30 Day Movie Challenge Day 1: Your Favorite Movie

Because I don't have enough challenges in life I decided to take on a new one. (I'm kidding. I'm just not blogging or tweeting or Facebooking about every single challenge.) I've seen a number of friends on my Twitter feed doing a 30 Day Music Challenge lately, and I may do that one, too, but when someone suggested a movie challenge yesterday I realized it was much more my style. I'm not going to blog my movie selection every day but I will be tweeting it daily and maybe I'll follow-up with weekly posts or every few days.

Number 1 on the list easy. My favorite movie is The Philadelphia Story, starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart. It's got fast-paced, witty dialogue. Comedy. Romance. Strong, independent women, some of them wearing pants. Reading. And drinking. So many things that make a perfect story for me.

I can't remember when I first this film it but for many years it's been my absolute favorite. I watched it last night, thinking of this list. I watch it every six months or so. I always want the ending to be different even though I know it's not going to be and it ultimately does have the right ending. This moment always has me on the edge of my seat in anticipation even though I know exactly what's going to happen:

This may seem like a spoiler but it's not. And really, the film came out in 1940 so the statute of limitations on spoiler alerts has pretty much run out.

If you're in the mood for what I consider to be one of the origins of romantic comedy in cinema, give this a chance.

Here's what's to come in the following days:

Rock 'n' Roll Providence Half Marathon

Well, I did it. With so little training, I decided to show up on the morning of the Rock 'n' Roll Providence Half Marathon to see what would happen. I was going to take it slow and easy. I planned on walk breaks. I toed the line, I started an easy shuffle. And before I knew it, mile after mile was ticking by and miles four through eight were each done at a ten-minute pace without me even thinking about it. I'd told Mike to expect me to finish in two-and-a-half to three hours but I texted him after mile seven, then at miles ten and eleven with my progress.

Mike and Muffin made it just in time to see me finish in two hours and fifteen minutes.

I felt fine during the run. I kept telling myself to slow down and take it easy. I told myself to enjoy the sights and the music, and I did enjoy those things. I smiled at some of the signs and spectators along the way. I stopped to use the bathroom. I stopped to drink some Gatorade. I stopped to take a few snapshots. I kept thinking of all my laps around KBR Park in Hyderabad and all my early mornings running before the heat of the day set in. I didn't want those laps and hours to go to waste. I didn't get to run the two half marathons I'd trained for in Hyderabad but even though I may have lost the physical training from those runs, the mental training was still with me. I thought of getting to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and about being in labor for nearly thirty hours. Running a half marathon was way, way easier than those things.

I've been paying for it since I crossed the line, however. I've hardly been able to walk and Tylenol has been my best friend. Bed time last night was the first time since Sunday that I fell asleep pain-free.

There is a movement among people who want to run a marathon to use a "training-free" training plan. If you want to run that one race and never run again, I say, sure, why not, but you're not doing yourself any favors by not giving yourself an inkling of how much pain you'll be in afterward. I wouldn't recommend anything like it unless you really know your body well. I knew I could do the distance; I've done it before at walking and at running paces. I had an idea of how much it was going to hurt afterward and I knew when to back off to make sure I didn't get injured along the way. I would not recommend this no-training strategy to someone who has never done long-distance running or racing before.

If going to the mall is U.S. consumer culture overload, then running a big race like a Rock 'n' Roll event is the running equivalent. I haven't raced in the United States in a while; the last one I did was a much smaller race, so seeing all the gear and technical running clothes on people who are more casual runners, not elites and not sponsored athletes, was kind of a shock. I have to say people run with way too much freakin' gear. And I saw a lot of evidence that it didn't really help much. Yes, I carried my phone with me with a GPS app running. I run with my phone every single time in case I need to make an emergency phone call. But I don't care about the best tech tees and running skirts. I saw people with Garmin watches, ipods, and water belts -- lots of people with all three -- and they were getting tangled up in their earbud wires; GPSes were beeping with low memories and low batteries; water bottles were popping out of fueling belts when people took off long-sleeved shirts. All those distractions just slow you down, possibly more so than if you just ran without it all. To me, too much stuff only leads to more things that could go wrong. The running isn't that hard; I think people get caught up in the self-imposed difficulties brought on by all the gear. As far as commercial industries go, the running industry is starting to annoy me almost as much as the wedding and baby industries. But that's all I'm going to say about that for now.

I'm going to continue running my own races from now on and not worry about the people around me.

Watching the race was fun and all, but she was really impress
with the free chocolate milk and bananas afterward.

And I Thought Our Case of the Mondays Was Bad

I don't even remember now what happened on Monday to prompt me to write the Facebook status, "This family as a serious case of the Mondays." (By the time I finished writing this post, I remembered. In the hour between Mike leaving for work and Muffin leaving for school, Mike lost his wallet and Muffin simultaneously peed on the floor and spilled strawberry-banana smoothie on the dining room table. From 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning is a magical time of day in our house.)

This morning on the way home from dropping off Muffin at school, I noticed a person laying on the ground with another person standing over him or her and our driver pointed out that it was a woman being beaten by a man. I wanted to stop and help. I think he wanted to stop and help. But instead I asked him to call the police and report it. I knew it probably wouldn't do much good, but I didn't think my stopping would have helped the situation much, either. She probably would have just been beaten even more later on. I was torn up all morning about not doing more. I hate feeling so helpless. I can't help thinking, though, that if the reports keep coming in then eventually the police will have to do something.

After lunch and after Muffin went down for her nap, I was reading in the living room when our housekeeper limped in, crying. She'd slipped in the laundry room and had severe pain in her hip / lower back / tailbone area. I gave her an ice pack and some Tylenol and told her to sit or lie down for a few minutes, whichever was more comfortable. By the way she was crying and wincing I was afraid she may have actually broken her tailbone. It became evident that even if nothing was broken, she was uncomfortable and didn't have the physical ability to baby-sit Muffin later this afternoon when I went out for my dentist appointment. I told her our driver could take her home. But she couldn't stand up. So I had our driver take her to a local hospital for x-rays. The driver and I had to carry her down to the car. Thank goodness Muffin was napping and didn't have to see all of that. The driver is staying with her until someone from her family can join her.

I'd really like to crack open a bottle of wine right now and throw in the towel on this day, but there's still the matter of my dentist appointment. I was able to push it back from 3:00 to 6:00 in hopes that Mike will be home in time to stay with Muffin. It's the fourth, and hopefully final, visit of a multi-visit root canal. Real fun. It might hurt less and I'll be more relaxed if I've had a drink or two, but it somehow feels inappropriate.

And there was no hot water for my shower.

And  Top Gun was on TV and I turned it on just in time to see Goose die.

I should have known what kind of day this was going to be when two Smiths songs in a row came up on the iPod shuffle this morning.

Motivation Monday: Playlist Edition

Mike sent me this in reference to Muffin's
being in school some day. This is the closest
anyone will ever come to knowing what's on
my playlist. Original source unknown.

I'm going to come right out and say it and what few fans I have may decide to drop me. I don't care what's on anyone else's playlist. I'm actually embarrassed to read about other people's playlists. People that I enjoy reading and that I admire as runners, I completely glaze over and skip the parts about how great certain songs are. It sounds goofy and all it shows me is that runners who like to talk about their playlists listen a lot of Top 40 music, which isn't really my cup of tea. It doesn't inspire me at all. A runner's playlist should be personal.

While we're on the subject of music, please think long and hard before listening to it while running on the road. It's a distraction from your surroundings and it's a clear signal to the bad guys that you have something worth stealing.

I was motivated by last week's MM post to set my alarm for 5:15 for one morning. That morning Muffin woke up about ten minutes before then. She had a valid reason -- she wanted help using the toilet and that's a huge milestone for her -- but by the time I got through helping her I went straight for the coffee rather than my running shoes. I spent my afternoon on a treadmill rather than taking the nap I'd dreamt of taking when I first set the alarm for so early.

This week I'm starting another course for my master's degree and I think I'm having a root canal on Thursday. But I will squeeze in a couple runs and one yoga session. We're signed up for a 5K on Sunday.

This Week

This week I also posted at What I Eat.

Sophie goes Mobile a video by girl_in_bleue on Flickr.

She's Like the Wind

Sophie and the Wind a video by girl_in_bleue on Flickr.

A Mike and Muffin Project

Please Sound Horn

One thing that Americans seem to have a hard time adjusting to overseas is all the horn-blowing, or horning, that goes on when you're driving. In the United States, we use turn signals. In other countries, you blow the horn to alert cars around you that you're doing something -- whether you're passing them, or you're warning them that they're too close to you, or you're approaching an intersection or corner and you want to alert other possible cars, bikes, autos, or pedestrians that you're coming. Many expats here tell their drivers to never use the horn. While all the horn blowing can be annoying, now that the horn in our car is broken, I can totally see the advantages of using it.

You'll see that most big trucks have "Please Sound Horn" painted across the back. Ritzy neighborhoods and gated communities have signs that read "No Horning" posted. That's how important the horn is to driving here. You have to let go of the fact that you're not in the United States anymore and you have to drive by the local rules. And don't take the horn blowing personally. The other driver isn't honking at you because you did something wrong, like cut them off. They are honking to let you know they are there, so please don't cut them off. It doesn't matter if you're on the correct side of the street. You have to assume that others won't be. Practically speaking, there is no correct side; you drive, walk, cycle wherever there's room for you to do so. As a courtesy, drivers horn to alert you all to clear out of the road.

A few days ago Mike came home and said we have a Little Miss Sunshine situation in our car, with the horn being stuck "on." Our driver disabled the horn, and then the rides out in town became really nerve-racking. At first I thought I'd enjoy the quiet, until we came to a blind corner, one where we'd usually tap the horn before approaching, and we couldn't do that. The suspense around every corner was starting to bug me more than the sound of the horn previously did. I think I'm a horning convert now. Sure, people should slow down and drive more orderly, but that's not going to happen any time soon.

Our driver has fooled with the horn a bit and it's letting out a squeak. The mechanic we usually see is back in the United States for an undetermined amount of time and apparently there's no one else our driver trusts to take the car to.

On a side note, I don't think our driver approves of the music we play for Muffin in the car. He's worked for expats with kids before, so he knows expat children's music and it's supposed to be nursery rhymes, not They Might Be Giants.

Singing & Dancing with Umudeyo

On Friday night we went to a show at the Centre Culturel Francais. It was a group called Umudeyo, a local group that combines traditional Burundian music and dancing with modern music and dancing. Electric guitars onstage beside gourds and sticks.

It was pretty awesome. The dancers were particularly talented and athletic. The songs all told stories and even though they were in Kirundi it was easy to see what they were saying. They were conventional tales of man-woman relationships, youngsters versus elders, and the ever-present land dispute. Apparently these themes are hilarious to Burundians. While I enjoyed the singing and dancing, I just didn't get the jokes. 

Umudeyo performs at CCF every couple of months. And with the cafe attached, there's a full night of seeing a show and drinking Amstel. 

Songs

I've had two songs stuck in my head the past few days.

Brand New Colony, by the Postal Service:

I want to take you far from the cynics int his town
And kiss you on the mouth
We'll cut out bodies free from the tethers of this scene,
Start a brand new colony
Where everything will change,
We'll give ourselves new names (identities erased)
The sun will heat the ground
Under our bare feet in this brand new colony
Everything will change

And The Kinks' Phenomenal Cat:

A long, long time ago,
In the land of idiot boys,
There live a cat, a phenomenal cat,
Who loved to wallow all day.

No one bothered him
As he sat, content in his tree.
He just lived to eat cause it kept him fat,
And thats how he wanted to stay.

Though he was big and fat,
All the world was good to him,
And he pointed out on the map
All the places he had been.

Regular blogging will resume here in a few days. I've done a bit of posting at What I Eat.

Goth-n-Roll High School Forever

Last night I saw a show I've been wanting to see for, oh, 16 years I guess. Ninth or tenth grade, that neck of the woods. The Cure. It was awesome. They rocked solid for three hours. They played a lot of newer stuff that I'm not as familiar with but they also reached far back into their discography for all the old crowd favorites. They freakin' finished with "Killing an Arab"!

I felt very much the way I felt when I finally saw Morrissey a few years ago. The voice and the lyrics and the music and the persona that I've been absorbing since I was an impressionable youth is standing right in front of me. And it's not a disappointment. Robert Smith, the Original Adorable Goth, jumped around in what looked like his pajamas and made the fans happy. We noticed that he can't really sing and play guitar at the same time. For the most part he does one or the other, and when he plays guitar he's really concentrating hard. (That explains why a lot of songs are strong guitar, then singing, then strong guitar, then singing again.)

I was actually surprised by how great they sound live. Their albums seem to have a lot of production and rather than replicate the album sounds onstage they've created powerful live versions of their songs. And the have great lights and cool graphic elements. (Mike thinks some of the images are the same from when he saw The Cure in highs school. And why should they change? If the spider man graphics are a crowd-pleaser, keep 'em.) When you think about it, they've been touring for a long time so they've had a lot of practice and know how to rock the audience.

They did four encores. That's right, four. It was the first night of their U.S. tour and I think they were experimenting with the lineup and encores and grand finales. We got to see them all. I kept toying with the idea of leaving because it was getting late and we have a busy day today but I was resolved to stick it out until my favorite song, "Boys Don't Cry." Finally, I think in the middle of the third encore, they did it. I could go home the happiest little goth. I'm glad we stuck it out to the end though, because they kept reaching back with "Lovecats," "10:15 Saturday Night," and "Jumping Someone Else's Train."

Even if you're just a casual fan, you should consider checking out the show when it comes to your town. Some songs I never liked that much on the albums had a totally different sound on stage. And the lights and graphics really enhanced the vibe. We saw them at the Patriot Center at GMU which was a pretty good venue. Noesebleed seats, but with a clear view of the stage and small enough so that Robert Smith was bigger than a speck. (Thank goodness for his big hair.)

Today I'm tired, but happy. I can't wait for Mike to wake up so I can blast some Cure tunes.

we are patriots

Last night, for 4th of July, we saw the Steven Sondheim musical Assassins. I loved it! While it was a community theater with a very small production budget, and thus sort of a crappy set, there was no masking Sondheim's catchy songs. And the charisma of John Wilkes Booth. (I *heart* him. As a character in a musical that is. In the Broadway rivial in 2004 the actor who played him won a Tony.) And the actor who played Leon Czolgosz was fantastic. Made me want to learn more about him and Emma Goldman and all that. And I learned a little about assassination history in general. I knew nothing about assissination attempts on FDR and Nixon, and very little about the attempt by Squeaky Fromme on Ford. And being that it was such a small theater, by sitting in the second row we were making eye contact with all the assassins all night long. It was a little nervy, especially when they were pointing guns into the audience. But I liked feeling so close to the actors. By being so actually close to them.

After the show the musical director came on stage and asked the audience to stand up and join the cast in singing "America the Beautiful" (because we all chose to spend our 4th of July night watching a musical about U.S. presidential assassins). I couldn't stop giggling throughout the song and John Wilkes Booth kept looking at me.

(More info from wikipedia.)

This afternoon I Don't Like Mondays popped up on my ipod shuffle and it made me cry a little.

It was followed by The Smiths' "Boy with the Thorn in His Side." Ipod shuffle gods, what did I do to you today?

News Break

1) Sometimes The Onion publishes a story that's painfully true.

Area Man Guesses He'll Learn The Difference Between Shiites And Sunnis
PORTLAND, OR—Nearly four years into the war in Iraq, local sales representative Howard Morrison finally conceded that it was probably time to just pick up a newspaper and figure out what distinguishes Sunni Muslims from Shiite Muslims. "At first I really thought this whole thing would work itself out, and there was no need to figure out who was who," said Morrision, adding that it used to be enough to know the difference between Iraq and Iran. "But this is turning out to be pretty complicated and I should at least learn which side are the insurgents. I know one of them's Islamic." Morrison said he would have time for the new subject since giving up trying to learn the difference between trans fats and regular fats last week.

2) Does FOX secretly own every network? They've got all channels covering the big story of how mean American Idol is. But doesn't that actually promote the show? (As if it needs more promotion... Is it true that more people vote for American Idol winners than for president? Are the numbers skewed because of the age groups? And if the American Idol voting system is so reliable, why doesn't it become the system for presidential elections?) Anyway... Does NBC really think they're scaring potential American Idol viewers into watching their programming instead by interviewing people whose feelings were hurt by Simon Cowell? I have a feeling more people will be tuning in to watch the insults fly. (Not me though. I've never been interested in the show and have only watched one complete episode.)

3) Bill Richardson announces his exploratory committee, gets ignored.

4) Does this researcher collect royalties from New Order? Today is, scientifically speaking, Blue Monday. But fear not! Manalo to the rescue!

ralph

I did not want to go running this morning but somehow I dragged myself out the door. I had to deposit a check, mail some Netflix, and buy some half & half, and I knew I could do all that at the shopping center that's conveniently located exactly 1 mile from us. And I could run on the trail instead of the street, so that was a bonus. I coaxed myself into one little mile, figuring it was better than 0 miles (does it bother anyone else that "zero" gets a plural noun?). I knew I would succomb to the free Starbucks awaiting me and end up walking home. I justified it by getting soy and trying to walk briskly.

Anyway, one thing that minorly annoys me is that in order to get to the trail I have to cross the street at a traffic light along a busy road right outside our apartment. I psyche myself up with a good first song on the ipod, just to stand there rocking out for a few minutes on the sidewalk instead of actually running. I finally got to the trail, and the second song came up. I was so pleasantly surprised that it was "The Final Countdown" (Mike it's on your itunes if you want to listen to it any time). I forgot I had that. I started laughing out loud and luckily no one else was on the trail to see me being foolish. I wanted to dance around performing illusions. I nearly let a "Steve Holt!" slip out. (If anyone other than Mike and Vicky know what I'm talking about, please raise your hands.)

I know this post doesn't make much sense, but I wanted a reason to post this picture.

Random Holiday Stuff

Martha Stewart recently did a segment on making your tree safe from pets. There were some good ideas, like fastening the tree to the wall with fishing wire and using floral wire to attach glass ornaments to the tree branches. What I thought was odd that throughout the segment she talked on and on about ornament safety. Not once did she mention pet safety. Sure, I'd be upset if my tree fell over and some glass balls broke, but I'd be even more upset if my pet was squashed by the falling tree. Good info, but odd priorities.

According to Real Simple, you should not be a superwoman or superman. Don't be a control freak, and get the kids involved. Kids can stick bows on packages and stamps on cards. Put the little critters to work!

For holiday cheer, listen to David Sedaris's Santaland Diaries and read his essay Six to Eight Black Men.

Gifts for Kids
Did you know Johnny Cash put out a kids' album?
I want some of this music for myself:
Children's Tunes Revive Spirit of Punk Rock

Festive Grendel Pics: Grendel Notices Fur Trim on Stockings

Most importantly, share happiness:
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- Buddha

Woo!

I just got us Guns n Roses tickets for next weekend! (It's not a surprise, I already called Mike.) The show also includes Helmet, The Suicide Girls Live Burlesque Show, and Sebastian Bach.

I just got back from a run. It's high time I got my butt in gear and got back out on the street. Can you believe that it only dawned on me this morning that I should take my ipod with me? In college I got out of the habit of running with headphones because my coach discouraged it for training runs when we ran as a group--those took place 5 or 6 times a week, leaving little opportunity for running on your own. Yes, it's taken me this long to break some of those habits developed for competitive training. It's always so refreshing when I remember that I can run any way I want to now. So, I'm having a Tenacious D kind of day and the guitar rock plus hilarious lyrics distracted me from how much running sucks. (We don't have The Pick of Destiny cd yet. hint, hint.)

Tonight is the last new episode of Heroes for a few weeks!

yes

What Pseudo Historical Figure Best Suits You?
created with QuizFarm.com

I know I don't normally clog up this space with quizzes, but I'm very happy with these results.

And I'm still a little tired from my Saturday night out and don't have the energy right now to offer anything more creative or enlightening.

Frank Black Is...

Frank Black... courtesey of Wikipedia.

Frank Black is many things to many different kinds of fans.

To me, Frank Black is founder, song writer, guitarist and lead singer of The Pixies. They rocked the late 1980s and early 1990s in ways no one had ever heard before or since. David Bowie is a huge fan. Nirvana and other later 90s "grunge" and "alternative" bands site The Pixies as a major influence. Their rock is like nothing else out there. A few years ago they got back together and started touring again. I was not a Pixies fan. Mike was insanely devoted to them back in the day. He took me to one of their first reunion shows and I was instantly and fully converted. Their CDs are good, but nothing compares to their live shows. I recommend The Pixies Live at Coachella mp3s if you can find them. (Coachella is where I saw them for the first time.) If not, The Pixies Sell Out DVD, their appearance on Austin City Limits, or their newest DVD, an acoustic set from the Newport Folk Festival.

Frank Black and Tom Petty tonight!