|
more articles like this
Stuck In The Middle With You
updated: Jul 07, 2012, 9:30 AM
By Nicole Buchanan Freire
Oh hello! Was last week's column a little weird for you? ME TOO.
My ideas for future columns are always rattling around in my brain, and I'm having a bit of trouble
pulling the thread of one and getting them started. Mostly because I am firmly stuck worrying at the
messy running problem I've created for myself.
I'm signed up for the 5K in Ventura next Saturday but my running schedule is about two weeks behind.
I'm stuck at the three minute running time and it is taking all my patience to maintain my frustration
into manageable levels. I need to learn how to breathe better too.
Have I reached the midpoint in this 'couch to 5K' plan? Is this where things can shift in a few more runs
and I'll be ahead of this current blockade? Where it seems enjoyable to have run and walked and gasped
for breath? Because those good running endorphins people talk about? I want mine!
Anyway, the point is, I'm nervous about running, it's hard, I feel stuck, and I could go on. But instead I'm
going to duck my head down and plow on through. I may not actually 'run' this 5K but I will certainly
show up and give it a shot. Even if that means I run for 3 minutes and walk for 5. The entire time.
I'll be wearing an Edhat t-shirt and looking vaguely distressed. Get yourself an edhat t-shirt too. That
way we can all look out for each other and maybe do some high fives at some point. Nobody is to be
shouting "WHOO HOO!" though, that is unpleasant for other people to hear.
Saturday, July 14 is the date. Be there or be square.
THE TIME I DISCOVERED BRAD ANDERSON
Last night I had the distinct pleasure of having my mind slightly blown. I got into one of those crazy
tunnels in the Internet that at every turn presented me with yet another shock of recognition. Other
people do this too, right? It went like so:
I'm reading movie reviews online.
I stumble across Entertainment Weekly's list of "The Best Movies You've Never Seen."
While reading the article I find a description for a movie called "Happy Accidents."
Decide I need to see said movie, as one of the stars is Vincent D'Onofrio, so please, pass Go and collect
$200 because I really want to see it.
Check Netflix Streaming. Is it there? IT IS. Roll it.
Sit on the edge of my armchair during the entire movie. It's amazing!
Clap at the end. The applause mildly freaks out the cat.
Pull up the keyboard, who wrote this? Who was the director? Let me IMDB that for you.
Brad Anderson. Why do I know the name Brad Anderson? Keep going.
What else has he done?
Wait, he did "Transsiberian?" I loved that movie.
What else? "Session 9?" David Caruso pre-CSI.
Whoa, he also made "Next Stop Wonderland." And he wrote for "The Wire!"
Hello Brad Anderson, how did you get into my brain? You know that little list up there? Guess how many
are some of my favorite movies? Come on, guess.
All of them Brad, that's the answer.
I love this little thrill of recognition I get sometimes, simply by rummaging around my mind and the
Internet and stumbling onto a shared connection with the rest of the world.
People love to dismiss the Internet as being shallow, full of too many options, too many opportunities to
be distracted, keeping us from reading long novels and canning our own blackberry jam.
But look what I found! Someone I didn't know actually made, wrote, and directed a bunch of movies that
I happen to love? How cool is that? (Here's a hint, the answer is 'really cool.')
The Internet isn't solely self-referential. Rather than castigating myself for checking Facebook a few
times a day, instead I welcome a few minutes looking at people's cute babies or hearing their bear
stories.
I get to discover something new every day. And what a privilege that is.
JUST STAY HYDRATED AND REMEMBER THE SUNBLOCK
There is a heat wave coming our way, did you know? We might actually see temperatures that we don't
usually because we are not living, in, say, god forbid, where I spent my childhood in Sacramento.
That place can get hot.
I tend to get a little jacked up when people tell me to gird myself for potentially uncomfortable weather
related things. Especially heat. Or rain. That too. Mostly, weather that might affect my usual routine of
staying indoors most of the time. (This may be why the running experiment is so disorienting to me,
because I have to actually do it outside. Huh. Fancy that. Indoor kids! Let's start a book club!)
Anyway, people, be careful in the sun. Bring some water and a hat if you go outside. And remember to
put sunblock on the tops of your ears too. I always forget that.
"When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in
the middle of one!"
Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 4
3 comments on this article. Read/Add
# # # #
|
