Some days surprise you

What a strange day it was to lose two legends within hours. RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Today at work, I checked CNN and noted Farah Fawcett had passed away. It obviously didn't surprise me as I had been hearing of her illness for months. I mentioned it in passing to a coworker and went about my day.

But, then, later that evening, we had a client event and in the distance I heard someone in the crowd mention that Michael Jackson had died. I, being the celebrity gossip hound that I am, immediately looked up and said, "what, no you mean Farrah Fawcett". And she said, "no, I just heard Michael Jackson died." I was shocked. That totally came out of left field.

Now, I grew up with Michael Jackson in my consciousness since I was about 8 years old. I was never a superfan but he was always there and I did my fair share of moonwalks in my day. But, it really shocked me to hear of him dying. A couple of things surprised me by my own reaction:

1) He apparently died from cardiac arrest. My father had a heart attack last month and is doing well now, but this reminded me of just how easily it could have gone the opposite way.

2) Even though Michael was much older than me, he was part of the collective memory of my generation. In some ways he defined parts of it... art, music, fashion. He truly was an American icon, even if some don't want to admit it.

When I got home, I immediately went to Facebook to gage the reaction and it ranged from mourning an artist to disgust that some were sad over the passing of a "pedophile".

My reaction is one of mourning, not necessarily for the man, but for the loss of what could have been if he had not been plagued by physical and mental illness. Imagine what more someone of his talents could have given the world, had he not turned into what he eventually became. The whole story is just sad.

Anyway, I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs:

Happy Birthday Little Monkey!

Yesterday was Little Monkey's 2nd birthday! We had a wonderful party with family at Leenie and Grump's house. LM got tons of presents and had a great time. My grandparents got him a baby baby grand piano and he LOVED it. I definitely think we have a little virtuoso on our hands. Here are some pics of the fun.

Nosepicking 101

This is what Big Monkey taught Little Monkey when I went shopping last weekend....

Now that's a classy kid I've got on my hands!

My Little New Orleans Po-Boy!

On the Road Again...

I finally started training again for my second half-marathon. My girlfriends and I are doing a girls' half-marathon Labor Day weekend. Hopefully, it will become something we can do annually and the number of girls will grow.

This time around, I am going to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate Training program which includes speedwork. I'm a bit nervous about it, since for my last half, I was only really worried about finishing.

So, for my own motivation, while running a grueling three miles yesterday, I started a list of "5 Reasons I Love Running."

1) I love having a goal in front of me that I have to work at to accomplish. It makes me feel good about myself to know that I pushed myself to do something that not everyone can do.

2) I love the camaraderie of the running community. There is always something to talk about with another runner, whether it is your next race, your last race, your pace time, your running shoes, whatever. There is an enthusiasm that drives me. I love waking up early to get out there and see other runners who have the same commitment. Even if its just a smile, you know that you both share something, they are working toward a personal goal as well.

3) I love feeling the connection to my body. Since I started running, I am intuitively connected to every muscle in my body. I feel every twitch and have to think about what it is and what it may lead to. I love having a particularly hard run and then totally feeling it in my legs and back the next day. The pain becomes addictive because you know it means you worked hard.

4) I love running because it gives me time to share secrets with myself. While running, I am thinking about all kinds of things in my head. Anything from blog posts I want to write to what I should have said when that guy bumped me in the elevator the day before. When I finish that run, I have no idea what I thought about. It leaves my mind and may or may not ever come back again.

5) Lastly, I love being totally in tune with my surroundings. While running, you have to recognize every crack in the road, every slight hill coming up, every pothole that might be lead to a fall. You must recognize landmarks to know how far you have run along your route. Along with topography, you must be in tune with the weather daily, knowing when is the best time to run, when with the temperature be the friendliest. It makes me appreciate wherever I am a little bit more when I have to recognize these things.

I'll keep you updated on my progress through the next three months of training in the miserable New Orleans summer heat!

New Orleans History

New Orleans- as seen on historical marker I saw along the Mississippi River in the French Quarter.

Pretty Purse Giveaway

I'm loving this bag and totally want to win it. Go to Wishing True Blog for her giveaway. There are a ton of choices, all of which all beautiful!

Sit your butt on the seat, damn it!

I have had it with you women who hover over the toilet seat and spray your pee all over the seat for the next person to find and clean up. Sit your ass on the seat and do your business, damn it! Do you really think you are going to catch a disease by sitting on the seat? Have you actually ever heard of this happening to.... anyone?! I have absolutely never, not once in my life, heard a true story of anyone catching a disease or even getting sick from sitting on a toilet seat.

Don't you realize that it is you that is the problem? The reason people hover is because of people who hover! The pee on the seat that you don't want to touch is from the previous person who didn't want to touch the pee on the seat!

Do you get it now? You are the problem! SIT DOWN, pee, wipe... this is how NOT to get pee on the seat for me to clean up.

And, by the way, the floor you are walking on is much dirtier than that seat anyway.