Even though I scored in the 29th percentile in my age group, I am really happy with my results! I finished 10 miles in 2:33:17. Hopefully I can improve upon that the next time I race!
2009 Broad Street Run results.
Here’s the link to the results page: http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=56187356&rsID=77533
What is it to be a part of the world? What connections are necessary to keep someone from drifting off into solitude? I’ve been feeling disconnected. Maybe it’s my work that is stifling me. It’s bottling my spirit and dumping it out into nothingness.
The spring term is almost over, and that just leaves two short summer terms and a fall term. I can feel it–I’m in the home stretch. But will I be any more happy after my graduate degree?
Work is still work. I try to find fulfillment in the things I do, but the task is becoming a chore. Maybe that is how it’s supposed to be. Mediocrity, my friend and partner, let us embrace.
I had a dream that Lisa and I were having dinner in Germany and she had to choose either steak with asparagus or some beef skewer dish for her entree. At first she chose the steak, but changed her mind to get the beef. Unfortunately, at that point, it was too late to make the switch, dinner having already commenced. I was annoyed with her fickleness and argued a bit but finally went to find a waiter who would agree to bring us some beef. “Are you the one with the beautiful wife?” he asked. “Yes, that’s me,” I replied. He agreed and brought us several beef skewers and I tipped him six dollars.
We’re planning on going to the Grand Canyon in May. We received a letter yesterday from the US Dept of the Interior containing a rejection of our proposed itinerary through the Canyon.
Lisa, not being aware of the contents, picks it up and is immediately alarmed at thoughts as to the contents.
“I thought you had been drafted or something,” Lisa said to me later.
Most boring MBA class yet: Finance 5001
Easiest MBA class yet: MIS 5001
Most entertaining MBA class yet: Marketing 5001
Most surprising MBA class yet: Accounting 5001
Most hated campus yet: Ambler
Times regretted pursuing MBA: 3
Last craft worked on: paper-mache Venetian Mask
Last hobby program: PHP database admin page for Ko
Last techy project: softmodded Wii
Last video game played: Tatsunoko vs Capcom
Last Starcraft race played: Toss
Last book finished: Power of One
Last book read/currently reading: Crime and Punishment
Next book to read: Kite Runner
Last song enjoyed: El Tango de Roxanne
Last movie watched: The Heartbreak Kid
Last restaurant eaten at: J.B. Dawson’s Restaurant and Bar
Last time I ran: March 7th–we played tennis
Last time I told Lisa I loved her: last night before bed
Last task performed for parents: instructing on how to e-mail photos from a digital camera
Last friends seen: Hung and Priscilla
Last hangout: March birthdays at KOP Lonestar Steakhouse
My dad messaged me today, asking about my house hunting.
“jame did you go to see a house.dad”
This is the first message I’ve gotten from him. Obviously my mom showed him this new trick.
got back from Pris’ apartment
My mom IM’ed me for the first time recently. I had showed her how to do it via GMail awhile ago, but it just hadn’t happened. Then, the next day or two after, we had our first video chat. It was kind of weird, like when my dad found Youtube.
I danced with our nephew, Carter, today. We danced to Running Away by The Temptations. It’s important for children to grow up without being self-conscious about dancing or singing. They are both natural forms of expression and, without them, a human being is incomplete. I try telling my wife, but she still refuses to dance with me!
Lisa and I are on Spring Break this week. What does that mean?
Well, firstly, we have a break from classes which means five fewer hours spent at Temple’s Fort Washington campus. Secondly, we have five more hours to spend as we choose. Lisa chose to spend the larger part of those hours with our nephew. I only committed a part of my time to him. I also decided to catch up on some work whose deadlines are fast approaching.
I sometimes find myself questioning the amount which I work. I ask myself what it is my employer wants from me, as an employee. Is it my time? Is it my experience? Is it my skill? These are separate things I think, and yet most employers demand all these things. Since that is the case, I hesitate to work much more than the standard work week, and yet there is a part of me that desires the work. There is a part of me that yearns to produce and create something valuable. Still, my energies need not be directed at job. There are so many endeavors I wish to pursue, and yet I worry about deadlines and expectations. On some level, I don’t care at all about work–not in the way that you’d expect. I don’t care about being fired. After all, Lisa and I lack responsibilities and dependents. On yet another level, my job, which takes up a majority of my time, is an integral part of my spirit. That ineffable quality about me some might call a soul is all tied into the things I do and the people I interact with every day.
This line of thought soon gets tangled in its own tendrils, and I realize I missed half an hour of productive time, and I table further introspection for the next time.
