Well, then.

True to form, I have not been updating recently because I have been involved in too many shenanigans. Yesterday morning, I ran 18 miles. Yes, that's eighteen miles. I amaze myself. On rare occasions. The whole only took 2 minutes longer than the 16-mile run I completed two weeks ago. There are some good explanations for that--better sleep is most likely primary among them.

I felt pretty gimpy when I finished, but not bad overall. Then I ate a bunch of Thanksgiving leftovers and took a nap. I was supposed to play kickball later in the afternoon, but not enough people showed up, so I ended up going to Caffe Boa with K and her sister and then went to sleep.

Okay, maybe I haven't really been up to that many shenanigans.

This morning I biked over to the ceramics studio to check on the dung beetle that I have been working on and to add another layer of glaze to it. However, it looked freaking awesome, so I think I'm leaving it as is and will post pictures soon.

Since I've spent most of the holiday discussing my newly-created list of Valley coffeeshops to visit, I decided to act on the list, so I'm presently sitting in Gold Bar Espresso, a coffeeshop that's surprisingly close to a Starbucks and the Xtreme Bean. I guess that just suggests that this is a wee pocket of culture in a generally culture-dead city. From what people have said, it appears that Gold Bar used to occupy the Xtreme Bean's location and moved to this new spot for some unknown reason. The new location seems a bit less prominent, although it's closer to a grocery store, so it may receive more business here. The funny part is that Gold Bar's old location was a bank, making the name appropriate, whereas the new location most definitely was not. Oh well. The lattes are hot, and the pastry selection looks pretty good, so I'm happy enough.

Well, time to get a bit of work done.

From my friend in library school

Librarians are so hot:

The University of Iowa Libraries is (single administrative entity) celebrating its sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary this year. They do exhibitions in the North Lobby of the Main Library, and the one that has been up this fall is about (gasp!) librarians--titled "Beyond the Bun : A Look Inside Librarian Culture." The following quotations were prominently displayed--

"Beware the lustful fires that burn in a librarian's heart. They can rage beyond all control."
--The Onion, May 28, 2003

"Librarians possess a vast store of politeness. These people get asked every crazy question on God's green earth and they tolerate the cranks and eccentrics."
--Garrison Keillor, Lives of the Cowboys

"Libraries are brothels for the mind, and librarians are the madams, greeting customers, understanding their strange tastes and needs, and pimping books."
--Guy Browning, The Guardian, October 18, 2003

"Librarians are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man."
--Michael Moore, Buzz Flash Interviews, March 13, 2002

"Show me a computer expert that gives a damn, and I'll show you a librarian."
--Patricia Wilson Berger, Chicago Tribune, June 1990

"In the nonstop tsunami of global information librarians provide us with floaties and teach us to swim."
--Linton Weeks, Washington Post, January 13, 2001

iPod Poll

I am planning on acquiring an iPod to help me while away the hours as I run ridiculously long distances. But I'm having a hard time choosing between the 30 GB regular iPod and the 4 GB iPod Nano. My understanding is that the regular iPod runs off of a drive, which means spinny action, and spinny action means it will wear out faster if I use it for activities that involve a lot of jumping around, like running. On the other hand, I don't anticipate doing a FREAKING TON of jumping around, and it might be nicer to have the extra memory and the ability to plug the thing into a radio transmitter, which I believe is only an option for the regular iPod right now.

[Poll #621102]

Two things

It's really cold in Tempe right now. It's 48 degrees F. My blood has thinned.

Most people voted for soup in the last poll. Soup! What does this really mean?

And while jwatriss is right, that portable electronic devices turn people into zombies, this is nonetheless useful when one is trying to concentrate, especially considering the social dynamics of my place of work.