overheard...

on the bus this morning i sat in front of a girl who was doing some studying. a guy sat down next to her. i heard (because he was obnoxiously loud) him ask her about what she was studying, etc. using my brilliant powers of perception, i decided that they didnt know each other and that he was hitting on her.

girl: "im finishing up grad school right now."

guy: "cool, cool. what do you want to do when you get out?"

girl: "i really like the idea of working for non-profits or government aid programs. i work for a non-profit right now."

guy: "yeah, thats cool."

long awkward pause.

guy: "right now im trying to make as much money as i can so i can become rich enough to donate to non-profits."

pause.

guy: "well, good luck with your studying."

ha!

"The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank." ~George Sheehan

i definitely fall into the jogger category.

but i guess running sounds better. so... since i actually enter races, i'll go with it.

the trouble with running, part 1

as you may be able to tell from the title, i'm a tiny bit frustrated with this so-called "sport" these days. why? well. it's a long... and short... story.

part 1:

last september, in a decision that can be seen as either sheer chutzpah or mere insanity, i decided to train to run the boston marathon in april 08. problem: i'm too slow to qualify. solution: i join dana-farber's marathon team. this is great! i get to raise money for an organization that has actually helped people i know. AND i get to run in the marathon.

ever since i was about 8, i've secretly wanted to run this race. it's kind of a big deal in massachusetts, where i spent the first 26 years of my life. not like ron burgundy "kind of a big deal," but, like, a really big deal. over 25,000 people run it. kenyans or other similarly ridiculously-fit runners usually win it. plus, the race mascot is a frickin unicorn. rad.

so running this race easily made it onto my 8-year-old's version of "list of things to do before i die," which currently resides in my underwear drawer. In fact, the race made it into my top 3, right behind no. 1, "climb mount everest," and ahead of no. 3, "own a tiger."

as it turns out, however, it took me a while to believe that this was an achievable goal. unlike owning a tiger, which obviously is still under legitimate consideration.

i wish i could say that some important milestone in my life spurred me to make the decision to enter the race in 2008. unfortunately, that's not true. i just said, "fuck it." and submitted an entry form.

this is my blog

i am a blogger. hurrah! i'm totally excited about this new and different way of sucking time. more to come.