Quote of the Day

Strength

2012-02-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Find your backbone, or be swallowed whole." -another line from Cutting for Stone (fewer than 100 pages left!).

Clarification:

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

"I find fact-checking fascinating, and know from several years of practicing the craft that it can be a complicated, nuanced process, and one that is an extremely important part of publishing a magazine of journalistic integrity. . . If I've learned one thing at this job, it's that the facts can be quite astonishing." - "The Art of Fact Checking" from the New Yorker

A Virtue?

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

"Being the firstborn gives you great patience. But you reach a point where after trying and trying you say, Patience be damned. Let them suffer their distorted worldview. Your job is to preserve yourself, not to descend into their hole. It's a relief when you arrive at this place, the point of absurdity, because then you are free, you know you owe them nothing." -Cutting for Stone

Nationals Qualifier

2012-02-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

"I think snowshoeing is a great winter sport that is accessible to many people versus skiing or snowboarding; it allows you to enjoy the scenery in a different way." -quote from my Low O2 race report. Read it here.

Cash Cover

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to this album, and this song in particular:

More on Ruthie Foster here.

Main Street, LA

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Wanna warm up?" -a dentist gestures to the snow shovel outside his office, as I trudge to the bus stop in the snow. I thought my mile-long, uphill walk would suffice.

Living In Love

2012-02-06T07:28:00.002-07:00

"Come live with me and be my love
And we will all the pleasures prove." -Christopher Marlowe (whose birthday is today)

Right On

2012-02-05T09:26:00.001-07:00

Drinks

2012-02-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mama Earth

2012-02-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hoos!

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately this had nothing to do with UVA.

Natural Order

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Quiet

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Many people believe that introversion is about being antisocial, and that's really a misperception. Because actually it's just that introverts are differently social. So they would prefer to have a glass of wine with a close friend as opposed to going to a loud party full of strangers." -nice NPR story about introverts that makes me feel a little better about my lack of a crazy social life.

Say it Out Loud

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer."
-intro to a poem about English pronunciation. Read the whole thing here.

En Route to Red River

2012-01-30T07:27:00.002-07:00

Almost immediately after we saw this sign, I said: "Wow, I'd really like to see some bighorn sheep."

And then we did:

In Charge

2012-01-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Keep On Keeping On

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Simply defined, grit is a psychological trait that allows some people to work harder more frequently and to give up on tasks less frequently. In addition, gritty people tend to be single minded about their goals, are often obsessed with certain activities, and are more likely to persist in the face of struggle or failure." -interesting read on iRunFar.com. How do you rank on the "grit scale"?

Run Write

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

"As with running, writing requires a 'training' method of sorts. Just lacing up the shoes and hitting the road without proper preparation invites injury and aggravation for runners; it makes sense then that sitting down to write without a plan can cause comparable aggravation." -from a blog post titled "What running taught me about writing."

Communication

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Self Interest

2012-01-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

Leading Ladies

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

"At the time, I had no idea there was already a growing sport of snowshoe running and that specific snowshoes were being made for such. It was a much smaller sport back then, barely getting started. I felt like I'd stumbled onto a whole new frontier." -excerpt from my Q&A with amazing snowshoe racers Laurie Lambert and Ceal Walker on Snowshoe Magazine.

High Desert Winds

2012-01-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

"As of 6:35 a.m., wind gusts of 68 mph were being reported at Los Alamos Airport. Sustained winds of 47 mph were also recorded at that time." -news alert on the Los Alamos Monitor site yesterday.

Beware

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the Telegraph; photo taken in New Mexico.

Life

2012-01-21T06:00:00.001-07:00

"You live it forward, but understand it backward." -Cutting for Stone

The Big Guy in the Sky

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

This image was making the rounds online recently...

Wife

2012-01-19T07:53:00.002-07:00

"...discover her loyalty, her willingness to stick with you no matter what, her willingness to raise your children, stick up for you in conversation, and, if you are lucky, even pick up your dirty socks now and then." -interesting read from the Huffington Post.

Gone Wrong

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

At the Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences, NM

Suburbia

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

As seen in Santa Fe.

It's What's For Dinner

2012-01-16T21:04:00.002-07:00

Marathon Trials

2012-01-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Always an Adventure

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

"And with this man, I saw, I wouldn't be tied down so much as tied together." -cute article from The New York Times.

Sounding My Age?

2012-01-13T06:00:00.001-07:00

"Your voice says you're way too young to know who that is." -an elderly man at museum tells me about an old timey western band that will be playing in southeast NM this summer. He was right, because now I can't even remember the name of the group.

Coverage

2012-01-12T06:00:00.001-07:00

Starbucks barista: Where do you work?
Me: New Mexico Magazine
Barista: Is that the one with all the singles ads?
Me: Uh. No. We focus on history and culture.
Barista: Ah. Much more refined.

Style Watch

2012-01-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

"Are you an East Coast girl? I can tell by the way you dress." -a comment from a coworker. Must've been the Brooks Brothers argyle sweater vest (don't see too many of those in New Mexico).

A Hot Drink

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

"If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you." -Gladstone, 1865

Definitely fall into the first category this winter...

Always Going

2012-01-08T06:00:00.001-07:00

From the Writer's Almanac.

Brown Pages

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

"I'm calling about a damaged book." -yeah I guess the library found out I spilled coffee on Anne of Green Gables. Oops.

Dashing through the Snow

2012-01-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

"The first fall of snow is not only event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?" -J.B. Priestly. Racing in the Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic today!

State Centennial

2012-01-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

"Yet even with statehood, I'm not sure New Mexico was ever fully conquered or assimilated, and that's something I've always loved about this place. It's still very much its own land, at the crossroads of myriad cultures, where the desert meets the mountains meet the plains. Living here is probably the closest one can come to an expat experience in the Lower 48. We're in the United States, but not entirely of it." -author Hampton Sides wishes New Mexico a happy 100th birthday in the January issue of New Mexico Magazine (the Land of Enchantment became a state on this date in 1912).

Cruisin'

2012-01-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

"I didn't have a helmet, I didn't have any insurance and, let's see, I didn't have any driver's license and the bike didn't have any speedometer. The only moving violation I ever got in my life was speeding on that motorcycle...I went to traffic court and I think the fine was $10. In those days, that was a lot of money and I was real upset about it. There's no place where you get less for your money than traffic court." -reflections from a UVA alum who passed away on December 31 at the age of 105. He bought that motorcycle in 1928. What a long life!

Us

2012-01-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

"How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said." -Victor Hugo

Two-year anniversary today xo

Simple.

2012-01-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Animal Truck

2012-01-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know what the deal is, but I've seen these animals on the move around Santa Fe numerous times.

New Year

2012-01-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Can you see the hope written all over his face? Happy 2012!

(photo taken in Santa Fe)

Are You a Preppie?

2011-12-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

In honor of UVA's bowl game today: "In recent years college officials have become increasingly alarmed by the dramatic population boom of the Homo Gatorus; i.e. the PREPPIE. According to experts, the 'Preppie disease', which strikes thousands of youths each year, invariably leaves its victim suffering from clotheserphobia - an intense desire to dress like Mr. Rummage Sale of 1960. Most Preppies also experience an insatiable thirst for alcoholic beverages which often results in the unique honor of graduating from college Magna Cum Loaded. Experts have further distinguished Preppie victims by their dancing style, mannerisms, social rank, monitary worth, and self-love. Currently, there are only two known cures for this disease: Reincarnation or Bankruptcy. To determine if you have contacted and been infected by the Preppie germ, study the picture below and rank yourself according to the following scale: 18-21 Ultra Prep; 14-17 Moderate or Intermediate Prep; 10-13 Pseudo Prep; 9 or less Normal." -Tom Shadyac's 1979 poster; read the article here.

Go Hoos!

Coin Toss

2011-12-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

"1958. It's been traveling 22 years to get here. And now it's here. And it's either heads or tails. And you have to say. Call it." -No Country for Old Men

Wild Boar

2011-12-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

"Who loves not women, wine, and song remains a fool his whole life long." -interesting Writer's Almanac about Martin Luther.

Scandinavian Sport

2011-12-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

"When we get going, we're not going to stop! The sun is hiding in the sky, but we're going to go right into the white! Men, you do the number one outside. The outhouse is not for gentlemen." -excerpt from a good read from Outside about dog sledding in Sweden.

In the Nude

2011-12-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

MEYEZ … ZOEWE

2011-12-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

"Education is about freedom of expression." -thoughts on college-themed personalized license plates. Read my full story here.

Yesterday Morning

2011-12-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

...from the Land of Enchantment xo

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

"It's the greatest gift of entertainment the screen has ever given you."Love this movie :)

Journalism Love

2011-12-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

"Guaranteed, when you say 'towards,' we will automatically say 'toward' -- 'towards' is not a word. We're not trying to call you dumb (even though you don't understand the English language), it's a habit. The same will happen when you say 'anxious' when you mean 'eager' and when you answer 'good' when someone asks how you are doing." -a blog post about dating journalists. Funny how accurate some parts of it are.
(Although "towards" is okay in the UK).

Snowshoe NM

2011-12-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

"Anyone can do it, you just need stamina." -snowshoe advice from the owner of the Enchanted Forest XC Ski and Snowshoe Area. Read my article about snowshoeing NM here.

Santa Fe Snow Day

2011-12-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yeehaw.

Centennial Exposure

2011-12-20T06:09:00.002-07:00

New Mexico Magazine: kasa.com

Shout out to New Mexico Magazine!(yeah I fact checked that timeline!)

After Hours

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

"The first thing they had to start worrying about is getting dinner, interfacing with their kids, getting done all the housework chores...you could see from the data all the stresses and strains they felt as they walked in the door, and all the tasks they felt they had to accomplish during those early-evening hours." -an NPR story about women multitasking at home. Shoot I feel that way all the time, and I don't even have kids!

Carbon Leaf Christmas

2011-12-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

Daily Rush

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Interesting read here

WWII Santa

2011-12-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

From the National Archives website.

Friends

2011-12-15T09:13:00.004-07:00

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." -Anne of Green Gables (which I am re-reading and delighted to find it as wonderful as when I was in fourth grade).

Bam

2011-12-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

"Oddly, in Washington, D.C., you're four times more likely to have somebody drive into you on purpose than anywhere else on the planet." -NPR story about road rage. Can't say that surprises me too much.

Desert

2011-12-13T06:22:00.000-07:00

Perception

2011-12-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

"The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it." -Eckhart Tolle. Hmm.

Menu Mess-Up

2011-12-11T06:34:00.001-07:00

Something New

2011-12-10T06:38:00.001-07:00

"You sound like the perfect snowshoe racing recruit, and I can hardly wait to get you hooked!" -a member of the national women's snowshoe team gets me psyched for today's snowshoe racing clinic at Red River. Bring it on!

Perry Parody

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

This:

Or this?

Modern Media?

2011-12-08T06:20:00.001-07:00

In related news, I kind of want a typewriter.

Op Ed

2011-12-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

"The War Department taking a family's land for the war effort is understandable,' write the authors of Los Alamos: the Ranch School Years, 1917-1943. 'Less acceptable is knowing that the family homestead became part of a golf course.' Well, 64 years after it was built by the Atomic Energy Commission, Los Alamos County wants to expand that golf course, affecting at least 25 acres (including the Walnut Creek and Woodland trails) used year-round by walkers, runners, cyclists, bird watchers and nature enthusiasts."-intro to my first-ever letter to the editor, in yesterday's Los Alamos Monitor.

Snow Trails

2011-12-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

"Every mile is two in winter." -George Herbert

That would explain why it took forever to hike 5 miles on Sunday...

Fat and Happy

2011-12-05T06:02:00.001-07:00

Conversation overheard between a couple visiting Santa Fe (these bears are on my walk to work):

Woman: "That's how they felt after Thanksgiving."

Man: "No, that's how they felt after eating a tourist."

Composition

2011-12-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Nothing is too long or too short either if you have a true and interesting tale and what I call a 'graphic' writing style combined with educational aims." -True Grit

Grammar Joke

2011-12-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhhhh

2011-12-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." -Carl Reiner

Pin the Apostrophe

2011-12-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

Or at journalists' parties.

Life's a Happy Song

2011-11-30T06:16:00.001-07:00

XOXOXO

2011-11-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

"Whitney - apologies for the 'Xo' sign-off -- looks like I went on auto-pilot for a moment! haha." -a PR woman apologizes for the casual ending of her previous e-mail.

Rio Grande

2011-11-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

"Night and day the river flows. If time is the mind of space, the river is the soul of the desert." -Edward Abbey, The Hidden Canyon.

Red Dot hike from White Rock.

Bruises?

2011-11-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

Spotted on my walk to work.

The City Different

2011-11-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

Post-Turkey Day

2011-11-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

Co-op-themed snickerdoodle pie

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that rue homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." -Teddy Roosevelt

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

"Enough is as good as a feast. . . I went inside the stock barn out of the wind and lay down on some oat sacks. Nature tells us to rest after meals and people who are too busy to heed that inner voice are often dead at the age of fifty years." -True Grit

Ouch

2011-11-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

"You smashed the shit out of it." -Matt's orthopedic doctor gives him the update on his broken collarbone at his post-surgery follow-up appointment. Apparently, X-rays don't show everything.

C'est la vie

2011-11-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Shaken

2011-11-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

"We basically have a 50-year-old science, compared with most other sciences, which are hundreds of years old." -a geologist explains our understanding of earthquakes. Read my little Outside articles Why Can't We Predict Earthquakes? and Why Can't We Drive Cars Equipped with Solar Panels?

Leo's To-Do List

2011-11-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

"It is useful [to] constantly observe, note, and consider... Tell me...tell me whether...tell me how things are...tell me if there was ever." -Leonardo Da Vinci. A new book about him describes his to-do list (click to enlarge):

Nerd Alert

2011-11-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Putting my history degree to good use... I won a book!

Deadline Crunch

2011-11-18T06:02:00.000-07:00

--Story People

TGIF!

Wet Dogs

2011-11-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

"Shake It! How Dogs, Cats, Even Hummingbirds Keep Dry." -great article and photos at NPR.org.

Cold Blooded

2011-11-16T06:03:00.001-07:00

At Tent Rocks. Hopefully they're all hibernating now.

Power Button

2011-11-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

"Does anybody touch a TV to turn it on any more?" -obnoxious lady in the surgery waiting room who interrupted my quiet writing session to watch the Packers game (after getting up -- what a struggle -- to turn on the television).

Clavicle Fracture

2011-11-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Surgeons must be very careful when they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions stirs the culprit -- life!" -Emily Dickinson.

Fixing this thing today!

Hard Work

2011-11-13T06:03:00.000-07:00

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -Thomas Edison

TriShoes

2011-11-12T06:06:00.002-07:00

"Just ignore they resemble water shoes." -my Zoot shoes review on OutdoorInformer.com.

Traction

2011-11-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

"Kahtoola MicroSpikes revolutionized my life." -USSSA champ Laurie Lambert dishes about her favorite piece of gear.

Tears

2011-11-10T06:09:00.001-07:00

Grammar Laughs

2011-11-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

"6. The bar was walked into by the passive voice." -one of bar jokes involving grammar and punctuation. See the rest at McSweeney's.

Mountain Man

2011-11-08T06:09:00.001-07:00

"If you're seeking the presidency but no one notices, are you still seeking the presidency?" -interesting read on former NM governor Gary Johnson. Also a good profile of him in Outside.

Snakes Alive

2011-11-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

"'Unfortunately, I wasn't seeing things,' she says of the 15-inch prairie king snake that was glued to not only the mousetraps but also to the drawer." -one of several odd animal encounters mentioned in my latest Inside Columbia article.