Friday, June 19, 2009

My week in tweets...

I'm awful. I know. I admit it. I also haven't called my mother nearly as often as I should, I've fallen asleep while on the phone with my boyfriend, I missed my brother's graduation, and my dog pretty much thinks I'm dead. I have no time because I'm working to keep a job I don't even have. I'm sorry. I don't deserve you as friends.

If you want to hear more of me, you can follow me on twitter, I'm @itsmolly. I'm also on facebook with the new vanity name www.facebook.com/mollypants.

Speaking of, a few things I've tweeted lately...my thoughts at the moment, in 140 characters or less:

1. Sold a painting for the first time since September. Is this a sign that the economy is on the rebound? Lord I hope so.
-Yes. Just to a coworker, but it counts, right? She said she wants one in particular, but since I'm not destitute for once, I might just trade her for a piece of her artwork (she's also an artist, probably why we get along so well), because I'm committed to never buying a mass-produced item to grace my walls. It's either my art or original art, no posters, no prints unless direct from a photographer. Good policy, in my opinion.

2. Any natural towheads have advice on mascara? Most only sell it in black or dark brown and it makes me look like a total hooker.
-For real. I have - yes, I swear - naturally blonde eyelashes. I hate the way mascara looks on me because they don't make it for my skin/eyelash tone. Still lost on this one.

3.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -Gandhi. Wear green tomorrow. #iranelection
I'm amazed at the effect that twitter has had on the Iran election situation. It makes me happy to see people fighting for their freedom within the system set up for them. I feel horrible for the protestors - Iran is a very educated, prosperous and successful country, so these people really do have a lot to lose by protesting - but they are ruled by tyrants in a backward political system that restricts free speech. I can't tell you how fascinated I've been with how Iranian students and citizens have fought internet shutdowns, banding together to pass eyewitness observations, accounts, photographs and videos of what's happening. All through a simple networking device of 140 characters or less. I feel a little happy that people like myself across the world who retweeted news through these one-liners played an important part in it.
It's no longer the newspapers of Hearst's era dominating the field, but the Grady school grad in me was rather proud of the changing world of journalism. And yes, I wore green that next day.

4.
The Georgia Theater has gone up in flames. Where have you gone, Athens, GA, dawgnation turns its lonely eyes to you...
I can't even talk about how sad the Georgia Theater fire makes me. I can't even watch the news report on it. I absolutely refuse. It's the one train wreck I can't even bring myself to watch. Let's not talk about it, ok?

That's all. It's midnight, I'm sober, and it's Friday night. My eyelids are about as heavy as bowling balls after this work week.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Drena, I've found your next great real estate investment opportunity...

I love this movie so much, I'd probably sell my ovaries to own this house.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Galloway Method...

I found this article today on the New York Times. I was pretty interested in it, given the training I'm in right now, so I decided to give it a try. For those of you who don't know, there's basically two main dudes who are older than dirt that write books on how to run a marathon - Hal Higdon and Jeff Galloway. I already have Hal Higdon's book, and I've gotten some good information from it - schedules, advice on shoes, how to correct your form, and a couple of other things. I hadn't really picked up Galloway's book, but I've always heard people saying things like "are you doing Galloway?" in line at the starts of races I've done. I thought the programs were basically the same, so I stuck with Higdon because, quite frankly, his is easier - run until you feel like you can't, and then walk, and then run when you catch your breath. Galloway's seemed a little more restrictive, but the article today made me wonder.

Here's the premise: you pre-determine intervals when you will walk instead of run, and you walk for a minute WAY before you're actually tired - in fact, EXPERIENCED runners will run a mile, then walk a minute. For EVERY mile.

Sounds like you'd end up with a 7 hour marathon time, but since I've been having some tendonitis, I decided to try it today on the treadmill. Today's run was 3 and a half miles, a good mid-week smaller distance. I normally HATE these runs. I hate them because I basically get bored and then I get winded. I push through the winded-ness, get a final burst of energy, and then almost collapse at the end and don't even want to make it through my cool-down walk.

So I tried it today, and after a 5 minute warm-up walk, I ran my first mile. At the end, I was NOT tired at all, and I almost pushed it to 2 miles before I did my 1 minute walk. I walked, though, and I have to say - I did feel better. I upped the speed on the treadmill and ran the second mile, and then walked the second break. Same thing - I felt a LOT better. I upped the speed a little more for the last full mile and then kept it steady for the last half-mile.

Verdict? I actually ran faster than if I had ran the whole thing. The entire 3.5 mile distance was done in 32 minutes, which is actually a little above a 9:30 pace. I DON'T run at a 9:30 pace. EVER. I was actually pretty shocked. Don't get me wrong - I can NOT keep a 9:30 pace for 26.2 miles, but I think I could do 10 minute miles if I have a one-minute walking break. Even the walking minutes add up, and that shaves a mile off the distance you'll have to run. I like the idea of looking forward to those little walk breaks, and I like that if I HATE running for that particular mile, I only have until the end of the mile til I get to walk again.

I think I'm going to buy the book tomorrow, I was at least glad that I had ONE day where I didn't completely dread my run. I'm still taking it one day at a time, and I like that this breaks it down even further - just finish the next mile.

And now I hate that I spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about running. I am NOT that kind of runner. I hate those people that only talk about running. I must remind you: I am a lazy person. I watch reality TV when I have cable, and I worked out approximately 2 times in 2008. Do not be fooled by the "I'm going to run an ungodly distance in four months" facade. I am still the same lazy, junk-food eating, carb-loving, vegetable-hating, sucking-wind-for-dear-life-when-she-runs-to-get-the-train girl you have always known and loved. Please bear with me until October 26, this will all be over soon enough.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Fleas.

I haven't posted about this because I've been secretly hoping that EVERY trick we try will just work so I can tell the whole story from beginning to end. But unfortunately, I can't.

BECAUSE IT WON'T END.

About 3 weeks ago, while at work, I got a rather frantic call from my cousin. She found fleas on her dog. The Colonel gets Frontline religiously, as my hometown is famous for ticks, and by my calculations, he wasn't even due for another week, so obviously I was a little surprised. Colonel Mustard seemed to be okay, but she was going to give both of them a flea bath to keep on the safe side. She went to Target, got drops for her dog as well as the Colonel, some flea shampoo, some home spray and some carpet flea-killer powder. Two hours later, she told me that while she was bathing him, fleas were just pouring off of him. We spent two solid days disinfecting the house, and we thought we'd be okay after that.

Wrong. Within three days, they were back. With a vengeance. We started getting bit, and the dogs weren't even phased by the treatments. Dan was here by then, so he and I took the Colonel to PetSmart and asked some advice of the staff. They recommended Frontline, and told me that the drops that my cousin had bought are basically useless. They didn't sell Frontline at PetSmart, so we bought the stuff that the girl recommended to at least help him out a little. Didn't even touch the buggers. I used the doggie spray, only to discover that Colonel Mustard does NOT like it. The next day, Dan bought the Colonel some Frontline (it's now available without a vet visit in North Carolina, thank GOD), and we tried another round of treatment.

SERIOUSLY, SHOULDN'T THIS BE OVER BY NOW?

Nope. Two weeks after the Frontline dose, I had to give him another. Tonight, I completely COVERED my bedding, my carpets, and everything else that fleabag may have touched with the home spray again, as well as washed everything I could find in scalding hot water and bleach. This weekend, we're going to bug-bomb the house (I don't know WHAT we're going to do for six hours with two dogs to stay out of the house), as well as treat the lawn. I've heard from many sources that the yard is pretty much where they pick them up, and they can latch onto the dog to come inside, then jump off once inside and then jump on whatever untreated host - including humans - they can find. Which is probably why Colonel Mustard isn't scratching, but I've got six or seven bites and a huge case of creepy-crawlies.

So yes, it's still ongoing. Let's hope for a final end to the situation so that I don't die of toxic exposure from all the pesticides I've ingested in the past few weeks. I never knew it til now, but North Carolina is one of the worst states for fleas, and Charlotte's many shade trees make it even worse. Ugh, I just got a chill writing that.