First annual week-before-thanksgiving update!

Running:
Somewhere in the past few months, I've become a runner. While I'm always going to be a cyclist, and I have a special fondness for cycling, running has, amazingly, become more than a challenge and a way to exercise that doesn't involve nearly as much expensive equipment. I think the moment of "Hey, this isn't so bad" has come in the past month; I'm at the point now where, while running, it's not a constant effort. When I started, each stride was tough, and each stride was an effort. If I stopped pushing, I stopped running. Now ... if I stop pushing, I slow down... but I've managed to get momentum in my legs, if that makes sense -- when I start to slack, my legs keep moving.

The training is going really well; last night, I did 4.3 miles in under 50 minutes, so I think I'm ready for Turkey Trot! Go me!

Google Webmaster:
So Google knows everything about everything...even itself. I've become amused and disturbed looking at the search results that lead to my pages. A lot of it is searches like "Flight cancelled help" type searches; I hope I've been helpful for those. The weirdest to date is "lorna bagged latex". What?!?!? Random Googler, I ... hope you find what you're looking for.

Cat in the Lap/Porcupine in the Pants
After much thought, I came up with the "Cat in the Lap/Porcupine in the Pants" series; I thought it was rather inspired. But, since its inception, I haven't given any of these awards out. So, without further ado, a Porcupine in the Pants to Virgin Mobile for taking a week to get my Canadian cell phone activated. Sooner would have been better, guys. A Cat in the Lap goes to me, apparently, for being gone all week. Only ... this Cat in the Lap is...an actual Cat in the Lap. Apparently, Shadow really missed me this week. I'd been using my computer for about 20 minutes, when she got up in the chair beside me, then onto the handrest of the laptop, and has finally settled on top of my arms (my feet are stuck out on the ottoman; the laptop is on my thighs; my hands are on the keys; Shadow is on my forearms). She curled herself up with her head in the crook of my arm and is half-asleep, purring and making soft sleepy-noises. Seriously....this stuff is good for the soul.

Autumnal splendor, cats and porcupines.

I love this time of year. It's like the heat of the summer finally climbed out of the tub and jumped into a nearby icy stream. As vegetation dies back and the harvests come in, I always feel invigorated and alive. Everything feels crisper, cleaner, thrown into sharp relief. The sky is that deep cobalt blue, the yellow leaves swirl around my feet. I love the way that autumn smells. People are starting up their fireplaces, mowing their lawns one last time. When I had my convertible, this is the time of year when the top was rarely up - I just wanted to drink everything in all the time.

I recently read some melancholy musings on the season; and while I agree that the acoustics of the season are well-suited to the echoes of the past.... for me, autumn is a time of coming together. This has always been the time of year when people began to need to crowd around the fire for warmth, and it is still -- a time of gathering, of storytelling, of imagining. This is the time of year when I got married.

I love this time of year.



I have no good segue from that, so I'll just plow on.

I'm going to start a new segment that I've been thinking about for a while: a "good and bad" bit. Something like TV Guide's "Cheers and Jeers", or Stephen Colbert's "Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger". I've been dragging my feet, though, trying to come up with a good name. At long last, though, I have:

Cat in the Lap/Porcupine in the Pants.

Because who *wouldn't* like a cat happily purring in their lap? And who would want a porcupine in the pants? Ow!!!

As in, "A cat in the lap goes to Sonya, who is feeling lousy and crappy and is dealing with a cruddy cold and mountains of work. A porcupine in the pants goes to the jerk in front of me on the highway, who tossed some trash out of his window. " Anyway, I have a bunch of CitL and PitP that I've been thinking about posting, so watch this space for more developments.

[No porcupines or cats were harmed in the making of this post]

I was thinking of going with "weasel in the pants", but "porcupine in the pants" had a better ring to it. What do you think? Tell me in the comments...