less than week for the race! AHH!

well, it is officially one week until the Nike Human Race. I am getting butterflies and very anxious about this coming Sunday.

the run today was pretty awesome. i was surprised at how well i did and realized that my endurance to run in longer periods now is pretty decent. I did four miles in just a little after 45 minutes. it was a great day and i was super happy that my body was ready to run. i think i had a lot of stress and the relief of running made me surprised at how my breathing was going and the fact that i was able to get a veggie wrap at the finish line too! :o) last time i missed out on food because there were a lot of people there and i guess i fell behind in time.

i am very surprised at how time flies! geez. it's already close to the end of the year.

other news and things i have been checking out lately:

• dr. dre's son was found unresponsive by his mom. he was 20. this is sad.
• get the fuck out of here! four ways you know you have encountered an 'undateable woman'?! i have so much response to this article it is fucken ridiculous!

1. She Dates Around: "Warning bells should go off if a woman doesn't seem to have any particular type; it indicates that she's not looking for that certain someone so much as she's looking for that certain anyone."
So basically if she has been in a relationship with all different types of guys she is a slut and she is not worth anytime?! Never mind that this can be seen as a double standard for some guys all around. I don't know one guy who has dated a consistent "type" of girl. All the guys I know date around and fuck around despite what type a girl may be. This just doesn't make sense. Guys, wake the fuck up! Who gives a fuck who and what 'type' of guys she has been with. Consider the years she has committed to a relationship. Consider her faithfulness to one guy...not 'types' of guys.

2. She's a Micromanager: "She has everything planned: this weekend, next weekend, the color of her future bridesmaids’ dresses, the names of her hypothetical children, everything." Now granted I do know a few women who have their career planned out, their continuation of school (getting their masters, going to law school, etc), have vacation time set aside for November, and even has plans with me this weekend to run in the Nike Human Race but the article going to an extreme of 'color of her future bridesmaid's dressed' is stupid. I guess AskMen.com's audience are filled with dumb idiots who think a woman who 'has everything planned' is not a good thing. define 'everything'. Please...what are we in, the 1950's?!

3. Cats & Dogs: "The key is to watch how she interacts with her pets. Doting or obsessive behavior might indicate a desperate need for affection. Are her pets substitutes for people?" Let's get somethign straight, just because I love my cat doesn't make me think he is 'my kid'. A desperate need of affection is cat calling done by the men that live in my fucken apartment complex as I walk my trash out to the dumpster. Just because a girl has a cat or a dog (or a few), doesn't mean she is 'desperate'. This means she has a life long friend. Now, if the girl has a sickly pet or is known for just 'dumping' her unwanted pet after it gets old/sick/etc, then you should run. Run far far away. This means you are desperate. (stupid idiot)

4. The Push Over: "At first, it seems like a good thing -- she wants whatever you want. She thinks whatever you think. Soon though, you'll realize that she's just playing at compatibility in an attempt to convince either you or herself that the two of you are meant to be together." I have never known a woman to waste her time on stupid boys. If she agrees to do whatever you want to do then so be it. Maybe she DOES really want to do what you want to do and will probably expect you to do what she wants to do some days too! Chill out. don't worry...she doesn't obsess over you like you think she does or like this article makes you think. You're an idiot if you think she revolves her life around you. And if she rubs you the wrong way or you notice she is revolving her life/plans/goals around you, then talk to her. Tell her what you think and what you two should do. Communicate motherfucker. Don't trust this article.

The Boxing Lesson is a great local band that I have had the chance to catch whenever I saw the Lemurs or ran into them whilst roaming around downtown. The drummer, Jake Mitchell, has been labeled a Narco-terrorist under the Patriot Act. Again, this country has gone way too far! Read the article and if in Austin, go to their gig at Emos on Wednesday. This will be Jake's last show before he heads to federal prison for growing pot. It's just marijuana idiots! Damn.

Also, I went hiking with my good friend and got rained all over. It was the best day I had in a long time. We even had sushi and it was my first time having it. Keywords on how everything else went and my favorites of that day: 2 white tailed deer, rain in the woods, hours of talking outside of Borders on the white pavement, smiles, closing of the Olympics while eating some really good sushi, posing like the statues at the sushi place in the lobby, having my door opened everytime i went to the car, etc, etc, etc, etc.

I was a cool kid too at the sold out show

I am very fond of contests. Contests online, relays, running races, arm wrestling--all of it! (I challenged our HR rep to an arm wrestling match today to compete on whom would be a rep for the department at some agency meetings that are monthly. She shied away but I was serious). That being said, I won some tickets to the Emos show, The Cool Kids, courtesy of Covert Curiosity, a blog I highly recommend on reading if you love indie music and want a fantastic opinion on the stuff that plays in my ears on a daily basis.

I decided to take an old friend, Wil and despite how tired he was, I was glad he stuck around to enjoy the good set from my favorite DJ (ever!!...basically), DJMel. He is the coolest dude I have ever seen spin. Mi gusta mucho :)

First off this show was sold out. After standing in the 'will call & hard tickets" line, I realized we were in the wrong line the whole time. We should've been in the line for 'cash only & guest list'. (Damn, the bouncer who wasn't specific on telling those standing in line that the guest list does not mean will call! jerk).

There were so many hipster looking kids and underage too! I felt bad for them when I saw that they were being marked with HUGE letter O's on both hands and possibly ruining any chance for them to sneak a beer or two in between resting their eyes during the lasers (from the Hyper Crush set). I thought that surely all of these kids were cool enough to see The Cool Kids, but I was wrong. They were there for Hyper Crush. I caught some of their set and was pretty amazed at how many lighting effects they had, cool laser gadgets (they had a laser hand glove), and was impressed with the guy who played the day-glow Keytar. All in all, it was too much for me and plus, I felt like I didn't fit in because I wasn't wearing some cool old school colorful Nike kicks, a wide rimmed hat, nor had tight pants on.

The Cool Kids were awesome! I loved their energy and they definitely made a fan out of me! It was a little hot outside and humid (damn Emos for their outside shows!), but all in all with a nice cold Lonestar, I was dancing and throwing my hands up at their bad ass beats and shaking my ass! I gotta get the album! Check out their myspace and hear some of their songs. My favorite songs are Pennies and Bassment Party. Hell yes! p.s. I love their lyrics. They are so clever.

So I have realized I have about a week and a half until the Nike+Human Race 10k! I am nervous and excited. Also, today at work, I have made the commitment to run the At&t Half Marathon to raise money for the agency I work for, Communities in Schools. The training for this marathon begins September 2nd--two days after the 10k Race. (sigh) I think this will be excellent for me though! :) p.s.s. this marathon is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon (this is not my goal but it just gives you to what degree this marathon is!) translation: it's a big time marathon, son!

Other than that, the weekend activities will include more training on Saturday morning (with RunTex) and soon thereafter, head out to SA to visit my best friend and perhaps go to Six Flags to see a couple of shows with the parents.

Also, I am thinking of heading out to Emos on Sunday and seeing Talib Kweli, NYU educated rapper. I think that would be a show I would regret in missing. Stay tuned, folks!

I've liked the rain this much and want more

I completed another 3 miles on Saturday morning. It was very nice on Saturday morning because the sun was covered with clouds and well, I was in the mood to run. Although, the night before, my friend Priscilla insisted we go to Benders (a bar off of ben white) to drink some. I ended up having about 4 drinks total...mostly Fireman's 4. Twas tasty but it was super hard to finish those 3 miles in a timely manner that I was used to. In the end, I did alright. It was a good morning and my friend Priscilla even came and jogged some and walked. She is super sore from what I read in her text. Ha. She is on a mission to lose weight and although there were times she was cursing at me when I told her to walk faster, she was appreciative that I was pushing her.

Cool moments of the weekend:

• Sitting at Nueces and 6th while waiting for the light to change, I was able to see Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal. I watched people at the Star Bar cheer at a 52inch flat screen tv as I clapped my hands and missed the light change anyway. It was super cool to see him come in first. Good job, Michael!
• Hearing the rain last night and even driving in it. Seems like when it rains here in Austin, everyone stays inside and doesn't come out. The streets were dead even last night as I left the laundry mat.
  
• Getting to speak to my cousin Angel who had been in Iraq for years. We spoke about cool Austinities we know and how she wants to come visit me soon. She hates Hondo and can't wait to move back to Austin soon. She says she misses the night life.
  
• Tax-free weekend. So far the 2 pairs of Dickies and blouses I have purchased are good buys and were definitely needed for work. Now I just gotta get some cool shoes while I can.
• Staying home on Saturday night and watched the rest of the dvd I got from Netflix on the Best of Colbert Report.
  
• Purchasing 4 cd's (3 used and 1 new): Foals, Appleseed Cast, Boxcar Racer, and The White Ghost Shivers. All for less than 20 bucks! Yay for Waterloo.
• Getting a Virgin de Guadalupe small figurine from the 25cent coin machine at the dollar store then right after getting a Jesus one. I am adding it to my collection of Homies.
  
• Changing my air filter in my car with the help of my friend Priscilla
• Getting in touch with a Realtor to really begin looking for a home here in Austin for a year or so in advance. She has started sending me emails on homes/condos in my price/salary range.
• Typing and submitting my 30day notice that I will be moving by Sept 30th to my apartment complex. I am giving a month and a half notice!
  

Uncool things of this weekend:

• Doing my laundry on a Saturday night at Spin Cycle. I felt like a loser but was relieved to see other people there doing the same thing that were probably a little cooler than me.
  
• Unanswered texts from my friend Marcos especially when I needed to know while at Waterloo if an older album was worth getting by Appleseed Cast for $8.
  
• Being asked to borrow $20 by a drug dealer I know from the bar I frequent after I had just purchased myself a Heineken.
  
• Having to watch the Olympics while at the laundry mat. (got to see the end of the women's marathon! that was cool!)
• Allergies....my nose is pist off and doesn't want to sneeze when it needs to.
  
• General cleaning of the apartment. Too much dust collects everywhere.
  
• Still not having internetings in my apartment. I need to get something going soon!

i was told twice today that it looks like i am losing weight!

Running is hard folks. I ain't gonna lie. Tuesday was ridiculous hard as we went up the hills of the Travis Heights area. I know now that i can defeat any hill. Well, except maybe mountains but then again, mountains aren't hills. They are mountains!

I am looking forward to tax-free weekend. Items I want to buy this weekend: new nice blouses for work, new flats, a messenger bag--probably a Dickies kind, and some new balance running shoes. probably some jogging shorts and sports bras too. check out the list before you make your own like i did!

a co-worker of mine told me today, in the middle of eating Texadelphia, that she can tell in my face that I am losing weight. I was kind of happy she said that and although I have noticed minimal difference I was happy about it. I am not sure how much I weigh but doesn't matter. I am almost to where I want to be in my weight but FAR from where I want to be strength wise and in my toning. So I shall continue and probably work on some weight stuff to tone up my arms and shoulders.

i read an article about honeybees and honey being scarce in England in 2009 or more precisely 'run out' by even Christmas this year. i just saw the movie the Happening only because of Zooey Deschanel (vocalist from She and Him). I am a little worried although I do not care for honey.

in efforts of moving out in about a month and a half, i am going to purchase a tv very soon. i have no tv to recycle but consider this. it was an interesting read for sure. so all the tv's we own now will eventually be 'things of the past' and maybe even consider antiques AND useless! wow.

so the minorities will be majority! nice. but then again, can there be an argument where perhaps this is NOT a good thing...we procreate and are usually under the poverty line.

you know i got a lot

it's been one hell of a week and vacation was lovely. i had a good time and although i don't want to bore you with details, i think i had some good quality family time and never wanted it to end. regardless, i think this next work week and the one following will be refreshing. i am excited about a fresh start at work and to getting myself in better shape for this fall/winter season. my goal is to lose 15lbs. i don't think it will be hard at all but i have to keep at it.

i have missed one week of training due to vacation and because of my knees. i had this horrible pain in both knees and after talking to my dad we figured it had to be my shoes i was running in. i just got some new Adidas shoes and my knees were not fully adjusted to my weight and the placement of my feet while running was probably not good either. i have adjusted my footing while running (i have to pretend i am running in a straight line with my chest out and head up). i have been watching my friends kids as well which has sidetracked me to all of her drama and the shit she has been dealing with. i adore those kids so i have had no problem in taking care of them when i can. i actually have gotten a little used to them and they to me. they know now that they cannot open the doors or take off their seat belts unless they see the key to the car in the air. they also are being tamed to have quiet time at least once a day which means whisper voices only and no tv just books. i'm busting out all my teacher courses and techniques. it works! :)

so this morning i did my first run in over a week. it was hard ad my knees hate me now but i had to go through it. i also went swimming to get my heart going and give my arms a workout. barton springs is so refreshing no matter how cold it is when you first walk in and want to scream "FUCKEN A!", like i normally do.

also: i have no internet in the apartment anymore which is very unfortunate but i have found other ways to get the net. today i am at the Central library downtown Austin. It was nice to catch up on current events by being able to read time, bust, spin, and rolling stone without having to pay 5 bucks a pop to read. also it's nice and quiet and gets me out of the house.

also, the search for a new place begins this coming week. i have until sept 30th to find a new place. i am giving myself before my birthday to be locked down on a new pad. i want to live in the travis heights area and have scoped out some potential apartments. we'll see what we come up with. i am excited about moving. i am getting tired of ghetto dudes staring at me when i drive up from drinking 5 cups of coffee with my heavy laptop on my shoulder and they see me walk into my apartment alone around midnight. there are so many people walking around the parking lot even after 1am during the week. shady muthafuckers, man!

other update: i got to see beauty and the beast in the park last week and had a blast! Also! I saw Batman at the Imax. I was super amazed at Batman and his fighting sequences. i fell in love all over again except when he spoke. i don't like whispering so you can imagine me cringing everytime he busted out his raspy voice. why couldn't the director keep him from speaking that way?!
pictures from the Imax. shhhh! don't tell i took pictures with my camera phone.