Kindergarchy.

The Kinderarchy: Every child a dauphin, by Joseph Epstein.

I agree. More on this topic later, as time allows.

Can a family eat on $100 a week?

This article from MSN money has a woman trying to feed her family of four on $100 a week. It's an interesting read...

Missoula half marathon results

My finishing time was 2:17:48. I cut three minutes off my time of 2:20:50 from last year. Would have been more, but I wasted close to five minutes in line for the port-o-potty - I've never had to stop during a race for a bathroom break, but this time I wasn't convinced that I could wait until the end to tinkle... (How's that for too much information?)

I'm proud of how much stronger I was at the end of the race this year. Last year I was inching along during the last mile, and I was completely exhausted. This year I felt strong clear to the end of the race, and I was even able to sprint it in at the finish line. Recovery was much better this year too - last year my legs were excruciatingly stiff and painful the day of the race, and I was wobbly and sore for a good week after. This year I my knees were a little sore the day of, and my leg muscles were stiff for a day or so, but by Wednesday I felt fine.

Hooray!

Montag looked at the river. We'll go on the river. He looked at the old railroad tracks. Or we'll go that way. Or we'll walk on the highways now, and we'll have time to put things into ourselves. And someday, after it sets in us a long time, it'll come out our hands and our mouths. And a lot of it will be wrong, but just enough of it will be right. We'll just start walking today and see the world and the way the world walks around and talks, the way it really looks. I want to see everything now. And while none of it will be me when it goes in, after a while it'll all gather together inside and it'll be me. Look at the world out there, my God, my God, look at it out there, outside me, out there beyond my face and the only way to really touch it is to put it where it's finally me, where it's in the blood, where it pumps around a thousand times ten thousand a day. I get hold of it so it'll never run off. I'll hold onto the world tight someday. I've got one finger on it now; that's a beginning.

-Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Books, books, books...

For two months I've been meaning to get to the library to check out some books. I've been jonesing for something new to read lately, and I'm a fast enough reader that I hate to buy books - it's gets expensive quick. However, last week at work I was desperate for a story, so I went to Borders on my break. I bought three books; Fahrenheit 451, Wuthering Heights, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames. (The first two are in an effort to keep up with my goal of reading the "100 books you should have already read," and the last is the new David Sedaris book.)

I was reading while in the bath the other day, and I dropped my book in the water. I yelped in surprise, and Luis poked his head into the bathroom to see what the stir was. After I told him I dropped my book in the tub, he asked what I was reading. I replied "Fahrenheit 451," and he burst out laughing. It is kind of funny that I drenched a book about burning books.

I'm finished with Fahrenheit 451 now (great book), and halfway through the Sedaris. I *heart* reading.

Second Missoula half marathon.

Tomorrow morning, 6:00 am - my second half marathon (13.1 miles).

Forecast for race start is 49° and sunny. Should be a great day.


race map
missoula marathon website

Wish me luck!

Mount Sentinel burns.

The most recognizable landmark in Missoula caught fire last evening around 7pm. The grasses and brush covering the face of Mount Sentinel were perfect tinder, and the fire spread and sprawled across the mountainside as the evening wore on.

The flames and smoke made for a spectacular show - it was mesmerizing to watch. All over town residents could be seen sitting on cars or in lawn chairs, cameras and cell phones trained on the slowly advancing blaze.

By this afternoon it looked as though they had the fire mostly contained, a pair of helicopters dousing the last of the hot spots with water dipped from the nearby Clark Fork river. The fire spread over nearly 400 acres of grassland on the western slope of the mountain.

The mountain will retain its' charred face for the next couple of years; perhaps it will serve to remind us how close we live to the land, and how important it is to tread lightly as we go.

Link to the article in today's Missoulian

Snibble, No. 3

I was at a department store the other day and found a super cute little khaki skirt on sale. I took it to the fitting room and eagerly stepped into it, only to discover that there were tiny pants sneakily hidden on the inside. (I'll delve into the realm of "too much information" here and say that it felt a little bit like wearing a skirt with a giant diaper... bulky and unpleasant.)
It's a depressing notion that I'm old enough to shop in the skort department. My mind has always linked skorts with soccer moms and - well, people older than me. I defiantly hung the skort on the "no, thanks" rack and went in search of a strappy tank top or some ridiculously cute shoes - decidedly more youthful selections than the scary skirtpants.

Happy Fourth of July!

Sparklers. Photo taken July 4, 2006.

My workday is finally drawing to a close... a Fat Tire and a hamburger await me at a barbecue with friends. Have a safe and happy 4th!