“We are the hollow men
  We are the stuffed men
  Leaning together
  Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
  Our dried voices, when
  We whisper together
  Are quiet and meaningless
  As wind in dry grass
  Or rats’ feet over broken glass
  In our dry cellar.

 Shape without form, shade without colour,
 Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

 Those who have crossed
 With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
 Remember us-if at all-not as lost
 Violent souls, but only
 As the hollow men
 The stuffed men. …”

I think Republicans are doing what Democrats did in the early 2000′s… I think they’re picking candidates who can’t actually articulate the actual idealogy of the parties. … people who aren’t really intellectuals but rather just strange people who are a little too extreme in their beliefs.

I really don’t like how Palin plays up the whole Wal*mart, winking-at-the-camera, “gosh darnit” moose-hunting hockey mom conservative caricature.  It makes the rest of us conservative women feel uncomfortable.  Give me Hillary Clinton any day, Palin’s little exaggerated winks and “don’t-cha-knows” are so embarrasing.  Where’s the conservative Hillary? You don’t have to be a moose-killing mom with a pregnant teenager to believe that less government is better. Bleech.

I mean, I really am embarrased of Palin. The worst was when Katie Couric asked Palin for a Supreme Court case that she disagreed with besides Roe w. Wade. Palin just babbled on and had no idea what to say.
She could have just said that it’s not her place to comment on the Supreme Court… or Plessy v. Ferguson or some crazy old case…  Ahh! It was so painful to watch.

I’m so over Palin. I’m so over this election. I can’t believe it’s coming down to this… what a nightmare. Also, killing animals is not cool for anybody. Shoot some skeet… but please no animals.

Ok, my running’s been OK. I ran in Dallas a few weeks ago and ran a 5k in 24:50 which is lame… but it’s right about the 8:03/mile mark I have been stuck at for some time. I got second place overall for women and first in my age group with that bad time though. Not many 23 year old chick runners around White Rock these days…?

A good thing about running is all the stuff I find while I run. Behold, in the last month alone I have found:
1. Perfectly good cell phone
2. One Goosebumps book – “Monster Blood III” – good condition
3. One (1) Black Sharpie Marker.

So why do I run? With all this stuff laying around, how could I not. …? More later

Boy have I felt it. It’s tough to get out there and feel like you are pounding pavement and panting. 
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here in Atlanta. I can’t wait until I can take some plaid shirts and pumpkins out. I have a feel the fall is going to be really beautiful here, and I hope  I’m back on my game in terms of running soon.

 I may have to settle for doing the half marathon again this fall instead of the whole marathon. My last race was only a 5k and was quite a bit slower (1 minute and 30 seconds slower) than my PR, and my long runs just haven’t been there.

I any case, it was totally worth missing the runs. Ecuador was amazing. Dallas, as always, was great. I’ll write more about them later.

Tonight, I went back to yoga after missing a few weeks. it felt great to stretch out and see some familiar faces. I really like yoga, and I never really thought I would. It’s a nice ying to running’s yang, and I can definitely feel a difference in my running after I do some stretching.

Anyway, I am almost done with my Tumblr site about my trip to Ecuador. As soon as it’s done, I’ll post the link here.

Cindy McCain looks a little like the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt. I like her anyway. I’ve seen her kinds shopping around Highland Park and Northpark in Dallas a million times. Check out the the cost of her recent outfit as reported by the press:
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, Taryn Rose: $475
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

 I know that the press meant this list as a criticism, but I think that if you are worth over 100 million dollars, you can rock a Chanel watch, right?

The Republican National Convention was alright. Sarah Palin’s speech was a highlight. I’m disappointed that there was so little talk about policy. Also, none of the candidates really distanced themselves from the unpopular war in Iraq and George W. Bush. In my opinion, this is Obama’s easy win.

I hate to say that… but I think it’s true. If Obama does win, I’ll be winning an iPod from someone special in Texas. But we’ll see. Anything can happen between now and Nov. 2. It’s on!

In other news, I’ve been using Hal Higdon’s marathon training program. I’ve been traveling quite a bit and I’ve missed a few long runs, so I’m pretty worried about completing the program by Thanksgiving. We’ll see what happens. Here are my updating running times (I’m getting faster):

April 27: 10k Homestretch Challenge – 53:54 (8:40 pace)
May 19: 5k Mayor’s Challenge – 23:57 (7:42 pace)  – {pr}
May 26: 10K Celebrate America: 50:18 (8:05 pace)
June 21: 10K Possum Trot: 49:53 (8:01 pace)

I have a 5k on Saturday. I haven’t been running because I’ve been traveling so much, so I am not planning on beating my personal record. It will still be fun to get out there with my brother. More later…

Let me just say that I am not a big fan of John McCain and I have been dreading this election since the primaries….but Sarah Palin had a great speech last night. My compliments to her and her speechwriter. Here are some quotes from her on Obama:

“…Listening to him {Obama} speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state Senate. “

“In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”

“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word “victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed … when the roar of the crowd fades away … when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot — what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger … take more of your money … give you more orders from Washington … and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it. “

“I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities….”

” I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”

“For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words. For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.”

In fairness, Hillary Clinton also had a good speech last week at the DNC. Here’s my favorite quote from that speech: “My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President. This is the story of America….”

The women in this election have been impressive so far. The press’s sexist treatment of Hillary was unbearable to watch, I hope they knock if off soon.

As I drove up I realized that this would my first run as an old 23 year old. Man, I’m getting ancient!

Anyway, I show up to the race early. It’s 48 degrees and I have a singlet and running shorts on. Ouch.

I got my number – 423. I signed up for the three mile (5k) race instead of what I had planned for – the 10k. I was cold.  I also had felt funny the night before and didn’t sleep well so I decided not to push it. I really should have ran the 10k because I was sorry when the 5k was over so quickly.

I got 23.57, which just “OK”, but is still a personal record. I was third in my age group. I should have warmed up and I should have done the 10k! It was fun, though.

My future goal for the 5k is 22:40, or even better yet, 20 minutes flat. There were some really fast kids there.

Tonight I’m chilled to the bone and feeling under the weather.
I did so many different things today – I’m exhausted. 

I have a feeling that 23 is going to be a great year. Early next May you’ll have to ask me if I was right.

GOODNIGHT 

I’m got these vibram five fingers:

. 
I  also got a garmin GPS and a book about running marathons, among other things.
I got a raise this week. i got a “tax bonus” from the US government,
which felt kind of weird… i went hiking and strawberry picking. I also went on the Roswell
ghost tour, which was amazing.

I’ve been running but my I think I sprained my knee.

Feb 7 2008 – Chattahoochee Challenege 10k (6.2 miles) – 57:33      pace: 9:15 m/m

March 20, 2008 – Georgia ING Half Marathon (13.1 miles) - 2:06:52    pace: 9:40 m/m

(PR)*** April 19, 2008 – Water for the World 5k (3.1 miles) – 25:03 (first in age group?!)   pace: 8:03 m/m ***

April 27, 2008 – Homestretch Challenege 10K (6.2) - 53:54 (first in age group..?) pace: 8:40 m/m

The Homestretch Challenege was definitely not my best work. I was tired and I was not ready.

……Also, I’ll admit I was pretty scared to run the half marathon. I sprinted at the end and I knew I was holding out because I was scared of the mileage.

Other than that, my only excuse is that I’m a NON-RUNNER!
However, it does feel good to break into the 8′s!

By the way, I won three months of free access to “Curves” in a raffle at the Homestretch Challenege…?!
I gave it to m mom.

GOALS: 5k – 22:40
10k – 47:25
1/2 Marathon – 1:45
Marathon: 3:40 or less! (Boston Qualify!)

This will probably take more than a year.

 <— “Homestretch” Trophy