This Wednesday’s Excuse Is… February 28, 2008

…fender bender!

At first, I thought I’d go to the gym in the basement at the office. I was just supposed to do a 45 minute tempo run and those aren’t too bad (tempo runs, according to www.halhigdon.com, start off nice and easy then slowly build up in speed to the halfway point, then slow back down). The thing is, the office gym is very tiny – more than two people in there starts to feel pretty crowded. Plus, if someone has put a CD in the stereo, I have to crank up the volume on the ol’ iPod so loud that I can’t help but think that it’s dangerous to my hearing. Anyhow, there were already two people in the gym, and they had the stereo blasting “Whip It Good.”  Nothing against “Whip It Good” but A) it makes me think of Mr. Smithers from the Simpsons and B) it’s just not my kind of workout or running music. So, I opted to load up the car and head for the rec center gym where I can run without anybody invading my personal space and listen to my own tunes.

There’s an unpleasant intersection just a short way from work. The highway I need to make a right turn on is very busy, especially around rush hour. There is a right turn lane with yield sign there, which is where I ran into trouble. When I checked to make sure it was safe to go, I saw that there were cars coming that I hadn’t immediately noticed when starting to turn. I slowed down to a stop at the yield sign. The guy behind me did not.

We got off onto the shoulder pretty quickly. Judging by the (I thought) not inconsiderable jolt I had gotten when he hit me, I figured my back bumper at least would be totaled. As it turns out, a Toyota Matrix can take a hit like a champ. At least, that’s the way it appears so far. The sun was going down when the accident happened, so the light wasn’t great, but as far as either of us could tell, there are just a few scratches. I’ll check again in the morning when the light is good. We exchanged information (turns out we work for the same company – he was leaving work, too) and we both left.

I drove straight home, told Matt all about it, and started laying out this post about Wednesday’s excuse for not training. I knew I was probably still in at least a little bit of shock still when I got home, and I know that shock can mask injury sometimes, so I figured it probably wasn’t a great idea to engage in 45 minutes of high impact aerobic exercise right away. My head snapped back when the car got hit, which was why I figured the damage to the car would have been more serious. Now, seriously, the back of my neck is getting a bit sore and stiff. Not a lot, just enough to make me worry that I might actually have a touch of whiplash, if that’s even actually possible. (Can you have a “touch” of whiplash? Or is like being pregnant…you ARE or you ARE NOT?) The smart bet is that I’m fine. In the morning, I’ll probably be able to chalk up the stiffness to mild hypochondria. Guess I’ll have to let you know then, huh?

You Never Know February 21, 2008

One of the phrases I use often is “Well, you never know….” Because, well, you don’t. One thing leads to another and things happen. It’s neat, really.

It can be a lot of fun to start something new and wonder what, if anything will happen because of it. For example, this blog… I put up this blog mostly for my own amusement. I comment on my training for the half marathon, books I’m reading, video games I’m playing, and whatever shiny object has caught my attention for the moment. You know, typical blog fodder.

Well, somehow, my review of Gertude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations caught the attention of the editor for Internet of Book Reviews. Long story short, we exchanged a couple emails and now he’s sending me a book to read and review for his website. It’s not a paid gig, but I get to pick the book to review, and I get to keep the book! Free book! Woo hoo!

The book he’d like me to review is already in the mail and should be here next week. So… cool! Yours truly is moving from amateur book critic to semi-professional book critic! Even if this is the only book review I write, as long as it gets published, I think I can probably legitimately claim to be a part-time freelance book critic, or a semi-professional book critic, or something like that.

Who knew? I didn’t – ’cause you never know!

Bend the Round Evolves… February 8, 2008

I started this blog on a sorta-whim. Some of the coolest people I know have blogs, and I enjoy the hell out them.

I wanna be cool kid, too! So I did no research and slapped this one up on WordPress to monkey around with and see what happened. It started out to be just a place for me to record some of the nutty things I think of in my spare time. The nuttiness is still hanging about, but as I continued to tinker, Bend the Round turned into the place where I keep track of my progress on my various New Year’s Resolutions – particularly, my quest to run 500 miles in 2008, run a sub-2 hr 20 min half marathon, and read 100 books. It also contains a few video game reviews, reports on stuff on the web that entertains me, and The List…my list of books I’d like to read. I’ve never seen it all on one page before. Is it bad to be a little intimidated by your own recreational To Read list??

While in it’s absolute infancy, I didn’t really tell anybody about Bend the Round. I mentioned it to some family, my charming boyfriend, and that’s about it. I’m a little more comfortable with the whole thing now, so I think I’m going to broadcast it a little more, just to see if anybody is interested in it. They probably won’t be… but you never know. It’d be REALLY cool to get some comments going on books and I’m always up for another source of good book suggestions.

So I’m opening this sucker up today by emailing the link to friends and family and posting a note about it on my Facebook page. (Yes, I have a MySpace page, but only because two people insist on keeping their personal blogs there and I’d like to keep up with both of them. Otherwise, I’d close my account immediately. I freakin’ hate MySpace.)

I’m hoping that some of you come by and read this because I’d like your opinion on something – privacy. I’m not an advocate of putting too much personal information out on the ol’ interwebs. So far, I think I’ve used one first name in all my posts. I haven’t specifically identified where I live or where I’m from. Bend the Round is pretty locked down. Should it be locked down to this level? What do you think is reasonable? I have no intention of posting phone numbers or social security numbers up here – that’s obviously insane… but a certain level of information is probably both safe and helps with readability. For example, if I’m relating an amusing anecdote, it’d be pretty tiresome to label people Friend #1, Friend #2, or My Buddy from Philly, etc. Do you think first names and maybe last name initials are OK? That’s the way I’m leaning… Hey, some of your names could wind up here, so let me know what you think!

Welcome to Bend the Round January 3, 2008

This is where I record the madness. The madness being notes on any of my varied interests, photos I find neat, books I’m reading, blogs I’m enjoying, TV shows I’m into, movies I love and/or can’t wait for…in short, whatever happens to be rattling ’round the ol’ noggin. It’s a random place. Enjoy it. Or don’t, and go away. But I hope you do enjoy it.