Results Preview. Don't Tell JAP.

The official results of our most important poll are in.

For those that missed it, the question at hand was 'Do you often have the urge to kick, punch, or hit really cute things?' See previous post 'Adorable violence: A MI Phenomenon?' for a more detailed explanation of why on earth this question was posed.

Results (N = 34)
YES, and I'm from Michigan n = 11 (32%)
YES, and I'm NOT from Michigan n = 3 (8%)
NO, and I'm from Michigan n = 9 (26%)
NO, and I'm NOT from Michigan n = 11 (32%)

As you can see, there is some evidence to support my hypothesis, and some that goes against it. It appears that it is rare that non-Michigan residents express this trait. However, within Michigan residents, it is more of a mixed bag, with about half of individuals reporting the urge and half of them not. As usual, more research is needed for a definitive conclusion.

In light of the apparent need to further study this issue in Michigan residents, I have scheduled an emergency trip back to the mitten. I will spend some very long hours conducting... er, research... around the state. In fact, to get an adequate sample that is representative of the entire state, I will be traveling to Detroit, Novi, East Lansing, Waterford, and Dearborn all in one weekend all for the sake of research. If you are going to be in those areas during the times of October 3-6th, please let me know so that you can get involved with important activities that will hopefully better all of our lives.

For the write up of the current results, look to an upcoming issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. I don't forsee any problems with acceptance. Despite limitations of sample size, this research is clearly groundbreaking and a starting point for a very exciting line of follow-up studies.

Philadelphia Distance Run: Metaphor Attempt

Its kinda like riding a roller coaster. Only about two hours and 9 minutes longer.

You're nervous to get started. You might question whether this is really something you should do. You might be a little scared, and think to yourself, 'Can I handle this?' or 'Am I going to get sick?' But you've done the preparation (i.e., waiting in line for two hours, or training for 14 weeks) so you decide to go for it.

Like I said, the actual experience is a bit different in terms of length. Two hours doesn't really compare to 30 seconds. But the adrenaline rush is present in both (hopefully) and each certainly has their ups and down. And as you pull up to the finish with either modality, you feel a sense of relief and the post-adrenaline rush high.

After you stop, maybe you feel a little sick. Your heart is racing. Your legs feel wobbly. You might stumble into someone waiting to leave the finishers coral/queue line.

As your heart rate slows and the blood starts returning to your brain, you begin to think a little clearer. You are still high, but its a different kind of high. The world has stopped spinning, for the most part. You're brain can think in complete sentences again.

And you know what is says to you?

You have GOT to do that again!

Emblems of hurt

I started to write a post about the Lions. I really did. I was reading some articles about them. Started typing my usual rants. Then I started getting depressed. That familiar feeling of anger mixed with continued suffering I get whenever I think about our dreadfully disappointing franchaise. Luckily, in my web surfing, I found this really cool logo making site. Spent a little too much time on it probably. But it made me laugh which lessened the painful feelings. I figure it was probably a better way to spend my time than writing the same old stuff about the Lions anyway. Got the depressingly-true saying from another site, but made it look a bit nicer I think.

If seeing this reduces the pain experienced by just one Lions fan, it has done its job. Hang in there guys, although things will probably never get better in terms of actual football games, atleast we can now make logos to capture our misery.

Still only half-listening

So... the half marathon is in 5 days. FIVE DAYS! I didn't think I would be nervous but apparently, I was wrong. Its a good nervousness, I think, not debilitating, but I didn't expect it. Its my own fault really. I went online this morning and started searching "Philadelphia Distance Run" and "blog" and came up with a ton of people, obsessing over the perfect way to prepare and run this thing. To use my Michigan drawl for ya, "Ohh cryyapp."

I don't know what I'm supposed to eat the day before! And am I allowed to use my legs on Saturday?! I thought so... but now I'm not so sure. I found a blog with a guy obsessing about if he could walk around the day before and what type of juice he should drink. I was just planning to enjoy a nice cold beer to calm the nerves. Here are these people obsessing over these small details, and here I am, mosh pitting with my friends just a week before. And now, I'm starting to get a little freaked out...

The problem with this race is, I did train well for a while and although I'm still technically trained, I could have done a little more training, a little less drinking, and a little less moshing as the race date approached, but I chose to have fun instead. Again... whoops.

Its just like in high school when I ran track. I would always half-listen to advice and half-prepare for whatever race I was running. Like, I would listen to the parts of the preparation that sounded good, and then trail off and not listen to the rest, which usually included the important part. So then I end up eating a huge bowl of pasta a few hours before the meet, instead of the day before, because "the day before" part didn't get taken in as I was daydreaming about what type of mostaccioli I was going to consume. Or I would eat a whole bag of sour skittles before my 300m hurdle race because I heard a lot of sugar could help, but I didn't listen to the fact that sour skittles and no water would make for a very very very dry mouth.

Same thing happened here, it seems. I followed several weeks of an official training schedule printed off of Runnersworld.com, but I didn't listen to the fact that I shouldn't drink heavily on the weekends leading up to the race. I have no clue what I should be eating. And I drink black coffee in place of water because, well, it tastes better.

And now the race is Sunday. And here are all these people better trained than me. I know its my own fault. I made my bed and now I gotta lie in it, right? Well honestly, I'm just struggling to keep an open mind here. Sunday should just be fun. No expectations... I say as I sit here legs shaking with anticipation underneath my desk...

First mosh attempt: Lessons from the pit

One good way to gage the quality of a weekend is to answer the following question: In the days following, how often do you think back to the events that occurred and laugh out loud? Several of my weekends recently have ranked well using this barometer, and this past weekend was no exception. The whole weekend was great but the events of Friday night are currently inducing the most laughs for me... and one incident in particular...

I'll attempt to walk you through it. A group of us gathered at our apartment to "socialize" a bit before heading out to a bar. Because we are really smart people that always think things through before doing them, we chose a bar that was mostly outdoors (Cavanaugh's River Deck) even though it was raining significantly and showed no signs of letting up. I've always said that Cavanaugh's reminds me of being in South Padre Island on my Senior Year Spring Break and despite the rain, Friday was really no exception. It was just significantly less crowded and wetter version of Tequila Frog's in SPI complete with classic songs like Baby Got Back. The major differences were small things like the presence of new inventions and products (e.g., Budlight Lime) that hadn't been invented back when I was a young'n (2003).

Despite the paucity of people, we were having a great time. We danced out in the rain and took lots of pictures in which most of us looked like drowned rats. Then my friend Ajay came up with a great suggestion. He looked at me, eyes glowing with excitement, and said, "Lets mosh pit!" I had never done this before, but being the adventurer that I am, always up for trying new things, I immediately agreed that this was a great plan. In fact, I didn't just agree, I was pumped about it. I couldn't freakin' wait. The fact that the deck was soaked and I was wearing gold flats with absolutely no traction on them did not deter me from taking on this important endeavor. Nope, I was ready and eager to mosh like a mad woman.

So, we started to "mosh pit," I guess. I was told that we jumped up a few times, and apparently, I decided I was done with this game because I stopped and stood my ground for a bit. Ajay, however, did not get the memo that the moshing had ceased. Nope, no one told him that time was up for that round, and I paid a hefty price. Next thing I know, I'm flat on my back, gazing into the rainy skies of Philadelphia. My immediate thoughts were of fear that I had injured myself to the point where I couldn't run my half marathon in a week, but after I realized that I really didn't feel hurt at all, I started cracking up.

To give you an idea of what this might have looked like, I'll tell you what the observing bystanders told me. This included not only my friends, but several other people at the bar at that time. This fall was not discreet. Apparently, my fall was almost instantaneous. That one second I was completely vertical, oblivious to my impending doom and the next I was completely horizontal, my face showing all sorts of emotions, fear, shock, amusement, etc.

Two days later, my upper back is definitely really sore but it appears I will suffer no lasting damage and I expect to be fully recovered and ready to run next Sunday. Most importantly, the mental image of this event still makes me laugh out loud. Just another fun story from another fun weekend. So thank you Philadelphia... and friends. And let the fun and debauchery continue! But perhaps in the future we should only mosh on dry surfaces,... with special shoes designed for moshing... And maybe we should start sending memos to each other when we are done being in the pit...

I really am learning a lot here in Philadelphia. From heirarchical statistical analysis to techniques for not getting slammed to the floor at a bar. Yes, I'm learning a whole heckuva lot.

The picture above was taken by Kristy soon after the infamous fall. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture shows the emotions described above on my face, Ajay's less than concerned attitude, and Holly's concern/confusion about the entire event. Right on the money, I'd say. Nice photography skills Kristy.

Adorable violence: A MI phenomenon?

Alright, I got a very important question for y'all: What do punching, drop-kicking, and slapping have to do with small furry creatures?

Some may say nothing (and shoot me a look of shock and disdain), but I beg to differ. You see, for as long as I can remember, the urge to carry out these actions tend to coincide with sightings of cute things... So what I want to know is, am I on my own here?

That was somewhat of a retorical question, because I know that I am not, at least not completely. You see, my friends from home have voiced these same urges. But is this a Michigan thing? Are mitten-state natives secretly (or not so secretly, now that I've outed us) evil animal-torturing fiends? Is it because we go camping a lot and previous bear-camping trash related traumas have caused this connection? I have mentioned this strange urge to people in Philly and received a response not unlike that that was predicted above (i.e., horror, disgust). Hmm... perhaps I am on to something with my new state-of-origin-cute=hurt theory...

I should clarify, though, that this urge does not only exist when cute animals are present, but most anything that is small and cute. A lot of times it is with animals, like when I had hamsters, I would often have the urge to squeeze them really hard because they were so damn cute (see pictures of Dumbledore alone, and also of me and him as I resist the urge to sqeeze him), but sometimes other cute things will bring about the feeling too. In fact, this post was inspired by thoughts about cute ponytails (got my hair did yesterday!). Thats right, ponytails, when they are really short and cute, also elicit the punching/hitting urge. Because they are just so dang little!

Again though, another clarification is warranted before I continue. Rarely do we actually act on these urges, I swear. I have never sought to harm any creatures, no matter how cute they are, and how bad the urge to drop-kick them is. The only time these drives can be acted upon is in the case of things that cannot be hurt, like ponytails, or the occasional really cute stuffed animal. For example, ponytails may sometimes be swatted around a bit, but they will always be left unhurt, perhaps just a little shaken up at most.

Alright, so after describing these urges and outing myself and my friends and our violent minds, I have to know, do people from other states have these urges as well? Please post comments here, and complete the poll that I will post once I figure out how.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to provide data on this very important topic. Cute things everywhere, and my curious mind, are forever indebted to you.

Meaningless football commentary and predictions

Welp, the first NFL football Sunday is over, and I'm as happy as a clam. I was able to watch all of the Eagles game and some of the Dallas game from the comfort of my couch with a ready supply of delicious boneless wings by my side. I mean, what more can a girl ask for? A Big W from the Detroit Lydowns? Nah, I gotta have some consistency in this ever-changing life of mine.

Although I kept an eye on the top right corner of the screen to watch the depressingly familiar Lions game updates, my focus was on the Eagles game this Sunday. And there are several highlights worth mentioning here, like McNabb's 90 year TD pass to Baskett (tying a club record), Jackson's overall stellar rookie performance (and his ballsy back tracking during the punt returns that seemed to be heading for disaster but were resolved quite nicely), almost witnessing Andy Reid's first shutout game, but not quite, etc. etc. However, there was a somewhat odd and unconventional highlight for myself, that perhaps speaks to my somewhat odd and unconventional mind. If any of you were watching between the plays (maybe your wings were also within arms reach, like mine were, negating the need to move from the couch at all), you may have noticed some up close and personal footage of this really awesome pigeon.

Yes, thats right, you heard correctly, a pigeon. And before I get a bunch of crap about being the girl who says shes a football fan, yet posts "football posts" that rave about random birds (no pun intended) on the field, let me defend myself briefly. I did watch the game, and could perhaps make a few semi-intelligent comments about it, however, I am no expert on Eagles football, and right now my knowledge in pro football is generally lacking due to a reduction in my football-watching last season. So yes, I'm about to rave about this pigeon, because it made me laugh, so back off.

So about this pigeon. I am the only one who notices the random bird footage that appears semi-often during sports broadcasts? I'm not sure why they do it, maybe the camera-person wants to make sure people watching don't go into sensory-overload always looking at crazy Eagles fans like the ones pictured here, but regardless, it always cracks me up. Even after the game was over, my thoughts kept coming back to this random pigeon. It was just hangin' out, pecking its way around the field, and it brought a smile to my face. You see, I was thinking that maybe me and this pigeon have more in common than you might think. We are both just chillin', pecking around in Philly, checkin' stuff out, and just enjoying life. Also, we are both Eagles fans, so we'd have that to talk about.

So yeah, this pigeon seemed to really encompass my thoughts on the football weekend. Random, I know, but like I said, my Eagles knowledge is sub-par and my Lions ranting can be saved for another day (since its always the same week to week). That being said, I'm looking forward to changing that a bit this season and maybe in future weeks I'll have a greater intellectual contribution to make. Or perhaps it will be about some other super-important topic like the beer selection at the games... I guess only time will tell.

Either way, I (and the famous pigeon) are pumped about this year's football season, both college and pro. And I know the anticipation has been mounting, so here are my expert predictions: I will consume a lot of beer, a lot of garlic boneless wings, and thoroughly enjoy all aspects of the football games this season including (hopefully) triumphs and (inevitable) turmoil alongside some fanatic Spartans, some die hard Eagle fans, and other random friends that just like beer and wings. And unlike some so-called expert predictions for the season, I can say with a great deal of confidence that these ones will be played out appropriately... just you wait...