I'm a vegetarian, a runner, a writer, a liberal, and a pantheist. I try to live my life according to my favorite line of poetry from Mary Oliver's poem October: "Look, I want to love this world as though it's the last chance I'm ever going to get to be alive and know it."
Final Update
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)31 Aug 2008 at 12:14 pm
The San Francisco marathon was a great experience. My time was not very fast, 4:26, but I enjoyed the race and it felt good to run a marathon again. My friends and I went to Napa the day after the race and had a great time tasting wine and eating great food.
Hood to Coast Relay was last weekend. My team, "It Smells Like Team Spirit" had a blast. My IT Band flared up a few days before the race and ... read more
San Francisco For Better or Worse
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)27 Jul 2008 at 9:51 pm
One week from today I will be running the San Francisco Marathon. It will be my first marathon since the NYC Marathon almost 2 1/2 years ago. I'm excited but also very nervous. I had 7 good marathon experiences but the one really bad one, the NYC Marathon, was pretty bad. Then I trained to do the Newport Marathon twice but got injured both times and was unable to run it.
I've been running at least ... read more
Seven Random Acts of Confession
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)12 Apr 2008 at 10:50 pm
I have been tagged by LDP to list 7 random facts about myself.
1. Like LDP I like to play a game where I make other people's words sound dirty. Only, unlike LDP, I am crass enough to say these thoughts out loud.
2. I have a filthy mouth. I was forbidden to say anything that sounded like a curse word while I was growing up. Even "shoot" was off limits. I think this is part of the reason why I have ... read more
Je Dois Me Rappelle/I must remember
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)5 Apr 2008 at 12:30 am
Chaque jour
je dois me rappelle
la grace est près de moi
L'hiver était long
J'avais si faim
Mais le ressort est retourné
Mon coeur a fleuri
et l'amour est près
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every day
I must remember
grace is close to me
the winter was long
I was so hungry
But Spring has returned
my heart has flowered
and love is near
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This flowery, frenchy post brough ... read more
Goals Old & New
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)4 Apr 2008 at 11:00 pm
I am proud to announce that I am credit card debt free for the first time since my divorce in 2001. P.S. don't ever get divorced from a person who makes twice as much money as you without asking for alimony (because you don't want to be too demanding). Also, don't sign away your rights to your house before you get it appraised and/or sold. And, definitely don't do both of those other two other thi ... read more
Memorial
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)4 Apr 2008 at 10:46 pm
O's memorial service was strange. It was not only held at my old church campus but was in the small chapel where we had school choir practice and Wednesday chapel sessions. O was an individual who spent most of his life rebelling against the strictness of the school and church our parents went to. Yet, his family insisted that his memorial take place at the church. They made the memorial an opport ... read more
High School Reunion: Hello-Goodbye
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)23 Mar 2008 at 12:47 pm
I got the news yesterday that a childhood friend of mine died on Friday. He, I'll call him O for short, was 39 and I hadn't seen him since my 15 year high school reunion five years ago but the news stunned me.
Let me back up and explain a little about my high school experience. I went to the same school from kindergarten through my senior year of high school. It was affiliated with the church I at ... read more
Wine, Cheese, Martinis, and a bikini
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)12 Mar 2008 at 6:37 pm
Today is my 39th birthday. It feels strange to be in the last year of my 30's but I'm never going to be one of those women who lie about their age. I love celebrating my birthday. It's an excuse to spoil myself. Last night I went out for drinks and dinner with a friend of mine who shares the same birthday. We had wine and cheese and enough bread to choke a horse. Tonight J is taking me out f ... read more
Weekend Update
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)10 Feb 2008 at 12:57 pm
I haven't got much to report but I have my computer at home today and I feel like writing a bit.
This winter has seemed especially cold, dark, and rainy but yesterday the sun came out and the temperature rose to a balmy 58 degrees. In the morning I met some friends for a run in Helvetia. I wasn't sure how the run would go for me. I lost two weeks of running due to a nasty cold. The 10.3 mile ro ... read more
Absence
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)26 Jan 2008 at 6:26 pm
I plan to be absent here and am considering deleting this blog but haven't decided for sure yet. I no longer have a regular computer at home. I have a laptop I use for work but I don't lug it home everyday since I commute an hour each way on the train. The fact that I only bring my computer home on weekends limits my available writing time and I find that while I might have time to write someth ... read more
Running like hell to keep up with the devil
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)27 Oct 2007 at 9:31 am
Last weekend I did the Run Like Hell half marathon in downtown Portland. Although my time was not very fast, the race went much better than the half marathon I did a few weeks ago in Victoria B.C. The weather was quite cool (around 45 at the start) and I saw a lot of over dressed runners. I wore med length lycra shorts (bicycle style but without the padding), a tank made out of technical fabric ... read more
Half and half
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)10 Oct 2007 at 10:16 pm
Late last night, early this morning really, I returned from Victoria B.C. The original intent of the trip across the border was to run the local marathon but a hip flexor injury caused me to amend my plans a bit and I chose to run the half marathon instead.
My sister, D, flew in to Seattle from NYC to run the half marathon as well. Changing from the full marathon to the half was a bit of a disappo ... read more
This weekend
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)26 Aug 2007 at 1:48 pm
I was supposed to run in the Hood to Coast Relay this weekend but a hip flexor injury has side lined me this year. Over the last few months I've been training for the Royal Victoria Marathon and I injured myself, or at least discovered my injury, last weekend during one of my training runs.
Missing the Hood to Coast was very difficult for me because I have been running on the same relay team for ... read more
I get that sinking feeling
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)26 Aug 2007 at 12:35 am
When I think that maybe my body just wasn't cut out for running marathons. And that leads to the sinking feeling that maybe my body isn't cut out for running of any kind. And that leads me to so many sinking feelings that I don't know where to begin. They leap out of nowhere-the thoughts that build one upon another, giant waves crashing over me threatening to bury me deep in the sea of my own neur ... read more
Inspiration
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)8 Jul 2007 at 8:29 pm
I don't play tennis but have tried enough times to know that it requires not just great hand eye coordination and athleticism but also talent. I don't go out of my way to watch tennis on television but any time I come across a game, I watch it. This happened to me the other day. I came across the Wimbledon match between Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli. I got to see Venus win her 6th grand slam c ... read more
Goal
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)4 Jul 2007 at 1:53 pm
I've decided to run another marathon. My daily running, or I should say bi weekly running, was becoming a chore. One of my running buddies told me about a friend of his who ran her first half marathon after only ever running 8 miles up to that point. My friend, S, talked about how inspired the newbie was and how now that she has successfully run a half marathon, she feels unstoppable. That gav ... read more
Peace Out
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)1 Apr 2007 at 11:44 pm
Since I can't seem to make time for this blog thing lately, I've decided to take a hiatus. Peace out and all the best y'all. ... read more
Kitchen Confidential
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)25 Mar 2007 at 2:53 pm
The theme of this week's Sunday Scribblings is "In the Kitchen".
In my past life I was a married carnivore. Strange as it sounds, sometimes I miss cooking meat. I made great pork chops and pot roasts. I made fantastic chicken casserole. These were simple but savory foods that I cooked slowly, simmering the flavors together. I loved the way the food smell permeated the house. I loved sharing the fo ... read more
Wanted
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)20 Mar 2007 at 11:12 pm
This wanted poster was a bit cheesy but fun..jpg)
I decided to try the Image Mosaic Generator too and I love the results. Check out more Self Portraits. ... read more
Another year older and hopefully wiser
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)18 Mar 2007 at 10:38 pm
Last weekend I celebrated my birthday by taking a road trip with J. We had mapped out a trip up the Washington state coast. J wanted to go to the Olympic National Forest and I wanted to go to the beach. We found a place near both. It was a considerable drive but we looked forward to discovering new things.
About an hour into our drive it began to rain. We didn't mind too much at first. However, we ... read more
Comic Book me
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)6 Mar 2007 at 6:08 pm
This Month's
Self Portrait Challenge is to use online tools to create a self portrait. I used Mr Picasso Head to create this self portrait. Try it. It's fun. ... read more
Strange Superstition
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)4 Mar 2007 at 10:39 am
The theme of this week's Sunday Scribblings is "Superstition". I have a weird one. Some people don't walk under ladders or walk on cracks but I don't like to walk over those blue and white wheelchair signs painted on parking lot pavement. Now, before you think I'm completely crazy I will say that I do walk across these signs at times because I recognize that it's ridiculous to avoid them but I don ... read more
Black and White Body Image
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)1 Mar 2007 at 12:09 am
This photo turned out a bit fuzzy due to low batteries but I took it with the intent of talking about my unclear body image. So, I don't mind it's fuzzy. I've run 8 marathons and recently I've let my physical activity dimish to a less athletic amount. It feels good to give my body rest but it it's a difficult transition for me as well. If I put my entire idea of my body into the categor
... read more
Time bandit
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)28 Feb 2007 at 11:38 pm
The three people who read this blog regularly have probably noticed that I haven't been posting very frequently over the last few months nor have I commented much on other people's posts. Lord, my job is good but it's far away from where I live and the commute is a time bandit that steals 2 hours from my day.
The problem is that living as far out of town as I do ensures I get a large apartment wit ... read more
Puzzled
by noreply@blogger.com (Michelle)25 Feb 2007 at 7:33 pm
The theme of this week's Sunday Scribblings is "Puzzled". I experienced puzzlement last night when I saw the movie The Queen. It exposes what happened within the Royal family surrounding the days after Diana's death. The movie is fantastic and Helen Mirren is amazing.
In case you aren't familiar with the reaction of the Royal family during the time that the movie takes place, they made no stateme ... read more