Monday, May 28, 2007

iPod Saved Me

For the first time in years, I had a long road trip with my family yesterday. With my dad at the wheel, it took us 3 hours each way to get to Metamora, IL and home again. That's 6 hours of sharing the backseat of a pickup with my grandmother, enjoying the beautiful scenery of Illinois.

Thank you iPod shuffle and travel pillow.

PS: I love my grandma. She is a wonderful woman, and makes fantastic Rice Krispie Squares, of which I have eaten about 10 in the past 2 days. Just sayin.'

PPS: I need to find some covers for my ear buds for long trips such as this one. The ears were a bit sore today.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

50 Miles- Finished

I stated out May with a public goal to jog 40 miles by the end of the month. I realized early on that my pacing was going to lead me well beyond that, and set my personal goal to make it to 50. This made me pretty nervous, because 50's a really big number. Looking back at my very first jogging goal, my exact justification was "Eric can do 50, why can't I do 25?"

But I did it. Yea. and it's only the 26th of the month. So anything beyond is purely enrichment.

And in case you're wondering, here's the prize.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

This Explains A Lot

Several points that caught my eye in the analysis of my supposed personality type:

  • "They tend to get bored quickly, especially if a newer, more interesting project comes along. They also tend to be procrastinators..."
  • "ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD... Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is flipped."
  • "Some have real difficulty being alone , especially on a regular basis."
  • "ENFPs sometimes can be blindsided by their secondary Feeling function. Hasty decisions based on deeply felt values may boil over with unpredictable results.
  • "Intuition leans heavily on feeling for meaning and focus. Its best patterns reflect the interesting points of people, giving rise to caricatures of manner, speech and expression."
  • "ENFPs are strongly influenced by the opinions of their friends"
And, who knew, I share the same personality type as the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire.

(Thanks to Josh for showing me the fun to be had with Jungian Personality typing. Props.)

Friday, May 18, 2007

I Wonder...

...when my hands and feet fall asleep in the middle of the night, and I wake up to shake them back to life, what is it that's really waking me up? Is it the fact that my extremitites are dying, and my body's trying to prevent me from losing limbs, or is it just that I have to get up and go to the bathroom, and it's a helpful coincidence that I can now get the blood flowing again?

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Thai Food Is Really Hot

Ee-Sane is a cute little Thai restaurant on Milwaukee's East Side, right next to Collector's Edge comic book store. It's the type of place that you would probably pass by, unless you were actually in the mood for some serious Thai food. Quite honestly, I can't say that I've ever been in the mood for Thai food at all, much less the serious stuff.

But a group of us decided last night to forgo Jimmy John's and try out this little place, on the recommendation of some people at GE. There was some doubt as to whether we would make it before the kitchen closed, and whether it would live up to expectations (there were none).

We were not disappointed. Everyone ordered something different, with differing degrees of spiciness (they use a scale of 1-10, but even a 5 drew an "oh no" from our waiter), and we had a plethora of food. The flavors were all unique, the noodles left everyone satisfied, and the heat kept you warm on the the inside when it was chilly on the outside.

A very fun time had by all, from sit down to fortune cookies. I don't know if my mouth can handle the leftovers, though.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

20 Things That Make Me Happy

These might make you happy. They might make you angry. Either way, if you know it, clap your hands.
  1. Chacos
  2. Harleys
  3. Chapstick
  4. Photos
  5. Rain
  6. New things
  7. Sunsets
  8. Favorite songs on the radio, or at church
  9. Acoustic guitars
  10. Scratchy voices
  11. Clean things
  12. Time
  13. Trees
  14. Puppies
  15. Lists
  16. Swings
  17. Crayons
  18. Hugs
  19. Innocence
  20. Sundays

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Goals for May

Fried foods were a success! I think I can safely say that I beat them, and that I will continue to abstain from them as a life choice. That's not to say that I won't occasionally eat a fried cheese curd here or there, or dip a Ruffle in some dip once or twice. But I just feel so much better without all the excess hot grease running through my veins, and I won't be eating deep fried anything as my main course anytime in the near future.

Next on the agenda, food wise, will be soda. I'm mostly there anyway, since I hardly drink the stuff, seeing as it's too expensive, but this will be the final kick in the pants. Hopefully it will help with my running. I thought about giving up pork for various reasons, but I'm not sure on the logistics of that, and didn't want to make it official, in case I fail.

Finally, I will be running 40 miles in May. I've prepared the sticker chart, and it's hanging on my wall. There may be a prize if I finish. Probably not, because the intrinsic reward is so great. Anyone in with me?

Update 5/3/07 I'm tempted to give in to a vague feeling of competition with the External Internal Monologue and change my goal to 50 Miles in May. But I've already set it, and 40 miles it will be. I'm satisfied with that.