Thinking outloud

So I'm kind of bored - shouldn't be, it's quarter end so lots of busyness at work, couple of staff "challenges", personal trainer twice a week, acupuncture once a week, running running running AND organizing NZ adventures for May.....okay bored is an overstatement, but I have to justify my current little obsession - noticing random, largely irrelevant factoids.  This weeks batch:

• President Obama used 22 pens to sign the health care reform bill into law. They are being given as gifts to some special folks who helped get the bill passed
• Oscar winners live, on average, 4 years longer than nominees who don't win.  Must be true the NY Times said so
• Muscle is not heavier than fat, it's all about density and volume (well maybe everyone knew this but I had in my mind muscle weighs more than fat, nope, wrong and duh, when I think about it of course it's wrong a pound of fat = a pound of muscle, cos it's all a pound - I hate it when I am stupid)
• The September 2007 issue of Vogue weighed a record breaking 5+lbs and was 840 pages.  I know this because I watched The September Issue which documented the making of the magazine by following editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (also known as Nuclear Wintour, because she is so cold and distant with people.....my 5th factoid)

While I fear that sharing this doesn't make me more interesting to anyone else it does, in reality, keep me hugely entertained and The September Issue was worth watching!

My year of books....

This year I decided that if someone recommended a book and it sounded okay I would read it.....it's leading me down some very interesting pathes.  One of the joys of the Kindle is that you can download a sample chapter, so when someone recommends a book I can, if it's available electronically, at least check it out.
This has lead me to some interesting books.  The Professor and Other Writings is a series of essays from a Stanford University Professor described as a "cultural scholar and essayist".  Not at all sure what that means but the essays themselves are very entertaining.  Given they are written in biography form she's more than willing to share details of her life.  Best of all (and most necessary) the Kindle has a cool function where I can look up all those words I don't understand.....given she teaches 18th Century English Literature this function comes in handy every other page!
One of the best reads so far has to be Don't Stop the Carnival. Written in 1965  "It's the story of Norman Paperman, a New York press agent who, facing the onset of middle age, runs away to a Caribbean island to reinvetn himself as a hotel keeper".  It sounds awful doesn't it?  It wasn't it was a great read and very well written.
I succumbed to the Twilight Saga too. Vampires are not usually my thing but I have and am really enjoying it.  It's really a love story focused on human's, vampires and warewolves.  Nice easy, entertaining read.
Here's another one I really enjoyed - Long Way Down.  It's about two guys motorcycling from Scotland to South Africa (follows on from the movie Long Way Round).  It's a fab story about perservarance and getting outside your comfort zone.
My heaviest tombe to date has to be Cultural Amnesia it's written by Clive James.  It's a compendium of 110 biographical essays of a whole bunch of different people (artists, politicians and intellectuals). This one I dip in and out of - it's a fascinating read.
The next two I picked up last year but are so worth mentioning.
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise is a great read.  It's written by a woman who used to be the NY Times food critic.  It tells the story of how she used to dress in disguise and go out to various restaurants, with varying results, depending on how she looked.  I loved the way she describes some of the food as well.
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an all Night Runner - this, folks was the inspiration to run a marathon.  I'll say no more, check it out.
So there you have it, some proof that I do more than work, run and go to the gym!

Frog Fail

Not something you see everyday.

Old Friends and Visiting NZ

Rachel has been here for a week and it's been a lovely visit. In an unexpected turn of events it just so happened that while here she has had her 40th birthday! Low key affair with Rachel, Michelle and I having dinner at mine (ummm Rachel cooked, was that a bad thing?). Best of all Michelle organized the famous Princess Cake, which proved to be a hit. Over the week we have had lots of laughs and it's been a remarkably easy time. I've still had to go to work and did see Case and my acupuncturists (well crossing the finish line in NY won't happen just because I want it to.....and Rachel was very gracious about it, given we haven't had a lot of time together).

I did manage to, for the first time, schmack myself up in training. I missed the box when I went to do a box jump and gave myself a nasty shin scrap.....ow ow ow. Of course it was at the beginning of the session so I sucked it up and told Case we could keep going (it was my second jump and I had another three sets of 25 to go - no point dwelling on it, job to be done). Best of all was coming home and Rachel having some magic gel to put on it - my personal bathroom cabinet is a little light on these things!
Last week I decided I needed a break and, given how the work front is going, think that if I am going to visit in NZ it needs to be sooner rather than later. I'm heading back for 2.5 weeks in May. Auckland and Wellington of course and four days in Queenstown. Finally going to visit Karen and Brice's - really looking forward to that as I want to bungee off the platform at the top of the gondola. It would also be nice if it didn't rain the entire time I was in NZ (unlike last year) so May seems a good time. Honestly I am so tired I'd love to have a break in April but I have the Nashville half marathon on the 23rd. I really am looking forward to that!!!!
Despite our collective best efforts and the release having gone remarkably well, we are still in the final stages so I am co-ordinating daily messages.....and was a little startled to be reminded that the distribution includes a number of very senior executives, so the fact that I am over it shouldn't be confused with the visibility the messages have.
On another note, may have found a prospective room mate when/if I make the move to San Francisco. Waiting for a few other things to fall into place but think my time in Santa Cruz is done. Nothing to happen in the next two months but could move July/August....so will patiently wait to see how things fall.

Voice is back, release is done and visitors

My voice arrived back on Sunday so my near silent vigil lasted two days....much to the delight of my work colleagues. It really was the oddest thing. It's hard enough to be understood at the best of times (what accent?) without the added complication of being the horse whisperer. The room service guy told me he thought I was playing a joke on him, most embarrassed when he delivered to the room and realized I really couldn't speak. I gave him a tip anyway, he wasn't rude so much as giggly on the phone! The release has gone fine, with a few odd moments. I'm over it though, been there, done it, got the medal etc etc etc. I did get to watch movies in the hotel, which was nice - small compensation for only getting two hours sleep. Jill did arrive into the office at 2am with coffee and a Hershey bar - would I usually eat a Hershey bar at 2am (or any other time for that matter) or have a very strong black coffee at that hour???? No. Did I? Hell yes....it was soooooo boring I had to fill the time, it's not like I could chat to anyone - my voice didn't start to come back until later in the day. Hershey's bar....I had eaters remorse.
This weekend Rachel Rose comes to visit! I haven't seen Rachel (beyond Skype) for maybe 7 years!!!! We were at University together and, well, have a history (I know Rachel reads the blog so shall say no more). Rachel's now a buddhist nun and, frankly, looks fabulous in her robes. I think there is a certain irony in my now having long hair while Rachel has none.... It will be lovely to see her and she knows Michelle as well (well at one point we were all at University together) so going to be quite the kiwi reunion. I still have to work, which is a bummer, but might see if I can swing an "at home" day so we can hang out together some (even if she is reading a book while I'm on a call!).

Speechless....literally

No voice......reduced to a whisper, the "almost cold" has taken the words right out of my mouth. I am sure it's a pleasure for some but a little awkward given I am in communications and working this weekend. Oh well, lesson in patience I guess......other people's.

Almost colds and working life

All this healthy living has resulted in the "almost" cold! Everyone around me has been crushed by this hideous cold that's been going around (and at least two got stomach flu). I'm so full of vitamin C and whatever mysteries lurk in the chinese herbs that I seem to have some low level cold that doesn't amount to anything beyond being tired and having a gravelly voice. Oh well, not complaining so much as explaining.
Big release is this weekend ..... I'm so bored with it all. Spent the last few days "explaining", "repeating" and "revisiting" what we have been doing for two years! Off to stay in San Jose for Saturday night. One of my peeps is going to come onsite with me for the 11pm - 10am shift. Wants to see how it all runs - it will be a moment of disillusionment (and all my secrets revealed) but she has promised to bring "real" coffee, as I'm refusing to drink the coloured water that is usually available.
Michelle has a new job in LA (yay Michelle!!!) and we've just been out having a little celebration. I am also thinking about moving into San Fran. Santa Cruz feels a little over for me - need to move on to the next thing. It's been lovely living here but it's not really my town. Mostly I will miss my rideshare, we've been commuting four days a week for two years now - hard to believe. I will also have to give up Case, but he has finally got into his nursing course, although doesn't start until January next year. Really I just think somethings are going to change, seems inevitable given how my life runs.