A few first ramblings about Seattle

Well, I've moved across the country and have started settling into my new life. This life involves a LOT of Ikea furniture. It also apparently involves me playing with my stamps a lot. So far, I've made a massive spreadsheet of all of my Yugoslavia and put them in chronological order - which is a really good idea, when the plan is to eventually accumulate enough to do a fairly decent rate study. I was shocked by how many of them I've managed to accumulate in a relatively short amount of time, given that they seem to trickle in a few at a time. Of course, this also encouraged me (as if I haven't spent enough this week already) to decide to start targeting some of the online auction sites a bit more aggressively.

So, if you're a stamp dealer who happens to have any Yugoslav covers mailed between 1988 and 1999ish, please give me a buzz!

I've also sat down and spent a bit of time thinking about how to revise a paper that I'm working on about the Thatcher Ferry Bridge stamp error litigation. What I mostly decided is that I want to go through the DOJ files at the National Archives as soon as I can - it's annoying that I LIVED in DC and never made it (granted, I was a bit busy this summer) out there and now need to plan a special trip across the country.

But, so far, Seattle is nice. I LOVE the weather, which is just as much like London as everyone always told me it would be: overcast, cool, sometimes a bit drizzly (I've been assured that soon, it will ALWAYS be drizzly), and so humid that you're sweating after five minutes. I love the house's location - living within a three-minute walk of a Trader Joe's AND a crunchy, granola co-op is just about the most wonderful thing that could have happened to me after so many years of it being hard to get groceries. I've managed to see a bit of the city while running errands; so far, my favorite thing was the crumpet and tea shop at Pike's Place Market. And, yes, I did stop to watch them throw the fish around. I can't wait to see more of the Market & try a lot of the food options. Plus, new housemate has been super awesome about taking me out places and making suggestions.

I've been running several times now. The local running store is only a 10-minute walk away and has running groups twice a week. I went on Thursday, which is the night that involves a post-run trip to the bar. That was lovely. I also ended up being the only person other than the organizer who showed up for another, Saturday, run around one of the lakes. Both runs were great, but I'm definitely slow compared to these other runners. I'm not ashamed of that and I know running with them will make me stronger, but I do kind of wonder where the other Penguins are? Do they not join running groups? Do they run with other groups? Or, are there fewer "recreational" runners in Seattle?

The other thing that will make me stronger (if they don't kill me first) are the hills. Dear god, the hills. THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM. AND THEY ARE SO STEEP. I WILL NEVER MOAN ABOUT DC'S CAPITOL HILL EVER AGAIN. I had to walk a good number of them on this morning's run, but I was pleased to make it 8 miles without falling over. It puts me more or less on track for the half marathon in October, by which point I will hopefully know what my spring racing season looks like - some runners from here are doing the Hollywood Half, which sounds pretty amazing, but we'll see...

The idea of a streak went down in flames when I realized that it really was not the best idea for me to keep pushing every day to run, even when I was still recovering from injury.

I've run several times since my last blog post, but yesterday was particularly memorable/stupid.

I had a form that needed to be turned in at school, a mile away, by 5:00. At 4:50, I left my house and, after waiting for Mr. Garmin to find some satellites, booked it in 80 degree weather, when I haven't been properly hydrating or feeding myself for several days (What? It's finals?). And then I felt like I was going to pass out when I stopped running. So, obviously, I walked for a bit, then started running again.

I was running along the sidewalk beside the Capitol reflecting "pond," when one of the sidewalk joins decided to leap up and trip me and I bit it hard - as did my iPhone, which now has a nice little scuff on one corner, but is otherwise happy. My knees and palms, not so much. I've got some huge sore spots just below my knees, but at least the bruising seems to have been avoided by the rapid application of frozen peas. God bless my special "only for injuries" bag of peas. And, of course, I still wanted to pass out from the heat, dehydration, and running too fast. But, I made it all of 2.25 miles before I ran into a friend and decided it was time for me to be done running.

All of this bodes very well for my 5K this weekend, but I will, of course, be drinking lots of water between now and then. And going for a few more runs.

If anyone is actually reading this, I'd really appreciate any donations you might be willing to make to Cancer Research's Race for Life this year. My page is at: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/joyceadams1308. It's my fourth year, out of the last five, running, and I'm still grateful that this is the event that first introduced me to running and let me channel my sorrow at losing my mom and dad into something that keeps me happy, balanced, AND helping other people. Thanks.

Day 4, 6.5 Miles

Another late night, minimum-length run. But, another mile for my streak, so I'll take it.

I decided to try running in my regular trainers, instead of my barefoots. Sure enough, the tendon in my groin that has been SUCH a problem didn't feel as good as it does in the Minimuses. That's totally fine - I'm happy to keep working on upping my milage in the Minimuses, because the regular shoes felt SO SLOW and I went back to feeling like a plodding elephant. Still, I'm a little sad because I think my other shoes are really nice looking (yes, that's vain). And, because it doesn't bode well for me, at some point, deciding that I cannot live my entire life in barefoot running shoes. I haven't worn anything else, except for when I'm wearing my work flats, for a good two weeks now. And Duchie helped me buy some really, really cute heels for graduation! I think I may still need to try some PT, or at least do another few weeks of strengthening exercises.

In happy news, I got to talk to my favorite Australian today and that was lovely!

Day 3, 5.5 total miles

As I could have predicted, tonight's run was a bit crap. It's cold, it's raining and it's late. So I only did a mile. Meh. It's supposed to be beautiful tomorrow. I might take my regular trainers out for a "long" run to see how they and my injured bits will do. 4 miles? It's kind of pathetic, but I'd rather be safe than sorry (and can always go longer on the day).

Hmmm, am I going to have to run first thing on Sunday, in order to be ready for an Easter cupcake feast?

Well, it's been awhile...

I can't believe that I haven't done anything with my blog for a very, very long time. It was easier to post every thought on facebook, but I kind of wish that I had kept a better record of the last three years, now that law school is drawing to a close. It's been interesting to go back and read through some of my entries and sometime's it would be hard to remember how many different Joyces I feel like I have been in the past...six years!

Anyway, I'm really only here because I'm embarking on a new thing. We'll see how long I last, but my new goal is to run at least a mile every single day. I'm the queen of "I'll run tomorrow," so there's a new urgency that accompanies the need to run every day. Or at least it has over the past two days (because that's how long my streak has lasted since I decided to have one). I'll get a few miles in tonight after I get kicked out of this coffee shop, where I am supposedly writing a paper comparing the treatment of forced marriage asylum claims in four countries (and I'm stuck on the UK, where the asylum system is so, so, so bad that it has reduced me to spontaneous tears at times). But, my legs are tired from a hard effort yesterday and a morning strengthening session that involved lunges (seriously...why do they hurt so much), so I think it will be a nice, relaxing slow run.

So far:
4/21: 2.5 miles, including 6 minutes of hard running (two Eurovision songs, if you must know how I'm timing these)
4/20: 2 miles
TOTAL: 4.5 miles

I know, those are super short, but I'm just coming off an injury that's been with me since before the Princess Half at the end of February and I'm easing into something that resembles barefoot running (New Balance Minimus). Which, to be honest, hasn't been that hard of a transition - it would appear that I was a forefoot striker all along. But, I LOVE THEM and feel like a gazelle, instead of a plodder.

Plus, my most immediate upcoming races are all short 'uns: May is going to involve 3 5Ks. But, soon enough I have to work up to a trail 10K on June 5 & the Baltimore 10 Miler on June 18. It'll be fine. :-) But, man do I want to PB at Baltimore & beat my time at the Army (we're not even going to talk about the Cherry Blossom, which I enjoyed SO MUCH, but ran very slowly), so I'm going to have to do some serious work between now and then.

Finally, I need to give some thought to the new Tinkerbell Half at Disneyland. Since I'm planning to be on the West Coast, this becomes completely doable in a weekend - and I like the idea of being part of a brand new race! I feel that I need to kick a half marathon's butt after the Princess, which I'm pretty sure kicked mine!

Oh, South Africa, you crazy country.

So, I was reading this article in The Guardian this morning as I ate my breakfast and waited for the rugby (go Quins!) and was pretty annoyed.

The jist is that the ANC has added Winnie Mandela to their list of parliamentary candidates for the election in April, despite a constitutional bar on convicted prisoners serving in elected office until 5 years after their sentence has been completed (see § 47). Winnie was sentenced to 5 years (later reduced to 3.5 suspended sentence years) for fraud in 2003 (the appeal was in 2004). Now, there is some ambiguity because the Constitution bars any person who "is convicted of an offence [sic] and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine" from sitting in Parliament and Winnie had a suspended sentence. I don't know anything about South African case law, but it seems that this is a job for the lawyers.

What really toasted me was this statement, actually:

"The ANC, probably rightly, believes that the majority of voters do not care whether she has a criminal conviction," said Rapule Tabane, the political editor of the South African weekly Mail & Guardian.

No offense to the journalist, who I think is probably stating the truth, it's just that this seemingly blatant disregard for the rule of law is one of the things that I really, really dislike about the ANC. You see it with Zuma, who's used his political stature to avoid prosecution, with the officials at my old municipality who seemed to think that their ANC status gave them impunity when they stole from the citizens, and probably a million other examples from all over the country.

Or, let's be honest, I just hate it when people disregard the rule of law in any country, but I get especially upset when I see South Africa, a country with so many problems and so much promise, going down that same road. Show some discipline, for pete's sake, and respect the government that you built out of the ashes of apartheid!

I am alive, I swear. Somehow updating my blog just didn't seem like a huge priority during the first semester of law school, which is probably a pity. I'm sure I'll want to look back and see what things were like, but it was also an insanely busy period.

I mostly just wanted to send out into the ether my memories of a wonderful day in London, yesterday. I've been here almost two weeks, although it seems like much longer, and unfortunately head back to the States for the new semester in just a few days.

Anyway, yesterday started with the longest line that I've ever seen at the National for day seats. By the time I got to the counter (after an hour in line, only 20 minutes of that in line before they opened the doors), there was standing room only for all six shows (3 evening, 3 matinee). So, I settled in to do case briefings for our first week back and checked in with the box office before lunch. I snagged one ticket then, but was able to exchange it for two seats together after lunch. They were wonderful! Full price, but alas. Center and about 10 rows back, which was amazing, since we both really wanted to see August: Osage County. It's pretty easy to see why it won the Tony and I lurve whole house sets. Which prompted Ian and I to recount how many complete house sets we'd seen at the National (we think three: Rafta, Rafta; The Rose Tattoo, and this one).

For lunch, I caught the bus to my old bus stop and had pie. DEAR GOD, THAT IS AMAZING PIE. It was also lovely to remember all the friends who I took to have pie there when they came to visit me in London. I realized later that I'd forgotten to look for the pie shop's blue plaque, but they may be all the excuse I need to go back again for more. PIE! I don't know what I expected, but Tower Bridge Road has barely changed in the 18 months since I left. It was a bit odd, but comforting, too. A big part of me just wanted to slip right back in to the life that I left here. But, someday....

I had a lovely bimble back up Bermondsey Street (again, few changes), through Borough Market (as wonderful as I remember), and along the Thames. It was lovely, but I really do miss living here. Capitol Hill is great and all, but it just can't compete with Southwark. I think that I'd like to find a way to move back to the neighborhood when I come back to London, whenever that is. After I picked up tickets, I walked over to the LSE to pick up a book that I wanted and bimbled back to finish my homework, read a bit, have some dinner, and meet the Boy a bit before curtain.

Play was great. I'm not sure that the actors themselves weren't replaceable, although they were wonderful, but they weren't...memorable. The play was the strong thing here and the Boy later remarked that the mid-play dining room scene was the best piece of theatre that he'd seen since the big speech in Blackbird. I'm fairly inclined to agree with him. It was a really long play (two intermissions), but until the last five minutes (I think they could have trimmed a scene or two right at the very end), I was absolutely unaware at the passage of time. So, yes, if you have time, go see August: Osage County at the National.

And I think that's all from me; I need to get ready for the day and go to do some shopping. :-)