The Finnish lapphund is a gorgeous dog.
Londoners are quite stylish.
Scotland remains spectacular.
I could eat pies, sweet or savory, for every meal.
Europe, where the history comes from.
Nobody does pomp and ceremony like the British.
When trains work well, they are possibly the best mode of transport ever invented.
The United Kingdom takes cider seriously, and it is fantastic.
Taking an actual vacation to a beautiful place with a person you love is a perfect use of time.
I have never made a secret of the fact that I am a geek. I love sci fi, fantasy, tech, and anything that requires imagination. I started on Star Trek early, watching episodes with my father. I made my way through Tolkien, going so far as to dabble in Sindarin and writing in tengwar. If it had anything to do with created worlds, possible futures, or swords, I was pretty much into it. It comes as a surprise even to me, then, that I did not touch video games until college. We didn’t even have cable growing up, so there was no Nintendo in the house. College was my first real exposure to console games (or most computer games, for that matter). I was terrible at them. Mario Kart could bring me to tears of frustration.
I am happy to report that I will be marrying a gamer in a few months, and my tide has finally turned. After several rage-inducing attempts at Little Big Planet, and plenty of marveling at my fiancé’s work with Assassin’s Creed, Bioshock, and Skyrim, I have finally purchased and played—to conclusion!—my first video game. I’m not even ashamed to admit that it was LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. It was partly frustrating but totally gratifying. I am 28 years old, and my proudest accomplishment of 2012 has been playing a video game to 100%.
And I am very okay with that.
Running and I have always had a complicated relationship. As a child, it was fun and mindless. I didn’t time it or count laps. I also didn’t do it a lot. My lungs are my weakest part, and wheezing often cut things short. As I got older and more involved in sports, I simultaneously felt silly with relief that I opted not to do track or cross-country, yet increasingly certain that running was a necessity for peak health. With several relatives who are suffering the consequences of a younger running habit, I know this is not the case. Running can be bad in several ways. And yet I’ve never shaken my indistinct sense that I should probably make a serious attempt to run a bit.
That brings us to lately. M saw a friend of ours posting on Twitter about a new running app she was trying, he downloaded it, and he mentioned it to me. I thought, good for you, love, but had zero intention of trying it myself. As I said, I don’t really run.
But when I came home out of sorts and irritated by a crowded commute last night, there was only one thing I wanted to do. And much to his surprise, M found himself with running shoes on, apps synchronized, heading for the reservoir. And we did a whole hour of the couch-to-10k workout. It may only be six total minutes of running, but that’s six minutes more than I’ve done in years. And you know what? It felt good.
We have a running date for Wednesday.
My academic career draws to a close, for now. As I readjust to professional life, I find myself restless to write. Will that lead me to actually tend my blog properly for once? We shall see.
I am optimistic about most things at the moment. The weather is cool and drizzly. I have Ben and Jerry’s S’mores ice cream to hand. The fiancé is playing Oblivion, and my Sims 3 is reinstalled and ready to go. Really, what more could one want?
Also, I made soda bread this morning, and it is delicious. Life is good.