Digital Wilderness

The Redlegs Run for Home 5K Race is fast approaching! The race is this coming Sunday. My goal this time is to finish in under 30 minutes. This is doable, but it will be tough since I haven’t trained as much as I should have lately. I haven’t had much time after work during the week and it’s been hot, so I haven’t been able to improve my mile time much since the Flying Pig 5K earlier this month. I’ve been wanting to run in the morning, but the snooze button has won each time I’ve tried to get up early. The experience from my previous two 5Ks will definitely help, as well as the confidence I have from meeting my goals in both of them. My running partner has marathon experience, so she’ll be able to push me hard to reach this goal.

Wish me luck!

Finally, I had a chance to take a road trip! I took a drive up to Bloomington, IN on Memorial Day to visit a friend from college. Though it was overcast and drizzled some in the morning, the day shaped up to be quite nice, an excellent day for a road trip.

Having never been to Bloomington, I thought was immediately south of Indy, right off the interstate and IU would be like UK as far as being in “bigger” city. Instead, it seemed like it was out in the middle of nowhere since it was about 30 miles off the interstate with lots of cabins, fields, barns, etc. along the route I took.

Once in Bloomington, though, I was surprised with how nice IU’s campus was (and I feel dirty saying that – Go Big Blue!!!). The campus had a lot of trees and greenery, and even a creek (called the Jordon River) through the middle of campus. It was definitely a contrast to the all concrete NKU and much, much bigger than Georgetown.

It was awesome being on a college campus again and at least momentarily I was reliving my college days and soaking it all in. There’s just something about that atmosphere that I really love. Sadly, those days are long gone and no matter how much I would like to relive and experience them again, I know I can’t. Even going to grad school wouldn’t be the same, since I’m at a difference place in life now, with a job, more responsibilities, etc. – not the careful days of undergrad life.

Speaking of grad school…one purpose of the trip was to talk with my friend about it, since she’s in grad school there at IU. I definitely think it’s a good option for me to pursue, and I’m going for it. If things work out like I’m expecting (namely that I’m accepted, which I hope won’t be a problem!), then I’ll start in fall of 2008. As to where and what program I’ll be pursuing, those are still up in the air, though I do have several options in mind already. More on that and an update on my “Decisions” post in the near future.

The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY opened yesterday. I drove by it around 9am and the place was packed, though it didn’t open until 10am. Supposedly the line stretched for 5 blocks by noon, with visitors from all over the US and Canada. Thankfully, though there were some protesters, it did open calmly.

Here’s a link to a Sneak Peek @ Creation Museum, a walk through with pictures, taken a few days before it opened to the public. Looks interesting and mostly well-done (not corny and low-tech) from what I’ve seen and heard so far. No matter what your opinion on the museum and its message may be, it seems to be worth checking out.

It’s meme time, a continuation of the previous post, via Patrick’s Weekender. Post your answers in the comments if you want.

1. What color car do you drive?
2. How many cars have you had in the past of this same color?
3. What does this particular color mean to you?
4. Take the quiz: What color car should you drive?
5. Would you ever consider driving a car the color the quiz suggests?
6. Do you consider yourself the most-aggressive driver on the road, the least-aggressive, or something in between?

What Color Car Should You Drive?

***You Should Drive a Blue Car***

You’re the type of driver who isn’t hung up on the what car you drive.
You don’t need a flashy car to show off your wealth or style.
Instead, you go for value and reliability. You’re quite practical.
You’re a great driver, but you don’t show off. Part of your skill is not standing out on the road.

What Type of Sandwich Are You

***You Are a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich***

You life your life in a free form, artistic style.
You are incredibly creative and at times, quite messy.
Deep down, you are a kid at heart. And you aren’t afraid to express it.

Your best friend: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Your mortal enemy: The Club Sandwich

Umm, yeah, that’s totally not me… I don’t even like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Were your results any more accurate?

Well, the TV season has come to an end. How were the finales of your favorite shows? Here’s a quick rundown of the few shows I watch.

The Office – 4/5
Great finale! Jim and Pam look like they’re finally going to get together, but will it work out? What happened to Karen? Ryan’s moving on to a new position, so I wonder how they will keep him in the storyline. Michael and Jan are more or less back together, but I don’t see that lasting.

Heroes – 2/5
I was disappointed in this finale. Predictable and not very fulfilling. I was hoping for so much more in the battle between Sylar and Peter. Why was it so easy for Hiro to “kill” Sylar? Did anyone really die? How did no one see Sylar crawl away? Why couldn’t Peter fly away himself? Volume 2 is Generations, so it looks like we’re going to learn more about the Heroes’ families.

Lost – 4/5
Nice! We got some answers but other questions were raised. I was surprised that Jack didn’t waver on contacting the freighter. I thought for sure he would cave after hearing Ben’s talk. It’ll be interesting to find out why the “rescuers” are evil and who Jacob really is. The numbers of the Others are thinning…How will Ben get away this time? Or will he join the survivors to purge the newcomers? Goodbye Charlie!

Gilmore Girls – 4/5
This was the series finale and it was wrapped up nicely. I think they tied up just enough without forcing matters. Lorelai and Luke are together and Rory got a job as a journalist. Simple and to the point.

Battlestar Galactica – 3/5
We now know 4 of the 5 additional Cylon models…or do we? The fleet is heading to Earth, but will they beat the Cylons there? The finale was a while ago, so that’s about as much as I remember of it.

UK Basketball – 2/5
Another disappointing season, but in the cliffhanger, Tubby Smith moved on to a different team and Billy G. took over the reigns of the team. Will the team get better? Can they beat Florida and the other SEC powerhouses and regain their status among the elite programs?

This has my name written all over it! UrbanDare.com – “a kind of race-meets-scavenger hunt in which choosing and using the right gadgets was as essential to success as speed.”

Here’s an article from Wired.com about it.

With Razr cell phones pressed to their ears and BlackBerry 8700s in hand, Ann Ritter and Bryant Palmer broke from the pack of other teams and ran at top speed up Fifth Avenue toward Union Square Park. On the other end of the cell phone, Palmer’s sister sat at home in front of her computer, googling Union Square Park to confirm that it was, in fact, the site of the first Labor Day observation.

Forty teams combined physical fitness and tech know-how for Saturday’s Urban Dare in New York City, a kind of race-meets-scavenger hunt in which choosing and using the right gadgets was as essential to success as speed. (Wired magazine writer Daniel Pink covered a similar race in 2003.) The teams had to answer city-specific trivia questions to find and photograph each of the 12 checkpoints that made up the racecourse.

Correct answers enabled the teams to find the checkpoints. At some locations, a physical dare like doing push-ups or eating a giant pretzel was required. At others, teams had to take digital pictures of specific things. “I’m sure they thought we were crazy,” Beau Benton said of the family from Mexico City who posed for a required picture of a human pyramid. He snapped the shot with his Leica D-Lux 3 digital camera.

To finish the race, teams had to reach the final checkpoint in the Bleeker Street Bar for a dart dare. They had to throw a bull’s eye before the clock could be stopped. Kiss My Blarney Stone finished first with a time of 2:36:22, but was only declared the winner after showing its collection of digital photos from checkpoints along the way.

It’s coming to Columbus on June 23rd…I just might think about doing that…

When Switchfoot meets Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development), Guitar Hero and DDR, this is what you get:

Awakening by Switchfoot

Bonus! Jayma Mays (the cutie waitress Charlie from Heroes) makes an appearance!

(relevant.tv has a higher quality version.)

(If you don’t quite get the humor behind this, read this article.)