Just Keep Shambling...

When I was a kid I use to run a lot. I loved it. My favorite time of year in elementary was track and field.  In Minnesota the best time to run was Autumn, the grass crunches under your feet, you can hear the wind, fall leaves abound and it was crisp you could feel your lungs when you breathed in. At least that's how it was when  I was young.
I don't know what happened in high school, but I didn't run as much. I felt like everyone was better or faster. I spent a lot of time at block 8 in the dark room. I will forever be grateful to Brother Coffey for being a patient intro to arts and photography teacher, and high school is a blog for another day.
When I got to Hawaii there was the ocean, I spent a lot of time in the water or near the water. I wasn't some super athlete by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a good place to be. I still didn't run regularly and if I did it was down the beach in short sprints.
I've always felt better after a run. There is a whole lot of science to explain why someone feels better after exercise. I don't think we are meant to sit still. Yet for a multitude of reasons I feel into the trap of sitting still.
I haven't been running in a while, and I'm trying to start up again. As I write this I've gone out running two days in a row. However, when I say running I more mean shambling. A combination of sprinting, walking, jogging and putting one foot after the other. Consistency and me have never been bedfellows.
I've decided this is something I will do and need as a part of my life. I may not be consistent but I am stubborn. One thing that has been helpful for me is a running app I discovered a little while back, Zombies Run!  The premise of the game is you are a runner in a post apocalyptic world you go out gather supplies and complete missions. Then from those supplies you get to build your base. The story line is engaging the characters endearing. It's broken down into seasons and they are working on season 4 at the moment. In season 1 there was one cliff hanger that got me and I ended up doing a second mission that day. It also keeps pretty decent stats, how far you've gone, where you've been, how long your average mile or Kilometer was over the course of the mission. You can also choose to share as little or as much information from the app on whatever social media platform you happen to use. Today's mission will consists of rescuing some folks from a cruise ship. Works for me.
Do you shamble, Run, Walk briskly? Tips on getting moving are welcomed. There is only so much I can find out from google.

Get lost! Episode 1 In which I finally go to The Museum in Fillmore.

Recently, I was driving up from Southern Nevada to Utah Valley. I got back into an old habit that I had been neglecting, getting lost. Getting lost is where I take some time to go explore or see something I haven't seen before. I normally find out something new about the area I'm in and it helps me learn a little bit about myself along the way.

Fillmore Utah

So while passing through Fillmore Utah my daughter and I spotted a playground. I think we both felt a little better after mucking about on the playground. Then we went down the road and stopped at the old State capitol which has been converted to a state park you can check out their website here, Territorial Statehouse Park.  I love finding out about the history of an area. I use to run a heritage museum and you find out a lot about a community and where they come from when you get involved in the local history.
One thing I loved about the museum is that on the ground floor was quite a few original photos of the settlers of the area. I appreciate the museum had them somewhere were there was little to no natural light hitting the photos. U.V. light is death for photos. Many institutions are switching over to L.E.D lights to help prevent damage to artifacts and photos.

I found one of my Husband's relatives on the wall. 

Also coming up in November I get to go to Teslacon! This year's theme is Wild Wild West. While I was wondering through the museum all the inspiration hit. From civil war era guns to finding out what a cooper is (-a barrel maker) and  it got me thinking about how to piece together my own medical kit for a character I'm developing.

  

However a toddler's attention span only lasts so long. So we got back on the road and slept in our own bed's for the night. We woke up the next morning and got on the road again. We were heading to Thermopolis Wyoming for a dear friend's engagement party. 

Somewhere in Wyoming...

We took WY 28 to get where we were going. Not the loneliest road in the U.S. but felt close to it. I wish I had taken more photos but I was distracted by getting where I was going. Earlier in the trip we saw antelope, prairie dogs, deer, and lots of unidentified roadkill.  Thermopolis itself seems to be filled with the nicest people on the planet and I appreciate all the hospitality and kindness that was shown to me. It is also home to Wyoming Dinosaur's Center and Natural Hot Springs.

I'm going to start making a habit of getting lost and exploring what's around me. See you out there.

Works in Progress

     This past November I dallied with the idea of participating in national write a novel month (nanowrimo).  I started with an idea that I had my senior year of high school. Then life happened, my daughter learned how to walk and a few days later learned to run. At the time I was still involved with a couple of other project that devoured my time. November came and went and I kept writing. 8 months later and a grand total of 50000 words I finished my novel. Now in July I've done the first rough edit of the piece and I'll begin trying to find readers for feedback and editing.

     The last time I wrote anythng creative was my senior year of college and before that a badly written spy novel when I was 12. There are a few things that I've always wanted to be when I grow up. One of them was a writer. So I've started working on projects that fall in the realm of steampunk and fantasy and I'm going to start taking every opportunity to write and read as much as I can. So if you have something that needs reading or have any interest in reading what I've been working on let me know!

Works in Progress

The Clockwork Eye  

Synopsis; A pirate, socialite, escort and gypsy take on one of the major crime syndicates operating in London.

Current status; in Edit.

The Retriever 

Current storyline; Retriever's go and collect overdue library books by any means necessary.

Current Status; Writing first draft.

The Verbalist

Current Status; building the world. No longer holds my interest

The Prism Throne

Current Status; building the Mythos for the world.

The top ten songs played on my computer.

Recently I've been exposed to a lot of new music, Portland is a cradle for new musicians of the indie variety. Tends to welcome touring bands with open arms and evens allows for street performances of all varieties.
So The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra is worth checking out, they were passing through Portland from Canada and were a blast to play with at the Backspace. TMO has a great on stage presence. For those of you familiar with Great Big Sea, TMO reminds me of them but not. If you are not familiar with Great Big Sea check out one of my all time favourite songs by them The Old Black Rum.
Started thinking about the different music I'm into and opened up itunes to see what I've been listening to recently, and what are the songs played the most often.
So following in the ways of High Fidelity,

The top 10 songs played on my computer;

1. Under Pressure - David Bowie & Queen

2. The Sound of Settling -Death Cab for Cutie

3. Still Alive -Jonathan Coulton

4. The Legionnaire's Lament -The Decemberists

5. Yellow Submarine -The Beatles 

6. Cranes  -Warsaw Village Band

7. Birthday Cake -Cibo Matto

8. My Hero -Foo Fighters

9. Start Wearing Purple -Gogo Bordello

10. The Chemical Worker's Song -Great Big Sea

This list excludes songs from All the Apparatus, I love our songs, and it goes without saying. Also I didn't put doubles on the list some of these artist had multiple songs, cough *The Beatles* cough, and doesn't include songs I listen to while I'm out and about.

Homesick? I've got an answer.

I've been homesick... Bad. One of the few remedies I've found is food from home. 

Last night Jon made Manapua, also known as Chinese Bao or steam buns. When we lived in Hawaii one of our pastimes was making 7-11 runs, Manapua and Spam Musubi were some of our favourites. So along with those classics he has also made Kailua pork, Chicken Katsu, and Shoyu Chicken. The amazing thing about Jon is it seems like every dish he tries to make turns out amazing. I can manage in the kitchen but Jon has it developed into an art. Home doesn't seem so far away when one of these dishes is in front of me.

We have a little japanese store not to far from us (Uwajimaya) We've found all sorts of goodies here. From li hing mui gummi apples, to Milo! Food from New Zealand is a little harder to come by hence my excitment over Milo which is a chocolate drink mix found throughout most of the south pacific. Also biscuits like Tim Tam's have started showing up on the mainland. They can only ship them to the U.S. during the winter cause they tend to melt in transit but it's great that they are available.  Also my little sisters live in Australia at the moment, and when they can they send me lollies and dark forest chocolate. 

I'd post pictures of all this, but it's normally gone by the time I think too.

I'm hoping in the near future Jon and I will be able to go back to Hawaii to at least visit, and I still need to take Jon to N.Z. 

Just thought I'd share.