftover burrito and drink ginger ale while blogging in the theology library. Wearing last night's daisy dukes. And...scene!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
lessons learned
last week was our second ‘eating adventures’ night, where 12 of us assembled in the middle of nowhere miami on a Thursday night, to eat nicaraguan cusine. It was my wholly random pick: i just searched 'yelp' until i found something unique that i had never eaten before, and that had good ratings... anyway, i had no idea how far it was from the beach until two highways later, i arrived 15 minutes late to my own festivity. Ah well. The joint, called cerro negro, was more than happy to have us since it was a large-ish place, and mostly empty.
We started things off with some nicaraguan beers and an assortment of their best appetizers: included in this mix was fried cheese (much like paneer), huge ribs, blood sausage (a variant that included rice, which was interesting; they were formed into little patties), stewed pork, yuca, wings, fried pork skin, and nameless other things i cant remember. For dinner, a few of us shared the ‘typical’ nica menu items: deep fried whole snapper with an onion/tomato/sweet and sour sauce; chimmicurri steak; and smoked pork loin– and nothing would be complete of course, without the requisite rice, beans, and sweet plaintains. the pork was simply outstanding, but I think the appetizer shabang was the best part, since it was all new stuff (or at least, a new take on familiarish items). for the most part, our experience of nica food was like a cross between any kind of latin american/cuban cuisine. Still, tried a new thing, which is never bad.
Friday night there was even more eating: after work, nicole came over and we headed to sandbar for some much needed relief -or at least much needed for me– on Friday, work was almost unbearable. it made me remember why i disliked or felt uncomfortable in my job for the first several months, mostly because i was badgered, yelled at, harassed, etc for the entire afternoon. Sometimes, it made me want to cry. Other times, it just reminded me that thankfully it will be all over soon enough. All the time, it made me want to give a certain someone lessons on how to be a better, more understanding employer. Enough of that though.
Post-drinks, we headed to fifi’s (twice in one week!) to meet up w others for some fresh seafood. Kevin & i split a snapper, and somewhere during the meal, he told me that in korea, the youngest gets to eat the eyes, for good luck. Not one to be challenged, i then ate an eye. This turned the rest of the meal into a battle between kevin and i: he then ate the other eye, but couldnt do it, so spit it out, so then i tried to eat it; then we shared the tongue; and so on. Grossed out? Everyone at the table was totally enjoying the demasculinazation of kevin, while at the same time, appreciating my desire to one-up him. In retrospect, i can only imagine what the customers and waitstaff thought of us.
Because they had finally experienced it and fallen in love with it several hours earlier, nicole, brook & i then headed back to sandbar for one last round of drinks. Granted, at that time, we had certainly had enough, but it was still early for a Friday night. There was some dancing in our seats, lots of laughing and inappropriate joking, and then finally, i got the door-to-door service drop off, and to bed.
Saturday morning, i woke up early to head to a boxing class!!! um. It was amazing. to say the least. my co-worker amanda had been going every Tuesday after work, and it was conveniently in my neighb at a boxing gym, so ashley & i agreed to check it out. The Saturday morning class was aptly named, ‘wake and bake’. Got there, got my hands wrapped, donned a pair of loaner gloves, and took a position on the floor by one of the bags. The entire gym consisted of a mat space, where there were about 20-25 big boxing bags hanging from the ceiling; a ring; spinning bikes; an outside/non-covered portion with another ring; and some weight machines. Totally simple. No air conditioning, just some fans, and the front-wall that faced the street had all the window-panes open. It was hot. There was serious sweat: the instructor would show us a few moves (leg work and punching) and then yell; BAGS! At which point you would turn and punch the shit out of your bag, doing the same move. In the interim, there were jumping jacks, push-ups, running in place, and planks. When the teacher wasnt yelling or blowing his whistle, a siren (as in, a firehouse siren) would go off for a minute or so. There was literally sweat rolling off of everyone. After 30 minutes, we then moved from the bags over to the spinning bikes, where i thought i might die. Thankfully, the spinning only lasted for about 5 minutes before we headed right back to the bags. An insane, insane workout, but so much fun. All the while, listening to michael jackson and other random music, although most of the time, there’s a dj. No frills, but exhilarating. who knew kicking the shit out of something would be so much fun???
By this point, i was so pumped: amanda dropped me off, i quickly showered, and then got into my car to meet chanel, nicole, annie and tracy for brunch in coconut grove at a little french bistro (le buchon de grove). the adreneline was still going strong, right until i sat down, ordered my omelette, and drank my mimosa, at which point i totally crashed and could barely move.
Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon was low-key and involved the farmers market, pool-time, and tv. Around 6.30, i rallied to go buy some ingredients for this thai-chicken dish (laddo?), took the bus to justins, and made dinner for justin, ashley & anton before people came over to justins & we all got ready to go out & celebrate josh's (another co-workers) birthday at a club. I know, typical. I hadnt actually been to this one before- karu and y, which is in downtownish miami (right near where the nada art fair had been this past December). sometime right before we left justins, anton convinced the three of us to do vodka shots.
I am starting to think that should never be allowed.
so we get to the club. I was wearing insane heels from forever 21 that look like dominatrix shoes with all these faux-leather straps everywhere (some balenciaga rip offs, no doubt), and while i managed to dance for at least a few hours, i also managed to topple over at one point, bringing justin down with me, and literally skinning one of my knees on my graceful descent behind a potted plant. At that point, thankfully, ashley & anton were ready to roll, and i made them take me with them, cabbed it up to my neighb for surprisingly amazing pizza, they fought while i ate (and tried to avoid eye-contact with this random couple that i had met one night in sandbar), and then they dropped me off at home. (i insisted on walking, since we were only on 67th street, but as soon as i stood up post-pizza, i remembered the burning sensation from the shoes. What a problem. Someone should manufacture a topical anesthetic for women’s feet).
Although i woke up feeling like i would die, the weather agreed with me and kept it cool & rainy so that i had a perfect excuse to lay about, read, swim, and cook (frittata and braised celery), ending the day with ‘schenectady ny’ (surprisingly weird and depressing).
So now, its Monday, its gray and drizzly, i have an unrelenting headache, and i wish i could crawl back into bed. looking on the bright side, though, (1) tonight we’re going to see beyonce!!! and (2) the boss is gone and will be for three weeks. This is enough to make anyone happy. Now if only my body would stop hurting from boxing class...
xoxo
We started things off with some nicaraguan beers and an assortment of their best appetizers: included in this mix was fried cheese (much like paneer), huge ribs, blood sausage (a variant that included rice, which was interesting; they were formed into little patties), stewed pork, yuca, wings, fried pork skin, and nameless other things i cant remember. For dinner, a few of us shared the ‘typical’ nica menu items: deep fried whole snapper with an onion/tomato/sweet and sour sauce; chimmicurri steak; and smoked pork loin– and nothing would be complete of course, without the requisite rice, beans, and sweet plaintains. the pork was simply outstanding, but I think the appetizer shabang was the best part, since it was all new stuff (or at least, a new take on familiarish items). for the most part, our experience of nica food was like a cross between any kind of latin american/cuban cuisine. Still, tried a new thing, which is never bad.
Friday night there was even more eating: after work, nicole came over and we headed to sandbar for some much needed relief -or at least much needed for me– on Friday, work was almost unbearable. it made me remember why i disliked or felt uncomfortable in my job for the first several months, mostly because i was badgered, yelled at, harassed, etc for the entire afternoon. Sometimes, it made me want to cry. Other times, it just reminded me that thankfully it will be all over soon enough. All the time, it made me want to give a certain someone lessons on how to be a better, more understanding employer. Enough of that though.
Post-drinks, we headed to fifi’s (twice in one week!) to meet up w others for some fresh seafood. Kevin & i split a snapper, and somewhere during the meal, he told me that in korea, the youngest gets to eat the eyes, for good luck. Not one to be challenged, i then ate an eye. This turned the rest of the meal into a battle between kevin and i: he then ate the other eye, but couldnt do it, so spit it out, so then i tried to eat it; then we shared the tongue; and so on. Grossed out? Everyone at the table was totally enjoying the demasculinazation of kevin, while at the same time, appreciating my desire to one-up him. In retrospect, i can only imagine what the customers and waitstaff thought of us.
Because they had finally experienced it and fallen in love with it several hours earlier, nicole, brook & i then headed back to sandbar for one last round of drinks. Granted, at that time, we had certainly had enough, but it was still early for a Friday night. There was some dancing in our seats, lots of laughing and inappropriate joking, and then finally, i got the door-to-door service drop off, and to bed.
Saturday morning, i woke up early to head to a boxing class!!! um. It was amazing. to say the least. my co-worker amanda had been going every Tuesday after work, and it was conveniently in my neighb at a boxing gym, so ashley & i agreed to check it out. The Saturday morning class was aptly named, ‘wake and bake’. Got there, got my hands wrapped, donned a pair of loaner gloves, and took a position on the floor by one of the bags. The entire gym consisted of a mat space, where there were about 20-25 big boxing bags hanging from the ceiling; a ring; spinning bikes; an outside/non-covered portion with another ring; and some weight machines. Totally simple. No air conditioning, just some fans, and the front-wall that faced the street had all the window-panes open. It was hot. There was serious sweat: the instructor would show us a few moves (leg work and punching) and then yell; BAGS! At which point you would turn and punch the shit out of your bag, doing the same move. In the interim, there were jumping jacks, push-ups, running in place, and planks. When the teacher wasnt yelling or blowing his whistle, a siren (as in, a firehouse siren) would go off for a minute or so. There was literally sweat rolling off of everyone. After 30 minutes, we then moved from the bags over to the spinning bikes, where i thought i might die. Thankfully, the spinning only lasted for about 5 minutes before we headed right back to the bags. An insane, insane workout, but so much fun. All the while, listening to michael jackson and other random music, although most of the time, there’s a dj. No frills, but exhilarating. who knew kicking the shit out of something would be so much fun???
By this point, i was so pumped: amanda dropped me off, i quickly showered, and then got into my car to meet chanel, nicole, annie and tracy for brunch in coconut grove at a little french bistro (le buchon de grove). the adreneline was still going strong, right until i sat down, ordered my omelette, and drank my mimosa, at which point i totally crashed and could barely move.
Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon was low-key and involved the farmers market, pool-time, and tv. Around 6.30, i rallied to go buy some ingredients for this thai-chicken dish (laddo?), took the bus to justins, and made dinner for justin, ashley & anton before people came over to justins & we all got ready to go out & celebrate josh's (another co-workers) birthday at a club. I know, typical. I hadnt actually been to this one before- karu and y, which is in downtownish miami (right near where the nada art fair had been this past December). sometime right before we left justins, anton convinced the three of us to do vodka shots.
I am starting to think that should never be allowed.
so we get to the club. I was wearing insane heels from forever 21 that look like dominatrix shoes with all these faux-leather straps everywhere (some balenciaga rip offs, no doubt), and while i managed to dance for at least a few hours, i also managed to topple over at one point, bringing justin down with me, and literally skinning one of my knees on my graceful descent behind a potted plant. At that point, thankfully, ashley & anton were ready to roll, and i made them take me with them, cabbed it up to my neighb for surprisingly amazing pizza, they fought while i ate (and tried to avoid eye-contact with this random couple that i had met one night in sandbar), and then they dropped me off at home. (i insisted on walking, since we were only on 67th street, but as soon as i stood up post-pizza, i remembered the burning sensation from the shoes. What a problem. Someone should manufacture a topical anesthetic for women’s feet).
Although i woke up feeling like i would die, the weather agreed with me and kept it cool & rainy so that i had a perfect excuse to lay about, read, swim, and cook (frittata and braised celery), ending the day with ‘schenectady ny’ (surprisingly weird and depressing).
So now, its Monday, its gray and drizzly, i have an unrelenting headache, and i wish i could crawl back into bed. looking on the bright side, though, (1) tonight we’re going to see beyonce!!! and (2) the boss is gone and will be for three weeks. This is enough to make anyone happy. Now if only my body would stop hurting from boxing class...
xoxo
Sunday, June 28, 2009
P: Bad, Bad Carbo Habit!
I am getting myself into big trouble. I've been doing work lately at Panera Bread, because the theology library is closed on the weekends. And...Panera has really, really good bread. And sandwiches. And decent salads. And unlimited refills on decaf coffee. Today, I have consumed--in the span of 4.5 hours:
-Whole grain bagel w sundried tomato cream cheese
-Half a turkey sandwich + 1/2 Greek salad
-Accompanying piece of seven grain baguette
-1 Thomas English' toasted corn cake, that looks like the top of a corn muffin squished down into a flat disc
-3 bites of leftover pasta and chicken (before I left my apt this morning)
-1 HIGHLY ADDICTIVE cinnamon crunch bagel.
-3 cups of decaf coffee
WTF? I'm not allowed to eat this much. It's all because I am procrastinating from my writing. At this rate, I'm not going to be able to fit through the door. Also, what's the point of all of this running if it just leads me to all of htis eating? Unless...all of the running is LEADING me to all of this eating.
I can only hope that when I get to Korea, the social pressure to be thin and anorexic will kick in and stop my awful carbo loading habit. How am I going to go tubing in Western Mass for July 4th--in a bikini--with this carb-induced spare tire around my midsection? AUGH!!!
Okay, I promise the next post will have more substance than the diary entry of an insecure teenage girl who didn't make the cheerleading squad.
-Whole grain bagel w sundried tomato cream cheese
-Half a turkey sandwich + 1/2 Greek salad
-Accompanying piece of seven grain baguette
-1 Thomas English' toasted corn cake, that looks like the top of a corn muffin squished down into a flat disc
-3 bites of leftover pasta and chicken (before I left my apt this morning)
-1 HIGHLY ADDICTIVE cinnamon crunch bagel.
-3 cups of decaf coffee
WTF? I'm not allowed to eat this much. It's all because I am procrastinating from my writing. At this rate, I'm not going to be able to fit through the door. Also, what's the point of all of this running if it just leads me to all of htis eating? Unless...all of the running is LEADING me to all of this eating.
I can only hope that when I get to Korea, the social pressure to be thin and anorexic will kick in and stop my awful carbo loading habit. How am I going to go tubing in Western Mass for July 4th--in a bikini--with this carb-induced spare tire around my midsection? AUGH!!!
Okay, I promise the next post will have more substance than the diary entry of an insecure teenage girl who didn't make the cheerleading squad.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
P: Hot Tub Action with Jessi, Ipswich Appleton Farms Run, and Other Sundries
Dudes:
I turned in my last academic paper of my graduate degree. Now I just have to buckle down and focus on my creative writing thesis, and all will be f-ing awesome!!! This week was tough, trying to bang out that paper on modern poetry while working on rewrites for a magazine essay contest. I was at the computer lab until 3:30am one night and 2am another night...not a pretty sight.
On the plus side, I did get to see JESSI!!! who's been here inBoston for the week to attend a conference. Shewas very prestigiously selected by her dept to attend, so it was kind of a big deal. I met her Wed night at the Doubletree hotel in a random part of Boston/Allston that's by the highway, and it's technically only 1.1 miles from my apt, but via public transport it would take an hour and 2 buses. So I walked, and it was kind of weird to get there. BUT it was totally worth it because then we dipped into the HOT TUB --holla!--and Jessi told me more about the various workshops she was attending, and then I got to take a sneak peek at some sample cases of high school students who were potential admittees to Hahvard. Naturally, this was all very nostalgic of the SATs number crunching days of our last two years at Bronx Science, where we were all in a mad panic about where we'd be applying based on what our test scores and GPA were (thankfully I applied early to Swat so I got to avoid much of that hooha).
We then headed to Back Bay for dinner at Typhoon, where we were joined by Jessi's colleague and her sister. It was a fun night of sushi, convo, and of course, the hot tub. It's so great to see old friends in new cities.
Then it was back to paper writing.
This morning I actually ran a 5k race in Ipswich, of all places. It's on the North Shore, some 20ish ? miles north of Boston. Apparently it's one of the oldest cities in all of America, and the race was on Appleton Farms, which is also one of the oldest continuously operated farms in America. My friend/former boss' boss Rebecca invited me to go with her husband Bob, and they are pretty bad-ass. Rebecca is 60, Bob's 71, and every weekend they're running races, hiking in NH or Vermont, biking... last summer they climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, a few summers before that they ran from the border of Mexico all the way up to Canada. I think it's awesome that they found each other--to have a life partner that enjoys all the same activities that you do. At this race (it was a very small race--just 200 ppl and I was the only person of my age group, essentially) it was all couples in the 30s and 40s, and then little kids or preteens. Some of the couples brought their baby strollers. I noticed this was also the case with the two other races I've run outside of Boston--the 5k in Portsmouth/Dover, NH and the aborted half-marathon in Newton. Who are these people, how are they so fit, and what on earth brought them together? Do they run so much because there's a social pressure WITHIN the couplehood to get up early and go for runs? Or did they come together through running? How do you do it with kids? And why do these women in the 30s and 40s have WAY better bodies than I do?
Rebecca noted that everyone in the race looked very English, unlike in Boston where everyone seems to look Irish. She's white and fair-featured herself, so she's allowed to say something like that. Then I looked around and agreed with her. Perhaps it made me a little wistful.
Anyway, the race, as mentioned, was on a farm, so you're passing cows (and occasionally cow manure), horses, a babbling creek...it was kind of cool. Also, my race time was ridiculous!!! I am still waiting for the test results to come out incorrect, but I had a PR (a personal record):
Mile 1: 7:29 min
Mile 2: 15:40
Finish: 24:11 (although it REALLY should have been 24:09)
Average speed: 7:48 min/mile
WTF?!!! I've never run that fast in my life. Regardless, I used it as an excuse to eat 2 lunches today and I'm now on my first dinner. I will probably have my second dinner circa forty-five past midnight.
I turned in my last academic paper of my graduate degree. Now I just have to buckle down and focus on my creative writing thesis, and all will be f-ing awesome!!! This week was tough, trying to bang out that paper on modern poetry while working on rewrites for a magazine essay contest. I was at the computer lab until 3:30am one night and 2am another night...not a pretty sight.
On the plus side, I did get to see JESSI!!! who's been here inBoston for the week to attend a conference. Shewas very prestigiously selected by her dept to attend, so it was kind of a big deal. I met her Wed night at the Doubletree hotel in a random part of Boston/Allston that's by the highway, and it's technically only 1.1 miles from my apt, but via public transport it would take an hour and 2 buses. So I walked, and it was kind of weird to get there. BUT it was totally worth it because then we dipped into the HOT TUB --holla!--and Jessi told me more about the various workshops she was attending, and then I got to take a sneak peek at some sample cases of high school students who were potential admittees to Hahvard. Naturally, this was all very nostalgic of the SATs number crunching days of our last two years at Bronx Science, where we were all in a mad panic about where we'd be applying based on what our test scores and GPA were (thankfully I applied early to Swat so I got to avoid much of that hooha).
We then headed to Back Bay for dinner at Typhoon, where we were joined by Jessi's colleague and her sister. It was a fun night of sushi, convo, and of course, the hot tub. It's so great to see old friends in new cities.
Then it was back to paper writing.
This morning I actually ran a 5k race in Ipswich, of all places. It's on the North Shore, some 20ish ? miles north of Boston. Apparently it's one of the oldest cities in all of America, and the race was on Appleton Farms, which is also one of the oldest continuously operated farms in America. My friend/former boss' boss Rebecca invited me to go with her husband Bob, and they are pretty bad-ass. Rebecca is 60, Bob's 71, and every weekend they're running races, hiking in NH or Vermont, biking... last summer they climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, a few summers before that they ran from the border of Mexico all the way up to Canada. I think it's awesome that they found each other--to have a life partner that enjoys all the same activities that you do. At this race (it was a very small race--just 200 ppl and I was the only person of my age group, essentially) it was all couples in the 30s and 40s, and then little kids or preteens. Some of the couples brought their baby strollers. I noticed this was also the case with the two other races I've run outside of Boston--the 5k in Portsmouth/Dover, NH and the aborted half-marathon in Newton. Who are these people, how are they so fit, and what on earth brought them together? Do they run so much because there's a social pressure WITHIN the couplehood to get up early and go for runs? Or did they come together through running? How do you do it with kids? And why do these women in the 30s and 40s have WAY better bodies than I do?
Rebecca noted that everyone in the race looked very English, unlike in Boston where everyone seems to look Irish. She's white and fair-featured herself, so she's allowed to say something like that. Then I looked around and agreed with her. Perhaps it made me a little wistful.
Anyway, the race, as mentioned, was on a farm, so you're passing cows (and occasionally cow manure), horses, a babbling creek...it was kind of cool. Also, my race time was ridiculous!!! I am still waiting for the test results to come out incorrect, but I had a PR (a personal record):
Mile 1: 7:29 min
Mile 2: 15:40
Finish: 24:11 (although it REALLY should have been 24:09)
Average speed: 7:48 min/mile
WTF?!!! I've never run that fast in my life. Regardless, I used it as an excuse to eat 2 lunches today and I'm now on my first dinner. I will probably have my second dinner circa forty-five past midnight.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
boat rides & lightning storms
Ive been meaning to dish on the fabulous boat ride last weekend for the past 3 days but believe it or not, work has been catching up with me (i know, ridiculous!!). anyway, here goes it:
we begin this story at last Friday, when we all hit monty’s after work for a little HH action, bringing along our new coworker martha & her finance (who joined us there). Being a Friday, there were only two major drawbacks to the plan:
(1) it was insanely packed, which made it difficult to find a table; at first, we planned on going down to the tables alongside the water, but then a server dashed our dreams and told us that they werent allowed to serve alcohol out there anymore, although he emphasized that we could still eat and "drink cola" there. Unacceptable. This unfortunately meant we were crushed into a corner table by the insane dj booth, although this time, there was an actual dj, and not just a dude singing along to a karaoke machine (although if youve been to monty’s and know what im talking about, you likely have an odd affinity for that character).
(2) it was insanely hot. It was like wearing a wet hot wool sweater. No joke. Anyway you kind of cant let that kind of thing stop you when you live here (or so i assume?) so we cheerily dove into many plates of nachos and pitchers.
A few of us grabbed dinner afterwards at one of those japanese restaurants where you think you’re going to sit cross-legged on the floor, but actually, it only *looked* like that, and really, you awkwardly put your legs & feet into an ever-deeper opening so that you only *looked* like you were sitting on the floor, but in actuality, you were siting at a table that was like, 3 or 4 feet below all the other tables. Totally, totally weird.
Saturday i had to set my alarm (even though the night stopped at sushi), woke up at 9.30, quickly threw my stuff together, and ran to the market to get a collection of snacky food items for the day. Justin came to pick me up but after following the relatively confusing instructions on how to get to the dock, we realized it was literally like a 5 minute walk from my house, right near vaca gorda (the amazing steak place) and my local farmers market. Ironic. I never knew docks existed over there. Anyway, there were 7 of us, and a small baby, and we got out on the water, then eventually circled some of the bay, picked up two more passengers, and then circled out by the beach-side, where we dropped anchor about a mile out from the sand and swam with funoodles, miller lights in beer cozies, and lots of sunblock.
At one point, anton freaked us all out, saying that he had seen a shark fin nearby; which was confirmed by ashley; and again by one of the other people on our boat who was also a doctor who had recently had a shark bite in his hospital. Way to freak out a bunch of sun-exposed, mildly buzzed swimmers. Not a good idea... anyway we got over it eventually, ironically i dont think any of us actually left the ocean at that point, even with the threat of shark. A good deal of our time in the water involved people on the boat throwing grapes and cherries at those of us in the water; we would try and catch them in our mouths like seals. Im not sure how this game got started, although i suspect it was based on people on the boat just wanting to throw stuff at us. Oh, friends. Magically the afternoon disappeared, and we eventually motored back up and back to the dock by about 4.30 or so. Once you were out of the cool water, or not on a fast-moving boat, you were just overcome with how unbelievably hot it was: about 95 degrees, heavy and humid. It was painful.
When we got off the boat, we all engaged in dock-side spray downs to keep cool, and parted ways. I somehow spent the next few hours laying comatose in bed, watching ‘the real housewives of nj.’ but i couldnt even pay attention to that. Eventually i rallied for a run, hit the market, and then watched a movie. But even that took tremendous amounts of effort.
Sunday was perhaps one of the most relaxing days ive had in a long time: i felt no need to go outside, knowing full well that it was 95 again, and also know that i was still minorly-sunburnt; so i hung around, read, ran the treadmill, and eventually ran some errands. I swam, mopped, listened to npr, and made some kind of chicken thai dish that was in the nytimes last week. Lovely & uneventful and relaxing.
This week has been, thankfully, more of the same– although every morning has recently been a struggle to get up. Monday night my friend vera from skidmore was in town, so we met up and shared a fish at fifi’s; afterwards, we took a walk in the neighborhood, and she showed me where her family has a jewelry store- an old mom&pop shop– and i promised to go back and visit her uncle when it was open. On our way back to get her car, we stopped and walked down to the beach where there was this amazing, insane, gorgeous, stunning lightning storm: there were clouds all over, but you would see the lightning light up patches of sky in the very very far distance over the ocean, see lightning bolts, just over and over and over. It was totally magical, and difficult to get up- even knowing how tired i was. It felt like one of those moments when something out there is communicating, reminding you how lucky you are to be alive and see beautiful, natural, unexpected things. The bigger picture stuff, the ultimate stuff that has no end... its funny, i felt similarly last night, driving home from pilates when there was one little patch of sky where you could see vibrant yellows and oranges as the sun was setting; a reminder that you dont get to see these kind of things in other places, get too distracted looking down.
Tomorrow night is our second installment of ‘eating adventures’- we’ve got a group of 12 going to my pick- a Nicaraguan place (not that i know what kind of food that is) - but im very excited. Its a nice way to try new things and spend time with friends, and a little something different than always going to the same old standby places.
Well, thats really all she wrote for now. Time to finish my blueberry tea and get back to work... happy hump day!
we begin this story at last Friday, when we all hit monty’s after work for a little HH action, bringing along our new coworker martha & her finance (who joined us there). Being a Friday, there were only two major drawbacks to the plan:
(1) it was insanely packed, which made it difficult to find a table; at first, we planned on going down to the tables alongside the water, but then a server dashed our dreams and told us that they werent allowed to serve alcohol out there anymore, although he emphasized that we could still eat and "drink cola" there. Unacceptable. This unfortunately meant we were crushed into a corner table by the insane dj booth, although this time, there was an actual dj, and not just a dude singing along to a karaoke machine (although if youve been to monty’s and know what im talking about, you likely have an odd affinity for that character).
(2) it was insanely hot. It was like wearing a wet hot wool sweater. No joke. Anyway you kind of cant let that kind of thing stop you when you live here (or so i assume?) so we cheerily dove into many plates of nachos and pitchers.
A few of us grabbed dinner afterwards at one of those japanese restaurants where you think you’re going to sit cross-legged on the floor, but actually, it only *looked* like that, and really, you awkwardly put your legs & feet into an ever-deeper opening so that you only *looked* like you were sitting on the floor, but in actuality, you were siting at a table that was like, 3 or 4 feet below all the other tables. Totally, totally weird.
Saturday i had to set my alarm (even though the night stopped at sushi), woke up at 9.30, quickly threw my stuff together, and ran to the market to get a collection of snacky food items for the day. Justin came to pick me up but after following the relatively confusing instructions on how to get to the dock, we realized it was literally like a 5 minute walk from my house, right near vaca gorda (the amazing steak place) and my local farmers market. Ironic. I never knew docks existed over there. Anyway, there were 7 of us, and a small baby, and we got out on the water, then eventually circled some of the bay, picked up two more passengers, and then circled out by the beach-side, where we dropped anchor about a mile out from the sand and swam with funoodles, miller lights in beer cozies, and lots of sunblock.
At one point, anton freaked us all out, saying that he had seen a shark fin nearby; which was confirmed by ashley; and again by one of the other people on our boat who was also a doctor who had recently had a shark bite in his hospital. Way to freak out a bunch of sun-exposed, mildly buzzed swimmers. Not a good idea... anyway we got over it eventually, ironically i dont think any of us actually left the ocean at that point, even with the threat of shark. A good deal of our time in the water involved people on the boat throwing grapes and cherries at those of us in the water; we would try and catch them in our mouths like seals. Im not sure how this game got started, although i suspect it was based on people on the boat just wanting to throw stuff at us. Oh, friends. Magically the afternoon disappeared, and we eventually motored back up and back to the dock by about 4.30 or so. Once you were out of the cool water, or not on a fast-moving boat, you were just overcome with how unbelievably hot it was: about 95 degrees, heavy and humid. It was painful.
When we got off the boat, we all engaged in dock-side spray downs to keep cool, and parted ways. I somehow spent the next few hours laying comatose in bed, watching ‘the real housewives of nj.’ but i couldnt even pay attention to that. Eventually i rallied for a run, hit the market, and then watched a movie. But even that took tremendous amounts of effort.
Sunday was perhaps one of the most relaxing days ive had in a long time: i felt no need to go outside, knowing full well that it was 95 again, and also know that i was still minorly-sunburnt; so i hung around, read, ran the treadmill, and eventually ran some errands. I swam, mopped, listened to npr, and made some kind of chicken thai dish that was in the nytimes last week. Lovely & uneventful and relaxing.
This week has been, thankfully, more of the same– although every morning has recently been a struggle to get up. Monday night my friend vera from skidmore was in town, so we met up and shared a fish at fifi’s; afterwards, we took a walk in the neighborhood, and she showed me where her family has a jewelry store- an old mom&pop shop– and i promised to go back and visit her uncle when it was open. On our way back to get her car, we stopped and walked down to the beach where there was this amazing, insane, gorgeous, stunning lightning storm: there were clouds all over, but you would see the lightning light up patches of sky in the very very far distance over the ocean, see lightning bolts, just over and over and over. It was totally magical, and difficult to get up- even knowing how tired i was. It felt like one of those moments when something out there is communicating, reminding you how lucky you are to be alive and see beautiful, natural, unexpected things. The bigger picture stuff, the ultimate stuff that has no end... its funny, i felt similarly last night, driving home from pilates when there was one little patch of sky where you could see vibrant yellows and oranges as the sun was setting; a reminder that you dont get to see these kind of things in other places, get too distracted looking down.
Tomorrow night is our second installment of ‘eating adventures’- we’ve got a group of 12 going to my pick- a Nicaraguan place (not that i know what kind of food that is) - but im very excited. Its a nice way to try new things and spend time with friends, and a little something different than always going to the same old standby places.
Well, thats really all she wrote for now. Time to finish my blueberry tea and get back to work... happy hump day!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
P: Papers on Sardonic Love Poetry
I am working on my last academic paper of my graduate degree for my Modern Poetry class, and the topic I've chosen to work on is love poetry. But not just any love poetry--I am looking at 3 poems--Yeats' NEver Give All the Heart, Auden's The More Loving One, and Joseph Brodsky's Love Song--because they all subvert the traditional tropes of love poetry. In other words, they are irreverent. Sardonic. Parodic. I am leading into the paper with an acoustic rendering of the Magnetic Fields' The Book of Love because (a) I guess I'm kind of kissing up to my prof, because he kicks off every class with at least a few youtube clips of songs and, more importantly (b) it illustrates the ambivalence that emerges when countered with the cliches of love and other such subjects. It's rather an interesting week to tackle such a paper, as this week has been a bit emotionally draining, and my thesis isn't working well, and I'm also trying to write/revise an essay for a contest with Gla- m. our Magazine.
But to further the appropriation of other people's words, I've included some lines of verse from a different Magnetic Fields song whose melody I can't stand but whose lyrics I think are awfully bittersweet:
Love is Like a Bottle of Gin:
It makes you blind, it does you in
It makes you think you're pretty tough
It makes you prone to crime and sin
It makes you say things off the cuff
It's very small and made of glass
and grossly over-advertised
It turns a genius to an ass
and makes a fool think he is wise
It could make you regret your birth
or turn cartwheels in your best suit
It costs a lot more than it's worth
and yet there is no substitute
They keep it on a higher shelf
the older and more pure it grows
It has no color in itself
but it can make you see rainbows
You can find it on the Bowery
or you can find it at Elaine's
It makes your words more flowery
It makes the sun shine, makes it rain
You just get out what they put in
and they never put in enough
Love is like a bottle of gin
but a bottle of gin is not like love.
But to further the appropriation of other people's words, I've included some lines of verse from a different Magnetic Fields song whose melody I can't stand but whose lyrics I think are awfully bittersweet:
Love is Like a Bottle of Gin:
It makes you blind, it does you in
It makes you think you're pretty tough
It makes you prone to crime and sin
It makes you say things off the cuff
It's very small and made of glass
and grossly over-advertised
It turns a genius to an ass
and makes a fool think he is wise
It could make you regret your birth
or turn cartwheels in your best suit
It costs a lot more than it's worth
and yet there is no substitute
They keep it on a higher shelf
the older and more pure it grows
It has no color in itself
but it can make you see rainbows
You can find it on the Bowery
or you can find it at Elaine's
It makes your words more flowery
It makes the sun shine, makes it rain
You just get out what they put in
and they never put in enough
Love is like a bottle of gin
but a bottle of gin is not like love.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Little musings
Im going to try & be concise (yet thorough) bc i feel like i’ve gotten nothing accomplished today. Here goes.
(1) Monday was rachel’s birthday, so we went right out for drinks after work, to a place called ‘bin 18', a wine bar, which was in a nice open loft-like space, very airy, with a 2-for-1 wine deal and had such a good time that by the time we left, i got convinced into coming over for dinner at ashley & anton’s house... anton made us tuna, which was delicious at the time, but proceeded to wake me up every other hour in the middle of the night with stomach cramps. At first i thought i was being paranoid, but apparently the same thing happened to ashley. This kind of a Monday evening ensures the rest of the week will be super long...
(2) Tuesday night i reignited my passion for popcorn. This resulted in way too much garlic powder being sprinkled on the kernals and insane garlic breath for the next 20 hours. thus, one of those rare moments that i was happy to be sleeping alone.
(3) running on the beach! Im back at it. It has resulted in hurt knees, a weird swollen tendon on the side of my left leg, and a slightly-swollen right ankle. Wtf. Maybe i had the right idea taking a break?
(4) we have a new coworker! She started Monday & has been quite pleasant thus far. However, if i have to hear new haven being referenced one more time during lunch, i might die. Note to self: never let children attend yale in any capacity.
(5) last night i ate & drank like a russian. We had our inaugeral night of "eating adventures" which involved a group of us going out to an ethnic dinner in the miami-area; anton hosted this one, and picked a random russian spot inside a motel (literally) way north on the beach. He ordered all the food for us, which was surprisingly good: pickled vegetables; an amazing salad with cucumber, tomato, yogurt cheese and walnuts; blintzes (some mushroom, others with ground beef); cheese-oozing out of filo-dough; pilaf; yogurt soup with dill, radish, and potato; borsht; lamb, chicken and sausage skewers; and a random assortment of russian cookies for desert. We were a rowdy loud table of 7 or 8, and there were only 2 or 3 other tables of diners in the place; our waitresses were dressed in some kind of festive-russian-folk-clothing, and we were supplying the entertainment for the whole place, drinking wine, beer, and a fermented-yeast non-alcoholic drink (it looked like beer but smelled intensely like fresh bread and was slightly carbonated). Eventually we started on the mls of vodka. Yes, ml. As in a mili litre. Like you would know how much that is? No, nor did we. So we would order them 300 ml at a time, everyone would do shots, and we’d get another round. In a carafe. Anton would have us all push our shot glasses into the center, and we would toast and sling back (except for those unlucky designated drivers). At some point i thought i could keep up with anton, which was a mistake, being that he is both a man, bigger than me, and half russian.
Towards the end of the night, rachel & i were talking and not paying attention to anyone else, and suddenly realized we were the only people left at the table. Everyone else got up and had left. So instead of thinking, "wow, time to sober up!", I proceeded to throw back the last vodka shot. Although we briefly stopped by sandbar, it was mostly to pee, order beers, and then not drink them, and then i was dropped off at home where i proceeded to responsibly set my alarm for my morning drs appt, pour myself a glass of water, and go into the bathroom, where i promptly pulled all the towels off the racks, made a little hampster nest, and fell asleep on the floor. I woke up an hour or so later, ready to go to bed. Totally, totally insane. So, in fact, this is a wonderful place for me to tell this story after patty’s incredibly sweet missive below about my accomplishments: even if sometimes i sound like an alcoholic, i am simply a girl who was trapped in a library for 3 straight yrs and is celebrating her ultimate freedom.
(6) the best part? I somehow managed to get to the drs office this morning, and spent the next 2.5 hrs waiting to actually *see* the doctor while watching an insane show on national geographic tv about americans who were dropped to live in ALASKA and camp their way out; an amazing reality show. Highly recommend. I could have sat there alllll day.
(7) second best part? At some point during our eating adventures at the russian restaurant, one of the other participants, spencer, invited us all on his boat for tomorrow! Hooray! Unfortch we leave early in the morning; but its completely and utterly worth it to spend the day on the water with friends. I know, i know. Rough life...
xoxoxo
(1) Monday was rachel’s birthday, so we went right out for drinks after work, to a place called ‘bin 18', a wine bar, which was in a nice open loft-like space, very airy, with a 2-for-1 wine deal and had such a good time that by the time we left, i got convinced into coming over for dinner at ashley & anton’s house... anton made us tuna, which was delicious at the time, but proceeded to wake me up every other hour in the middle of the night with stomach cramps. At first i thought i was being paranoid, but apparently the same thing happened to ashley. This kind of a Monday evening ensures the rest of the week will be super long...
(2) Tuesday night i reignited my passion for popcorn. This resulted in way too much garlic powder being sprinkled on the kernals and insane garlic breath for the next 20 hours. thus, one of those rare moments that i was happy to be sleeping alone.
(3) running on the beach! Im back at it. It has resulted in hurt knees, a weird swollen tendon on the side of my left leg, and a slightly-swollen right ankle. Wtf. Maybe i had the right idea taking a break?
(4) we have a new coworker! She started Monday & has been quite pleasant thus far. However, if i have to hear new haven being referenced one more time during lunch, i might die. Note to self: never let children attend yale in any capacity.
(5) last night i ate & drank like a russian. We had our inaugeral night of "eating adventures" which involved a group of us going out to an ethnic dinner in the miami-area; anton hosted this one, and picked a random russian spot inside a motel (literally) way north on the beach. He ordered all the food for us, which was surprisingly good: pickled vegetables; an amazing salad with cucumber, tomato, yogurt cheese and walnuts; blintzes (some mushroom, others with ground beef); cheese-oozing out of filo-dough; pilaf; yogurt soup with dill, radish, and potato; borsht; lamb, chicken and sausage skewers; and a random assortment of russian cookies for desert. We were a rowdy loud table of 7 or 8, and there were only 2 or 3 other tables of diners in the place; our waitresses were dressed in some kind of festive-russian-folk-clothing, and we were supplying the entertainment for the whole place, drinking wine, beer, and a fermented-yeast non-alcoholic drink (it looked like beer but smelled intensely like fresh bread and was slightly carbonated). Eventually we started on the mls of vodka. Yes, ml. As in a mili litre. Like you would know how much that is? No, nor did we. So we would order them 300 ml at a time, everyone would do shots, and we’d get another round. In a carafe. Anton would have us all push our shot glasses into the center, and we would toast and sling back (except for those unlucky designated drivers). At some point i thought i could keep up with anton, which was a mistake, being that he is both a man, bigger than me, and half russian.
Towards the end of the night, rachel & i were talking and not paying attention to anyone else, and suddenly realized we were the only people left at the table. Everyone else got up and had left. So instead of thinking, "wow, time to sober up!", I proceeded to throw back the last vodka shot. Although we briefly stopped by sandbar, it was mostly to pee, order beers, and then not drink them, and then i was dropped off at home where i proceeded to responsibly set my alarm for my morning drs appt, pour myself a glass of water, and go into the bathroom, where i promptly pulled all the towels off the racks, made a little hampster nest, and fell asleep on the floor. I woke up an hour or so later, ready to go to bed. Totally, totally insane. So, in fact, this is a wonderful place for me to tell this story after patty’s incredibly sweet missive below about my accomplishments: even if sometimes i sound like an alcoholic, i am simply a girl who was trapped in a library for 3 straight yrs and is celebrating her ultimate freedom.
(6) the best part? I somehow managed to get to the drs office this morning, and spent the next 2.5 hrs waiting to actually *see* the doctor while watching an insane show on national geographic tv about americans who were dropped to live in ALASKA and camp their way out; an amazing reality show. Highly recommend. I could have sat there alllll day.
(7) second best part? At some point during our eating adventures at the russian restaurant, one of the other participants, spencer, invited us all on his boat for tomorrow! Hooray! Unfortch we leave early in the morning; but its completely and utterly worth it to spend the day on the water with friends. I know, i know. Rough life...
xoxoxo
P: Ode to Annie!
Hey guys,
I've been in a bit of a funk of late, and feeling a little under the weather, hence the lack of posts. But I do want to mention two things:
(1) Annie is a superstar! My brother-in-law James (who also went to Brooklyn) and I were talking about that White and Case article in the NYT from the other week. And he said, apropros of nothing, "Your friend Annie kicked ass in law school. There was a write-up about her in the Brooklyn Law Notes..." and he went on about this competition Annie had won, and that she was published, blah blah. SO: I think for all of us non legalese people, we have no idea what means what in the legal world, and we should just remember that Annie is not only fabulously charming, rocks the glasses, runs faster than many men in my running club, dishes out the snark to leacherous men in bars, and is the best meat party promotor-turned-vegetarian-turned back to -meatatarian; she is also a brilliant, hard-working lawyer and legal superstar. So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!
(2) The other week, I went to see the Doves play at the House of Blues. The opening band was called Wild Light, which was a poppy indie number that sounded very similar to the Killers. They had a catchy song called "California on My Mind," the lyrics going:
F*ck today
F*ck San Francisco
F*ck California
F*ck today
F*ck Oakland
F*ck California
And so you can see that that song also reminded me of Annie, and her one-week attempt to kick it West-Coast style. I've included the video:
Signing off--
P
I've been in a bit of a funk of late, and feeling a little under the weather, hence the lack of posts. But I do want to mention two things:
(1) Annie is a superstar! My brother-in-law James (who also went to Brooklyn) and I were talking about that White and Case article in the NYT from the other week. And he said, apropros of nothing, "Your friend Annie kicked ass in law school. There was a write-up about her in the Brooklyn Law Notes..." and he went on about this competition Annie had won, and that she was published, blah blah. SO: I think for all of us non legalese people, we have no idea what means what in the legal world, and we should just remember that Annie is not only fabulously charming, rocks the glasses, runs faster than many men in my running club, dishes out the snark to leacherous men in bars, and is the best meat party promotor-turned-vegetarian-turned back to -meatatarian; she is also a brilliant, hard-working lawyer and legal superstar. So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!
(2) The other week, I went to see the Doves play at the House of Blues. The opening band was called Wild Light, which was a poppy indie number that sounded very similar to the Killers. They had a catchy song called "California on My Mind," the lyrics going:
F*ck today
F*ck San Francisco
F*ck California
F*ck today
F*ck Oakland
F*ck California
And so you can see that that song also reminded me of Annie, and her one-week attempt to kick it West-Coast style. I've included the video:
Signing off--
P
Sunday, June 14, 2009
full and sleepy, all is right with the world
phew. so the week is technically over, but just yet beginning...
thursday night, i went to a pilates class, then planned on going home to do nothingness... i showered, got in the car, and then justin texted: did i want to go to the miami new times best of 2009 event? miami new times is like the miami equivalent of the village voice- and the event was being held in the design district; tons of restaurants doing food samplings, open bars sponsored by various liquor companies, random art, etc. so while i initially said no, im too tired- a kelly clarkson song then came on the radio (i know, im ridiculous) and i thought: what the hell. youre only young once, youre only here now, take advantage of it. (a motto to live by, no matter where you are). so i turned onto the causeway, and headed over. it turned out to be a lot of fun- very crowded, but lots of yummy eats-- cupcakes, chocolates, mini burgers, crepes, salad, beef carpaccio, sushi rolls, scallops and shrimp... all for a mere $15 to support a charity! amazing!
friday though, i felt totally dead all day. i think in part it had to do with the week-- it started out so super early on monday taking ben to the airport, and then i was out late tuesday; wednesday rachel & i had movie night (bride wars + popcorn = amazing), and then thursday was food fest gorge-time... so i went up to the pool after work, fell asleep for an hour in the last moments of sun, and then settled down to watch 'girls just wanna have fun'. i hadnt really remembered that movie at all, but it was totally ridiculous and oddly enough got me way too awake and motivated so i tidied up the apt before putting myself to bed.
yesterday morning i was up super early, to head to the gym (again) for a little run, abs class, and then latin dance w rachel & nicole. i love our saturdays! they are healthy yet fun and ridiculous and involve white wine at noon time, and huge salads, and exercise. its like i live some weird alternate life... we helped rachel pick out a dress for the evening-- she and adrian were having a party at their house to celebrate their engagement-- and then nicole came over for some pool time. it has been unbelievably hot recently: you can barely sit outside let alone move in the sun. right now its absolutely gorgeous outside, i just cant tell if itll make me feel sick to spend more time out there! anyway, nicole hung over for a while, we finished the sun, got ready for rachel's, and headed over early with some extra food items & to help her set up. the night was a lot of fun, met lots of new people, did some toasts to the future-married-couple, ate tons of delicious things, drank lots of mojitos, wine and jameson, and then at about 1am once most of the party left, the 7 of us remaining headed out to 'bella rose', a newish bar (?) thats opened down on south beach, which is said to have no 'door drama'-- sure enough, we showed up in two cabs, spilled out each clutching a beer, and were ushered right in- with said beverages. we danced and danced and danced until us ladies could barely stand in our shoes, and then all headed home.
this morning of course, my feet were still angry with me, and that feeing has not disapated with the day- they have blisters all over the bottoms, totally knocked up, one toenail is all purple again- sad little guys. despite my utter exhaustion all week, i still couldnt sleep late (! urgh being an adult) and was up at 9.30 and on the roof 15 minutes later... although i tried to go to the farmers market just now, its apparently closed for renovations, so instead of eating fresh veggies, i mowed some fish tacos and am now totally comatose while feeling guilty that im not on the beach. alas, what a rough life. also, i can barely inhale from my abs class yesterday- it hurts to move in any direction and my ribs hurt. patty, is this what you felt like? i literally thought i had swine flu when i woke up.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
P: My 5 Minutes of Fame on My Alumni Website
Yes, yes, posts TK of my exploits at the Foundation Lounge, Tremont 647, the Museum o Science's Imax Theatre (to watch, of all things, My. stic In. Dia--a friend had free tickets, and it was surprisingly breathtaking). In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little linky link on Swarthmore's website, doing a round-up of Fulbright scholars: http://www.swarthmore.edu/x25905.xml.
Happy reading!
P
Happy reading!
P
this too shall pass
its wednesday and i am regretting a few too many drinks at sandbar last night. cuban toast always seems like the best idea, but im trying to avoid it for as long as i can, instead mowing down on fruit salad & cereal. i know, the boring alternative. i even have a huge iced coffee here i can barely look at. sheesh.
last night before the theme turned into vodka-sodas and random convos, i went to david barton to try out a stretching & abs class, with all intentions of staying for pilates afterwards. classicly, as soon as i left work it started pouring, stopped, and then started again in south beach once i neared the parking lot for the gym. ah well. anyway i was really looking forward to this class & it was horrible. really horrible. the instructor was german, which ok, normally im fine with. but she was yelling the entire time. in a stretching class! ONE TWO THREE i mean, over and over and over. ANGRILY! it was scary. plus there was insane techno-dance music playing the whole time. this all for a class that is supposed to-- and i quote -- allow you to "[e]njoy a mix of yoga and fitness stretching with abdominal work. Slow down and enjoy this full body stretch class." what they really should have billed it as is: "Do you like an instructor who likes to show off how flexible she is without providing any modifications for those who cannot wrap their legs around their head? Speed up and painfully engage in gymnastic-like stretches made for 12 yr old girls while awkwardly hating Germany and German people for an hour." i tell you, i was kind of into the whole gym thing but that one class is starting to change my mind... needless to say, i could barely stand after that class so couldnt tolerate anything else other than a random meet up & dinner with justin (who happened to be *in* the class with me-- i just didnt know it at the time).
hey, at least they carry bumble & bumble hair products.
short remiss. back to work. just had to share that. and p.s., my arms still hurt from the "guns" class i took on monday, so at least there's that...
xoxo
last night before the theme turned into vodka-sodas and random convos, i went to david barton to try out a stretching & abs class, with all intentions of staying for pilates afterwards. classicly, as soon as i left work it started pouring, stopped, and then started again in south beach once i neared the parking lot for the gym. ah well. anyway i was really looking forward to this class & it was horrible. really horrible. the instructor was german, which ok, normally im fine with. but she was yelling the entire time. in a stretching class! ONE TWO THREE i mean, over and over and over. ANGRILY! it was scary. plus there was insane techno-dance music playing the whole time. this all for a class that is supposed to-- and i quote -- allow you to "[e]njoy a mix of yoga and fitness stretching with abdominal work. Slow down and enjoy this full body stretch class." what they really should have billed it as is: "Do you like an instructor who likes to show off how flexible she is without providing any modifications for those who cannot wrap their legs around their head? Speed up and painfully engage in gymnastic-like stretches made for 12 yr old girls while awkwardly hating Germany and German people for an hour." i tell you, i was kind of into the whole gym thing but that one class is starting to change my mind... needless to say, i could barely stand after that class so couldnt tolerate anything else other than a random meet up & dinner with justin (who happened to be *in* the class with me-- i just didnt know it at the time).
hey, at least they carry bumble & bumble hair products.
short remiss. back to work. just had to share that. and p.s., my arms still hurt from the "guns" class i took on monday, so at least there's that...
xoxo
Monday, June 8, 2009
red meat & intermittent rainstorms
Remember when we used to have those meat parties in high school where we would bbq and consume massive amounts of red meat? Thats kind of what this past week was like, minus me doing any cooking, and/or bbqing. I was lavishly fed ben’s homemade creations (steak with chimmicuri sauce in mojo marinade; steak sandwiches; lamb chops), gorged on argentinian beef at ‘la vaca gorda’ (‘the fat cow’) which was bigger than my head; ate more steak sandwiches at another random local argentinian place; it was like the adult miami version of those aforementioned parties.
la vaca gorda!
Tuesday night we decided to do drinks w the girls here & respective boyf/husbands at montys! Except... a serious rainstorm started right before we were supposed to meet up, so while ben & i were there on time (naturally), everyone else showed up about an hour later. Enough time has passed that im not longer cranky about this, but i still found it annoying– everyone here is always on miami time, which means they say they’ll be somewhere at 7, and you know they wont show until 7.45. I would have been fine with it under other circumstances, but the whole point of the happy hour (which none of them could actually partake in by the time they showed up) was for them to meet ben– and we didnt want to stay out that late, so it kind of left a sour taste (that– and they showed up with more random friends, who i didnt even know). Anyway, over it. It just made me thankful for other similar insane upper-east-coast friends who would get similarly antsy and/or pissed in such situations. Is it really that hard to text youre going to be late? Or ask if its ok to bring random friends to a small gathering? Or that post-work drinks mean exactly that – post work – and not three hours after?
Anyway, after that mingling episode, we grabbed takeout sush and laid low. Wednesday was another night of socializing– we had tickets to see ‘the hangover’ at a screening hosted by gen art (they do movie screenings, fashion stuff, shopping, art, etc). So we thought oh ok, lets grab dinner beforehand. We show up at 8oz, the burger place on south beach, at about 6.30. Everyone else runs late– which was actually fine, bc we ordered for them at about 6.45... except the food doesnt come out until about 7.35. And its overcooked; and the sides are all missing; and the waiter is oblivious; and we have to be at the movie at 8. Anyway we stuff our faces in a resentful manner and head to the theatre; buy popcorn; get twizzlers; and thats when ben realizes he lost his glasses. Sadness! After doing a preliminary sweep of the movie theater, we bust out; do the recreation-footsteps through the parking garage, back to 8oz; then back to the movie theater; then back to 8 oz. All the while i am taking little snacks from the popcorn though, so the entire hour wasnt wasted. After a fruitless search, we headed home where i convinced bg that a swim on the roof would make him feel better, so we went up for a night swim. Beautiful! Best idea ever. Then we rounded out the feel-goodness with a trip to the local latin american cafe/cafeteria, where we ordered and inhaled a ton of delicious cookies.
Thursday was a night of cookery– lamb chops – and afterwards we went out to the fountainebleu for some post-drinks. It was still relatively early so the bar area in the lobby was pretty empty, and we got to cattily look at all the random, overly processed ladies who were waiting for men to buy them drinks (sure enough, one finally came over and supplied the four cake-makeup’ed, faux boobies, bleach-blondes with mojitos). After a drink & some champers, we headed poolside so that bg could check it out– and happened upon some new friends at the bar: one was a stylist, the other who knows; both were around 40, with kids; and somehow they kept telling me to try jay-z’s alcoholic beverage. Its pink for the ladies, blue for the gents. At some point, they learned of and became shocked by the fact that i live on the beach, and then of course conversation turned to fake boobs, and suddenly the stylist was reaching her hand under my left breast (braless, btw), and stuffing my dress with cocktail napkins to show me what a boob job could do for me. Total strangers, but totally miami. Then, either before or after that?, i was told to put on her shoes (huge 4 inch lucite) and strut. We somehow managed to get away from them (of course after they asked to be facebook friends) and laughed about it while laying on one of the beds by the pool. I dont know if its something about people being on vacation here, that makes them more apt to engage in random convos or actions like that, or if its just that its unique to miami itself– but i have had so many experiences like that one here. Its classic.
Friday! So get this. Its a gorgeous day, up until about 3pm when the skies literally open up: torrential, monsoon, makes me think "oh, so this is a hurricane." you cant see the two blocks to the ocean; you can’t see the causeway in the distance; you can barely see across the street; and the entire wide open sky is shocked with lightening every few seconds or so– i have never seen such a thing. We sit it out in nicole’s office eating twizzlers and marveling at it all. Finally, at about 6 (after hearing reports about flooding in south beach and hail), the rain lets up and we decide to flee. I was going to give rachel a ride home, so we head to biscayne blvd– only to be stuck in serious, unmovable traffic. Justin calls me & tells me, guess what, both causeways to south beach are closed. This causes rachel to evacuate the car and go to the gym instead of dealing, and i drive up to 79th street to get over. At this point, theres really no way of knowing how bad it is... but apparently the streets were so flooded in parts of sobe that people could not drive onto them, lest their cars float away. In fact, nicole’s car was parked in sobe (where her husband works), in 3 ft of water... basically killing the engine. Rachel’s apt building was totally kicked– the entire garage was flooded, with cars floating in it; and they had no power or water all weekend. Thankfully, i managed to escape the multiple lakes that developed on the way up to 79th street, and once i got over to my neighb, the waters had receeded– although benjamin took pictures of water gushing down the street, people walking knee deep in the thick of it. How utterly insane. Of course, of course, then the sun came out, so i went for a run on the beach, avoiding the larger puddles.
To close the randomness of the day, we went to ‘la vaca gorda’ for our huge argentinian steak, blood sausage, & a delicious bottle of malbec (see me very excited, above). After that, over to a friend of ben’s from college– who lived not that far. We drove over to savannah’s house, where she had a couple of other friends over, and drank cocktails she engineered for us (or rather, I drank one– cucumber, watermelon, mint and vodka, pulverized– and ben kept up with his weeklong obsession with rum on the rocks with lime). After playing the adult version of hackeysack (um, kicking a tennis ball around), checking out her gorgeous river-side water access, and listening to an impromtu jam session (can you tell they were all of the hippie nature?) we finally decided to call it a night.
Anyway, after that mingling episode, we grabbed takeout sush and laid low. Wednesday was another night of socializing– we had tickets to see ‘the hangover’ at a screening hosted by gen art (they do movie screenings, fashion stuff, shopping, art, etc). So we thought oh ok, lets grab dinner beforehand. We show up at 8oz, the burger place on south beach, at about 6.30. Everyone else runs late– which was actually fine, bc we ordered for them at about 6.45... except the food doesnt come out until about 7.35. And its overcooked; and the sides are all missing; and the waiter is oblivious; and we have to be at the movie at 8. Anyway we stuff our faces in a resentful manner and head to the theatre; buy popcorn; get twizzlers; and thats when ben realizes he lost his glasses. Sadness! After doing a preliminary sweep of the movie theater, we bust out; do the recreation-footsteps through the parking garage, back to 8oz; then back to the movie theater; then back to 8 oz. All the while i am taking little snacks from the popcorn though, so the entire hour wasnt wasted. After a fruitless search, we headed home where i convinced bg that a swim on the roof would make him feel better, so we went up for a night swim. Beautiful! Best idea ever. Then we rounded out the feel-goodness with a trip to the local latin american cafe/cafeteria, where we ordered and inhaled a ton of delicious cookies.
Thursday was a night of cookery– lamb chops – and afterwards we went out to the fountainebleu for some post-drinks. It was still relatively early so the bar area in the lobby was pretty empty, and we got to cattily look at all the random, overly processed ladies who were waiting for men to buy them drinks (sure enough, one finally came over and supplied the four cake-makeup’ed, faux boobies, bleach-blondes with mojitos). After a drink & some champers, we headed poolside so that bg could check it out– and happened upon some new friends at the bar: one was a stylist, the other who knows; both were around 40, with kids; and somehow they kept telling me to try jay-z’s alcoholic beverage. Its pink for the ladies, blue for the gents. At some point, they learned of and became shocked by the fact that i live on the beach, and then of course conversation turned to fake boobs, and suddenly the stylist was reaching her hand under my left breast (braless, btw), and stuffing my dress with cocktail napkins to show me what a boob job could do for me. Total strangers, but totally miami. Then, either before or after that?, i was told to put on her shoes (huge 4 inch lucite) and strut. We somehow managed to get away from them (of course after they asked to be facebook friends) and laughed about it while laying on one of the beds by the pool. I dont know if its something about people being on vacation here, that makes them more apt to engage in random convos or actions like that, or if its just that its unique to miami itself– but i have had so many experiences like that one here. Its classic.
Friday! So get this. Its a gorgeous day, up until about 3pm when the skies literally open up: torrential, monsoon, makes me think "oh, so this is a hurricane." you cant see the two blocks to the ocean; you can’t see the causeway in the distance; you can barely see across the street; and the entire wide open sky is shocked with lightening every few seconds or so– i have never seen such a thing. We sit it out in nicole’s office eating twizzlers and marveling at it all. Finally, at about 6 (after hearing reports about flooding in south beach and hail), the rain lets up and we decide to flee. I was going to give rachel a ride home, so we head to biscayne blvd– only to be stuck in serious, unmovable traffic. Justin calls me & tells me, guess what, both causeways to south beach are closed. This causes rachel to evacuate the car and go to the gym instead of dealing, and i drive up to 79th street to get over. At this point, theres really no way of knowing how bad it is... but apparently the streets were so flooded in parts of sobe that people could not drive onto them, lest their cars float away. In fact, nicole’s car was parked in sobe (where her husband works), in 3 ft of water... basically killing the engine. Rachel’s apt building was totally kicked– the entire garage was flooded, with cars floating in it; and they had no power or water all weekend. Thankfully, i managed to escape the multiple lakes that developed on the way up to 79th street, and once i got over to my neighb, the waters had receeded– although benjamin took pictures of water gushing down the street, people walking knee deep in the thick of it. How utterly insane. Of course, of course, then the sun came out, so i went for a run on the beach, avoiding the larger puddles.
view of the streets from the entrance of my building
To close the randomness of the day, we went to ‘la vaca gorda’ for our huge argentinian steak, blood sausage, & a delicious bottle of malbec (see me very excited, above). After that, over to a friend of ben’s from college– who lived not that far. We drove over to savannah’s house, where she had a couple of other friends over, and drank cocktails she engineered for us (or rather, I drank one– cucumber, watermelon, mint and vodka, pulverized– and ben kept up with his weeklong obsession with rum on the rocks with lime). After playing the adult version of hackeysack (um, kicking a tennis ball around), checking out her gorgeous river-side water access, and listening to an impromtu jam session (can you tell they were all of the hippie nature?) we finally decided to call it a night.
Longest post ever, huh? Saturday we sucked up the sun while we could; got ben new glasses; saw the hangover (pretty funny, although not living up to my expectations after everyone’s rave review from Wednesday); and then out to really bad mexican food on south beach & a little bit of dancing at buck 15 before we were overcome with exhaustion. Sunday was pretty similar – sun while we could, a trip to sobe for travel books for the fall; reading of the paper; and, of course, a few drinks at sandbar while it poured. Once the rain stopped, we exchanged our empty glasses for to-go-cups, walked down along the beach while the sun set, and then had dinner at fifi’s- freshly local snapper, florida lobster, and ceviche- , along with more wine....
actual rooftop view!
actual rooftop view of bay, downtown miami... all courtesy benjamin's iphone
The only downside? Getting up this morning at 5 to take ben to the airport, at the conclusion of his vacay here. Booface. I thought i actually might die of nausea, but it has subsided; now im just exhausted but compelled to go to the gym (got a week pass for the uber fancy david barton) and repent my red meat sins. A wonderful, long, packed, delicious week...
Monday, June 1, 2009
thunder & lightning!
June 1st marks the first official day of hurricane season here in miami. This means the streets become more and more flooded on a daily basis; in fact, half of the parking lot at work is inoperable because it is covered in water and when you drive out at the end of the day, you’re half a tire deep. This also means that moments of sunshine are relished, but quickly followed by usually unexpected dark clouds that move quickly and drench everything. Yesterday ben & i were on the roof of my building and noticed clouds gathering in the distance- you can look around 360 degrees at miami and see one spot with brilliant sun, while another area is covered with sheets of rain. Pretty amazing.
Ben is here visiting for the week! He gets to relish this bizarre weather, spend as much time as humanly possibly soaking up the sun, and then spending the rest of the time dashing indoors and/or hunting for the best cuban sandwich in town (we’ve yet to find it...). He got in Saturday & we had some lunch at shuckers; attempted to get key lime pie from joes– but the takeout stand is officially closed for summer and the restaurant only open for certain hours during dinner; and then headed home to rest for a bit before going to the MOCA (miami contemporary art museum)- where i’d actually never been! Of course he knew about some performance art going on there way in advance... Beforehand, i was asking him what i was supposed to expect, because honestly sometimes with performance art, you need a little background.... he couldnt really explain it, he said. There was no overarching theme or arsenal of ideas that id need to know to prepare. I mean, i was skeptical. But he was completely right - it was a group of 3 artists (im blanking on their group name?) - and they were on a stage; the performance involved a slideshow; singing and music; and audience participation! While the whole concept revolved around art theory (so ben tells me), it was completely accessible and fun to just be in the audience; we all sang together at one point, did different movements in another; and had a group meditation towards the end.
Afterwards, we headed to grab something to eat at joeys, the sole restaurant in the wynwood art district, and then over to a friend (annie’s) birthday at the vagabond, a club thats oddly enough in downtown miami... i had never been inside, but it was actually pretty cool - there was an amazing DJ playing beloved classics from the 80s and early 90s (anyone who can play belinda carlise, 'heaven is a place on a earth', and then vanilla ice, 'ice ice baby' gets a gold star in my book), and a random motley crew of bartenders: the blonde girl with cleavage, the guy with a serious foot-long-mohawk, and the emo/morrisey dude: "something for everyone," as ben noted. Plus, whenever the bartender tells you that they still have a free vodka special? I mean, how can you argue with that. We danced and chatted w friends, and then later, once they opened up the backyard, took a loop around where we privately made fun of the ridiculous smattering of douchebags (thankfully, though, the ratio here was much less than in many, many other places). Then, home.
Sunday there was a little sunshine action before the rain came; we brunched and then took a nice long walk on the beach in sobe; headed back up; i swam a few laps before the lightning came; and then we went to eat cuban food at the neighborhood spot. Otherwise, looking forward to our weeklong visit: plans coming up include a preview of "the hangover" (cant we all relate?) as a gen-art screening; drinks at montys with the girls; a much needed trip to matsuri sushi (the best random strip mall sushi ever); and ben’s attempt at making us cuban-themed steaks tonight... which makes me wonder: is this day over yet?
xoxoxo
oh AND!!! im also very elated to confirm that im making it to jessi’s maine-infused weekend in July! This will involve me somehow trekking to boston that Sunday with patty and staying up until my 7am flight back to florida, but hey. We’ve been through worse, havent we, p?
Ben is here visiting for the week! He gets to relish this bizarre weather, spend as much time as humanly possibly soaking up the sun, and then spending the rest of the time dashing indoors and/or hunting for the best cuban sandwich in town (we’ve yet to find it...). He got in Saturday & we had some lunch at shuckers; attempted to get key lime pie from joes– but the takeout stand is officially closed for summer and the restaurant only open for certain hours during dinner; and then headed home to rest for a bit before going to the MOCA (miami contemporary art museum)- where i’d actually never been! Of course he knew about some performance art going on there way in advance... Beforehand, i was asking him what i was supposed to expect, because honestly sometimes with performance art, you need a little background.... he couldnt really explain it, he said. There was no overarching theme or arsenal of ideas that id need to know to prepare. I mean, i was skeptical. But he was completely right - it was a group of 3 artists (im blanking on their group name?) - and they were on a stage; the performance involved a slideshow; singing and music; and audience participation! While the whole concept revolved around art theory (so ben tells me), it was completely accessible and fun to just be in the audience; we all sang together at one point, did different movements in another; and had a group meditation towards the end.
Afterwards, we headed to grab something to eat at joeys, the sole restaurant in the wynwood art district, and then over to a friend (annie’s) birthday at the vagabond, a club thats oddly enough in downtown miami... i had never been inside, but it was actually pretty cool - there was an amazing DJ playing beloved classics from the 80s and early 90s (anyone who can play belinda carlise, 'heaven is a place on a earth', and then vanilla ice, 'ice ice baby' gets a gold star in my book), and a random motley crew of bartenders: the blonde girl with cleavage, the guy with a serious foot-long-mohawk, and the emo/morrisey dude: "something for everyone," as ben noted. Plus, whenever the bartender tells you that they still have a free vodka special? I mean, how can you argue with that. We danced and chatted w friends, and then later, once they opened up the backyard, took a loop around where we privately made fun of the ridiculous smattering of douchebags (thankfully, though, the ratio here was much less than in many, many other places). Then, home.
Sunday there was a little sunshine action before the rain came; we brunched and then took a nice long walk on the beach in sobe; headed back up; i swam a few laps before the lightning came; and then we went to eat cuban food at the neighborhood spot. Otherwise, looking forward to our weeklong visit: plans coming up include a preview of "the hangover" (cant we all relate?) as a gen-art screening; drinks at montys with the girls; a much needed trip to matsuri sushi (the best random strip mall sushi ever); and ben’s attempt at making us cuban-themed steaks tonight... which makes me wonder: is this day over yet?
xoxoxo
oh AND!!! im also very elated to confirm that im making it to jessi’s maine-infused weekend in July! This will involve me somehow trekking to boston that Sunday with patty and staying up until my 7am flight back to florida, but hey. We’ve been through worse, havent we, p?
P: Other Running Links
So as I waste time in the Starbucks in BU's School of Management building, currently on my second decaf coffee, second piece of pastry, after having eaten breakfast and lunch, and having worked on only 2 paragraphs of my to-be 90 page thesis, I think about how much it sucks to not be able to get my work done, AND how I'm losing concentration as the weather is getting nicer, AND how I need to get my f-ing act together. I'm also still working out a Charlie horse I had in my left calf, after pointing and flexing my foot yesterday. It still f-ing hurts.
Anyway, beyond oggling T-shirts on urbanoutfitters.com and bikini bottoms at gap.com, I thought I'd send a link to Diane's friend Brian's running blog. In the latest posts, he chronicles the weekend adventures in Boston: http://trakmaniak.blogspot.com/ .
I hope I'll find the energy/strength/etc to get crackin' on my f-ing thesis. !@#$%%!!
Anyway, I'll l eave you with some spastic pictures of me from the Boston half marathon from Memorial Day wknd, and also a photo of Amy, Brian, and me from the Somerville Jingle bell run back in December.
In case you couldn't tell, I'm kind of dying in these photos.
Anyway, beyond oggling T-shirts on urbanoutfitters.com and bikini bottoms at gap.com, I thought I'd send a link to Diane's friend Brian's running blog. In the latest posts, he chronicles the weekend adventures in Boston: http://trakmaniak.blogspot.com/ .
I hope I'll find the energy/strength/etc to get crackin' on my f-ing thesis. !@#$%%!!
Anyway, I'll l eave you with some spastic pictures of me from the Boston half marathon from Memorial Day wknd, and also a photo of Amy, Brian, and me from the Somerville Jingle bell run back in December.
In case you couldn't tell, I'm kind of dying in these photos.
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