“No two friends are the same. Each has his or her own gift for us. When we expect one friend to have all we need, we will always be hypercritical, never completely happy with what he or she does have. One friend may offer us affection, another may stimulate our minds, another may strengthen our souls. The more able we are to receive different gifts our friends have to give us, the more able we will be to offer our own unique but limited gifts. Thus, friendships create a beautiful tapestry of love.”
-- Henry J. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
summer fun
you know its summer when:
1. you have to bring long pants and a polar fleece to work so you don't turn purple in lab. brrr.
2. your legs are covered in mosquito bites after a single dinner/bbq outside.
3. watermelon becomes a dietary stable.
4. you have to apply spf white kid to every exposed part of your body before leaving the house.
5. your hair starts getting lighter because its finally seeing real sun (YES!).
6. jumping into a pool with all your clothes on is a perfectly logical thing to do.
7. strawberries are on sale everywhere.
these are just some of the things that have had me smiling the last couple days.
that and i signed up for my first 50-mile run. it will be in the marin headlands on 8/8.
happy summer everyone!
1. you have to bring long pants and a polar fleece to work so you don't turn purple in lab. brrr.
2. your legs are covered in mosquito bites after a single dinner/bbq outside.
3. watermelon becomes a dietary stable.
4. you have to apply spf white kid to every exposed part of your body before leaving the house.
5. your hair starts getting lighter because its finally seeing real sun (YES!).
6. jumping into a pool with all your clothes on is a perfectly logical thing to do.
7. strawberries are on sale everywhere.
these are just some of the things that have had me smiling the last couple days.
that and i signed up for my first 50-mile run. it will be in the marin headlands on 8/8.
happy summer everyone!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
urban hiking
its been nice outside, and by that i mean, in the 90s with humidity. while it doesn't feel great to be moving particularly fast, a little bit of movement feels a lot better than just sitting.
yesterday, i went for a run and breakfast with some of the hctr folks. most of us are either racing next weekend at huntsville (tx) or jemez, which is near los alamos, nm. afterward, i finished reading outliers by malcom gladwell (two thumbs up!) and then headed down to brew-b-q to watch some chihuahua racing. brew-b-q turned into actually bbq-ing at a friends, followed by the obiligatory jump in the pool fully clothed and then ice cream and moving watching in a very air conditioned house. all in all, it was a very enjoyable day.
this morning i woke up and went for a quick 5-miler and then decided i wanted to do some urban hiking. i wandered down to the austin botanical gardens, and would share pictures, but it was a huge failure on my part not to check the camera batteries before i left and it turned out they were dead. oops! it was beautiful though.
its amazing what you start to notice when you move a little slower and pay attention to your surroundings. i found several yoga studios and a whole series of trails i had never noticed before...and i run by all of them every day!
tuning my ukulele is giving me more problems than playing it. i'm starting to play somewhere over the rainbow, but it takes me a good 30 minutes or so to get the thing tuned. i know what its supposed to sound like and i have a pitch pipe (not to mention online resources). i think i get the tuning right though and go to play a song only to find out that i haven't tuned correctly. i guess that's just part of the learning process!
yesterday, i went for a run and breakfast with some of the hctr folks. most of us are either racing next weekend at huntsville (tx) or jemez, which is near los alamos, nm. afterward, i finished reading outliers by malcom gladwell (two thumbs up!) and then headed down to brew-b-q to watch some chihuahua racing. brew-b-q turned into actually bbq-ing at a friends, followed by the obiligatory jump in the pool fully clothed and then ice cream and moving watching in a very air conditioned house. all in all, it was a very enjoyable day.
this morning i woke up and went for a quick 5-miler and then decided i wanted to do some urban hiking. i wandered down to the austin botanical gardens, and would share pictures, but it was a huge failure on my part not to check the camera batteries before i left and it turned out they were dead. oops! it was beautiful though.
its amazing what you start to notice when you move a little slower and pay attention to your surroundings. i found several yoga studios and a whole series of trails i had never noticed before...and i run by all of them every day!
tuning my ukulele is giving me more problems than playing it. i'm starting to play somewhere over the rainbow, but it takes me a good 30 minutes or so to get the thing tuned. i know what its supposed to sound like and i have a pitch pipe (not to mention online resources). i think i get the tuning right though and go to play a song only to find out that i haven't tuned correctly. i guess that's just part of the learning process!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
quarter-life crisis
there have been two interesting reads which gave me pause in the last few days.
my friend jonathan came across an article discussing the quarter-life crisis. basically the theory goes that this tends to happen in the mid- to late-20s, and is the result of this generation having too much freedom to do what they want. the world is open to them, but they (we) don't know what they want so they bumble around trying lots of things when they get fed up with dealing with other things. its a pretty interesting concept.
i like what i do, but at the end of the day, i'm still not sure what i want to do with the rest of my life. my housemate jakub and i were talking about what we thought we wanted to do after finishing our phds and i mentioned doing a post-doc. not as a criticism, but as an observation, he said, trish, you don't seem like the type (to do a post-doc). you seem like the type to start doing something (like a job or working for myself). i think he's probably right about the former. i'm ready to be done with school (on some level post-docs still are school, you just don't get a degree). i still don't know what i want to do when i graduate, though i definitely have a few ideas. in the closing words of the article i linked to above (pardon the french): "it might just be time to grow the f*** up."
another friend sent me an article about why the 21st century is making people miserable. in summary, we don't interact with people as much, so our ability to deal with annoying people, lines, emotion, etc, is not what it used to be, and on top of that, we don't have as many close friends. i was talking to someone about how i was becoming annoyed with texting, im-ing, and emailing because you could type one thing but you couldn't control how people interpreted what you said, whereas if the conversation was had in person you could observe or hear them (or they you) to get the real meaning from body language or intonation. i was annoyed because i felt like what i was saying was not being "heard" the way i intended it.
the other thing i had been pondering before my friend sent me this link was staying in my co-op versus moving out. i decided to come back to the house at the end of this summer because i think living with this many other people is good for me. it gets frustrating to see the kitchen dirty every day or listen to the same people making inflammatory comments in house meetings, but you learn to deal with it and work it out with people because...well, you live with them. you learn patience and how to live with people who are very different from you. and you learn how to find peace in the midst of the commotion of a busy house. that, for me, has been an invaluable lesson, but one that i know i'm still working on.
my ukulele arrived this weekend. i can play twinkle, twinkle little star now. i'm thoroughly enjoying myself.
my friend jonathan came across an article discussing the quarter-life crisis. basically the theory goes that this tends to happen in the mid- to late-20s, and is the result of this generation having too much freedom to do what they want. the world is open to them, but they (we) don't know what they want so they bumble around trying lots of things when they get fed up with dealing with other things. its a pretty interesting concept.
i like what i do, but at the end of the day, i'm still not sure what i want to do with the rest of my life. my housemate jakub and i were talking about what we thought we wanted to do after finishing our phds and i mentioned doing a post-doc. not as a criticism, but as an observation, he said, trish, you don't seem like the type (to do a post-doc). you seem like the type to start doing something (like a job or working for myself). i think he's probably right about the former. i'm ready to be done with school (on some level post-docs still are school, you just don't get a degree). i still don't know what i want to do when i graduate, though i definitely have a few ideas. in the closing words of the article i linked to above (pardon the french): "it might just be time to grow the f*** up."
another friend sent me an article about why the 21st century is making people miserable. in summary, we don't interact with people as much, so our ability to deal with annoying people, lines, emotion, etc, is not what it used to be, and on top of that, we don't have as many close friends. i was talking to someone about how i was becoming annoyed with texting, im-ing, and emailing because you could type one thing but you couldn't control how people interpreted what you said, whereas if the conversation was had in person you could observe or hear them (or they you) to get the real meaning from body language or intonation. i was annoyed because i felt like what i was saying was not being "heard" the way i intended it.
the other thing i had been pondering before my friend sent me this link was staying in my co-op versus moving out. i decided to come back to the house at the end of this summer because i think living with this many other people is good for me. it gets frustrating to see the kitchen dirty every day or listen to the same people making inflammatory comments in house meetings, but you learn to deal with it and work it out with people because...well, you live with them. you learn patience and how to live with people who are very different from you. and you learn how to find peace in the midst of the commotion of a busy house. that, for me, has been an invaluable lesson, but one that i know i'm still working on.
my ukulele arrived this weekend. i can play twinkle, twinkle little star now. i'm thoroughly enjoying myself.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
steep and cheap
if you're into the great out-of-doors and you are into gear and you haven't yet experienced steepandcheap, you'll need to check it out stat. i keep an eye on it from time to time (it gets kind of addicting, consider yourself warned), and yesterday, to my great delight, one of the featured items was a women's climbing harness. i got a new Black Diamond harness for $23+ s&h. and its orchid!
moving on...whatever that stomach bug i got two weeks ago was, it came back on sunday. jim and i went out for a run and had breakfast afterward. i got home, took a shower and started feeling nauseous. not too long later all the other fun stomach issues came along and then the fever set in (a measily 100.7oF). as i tend to be the kid that never gets sick and this is the second time this has happened recently (on top of the stomach issues at boston, which namely involved not being able to eat), i decided to go see a doctor. dr. dale, who is going on my list of best doctors ever for his preference to treat conservatively and not immediately try to stick a needle in me, told me to wait a couple more days and see what happens. while i think this would make a lot of people mad (what? no medicine?!), it made me quite happy (yes! no medicine!).
in the meantime, my mom suggested i lay off the fiber until my stomach settled down. the only problem with this advice is that i've been a vegetarian for going on ~12.5 years now. i eat a lot of fiber. so i stood in the kitchen this morning, thinking 'ah, i can have this for breakfast! no, too much fiber...well, then i'll have this for breakfast! no, still too much fiber' and so on. it was sad. eventually i just gave up...there was a huge bag of ripe mangoes in the fridge. resistance at that point was futile (but delicious!).
moving on...whatever that stomach bug i got two weeks ago was, it came back on sunday. jim and i went out for a run and had breakfast afterward. i got home, took a shower and started feeling nauseous. not too long later all the other fun stomach issues came along and then the fever set in (a measily 100.7oF). as i tend to be the kid that never gets sick and this is the second time this has happened recently (on top of the stomach issues at boston, which namely involved not being able to eat), i decided to go see a doctor. dr. dale, who is going on my list of best doctors ever for his preference to treat conservatively and not immediately try to stick a needle in me, told me to wait a couple more days and see what happens. while i think this would make a lot of people mad (what? no medicine?!), it made me quite happy (yes! no medicine!).
in the meantime, my mom suggested i lay off the fiber until my stomach settled down. the only problem with this advice is that i've been a vegetarian for going on ~12.5 years now. i eat a lot of fiber. so i stood in the kitchen this morning, thinking 'ah, i can have this for breakfast! no, too much fiber...well, then i'll have this for breakfast! no, still too much fiber' and so on. it was sad. eventually i just gave up...there was a huge bag of ripe mangoes in the fridge. resistance at that point was futile (but delicious!).
Friday, April 24, 2009
hold your own. know your name. go your own way.
and everything will be fine.
the title and line above are lyrics to a song i have been listening to a bunch lately. i heard it for the first time sitting out in hopkinton in the athlete's village before the start of the marathon on monday. at first i just liked the rhythm of the music--very mellow, very calming. ironically, once i started listening to the words i realized that i should listen to the advice.
i was going through my books last night figuring out what to take to half-price books and trade in, and i came across my journal from last year. reading through the entries from last summer, i found myself kind of amazed at what i had written. i wouldn't consider myself wise, but at least from the vantage point at which i currently sit, there was wisdom in my assessment of various situations at the time (it wasn't intentional). and i think that those insights apply to the present as well.
the title and line above are lyrics to a song i have been listening to a bunch lately. i heard it for the first time sitting out in hopkinton in the athlete's village before the start of the marathon on monday. at first i just liked the rhythm of the music--very mellow, very calming. ironically, once i started listening to the words i realized that i should listen to the advice.
i was going through my books last night figuring out what to take to half-price books and trade in, and i came across my journal from last year. reading through the entries from last summer, i found myself kind of amazed at what i had written. i wouldn't consider myself wise, but at least from the vantage point at which i currently sit, there was wisdom in my assessment of various situations at the time (it wasn't intentional). and i think that those insights apply to the present as well.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
boston 2009
construction of the finish line for the marathonwell, my trip to boston is coming to a close. it has been awesome. i have had a lot on my mind recently, and it was nice to get away for a little bit and have quiet to process everything.
i humbly retract the blog i posted recently about not looking back on last summer fondly. the comment was made in relation to something specific that happened recently in my life, which gave me pause. the conversations i've had in the last week or two helped me to see last summer was exactly what i expected and for that i am grateful. i didn't know specifically what would happen. i just knew that my life would be flipped upside down and that i would be challenged in whatever way i needed to be challenged. and that i was. its taken 8 months but i feel like i have a much better perspective on things and can now look back on the whole experience with a clear head. i continue to learn so much from my experiences and am eager to embrace changes in my life.
my housemate gokce has never been to boston and before i left, she told me to take lots of pictures. i said sure. then i arrived in boston and though, that's like telling someone to go home and take pictures of the city where she grew up. what do i take pictures of? what gives boston part of its magic for me is my history here. i have a lot of good memories and why i like going to this or that place has more to do with good times i have had there rather than the physical place itself.
when i come to boston, i tend to walk everywhere. i love walking. here are some of the things i've seen in the last few days:
swan boats in the public gardens
2009 boston marathon expo
harvard squareregardless, i did a lot of walking around boston and, always the lover of books, stopped in several bookstores to browse. at one store, i happened upon a used copy of planetwalker by john francis, the man i posted the ted video about somewhat recently. i've been reading it every chance i have gotten since. it is truly inspiring to me. i also tend to browse the travel writing sections and i picked up a copy of bill bryon's a walk in the woods and another book about a man who walked around the perimeter of ireland in one month with a fridge after making a drunken bet to a buddy one night. this common theme of books was not intentional. i was browsing for interesting things and after purchasing them i realized that everything talked about walking long distances and the experiences one has a long the way. before i found the second two books, i also saw this quote at the marathon expo:
it seemed quite fitting so i took a picture.i came to boston to run the marathon. i finished in 3:32 and change. the time was less than one minute off my pr for this course. it ended up being a beautiful day to run though a bit chilly towards the end. i think i went out a little two fast, but my splits were pretty even so i was happy about that. i felt better the last 4 or 5 miles than i have ever felt during that stretch of this course. i ususally don't have trouble taking in water and calories, but before i was half way through the race, my stomach shut down. i didn't want to eat or drink at all. i made myself do it, but it was rough.
after the race, i met up with michael, sarah, nick and kelly. we grabbed tea at barnes & noble so we could all warm up, and then we walked from kenmore to central to grab food and a drink at the asgard. i mentioned my stomach shutting down during the race, but i also didn't feel okay to eat for a few hours afterwards. i wanted the tea, but other than water, i didn't have anything to eat until we got to the asgard. as an aside, maybe it was something in the water because i saw a lot more people puking after this race than i have ever seen before. it was weird. don't worry, i wasn't that bad off.
ironically through all of this, my legs actually felt better post marathon of that pace than they ever have. my legs weren't tender when walking afterwards at all really and i felt like i could run some more. i'm sore this morning, but it doesn't seem too bad...i also haven't tried to walk down stairs yet though.
thank you for all your good luck wishes! it was a good race.
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