Backstory: When Aaron and I were flying out of San Francisco on our way home from seeing our niece, our plane stayed abnormally low, and actually slowed down after take off - this made me very very nervous. After a few minutes though, everything kicked into gear, and the plane accelerated and finally gained altitude. It was a weird feeling.
Last night I dreamed that I was on a flight doing the same thing. We stayed very low to the ground, and were going seemingly very slow. The pilot said we would have to land, and try again to take off. We were flying over fields in Eastern Washington. When we landed, we landed in somebody's farm. In talking with the farmers & pilot, we discovered that the reason the plane couldn't gain altitude was because of ALL THE LADYBUGS. And then I looked around, and there were ladybugs EVERYWHERE. Spotless ladybugs, none the less. My friends Candi and Jesse showed up to play a game. We took a tour of the farm & the ladybugs. And when it was safe, we boarded our plane, and took off again.
I mean really. Where does this stuff come from?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Training Stats
Training is done! The days of my Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays being invaded by sweat, sore muscles, weird tasting energy items and jogging clothes are over! Just one Sunday left to endure... 13.1 miles of a "challenging" course with SUB-FREEZING weather are ahead. But really, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it. Here are some stats from the training. Once the race is done, I'll update with finish time & averages.
Weeks spent training: 12 (plus 4 before this to "train for the training"... necessary when running a mile wore me out)
Miles run: 206.22
Best Mile: 8:40
Best 1K: 5:25
Best 5K: 29:23
Best 10K: 1:01:06
Farthest run: 9.15 miles
Number of runs: 59
Total time spent running: 36:11:28
Average Pace over 59 runs: 10:32/mi
Total calories: 21,251 (all immediately eaten back in ice cream or donuts)
JUNE: 3 runs, 5.62 total miles, 13:01/mi (one of those "runs" was a walk to test the nike thing...)
JULY: 15 runs, 36.74 total miles, 11:44/mi
AUGSUT: 17 runs, 61.76 total miles, 10:21/mi
SEPTEMBER: 17 runs, 82.41 total miles, 10:01/mi
OCTOBER: 4 runs, 19.1 total miles, 10:13/mi (to be fair, 9 of these miles were run intentionally at a 10:45 pace, taking that average higher than it would be normally...)
RACE DAY GOALS: Finish the frickin race. I'm not the fastest runner on the planet, but I've certainly improved. I hope to finish at or under 2:15:00, but we'll see! I really will be happy if I can just run the whole race. Wish me luck!
Weeks spent training: 12 (plus 4 before this to "train for the training"... necessary when running a mile wore me out)
Miles run: 206.22
Best Mile: 8:40
Best 1K: 5:25
Best 5K: 29:23
Best 10K: 1:01:06
Farthest run: 9.15 miles
Number of runs: 59
Total time spent running: 36:11:28
Average Pace over 59 runs: 10:32/mi
Total calories: 21,251 (all immediately eaten back in ice cream or donuts)
JUNE: 3 runs, 5.62 total miles, 13:01/mi (one of those "runs" was a walk to test the nike thing...)
JULY: 15 runs, 36.74 total miles, 11:44/mi
AUGSUT: 17 runs, 61.76 total miles, 10:21/mi
SEPTEMBER: 17 runs, 82.41 total miles, 10:01/mi
OCTOBER: 4 runs, 19.1 total miles, 10:13/mi (to be fair, 9 of these miles were run intentionally at a 10:45 pace, taking that average higher than it would be normally...)
RACE DAY GOALS: Finish the frickin race. I'm not the fastest runner on the planet, but I've certainly improved. I hope to finish at or under 2:15:00, but we'll see! I really will be happy if I can just run the whole race. Wish me luck!
Monday, August 31, 2009
brain surgery?
I don't know if this is real, or was making a point...
But it sort of makes me laugh, and then it makes me a little annoyed. I know that graphic designers don't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get advanced education in very specialized areas. I know that the things we do generally aren't saving lives, and making a mistake in our job typically won't destroy anyone's life, but still...
Why are people in the arts (and this can extend to fine arts, writing, and much more, I expect) asked to do work for free? Why are the services we offer so often under appreciated that we are asked to do them for nothing but "credit" to build our portfolios? I know that sometimes this work leads to paying work with the same company, but often, it does not. Because the same people that want you to design their logo, website, and brochure for nothing are the people who take your work for granted. Once you've helped them make a buck, they spend it with a bigger firm, and forget all about the little guy who helped them get there. (Not to mention those who don't pay generally have the strongest ideas of what they want and will put you through about 100 soul-shattering revisions until you have produced the ugliest design you've ever done and won't want to put it in your portfolio, anyway!)
I think there is a place for free design - non-profits, pet projects, passions, and so on. That's where free work works - you generally get to be creative, they appreciate you, and they spread your name around town. But I'm really not okay with for-profit organizations asking professionals to do work for free. Discounted rates? Sure! But free? Come on. I know start-ups are often strapped for cash, but do they walk into Office Depot and ask for free paper? Do they ask for free rent the first 6 months they are in business? I doubt it. So where did people get the idea that the services I offer are worth nothing? I'm no brain surgeon, but I still have to pay the rent, and adding a sub-par piece of work to the portfolio isn't going to do that.
But it sort of makes me laugh, and then it makes me a little annoyed. I know that graphic designers don't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get advanced education in very specialized areas. I know that the things we do generally aren't saving lives, and making a mistake in our job typically won't destroy anyone's life, but still...
Why are people in the arts (and this can extend to fine arts, writing, and much more, I expect) asked to do work for free? Why are the services we offer so often under appreciated that we are asked to do them for nothing but "credit" to build our portfolios? I know that sometimes this work leads to paying work with the same company, but often, it does not. Because the same people that want you to design their logo, website, and brochure for nothing are the people who take your work for granted. Once you've helped them make a buck, they spend it with a bigger firm, and forget all about the little guy who helped them get there. (Not to mention those who don't pay generally have the strongest ideas of what they want and will put you through about 100 soul-shattering revisions until you have produced the ugliest design you've ever done and won't want to put it in your portfolio, anyway!)
I think there is a place for free design - non-profits, pet projects, passions, and so on. That's where free work works - you generally get to be creative, they appreciate you, and they spread your name around town. But I'm really not okay with for-profit organizations asking professionals to do work for free. Discounted rates? Sure! But free? Come on. I know start-ups are often strapped for cash, but do they walk into Office Depot and ask for free paper? Do they ask for free rent the first 6 months they are in business? I doubt it. So where did people get the idea that the services I offer are worth nothing? I'm no brain surgeon, but I still have to pay the rent, and adding a sub-par piece of work to the portfolio isn't going to do that.
Friday, July 31, 2009
the list
once, when i was little, i made a list of things i wanted to do before i was "old", which i probably thought was like, 35. now that you can round my age right on up to 30, i feel like i need to revise that to things i want to do before i'm...really old...
here's the new list.
1. live abroad for at least a little while
2. make more stuff for etsy shop, and then promote it
3. find new clients for business, and promote that
4. run the whole 1/2 marathon
5. run (or very close to it) a full marathon
6. make more of a difference
7. learn french
8. become less fearful of, well, everything
9. be more generous
10. have one of those...family...things (while on the list, it's purposely towards the bottom!)
11. stop making lists and do shit
alright - off to cut some fabric!
here's the new list.
1. live abroad for at least a little while
2. make more stuff for etsy shop, and then promote it
3. find new clients for business, and promote that
4. run the whole 1/2 marathon
5. run (or very close to it) a full marathon
6. make more of a difference
7. learn french
8. become less fearful of, well, everything
9. be more generous
10. have one of those...family...things (while on the list, it's purposely towards the bottom!)
11. stop making lists and do shit
alright - off to cut some fabric!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Packing
NOW:
Bedrooms: 2
Sq. Footage: 1,000?
Storage: Lots
Kitchen: Large
NEXT:
Bedrooms: 1
Sq. Footage: 500-600?
Storage: Not Lots
Kitchen: Awkward
bonus: POOL!
SO:
Trips to thrift store to unload junk & college furniture: 3 (and more to come)
Trash bags: 20? 25? 100?
Stress Level: High-ish
New Storage Solution: Parents!
Bedrooms: 2
Sq. Footage: 1,000?
Storage: Lots
Kitchen: Large
NEXT:
Bedrooms: 1
Sq. Footage: 500-600?
Storage: Not Lots
Kitchen: Awkward
bonus: POOL!
SO:
Trips to thrift store to unload junk & college furniture: 3 (and more to come)
Trash bags: 20? 25? 100?
Stress Level: High-ish
New Storage Solution: Parents!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Ugh.
what does T3+N2+M0=? Stage 3 cancer.
not to get all doomy and gloomy here, but i'm an emotions on the sleeve kind of girl, so bear with me.
my family is sadly no stranger to death. but the sort of death i've been around is all, for the most part, very sudden and accidental. and i realize i'm late to the game of grandparents getting sick, and i should have expected this at some point.
but i just don't quite know how to deal with the thought of this great unknown cancer crap. my grandma will undergo chemotherapy once every 3-4 weeks for the next 6 months. and then what? does it go away? does she go to the doctor 4 times a year to see if it comes back. if it does come back, where will it be? how bad will it be? what does a 5 year survival rate of 44% plus 25% from the chemotherapy even mean?
i just don't want to think of her not being around. i lived in the same town as my grandma for 8 years. just down the street. probably saw her at least 3 times a week. spent a week every summer hanging out, going on road trips, playing mini-golf. have spent almost every thanksgiving and christmas with her for 25 years. did a frickin marathon with her 2 years ago. for crying out loud, her own mother is 101 and still going strong - i just didn't see this coming.
this is a new sort of grief to me. i don't know if she'll be okay. i expect it will be a roller coaster of progress and regression, and i haven't had to deal with that before. this is in no way the immediate & sudden grief i have known. this is a prolonged guessing and hoping and not knowing a bloody thing sort of grief. the only thing to do i guess is keep going.
not to get all doomy and gloomy here, but i'm an emotions on the sleeve kind of girl, so bear with me.
my family is sadly no stranger to death. but the sort of death i've been around is all, for the most part, very sudden and accidental. and i realize i'm late to the game of grandparents getting sick, and i should have expected this at some point.
but i just don't quite know how to deal with the thought of this great unknown cancer crap. my grandma will undergo chemotherapy once every 3-4 weeks for the next 6 months. and then what? does it go away? does she go to the doctor 4 times a year to see if it comes back. if it does come back, where will it be? how bad will it be? what does a 5 year survival rate of 44% plus 25% from the chemotherapy even mean?
i just don't want to think of her not being around. i lived in the same town as my grandma for 8 years. just down the street. probably saw her at least 3 times a week. spent a week every summer hanging out, going on road trips, playing mini-golf. have spent almost every thanksgiving and christmas with her for 25 years. did a frickin marathon with her 2 years ago. for crying out loud, her own mother is 101 and still going strong - i just didn't see this coming.
this is a new sort of grief to me. i don't know if she'll be okay. i expect it will be a roller coaster of progress and regression, and i haven't had to deal with that before. this is in no way the immediate & sudden grief i have known. this is a prolonged guessing and hoping and not knowing a bloody thing sort of grief. the only thing to do i guess is keep going.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
No, No, NOOO no.
A while ago, I posted this story. At the time, I was hopeful that, like me, members of the house would scoff at how ridiculous it was and kill it.
But no. Those douchebags passed it, and overwhelmingly so. So now it moves on to the local congress. Because I don't believe that any man will be going without his viagra, nor will people be denied access to heart medications, or antibiotics, it seems clear that this bill targets specifically women and their need for birth control or emergency contraception.
I know there is a law that allows health care professionals to not issue perscriptions if they so choose, but even that allows sufficient time for a woman to obtain a perscription elsewhere. If this ability is extended to pharmacists (especially those in small towns here in Idaho), women could be S.O.L.
While men are able to be safe & responsible simply by purchasing a box of condoms any old place, women already have to go the extra mile. Schedule an appointment with your GYN, be a little bit violated, get a perscription written out, call it in, take yourself to the pharmacy, pay 4 times as much, and only then can you feel like you are taking responsibility for your own safety.
I think it's obvious that I disdain this bill, and I should probably stop ranting about it. Now I'm off to write a letter to my (already against the bill) local senator and express my disdain to her.
Just a question: am I alone in thinking this is sexist, antiquated and ridiculous?
But no. Those douchebags passed it, and overwhelmingly so. So now it moves on to the local congress. Because I don't believe that any man will be going without his viagra, nor will people be denied access to heart medications, or antibiotics, it seems clear that this bill targets specifically women and their need for birth control or emergency contraception.
I know there is a law that allows health care professionals to not issue perscriptions if they so choose, but even that allows sufficient time for a woman to obtain a perscription elsewhere. If this ability is extended to pharmacists (especially those in small towns here in Idaho), women could be S.O.L.
While men are able to be safe & responsible simply by purchasing a box of condoms any old place, women already have to go the extra mile. Schedule an appointment with your GYN, be a little bit violated, get a perscription written out, call it in, take yourself to the pharmacy, pay 4 times as much, and only then can you feel like you are taking responsibility for your own safety.
I think it's obvious that I disdain this bill, and I should probably stop ranting about it. Now I'm off to write a letter to my (already against the bill) local senator and express my disdain to her.
Just a question: am I alone in thinking this is sexist, antiquated and ridiculous?
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