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August 26, 2007
Survived
Over the course of 29 hours and 57 minutes, I walked three legs totaling about 15.5 miles, slept for about 3 hours while lying on a tarp, and roamed through hilly forests beneath a clouded over sky.
This was a walking-only relay, any team caught running would be disqualified. The fastest race walkers can average less than 7 minutes per mile. My team was not trying to win, but some people who did this last year hoped to beat that time -- 30 hours. We did it by a few minutes. On my fastest leg, I averaged about 12:30 per hour, which is pretty fast for someone untrained in speed walking. I'm embarrassed to say it's not that far off from my running speed in the half marathon I completed earlier this year.
My team, "Hot off the Press," was sponsored by my newspaper. I was the youngest person on the team by at least 10 years, and several people were 30 or more years older than me. I don't think the age difference really mattered, though. This was a fit and fun group of men and women, and I really enjoyed spending my time with them.
When I got home I slept for 20 hours.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2007
sooooooo tired
With four hours of sleep to bolster me, this morning I head off on a 30 hour adventure: the Portland to Coast relay walk. I hope that my team and I all survive.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 03:15 AM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2007
Long weekend
Ben and I just got back from Eugene via Corvallis, after spending pretty much the entire day helping Rian move. She's going to start taking classes at the University of Oregon this fall.
Right now I'm tired and a little grumpy after spending half of my weekend in the car or lifting heavy things. I'm also feeling grateful. Rian is a good friend. Ben is a good husband. What's a little exhaustion, anyways?
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:38 PM | Comments (2)
August 18, 2007
Mortgages and Shakespeare
Here's a really interesting conversation about what happens when mortgages are sold.
In other news, I saw The Taming of the Shrew this afternoon with some Daily Newsers visiting from Longview. I've seen it before, but this was an interesting performance. That play is jaw-droppingly sexist, but it's also very funny. I can't quite bring myself to be mad at someone for being sexist 400 years ago, though. I think it was a common condition at the time.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
SAT flashbacks
Today I auditioned for a part-time SAT prep teaching job. I had to prepare a five minute presentation, and depending on how I did I may or may not be called back for an official interview. My presentation was on how to homebrew beer. I didn't really put a lot of prep work into it, so I probably won't be called back. I guess we'll see.
I'm not really sure I want this job -- it's just an after work/weekends thing. I'm already pretty busy, but on the other hand a couple hundred extra bucks a month would allow me to buy the Dance Dance Revolution machine I want, plus some new furniture from IKEA and a few other fun things. I guess we'll see what happens.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2007
scattered thoughts on the economy and stuff
Laura and I spent a Tuesday in San Francisco on our drive across the country. In spring 2001 we walked from store to store in the middle of the work day afternoon, threading through young and well-dressed crowds. The bubble had burst, showering severance cash on laid-off dot commers who had nothing to do but spend it. So they shopped.
That winter, I met Susan and a friend of hers in Manhattan. We made a pilgrimage to the grave of the World Trade Center. Like many of Susan's classmates from Rice, this friend left college with a well-paying job at Enron. He wasn't working there anymore when he came to Manhattan. He wasn't working anywhere. Lots of people weren't.
I got a crappy job in Portland, it paid the bills. I guess I was lucky. It didn't feel that way. I mailed close to a hundred resumes in 2001 and early 2002. I couldn't get an interview anywhere. I met Ben, who one day got fed up with his boss and quit. He thought he'd be in demand. It took him six months to earn his next pay check.
Now there's all kinds of wailing about another recession. Global stock exchanges bounce up and down, mostly down. Home prices have plummeted in some places, and new construction is stalled nearly everywhere. Borrowing is more expensive and more difficult than anyone remembers. Mortgages are in default. Lenders teeter on the verge of bankruptcy. Central banks, when they act, are timid and ineffective.
Eventually age will mean sore joints, trifocals, a fuzzier mind, brittle bones and a fight against my waistline. The journey through my 20s, however, has left me with the warning signs of wrinkles, a steadier mind, a stronger career, cash in the bank, two cats and a husband, a handful of hobbies, and a city I love. I don't think we ever really know we were going through a recession until we've been in it for a while, but if that's what is happening now I'm finally ready to face it. I wasn't ready six years ago. It's hubristic of me, I know, but I'm not worried about the future at all.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:30 PM | Comments (1)
August 12, 2007
From zoink to Zork
We tried to go downtown today, but there's a massive bike race passing through the city and dominating all the bridges. Ben and I live on the east side, downtown is on the west side, and it would normally take a 15 minute drive to cross the Willamette River. Instead, we drove around for an hour. Every time we though we'd found a crossing, the road was blocked off. Even the I-405 bridge was shut down for the race. The one crossing that was supposed to be open was closed because of a car wreck.
So, instead of swimming and playing basketball as planned, we came home and had some eggs. Then I downloaded Zork III, which I will probably spend the rest of Sunday playing.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2007
Coffee, eggs, meteors
Ben and I have fallen into a Saturday routine. We roll out of bed late in the morning and head to Portland's best coffee shop.
Then we go downtown, get a couple of loafs of fresh bread from Great Harvest, and pick up our weekly allotment of fresh fruits and vegetables at the Portland Farmers Market.
I've been looking for eggs at the farmers market for a long time, but they usually sell out early in the morning. Today we finally got a dozen, assorted sizes and colors from a diverse bunch of hens.
Tomorrow we'll be having omelets with the basil and tomatoes that we picked up this morning. Mmmmm.
Until then: the Perseids. Tonight and tomorrow are the best nights for watching this annual meteor shower, but you should be able to watch the shooting stars any time in the next week, if you can find a dark enough night sky.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:20 PM | Comments (3)
August 09, 2007
Sam Adams
Yesterday I shook hands with a Portland city commissioner. I guess these Society of Professional Journalists meetings take place in a happening place.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2007
Dancing maniacs
Ben and I spent about two hours jumping around like orangutans on meth today. We were playing Dance, Dance Revolution, the only video game I've ever played that's given me sore calves and sweaty clothes. We played as beginners and still missed a lot of steps. Then these 16-year-old boys got on the machine and showed us how it's really done, swaying and darting and bobbing like nothing I've ever seen. "I've been here almost every day for five years," one of them said. I'm not sure my finances can sustain that kind of relationship with a video arcade, but I'm really tempted to buy the home version of the game.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:18 PM | Comments (5)
August 01, 2007
Rabbit Rabbit
A year ago today, Ben and I were in Whitefish, Montana, on our honeymoon. Tonight, I'm surfing the web white he assembles a chair named Poang. We are becoming IKEA addicts.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:38 PM | Comments (1)