Traveling Inside Myself

Dec 4

First Contact(s)

So a little over a week ago I was cleaning my glasses and the frames decided to self destruct. I was able, with the help of my dad and his trusty retractable box cutter, created a temporary, albeit silly, repair so the one lens would stay in the frames. I had those frames for nearly a decade, so it was probably about time to replace them. Well I attempted this over the weekend of Thanksgiving only to find that the 2 big chain glasses places don’t take my insurance. So I was SOL until Monday and would have to deal with the broken frames. Most glasses retailers do not do glasses in an hour, which basically meant that I got the prime opportunity to get Contacts, something I had been considering for years but could never really afford, until now. Contacts are weird. I’m 31, almost 32. I’ve lived the better part of my life so far wearing glasses, and it is odd, being able to see clearly without the obvious frames somewhere in view. I still (quite frequently, in fact) find myself pushing at the bridge of my nose assuming that the glasses are there. I get a bit weirded out after a run in the cold, when I would sometimes remove my glasses due to fogging, and drive without them (I can see well enough to do that, it’s just kind of blurry), because while I don’t have glasses on I can still see, it’s just weird. Ok, enough of the white whine :P The fact is, I think I am really starting to enjoy the no glasses thing. My trial pair will expire next Monday, I get my new glasses on Tuesday, I may need to order up some more :)

Today’s Training: speed training (was not my best day, sadly)
Today’s Theme Song: Flogging Molly - Power’s Out

Nov 30

Going to the Top of the Hill

Forgot to post over the last two days, my bad. This blogging thing requires a bit more dedication and I sometimes seem to slack off. So I’ve decided to follow a training plan closely instead of half assing and inventing stuff as I go along. I’m doing the First Method as it allows me time to swim, bike (well, take spin classes as it is winter) and weight train. I plan to actually stick to the plan with a goal race pace of 7:45/mi for New Orleans. That should get me a roughly 3:23:00 marathon, which would be another major step towards Boston. I am technically starting his plan on week 5, as I am 13 weeks out from the New Orleans Marathon, but I will be following it to the letter. Hopefully this will mean improvements in my times.

Today’s Workout: Rest Day
Theme song of Today: Foo Fighters - Breakout

Nov 27

The Beginning

So I have made attempts in the past to start blogs and have never had anything or enough of anything to really write about. This blog is a bit different. So some background to start: I’ve been running for close to a decade, I started as a way to get into some sort of shape. In 2009, I went to Boston to watch my sister run the marathon, the day before, I ran the 5K. It was the first race I’d ever done. I was hooked. I would go on to run my fastest 5K until this year, then I ran a ten mile race (the Crim in Flint, MI) and 2 1/2 marathons. My sister, the other reason I got into running, found out that year that she was to be deployed to Egypt (prior to the revolution), and I decided to run a marathon with her when she got back. In 2010 I ran The Detroit Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon (2 weeks apart) with my sister (4:08:30 and 4:11:34 respectively). I would go on to run 5 more the following year and my fastest this year (Chicago Marathon in 3:37:17). As a result of this time, my girlfriend suggested I make an attempt to get my Boston Qualifier (BQ) time. This is something I have talked about for some time, but wasn’t sure about being able to do it in a year. I asked my sister, she agreed that it would be a great idea. So that leads me to here, and this blog. This blog is to be something of a log of what I do, diet, training, etc, as well a any random thing that might come to mind. My goal is to get my BQ (3:05:00) by the end of 2013. It’s a big goal, over 30 minutes off my best current time, but one I feel I can achieve.

Today’s workout: 4.5mi Speed workout
Theme song for the day: Lyronian - Matthew the Clown

Mar 14

jbersack:

jtotheizzoe:

Happy Pi Day!

(via someecards)

Give me a piece of that Pi.

We’ll be moving on up, moving on up, to the East Side, we’ve finally got a piece of that Pi.

Aug 31

dixiechicken:

liveinrainbow:

fatvirginsuicide:

joy-joyous:

Badass motherfucker of the century.

THIS KID GIVES ME HOPE.

I never thought I’d be giving huge props to someone named Nekochan, but if that’s the environment she’s in, even having a mild catgirl interest in Japanese culture is kind of a success.

You go, Neko. ^5

(via dixie-chicken)

Aug 11

jessicavalenti:

Apparently if you want to be on MTV’s The Real World, you have to sign a contract that says you understand you may be raped.

Aug 1

Jul 29

YAY viking :)

templesmith:

“I instagram)

Jul 28

jhonenv:

A crossover Jess Fink/ME fan sent me a link to this very old comic of mine from before I had a grizzled beard. This appeared in an issue of JTHM or Squee or who knows what, but just know that it appeared. There’s more to it than these two pages, but two pages is probably more than enough.

jessfink:

These are the first 2 pages of a strip by Jhonen Vasquez from his series SQUEE.

You can find the rest yourself as I don’t feel comfortable scanning the whole thing. I believe at some point the super ladies’ back snaps in half, unable to support her ridiculous tits. Good times! Remind anyone of Strong Female Characters?

This comic pops into my head often when I think about women in comics. The sad thing is this comic is from 1997. We are STILL complaining and making jokes like this about how ridiculous women look in comics FIFTEEN YEARS LATER. Jesus, I feel old.

I never read super hero comics. This comic made me laugh when I read it in high school just as much as it does now because it’s the REASON I never read them.The women in them didn’t look like they were made with me in mind, they weren’t made about or for real women.

The thing that is different today compared to 1997 is that there are so many more visible female creators making amazing things on the internet. I was inspired by the comics I read in high school like the MAXX, SCUDD and JTHM to go out and make my own things, tell my own stories. I never once even thought of working for DC or Marvel because the type of characters they featured had no appeal to me and I wasn’t interested in becoming a part of someone else’s story, I wanted to make my own.

EDIT: I guess I have to make clear that this comic is parody? It’s making FUN of super hero comics. I didn’t think I had to clarify that but that’s the internet.