Officially a 3L!

Wowzers - it's over and I'm a 3L now! I'm back at the grad school for Winter/Spring quarters, so I won't be back at law school until next Fall, 2010. Seems weird even just writing that. I'm thrilled. And relieved. And tired. So tired.

What'd I do today? De-iced my freezer (old-school, kind. Took forever, awfully annoying). Cleaned my apartment. Packed my bag for home. Printed out exam, handed it in. Bought used books at the bookstore for next semester. Bought books off half.com and amazon for next semester. Target stop for some essentials, like hand lotion so my dry hands don't fall off. Some quick stops looking for my new quest -- used cross country skis! Didn't find any but that's fine. Ate lunch, got some coffee and outlined my presentation. Then, wow, long 3 1/2 hrs of my/peer presentations. Finally got celebratory sushi dinner with hot saki and mochi for dessert. Yum!

Just can't believe it's over.

Yay!

Just finished an exam - 1 paper left!!

Happy Human Rights Day. :)

Oh, shush

All these East Coasters have gchat messages about how it feels like winter there. I checked the weather in JP, Cape Cod, NY, Philly, Indiana (honorary east-coaster!) and it is nothing to talk about! You want winter? Try this on for size:

It hasn't gotten warmer than the single digits for about 4 days. It hasn't gotten up to freezing point for at least a week. Snow every day for the past week. There's ice inside my windows and my loofah froze after my shower. I went outside last night (to take out the trash) and truly felt what 0 degrees is like. Hurts your throat on the first breath in. Your boogers freeze instantly. It was -6 (actual temperature) when I left the house this morning, and that was even with the sun out today. It's now warmed up to 5 degrees.

It's supposed to be 30s this weekend. 30s!? That's practically bikinis in Wash Park weather!

No soy yo

Thus far exams have been (characteristically) beyond miserable. Just, wow. The general feeling I have these days is the exact reason why people decide NOT to go to law school. Anxiety. Dread. Stress. Pressure. I want to go to sleep to avoid it all, but I can't fall asleep when I finally let myself crawl into bed. My mind is racing. I have nightmares where I take exams and re-live my misery. I want to sleep late, but morning is my precious time to be alert and focused.

It doesn't help that the past few days have been full of snow and highs of about 10 degrees. Supposedly, we're getting 8 more inches tonight and lows of -4. That's crazy. That's 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts and 2 jackets cold.

Nothing about school makes me feel like I'm doing the right thing by being here. Denver doesn't feel right. Hard to exercise outside (First snow was the first week of October. And, as you know, I hate the treadmill). Hard to meet people. Hard to use public transit/bike/walk. Hard to find diversity. Hard to meet friends who don't have husband-boyfriend-fiance obligations.

Hard to see myself here beyond the next year and a half.

Hard to see myself here for the next year and a half.

Hard to see myself.

No soy yo.

What's on my iPod?

What's on my iPod? a.k.a. What is keeping me sane?

Thanks to Pandora, I actually hear new music. Music is critical at finals time because I don't want people talking to me. Freaks me out. I seriously unplug from listening to Pandora on my computer and plug right into my iPod. Hats help to give the "Don't talk to me" signal, too.

Anyway, I've downloaded new tunes off iTunes (paid for!) to keep me going strong through finals. Some are hip-hop, pop-y. Some of them are this cool Flamenco-fusion music. Others are just the oldies-but-goodies. Check them out:

Chambao, Ahi' esta's tu'

Gipsy Kings, Okay, I can't pick one song. I bought this entire album. It is just so good! It's described as "Spanish flamenco and Romani rhapsody meet salsa funk."

Ojo de Brujo, Todo Tiende

Jarabe de Palo, Escriban Ma's Canciones
(Gets really good and salsa-esque around 4 minutes)

Jason DeRu:lo, Whatcha Say

(And, of course, the original that Whatcha Say mixes...)
Imogen Heap, Hide and Seek

Reflekt, Need to Feel Loved

DJ Tiesto with Taxi Girl, High Glow
I can't seem to find this on iTunes. It's so good, though!

Update

One test down. Doesn't feel good, but I have to move on to the next. There's nothing I can do about it now, anyway.

Walked home after. It's 14.8 degrees outside and slight flurries. I actually was warm because I walked fast and wore this:

tights
alpaca socks
jeans
tee shirt
sweater
fleece coat
fat puff coat (down)
waterproof tall boots
gloves
hat

I listened to my favorite radio show, The World, which is on at 4 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. MT (so I never get to listen to it normally). And, it only takes 10 minutes more to walk from school (55 min total) than it does to take the bus from school (45 min total).

On to the next final...

Freaking out

Ah! Finals start tomorrow and then it's a sprint to the finish. The more I study, the worse I feel! I just realize more and more how much I don't know. :/

Not to mention: today was 23 degrees midday, it snow last night. Tonight is a low of 1 degree. Tomorrow is a high of 16, plus snow during the day. I swear, the weather always tries to sabotage my exams. It just adds a layer of stress and wasted time (bus to school because roads too icy/snowy) when I need it least.

I hate the pressure, anxiety, high-stakes, unknown abyss that is law school finals.


Freaking. Out.

At long last

Quick update:

Philly was fabulous. I love it there. I went to campus and the button, walked by Clark Park farmer's market, ate Ethiopian food, saw my bestest of friends, played with little O., walked around campus, got a new comfy Penn sweatshirt.

Marathon - PR!! WOOOoooo! I finished in 3:10. More on that in another post. I was just so happy, felt stronger (mentally and physically) than I had in other marathons and had an awesome time. I was extremely sore for 2 1/2 days and then life got better.

D.C. was pretty good. Saw the lovely E. for tea at a beautiful little shop with nice wood floors and tables upstairs. Then, got to A. & S.'s place, which was awesome. Such a nice neighborhood, I thought I was walking in the wrong direction because I didn't believe they could live in such a grown-up, nice neighborhood. A. made a delicious dinner, which we enjoyed while visiting with our friends S. and G. (Soooo many couples!). Broken escalator at Dupont circle was my worst nightmare, give post-marathon soreness. Next day I spent with A., visiting her apartment, walking around the mall, work at a cafe and then dinner at good Thai. We baked a little to bring with her for Thanksgiving to M.'s family in Jersey. Finished the day watching an episode of The Office and collapsed into bed.

Wednesday - at long last - saw the family!! Walked a mile down to the Nat'l Geo Museum and waited in a cafe until family trickled in. We went to the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit (didn't compare to Incans!) and saw a photo exhibit, too. Walked by the White House, had lunch in the old post office building and then Nat'l Gallery of Art. People peeled off in their own directions and baby brother L. and I walked down to the capital building. Sat there and watched the sun set, then got a snack and took the Metro out to 'burbs. Made Cheesecake & watched a movie.

Thanksgiving - hung around, had the meal at cousin's house. Pretty good food, but skimpy on the vegetables and no stuffing! Watched Brother's Bloom with L. that night.

Friday - unveiling. Spent the morning with grandma, went to the cemetery for the unveiling. It was nice, a little sad, but mostly just a nice family gathering. Bummed around at Aunt's house eating without being hungry and talking to sibs.

Saturday ended up being flying back, getting a new phone because the old one died and going to the grocery store. Welcome back to Denver. :/ Miss the fam. already. :(

Back to studying for me...4 finals, 1 paper and 1 presentation before it's over and I go home to play with D.

Tea Quote

I found this quote on the tag of my Celestial Seasoning's tea. I like it:

"It is the mind that makes the body."

- Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was a former slave, abolitionist, preacher and advocate of women's rights.

Case of the Mondays

It's 14 degrees outside. The roads are a thick sheet of ice. My car won't start. The bus comes twice an hour, and involves a mile+ walk, anyway. Sigh. Welcome to my Monday.

Things got better, and I trust the car will start when it gets warmer out. But, REALLY!? It just makes me look forward to leaving on Friday, a mere 3 days away! And, I get to spend a whole evening with Gracie-poo! She, kindly, is driving me to the airport Friday morning at 5 a.m.-ish. Goodness, when was the last time I was invited to a sleepover?? :)

Lots of work to get done before Friday, though. 1 down, 3 to go.

On another note, I heard this cool story on the radio today about a kid in Malawi who just decided to make a windmill. He read about it in 2 books at the public library, after he couldn't afford to pay the US $80 to go to public school. Except, really, he didn't even read it because it was in English and he didn't know English. So, he learned about how to make a windmill from looking at pictures in 2 books at the public library after dropping out of school. And DID he make a windmill! From gum trees, old bicycle parts and trash around the town, he made a 39 foot windmill that converts wind into energy. It provides electricity for radios, cell phone charges, and 2 light-bulbs. He's since built 2 other windmills that work even when it's not windy. He's now 22 years old. Amazing. This story makes me feel pretty much the same as when I see 14 year old Olympic medalist figure skaters on T.V. -- I'm already too old for genius, raw talent and wonder!

Weekend recap

Well! A boring old weekend. I'm not complaining, sometimes it's nice to lounge around and pick my way through the massive amount of work.

Friday night I decided to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. We never had this growing up because Dad couldn't have milk. At best, we begged for the Kraft box of toxic orange, fake cheesiness. Sigh. We didn't even know what we were missing. Anyway, I got a recipe off NYTimes and this Mac & Cheese was not kidding around. Tons of Gruyere and Cheddar, homemade croutons on top. Etc. I had to freeze a ton and give some away to my friend so I won't drop dead of a heart attack in two days. After that, I finished the home-body's night by going on a cleaning rampage. I feel much better. It's nice to have a clean place when you go away. It's even nicer to have a clean place when you come back. It also seems to help me with studying.

Saturday I slept in because I felt a little sickie. I ran mid-morning (City Park Loop), did some work, and got my haircut. I confirmed that I love this place, Allure. It was time: I could see the split ends and I wasn't even trying! Anyway, no one will notice, but I'm happy it's not so raggedy after the whole summer and fall of running in the sun. This place is just a few blocks away so I can walk. They also have lemon water and cookies while you're waiting (didn't try) and Michelle is super friendly. None of that awkward silence or painful chit chat that makes me hate going usually. And, it's cheap! I skyped Dinta Bint and then (hurrah!) finished my urban planning law paper. I'll write about that in another post, but I wrote about a housing policy in Santiago, Chile. I thought it was pretty interesting. I walked to Cafe Europa in the early evening with some Federal Indian Law reading. I didn't stay too long, though, because soon after I got there, the new art show had its reception and people were staring at me because I was sitting next to the wall with the art. I was there first, people! No fair! They have pretty good lemon mango tea with real chunks of mango in it. Then I had a long phone chat with my high school friend. Walked home in the beginnings of snow.

Sunday - Ha! Woke up to a good 6 inches of snow and still coming. Went running with JB for 45 min, slogging through the snow. It was pretty, though! Didn't see many (any?) other runners. We also ran pretty much down the middle of the road, even Speer Blvd! Spent the day doing work and bumming around my apartment. Lame.

Here goes - 1 week until classes are over, Philly marathon, going back East to see everyone!

Keeping calm and carry on...

Week Runs

Tapering, week 2.

Sunday - rest.

Monday - 9 tempo 3x2k

Tuesday - 4

Wednesday - 9 tempo 2x20

Thursday - off

Friday - 6

Saturday - 9

Total: 37.

Sigh. This tapering business is hard. I hope the little aches I've had go away.

Trust in the Taper

Ah! This is the point where I start to freak out.

I know, know, this happens to others, but why is it that when you taper, everything seems to fall apart? For you non-freakish runners, tapering is the last phase of training before a race. The idea is that you cut back on running to let your body rest up and be its freshest for the race. While you decrease how much you run, you're supposed to keep up how hard you run. For a marathon, it's typical to have a 3 week taper. After your hardest week, you have 3 increasingly easier weeks leading to the race. This really plays with your psychological confidence. You feel slow and sluggish, like you're getting out of shape. You feel like you're just an eating machine, but without the exercise to burn it off. The last week, especially, you feel like, "Gosh, this whole week I haven't even run as much as I will have to run at one time."

More than that, I really think once you start cutting back on the intense training, your body says Oh, okay, I can finally let myself fall apart. Little aches come up: my knee gets a pop when getting out of the car. My hips start cracking when I step out of bed in the morning. My heel tightens up and a little plantar fasciitis sneaks in. A little sniffle and morning cough starts showing up. What!? I've trained hard for 4 months for a cold or an ache to make me have a bad race? Am I going to make it to race day? Will I make it through the race?

I just have to keep reminding myself that this is all normal. My body is let itself "let loose" and break down a little before pulling it together for a strong, healthy race day. I'm giving myself rest after all those runs: the hot summer runs on unshaded Highline canal. The crappy races at altitude, after which I decided it was finally time to do track workouts. Those painfully slow first track workouts on the dirt track at South High. Those runs on Monday night at 6 p.m. after my 12 hour school day, in the dark, by myself. That 12 miler during that 2 foot snow storm in October. The 18, 20, 22 milers alone, because my friends were already tapering for their marathon. Staying faithful to the "No Halloween candy" rule. So, here I am. Following my plan. Running less. Sleeping a ton (um, Hi, 9 1/2 hours a night!?). Eating more than I need. I have a new mantra for this phase of the training:

Trust in the taper.

Dinner Party

I went to a dinner party last night and the menu was memorable. Everything was made from scratch (except the pasta in the lasagna):

White wine

Roquefort cheese souffle appetizer

Beets, Shallots and Avocado salad with a citrus dressing
Caramelized onion lasagna
Baked Calamari

Apple Pie

Week Runs

Taper week, and trying to nurse a sore heel. I think I have a little bit of plantar fasciitis.

Sunday - Rest day, finally! 0

Monday - 3x2k, (estimated because I ran on the roads, in the dark). 10.

Tuesday - 5

Wednesday - 10

Thursday - 5

Friday - 0

Saturday - 15.

Total: 45.

Twenty-six

Happy Birthday Dinta Bint and Bouie!

:)

Swine flu-y November

Poor Dinta Bint is sick. She has swine flu. Even worse, she had it over her two auditions in Toronto. A week with swine flu, alone in Toronto. She said the B&B she was staying at didn't even give her breakfast. bed and BREAKFAST, people! Couldn't they bring it to her? She said they finally agreed to give her a banana. Sigh. Hope she feels better

Otherwise - it's November. Crazy. The end of the semester is coming, the marathon is coming...Thanksgiving is coming! I signed up for classes for Winter Quarter at the grad school. Here is what I'm taking:

Intro to Human Rights Lecture & Lab (What is Human Rights lab??)
Politics of Development
International Law and Human Rights
International Development with a Cross Cultural Perspective

and, I might audit Ancient Political Theory. Can't wait!

Post Script

Happy Halloween!! :)

Week Runs

Hurrah!!! I made it through the last, hardest week of training, even through a 2 foot snow storm (You can't thwart me, weather gods!). Here's how it went down:

Sunday - 3 easy

Monday - 8x800, after class, almost in the dark. Felt harder than last week, but I was going a little faster. Definitely at that threshold where altitude starts to make running fast really hard. 9 total.

Tuesday - 8, it was 60 degrees when I finished at 5:40 p.m. Long Ruby Hill loop from school. I left school at 9:30 p.m. and it was 35 and snowing. CRAZY!

Wednesday - uh, hello, 8 inches of snow when I wake up. I buckled down and got in my "tempo" run anyway. Straight out on the Cherry Creek path, because that was being plowed continuously. So THERE, Mr. Snow Storm! 12.

Thursday - uh, HELLOOO, 2 feet of snow, and still snowing. Snow day! I went mid-day, it was miserable. Loops around the plowed/paved part of Wash Park in the wind/snow, blech. 8.

Friday - 5 shake out in preparation ...

Saturday - 22.5!!! I felt good, people, GOOD! I just chilled out for a looong time, then my watch said 1:50, had a goo then. Kept going. Then my watch said 2:15. Passed some bikers and some sketchy group of guys. Then I didn't look again until I was almost home and my watch said 2:57. Sweet. MapMyRun.com said it was 23, but I think it was a little less. Seriously, no wall, a little ab cramping around mile 21, but I was picking up the pace and cruising past people. No water, just 1 goo. Got in Ruby Hill for some ups and downs. Stayed on the boring old Cherry Creek up to REI, then down Platte, Ruby Hill, then back up Platte and down CC. Nothing fancy just got out there it did what needed to be done.

I am officially tapering. And, as of now, I've gotten further in my marathon training then my last 2 attempts, when I got injured. My number 1 goal was to get to the marathon healthy. Number 2, have fun. Number 3, PR. Exact numbers? We shall see... I may post on that, but I don't want to put the pressure on. I especially have no idea because of the whole altitude thing. Anyway, I'm PSYCHED and - ahem, this is MY bloggie, so I can say this - I'm proud of myself!

What did I do after this epic run? I called M&D to tell them I did it, while having a Luna Recovery Smoothie and wobbling around my apartment. I'm not really hungry, but yes thirsty. I'm pretty sure my metabolism jumped up a gear and I'll be starving every couple hours for the next day or so.

Total: 68.

Snow Day!

We have a snow day! They called (okay, e-mailed) it at about 1 p.m. I had to turn in my "hard copy only" midterm anyway, but I also picked up books. There are maybe 8-9 inches already and it's not supposed to stop until tomorrow night. Wowzers! This is an October unlike others. I had a fun 12 mile run in the snow this morning. I wasn't cold, just felt a bit like running in sand. I didn't see any other runners, but the walkers were all super friendly and nice. I've noticed that whenever I go out in cities during snow storms, I always meet friendly, adventurous people who are also out playing. :) And, some nice people pulled over and offered me a ride home when I was waiting for the bus. Score!

I have big plans to get work done, apply for internships, and (later) snuggle in my bed with a book.

If it's a snow day tomorrow I plan on renting cross country skis from REI and skiing around the city.

Week Runs

Getting close to the end! All in all this was a pretty decent week for running. My motto lately have been "Easy days are supposed to be easy." So, even if my runs are crap on in between days, my tempo runs and track and long runs have all been good lately. So --

Sunday - 5 blaaah.

Monday - Track was good! The point wasn't to see how fast I could go at all. I just wanted to hit that efficient "this feels fresh" pace. Felt smooth. I was working, but hit that efficient feeling just at the brink of pushing too hard. I caught my breath quickly at the end of each and finished up feeling like I could have done more. It was also very dry and close to 80 degrees. Did it after class around 6 p.m.
4xmile with a 600 meter jog after each.
6:51
6:50
6:48
6:50
Total: 9

Tuesday - blah. Ran a new little route from school out to Ruby Hill. A fun little hill that's over just as it starts to hurt. Good to know this is a quick run NOT around the park. 7

Wednesday - Uh, so cold. It was snowing. I was wet and my gloves sucked. I did 12 in the dark. Tempo. Felt good and warm, except my hands. And, it wasn't just my fingers but my whole hands. Ow. Took me about 30 minutes to warm up enough to open my locker (to change into warm clothes). Seriously, my friend offered me her gloves, but my hands were so numb/dead-weight that I couldn't get them on. She couldn't get them on either! Finally, kindly, she warmed them up with her hand warmth. A true friend. 12.

Thursday - blah, again. Really didn't feel like running but did it anyway. As someone said, this sort of weather cuts the runners from the joggers. I barely saw anyone all week! Oh yeah, AND I fell on Washington Street again just a mere 4 blocks from home. Sigh. 8

Friday - 5 miles after work. Another new route I'm working out. I'm calling it the Faux Wash Park Loop because it's basically Wash Park, but a few streets over on either side so I can avoid the crowds. And, Race Street is super nice to run down. 5.

Saturday - Yay! Had a great long run! Felt like I coudl have gone longer, faster. I tried my new arm warmers. They're great, except I need a little body glide where the hit under my arms. I chafed a little yesterday, but that's okay. 18.

Total: 64

Also, I've been getting SUPER paranoid. I don't want to get sick. I don't want to twist an ankle. I don't want to run too hard, peak too soon, or run too much. Eep! Just playing it smart through this last hard week of training. Then tapering. Mu ha ha - wonderful, wonderful tapering.

Smallists

Lately, I've heard a lot of comments about small people that make me madish-defensive.

First: someone was talking about running and preparations for a half marathon. She said how all her training friends were shorter than she is, so naturally she runs faster. Uh. So you're faster than everyone you're taller than? Most of the best women distance runners are TINY.

Second: at symphony last night I heard some woman talking about the pianist. The pianist, Russian, was not short and not too thin. She was in shape and obviously had buff arms from playing the piano. Fine. Normal, right? This woman said something ridiculous like, "Wow, it's amazing she gets such a sound out when she's that tiny. I wouldn't think she had it in her to play like that." Whaaaat? People are so weird.

Anyway, I don't play the piano as well as this concert pianist, but I CAN play the piano (small hands and all) and I can run faster than some people who are taller than I am.

The answer!

Okay, no one posted an answer so I looked it up myself. The sun DOES set later at altitude. It also rises later at altitude.

At most latitudes on the Earth, the effect of increased altitude is the same: it makes the Sun rise earlier and set later than it would at that same location from the ground. The variation with altitude is approximately linear, and so we conclude that sunset is later by 1 minute for every 1.5 kilometers in altitude, and that sunrise is earlier by the same amount.

I am at 5,280 ft but the trail run I do is at about 7800 ft, or about 2.5 kilometers high. That means the sun sets about 2 minutes LATER than it would if I were standing in the same spot, without the mountain below me.

Cool. We just have to keep going up and the sun will never set? :)

Comment on this:

Okay, people. I know you're reading this. And, I know you're smart. Answer this question (obviously, I thought of it when I was atop a vicious 50 minute climb on my favorite trail out here):

Does the sun set later the higher up you go?

That'd be a like a chapter from Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams...

sunday, fun day

Ohhh, I had such high hopes for getting a lot of work done today. Nope.

Watched my friends kick butt in the Denver Marathon today - 2nd and 3rd (okay, chip time 4th by 1 second!) women overall in stellar times for an altitude marathon. Pretty fun zooming around the city on my bike. Another friend ran a smart race in the Half, so I am happy for her. There were all of thousands and thousands of people hanging around Civic Park and I just *happened* to walk by her as she was chilling after her race. Crazy. AND, back East three other friends ran well during a Nor'easter at the Bay State Marathon in Lowell. Congrats to all! Gulp. That means I'm next. :O

Wasted time for awhile and did easy homework I didn't have to do.

Then, I got dressed up and with to Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Student tickets are $5. I heard one of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and Isle of the Dead. And, then a little prelude or something as the encore. As Dad says after concerts where they play from the romantic era (Chopin, Rach., etc.), "Well, that was lush." What a treat.

Then it was necessary for me to roast pumpkin seeds and, of course, go for my easy recovery run around Wash Park.

A good day, but pathetic work-wise. Going to bed now so I can have solid work in the morning at school before it gets loud/crowded/busy. Wish me luck! Here's to a GREAT week ahead...

Week Runs

Okay, this was a "down" week in the training. It also, coincidentally, happened to be a hard week at school. So, that made it even more puny running-wise. Sigh. I just keep reminding myself the marathon is but one thing ... I can't train like I used to when I had a less-stressful job with normal hours... or when I ran with a whole team of people ... or. or. All these excuses! Here is what the week was:

Sunday - 0, beloved rest day!

Monday - 9, tempo. In the dark night.

Tuesday - 8

Wednesday - 6

Thursday - 4

Friday - 8, in the dark, after work.

Saturday - 13, trail. Felt very stiff and tight hamstring after the week and flat runs. I thought the massive up hill (and by up hill I mean up MOUNTAIN) would stretch out those muscles from the boring flat. Also, soft trail, beautiful with the sun and mid 60/50s up the mountain would do me good. ESPECIALLY after dropping a mere $560 to get my car fixed for 4 hours this morning. Alas, such is life.

Total: 48.

Average Friday

Fridays are my "I'm exhausted" day. But, they are also my calming, centering day. I go to my internship all day, sit in a nice chair, on the 27th floor of the WTC with a fabulous view of Denver and the entire Front Range. I love my coworkers and my work is interesting/teaches me a lot. I really enjoy going there and look forward to Fridays.

So, just my average Friday: wake up, get to work around 8:15. Call Dad on the way to the bus, then proceed to ignore creepy men staring at me on the bus. Be excited when Jinhong gets in (late, usually). Work until Noon. Lunch break - noodles at XO with Jinhong. So fun! And, lunch special is a huge bowl that we usually split for only $8. I looove having a friend to split big meals with. Restaurants always serve too much - and then you don't want to pay, or eat them old, or carry around a box/bag all day.

Then, tee hee hee, a trip to Nike store on the way back to work. I actually went to get two items. They didn't have one, but I got the other (and a clearance sports bra. Now I can throw away the oldest one I have, which has lasted me these last ELEVEN years.). I got some arm warmers! I've thought these things were great for a long time now. I don't like the restriction of teeshirts, especially long-sleeve. I also tend to be a *ahem* New England runner, who likes to race/run in a little clothing as possible (well, I am modest). AND, club racing shirts are usually just tank tops, so your arms get chilly all flapping out in those February races. Anyway, I think they are great, so I got 'em. If the marathon is cold I will wear them. Last year, Philly Marathon was in the 30s! Good thing Colorado was about 23-25 degress last weekend. Good practice. Here is a picture of the clearance sports bra and the arm warmers I got. That's right, I can only hope they look as hardcore on me as they do on Kara Goucher.



Anyway, stayed at work until 5:15, got home around 5:45 and called Grandma. Then, out for a run. Truth be told, the run was just "eh." It's been one of those weeks were I have to remind myself that I just do my best with the training plan and realize that I have a lot of other things going on. Shower, grocery store, cook dinner while listening to the news and finally ate dinner around 10 p.m. I'm pooped.

Sigh. I did no work.

Off to bed - car appointment at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow in Aurora. Bon soir.

Denver, minus one

So, I finished class at 7:15 and headed to the library to finish some reading. I know, pretty cool on Thursday night. I left the library around nine, got work for the weekend (so I don't have to go back to that building) and walked to my car with a friend (a friend!). From here it gets worse. No food in my refrigerator, and I am too pooped to go shopping and cook. I went to 4 places, drove all over the place just trying to get dinner. Everything in this "city" closes so early! 9:00 p.m. and I can't find dinner anywhere. Of course, bars are open with hamburgers and stuff, but I don't eat meat or want that crap for dinner. Sigh. Seriously, I gave up and was going to order from this really bad Chinese food place near me. I pulled around, was backing up to parallel park and someone behind me pulled into the spot. That was the last I could stand. I actually said aloud to myself, " I just want to eat dinner! Is that too much to ask? I hate it here!" Tears welled up (okay, overreaction, I know). It's all so pathetic- I have to stay at school until 9 p.m. I can't find an open place to get a measly bite to eat. I don't have anyone to eat with, anyway. And, I probably shouldn't spend money on eating out.

Just forget it. I'm going to bed.

Love

Yesterday I went to dim sum with a friend from grad school. He's Korean, was a journalist in China and is now studying for his PhD in International Studies. Mid meal, he answered his cell phone. He spoke calmly in Korean and even his "mmms" were caring, so I knew it was someone in his family. He mentioned before that his father passed away, so I guessed it might be his mother. After he got off he said, "That was my mom." I asked what she said and he responded, "She called because she had a nightmare." I don't know why, but that struck me as particularly moving. Somewhere across the world, in the middle of the night, a woman called her grown son just to hear his voice after awaking from a nightmare. That is love.

Week Runs

Sunday - 3

Monday - 12.5 tempo. Track was closed so decided to switch it up. Had a great run in the rain.

Tuesday - 6

Wednesday - 9 (6x1k).

Thursday - 5 - ugh, had to squeeze this in. Snowing!

Friday - 21 !!! Got in another tough long run. This time all alone, no music. 2 Goos. Talked to myself (encouraging and trying to stay positive) for the last 3 miles or so. Wow, talk about mental training. Beautiful, slightly chilly, sunny and light breeze.

Saturday - 5, easy 'round Wash Park. Uh - it was 23 degrees out and snowing!

Total: 62

Blech

What an overall bad day. I have a case of the what-ifs. "What if I don't do well?" "What if I never came to law school?" "What if I can't find an internship?" "What if I stay pathetically single forever [I think I have just 1 or 2 other friends who are still single, including friends from grade school, college, boston, and denver.]?" "What if ..." etc.

The only good part was my track workout (!). I did the same as last week, but this felt much better.

6x1k with 1/4 mile "active rest"
4:10
4:08
4:07
4:06
4:07
4:04

Boo-yah! I felt strong and got (minimally) faster as I went. Overall, I was going for the my-body-is-efficient feel and I wanted to finish the workout feeling like I could do more.

Riddle me this

Recent Musings:

1. The importance of a little line heading southwest.
The other day I was running with a friend. She knew the way and I didn't so she was directing me, interspersing our regular conversation with the directions. She said:

We are turning right, not here, but after the gray house...

So, I'm searching for the gray house, step off the curb and all of a sudden our legs are atangle and my friend is turning right. What she really meant to say was:

We are turning right. Not here, but after the gray house...

And people think commas aren't important!

2. Born into the wrong language.
So, do people who have lisps have lisps in whatever language they may speak? If I have a lisp in Spanish (Lith the thing of thpain), will I necessarily have a lisp in Russian? Ah ha! It couldn't possibly transfer to Swahili which is, as I understand it, a click language. What if that is the ultimate accident - being born into the wrong language? And, anyway, how much of the lisp thing is cognitive? Biological? Physiological? Curious. Very curious.

3. Non-sensical crossings of senses.
Why do certain things seem to go together? The brain is so strange.

North = Up. South = Down.
Blue = Sad. Yellow = Happy. Pink = love. Green = Earthy.
Dark = Sleep. Light = Awake.
Major Key = Happy. Minor Key = Sad.
[I had more, but now they escape me.]

Really lucky people have synesthesia. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

Week Runs

Sunday - 20. So HARD. I haven't run this far in almost 2 years. OUCH.

Monday - 0 (Yom Kippur)

Tuesday - 6

Wednesday - 6x1k. 80 degrees and 10% humidity. It was after class, too, so I was quite tired. 9

Thursday - Friend was in town. We all met up for a mid-afternoon run, then I showered and made it to class by 6. 8.

Friday - Morning run. I kid you not, it was 27 degrees. BRRRRR....7

Saturday - I couldn't stand another long run on flat, boring old Highline. I went to do a trail run. 15.

Total: 65.

October!

The month I've been waiting for all year - it's October! I love October! Even though there is fake fall here, I still love it. It's cooler, less humid, days aren't too short, leaves change. A few things coming up:

Hardest 4 weeks of marathon training
Pumpkin carving/apple-crisp cook-off
Pumpkin scones at Starbucks (I admit, I love them)
Daylight savings
My Jewish Law event
Last month of being 25
Two great concerts at Colorado Symphony Orchestra -- Shostakovitch and Rachmaninoff.
A workshop at work on International Law and Intellectual Property. In-ter-est-ING!

(Rabbit Rabbit!)

odds and ends update

Yom Kippur yesterday - fast was hard! I was doing fine through about noon. Then I started to get a headache. Then I started to feel reeeaally bad. Then I broke, went to a quirky little break fast. Ate. Then my stomach just hurt. Ow. I knew it was coming. I don't even think I ate that much. I think the whole thing about going to temple the whole day isn't the best way to spend it. You don't actually get time to think! I don't think I reflected enough :/ but I feel like life is already moving on (without me!). You should have seen the scene at Temple Emanuel, though. Everyone all done up. Moms who are all put together with the fancy suit, the bleached/blow-fried hair, bright power-red nail polish, skinny-as-anything. I seriously wondered if some of them actually were sick and that was why they were so thin.

I got a call from Ms. Ariel and am very excited to be one of her bridesmaids at her upcoming wedding in Nashville. Hurrah! It will be so fun.

I am desperately trying to work on a first draft but it's not going so well. I have a meeting tomorrow at 11 so I am getting up at 5 (ha, a mere 7ish hours) to get working on it. Sigh. It shouldn't be this hard. Grad school is so much more fun than law school, I hate to admit.

Oh yeah, can you believe (1) it's almost October and (2) it stays dark so long! Almost until 7 a.m. Sigh, and it's dark when I get out of class at 7:15 p.m. Fall is here; winter is coming. The amount of people working out/running/biking in Wash Park is diminishing considerably. Soon, I will be able to bike the wrong way around the park and see the sun rise from my favorite angle. I had to stop doing that once spring hit because people (ahem, who had NOT been out biking through the winter as I had) decided to come out and tell me what not to do. It's not like I hadn't biked the wrong way through the park, in the dark, early morning all winter long! Sigh. A slave to society.

g'night!

week (weak) runs

Okay, I got sick - fever, head hurts, cloudy, sniffling and running, cough. Terrible run week because I just wanted to get better instead of have it linger on for a month.

Sunday - 16
Monday: 8
Tuesday: 6 (cut run short due to sickness)

that's it! The whole week!

Total: 30.

Anyway, I feel better and am set for a big week.

Imb Sickie.

I knew it was coming. Everyone has been getting sick. I think the 40 degree weather and run/bike in the rain yesterday was the kicker. It's only Tuesday, too. Sigh.

Week Runs (and running at altitude)

Sunday - 5 with my school mentee. Chai after. What a great morning!

Monday - Track workout by myself, at the end of the day. 5x1200. 5:00. 4:48. 4:56. 4:54. 5:53. Hot, hazy. Blech. 10

Tuesday - 7

Wednesday - Rushed to get to Runner's Roost Run. Not fun. I'm probably not going back. The girls were going too fast because they wanted to show off for the guys. I got stuck running too fast/by myself/too fast. I was just running the same old routes that I do anyway, so it wasn't worth the time. Also, no one that I could see having quality conversations. 9

Thursday/Friday - I think I was so bummed about the bad run last night that I just wanted a break. I was coughing up some blechy stuff, feeling a bit stiff and just not up for hot runs on the boring old routes. Yup. I am in the midst of marathon training. And, it was Rosh Hashana so I was trying to get to temple after work.

Saturday - 6 with Judy on a new part of Highline. Okay, didn't feel great running, but fun to see Judy.

TOTAL: 37. Crap week.

Some other thoughts...

1. Ugh. I really believe some people just aren't meant to run at altitude. That's me. Everyone I try to tell this to tells me they think I just haven't adjusted. But, I have been here over a year. And, I've been training hard! I really feel like I'm in decent shape right now, but my first race a few weeks ago was awful. My little race today was awful. I just feel like it's so hard for me to go, and then I hit a point where my muscles shut down (not getting enough oxygen?) and I just do the death march to the end. All this afternoon I haven't felt sore, just achy. My muscles just hurt from the inside. I took water a lot during the race and drank a ton after the race, so it's not dehydration. They feel twitchy and just ache. I am not racing at altitude again, though I'm of course keeping on with my training and weekly track workouts. Sigh, it's just frustrating and embarrassing. My training partner ran 10 (TEN!) minutes faster than I did today. Why? Why? Why? I can only hope the hard work will pay off at sea level in Philly Marathon in November.

2. I am sick of this hot weather. I'm still wearing my coolest outfits to run, come back completely sweaty and icky. Sick of it.

3. Maybe I need to just rethink some things. I want to start doing some longer but slower runs on trails. Change it up, see new scenery and just go for time, not distance. I've been feeling like my long runs with other people are too fast.

Here's to a new week and new-found motivation.

Patterns in nature

Just a quick post to say how nice the Denver Botanical Gardens were today! I went with Rita, who was in town for the night/day. It was actually a bit of a gray day in Denver, so we skipped a hike in the mountains. We decided to go local and visit the gardens instead. We had a nice time walking around for a few hours.

I really love patterns in nature. There is something reassuring in that they confirm there is both order and meaning and incomprehensible absurdity. Patterns are perfect. Patterns are also an inexplicable fluke of life. I don't understand them, but I think they are beautiful. Look:

Week Runs

Woo - the week started poorly but ended well.

Sunday - off

Monday - 9 (8 hard)

Tuesday - 6

Wednesday - 8. Track with Judy at 6:00 a.m. (!). 5x1200. 5:02. 4:59. 4:54. 4:53. 4:49.

Thursday - 11. New run around Platte and Ruby Hill. It definitely got me breathing hard!

Friday - 10. City Park.

Saturday - 16. Regular long run on Highline - Quincy - Highline.

Total: 60

Track

I try to keep the running updates to a minimum because I assume no one cares. (Does anyone read this little bloggie, anyway?) BUT, today is an exception because I'm trying to reward good behavior.

Indulge me.

This morning I woke up at 5:00 a.m. for a light breakfast before meeting Judy at South HS parking lot at 6:00 a.m. Track workout. We did 15 min warm up, strides and agility things. Then: 5x1200, with 1 lap jog in between. ME: 5:02. 4:58. 4:54. 4:53. 4:49. First, I am proud of myself for doing it. Second, I am proud of myself for doing it at 6:00 a.m. Third, I am proud of my negative splits. For you non-trackies, that means I did each one faster than the previous. That's good because it means you can be strong as you're getting tired. I actually felt pretty good. Maybe I'm slowly working my way back into shape?

Off to three classes, back to back. SIGH.

Como uma forca, como uma forca
Como uma forca que ninguem pode parar

Trying not to Globalize

This epitomizes my day: I was out for a walk this evening and stopped to smell the roses. They didn't smell. Even worse, my gut reaction was to be embarrassed (what!?) that I had done something so naive as to stop and smell the roses, actually expecting them to smell good.

Sigh. Is the week really just beginning?

Photo updates

I saw this sign a few weeks back and had to take a picture. I think it's hilarious.















Like many cities, Denver has a First Friday where galleries are open late with new exhibits for the month, free wine and snacks and live music. There's mostly bad art, but some of it is decent. I went on Friday and one of the galleries had a ribbon dancer (or whatever you call it) like those Cirque-du-Soleil people. Pretty cool. I love the contrast of the blue ribbon and the yellow/orange bright painting on the wall in the background.

Cookie Monster

Grandma Marion's Thimble Cookies

1/2 lb butter
2/3 c. sugar
2 egg yolks
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
jam



Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks. Add flour sifted with baking powder and salt. Blend well. Form into balls. Make a depression with your thumb. Fill the depressions with raspberry or other thick jam. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes (or until they look done).




Yum! These literally take 15 minutes total - preparation, cooking and eating :) I cut the recipe in half because it is just me eating all these cookies and I still have a whole bag full that could last me 2 weeks! I made raspberry and apricot. I have milk. And tea. And a table and chairs (finally). Alas, I have no one to whom I can feed cookies!

I have begun my life-long Grandma Marion training. You could call her as you're pulling into her driveway to announce that you are coming for a visit and she always - always - has a fresh-baked something waiting for you.

Week Runs

Felt a bit tight through my left side this week after last week's long run and this week's track workout.

Sunday -3 easy around the neighborhood

Monday - 9 around Wash Park with friend + baby stroller. Just before the rain!

Tuesday - ugh. I told myself I'd start track workouts in September, so, gulp, this was the first one. I set the alarm but had no will power to wake up in the morning. Had to do track after class, which ended at 7:15 p.m. Pretty much in the dark and just wanted to get it over with. 4x1200. 4:50. 4:50. 5:00. (then it gets ugly ...) 5:30. Whatever. I just wanted it to be over. 10.

Wednesday - 8. Again, no will power to go in the morning so I went after class as the sun was setting. Headed South on Highline. Blech.

Thursday - 9.5 City park loop thing.

Friday - 5.5 easy, morning loop with friend around Wash Park and up to Speer Blvd.

Saturday - 13 Platte loop. Felt pretty decent once we got about 40 minutes into it. Nice to end before 8 a.m. and have the whole day ahead of me. We were trying to take it easy so we can run well in the Park to Park 10 mile race on Monday.

Total: 58

Ask and thou shall receive

Good news! As Vice President of the Jewish Law Student Association (JLSA) this year I am in charge of planning and running the Fall Speaker Event. Yikes! We wanted someone to give a talk who would appeal to a lot of people: Jewish law students, non-Jewish law students, DU students at large, and Jewish people in the community generally. So, we heard that a Colorado State Court of Appeals Judge is a practicing Orthodox Jew and thought that was a perfect match. We hope that he can talk about the overlap of American law and Jewish law; and, how does he live as a modern practicing Jew, while balancing the demands of a highly public, morality-related professional career?

One thing: I, the lowly law student, had to ask this important, highly-respected, and high-up Judge if he wanted to come speak at DU. What if I sound like an idiot? Or he laughs and says No Way Jose? After exercising expert Google skills, I cold called him this morning. Nerve-wrecking!! I was sweating. I introduced myself and asked the woman who answered the phone if I might leave a message or speak with the Honorable Judge Richman. The woman who answered the phone (Clerk? Administrative Assistant?) said something like, "Well, you can probably leave a message, what is it about?" I told her and she put the Judge on the phone - Success! Once he was on the phone, it was much easier. I explained who I am and what I wanted. He was friendly, pleasant and said Yes, he'd be happy to come and speak in October. Perfect! It was so easy!

We have an awesome Fall Speaker and I can now go on with the rest of the plans like booking the room, getting food, making posters, advertising in the community...

Honorable Colorado Court of Appeals Judge David Richman
Title: TBD
7:00 p.m., October 14, 2009
Sturm College of Law, Room 165
Refreshments served.

Goodbye August

I can't believe tomorrow is September 1. Of 2009. I don't have much to say about it, except that I just can't believe how the months are slipping by. We're coming into my favorite season - fall! It's not quite the same here without foliage, cool and crisp fall days with strong breeze off the ocean, apple-picking and (soon after) apple cobbler-baking. I'm still excited, though. It's already chilly in the mornings and there's just something invigorating about fall. I love it.

Here are some things I'm working on these next few months:

- taking my daily vitamin
- sleeping more (and not feeling guilty about it)
- read a little of a novel before sleeping each night
- keep focus and efficiency in studying
- make it to trails or the mountains at least 1x every other week
- re-do my resume and begin the internship summer 2010 search.
- cook dinner and make my own coffee (I've been pretty good about this since July)

(fun list)
- pick a pumpkin and carve it
- roast the pumpkin seeds
- make soups and delicious bread to go with it
- go to the Alliance Francaise happy hour French wine and cheese nights
- go to Symphony (The Colorado Symphony Orchestra is starting up soon!)
- do art (find an art class?)
- go to Buddhist meetings (for clarity, simplicity, wisdom and self-awareness)
- drive my car less

See? Won't fall be fun? More to come ... Rabbit rabbit!

Week Runs

Sunday - rest! 0

Monday - 9 at night, felt good and quick.

Tuesday - 7 with Sara in the morning. I got us a little lost, but we found our way back to the Cherry Creek path, phew!

Wednesday - 7 (I switched today with tomorrow, so I could spend more time with Sara.)

Thursday - Wow. Hard to motivate! Got home from the day at 8:00 p.m. and then had to pull it together to run 10. It was already dark when I left and I headed down Cherry Creek path. It's fine for the first 20 min, then you have to go under a series of dark bridges (away from car/foot traffic) and I get a little creeped out. I saw one dude sort of dinking around on his bike with no lights or helmet. Weird. Then, I came face to face with a coyote on the CC path! Eek! I stopped and looked it in the eyes until it went down toward the creek. Sheesh. I turned around but I still needed another 50 minutes! I dwaddled around Wash Park and stuff. Boring. I ate a big dinner and some post-run recovery smoothie so I wouldn't be sore the next morning. 10.

Friday - A mere, uh, 7 hours later a friend and I ran our new found City Loop Park. So great. Training has been much more consistent and fun with people to chit chat with. Go us! 9.

Saturday - Still felt like I hadn't gotten enough sleep or recovery time, but got up at 5ish to meet at 6 at Highline. Got in a great long run with my friend's neighbor. Tee hee - just me and this guy, a 50 year old married with kids tyoe, showed up and ended up running together. So fun to chit chat and talk running (he did a 2:22 marathon back in the day!). Anyway, he's also just a little bit faster than I am, so I felt great getting in a good paced long run. 16

I read that you should do the most running at marathon pace that you can, particularly during your long runs. So, some long runs just slow and easy, but others really try to pick up the pace. I also practiced by taking goo. I am trying to "train smart" by using my little hand-held water bottle, practice taking goo, stuff like that. I really want to do well in Philly so I'm doing all the little things. Well, ahem, almost. I need to work on getting more sleep. But, hey, I feel pretty good with a solid month of training plan behind me. I haven't missed a single day of training [yet?]! I am proud of myself. Hope I don't miss a single day of my little plan! And, I feelt pretty ache-free. Number 1 goal is to get to the marathon healthy. Number 2 goal is to have fun (if you don't have fun, you won't want to do it again!). Goals after that get more superficial (read: time-specific).

My long runs have been feeling easier, my legs are pretty fresh and I'm ready to step up the training (weekly mileage) a bit for the new month ahead. Wow, September already!

Total: 58

Bailing

What is with everyone bailing on me lately?

Thursday - kid bailed in class on a group project (I only bailed because I thought you guys were going to bail.)

Friday - friend bailed on a morning run (only slept 2 hours)

Saturday - a different friend bailed on a different morning run via text at 5:00 a.m., despite e-mail confirmation at 8:00 p.m. the night before ("I feel like I might be getting sick")

Saturday - a different friend bailed on dinner plans (sick)

Saturday - another person bailed on going to a party tonight ("other plans are going to get in the way")

Yeesh. I'm trying, here, people. This is why I don't want to reach out to people here in Denver! Makes me want to just say 'forget it' and stop trying to make friends. Who need friends, anyway?

Sigh. :/

On the Socratic Method

My Professor started a blog to discuss a movement called "Humanizing Legal Education." I posted this response on it. The original, and her blog, may be found here.

I hope to answer these questions about Socratic method somewhat indirectly by writing about a few things I’ve noticed in being part of the Socratic method of teaching here at law school. As I understand Professor Pollvogt’s definition, a dialogue is a conversation and exchange of ideas between people with a goal of resolving a problem.

First, I don’t think Socratic method allows for a conversation or exchange of ideas. I think it allows the questioner (a professor) to put forth his or her own ideas. Sometimes the professor’s ideas are expressed by the professor. Sometimes, the professor’s ideas are stated by the student. This happens when the professor’s questions are so pointed that they are actually simply a statement with the intent to get students to “participate” by giving them the chance to answer the obvious: ‘Yes’ or ‘The holding of the case is….’ When Socratic method is used, I hardly ever get to express my ideas, because I am only allowed to answer the question I am asked. When we students aren’t given the opportunity to express our ideas or engage in a professional discussion, how could it possibly be a dialogue or true exchange of ideas?

Second, I don’t think Socratic method in law school reaches a resolution. From my perspective, we aren’t presented with clear pictures of the problems. Why not? I speculate that professors don’t want to seem as if they aren’t experts or don’t have a professional stance on issues. In that vein, rather than present impartial, equally-powerful, legal rational for all sides of an issue (problem) and then turn it over to the class for debate, professors argue for a position (resolution) and then use Socratic method to dare the class to challenge his or her position. What may be worse than the abuse of the Socratic method, though, is that the professors tend to meld the issue (problem) with their position (resolution). I often leave class struggling to identify what the issue was and whether the professor’s position was merely a personal/professional opinion or actually the undisputed, resolved Black-letter-law.

Finally, a few thoughts on Socratic method. When done poorly, it’s patronizing, condescending and a waste of time. Many times I have sat through classes where Socratic method was used to review the facts, holding, reasoning and procedural posture of the case. Why did I do the reading if we painstakingly were going to review it for the first hour of class? What was I learning from the professor, if I had already learned everything being said in class from doing the reading? Why was I sitting in class, or, why did I even bother doing the reading? I find it patronizing that professors think I don’t (can’t?) understand the basic facts and holding of a case. I find it condescending when professors are visibly shocked that a student could possibly have such an insightful comment. Or, when professors say things like, “I have never thought of that before” or ” I’ve never heard that in all my years of teaching.” In one class during my 1L year, if a student had a particularly impressive comment, the professor would not attempt to provide further insight, but rather would restate the student’s comment in his own words, presenting it to the class as if he, the professor, had thought of it himself. It seems like Socratic method would be better served if used to delve into the big-picture concepts or flesh out the unwritten assumptions instead of using it to do book review-like case summaries.

I think Socratic method could be great. I think it should be a part of legal education. It has the potential of teaching through showing, by walking students through logical steps so that students may arrive at a WHAT with a solid understanding of the WHY. I’m just not convinced that professors use Socratic method purposefully in legal education.

a word or two with you

When I was young, I was always told to look up words when I'm reading. I don't remember that I paid heed to the suggestion, but now I do. I love words, their etymology, and learning some symbolic connection between sound, evolution, meaning and sight of a word. Here are some good words to mull over that I've come across lately. Okay, the last one I just put on there because I love it and want everyone else to love it, too:

kaffeklatsch - kaf·fee·klatsch (kŏf'ē-klăch', -kläch', kô'fē-)

n.

1. A casual social gathering for coffee and conversation.

megalomania - meg·a·lo·ma·ni·a (mĕg'ə-lō-mā'nē-ə, -mān'yə)

n.

1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence.
2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.

diphthong - dif-thawng

n.
A complex speech sound or glide that begins with one vowel and gradually changes to another vowel within the same syllable, as (oi) in boil or (ī) in fine.



philosophy - φιλοσοφία [Greek] "phil - o- sophia"

n.
1. love of wisdom

2. the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

3. a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs.

4. investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.

5. the critical analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs.

6. the discipline comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and epistemology.

7. a system of values by which one lives.

A friend!

I have a friend in town! I feel like this whole past year I've had to repeat, "You have really good friends, they just don't live here." And now one is visiting! Hurrah! I worked last weekend to get things done so I could play. We talked until 1:00 a.m. last night. This morning was a leisurely 8:00 a.m. wake-up, went for a run (I got us a little lost - oops!), breakfast and then coffee/chatting on the outside patio at Pablo's. Pablo's has these free little stickers. One says "Danger monkey." The one I love most says "Small but Mighty." As Andy says, "I am Camgi, hear me roar!"

Anyway, it's been great to chat with my good friend, feel connected and calm, hear about how great she's been (post PhD comp. exams). It's inspiring and invigorating to talk ideas, about gaining control of one's own studies, getting past the hump of learning what other people want you to learn. She's now at the point where she is learning what SHE wants to learn. I have high hopes that my MA thesis will be the chance for me to be creative, actually pull together the J.D. and M.A. One day I'll get there, too...

She's here until Thursday, so I'm making myself scarce around school until then. It's lovely.

Week Runs

Sunday - 3 shake out.

Monday -9.5, 3 loops in Wash Park with friend 1 and baby stroller

Tuesday - 6

Wednesday - 9, afternoon. so hot and icky. Rushing to get to meeting.

Thursday - 8, 6:30 a.m., from Wash park around Cheeseman with friend 2

Friday - 9, 6:30 a.m. with friend 2 from my place. new route around City Park!

Satuday - 15, 6:00 a.m. from Highline with friend 1, friend 2 and new friend. fun!

Total: 59.5

I've been running with a bunch of people lately - it helps! It's nice, too, to get away from school.

First week update

I'm doing reading for class that starts in two hours, but here's a quick update of the first week.

Classes:
1. Administrative Law (federal agencies - kind of overlaps with a lot of constitutional law)
2. Intermediate Legal Analysis (writing and putting together a good logical argument)
3. Urban Planning Law, Growth and Sustainable Development (self-explanatory)
4. Federal Indian Law (cool-ass professor, 10 people in the class, no final, incredibly interesting, etc.)
5. Alternative Dispute Resolution (negotiation, mediation, arbitration, etc.)

Admin is stereotypically "the worst" of the bunch, but it's useful. The professor is Meh. Perhaps he's just getting settled. He pretty much just follows the book exactly, only explaining things less clearly.

I have good professors for ILA, Federal Indian and Urban Planning. Those 3 classes are my favorite.

ADR is amusing, so far. It's pretty fluffy, as far as law classes go. My professor is a little scatter-brained and, surprising, doesn't have fabulous people skills. She says awkward things like, "Oh, I'm sorry. I can't meet with you on Friday because my good friend DIED. And, so I'll be going to her funeral." and "It's just like pornography, you can't explain it, but you know it when you see it." I had to restrain myself from dying laughing, though no one else seemed to find it either as hilarious or shockingly inappropriate as I did. Tee hee. Oh, to have my sense of humor.

A few other things:
-My new baby ACER computer is great! A little kink with my bad USB, but that's solved.
-I am not buying 2 of my expensive books because they are in the library - hurrah!
-I'm still a little sad grad school is over, sigh.
-I've been figuring out the best time to run, but no matter when I do, I pretty much end up exhausted and wish I could go to bed at about 7:00 p.m.
-Back to yoga class! I had 2 awesome classes this week AND she's adding a 1 1/2 hour class on Saturdays. One day, when I have a life again I will go to yoga 3 days a week.

Must get back to reading.

Last Day of Summer

Sunday, August 16, 2009. Second year of law school starts tomorrow.

Tonight I did everything I could think of to procrastinate: laundry, deep cleaning of entire apartment, dishes, put laundry away, caught up on messages and e-mail things, made lunch, put out my clothes for tomorrow (yes, I do that every night). I think I'm procrastinating going to sleep, even though I'm super tired, because I'm not sure I'm ready to wake up and have it be tomorrow. I just can't believe it. If I were on Cape Cod, I'd be going to Four Seas for one last summer ice cream on the beach/skinny dipping.

I remember what I wore to the first day of first grade. My favorite grey and pink stripped dress. I actually think I wore that for a few years in a row, I loved it so much.

I'm half dreading this because last year was so crazy and busy. I felt like I was working 12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week. Running at 5 a.m. Pack lunch and dinner, or eat dinner around 11 p.m. But, half of me is hopeful - maybe my classes will be more aligned with my interests. Maybe I won't have to put in so many hours. Maybe I will learn "the system." Maybe it will be less stressful. Maybe I'll have less anxiety about the whole thing? Maybe.

No call to wish me luck on the first day. I guess that's what happens when you grow up.

Week Runs

Sunday - off

Monday - 8

Tuesday - Ran with a friend and her baby stroller, 7

Wednesday - ugh. I wanted to run early, but didn't get up before it got hot. So, ran in the evening down the Cherry Creek path. I tried to just go on autopilot and not think that I was running as far as I was. 11

Thursday - Ran with 2 friends. Super stiff from the 11 miles a mere 9 hours/6 hours of sleep before. 7

Friday - Ran with a friend, 6 in the morning with 6 1 minute-long pick ups. 2 shake out in the afternoon. 10

Saturday - Woo! This was the longest run I've done in awhile and I was actually a bit nervous about it. I also had a feeling I would be slower than the other 3 women. I prepped with a water bottle, goo and body glide (I don't know what I'd do without that stuff). I was right. They started off something ridiculous like a 7:30-7:45 pace. I was nervous about being able to make it that far. I also tend to start slowly and then pick it up after I've warmed up. Just like Dad. Anyway, I think i was most proud of myself not for finishing, but for having the self-confidence to back off and do what was right for me. I told them I was going to go more slowly and just chilled out for five miles or so. Then, once I knew I would finish and felt pretty good, I picked it up/cruised in the last 45 minutes or so. Then, Jamba Juice. :) 16

Total: 59

is it Thanksgiving yet?

I bought my flight to D.C. for Thanksgiving today. Hurrah! Can I go there now? Can I eat mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie yet? Can I play with Momster, Bellie-button, Giliga and other characters?

Sigh. I think I have a long way to go before then, but at least I know I'll be with the Goldens (and Steiners, Prices and Zapatas!) this year. The plan:

Friday 11/20 - Fly to Philly
Sunday 11/22 - Run Philly Marathon (I officially registered today!)
Monday 11/23 - Bus to D.C.
Saturday 11/28 - Back to Denver.

IN it

That's right, I'm IN it. Grad classes end Friday. Law school classes start Monday. This is seriously the end of the summer I never had. I am very much in the thick of it - 2 papers, 1 take-home exam, advance assignments for the first day of law school, scrambling around to rearrange my class schedule and hoping to get at least 1 day off without school work. Oh yeah, and finishing up with internship stuff. Hah!

One paper is drafted. It's on the recent trend of Latin American constitutional reforms of presidential term limits.

Another paper I am working on as we speak. It's on ethics of health development with a case-study of a non-profit doing work in Haiti.

Back to it ...

Week Runs

Sunday - In Iowa, after wedding, dancing, wine and 3 hours of sleep, 6.5 miles

Monday - In Denver, at night. Down the bike path to Monaco St and back. Felt Great! First time trying out the new skirt. Way back I picked it up and ran home faster. 9.

Tuesday - Not so great. Hot and humid at about 4 p.m. Hazy sun, through Wash Park, down Speer and back South down University. 7.

Wednesday - Off.

Thursday - Got out exactly when the afternoon thunder/lightning/hail storm hit. Great. I was sopping wet, even though it only rained for the first 20 minutes. I figured I could either be wet and get my run in or be wet and not get my run in. I kept running. I also misjudged how far the run was by about 3 miles! Oops. I was almost late for class! 1:40 total, 13 miles.

Friday - Ran at 7 AM with 2 friends. Wash Park to Cheeseman and back. 7.

Saturday - Ouch. So sore from the running and immediately sitting for hours after (class on Thurs and work on Friday). I haven't been this legitimately sore since the half-marathon in May. Played in a frisbee tournament all day ~ 7 miles.

Total: 53.5.

I'll take it. This is the first "official" week of training for Philly.

New songs considered

1. She Wolf - Shakira: I like the English (She-Wolf) and Spanish (Loba) versions. It's a pick-me up song when I'm out running. Hope they play it next time I'm out dancing. I have to say, though, video is NOT playable at work/library. I might also add it was pretty much the highlight of my life when someone said "Shakira has your body" to me once. It wasn't even "You have Shakira's body," but, she has my body. Hah! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAlCS4vn9mE&feature=channel

2. Harry Patch (In Memory Of) - Radiohead: Can't get enough of Radiohead. Ever. I heard some of the interview that inspired Radiohead to write this song. It is for the last British survivor of WWI who passed away this week.

3. Obsessed - Mariah Carey: Yup. Mariah Carey. I needed the motivation from this song during my long run yesterday through wind/rain/hail/car-through-puddle-splashes.

4. Far (album) - Regina Spektor: good stuff! there are a lot of songs I really like. Folding Chair reminds me of Summer. Human of the Year has ironic lyrics. Genius next door has something dramatic and cathartic about it. Quirky lyrics and serious vocal intervals. All in all, it's a B+ album.

5. A Society in Which No Tear is Shed is Inconceivably Mediocre (album) - Yonlu: Talk about sad, this album was released posthumously this summer. The artist was a 16 year old Brazilian too-genius-to-be-happy guy who committed suicide. His parents had no idea how talented he was or that he even made music. When they went through his computer they found these songs that he recorded in his room. I especially like Waterfall.

The Clintons

The day after Bill Clinton makes a private "humanitarian mission" to North Korea, his wife, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, takes credit for the freeing of two American Journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want them to be released. But, strange, no?

A few points on the issue:

Is Bill doing Hillary's work as, essentially, the highest foreign affairs diplomat? Is it okay for "private" citizens to meddle into foreign affairs? Okay, Bill is hardly a private citizen, but that is completely stepping on the toes of the Obama administration.

Why did Hillary refuse any other collaboration with North Korea based on the lives of 2 people? Should 2 American's lives take precedent of, say, almost 24 million North Koreans? And, if she's really going to do things "on principle" then why bargain 1 Bill visit for 2 released journalists. I thought she was taking a stand on North Korea's human rights violations, not reaching into her personal pocket.

Why was there such great, high-level US foreign policy involvement in the release of these 2 American journalists -- who were doing at least some things wrong -- when the US stayed out of the situation of 1 (Iranian-) American journalist, Roxana Saberi, who was arrested, jailed and sentenced for doing nothing wrong? It's so strange to me that the US government reacted so differently to almost mirror situations: journalists, women, American + [ethnicity of region in which they were arrested], doing inconsequentially to nothing wrong, harsh sentence, etc. Why would the journalist in the Middle East result in a purely "general public outcry," whereas the journalists in Northeast Asia receive the attention of the highest-ranking cabinet member and chief advisor to the president on foreign affairs. I mean, really, don't both Iran and North Korea already have nuclear weapons?

When was the last time you even saw Hillary and Bill in the same country at the same time? Talk about a marriage of convenience [or, business partnership]. Every photo of them, ever, looks like an awkward farce to show personal affection for each other. Hands on shoulders. Gripping arms as if pushing each other way. Weird, people. Weird.

Monday Musings

So, had a surprisingly somewhat-relaxing day working on my paper (though it's still not done and due in 11 hours), hanging out with Melanie and then taking a break to get a 4:00 p.m. mojito at the place that play really good salsa music. I also decided that I needed more than just the 2 pairs of running shorts I've been wearing for the past 2 years. And, I committed to the idea that I think it's okay to run in a skirt by buying my first official running skirt. I had reservations and it's way shorter than my running shorts (grr) but I ran in it tonight and love it!

I took Melanie to the airport, always sad, and now am having alone-time for the first time in awhile. Went for a run when I got back and it was good tonight. Felt quick and pretty light. I had a good mix on my iShuffle and it felt nice to run in the evening for once. I've been running morning (eeaaaarly) before the heat and before the craziness of the day. Tuesdays and Thursday I've been getting home at 10 p.m., so I obviously can't really run then. Anyway, time to finish writing my paper. Here's a parting picture I took in San Francisco and a poem I love.

Seeker Of Truth
e.e. cummings

seeker of truth

follow no path
all paths lead where

truth is here

Week Runs

Sunday - 12 miles around Palo Alto and Stanford. Was visiting a friend in SF and waited while she had 4 hour frisbee practice at Standford's fields. Pretty hot. Ran up/around "the Dish" a paved trail loop around a high hill. Good views. Then ran through the campus. Pretty, but glad I didn't apply there.

Monday - 7 FAST with 2 friends. We were cruising already but then lightening and thunder struck and we booked it back to the cars. Caught in the rain for sure.

Tues - Friday -- you know, sometimes i just need a break. i couldn't remember the last time i took off. i had a super busy week with work and school (presentation, paper, etc.) and i just needed off. Especially with all the traveling.

Saturday - 13 miles through gradual hills and corn fields of cedar rapids, iowa (was there for a wedding - so fun!) . two friends from my old track team got married. inspired me to run, too. :)

Total: 32. Hah. Ugly.

san francisco

Oh, there's much to say. I was in SF for the long weekend visiting a college friend. I loved it there. I must sleep, but more's to come and here are some photos.



hipster park and beautiful church-turned-high school.



the view of the city from bernal heights.



mayan calendar mural thing on some kind of city community college.



pretty west coast style victorian houses.



la melanie and la alex chan. love 'em.



moi.
looking pretty smug on the zoom in size. sorry 'bout that! smile was just about to spread!

Last Week Run

Sunday - 6
Monday - 8
Tuesday - 7
Wednesday - 6
Thursday - 8
Friday - walked 10 miles around SF
Saturday - walked 10 miles around SF

Total: 35

Ack! Oh well.

How do you see the world?

Okay, people, no comments for awhile so I have to spice it up. Time for a how do you see the world question. Do you fold or crumple the toilet paper? Be honest. A neat little square (or rectangle) or a crumple that could pass for some form of modern art?

Me?

I'm a folder. Think what you will (OCD, neat freak, bor-ing, etc.), it's my method and I'm stickin' to it. And, for the record, I was shocked to find out that people did otherwise.

Your turn!

Weekend activities

Last night I happened upon a cool bike event in Denver. It was some sort of 10 mile midnight bike ride through Denver. First went the family wave, then the youngin' 20-30s people. Thousands and thousands of people. We sat there for about 2ish hours and people just kept coming along. Man, I didn't even have my bike because I didn't know it was going on! People were in costumes and bikes all dressed up with glow-lights and costumes. I especially like the dancing banana and have to admit I laughed at the cut-out derierre of some dude's boxers. There was also a pink bus with a band on top jammin' away, tuba and all. Crazy! These pictures do NOT do it justice, but, check it out.





Today I headed up for a trail run in Nederland where it was quite dusty and hot. I'm back now, vacuuming, cleaning, and baking. Blueberries were 1 pint for $1 at the store so I bought a bunch. I just baked blueberry scones to have for breakfast this week.


Breakfast will be served at ~6:10, after the run and before biking down to 7:00 a.m. yoga class. Drop ins welcome.