Exaugural Post

Exactly six years ago today, I sat at a small white table in a room with bamboo floors and tapped out a few lines.  I was likely still in a euphoric state from a GBC book club discussion with no inclination that I would still manage a few vignettes here and there in 2015.

Today, as I sit outdoors at a small black table at a coffee shop on the West Coast, I'm reflecting on my Germantown years and am grateful for the many books discussed and glasses of reading water shared over novels, nuisances, and noteworthy news.  The friendships solidified over healthy plot twist debates and quiet whispers of "I didn't finish the book, did you?" are as treasured as any first edition.

Thanks for peeking in from time to time to give comments or share a laugh.  It's been a fun ride.

6 Days Back. 6 Days Forward.

Race

Race

Rest

Tough

Tender 

Test

Hill

Ridge

Dew

Concrete

Beach

View

Pin the Tale

"Mapping Emotions in Victorian London" ranks near the top of recent internet finds.  This project is a child of the Stanford Literary Lab and used crowd-sourcing to give emotional context to varied passages citing London places.

Books + data + visualization = you could lose yourself for hours (well, not technically, since there's a map...but I think you get my point).

Mighty Pen

Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish made a number of the "Best of 2014" lists but I've only discovered it this morning via a news peruse as Mr. Lish has just won the 2015 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.  The Guardian has a nice write-up as well for this debut novel.  It looks like a good title for your summer reading list.

Sky in Spring

Before sunrise, glimpse of lunar eclipse.
Post sunset, a long look at the ISS.

Hope you got to enjoy your space this Saturday.

Women, Grammar, Brothers, and Commas

I loved everything about this NYT piece by Sarah Lyall.*  Mary Norris' Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen will need to find a place beside some of the other unique grammar titles on my shelf after its release next Monday.

Last night during dinner conversation, I asked a friend if she was the "oldest child".  She responded that indeed she was the "eldest child" (with slight emphasis on the adjective) of her family.

I wonder what Ms. Norris would have to say about that.

*especially the bit about pet peeves

Type A, Much?

I don't know when I became such a fan of letterpress, but I can't imagine life now with out it.  Bison Bookbinding (distributed via Parnassas) is awesome and tonight in perusing their site I found this gem and I'm even more im-"pressed".  Bison, I didn't know we shared a mantra.  Cheers!

Be a Part of It

Happy Saturday to our half-marathoners, yogis, wedding attendants, and readers! Hope you have a wonderful day!   I plan to see a lady about a little Liberty.

Lolly Lolly Lolly, Get your Adverb Here

Discovery of this article literally figuratively made my day.

'Literally' figuratively destroyed by program to remove the word's misuse: A new browser plug-in displays all instances of the much-abused adverb as its traditional opposite. It's a figurative blast via The Guardian

Download Me

Queue for a Read

I'm starting to build my book list for spring and need to catch up on the GBC reads in addition to a few that I've been gifted.  Here's the latest queue in case you've missed it:

APR: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron

MAY: Your choice of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen or Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James

JUN: The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida (translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell)

JUL: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

AUG: The Goldfinch (start early, it's a big book!) by Donna Tartt

Have a great week!

A Running Joke

3 weekends, 4 races, 1 photo

Last year I said I would never again run two consecutive half-marathons.  It was tiring, it was mentally draining and I didn't have much fun.  Also, it was tiring.  (That point needed a second mentioning.)  I ran one more race after the last half (a hot 10k) and then tried my legs at water-skiing only to find that after a few times up, my legs still weren't warmed up enough for a side split.  

[Pause for physical therapy]

When I started running again, I found myself surrounded by the most amazing group of people who didn't care how long it took me to run a mile or four.  They knew my emergency contacts and talked me through breathing exercises as I began like I did in 2006, one step at a time barely moving.  

[Winter interlude and a crazy girls' trip with a half marathon]

I was running and laughing.  I found that time wasn't the focus, it was the friendships.  Slowly over the odd beer and training runs, I found my March and April heavily scheduled and I spent more time at home, running with people I loved and admired.  I had already selected my goal race, but under the influence of reading water and friends who are Iron Athletes, I signed up for a few more races.  "Training runs" they were called. 

I ran the first "training run" in the pouring rain side by side with a pacer so I wouldn't go out too fast.  With a mile to go, I felt like I had a little left so I ran ahead and when I had crossed the finished line, I saw that I had beat my best time (PR) by one minute.  I had not set out to do this but I suppose the lure of getting rid of the soaking wet shoes was too great.  

I ran my HILLY goal race with the sole aim of beating my 2013 time.  I did this by nearly five minutes and shaved another minute off the previous weekend.  With the help of one of my dear friends pacing me, I have a new PR.

So this weekend's agenda was back to back races for a 32.6 mile challenge.  Saturday morning I was excited but Saturday afternoon I did reflect that racing decisions made over reading water are perhaps not the most sound idea. I finished both, pacing a friend yesterday to her first half in a year, and scoring a rather nice beer stein for the accomplishment of dual racing.

This morning, I'm still riding a little runner's high.  I don't feel terribly bad, just extremely thirsty, after the three week adventure.

I'm not a "race report" kind of girl, but my point, in writing this, is "never say never" kids.  

You are stronger (and crazier) than you think you are.

Running Down a Dream II

It's a double race weekend for me which means there is a fair amount of napping and hydrating today before the final morning jog tomorrow.  [Feet on a pillow has never felt so good and I want to hug the person who invented compression sleeves.]

Tomorrow afternoon I'll have a date with a book, some reading water and a cheeseburger.  See also: long nap.

Hope your weekend is a great one!

Seize the Today

Happy Friday from the Poetry Foundation and Billy Collins:


Today
Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

Bottle of Red, A Bottle of White

It was a treat to spend part of Saturday sharing glasses of reading water with GBC P@1ge and GBC K@y.  A planned outing and an impromptu meeting made me feel just as home as the song with a different state in its name that European strangers frequently try to sing to me while traveling.  (Who knew Lynard Skynyrd had such an international following?)

This week has been mainly talking about books but not reading, eating great food but not sleeping, running lots of miles but not swimming,

Here's to planning the next adventures while not losing the present.

Love in a (Grain) Elevator

Most especially if you are from a small place whose name makes use of the word "Shed", "Duck", or any other four letter noun followed by either "town", "ton" or "ville", take a few minutes and read this NYT book review on Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolaus Butler.  Jonathan Evison and the accompanying video that is absolutely worth three minutes three seconds of your life will get you to add this title to your reading list.  Wisconsin gets a special nod.

Piping Hot

A few weeks ago, I was lost in Space (Center).  Hope you find yourself lost (in a good way) this weekend.

"Like most astronauts, I'm pretty sure that I can deal with what life throws at me because I've thought about what to do if things go wrong, as well as right. That's the power of negative thinking.”

Chris Hadfield, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

Space and Rockets
March 2014

Primed for Amazon

Sunday evening post-ride, post reading water, and post hop scotch [who knew a three year old and a centipede chalk drawing could bring on the wrath of the knees and quads?], I was ready to settle into the next read (with elevated feet).  I grabbed the first book on the shelf at arm's height (see previous comment regarding knees) that I had not tackled and now I'm a monstrous ten pages into State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.  I did not remember that I had an autographed first edition and was pleasantly surprised to see Ms. Patchett's neat script.

It is so nice to hold a book again after the last few e-reads.

Oh Oh, It's Magic

Last Thursday I finally managed to finish Carter Beats the Devil.  I was exhausted and had planned to take a nap but the last few pages were too tempting to leave another day.  It's on my highly recommend list as a fun read.

I'm not sure what's next on my list.  I had a slight fever while traveling Sunday so I wasn't up for another literary adventure just yet.

My weekend was filled with long walks (and active meditation).  An NPR blogger, Adam Frank, was on a similar vein though our paths were about 8.2 million people apart.  He offers "How to Take a Walk in the Woods."  I can offer "How to walk from Central Park to the Empire State Building".

Chance to be a NoMad

It's been a bit busy with work this week but I did manage to take a late walk

Times Square via iPhone
April 2013

and visit a library. 

Walk This Way

I've been daydreaming of my next long holiday.  Colleagues and friends who know I like to travel have been asking me "where will you go this year?"  I haven't quite sorted the answer, but I know I'll take a long walk.

The NY Times features Europe, in 9 Walks.  I've been fortunate enough to manage two of them; perhaps one day, I'll promenade through the rest.