January - It's a wrap (almost!)

Yes - January, despite my sense of lackluster motivation and a slow start, ended up being a good month and has concluded on a positive note.  Returning to work after the holidays is always a bit brutal, but the Jan. schedule at the school where I teach is pretty awesome and allows for much socializing.  Add to that my birthday and some solid training weeks, and the month rounded out quite nicely!

Yes, my birthday - another year older but not necessarily wiser.  I used to hate having a January birthday (mainly when I was a kid because I wanted a pool party which was never possible, not even in South Texas), but I've obviously gotten over that and now embrace getting older.  I think that, once I'm closer to the big 5-0, I might enjoy celebrating it a bit less, but for now, I'll continue to raise a glass to my health and happiness.

Drinking a home-made margarita by the resident mixologist and sporting a great little Smartwool pullover that my parents got me - total win!

With my birthday, I didn't move up an age group, sadly, but hopefully it will be a good year for me in the 40-44 group!  My actual birthday was filled with some star power - I attended a CalTri season kick-off meeting and met the very inspiring Hillary Biscay who talked to the group.  I admit that I didn't know who she was until I got my first Smashfestqueen kit, but then I started reading about her and wow, she's pretty amazing.  And I really do love the kits that her company makes - the designs are awesome and the kits are comfortable.  Anyway, I wavered - to introduce myself as a fan girl or not?  I finally decided that it would be kind of silly to not say anything to her, so I ended up talking about how great the kits are, showing her a picture of me wearing the Fly kit, and then we blabbed about triathlon. I was a little starstruck, I must admit, and she was very nice.

Hillary with Maik Twelsiek - the following photos are courtesy of CalTri (and Harrison Shao)

No pictures with Hillary but Harrison snapped one of me with Maik - he only came in 11th at Kona this year!  He was swiping my credit card so that I could make the following purchase:

I know, I know!  Another kit. But so cute and I love the fish scales on it!  And Maik also talked with me about the St. George course - and the hills!

My "real" birthday celebration followed - Michael and I spent an afternoon hanging out at LA's Grand Central Market , visiting the Hudson River School exhibit at LACMA and eating and drinking quite well.  To be honest, there might have been a bit too much over-indulgence over the course of the month, but how can I complain about *having* to spend time at some of my favorite places - Amigos, the York, Golden Road Brewery and POV (this last place has forever ruined pizza elsewhere for us) with friends.  Also, I had my first ramen experience - since the days of Top Ramen - at Tsujita.  The LA Weekly claims that you can find better ramen, but you have to get on a plane to do so.  I'm not a ramen expert, but I can say that it was one of the most decadent meals I've ever had.

Perhaps my favorite part of the meal (except for the ramen) - Glad that no one died while we were eating the ramen!

I mentioned drink, and I know that serious triathletes and runners eschew alcohol.  Sigh.  Obviously I'm not one of those serious athletes, and I've developed a recent crush on the Old Fashioned and variations of said drink (such as the Claremont).  Also, Golden Road's "Better Weather IPA" is one of the best beers I've had in ages which I would drink on a more regular basis except that it has 9% alcohol or something ridiculous like that.  In other words, it packs a punch.

Despite a month of eating and drinking a bit too much, I would say that the rest of my training regime is on track.  Yes, despite my mid-month groaning and moaning and belly-aching, it's been a solid training period.  I started off the month with a great run in Boulder on New Year's, and I started today with an early morning long, slow distance run.  Many of these have felt like a slog, at least at one moment or another, but I enjoyed every moment of today's run. I feel that some of the training is beginning to click, and I'm looking forward to a more focused month in February.

Wait wait!

I know that some people keep a "bucket list", but I've always hesitated to put to paper (or type out) a list of things that I want to have experienced before I kick it for good, partly because my preferences have changed so much in the last decade, so why try to dictate life experiences for the next 10 - 20 years, and even the years beyond.  However, I've been a huge fan of the NPR show "Wait wait don't tell me" for a while now, and if I had a bucket list, seeing a live taping of the show would be on the list.

Or it would have been on the list - because it is no longer a 'pending item'.  Michael and I went to Downtown LA last night to see Peter Sagal, Carl Kasell and 3 panelists as they recorded the show live!  We nixed birthday presents to each other this year, hoping to eliminate more "stuff" in our lives, but we remained open to the idea of celebrations.  His birthday was this week, so when we learned that NPR/KPCC would live tape the show at the Nokia Theater, we thought "Why not?! What a great way to celebrate."

So, we actually went out on - for me - a school night!  Living on the edge, I know.  Before the show, we went to The Edison, a swank bar also in downtown LA.  I appreciated the idea of the bar, trying to recall a bygone era, and it was a fun experience for an evening.  Cool interior, and our expensive drinks were really great, even though they were small!  I did enjoy the black-and-white silent movies that they played on different walls.  I was fixated on one wall which played movies by Georges Melies,  whose work the movie "Hugo" featured.

After that, we headed to the Nokia Theater.  Despite living in LA for 7 years, this was our first foray to the Nokia Theater (we've been to Staples all of one time).  We weren't quite sure where to go, but we completely judged people on their fashion sense and followed those who looked as though they listened to NPR.  Bingo!  I had no idea what to expect and was actually nervous that the live taping would somehow let us down, but it actually lived up to my expectations - and even exceeded them.  It was strange yet fun to see Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell and also the panelists on stage.  One of the main reasons that we (I) bought the tickets on impulse was because Paula Poundstone was one of the panelists, and she was a bit like she comes across on the radio - awkwardly rambling at times and razor-sharp at other times.  After checking out her website, I saw one of her most recent tweets:  'Congress just banned the word "Lunatic" from Federal Legislation.  They replaced it with "fuck wad."'  Yes, I'm immature enough to find that quite funny.

It was a really interesting experience which I'm not going to describe very well.  I thought that it might feel forced or stiff, but the panelists were definitely "on".  Also, Peter Sagal - he's the dude.  Okay, Jeff Bridges is "The Dude", but Peter Sagal's stamina over the 2 hours of the taping was impressive.  Also, he and Carl stood the entire time, at separate podiums, while wearing headphones and a mike.  Kind of crazy! Oh - they were also dressed professionally, coat and tie, which seemed so traditional of them.  Probably one of the most interesting aspects of the taping happened at the end, when he, Carl and the panelists had to retape certain parts that weren't "clean" (I know nothing of radio-speak, obviously).  After the taping, they took questions from the audience, but at that time, I was falling asleep (it was 10:00 pm!), so we hit the road.  My only wish or regret for the night surprised me in retrospect - the guest was Hugh Bonneville from the show "Downton Abbey", and I think that I like his character on the show more than I liked the actor on stage last night, sad to say.

By the end of the night, our faces hurt from laughing for almost 2 hours straight which is not a bad way to spend an evening!  I'm curious to hear the episode tomorrow (or the podcast - whenever) to find out which jokes make it on to the program and how they piece it all together.  I'm not sure if that will detract from the experience of seeing the taping - I'll find out.

And I'd definitely see another live taping again, and if someone is a fan of the radio show, I'd recommend the experience!