What Happened This Summer?

Welp, tomorrow is the beginning of September. Wait, what?! Goodness, when the heck did that happen?

For most of us, September means that summer is over. For K-12, school started around the beginning of September, so in my mind it's always been the end of summer. However, now it seems my school year starts at the end of September now that I'm in college. Which is weird. Another weird thought that comes to mind is that when I'm done with college, I will never have a summer break again. Unless I'm a teacher. That's just sad in my book. Where will I get all of that time to waste?

Despite still having a little less than a month left, I've been thinking about what I've actually accomplished this summer. Some big things were:

• Ran a 20 mile run, plus a lot of other runs
• Completed a full year of College Spanish

Only two big things, but they seemed pretty big. I did do a lot of other things this summer though. For instance, I did quite a bit of reading. At the beginning of summer, I said I would read all of the classic literature that everyone has to read in classes. That... did not happen, but I did get a lot of reading in. There was Chelsea Handler, Brave New World, random books from the library telling me helpful hints about life, just whatever looked interesting. Besides, isn't that what you should read anyway? Currently I'm reading a book called Hungry, and it's a memoir from this model who's a plus sized model now. I remember reading something about it in a magazine awhile ago, and it sounded interesting. She kind of goes off topic a lot though.

There were a lot of little things that happened this summer as well. Time with family and time with friends. Time spend outside in the wonderful sun.Time wasted. Time well spent. Time spent trying to cook, failing miserably.

Overall, it's been a pretty good summer. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back! On the other hand, I'm excited for what lies ahead this school year.

What big things happened in your life this summer?

Sorta Like A Horror Movie... Except Not Really Threatening

I'd like you to think about any horror movie with a shower scene. I'm not talking about some dirty scene, but where scary stuff happens. We all know the classic example with Psycho, and the chocolate syurp stab feast. (In case you didn't know, Hitchcock used chocolate syrup for blood in that movie because you couldn't tell what color it was. Fun fact. 90% sure I know what I'm talking about. Anywho.) Back to my point, horror movies love to point out horrific things happening in showers. In the Grudge, a freakin' hand starts crawling out of the back of Sarah Michelle Gellar's head for a split second. Other than that, I don't know a lot about horror movies, but I do know that showers are breeding grounds for nightmares.

For me, I've always been a little creeped out showers. If you get soap in your eyes, you are temporarily blind, and anything can get you. When I was younger I would make sure I got all of the shampoo off of me as soon as I could, just so I wouldn't have much of a chance of being caught blind.

Fortunately, none of that was on my mind for my shower today. I turned the water off, turned around, looked up...
And was greeted by this thing dangling above my head.

Thankfully, I didn't have to spend anymore time in the shower so I bolted out of there. It may not look so creepy, but image that hanging directly over your head. It's about as long as my nose. Eugh.

Oh, and it's still there. Not really sure what to do about it, but I need to deal with it before I shower again, eh?

What type of horror movie situation has always freaked you out in real life?

Sweets and Strength Training

You know those people who always talk about what food they should be eating, or what they should be doing. Every little thing that passes by their mouth needs to have a comment included. No one likes that person.

...but tonight, that's going to be me. Sort of.

For the most part, I eat a pretty good diet. I make sure to eat my fruits and veggies, I eat wheat instead off white. It's not like I'm eating those weird veggies that apparently are what keep Superman alive, but still it's decent. There is one part of my diet that is terrible, and that is sugar. As in, I eat way too much of it.

I just love sweets. Supposedly, sweets are making a comeback. I've been seeing a lot of magazines articles supporting the consumption of sweets. After the onslaught of sweets being the worst thing in the world, apparently it's okay to have a little. I have to say, I was in on this trend before sweets became a thing again. I'm losing track of what I'm talking about, so I'll just say that they do say a little bit of sweet is good, but in moderation.

I have the problem where I just can't stop. When I get sweets, I have a hard time controlling how many I eat. That? That needs to change, because well... I'm heavier than when I started college. Sure, it's only a couple of pounds, but that could slowly creep up. Plus, I need to learn a little something about control. One dessert (or sweet thing) a day! It's not just for my current health, but it's for my health in the future.

Which brings me to point number two. Strength Training, or, the more open ended exercise other than running. After taking today off from running as well (guh), I came to the realization that other than running for exercise, in the words of Prince Naveen, "I don't really know how to do anything." Yeah, I watched The Princess and The Frog at my cousin's house again. Gosh that movie is cute. What was I saying? Oh yes.

Sure, I know how to do other exercises but in my mind it seems like it takes so much brain power to create a regiment. Yes I know how stupid that sounds. With running, it's easy to make up a schedule. Heck, I already have an idea for what my running schedule will be after the marathon! With anything else, it seems so complicated. The real reason for someone like a personal trainer isn't for the workout plans (mostly), it's for the motivation.

I know how much I'm sounding like one of those weight loss shows. You know, where the person is like "Boo hoo, I don't know how I got to this size, nothing I do is my fault!" Sometimes, I can't stand those people in those things but I guess I can say I'm seeing a glimpse on their side of the argument. Although hell if I have anything on their argument. For instance, today I was talking to my aunt about BMI and she said, "Huh, I thought you were under the normal range." I'm definitely not, but it made me realize a little about how we view ourselves. I'm not big, but I still have insecurities. Mostly, I've just been feeling marshmallowy from a lack of muscle, and that's a sucky feeling.

So, my plan is to start doing something in the strength training realm. I'm going to try and make a boot camp type thing up for myself, and I'll keep y'all updated. If no updates, you'll know I'm being a lazy ass.

Well that's what's been on my mind lately. I'll try to be more entertaining tomorrow.

What habits do you need to start working on?

Running Roadblocks

I promised myself that I wouldn't talk as much about running, but... here we are.

My run yesterday was a great run, but there was one little part that wasn't great. Between miles 2 and 3, I started getting a pain just above my heel on the back of my leg. It faded quickly, but after my run it felt like there was a bruise there.

I told my family of this. They said it could be my achilles. Yeah, that didn't make very happy. What made me less happy is what I'm going to have to do.

I'm going to take more than one day off of running. I haven't done that since December.

You see, many runners have a problem with taking days off. I know that I'm not the only runner who has a problem with this. Still, I know that if I don't take more than a day off, I could injury myself even more.

All I know is that I will complete that marathon in October, even if I have to crawl across that finish line.

And who knows? Maybe a little rest will be good. I talked to another person who has run a couple marathons today, and her longest run was 16 miles! How crazy is that?

Other than that, been hanging at my family's house. Yup.

Do you have trouble taking breaks from training despite risk of injury? Or do you stop at the first sign of anything wrong?

Commenting and the Internet

So I have a confession.

Sometimes, when I say that after I have a long run, I just move slowly. For a lot of the time, that's true. However, sometimes I just want time to chill before I go off and do other things. That's what's happening now. Then again, that could really be part of me just moving slowly after a long run as well.

Actually, I have another confession.

I am a lurker. Okay, that sounds creepy let's explain that shall we?
Online, there are many wonderful places, and things that people create. Blogs, for instance. And with many of these things online, there are places where others can comment. Comments are what can fuel some of the Internet community to do great things! Sometimes the fans of something can say things more witty than the creators of such things. That's where I have a problem. I'm terrible at commenting on things, and I know that commenting is awesome. There are times where I will go through the entire archive of something and never comment. I have about 20 blogs on my blog roll. I regularly comment on about 3 of those, and sometimes I'm iffy then. There are a few channels on YouTube that I really enjoy watching. Have I ever commented on these videos? No. Why is that?

I think part of the reason for my lack of commenting comes from the good ol' comparison problem. You see, some people have incredible fans. That's intimidating. It shouldn't be, but for me, I try and compare to the most amazing fan they have. What if my comment seems dumb in comparison? Then again, there are the boatload of other comments on the Internet that involve "BOOBS DICK", but I don't compare myself to them. Why is that? Hm.
I suppose another thing is I'll think of a comment, think about writing it, then forget. I'm kind of lazy sometimes, remember?

Another thing that I realize is that commenting on blogs can help get others to take a look at my blog. And make others more likely to comment on my blog as well. Because currently, I think five people, including my sister and mother read my blog. Yeah.

I like commenting, I just never know if my comment is going to come across stupid. Still, I really ought to try and comment more. I think I just want my first comment on any blog/vlog/whatever to be a witty one. Like anyone will remember? No. Who cares? It's a comment, they feel nice. Just another example of me, over thinking a situation.

Speaking of which, my sister was talking to me the other day and she asked, "Who's this Kat that said something about urban U of O or whatever?"
To which I replied, "Oh, it's another blogger, I read her blog too."
"Wait. You've never actually met this person?"
"Nope."

Oh, the power of the Internet. (And I'm still thinking about doing a U of O life thing, but if I do it won't be until I actually get down there. So we'll see.)

Other than that, been bitten by a lot of bugs lately! What's the deal with that?

What's your online status? I.E. are you a lurker or an avid commenter?

Hiking Adventures

As I said yesterday, I went hiking today!

I'm usually not the hiking type. I don't do camping, and hiking is similar to that. However, when a friend asks you to go hiking, you say why not? It was lovely.
I wasn't sure if the weather was going to be very good for hiking because last night there were some crazy thunderstorms. Fortunately, it cleared up and we were on our way.

We explored. We ventured. I fell on my ass in the river during the first 10 minutes, causing my lower half to be partially soaked for the rest of the hike. It didn't matter though, it was still a good hike.

The lack of pictures is due to the fact that after my fall, my bag was soaked and so my electronics (phone and camera) went into my friend's water backpack. Yeah, he's extreme. Actually, I can't find my camera at the moment, so no pictures at all. Boo.

This is the guy who started running this year, and basically became an extreme running dude. He's already run the distance of a marathon, but he's never actually run a race marathon. Today, he signed up for the Portland Marathon! Hurrah!

Speaking of which, I'm not ready to run tomorrow. Buh, I was so tired last time. I hope that tomorrow's run will be alright.

Have you gone on any outdoor adventures lately?

What's My Age Again?

All of my life, I've been looking to the future. What's next after this step? What should I do now to make sure my future works out all right? I constantly try to live in the moment, but the rest of my mind gets caught up in what could be next. With the constant worrying about the future, I think about things like career and how I'm going to take care of myself one day.

My futuristic look isn't only through my life, I tend to connect with those "living in the future" for a lack of a better way to say it. It feels like I've always been drawn to groups older than me. The people I hung out with during this year at school were mostly juniors. I've found more similarities with my sister's friends than people from my grade. That tends to be kind of the case online as well.

It seems that much of the blogging world consists of females who are in the last years of college or older. In many of the blogs that I read, people are getting married, buying their first homes, getting real jobs, all that jazz. When reading about that type of stuff, I start to think about how far behind I must be. Then I realize: Hell, I'm only 19! I've got a lot of time to do stuff like that. It just feels like I should be getting it done now, you know?

That's just the thing. I'm still a kid. I still refer to my parent's house as my house. I still have a messy room. I'm still fairly young despite how crotchety I may act sometimes.

And sure, it's great to think about the future, but I know I gotta loosen up a little! Take the plunge on random experiences. It's all about once again living a happy medium.

Well that's my recent epiphany. Just had to get that out of my head. Other than that, I'm going hiking tomorrow morning. I don't really hike. We'll see how that turns out!

Do you ever had trouble acting your age?

The People Behind the Smile

Despite the lack of taking care of other physical features (the hair), I managed to get one part of my body into tip top shape. I had a dentist appointment.

I always find it weird that you have to make dentist appointments so far in advance. Yes, I realize that the dentist has to schedule in a lot, but by the time you have your appointment you might end up having something else you need to do for that day. Anywho.

I've always had a weird relationship with the people who work on my teeth. When I was younger, I hated the dentist. I liked the clean feeling my teeth had after my appointment, but that was it. The gums being stabbed repeatedly was something that I didn't enjoy. Oh, and my teeth were usually fine. Just whenever they used the scraper, I felt like they kept poking my gums with it. Plus, there was that time with the cavity.

While using the scraper, a slight tap hit my tooth. I cringed. The dental assistant then decided to STAB that area again and ask nonchalantly, "Oh, does that hurt?"

YES. Yes that does hurt. Stabbing something that hurts usually isn't the best way to go about making it not hurt.

This won't hurt a bit... unless I want it to hurt.

So, I've always had a bit of disliking for the dentist. However, this is where it gets a little weird.

I think orthodontists are awesome. For the longest time, I wanted to be an orthodontist.Heck, I still think it would be a cool job, and not just because of the bucks. For a girl who hates the dentist, why the orthodontist love?  Because they make teeth straight and beautiful! Okay, dentist do a lot of things to make your teeth great too, but... I just can't show them the same love.
To me, it's like orthodontists help you through a transformation.Slowly but surely, the Caterpillar of crooked teeth will become a butterfly. Or straight teeth, whatever.


Your teeth after braces.

I even remember the names of two different types of retainers. Spring clip and hawley. Yuppers.

A hawley style retainer. Looking up pictures made me realize I'd been spelling it wrong.

Now the dentist and I are on alright terms. I don't really like to go, but I'm fine with it now. Besides, my teeth apparently are still looking good.

Before we go, fun fact about my teeth: I still have two of my baby teeth in my mouth. My adult teeth just never came in. They've told me that I'm going to need implants in the future but for now I'm happy to have what appears to be a normal smile. The only thing that really seems terrifying is that one day when I don't expect it, a tooth might fall out. Classy.

So did you catch that episode of- *pop!* OH God.

Do you like the dentist or orthodontist? What's a weird thing about your teeth?

New Shoes Test, Going Outside and Attack of the Hair

I tried out my new running shoes today. I wanted to really like them. But I didn't. I felt like a horse clopping along. What are the rules to returning shoes? I've got 90 days, but I ran quite a bit in them. I had to get my run in! Guh, I dunno.

The other day, something that seems very depressing to me happened. No, not like a death or something like that. Just... let me explain. I had past my dad who had just woken up from falling asleep in front of the television. As I passed by I heard him say, "Wow, it's pretty hot out there today, isn't it?"

I paused. He had just woken up from a nap, he hadn't been outside. "Dad," I asked. "Have you been outside at all today?"

"Hm. I guess not. I just saw it say something on the weather channel."

Pictured: What nature feels like from the comfort of your home.

That? That depresses me. I know my dad is kind of a vampire (he burns to a crisp), but to spend the entire day in front of a TV, dozing off every few hours? What kind of life is that? Sure, he's an old man but that's just sad. Life was meant to be lived! At least step outside for a couple of minutes.

From that point, I made a little resolution for myself. Never spend an entire day indoors during a beautiful day. Why waste what nature has to offer? If I have a book, I'll read it outside. Maybe it'll inspire me to actually do more activities while outside. I just don't want to spend my live inside forever, wishing I could have spend more time in the sun.

In other news, my hair is getting ridiculous. If I don't push it to the side, I'm blinded by a sea of golden brown strands.


Sadly, this is the picture that looked the least like the girl from The Ring.

 I suppose it's good for covering the ever-growing brows. I just need to make a hair appointment.

What personal maintenance have you put off? Made any mini resolutions recently?

Driving: The Good and The Bad

Let's talk about driving. Okay? Okay.

I know that I'm not a fantastic driver. I also know that I'm not a terrible driver either. If I were to grade myself on my driving, I'd say I'm a B- or a C+. Alright, but not amazing. My turns are way too wide, and I can drift to certain sides. Definitely not perfect.
That doesn't mean I don't have my golden moments though. Which brings me to last night.

After the concert, it was an hour and a half drive back to my cousin's house. We were both exhausted, so we stocked up on the caffeine and headed out into the night.
We finally got to the point where were about 15 minutes from her home. It was out in the country, and the speed was 55. It was dark, and hard to see anything. The road was empty except for our car...

...And suddenly two deer.


Source

This could have ended up me telling you guys a terrible story about how my car was totaled. Or maybe not even being able to tell you, but no. I have skills, and was able to stop the car with plenty of space to spare. Perhaps this isn't a true feat, but I certainly felt proud of myself. After we had let the deer cross and returned home, my cousin replied,
"If that we me, we would have totally hit those."

A bit of an ego boost? You bet. It just helps to reassure me that I might just be an okay driver. Despite what my sister feels whenever we're in the car together.

Before we go, I have a final note on my driving. I have an odd quirk when I'm driving, and that's I blink for basically everything. Everyone I know makes fun of me for it.
Oh, that includes parking spaces. I blink into parking spaces. I swear, my driver's ed teacher told me you should. So I do.

Are you a good driver? What's a weird driving habit you have?

Shopping and Such

Whoa! Today has been quite the day! It's been a shopping day, that's for sure.
Stopped at the running store for another pair of shoes. My old ones are almost at 500 again! Probably in a week and a half, they will be. Goodness. I decided to stray away from my Mizunos to some New Balance. Are they good? They feel more pillowy. I hope that's not a bad thing.
Next was to visit my little baby cousins. My cousin who was with me at the time and I drove over to play with them until their parents came home. Don't worry, they were with my aunt and my mum. After their parents returned, it was time for shopping with mom and auntie.
My mom loves buying clothes. I do too, but I always feel a little anxious about it. I'm my dad's daughter, so I'm kind of frugal. Even when someone else is buying. Especially then, because I start feeling kind of guilty. She's told me a million times not to, but old habits die hard. I suppose the school clothes argument still holds valid

We were offered tickets to go to a concert out in the country, so my cousin and I headed to it right after shopping. Now, we're in a big ol' field listening to some tunes.  Eventful day, but in a good way.

What excuses do you give yourself to go shopping?

Hitting 20 and More Bread

Hello. My name is Hannah, and I ran 20 miles today.
...
I ran 20 freakin' miles today! Holy Grilled Cheezus!
(I'm allowing myself to say that, I ran 20 miles today.) Here's the proof:

Yeah, I ended up going at almost a 10 minute mile pace while two weeks ago I ran 19 miles at a 9:30 pace, but I don't care. I could have probably walked the last mile, and gone faster than I was going. But I don't care. I wanted to continuously run for 20 miles, and I did.

Why does 20 miles seem like such a big deal anyway? I mean, I ran 19 miles two weeks in a row, 20 is just one more mile. It's different somehow though. 20 miles is how much you're supposed to go before a marathon. Sure, you can go more than that, but at least 20 miles is what most training schedules tell you to do for your longest run. I ran that.

So... Yeah. Pretty pumped about that. Also, it used to gross me out whenever I'd get really salty after runs. This was after races in high school mind you. Now after my long runs, I look at the side of my face seeing what appears to be someone dumping salt on the side of my face and thinking, "Holy crap! Cool!" I think this is just another thing that makes me officially a runner. Or maybe I'm just a dude in the body of a girl. Naw, I don't like bodily functions humor.


There was a lot more salt before this.

Since I don't understand the meaning of a nap, I've been doing things around the house. I suppose some of the doing things around the house involves acting like the hedonism bot and chilling.

Replace grapes with craisins, and you've got me.

I am baking some bread! Yeah, yeah. There are some strawberries in our house that need to be used, so I browsed the pages of my Bread Bible and found a recipe involving strawberries.

That's not for strawberry smashing! Ah well.

It smells AMAZING. Really, it's more like strawberry cake. I'm taking it up with me to my cousins as soon as it's done.

One thing I've noticed about my bread baking endeavours is that I'm the only one who ever eats my bread. Sad. I know that my mom won't because she's eating healthy foods (that don't involve bread), but what about my dad? Does he think I'm trying to hoard it for myself? Or it could be that he's scared of my cooking. I don't know. I know last year for Christmas I made him food as a gift, and he never ate it.

So, if for some reason you're at my house and I have some bread made up, feel free to eat some! Although I don't know who out there would be at my house. Hm.

Hit any big goals lately? Do people act weird around certain foods you make?

Old Person Syndrome and Blackberries

Getting close to bedtime so I'll be fresh for tomorrow's run.... Good lord, I'm an old person. Other examples include:

• Getting ticked at teenagers. (In my defense, they were sitting in the middle of the freakin' road.
• Buying a single piece of fruit. I needed a snack for work!
• Waking up early on most days automatically.

I am what they call old people. Old people is an adjective now apparently.

Being a lovely summer day, I knew that today I needed to do something I've been anticipating all summer. Today was the day to go pick blackberries.

Every summer I look forward to picking blackberries. It's not just that they're delicious, but they feel like such a special treat. I think it's because of the hunt. It takes time, effort, and the willingness to get scraped up to collect them. The prize is making cobbler, and it just makes it that much sweeter knowing it took more effort to make it than usual.

It always feels like someone has gotten all of the blackberries before you wherever you go, doesn't it? Maybe that's just me. I suppose it is already the 19th, but shouldn't there still be quite a bit out there? I don't know. For me, it seemed like the only blackberries that were good were on the tall tall branches, or underneath prickle upon prickle. Truthfully, I always look like I've lost a fight with a cacti after I go venturing for blackberries.

I ended up not staying out for very long, and probably got about 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups worth. Can I make cobbler out of that? I guess it could be a small one, and it shall be made on Sunday.

I'm nervous but relaxed about tomorrow. I know I can reach my goal, but it's just scary.

What fruit or veggie do you love to go out and pick? What's your favorite thing to make from it?

The Ugly Side of Running and School is Out For the Summer

Today on my run, I felt something under my sports bra. I pulled my shirt and looked down to see a bug had somehow crawled into the space between my boobs. Remember when I said that running was sexy? Scratch that.

Well, it still is. Maybe. Maybe just marathon training is not sexy. Bugs sticking to me, coming to work covered in sweat, making sure I eat the right things before runs to make sure I don't have issues, effed up feet. These are all things that are not attractive. The feeling of strength is, but the rest? Not so much.

Half marathon training, you were cool with me. No disgusting issues there. Ah well.

School is out for the summer! Sounds weird, huh? I am all done though, and super excited. Today was my last day of Spanish, and now I never have to take it again. Unless... I want to. However, Spanish is a lot of busy work. I'm not sure I'm up to another year of it.

It's weird though, because now I'm going to have quite a bit of free time. Spanish took up a lot of time, especially with the commute. I'm not complaining.

Welp, that's all from me this evening, because I have to get up early tomorrow. On the day after I get done with school. Odd.

What part of working out grosses you out the most?

Procrastination and Getting on the Bike

I've officially become what I avoided being this whole school year. An extreme procrastinator.

Alright, maybe it's just because I don't have that much of this class left. It also could be because on Mondays and Wednesdays I end up having a big chunk of time to work on my work. But during the school year if I ever did homework, I didn't have anything distract me. Now... let's just say I've been doing a lot of multitasking. Not so good. I am doing my work... just other things are going on while I do it. I'm thinking this habit will change once it's the real school year again.

Other than homework, I did do something today that I haven't done in quite a long time. I rode a bike.

Yeah, it seems a little weird, but I just haven't done it in a long time. I've had my reasons, like my bike has been messed up for awhile. Every summer I have to fix it, and this summer I just haven't done it. Maybe I'm resentful of it. However, I was able to ride a friend's bike that is staying at our house for a bit to my dad's work and back.

I suppose I don't hate biking. I don't like biking in competitive or athletic form is all. One of the things that I dislike to do the most is ride bikes with other people because I am slow. That makes me feel crappy about myself, therefore building hatred towards the metal demon. (Okay, not that bad. Right.)

I like the idea of leisurely biking down a little road, not in a race setting. Spinning sounds awful.

That's all I've got for today, so I'll see y'all later.

What athletic activity do you like to do alone? With a group?

Culture Shock and Stereotypes

Hey look, we're talking about traveling again. Goodness. I suppose it's not necessarily about travel, but culture shock.

Quick: What stereotypes do you think of when you think of the United States of America? Now, how about England? Japan? Russia? Since you've thought about those, think about how untrue you know many of the stereotypes of your homeland are untrue. Whenever I think of the good ol' U.S.A. stereotypes, I think of fast food and being overly patriotic. I know that these are not true. Heck, I know a ton of people who live with completely opposite ideas than that. So why is it when we think of other countries, we expect them to be just how we imagine their stereotypes? Like, people from Japan only eating sushi. Or something. Maybe we just need to be taught more about other countries and how they live.

Back to the culture shock. I always find it so curious (yeah) the way some people in other countries live. Think about this: In the U.S., we have skim milk, whole milk, 1%, 2%... you know. In India, they only have milk. Normal pasterized milk. That a guy delivers to their houses and has to be boiled before consumption. See, that just seems so odd to me! Like I said, culture shock.

The only reason I know about the whole milk thing is because two of my coworkers are Indian and have family in India. I don't even know how we ended up getting on that subject anyways... Huh.

It's late, and I must go to bed. Night!

What has shocked you about a different culture?

The Future Tense and the Conditional Tense

Gee, it's been awhile since I've talked about a lesson that a fictional character has taught me... but that's not going to happen today either. I simply don't have any lessons I can recall at the moment. So let's move on.4

Ah, I'm so excited that it's the last week of Spanish. After this, no more language classes ever! No more nights of piles of meaningless assignments. Lovely. Truthfully, I brought up the Spanish to talk about what we've been working on lately.

In Spanish (and English as well), there are two different types of future tenses. There's the Future Tense (duh), and the Conditional Tense. The Future tense is a tense that is used when we know that something is going to occur in the future, such as:
"I will go to the bank" or
"They will dance at the party."

For the Conditional, it's the future as well but it's what you would do in the future. It's not a for sure thing:
"They would bring it to the store tomorrow."
"I would speak to him if I could."

Why do I bring this up you ask? Well, I've simply got to wonder which version of the word is used with hopes and dreams?

Because let's think about it. Are you definitely going to become a musician when you grow up? How about how many children you're going to have? It's just a weird concept.

As for dreams and desires, I've been thinking about them a lot lately. Yeah, I need to live in the moment I know. However, with thinking about these dreams and goals, it's been making me think, "Why do we all wait and wait and wait to even think about going for our dreams?"
I use travel as my example. There are some days where I simply think, "I could just pack up some things and go on an impromptu road trip. Just me, the road, and the world." After that initial thought, reality sets in. "I have school, and a job, and how would my running schedule be affected?" We throw so many roadblocks in our way, don't we? It makes sense to think about one's responsibilities, but at the same time we don't want to be stuck, right?

All I know is that I don't want to be looking back on my life regretting how few adventures I had.

What are some goals you know you will achieve in your future? What are some goals you hope you achieve?

Making Mix Tapes

I can't believe that it's already Sunday. Probably because I had my long run today, eh? Goodness. It was an alright run, but let's just say I need to go for that 20 miles next week. 19 has been nice, but no more!

What does one do after they've gone on a long run, you ask? Why, if they're anything like me they decide to finally make those mix cds they've been thinking about making for awhile now.

I especially like the CD titled You're Amazing! According To These Songs. I really didn't know where else to put the songs that were all about love. It's quite a popular subject, can you believe it?
(That's sarcasm.)

One of the things about my music is that I've got what feels like to two complete opposite sides of the spectrum of music. I've got quite a bit of indie type music, like Death Cab and folky eclectic weird stuff. However, at the same time I have a lot of pop-y cheesy music. Stuff that's cornbally enough for top 40, yet isn't necessarily played there. I like a lot of music that I could very well be judged for. If you take a look at my Itunes, you'll see mostly:

• Lily Allen
• Lonely Island
• Panic! At The Disco
• The Killers
• J Pop
• Owl City
• OK Go
• Death Cab for Cutie
• Regina Spektor
• Kate Micucci
• Two Door Cinema Club
• Annette Hanshaw
• Hello Goodbye
• We Are Scientists
• A good deal of musical soundtracks... oh dear.

Yeah, it's a strange mix. But you know what? It's what I like. I like having the ability to jam out to the wannabe emcee stylings of the Lonely Island one minute, then the 1930s tunes of Annette Hanshaw.

I must be going for the evening. I hope y'all have a pleasant one!

What type of music do you listen to?

Scandia Fun Run

Well now, it can't be this late already, can it?
Hm. I suppose it can. Anywho!

Recently I decided to sign up for a little fun run today call the Scandia Run, as I mentioned yesterday. Indeed, it was quite lovely. Very flat, and for most of the race we ran past never ending fields of lavender. How lovely.

I managed to finish in 51:44, which is crazy for me! Somehow I always end up running races so much faster than my training pace. Then again, I'm pretty sure that's how you're supposed to do it.

Yes, I was able to enjoy a meat pie afterwards. And it was amazing.

Well. I was going to write more, but I've completely lost my train of thought. What can you do, eh? I'm going to run my long run tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. See y'all tomorrow!

Touring the Old Home Town and Fun Runs

Goodness, today has been one of those days where you have to rush for a couple of hours, then chill for a few hours, then repeat.
I had to visit my old hometown today, which is always odd. Not my home-home town, but my home town that I lived in from birth to about 4 years old. Because of that, I don't have too many memories from the town but it's always interesting to see the places where you grew up.
My parents happened to grow up in that same town, so the sis and I went touring while my dad explained what was what. That included his one room schoolhouse, grandma's old house, and... the house of one of his old classmates who killed her husband. Yeah, it's a kind of weird town.

Welp, tomorrow I'll be doing a little fun run. Musses up my running schedule a bit, but nothing that can't be worked with. The main reason that I wanted to sign up for this little race was so it would give me incentive to go to the Scandinavian Festival. I love the festival, but I just haven't gotten to get up there for the last few years.
I've got to be honest though. The main reason I love the festival is because of the quirky and delicious foods. Like meat pies. Yes, sounds disgusting, but it's quite amazing.

What places of your past do you like to visit?

The Rise of the Machines

Well, I can't think about anything else other than nerdy topics. That means we're going to talk about robots. You have been warned.

Robots have always been a controversial concept. Yes, expanding technology is fantastic, and it can benefit the world in incredible ways. However, when does it get into the Uncanny Valley? When do robots become too lifelike?

I think that having human like robots would be cool, but at the same time the idea terrifies me. I suppose that the only real reason I think that human-like robots would be cool is because I like to imagine them like the robots in Futurama.

Highly doubtful that they would make robots like this, but... eh.

On the other hand, I tend to worry about robots overtaking the world. Once they've been made to have such intelligence that they understand how they function, wouldn't they be able to realize that they could take care of themselves? Also, what would be the point of humans then? Since I doubt that the robots would be the Futurama type, just other citizens of the world, they'd probably be servants. That leads into the "Is it right to make them slaves if they have feelings/consciousness/whatever human-like emotion robots could possible have in the future?

Truthfully, I don't know very much about robots. There have been some fascinating advances in robot technology, some of which is terrifying. I can appreciate technology getting better, but when have we gotten to a point that's taking it too far?

Because seriously, robots are starting to know how to do quite a lot of things.
I think it's possible to get robots to human intelligence. I'm still convinced that the Roomba has the brain of one of those demented little dogs that like to chew on things and run around in circles.

Good lord, my dad in snoring in the other room and it's so loud I'm surprised he can actually breathe. It just sounds like it takes so much effort.

What are your thoughts on the increasing intelligence of robots?

Old Hobbies Become the Quest of Today

My sister called me to listen to her figure out Netflicks. Yeah. Then she went on to say how much she loves anything British. Seriously, she does. Apparently.

I've mentioned before how I used to be a pretty big nerd. I used to draw a lot, read comics all of the time... Yeah. As time has past, I haven't read many comics. I haven't drawn much. Just a little disappointing.

However, with the new Spiderman coming out, I was intrigued. I decided to try to find a copy, so I ventured over to the comic book store.

When I used to buy comic books of any kind, I went to Borders. Now that they're closing, I knew that they wouldn't have what I was looking for.

Bookstores are always fun to wander around in, and comic book stores are no exception. You always find the strangest things, comic books about things you had no idea there were comics about.

Did you know there's a comic book for the story of William and Kate? Yeah, I didn't either.

Unfortunately, there were no copies available. What can you do, right? I did manage to get a new baking stone today though! (Not at the comic book store, mind you.)

Other than that, I'm just a little grumpy but I'm not going to get into that. It's not that hard to guess if you really think about it. Eh, what can you do, right?

What's something nerdy you like?

Fancy Cheeses and Bread Breaking Other Things

Recently I was reading a book about health and food when I came across a section on fancy cheeses. Being a fan of cheese, I decided to take a more serious look at the cheese page.
It's a shame that some people can't appreciate a good cheese. I'm not talking about some simple cheese from a plastic container, oh no. I'm talking about the types of fromage that you've barely heard of, or maybe have never heard of. I don't even think I'm that much of a cheese person, but I love myself some fancy cheese. For example, during the holidays my family and I dive into a baked brie wrapped in roll dough that's about the size of a baby. Sure, it's not the fanciest (or classiest, for that matter), but it's a tad fancier than that stuff you get in the plastic wrapper.
Back to the book, I was reading about all of the cheeses when I came across the cheese Comte. Under suggestions, it said, "Why don't you try an adult grilled cheese with slices of apple and Comte?" As soon as I read that, I knew that this needed to be done.

I bought the cheese. I sliced the apples. I even made the sandwich with bread I baked. If this doesn't get me ready for the "hip, urban lifestyle" of U of O, I don't know what will.

Sure, it didn't turn out that pretty. However, this sandwich was incredible. The Comte had such a distinct taste, but the apples toned it down. Crunchy, gooey, sweet, savory... Yum.

On the topic of cooking, I ended up baking some more bread. I know. However, this bread had some issues. You see, before this bread went into the oven, it sat in a fridge overnight as instructed by the recipe. I placed it on the trusty baking stone, and put it in the oven.
If you already see the problem that arises here, you're smarter than I was Monday morning. As you might be able to see...

...The stone cracked. Most likely due to the fact that you shouldn't put something that is kind of cold into a freakin' oven. I suppose I can say I've learned something? Also, I need to buy a new baking stone. I don't know if my parents ever used it, but I like having it. Good for bread.

Oh, the bread I made? I took it out of the oven too soon mainly because I was in a rush, and it ended up not being cooked completely. Tastes okay, but doughy.
Yes, I eat my doughy defect bread. I grated a lemon peel for it! (Which happened to make it smell AMAZING.)

What's the last food you made into an "adult version"? Have you ever tried it?

What's your favorite type of cheese?

Bring in the British Imports!

I'll be honest with y'all. Today, even though I've done some of it, I've been distracting myself like crazy in the hopes of my homework disappearing. ...Well, some of the work is done. Anywho...

Ah, the British. Here in the U.S., we've had quite the interesting relationship with the Brits. As if you didn't already know. And if you didn't... you're probably under the age of 5. However, our relationship is not only recognized by the fact that we're almost known at the rebellious teen of England.

However, that's not the only type of relationship that we have with jolly ol' England. (No, I'm not going to get into politics or the global economy or any of that. Definitely not that intelligent in said fields.) You see, there's an interesting phenomenon that happens here in America. We freakin' love the British.
Okay, I know that's not true for every American. There are a lot of Americans who don't really care about the British, or perhaps they're superfans of other countries (see: Anime fans). However, many younger Americans love other countries and their culture, especially England. Just think about it.

• When the Royal Wedding happened, millions of Americans stayed up/woke up in the middle of the night to watch the festivities.
• What accents are Americans trying to imitate? A British one. (Then again, that might be just because we can't imitate anything else.)
• We're constantly taking British shows and trying to make them Americanized.

Now, the last one up there is the biggest one. British shows are a big deal in the U.S. of A., and there have been many many shows that have been changed to become American. Some shows have thrived, and others have not. The biggest success obviously has been The Office, and the biggest bomb has been Skins.

The show that instead of being compared to the original, was thought of as better than the original. Then again, I wouldn't know. I haven't watched it.

Since we're on the subject, let's take a look at Skins. Before the Parent Television Council of America (or whatever they're called) started having aneurysms about the show in America, the British version was a cult sensation. There was a bounty of angsty teenage fans of the scandalous show, and when news of the show coming to the United States was announced, fans were skeptic. Sure one of their favorite shows was coming to their country, but the fandom was already weary of their own country. "Geez, I wish I was from England instead of this dumb old country. GAWSH!"
Don't tell me that's not true of a boatload of middle class teens. You know it is. Anywho, as we've already seen how it turns out, the U.S. version bombed. When that happened, it made me realize something.
Foreign versions of media being Americanized are like books being made into movies.

Just think about it! You have your base fans, who were there from the start. Then, when the rest of the world gets word of your story becoming a big deal, you get a little worried. What if they don't remember this character? Aw, the slang is going to be all wrong! Remember that one part? That part is super important! Oh man, they're never going to find someone to fit that role! Whoever they end up using is going to screw it up big time. Oh, plus there are probably going to be a ton of people who say they're fans, and they don't even know that this version isn't the original! Posers. Well, maybe it's a little cool.

See? Now, was I talking about a British show or a book? You decide, but the part about the original fans kind of comes to my mind whenever people say, "I'm a fan of Harry Potter", but have never read a single Harry Potter book. (Chloe, you know who I'm talking about. Why won't she read for fun?)

In conclusion, you can't always make an American audience like an Americanized version of a British show. Sometimes you just have to go with the original, and sometimes the culture clash is simply too large.

Truth be told, the idea for this whole ramble came to mind after watching an episode of this British show I like on Hulu. I'd constantly see advertisements for it on the sight, so I decided to take a look at it. It wasn't until I was freaking out about the content on the new episode that I discovered that I was hooked. Oh, and you know how there was a whole freak out about Skins being extremely dirty. I don't think it's just Skins. I think it's all British television. Just sayin'.

So my British import of choice currently is called Misfits, which I'm a little ashamed to say because well... It's dirty, violent, and effed up. Take one part superpowers, one part criminals, another part sex and drugs, a dash of violent crimes, a sprinkle of swearing... and that's Misfits.
Geez, my mother reads this. Oh well, she watched Sex in the City when she was younger.

Orange jumpsuits= Role models!

Yeah. About that homework... I'll see y'all later.
Oh, and on the foot front! I was able to run on it, yes! Hurts more to walk on it... Huh. Less pressure? Dunno.

What's your favorite British/Foreign import?

Let's Put Things Into Perspective...

The universe sure has an interesting way with timing.

I'm not going to talk about what happened today in my life, but all I can say is that I am blessed. I know that lately, I've been kind of whiny over here in the blog world, and I definitely want to slap myself every time I realize that because honestly? I have gotten incredible opportunities and chances in my life. The reason behind saying the universe has interesting timing has to do with a couple of factors. The first one came yesterday when I read a quote in Reader's Digest (Just another example of how I'm actually an old person in disguise.) The quote was:
"If I don't ask 'Why me?' after my victories, I cannot ask 'Why me?' after my setbacks and disasters."

Of course when I read that, I was in the complete opposite mindset, but I remembered it later today. It's easy to ask "Why me?" when something bad happens, but "Why me?" does fit when you end up in a lucky situation.

The second part of the universe's bitchslap back into reality came right before I started my post tonight. Reading over some of the posts in my blogroll, I saw this post from Gingersnaps. If you read the whole thing, it's pretty much what I'm trying to convey right now... well, except the raw milk situation. Mainly the section that starts off saying "I'm really lucky". (Written much more eloquently than I could write. Geez, is eloquently even a word?)

Anywho. I know I'm lucky, and I know that I want to do something with my life. I know there are people out there who are as lucky as I am, yet would be happy asking for money for the rest of their lives, be lazy, or complain about everything that isn't tip top. You can find many of these people here.
For me, I want to be able to do everything that I'm capable of doing. I have working legs? Why not train for a marathon! I'm able to go to college? Why not strive for good grades so I'm able to have more opportunities?

Yeah, sometimes it's good to get a slap in the face from the universe because let's face it, you really don't want to be this person:

This... This just makes me nauseous.

People usually look at how they're blessed on holidays and such, but it's probably a good idea to think about it every once in awhile.

How is your life lucky or blessed?

Long Run Wins and Losses

It's only ten thirty, and I'm already starting to doze off. Geez I feel like an old person.

As you probably know by now from reading here, today was my long day run. Due to the fact that I've been having long runs that aren't so great, I've been terrified to even go on this run.
Despite all of that, I was given hopeful inspiration, and told myself over and over again not to worry. (Thanks for the advice, Kat!)

And you know what? I was able to run 19 miles nonstop today. It was AWESOME.

After everything was coming up my way, I was feeling pretty snazzy. A little sore, but no pain; decent pace...
...Then I ended up stabbing my foot.

As I was falling to the floor, all I could think was, "DAMNIT how is this going to screw up my running?!?!"
Yes, that's where my priorities are.

What happened was I was walking back inside from hot tubbing with my sister to the inside door. Our deck is very old you see, and because of this it's kind of falling apart. That includes the top parts of nails sticking out. Guess who drags their feet just a little bit?

I just want to be able to run... Bah.
And that's all I have to say. Yup.

What type of injury have you gotten to possibly prevent your exercise routine?

Fair Days, Making Decisions, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes

My body doesn't realize that Fridays are rest days. Apparently, neither does my mind.

The local county fair has been going on this week, and today was my day to go to it. I recruited two of my guy pals to come, and to hopefully recruit more people as well. It ended up only being us three, but it was still fun.
I like group things, what can I say?
Fairs... They're never really that exciting. Truthfully, you go in hopes of seeing people you know, and maybe looking at the silly animals. Wandering is what we did.
One of the qualities that seems to be missing from my age group is the ability to be able to make decisions. My two friends are not exceptions. Somehow, I ended up making every decision of the day, making my vision of myself a lot less dependent than I thought. I felt kind of like a wife or girlfriend dragging her boyfriend(s?) around while shopping. You know the image, right? We managed to go through everything the fair had to offer, including seeing a freakin' tiger.
Why was there a tiger there? I have no idea, but it was sweet.
And there was what we though was some mutated rabbit.

After going around to everything, we realized there wasn't anything else to do. So we left, ate a late lunch in town, went in a guitar store that Aaron wanted to poke around in, and saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

As for the verdict of the movie? It was pretty good, thought there was going to be more monkey battle mayhem. Still, good and entertaining. Strangely enough, there were a few parts where I was thinking:

"Ha, that's kind of funny. Wait, am I supposed to think that's funny? ...I actually think I'm supposed to think that's funny."

Plus, if you've seen one of the two original Planet of the Apes movies (which you should anyway before you see this movie), you'll see two homages to the films before. One is extremely obvious, which is the classic line from the original, the other you see and simply smirk at.

Oh, and before I did any fair-ing today, I stopped by Market of Choice to pick up a few things... including some fancy cheese. Hopefully that will see the light of day soon.

On a final note, I've just got to say one more thing about apes. Orangutans are my favorite ape ever. I think it's because 1. They are orange, and I dig orange; 2. They have flat faces which I didn't think I cared about but then I realized I apparently have a thing for animals with flat faces. And the biggest one 3. They remind me of Buddhas. They are the Buddhas of the apes.

Are you the decisive one in your group, or are you the wishy washy one?

Lending A Voice

One of my favorite games to play when watching animated shows is guess that voice actor. Most people wouldn't find voice actors interesting, but I love being able to recognize them. Sure, sometimes I don't know the actor's actual name, but I recognize the voice from other things. When there's a voice actor I really like though, I learn their name.
Two voice actors I think are awesome? Billy West and John Di Maggio.
Yeah, they're both from Futurama, but they've been featured on so many different things, it's crazy. Like Billy West is the voice of Doug too. And a bunch of other cartoons from your childhood. If you heard it, you'd probably recognize it.

Voice acting would be one of the most fun jobs ever (wow, valley girl talk much?), but how on earth would you get into that profession? Really, I don't know. I think one of the only ways seems to be that you have to be a normal actor nowadays.

It's way later than I wanted to get this written. Ah well. I hope that everyone has a lovely night!

What off the wall career do you think would be fun?

Bakin' Bread

There's something that I've been keeping from the blog world, and it's that my bread obsession has grown to an all new high. I have a problem.

On my adventure Borders awhile ago, I happened to also buy one other item. Here is what I bought:

Yes. A big ol' cookbook of bread. Only bread, like a bread bible. And no, I didn't buy it all willy-nilly. I thought long and hard about if I really wanted to buy a bread book.

I made my first loaf from this book last Friday, and have currently made three different loaves in the last five days. (They were before I had a boatload of homework, and one today). Like I said, it's a bit of a big thing. Instead of having English muffins in the morning, I've been using toast. 'Tis delish!
Also, I've been waiting until one loaf is (mostly) gone. Half of the Banana bread went to my cousins, so that went fast, and the other loaf was munched at quite a bit on my long run day.

So it turns out, I can bake bread. I'm not so great at cooking, but I can live off of bread, right?
Bread, eggs, craisins, veggies, and peanut butter... sounds about right.

It's time for me to rush off to bed. Ta ta!

Have you ever baked bread? What's your favorite kind?

Dealing With Other People's Problems

Throughout my life, I've seen relatives act tougher when they're at their weakest, despite everyone else pointing out the obvious. The best example of this would be my grandma. She's gotten sick before, and ever while everyone else worries about her health, she brushes it aside. Does she worry? I don't know, I'm not in her head but I do know that she tries to make whatever problem she has not look like such a  big deal.
I know my mom does that, and I do too. Not as bad as my grandma, but it still can be pretty bad. Which leads me to ask: Why is it that we get so worked up about our family members getting sick/injured/etc, but when it comes to us we tell everyone not to worry?
I think maybe it's because we think about all of the other problems that our family members have to deal with themselves. If they're worrying about me, who's going to solve their problems?
Or not. I dunno. I'm tired, and continuously working on BS homework assignments.

This new Spanish teacher is awful.

Spanish 203: Bring on the Homework

It's August? Did I miss something? No, that's just how time rolls ain't it? Yeah...

As I've mentioned many times before, today was the start of the last part of summer Spanish. It's a good thing for sure.
One of the changes that has happened is now there's a new professor. For the last two terms, I had a professor who was quite nice. She didn't really give us homework except for big projects, and it was very relaxed. This term? I'm a little worried. Mondays and Wednesdays are my more relaxed days because I don't have work.
I've been working on homework for most of the afternoon. I don't have that same time tomorrow. It's a little worrisome.
Three weeks though? Ah, I can make it.

I think that's one of the things that makes me the most excited about actual work though, you know? You don't get homework. Oh sure, there are jobs where you have to take work home with you, there's no denying that. However, you're getting paid to complete that work right? Probably would make homework more enjoyable if you were getting paid to do it.

What's something that makes work better than school to you? What's something that makes school better than work to you?