Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Post in Which You Pay for Me to Get Shin Splints

So my few remaining readers, I haven't done much for you lately. I haven't posted, I haven't called, I never write, and here I am about to come begging to you...but part of the reason I haven't been writing is, I've been running.

For some reason (possibly insanity), getting out and running 26.2 miles in one stretch has always seemed like an appealing idea to me. The shin splints, the bunions, the lost toenails...who could want for more? But I never had a REALLY GOOD reason to run a marathon until now. That reason is Team in Training (and, my Uncle Bob -- but more on that later).

Team in Training is a fundraising arm of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which to date has raised $750 million for cancer research. But there's no cure for cancer yet, so people keep running, and donating, and getting bunions -- until there's no more cancer.

Lucky for you, I'm not asking you to bear any of the shin splints. I'll go out and do the training, the 13-mile runs in 13-degree weather running 13 laps around Central Park. And then in January, I"ll fly to Phoenix and run the marathon, all 26.2 bunion-causing miles of it. I'm getting psyched!

I'd just like you (or your generous tax-break-loving corporation!) to visit my page (www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/tntnycEschult) and, if you feel so moved, help me raise the $3,800 I need to raise to run the race. I'm at just over a thousand now -- where can you help me push this up to?

You can donate online, and the money goes to cancer research and patient support; if you have questions about how it's used there's an FAQ on the Team in Training page:

http://www.teamintraining.org/

Remember, this money goes not to me, but to the cause!

Supporting cancer research, to me, is not some amorphous good deed. I am running this race in honor of my uncle, who last year was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After chemo failed to do the trick, he received a bone-marrow transplant. My father was his bone marrow donor. I run in honor of my uncle and all the other people who have battled cancer. I know many of you have friends or family who have had cancer (or you've had it yourself), and you know what an important cause this is. Please forward this link to anyone else you think might be interested in making a donation to the L&L Society.

Thanks for listening to my little pitch, and I hope you'll visit my page...

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

9/11 Animated Memorial Film

My friend Becky was one of the animators on this 9/11 memorial short. On yet another anniversary, it is hard to know what to do or what to think, even now, about that day. Anyway, go have a look at her work, it's really lovely.

I'm in Ur Bed

Last night was a night like any other night. I got home from a long day of gym, work, errands, and laundry, and after talking to my parents, decided I needed to plug in my ailing, battery-weak phone.

I turned on the light in my bedroom, walked toward the outlet (which is on the far side of my bed), when I noticed a...creature....standing smack dab, proud, and huge on top of my pillow. Normally not afraid of bugs, this thing was so massive and gnarly that it took me by surprise and I let out a blood-curdling scream of the length and volume I normally save for rodent invaders.

This was no ordinary bug. This one was six -- possibly eight -- (and I am not exaggerating) inches long and had eyes so big and beady that I could see them from 10 feet away. I swore he was blinking at me. I think he even had...muscular legs. This was the Ben Johnson of bugs.

I ran to get a bag to capture him but soon realized that the mouth of grocery bag would not be big enough to successfully scoop him up. Verily, when I approached him with the bag, he TURNED HIS HEAD, looked at me, BLINKED with boredom, as if to say, "Oh yeah? What're you gonna do about it?" So I rummaged around and found a shoebox, trapped my prey, which was freakishly scuttling around inside the box, and scooted him outside where I tossed him as far as I could.

I'm not sure what it means that I found a preying mantis -- the bug that eats their mates' heads after copulation -- on my boyfriend's pillow. But, it did inspire to make this, my own little bug-y lolcat. Lolbug?