Oh, so THIS is why I dont run much in the dark

Damnit damnit damnit damnit DAMNIT.

I dont normally run at night. It's dangerous for three major reasons - 1) cars cant see me, 2) I cant see the ground, and 3) I'm afraid of the dark. OK, two reasons. But sometimes I have to do it anyway. I mean, I dont HAVE to... I could very well just sit on my ass and feel it grow. But I'm trying not to do that anymore. Or at least do it a little less.

I'm training for another half marathon, this one in Providence in early May - which means I have to slowly work up to 13 mile sessions. That basically means that, accounting for safe increases of only around 10% a week, and with my two weeks in Israel shooting some time in the middle there, I needed to run around 6 miles today. Tomorrow is out, I'm going to an all-day conference (super excited, it's a product management conference in cambridge that is organized all grass-roots wiki style. SOOOO 2009.) Sunday it's supposed to snow. STUPID SNOW.

And tonight was BEAUTIFUL out. Perfect running weather, really. But I didnt get home until it was dark - so I got back to thinking about those two reasons not to run at night (cars, ground.) The first one is solved by the birthday present Holly gave me this year - a reflective running vest. It's super cute/shiny. But the second one... well, f*ed me up.

On my planned 6 mile run, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk around mile 2. and freaked up my shin, scraping and bruising it as well as scraping part of my palm. I've labeled the picture at right because my leg is so bulbous it's hard to tell exactly what you're looking at. Gross. Anyway, good thing it was so nice out, plus it gave me some sweet adreniline, because I just felt like keeping going. I ran through 4 miles and then did another mile at the gym since it was starting to rain. People gave me funny looks in the locker room, but thats fine, I think they were envious. Or afraid I'd bleed my poison blood onto them. Hey, stuff happens.

Booooo Pixar's Gendercisim

Interesting rant about how Pixar makes ALL Of its movies about men, even when it is not necessary. I remember the first time I was introduced into the concept of society labeling male as 'neutral' and women as 'other' (and consequently rushed to the bookstore to buy Simone De Beauvoir,) that was absolutely a turning point in my understanding of gender.

So anyway, BOO PIXAR

Couch vs Bed

There's something about couches that make sleep different. Beds should, logically, be more comfortable and sleep-worthy, but there is something about napping on a couch, of nestling your frame in the fold where the seat meets the back, tucking a colorful throw pillow under your neck, of sitting half upright on it when you're sick or just tired that makes it infinitely more appealing than my actual bed. I'd rather nap on a couch than my own bed nine times out of ten. But I'd rather sleep a full night in my own queen size pillow-top. WHY IS THAT??

anyway, time to transfer myself from sickly post-nap on the couch to sickly pre-sleep on my bed.

Day three of sickness, but at least I got my ass off the couch

Took thursday and friday off of work due to crippling snot-ness and fever. Today I had some of the former, but none of the latter, so I felt a bit better. Plus Juliet's med-school boy toy recommended I use some of her meds (thank you, CVS brand non-drowsy cold-and-flu treatment! I shall cherish you forever and ever.) That helped.

I made myself take a shower, the first shower I'd taken in 3.5 days. Last time I went that long w/o a shower was when I was in Arizona with Holly's family and spent 6 days on the road and in the desert. The shower at the end of that ordeal felt like bliss. This one felt not too bad either.

After walking the 2 km journey down the road to and from Trader Joe's, trying hard to breath through my mouth discreetly so as not to alert people to my sickly predicament, I decided to spend some quality time on the interwebs. Becuase you know, I hadnt done enough of that in the last 2.5 sickly sickly days. I came upon this blog that until now I had only read at a cursory level, but this time I went to the main site and found this ridiculous story of the writer's love and romance with her "marlboro man." Pretty cool how she wrote it in installments, just like 19th century novelists used to do in city newspapers. If you have a few hours on a rainy day, I highly recommend this. She is a great writer, very funny, and the story is oh-so-sweet. Of course, despite her having started the serial a YEAR AND A HALF ago, it's still going. BLARG! please write more! this girl over on my side of the interwebs is still sickly and still needs a romance fix!!

I'd been pretty sore all through my sickness, partly because my personal trainer gave me a really good workout tuesday night (Pete, you are SUPER awkward, but great at your job) and partly because fevers always make my muscles tender. But today I was itching to get out and get my heart rate up, so [after consulting the interweb and deciding that 3 out of 5 commenters/bloggers say it is ok to run if you are sick as long as you dont have a fever and sickness isnt in the chest/lungs] I went for a short 3 mile jog. Of course, nothing could go smoothly, and my Nike+ receiver wasnt working (BLAST!) but was probably better that I wasnt measuring my workout today. It could only have led to dissapointment.

Tonight I made a lasagna for dinner. I'm not sure I've ever made it before, but I'm on an Italian kick (last month I made exclusively Indian... this month it appears to be the Boot country) and I'd bought ricotta and parmesan recently. After consulting a variety of online recipes, I decided to wing it, using whole wheat lasagna strips, making my own sauce with tomatoes and herbs and pepper, sauteing a vegi mix of onions, garlic, and spinach, and throwing together a cheese mix of ricotta, cottage, and jarlsberg, with parm sprinkled on top. Mmmmmm fresh parm. The whole thing came out only so-so, I probably should have used less red pepper flake in the tomato sauce and added more salt. Oh well.

(but doesnt the freshly grated cheese on top look DIVINE?? I was too impatient to leave it in the oven long enough to brown, but thats pretty typical of... me.)


POST SCRIPT
I've been rummaging around the kitchen for something dessert-link for almsot an hour, and JUST remembered that I bought chocolate chip granola bars at TJ's today. As I approached the box on top of the refrigerator, I said aloud "Why HELLLLLOoooo" in a smooth and sultry voice. There is no one else in the apartment.

SICK SICK SICK

Today's ROSEUPDATEEXTRAVAGANZA:

Good: I found this comic online. I find it very fitting for my life.

nataliedee.com

Bad: I'm sick. I freaking hate being sick. Last night when I left work I could feel that something didnt feel right, and I knew I'd be ill today. This is the first sick day I've taken since I started my job in July. I enjoy being idle or doing mindless things for an hour or two, but not for an entire day. Around 9pm i reached the end of the interwebs.

Interesting: This explanation of the credit crisis.

It's official...

... I make a DELECTABLE kale stew. I've been playing around with my self-invented recipe for this for a while, but this is definitely the best I've made. It has onions, garlic, jalapenos, bay leaves, italian herbs, chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, sea salt, ground pepper, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, and whole wheat elbow macaroni.

So today's Good/Bad/Interesting:

Good: My absolutely delicious kale stew
Bad: I think I twisted, just SLIGHTLY, my ankle when walking around in 4.5" heels in the grocery this evening
Interesting: brett made this video. glad you're doing stuff for yourself now, man :)

Hollywood ASST from Back of the Class on Vimeo.

Bad, Good, and Interesting

was reading a blog post in my rss feeder about small family activities that can bring pleasure, and I found one particularly interesting:

8. During dinner, ask each family member to tell one good thing and one bad thing that happened to them that day. The good things are obviously fun to share. The “bad things” are a great opportunity for your kids to talk about things that bother them and for you to be more involved in their lives.

I would modify this to refrain from only thinking of good and bad - there are often small things that happen during the day that are neither good or bad, but are interesting in their own way.

So here's a go for my yesterday:
GOOD: My cousin sent me a funny picture of me that he had doctored on his iPhone. Yay for iPhone apps.
BAD: Google sent another "you have too many URLs in your site" message to my team. We had been getting them for months and did a bunch of stuff to take care of it, and didnt get one last month, so we thought we were in the clear. DRAT.
INTERESTING: When meeting my personal trainer at the gym, I said "how are you?" He said "good, you?" I said "Good. So how've you been?" How awkward. He is one of the most awkward people I've ever met. Nice guy, great trainer, but socially very very weird. He is so offputting that I feel enormously awkward whenever I talk with him. I mean, it's like his awkardness is contageous and I cant act like myself.

Valentines Weekend in NYC

As I had previously bloggered, Mitra invited me to meet her in New York for the long weekend. It was glorious. I took the bus down Saturday morning at met mitra at our hotel, the W in union square. Lets just say, it was pretty nice - we were in one of the largest rooms, on the very top floor. This was the view... you could see all of the lower east side and some of downtown. We're fancy-like.

Later that day we walked ALL around manhattan. I mean, seriously. We took the subway all the way to the upper east side and proceeded to walk more than 4 miles down the island. At one point we passed through Bryant Park and through Fashion Week. I can't believe I didnt know it was fashion week (just kidding I never know these things) but we got to stand outside one of the tents and watch rich/famous people exit after a show. My best observation: EVERY SINGLE woman who left the tent had great shoes. My second best observation: it must be weird to be a New York cop, having to guard fancy people who pay waaaaaay too much for their garments.

Sunday we walked through SoHo, went to a fancy bakery that Mitra had read about on the interwebs (my cheese danish was delicious and nutricious. or, at least delcious, which is all that matters anyway.) Then we walked through downtown and across the Brooklyn Bridge. We were VERY touristy, stopping to look at the great views and take pictures of each other. Of course, it was no problem to ask others to take pics of us together - because most everyone else there was also a tourist and they sympathized. Oh New York, you are so fancy and yet full of randoms.

We walked around Brooklyn Heights (my conclusion : very cool area. Upon first impression, I decided that if I ever had to move to new york I'd try to live in Brooklyn) and then met my cousin Stu for pizza at one of the famous Brooklyn pizza eateries, Grindwals underneath the bridge.

I've only met my cousin Stu once since I was old enough to form long-lasting memories - when I was about 12, we drove down to southern Ohio and visited his family and played with the cows and geese on their small farm. This visit was much more mature. And pizza-filled. He, Mitra, and I each at a FULL half of a pizza. Good thing we were walking several miles each day, or I would have come back as I did after Europe.

This is me and Stu with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background - yay Kabakoff family!

Mitra and I spent the next day walking around southern manhattan and going to a fantastic mac and cheese themed lunch place (conclusion: yes, you can really pay $8 for mac and cheese and get a meal that is worth the price.) Sadly, I had to get back to boston, so I boarded the bus back that afternoon, sitting between some spoiled rich BC girls and some spoiled rich BU girls. DRATS.

Israel Itinerary (or, How I learned to Become a Jew)

Just got our semi-final itinerary for our Birthright Israel trip. We leave in 19 days (ummm like woah.)

On the evening of day 4 we get to ride camels and sleep in a bedouin camp... Mom, thanks for being Jewish so we could do this!

Day 1 - Monday, March 9
• 11:35 AM arrival. Arrive at Ben-Gurion International Airport. You will be met and assisted through customs by IsraelExperts staff and will meet your Israeli tour guide and driver who will be with you throughout your tour.
• Orientation at Nachshon: Take some time to get to know your fellow participants, staff, and guide while preparing for the 10-day journey ahead of you.
*Accommodation: Afik

Day 2 - Tuesday, March 10
• Tour around the kibbutz
• Hike at Gilabun nature reserve in the Golan Heights and help collect recyclables as part of the \'Green Activity\'
• Travel to the former military outpost at Har Bental and take in a stunning 360 degree view of Israel and Syria.
• . Spend the evening relaxing in the natural hot springs of Chamat Gader
*Accommodation: Afik

Day 3 - Wednesday, March 11
• Explore Tzfat - the ancient and modern home of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). Tour ancient synagogues and artists’ square. Here you will meet with Avraham Lowenthal, a student of Kabbalah and artist who will share his art and his life story.
• Visit Camun in the Galilee and learn about early Jewish settlement in this region
• Enjoy the Taglit-Birthright Israel Purim Party
*Accommodation: Olympia Tel Aviv

Day 4 - Thursday, March 12
• Learn the history of Midras in the Iron age and the roman period; hike around the Bar Kochba caves
• Mifgash (\"Encounter\") Begins. Today you will be joined by 8 young Israelis who will be traveling with you for the next 5 days. You will have the privilege to explore Israel through their eyes (and they through yours) and to forge new and lasting friendships.
• Take in the views and beauty of the Negev desert landscape at Ben Gurion’s desert home and tomb. David Ben Gurion was the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel and played an instrumental role in the founding of the state
• Spend the night at Kfar Hanokdim Bedouin Dessert Village Experience. Start the adventure riding camel-back as the sun sets over the desert. Partake in a light taste of Bedouin tradition and culture including a welcome ceremony of coffee and tea followed by a Middle-Eastern feast dinner served in the traditional style seated on rugs and pillows in a Bedouin style tent. Accommodation is in a mock up of a traditional Bedouin tent...
*Accommodation: Kfar Hanokdim

Day 5 - Friday, March 13
• Climb Massada at dawn watching the sunrise at daybreak Walk up to the earthen Roman Ramp built 2000 years ago to storm this desert fortress and view the remarkable excavations including Herod\'s Palace and stables, the ancient synagogue and the ancient water system
• Hike in the Ein Gedi desert oasis at Nachal David and float in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth.
• Arrive at your hotel in time to prepare for Kabbalat Shabbat (the arrival of Shabbat) and candle lighting followed by Shabbat dinner. Participate in Oneg Shabbat (special deserts) with singing, stories and games as a group.
* Accommodation: Maale Hahamisha

Day 6 - Saturday, March 14

• Spend Shabbat relaxing with your group and taking walking tours.
• Engage in the “Changing Map of the Middle East” activity and discussion program, which focuses on the political and historical background that led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and the current geo-political situation in the Middle East.
• Get to know your Mifgash soldiers by partaking in a special activity they have prepared for you.
• Go out for dinner and spend the night out on Jerusalem\'s vibrant pedestrian mall, Ben Yehudah Street. Following the conclusion of Shabbat this open-air mall (a.k.a. \'ha midrechov\') opens up its pubs, shops, and restaurants with plenty of live music.
*Accommodation: Maale Hahamisha

Day 7 - Sunday, March 15
• Get a breathtaking view of Jerusalem from the lookout at Haas Promenade.
• Enter the Old City through the Zion Gate. Visit the Jewish quarter and be witness to millennia of Jewish history, from the time of biblical kings and prophets to modern celebrations and conflicts. Walk to the Cardo, the street built by the Romans in the sixth century, situated 20 feet below modern street level, one part of the Cardo is a restored arcade of Jewish galleries and shops, while the other part is an open-air reconstructed street.
• Take a mystical tour inside the Kotel Tunnels, built under the Muslim quarter of the old city. Explore ancient underground remnants of this intricate city and discover a true archeological wonder
• Learn about life in Israel and the Jewish religion from the esteemed Rabbi Stern
• Participate in a political panel showcasing young activists from the political spectrum in Israel and learn about the Israeli government, elections and current hot topics in Israeli politics.
• *Accommodation: Maale Hahamisha

Day 8 - Monday, March 16
• Visit Yad Vashem, Israel\'s national memorial to the Holocaust. The museum presents the historic events that befell Europe following the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany and the fate of the Jews under Nazi rule in the occupied countries.
• Visit Mahane Yehuda – Jerusalem’s largest \"shuk\" (outdoor market) for lunch.
• Visit Mount Herzl, Israel\'s military cemetery and the burial place of Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir and Theodore Herzl.
• Enjoy a night-out in Tel Aviv in an area full of trendy restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes and shops
*Accomodation: Deborah Hotel

Day 9 - Tuesday, March 17
• Drive to Tel-Aviv and explore Jaffa, one of the world\'s ancient port. Modern Jaffa has a heterogeneous population Muslims, Christians and Jews.. Jaffa is a major tourist site with an exciting combination of old and new. You may have time to explore the local flea market called
• Engage in dialogue at the Jaffa co-existence seminar. In collaboration with the Arab-Jewish Center in Jaffa, this intense program sheds light on the intricacies of life in a society that is shared by both Jews and Arabs. You will be escorted through the neighborhoods of Jaffa by two guides, an Israeli Arab (who is a pro-existence activist in the community) and an Israeli Jew.
• Enjoy some free time on Shenkin Street, one of the most popular streets in Tel Aviv to shop and people-watch in a cafe.
• Tour the Joseph Bau Museum, showcasing art influenced by themes such as holocaust and Zionism
• Experience the impact of Na L\'gaat foundation for blind and deaf. At this cultural and recreational center you will watch a play presented by blind and deaf actors and enjoy the center\'s restaurant.
* Accommodation: Deborah Hotel

Day 10 - Wednesday, March 18
• Visit Independence Hall where David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel\'s Independence in 1948.
• Visit Rabin Square (\"Kikar Rabin\" in Hebrew); a large public city square in central Tel Aviv. It is named after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated at the conclusion of a massive peace rally held at the square on November 4, 1995.
• Bring the experience to an end with a concluding banquet at Svil Izim

Day 11- Thursday, March 19
* 01:00 (AM) Flight Departs

Drag Race = new fav show

Lindsay: so i am working at home today and i decided to take a minute off to turn on the TV and be distracted
Lindsay: did you know that there is a RuPaul drag reality show? "RuPauls Drag Race"
Lindsay: its AMAZING
Rose: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH what channel?!?!?!
Lindsay: VH1
Rose: OMG OMG
Lindsay: i just caught the end
Lindsay: and they had two people who were at the bottom for... whatever
Lindsay: but to decide who would be out they had a lip-sync-off
Lindsay: is it weird that i saw it and immediately thought of you?



I hope that was a compliment :)

I imagine this will be either Phoebe or Izzy in a couple years...

The best part is at 1min9sec

My life is complete

Tonight was the BuyerZone Charity Auction, where we take items that vendors have given to us over the years (we dont let employees keep the gifts) plus items that people bring, and auction them off to ourselves and give the money to charity.

I came away with two packages:
1) a set of 4 CDs, including a "best of the 80s" and "The Real McCoy"
2) a golf calendar and BARACK OBAMA COLLECTABLE PLATE

thats right. you read me. i got the as-seen-on-tv VICTORY PLATE. Only $12. SNAP. My kitchen is gonna look sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

The other item that I bid on, but SADLY did not get, was the other Direct TV Marketing Extravaganza of Late 2008 - the Snuggy. Oh well, Mie-Yun will enjoy it for the $80 she bid.

not a bad way to look at cities around the world

check out this global evaluation of cities by Foreign Policy mag

boston is 29, but 9 in "human capital"

makes me want even more to live in a few more cities before I settle down...

my job

not sure if I've linked people to my work lately.... so here are some pages for the part of the BuyerZone site I own. AMAZING ISNT IT? :)

check out this state-level page, city page, and dealer page for various places/businesses in the point of sale industry. We have every city and state for over a hundred categories. yay my job!

Leif's Apple Ice Wine = DELICIOUS

my buddy Leif is getting into the Apple Ice Wine business with his parents, and let me just say it is YUMMY. You may have heard of Leif Holtzman, he is of Digitas and BuyerZone fame, and I've been his buddy for going on 5 years now. This is us as Cowgirl and Cow for Halloween 2005. We make a good posse, if I do say so myself.

Still in small production but available in more and more stores and restaurants in the Boston and New England area. Check out his site for Massachusetts Apple Ice Wine made locally in Harvard, Mass. You can see where you can buy their apple ice wine here.

In other news, Leif now sits right behind me at BuyerZone and we rock out to good tunes and great product development every day. It's a pretty happening little cube-area.

I broke my butt

So I joined a gym in december because the weather was getting too snowy/icy to do much outdoor running, and they gave me a free hour of personal training with the membership. I had that session this saturday, and Pete worked me HARD - it was really great, he targetted the muscle areas that would help me improve my running (and weight loss) which were especially around my outer knees, outer thighs, and butt.

The next day Juliet and I were supposed to go to Street Funk class, but I was having trouble walking.... lets just say, I was sore. I've been sore ever since, and today (a full 4 days after the training session) I was better but still having tenderness in my hamstrings and glutes. Well, I went to the gym anyway, thinking I'd just do some basic cardio. Umm that didnt work. I started walking on the treadmill and.... I broke my butt.

My right glute KILLS. I think I pulled the muscle too hard. Oh Butt, PLEASE recover soon! You are so necessary for walking, sitting, and drawing the men-folk!!!