Born n’ Bred, Poop n’ Fire
SURVEY
1. My uncle once : could pass for Saddam Hussein. Like, he could have been a double.
2. Never in my life : have I been able to smell.
3. When I was seventeen : I was a fool because I had yet to realize that I could record every single day of my life in a blog. I was a lot of other things, too, but that was the main one.
4. High School was : okay. Not too bad, not too great.
5. I will never forget : the Alamo.
6. I once met : uh…who have I met that’s famous? Daniel Orozco! Does he count? He taught one of my English classes.
7. There’s this girl I know who : would eat straight mayo. Like, she’d put it in a baggie, cut one of the corners off, and pipe it into her mouth. Miss you, Amy!
8. Once, at a bar : nothing happened. ‘Cause I’ve never been to a bar.
9. By noon, I’m usually : 85% to 90% of the way through a 30-mile walk.
10. Last night : I didn’t really get much of a chance to sleep.
11. If only I had : infinite time to walk. Think how far I could go!
12. Next time I go to gym/church : won’t happen for some time, most likely. Church hasn’t happened since like 7th grade, and why would I want to be bored in a gym when I can walk outside?
13. Susan Boyle : has an awesome voice.
14. What worries me most : currently? Not knowing if I’m going to get to teach again in the fall. No one has told me yet. It’s scary.
15. When I turn my head left, I see : Nate’s desk, the kitchen, my backpack, my book/trinket shelf, Jazzy.
16. When I turn my head right, I see : the wall. THRILLING
17. You know I’m lying when : I’m not sure. I don’t know what my tell is.
18. What I miss most about the eighties : 80s clothes were cool. I didn’t get to experience them personally (unless you count 80s baby clothes), but I like the style.
19. If I was a character in Shakespeare, I’d be : I’d like to pretend I’d be someone cool, but I’d probably just be Tybalt or someone.
20. By this time next year : I hope I have a teaching contract. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE
21. A better name for me would be : Claudia Marie Bitchin’ McGee. We’ve been over this before.
22. I have a hard time understanding : algebra. Basic freaking algebra. ‘Tis hard for me.
23. If I ever go back to school, I’ll : be the happiest person ever. School rocks. I miss it.
24. You know I like you if : I make really dumb jokes around you.
25. If I ever won an award, the first person I’d thank would be : my mom.
26. When I compare 80’s rock to 90’s rock : I don’t.
27. Take my advice, never : try to walk with cardboard stilts. Hahaha, for some reason, that memory from high school just popped in my head and I remember how painful it was when one of the “stilts” collapsed and I was clinging to the top of a bathroom stall in order to not crash to the ground. High school was…interesting.
28. My ideal breakfast is : nothing. Food is for midnight.
29. A song I love, but do not own is : who knows? If I like a song, I get it somehow.
30. If you visit my hometown, I suggest : not taking any day trips to Pullman. They will make you assimilate and become a Coug fan. They will make you a Coug. Then they’ll feed you to the football team. Go Cougs.
32. Why won’t people : LEARN SIDEWALK ETIQUETTE HOLY ASS GOBLINS IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO BE A COURTEOUS PEDESTRIAN
33. If you spend the night at my house : be prepared for Jazzy to follow you into the bathroom any time you went in there.
34. I’d stop my wedding for : NOOOOOOTHIIIIING! Since it already happened. But I would have stopped it had either of us expressed any doubt about getting married.
35. The world could do without : me.
36. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than : eat a cockroach?
37. My favorite blonde is : can I say Skwisgaar, even though he’s fictional? Skwisgaar is awesome.
38: Paper clips are more useful than : not…having…any paperclips?
39. If I do anything well, it’s : fail.
40. And by the way : Leibniz rules.
H I L A R I T Y
So walking 30 miles takes me about 6.5 hours, right? During these 6.5 hours, I like to think.
Just think.
I think best while I’m out walking.
However, every once and a while, I’ll randomly think of some hilarious thing and just start laughing like an idiot while I’m walking.
Which I’m sure doesn’t make me look crazy at all.
Examples of such hilarious things?
- “It’s time for a new sheriff”
- “Stop bidding against me or I will invade you!”
- This freaking Vine
- That time Sean was running around the house wearing socks and just ate it on the hardwood floor. Aaron bought him some of those grippy socks from the dollar store to prevent future accidents.
- “I walk onto a terrace where I think I’m alone / But Arthur Fonzarelli’s got an army of clones!”
- That time Aaron, Lanky, and I put like 30 of those magic grow capsules in the toilet and Sean came home to a bunch of sponge animals clogging up the toilet bowl.
- That time I put like 30 of those magic grow capsules in a blender with some water and Sean came home to a bunch of shredded sponge animals and a blender clogged with partially dissolved capsule gunk.
- Brendan’s Dune “bloopers” script.
- That slowed down line in The Beetis song.
There’s more, but these are the recent ones.
Canada + News = Crazy
Canada’s Global News: always entertaining.
I love how that artichoke dip thing from last Christmas had even more of an impact in the Calgary studio than the original clip showed.
Dear Merriam-Webster: A Suggestion
I submit a new word to you: Blistoe
Blistoe (\ ˈblis-tō \) – noun
Definitions:
- a toe that is upwards of 80% covered in blisters by area
- a toe so covered in blisters that it is no longer recognizable as an actual toe but instead appears like a giant blister leeching to the front part of a foot
- A nightmare-inducing monstrosity that the body should not be capable of producing but will do so under extreme stress
Uses in sentences:
“My 30-mile walks have given me two very painful and very frightening-looking blistoes.”
“OH GOD WHERE’S MY LITTLE TOE oh wait, it’s under that big blister. I guess it’s a blistoe now.”
“This blistoe looks like a tumor.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAH THE PAIN FUCK YOU BLISTOES!!!!”
Etc.
IIIIIIIIIIT’S SURVEY TIME
200: My celebrity crush’s name is: Leibniz. Yes, he’s a celebrity. Fight me.
199: I was born in: Moscow, Idaho. In a hospital.
198: I am really: quite a failure.
197: My cellphone company is: …what are they calling themselves now? Freedom? I think so.
196: My eye color is: Hazel, according to my driver’s license, but I think they’re more green.
195: My shoe size is: 8 in Kinvaras, 6-ish in every other shoe brand. Though maybe not anymore. Walking so much might have warped them forever.
194: My ring size is: hell if I know. Is “fat finger” a size?
193: My height is: S CR EW Y OU
192: I am allergic to: pineapple, an asthma medicine, and whatever the hell that tree was in our backyard up on Borah Ave.
191: My 1st car was: non-existent.
190: My 1st job was: Wendy’s. Not a bad job at all!
189: Last book you read: Uhhhhhhhhhhhh can’t remember. Sad, huh?
188: My bed is: pretty much 60% cat hair
187: My pet: is a JAZZY!
186: My best friend: does not exist. I don’t know if I’ve had an actual best friend since elementary school.
185: My favorite shampoo is: in a red bottle. Can’t remember it off the top of my head. Which is funny, ‘cause that’s where shampoo goes.
184: Xbox or ps3: Xbox.
183: Piggy banks are: a weird concept when you really think about it. Let’s feed this porcelain pig some metal and then SMASH IT TO GET THE METAL BACK
182: In my pockets: I DO NOT HAVE
181: On my calendar: cats
180: Marriage is: a wonderful thing if you’re with the right person.
179: Spongebob can: do a lot of things. Especially for a sponge.
178: My mom: is the best mom anyone could ever ask for.
177: The last three songs I bought were? Whatever the last three days’ songs were. Too lazy to look.
176: Last YouTube video watched: the music video for The Royal Foundry’s Running Away.
175: How many cousins do you have? Fffffffffffive? I think?
174: Do you have any siblings? No, luckily.
173: Are your parents divorced? Yes.
172: Are you taller than your mom? I’m not taller than anyone.
171: Do you play an instrument? I can play quite a few, yes.
170: What did you do yesterday? Walked. Hated myself. Tried not to die in the heat. The usual.
[ I Believe In ]
169: Love at first sight: I never really used to, but then NATE HAPPENED so now I do.
168: Luck: Yes.
167: Fate: Yes.
166: Yourself: HAH. No.
165: Aliens: Sure.
164: Heaven: Only if Leibniz is there.
163: Hell: Vancouver?
162: God: Nope.
161: Horoscopes: Horoscopes are fun, but I don’t really believe in them.
160: Soul mates: I never really used to, but then NATE HAPPENED so now I do.
156: Orbs: Orbs?
155: Magic: No.
[ This or That ]
154: Hugs or Kisses: Hugs.
153: Drunk or High: Ew, neither.
152: Phone or Online: ONLINE, PLEASE
151: Red heads or Black haired: Black.
150: Blondes or Brunettes: Blondes.
149: Hot or cold: Cold, though I hate both.
148: Summer or winter: Summer, bitches.
147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn.
146: Chocolate or vanilla: If it’s ice cream, vanilla. If it’s pretty much anything else, chocolate.
145: Night or Day: Day.
144: Oranges or Apples: Apples. Oranges are evil.
143: Curly or Straight hair: I’ve always liked straight hair, but that might just be envy.
142: McDonalds or Burger King: McDonald’s.
141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: White chocolate is creepy. Milk chocolate all the way.
140: Mac or PC: PC.
139: Flip flops or high heels: KINVARAS, YOU HEATHENS
138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: Like…physically ugly or personality ugly? If physical, then ugly and rich. I can’t get much uglier than I am right now, anyway. But if personality ugly, then sweet and poor.
137: Coke or Pepsi: KINVARAS, YOU HEATHENS
136: Hillary or Obama: Really?
135: Buried or cremated: Cremated and strewn about Leibniz’ gravesite. I’m not obsessed at all.
134: Singing or Dancing: Singing is wonderful.
133: Coach or Chanel: Don’t care.
132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Who?
131: Small town or Big city: I love cities.
130: Wal-Mart or Target: Walmart, easy.
129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben Stiller.
128: Manicure or Pedicure: I’ve never had either one.
127: East Coast or West Coast: West coast.
126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Christmas.
125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate!
124: Disney or Six Flags: Disney.
123: Yankees or Red Sox: METS
[ Here’s What I Think About ]
122: War: What is it good for?
121: George Bush: What is it good for?
120: Gay Marriage: A-okay.
119: The presidential election: The most recent one? Horrible. America, I am disappoint.
118: Abortion: I am pro-choice.
117: MySpace: The original home of my blog!
116: Reality TV: Meh.
115: Parents: Mine are great!
113: Ebay: I used to be obsessed with eBay. Not so much anymore.
112: Facebook: A stalker’s best friend.
111: Work: I love teaching…let’s hope I get to do more of it.
110: My Neighbors: Are people I don’t know at all.
109: Gas Prices: I don’t pay much attention to them because 1) I don’t have a car and 2) prices are meaningless to me up here because they’re expressed in “Canadian metric dollars per beaver liter, eh?” or some other conversion that makes no sense to me.
108: Designer Clothes: Pretty and weird, but WAY too expensive.
107: College: Fun!
106: Sports: Baseball only!
105: My family: Yay!
104: The future: I’m nervous about a lot of it, but some of it I’m looking forward to.
[ Last time I ]
103: Hugged someone: Today!
102: Last time you ate: A night or so ago? The days all blend with this walking schedule, haha.
101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: I saw my mom in May. I hadn’t seen her in a while.
100: Cried in front of someone: I was crying yesterday while I was walking. Not sure how many people saw/cared, though.
99: Went to a movie theater: Not too long ago.
98: Took a vacation: I’d say going back to Moscow was a vacation.
97: Swam in a pool: Loooooong time ago.
96: Changed a diaper: I’ve never changed a diaper and plan to never have to.
95: Got my nails done: Never.
94: Went to a wedding: Last July. It was my own!
93: Broke a bone: Never.
92: Got a piercing: 2008, getting my industrial.
91: Broke the law: I jaywalk like a madman.
90: Texted: Today.
[ MISC ]
89: Who makes you laugh the most: My mom’s pretty funny.
88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: Nate. Jazzy. Calgary.
87: The last movie I saw: Hahaha can’t remember.
86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: Seeing my mom in August!
85: The thing im not looking forward to: Pretty much everything else.
84: People call me: FART CANNON
83: The most difficult thing to do is: Trust the drivers around here. How many times have I almost gotten hit by a car while walking? Too many. Too many times.
82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Never.
81: My zodiac sign is: Aquarius.
80: The first person i talked to today was: Nate.
79: First time you had a crush: Fifth grade, though that whole thing was more than a crush.
76: Right now I am talking to: No one. It’s 4 AM.
75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I AM grown up! I teach stats. Or I did. I hope I still do.
74: I have/will get a job: I have a job. Or I did. I hope I still do.
73: Tomorrow: Is TIME FOR MOAR WALKING
72: Today: Was a day off from walking. 30 miles a day is hard, yo.
71: Next Summer: Will hopefully be similar to this summer. Wonderful job for the first half, walking ALL THE TIME for the second half.
70: Next Weekend: Is for walking.
69: I have these pets: A Jazzy.
68: The worst sound in the world: Babies/kids crying. I know that sound is supposed to be irritating to make a parent tend to the kid, but no. No. Throw me in the ocean.
67: The person that makes me cry the most is: Me. I’m a worthless bag of terribleness.
66: People that make you happy: Nate, my mom, my old band friends, my old roommates.
65: Last time I cried: Yesterday.
64: My friends are: Few and far between.
63: My computer is: My bro.
62: My School: I don’t go to school anymore, but I work at one!
61: My Car: No car for me.
60: I lose all respect for people who: Are mean/abusive to cats. Go fly into the sun.
59: The last movie I cried at was: Sunshine? Sunshine hurts my soul in the best way.
58: Your hair color is: Black.
57: TV shows you watch: Nothing consistently. I will binge watch Metalocalypse on my computer every once and a while, though.
56: Favorite web site: Certainly not that garbage blog, Eigenblogger! Who is the loser that runs that thing, anyway?
55: Your dream vacation: The Leibniz museum in Hanover. You could not get me to leave.
54: The worst pain I was ever in was: Appendicitis was pretty painful.
53: How do you like your steak cooked: Well done. Fight me, it’s a legit way to cook it. I’d rather not be eating blood, thanks.
52: My room is: Okay.
51: My favorite celebrity is: IT’S STILL LEIBNIZ!
50: Where would you like to be: Walking, haha.
49: Do you want children: GOD NO
48: Ever been in love: I’m in love right now!
47: Who’s your best friend: I don’t have one.
46: More guy friends or girl friends: Probably guy friends, though I don’t have many friends at all right now.
45: One thing that makes you feel great is: Walking!
44: One person that you wish you could see right now: My mom.
43: Do you have a 5 year plan: It’s hard to have a 5-year plan when your job is currently semester-to-semester, though I’d like to think that will change sometime soon.
42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: I did once. I have no idea what was on it now.
41: Have you pre-named your children: You mean the children that will never, ever be brought into existence? Yes. And part of the reason why I shouldn’t have children is because of the ridiculous names I’d give them.
40: Last person I got mad at: Myself.
39: I would like to move to: Bah. I wanna stay in Calgary.
38: I wish I was a professional: Leibniz researcher. That’s probably the only thing better than being a stats instructor for me.
[ My Favorites ]
37: Candy: Peanut M&Ms. Not even a contest.
36: Vehicle: Those Jeeps with the plastic backs.
35: President: MILLARD FILLMORE
34: State visited: California’s cool if you go to the right places (read: anywhere but San Francisco)
33: Cellphone provider: Meh.
32: Athlete: I don’t know if I have one. Evgeni Plushenko is a badass.
31: Actor: Tom Hanks?
30: Actress: I’m not sure. I always thought Michelle Trachtenberg was very cool and pretty.
29: Singer: I’m not sure.
28: Band: Probably Coldplay.
27: Clothing store: Does Goodwill count?
26: Grocery store: CANADIAN SUPERSTORE
25: TV show: Metalocalypse. I will always love Metalocalypse.
24: Movie: Sunshine.
23: Website: Wasn’t this already a question?
22: Animal: Cat.
21: Theme park: Is Silverwood a theme park?
20: Holiday: The most important holiday of all: Groundhog’s Day.
19: Sport to watch: Baseball.
18: Sport to play: I haven’t played sports in a long time.
17: Magazine: I used to read Time.
16: Book: The Caine Mutiny.
15: Day of the week: I like Tuesdays. I have no idea why.
14: Beach: Don’t have one.
13: Concert attended: The only one I’ve been to is OK Go, so…OK Go.
12: Thing to cook: My broccoli and penne thing I’ve been making for dinner since 2010.
11: Food: Anything plain.
10: Restaurant: Either Cougar Country or Mongolian BBQ.
9: Radio station: I always liked 106.3 in Moscow.
8: Yankee candle scent: Hah.
7: Perfume: HAH.
6: Flower: Sunflower? I dunno.
5: Color: Orange.
4: Talk show host: No idea.
3: Comedian: Brian Regan!
2: Dog breed: I’ve always liked golden retrievers.
1: did you answer all these truthfully ? WHO KNOWS?!?!?!
I am Walking Georg
Canadians, y’all need to get up off your butts.
I’m actually surprised the average daily step total was as high as 5,000 across the different countries, but that surprise might just be a product of the fact that I’ve just lived in the US and Canada, two of the “lower than average” step total countries.
There are flaws with the study, of course, in that it was a voluntary survey and relied on smartphone tracking rather than anything more controlled (and omitting any walking done when people weren’t carrying their smartphones), but still.
But I should shut up anyway; I’m an outlier.
YAY I DID IT
Did what? My 50-mile walk, that’s what! It took me 10:16 straight hours of walking, but it’s done.
Oh, and I totally didn’t go this route that I’d planned a while back. I just walked up and down the river path, up and down 17th, and then back home along 16th. Lots of back and forth. But it was better that way.
This was a pretty big deal for me. I wanted to prove to myself that I could walk 50 miles in a day, and I can.
Coolio.
STUPID FREAKING SUMMER RAIN, MAN
I grew up in Moscow, where summers are dry. I don’t like this wet summer nonsense.
Like…it’s not as if I haven’t walked in the rain before. It sucks but it’s manageable. But it was seriously raining this morning, so I took the day off.
Which I shouldn’t have, because the rain cleared up around 1 PM.
But leaving for a 30-mile walk at 1 PM means that I wouldn’t be home until like 7 PM at the earliest.
Which I didn’t want to do.
So BLAH.
Sorry, I’m in a bad mood.
This is my life now
My existence right now:
- 5:00 AM: get up, get dressed, and head out for a 30-mile walk
- 9:00 AM: stop in the bathroom by the walking path to put on sunscreen, since the sun is finally high enough in the sky to burn me
- 11:30 AM: walk done! Arrive at Westbrook Mall. Shop if necessary
- 12:00 PM: Catch the bus back home
- 12:30 PM: Crash on the bed with Jazzy for a few hours
- 3:00 PM – 12:00 AM: Do non-walking stuff
- 12:30 AM: Make dinner (sometimes)
- 3:00 AM: Crash on the couch for a few hours before getting up to walk
Rinse, repeat.
It’s actually kind of fun. I’m pretty proud of the fact that I can walk 30 miles a day.
TOO BEAUTIFUL
Everyone knows that O Magnum Mysterium is one of my favorite songs, right? Well, have a ridiculously good rendition of it:
Those boys (and adults) are phenomenal singers.
Watching/listening to this makes me want to go back to church. But then I remember that no church I have ever gone to looks/sounds like this. Plus, after the singing, you get church. So.
Sinister 7
WOAH WHAT IS THIS
For anyone who doesn’t want to click on the link (for whatever the hell reason?), the Sinister 7 is a 100-mile race through the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. There are seven sections/stages and you get 30 hours to complete it.
I wonder if I could walk that far in 30 hours. Or more specifically, I wonder if I could walk that far on uneven, rough terrain in 30 hours.
It’s an interesting idea. MAYBE I’LL TRY IT NEXT YEAR WHY NOT
PSA:
Don’t ever let your lips get sunburned. It is a very unpleasant experience.
Sunburns in general are unpleasant, of course, but sunburnt lips are a bit of a different story. They feel like they’re just chapped, but lip balm/Chapstick/Vaseline does not help with the feeling. They still feel super chapped and dry.
Also, if they’re sunburnt badly enough, they start to flake and peel, which is not only super unattractive but super painful.
So yeah. Put on lip balm with some SPF before doing outdoor nonsense (such as walking in the sun for six hours).
Shake shake shake…shake shake shake…shake Montana…shake Montana!
Holy crap, we felt that Montana earthquake way up here!
Well, it sounds like some of us did, at least, according to r/Calgary.
I felt it.
I was sitting at my desk when I felt this very faint little tremble. At first I thought it was just the people downstairs and their freakishly loud/vibrating bathroom fan. Or a large truck in the parking lot. But the shaking was a little bit different than anything I’d felt before. I also noticed that the floor lamp next to the desk swayed ever so slightly for a few seconds.
I thought it felt like an earthquake tremor, even though I’d never felt one before.
But I didn’t think of it being from an earthquake so far away. In fact, I just Googled “Calgary earthquake” and “Alberta earthquake” about 10 minutes after it stopped to see if there had been any reports of a local earthquake.
Then I checked Facebook a few minutes later and noticed that one of my Moscow friends posted about feeling a tremor around that same time as well, which seemed really weird to me until I learned there was actually that big earthquake in Montana.
Strange.
First time feeling earthquake tremors!
Dear Knee:
I have given you time—multiple months, in fact—to let you calm down and heal from whatever damage I did to you when I did those two half-marathons back to back.
If you do, in fact, have runner’s knee, then the rest from running should have helped.
So tell me, knee o’ mine, why you decided not to get any better and instead start causing pain about 5 km into a very nice, relaxing run this afternoon?
Why you gotta be like that, knee? Why you gotta be a pain when all I want is to give you fun exercise?
I.
JUST.
WANT.
TO .
RUN.
WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?????
At least walking doesn’t hurt. I’d be screwed if walking hurt.
HAPPY ‘MURICA DAY!
You know, say what you want about the United States, but its patriotic music is the best.
American Patrol by Frank W. Meacham
El Capitan by John Philip Sousa
The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
The Star Spangled Banner performed by Whitney Houston
YAY USA!
Act
‘Sup, my dudes?
So for whatever the hell reason, I was thinking about the movie Sister Act this afternoon. My mom and I had it on VHS.
And thanks to YouTube, I can relive my absolute favorite part of the movie.
Loved it then. Love it now.
IT LIIIIIIIIVES!
Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s been like 40 decades since I last posted.
I’M SORRY. Life happened.
I’ll try to be better, I promise.
The upside is that if you end up having nothing to do in the next few weeks, you can spend your time reading up on how my life’s been going. Because there’s nothing more exciting than that, right?
Right.
For those of you who don’t give enough of a crap to read each and every single one of the 282 (!!!!!) new blogs, I don’t blame you. Here’s a summary:
- Walking
- Teaching
- More teaching
- Unrelenting and unexplainable sadness
- Lots of walking
- A few really good songs
- More walking
- More teaching
- MOAR SADNESS
Exciting, huh?
There, I just saved you like an hour.
Now I’m off to disappear for another half of a year (hopefully I’m just kidding.)
Edit: SORRY I FORGOT HERE HAVE SIX OF THEM
LEIBNIZ DAY 2017
IT’S LEIBNIZ DAY!!
YAY!!
It’s also Canada’s 150th birthday, but Leibniz day takes precedence for me. The guy invented calculus, yo. Would Canada even exist without calculus?
I GUESS WE’LL NEVER KNOW, WILL WE
(Sorry, I’m hyper.)
I also did a 30-mile walk this afternoon/evening. It took me 6 hours and 18 minutes, but I kept a pace of 4.77 MPH despite it being obscenely hot and then obscenely thunderstormy. My feet/legs didn’t feel any worse than they do after a typical 15-mile walk, so hey, that’s cool. I’mma try it again on Monday.
(I spent most of my walk thinking about Leibniz, not gonna lie.)
Mileage Update: Halfway Point
If I had walked 15 miles a day six days a week (as was my goal at the beginning of the year), my current mileage should be: 2,340
What my current mileage actually is: 2,433.19
Nice? But 90 miles a week won’t get me to 5,000 miles for the year!
To be on pace for the 5,000 miles, my current mileage should be: 2,500 (duh)
So I’m a little behind.
TO BE FAIR, I’ve had to take quite a few days off from walking entirely in order to get all my work done for teaching this semester. And since I don’t have anything else to do in July*, I’m going to try to not only make up the difference in miles but try to get ahead of pace.
So yeah. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it!
*“Get a job, you lazy bum,” you say? Well, I technically got paid for a whole summer’s worth of work teaching during spring. Plus, I’m still holding out and hoping that I’ll get another class to teach in the fall (pleasepleasepleaseplease). PLUS, I’m going to Moscow in August and then on a week-long cruise with Nate, and I don’t know if any job would be willing to give me that much time off right off the bat. So for now, I’m going to take advantage of the awesome opportunity I have to spend a whole month walking to my heart’s content. How many people get to do that?
Woah
Good lord, OneRepublic. Super powerful lyric video and song.
GOBBLES WOBBLE BUT THEY DON’T FALL DOWN!?!?!?!
I’m probably more stressed about tomorrow’s than some of my students are. I’m worried something’s going to go wrong, because that’s been the defining characteristic of this semester so far.
Sorry for the crappy blogs. Been really busy/stressed/nervous/overwhelmed.
*internal screaming*
Because I have nowhere to go to do any external screaming without getting weird looks/making a scene/getting the cops called on me.
But *internal screaming* is to the max.
Tubular Bells
Today’s post is another one of those “why have I never shared this with you people?” posts. Ready?
So when I was a kid/tween/teen, I went to Linda Canary’s art camp during the summer. Art camp was two weeks of artistic freedom and bliss—it involved everything from clay to oil pastels to soapstone carving to batiking to plaster mask making. It also involved a lot of shenanigans in tree houses and in Paradise Creek.
I’ve talked about all that before. But anyway.
Linda was really good with kids and gave the camp a fairly loose structure. However, the one thing that we were “required” to make every day was a mandala.
For 20 minutes or so, we would go in the art studio and make mandalas based on whatever mental image or journey Linda would guide us on. During this time of quiet (it really was the only quiet part of the day, haha), Linda would play music over the stereo. Lots of Enya, lots of Deep Forest, lots of instrumental music.
One song she played a few times for us was called Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. It’s from 1973 and is nearly an hour long song filled with a ton of instruments and interesting musical transitions. Give it a listen. It’s quite awesome.
Yes, the intro part was used in the Exorcist. The rest is so much better.
CAT CAFÉ
So Calgary’s first cat café is opening this weekend.
Two things that they’re doing that I really like:
- They’re working with the MEOW Foundation, which means that all the cats in the café are adoptable!
- The cats are sanctioned off in their own special room, apart from the café itself. I was originally worried that the cats might be in the actual café and thus would have plenty of chances to escape (onto a pretty busy street) as people entered/exited the building. But nope! Safe cat room makes things better. AND you need to make an appointment to visit the cat room portion of the café, meaning that the cats won’t be overwhelmed with too many people at a time.
Hopefully Nate and I can go there someday (and order something non-coffee from the menu, haha), though they’re already quite booked into the future.
WOO CATS!
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