Water Stations Past, Present And Future

So I realized that I tell y'all about stuff, but that I'm very bad at following up with on-going sorts of things.

Yesterday was the Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon. I had eighteen volunteers made up of my co-workers and their friends and family. We got to our site at 5 in the morning. With the help of another group, we set up tables, filled barrels full of water, lined the tables with cups and filled those with water for the runners. We watched the 1/2 Marathoners run by for a while before we started to get our own runners. We handed out water and cheered on runners. We worked in the rain. We picked up trash.

By 10 a.m. it felt like about 2 p.m. They ended up closing the race early because of the weather, but all of my volunteers were very good sports. We were out there until about 11, and we dropped the supply truck off at homebase at about 12:30.

All in all, it went very well, and I think there was only a short period of time when people were standing around without anything to do. It's funny how different an event is when you're "in charge of it" as opposed to just participating.

I still got that surge of inspiration from watching all of those people go by, from the lone wheelchair racer to the last three people who were limping past us but didn't want to give up, even though they wouldn't complete the full 26.2 miles. It was an amazing experience, and I thank all of my volunteers who came out and helped us to be a part of it.

"Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue."

At least that is what Viktor Frankl says in his book Man's Search For Meaning. We can only experience happiness by ceasing to try to achieve it. Happiness comes upon one once she stops living life for her own selfish satisfaction and devotes it to others or some life work or cause.

It's an interesting concept. I don't know if I agree wholeheartedly with the sacrifice part. But I do think that happiness eludes those who chase it.

I believe that happiness comes in moments. Happiness is not a state of mind; or something that can be captured. You can't will it. Can't pursue it. Can only wait for it to come. Instead it's a few minutes of reflection, of stepping outside ofyourself, and looking around and realizing that you enjoy the company of those surrounding you. Or that there is nothing you would change about a particular moment in time. Sometimes I think we don't even realize happiness until the moment is past. Looking back on a memory and realizing that we were utterly content for those minutes or hours. Utterly satisfied.

Happiness is fleeting. I'm trying to learn to recognize and value the moments as they come. Those memories of happiness are what make the rest of life worth what it costs us.

The Game

Only relevant because I've read the Neil Strauss pick up artist novel. And apparently absorbed much more than I thought possible.

But what's the point without a worthy adversary?

Try this. You won't regret it. But you will regret it if you don't.

A Word On Words (or Look What The EmoMul Got Me)

So. I like words. I don't know if I ever spend much time pontificating about it here, but I do. I love the English language. I love words. I love what people do with them and what they don't do with them and how changing one suffix or prefix or word in one sentence can change the entire meaning.
That being said, I get pretty excited about rap music and what rappers do to words.
I got very excited about Timbaland's use of the word "fi-hot" in the new song, "Carry Out." I imagined it as the combo of "fine" and "hot". (Because the first thing I do when I hear a new word is picture the spelling in my head). I was about to use this new word in an email, but then I had to do a lyric search to make sure that I was getting it right. Because if there's anything I hate, it's getting words wrong.
So I started looking up lyrics, and it turns out that it's not "fi-hot" as in "fine" and "hot". It's actually "fire hot," but the way Timbo pronounces it you lose the "r". Of course I was disappointed to have interpreted the word wrong and couldn't put it in my email after discovering so. When I told the EmoMul this story, she was all, "Why don't you just make up your own word? Blah blah blah. Urban Dictionary. Do do do."
But for some reason I can't. I like words, I like other people's creativity with them, and every so often I am creative with language myself, but I can't take credit for creativity that was really just a misinterpretation...
All that back-story just so you'd know what this was about:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fi'hot

This Is A Story And You're Not In It, Uh Huh

Ok. It's not a story. That's just a line from a song by Frightened Rabbit that gets stuck in my head all of the time.

I'm running a water station for the Country Music Marathon. I'm about to make a list of all of the tasks that this will require. I like this, because it keeps my brain busy. I like having something constructive taking up my headspace. It's so rare.

I'm reading The Catcher In The Rye for this month's book club. Jesus, Holden Caulfield is wordy. Some of it I can still relate to even at this age, some of it I'm like, "When are you going to shut up, Holden?" I remember reading it in high school and not getting what the big deal was. I hope to get more out of it this time.

Tony's niece and nephew are coming to work with me on Thursday for Kids' Day. I'm also volunteering as a group leader, so I'll be spending the day with a bunch of 8 year olds. Volunteering all over the place for me. Should be fun.

The winter has left me chubbier instead of in better shape. This does not bode well. Life seems to always get in the way of health. I don't know how I did it two years ago, but I need to get back to the magical dedication and will power I had going on then.

My dog has a mohawk. It's starting to grow on me. He pulls it off pretty well, but it still takes me a second to figure out why people are staring at us on our walks.

Vampire Weekend

"It's kind of surface-y. It's great to listen to in your car. After a few beers."
-Meghasus (on the music of the above mentioned artist)

Country Music Marathon

In my effort to do, and be involved, and and and and, I decided to organize volunteers from my office for a water station at the Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon this year. I have volunteered twice before, and both times it was a very amazing, inspirational experience.

Through several annoying mass emails, I have rallied enough troops (10) from my workplace to man a water station. I'm a little disappointed that we're going to be in the back half and won't see as many runners as I have previously (at Mile 4); nevertheless, I am looking forward to it, and I think that it's still going to be really cool to see this totally different part of the race.

I just went to the first meeting today after work, and you are looking at the blog of a Water Station Captain. That is right. Looks like the Yacht Rock Captain shirt that I bought two weeks ago was but a portent of titles to come. A lot more work goes into everything than anyone ever realizes. I got a little nervous at the beginning of the presentation, then got pumped up, then got a little disappointed as I realized that my group wasn't big enough to work on its own, and that we'd be grouped with other small groups, but I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I go meet up with my "Sector Coordinator" tomorrow to check out our site, Water Station 14 (between miles 19 and 20) of the course, and to meet the captains from the other two groups. Coordinating the tasks between three different captains should be interesting, but I'm excited to see where we're going to be and who we'll be teamed up with. Also, the more I think about it the more comfortable I feel about having more people than I'd anticipated at the station.

I still need more volunteers, so if you're interested, hit me up! And if not, you'll be hearing about it at least!

I Am In A Shitty Mood

Last week the weather made life better. Today it made it hard to come to work. My weekend was...I don't know. It wasn't bad at all, but I still have this overall crappy feeling about it. Is it pms making me so negative? Stepping into my office today I heard myself let out an audible sigh of dismay. I just didn't want to be here today. And I'm noticing in every picture and mirror that I've gained back all of the weight that I lost. The harder I try to eat well, the more difficult it becomes to do so. Why can I not resist temptation? Why do health and social activities never seem to coincide with each other?
Gah. I hate feeling like this, and I hate thinking this way.
Maybe walking my dog will help readjust my attitude? And make me feel better about my puffy face? Let's hope.