Really awesome quotes about running

I found this blog today - check it out for really awesome motivational quotes (most specifically related to running).

This was my favorite:
“Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” – African Proverb

I think I'm the lion.

Lyrics I'm liking lately

Just wanted to share with you:
(from "Forever" by Drake, Kanye, Eminem, etc...)

"last name Ever, first name Greatest,
Like a sprained ankle, boy I ain't nothin' to play with"

"life is such a roller coaster, then it drops
but what should I scream for? this is my theme park"

"he's wondering if he should spit this slow,
fuck no, go for broke"

and i know people think it's weird that i listen to so much hip-hop/rap, but i just love the lyrics. i think rappers are better lyricists than other types of musicians (except maybe John Mayer) - I feel like people in other genres of music rely too much on their melodies and don't worry about what their music is actually saying. and i find the messages/themes in rap to be much more motivational than those in other types of music. honestly, a lot of the time, i really don't want to hear about other people being in love. it just makes me want to punch someone or vomit.

yep, happy monday!

So that we can never race "In Memory of" again.

If you don't like it when I get all soap-boxy and emotional and passionate about things, this probably isn't going to be the post for you. Feel free to check back another time.

So after I did the Columbus half marathon on May 1st (and felt like ass) I said I was going to stop racing for a while.

Then I didn't.

I found out the Race for the Cure was on May 15th downtown and I had to do it. I just think it's such an important race, such an important cause - and I knew it would be a great race to experience.

My friend Katie's mother Mary passed away from breast cancer in September of 2001. I ran in memory of her, and when I wrote her name on the paper that I pinned to the back of my shirt, I just felt so...shattered by the whole thing. I don't know anything about cancer research...but I have hope that we're going to see a cure in our lifetime.

I know I've mentioned this before, but my mom had ovarian cancer when I was in high school, and my aunt had breast cancer. They both survived (thank God) - but it means that the chances of me getting either breast or ovarian cancer (or both, really) are greater than those of the average woman. And that scares the hell out of me. But being downtown yesterday with 50,000 other people rallying to support research to find the cure for breast cancer - there was just so much hope and so much joy and spirit there.

Right before they started the race, two trolleys full of survivors drove through the group of participants who had lined up and waved out the windows at everyone. I cried. I kept thinking to myself yesterday, did I want to get up at 6:30 and drive downtown to run 3.1 miles? No. But do I want to wake up in 20 years and have breast cancer without a cure? Hell no. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to be able to do things like that now - I have to do them. There's no other choice.

The race started and everyone took off - there were bands every half mile and it was just such a celebration of survivors more than anything else, and celebration of the hope that we're going to find a cure. One of the bands was a drum line - a bunch of kids from a local high school - and they were so badass. Then - in the last 1/2 mile of the race - two straight city blocks were lined with big tough dudes and their motorcycles, revving the engines. It was. So. Cool. I high fived five of the guys.

I've done four races in the last 3 months and - even counting the two half marathons - this was the most emotional and inspiring. It just left me wanting to go attack life.

As for what attacking life entails, I'm not quite sure yet. But stay tuned. I'm sure it'll be entertaining.

This is way less important than the general message of the race and the experience of the race itself, but I was also proud because I broke 30 minutes for my 5k time - which I know isn't a big deal for some people, but it was for me! I finished in 29:49 according to my sports watch. Official times yet to be posted.

Passionate diatribe over.

In general "Whatever, I do what I want" news:
I'm getting back into riding horses. I used to ride when I was little - a lot. Like, for years. I leased a horse for one summer and was basically a barn rat (when I wasn't being a pool rat). Always there. Hanging out with my horse. I probably didn't smell very good that summer. Anyway a few weeks ago I decided that I missed riding and I looked into local barns to see if I could start taking lessons again - really all I want is access to a horse. So I went for my first lesson back yesterday and it was really fun - it was a gorgeous day (thanks, Ohio for the top-down weather the past couple of days) and I rode a thoroughbred named Oliver. He had a bit of attitude - wasn't really all that into trotting and would stop to walk whenever he damn well pleased, but let's be real, I have a bit of attitude and like to do whatever I want too, so we got along well. We just did a bit of walking and trotting around the outdoor ring and I got my posting rhythm back. Next time, getting back into cantering...and maybe at some point I'll get back into jumping again. All I really want is access to the horse and the barn and a trail - I want to take a horse out once a week or so and just chill the eff out, get away from everything. So. That was cool. I'll take a picture of Oliver next week to show you (or you can see him here).

And I saw the Batmobile driving around Columbus twice yesterday. No joke. I was out in New Albany picking my friend Heather up to go downtown to dinner (we were looking for men. We failed.) and the freaking Batmobile drove by me at a stoplight. My phone was connected to the stereo so I couldn't whip it out and take a picture for evidence. Heather just laughed when I told her that I had seen the Batmobile outside her apartment, but THEN we were sitting at dinner downtown and IT DROVE BY AGAIN. I started screaming and pointing and waving my hands. After she finished having a heart attack Heather turned around and saw it outside. And I was validated. As to why the Batmobile is driving around Columbus...no idea (I just googled Columbus Batmobile and came up with nothing good). This is the version it looked like:


And I'm out.

I am such a proud mama

I was watching Modern Family the other night (as all awesome people do) and lo and behold, what was Haley wearing, but ONE OF MY SKIRTS! She was wearing our awesome printed underlayer denim skirt from Hollister! I was so proud!

I mean, granted, she was wearing it in an episode where she got sloppy drunk, but whatever. See below!!So much pride!

I know I complain about my job (a lot) but it is really satisfying when you see something that you worked really hard on looking cute on someone!

Another conversation between myself and Heather

So I have this totally blinged out case for my iPhone - the entire thing is covered in hot pink rhinestones. I love it. It's hilarious. Not many people get that it's meant to be ironic. But it is.

Anyway I dropped it yesterday and one of the corners of the case cracked off, so now it looks even trashier than it did in the first place, and I have to replace it.

So I went to www.blingblingcases.com (no, i'm not kidding) to look for a new phone cover...and then that led me to www.letscrystalit.com where I could DESIGN MY OWN PHONE COVER. MADE OF CRYSTALS.

So then this happened (via e-mail):
heather: your case should be "B$"...and then have them draw an accurate representation of your face underneath.

me:...in crystal. i'd be winking.

heather: obvi. and there should be a twinkle in your eye (the open one). although that would be hard to represent since your entire face would be made out of crystals.

me: yeah, i mean there would be a twinkle in my FACE. my face would be one giant twinkle.

heather: you are a giant twinkle.

me: that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me

heather: it was supposed to be read as if it was shouted in an angry loud aggressive voice.

me: nope, that's not what happened.

end scene.

It was a Bridget Jones moment.

So I was e-mailing with my high school best friend yesterday and she recommended that I read this book that she was also reading - called In the Meantime by some lady whose name starts with an I. I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment.

So anyway after work yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble (let's be real, I was just looking for an excuse to drive around with the top down on a sunny day in the high 70s) and bought the book. Then I went to CPK and enjoyed dinner alone while reading the first few pages of the book.

And then I realized.

I am a 26 year old single woman who sits at restaurants eating dinner by herself reading self-help books about what you're to do "in the meantime" before you find true love.

And I burst out laughing. GAaaaaaaaaahhhhhHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!!!

In case you haven't noticed

...which I hope you haven't because it keeps me from looking like a giant idiot...

I have terrible taste in men. Like, awful. I'm just not attracted to good guys. When they're nice people and they treat me well and they show me normal amounts of affection, I get bored and tired of the whole thing and I treat them badly, eventually breaking things off with them in favor of finding the next distraction.

So I'm trying to retrain myself and change my taste and I was wondering - do you think that's possible? Can we CHANGE what we find attractive?

Then I thought about my eating habits - when I was younger I would eat Super Sized value meals at McDonald's (I'm not kidding), sweets all the time, drink at least 1 Coke every day (as Octavio would say, "full fat" Coke, not Diet Coke), and never really think about anything whole grain. All white bread & pasta, all the time. Occasionally I would eat a chicken breast, but even then, it was breaded and coated in butter. At the time, it didn't bother me, but now just thinking about ingesting that kind of crap literally makes me sick - just thinking about it.

As I've grown older and changed my habits, I've stopped eating that kind of stuff - and the thing is, I don't even want to eat it. I mean, sure, occasionally nothing will cure the itch like some McDonald's fries, but generally speaking, I crave veggies, whole grains, water, etc.

Do you think I can change my taste in men too, as all the crap I'm currently ingesting is making me sick?

And if so, HOW?

Food for thought. Pun intended.

Meet the new addition to the family.

When she's being classy she keeps her top on (that goes for me and the car):

But when it's party time she likes to go topless (that only goes for the car):


She says Meow, I am the Kitty. Purrrrrrrrrrrrr.:
Jiff was having a really hard time for the past year and in turn, was making ME have a really hard time. It was time for a change. Change is good. Even though I did cry for about half an hour when I said goodbye to Jiff (yes, I said goodbye to her, alone, in the parking lot at the dealership) and I'm pretty sure everyone at the dealership thought I was nuts. Whatever, I do what I want.

So the new car's first name is Murphy because when I was crying about saying goodbye to Jiff, my oh-so-sensitive father said "Yeah, it's an emotional goodbye, but not as emotional as saying goodbye to Murphy." and I was like, "oh, yes, thanks Dad, I'm already upset, so why don't you remind me that you put my dog to sleep?" Great timing.

So anyway since the new babe is black and Murph was black, her first name is Murphy. Now, the options for her last name are:
Thundercat (Inspired by "Shake Ya Tailfeather" -- "They be like he the man when I'm really a Thundercat")
Optimus Prime (since she's a Transformer. I went for Bumblebee first but she doesn't have any yellow in her. And Prime is more badass).

Any other suggestions? I know she's a girl but I don't think my name is really all that girly so hers doesn't need to be either. So far her theme lyric is "My chick bad, my chick hood, my chick do stuff that your chick wish she could."

And anytime you hear this, just think of me:
"My whips push button, no car keys man
Pop the top like a sardine can
Wrist stay flooded like New Orleans man (yeah i don't really know what that means, but whatever, i'm still gangsta)
Lebron can't stop how I be ballin' man"

More quotes

because apparently I don't feel like writing anything original lately. whatever, get psyched.

"Success isn't permanent and failure isn't fatal." Mike Ditka

"Show me a man who never failed and I'll show you a man who never tried anything hard enough." Allen Waimsley

"If not you, who? If not now, when?" Garry Herbert

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." Lance Armstrong

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." Vince Lombardi

"I've always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn't have a chance to win." Arnold Palmer

"I never thought about losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. We all have to take defeats in life." Muhammad Ali

"The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching." Anson Dorrance