MKNonline Blog

Running is apparently a very meditative and cathartic activity. For the second year in a row, I “ran” 4.7 miles over Thanksgiving to see what I could learn about myself. Here’s my list:

1. I’m very slow moving. 9117th place out of 10412 runners. I’m afraid to think of how I’ll do at age 60.

2. Overly peppy people that are cheering from the sidelines help me run faster out of anger and avoidance of their lazy, fat, asses. I now feel bad for being overly peppy when I cheer runners at the Boston Marathon.

4. As each of these types of people beat me in a race, I die a little inside:

• People in ridiculous costumes
• People twice my age and above
• People who are drunk while running
• Children

5. The people listed above don’t enjoy being cursed at while on a race.

6. Running a race of which I barely have the physical capacity to run is challenging. Running most of that race uphill is soul-crushing.

7. I don’t ever want to die of thirst.

And now, some photographic documentation of said race:

My carbo-loaded meal of pasta, tuna, and greenbeans from the night before.

Artist’s tape to hold up my bib. Very ghetto.

The finish line that seemed to never get closer.

Statistically, nine out of 10 of these people beat me. Try to feel good about yourself after that.

At least we finished happy.

I tried to avoid it, but couldn’t think of anything else to blog about. Feeling a little sentimental today.

1) That children like this still exist in the world:

2) My family, still alive and well. Especially my dog, Kailey, the love of my life. Still, I’m going to hate living with them again.

3) The declining Euro…

4) That somehow, with my meager income, I’m able to afford a nice apartment, a TON of gadets and electronics (including my brand new Samsung NC10 netbook), and a vacation in Europe. Come to think of it, I may want to check those numbers again…Anyhow, as much as I complain about how I can’t afford the really nice joneses, I’m pretty fortunate. Time to take it to the next level and start giving as much as I’m receiving.

I try to keep my personal life out of blog posts because it’s generally boring and unexciting. I work…a lot…and then I go home and work some more…while watching television. And I wonder why no one reads my blog…

Months and years of this grind has caused me to yearn to travel more often. Last time I was out of the country (besides Canada, which should never count…) was high school, and that is now 6 years behind me. I’ve barely made it out of the east coast since then.

So this December, one week after my 23rd birthday, I’m taking whatever money I have left in my savings and going on a soul-invigorating trip to western Europe. Not the most original trip for a 20-something out of college, but it will do. Hopefully, this lights the fire to more adventurous and exciting locations in the future. I was supposed to travel alone, but I found two friends to tag along who share my basic tenants of travel: total independence, good food, careful but inevitably naive planning, and museums. Lots of museums.

This trip has invigorated my blogging a bit. Hopefully, you’ll see more posts, pictures, and thoughts on here as I take the travel opportunity for content and inspiration.

So, how stupid is it that I’m traveling in the worst economic crisis of modern times? Contrarian genius (“the euro has never been lower…”) or just impulsive idiot (“i can live off 5 euros a day, right?…”)?

It’s ok girls, I would’ve done the same thing had Archuleta won…

I have experienced the same pre-teen turmoil on the following tv-watching occasions:
Cirie getting voted off of Survivor:Micronesia
Taylor Hicks winning American Idol
Recently, Laura White getting voted off of British X-Factor
Marie Osmond fainting on Dancing with the Stars (maybe true)
Every time an episode of Lost ends…

I happened upon this link from Gadling and was inspired and touched by the message. Film director Mark Johnson recorded about 100 musicians from around the world as they performed “Stand by Me,” which resulted in an amazing and moving arrangement. There is a foundation behind this project, Playing For Change, that seeks to promote and connect music around the world by providing local musicians with the resources to do what they do best. They’ve built schools and music facilities in South Africa and Nepal and created a documentary making the film festival circuit right now.

Definitely the type of charity and group that I love supporting.

My ears have always had a thing for exotic instruments and sounds. One of the people that I always thought had the coolest job is Russ Landau, composer for Survivor and many other of Mark Burnett’s reality shows. I think the Survivor theme song is one of the best television themes ever. It is so fitting to the spirit of the show, and each season, Russ travels with the Survivor crew to these remote locations and interacts with the locals to gather new sounds and instrumentation of the local culture. He mixes those sounds with the same basic theme melody (an ancient Russian chant, I believe) to capture the location into the song. To confess, I look forward to the new theme song every season as much if not moreso than the rest of the premiere. Every Thursday, that song gets me pumped. Here’s the latest season’s theme (Gabon, Africa).