Make Me a Mix Tape

Non-runners, take solace. Paul & I are doing your share right now, prepping for a half-marathon in 2 weeks, and then the Hood To Coast Relay in August. I think Paul said we've been getting in 30 miles a week, but I've tried not to think about it.

So with that unfair share of running comes a fair dose of PLD music - on solo runs, anyway. As unprofessional and dangerous as it is, my 512 MB Mp3 player is sometimes the only thing that gets me through those 8+ milers. I guess that's why I've been thinking so much about playlists. I started running after I graduated from high school, during the summer I spent in Spain. I usually brought music along, beginning with my walkmans, then a now-obsolete MD player, and now my Mp3 player (love - love it, b/c my left arm is no longer that much stronger than my right - only weighs a few oz.).

My current playlist has been shuffled & tidied, eliminating some 'auditions,' and missing some over-played classics. I've also somewhat successfully tried to manipulate some songs using Audacity to match my running tempo, 90/180 beats per minute. Some only need a little tweak:

'Scent of a Mule,' Phish
'In 3's,' Beastie Boys
'Coming Back to Life,' Pink Floyd
'Classic Girl,' Jane's Addiction

Others are out of the question b/c - where's the beat? (Case in point, most of Bela Fleck.) Then there are the tracks that just make me feel like running. They're rambling songs that sound like a train chugging down the tracks, or feet pounding the cinder... at cruising speed.

'Airline to Heaven,' Wilco
'Jesusland,' Ben Folds
'God's Country,' Ani DiFranco
'The Light, II,' Mason Jennings
'Cornflake Girl,' Tori Amos
'Did you ever look so nice,' T/Samples

(notice the odd spiritual theme? Maybe thats b/c sometimes running makes me feel like I'm about to die!)

....................................................................................

Now I'm actually in the basement looking through the cardboard box labeled "Anne's Tapes." I found the one titled, "Best Run Tape Ever." I need a tape player.
I need a tape player! I realize we just threw out the last in a spring cleaning effort 2 weeks ago - Paul's Boom Box from the '80s (one of the cats knocked all 20 pounds of it on the ground & broke it). I can't remember exactly what's on that tape, but I remember playing it a LOT in college - running through the streets of Kirksville on a Sunday night study break, oblivious to the 'Jethros,' 'Blakes,' and 'Britneys' (and serial rapists, etc. - sorry Ma).

The Tape Box is actually like a photo album for me, & includes:

...the one I bought in Spain, by/called(?) "No Me Pises Que Llevo Chanclas,"
...the one I dubbed from Mimi when she was in high school (so it has the Grateful Dead, Sting, REM, B-52's, & Poi Dog Pondering.
...the one called A/M Mix, from Matt's collection, with Live, Dave Matthews, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Soul Coughing, & Bela Fleck.
...my "Hangin' Tough" tape (NKOTB).
...OTBT recordings (a late night radio show, 'Off the Beaten Track,' with Mary in the Heartland, that ended up being my introduction to Grunge & Nirvana)... dubbed over Crash Test Dummies.
... New Mexico, a mix I made for the family car ride during our summer vacation to NM. - Was doing okay until Green Day sang the f-word.
... Mom's Records, dubbed from her collection of Dylan, Joplin, Guthrie, Baez, NRPS, CCR, Hooray for Captain Jane stories, etc.

Enough reminiscing! I think it's almost time to go run.

Oh, if you're missing the whole Mix Tape thing too, check out Tiny Mix Tapes.

-A

Ubiquitous Pictorous

They're funny, they're everywhere! They remind me of those 'captured: unintentional phallic photos' page in the Maxims Paul used to bring home from his surveys (hey, if you hang out with a bunch of sailors, that's what you get!).

This one is a "what's wrong with this picture?" picture - taken from a fitness professional clothing catalog I receive.
So, what's wrong with it? (Think along these exercise-related lines).


And this one... well this one is just funny (nothing 'wrong' with it).
It would be even funnier if there was alcohol offered. Now THAT would be one happy hour.
Oh, props to Portland Picks.

- A

Get a Grip

Double & Capital WOooo-Hooooo! No wait, Yeeeeeeee-Hawwwwww!
I just signed up my 25th subject!

Now a moral dilemma - only about 20 have actually shown up to their appointments. Do I solicit for more people? Again? I've probably responded to close to 100 people. Ugh! Sigh. All I have to do next is write it up. Jeez.
There's a stack of data, a binder of 'literature,' and a pile of spit-infused towels to wash. Gross (those are clean).

In other news, Paul & I got out a little this weekend to help stimulate the economy (not that we're Bushies or anything). We visited the lovely Farmer's Market at PSU, checked in at REI (a week late - Anniversary Sale is o.v.e.r.) and the Pioneer Place Mall. Then went home and made Spring Rolls with a couple nearby friends. Then we ate 'em -- all but 2. Paul also racked his beer (a dry-hopped something-or-rather). We're gonna bottle that batch & take it to Paul's family reunion in Tahoe. Apparently they're a bunch of lushes (just kidding guys).

I still have not stitched an inch in 2 weeks, but have been motivated to cut out parts for a doll quilt, with a pattern slightly more intricate than 3x3 squares, inspired by this.

Found: One Package

Vintage button swap, originally uploaded by whiterabbit21.

Contents:
12 *vintage buttons (pictured here)
2 vintage spools of Belding Corticelli Mercerized cotton thread
1 hand & machine-stitched fabric box

Location: N. Vancouver, Canada

Finally, after 3-1/2 weeks of traveling through a reportedly "slow postal system," my Vintage Button Swap Deux box found itself at my swap partner's doorstep! And thankfully, too, because (1) I had already received her package, before the mailing deadline

(2) this was the first swap for each of us - we need good memories

(3) I hadn't documented my package contents, so it was nice to see them again (and prove that they actually did exist)

(4) and finally, I think the fun of anticipating and reading their swap partner's response is 1/3 of the reason people participate in these (plus 1/3 the adventure of shopping & preparing the package, & 1/3 the surprise of opening your partner's package). I almost missed out on 1/3 of the fun!

- A

* Had a nice conversation with the folks at the Emporium about what exactly qualifies as a vintage button. The answer? "It's all relative."

Not Nothing

Shirt, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Well, I haven't been up to much except fielding interest from research subjects, testing subjects, teaching BBC, and transporting myself to and from home-school-parks, etc.. I've amassed over $10 in parking downtown this week alone, which is huge for us - we are Public Transport. believers. I need a break from this stuff. I will say that I'm getting research subjects, though slowly.
That is not to say that I've ONLY been doing those three things over the past 2 weeks. No, I'm also taking my last grad. course; I helped teach a super-fun Mother's Day BBC class, attended by 60 moms; Paul and I test-made another 1/2-bake and freeze meal (coming later); and I made myself the shirt pictured. I forget I'm a size smaller on top (or a size bigger on bottom - which sounds better?), so yay me, I get to try again in a sz. 10. Oh, and we also fixed a special popcorn and ice cream dinner Thursday night. Sound familiar to someone?
And if you're wondering, yes, this is the famous Simplicity 3887 pattern that everybody in Blog-land is making. [Hey, let's all start Simplicity 3887 Flickr Group! ...er, maybe.] Anyway, I personalized it a bit - quilted the collar and added contrast lining - for my eyes only, I've realized.

Also, you girls who have been asking, I found that page where I learned how to make my own banner/header on Blogger. It's so easy (once you find the 'false')! http://bloggeruniversity.blogspot.com/2006/11/blogger-beta-using-widgets-for-your.html

Ok, back to not work!
-A

Good Week, Great Day

Toast & Coffee, originally uploaded by apkoski.

I'm writing with happy news about my research today: 3 subjects down, 22 to go! Really, it's going better than that (with fingers crossed). A suggestion from a guinea pig-guinea pig (my first subject) to post an ad in the FREE section of Craigslist has skyrocketed my interest e-mails.
Check it. We love a deal!

Paul and I decided to enjoy the temptations of spring today by getting out to the outdoor hot spots before it gets nice. First we slipped and slid up and down the Leif Erickson for my first 60 minute plus run of the year (yo, my legs are like Jello). On this not-quite-perfect weather day, the trail isn't too too crowded, but at the St. Honore Boulangerie, business is apparently (OK, obviously) not affected by threatening clouds and cool air. After we found parking, we got in line, which was just beginning to creep out the door We actually found a table - hallelujah! Paul and I declared while waiting in line, eating our brunch, and driving home, that any item on the menu would receive the same review: freaking amazing. He had a chicken salad and sliced hardboiled egg sandwich on baguette bread, and I had the Normandy Apple toast (which is bread pudding in disguise - jackpot!). The baguette reminded us of po-boy bread at Pirate's Cove, so crispy on the outside and soft and spongy on the inside. The apple bread pudding was moist yet firm, so I could eat it with my hands. Their drip coffee is yummy too. We SO earned that brunch!

Now it's the afternoon of Cinco De Mayo, so we're planning a little BBQ for just us two: "Mexican" BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top, and brownies topped with strawberries and whipped topping for dessert.
I'm trying a brownie recipe from the complimentary Cook's Illustrated magazine we received in the mail yesterday. We're both smitten with it, as it goes into great detail about making the 'perfect' pork entree, potato salad, lasagne or brownies. Each recipe is made in test kitchen style, with multiple batch trials, adding more of this and less of that, or a different type of something else, until they come up with the ultimate recipe. So tonight we test the basic brownie recipe! Rose's brownies, "Ahora verás huarache, ya apareció tu correa."

-A