Holy Chalupas!

Two separate times this week I’ve been asked “Whoa, are you ok?” and “Had a rough morning?” Ok, work has been stressful lately, lots of patients in the ICU, very physically demanding work while at the same time mentally and creatively unsatisfying; not to mention, the hospital has been overcapacity for a couple of weeks now. This has resulted in me, basically, looking like crap.

Florida Hospital, Orlando

The good news is I’m off for four days (transitioning back into a full-time position) and just trying to recover.

This is what I look like out of scrubs. Super happy!

On that note here are some things that have been making me happy lately:

Podcasts

I’m fully in love with the Dana Gould Hour. Dana may be best known as a writer for The Simpsons but is an incredible resource for the odds and ends of Hollywood, comedy and weird history. Always smart, always funny, never one hour. The Halloween episodes are especially good.

I’m also deeply invested in Oh No Ross and Carrie. I feel like this podcast was made for me. Ross and Carrie investigate paranormal claims, fringe science, and spirituality. Recently they experienced fire-walking (which may or may not have resulted in tons of blisters), and are in the middle of their Scientology investigation! As a fan of Going Clear, I just want to roll around in each episode.

I also enjoyed this silly episode of My Brother, My Brother and Me. It’s filled with Fuller House chat and an awesome tangent about MC Skat Kat.

Blogs

As far as my blog-reading goes, I can’t say enough good things about arunnaroundlife by Lindsay Edwards out of Tampa, FL. She’s a copywriter by day but also a runner battling a neurological disorder, cyclist and all-around positive, down-to-earth person. What’s more is she is a very good writer and a funny gal, which makes me look forward to what she has to say.

She’s so accessible, in fact, that I ran into her while running the Winter Park Road Race last Saturday! It was a complete surprise but truly special to meet her.

An honorable mention would be Mel Joulwan’s Paleo blog Well Fed. I’m not huge into cooking but really enjoy her insights. Michael loves to cook Paleo and owns two of her books (a third is in the works).

Books

I joined a book club several months ago while also trying to burn my way my Goodreads list. I reread To Kill A Mockingbird recently which was magical but makes every other book seem like crap. Take, for example, In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume, the latest Book Club selection. Ho-ly crap, the story and style had a lot of potential but the writing was just poor. I haven’t written a novel (yet?), I know this, but it was a little insulting. It just goes to show that if you have a story to tell, sometimes it doesn’t matter how well you tell it.

On my personal read list is The Martian by Andy Weir, through which I’m about 1/3 of the way. I’ve heard it’s “heavy science” but it’s not too bad. You really don’t have to understand each chemical reaction to get what’s going on. I’m really enjoying the character’s voice, though it’s written that well either. It’s a little predictable so far but very satisfying, like an epic movie. Yeah, I know it’s also a movie.

Music

I’ve been so lost with music lately. I haven’t really been enjoying anything new and the songs I could listen to again and again are now hard to stomach. Enter Wilco and Nada Surf. Recently I’ve just wanted to wrap myself in a warm blanket of this music. It’s not new, but it’s new to me. Any album by Wilco is good, but Summerteeth is its own entity. And you may know Nada Surf from the weird late-nineties song “Popular” but please forget that ever happened and listen to Let Go, ‘cause damn. They released a new album this month that I’ll be listening to this weekend.

Television

I’ve been experiencing the job of being unplugged from cable. The difference is deliberate television watching. If you want to watch something, you have to really want to watch it. We have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Plus and it takes extra steps and most of your attention to get involved.

Recently I rewatched the first and only season of Freaks & Geeks, one of Judd Apotow’s earliest projects, starring countless well-known and familiar faces. It’s funny and has so much heart, not seen very often anymore. I was overjoyed that Michael liked it just as much.

We just started Scrubs and, although it’s almost too much like real life, it’s super funny and poignant. Also, it’s a nice, short show to fit in before bedtime.

I’m in the midst of Fuller House and loving every cheesy minute. So many Mylantas happening!

Finally, The Great British Baking Show deserves mention. This show is considered a competition but may be one of the most relaxing shows I’ve ever seen. In a beautiful countryside setting, this is not your typical food competition show. And it’s bloody fantastic.

Running

Running has been more of an adversary than a friend to me lately. I just can’t seem to get my mojo back, even in the cooler months. I blame all the recent (wonderful) changes in my life and I’m happy to say it’s starting to come back. I registered for the Winter Park 10K months ago and, as mentioned above, ran into a familiar face, which pepped me up for the rest of the run. It was hard work (just ask Strava), but ultimately felt that old feeling again. Here’s a ghastly picture of me finishing the race in 1:03:20.

My last exciting bit of news is new running shoes! I went to the good folks at Track Shack who found a great middle shoe for me. I’m used to running in more minimal shoes but now that I’m a tad out of shape, it’s been harder on my body. The Brooks Launch feels stiffer than I’m used to but I enjoyed my first run in them, feeling more support and comfort for this old body.