With the year coming to a close come the countless New Years resolutions proclaimed between gulps of champagne and mumbled renditions of "Auld Lang Syne" echoing through dives, clubs, and sports bars the world over. More often than not I hear the announcement of, "Ugh... I'm never drinking again..." the morning after, but other resolutions come to mind, like getting in better shape, saving money, reading more books, and so on, with varying outcomes for the lot of them. This past year marked the first that I actually followed through with a resolution, being "have more adventures and not waste so many weekends complaining about having nothing to do" which lead to me doing a lot, including taking up running.
I really need to run more. Thanksgiving started the holidays, and with the holidays came food comas, cold weather, a lot of time spent in the car, and even more time spent indoors. While the Yuletide feasting has been great and snuggling up under electric blankets has been cozy, it hasn't been conducive to being active and not being a lazy ass. The weather outside is frightful, yes, and the fire is delightful, sure, but my running shoes have been collecting dust for weeks now and I want to get back at it. Working up the moxie to get out of the house when it's below freezing and windy is hard, and it hurts a lot when I start heavily breathing in the cold air. I need to suck it up, though, because there are a few races I want to do in 2015 that won't be easy to do if I continue on my path of doughiness.
I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I think running more races is going to be my resolution. I like having adventures every weekend, so I want to keep up that resolution from this past year and tack on more miles of hiking, running, and stumbling from exhaustion after hiking and running in the next. There are a lot of trails I haven't hiked yet, and a lot of places I haven't run around in yet either, so I have incentive to keep on the sweaty, painful track that I picked up (again) earlier this year.
"Continue doing stuff on the weekends" and "run more than usual" are pretty open-ended goals, I know, but the vague goal of "do stuff" helped me have a stellar year without so many wasted weekends. "Run more" might yield some good results too.
Have a safe New Years Eve and a happy 2015! Stay warm and don't drive drunk!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Quick Update 12/24/14
Happy Christmas Eve! This won't be much of a post, but I wanted to give a few quick updates as to what's been on in my world for the last couple weeks in the form of bullet points:
- Construction at the front desk in the hotel I'm employed through
- My 26th birthday
- The passing and funeral for my grandfather (which was hard but I might write about it later)
- LOTS of work
- LOTS of driving in poor weather
- The introduction of FitBit into my life (I'm lazy) (Also thank you, Stephanie)
- Bills!
- Shopping!
- Budgeting!
- A couple movies (The Hobbit was okay, The Pyramid was hilariously bad)
Along with plenty of other things, it's been a pretty busy time for me. I've been with my girlfriend and my family when I'm not working, but I'll sit down and write something interesting to read soon (probably next week with a NYE theme, like "New Year New Me" or some shit)
I hope everyone has been enjoying the season, and whoever celebrates Christmas has a holly jolly one!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Celebrating Fruitcake
The holiday season can be really stressful. Hemorrhaging bank accounts and stressed credit limits pave the way for mountains of gifts and decorations under the tree and decking the halls, holiday traffic and lines at the airport eat away at the precious few moments of the lives of millions, and holiday cheer in the form of eggnog and cookies and Christmas dinner add on to the pounds and high blood pressure initiated at Thanksgiving. Spring cleaning exists because the shock to the system the holiday season brings creates a kind of holly jolly coma to cope with the struggles of December I think. There has to be a moment of reprieve from the madness. There needs to be a moment-- if only a night-- that can aid in unwinding from the holiday horrors and remind us that this time of year can be a good thing.
Ladies and gentlemen, Independence, California, has your answer; The 10th Annual Independence Fruitcake Festival.
I won't be able to attend this year since I'll be out of town, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on the fun! I've written about it before in my critically acclaimed (though inconsistently updated) blog, and I will forever sing its liquor-soaked candied praises. It's exactly what you'd expect; a kooky collection of fruitcake and eggnog, singing and dancing, costumes and contests, and fabulous prizes, held at the American Legion Hall in Independence, California. The Inyo County Superior Court judges preside over the fruitcake contest, judging the best of the best from the ancient loaves and the best costumes out of the crowd. This years "Saturday Night Fruitcake Fever" theme should bring about even more dancing and even wackier costumes, and I don't know who in their right mind would want to miss out on a spectacle like that.
Why do I speak so highly of this event after being skeptical about it in the past? It's fun. It's a distraction from the headaches of gift wrapping and the "is she/he going to like this? Is it the right size?" thoughts that nag people into submission. It's a celebration of the simpler aspects of the holiday, taking something usually shunned and shied away from and making a party around it. You don't have to like fruitcake or eggnog to appreciate community and laughter from a good time, but you can get all of those things on December 13th.
If you happen to find yourself around Independence on Saturday and feel like cutting loose or cutting a rug on the dance floor you should consider checking out the scene at the Fruitcake Festival. It's fun and festive time worth checking out at least once. Once you do, I think you'll be open to trying it once again.
Since I can't go this year, someone drink some nog for me and have a good time.
Ladies and gentlemen, Independence, California, has your answer; The 10th Annual Independence Fruitcake Festival.
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| No, seriously, keep reading. Trust me. |
I won't be able to attend this year since I'll be out of town, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on the fun! I've written about it before in my critically acclaimed (though inconsistently updated) blog, and I will forever sing its liquor-soaked candied praises. It's exactly what you'd expect; a kooky collection of fruitcake and eggnog, singing and dancing, costumes and contests, and fabulous prizes, held at the American Legion Hall in Independence, California. The Inyo County Superior Court judges preside over the fruitcake contest, judging the best of the best from the ancient loaves and the best costumes out of the crowd. This years "Saturday Night Fruitcake Fever" theme should bring about even more dancing and even wackier costumes, and I don't know who in their right mind would want to miss out on a spectacle like that.
Why do I speak so highly of this event after being skeptical about it in the past? It's fun. It's a distraction from the headaches of gift wrapping and the "is she/he going to like this? Is it the right size?" thoughts that nag people into submission. It's a celebration of the simpler aspects of the holiday, taking something usually shunned and shied away from and making a party around it. You don't have to like fruitcake or eggnog to appreciate community and laughter from a good time, but you can get all of those things on December 13th.
If you happen to find yourself around Independence on Saturday and feel like cutting loose or cutting a rug on the dance floor you should consider checking out the scene at the Fruitcake Festival. It's fun and festive time worth checking out at least once. Once you do, I think you'll be open to trying it once again.
Since I can't go this year, someone drink some nog for me and have a good time.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
My Morning, December 3, 2014
One downside to living in a remote area is the lack of nearby goods and services; the closest movie theater is an hour away, closest Walmart is 80 miles south, and the closest shopping mall is roughly 140 miles out. The same case goes for other things, like an animal shelter, DMV, the list goes on and on, and I was reminded of this distance from everything when I got a reminder that I had a dentist appointment an hour's drive away today. Since it had rained I thought there might be ice on the road-- and I knew it'd be hard to get out of bed since it would be chilly in my apartment and I'd be tired from getting off work late-- so I wasn't really looking forward to the drive. I woke up in my cold bedroom, started the coffee in the kitchen, and enjoyed the quiet of the morning like I occasionally (a.k.a. rarely) do before brushing my teeth and heading out the door.
One upside to living in the Owens Valley, though, is the views. The clouds hovered dark and low across the valley like a gray lid. The smell of wet sagebrush and autumn leaves hung in the air, kept fresh and condensed by the cool of the early morning. Blues and purples broke up the monochrome horizon. As the drive went on the clouds drifted lower, wispy offshoots detaching and meandering like errant cotton balls in the breeze while the big pillows overhead flowed along. The Inyo Mountains in the distance looked azure and floating above the clouds, and the Sierras to the west were shrouded in the grayness blanketing everything above me. Driving in the cool morning, smelling the familiar fall smell in the air, all of that made the drive so much more worthwhile.
The clouds broke to reveal the freshly snow-capped mountains on the return trip. Puddles of water glistened in the washes near the roadside, and the breaking clouds uncovered miles and miles of blue overhead. The valley transitioned into December seamlessly and unexpectedly, and I took a minute to stand outside my apartment to feel the sun and cool breeze on my face when I got back home. On top of finishing errands and getting a clean bill of oral health (hella rad), the weather was gorgeous, and I got to experience it for a little bit.
Today was pretty. I hope more wet weather comes our way, and I hope to experience more pretty moments more often.
One upside to living in the Owens Valley, though, is the views. The clouds hovered dark and low across the valley like a gray lid. The smell of wet sagebrush and autumn leaves hung in the air, kept fresh and condensed by the cool of the early morning. Blues and purples broke up the monochrome horizon. As the drive went on the clouds drifted lower, wispy offshoots detaching and meandering like errant cotton balls in the breeze while the big pillows overhead flowed along. The Inyo Mountains in the distance looked azure and floating above the clouds, and the Sierras to the west were shrouded in the grayness blanketing everything above me. Driving in the cool morning, smelling the familiar fall smell in the air, all of that made the drive so much more worthwhile.
The clouds broke to reveal the freshly snow-capped mountains on the return trip. Puddles of water glistened in the washes near the roadside, and the breaking clouds uncovered miles and miles of blue overhead. The valley transitioned into December seamlessly and unexpectedly, and I took a minute to stand outside my apartment to feel the sun and cool breeze on my face when I got back home. On top of finishing errands and getting a clean bill of oral health (hella rad), the weather was gorgeous, and I got to experience it for a little bit.
Today was pretty. I hope more wet weather comes our way, and I hope to experience more pretty moments more often.
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