Marathon Monday= Low productivity
Despite my best efforts, this day has been rather low in terms of ability to concentrate. So I am just going to post a bunch of randomness.
1. First of all, the weather is awful. Cold and rainy...I definitely feel bad for all of the runners. They are, of course, insane to run a marathon in the first place, and even more ambitious to run in these conditions. Of course, I envy these runners, and I felt kind of sheepish walking to Starbucks this afternoon, watching the runners pass by. However, I am getting better at accepting my lack of athletic prowess, as far as running goes. I love tennis and squash and soccer, but running I just cannot do well. Last year, I was a maniac about working out/running. I ran for an hour every day, through November, until it started snowing. Then I took it inside and ran on ellipticals. The only redeeming thing was that I felt good about myself and I listened to my i-pod. But otherwise, I HATED it.
And then I went to France, and discovered that it was much more fun to just walk. A LOT. In walking you can still listen to music, look at people/nature without running past it, and still feel good about yourself. Many Frenchwomen do not "work out" the traditional sense, but they are always on the move, so they stay trim. Although...this can also be attributed to a diet low in actual food and high in cigarettes. :)
Paris is a great city in which to walk. You take the metro to get to a particular arrondissement, but once you are there, you walk and walk and walk. You have so much fun walking around and people-watching that you do not realize that you have been walking for 3-4 hours straight. Then you go and sit in a cafe and not feel bad about ordering a cappuccino and croissant because you will easily walk it off.
And you all know that my favorite place to walk is in the Jardin du Luxembourg. The array of people there is amazing: little French children and their nannies, old men playing chess, tennis players, university students spread out on the grass, children racing sailboats on the pond in front of the palais. I have even seen a few beautiful brides there, having their wedding photos taken. The Frenchmen who guard the palais are often very attractive, too. ;)
I also recommend the Louvre for walking...that place is so huge that you can walk in there for hours on end (I know, because I got lost in there...I ended up in some 17th century furniture exhibit after hours of looking for 18th century French paintings).
2. I have consumed too much coffee today, which for me is very difficult to do. But now I have an upset stomach and that sort of acidic feeling, as if the lining of my stomach were wearing. I also seem to have eaten a lot more fruit today relative to other types of food, which makes this worse. Acidic feeling from oranges + acidic feeling from coffee = ugh
3. I am excited to go home for the summer and be with the family. First of all, I am looking forward to helping out my sisters with their children. I do not feel that I "owe" them, but I do have this sense of responsibility, this almost filial devotion to them. It seems to make sense in relation to Kristie, since she is 13 years older than I, and my godmother. Kelly has already enlisted me to babysit Connor, which I am happy to do. Basically, I just want to see all of them. Ever since their marriages/motherhood, I feel even more a need for them, or at least a need not to lose them.
Sadly, Michael, my little brother and the only other single person in my family, will not be home this summer. This is particularly bad news for me since Michael is my single source of fun. Last summer we went to the movies, theme parks, Starbucks, bookstores, etc...basically all of my favorite places. Michael is so easy-going and obliging that he basically does not care where I drag him. He's a great friend (particularly in the Stephanie definition) because he is not clingy at all, gives me my space, and is willing to do just about anything. Well, this summer he has a great internship at Boston College, so in this respect I am very happy for him. However, this means that I will be home alone with my parents. Between my internship, law school apps and being the "only child", yeah...
4. I really miss all of those years doing theater and acting. The "acting bug" is a chronic condition, and there is no rush that really compares to that which you experience when you are on stage.
5. Maybe I should volunteer at the nursing home again this summer. That experience was an amazing mix of moments of both sadness and amusement. Madame Francoise's death reminded me of that--of the loneliness of the elderly, how they are among the least valued in the society but can be such a source of inspiration.
Ok, now I really need to work on something.
1. First of all, the weather is awful. Cold and rainy...I definitely feel bad for all of the runners. They are, of course, insane to run a marathon in the first place, and even more ambitious to run in these conditions. Of course, I envy these runners, and I felt kind of sheepish walking to Starbucks this afternoon, watching the runners pass by. However, I am getting better at accepting my lack of athletic prowess, as far as running goes. I love tennis and squash and soccer, but running I just cannot do well. Last year, I was a maniac about working out/running. I ran for an hour every day, through November, until it started snowing. Then I took it inside and ran on ellipticals. The only redeeming thing was that I felt good about myself and I listened to my i-pod. But otherwise, I HATED it.
And then I went to France, and discovered that it was much more fun to just walk. A LOT. In walking you can still listen to music, look at people/nature without running past it, and still feel good about yourself. Many Frenchwomen do not "work out" the traditional sense, but they are always on the move, so they stay trim. Although...this can also be attributed to a diet low in actual food and high in cigarettes. :)
Paris is a great city in which to walk. You take the metro to get to a particular arrondissement, but once you are there, you walk and walk and walk. You have so much fun walking around and people-watching that you do not realize that you have been walking for 3-4 hours straight. Then you go and sit in a cafe and not feel bad about ordering a cappuccino and croissant because you will easily walk it off.
And you all know that my favorite place to walk is in the Jardin du Luxembourg. The array of people there is amazing: little French children and their nannies, old men playing chess, tennis players, university students spread out on the grass, children racing sailboats on the pond in front of the palais. I have even seen a few beautiful brides there, having their wedding photos taken. The Frenchmen who guard the palais are often very attractive, too. ;)
I also recommend the Louvre for walking...that place is so huge that you can walk in there for hours on end (I know, because I got lost in there...I ended up in some 17th century furniture exhibit after hours of looking for 18th century French paintings).
2. I have consumed too much coffee today, which for me is very difficult to do. But now I have an upset stomach and that sort of acidic feeling, as if the lining of my stomach were wearing. I also seem to have eaten a lot more fruit today relative to other types of food, which makes this worse. Acidic feeling from oranges + acidic feeling from coffee = ugh
3. I am excited to go home for the summer and be with the family. First of all, I am looking forward to helping out my sisters with their children. I do not feel that I "owe" them, but I do have this sense of responsibility, this almost filial devotion to them. It seems to make sense in relation to Kristie, since she is 13 years older than I, and my godmother. Kelly has already enlisted me to babysit Connor, which I am happy to do. Basically, I just want to see all of them. Ever since their marriages/motherhood, I feel even more a need for them, or at least a need not to lose them.
Sadly, Michael, my little brother and the only other single person in my family, will not be home this summer. This is particularly bad news for me since Michael is my single source of fun. Last summer we went to the movies, theme parks, Starbucks, bookstores, etc...basically all of my favorite places. Michael is so easy-going and obliging that he basically does not care where I drag him. He's a great friend (particularly in the Stephanie definition) because he is not clingy at all, gives me my space, and is willing to do just about anything. Well, this summer he has a great internship at Boston College, so in this respect I am very happy for him. However, this means that I will be home alone with my parents. Between my internship, law school apps and being the "only child", yeah...
4. I really miss all of those years doing theater and acting. The "acting bug" is a chronic condition, and there is no rush that really compares to that which you experience when you are on stage.
5. Maybe I should volunteer at the nursing home again this summer. That experience was an amazing mix of moments of both sadness and amusement. Madame Francoise's death reminded me of that--of the loneliness of the elderly, how they are among the least valued in the society but can be such a source of inspiration.
Ok, now I really need to work on something.