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Month: March 2016

Review: The Flight of the Silvers

Review: The Flight of the Silvers

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The Flight of the Silvers
The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
the time quandries. the parallel universes. the paradoxes. ugh! it’s hard to wrap your head around these things, but this book tackled them head on. the linearness of time is so hard to dismiss when trying to think about the ideas of parallel universes and how endless they must be. i liked how this book was all about the weirdness of time, plus an apocalyptical plot to boot. unfortunately for me, i came to the end of the book before the story was done; i didn’t know this was a trilogy! that’s fine by me – more books to look forward to.
a couple weird things that stuck out at me: naming the characters by their professions and/or relationship status was a little odd to me. the artist? we know his name is zack. the sisters is ok, but to call amanda the widow? like her entire character was driven by the fact that her husband is dead? at least calling hannah the actress didn’t drive attention to the fact that everyone thought she was a slut (and so what if she likes to have sex? that’s her prerogative. no need to call it to attention). it’s kind of weird that theo, david, and mia didn’t have such nicknames; consistency would be nice if omnisciently calling the main characters by nicknames.
and if it weren’t for another review on goodreads that brought my attention to the reiterative nature of hannah’s chestal area, i may not have noticed it, but man, attention is brought to her boobs and figure quite a bit.
BUT. the plot is great, and i’m looking forward to the next book.
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a break

a break

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running-shoes-planatr-fasciitis_cb3ct5after dealing with some weird pain in my foot that my heel spur resides in, i finally got in to the podiatrist this afternoon. after i explained to him what was going on, he said it was time for another cortisone shot. so now i’m laid up for about a week and keeping off my foot until the shot kicks in*. 
i figured now was the time to do this, if i was going to do it before my half marathon. this still gives me a good five weeks before the half to keep on running. i feel like i’m nowhere near close to being able to run 13 miles, but dagnabit, i’m gonna do it. i really think that walking a little bit each mile will help a ton with the tightened up muscles i experienced at the end of my 7-mile run. not quite sure why, but anything over five miles just feels like torture on my lower half. my breathing is fine; my heartrate is fine; i feel like my upper half could definitely go the distance, but my weight resides below my waist, so that’s holding back my upper half. boo!
so, i’m taking a break. i’ll use the exercise bike to keep my legs in shape and maybe do some meditative yoga/yoga lite to hopefully keep limber. then hopefully by the end of the week, i’ll be ready to rock 8 miles.
* he did say that when the shots start to lose their efficacy after a month to two months, then it’s time to look at surgery to remove the spur. i wish it would just be gone. 🙁

timeout

timeout

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article-2230417-0F845D9D00000578-56_634x478there are a lot of birds of prey in southern minnesota. one time on a drive to winona, i was just east of lewiston, just starting the descent into the valley, when i drove around a curve and came across a giant bald eagle in the middle of the road; he spread his wings and took off, just missing my car on his way into the trees.
the other day was a little windy, as most spring days are. i learned from a co-worker who flies kites that spring and fall are equally windy, but fall is more gusty and spring is more sustained, so it seems windier in springtime. i was driving home from rochester to st charles, just coming into eyota after driving across a very flat, very windy expanse of farmland.
i was coming up to the roundabout, and there was a hawk facing into the wind, beating his wings but staying in one spot in the air. i watched him as i drove up next to him and then past; he didn’t move from his spot in the air, even though the wind was blowing at him and his wings were beating. he could have let the air take him away, or he could have put in a little more effort and beat the wind. maybe he was exercising his wings. maybe he was enjoying the warm wind in his face. maybe he was waiting for a buddy to show up. maybe, and most likely, he was watching the ground for a rodent to make its appearance from a hole for a late afternoon snack. whatever he was doing, i was fascinated. 
maybe we all need to stretch our wings and exercise them, loosen them up. and sometimes we all just need to stay the status quo. no need to let the wind push us away, and no need to push against it. just letting it come at us and holding us firmly in place. and if we’re anything like the hawk, maybe we’re fascinating to others. 

fangirl review

fangirl review

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pfft, rainbow rowell, i said. meh, who cares, i said. she can’t be that good, i said. 
well, i read a rainbow rowell book. and i take it all back.
maybe it was the hipsterishness that i feel surrounds eleanor and park, or maybe it’s the hippie name (you’d think i’d be on board with that!), but i poopooed her as a YA author that i just would choose not to read. 
but i was in the library looking at the YA section, and there was her book “fangirl.” the protagonist writes fanfic of what is essentially the equivalent harry potter in her world. why not? well, it was like reading about my first year of college, the way she described her introverted, shy heroine. i was ok with it. and it’s not just fluff; the writing is eloquent. flowy. just right. 
so i guess i’ll get my hipster on and check out eleanor and park next time i’m at the library. 

photodump

photodump

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i took a couple pics on my hike last weekend, then took some pics of my peppers trying to grow, and then i made a batch of bohemakuchen tonight, so there’s a pic of that, too!
mushie
trunk peppers kuchen

the worst

the worst

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today i made bohemakuchen filling for this saturday, which is kuchen baking day. i’ve made poppyseed for the past couple years, and so i made some apricot (amazing!) and almond for when i make my own batch (and i can bake them how i want.)
anyway, i was reminded of the worst kuchen experience i’ve ever had.
the year i lived with my grandma, i got access to her stores of many baked goods in her basement freezer. pies, cookies, brownies, and even some kuchen leftover from easter! so i said, grandma! why haven’t you eaten this kuchen yet? oh, she forgot it was there. i could have it. 
so i did – i took a couple to work with me one day, had one for dessert another day, until all that was left was an apricot and a poppyseed. you can tell which has what filling by looking at the sides – if they’re darker, then poppyseed. if you’re grandma, you slyly stick your thumb in the side to check it out and inconspicuously put it back if it’s not what you want.
poppyseed is my favorite – it’s delish. 
so here i had the last two of the season and i was super excited. i warmed them up in the microwave at work, relishing the apricot, saving the best for last. 
i bit into the poppyseed – IT WAS PRUNE.

the foot's a game

the foot's a game

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i’ve been having trouble with my heel spur again -_-
i’ve had heel spur/plantar fasciitis issues for a while, and last summer i got a cortisone shot in my heel. it’s been glorious! no pain in the mornings, i can walk on my foot like a normal person, nothing is weird.
then a couple weeks ago, i noticed as i ran downhill, i got a sharp, shooting pain straight up from my heel to the base of my toes, right down the middle of my foot. uh-oh. the past couple runs have been tough for my foot after about 3 miles, and when you’re training to run 13 miles, 3 miles is really not a lot. 
i have new shoes. i have orthotics. i got some kinesiology tape to tape up my foot. i have an ankle wrap i can use as a last resort (it cuts off circulation). i am almost tempted to get reshot with cortisone, but that’ll put me out of commission for at least a week. 
less than two months to the half marathon! come on, foot, can you make it??

comfort zone

comfort zone

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Treehuggeri donate some money every year to the land stewardship council, and as such, i become a member and get their mailers. i got one a couple weeks ago for “land ethic at work”, a day-long workshop at eagle bluff in lanesboro with speakers from the aldo leopold foundation*, a bunch of breakouts on different conservation techniques, and finishing off with dinner on the bluff. 
on the one hand, i love things like these. i love learning about more things i can do to expand my tree-huggerness and how to help out the earth. on the other hand, i HATE things like these – facilitated small group discussions?? lunch with people i don’t know**? a bunch of strangers that might stare at me because i’m not a (large) landowner, am relatively young, and don’t own any (useful) animals? (although i do garden regularly and collect rainwater from my roof; maybe that will help.)
but i decided i wanted to do it, and i applied for a scholarship to go. i got approved and it paid for my entire registration fees – $90! so now i HAVE to go. i’m gonna tweet about it and blog about it and maybe take some pics while i’m out there. april 2, i’ll be both uncomfortable and excited, and i guess that’s what life’s about, right? if you don’t step outside your circle occasionally, you can’t really experience things worth knowing. here goes nothing 🙂
*this dude is pretty cool. he noted birds’ migratory patterns in his wisconsin vacation home for his whole life, and pretty much documented that climate change is real by noting that birds that migrate based on temperature versus light have been returning to the area sooner and sooner. (i went to a speaker at rctc a couple years ago. one benefit of working at a college!)
**at least the food is included!

a little hike

a little hike

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there are a few state parks clustered in southeastern minnesota, a couple along the river and a couple right around where i live. i’ve been to whitewater numerous times, but decided today to check out carly state park, which is a small park just south of plainview. 
it reminded me a little bit of whitewater, with the river running through it (ahem, the whitewater river) and a large grassy area of picnicking. there are also some camping sites.
i decided to go for a hike since i was there! it was a nice hike, and it reminded me of how i want to hike the superior hiking trail, which runs up along lake superior from duluth to the tip of the state, hitting canada. i’d like to do this in the next couple years, but it depends on my hiking partner (liz) and when she can do it. in the meantime, i keep looking out for cheap gear to stock up. 

spring ahead!!! do it!

spring ahead!!! do it!

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i’m really bad at blogging every day this year. not quite sure what my problem is. i even have two (yes, TWO) alerts set up on my phone, yet i still ignore them.
in OTHER news, 

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.

despite the multiple article refuting the usefulness of DST, this thing is a godsend. that extra hour of light in the evening is the BEST. there are multiple reasons why people argue against DST in the springtime – it robs us an hour sleep, it throws off the sleep schedule, there’s not conclusive evidence that it save energy, etc. etc. i’m here to say why DST is definitely worth it, and why we should just observe it year round.

  1. most of us get up in the morning, get ready for work, and spend 8 hours indoors. there’s no real reason for some extra daylight in the morning. sure, we could push the workday up earlier, but that would require massive upheaval of the corporate world. 
  2. more daylight in the evening means more leisure time outdoors during the summertime. if it’s light out, people feel like they can get stuff done.
  3. MORALE. this is, above and beyond, the best thing about DST. sure, you’re groggy in the morning for a couple days. if DST were year-round we wouldn’t have to worry about this, but it is what it is. after those few days, we get to enjoy an extra hour of light in the evenings and revel in the glorious warm weather. and if we’re able to enjoy our personal time more, we’ll be better during our work or other times, too. 
  4. it’s awesome. i’m sorry, but when the majority of the winter is spent in the dark and cold and ice, to be able to enjoy the warmth and as much end-of-day light that we can? well that’s just the bee’s knees.