“The problem with the younger generation is that I’m no longer part of it,” Mark Twain once famously penned. Wow, can I relate.
Just when I thought I was catching up, they go out and invent an entirely new language. I am becoming more and more frustrated trying to decipher emails/notes and text messages from people. Some of my friends are quite proficient, but I’m conversational at best.
It’s quite demanding, so who can blame me for occasional mispronunciations? I said "IAE" at Laura Tingle and Erin Kummer's pot luck dinner last night. Some of the young 'uns reminded me that it’s supposed to be IAT (I am tired). Whatever. Until Mark and JZ arrived (we are the same age), I was by far the oldest person at the shin-dig. I scanned the houseful of people feeling like I was at a fraternity party. I leaned over to Tingle and said, "I feel like the house mother right now!". As one of the guys walked by... he was, I don't know, maybe 24 years old (?), I stopped him in his tracks to tease, "Hey handsome, think you'd be interested in a cougar?" Everyone around me laughed, including my young friend. I then took a swig of Geritol in liquid form in order to maintain my stamina at the frat party. :)
But I digress. Back to acronyms.
Here’s how it works in this updated world of "communication": All dialog must be limited to 140 characters—the maximum length of a “Tweet”—and shorter is universally better. Any phrase that can be abbreviated, should be.
Here are some I've learned: 4COL (For crying out loud), CMSS (Cut me some slack). ^5 to that, right? (High five).
This whole thing got me thinking about some abbreviations we athletes might find handy. Here are some of my favorites:
BMP (Bring me pizza)
BMP STAT (Bring me pizza, immediately)
BBT (Bonking big time)
D@M12 (Died at mile 12)
NGU (Need GU)
NGU STAT (okay, you got this one)
And one of my most enthusiastic, PMUN! (Pick me up NOW!).
Soon enough the world of technology will make it possible for us to be devoid of in-person conversations entirely! How lovely. We'll become entirely social phobic creatures incapable of functioning in a "live" scenario. Every conversation can exist in the vacuum of electronics.
All well. BMM STAT! (Bring me margaritas, immediately!)
November 30, 2009
November 20, 2009
November 11, 2009
Veterans Day: Giving Back....
Most everyone knows my philanthropy-of-choice will always be Cancer. Those who know me also know I volunteer, most especially during the holiday season, visiting patients in the oncology wing, and also trying to visit with their grief-stricken families. While I have no advanced degree in counseling or medicine, having lost my Mom to cancer when I was 15 brings with it a wealth of understanding of the disease and its lifetime effects on those left behind.
So, I will do my usual oncology visits… but this year I have added another cause already quite close to my heart. This year I have adopted a soldier!
I have no connection to the military. My Dad was in the Army in his early 20’s but served his 4-years and then got the hell out. :) I grew up near the Naval Academy and Ft Meade (Army base). I dated a few midshipmen/ensigns, and a Navy pilot when I was living in Southern California ... oh yeah, Top Gun all the way, baby! ... And my close friend and current Bronx, NY Emergency Room Doctor, Brian, upon order will be serving the Army as a doctor (I don’t even want to think about that call from him when he is leaving!)... But beyond this I have no firsthand connection to the military. I don’t care. I don’t need to have a brother or sister or spouse or friend overseas to feel indescribable gratitude towards the brave men and women who serve our country in uniform.
Recently I was reading an article about our courageous, patriotic souls who are quite literally giving their lives to help protect our nation and preserve our freedom. The article mentioned an estimated 25% of deployed soldiers receive NO mail. !!!!
I was horrified!!!!
My heart broke at the thought of any of them not feeling loved and appreciated, most ESPECIALLY during the holidays. That is simply unacceptable.
The article connected me with this wonderful program to adopt a deployed soldier. I feel guilty I haven’t done something like this before now. The program assigns you a deployed soldier at random and gives you their contact information so you can send whatever you wish: letters, care packages, whatever.
I signed up and received the information for my adopted soldier yesterday, which I felt was quite appropriate on the eve of Veterans Day. I was embarrassingly excited and giddy when I received his name, ready to make certain my soldier is NOT among those poor souls in the 25% no mail category! I feel like a new Mom! ;) I’ve already sent him a letter, several pages in length. I’m probably going to freak the poor guy out with my outpouring of constant affection but I don’t care. Sharpie on a mission is a force to be reckoned with!
His name is SSG Steven Heigh and he is from Oregon. This is his 2nd deployment to Afghanistan. I have no idea if he will able to respond to letters; the program indicated not every soldier will have access to return letters or emails but he/she will receive them. So, even if I never hear from him, I will keep on writing. My lifetime as an only child has made me quite capable of carrying on full conversations without response. : ) If I am able to ever hear from him I will try to report in on how he is doing from time to time on my blog… and for public kudos: THANK YOU, SSG HEIGH, FOR YOUR DEVOTION AND SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!
If this idea resonates with you, I strongly urge you to consider adopting a soldier – for the holiday season and beyond.
http://adoptaussoldier.org
I can only imagine how much it would mean to me if I was overseas, living in whatever hell (literally) is going on there, eating the crap we saw Hawkeye and BJ try to stomach on M*A*S*H* episodes, away from family and friends, while quite literally giving my LIFE to my country --- how much it would mean to me if someone cared enough to want to support me however they could. Sending letters or care packages?? PLEASE. It’s the least I can do...
Cheers.
So, I will do my usual oncology visits… but this year I have added another cause already quite close to my heart. This year I have adopted a soldier!
Recently I was reading an article about our courageous, patriotic souls who are quite literally giving their lives to help protect our nation and preserve our freedom. The article mentioned an estimated 25% of deployed soldiers receive NO mail. !!!!
I was horrified!!!!
My heart broke at the thought of any of them not feeling loved and appreciated, most ESPECIALLY during the holidays. That is simply unacceptable.
The article connected me with this wonderful program to adopt a deployed soldier. I feel guilty I haven’t done something like this before now. The program assigns you a deployed soldier at random and gives you their contact information so you can send whatever you wish: letters, care packages, whatever.
I signed up and received the information for my adopted soldier yesterday, which I felt was quite appropriate on the eve of Veterans Day. I was embarrassingly excited and giddy when I received his name, ready to make certain my soldier is NOT among those poor souls in the 25% no mail category! I feel like a new Mom! ;) I’ve already sent him a letter, several pages in length. I’m probably going to freak the poor guy out with my outpouring of constant affection but I don’t care. Sharpie on a mission is a force to be reckoned with!
His name is SSG Steven Heigh and he is from Oregon. This is his 2nd deployment to Afghanistan. I have no idea if he will able to respond to letters; the program indicated not every soldier will have access to return letters or emails but he/she will receive them. So, even if I never hear from him, I will keep on writing. My lifetime as an only child has made me quite capable of carrying on full conversations without response. : ) If I am able to ever hear from him I will try to report in on how he is doing from time to time on my blog… and for public kudos: THANK YOU, SSG HEIGH, FOR YOUR DEVOTION AND SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!
If this idea resonates with you, I strongly urge you to consider adopting a soldier – for the holiday season and beyond.
http://adoptaussoldier.org
I can only imagine how much it would mean to me if I was overseas, living in whatever hell (literally) is going on there, eating the crap we saw Hawkeye and BJ try to stomach on M*A*S*H* episodes, away from family and friends, while quite literally giving my LIFE to my country --- how much it would mean to me if someone cared enough to want to support me however they could. Sending letters or care packages?? PLEASE. It’s the least I can do...
Cheers.
November 5, 2009
The Eerie Erie....
PLEASE BE WARNED. THIS BLOG CONTAINS MATERIAL NOT SUITED FOR CHILDREN - AND FOR FEW ADULTS. OR ADULTS WHO ARE REALLY CHILDREN. WHATEVER.
SENSE OF HUMOR REQUIRED IF YOU CONTINUE TO READ.....
On Halloween .... why not run? I mean, if you're going to attend a costume party....
(yeah, a costume party, that's what we'll call it) ... later in the evening, you should have a warmup to your intended later celebration.
So my good friend, Morgan, (previously pictured in the BUI Boulder post in Sept) asked if I wanted to run the Eerie Erie 5k with her, in Erie - about 10 miles from Boulder, for Halloween.
Morgan is a RUNNER. She is this wispy, beautiful little thing (bitch!), all 95lbs of her, and when she runs it's like the vision of an antelope. She ran for CU and maintained the regime with legendary Coach Wetmore that many of us have salivated over in reading, "Running with the Buffaloes". My point being, I wouldn't be running WITH Morgan. I would register with her and then say goodbye until we met again in the parking lot post-event.
I invited roomie, TR, to run with me and he said he was IN! Awesome.
Sidenote: I failed to post one of our reunion pictures when TR and I got a visit from Boyd last month. Boyd now lives in Boston and the "3 Muskateers" reunion was awesome!)
(But I digress..... back to the Eerie Erie........)
As we were registering race morning, since it was the same price for the 5k or the 10k, I decided, what the hell, let's just go for the 10k? I think Morgan was a little shocked.
Morgan: Really, Carole? The 10k?
Carole: It's the same price, why not?
Morgan: Wow. Ok. Good for you.
Carole: I mean, I'm out here, right? Why not run an additional 25:00 since I'm here. God only knows the next time I'll exercise. : )
After registering I was roaming the turf doing some strides and slight warmup when I heard this bellowing, obnoxoius (ha!), "Yoooooooooooooooooooooooo! Sharpieeeeeeee!" In the distance I noticed a bright orange guy next to, of course, the porta-a-potty.
Michael Lovato, in costume. He was here to do a little pre-festivities 10k run with his wife.
"Sharpie, you here to run the 10k, the 5k or the 400?", he yelled out teasingly.
(The 400 is the kids race...)
"Oh, the 400!", I laughed. "I'm gonna take down some 5 year olds!"
So the race began.
Morgan stuck with the 5k, and so did TR. As the race was just about to start, my truly hilarious roommate threw out one of his usual funny one-liners: "Like ice cream at Oprah's house -- I'm gone".
With that, the gun went off and he was gone...
I went to the 10k course. Like most run races, everyone is off like a stampede and it usually thins out within minutes with the stupid people who went out too fast dying quick. I am pretty good at restraining myself in the beginning and settled into an uncomfortable, but stable pace. I ran, and I ran. The huffing and puffing was soon to follow, but minute after minute after minute I was doing "ok". Apparently there weren't any mile markers for this thing so I just kept on chugging.
Huff Puff. Huff. Puff.
Shit, I am out of shape. How come all these big fat guys are passing me? Really?
WHAT???!!!! Now a woman pushing two kids in a stroller is going by me??! You've GOT to be kidding!!!!!!
Huff. Puff. Huff. Puff.
(ouch....)
Huff Puff...
Mile 1 marker must not have been out, I must be coming on mile 2 soon. What's my pace? I look down at my watch.
3:14.
UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
I had only been running for 3+ minutes??!!??! Mother of GOD it felt like 15 minutes by then!!!!
Are you KIDDING?
Soon, I noticed there was a looooooooong line in front of me, spread out. The leaders made the right turn waaaaaaay in the distance. I saw Michael's BRIGHT orange with Cheetah-Amanda right next to him. Holy shitballs they were FLYING. They were easily 2+ minutes ahead of me already..... but that's ok, for over 2 miles (I was guessing at distance) this is not completely hideous.
ummmm......
Then I saw it. Mile ONE marker! Holy crap there was a massive spread on me like THIS and it was only mile 1. This was going to be a long run....
Hunker down, Sharpie. Think happy thoughts.
As my fat-rolled gut bounced up and down to rival my bouncing boobs, I thought about the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks I would soon be having to add to my flab. I mean, think happy thoughts, right? :)
Man this course is fricking HILLY!!!!
Everyone passed me. Big fat men. Women with strollers. Kids. I mean, seriously, it was humiliating. Instead of getting depressed I thought of pizza. I mean, really, keep the motivation on things that actually make me happy.
As I got close to mile 6, there was TR cheering for me at the sideline. Ug, what a good friend!! He jumped on the Sharpie-train (caboose) and ran along side me as I tried to contain my loud, lactic-filled breathing.
TR: How ya feeling, Sharps?
Sharpie: Like a cow.
TR: Awesome. Keep it up.
:)
Sharpie: Do you know this is the pace I ran for the marathon at IMF? (2006)
TR: <silence... my sweet friend is likely trying to think of something supportive to say> Well, move your fat ass then! Let's go, pick it up, fatty!
:) :) Funny.....!
I choked on my own inhalation as I laughed.
huff. puff. hufff. puff.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the finish line.
Collapse. Wander in a stupor towards the buffet and inhale bagels, coffee and chocoloate chip cookies.
See Morgan and we grab the cow, pardon the pun, for a group photo!
Cheetah-Amanda fricking won the whole damn event in a 37:06. And let me tell you, that course was HILLY!!!!!!!!!!! Good for her!!
I was about 10 minutes behind her. 10 MINUTES!! in a 10k!!!!! Hilarious. I really did laugh at that. 2 minutes and you're like, oh man, just a little harder effort and I could have been closer. 10 minutes is so ridiculously behind you're not even in the same race. So I just laughed, and ate more cookies.
Later... there is an annual event in Boulder that has gone on to be a time-honored tradition here.
The Naked Pumpkin run. Seriously.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/31/naked-pumpkin-run-at-risk_n_341166.html
I assure you CAROLE did not participate in said event.... promise!!!! .... (gotta put that in case my mother's brothers read this!) .... but as a spectator, this event really is something to behold.
http://nakedpumpkinrun.org/home.html
Seeing is believing.....
Happy Halloween!
SENSE OF HUMOR REQUIRED IF YOU CONTINUE TO READ.....
On Halloween .... why not run? I mean, if you're going to attend a costume party....
(yeah, a costume party, that's what we'll call it) ... later in the evening, you should have a warmup to your intended later celebration.
So my good friend, Morgan, (previously pictured in the BUI Boulder post in Sept) asked if I wanted to run the Eerie Erie 5k with her, in Erie - about 10 miles from Boulder, for Halloween.
I invited roomie, TR, to run with me and he said he was IN! Awesome.
(TR and I laughed that it had been just short of THREE YEARS since our last run together .... the "Turkey Trot" during Thanksgiving 2006 with our good friend, former pro triathlete, Jeff Boyd.
Sidenote: I failed to post one of our reunion pictures when TR and I got a visit from Boyd last month. Boyd now lives in Boston and the "3 Muskateers" reunion was awesome!)
(But I digress..... back to the Eerie Erie........)
As we were registering race morning, since it was the same price for the 5k or the 10k, I decided, what the hell, let's just go for the 10k? I think Morgan was a little shocked.
Morgan: Really, Carole? The 10k?
Carole: It's the same price, why not?
Morgan: Wow. Ok. Good for you.
Carole: I mean, I'm out here, right? Why not run an additional 25:00 since I'm here. God only knows the next time I'll exercise. : )
After registering I was roaming the turf doing some strides and slight warmup when I heard this bellowing, obnoxoius (ha!), "Yoooooooooooooooooooooooo! Sharpieeeeeeee!" In the distance I noticed a bright orange guy next to, of course, the porta-a-potty.
Michael Lovato, in costume. He was here to do a little pre-festivities 10k run with his wife.
"Sharpie, you here to run the 10k, the 5k or the 400?", he yelled out teasingly.
(The 400 is the kids race...)
"Oh, the 400!", I laughed. "I'm gonna take down some 5 year olds!"
So the race began.
Morgan stuck with the 5k, and so did TR. As the race was just about to start, my truly hilarious roommate threw out one of his usual funny one-liners: "Like ice cream at Oprah's house -- I'm gone".
With that, the gun went off and he was gone...
I went to the 10k course. Like most run races, everyone is off like a stampede and it usually thins out within minutes with the stupid people who went out too fast dying quick. I am pretty good at restraining myself in the beginning and settled into an uncomfortable, but stable pace. I ran, and I ran. The huffing and puffing was soon to follow, but minute after minute after minute I was doing "ok". Apparently there weren't any mile markers for this thing so I just kept on chugging.
Huff Puff. Huff. Puff.
Shit, I am out of shape. How come all these big fat guys are passing me? Really?
WHAT???!!!! Now a woman pushing two kids in a stroller is going by me??! You've GOT to be kidding!!!!!!
Huff. Puff. Huff. Puff.
(ouch....)
Huff Puff...
Mile 1 marker must not have been out, I must be coming on mile 2 soon. What's my pace? I look down at my watch.
3:14.
UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
I had only been running for 3+ minutes??!!??! Mother of GOD it felt like 15 minutes by then!!!!
Are you KIDDING?
Soon, I noticed there was a looooooooong line in front of me, spread out. The leaders made the right turn waaaaaaay in the distance. I saw Michael's BRIGHT orange with Cheetah-Amanda right next to him. Holy shitballs they were FLYING. They were easily 2+ minutes ahead of me already..... but that's ok, for over 2 miles (I was guessing at distance) this is not completely hideous.
ummmm......
Then I saw it. Mile ONE marker! Holy crap there was a massive spread on me like THIS and it was only mile 1. This was going to be a long run....
Hunker down, Sharpie. Think happy thoughts.
As my fat-rolled gut bounced up and down to rival my bouncing boobs, I thought about the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks I would soon be having to add to my flab. I mean, think happy thoughts, right? :)
Man this course is fricking HILLY!!!!
Everyone passed me. Big fat men. Women with strollers. Kids. I mean, seriously, it was humiliating. Instead of getting depressed I thought of pizza. I mean, really, keep the motivation on things that actually make me happy.
As I got close to mile 6, there was TR cheering for me at the sideline. Ug, what a good friend!! He jumped on the Sharpie-train (caboose) and ran along side me as I tried to contain my loud, lactic-filled breathing.
TR: How ya feeling, Sharps?
Sharpie: Like a cow.
TR: Awesome. Keep it up.
:)
Sharpie: Do you know this is the pace I ran for the marathon at IMF? (2006)
TR: <silence... my sweet friend is likely trying to think of something supportive to say> Well, move your fat ass then! Let's go, pick it up, fatty!
:) :) Funny.....!
I choked on my own inhalation as I laughed.
huff. puff. hufff. puff.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the finish line.
Collapse. Wander in a stupor towards the buffet and inhale bagels, coffee and chocoloate chip cookies.
See Morgan and we grab the cow, pardon the pun, for a group photo!
Cheetah-Amanda fricking won the whole damn event in a 37:06. And let me tell you, that course was HILLY!!!!!!!!!!! Good for her!!
Later... there is an annual event in Boulder that has gone on to be a time-honored tradition here.
The Naked Pumpkin run. Seriously.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/31/naked-pumpkin-run-at-risk_n_341166.html
I assure you CAROLE did not participate in said event.... promise!!!! .... (gotta put that in case my mother's brothers read this!) .... but as a spectator, this event really is something to behold.
http://nakedpumpkinrun.org/home.html
Seeing is believing.....
Happy Halloween!
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