Saturday, June 30, 2012

About Last Night



That was last weekend.

This weekend? Picture less sand and more fallen trees.

We were pleasantly surprised by a lovely thunderstorm last night. A storm with "a history of hurricane-like winds," according the giddy meteorologist who kept interrupting my Olympic gymnastic trials last night.

It was that guy's 15 minutes of fame, I shouldn't rag on him.

Luckily, no trees fell on our house, no electricity was knocked out (it flickered a few times and turned my Olympic trials off a few times - seriously, I just want to watch my gymnastics! - but nothing permanent, thankfully), no flooding or anything of a devastating nature happened to us and our house.

SO, it was actually a really cool storm to watch. Since nothing happened that we had to fix. Some other friends of mine were not so lucky at being able to just enjoy the amazing power of nature.

Seriously, this storm had it all - green lighting, powerful winds whistling at the windows, walls of horizontal rain, claps of thunder. It was awesome! One of my roommates had come home roughly 2 minutes before the storm hit our house, and we had no idea it was coming until it was directly over us. So we watched through the windows and giggled in nervous excitement at every thunderclap. At one point, the lightning was flashing in the windows like a strobe light - consistent flashing for a good 3 minutes. INTENSE.

And then it kind of died down, and I decided my attic room would be safe enough, because the meteorologist had claimed it's center had passed our county. I slept blissfully.

In my last dream before I woke up this morning, I dreamt I was back at work, but my dad and uncle were there - apparently, it was their office now. I looked out the window in our back office and bright red and orange leaves were covering the ground - apparently it was Autumn? - and the sky had gone from this clear blue to thick, deep red clouds covering the entire sky, and we were in the midst of a giant storm. I tried to get a picture of it, but by the time I got my camera ready, the clouds were suddenly dispersing, and only a few red clouds remained.

Then I went into our main office (the congressman's office, in real life), and uncle Stephen was there, taking a nap on this GIANT couch, which I recognized as a new addition to the room. I'm still not really sure what that was supposed to mean...

But that storm made an impact on me. It might not have knocked out my house's electricity, but it still made its presence felt here.

And now that I'm awake, it's time to take a walk around the neighborhood and see what neighbors weren't so lucky. I've already heard of a few trees being brought to their metaphorical knees, and some roads being closed due to them, so time to see what we're working with.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Pre-Olympic Excitement!

Does anyone besides me remember the race between Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey (whom, until I just looked it up for confirmation, I was thinking was actually Carl Lewis...my bad! Who the heck is Donovan Bailey??) for the title of World's Fastest Human in 1997?

It was like an NBC primetime broadcast. I remember sitting on the floor in our family room, full of anticipation for the BIGGEST night in the history of sports. Slight exaggeration, of course, but track & field will always be special to me, so it was a big deal to me that this 150m race was going to captivate all of North America at 8/7c that night.

The anticipation died quickly as Michael Johnson pulled up with a hamstring injury and couldn't finish the race, giving Bailey the title of World's Fastest Human, or whatever it was they were going after. I quickly forgot who Donovan Bailey even was, though, while Michael Johnson will always be a staple in my T&F memory, right next to Flo-Jo, Carl Lewis, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

I walk down random memory lane today because another potential race-off is getting me all sorts of excited. But this one is for more than pride - it's for a spot on the US Olympic team for the Women's 100m race! So much at stake! So much suspense! So much anticipation! So much potential disappointment, if it doesn't happen!

In the women's 100m finals at the U.S. Olympic trials this weekend, Allyson Felix (I really like her!) and Jeneba Tarmoh (trying to get into her first Olympics!) finished in a dead heat for 3rd place - which I didn't even know was possible. But apparently it is. The US Track & Field organization had no plan in place for such an event, so they spent Sunday figuring out the fairest way to decide who gets the spot and the chance to run this event in the Olympics.

Turns out, the fairest way is also the most complicated way:

To break the tie, Felix and Tarmoh will be given a choice between a coin flip or run-off. Should both competitors choose the same option, that option will be used to determine the third spot on the Olympic team. Should one competitor choose run-off but the other a coin flip, a run-off will be held.
However, if both competitors refuse to make a choice, the spot then will be determined by coin flip. If one competitor chooses either option but the other competitor refuses to make a choice, the preference of the first competitor will determine the tiebreak method. 
Alternatively, either competitor can choose to cede the spot and assume a spot as an alternate. (Jonathan Baum, Yahoo Sports)


SO - if one of the two women opt for a run-off, then that's what they'll do. Which I hope (and anticipate) will happen! How exciting! What great pre-Olympics buzz?!

Both women are also competing in the 200m race later this week, so I guess they will both hold off on their decisions until after that race is decided, which places me in perpetual agony about what their decisions will be. But I'm sure my agony is much less than theirs, so I shouldn't complain.

But what a great, crazy start to the lead-in for the Olympics! I seriously CAN'T WAIT!

Stay tuned for post Olympic trials, when I find out all of the athletes who will be competing in the Olympics. I'll be putting together a hopefully comprehensive lists of favorite athletes to win and just favorite athletes for me - so you can know who to watch out for/listen for, and who you should be cheering for if you want to cheer with me!

Goodness, I love the Olympics so much! Bring on London!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

A New Record

I just talked to my parents on the phone for 2 HOURS AND 24 MINUTES.

WHAT.

I'm pretty sure that's a new record - beating the old record by approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.

I don't even know what we talked about. But somewhere in all of that, I unintentionally gave mom an irish accent in my mimicry of something she might say (usually I give her a full midwestern accent - which everyone expects her to sound like, since I'm from Wisconsin - but she's from Utah!!!), and I got dad giggling like a kid. Which I feel rather proud about.

And now my left ear hurts from my phone...WORTH IT!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Book Review, 3 Years Late

I stayed up late last night finishing a book I've been utterly engrossed in since opening it a few days ago. I've had to force myself not to take 3 hour lunch breaks, nor to generally ignore work altogether and just read all through the day this week.

I don't know why it took me 3 years to finally read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I've known I've wanted to read ever since it came out and people started gobbling it up at book clubs. I just didn't end up reading it. But it caught my eye the other day, so I quickly requested it from my library, and it was delivered to me a day later (with 3 other books I had requested...it had been a slowish day at work.) Even with it in my possession, it took a little bit of time until I had time and attention for it, but I finally cracked it open last week, and then gave my mind and heart to it thoroughly this week.

It's got everything I want: a strong female antagonist; British history; literary commentary; WWII backdrop (post-WWII backdrop, really); lines quoted from poetry and literature; British accents; a cute love story; wit and humor; and other stuff that completely enamored me.

Basically, I liked the book a lot a lot a lot. It reminded me a lot of letters I might write to people...if I was better at writing letters. I will become a better pen pal! Everyone send me your address, and we'll discuss books and love lives and daily life!! it'll be so fun! I need to go buy some classy stationery...

 It also reminded me of how I might've thrived in 1946-1950 England - if I was a woman of fortune and means with little responsibility beyond writing. I think I would have excelled at such a time. I think I was British in another life.

I also think I was surrounded by literary people in another life. I love when characters discuss books and authors, and the person they're talking to just gets what they're saying. I think the decades before television sound so dreamy - talking about literature just seemed so commonplace. Their knowledge of literature was our knowledge of television shows (of which I'm highly knowledgeable - maybe our great grand-children will be impressed with our depth of understanding about this type of entertainment one day?). At any rate, I think I would've been friends with this main character in the book, for many reasons, but one reason being her interest in and love for reading good things.

It was wonderful to read this book particularly because my inner narrator has a slight British accent, so my reading matched with the voice of the book's narrator. It took me a bit longer to read because I found that some parts of it begged me to read aloud - give sound to that British voice of mine.

And so I did - I love reading aloud. Weird? Who cares!

I also really like giggling. And between favorite passages of this book and chatting with my roommate about college memories we had, I giggled a lot last night.

And so a quiet evening that started with a throbbing headache ended rather enjoyably: with giggles, giddy smiling while reading aloud, and a white chocolate mint shake. Can't ask for much more than that on an overly hot Summer evening.

On a related note: I've once again gone through a bit of a reading spree in a short amount of time. I think it's time I get back into the real world for a few days before jumping into another fictitious world - I'm like Alice jumping down the rabbit hole when I open books sometimes; the written world is my new reality, and my real life melts away with the turn of a page...

Oh don't worry - I snap back to my life pretty quickly. The practiced narrator in my mind just makes my life a little more interesting to me...and more British. Which is never a bad thing.

Friday, June 22, 2012

S.I.M.P: Squirrels in My Park!




How many squirrels can you spot in the picture above?

Remember those old games in the Highlights magazines that were the only good thing about going to the dentist's office? That's what this picture reminded me of. Except weirder, because it was real life. And it was all squirrels. It's also kind of like a graduate or adult version of this game because instead of really bright colors hiding bright red apples and vibrant blue school books, it's earth tones with gray squirrels that camouflage into the scenery...

I was walking home from work the other day, and I was about to head into the park that I cut through on my way home. As I started on the path, I looked to my right and saw a convention of squirrels running around in this little area, doing things that squirrels do. It reminded me of those lame 90's movies, and myriad children's animated shows, where a character makes 20 clones of him/herself to get everything done in a timely manner. There were all these squirrels, which look exactly alike, just inches and feet from each other, searching for nuts and stale bread, or branches to carry around, or just chasing each other around. It was a really mind-boggling sight, for some reason (it had been a long day at work. Everything was weird to me).

As I stopped and stared at them, I thought I should take a picture of this. But then I started walking, and when the thought to actually, physically take a picture really set in, I had already passed the gaggle of squirrels.

But second chances abound in this world!

I had only walked maybe 10 feet, when I came across another squirrel-palooza on my left. So I did stop this time to take a picture. What the picture didn't capture was the squirrel that was slowly inching towards me on the path, wondering if I was friendly. Obviously, this area is a very heavily-trafficked spot, with lots of children whose parents allow them to feed the animals (there are no sign saying not to!), so the squirrels are friendly. This one got rather close to my feet, looking for handouts. To which I responded, "You want a handout? Here's a handout - go get a real job like the rest of us tax-paying citizens!!" Just kidding, I didn't say that. I would've looked like a crazy person! Also I didn't think of that response until I was walking away. But I did get my picture, and then laughed at how funny I thought the sight was. BREAKING NEWS: Squirrels are taking over DC and surrounding areas! And I, for one, welcome our new rodent overlords.

Anyway...

I got my picture, and then I returned to my walk home.

And about 5 feet later, I almost got run off the path by 3 cute little chipmunks playing tag. I did not get a picture of them. They're speedy little vermin!

Oh, and just in case you wanted to see if you counted the right amount of squirrels, the answer key is below:


There are 13 squirrels in this picture. Probably more than 13 actually - I just only found 13 in my perusal...)

And just in case anyone reading this is not my sister and therefore didn't know what the title to this post was referring to, let me send you here. This show may have some of the best music breakouts I know of...just sayin'.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

A Letter to My Father, and My Brothers, and a Short Note To Other Men Who Are Also Fathers

Happy Father's Day, yo!


To my dad - I LOVE YOU! You're swell, did you know? Thanks for being such a strong patriarch in our family. You always have the best advice, and I love chatting with you about anything, spiritual, philosophical, or social. Thanks for letting me talk about boys sometimes after church dances, when I was in a talkative mood. Thanks for letting me be sullen sometimes, when I wasn't in a talkative mood, like a teenager (and young adult) is apt to be every once in a while. Thanks for making me bagels and sandwiches whenever I asked for your "help" - and thanks for using those times as opportunities to teach me spiritual lessons, like about the law of tithing: 1/10 of gifts and blessings ought to be given back to the Maker :). Thanks for rollerblading with me down our driveway, and for going star-gazing at 2 in the morning. Thanks for staying up late to play games you don't much care about. Thanks for always being excited when your father's day gifts were gatorades and power bars...(seriously, I thought those were the best gifts a person could give/receive until I was about 15 and realized people might prefer getting non-food gifts usually...) You and mom are the biggest blessings in my life, and I just thought you should know.

(I also know you and mom won't like the face I'm making in the picture above - but TOO BAD!!!)

To my brothers (who are all fathers this year! Welcome to the club, Z) - I wish you a wonderful Father's Day! I love you lots and appreciate having you in my life! You've been such blessings to me, and you've played such a large part in rearing me these 26 years. Thanks for teaching me how to be awesome like you.

To all other dads out there - you're so great! Enjoy your day! You really deserve it.

And don't judge my card...I'm still learning how to use my computer, so it wasn't until after I had written the card out backwards so it would show up correctly on the camera that I realized I could flip the picture with my computer program...oh well. And when I first made it, the picture I drew was of me and my dad (can't you tell?!), but anyone who is not my dad can interpret it as you and your daughter (or son with long hair, if you have all boys), or as your children, if you have a mix of sons and daughters. And you probably would've done that yourself, so you didn't need me to explain all of your options to you, I'm sure...

Anyway, happy day, dads! Hope it's a wonderful day for you!

Friday, June 15, 2012

A Girl Walks Into a Gift Shop

Two awesome things happened this afternoon, when I went down to our gift shop to pick up a card for a colleague's goodbye party today:

1.  Celine Dion's Greatest Hits was playing on loop over the Gift Shop's speakers. Just brightened my day. And now I get to enjoy Celine's and R. Kelly's melodic harmonies the rest of the afternoon, as "I'm Your Angel" is now permanently stuck in my head. And, like with most songs that get stuck in my head, I only have the chorus of the song repeating through my mind. The last chorus, when R.K and C.D. are making weird oooooo-ing and hoooooo-ing sounds in the background of each other's actual singing. Or in other words, during the best part of the song.

2. I got the card for my colleague for 60 cents. Less than a dollar! I can't decide if that makes me feel proud for such an awesome deal, or like a cheapskate for paying less than a dollar on a card in an economy when greeting cards are usually between $2.99-6.99. Side note: our gift shop has the best prices on their cards! Which is surprising, because gift shops usually over-price everything. But the selection is, quite frankly, pretty crappy, so I guess it balances out.
(post-script: I got him a graduation card, because he's "graduating" from our office and going off to big old law school. In a little place called Haaaaaaaa-vaaaaaard Laaaaaw. We grow smart people here. No big deal.)

Hope your Friday is going as well as mine obviously is. Enjoy the beautiful afternoon sunshine - if you can get outside for a bit (I ate lunch outside, it was maaaaaaarvelous!), and, of course, if you have sunshine to even enjoy - and relish in the fact that it's the last workday of the week! (which matters not to my parents, because they are retired and just play in their camper all day in southern utah...days of the week mean nothing to them anymore.)

And, friends, always remember -

And when all hope is gone, I'm here
No matter how far you are, I'm near
It makes no dif-fer-ence who you are
I am your angel!

I'm your angel.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Another Wheel of Fortune Bonus Round Puzzle For You

Okay guys, here's another chance for you to be awesome like me.

Can you solve this puzzle from the Bonus Round on Wheel of Fortune?

Category: Phrase

Regular letters: R S T L N E

Letters guessed: C D M I

_ _ _ T     _      _ _ _ R _ _ I N

You have 10 seconds to guess.

Don't worry, I got it before the timer started.

The poor couple (newlyweds edition!) didn't...sorry guys! No $40,000 bonus for you.

As always/the last time I did this, the answer is in the comments.

Sometimes I just really impress myself, and those moments just need to be shared sometimes.

Also, just found the coolest thing ever. You can watch old WoF and Jeopardy videos HERE!!!!! Best google search result of 2012 for me. I'm so happy right now. SO happy.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

It's National Running Day!

Guys, today, Wednesday, June 6th, is National Running Day.

Why does running have its own national day, you ask? Well, because just about everything else has its own day/month, so why would running be any different? American Wetlands Month? International Friendship Day? (I know what shirt I'll be wearing for that one!) Potty Training Awareness Month? There's even a World Naked Bike Ride month - I didn't include the link to that one...

So why not National Running Day?

I can't believe we didn't hold this day sacred in the Barlow household growing up. For all I've ever said about us being a "running family" growing up, we didn't celebrate it at all! I'm going to go out on a limb here and blame my general antipathy toward consistent running regimens on the fact that we didn't celebrate running once a year with the rest of the nation. If we had, I might enjoy running more, and also be more patriotic.

But starting this year, 2012, I am starting a tradition. Running on National Running Day. If anyone is looking for me, they can search outside, because I'm taking it to the streets! I will be found pounding (lightly) some pavement this evening - 1-3 miles of slow to medium-paced running. Because I like traditions and I like celebrating National days, but I don't really like running for long periods of time. Plus, my audiobook is getting close to ending, and my run can only last as long as the book goes for, or else I'm bored, so...

So go put on your running shoes and go run! Run to your mailbox and back! Run to the pool on this fine Summer day! Run into Target! Run however long/short you want, but come run with me!

Come with me! I'll be the girl running in these hot things:
Yeah that's right. Bright Pink, baby! They may or may not glow in the dark, they're so freaking bright!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

An Easy Dream to Interpret

I was fasting today (as long as I could), which is always a difficult thing for me to do. But I made it through 2 meals (dinner was really early today...), so I feel pretty good about it.

Usually on Sundays that I fast, I like to take a big, fat afternoon nap - it helps the time to pass more unnoticed by my stomach.

Today's nap was lovely. Almost 2 hours long. I haven't been getting much sleep this last week...so it was good to recharge.

But my dreams were interesting. The last dream I had, I dreamt that I was sleeping and dreaming, and those dreams were all about rich, delicious food.

A dream within a dream (like Inception). About food (not like Inception). Apparently, not even my nap could totally distract me from my desire to stuff my face.

So meta.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

I'm Not Really Sure Why I Wrote This

I killed a cricket on my stairs last night. I felt bad, as I always do when I kill bugs/arachnids, but as I always tell them: "I wouldn't kill you if you weren't invading my house! Stay outside, and I won't kill you (intentionally)!" But I protect my home.

Between going out of town a few times and being sick, my room is a slight disaster. It could be worse, but it also certainly could be better. Yuck. I'm hoping to clean it tomorrow, but honestly, I just don't know if I'll want to. It's supposed to be sunny and beautiful outside.

These two unrelated thoughts I just brought you over to my blog to read led me to think of an epic poem I wrote in high school for an English class. We had just read Beowulf (which I would read 2 more times before earning my Bachelor degree - apparently it's really important to know this story if you're going to study English), and our teacher assigned us the task to write our own epic poem in the form of Beowulf. Mine was really good - it was from the point of view of a mouse or bug or teeny person from Honey, I Shrank the Children, and it followed their exploits around my {at the time, rather messy} bedroom. Years later, I was unable to find the original poem I wrote, which was devastating, because it was really good.

But tonight, a little too late in the evening to be coherently writing a blog post, after 7 days of definitely not sleeping enough, I thought I'd take a crack at writing the 2nd epic poem of my life, based roughly around the same situation. It occurred to me that the poor cricket I had just killed probably lived a full life and perhaps died a hero's death, so I thought I'd hash it out.

I also thought of the Odyssey, which I've also read a few times at this point in my life (I love my greek mythology, so I wasn't terribly upset about having to reread parts of it time and again). So my epic poem in the line of Beowulf proportions includes a lot of Odysseyan ideas and allusions.

Keep in mind, this is actually a pretty crappy epic poem. But it got written, so I'm posting it - I won't let all my wasted time on this be lost forever. Also, it's long, and probably unnecessarily so. So don't read it - like, don't feel as thought you need to. Seriously - think about it before you jump in. Because you might never come out...Oh my goodness, I don't know why I wrote this, or why I'm posting it. It would seem nothing exciting is going on in my life right now, so this is the crazy filler you get!

That said, here's my poem. It's entitled:

Epic Poem 2 in the styling of Beowulf, With a Heavy Dose of Allusions to Homer's the Odyssey

Oh Muses, tell me your tale of our hero Cricket
who traversed the land of Bedroom,
also known as Chaos,
finding adventure as he sought out his home.
He had travelled far,
coming from the battle of Rainstorm,
and wanted only to live the rest of his days
in peace and calm.

Yet our hero was still a young lad,
and his time for rest was
not yet upon him.

We find our hero Cricket just after he
escaped the watery fields of Yard,
leaving behind the lifeless remains
of fallen comrades in the ill-advised
attack of the land.
He has found shelter from the cruel fight,
but his haste to find protection has left him lost,
and he knows not what awaits him in Bedroom.

Cricket looks back through the way he came,
wondering where the harsh, cold westerly wind
suddenly came from.
The wind is strong and pushes him further into
the carpeted desert.
No other sound can be heard above the wind,
so our hero walks on,
with no warning of what awaits him.

But Chaos gives him little time to wonder as
suddenly he comes across a monstrous, sleeping giant!
This red and black gargantuan, with long skinny tail
and smooth, rolling gait,
is not to be trifled with,
and our hero gives it no reason to stir.
This Charybdis on land, our hero knows, sucks its
prisoners into its depths, never to be seen again.
Cricket has lost many comrades to this devil,
and he refuses to be another lost soul in its vast, bagless stomach.

Our hero tiptoes past the sleeping giant and finds himself
in open space.
A dangerous place for a stranger in a foreign land.
He seeks safety and protection on a strip of blue land,
but soon realizes safety does not lie here.
Like quicksand, our hero's feet sink into the soft land,
making walking difficult, so he walks faster, refusing
to let the plush ground slow him down.

Just past the blue land is a white building, with at least
a roof for shelter for the night, and Cricket fights his way past
the strange ground to settle in this building for the night.

But the morning only brings new wonders,
and new dangers,
and Cricket's life is already half over.
He is not the young bug he once was,
and the foreign land has taken its toll on his body.

Soon after wandering away from his new home a bit,
our hero finds himself facing the twin foes
of Anklesock and Gymshorts.
These fit and strong warriors entice Cricket with
their aroma and protection from the light of day
but as our hero grows closer, he finds his mind
becoming hazy.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hears a voice
warning him to beware the scent of Anklesock and Gymshorts.
These dangerous beasts bring him closer with their allure,
and he almosts rejects the voice inside him.
Until he recalls the seductive scent masks its terrible effects.
The siren scent draws heroes in, but it causes a deep
forgetfulness, so the hero can never leave.
This memory shakes the hazy from Cricket's mind, and
he rushes from these alluring monsters,
not once looking back.

By now our poor hero has grown old.
12 hours to us is a lifetime to this cricket that has
already seen much of the world beyond Bedroom.
He seeks a nice place to end his days, though he feels
a sense of disappointment that the end of his life will not
be in battle;
For a hero in life likes to end a hero in death.
So Cricket cannot be happy tucked away in a small corner,
slowly waiting for death to come to him.

Instead, our hero seeks one last battle.
A battle with a monster more dangerous than any he's
met with so far.
He knows where he might find an opportunity for
a confrontation with the beast, and he makes
his way to the steep, rolling hills that
lead to the moorlands beyond this elevated plain.

He sets himself on the side of the first rolling hill
and waits.
The wait is long, but soon our hero spies a shift
in light, an echo of movement.
The vicious beast will soon be upon him.
He trembles instinctually, but pulls at his courage
to keep him brave, and looks in the direction of
the sound.

Suddenly the frightful monster appears!
And the monster sees our hero immediately,
and is quickly armed for battle.
Picking up a nearby cube-shaped weapon,
the monster positions herself in attack mode.
Our hero Cricket knows his old body can't react quickly,
but he hopes he can anticipate the first blow early enough
that he can mo----
BAM! the monster hits quickly and our hero is knocked to
the bottom of his hill.

But Cricket isn't done fighting and won't give
in easil---
BAM BAM BAM!
The successive attacks are too much for our hero
and the fearsome monster knows it.

With a compassion Cricket hasn't seen in any foes
he's faced before, the monster hits two more times,
acknowledging the wish to put our hero out of his
misery and let him die quickly, in battle, just as he wanted.

Our hero's funeral is quick and quiet, just as
his life had been.
His time has ended, but his story lives on:
the Hero who backed down from no fight,
left no land unexplored,
and lived no day ordinarily.