Thursday, October 30, 2008

assembly near completion

Here's a great idea for next halloween, gather a bunch of random materials, photograph them, and ask your friends to guess what you're going to be - you'll get a lot of great ideas that way. So far, from my last picture I've gotten some great guesses:
mailbox
baseball
robot with hot red-cupped breasts
ketchup bottle
voting receptacle
bike pump

Only one person guessed correctly, but she had prior knowledge that totally gave it away. Here we are near completion, and after today's data blitz brilliance, I might be allowed a weekend.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

troglodyte


accoutrement
Originally uploaded by with an eye
I went across the street today to grab lunch, and I ran into a friend of mine. We stopped to chat, but it didn't last long. She quickly asked if I was ok, and as I stood their squinting in the unbearbly bright sun and overwhelmed by the sidewalk full of people, I thought, "no, I'm not". I've been living in my cave of an office for the past few days, rarely seeing the sunlight. I was ill-prepared.

Depending on the outcome of tonights data-blitz, I may similarly be stuck inside for much of the hallowed weekend. But, should I be allowed an escape, these materials will eventually become a costume!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

a bit before 9am

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:45am.  Who wakes up at 4:45am? crazy people.  I was supposed to leave my house by 5:45am, and I needed to give myself time to be more awake than sleepy when I actually left.  It was our benchmark run, and I was anything but ready.  I'd been hydrating all week, and my month long sobriety has certainly been helping.  My feet, on the other hand, are a mess.  Friday night I went to bed early, and just like last week, I woke up petrified.  I mean, seriously, if I couldn't make it - how the hell do I get back?  Once you leave, once you commit to a certain direction, don't you HAVE to finish?  I mean, you'd have to at least WALK back right.  Or curl up on the sidewalk for a bit.  I admit to having visions of me needing to do the latter.  But I got up, ate a banana and some toast, and got my gear on. I met up with my running group at 6:00, and we did some stretches, went over our route and we were off by 6:15am.

When we started it was pitch-dark, and as we hit the woods in the trail around Town Lake I couldn't see shit. There are many twists, turns, embankments and bridges along the trail, and several times I nearly wiped out. We must have spent the first 3 miles in this heavily wooded area and, in support of my general life philosophy, things just don't seem to count in the dark because I barely felt a thing. It was pretty cold, I was running in a long sleeved shirt for the first time ever, and my legs were freezing. Nothing like the 95+ temps I had learned to tolerate during my early morning runs this summer.

Our route took us all over the city, and up and down and up and down many torturous hills. At about Enfield crossing Mopac someone stopped to wonder how far we'd gone. My own guesstimation was about 5 miles at that point. The actual answer, a little over 7. Sweet baby Jesus, I love it when we're actually ahead of how I feel. This was going alright. Mile 9 was our second water stop, and perhaps we were stopped for too long, I had trouble getting going again. Around mile 10 I realized I was suffering from the same toe ailment I contracted last week, only this time in the homologous toe. And I won't lie, it hurt. Like hell.

As we ran down Congress, the LiveStrong 5k was just finishing up. As I was considering what would happen if I removed my toes right then and there, the last walkers of the 5K entered the finish area. One of them was a small boy, maybe 11 years old, using a walker, and obviously suffering from some profound physical disabilities. It was just the kick in the pants I needed to stop my own complaining, as a little toe pain is probably not that difficult to deal with. By the time I got back to TxDOT I was just happy to be done. It was a bit before 9am, and a bit warmer than when we started.

I can't say enough about the group of 8 women that I ran with. Even though at first we started off too slow, and made a bathroom break at about 1 mile, it was really their supportiveness that got me to the end in mostly one piece.  Miles 9, 10 and 11 were a big struggle for me, but they didn't let me curl up on the sidewalk and die like I would have wanted.  After I got home, the post-run pains started to set in, and I was mostly a mess for the rest of the day. I'm likely down two toenails, I have a blister, and a few other complications (that I hope will be prevented by something new I'll try next time).  But in the end, it was much better than I had feared.

Two more runs left, shorter than this, and then San Antonio with 29,999 other participants. I'm starting to think I might be able to do this.

Friday, October 24, 2008

a lesson in probability

nine out of ten times that I come up to my front door I push the "unlock" button on my car clicker and expect that something useful will happen.  zero out of nine times has anything useful happened.

Monday, October 20, 2008

there's always next year

I can't even express how much I hate that sentence.  I remember, with excruciating detail, one night in October 2003.  I was living in my 2-room studio in Waltham, and in my mind I can still see that bedroom.  My desk was over in the corner, and my white dresser that I had owned since I was ten was at the foot of my bed.  The TV sitting on top of it.  I was over to the right of the bed, between it and the window standing, yelling.  I was on the phone with a friend of mine who lived in Buffalo for law school.  The law library had kicked them out before the game was over, it was after midnight by this point, and she needed a play-by-play.  I remember telling her in detail everything that was going on, I was yelling and screaming from the pure joy.  Until.  We all know how it ended.  And I was speechless.  I could barely get out the words to tell her what happened.  I was now crumbled onto the floor under the window of my bedroom making noises that I hoped she could decipher.  I'm not sure I ever told her the exact play - but she heard the tears and pain with which I tried to get it out, and she understood.  Soxtober was over.  And we'd have to man-up and tell ourselves "There's always next year". 

I consider myself lucky that in much the same fashion I remember in excruciating detail that next year, 2004.  I remember October 27th 2004 pretty vividly.  I remember how quiet it got right at that last play.   The chop back to Foulke, the toss to Minky, and then the impossible happened.  It was over.  The next .3 seconds lasted forever, everyone was silent as we processed what just happened.  And then, pure joy!  I had been watching with friends who live very close to fenway and we quickly flooded, with the masses, into Kenmore Square.  I saw the red full moon, I saw the riot squad, I saw the crowds.  I saw the city of Boston breath a collective sigh of relief, since we would never again have to say "There's always next year."  Because, in fact, there was finally this year!

I watched last night,  Soxtober ended early again.  Maybe it's because I live so far away now, I feel like watching the Red Sox somehow connects me to a time that I am very comfortable remembering.  But, I wanted them to win.  Bad.  And as every true Sox fan did, I sat wide-eyed, open-mouthed, clench-fists as that stupid Tampa Bay Ray jumped triumphantly on second base just before being pummeled by the rest of his team.  I watched as V-tek packed up his bag and headed out of the dug out, wondering, will there be a next year?  I watched as Coco and Pedy lingered in the dug out, starring out at the Tampa Bay celebration.  I watched for about 3 minutes after the last out was made, then I headed home, without a word.

This morning, I feel a bit differently.  I don't want to say "There's always next year.", I want to relive some of this one.  It was a long, good season.  Those boys gave us some friggin' great baseball.  And, even injured and tired and behind, they fought like dirtdogs until the end.  And, in the end, there was someone else who came out on top.  Watching them celebrate last night, I was at once both enraged and awestruck.  That team has one of the lowest salaries in the sport, they came straight from the bottom to the top, and they are about to do something for their club, for their town, that has never been done before.  So today, with Soxtober over, I can say - Damn, that's impressive.  I am excited for them, all those jumping fools who beat my team.  And I will watch the World Series.  And I will root for The Rays.  Because, there's still this year.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

what the kids are reading these days

First there's this:

I gave a copy of this paper to my bus driver today, just so he can make informed decisions next time.


Then, we have this gem:

Clearly, this graph shows that people who appreciate culinary value and have only one apple require a boatload of bananas in order to be happy.


And finally, all I can say about this is:

TROGDOR!!!! Burninating the countryside...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

2008 ALCS Game 2: a text message retrospective

Top of first, Jason Bay 2 out 2 RBI double.
JP (to SH, NH, CH, JK, RO'D):Manny who?
SH: Exactly!
NH: What happened? Waiting on bus to take me home.
JP (to NH): Papi walked. Youk single. Bay 2 rbi double. Lowrie walked. V tek strike out. 2-0 Sox mid first.

Top of first, Jason Varitek strikes out to end the inning.
SH: Sorry, but tek sucks when not catching
JP (to SH): Omg...i totally know!

Sometime later...
NH: Gd still no bus.

EP: Sox!

Bottom of second, Evan Longoria 2 run homer.
JP (to NH): Tb just got a two run homer. Tie game. F F F
JP (to SH): Well....CRAP!

Top of third, Dustin Pedroia hits a solo homerun.
JP (to SH): Mvp!
SH: I heart him!

CH: Pedroia!
JP (to CH): Mvp!

End of third, Tampa Bay 2-run inning.
JP(to SH): Are you kidding me?
SH: I know. But lets be positive. Still early, right? They make me nervous
JP (to SH): Still early for sure! Plenty of time :)

JP (to NH): Rays lead 4-3 2 outs bot 3. Doing replays is making me angry!

EP: WTFUuuuuuuudge?
JP (to EP): We can has better pitching?

Top of fifth, Dustin Pedroia hits a solo homerun.
NH: Sweet!
(apparently made it on a bus!)

JP (to CH): Dude, I heart pedroia!
Kevin Youkilis follows with a solo homerun.
CH: Youk!
JP (to CH): I heart him too :)
Jason Bay follows with a solo homerun.
CH: I heart bay!

SH: What was that Manny? Don't worry we don't need you! We love bay. What a nerve wracking game!

Sometime in the bottom of the fifth when Beckett was giving up runs left and right.
JP (to SH): Get him out of there!
SH: I don't like this.  Too nervous
JP (to SH): Seriously...but it seems anything can happen this game!
SH: I wish you were here and we were watching the game together!  miss you.  We can still do this.
(admittedly, this was my favorite text of the whole night!)
JP (to SH): I wish I were there too!

JK (in response to my very first text): But we do need to know who beckett is
JP (to JK): Unfortunately i think we know...not good.

Top of 8th, Papi strikes out again.
JP (to SH): What happened to mr. october?

Top of 8th, Pedroia steals home on a wild pitch.
CMP: tied!!
JP (to CMP): Ya :)  Pedroia

Sox bring in Masterson.
SH: F@#$!
And then Papelbon.
JP (to SH): why paps now?  If extra innings we need him later.

Tampa Bay wins off of Mike Timlin.
phone convo between me and RO'D at the end of the game, 12:36am:
him: I saw
me: what a waste of 6 hours
him: yup
me: TIMLIN.
him: ya
me: they wasted paps
him: ya
me: I gotta sleep.
him: yes.
me: better to go to Boston 1-1 then down 2.
him: for sure.  better.
me: f@#$!
him: f@#$!
(what I love about this is, this is how it went.  I called him.  There was no "hello" and there was no "goodbye".  Just this.)

sidewalk scenes and black limousines

I went for a run this morning, a longer run than I've ever done before.  In retrospect, I've come a long way.  I was never a runner.  If we go way back to when I was younger, I've always had some knee, foot, shin trouble.  Don't let anyone tell you that being short doesn't come with it's own special set of problems.  My knees used to hurt all the time when I was little, something about growing pains without the growth.  My ankles click all the time, something about a growth gap that never closed and air slips out.  I have fallen arches, which used to cause my feet to "get tired" really easily.  It's these arches that caused the hip pain in late April, keeping me out of the running game for a few months.

This morning I ran farther than I've ever run before, but still far short of the 13.1 I'm going to have to run in a month.  I was scared this morning, I had trouble getting out the door, I wanted to quit.  But.  I didn't.  Thanks to my Dad I have some new equipment (ohh, ahhh) and no longer have to carry my huge ancient broken mp3 player.  And thanks to the people over at RunTex and the water stations they set-up each weekend, I didn't have to carry any water.  I enjoyed the freedom of running with empty hands and tunes blasting along a Town Lake loop.  I still don't run well.  I start off too fast, and die out too soon.  I started with two 15/1's, but then I had to switch to 10/1's.  I left my right leg* somewhere around mile 5 and I was definitely doing something worse than 8/2's at that point.  By the end there were certainly some 1/4's happening.  There was a lot of 'please, just can you make it one more minute', 'please, can you make it to that bridge' and a lot more 'Oh, f@#%!' when I finally gave up and walked.

But once I got back to the Mopac bridge none of that mattered, because I made it and I was still standing.  For the first time I had a glimmer of hope that I can actually do this.  Which is good, because I paid for it, and I've given up beer in order to train.  And if you know me at all there are two things I hate to see wasted, money and beer.  Particularly at this time of year!!

*For those of you who are paying attention, I did say my right leg, and it had been my left hip that was ailing before.  It seems that all the attention to the left leg has made the right leg feel neglected, and now it's crying out for help.  I have a bit of pain when I run, but sometimes if I can run through it it goes away - or I learn to ignore it better.  I'm fairly certain I know what's causing it, and I've already gotten the appropriate things to try and fix it. 

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

kitshickers or death

Once again, I've lapsed into silence about our kickball team. Mostly because...we suck. We lost the last two games, the most recent one in embarrassing fashion (20-4). That said, I love this team. I will go down with this team. We could use some work, we need some new strategies. Perhaps we can start by avoiding things like this devastatingly embarrassing play - by yours truly.

I was up at the plate, totally completely ready to kick the ball. I mean, all my practice kicks pre-game had gone anywhere but the direction I intended, but...I was ready. I took a few steps and WHAM. I skimmed the top of the ball and it did a sad little pathetic roll about a foot in front of me. I stood, embarrassed by my lack of power, and watched as it rolled slowly over the "girl-bunt-line". Holy crap that's a fair ball, holy crap I need to be running to first. Friggin, I am worse than Manny. I start running, sure they are going to pick up the ball and throw me out, but by the grace of the kickball gods, they bobbled it or something and I made it safely to first. Phew, you're saying, right? Embarrassment over. Ha, we're just beginning 'my friends'. RO'D is the first base coach, and for the next kick he tells me to "GO GO GO", but I don't, because I could tell it would be caught. It was. I am a superhero for not listening! So the next kicker is up, LD kicks the ball, somewhere between 1st and 2nd. I'm off and running. They pick up the ball and now I am running directly towards a guy holding the ball. So, instinctively I - what?! yes! - I crouch to the ground and cover my face. So sure this guy is just going to tag me and throw LD out too. While on the ground I hear RO'D screaming something FIERCE. "Jenni, RUN!" I peek up, look around, that guy and the ball...not near me. I quickly stand up and start to run again, only to be going in somewhat the wrong direction before turning 90 degrees back towards 2nd. Where, again thanks to the kickball gods, I was safe. Now, I'm on second, and RO'D kicks a far one, I'm off and running...only to mostly miss touching 3rd base on my way by (I did get it, not gracefully as you can imagine) and made it home to score one of our 4 runs.

The point of this is not solely to display my lack of skill or bonehead moves. More so that you will understand the state of the team, because I don't lie when I say - I'm not even the worst one.

Kitchickers, Richard Moya Park field #3, this Thursday, 7pm CDT. Nowhere to go but up!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I love that dirty water

It can't go unmentioned, the excitement that was Monday night's ALDS victory. The old roomie and I discussed the state of Sox fans - new vs old, real vs. bandwagon. The new, bandwagoners, likely felt no fear on Monday. They likely sat back thinking, we'll do it, we always do it. The old, real fans. We bit our nails down to our fingers. We, of course, yelled when Masterson gave up Lester's lead. But even before that we yelled that a 2 run lead was not enough. We needed more security. We know how quickly it can all change. And it did.

I was sitting at a bar in Austin with my parents and when they brought in Manny Delcarmen (with a runner on third, the go ahead runner) I began to panic. In an attempt to lighten the mood I suggested that there be a new rule to baseball, you know to spice it up. I began proposing that the incoming pitcher could elect to remove one base-runner from a base. You know, just because. It's not always fair, the situations they have to come in to. As I was formulating my argument, it seems that V-tek was on the same wavelength as me. He managed to catch that runner on third in the sweetest pickle I've seen in a while. As the runner glanced back to watch for V-tek's throw to Youk, he realized he was much closer to Tek than he thought. he ran for third, but Tek ran faster and tagged him out - right on the bum! Awesome. Totally awesome.

And then they won. With a whole new crowd of winners. Jason Bay. Jed Lowrie. It really warms the heart of an old fan, that the new kids are so quickly and deeply entrenched in Sox history. And now we wait, the old fans, for Friday. Tampa Bay. We wait and wonder - do I have enough Tums to get through this series? Myself, I'm going to have a pre-ALCS MRI scan tomorrow, so we can monitor the development of any dangerous aneurysms. But I still say - bring it Tampa Bay. Bring it, we're totally mostly somewhat ready!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby

I drove by Zilker Park today, there was a group of people playing soccer, a pretty typical scene.  Although not even a week ago that spot was where the AMD stage for this years ACL festival was located.  Looking at an empty Zilker today I was really in awe of the transformation it underwent.  

Last weekend a record-breaking crowd* poured into Zilker for three days full of music.  NH has done a better job than I will of detailing the three days.  I will say, it was a fun time.  Despite the heat, the crowds, the invasive dust-bowl, the too much beer, the not enough water, and the growing grumpiness that being hot and tired brings, I had a blast.  I was glad to spend the few days with some friends who had come in from out of town, and with some Austin friends who were totally down for hanging out (as opposed to the other crew who hid indoors for three days!)  
The natural question is to ask what my favorite show was, and it's hard to say.  I can break it down better this way...

favorite show to collect recyclables to (simultaneously saving the planet and earning a free t-shirt): Hot Chip
favorite new show that was highly recommended: The Black Keys
favorite non-stop party: Manu Chao
favorite female artist: Gillian Welch
favorite group to sit on the ground to listen to: Blues Traveler
favorite strung out on heroin goup: The Raconteurs

Although, there were so many others.  I'm tired just trying to remember them!





*I heard someone say 300,000 people, but then I'm fairly certain the had no idea what they were saying.