Monday, October 11, 2010

Where has my run gone?

Well, well, funny how a year comes full circle.  This time last year I was grunting and sweating my way through 30 minutes on the tread with the alternate run/walk combo.  The months that followed I was actually running about 3 times a week and made it to a consecutive 30 minutes at a nice easy pace.  With the help of Netflix and headphones, I even made it through 45 minutes of running with a little 5 minute pre- and post- warm up.  Dare I say I even considered running in a, gasp, 5K?

Then I went to the doctor.  "Dr. S, I am dying."  "Again," she says in a drab monotone voice without missing a beat. "Why this time?" Concerned that I can't breath as deep as my fellow yogis while twisting my body into a human pretzel and then having watched entirely too many pharmaceutical commercials on TV, I just thought it prudent to insist on a lung test.  So off I went to see if my breathing was compromised.  Long story short:  By doing something good, like running, which I came to enjoy and actually provided healthy jube-jubes, I, in turn, acquired an annoying a pesky little friend called "sports induced asthma."  Devestated and refusing to become a slave to a prescribed drug, I talked myself into giving up my runs.

Not cool.  Think of where I could be today.

Flash to today:  Feeling like Bikram Yoga and my normal Saturday morning yoga sessions just aren't the complete ticket, I have decided to get back in the game.  Me and my new friend, Mr. Inhaler, will be taking to the treads and practicing the old strategy preached by my high school friend Anne, by simply putting one foot in front of the other.

Games begin tomorrow am with an episode of Madmen on the iPAD to take my mind off the beginning pain.  Keep me honest, y'all.  Hold me accountable if you don't see a blog post.

Tomorrow begins now.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Cowbells: Ain't Just for Farms Anymore












This past week I was in Florida on a business trip which unfortunately took about 8 long hours to return home. After a long layover in Houston Bush-Int'l, a plane delay to replace a sensor, which then got further delayed while the maintenance crew took cover from a torrential Texas-style thunder and lightning storm, a near husband-wife "you are on my last nerve" type of argument, the plane took off a mere 33 word search puzzles and an hour after scheduled departure.

By the time I was in bed and had cooled down from the heat of the trip home, it was 2am. Needless to say Saturday needed to be a nice happy day to get things done and listen to the radio. Wow, I got more than I bargained for. On 96 Rock it is Cowbell Songlist Weekend with the best cowbell songs selected and played at the top of the hours. So I started thinking about cowbells and what song would feature Bessie's bell. The only song I could come up with was Honky Tonk Women.

So, a little research on the internet and some Facebook petitioning was in order and here's what I foun

Grand Funk Railroad - We're an American Band
The Beatles - Taxman
Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give it Up
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
Santana - Evil Ways
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Queens of the Stone Age - Little Sister
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
Beastie Boys - She's Crafty and Hey Ladies
War - Low Rider
Sweet - Little Willie
Bad Brains - Pay to Cum
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog
Prince - You Got the Look
AC/DC - Thunderstruck
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
B'52s - Love Shack
Bangles - Hazy Shade Of Winter
Beatles - Hard Days Night
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Blues Brothers Band- Gimme' Some Lovin'
Bon Jovi - It's my Life
Britney Spears - Hit Me Baby One More Time
Dee Lite - Groove is in the Heart
Duran Duran - Reflex
EMF - Unbelievable
Frank Sinatra - My Way
Hall and Oates - Private Eyes
Inxs - Wild Life
Jimi Hendrix - Fire
Joe Cocker - Leave Your Hat On
John Denver - Annie's Song
Lionel Ritchie - All Night Long
Madonna - Justify My Love
Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
Pink - I'm Coming Up
Police - Roxanne
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
Salt n Pepper - Push It
Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
Simon & Garfunkle - Sounds of Silence
Twisted Sister - We're Not Going to Take It
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood or Live Wire

Created: September 29, 2009

Images courtesy of Wilkepedia and thepeoplescube.com

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

There she goes.....off and running....

Off and running again. Perhaps it was WDC and the reunion trip that got me started. Maybe it was the fact that I love to eat and hate dieting. Whatever the reason, I am determined to get back into running.


Who am I kidding? I never ran. Even when I was on the crew at USC, I rode my bike behind the rowers as they circled the campus jogging at wee hours in the morning. My running joke with friends was that I would start running when someone started chasing me. Well, that day never came.


There is something rather intriguing about jogging. From my beginner's perspective, as shallow, innocent and naive it may be, I don't get it. Allegedly there is a runner's high to be had. With the current drug testing philosophy at the company, that's all the high I can get these days but it just isn't coming. The nirvana that true runners feel must come much, much later. Here's my experience:


Week 1:

Completely motivated to get into running shape with hallucinations of running in 5K's for fun, laughing about running mis-adventures with other running enthusiasts. I am so confident that I will be a runner for life that I buy a cute running skirt to give me incentive to keep going. One day I just woke up and said "Today's the day," much like it happens with my hair appointments. Running shoes on the feet, head band on the hair and to the tread we go. Realistically I know that it will have to be a slow gradual process 5 minutes walk, 5 minutes run and then repeat for 2 miles.


What was I thinking? My knee hurt, my heart was about to beat out of my body, sweat was pouring out of edifices that I didn't even know I had. No matter. I pushed through and kept going. Somehow, as boring as it was, there were actually 2 different occasions in the week. Where was that high? When do I stop counting 1,2,3,4 over and over to keep my pace?


Week 2:

I think I started out too aggressively. Three cheers to Runners World and the "Couch to 5K" program. This week I am on the Mon-Wds-Fri plan to follow that to the tee. I do feel a little lighter on my toes though. But that could also be lack of proper nutrition after a weekend of concerts and playing with the girls

Charm School: Adventures of a bad employee

So the 'ole big brother decided to send me to charm school...which is code for "leadership development". In my world, that just means hell. This will be the blog of the experience as it develops including a little pre-information to gitcha' on my wave length.


Preparing to enter the thorny gates of hell
In order to enter this frigid place, one must take 3 personality tests, have the big computer crunch that information along with the survey results that 15 of my closest colleagues, completed purely on their one-sided impression of me. Like I care. I is what I is. Somehow, over the course of several weeks, the computer will magically come up with some great answer to my personality ....like I don't know after living with me, myself and I for 38 years. Me and I sometimes have issues with each other, but Myself and I seem to get along great and when the three of us are together we have a party. So, I'm not quite sure why the three of us must attend this training. Oh well. Hell is expecting me early so stay tuned......


Having Been through Hell and Survived
My intention was to blog the entire charming experience. However, my captors had me tied, bound and hidden away from society torturing me with meditation and hallucinations until I promised not to tell all of the top secret activities, aka torture techniques. Apparently the boss man mislabeled the week to me. Instead of being leadership training it was self-awareness un-development and getting broken and beaten down until my bare ugly skeltons were exposed...bones shaking, teeth rattling and an incessant need to cry and curl up in a fetal position. This was Monday and Tuesday.


On Tuesday they sent us to our rooms to do our homework, eat dinner together, take a bath with our rubber duckies and go to bed. Wednesday begins the build up and programming to be a self-aware person and to act "purposefully". So I am now "purposefully" telling you that my "purpose" of writing this is to tell you that if you are prepared for hell you may actually end up getting a slice of an adapted and nervous nirvana, complete with strange out-of-body hallucination and all. Pretty cool stuff.


Break on Through to the Other Side
Thursday is the deciphering phase of understanding what it means to be a ENTP and on the fence between an "I" and "E" and why that's a good thing. Finally I know why I prefer the word "ambiguous" over "vague" and have learned that, when used improperly, I have a potentially lethal combination of high exhibition, low harmavoidance and high impulsivity. Ahhhhh, the powers we possess. That splashed with a high dose of playfulness and autonomy, I'll be damned if I didn't think that the end result was to trash my current profession and be a self-employed stripper. Unfortunately they leave you hanging on all of that.


I have seen 4 executive men cry, a woman full of attitude, confidence and strength broken down in to a crying machine (boy, when that levy broke, it was Katrina all over again), viewed the inner tickings of the inside of my soul and have met and partied with my worst demons.


Now that we are friends, I believe that my demons and I will co-habitate in a common understanding and under a common purpose. The Debra-party is no longer me, myself and I but also proud to add "fear, anger, disappointment, strength, responsibility and independence" to the collection splashed with a little "don't be ridiculous". Please no gifts, but if you insist I am registered at Home Depot.


Created: December 8, 2006

Getting Freaky

freak - [freek] - noun Slang.
..>
a.
a person who has withdrawn from normal, rational behavior and activities to pursue one interest or obsession: a drug freak. ..>
..>
b.
a devoted fan or follower; enthusiast: a baseball freak. ..>
..>
c.
a hippie..>

It occured to me one day that I really don't know what a freak is anymore. Nowadays it seems that everyone is a freak and proud of it. That's a long way from the 60's when a freak was something to watch out for and shoot on first sight. "Damn hippie freaks!"

Because I am somewhat confused at today's definition of a freak, I thought I'd take it for a test spin at a party. What better place to define today's freak than with a bunch of drunks. The way I see it, it's pretty important to know that if someone calls me a freak, I should know how to properly react: compliment? blush and say "Gee thanks. I've really worked hard at my freakiness" or insult? "you muthahscratcher, get your freaky fingers outa my freaky face or I'll freaky-deaky on your sorry freak face"

The consensus is that there are 3 main categories of freaks: public with their freakiness, private freaky and in the closet wanna-be's who are scared to live up to their freaky tendencies. Generally the freak was stereotyped (sorry if I insult any of you freaks out there) as an eccentric, extreme weirdo who is so completely out there and non-conforming that it borders on psychotic. The public freaks are generally proud of it and can be anything from geniuses (music, religion, science....Marilyn Manson or Albert Einstein anyone?) to rednecks to sports addicts to gear heads. These are the guys who step up to the plate and scream, "yeah baby, I'm a freak, what about you? wanna get freaky?"

The private freaks are the most interesting to explore. I always thought it was the quiet ones that are the most dangerous, or in this case, freaky. But my mind was quickly convinced otherwise. After a couple mojitos, that were freaky in their own right with just enough simple sugar to make your toes curl and voice soprano, our group decided, in our wisdom of the found moment, that the private freaks were a bit of a waste since they weren't particularly productive with their freakiness. What the good is being a freak if you don't do anything with it?

In-the-closet freaks are the most difficult to detect. Because they are scared of their secret freaky powers, many times these folks are left untapped except by the brave. Be prepared to have the freakiness spring on you at any given point in time, coming out of absolutely nowhere. My gut is that when that levvy breaks, holy shit, run for the hills.

Unanswered questions: Is there such a thing as a "good freak?" Just because a person is extreme by nature, is that person a freak? What if someone says "are you a freak?" What do they mean by that? And how do you answer that question honestly?

So we never got to the end of the question of establishing today's freak as a baseline. But I am convinced that was only round one to get the old wheels turning. The next party will expose the true freak of today. How exciting.

Created: Febraury 26, 2007

Swinging Convention and Passion

'Tis the season for weddings. There are 3 separate girlfriends of mine who became engaged over the Christmas holidays. None of them are getting married for the first time, it's a second for 2 of the girls and a third for the third. So now all of the bachelorette planning comes into play.

One bride-to-be has correctly, in my humble opinion, declined all bachelorette festivities citing that she was married once before so it would be cheating to have another. The other I haven't really heard from and the 3rd bride-to-be, well, I'm in charge of celebrating the 3rd end of her bachelorette status.

The agenda is quite simple since the age range is from 23 to 50 years old. A raunchy night at Tony's Bourbon St. ought to make us all celebrate and entertain the thought of settling down a bit. In order to get the girls in the mood we have a nice young lady from Passion Parties to provide a nice sampling of the latest sex toys, gadgets, lotions, potions, tricks and tools. Apparently there are games involved and "demos" which ought to be quite interesting and worth the time and a vodka tonic or 3.

The most interesting thing about speaking with this young lady to firm up the arrangements was that she makes a living from selling this stuff. It just makes me wonder how many untapped customers are out there and how much money is there to be made? In our conversation she mentioned that this past weekend she was heading to Myrtle to attend the Swingers Convention where she'll have a booth. Business is undoubtedly awesome in that venue.

But it got me thinking....what the hell is a Swingers Convention? OK I get the idea of couples coming together to swing....but do you need a special convention for that? When I think of conventions I think of seminars, panels, shows, exhibits, etc. What would be the seminar titles? "How to recruit reluctant couples" "How to throw a great swinging party" "The difference between swingers and orgies".....and who are the expert speakers? So many questions left unanswered.....And what would the other booths exhibit? clothing for the experienced swinger? vacation destinations perhaps? maybe a match.com type of arrangement for swingers properly entitled swingers.com? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Now I am very, very, very curious. Must remember to ask the fine young lady from Passion Parties after she demos the proper use of anal beads. Now that I think of it, maybe I'll ask her before that particular demo.

Created: March 5, 2007

Virginia Tech and Isolationism

"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today," Cho said in one of the videos that aired Wednesday night on NBC. "But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." -Cho Seung-Hui, as reported on CNN.com 4/18/2007

The VA Tech massacres. This is only the latest human catastrophe to hammer our weary souls. Now campuses across the nation are floundering for answers to anxious parents and students pleading for protection against the unknown. Undoubtedly the answer will be to build more walls, more security, more eyes and cameras everywhere looking for the evil force out there about to strike us down. University and college costs will increase as the institution's capital budget increases to accomodate keeping bad things from happening to presumably good people. It is precisely this response that saddens me the most. We are our own worst enemies. The enemy comes from within.

Everyday look around you. Watch how people have isolated themselves with earphones closing off the world, cell phones numbing their surroundings, text messages, instant message chats, virtual relationships...the list goes on and on. More and more we are closing off the world around us and unaware of building on the human relationship only found in human contact. The walls created by these actions only create further isolation from each other. How can you tell from an IM message that your "friend" is hurting? For that matter how can you tell from a telephone conversation?

We are losing (have already lost?) the neighborly feeling of looking out for each other. Even the fiercest libertarian and independent can't deny that as much as we look after ourselves, much of that is looking after our friends, family, neighbors and loved ones. In doing so we are taking care of ourselves by taking care of our environment around us.

How many more people are out there like Cho Seung-Hui? Obviously he was a disturbed individual with mental health history and problems. How is it that all of this is known after the fact, and yet, when the few individuals who alerted others to strange behavior and patterns, only a numb ear was found. The warning signs were all over the place that this young man needed help. Mental health is one of the most serious conditions hurting our culture. Some of it is arguably self induced through isolating ourselves and not paying attention to those around us and those who are important to us. We take comfort in the fact that we sent an e-mail to check-in or a quick text message to say hi, when in fact that is about as shallow as it gets.

Where is the exchange of thoughts, feelings, ideas, worries, troubles, struggles, concerns, fears?It makes me sad to the deepest part of my soul to think that there are many more troubled souls out there like Cho Seung-Hui. Perhaps these souls are not as dangerous to others or to the same extreme as he, but, then again, maybe they are and no one is paying attention.

We don't need more walls and barriers. As humans we need to knock down the barriers and begin to build human relationships bonding us with each other. Only then will we ever have a chance. It is a sad day and a sorrowful statement about how we have evolved as people. I have faith that we can reverse this trend.

The blood is truly on our hands. Out, out, damn spot. Out I say......

Created: April 18, 2007