Promise yourself

Disclaimer: Right now, I am being tested, and I will elaborate on this in a later post. Until then, oh you handful of blog readers, check out the following quotes which are pretty poignant as well as some of my favorites.

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you!
-Christian D. Larson 

I beg you ... to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Do not search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.
-Rilke 

1. The path is not straight.
2. Mistakes need not be fatal.
3. People are more important than achievements or possessions.
4. Be gentle with your parents.
5. Never stop doing what you care most about.
6. Learn to use a semicolon.
7. You will find love.
-Marion Winik

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
-Mother Teresa

The Oxford comma

No, this post has no relevance to the story of my life, but it's something I just had to share as a former news editor and now as a book publishing student. I have to get this off my chest. I dipped into this topic when I was writing about my love of graduate school in an earlier post, but by gosh, I think it deserves its own post.

My style is changing, and I don't mean my wardrobe. My writing style. I don't even think I mean that. It's not like I'm going from my semi-snarky style to something super serious. What I do mean is my editorial style is changing.

In the news biz, I was a practitioner of Associated Press style. My journalism profs force-fed me the rules of AP style ... to the point I could recite various rules in my sleep! Now, as I work toward my master's in writing and book publishing, I am learning a whole new world of style rules. My new bible is The Chicago Manual of Style. Tres chic.

This shift in style gives me a bit of anxiety about my blog. Go ahead, say it: How geeky can you be!? I know. I know, but before I would never allow a comma before the "and" in a sequence. Now, I can't get enough of that little comma. It's called "the Oxford comma." For goodness sake, the comma has a name!

I can't be a master if I don't practice the rules, right? Therefore, I'm going to do the ol' swap-a-roo and work on my Chicago style. Yes, my blog is a total mess of different writing styles. I doubt I'll ever go back and change everything. Maybe someday if I ever have that oh so elusive thing called spare time. 

Just a recap for those paying attention ... 

Old style: Waffles, eggs and bacon.
New style: Waffles, eggs, and bacon.

Congratulations! You just read a blog post about my obsessive compulsive grammar disorder. I hope you can say you learned something. Now, who's craving brunch?!

Third time's a charm

When I moved to Austin, I picked up running as a way to stay in shape and meet people. (Perhaps I should first mention when I arrived in Texas, I picked up a few extra pounds due to the introduction of Tex-Mex and barbecue into my diet. Then I realized I needed a hobby!) Running supplemented my newfound friend, "moderation," and helped me set and achieve goals. I never took to running when I was younger, but now I can't image my life without it!

My first marathon was the Austin Marathon with my sister Stefanie (February 2008). We trained via satellite, and it was an awesome experience. We took our time to finish, and I even moved furniture for my new apartment that night. We felt great. We wore shirts in our mom's honor. It was rad. 

Then I ran the Portland Marathon by myself (October 2008). I was not a fan of this marathon. It was rainy, cold, and I went out too fast in the beginning. I hated life after this race. (I did, however, get to keep the space blanket. I always wanted one of those! I felt so official!) 

And then, this past weekend, I ran the Whidbey Island, Washington Marathon (April 2010). 

Whew! This was my third (and perhaps final?) marathon. With my best time yet, I reached my goal of finishing in four hours (my time was 4:00:38!). I was eighth in my age division and the 17th female overall. 

I'd like to thank my best friend and "personal assistant," Emily, as she traveled with me to the island and kept me motivated throughout the run. If not for her and the miracle worker that is GU (gross, I can't believe I actually ate GU), I probably wouldn't have done as well as I did. 

The post-race celebration meal included eggs benedict, champagne, and later, a red velvet cupcake I stowed away in the freezer for a special occasion.

Sylvester's struggle and the irony of car maintenance

I've done my very best to take care of my car, affectionately called "Sylvester Stallone" (preceded by Goldie Hawn and Ron Burgundy). I take it to the shop for scheduled maintenance, never miss an oil change, have my tires rotated, and I try to keep it clean as best I can in rainy Portland.

Why oh why then, does it decide to have a problem virtually no other cars have? Please don't ask me to tell you exactly what it is, but it's something to do with the fuse block. All I know is it's going to cost $600, and because Saturns are no longer on the assembly line, it's going to take 2-4 weeks to "make" the part to fix it! Eek! Oh, and the irony of the situation is that I had my car at the shop to get brand new tires when this problem was "discovered." I've never had a single issue with ol' Sylvie before!

I think the most frustrating part about car issues is the fact that I know nothing about them. I feel incompetent when a maintenance man is speaking to me about my car, and he could be giving me the runaround for all I know. My experiences at auto body shops tend to sound something like this ...

Shop Guy: "Your rotator cuff is leaking exhaust."
Me: "OK. How much will it cost, and how long will it take?"
Shop Guy: "Your firstborn, and how does after the weekend sound?"
Me: "Can I write a check for old time's sake? How do you feel about a layaway plan? Does that grease ever come off your hands?"

Ugggh. I wish I knew more about this stuff! Can I go back to high school and take shop class? Do they even offer that these days?

Sylvester's identical twin, hot off the lot:

Remind me to tell you about my auto shop back in Austin. I found it based on the distance from the location of my breakdown on the freeway one day. After I found out my AAA membership had expired, and I signed up on-the-spot (sitting on the hood of my car on a freeway access road), the tow truck driver just delivered me to this shop. It looked kind of suspect, but the guys turned out to be amazing, and a true gift from God. They took such good care of me, wrote me thank yous, and they called me when I was due for maintenance. They knew I was a poor journalist and sent me gift certificates in the mail. I was on their "frequent customers" plan, too. They even checked out Sylvester for free before I purchased him from the used car (excuse me, pre-owned) lot. That customer service is hard to find these days, and although I am happy to have a car that doens't break down on the freeway anymore (or so I thought?), I miss those guys at Leonard's on South Lamar!