martinimade

"Before leaving for Saskatoon, I had asked Runner's World Chief Running Officer Bart Yasso for some tips on hosting a successful marathon. He agreed to meet me as long as I agreed to show up an hour early so we could get a run in. By the time we sat down to eat lunch, we had already learned everything we wanted to know about each other. As the food arrived, I told Bart I was glad we ran first, but told him I wasn't expecting it. I asked him why he suggested we do so. 'I like myself better after a run,' he said."

- Marc Parent in Runner's World, September 2014.

And, for more running, Martini Friday is up!

One more big push so that I can get on a big jet airliner on Friday. Which means I don't have much brain left to say anything of great import. Which implies that I usually say things of great import. Which might be overstating the case.

Anyhoo.

This is our cat Barney. He's not overly fond of people. 

He also thinks he is a jungle cat. Who am I to tell him otherwise?

* Parenting Do-overs.

* Wisdom from Lev Grossman.

* Knitting can also wax your car. (Not really. That I know of.)

* How many times? 

* This has been all over the place but it's still amusing. Also: I would do this if I lived in a city that more closely resembled a grid.

* THIS IS MY ENTIRE LIFE.

* Books make you do things.

* How to write about something you don't like.

* I have an exquisitely cultivated inner garden. (Related.)

* I have no words about Robin Williams' death. None. It could have been me. It could have been anyone who has been depressed. Being a celebrity doesn't make it any easier. Here's a little bit about what it's like.

* It's like the Jetsons up in here.

Today's plan involves Getting Back On Top of Things, which means that I've been doing a lot of staring at my desktop and wondering how it all got so out of control. While I bail --

I had the honor of interviewing (via email) Bev for this piece. She and her crew are doing needed but rough work. Please keep them in your thoughts.

"Education is about making people curious."

- Stephen Sondheim, in Six by Sondheim, which I highly recommend if you like theater and/or creativity and/or writing. And if you don't like any of those things, why are you here?

Also: This week's Martini Friday is up!

On Tuesday morning, my husband's stepfather died. This one isn't a shock. Which doesn't make it less sad, mind. Today we are off for a swim meet, then up to Rochester for services on Friday. Because this is the summer for funerals, I guess. 

To quote the great Kurt Vonnegut: So it goes. 

Yesterday, this happened:

We knew this time was coming. And, lo, it has arrived. We're all stealing ourselves for the next 2+ years of loose brackets and sore faces and empty wallets. Then it'll be time to get braces for her brother. Ah, parenthood.

* I nearly wet myself from the laughing.

* What they said.

* "Thank goodness we don't have to."

* Fail better, every time.

* It doesn't have to be hard. Really. Just get up.

* Thinking academically about genre.

* The Ten Commandments, modern interpretation.

* Go get this book! (Disclaimer: I am acquainted with one of the writers. Still. It should be a good one.)

.... mostly involved...

... Hulk hands. Yours?

"I will confess to my own classism when it comes to Paula, because those weird blue contacts and that cloying accent and all those diamond rings on her fingers while she's kneading dough got on my nerves long before she -- well, pick a transgression. But it must be said that she is not her own best advocate. At the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, she did a demo on the Today show during which she made so many raunchy jokes about 'chicken balls,' the name of the dish she was cooking, that Al Roker finally said, 'set your watches; that's where it all went wrong.'"

-- Julia Reed in, you guessed it, Garden and Gun, which captures all that I love about the South. And there is a lot to love. 

Also: Martini Friday is live. Don't click the link if you don't want to hear about my uterus.