AthensGAHalf... year 3

Registration for the half marathon that I've been running the past couple of years has officially opened up today! While I am super excited that registration time is back around, I'm not so excited about the course changes.

For starters, they took out all the huge hills. More like they took out every. single. foffing. hill! So, it's essentially a flat course now. This makes me sad because it takes the challenge away for me. I know I can do 13.1 miles, the hills were my killer that I wanted to tackle. I can always tackle those on my own time I guess.

Also, the finish line changed places again. It now ends in Sanford Stadium. I get the appeal for a lot of the people to be able to be in the stadium but I gallivanted around that field a good deal with my old job. The idea of "taking a victory lap" around the stadium has no charm for me.

Le sigh. I'm still going to run it. I'll likely have a great new personal record time. I just wish that they had kept the challenge there.

Time to break out the Vibrams and start running again.

The Newest Tattoo

Yes, yes, I know. I suck at keeping up with this thing but who really gives a fig? Onward!

For the past few years I've been getting tattoos as my birthday present to myself. Number seven is off to a good start.

It starts with a template.

And, ends with a (good beginning to a) quarter sleeve.

As it moves along, I'll post more updates.

Toodeloo!

Teaser Tuesday: Lasher, part deux

Same game, another week.

"German? Yes, I had to teach myself that, as well as Spanish and Italian."

Page 251 of Lasher by Anne Rice.

P.S. I'm working on a new, non-book post. I just need to get some pictures uploaded for it.

Teaser Tuesday: Lasher

You know it.

Your mission should you choose to accept:
1) Grab the book you are currently reading.
2) Open said book to a random page.
3) Post two sentences from that page (no spoilers, please).
4) List the page number, title, and author of the book.

"He smiled at her vaguely, too tired to argue, too tired perhaps to even remember the phone numbers he ought to call. What evil things drugs were."

Page 37 of Lasher by Anne Rice.

I'm back... sort of.

Or, at least I'm going to try to keep up with this again. Here's a quick(ish) rundown since I last posted (over a year ago!). Oops.

- I did run that half marathon and I felt great about my time. I finished up at 2:37:15. Then, I ran it again this past October beating my 2010 time by nearly 4 minutes (2:33:31). I'm fully planning on running this year's half.

- I lost my job at the university in November after that first race. Right before Thanksgiving and my trip to Ohio to visit Nate & Ash. It sucked, but I'm ok with it now. The place was starting to turn me into an unhappy person. I found a new job three days after getting fired on the day I was flying to Ohio. Such luck I had.

- I've taken two trips to Ohio to see Nate & Ash. Both trips were quite fun and I took a bajillion pictures, mostly in the Air Force Museum. I don't think I could get tired of going there.

- I found a new beau. We've been together for a bit over a year. Yes, I know that's not long after ending the engagement but it's ok. He knew the situation from the start.

- Speaking of the old beau, I found out recently that he is engaged again. I hope he has many happy years.

- I FINALLY(!!) graduated this past December with a B.S. in Horticulture!!!!!!! Which reminds me that I should be receiving my diploma near the end of this month.

- I still plan on moving out of the state when I: 1) get my license, 2) buy a vehicular device, and 3) figure out where I want to go.

I don't think there's much else to update about. I'll definitely try to keep up with this blog often. I plan on getting back in with Teaser Tuesdays since I do have ample time to read now that I am just working. So, here's to 2012, hoping it's a good one.

Pardon My Dust...

My poor computer is on the fritz. I'll be back up and running as soon as possible.

Updates I'll have:
AthensGAHalf
school
hair
trips
Samhain
and just life in general

See you soon! (I hope.)

I've Got A New 'Do

So, I might be a little crazy.

And, I might be a little wild.

I've also wanted to do this for years.

Here's goes nothing.

It started while having a beer and shooting some pool with an awesome friend. Said awesome friend has a glorious mohawk. See where I'm going with this one? I mentioned my want to have my own and he's more than willing to do it for me. Cue second guesses on if it would actually look good.

So, 1 AM comes around and this is what's happening.

Little tufts of pink hair keep falling the in the floor.

Oh dear, what is happening to my head? Why it's being shaved, of course. Two hours (and a lot of giggles) later, I have my own glorious mohawk and boy am I happy with it. I can't quit feeling the sides of my head. Hah.

Final look. :D

I hope this bit of fun makes up for my absence.

Teaser Tuesday

You know it.

Your mission should you choose to accept:
1) Grab the book you are currently reading.
2) Open said book to a random page.
3) Post two sentences from that page (no spoilers, please).
4) List the page number, title, and author of the book.

"That's what Randy knows. When it comes to the details, Cantrell and Pekka are way out of his league, so after a few minutes he feels himself losing interest."

Page 438 of Crytonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

Up next, when I finish this book, will be The Girl Who Played With Fire. I finally broke down and got it!

Teaser Tuesday... A Day Late.

I apologize for that. I got all excited about my first C25K run that I forgot about it. So, here you go!

Your mission should you choose to accept:
1) Grab the book you are currently reading.
2) Open said book to a random page.
3) Post two sentences from that page (no spoilers, please).
4) List the page number, title, and author of the book.

"Waterhouse has completely lost whatever control he might ever have had over the situation and himself. His tongue seems to be made of erectile tissue."

Page 320 of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

Quite a few of these Teaser Tuesdays are going to be from this book. It's a big book. I'll try to mix it up for you.

Hello, August.

August is here. Which means that fall semester is right around the corner. My last fall semester. My last semester ever actually. *dances*

Just some quick updates:

- This no smoking thing. Two weeks in and I've had some lapses. I know, bad me. But, I have saved $20 so far. I know it's not much, but it's a start.

- My knee hates me right now. I figured with the start of a new months I could start doing a couple of things to better myself. The first of those is that I'm going to go running at least every other day. I started tonight and did 1.4 miles. It's small, but, like with the smoking thing, it's a start. More on this topic later; I have a link to share.

- The other thing to better myself is that I'm going to start keeping super close track of my spending and such. Every little bit of money I can put away between now and next summer (or summer of 2012) will be that much more I'll have for the plan to move to Colorado Springs and a graduation trip to Ohio to see my internet besties.

- By the way, I got to meet my internet besties on Wednesday. I had a ton of fun (hope they did, too). And, I can't wait to see them again in December (November?)!

One last thing, a picture for you. The newest haircolor. I might be a week late in posting this one.

Whoa Life!

Things are changing for me. It's crazy.

After 10 months of being engaged, I am no longer getting married. That was one of the hardest decisions of my life. It still hurts but I will get through it.

I am three days in this not smoking thing. I really want a cigarette right now. The past few days have been... irritating... so to say. But, so far, so good. Let's hope it keeps up that way.

Next week is going to be so exciting! I finally get to meet my internet BFFs. This one makes me squeeee a lot. I really can't wait to meet my lovelies!!!!

So, there will no longer be any wedding updates. Instead, there will be "My Plan to Move to Colorado Springs" updates. I'm anxious to graduate and get going on this new journey.

Where is life taking you?

Keeping Promises

I promised you a hair update and here it is. I went and had more cut off. But, just in the back. It's my reverse mullet and it's cute damnit. Also, I gave the silver dye a go. It didn't work out so well. My hair is currently faintly purple with two inches of gold roots. No biggie though. That just means that I get to do the next color sooner.




So, there you go. My failed hair experiment. :D

Teaser Tuesday!

I'm back from my hiatus and ready to go. You know the Tuesday drill kids.

Your mission should you choose to accept:
1) Grab the book you are currently reading.
2) Open said book to a random page.
3) Post two sentences from that page (no spoilers, please).
4) List the page number, title, and author of the book.

"So, what we propose to do is mount big rotating antennas, or aerials as you call them here, on the castle, and staff the place with huffduff boffins."
The duke frowns.

Page 258 of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

P.S. Tomorrow, I'll have pictures of the new haircut and *finally* silver color!

Silver: Getting Started.

So, first bleaching process down and it did better than I expected. Most of the green came out, but I failed at getting to all my roots on the back of my head. So, a second process it is... once my hair dries.

Just so you know what products I'm using, here's a picture.



I'm using MANIC PANIC FLASH LIGHTNING 40 vol. bleach. Since my hair is so short, I can get two processes out of one box.
To get the silver, I'm giving Stargazer in SILVERLOOK a try. Yes, I am aware that it looks a awfully purple in the picture. Such is the way to get silver. I promise.

I should have gotten a before picture but here's what my head looks like after one bleach process.



So, there's the update on the hair adventure. I'll keep them coming as I go on. I may do it all tonight or I may take a few days to get it done. I'm not sure on that yet. Till the next one!

Hiyo Silver Away!

I know it's been a while guys but I'm back! I had an out of town guest. I just wanted to do a quick post now and I'll come around tomorrow for Teaser Tuesday. Onward!

It's time to change my hair again. Nine weeks of green has been fun, but my life is changing so the hair is, too. The color of choice this time is silver. Tricky but should be fun. I'll be back with an update when I do it. But, for now, I'm off to eat dinner.

A Blast From The Past

For a brief stint between VHS tapes and the introduction of CDs and DVDs, there was another way to enjoy your movies at home. It came in the form of an 11.81" diameter, two-sided disc called LaserDisc. LaserDisc didn't do so well in the American market, but the Japanese loved it.

LaserDisc was the forerunner technology to CDs and DVDs, even if a bit cumbersome. I've watched one LaserDisc in my life. It was in a middle school science class and the book had a LD that accompanied it.

So, on to the point of this post. I've been going through everything I own and throwing things that I don't need or want out in preparation for the move I'll be making across the country next year. Yes... I know... I'm jumping the gun, but what I do now means less to do then when I'm all in a tizzy about the wedding. It's been kind of therapeutic to get rid of useless shit. And, hey, we all need some therapy sometimes.

So, I'm just plowing through all this stuff when I come across something I got from a friend about five years ago. It entertains me to no end every time I find this thing again. I bet you've guessed by now that it's a LaserDisc of some sort.

Well, you're exactly right. It is a LaserDisc. In fact, it is Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal on LaserDisc.


I'm thinking about framing it.

Teaser Tuesday!

I'm getting back on schedule with this. The book I'm currently reading has my nose stuck... no make that glued to it. You know the drill, kids.

Your mission should you choose to accept:
1) Grab the book you are currently reading.
2) Open said book to a random page.
3) Post two sentences from that page (no spoilers, please).
4) List the page number, title, and author of the book.

"Our coquilles arrived, filled with a wonderful rich concoction of seafood seasoned with exotic Mediterranean spices. Something about a good meal and a full-bodied wine always seemed to make me truly relaxed and mellow--and to dull my survival instincts exactly when I needed them sharpest."

Page 434 of The Magic Cricle by Katherine Neville.

Comparisons

Have you ever been told that you remind people of someone? Did that someone happen to be a pseudo-comic book character. I say pseudo-comic book character because she was introduced in the animated series before being adapted into the comic books.

Have you guessed who she is?



Yep, I'm talking about Dr. Harleen Quinzel.

The other day is was at the botanical garden working for my internship (which is half over!) and the person I was working with this week told me that I remind him of Harley. Apparently, my bounciness reminds people of her. Want to know the funny part of that?

I'm planning to go as Harley for Samhain one year. I like to sew so I'd be making the costume myself. The trouble is that I can't decide if I want to go for the original unitard that she wears or go all out and go this route.


So, who have you been compared to?

Getting Organized

The other night I had a freak out moment. One of those moments where you go OMG-I-haven't-worked-on-planning-this-shindig-for-months. Needless to say, it lit a fire under my arse to get organized and start knocking things out. I've got a list of things to do going and am adding to it with the help of already married friends. An Excel spreadsheet is made to keep track of budget and spending. There's still a lot to do, but I'm not freaking out anymore.

Things that are done (or nearly at completion) are:

Wedding dress is bought! I'm still gathering what I need to make the modifications I want without actually cutting/sewing the dress. By the way, I absolutely love my dress. It's from Alfred Angelo and is now discontinued. Not to mention, I got it at a steal of a price.

Alfred Angelo style 1144 - discontinued

The champagne colored train is detachable and I don't have it. It's fine because it's perfect without the extra length.

Ceremony location is set but not paid for. There are still some important details, like what time we want to do it, that need to be worked out. So, barring the Botanical Garden offering to give me the Conservatory for free (a girl can dream, right?), the Ringgold Wedding Chapel is our ceremony location.

We've mostly decided on a reception location. I just need to keep that fire lit long enough to call them and get all the details about things. Screw sit down dinners. We're going bowling!


I have just about all of the paper goods to do the invitations. I'm just missing the RSVP envelopes. Invitations can be printed as soon as the locations and times are set in stone. And, considering they don't get sent out till January, I've got time on those.

The guestlist is set! We just have to track down addresses and phone numbers for everyone. Again, the invites aren't going out till January, so there's time to go yet.

So, some stuff is done and we still have a lot of work to do, but I'm confident that once the big things are set that everything else will fall into place.

What were the little things that came up for you?

Call Me The Crazy Plant Lady.

I'm doing my internship at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia here in Athens. Let me tell you, I'm having a blast with it. I get the feeling that a number of my upcoming posts are going to be filled with pictures from the garden. Let's start now!

Goofing off while processing some MetalPhoto plates.

Please disregard my silly face. :)

Begonia 'Metallic Mist'

Tradescantia pallida 'Pale Puma'

Tibouchina

Phalaenopsis hybrida

These are just a few plants that I've come across in the greenhouses this week. Trust me there are plenty more pictures to come. With 7 1/2 weeks to go on my internship, I have plenty of time to take more pictures to show off.

What is your favorite plant?