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If you’ve never stared off into the distance…

March 18th, 2009

…. then your life is a shame.  No one says it better than the Counting Crows.  Life is all about enjoying the small pleasantries, staring off into the distance and enjoying everything around you.  This is part of why I enjoy running so much, particularly training for and running Marathons.  Now, for those of you who run on treadmills only, you are truly missing out.  I can’t run on a treadmill… I need the feel of the wind, the smell of fresh cut grass, the sun beating down on me, and something in the distance that I can stare off into…. looking at a clock that is rolling the time second by second and a T.V playing “Flavor of Love” while on a treadmill in between a girl who has a face full of makeup and the most stylish workout clothes on, and Vinny the guido from Staten Island at Gold’s Gym, is not going to cut it. 

Every run I have done, even the ones I hate, have led me to some great scenes that I wouldn’t give up for the world.  There is nothing better than running along the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore and looking out at the beach and ocean, or running through Phoenix and Tempe Arizona while seeing mountains in the distance as you run down the highway, or the Washington Monument and Pentagon as you run through Washington D.C.   During the three marathons I have run, these are the sites I had the pleasure of seeing, as I stared off into the distance with 100 different things going through my mind. … Look at how amazing this is… I am doing really well, check out that pace… My leg is starting to hurt… What do I want to eat when I finish… I wonder what my dog is doing right now…. Where are the people cheering me on… a debate in my head over what my favorite Michael Jackson song is…. Despite all of this tangential thinking though, everything just seems so very clear.

On top of the amazing vistas I have seen running my marathons, I have seen amazing things in New Jersey that I would not have even known existed without my training runs.  My favorite runs have been over the George Washington Bridge looking out onto the water and the view of the city, Columbia Trails in High Bridge where you run along a trail with a river flowing beneath and beautiful signs of nature all around, and the Towpath in Piscatway between the canal and Raritan River. 

For those of you who have not taken to the streets for your daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly work out, you are truly missing out on the most beautiful sights you will lay your eyes on.  I tend to think that things are more beautiful, mainly because I am able to pay more attention to them, when I am running.  Its so easy to get lost in a sunset, the view of the beach, or the sound of the river below.  Now I am not telling everyone that they need to go out and run a marathon (although it wouldn’t be a bad idea), but I am suggesting that you live life, get outside and enjoy the scenery.

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Posted in Living in NJ, Running

In the words of Billy Joel….

February 24th, 2009

… I’m Movin’ Out.  At the present time, I have successfully moved almost all of my stuff out of the house I have been living in for the past 5 years, and into the house where my fiance and I will be living.  It has been a very exciting, yet exhausting few weeks getting things organized and packed, and finally starting to move it. 

During the move, I realized that there is something in me that: 1) Makes me over-estimate my strength, and 2) Makes it difficult for me to ask for help.  I am an avid reader, and I have TONS of books… mostly paperback.  I decided initially to pack all of these books from my bookcase in one box…. they are mostly paperback, and well I run marathons and do yoga… A few years ago I did 43 perfect push-ups in a minute as part of a job related physical test… I am strong and this certainly shouldn’t be a problem for me to lift, right?  So, here I am in my bedroom, thinking I am going to move this box to the other side of the room to make it easier for me to pack up a few other things… I bend down to pick it up, always lifting with the legs and not the back (I am not stupid)… low and behold, the damn thing won’t budge.  Hmm… maybe I can just push it across the room by sort of kicking it for now and rethink this later… Nope… thats not working either.  The phone rings… its my Dad… he asks what I am doing, and I explain it to him.  Do you want me to come help you?, he asks… oh no Dad, I don’t need your help… these are mostly paperbacks… but thanks for asking.  Shortly after, I speak to the fiance… he says, he can lift that up for me if I need him to the next time he is over…. I don’t need his help though… these are mostly paperbacks… no problem.  I go back to the box… and circle it… sizing up my enemy… I know I can move this thing… I just need to get some leverage.  So, here I go… 3 point stance… hands go up onto the side of the box, and I just start pushing… still not enough leverage… but it was moving a little bit.  Success is soon to be mine… I get my shoulder into this time, essentially like I am trying to tackle someone, and push this thing across the room near the door.  I realize this is not something I will ever get down the stairs and into the trunk of the car… frankly, I don’t even the think the people I could have asked help from would have been able to lift this thing…

At the suggestion of my fellow friends here at Is There Any Cake Left?… these books were later split between 4 boxes, which were filled the rest of the way with much lighter fare.  This worked like charm because: 1) I could lift the box, and 2) I didn’t have to ask anyone for help…. that would have been a tragedy.

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Posted in Living in NJ

Caution: Slow Children Playing

February 22nd, 2009

I was driving home from work the other day, weaving in and out of traffic, getting frustrated that the last half mile of my commute was going to take more than 3 minutes.  Ughh…these idiots in front of me…don’t they understand I need to be somewhere?  So I cut off several people to get over so I could take the side roads.  One guy honked and gave me a friendly gesture…yes, I know that I’m Number One…thanks for reminding me.  I gave him a nice friendly honk in return.

slow_children_at_play_sign

So I turned onto the side roads, and that’s when I saw the sign (…and it opend up my eyes I saw the sign…) –  Caution: Slow Children Playing.  My immediate reaction was to laugh…there’s just something funny about the image of slow children playing out in the road.  Evil, politically uncorrect, I know.  Just how my mind works sometimes.  But the sign did get me thinking about how stressed I was to be rushing home through backroads to save a fraction of a minute in my car…like I’m in a race against time.  And why?  Because I’m an American and a Jerseyan at heart.

 

Fast food.  Fast cars.  Fast money.  Instant Coffee.  Instant Messages.  Instant Satisfaction.  Americans…we want it fast, we want it now.  Webpage not loading fast enough?  Get a faster connection.  Taking too long to get from point A to point B?  Get a faster car.  Walk faster, work faster, eat faster, live faster, sleep faster…I’m even trying to type this post faster.  I just read a book called “In Praise of Slowness”…over 400 pages…I finished it in 3 days…can’t even slow down to read a book on slowness.   Why are we so obsessed?

When’s the last time you took some time to slow down, breathe a little, and really enjoy the simple things around you?   When’s the last time you didn’t run from your car to your front door, so you could take a minute a look at the stars?  So what that it’s 20 degrees out…man up…winter’s the only time you get to see Orion and the Dippers (no, that’s not the name of a funky 70’s band).  When’s the last time you climbed a tree…and no, not to look into someone’s window stalker…actually climb a tree, sit in the branches, and enjoy the warmth of a summer day, the sound of the breeze through the leaves, the smell of a BBQ nearby.  How about the last time you curled up with a good book next to a sunny window, just lost in a fantasy world for hours on end?

Whatever it is that’s your simple pleasure…whether it be running, reading, hiking, painting, playing music, baking cake, whatever…take some time for it.  Be more like that child you used to be…who understood that playing, especially at a slow place, was much more important than working…that enjoying life and all that it has to offer is much more important than meeting deadlines and making that quick buck.  So this week, take some time and and be that slow child playing.  Caution:  You might just enjoy going slow.

-  Just Call Me Lungs

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Posted in Current Trends, Life, Living in NJ

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Someone that works concessions at a baseball field closed me on eharmony…

February 12th, 2009

So, someone who works concessions at a baseball field closed me on eharmony. This made me wonder about the type of person that’s right for me…or…the type of person I am right for.   If not a person who works concessions, then who could that be?

My photos posted show me having fun in NYC and active cycling/running. Maybe my profile isn’t flashy enough; I am not one to put my entire life’s resume on the web for strangers to see.  So, I provide the basics.  I have a job. I perform charitable work.  I am educated.  I have all my teeth.  This should put me in the 75 percentile of eligible men in the area, right?   I don’t feel you really get to know anyone through the online dating community’s cookie cutter questions, but I guess my profile could use some updating.

Just an observation, but every profile has “travel” as an interest or life passion. Who doesn’t like to travel?  I’d like to meet that person who says “I hate traveling and seeing awesome things.”  I might marry this person.  Next, is it really your “favorite” place in the world if you only spent one week there?  For me, it would take a few trips or an extended stay for a destination to qualify as my favorite place.   If you are only there one week, how do you know what the winters will be like.  Maybe the summers are really hot and humid and there are black flies everywhere.  Maybe during the fall the colors don’t change and everything stays green.  And forget about the spring, its monsoon season.  I guess my point is your favorite place should be where you live…otherwise…you should move.

I am not a picky person.  But, there were a few matches that I closed once reading.  One looked like my sister and even more creepy HAD THE SAME NAME as my sister.  So much for that match.  I thought I set a height tolerance too.  I am not a spinner…so…the 5′10″ + matches are pushed on the back burner.  I am comfortable with my height to a certain point but if you can dunk on me without drawing a charging foul, then I may give it a second thought.

Eharmony touts its “28 dimensions” of compatibility.  I am not that complex.  Eat, sleep, work, run, have fun, rinse and repeat.  That’s five dimensions.  Where do the other 23 come from?  That’s not a rhetorical question.  I am grateful that ehamony weeds through the other 23 dimensions to ensure compatibility before sending a match.  I don’t think I have the time for that kind of scrutiny.

So…here I am.  Single. 29 and about to have one of the best years of my life.  That’s not a bad thing and I am happy that I do not need to remind myself of that.  Oh, the concession stand worker did give a legitimate excuse for closing the match.  “Physical distance was too great.”  She is more polite than 90% of the people I’ve encountered on eharmony for being honest.

- Rice Cakes

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Posted in Dating, Life, Living in NJ