Morning coffee

For the last 15 years of my working life, I've had a coffee when I get to the office. I like this routine. Having that coffee on my desk is just a nice little treat during my first couple of hours of working. But I've also always had such a hard time waking up. (I might have posted about this a few years ago, but I even did a sleep study which supposedly found that I have idipathic hypersomia which from what I can tell just means sleep disorder of unknown causes...and unknown cures.) So I recently decided to start setting my coffee timer to make coffee to help me get up. But I don't want to give up my desk coffee...so now I have two coffees every morning. I'm sure this will be totally fine, right??

Also, I now watch the previous night's Daily Show (or Last Week with John Oliver on Mondays) with my home coffee. I really do like this new routine. It's nice to relax in the mornings before having to run off to work. 

What I really need to do is start exercising. But that's much harder than drinking coffee and watching TV...

Sometimes I use my milk frother and make a faux latte!

Long time, no see!

As is common, I've dropped off posting and I have every intention of getting back into it. I might possibly use this therapeutically as I've been having bouts of... I don't want to say depression because I know that's a more clinical thing... lets just say stress and sadness. We'll see how in depth I get on here. In the meantime, here's some more crochet pics! I've been making a lot of stuff. And I recently started knitting too! I'm a 36-year-old old lady. :)

Super cool bookmark that is too big to use so it's now just decoration.

I made a chair cushion!!!

The under carraige

For this chair I got at an antique shop that was closing! (The location is still empty a couple years later and I'm pissed about that.)

Made this bag for my mom for Mother's Day last year. 

Totoro for my BFF!

Made this little Baymax for my buddy Scott Adsit who actually voices him in Big Hero 6!! (Which is an awesome movie. See it if you haven't.)

I had a little bird cage from Michael's so I made this guy to go inside!

The pattern called for pipe cleaners that I didn't have so I made these feet on my own!

Here he is in his little cage! 

That's all for now, folks! I should have been in bed an hour ago. Night!

My last post so long ago talked about my crochet classes. Well, nearly a year later and I'm happy to report I did not give up! I'm much better at crochet than keeping up with this blog! :P

Here are the first two things I made! A simple hat and this awesome ripple scarf! The weird thing about crocheting this scarf was that it is done lengthwise, so I had to start with a chain of like 250 or something. There are ways to do a scarf the other way, but not to get the ripples, I don't think. Anyway, that was a big change from when I knitted scarves years ago. (My knitting never got that great, I might take some knitting classes soon too. I think I like crocheting better but it doesn't hurt to have multiple skills!)

I was particularly proud of this hat. It looks so professional! It was a lot easier than I thought! The yarn I used was super soft, but it fuzzes up pretty easy. I eventually want to make another one with a better yarn. (I think this was Red Heart Soft or whatever.)

 

Here are a couple ear warmers I made for when I've got my hair up in a ponytail. The pink one I made from a tutorial on youtube and the other one I think from a pattern on line. The flower I added was from a different pattern. I made it before I knew what I was going to do with it. It's a little big for the headband, but I like it anyway.

 

I have quite a few friends with children so I have a lot of kids I can make stuff for. This is a hat/leg warmer set I made for my friends' daughter's first birthday. The leg warmers were a request because apparently the carrier thing you have on your body makes their pants ride up so there's always a little bit of leg that's exposed. Or something. I added the snowflakes so they'd look like they actually went together. 

All babies look adorable with little ears on their hats!

This one I'm super proud of. My friends' 4-year-old daughter is a huge frozen fan (aren't they all?) so I made this super cute Elsa-inspired hat I saw in another friend's Instagram post. Wasn't hard to track down the pattern online but I did have to adjust it. I had my friend measure her daughter's head so I could make sure it fit. (PS She absolutely loved it and I couldn't have been happier.)

I wish I had hair as awesome as Elsa!

And lastly (for this post), here's my first foray into amigurumi! I initially started these classes because I wanted to learn how to crochet dolls so I could make a Doctor doll. I have now made around 5 or 6 amigurumi but I have yet to start on the Doctor. I keep making things for other people, or just smaller things that are quick. Amigurumi are super cute but not super fun to make. The tiny stitches make my hands hurt. But the results are pretty great. Here's my first:

 

 

 

I bought a Sanrio pattern book. Duh.

How cute is he?! The hat didn't come out as great as I'd like but overall, he's awesome. The very next thing I made was at least Doctor-related. Here's my Adipose! (He's in front of a giant Adipose doll I got for Christmas.)

"The fat just walks away!"

So those are the beginnings of my crochet "career"! I will post more. Hopefully soon. I don't know why it's so hard to keep up with this. I think it's because of all the tweets/tumbles/facebooks/Instagrams, etc. Anyway, if you have any interest in crochet, you can check out Craftsy.com. They have a bunch of lessons at a reasonable price. (If you're in NYC though, I highly recommend Lion Brand Yarn Studio for live classes.) There's also free lessons on youtube all over the place. Later!

Talking About Stuff and Things

So I finally, FINALLY, decided to take a crochet class. I am very happy I did. I found the class on Course Horse (pretty cool place to find classes, check it out!) and the class is through Lion Brand Studio. Conveniently located near Union Square! They also sell yarn there, it's a super cute store. I signed up for Crochet 1, it's a two-day class, two hours each. I still have one class left and I already signed up for Crochet 2. The instructor was super friendly and there were only five people in the class so you get plenty of one-on-one if you need it. I'm pretty psyched to keep learning, probably evidenced by the fact that all I've done this weekend besides watch The West Wing, is practice crocheting while watching. :P

My first ever bit of crochet!

 I'm looking forward to working my way up to crocheting dolls, because surprisingly there are no Doctor dolls available for purchase and I need a little Doctor doll to squeeze while I'm crying as the Doctor says "I don't wanna go." (Because y'all KNOW I'm going to watch that again and again.)

Speaking of TV, after I plowed through all of the modern Doctor Who episodes for the second time in less than a year, I am finally finishing up The West Wing. I blazed through the first four seasons, but due to current TV, Doctor Who and people telling me seasons 5-7 just aren't as good, I had put the brakes on watching it. I finally started watching the rest last week. I spent the entirety of the day yesterday watching season six and I have to say, I still love the show. I honestly don't think I would've noticed that Sorkin left if I wasn't told. Maybe I'm just not a discerning enough viewer, but I still thoroughly enjoy the show. Not the least of which is CJ Cregg.

CJ Cregg is my hero.

Holy crap, is that woman amazing. I've been a huge fan of hers since day one, but she actually kicks even more ass in the later seasons. This woman is like the number one female role model I've come across on TV. haha I mean I haven't really studied it, so maybe I'm wrong but man I love her. She's funny, she's smart and she's so damn powerful. Gah. I can't get enough. I'm going to be sad when I'm done. Though I think Newsroom will be starting soon, so at least I'll have that. And I still have yet to watch Sports Night. Oh yeah, I'm one of those people that LOVES Sorkin. :) After I watched the first season of Newsroom, I realized I was one of those people and so I needed to watch The West Wing. [I'm one of the few that loved Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (I even own the DVDs).]

Ned and Jory. They lead a simple life.

I also started playing with this gif app I found called Camoji, so you might be seeing some more gifs on here... (I still really need to learn how to make them out of pre-existing images or videos.)

So I think I have some West Wing to watch... although... I DO need to go for a run... but like, it's so HOT out this weekend... Dammit. I'm already making excuses. At least I haven't been eating a lot this weekend... although I did drink almost a whole bottle of wine... Sigh.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

I'm lazing about my apartment this afternoon just watching Never Mind the Buzzcocks. I SHOULD go out for a run...and I might still do, but I've got a birthday party in a couple hours so I need to do it soon...

I bought this back in 2001, I've still never read/listened to it...

Over the winter I got into watching NMtB on YouTube (oh thank you, people that find happiness from uploading old episodes of a show I have no other way of seeing). NMtB is a bit special to me because way back in 2001 I lived in London for about three months for a study abroad program, and it remains one of the best times of my life. I often wish I'd stayed on longer, but who knows how that would've affected the rest of my life... Anyway, in that time there were two shows that I found and loved to watched. One was The Dave Gorman Collection (which maybe I'll post about another time) and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Looking at the series dates, I believe I watched season 8. I totally developed a crush on Sean Hughes and ended up buying a couple of his novels. Once I found it, I didn't miss one for the rest of my time there, but of course I couldn't watch it anymore once I'd gotten home (I don't think torrenting TV shows was that big a thing yet...if even a thing at all...so that wasn't an option).

This is where I lived!! I take a walk by it whenever I visit London.

[Sort of related, I actually ended up getting to see We Know Where You Live, Live! hosted by Eddie Izzard on the last day of my time in London (I'd accidentally booked my flight home a day too late but being a HUGE Eddie Izzard fan, I was very happy once I'd see an ad for this show). Phil Jupitus, who is a team captain on NMtB performed that night and did the most hilarious impression of Eddie Izzard.]

Anyway, I'd mostly forgotten about this show until a few months back when I had some friends over to watch Doctor Who (yes, it's taken over my life), I wanted to show them some Who-related videos on YouTube and one of my friends saw a video in the "related" section that had Richard Ayode on it that he wanted to put on. It was an episode of NMtB that he was guest-hosting. And it was bloody hilarious. (Another side note, it's what got me to finally watch The IT Crowd which I ended up loving.) After they left, I decided to watch some more NMtB as I saw there were tons of episodes up on YouTube. Being me, I needed to start from the beginning. I blew through the first 5 seasons in the following week or so, but then fell off. I think because I'd started during rerun season and new TV had come back on.

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

So this afternoon, my Netflix was not connecting for some reason so I just put on YouTube on my TV and decided to watch some more. I think I'll finish season 6 today.

After all of that, maybe I should explain the show! It's basically a music quiz show, but points aren't always awarded fairly and no one actually wins anything. The first 17 seasons are hosted by this guy Mark Lamarr, who I think is a comedian but I don't know anything of him outside of this. There are two team captains, Phil Jupitus and Sean Hughes, also comedians. These three also have an amazing amount of music knowledge. Each episode has four guests, two for each team, sometimes comedians but mostly musical performers. Some guests include Suggs, Boy George, Billie Piper (omg she was around 17 at the time and ADORABLE and long before her stint on Doctor Who), Lemmy, Billy Bragg, Adam Ant and a ton of other mostly-British people I've never heard of, but many of whom are quite funny. (Eventually, Simon Amstell becomes the host followed by a bunch of guest hosts, also Sean Hughes leaves around season 10, replaced by Bill Bailey, who've eventually replaced by Noel Fielding, also from The IT Crowd.)

There are a bunch of different categories, like the one where they have to perform (without lyrics) the intros to famous songs or the one where the host says a lyric and the team needs to say the next line. There's another round where they show an old video focusing on a particular performer, then they bring out five people and you have to guess which one is the one from the video. (Ugh that description is so poorly written, I hope that makes sense.) Oh and the one where you have to figure out the lyrics to a particularly hard-to-understand song. That one is great and always makes me think of my mom who always talked about how she had no idea what the lyrics were to some of her favorite songs, particularly with The Rolling Stones.

The show is apparently incredibly popular over there and has made it to 27 seasons! So far there hasn't been any new episodes in 2014, but supposedly there's a new regular host in line for the next series. I would really like it if this show lasted forever. I've got quite a way to go to catch up though, so I'm not worried of running out just yet...

So that was all a long way to tell you, hey, I like this show called Never Mind the Buzzcocks. If you're a big music buff, or just an anglophile, you might like it. Check it out. :P

Weddings and Pull-ups!

So last post I mentioned that I got depressed trying on dresses for a wedding. BUT I didn't mention that I'd found an AWESOME dress for that wedding that fit pretty nicely! Thanks H&M! Granted I had to get a fairly large size...largest I've ever had to get...BUT I will comfort myself in the knowledge that sizes are weird there and I even had to go smaller on a different dress I tried on.

Anyway, I ended up buying a couple dresses in a similar style because they fit me well. Though I do hope to be losing a bit of weight eventually. Guess I'll just have to wear these dresses soon. :)

So here's the dress!

Totally sucking it in.

 Twas a very comfortable dress as well. This was the last wedding of the year for me (phew). I have seriously been to a minimum of one wedding a year for the last 10 years, with many years have 2-3 (I had three this year). Insane. But I do LOVE weddings (for the most part), so I don't mind. I mostly just mind how much money I have to spend, since as a woman, I have to double-dip with the bridal showers too. Being single, this shit adds up.

Standard wedding selfie. But with beer.

So today I did another 2 miles run/walk this morning. Yay! I did have Chinese food for dinner last night, which isn't the healthiest, but I didn't follow up with cookies or some other snack. Just another couple glasses of water. I've been doing really well drinking a lot of water the last couple weeks. Pretty much like two liters a day. Which makes me get up more often to pee, so more walking! haha

More like the alcohol.

I also am trying to do this pull-up thing program thing which started with 5 sets (though I could only do 4) of negative chin-ups (cuz I can't even do ONE real one yet). After the first time I did it, my arms were INSANELY sore for days! It hurt just to get dressed! So I waited like five days (instead of two like the guy on YouTube said), but then when I tried to do my second day, I felt a pain in my shoulder that hurt like a real pain, not like an exercise soreness, so I'm waiting a couple more days. But I've always wanted to be able to do a pull-up (or even a chin-up) so I really want to try to stick to this.

Trying

So recently I had to try on some dresses for a wedding and in the process became incredibly depressed about it. I swear dressing room lighting is the absolute worst in the world for feeling good about yourself.

I'm definitely the heaviest I've ever been in my life. (And to think, I thought I was fat back in college when I was 30 lbs. lighter. So dumb.) I know it's partially age, the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. Plus you (or at least I) get tired more easily. But it's mostly the fact that I'm so god damned lazy! Too lazy to cook healthy meals, too lazy to burn off calories. Oh and I LOVE TV. I know everyone does but man, do I. One of my BFFs always jokes that I watch EVERYTHING (this is untrue of course but an indication of how much TV I watch). Even I don't understand where I find the time.

But anyway, that was a depressing week in dressing rooms but it's motivated me more than I've been in ages. A year or so ago I ran three days a week for at least five months, but I think more. Once that winter hit, though, I basically stopped. Now I run like once every few months. But no more!! (I hope.) Today I ran/walked for the third time since last Monday.

One reason to run. This view!

And I'm trying hard to cut back on the food intake. It's hard to say "no" to yourself. And when you're in a city full of delicious food all around... And when the main form of socialization consists of dinners and boozing... And when you've got one hell of a sweet tooth... More excuses. But I'm trying.

So I heard blogging helps. You tell people what you're up to and don't want to be embarrassed when you don't do what you say. So we'll see. But considering I'm too lazy to blog about FUN stuff, I don't know. But I'll try.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:21st Ave,New York,United States

I Kinda Miss This Place!

Looking back at this blog, I saw there was a time I was really on top of it. These days I think I just have WAY to much pop culture to consume! I was always a big TV person, but ever since Netflix streaming, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBOGo, etc... It's just gotten crazy! haha But I still get the sitemeter emails telling me how many views I get every week and I always delete them so quickly because I feel guilty for not keeping up with it. I know I have no reason to feel guilty, but I did really like it and it was pretty cool when people actually read and commented on stuff I wrote!

Every so often I write one of these "I'm gonna get back into this" posts and then nothing happens. But I'm going to keep trying! I AM!

Hot Topic has a lot of cool Who stuff too. :P

So what's something new about me? Well the one thing I can't stop thinking about these days — The Doctor. If any of my friends or twitter followers read this, they're probably rolling their eyes. This is literally all I've been talking about for the last two months. I admit my I've gone a little off the deep end when it comes to Doctor Who, but I don't care, I flippin' love it. (Oh I just watched all of The IT Crowd too, and am now really into "flip" and "flipping." haha)



I've definitely been known to get a little obsessive over new nerd things I get into, but this is definitely one for the record books. I watched all seven seasons as well as all four seasons of the Torchwood spin-off in about 7 weeks. And as for merchandise...holy crap. Part of me wanted to get into Doctor Who because of all the amazing TARDIS merch out there. So you can imagine...I've got a lot of TARDISes about! :P

I've even started to get crafty with it. I've already done a couple Who cross stitches and I started a gigantic 9th Doctor portrait cross stitch (that I got from etsy, where you can find a TON of cool Who stuff) that I'll be luck if it only takes me a year. Yes, the 9th Doctor is my Doctor. But 10th comes VERY close. 11th... well, I DO like him very much, but he just doesn't hold a candle. :P Oh and as for the companions... I love them all. It's hard to choose, but Rose with always be #1. And Clara is last, though I still do like her. I really hope I can get down with the new Doctor. I'm not sure how I feel about an older doctor, but I wasn't sure about Matt Smith and I eventually grew to like him. Soon I will start my "best of" list of classic Who episodes to watch. I don't want to watch them all because a) time and b) they are ridiculously cheesy. :P But I do want to see a couple from each Doctor.

The Doctor has two hearts.

(I am currently watching Saturday Night Live and I just squealed when they showed Beck in one of those little preview bits of what's coming up next they put in the middle of the commercials sometimes. I heart Beck 4Eva)







 So anyway, The Doctor is a new thing for me. There are other new things with me. Hopefully I will post about them soon! Woot!

I even buy things that just LOOK like a TARDIS. Sigh.

War on Religion

I made this thing the second I heard Jon Stewart say it because it's full of truth.

The Daily Show rules.

I still can't get over this idea that (religious) people think there's a war on religion in this country. Do they really think their right to practice whatever religion they want is being THREATENED?? Are you KIDDING me?? Just because we don't all subscribe to their beliefs and we don't want our lives and our rights to be dictated by those beliefs, we're waging WAR?? Just because we want ALL people to feel included in this country?

I don't believe in god, I don't believe in heaven or hell, I don't go to church, I don't pray. But I'm a good person. I am nice to strangers, I love my family, I work hard, I have fun with my friends and I want everyone to be happy and healthy. And I am an American. I'm sorry, but this country is NOT a Christian nation. It's a nation of differences. The country was not founded as a place for Christians, it was founded as a place to be free to practice whatever religion you choose and that includes NO religion. IT DOES. Accept it. My not believing has ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on your believing. It doesn't affect you. If you don't want to marry a member of the opposite sex because it's against your religion, that's YOUR CHOICE. It is NOT your place to tell others what they can and cannot do. If I have a company and I want to include EVERYONE in my holiday wishes by saying "Happy Holidays" or by displaying decorations from multiple religions, that's a GOOD thing. It's being inclusive. It's say "hey, I recognise that we're not all the same and I want to make you all feel welcome in this holiday season."

And I definitely think the government SHOULD ALWAYS seek to include everyone. When the president acknowledged non-believers in is inauguration, that was a GOOD thing. It is not attacking you. I don't want to take away ANYONE'S right to practice whatever religion they want. Sure, I often want to try to convince people that they're religion makes no sense... haha But I would never, ever, ever suggest there should be laws restricting that. (Except, of course, if their laws harm another human being... no human sacrifices allowed.) And I will NOT accept any religion that DOES want to do that. Keep it to yourselves. Separation of church and state. This is one of the most important aspects of our government that needs to be preserved. The religious need to understand that this idea protects THEM TOO. What happens if this country DID have an official religion? Many religions would be furious. Sure, right now they all agree that gay marriage is bad, but if there was one religion in power that had views the others didn't, they'd be screwed.

Look, ultimately it comes down to this: What do you care?? I understand that you think you're helping all these lost souls. And if you want to run around waving pamphlets and trying to convince others the error or their ways, go right ahead. But to go as far as trying to make these things law, is NOT OKAY. And you don't have to worry about seeing all these awful sinners in heaven, anyway, right? God won't let 'em in. So why don't you just let them live their lives in peace and he'll take care of everything for you in the end.

Sound good?

Ich lerne Deutsch!

I did a quite scroll through all the posts I've made on here through the years (man, I did so many back in that first year! In 2008, I made 78 posts and that was only the last four months! Shameful.), and I found that I never told you guys that I started studying German!

I've wanted to study German for as long as I can remember. I don't know why, but as a kid I thought it was cooler that I was half German than it was that I was half Italian. (I like to say it's because of all the guidos on Staten Island, but I really don't know for sure.) I even remember making German food for the two international fairs we had in junior high school (German potato salad & apple strudel). I also remember that before I started junior high school, I thought I would have the option to learn German, but when I got there the only options I had were Italian or Spanish. (I took Italian, hated it, but still did pretty well because I'm a nerd.)

Then when I got to high school I went to Staten Island Technical High School where they only teach you Russian (it's something to do with looking good on your college resume). At first I was terrified of this language (I even went to summer school BEFORE school started to get a jump on it — I told you I was a nerd), but I instantly fell in love with the language. There's something really cool about learning an entirely new alphabet — not the least of which is that you can write secret notes to your friends in English but using Russian letters that most teachers and parents could not read! You are required to take 3 years of Russian, but I ended up taking an AP class in my final year because I loved it. I wanted to continue in college but they only offered beginner Russian. I took that anyway because I needed the language credits and it was an easy A. I never let myself forget the alphabet through the years, though, and while I can't really translate much, I can still read it, which is the only way to use a Russian dictionary, so it's something.

I've often thought about continuing my Russian studies. But then in 2010, during the World Cup, after USA & England had dropped out, I was on to rooting for my third team, Germany (they've moved up to #2 since then). During matches, my dad would text me some things in German. Now, he doesn't speak fluent German. When he was three, he was brought to the US by his parents and didn't speak fluent English until about 8 years old, but his parents encouraged their family to be AMERICAN. Which meant, stop speaking German. So he stopped. I now remember all the times my dad would tell me one word or one phrase in German during my childhood, but I never really payed too close attention. It's amazing how much still stuck with him even though he never really spoke it. To this day, he can understand a lot of German when spoken to him, but the opposite is a little more difficult.

So anyway, these little German texts about the World Cup games got me really thinking about learning German again. While a part of me still wanted (still wants, really) to continue learning Russian since I think it's such a cool language and I'd already started, a bigger part of me wanted to connect to something that was actually ME. Back when I was living in London for a semester (2001!), I took a 4-day trip to Munich on my own. I know it's silly, but I just felt this little connection to it. It's all in my head, I know, I had never been there or even really had any interaction with my German relatives, but still, it felt cool. And I wanted more of that. Again, I don't know why I don't have that yearning for my Italian side. Maybe it is BECAUSE I've had no real connection to that side of my family growing up, while I grew up very close with my mother's side of the family, eating Italian food, etc. But there it was.

So one day about 2 years ago I saw a Groupon for 5 classes at Rennert and they offered German, so I grabbed it. I've been going there since. Not non-stop, mind you, but tonight I started my fifth semester (they're 10-week semesters, 1 2-hour class per week)! I'm FAAAAAR from being fluent, in fact I KNOW that will never happen without living in Germany, but it's pretty amazing how much I've learned after just 80 hours. And it's really fun TO learn. It's funny how much you miss school when you've not done it in forever. I mean, not all those classes you hated but had to take or all the homework and tests, but there were definitely a few classes you just loved being in the classroom for, learning stuff. Taking a class for pure interest is so amazing. You WANT to be there, the homework is not really that difficult (and it's only for practice, no "points off" for not doing it) and there's no tests. There's no grades, it's just about doing it because you WANT to know. It's awesome. I can't recommend it enough.

And as an added bonus, learning German has been a cool bonding experience with my dad. Often when I'm visiting my parents we'll just start saying words to each other. Me practising, him trying to remember. I help him remember, he helps me pronounce. It's pretty cool. My poor mother feels left out, but that's ok because usually I'm talking to her most of the time anyway.  (The other thing that my dad and I do that kind of ignores my mom is the crossword. haha)

So that's about it really, I'm learning German, I love it, and I hope to one day be able to live in Germany for a few years so I can really get this shit down pat. :) I have no pictures of me learning German to share here, so here's a picture of some wine I bought just because of the label!

Eins, zwei, drei, vier... FÜNF!

Best Photo Booth

I'm a very big fan of photo booths. I mean, who isn't?! This weekend I went to a wedding that had the coolest photo booth ever! Well, technically it wasn't really a booth. These two guys dressed sort of old-timey (adorable) had a digital camera that looked like an old-timey camera and they had props. They took three photos and you chose your favourite and they printed them out for you. Here's the only one I took by myself. I love it!

Fancy!

If you're interested in such a booth for your party or wedding or whatever, they are called Shoot Booth! I can't recommend them enough!

I Dashed! Warrior Style!

I'm a warrior!! Again!

Finally did my second Warrior Dash! I did the first one two Octobers ago (as mentioned here) where I was out until 4AM the night before getting drunk at the Marvel NYCC party and had to get up at 8AM to get to the race. I finished it in approx. 45 minutes which was pretty good, but considering I couldn't run for more than 2 minutes straight back then, I thought THIS time I would do even better! Now I can run for 35 minutes STRAIGHT since I've recently completed a couch to 5K program!! (BOO-YAH!)

And then I saw the hill. O_O For this Warrior Dash, I went all the way up to New Hampshire! (OK, I also visited an old friend, but this was what we planned our weekend around.) It was held at Gunstock in Gilford, NH. This is where people go skiing/snowboarding. So...HILLS. More like MOUNTAINS. The obstacles in the Warrior Dash can be challenging but not TOO bad. Some are downright easy, but the first thing we had to do in the New Hampshire dash was a giant hill. It seemed to never end. In fact we went uphill for the first 1.5 miles of a 3.1 mile run!! And it was STEEP. At some points it was almost like I could be on all fours and still be upright. It was brutal. BUT I DID IT! 

Medal #2! More to come!

The hardest obstacle was, I think, the straight wall we had to climb. It had a rope and little ledges, but it was still pretty difficult. The only other one I found hard was the balance beam, but that was mostly difficult because my legs were wobbly from all the climbing. The end was the best part, as we jumped over fire and trudged through a mud pit! Anyway, so I finished this one a LOT slower. Took me an hour & 19 minutes. I blame that hill. No way I was running up it, I was barely able to walk it!! All that running training came in NOT HANDY. Sigh. I guess I would probably have been worse without it.


Well, it was fun regardless. And we couldn't have asked for better weather, sunny but still breezy and cool! And I got an extra free beer (you get one) because a girl didn't want hers and then we bought giant turkey legs. Cuz that's what warriors eat.

Meal of Warriors!

So anyway, if you have any interest in fun mixed with a bit of fitness, I recommend a warrior dash! They go all over the country, so hopefully you can find one near you!

I Run!

I can't believe I'm doing it, but I'm running! My entire life I hated running. Well... I guess I didn't hate it as a kid. I remember from the age range of about 10-12 there was this kid on my block that was really fast and I was the only one that was able to catch him (sometimes), so I know I ran at SOME point. But those runs were just short bursts anyway.

But I remember in high school, before I started, I was trying to start my high school career out right and doing extracurriculars in the preceding summer. Not only was I taking Russian and Electronics classes AHEAD of time (yes, I took summer school to get AHEAD. I am a nerd.) — I went to a technical high school that taught us drafting and electronics and we had to learn Russian — but I also decided I would try joining the track team. I had absolutely NO sports skills whatsoever. My parents never forced me to play any sports like most of my friends and I thought that was awesome (now I wish they had), so I wasn't about to join a school team where I could show off my LACK of skill. So instead I thought, "well everyone can run." Or something equally dumb. I think I went to two meets. I remember stretching beforehand and I remember we had to run around the school's grounds. I was dead so quickly. I remember feeling like I was going to throw up.

But NOW! Now I'm doing it!! A couple of months ago my friend posted on facebook that he was doing the NY Giant Run of Champions 5K that ended on the field at Giants Stadium! You got to run into the endzone!! THIS I needed to do. At first I though, "Eh, I'll just jog/mostly walk it, just so I can get to the field." But my friend suggested I try one of the couch-to-5K programs that are so popular these days. So of course I looked for an "app for that" and I found the 5K Runner (which, by the way, I HIGHLY recommend). It starts you off really slowly and in a way that is doable, doing like 4 sets of running like a minute or two followed by a minute or two walk. Which is great because at first three minutes felt awful and impossible. But by the time I got to the Giants run, I was running like 10 minutes straight, followed by a 3 minute walk and then another 5 minutes (not exactly this I'm sure, it was a few months ago)! Here's my results from that:

NY Giants Run of Champions 5K

I did it in 38 minutes!! I still can't believe it. But the best part? I haven't stopped! I decided I was going to do this thing! I've signed up for a 5K every month since then (except July). This week alone I did TWO! Last Sunday I ran the Color Run — the happiest 5K on the planet! It was amazing, you get hit with coloured powder as you run and at the end there's basically a giant rave of people dancing and throwing MORE colour at each other!

Here's me hamming it up, mostly green.

It was a great time. Then last night I did a 4-mile NYRR Back to Football Run! It was a run in Central Park to celebrate the return of football season! It was great! And I'm proud to say I didn't really walk very much at all. We stopped a couple of times at the beginning but not very long at all and from about the start of mile 3 to the end of 4 I only stopped for a few seconds to drink water. My pace was slightly slower than the Giants 5K but I definitely felt better for this one:

NYRR Back to Football Run

I still haven't technically finished the 5K program. I struggled with the 25 minute run mark, but a week or two ago I ran those 25 minutes, then added 5 more! Very soon I should be able to run a 5K without stopping! I can't wait!

Next month I'm visiting a friend in New Hampshire and I'll be doing my second Warrior Dash! It's a 5K in the mud with obstacles! I did one a couple years ago and the obstacles were fun but the running was so horrible for me. This time it should be much better. Then I've got a 5K on the boardwalk at Coney Island to raise money to help walruses in October and the Race to the Finish 5K in November (runs part of the NY Marathon course... the END part). I think for December I'll do the Jingle Bell Jog. :) Signing up for races keeps me from slacking off in between. 

Yay for running!!

PS One other app that really helped me get this running thing going, that I would be remiss not to mention, is the Zombies Run app. This app is so cool and so entertaining, I really push anyone who wants to run or who already does to check it out. It's not cheap, but it's worth it! Happy running!

Frank

I just found out a friend of mine has passed. I don't know what happened. I can't claim that we were the best of friends as I haven't seen him in over two years, but I really liked him and I actually recently was thinking that I needed to reconnect with him. I am completely shocked and I can't really process this. He was such a sweet, funny guy. I missed him already and now I will miss him always. I'm just so glad I actually DID get to know him. Here's how we met:

I used to see Frank on the Staten Island train all the time. (There's one train, it goes down one side of the island and ends at the SI Ferry which is how most Staten Islanders get to their Manhattan jobs.) At first he just reminded me a lot of another friend of mine, which may be why I had this strange feeling that he was a comic book fan. I remember once at the ferry terminal I dropped a printout of a Marvel handbook I was editing and he was the one that picked it up for me and I remember wondering if he looked at it. I saw him a few times a month but never talked to him. I just remember feeling that we would be friends if we knew each other. I don't know why, I just knew it.

Then one day at the New York Comic Con (might've been the first one, I can't remember), I'm working the Marvel booth and I look over and see him talking to Brian Michael Bendis. Worlds colliding! I went over to Brian and said to him "I see this guy on my train all the time!" Frank looks at me and says "You're the comic book girl!! That's what I call you in my head!" Brian tells me Frank is a member of his message board, of which I also belong.

Later, I'm talking to Brian and he has this whole idea that there was going to be some romance here. I said he's crazy and just then Frank walks back over to the booth and says hello. "What are you doing here still?" "I work at Marvel." "Oh shit! I thought you just liked comics, I had no idea!" Then he mentions how he either just got from or was going to Jamaica with his fiancée. We talk a little more and he leaves and I turn to Brian and say "see??" (I later met his fiancée, she's a sweet, lovely woman who I imagine is a mess right now. I hope she gets through this ok.)

What followed after that were a series of train rides where we got to know each other. Talked about Bendis message board gossip, Staten Island gossip, his art, my job, our mutual friends, all the stuff you talk about with a new friend. I went to one of his art shows in Manhattan. I remember seeing him at a Halloween show on Staten Island. I was dressed as V (for Vendetta) and he was the first person to guess it was me. He had an art show on Staten Island, from which I bought one of his paintings (so glad I did that). I really liked being his friend.

Eventually he bought a house in a different part of Staten Island and I didn't see him on the train anymore. We communicated a little bit via various internet means. Then I moved to Queens and we were even further separated. It's one of those things where you always think there will be time to reconnect. There isn't. I am so crushed by this. The reality of "I will never see this person again" is just so... heartbreaking.

Everyone goes through their daily lives and sees the same people there every day, it's so rare you see someone and take note and just KNOW that you would be friends if you met. That we actually DID become friends is so amazing and I am so happy for that.

I will always miss him.

Frank drew this robot version of me.

I Decorates!

FINALLY. I said I was going to do this Thanksgiving weekend but I spent that weekend playing Zelda in my pajamas, so no. Finally got 'round to it this past weekend. Here are some pictures!

I used to always get a real tree in my old apartment, but that one was much bigger. So last year I bought my first fake tree! I figured, if I was gonna get one, I might as well make it easy on myself and get a pre-lit one. Oh man, SO nice. And I got this nice skinny pencil tree to fit right in this corner (where I keep a fan in summer months)!

Here's a little close up of one of my favourite ornaments! ;-)

He has a great responsibility to make my tree look good.

The tree-topper that has adorned my tree for the last 5 years or so! I don't even remember where I got him, but I'm guessing at some sample sale at work!

Hulk SMASH if you no give presents!

I decorate as much as possible, including lights in the bathroom, in my room, around the door outside and one the windows. I also decorate the banisters with red ribbon and THESE guys at the ends! :)

Here's my kitchen table thiset-up (it's one of those ones that like comes out of the wall).

Yes, that is a Chris Giarrusso Mini Marvels as Peanuts framed card!

I have these guys (their names are all Harry) above my doorway (they used to be in my bathroom in the old place) and I've been decorating them for Christmas every year (just below them are these little Sanrio stamps I just got of the characters with Santa hats on!)!

Don't mess with me or you'll end up like the Harrys.

And last but not least, my favourite decoration, I've had it since I was 10 or so!

Merry Christmas, dudes! Cowabunga!

So there you go. This smart-ass atheist still loves Christmas. It's not about Jesus for me (nor for a lot of people, REALLY) and never really has been. I just love the holiday cheer! I love the decorations, the parties, the music (YES, the music), the family time, sending out and getting cards (I MISS SNAIL MAIL) , giving/receiving gifts, just the general good feeling! (And really, you KNOW all this Christmas tree stuff, etc. has NOTHING to do with Jesus in the first place, right? ;-P)

So happy holidays everyone!!!!

<3, 

Jen!

The End.