Finished a book!

The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight by Susan M. Kleiner


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Awesome lifestyle book. I'm under a lot of stress (physical and mental) from work (standing all day, lifting heavy books), and after work (doing volunteer work at a community theatre with crazy horrible hours... where I stand for hours...) so I've been searching for relief of some kind. I've been doing vitamins, abusing Starbucks mochas, etc... and to think all I had to do was read this book and make a few changes.

I haven't incorporated all of the changes in the book, but by adding a nightly cocoa drink, by having a hardboiled egg every morning, I'm already much happier and much more energetic. I still need caffeine, but I'm not whining and as miserable as I was... I'm looking forward to trying her recipes and incorporating more of the plan into my life. I love this diet because the author repeatedly says hey, don't worry about cheating... if you cheat, just keep eating your good mood foods and it'll all come out in the end.

It's a good low stress way to change your life.

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Battle of The Prizes Reading Challenge

I haven't been to this blog in a long time... It's not so surprising... my reading jags are few and far between.... well that is until I downloaded the Kindle App for my phone. I love Kindle! Thank you Amazon and Steve Jobs! Anyway, the future looks bright for reading as I also bought the Kindle (although I love my phone app the most). In recognition of this, I've decided to sign up for a reading challenge. If you choose to join me, here's the info:

Rose City Reader is hosting The Battle of the Prizes, American Version. Here's what she says:

This challenge pits winners of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction against the winners of the National Book Award in the American Version of the Battle of the Prizes. (Click here for the British Version.)

Does one prize have higher standards than the other? Pick better winners? Provide more reading entertainment or educational value? Maybe challenge participants will be able to answer these and more questions – maybe they will simply read three great books!

DETAILS

Chose three books that you have not read before:

1) One that won both the Pulitzer and the National (here is a list of double dippers);
2) One that won the Pulitzer but not the National (Pulitzer winners are here); and
3) One that won the National but not the Pulitzer (National winners are here).

OPTION: For those who have already read all six of the double-dippers, or otherwise do not want to read one of those six, pick two Pulitzer winners and two National winners for a total of four books.

OFFICIAL RULES

• Overlap with other challenges is allowed -- and encouraged! The Pulitzer Project and The National Book Award Project are logical crossovers. The great thing is, for those working on both these lists, completing the challenge means reading three books, but crossing four items off the lists.
  

• You do not have to commit to your choices now; you can change your mind about books at any time.

And there's more info if you go to the challenge blog. Anyway, I'm off to sign up and make it all official.

Bootleg Pictures Of The Play!

Weekend One of "Wait Until Dark", the current offering by the Hart County Community Theatre... and you probably missed it, but I had the best/worst seat in the house... for the radio show, that is. The photo tells the story... yes, I was a stowaway on the set of "Wait Until Dark"! I thought about popping out and adding an character to the play, but the play was just too taut and together and my villainy wasn't needed. So I just... did my job... and took a picture instead! On the sly! Oh, how I love the I-phone. It just put the I (me!me!me! that is) into WaIt UntIl Dark.

To add to the suspense of the play, I shall not reveal my position in the theatrical lineup! (Clue No One: Swing low... swing way down to the bottom) I confess I am in the program and figuring it out is a no-brainer, but even so, I shall not cooperate!

And to my friends who are clueless... just what is "Wait Until Dark?" It's the dark, suspenseful, Halloween offering by the theatre... a contemperary take on the movie that Audrey Hepburn starred in, back in the day. It takes place in the swinging sixties (but be assured, no actual swinging goes on, only some hand wringing both onstage and off... and much bell ringing, and much hat wearing, but no cat in the...) in the apartment of Sam and Suzie Hendrix, a young couple just trying to keep from answering that doorbell...

The photo below is of Jay Gordon and Jennifer Donald. I'm sorry, dear reader, that the picture is too small and that you too can't look for blood, but i can't work my iphone. Sometimes the i fails the me,me,me, then youyouyou...

Having the best/worst seat in the house is interesting... You hear snippets of conversation before, during and after the show... Jennifer Donald, playing Susy Hendrix, the lead actress, injured her foot. How? Dwayne Donald, one of many leading men... smacked his head on an unforgiving surface... as he was tumbling towards... who? (Alas, I have only my faulty hearing as a source. Oh, if only the Hartwell Sun had covered this episode... but since no reporters were present, you'll have to go with my hearsay.) Was there blood? If so, it was scooped up and saved for a future production. (HCCT Theatre is a nonprofit organization, after all.) I didn't see any though... or did I? Kinsey Ethridge, the lead in oh so many ways, was wielding a mop after the show today.... Hmmm... I shall have to count the cast on Friday. We might have lost one.

I hate it when that happens.

More on the play tomorrow... which has three more times at bat... October 17 and 18th at 8pm (sharp! due to the the theme of the play...) Get your tickets by calling 706-376-5599 or email hcct@hartcom.net

Things People Say To Bikers

I LOVE blogging with pictures. There's something about... not having to write as much? Or perhaps am I just trying to keep up with the Shoefields? A member of that court has inspired me to add a little documentary effect toward my tall tale of the day. So without further ado, I'll introduce my new bike! The Jamis Commuter 3!

The bike came with a beautiful, black metal basket, but alas, it fell off the bike mid transport and left me with a gaping... gap... and an ugly, cheap basket that sigh, will never take its place. I shall replace it! I shall!

But this is not about my projectile wallet. This is about the random bits of conversation that come your way while pedaling in different locations. While scrambling past the front of Bell's Grocery Store last week, a man paused and let me pass, reflecting on the possibility that, "It'd just be my luck to get hit by a bike."

Tonight I took a ride to Lavonia, on behalf of Cookie
(see Exhibit A where subject cat is spewing hatred because wacko owner dared to leave the sofa where she was happy). I wanted to check out Pedi Paws, a new pet store that surely would have eco-responsible cat litter. No clay mined toxic spew for Cookie! Well! I risked my gas, my time for so little. The shop seems to cater to iguana or would be iguana owners. No cat litter at all! So... all I could do was ride the Jamis. People seemed to react as though it was the first bike ever seen anywhere. One man said my flashing bike light looked like a police light. Hope I didn't make him nervous.

Okay so maybe people in Hartwell are funnier than those in Lavonia, but oh, I had fun spinning my wheels tonight. Lavonia has some good, low traffic roads... I will surely return... if that whole gas thing works out, that is.

Wrap Up Of The Summer That... Was or Wasn't?

I've been way too busy to blog this summer. It's been a summer of change! I'm still 5k-ing... although my challenge of late has been how to get to one on time. I've acquired a cat! The 11 year old Cookie as of July 4, 2008. I've taken up chair yoga! And it's redheaded stepsister, the more traditional forms of yoga. I refer you to the accompanying picture of shoes, cat and mat as evidence to support my claims.

Thanks to some biker friends, I now possess an Iphone, so until I drop it and watch it explode into jigsawed pieces, I'll be posting pics of my adventures. The phone makes life so much easier... I really wanted to be a Steve Jobs snob, but alas, I am now in the freak cult. I may change my middle name to Apple... hey, do you think that's what was behind Gwyneth Paltrow's name choice for her firstborn????? I thought she was a fan of her local farmer's market, but possibly it's more due to that freak obsession...

So anyway, I've been doing. This photo below taken in Colbert Ga. I bought a folding bike this summer... the Cayne Rambler and now when I travel, I stop and get some about 30 minutes
of biking in. It comes in handy... when you don't make it to your early riser races. I must be a unaware vampire as I am a-feared of early morning light!. Two weeks ago, I got up at an absurd hour, drove to Athens and drove right into the middle of a 5k being held at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. They had no sign out front advertising their 5k, so I went up this narrow, winding driveway... and here are 150 or so runners ambling toward the starting point and the race director is trying to wave me through... all of those bodies. Somehow I parked and decided I didn't want to run that badly... It's not good when you're the star of bad driving behavior of the 5k. So... I park and before I can escape, a police car blocks me in... then 150 runners run very slowly past me.... just as I was plotting my escape, 150 runners ran even slower past me again. Never has having front row seats to insta replays of my bad decision been so painful. But I had the last laugh! On the way home I took this beautiful ride. Colbert is such a good area for biking. It's flat, there are few cars about and no aggressive dogs... although I did see some adventurers.

Enjoy the view.

I joined The Slow Biking Movement this weekend! An appropriate group for me since I am the slowest cycler alive... Today I went to the grocery store which was 1.7 miles away... took me 15 minutes and my average speed was 6.5 miles per hour. Yeah, I think I qualify. Anyway, I'm going to track my savings/freedom from Big Oil. Yes, I still take the car to work but it's turning out to be a real joy to commute by bike after work.

The bike however is just an environmental mission. The real purpose of this blog is to track activities in our area. I jogged the Firecracker Frolic 5k in Easley, SC today for the fourth... Easley is a great town... with good coffee and great bacon and cheese biscuits. Next time I go, I'm checking out the Twisted Bean. If I'd had a folding bike, I could have checked out more of the town, but oh well, I covered a certain amount by foot.

Well tomorrow if you are so inclined, get up early and go run in this beautiful race... July 5, Lake Rabun - Rabun Ramble 5K & 10K, 7:30am. Info: Sandy O'Brien (706)782-7043, (917)903-8961. One year I'm going to make it.

Idina Menzel (from Wicked! And Rent?) is going to appear 7/18/2008 8:00 PM in the Chastain Park Amphitheatre inAtlanta, GA Should I go? Are they sold out? She's a magnificent singer, so there may be no more tickets at this point. anyway, this goes on my hmmmm.... list.

And Urinetown is on in Atlanta so I need to put that on my definite to do list... I'll find the url later on. Right now I'm on the hunt for fireworks. I think I want to find some...

Slogging Onward With The Blog

My community spirit died a few months ago, but heh, I feel the phoenix rising... even as I gag on the ashes pouring down from the blackened sky. Oh well, "the host is the bit player in my world" says the parasite.

okay, okay enough psycho-rambling. I've been so busy the past few months... running... a few 5ks here and there, lots of training run... lots of whining about not being able to run... but the big news was my turn as stage manager of the HCCT Theatre's production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown." I did a lousy... er nonjob of promoting it... heavy sigh... but I was so tired! I'll do better next time. At any rate, I had a blast and met some incredible people. I love the theatre!

Okay, back to running... there's a 5k in Cartersville this weekend that I'd like to run in just for the t-shirt... The M*A*S*H 5km on Sat 06/14/2008 But alas, I'm having relatives swoop in so that won't be possible.

I'm toying with the idea of getting my brother hooked on this one... before he comes home for the weekend.... The GA 400 Road Race in Atlanta, GA Sat 06/14/2008 It's a four miler and I really like those. And we could do brunch afterward!!!!! Oh, what a glorious idea! I doubt it'll happen, but I can dream...

And I'd really like to do this Sunrise Run 8k in Greenville, SC on June 14th. But alas, I fear I lack the early morning wakeup gene.... And staying up all night and driving for an hour, sweating, straining, groaning for one more is not always advisable when the coffeehouses are closed.

And last I leave you with news of the Saturday Swat Trot, a 5K run, 5K walk, 1K fun run in Snellville, GA. That would probably be more to my brother's taste. We shall see if I can stick this on the to do list...