Progress Toward Goals: March in Review

March has been a pretty eventful month for me, as I went to San Diego for a few days to run my eleventh half-marathon at the beginning of the month, hosted a mini writing retreat over part of spring break, celebrated my birthday, and had a pretty busy second half of the month on campus between classes and some service tasks. I am very happy to say that I felt much better emotionally than I did in February. Thanks in part to Spring Break and to some fun activities -- I caught up with an old friend in San Diego, Mark and I went to a fun Seder for the second night of Passover, and we went tubing for the first time -- I was able to feel a bit of that often-elusive life-work-training balance thing.

At the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Diego's Balboa Park

Tubing Adventure!

Also in most areas I made some progress toward my goals. As far as my fitness and health goals are concerned, I did pretty well. Although I was still pretty lax with eating while in San Diego and not journaling during the first half of the month, I knew that a day of reckoning was coming as I struggled to get into one of my pairs of pants toward the end of spring break. The day after my birthday I joined Weight Watchers Online and have successfully journaled each day since then. My yoga has dropped off horribly this month, as I used up my class pass last month and since my yoga studio was closing at the end of the month (tear) I did not renew it. However, I'm planning to check out another studio soon for a class with some lady friends. In terms of running, I logged 64.2 miles in March, and, as I mentioned in my race report, while San Diego was not my fastest half it was 8 minutes faster than any of the half-marathons that I ran in 2012. I feel good about that.

Happily, this month even with travel and some of the general malaise that often makes itself known at this time during the academic year, I met my writing goal of at least 3 pages each week. Last week I sent a rough draft of an article manuscript to a couple of friends for some feedback, and I'm hoping to incorporate their suggestions and kick it out the door by the end of this next month. My Italian lessons did drop off a bit this month, but I still made some progress there.

In terms of my personal goals, my progress was something of a mixed bag. I really fell of the wagon with 365, though, and will be looking to recommit to this in April. I think part of it was that I opted not to take my DSLR with me to San Diego and when I returned I didn't really feel inspired to take pictures of snirt and then more snow on a systematic basis. I'm pressing reset, though, and I'll be better this next month. I did do some good reading in March and finished two novels, started two others, and read a memoir. I finished Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I would rank as one of the best books I've read in the past few years, and Shirley Jackson's classic and creepy The Haunting of Hill House. I bought A Thousand Days in Venice on the cheap for my kindle back in December, and wasn't paying close enough attention so I didn't notice it was a memoir and not a novel. I wasn't impressed with it, which is too bad as Lord knows I love Venice and eating. The prose was just not to my taste -- though I was pretty happy that I got almost all of the Italian passages without her translations. March was an expensive month due to my trip to San Diego and then we bought our tickets for Vancouver, and I have to admit that I went over budget this month. I blame DSW for sending me a birthday coupon. The damage: $170. I bought two pairs of shoes, and I also bought a pair of navy polka dot jeggings.

I hope those readers who celebrate the holiday have had a wonderful Easter! Did the Easter Bunny visit your house? If you could learn any language, which would it be and why?

What I Read This Summer

Since the end of the school term in May, I've been able to read a bit more for pleasure than I usually can during the school year when I'm reading so much to do research, write lectures, and lead discussions that I tend to slack off in reading for pleasure. I also had several plane trips, and I tend to read to pass the time when I'm flying. (I wish I could read more in the car, but it often gives me a bit of a headache.)

This summer I read:

Jane Slayre by Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin. This was a fun read to start as soon as I submitted final grades for the spring semester. It struck a nice balance between Bronte and slayage. I enjoyed it almost as much as I did Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I read a few years ago during a winter break. Much of the dialogue of the original was retained and, for the most part, the personalities of the characters developed along similar lines to the classic novel. Those of you who are purists should avoid this, as it will be hard for you to get past the zombies of Lowood.
Recommend if you're into zombies and werewolves or into bad ass spoofs on bad ass 19th century feminist characters.

Right Ho, Jeeves by P.J. Wodehouse. I had seen some of the fine Jeeves and Wooster series starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, and this was a free download on my Kindle. I was not disappointed, as it was hysterically funny. Bertie and Jeeves (who is seemingly off his game when the tale begins) must find a way to patch up broken relationships and appease a highly emotional French cook during a visit to the country. I don't want to reveal too much, but I think I might have laughed so hard that I snorted during the awards ceremony at the grammar school.
Recommend.

Personal Record: A Love Affair With Running by Rachel Toor. This book was a beautifully-written, very inspiring, and often funny memoir about Toor's running journey. While I had trouble relating to someone who hates avocados and who could so easily BQ or run 40 miles after eating a ginormous burrito, I did thoroughly enjoy this book, and reading it made me reflect on some of the reasons that I love running, even if I'm nowhere near the athlete that Toor is.
Recommend if you like running .

Cupcake by Miranda Jones. This was possibly the worst novel that I've ever read. If I hadn't been in Spain with limited, unread material on my Kindle and no internet in my apartment, I can honestly say that I wouldn't have finished it. I probably rolled my eyes about ten times a chapter. The premise is that an obese bakery owner gets held up at gunpoint and shot and then decides to change her life. Hijinks and romance ensue, as the main character joins a gym, attempts to diet, and meets a handsome man, who also appeals to one of her middle aged and trashy regular customers. This could have been a fun, easy read - if a bit cheesy - but the characters were undeveloped and wooden, there were big plot holes, and the narrative voice was incredibly weak.
Can only recommend as toilet paper.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have to admit that I was initially disappointed. A lot of people had really raved about this book to me, but I was a bit underwhelmed. I was expecting this book to be as good as the first Harry Potter, but for me it fell short. The prose wasn't bad, although I'm not the biggest fan of first-person present as a narrative style. It may have been that I vaguely remembered hearing things or reading them on the internets, but the plot seemed pretty predictable to me. That said, this book somehow got under my skin and I decided to finish the trilogy. Also Katniss Everdeen was a far more compelling and interesting character than, say, Bella Swan.
Recommend if you like more thoughtful YA fiction.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I blazed my way through this on my first plane ride to New York in spite of the fact that I still found the first person present narrative extremely grating at times. I found it more compelling and less predictable than The Hunger Games. Although I found myself wishing that Collins hadn't used the love triangle trope, I also found myself on "Team Peeta" as I became increasingly intrigued by his character.
Recommend if you like more thoughtful YA fiction.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This wasn't quite what I expected. The love triangle trope that Collins was using was also something of a foil, as this novel was really about what can endure the brutality and trauma of war. However, I found elements of the book really hard to swallow and didn't think Collins created the most believable of distopian universes. I mean, come on, hover crafts and showers with panels full of buttons and muttations but no nuclear weapons....? Also the quickness with which the rebellion seemed to spread didn't seem very plausible to me. However, as a means of thinking about the impact of the gruesomeness of war on humankind this novel was interesting and provocative.
Recommend if you like more thoughtful YA fiction.

La isla bajo el mar (The Island Beneath the Sea) by Isabel Allende. Allende tells the story of the family of Toulouse Valmourain, an educated and Enlightened scion of a French family, who comes to Saint-Domingue (Haiti) to take over the family plantation from his syphilitic father and his family, friends, and associates, in particular a slave that he purchases for his wife. This slave, Zarite, is the main protagonist and the sometimes narrator. The novel is set in the years of the Haitian Revolution and takes the characters to Cuba and New Orleans. It deals with some heavy topics: rape, violence, debasement, and incest. While this novel is not my favorite of Allende's works, she is a tremendously gifted writer and managed to inspire fear, revulsion, heart break, hope, and frustration.
Highly recommend.

Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. This was the first of Christie's Tommy and Tuppence novels, and I really enjoyed it. Perhaps because I have been so recently obsessed with Downton Abbey, I loved this mystery written in and set in the immediate aftermath of World War I. While you have to suspend a bit  of belief in order to take it in as the plot unfolds, the characters are quirky and relatable. I'll probably read the other Tommy and Tuppence novels at some point before too long.
Recommend.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. The premise of this book is that a special circus is created as a platform for a magical dual of sorts fought between the protégés of two master magicians. It's largely set in Victorian/Edwardian London. However, the circus travels to around Europe and America and picks up threads of new characters along the way. The prose itself is magical in its ability to transport the reader to the circus that is in itself an important character in the book. It seems from reading a few reviews on the internets that people either love or hate this book. If you are looking for torrid romance, look elsewhere. If you are looking for an elegantly written debut novel, look no further.
Highly recommend.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. This was her first Poirot mystery novel, and I loved watching the Poirot series on PBS when I was a kid. However, I found this book to be slower paced than I expected. I found myself disliking all of the characters, especially the narrator of the tale and even Hercule Poirot at times. Whereas Tommy and Tuppence were endearing, the Styles crew just made me wish that it had been a mass murder mystery.
Don't really recommend.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This novels follows a young man whose veterinary training is cut short when his parents are suddenly killed by a car crash and who randomly jumps on a train car to find himself traveling with a circus. He falls in love with the liberty horse girl, who is married to a violent and abusive man, and with the innocent animals he is hired to take care of by the circus. Set partly in present day and partly in the Depression Era, it is gritty and raw in its descriptions of poverty, desperation, violence, and desire, as well as the frustrations of an elderly man who still has all his cognitive abilities but has been shut up in a nursing home and feels that he has been made irrelevant.
Recommend - but possibly because I really love elephants.

So what have you been reading this summer? Out of the books that you've read so far in 2012, what have been your favorites?

A Bedtime Reading Revelation

A couple of weeks ago, I had finally finished reading the book I had been reading at bedtime for the past several weeks, and decided that I wanted to read Bram Stoker's Dracula, which I've always wanted to read and which I had downloaded a couple of months ago for free. That Saturday night I snuggled up in bed with my Kindle and read a couple of chapters before my eyes were so heavy that I had to sleep. I had such troubled dreams that night about wolves and creepy, red-eyed historians that I had no choice but to blame the book. Apparently, I am far too much of a chicken to read Dracula right before bed, which is the only real time I have for leisure reading these days.

Unable to make a choice about what book I wanted to read instead, I decided to get caught up on some of my magazine subscriptions and started reading my October issue of Yoga Journal. Perhaps because I haven't been able to run very much lately and because its that time of year - less sunlight, more grading of midterms, the feeling of too many responsibilities and not enough time to handle them all - I have been feeling extra anxious and extra rushed.  As I was I was reading, one article in particular really resonated with me. Maggie Lyon Varadhan's piece "Trickle Down" about connecting with the sacredness of every day life. The author suggested that by approaching the mundane as sacred we can open ourselves up to moments of peacefulness and grace.

This article spoke to me. I don't know about you, but I could certainly use more peace and grace. Lately I've been feeling so rushed and overwhelmed that I have been approaching too many things with haste and some with lack of care. My mental state and my home had both become messy as a result. What if I even approached grading midterms, putting away dishes, and flossing my teeth with the intention and appreciation of a sacred act? It might take more time to get through a stack of papers or to send an email, but it might be worth it. I might do a bit less but be able to give and to get a bit more.

So I'm trying to retrain myself to approach things on and off the mat differently and, if nothing else, to remember to take a pause and to breathe.  

You Asked, I'm Telling: Running and Recreation

Thanks to all of you who expressed interest in learning more about me! Since I got a variety of questions, I decided to break my answers up into two posts.  This one will focus on the questions about my running, reading, and other hobbies.  The next post will answer the questions about my academic career and how it has impacted certain areas of my life.

Elena asked: Who's your favorite Harry Potter character and why? My favorite Harry Potter character is Hermione Granger. She is not only book smart, but she can think on her feet. She is a more talented wizard than either Harry or Ron, who are both pure blood wizards. Essentially she is a bad ass.  And she has hair that is prone to frizz and is prone to being a know-it-all, and I can identify with that. Neville Longbottom, who is also a bad ass, is a close second.

Lisa asked: Which [shoes] are your very favorite pairs? I love shoes, and it's hard to pick favorites but there are some pairs that I love even more than the others.  My current favorites are my Fluevog Pearl Hearts.  My husband gave them to me for Valentine's Day/Early Birthday a couple of years ago.

My absolute favorite boots are my Fluevog Katrins, a pair of Victorian style lace up boots that I bought back in 2006.  They were my very first Fluevogs and have been all over the US and Europe with me.

I also really love my r2 oxford lace up spectator pumps that you can see in my About Me page.  I've worn them countless times for teaching, conferences, interviews, etc. in the two years that I've had them.

What is your favorite running distance and why? My favorite distance for training runs is the 10-12 mile range. It usually takes me a few miles to warm up and start getting into the flow of the run, so I like having a few miles to feel that way. Twelve miles is usually when I start to feel a bit fatigued unless I'm in the peak part of a marathon training cycle so it's a good point to stop.  My favorite distance to race is the half-marathon. I get the distance that I crave from double digit training runs, but I still feel like I can be social and that my life isn't overwhelmed by marathon training.

Chrissy asked: What is your favorite book and why? And if you can't limit it to just one, top three.  I'll give you my top two - The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino and La casa de los espiritus by Isabel Allende.  I love magical realism and both of these tales sucked me in and left me breathless. I also first read both of these books at times of tremendous transition and adventure in my life, and I think I associate them with the volatile, potent, and paradoxical mixture of feelings of incredible excitement, tremendous longing, and peaceful certainty of that period in my life.

Elise asked: What was the last leisure book that you read? The last leisure book that I read was Chocolat by Joanne Harris. It was very charming.

Do you have a favorite home cooked meal that you can never order at a restaurant because it can never be done better than at home? Will you share the recipe? Not really. I mean, I think my chili is amazing, but I don't use a recipe, and I'm willing to try the chili that other people make and that some cafes serve in the winter. I've been making chili since I was a kid, and every time I make it is different because I don't measure and I use whatever ingredients are on hand that seem like a good idea. Sometimes I make it with black beans and corn and sweet potatoes and sometimes with organic free range beef and sometimes with chickpeas and tofu.

Jennifer asked: If you had a third arm, where would it be on your body and what would be it's purpose?  I would have my third arm in the middle of my chest and its purpose would be to help me balance in certain yoga poses.

Rose-Anne asked: What is your favorite color? I am a big fan of all colors, but it is a well-know fact that I am especially obsessed with purple.

Rose-Anne and Lisa asked: What's your favorite brand of running shoes? Are you brand loyal? I have worn Saucony for the past several years, but this weekend I was shopping for new running shoes (I like to have a couple of pairs that I rotate) and I ended up buying a pair of Brooks Ghost 4s.  I liked how they felt on my feet and my stride in them.  Also the store also didn't have the Sauconies that I wanted in my size. We'll see if I end up making a habit of the Brooks, or if I go back to my stand-by brand.

Michelle asked: What is your biggest pet peeve? Hmmm. I have a few, but probably my biggest pet peeve is when people use the word "gay" to describe something that they consider dumb. It is demeaning and shows a complete lack of class and ignorance. I cringe every time I hear it, and, if it's someone that I know, I will confront him/her about it.

Amanda asked: Is there a favorite blog that you read that adds to your life? I read a number of blogs and it's hard to name just one favorite. In terms of running/fitness blogs, I really love Miss Zippy. She is insightful, inspiring, and is so encouraging of athletes of all levels and ages.

Thatpinkgirl asked: What has been your favorite running moment? Finishing my first marathon. I definitely felt pride in my accomplishment and the hard work I had put into getting to the start line and to making it across the finish.

Anne asked: What kind of music do you like and what was the last concert you went to? I have very eclectic taste in music. Some of my favorites include Tori Amos, Radio Tarifa, Brandi Carlile, The Velvet Underground, Counting Crows, Old 97s, and Pink. I like to listen to classical music or jazz when I'm reading and writing and ridiculous pop and dance when I'm running. The last concert that I went to was a free outdoor concert last month in Toronto. Natacha Atlas and Minor Empire were performing. I like concerts, but I think the last time I paid to go to a concert was in 2007 (I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers and OMD during the same weekend in Munich). I prefer to spend my money on other things.

My New Toy

My birthday is coming up in a couple weeks.  Since M. has to be out of town for it for an academic workshop that he's been invited to participate in putting on and since I was headed out on the road again, he bought me an early birthday present on Saturday.

Source

I've been wanting a Kindle for months!  First downloads: The Complete Works of L.M. Montgomery, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Don Quixote, and The Decameron.

I'm at my mom's house in Louisiana for the week.  The good news is that she finally had a follow up appointment with a specialist and he believes that surgery can be avoided.  The plan is to treat her lower back problems with a series of injections over the next couple of months.  In the meantime, though, she's still in pain and is not supposed to lift much of anything, and I thought that since I'm on "spring break" I could help her out around the house.  My plan is to do a bit of cleaning, get some work done on a publication project, and grade a mountain of midterms while my mom is at work during the day.  Then I'll make dinner and we can hang out together in the evenings.

But with the light on my kindle cover I may have come up against an unanticipated snag: the temptation to continue reading late into the night while bundled up in bed.  Between my mom catching me doing that last night and the fact that I'm reading Anne of Green Gables, I feel like I'm about 10 years old again....  

Do you have a Kindle?  What are you currently reading for pleasure?

Mental Health Day: Magazines

Source

Yesterday, I was flying back from a trip out west for some work related activities, and I was in need of a mental health day.  I just couldn't bring myself to grade papers or do class prep in the airports or on planes.  Instead I purchased three magazines and listened to my ipod.  I bought the latest issues of Runner's World, Shape, and Real Simple and read all three cover to cover.

Currently, I only subscribe to a couple of magazines: Yoga Journal and Vogue.  I used to subscribe to many more (Harpers, Shape, Time, etc.), but I usually didn't have time to read them all by the time the next issue was in the mail, so I cut back.  I'm considering subscribing to Runner's World and to Real Simple, though, after my airport read.

What magazines do you subscribe to?  Do you find that you're able to keep up with your subscriptions or do you have stacks of unread magazines around your house causing clutter?