Quote of the Day

My sister said, "Having kids is like signing up for a part time job that you'll have for the next 20 years."

Buckley.

I was randomly surfing just now and was thinking about this artist, Brian McSweeney. He used to be in this band called Seven Day Jesus. After they broke up, he had a 5-song demo or something out. They used to play it on college radio. Sadly, I never had a copy of it. In effort to possibly find something on this demo, per chance to buy the download or something, I came across an "exit interview" with Brian McSweeney - written just after 7Day had officially broken up. Here's a clip.
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we paint a picture just for the beauty. I'll write a song for the beauty. (To) no other living thing did God give that gift. I mean, (take for example) dogs…you can teach them to open a door, only to get to the food that's on the other side. You can teach them to do something only for something else. But why do you paint a picture? Just for enjoyment. I want to do that. I want to create music. I want to give back to music what music has given me. I want to be that Jeff Buckley."

"You ever heard of Jeff Buckley?" Brian continues in a rush of words and emotion. "He was a general market artist. He was a singer-songwriter who was the most intense, passionate person. He died last year. He drowned last year at age 30. He was on Columbia Records. He was a crooner. He was a chanteuse, like just a romance, love song kind of (singer), playing coffeeshops in New York City with his guitar; just an original. He was amazing. And that's what I want to be like. I want to be a singer-songwriter that's passionate about my relationship with God, about my wife, about whatever; just about life. Because there's so many things in life that are beautiful to be thankful for."
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Lately I've been listening to a lot of Jeff Buckley. He had this raw and original way of expressing himself in music and it just inspires me. Everytime my ipod shuffle turns to a Buckley song, I never skip it. It just seems to lure me in... no matter what mood of music I feel like. His vocals are amazing. He's unconventional. He breaks rules. I wish I could've heard him live. But back then, I listened to music that I could put in a box, so to speak. If it had a strict rhythm and chord progression... if I could break it down halfway through the song in my head and be able to predict even the lyrics, that was the type of music I listened to.
Thinking back, I hate some of the music I loved then. And I know for sure that I love some of the music that I would've despised then. Like Bright Eyes. I LOVE Bright Eyes. But the High-School Becca would've totally moaned over Conor Oberst's wavering voice and imperfect rhyme schemes.

One great thing about getting older: Your taste gets better.

The Nashville Race

Do you ever think that training for an athletic event is just plain overrated? Well, I did.And I'm here to say that It really does work.

Last year I trekked down to Nashville to run a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) for fun. I had only taken one class that semester so I had time to prepare by running every other day for 8 weeks prior.

Last year's race was great. I had made my time goal and was so excited about the accomplishment and the fact that my knees didn't crumble after reaching the finish line.
This year, I decided to sign up again. But this year, I was taking more credit hours at school and never had (or made) time to train. I guess I got a little cocky because of how easy it came off for me the first time. Well, the weeks went by and I think I ran 3 times- and never over 6 miles. Knowing full well that this race was more than double, I still went down to Nashville and ran it.
I guess I needed to teach myself a lesson.
The lesson learned is that: TRAINING WORKS!!!
Last year I had great expectations. This year my goal was to just FINISH.
The first three miles were TOUGH. Mile 3 to mile 8 were AWESOME. I felt great, the people cheering us on were great, and running through a sprinkler felt great too. Then mile 8 hit. HUGE blister on my right foot. I wanted to stop at the medical station but I thought, "no it will take too much time." I started running funny for the next 5 miles and finally finished.
Now 5 days later, my foot is finally recovering from the funky injury it incurred. Surprisingly enough, the most comfortable shoes that made my foot hurt the least were high heels. Go figure!
This girl in the pink shirt made me go faster in the end. I thought, "maybe she's in my age range. Am I going to let her beat me?" I believe a little competitive spirit is good for a person. It is usually what I need to get motivated at the end of a race.

I'm humbled, my ego is deflated, and I will now begin REALLY training for a more reasonably-lengthed race. A 10K is coming up at the end of the month and this time, I'll train.