June & July Races

I'm really excited about my summer 5K races! I am signed up for these two fun races:

The Fighting Hunger 5K on Saturday, 25 June 2011! As the name shows, this race benefits those facing hunger. Funds go to support providing meals!

The Watermelon 5K Let Freedom Run 5K on Monday, 4 July 2011! This race supports Treats for Troops. The idea is all in the name here, too. Unfortunately shipping costs are keeping the treats from being sent ot the troops (watch the ABC Action News video here). To fight this, at the Watermelon 5K runners are asked to bring a 1-gallon zip-lock bag filled with either food or non-perishable items (shampoo, socks, etc.) and a dollar bill; this dollar will allow the 1-pound bag of treats to be shipped. Pretty cool idea.

If you have served and know these needs first hand, please comment on what is most desired! My starter list is chapstick, chocolate, socks, razors and more chocolate.

Let me know if you plan to run either of these races - I would love to meet up with you before/afterwards!

Chucky is a Sailor

Daddy, Chucky, Mom & Sam

Over the weekend my brother, Chucky, graduated Navy BASIC and is now a Navy Sailor! He is our family's second generation Sailor. We're all quite proud of him! Although, I am really sulky that I wasn't able to join the family for the ceremony and weekend visit. As I looked through the photos I almost started crying. Anyway, Chucky leaves for NAVY Pre-BUDS next week. I can't wait to recieve another letter from him! Congratulations, Chuggy!

My beautiful parents

Grandma & Grandpa with the boys

A Walk in the Woods

I freaking loved this book!

I read another of Bill Bryson's travelogues, In a Sunburned Country (about Australia), last year - a favorite!

No further along in the book than the very first page I'd already made up my mind that someday I will hike a portion of the AT. This was my favorite take-away from the book.

The book club discussion was tons of fun. Bryson provides a lot of information to ponder and funny anecdotes to relate to and laugh at. Katz is hilarious.

Mom is borrowing this book right now, so I can't flip through the pages to do any quotes or comment at length on a specific passage. Lesson learned for me: Mom likes books about places and experiencing those places.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys travel, learning about places (i.e., The US), going places, nature, and the great outdoors. It's also good if you like general humor because Bryson is a funny fellow.

PS - I think the two creatures were fox.

Website

100 Years Ago

I got this in an email recently. I found it interesting; hope you do, too.

The year is 1910 
One hundred years ago. 
What a difference a century makes! 
Here are some statistics for the Year 1910:

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year.
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard.'
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza 
2. Tuberculosis 
3. Diarrhea 
4. Heart disease 
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.

Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,
Regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.'

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!

Happy 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July! I hope everyone has plans for something fun and patriotic tomorrow!

After church I will be baking chocolate chip cookies to take to Kayelee's cookout. Afterwards I will be taking Heidi downtown to Lake Eola for Orlando's Independence Day festivities. She loves going downtown and mingling with all the other dogs we meet alongside the lake. It's been rainy all week, so cross your fingers that the rain doesn't dampen the fun in store for tomorrow.


Here's a note from the Lockheed Martin head honcho, Mr. Bob Stevens, that I'd like to share with you:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident …”

These stirring words introduced a courageous statement of freedom and equality that still represents the essence of our nation.  “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” have bound Americans together since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

In a few days, we will once again celebrate this momentous event with family and friends, fireworks and barbecues.  We will observe this occasion as a people whose breadth of diversity could hardly be imagined by those who set into motion events that made it all possible.  We are – quite literally – people from all corners of the globe united in purpose and fundamental ideals.

The patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence knew that their lives were on the line the moment they put pen to paper.  And throughout our history, Americans of all backgrounds and ethnic origins have done the same, knowing that liberty commands eternal vigilance and a willingness to pay the ultimate price.

Today, service men and women continue to answer the call of duty in such far off places as Afghanistan and Iraq.  Like you, I am proud to be part of a company that is privileged to support their mission and our nation in helping preserve “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for generations to come.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a safe and happy Fourth of July, and I encourage you to reflect on how fortunate we are to be part of a nation whose strength lies in our continued declaration of freedom.  Thanks for everything you do, every day, to contribute to this cause.

Team Rodent

Team Rodent, in short:

Team Rodent is a non-fiction book written by Carl Hiaasen about the Walt Disney Company and its stance towards the outside world. The book's primary focus is on non-film related Disney enterprises such as Disney World and their effects on the environment and local culture. (Taken from Wikipedia's article on the book.)

My friend, Matt, a Floridian, loaned me this interesting book about the famous mouse. It was a straight-forward way of looking at the dreamy corporation where no wrong can occur. Turns out wrong does occur for Disney, and Hiaasen points out various examples. If Disney does wrong, someone complains or files against Disney and pushes hard enough, Disney will usually write a check and be done with it. I don't recall Disney ever really having admitted fault by Hiaasen's accounts.

It makes for something interesting to think about, how Disney affects everyone. You don't have to go to the park and pose with Pluto to interact with Disney; all you have to do is watch Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost or Dancing with the Stars. Disney owns ABC. Unless you're a non-TV watcher like me, I bet I just touched on everyone who reads my blog.

It's pretty absurd the lengths that Disney goes through, legally and politically, to keep it's happy, perfect, Mickey Mouse with a spotless reputation.

Personally, I'm kind of torn. I grew up watching Disney movies - The Classics, at that, and those were some darned good cartoon full-length movies for children. That being said, I feel like I'm being duped if I'm a fan of Disney. Disney is pretty sneaky. Now I'm in on a lot of dirty details about Disney that the vast majority of the public isn't even slightly aware of because of how swiftly Disney cleans up afterwards.

Disney is a hungry beast. I think any Orlando resident - probably any Florida resident - can tell you that Disney affects the world in big ways.

Anyway, interesting read for sure, especially if you live in Orlando.

Wikipedia Article

Inga Visits!

I had the great pleasure of hosting one of my most dear friends last week! Ingeborg made a stop in Orlando on her backpacking trip along the southern US states on her way to Phoenix! It was amazing to see a friend from Australia (we were flat mates over there in Spring 2008 during our study abroad trips; she's from Norway). Of course we had kept in touch, but we hadn't seen one another in the flesh in 18 months! It was amazing to catch up with her in person. Here is the link to the full photo album.

We had something fun to do every day of her stay. Here's the run-down on our little adventure together:

Friday night: Inga arrives; we stay up way too late talking about EVERYTHING; we eat lemon poppy seed muffins with butter and jam; I unwrap all the little presents she brought me from Norway; we gorge on all the candies included in said presents; we have fun speaking "Norway-English," haha; we agree to sleep in the next morning.



Saturday: we slept in; she blogged about her travel to the US while I went for a run; we had pot pies for lunch (her first time having one; she's a fan); she made great friends with Ashes; and we went out for NORWAY NIGHT!



Several of my good friends from the book club joined us in showing Inga Downtown Orlando! We hit Latitudes (to get started), The Lodge (Inga's favorite), and Eye Spy (heaps of dancing); then we capped the evening with some good ole Jimmy John's (another first for Inga).



Sunday: met some folks from the book club for brunch at Hue, downtown. It was quite tasty, but took longer than anticipated, and so we were running behind time to get to the book club at Stardust. I was able to inform Inga of the book we were reading for January in time that she could read it, so she had fun taking part in the discussion with us. We had several new faces at both the brunch and the book club, but Inga was dubbed the "honorary, global book clubber," haha! After the book club we strolled around Lake Eola.



Monday: I had to work; Inga had a nice, lazy day. That evening we were originally planning to go to my Orlando Camera Club meeting to learn about HDR, but we got sucked into a shopping mode and hit Ulta and Ross that evening. We got a little crazy with our nail polish selections! So many to choose from! For dinner I took Inga to Panera.

Tuesday: I worked again, and Inga had another relaxing day. That evening I took a nap while she read, then we went to the California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. After CPK we went downtown, in formal-wear, mind you, to celebrate Joel's birthday at The Citrus Club on the top floor of the BB&T building downtown. It was really elegant, and we had fun chit chatting with Joel and his friend, Dennis. Happy birthday, Joel!



Wednesday: Again, work for me; Inga had a lazy morning; I brought home Jersey Mike's Subs for lunch, then she went to Waterford and I went back to work. That evening we lounged for a bit before going to Urban Flats for some flat bread, live music and she had some wine (as I was driving). Afterwards we went to Borders where I picked up the February book club book and she found a cool iPod case.

At one point through the week I took Inga to The Marble Slab. She was blown away by the concept, haha! She had a crazy concoction, but it really wasn't too bad, less the York Peppermint Patties, haha!



Thursday: after work Inga and I went to Amigo's for dinner where I ate entirely too much, too quickly, haha. Inga picked up heaps of goodies for the pre-screening of the movie "Dear John" that Joel got us tickets for. Ryan met up with us, too, and we camped out for an hour to get excellent seats in the theatre. I didn't cry, though my eyes got a little dewy. Inga cried, I'm pretty sure. We felt the movie was okay, and preferred "The Notebook." Fun time, nonetheless!

Friday: I took the day off to spend a full day with Inga. Ryan hooked us up with some good deals to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures. Ryan was a great "guide" to the parks. We hit up all the good rides and the longest wait, with one exception (the new roller coaster where they play your song during the ride), was 15 minutes! It was unheard of, I tell ya!



After much walking around, snacking, riding and chatting we got back to my apartment just in time for a quick power nap and prep for the Girls' Night I had planned as the last big to-do before Inga left Orlando. I had a few girls from the book club over, and Tiffany. We chatted, snacked on fruit and fondue, drank wine and had a lovely time painting our nails. I have a feeling there will be more Girls' Nights in the future.



Saturday morning we packed up and drove to Gainesville as it was her next stop and it was on my way to Atlanta to pick up Heidi. So we got a couple extra hours together. She DJ'd for me with the iPods. When we got to her hostel we said our goodbye's quickly to avoid bawling. I sure will miss that girl!

Thank you so much, Inga, for visiting! I loved having you in my home and company! Travel safely as you journey to Phoenix!

-Amanda

PS - Here is the link to Inga's travel blog if you're interested in reading (the second half of each post is in English) about her travels in the US.

1984 by George Orwell

Meet George Orwell:




George is the founder of the term/concept of "Big Brother," that someone (the government) is always watching you. In addition to 1984, George wrote Animal Farm, a satirical novel.




I read this after having read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. As it turns out, I favor Brave New World over 1984, though both were excellent. 1984 was much more depressing overall. And both authors have been all too prophetic in their messages/warnings, which is scary.

The most irking aspect of 1984 for me, the part that hit home the hardest, was (is) how society was working so hard to develop machines to be as human as possible and how humans were becoming automatons. We can already see this happening in our daily lives.

1984 was interesting in its use of the language recession. The brainwashing implemented by the Party and Big Brother is quite terrible. I don't quite know what to make of the ending. It was just depressing, really... But, a great book that everyone should read.

Both were sobering novels, both were great reads, and both are coming true. Well. We've been warned.

-Amanda

Obama Wins

I am proud of my blue vote. I am proud of my country for (what counts in my opinion as) recognizing the change we need to make. I believe Obama and Biden will lead this nation in the necessary direction. Congratulations, Obama and Biden, to you and your Electoral College win of 349 votes (against McCain and Palin's 147 votes). Below is a map of the voting breakdown.


Here is to making a difference and being a part of it!