It's My Birthday!

It's my birthday, and I am 21 years old! My haircutter called me a "baby" but I can't help but feel older.

The perks of being 21:
-Ability to buy alcohol for drinking
-Ability to buy alcohol, like sherry and rum, for cooking
-Access to dance clubs, regardless of whether or not I will drink
-Access to karaoke and other kinds of bars

So obviously I am happy about the increase in age. Although, I think 21 is the last birthday most adults truly look forward to before they dread getting another year older, haha.

Speaking of my haircutter, I went to see him today. A new year, a little bit older, and a change in hairstyle to go with it. I got a fringe/bangs! Which still feels very weird, because my first instinct is to brush the hair out of my eyes, but I'm getting used to it-- in a good way. And hair grows out, so if I decide next time around that they're not for me, I won't get them again.

My lovely parents got me a new camera lens for my birthday *heart*. Digital SLR lens for my Olympus camera. The lens it came with only zooms 14-42mm, but this one goes 4--150mm. That's a big range! So my next post, I promise promise promise, will be another photo.
Perfect :)

1 Week. 26.2 Miles.

Hello, readers (are you there?)! I'm afraid I have some bad news.

My very first day of my challenge--to go the equivalent of a marathon in a week--has unsuccessfully come to an end. Monday, my first day to run/row/etc., was very successful: I went 5 miles, like I intended. Unfortunately, I strained my right ankle when using the rowing machine incorrectly. Tuesday I went back to the gym, meaning to "go easy" (i.e. use the elliptical trainer) but it was too much stress on my ankle, which hadn't really been helped by the ice I put on it the night before.

By "ice" I mean a bag of frozen veggies.

I must admit, I was disappointed in my not being able to complete my goal the way I originally wanted, though I know that if I hadn't injured my ankle I would definitely have done it. So it's not my fault, and I shouldn't feel too badly about it.

However! I still plan on completing my goal, once my ankle is completely back to normal, only this time I'll do it my own way: treadmill, elliptical and track, no rowing machine, and alternating running and walking miles.

I may not get the t-shirt, but I will still get my goal!

A Goal for the Month of February

Every year at the sports centre--during the week leading up to Valentine's Day--they host the "Sweatheart Challenge." It's basically this: run, walk, bike, swim, row, or whatever the verb is for the elliptical trainer*, a marathon (26.2 miles) in a week and win a prize. I'm pretty sure it's just a t-shirt, but still, this year I really want to try it. My first and second year of college I wasn't all that into the whole "physical fitness" thing, but for the past 9 months or so I've been working really hard at getting into better shape.

*but no more than 5 miles per machine

So from the 8th to the 14th of February I have to rack up 26.2 miles, which is nearly double the amount I usually go in a week. And the more I think about it the more I lose faith in my ability to do it. Twenty-six-point-two miles. Am I kidding myself?

In a way, I feel like I need to prove to myself that I can do this. I was never an athlete in high school or anything, and think most of the time I psyched myself into thinking I couldn't run as fast or jump as high (whatever the hell athletes do) as the other kids so I didn't even push myself to try.

Last night I mapped out my daily distance goals for this week, so that 26.2 doesn't seem as daunting:

5 miles on Monday
4 miles on Tuesday
5 miles on Wednesday
4 miles on Thursday
(Friday is my birthday and I will be at home)
5 miles on Saturday
3.2 miles on Sunday (which will seem like nothing after the past few days!)


I think if I do this, I'll be winning more than a t-shirt. But it's already after 10:00, and I'm wasting time. Wish me luck!

The Old Man and the Bench

The original of this photo is waaay big so I had to scale it down majorly. I took this picture a little less than a year ago during the Hillel service trip to New Orleans last spring break. He was sitting outside the Café du Monde with his prim tailored suit and matching hat, reading the newspaper. His wrists are bone-thin, and I think it's somewhat spectacular the way you can see the tendons in his right hand (the human body: it works!). He looks like his name could be Lawrence or Horace (and he wouldn't go by a nickname), maybe a retired professor of something who now spends each Sunday at the café having a cup of coffee and a beignet. He might also be a librarian. In my imagination he has no children but is a wonderful uncle and great-uncle to his siblings' kids.

By the way, I plan on getting a farther-zooming camera lens soon, so there will be more recent photos in the near future :)