jay challenge

i'm running the jay challenge this saturday. wish me luck--i'm SO scared!

jack kerouac quote

"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn......."

she said

she said, it's been a lot hot day. a sweaty day. the kind of day where things just hum along as you scrub and scour and sweep and dust and vacuum and give the cat a flea bath and answer old post and finally pay those bills and smile at your neighbors and wonder when the last time you were able to just relax on the couch, watching the sunset while you curled up, petting the cat, sipping herbal tea, and just breathing. sometimes you need that time. sometimes, sometimes, you need to just be.

marriage means gifts

my sister got engaged and i'm trying to find a nice gift for her. i've been looking for this since they got engaged two or so weeks ago. i wanted to do something rad, like get them canoing lessons or something, but she lives with her fiancee down in the south and i really don't know what would be the best. so i've been hopelessly shopping. my mom has given me the most pathetic ideas--"how about candlestick holders?" maybe she would like that, but that is SO far removed from my idea of a good gift i could never possibly get it.

so i'm looking online to try to get something they would like and it never fails to astound me the expensive shit that they sell...crystal wine bottle holder...random decorations and expensive platters. and i'm totally disgusted at the waste of money for these things--i mean, there are people who haven't eaten in days and who are dying right now with nothing and to buy some of these gifts seems totally superfluous and excessive. at the same time, they are carefully advertised, and you think, "oh i wish i had that..." it's interesting at the way advertising tries to fuck with your brains.

anyway i just thought of a sweet gift to get her, i just have to find out the perfect version of it. i want to give her a gift to celebrate the fact that she and her boyfriend are in love and are committing themselves to a lifetime of loving each other--which is a very sweet notion--because THAT is what marriage is about, not a fancy wedding and all this bullshit society tries to convince us it is about.

my sister doesn't read this blog much, but if you are reading liss, your gift is coming and will be selected with love in celebration of love.

i run fast

i never think of myself as a fast runner. the last race i did, a 4 miler, i ran over the 59th street bridge too and didn't think i ran exceptionally fast. however, i finished in the top 1.9% of women runners, and in the top 18% overall...too bad i never medal, but i still had fun.

oh my

i'm really becoming an ultrarunner; i'm starting to lose my toenails. :(

there is confetti all over my apartment.
there is glitter all over my life.

now that you're gone

you've left your toothbrush behind
and
i hope you won't mind
but i stared at it
thinking of you
i picked it up, rinsed, applied toothpaste
using it
using your toothbrush
which kissed your mouth
thinking, "this is the closest i shall get right now
to kissing you."

the #1 reason why i love roosevelt island for running

water flying through the air!

roosevelt island is one of the few places in nyc with sprinklers on their lawns, plus they have several playgrounds with those water sprinkler things that kiddies run through! this is relief on a hot day's run!

running in 90 heat and too much sunshine

i forgot to put sunblock on and now i totally have a sports bra tan. ah well. only ran 10 miles today, which feels more relaxing after running 23 yesterday.

some things i saw on my run today include:

• a woman knitting in a lounge chair alongside the east river
• a grandma tanning in a very teeny tiny bikini
  

growing up

my baby sister is engaged and getting married. she has a very different life than i do--lives in a nice suburban house with all sorts of nice normal suburban things--but still, this really clues me in that she is an adult. oh no, wait, if she's an adult and younger than me...i must be an adult.

parties wearing fairy wings and trips to the middle east--are those for adults?

they're for me!

this is what you do

this is what you do on that kind of saturday.

you get up early enough, eat a half of a bagel (carbs) with peanut butter (some protein), pull on your wicking underwear, running skirt, wicking sports bra, running socks, running sneakers, sweatband. pull your hair into buns, top with a visor, sunglasses. sunscreen on shoulders. strap on fuel belt, and out the door. run through williamsburg--move it, hipster, cherie's on a roll. over the williamsburg bridge. through the lower east side, passing signs in chinese. through trendy soho. greenwich village. up along the west side highway. pass slower runners. pass walkers. get passed by cyclists, fast runners, bladers. refill water bottles with cold water from the fountain. run faster, north. pass people doing tai chi along the river, people tanning along the river, drinking iced coffees and explaining that they don't love him anymore they can't imagine where they should go otherwise. i run faster, sucking gels out of their goo packets every forty-five minutes, ingesting salt packets and ginger chews when my body requests them. alongside riverside drive...so beautiful. turn around when i'm far north enough...running south, when i run into an old coworker from the naropa library. we run together, chatting, catching up. she leaves me at 72nd, i continue south to 59th, then cross town, across the bottom of the park (passing the stinking sad horse carriages that the tourists love to amuse themselves with), over on the east side, then up on the queensboro bridge, oh, the steep include, and up up up. eat sports beans. drink water. it's in the 80s, sunny, i'm hot. over the bridge. faster. then down, into queens. i hate the pollution. run slow, feeling tired legs, exhaustion. tell myself, "cherie, you are not walking. it is only going to get harder in vermont. in the brook. and when you are running, you tell yourself, 'you are strong.' cherie, you are strong. you are running. you are a runner. think of good things, like bathtubs and comfy beds and lovers and food and cats. think of good things. keep going." through l.i.c., and over the pulaski. don't get stuck up, drawbridge. over. and to my block, and yes, yes, yes, i am finished.

i have succeeded.

another 23 miles under my belt--it only makes me stronger.

sicko

i saw michael moore's new movie, sicko. it really blew me away--i think it's probably his best. it's about the flawed health care system in the u.s., and how the insurance companies care more about profit than your health, and when they don't cover things, they profit, and you suffer. he also makes some pretty strong cultural comparisons--he shows the health care systems in canada, uk, france, and cuba, and it's pretty dismal to see how horribly americans are treated. all people should have health care. you shouldn't have to be rich to have good health--everyone should be able to have good health.

one of the comparisons that struck me most is between a family in denver and a golfer in canada. in denver, the parents (after suffering serious health problems, including three heart attacks (for the father) and cancer (for the mother), have no money and are forced to move into their daughter's spare bedroom. they are so upset to have to sell their home to cover their bills and it's really awful. the son (who lives across town from the daughter who they'll be living with) is 27 and really reams out his parents for having to move in with their kids. it's not him they're living with, but he feels like he should make them feel awful for having health problems that force them to move in with their child in their fifties. several scene later, a canadian golfer who qualifies himself as conservative says, "everyone should have health insurance." he basically talks abt how if someone doesn't have money, we should help them--that's the way it should be.

i thought that really captured a cultural difference very neatly. how sad.

what i've been up to lately

i love summertime. it's my favourite season. even as my kneepits are sweaty on this sultry summer evening, i'm so happy. running is fun--sports bras and shorts (or running skirts!). crazy street parties. block parties. ice cream. italian ices. free concerts. last week i saw superchunk, manu chao and bob dylan--all outdoors. i went to the beach. i went to a rooftop party.

this weekend, i'll be running 22 miles, going to the kickass danger party, going to the beach. add a trip to the farmer's market to snag some strawberries before the season ends, read on the grass. maybe do some organizing of stuff in my house, some writing. should be fun.