August 2010
13 posts
4 tags
Feets Don't Fail Me Now!
There’s an expression my dad says when he’s excited and egging someone on. Like a horse race or sprinters at the Olympics. Feets don’t fail me now! I’m not sure where he got it exactly; some announcer or someone must have said it along the way and he snatched it and coined it as one of his dozens of Steveisms. It’s a good slogan. Gets the heart pumping.
...
July 2010
31 posts
2 tags
Mediocre Eats
Can somebody please clarify something for me? Is Chicago not supposed to be the midwestern foodie haven? Did I miss the memo that said relatively speaking? Because, as far as I’m concerned, if you have to qualify yourself as relatively speaking, you don’t deserve to call yourself a foodie anything. There is no relatively speaking when it comes to such praise. Either you are or...
5 tags
Airline Debacle
On Thursday I flew to Chicago for my half marathon this weekend. While not the kind of frequent flyer that burns through miles quickly enough to rack up über perks like platinum status and sexual favors, I do consider myself a fairly frequent flyer. I board airplanes at least twice a month, and while I was living in New York it was more often. I’ve got TSA down to a science, never...
Too Pretty
“Being a reader is sort of like being president, except reading involves fewer...”
– Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree (via 52books)
3 tags
Tumblr IRL
First of all, I should say that I’m not a fan of acronyms that were invented for the internet. Lol, ttyl, idk, all that shit. It irks me. Do I love and use other acronyms like SOP and ASAP and abbreviations like obvs? Yes. Hypocritical? Probably.
IRL is one of those internet acronyms. It means “in real life,” and it was invented for people who wish to distinguish between...
4 tags
Fucking Chowder
Reasons why today is not my favorite:
I woke up to my sickest day yet. (And rather prematurely at 7am at that.) Full on drainage between the ears and throat, that heavy, achy, yucky feeling. My throat hurts, and I seem to have developed a small cough. Also, my nose has belatedly decided to start running. GO AWAY COOTIES. YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE.
I biked clam chowder that Pun made to my...
4 tags
Bonked
The good news is my ankle finally feels better. The bad news is I bonked the other day. BONKED. I didn’t even know what that meant until a few weeks ago when it happened to one of my friends. In short, “to bonk” is to hit a wall, utterly wipe yourself out, want to pass out and vomit and curl up and die. Violently. It was not fun.
It was Wednesday afternoon, the standard...
“On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than...”
– Douglas Adams (via thoughtsdetained)
4 tags
Last Hurrah
Last night Susan and Simon and I had dinner at Kanoyama, one of my favorite sushi restaurants. When I finally pulled the trigger on fish a couple of weeks ago I was bummed I wouldn’t get to have one last superb sushi experience. So I made an exception.
Everything I remembered and loads of fun to share with Susan and Simon, Kanoyama did not disappoint. We all ordered the omakase —...
3 tags
20 Things I Wish I'd Known at 20
Via Mighty Girl:
1. Consider the source. If you’re worried about someone who dislikes you, first ask yourself whether they’re an asshole. If you don’t like them, and they don’t like you, that’s not a problem. That’s a mutual understanding.
2. Get off the couch. If you find yourself playing hard to get, don’t pretend to be busy. Just be busy.
3. Don’t waste your time. If you have to ...
4 tags
Creativity Challenge: Vegan Update
So my first week at the vegan thing was a success. I had my cravings, sure. But I was enjoying the challenge in the cooking department. Preparing balanced meals that satisfied my cravings wasn’t as challenging as it had been in the past. The milk in the cereal thing was solved by abstaining from cereal altogether. (I really do need to find a better milk substitute.) The cheese...
1 tag
6 tags
Ouchies
Last Monday I hurt my ankle. Absolutely no idea how; there was no “ouch” moment when I misstepped or was aware that I hurt myself. Strapped on my VFFs, turned on the treadmill, took two steps, and went HOLY SHIT. And then completed all my sprints anyway. Because I’m smart like that.
My best guess is it’s a stress or overuse injury. Someone suggested sprain, but I...
2 tags
Bachelorette
Nine girls piled into two cars and headed to Atlantic City for the weekend. Toured and tasted at the Renault Winery, drinks poolside at The Chelsea, dancing and debauchery ‘til nearly 4am at MurMur at The Borgata.
I’d go into more detail, but that’s like number two on the no-no list in the handbook. You’ll have to use your imagination.
1 tag
5 tags
I Am a Cooking Machine
I’m in New York for the week and my parents are in Portland. Which means Boogie is at home alone, which she hates. My guilt got the best of me, so after Pick woke me at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, I snagged all her favorite indulgences at the grocery store and chocolate croissants for breakfast. I am such a good sister.
Spent the day cooking: two cinnamon walnut loaves (to travel up...
1 tag
“American women are already the breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two thirds of...”
– The firm of Bennett and Ellison, on why the economic recovery will be staffed by women. (via newsweek)
Now we just need to get me a job.
“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and...”
– william henry channing (via someformofaddiction:texturism) (via ellens)
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State Mottos
Stumbled upon this on Tumblr, but original credit is due to Strange Maps. Very cool site. Crazy cool maps.
1 tag
I'm Sorry Old School Feminists and Manwitches
lickystickypickyme:
I just want to win the lottery, buy an apron and cook all day.
(spare yourself the energy of ranting back; i know that modern feminism teaches us we have a choice in this)
Let’s just concentrate on recipes, ok?
I couldn’t agree more. That’s my perfect existence.
7 tags
Bangin' Mung Bean Soup
So the other day I had no idea what to make for dinner. It was going to be our vegetarian night (I cook, hence the fam gets one vege night every week), and I wanted to include beans, but that was as far as I’d gotten in the meal planning department.
I was torn between doing something new — i.e. use the mung beans I’d never cooked/eaten before — and doing something easy...
6 tags
Turd Bread
I’ve gotten into bread-making lately — delicious, nutritious, whole grain loaves are far too hard to come by, and good god that heady yeasty sent makes me swoon. I don’t make bread nearly as often as I’d like; I’m still somewhat intimidated by all that kneading and “punching down” and lapsed periods of time required. Bread recipes seem so damn hard. I...
4 tags
Overdue Sleep
I hate the expression “sleep when you’re dead.” Hate it. I happen to like sleep. It’s restorative and refreshing and needed and feels good. “Sleep when you’re dead.” I could clobber those people.
I always nap after my long runs. Always. For starters, they require I get up early. Ridiculous, usually-reserved-for-masochistic-flights early. 4am...
3 tags
Pampered
“I’m going to get my biannual pedicure. The girls are coming along to have their feet serviced.” My feet serviced. Because that sounds wholesome.
First mani/pedi since August 2008. Yup, you read that right. The short answer to your gasps of horror is that mani/pedis aren’t environmentally friendly. Or rather, the polish and remover and all that gunk. And their...
1 tag
Pudding gets you places. →
In 1999, UC-Davis civil engineer David Phillips was grocery shopping when he noticed something peculiar. Healthy Choice Foods was offering frequent-flyer miles to customers who bought its products. But a 25-cent pudding would bring 100 miles — the reward was worth more than the product itself.
Recognizing a good thing, Phillips bought 12,150 servings of pudding for $3,140, claiming he was...
cryingisforsissies asked: Hey, howdy! No idea about the reply issue. I am in LA till Monday then heading out to Kansas City for the next weekend. I'll be back July 11. This Mon/Wed you were referring to... I hope it was July 12-14 right? If so, want to run with the Bridgerunners at 7 on Wednesday? Granted, all runs are not as beautiful as this (http://www.tim-barber.com/albums/nike---bridge-runners), but...
4 tags
Turning Old Whine
My favorite gift that Pops got for his birthday was “Turning Old Whine” from my Aunt Beth (Popperitos’s sister) and Uncle Sam.
Hilarious and personalized, the label reads:
Stephen Smith’s Turning Old Florida’s Finest Crabernet Sauvignon Aged 60 Years
And on the back:
A classic full body old whine with lots of lush character. Aged to perfection for sixty...
3 tags
Creativity Challenge: Game On
Ashley pens a lovely blog, Writing to Reach You. I don’t recall how I found her, a little over a year ago, but I was enamored immediately and have been following her ever since. She’s a terrific writer and a wonderful person, and she really puts herself forward in an honest, vulnerable way. She makes me want to be a better person.
Ashley challenged her readers to be creative for...
3 tags
Quasi Vegan for July
I’ve decided to forgo all animal products for the month of July. It’s something of a last-minute decision; I thought about it yesterday and the timing is near perfect. So I’m jumping on it.
I run my first half marathon exactly one month from today, and given all the reading I’ve been doing on training and nutrition, it seems vegan is synonymous with optimal performance. ...
