Shoes!!

I'm not much of a shoe shopper. In fact I hate shoe shopping. I buy enough shoes to get me by but I never ever buy shoes just for the fun of it. Jeff owns more shoes than I do. I think the last time I checked I owned 8 pairs. If I didn't work in an office I'd have even less.

Most of the time when I do shoe shop it's for cheap shoes at Payless or Shoe Carnival. I don't spend much on shoes and the ones I have normally only last me a year or so. I do have one exception to the cheap shoe rule though. My exercise shoes tend to be good. I've spent more on one pair of good running/walking shoes than I have on all the other pairs in my closet. I simply can't bring myself to skimp on them.

Jeff and I have started jogging recently. It's a great recovery plan for my ankle along with the added bonus of better cardiovascular conditioning. It's also something that I've wanted to do for a long time. But these past two weeks have been a bit painful. My shoes are old and have lost most of their cushioning. They are also well worn in the heel. I supinate heavily when I walk and the back outside heel wears away quickly (see below for info on supination). The more I walk on that worn down area, the less stable the shoe becomes. My current shoes were hurting both my knees and my back. So Jeff and I went out shoe shopping tonight.

I went to a speciality running store and found a pair of New Balance 883s. I've been loving New Balance shoes for a while now. I buy them the way I used to buy Rykas. But this time I had a professional running shoe fitting. The clerk watched the way I walked and watched the way I squatted and found me the perfect shoe. They weren't the cheapest shoes but they certainly weren't the most expensive. And I love them. I honestly wanted to wear them home and around the house. I'm really excited to get out jogging in them. And that's the best thing I can say about any shoes.

Ten Things I've Learned this Week

Ancora Imparo is all about learning. Well, it's been a good week for learning. Sadly some of these lessons have been learned the hard way.

10. Five Tagalongs are my limit. Any more than that and I will be sick.

9. Whiskey is not my friend. It may pretend to be my friend but it can turn on me quickly. And the after effects are not worth it.

8. Running gets easier the second day although my legs will hate me each time.

7. Caffeine is a requirement in the morning, not an option.

6. I will watch almost anything that features actors that I have crushes on (Luck of the Irish was terrible the first time and even worse the second time).

5. There is nothing better for relieving stress then a scalding hot bath.

4. I can read a book in a single night if I have to return it to the library the next day. Sleep on the other hand is apparently optional.

3. Socks are not as hard to knit as I thought they were.

2. No matter how terrible a day is, I can alway find something positive.

And number 1. I have the greatest husband in the entire world. Seriously. He's amazing. I owe him big time.

It's been a good/bad/odd/regular week. And it's only Tuesday.

What have you learned this week?

Sweating and Sweets

I'm a hurting person today. My poor recovering ankle is sore. My quads feel like they are on fire. Going up stairs is excruciating. You see, I jogged yesterday and it's been a while since I was out jogging. When I say a while, I really mean about 34 years. I've never been jogging. In fact I've never been in any shape. Well other than round.

So in an attempt to get into shape I've decided to try a Couch to 5K program. Technically I had decided to do the program in January but didn't start running until yesterday. I'm more of a planner than a doer, clearly. The program starts you slow with a mix of jogging and walking and thank god for that. I would have killed myself if I had tried to run the whole time. I was struggling just to finish the 20 minute workout and I really only jogged 8 of those minutes. Then again I've never jogged 8 minutes before so I'm pretty happy with that.

The big thing is that I have to get out there and jog again tomorrow. I know I'll be tempted to skip but part of me wants to develop a little discipline in my life. I've never really been the kind to push myself or keep to a schedule. I've always admired disciplined people. The kind of people who push themselves each day to be a little better. The kind of people who stick with a routine even when it's not going well. So this is my new routine. I'm announcing it to the world. I'll be ready to run a 5K by June. I'll be able to jog for 20 minutes straight. I know that each day will be easier. I hope that I gasp just a little less each day. And my muscle will hurt a little less each week. I'm excited about this.

That said, I bought Girl Scout cookies today. Apparently my discipline only extends so far. I've only had two Tagalongs (I refuse to call them Peanut Butter Patties), but the boxes are calling to me from the kitchen. We'll see how long they last. So far I'm just impressed that I haven't inhaled the box while watching TV. Perhaps there is hope for me.

Losing Faith

I don't normally talk politics on the blog. I don't normally follow a lot of politics, except what I need to for my job. I read enough state code to bore anyone to tears for work. I don't want to pay attention outside of the office. But this week has me angry. More then angry actually. I'm disgusted and today I lost a little bit of faith in humanity.

Iowa is an agricultural state primarily. We grow much of the country's corn and soybeans. But our biggest industry is animal products. We harvest three times more eggs then our closest competition. We raise millions of pigs, cows, and chickens for meat and other products. And we most often do it in large factory farm situations. These places are not nice. I've heard them described as everything from horrific to Hell on Earth. Every couple of months, an organization like the Humane Society, Mercy for Animals, or PETA sends some of their volunteers into these facilities to take covert video. It's the only way that we, the public, know what is going on.

Today, my home state's House passed a bill that made it illegal to take video of these type of places. There is now a possible 5 year prison term for showing what occurs in a factory farm. Agribusiness is claiming that this is just for the protection of their animals and their livelihood. I say that they're full of crap. Just because we can't see the horrific conditions and the abuse doesn't mean it won't occur. Instead they simply cover it up. They can sweep regular abuse under the carpet and we will never see about it. Never learn what is truly happening.

I have learned that to get people to take animal welfare seriously, you have to hit them where it hurts. In their food supply. The largest salmonella outbreak came out of an egg farm here in Iowa. I wonder if that could have been avoided if we had eyes in the factory. If we had seen the rat droppings and piles of excrement. I guess we won't know. I know that from now on we really won't know. There are severe penalties for whistleblowing. We can no longer see where our food is produced. And that makes me awfully happy that I'm a vegetarian, moving more towards vegan each day.

I won't apologize for this political rant. I'm so angry right now that I can't even think straight. When I had first heard of this bill I had hoped that it wouldn't get out of the house. I had hoped that people would see the light. But I know how powerful the animal industry lobby is. I know how well money talks. And animals can't. Today I lost just a little more faith in politics to speak for the people. To protect me. And I lost some faith in humanity.

Lost in TV Land

I would be writing more blog posts if I could pull myself away from the Psych marathon that has been running in our house since Sunday. I know I've mentioned that I love this show but since we picked up Netflix and I have access to the first four seasons, it's all I've been watching. And really all I've been doing.

Jeff and I got hooked on Psych while watching reruns that ran after Burn Notice. I wasn't really sure I wanted a new series but this one was just so well written and so much fun that we stayed. It was the fourth season so we knew we had missed a ton of episodes. When we got Netflix, the first and second seasons were one of the first things we added to our queue. We would watch them an episode at a time for a while. Until this past week that is. Suddenly I can't stop. We've been watching at least three to four episodes every night.

I love a good well written TV show and Psych is definitely well written. The dialogue is quick and witty. There is so much variety in the types of episodes that it's impossible to get bored. One episode that we watched recently was a classic horror film, last night it was a monster movie, and right after that was a Bollywood movie. The show is constantly playing with genres, camera angles, and mood. One day it's Keystone Cops and the next Law and Order.

But the thing I love most about the show is the characters. Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) are constantly playing off each other and the effect is hilarious. The situations that Shawn gets them into are both embarrassing and side-splitting. Gus plays the straight man to Shawn's wackiness but Gus is such a great physical actor that his face often says more than his mouth. Shawn's Dad Henry is played by Corbin Bensen with tons of sarcasm but some good heart. He's the tough cop who can still find time to take care of Shawn.

And of course there are the cops. Juliet O'Hara is played by Maggie Lawson as the cop looking to make her way up the police ladder while still helping Shawn. She's sweet but still tough enough to handle the police work. On the tough side there's Carlton Lassiter who's played by Timothy Omundson. Lassie (as the boys call him) is the ultimate aggressive cop. He's only happy when he's bringing down bad guys and firing his gun. He's the perfect straight man for Shawn and Gus but he's such a great over the top character that his lines end up being hilarious. I have to admit that I've developed a bit of a crush on Lassiter. Not sure why. He's just such an interesting character.

It's a great series. And I'm horribly addicted. Jeff and I should be through the series this weekend and I have to admit that I'm thinking of leaving them in the queue. I know I'll be going back to my favorite episodes over and over.

I Want To Be A Pirate!!!!

I'm sure I've mentioned that when I was six, my life's dream was to be a pirate. Not a terrible rum-swilling, murdering, plundering pirate. Just the type that lived on a ship and sailed the seven seas looking for adventure and excitement. Now of course that I'm older I still want to live on a ship and sail the seven seas looking for adventure. I'm not as sure about the pirate part...or at least I wasn't until I saw this on Beautiful Life.

This is a bedroom. A children's bedroom. A very, very lucky children's bedroom. The room was designed by Minneapolis based design firm Kuhl Design Build for a client. There are two beds in the room, the first which you see in the picture is below, among the stone walls and fish. The second, and here's where it gets good, is above in the pirate ship. You can either walk along the bridge to reach the pirate bed or you can climb the rope in the closet to your perch.

I want this bedroom. I want to go to sleep perched up high near the ceiling. I want to wake up on the deck of a pirate ship and slide down a rope to breakfast. I love the fish and whales painted around the room. I just love the sheer beauty and whimsy of this place. I would gladly become a pirate if I got to sleep in this room. Or maybe I should just hire a design firm.

Poetry Wednesday

Because I feel like it. I never seem to post on Fridays anymore so today will be a Poetry Wednesday. It rained yesterday and for some odd reason I felt like going out hiking. I've been enjoying the rain (mostly because it isn't snow) and am feeling very energetic. I've been waking up earlier and earlier on the weekends and going out walking. I've walk through snow and rain and mud and clear blue days. But unlike my poem for the day, one of the few times I don't walk is at night. Not sure why, I just hate walking in the evenings.

But it's still a great poem.

Acquainted With the Night

by Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain--and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street.

But not to call me back or say good-by;

And further still at an unearthly height

One luminary clock against the sky.

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

Order Out of Chaos

I'm am disorganized to the extreme. Some would say that I've turned disorganization into an art. I have piles of things stacked all over the house. I have books sitting on my stairs waiting to go upstairs to be shelved in my library. My desk is piled with articles I've meant to read, story ideas that haven't been fleshed out yet, and plenty of knickknacks. My laundry is either in the hamper waiting to be washed or in the hamper waiting to be hung up. I'm not what you would call an amazing housekeeper.

Most of the time I don't have any problem with my regular bits of chaos. Every couple of years though I decide that I need to clean house. And this is one of those times. Both Jeff and I are pack rats. We collect things. We buy things for hobbies that never get used. I wish I could count the number of origami books that I've bought over the years and never used. And it's the same with every other hobby I've tried.

So this week I'm going to start going through my books and my clothes and my knickknacks and hopefully getting rid of some things. I'm trying the three box trick (one box to keep, one to throw, and one to give away). Everything in the "To Keep" box has to find a place in the house. I guarantee that I will evaluate things quite a bit more if I know that I have to find a spot for them. There aren't a lot of spots left. Wish me luck. This should be a monstrous task.

Lori Nix

It's been a while since I profiled an artist whose work I enjoy. I keep a list of artists and always want to share good art. And Lori Nix's work is beyond good. It's downright incredible.

Lori is a Kansas born artist who creates miniature dioramas and then photographs them. In many ways she's a double artist. First is the building of her subjects, wallpapering tiny walls, constructing tiny chairs, sculpting miniature trees. She's a craftsman and a sculptor. But after all the hard work of building is done, then she has to light and photograph the scenes. It has to take a lot of patience because each scene is perfect right down to the last detail. Lori says that it takes about 7 months to build a scene and 2 or 3 weeks to shoot it properly.

Lori has her studio set up in Brooklyn. Her most recent exhibit is called The City, which focuses on what will happen after cities are abandoned by humans. It was her image of the library (seen below) which first caught my attention. The images are all about the decay and destruction of the man-made world mixed with Nature's capacity for producing life. I find them beautiful and a bit disturbing.

Nix has a number of different themes, like Unnatural History (Great Plains seen below) which gives a museum curators view of history and nature. It's all about how they create dioramas and displays. I love Nix's use of black and white which makes them seem like old museum pictures.

I simply had to share Lori Nix's art. I'm in awe of her photography but I'm even more in awe of her diorama building skills. I want to explore her little worlds. Each is so filled with beautiful details. They are nearly perfect.

Just an Image

Birthdays

It's birthday month for me. Over the course of five weeks I have five family birthdays. My little brother had his at the beginning of February and although I couldn't be with him (he lives in St. Louis) I called him and thought of him. It's odd to think that my little brother is now over 30 and is getting married sometime in the next year or so. I still remember him as a little boy in shorts.

My little sister is next. We celebrated her birthday last week by meeting at my parents house to open gifts and then headed over to one of her favorite restaurants in town. If I haven't mentioned it I adore my little sister. And impressed with her. She's working two jobs and going to school right now so I don't get to see her as often as I would like but we try to make every moment together great. She's one of my favorite people to talk with and I'm constantly learning new things from her. She balances me out.

Dad and Mom

Today is my father's birthday and we celebrated with dinner at one of his favorite Indian restaurants and some quiet times talking back at his house. He even made brownies for his birthday. My dad is awesome. I'm constantly in awe of him. He's incredibly smart and his excitement for things is a bit contagious. Like me, he picks up hobbies and dives full force into them for a while. Actually he and I are very similar in temperment and interests and get along well.

My nephew is the next birthday. He's young enough that no one will mind if I say that he'll be turning 11 this year. He's my brother's middle child and is definitely the most active of the three kids. He's constantly on the go. When he's not playing sports, he's drawing or designing stop motion movies with lego characters. He doesn't live in Des Moines so I don't get to see him as often as I'd like but he's a pretty great kid.

My mother's birthday is next week to round out the month. If I was to use one word to describe my mother it would be generous. My mom is constantly thinking about others. Having just come from her house, I'm covered in fur from the animals she keeps taking in. She constantly wants to make sure that Jeff and I don't need anything. So I hope that when we celebrate her birthday next week that I'll be able to find something special for her.

I know I rarely talk about my family and I'm not sure why that is. I get along great with everyone in my family and love the time we get to spend together. Family dinners are something that I look forward to all week. So this is my attempt to at least mention more about my family. They mean so much to me that it's time they entered the blog. At least until they tell me to stop writing about them.