Running

So my goal of running a relay half marathon is probably not going to happen this May.  I have been so busy working on my class homework and on my master's project, I have not been running as regularly as I should have been.  Also, I don't have a partner.  Also, my default partner (AKA Dave) is moving away!

But I am not giving up on the idea.  I am just going to have to postpone it.  I am determined to start running more regularly as soon as classes are over and throughout the summer so that I can be in shape for a half marathon at the end of the summer or in the early fall.  Here's to revamping goals!!!

A Beautiful Moment

Today I was humming "The Impossible Dream" as I walked down to my office from my classroom. I don't know why these lyrics touch me so much; I just really love them. They express the love of a doing what's right (and the love of a challenge) that I have.

As I was walking down the stairs, I could hear the echo, even though I was just humming. So I sang a little bit outloud so I could really hear the echo. It reminded me of the many practices that I had in that stair well with my a capella group, UpBeat. The stair wells in the JKB (JKHB then) always were the best ones for singing in.

Some Things on My Mind

Dear Utah,

It is officially spring.  However, the weather outside does not belong to spring.  It looks like you are trying to make me happy to move to the heat of Nevada later this year.  But it's not working.  So just stop it, okay?

Merry

Miniguns and Zombies

My in-laws are really gung ho about emergency preparedness; they are also really gung ho about guns. It turns out that those two topics often conflate into one. The other day I sent them an e-mail regarding the seeming inevitable combination of emergency preparedness and firearms, I re-print it here for the reading pleasure of our five readers.

Dear Fam:

I love that "all" emergency preparedness discussions in the P****** et. al. family return to one subject: guns. It is way more interesting to talk about guns than millett and red winter wheat (or rice and soy flour). So... I figure I'll add my two cents to the discussion.

If you are planning on hoarding tons of food for Armageddon you will definitely need a good gun for fending off the hungry hoards...I recommend a minigun with water/oil cooling. On a cheaper budget I suppose a high powered shotgun would be the second best. The added benefit of the shotgun is that if the zombies are coming, they are good for stopping zombies (whereas the efficacy of a minigun is unknown at best). The transportability of a minigun is a major issue, as well as cost. The best bet is probably to wait until just after Armageddon and then steal one from a military installation. Another alternative is to buy an assortment of high caliber rifles and shotguns, which are cheaper and have the same efficacy as the minigun, but then again you'll have to have a number of different triggermen, which means sharing the hoarded food. Also, prior to Armageddon you'll have to avoid those pesky ATF guys (think Ruby Ridge and Waco). Also, you'll want to get a gun with a very common round size because you're likely to need ammo at some point and nobody will be making it any more so you'll have to scrounge what you can. If you have to make your own ammo, I know a guy who developed a great (gluten free) gunpowder recipe just before blowing himself up. If I can find it I'll add it to the discussion.

Hope that helps,

Dave

No More Reading Blogs

What a sad title to a post. But it's true. The time has come for me to stop reading blogs. Period. I am not keeping any of my blog subscriptions in Google Reader. Actually, I've made a list of them all, and I will start reading in the blogging world again someday. But for right now, I need to cut this hobby out of my life.

Why am I doing this? It's because I am working on my master's project like crazy, and I just don't have the time to keep up on the lives of all of my friends. And if I keep subscribing to blogs, I will want to read them. I can't ignore all of the unread blog posts in Google Reader! So I just have to unsubscribe from them all. This is in the hopes of cutting out a major distraction that is detrimental to getting my master's project done.

Will I continue blogging? Yes. Dave and I are going to be living apart for the next few months, and we'll have twice as much "life" to talk about here. And I want to still be a writer. There is something very therapeutic about writing that I think will be good for me as I face these months of hard work and spousal separation! So if you are a follower, please don't drop me just because I don't comment on your blog anymore. I'll be back to blog reading and commenting in about 3.5 months.