Friday, July 21, 2006

Goodyear…Try Good-thing!

So I go out to the car yesterday morning and find this:

Flat tire. But the good thing? It’s only flat on the bottom! But unfortunately I don’t know how to fix a flat that’s only flat at the bottom.

Anyway, the good folks at Utah Valley Tire are geniuses at this sort of thing.

And, either because I bought the tires there or because they are Goodyear tires and have some kind of warranty:

NO CHARGE!

Bravo for life’s little victories.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

And I Rannnnn

And I rannnnn/I ran so far away/I just ran/I ran all night and day/I couldn’t get away — Flock of Seagulls

Reha and I have undertaken the rather momentous journey of running a marathon. Now for you regular readers, this is old hat. I threaten to run a marathon just about every other day. But this time we are serious and are a hair or two short of halfway trained. (We did a ten mile run last Saturday, and niether one of us collapsed/puked/fell over/died. It was a Christmas miracle in July).

We have signed on with Team in Training and it’s pretty fun. Well, as fun as it can be to sweat profusely in front of semi-strangers while wearing shorts that show off your pasty white thighs. It’s a great cause that we wholeheartedly support and plus they make a tasty Gatorade mix on long run Saturdays. I’ll have more on this later, but if you’d like to contribute, please get thee here. Basically, we have signed up to fundraise money and in exchange we get free Gatorade and training. Sounds like a great deal, huh?! Well, trust me, it is. Like I said, more on that later.

What I really wanted to do was share with you my perfectly crafted Running Playlist. It’s all hooked in on my iPod Shuffle. 3.9 hours of pure inspiration. As usual, click on the thumbnail and it gets bigger.

A few explanations:

The iPod Shuffle is named “RUN LIKE HELL” which will embarass my mother and I’m likely to get a phone call from her telling me to re-name the thing. Mom doesn’t like it when I swear and even though I’m turning 40 next year, she’s always going to tell me when I’ve done something “inappropriate,” bless her Southern, proper heart.

Most of the songs either have something to do with running, either in the title or buried somewhere in the lyrics.

Hey Ya! would be “outtathere” since it’s like, so very 2003, and it kind of drives me nuts to listen to it these days, but the beat happens to match my footfalls EXACTLY. So it stays.

I know, I know, there’s a lot of Rush there. But I’m a dork, OK. Plus, how can you run a marathon and not include Marathon by Rush?

Yellow Ledbetter is only there because Reha borrows the iPod every now and then. Good song, but weird to run to. But the woman is still obsessed with the song.

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson. Don’t give me a hard time about that one. It’s from before he went completely off the deep end, OK? Plus, it’s just a great song. All should bow before Quincy Jones, by the way.

Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd. Seems obvious. It was either that or “Comfortably Numb” and that probably wouldn’t do, if you think about it.

Kill Your Television by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin is a great running song for me. As is Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones.

Bad by U2 is a great song, period. Kind of sucky for running, frankly, but once it crescendos up 3/4 of the way through, it’s amazing.

Lust for Life by Iggy Pop. All I have to do is think about him being a freaky maniac on stage and all that energy just kind of flows into me. Yeah, I know that’s goofy and New Age-y, but I swear, it’s true.

Hammer and a Nail by The Indigo Girls. Again, this one is there for Reha, bless her granola eating, femi-nazi lovin’ heart. It’s actually a pretty decent song to run to.

Fight the Power by Public Enemy. Oh yes. It’s The Man keeping us down, my brothers and sistahs.

Anyway, I’ll have more on the Team in Training thing later and how you can help. Mostly you can help by throwing some money in my outstretched tin cup. But if you have great workout/running songs, please let me know! Anything up tempo that doesn’t have a boy band driving it is probably OK. And no Country. Or Western. (You know the joke, “There’s two kinds of music I like, sonny. Country. And Western").

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Sadly, I Have No Hair So No One Does My Hair

Carrie is going to camp this week, so Reha did her hair in braids. I guess so she wouldn’t have to wash it in the river/creek/COLD body of water that runs by the campground. I think she’s just trying out for a re-make of 10.

And here we have photographic proof that I’m not the one who does Ellis’ hair. Ever. I can do a pony tail in a pinch, but anything more complicated than a simple rubber band at the back of the head is too much for my feeble brain and fat fingers.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Separated at Birth?

Just noticed this.

I think the folks who re-designed the logo for the St. George Marathon were channeling or are fans of Joy Division.

Compare and contrast:

OK, on second thought, maybe not, they are totally different. Fourth cousins at best. But can we all just agree that the St. George Marathon logo is kinda awful? And the “Love will tear us apart” is the best song, like EVAR?!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Basically a Random Photo Post

I love that this guy is a ex-Marine who likes to “Hang Loose.” And that the likely intense exerience of being a Marine (and probably having served recently, given his age), doesn’t stop him from being laid back. It’s not “Semper Fi” with this guy, it’s “Semper Maholo.” Shot taken from inside my car and through my VERY dirty windshield.

I was in the other room when it happened, so I didn’t see it. But I did hear the result. One VERY unhappy three year old, slathered in mayo.

I’m not sure if she was more upset that she dumped it all over the floor or that she also got it on her feet. Our bathtub still seems like a deli, by the way.

We took a hike up to Albion Basin (it’s in the Alta Ski Resort Area on the Fourth of July. We were looking for the incredible display of wildflowers nature puts on every year there, but we were too early. This lake is an easy hike and for some reason it’s called “Cecret Lake.” We don’t know why, but it’s awfully pretty there.

That’s Jonah and his friend Cayla scrambling around. One thing that’s incredibly cool is how quiet and peaceful this place is. Unless, of course, you happen to have a van full of kids screaming and yelling as they scramble over the rocks and streams.

See, look, Lucas, having a moment of serenity. Awwwww. Was it wrong that I pushed him in the lake shortly after taking this? Maybe. I don’t know. But I probably shouldn’t have yelled at him for getting the car seats wet, when technically it’s my fault he was wet.

Everything was just delightful until it began to HAIL. Only pea-sized hail, but it still stung like crazy. Plus we all got soaked. And cold. And miserable. Many people were crying by the time we got back to the car. Typical Deal Family outing, I’d say.

 

Novus

Proximus

 

Favorite Entries

If you are new around here, the following entries have been reasonably well received. You might want to peruse these.

• Partners
• Correspondence
• Help Wanted
• From the Office of Mis-directed Email
• A Word from the Small Person in the House
• RNT Product Review: Chocolate Mix Skittles Left Me Sterile!
• Jon’s Report Card circa… A Long Time Ago
• Dear Gratuitously Naked Conversationalist at the Gym:
• A Peek Inside the Writer’s Guild and Producers’ Negotiations
• We Regret the Error
• Letters from a Homeowner to His General Contractor
• What I Did There
• Hermaphrodite Administrative Assistants and Receptionists Need Not Apply
• Giving Me an IM Account Was Obviously a Huge Mistake
• Official Ransom Note Typography Vista vs. Mac OS X Shootout
• I Need a Real Hobby
• Beat Down
• Big Fat Lies
• True Love
• Now MY Ovaries Hurt
• Don’t Get Her Started
• Disturbing Trend
• Had to do it
• Mooshy stuff
• Ransom Note Typography End User License Agreement “EULA”
• Diva-licious!
• Just so we’re clear
• PETA may have a point

Holy Crap! Look at all this STUFF down here. It's awesome!

Really, I'm glad you made it down here. Almost no one ever comes down here. I'm like in a freaking dungeon down here. I get lonely. But not you. YOU made it all the way to the end of the page. For this I think I've a little crush on you. I don't know, is "love" to strong a word to use in this situation? Well, if it's not "love," then it's very strong "like." I'm totally in like with you for coming down here. You are awesome. Please love me back! I know, I know, I shouldn't be all needy, it's not attractive at all, but you don't know how it is to be stuck down here. Who scrolls all the way to the end of a page anymore these days? Anyway, thanks for shedding some light down here in the depths. I appreciate it. Shoot me an email and I'll send you a dollar, OK?

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