Posted on April 27, 2009
Getting Back on Track (2)
Cut my hair. Donated it to Locks of Love. Somewhere there are some pictures of Ana chopping it all off… I still scare myself in the mirror every morning. Fortunately my bird managed to recognize me after only a quick moment of hesitation.
Also, I actually did manage to finish the KY Derby Mini Marathon, with my brother Joe. Our results are up here… we finished in 3 hours, 35 minutes which, considering the longest I’d run prior to that was a 5k the week before, and I’d only ever gone that far four or five times, I think that’s pretty good! Congrats to Jennifer who did the half-marathon in Nashville at the same time, and John, Vicki, Mike, Butch, Cathy, and anyone else that was walking/running that day!
Posted on March 31, 2009
The Woz, Naked Deities, and Science Fiction
One of the key indicators of my general direction in life is undoubtedly how much TV I watch. In the last few months I’ve actually watched precious little, relatively. But there are a few important TV events worth mentioning:
First, Battlestar Galactica ended. I was about 12 episodes behind when this happened, so I spent the last few days catching up, and when I finally hit the end, I was pretty pleased. Was it a perfect series? No… but it was probably the most finely crafted complete science fiction series ever. I say “complete” because I think Firefly could have been better, if it wasn’t pulled early, and I can’t compare it to things like Dr. Who, Star Trek (well maybe Voyager), or any of the shows that don’t ever really end.
Speaking of which, Firefly competes in my heart with the show Cupid, for the best TV ever that was brutally cut short by vapid TV execs. I saw it years ago, fell in love with it and, of course, it went away for no readily apparent reason. The basic premise is thus: a guy claims he’s cupid, sent to earth to live as a mortal until he can cause 100 couples to fall in love. With the anti-comic relief of his psychiatrist (because you have to have one of those if you think you’re a god), he pretty much just goes about the task.
Great show. and it’s BACK! I DVR’ed the first one tonight (couldn’t watch it), but I highly recommend that the four people that read this post should immediately A) find a way to watch the new remake and B) find a way to watch the old show. I can help with both, just lemme know.
Unfortunately, though, while setting the DVR I did notice the end of the Dancing with the Stars episode that was on just before it. I thought a shout-out to my personal hero Steve Wozniak was in order, since he got booted from the show tonight. [warning: that last sentence may have been a spoiler] I may hate reality TV, Steve, but you’re my hero, so I watched almost three minutes of it for you! Better luck at Segway Polo!
Posted on March 6, 2009
Today, I conquered the Garage
But I lost to the camera battery, which does not apparently last 3 hours or so.
Posted on March 1, 2009
Bourbon and Ice for Charity
The Young Survivor’s Silent Auction Benefit (or something like that) at the Frazier museum in Louisville this weekend was a fantastic event! There are pics around here somewhere (I popped a few onto Facebook already). Congratulations to everyone for pulling it together for the second year (sorry I missed the first!), but particularly to Megan and all your friends… it was practically a high-school reunion! I find it so delightful that so many people I’ve known for so long are still close friends, helping each other out. 🙂
I ended up with a nice bottle of Maker’s Mark from the live auction Cameron artfully ran — I’m still trying to decide whether or not to drink it or save it for a while! I’ll think of you guys with every sip, and hopefully we’ll see each other sooner rather than later — next year at the LATEST!
The Polar Bear Plunge, Saturday morning, was a completely different event! Apparently I was signed up as retribution for signing my brother up for the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon. I was barefoot in swim trunks and a T-shirt in the SLEETING RAIN and then into the very-very-cold water. I don’t ever remember being that cold. Of course, there was a hot-tub shortly thereafter, and there were people dressed in far sillier outfits. Again, I’m sure pics are around here somewhere. We jumped in with some Smurfs, and some high-school friends of Joe’s, and just ahead of a group of Mercy academy girls, some of whom we supposedly know (I can’t keep up with my mom’s friends). There were thousands of people there, tho, and apparently the event raised over $150,000. Yowza. 37 degrees in the water, 30 degrees in the air! Everyone should come do it next year!
Posted on February 16, 2009
The YMCA has changed since I was a kid
I remember hanging out at the YMCA when I was but a wee lass [Ed. Update: this was a failed attempt at humor… three people have now commented. Yes, I know the difference between lass and lad]. Mostly I remember the swimming pool, which I mostly experienced while blurry-eyed and gasping for air from being the smallest kid in the pond, so to speak. Then again, there was a lot of soccer, which I think I was better at, and WATCHING soccer, a task at which I truly excelled. I occasionally snuck into the cardio rooms but they were unexciting affairs with machines that made funny noises and were impossible to adjust to my personal stature.
I’ve managed to make it out to the gym a few times lately, and I’m getting a little better at it. Tonight, I threw down for a long treadmill run. Yes, yes, the sign SAYS limit 30 minutes, but there was noone in the room, literally, so I didn’t see the harm. I got my pace going. I introduced myself to the system so it could track just how out of shape I was, and I even got my headset working, which was a coup since the last couple of times the rechargeable battery died before I could even get started. And then, alone, in the Y, I started watching the TV.
I had never actually watched an episode of “The Girls Next Door”, and, frankly, this did not seem to be the time nor place to start. In point of fact, I didn’t actually know that the show was about the girls in the Playboy mansion. Now you do too! How nice. I was familiar with the publication, don’t get me wrong — one of our illustrious college roommates had it delivered (Don’t worry, dude, I’ve lost the blackmail photos and I think everyone knows anyway, but I’ve got your back), and, hey, it’s all but impossible to cancel a magazine subscription, yes? If memory serves, we also got Cosmo that year, so,… yeah.
The TV show is like the magazine, but with no articles and the picture moves. While there was some garbled closed captioning at the YMCA, I couldn’t hear anything and didn’t read along. My guess is that this approach improved the show dramatically. Whoever does censoring for the E! channel is a true artist. The “blurring” was done with such grace that it didn’t look like there was any editing at all… mostly it seemed like people running around who genetically had no nipples and just a solid (but smooth) mass around the pelvis.
So, basically, I spent the evening at the YMCA (The C is for “Christian”) watching androgynous porn. Oh, and jogging.
I ran quite a bit further today than I have in the past… I’m guessing it was the new battery in the headphones that made the difference.
—Chip