Bored at Work? I've Got Something for That

Here are some of my new favorite sites (updated nearly every day):

GraphJam

FAIL Blog

Photoshop Disasters (careful--this one sometimes has scantily-clad women, since its content is mostly pulled from advertising)

Passive-aggressive notes

13.1

I ran/completed my first half-marathon today! It was actually a pretty nice run (on the Rock Creek Trail and Capital Crescent Trail), despite the heat and humidity. The record high for September 14 is 94 degrees, but we only got up to 93. I'm not sure what the humidity was, but it was enough to feel like I was swimming through the air. I looked like I'd been swimming, too, when I finished. My shirt and shorts didn't have a single dry spot on them! All that water/gatorade intake (plus not getting to the starting line early enough to use the bathroom before the race) means I lost about 9 minutes total waiting in line for porta-potties. So, my recorded pace was 12:26, but I would have been between 11:00 and 12:00 had I not had those long stops. But I realized that my comfort was more important than my time; without an iPod to distract me, I had little else to think about for 2 hours and 47 minutes but my full bladder. So, lesson learned for next time: get to the start early enough to rid myself of my coffee! Below is a picture of me at the finish line. Those shorty-shorts aren't doing me any favors. I wish Zach had gotten a shot of me with my weight on at least one leg; maybe then I would have had the appearance of some leg muscle!

My Cellphone is Dead

So, my cellphone apparently died in its sleep last night. I used it around 9:00PM, but when I woke up this morning, it wouldn't turn on. Naturally, I thought it was just that the battery had run down. Apparently not, because all attempts to revive it (plug it in) have been unsuccessful. I can't believe it's really gone! I've only had it since February. What a piece of crap. Anyway, don't try to call me. Looks like I need to buy a new cellphone this weekend.

This and That

This is what happens when you go weeks without a real post--you get a list:

1. I run my first half-marathon this Sunday! Wooo! In celebration, I plan to gorge on something wonderful/terrible afterwards, like crepes filled with Nutella.

2. Did you know I love Nutella so much I've started looking for more inventive (i.e., more frequent) ways of eating it? I like to have it on toast after my long runs. I had it on a banana as a snack the other week. I've started stirring it into my oatmeal in the mornings too. Sometimes I just plain admit I'm kidding myself by trying to use it merely as a condiment and walk over to the pantry and have a spoonful straight out of the jar.

3. I narrowly avoided hitting a herd (pack? flock?) of deer on the way to work this morning. The car next to me was not so lucky. The flock of deer ran straight into the road from the right from whatever frightened them in the subdivision. Since there aren't any natural predators or hunters in the city, I'm sure whatever they were running from was not nearly so frightening or lethal as the cars traveling at 45 mph. But that lack of rationalization is probably why we haven't been looking to the deer to solve America's dependence on foreign oil. I've never actually seen a deer get hit by a car. It was terrible and heartbreaking, but at the same time, I couldn't help but say "whoa!" in recognition of how improbable it seemed. It launched upwards off the windshield of the car to my right, flew completely over my lane, and landed in the turn lane. I guess I can hope he was just stunned, since it didn't look like the car was damaged (it kept going, although at reduced speed), and he wasn't there on my way home tonight. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.

4. I have a cool work/networking event to go to tomorrow afternoon, where I'll get to meet some cool higher-ups (you may have even seen one of their names in the news). So of course, I have an inordinately huge zit just to the right of my chin, not unlike Chris on The Family Guy. It's probably going to rob a pharmacy tomorrow.

5. I'm going to N'Djamena, Chad the first week of October! I really want to get this "Chad is Rad" shirt to wear while I'm there, but I'm afraid they'll think I'm making fun of them. But really, it would be irony, because I find it ludicrous when people come to DC and wear "I heart DC" shirts while they're still in DC. Plus, I don't think Chad has much tourism, and I'm pretty sure I won't find any shirts there proclaiming Chad's radness. But I think it might be wise to wait until I get back to get it. Then again, they speak French there, so maybe they wouldn't notice since it doesn't say "le Tchad est rad."

6. For my mom: pictures of the other Stephanie's new puppy