Bike luv from NYC

Link to a cute slideshow of bike fashion in NYC. Except... where the eff are their helmets?!?

Running update

As you may recall, I had to take some time off from running because I hurt my foot - maybe during my epic (for me) Christmas Day run. Well, I'm back to it now and trying to be ready for the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon on February 3. I ran the course on Monday so I know I'll finish... just a matter of how FAST I run it. Sounds like quite a few friends are doing it... and if you're not ready for a half, there's also a 5k. Come on! Have fun running in Golden Gate Park!

Then you can fall asleep in the guacamole while you watch the Super Bowl.

Luxury on the cheap

Luxury can be tough when you're a student... easier when you've got friends who have mastered the art of San Francisco living.

1. Monday evening - after a long week of work and class, I joined friends NS and KP at Osento, a women-only bath house. It was relatively inexpensive (sliding scale or a punch card) for the experience. There were quiet, calm areas, a hot tub, dry sauna, wet sauna, cold plunge, outdoor shower (one of my favorite things EVER) and a little area where you can be outside on a private rooftop - naked! Big ups to NS and KP for showing me this little sanctuary in the Mission.

2. Lunch with Dine About Town. Ok, so $22 isn't cheap for lunch. But it is inexpensive for a well-prepared, three course meal. Dine About Town goes until the end of the month. My team at work enjoyed a beautiful lunch at Vitrine, in the St. Regis Hotel. (Exception - avoid the steak at the Cliff House - a friend went there recently and it wasn't good.)

Does this plastic make me look fat?

No, honey, it doesn't make your ass look big... the plastic is what's making our asses grow. At least, that's what some scientists have found - yet one more reason to cut down on our use of petroleum-based plastics.

Is plastic making us fat?

Researchers are exploring whether exposure to common chemicals during early development could set us up for a lifetime battle with the bulge

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff January 14, 2008

Being fat has long been seen as a personal problem, fixed only by struggling against the proliferation of fast food restaurants, unlucky genes, and a sedentary life.

But could something in the environment also be making Americans fat in epidemic numbers?

Animal studies in recent years raise the possibility that prenatal exposure to minuscule amounts of common chemicals - found in everything from baby bottles to toys - could predispose a body to a life of weight gain. The chemicals, known as endocrine disrupters, mimic natural hormones that help regulate, for example, how many fat cells a body makes and how much fat to store in them.

These findings have led some scientists to put forth a provocative argument: They say diet and too little exercise clearly are key reasons for the worldwide rise in obesity in the past 20 years, but they may not be the only ones. Food intake and exercise just haven't changed that much in that period, they argue. And while genetics obviously play a role - just think of someone you know who can eat three Big Macs a day and never gain an ounce - these researchers say it would be impossible to see such widespread genetic change in just two decades, giving them more reason to suspect the environment.

"This is a really new area . . . but from multiple labs on multiple levels we are getting preliminary data that all say the same thing: Chemicals can play a role," said Jerry Heindel, a program administrator for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "We know that nutrition and exercise are very, very important, but underlying that could be environmental exposures during development that alter your physiology, including how you respond to food and exercise."

Thousands of chemicals have come on the market in the past 30 years, and some of them are showing up in people's bodies in low levels. Scientists studying obesity are focusing on endocrine disrupters - which have already been linked to reproductive problems in animals and humans - because they have become so common in the environment and are known to affect fat cells.

My "niece," Izzy

I almost forgot... I promised my sister I'd put her new dog, Izzy up here so you can all admire her cuteness. Izzy is a Roodle, which is a mixture of a Rat Terrier and a Poodle. Only really, who wants their dog breed to involve rats? My sister tells people she's a mixture of terrier and Poodle, which makes Izzy a one-of-a-kind Toodle. She's 12 pounds, very kind and playful. And those are highlights, she's not going grey.

diploma!!!

hi friends. advice needed.

i'm filling out paperwork for my upcoming graduation, including the name that i want on my diploma. my high school and undergrad diplomas both read "first middle last." but professionally i use my middle initial, like first m. last. given that this is an mba, do i switch to "first m. last" or keep it the same as my other diplomas?

this is all with full acknowledgement that it doesn't matter at all. but i hesitated when filling out the form and thought that it may be an interesting time for comments.

word.

F. F. F. = bwahahahahaha

Just an update...I haven't run since my last post. I somehow managed to hurt my foot during my Christmas Day run and wanted to stay off of it for a while - which then turned into complete time-off with New Years (unexpectedly awesome) and a wedding in Austin (expectedly awesome). I'll get out there tomorrow. Hopefully I didn't lose too much of my cardiovascular endurance during my "rest."

In other news...
Gmail rocks. Especially because you occasionally get hilarious ads like this one: "Mike Huckabee in 2008 - www.mikehuckabee.com - Faith. Family. Freedom. Conservatives are choosing Huckabee"

Ha ha ha ha. I got this one when I was reading a message from the SF Department of Elections. Kirby will not be voting for Huckabee. Or any conservative. Or anyone who has a tagline with those three F words strung together.

Happy 2008!

Merry Christmas. Time for a run.

You know you're a runner (or just really wierd) when a fun Christmas activity is a 12.9 mile run.

Granted, it was a beautiful winter day here in the Chicago area... probably upper 30s, sunny, mild wind. And I did already sign up to do a half marathon on Super Bowl Sunday. I knew that I'd *have* to run over the holidays so I'm able to successfully complete the 13.1 mile race. An my mom lives about three miles from the entrance to the Illinois Prairie Path, which is a great car-free path that winds through the western 'burbs. It's mostly gravel (which my knees appreciated), lined with trees and relatively uninterrupted by intersections. It's one of the (or the, depending on your source) first "rails to trails" trails that was constructed from an old railroad line.

Still, almost 13 miles on Christmas?

Who am I kidding? This does not make me a runner. This makes running my much-needed-over-the-holidays-Prozac.

Looking back, I think that music was my outlet during middle school and high school. During high school, I practiced clarinet with such frequency and intensity that I was, without realizing it, really releasing stress through music. Sure, there were times when band was a stressor, but music itself is so different from other parts of one's life. My senior year of high school, friend and distance runner AD (now AS) got me to join track. And thank goodness. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I played clarinet occasionally in college, but haven't picked it up for many years now. But I always have a pair of running shoes around. And I make time for endurance activities, like biking, swimming and running. Running makes me feel good and relaxes me.

I have made it through difficult times this year by leaning on friends and family. Everyone has been so awesome and I am beyond grateful. And for the pieces that I have had to work through on my own, I thank my running shoes and my bicycle. And I thank my body for letting me do these things. I know that I am lucky to have this outlet.

What do you do? How do you cope? Drinking, music, crafts, cooking, reading, sleeping, sports, talking, medicine, computer games, shopping...

Wow. This is a really cheesy post. I really need to get back to posting about solar panels, waste reduction and public transportation.

One more semester done

I just finished my 3rd semester of my MBA program. One more semester to go! June 2008!!!

I have tons of interesting news articles to share, probably some hilarious stories to post, etc, so I'll get on that sometime this week. Or not. We'll see. I need some time away from the computer.

I do now accept that it is December, but I'm not really convinced that I'll be back in Illinois next week. Baby steps...

December?!?

That is all.