Splash

Took another run in the rain after work today. I love that feeling. That's probably a good thing since it's going to rain for the next 10ish months here. I could feel one of my ankles tensing up while I was running, and expected that I would be feeling some tendon soreness afterwards but so far so good in that department. I haven't gotten out to take pictures of that trail yet, being the slacker that I am.

It was raining fairly heavily for Seattle rain today, but I still enjoyed every moment of it.

I think the parts of running in the rain I enjoy most are that you stay pretty cool, there is never anyone else out, and you get to splash in puddles along the way.

We've actually done quite a bit that I haven't written about none of it too exciting though.

Monday, Monday

I hope you have a wonderful Monday.

Random Musings - Need Some Holiday Cheer?

I went for a run yesterday. I ran 2.5 miles or somewhere around there, I don't really know. I'm pretty sure I can run infinitely as long as I don't worry about how fast I go. If I take the next day off I shouldn't have to worry about my tendons. We'll see how that works out for me.

There's this little nature trail by my house that I've walked part of before but I have never explored all the offshoots. I don't have any idea how long it is but it's like a little piece of trail running tucked away just for me. I will try to get out and take some pictures tomorrow. It's a nice little trail, I'm not sure why I hadn't ran it previously.

It's staying dark later and getting dark earlier these days. I'm fine with running in the dark, but not so much running in the dark while pushing a jogging stroller. So my options are really I can either get up early and run before work (yea, I'm going to be honest.. that's probably never going to happen) or I can run right after work - bleh.

I'm going to work on it though. I've been trying to limit/cut my processed carbs I eat at work because they seem to drain the life out of me.

Something else I've been thinking about, and I will probably re-vist this in the weeks to come. . .

I'm not really a fan of the holiday season. I always viewed them as being for families, and I didn't have one. I used to always volunteer to work every holiday - I'd offer to work a double that day. I didn't have anything else to do, and other people should be able to be with their families because they are lucky to have them. Holidays always just depressed me and made me feel extremely isolated and lonely.

Even now, they sort of just remind me of all that I am or was lacking. Reflecting on things familial are just sort of saddening to me.

There's no reason for anyone to feel that way.

So my friends, this is my offer to you.


If you'd like to receive a holiday card from me, just let me know. I know it's not much - but everyone deserves to know that someone, somewhere took 5 minutes out of their day to think of them - even if it's from the most unlikely of places.
I'll even take a step farther - If you know someone else that could use a little extra holiday cheer this season, I'll send them one too.

Wednesday July 16, 1975 - Thursday October 20, 2011

I hope you died deep in your memories of the wonderful life you lived, the many lives you touched, the people you changed and those you shared your very happiest moments with. In times free of cancer, free of suffering, and filled with your infectious happiness. People will speak highly, affectionately, and lovingly of you in death not because of the sainthood death brings, but because of the life you led. Cheers to you my friend for making me a better me by knowing you.

We The People

People should not be afraid of their government. 

Governments should be afraid of their people.

I will start with saying that I'm not very political - at all. I have no allegiance to one side or the other, and typically dislike the extremists on either side equally. I have friends that are as liberal as they come, and friends that are as conservative as you could wildly imagine. 

This isn't about left or right.

Republican or Democratic. 

Those are distractors. 

We need to step outside our left and right paradigm.

Culture war identity politics keep us distracted.

We don't talk about what's wrong with the power balance in this country as long as we can continue to argue about abortion, who should be allowed to get married or start wars on teachers.

We mix mortality with politics.

Religion with economy.

And in the process overlook the big picture for pet causes that pull at the heart strings.

We cling to myths about both sides.

The right thinks the left are lazy want-everything-for-nothing or over-educated elites.

The left thinks the right are rich don't-care-about-anyone-but-themselves.

The protests happening around the world is not about what they are for

but what they are against.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/14/understanding-occupy-wall-street/

The relationship between corporations and politicians has perverted democracy. 

We all know it. It's no secret. 

The voices of 

We The People

Have been drowned out by 

We the corporations

With their megaphones to the ear of our politicians 

keeping them strictly in their pockets

buying them off.

Our politicians have been bought with huge corporate campaign donations

which are essentially sponsorships. 

Signed into contracts protecting the best interests of mega corporations.

Corporations are not people.

They do not have the interest of we the people in mind.

Corporations work for their shareholders.

They are legally bound to maximizing profits for them.

"We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill and lie to make money. They throw poor families out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars to make profits, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power."

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_movement_too_big_to_fail_20111017/

We need

Desperately

To

Get the corporations 

Out of 

Our

We the people of the 

United States Of America

ALL OF US

Out of

Our

politics. 

As long as our politicians are corrupted with money

and our media is orchestrated to pit us

right against left

left against right

only showing what they

think we want to see

or what

they want us to see

Our government should be accountable to it's people

not to it's businesses 

Thai, Occupy, Frank

I feel like running. 

RIGHT NOW 

but it's quarter to twelve, and I have to work tomorrow. 

I'm afraid if I run now I won't sleep at all tonight. 

I'm one of those weird people that the more energy I burn, the longer I stay awake. 

Figure that one out. 

Tonight we went out to my favorite Thai restaurant (we can only go there when we have a babysitter because it's not really kid friendly), got some coffee and took a stroll downtown to look at the Occupy Seattle crowd. I really need to invest in a nice point and shoot camera for the times I don't feel like, or am not comfortable, lugging my DSLR around. Just something about carrying an $800 camera around after dark makes me uneasy.

Over dinner we talked about things we'd like to do, and decided that over the summer if we can get the little man in a summer camp program that we'll take up bouldering at the local bouldering gym (hear that Jim?) Pretty excited to get a chance to give that a try - just hard to do with the tight schedule we have.

There had been a march yesterday which saw the movement spread into the thousands. They marched form the park they have been occupying to the famous pike place market, sitting down in one of the roads closing it for around 10 minutes. There's been some arrests - but all of it has been respectful and peaceful - protestors even thanking the police for doing their job respectfully.  The park is supposed to close at 10 pm - but they have only been arresting people who refuse to take down tents/shelters.

Where they are gathered, or 'occupying' is in an open area smack dab in the shopping district of downtown - across from the mall. Today there was tons of tents (I think I read about the night of 500 tents to take place yesterday evening...) When we went by it was still fairly early in the night but there was at least one news stations, a big police van/bus and at least 5 cop cars. Interested to see what happened with all of that tonight - so far nothing on the news websites about anyone else getting arrested.

Afterwards we headed back up to Neumos to see Frank Turner. As a side note, Neumos is a great venue, but to tell you the truth Seattle has tons of awesome, small venues. There was a few bands playing before him, we managed to miss the first one and the second one, while not bad, seemed to go on forever. We were only able to stay for about half of Franks show, but it was good and fun none-the-less.

Not bad for a GO phone cell pic eh?

During the opening act (that we caught) there was a bunch of kids (guessing high school) moshing. Which is funny - because this is sort of folk punk music. The band stopped to tell them during the set - it wasn't Pantera or anything, chill out.

When Frank came on the guitarist that was playing as part of the band looked drunk or drugged out of his mind, or maybe he was just suffering from heat stroke and dehydration from the amount of sweat pouring off him. All I could think was damn, these guys must be really well hydrated.. and the fact that the people way up front must be getting spit on.

But! it was a good time, glad we went, and need to figure out a way to do it more often.

By the way, if you don't use Pandora, you should.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

UPDATE:
He had a court hearing this morning and no charges were filed at this time.

Seattle has a "Superhero" who goes by "Phoenix Jones"

He roams the streets of Seattle in full anonymous gear looking for crimes in action. When he sees one he alerts police (he has an automatic dialer built into his superhero suit - no lie).

He states "I symbolize that the average person doesn't have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing"

Phoenix Jones was arrested over the weekend for assault.

The whole thing was caught on tape by one of his companions.

Not sure if the other parties involved in this whole thing realized that it was being taped, or were too drunk to care.

The accusing party states that they left the club and were dancing when Mr. Jones approached them and sprayed them with pepper spray. One of the female 'victims' then started chasing Mr. Jones and his companions around and hitting them with her stiletto heels..

Mr. Jones said there was a fight and he went to break it up - alerting police as he was running towards the scene. After breaking up the initial fight, Mr. Jones is chased by previous mentioned woman with her shoe. We also see another female hit another member of Mr. Jones companions. Then things get really crazy...

If you watch the video, you can hear it said they are still fighting after they move away from the initial scene. At one point you see a car appearing to try to swerve into someone to hit them, barely missing. The police still haven't arrived. Mr. Jones keeps his eye on the other parties - at one point they get into an SUV and chase Mr. Jones and his companions into the ferry terminal. They then throw things at them while they seek cover.

I can't even make this stuff up....

The cops finally arrive

over 10 minutes later

that's worth repeating

over 10 minutes later the police respond

in the middle of downtown Seattle

The shoe woman tells the police the story about how they were dancing and Mr. Jones came and pepper sprayed them for no reason. Mr Jones offers the officer to watch the video of the entire incident. Officer refuses and arrests Mr. Jones on assault charges because that is what the shoe wielding woman wants to do. Of course this reveals his true identity, giving up his anonymous cloak he was able to work under previously.

Police didn't even know who he was prior.

They have continuously told him not to get involved. To call 911 should anyone see an infraction of the law being committed.

which again brings up back to

10 minutes in downtown Seattle

If you were being assaulted, do you think you'd have 10 minutes to wait around for the police to show up?

How would you feel if you saw someone standing across the street doing nothing to help you while you're being assaulted while waiting for police to arrive, which you know may or may not happen while you're still breathing?

This is basically what the police are telling you to do.

The way I view Mr. Jones and his posse, is a bit like a community watch group on steroids.

Here's the video

Blow it up to full screen and pay close attention.

Phoenix Jones Stops Assault from Ryan McNamee on Vimeo.

1. He is not coming up on them quietly, and he is alerting the police as he goes to the scene. There is no way they did not hear him coming. 
2. If you watch closely you can see that there are 2-3 males fighting on the righthand side of the crowd.
3. Mr. Jones runs into the crowd. You're unable to really see what is happening here, but lets go ahead and assume that he used pepper spray to break up the fight when his yelling and screaming didn't do the trick. 
4. The woman then assaults a man with Mr. Jones and then turns on Mr. Jones and continues to chase and assault him. 
5. They leave and are watched by Mr. Jones and companions. 
6. You then see the car nearly miss hitting someone. 
7. More watching and waiting on police. 

You get the idea..

But this story gets better. The woman went on a radio show and said, there was indeed a fight which means she lied to police.

Radio interview here

warning - she sounds really smart.. it's a bit painful to listen to. You can really just skip to the end where she says yea there was a fight but it was with some other people that were standing right next to us and her sequence of events just don't match up with the video, but oh well...

More audio at MyNorthwest.com

Now I don't know about you, but if I was feeling threatened I'd probably be trying to run away from what was threatening me, not towards it. Maybe I'm just weird....

We also learn with the exposure of his identity that Mr. Jones is a mixed martial arts fighter AKA if he wanted to he could really mess you up so you're probably lucky that he decided pepper spray was an effective method.

He has a court hearing set for thursday..

It will have to be seen if Seattle has seen the last days of its super hero. With his identity revealed, it's even riskier business for him to continue than it was previously because it puts his family (wife and two children) at risk.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Decision-in-Phoenix-Jones-superhero-case-2213166.php

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/phoenix_jones_real-life_superh.html

http://abcnews.go.com/US/citizen-superhero-phoenix-jones-arrested-seattle/story?id=14704985

Oh Seattle, you're so strange. 

Falling Into Fall

I love fall. 

It's by far my favorite season. Probably part of the reason I love living in Seattle.

I love carving pumpkins. 

I love some nice hot apple cider.

I break out my tea in fall. 

I enjoy the crispness of the air. 

Nice to see you fall.. hope you stay a while. 

ps. I did another night time run this weekend. No rain this time. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

I decided to make some chicken noodle soup.

I had some chicken broth that I made previously in the freezer and had left over celery, carrots and chicken from an event at work.

I highly highly recommend making your own chicken broth. It tastes so much better than the soy-protein-and-whatever-the-hell-else-is-in-that-stuff you can buy at the store. Not only that, but it's better for you too.

"Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily - not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons - stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain"

If you'd like to read the rest, it can be found at this site - Broth Is Beautiful.

It's easy to make - and can be made as a byproduct of a different meal - and it tastes better.

Here's one for you 

Step 1 -

Take whole chicken you bought from the store take the giblets out of the center, put all of it in a crock pot (including the giblets).

Step 2 - Sprinkle whatever seasonings you'd like on top (salt, pepper, garlic, coriander, paprika .. whatever.) If you feel like it, you can add onions, celery, carrots and such. 

Step 3 - Place lid on crock pot and set to low. (don't have a crock pot? I got mine at goodwill for around $5)

**Note** that I did not add any water. No need to. 

Step 4 - Go live your life. I usually get this set up before bed and just let it cook until dinner the next day. 5 or more hours should be enough though. 

Step 5- Take out chicken, which is probably falling off the bones and separate the meat from the bones (it's on to not get every last bit of meat, it will still go to use) 

We usually get enough meat off the chicken for at least two meals. This of course will depend on the size of your chicken, appetite, how many people you're feeding and what else you make with it.

Now you can take some of the liquid sitting in your crock pot and make a quick gravy with it if you'd like. Otherwise move to step 6.

Step 6- Put all your bones back in the crock pot. 

Step 7 - Add 4 or 5 cups of water, or you know, however much you feel like. 

Step 8 - You'll probably want to add a little more salt, maybe some dried herbs. If you haven't added celery and carrots and onions, do it now, or don't. It's your stock, put whatever you feel like in it. They will add extra nutrients and flavors to your broth.

Step 9 - Let it cook for another day.

Step 10 - Strain into a bowl

Step 11- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in fridge. 

The fat will congeal to the top and you'll be able to easily remove it once cold.

Step 12- Remove fat congealed at the top

Now you have options. You can either use it now, or save for later. 

To save for later pour into ziplock freezer bags and lay flat in your freezer. Once it's frozen you can stand them up to take less space **once you make chicken noodle soup you can store it the same way** 

Now to make soup. 

What you'll need

Chicken broth (check)

Chicken (this could be left over chicken from when you cooked the whole chicken, or you can just buy some chicken breasts and cook them. I usually buy frozen chicken breasts and cook them directly from the frozen state. 350 degrees for usually around 30-40 minutes, or until the reach a temperature of 165 degrees.) 

Celery

Carrots 

Onion

Garlic

Egg noodles

Butter or Oil or both

Italian Seasoning

You'll notice I didn't put quantities because frankly it doesn't matter. It's your soup, make it how you like it.

Step 1 - Cut up your Celery, carrots, onion, garlic.

Step 2 - Put your chicken stock in a pot to start heating it up. Throw some italian seasoning in there for good measure. Not too much. 

 I didn't have enough chicken stock for my soup today so I did add a little better than bouillon - organic (I use this kind because it doesn't have any vegetable protein in it.) If you need to, go for it! It won't take away any of the positive aspects of the homemade chicken stock you added.

Step 3- Put a little bit of oil or butter ( I use both, butter first) and add your garlic. Cook this for a little bit and then add your onions (I usually add a tiny bit of oil here). Cook until the onions begin to turn translucent. You'll want to continue to stir this. 

Step 4 - Add to your pot 

Step 5 - Add your carrots and celery to the pan you just removed the onions and garlic from.. add a little butter. Cook these until there slightly tender - Add to pot. 

Step 6 - Add water to the same pan you cooked your veggies in. When water begins to boil, add some egg noodles. Cook until done. Strain. Add to soup.

Step 7 - Season to taste.

This is 6 POUNDS of chicken noodle soup

Let it cool down a little, and taste again. The most common thing needed is salt. Add slowly - you can always add more but you can't take it away.

Enjoy

If you want to make it look pretty, buy some fresh parsley, chop up finely and sprinkle on top.

To save for later pour into ziplock freezer bags and lay flat in your freezer. Once it's frozen you can stand them up to take less space.

'Live the Life you Love, Love the Life you Live'

 

Rest in peace Steve.

Running in the Rain

Sunday I managed to make it to REI to get a headlamp. So Sunday night I went for my first night time in the rain run.

and it was awesome. 

I took music, put on an upbeat tune (It was Matt and Kim, but I don't really remember what track? I think it was block after block but you should also check out daylight, and cameras by them.. I'll link at the bottom. And you're welcome in advance!)

I had a good pace (couldn't tell you what since I didn't look at the clock) and my legs were moving on their own as I was rocking out. Stuck with just 2 miles since I hadn't ran in a while.

There's a certain amount of freedom that the dark brings. It's so much easier to just pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist when it's just you, the darkness, your light and some music. An added bonus is that you can really tell if you're being all sorts of bobbly when you're running with a light on your head. As I was gliding along my light made a steady line, no jerky up and down movement. Sweet. And it was raining, which made it just that much more fun.

I know a lot of people dread getting out in the rain, but I love the rain.

You don't live in Seattle if you don't have a certain amount of affection for the rain. After living in Arizona for 1.5 years.. I LOVE the rain. I don't love the downpours type rain the rest of the country seems to get, but the misty don't even really notice it rain we have here, is wonderful.