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| 03:22pm 07/07/2009 |
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Everything was fine with my PET Scan--no sign of anything, which is very cool. What a relief, though I still feel anxious and like I have a lump in the back of my throat. I guess it's nothing some time at the gym, an allergy pill and relaxing in front of the teevee won't cure. This time, none of my general complaints mattered much to him as they weren't related to the hodgkins. Plus I 'graduated' from 6-month PET scans to yearly.
All in all, good news and happy cancerversary to me! |
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| 01:55pm 02/07/2009 |
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I saw something really interesting on a show called Nova ScienceNOW this week. A couple things, actually.
Now, the host of the show looks like he is stuck in a 1980s time warp with a large fade type of haircut and ugly vests. But he is a happy-go-lucky kinda guy and very interesting, which I enjoyed. There were stories on this week's episode about anthrax, diamonds, and all kinds of other stuff. I wanted to share this story about reCAPTCHA.
Here is the link with a video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0401/04.html
Do you know what reCAPTCHA is? When you go to order something or sign up for something online, you have to tell the computer what the words you see are. It started as an anti-spammer effort thanks to Yahoo asking this student to try to solve the problem of bots signing up for email addresses. the bots can't read the scrambled words.
THEN, that guy got a job scanning in tons and tons of old books for Google I believe. The problem was, the computers scanning the books couldn't read the scrambled words because of how faded or messy the book had become over time.
Being the genius that he is (as demonstrated by his MacArthur Genius Grant), he combined the CAPTCHA and this book scanning into one. So, basically, you are helping decipher words to books every time you fill one of those forms out!! I think it's pretty damn cool and interesting. Check out the video.
I also watched the new Nova episode before that, which was about Music and the brain and showed Functional MRI's performed while someone listened to or thought about music. Super cool nerdiness in my house Tuesday night! |
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| 08:41pm 26/04/2009 |
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Some photos from the garden-in-progress, one week old!
My water wormie and rosemary
Sprouts!
Buttercrunch lettuce doing well...
I am trying out a new photo sharing site via google/gmail. i am tired of Flickr's restriction on free accounts (cuz i'm cheap). Extensive weekend update tomorrow morning! It was a good and busy weekend and I can't go to bed early because Kale is finally coming home! |
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| 08:14pm 31/12/2008 |
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ok, this officially sucks. every 15-30 minutes i have terrible stomach cramps all over. i am praying, praying, praying it doesn't get any worse. i also have a slight fever that is going up even 15-30 minutes when i check it. i am freezing but my face is flush. i am under a blanket, but it's not weird for me to be cold like this. I am slowly getting a headache too.
If i had to guess, i'd go with a norovirus. wtf, people?? i need this to pls stop in its tracks and be better before tomorrow, thx. ugh.
i don't mind missing nye, but seeing the fireworks on delaware ave in a gorgeous apartment sure would have been nice! plus i bought all that damn food and have 5 pounds of pork hanging out in my fridge.
Oh, and despite the stomach cramps, i am STARVING.
Happy New Year all. |
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| 09:17pm 27/11/2008 |
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Here are some photos from our St. Thomas trip! A few obligatory bathing suit shots, lots of pics of the view from the hotel. I'm still holding onto my tan somehow.
Today we did the two Thanksgivings. Drove up to Emmaus around 11:30, then down to jersey getting there by 5. Two dinners, two turkeys, two mashed potatoes, etc. I was remarkably unstuffed and I am still disappointed that I didn't get a run in this morning because I was so goddamn tired. How can sleeping 9 hours equal being more exhausted than I thought possible? I feel like it was that way all week. I think getting up early even though it's hard is turning out to be better than sleeping in!
Anyway. Wednesday work was pretty busy with the catching up, but most of the stuff was taken care of and I had a good handle on everything. We made about $10,000 less than last year for a variety of reasons. And I discovered some of my volunteers did a bad job on one aspect, but it was certainly a lesson learned and wasn't a huge deal overall.
I visited with Mark who is now on his 5th admission to my hospital. He had surgery last week to clean up an infection that had gotten to the bone. Now he is on bedrest for 3 weeks with 2 weeks after that of wheelchair rehab. He's doing pretty well so far. I left my desk around 3:30 or so and talked with him until 5. It was good. Then I went to the gym to wait out traffic a bit, then we headed to the Moose to hang out. Nothing big.
We have a busy week or so coming up, with a concert Friday night, my 10 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION on Saturday, Nada Surf concert on Thursday, a work xmas party on friday, and 2 xmas parties on saturday, the last 3 of which I am alone for, as Kale is in Hartford. Bummer.
I have no idea what to wear to my HS reunion. I don't feel too nervous about it, really, but I'd love to show off my hard work somehow. Probably a dress will be the way to go despite freezing to death. So Kale made it pretty clear that he is definitely taking me to his reunion, as last time he had no one to bring. That means I will bring him to mine. I don't really want to because I don't want to ignore him...but it will be fun to have him there, and I am sure he will enjoy himself. Oh, and i get ignored at bball shit all the time so what is the diff? I don't know who else is going because I can't see the attendees list, but me, mandy and trish will have fun i am sure. I will work on the ride situation via kale, too...
I have to work Friday, which I am slightly disappointed about. Stoopid hospitals. I did just have vacation so I shouldn't complain, plus it will be nice and quiet with only me and Kerry around, no big boss.
Hope everyone had a lovely turkey day!
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| Squeeeee! |
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| 10:54am 17/11/2008 |
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Tricis and Travis are MARRIED!!
It was lovely, but I have ZERO time to write about it. I just wanted to show some pictures.
Also, my halloween pictures are in this flickr thing so you can see Mandy as a scary Jersey Devil thingy.
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| Phillies Parade! |
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| 12:19pm 31/10/2008 |
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Some coworkers and I got hooked up with a good, safe, uncrowded place to watch the parade right at 18th and Market. It was great! Most of my pictures are taken through a window so they aren't perfect, but we had a great view!
Kale came in with me to work on the bus and he went right down to the stadium to do his press credential work. Kerry got on the press bus, which was the first bus to go through, and it's bullshit because he is a Red Sox fan. Pat Burrell was the grand marshall i think and was on the Budweiser clydesdale cart. I could see the Phanatic, Larry Anderson, Scott Franzke, Scott Palmer, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers. I couldn't spot many other people but I know they were there!
Once the parade went through with the last cops, the crowd broke through all the barriers and followed them down to the stadium. I don't know how Kale is ever going to get home because there is probably at least a million people down there right now. Man.
Tonight is the Henri David ball, which should be a trip too. Cheryl is coming but she had a terrible night last night. She was supposed to be selling her house on Monday and moving into a new apartment at Waterfront Square. I'm not sure how all the conversations went down, but basically she got totally screwed out of her apartment for a couple reasons. One, the agent didn't complete the paperwork. Two, she never insisted on seeing a signed agreement, probably because she thought she was dealing with professionals. Three, the owners are saying they want more money per month. Four, they say they have a person willing to pay more per month but that person is only staying 4-6 months. Five, they have someone who is currently leasing the place but not living there (!?!). Six, she is going to stay there for a year and a half lease. What a pain.
So we'll probably head down together at some point. I am allowed to leave work now and will go shop for my costume amongst the insanity. Ugh, I hope everything will be ok. Kale is stuck at the stadium with no subway running so that really blows.
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| Go Phillies! |
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| 05:37pm 30/10/2008 |
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Photos from the World Series post-party, my work pumpkin, and other stuff.
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| 12:20pm 21/09/2008 |
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1:54:33!! I beat my last half marathon by 6 minutes! My average pace was about an 8:50 or 8:45. I'm very proud! And very tired.
Last night I fortunately was falling asleep on the sofa at 10 so it was easy to get to sleep. We got up around 6 or so, and headed downtown around 7, later than I intended we go. It was cold, but I knew it would warm up, and it did even as we waited in a super-long line for the bathroom. During that wait they rang the buzzer and the race started but we were still in line to pee! That's alright because it's by chip time, not gun time. I only ended up being 10 minutes behind the gun, but was really disappointed we had to start in the back of the pack and weave our way up.
It was tough because of that, plus the city streets, trying to get further up more where we should have been. Jumping curbs and stuff like that was potentially the worst idea ever so I stopped doing that for fear of falling and effing up my legs.
Around mile 4 the left side near my stomach hurt, i felt a little dizzy and was worried. but it cleared and i was ok for the rest of the race! I was able to zone out a bunch of times. I didn't need water until mile 6, so i should have gotten it earlier than that probably. I didn't try one of those gels because my intestines were already wrecked up. I kinda needed to use the bathroom but every time i passed one i convinced myself i could wait until the next time. I never ended up stopping.
I think the last 3-4 miles were fantastic and the last 1 mile was really really tough. my legs were killing me in the last mile and there is this little hill you have to go up that feels like a mountain.
Other than that, I was running straight up, feeling great for most of it, having so much adrenaline I think I could have run a million miles an hour! Then it dropped. Ha. My legs were actually pretty good and hurt a little bit. It certainly could have been worse!!
I'm really proud of myself!
Kale did 2:02. I beat him by a lot. We lost each other at the 3-mile water stop. He stopped, I didn't, and those things are confusing anyways. My friend Cheryl came to watch but never saw us, unfortunately. We caught up after and she gave us the sign she made us..."Suz runs for beer" on one side, and "Kale runs with her" on the other. Very cute!
Yay!! |
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| 08:14pm 20/09/2008 |
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I'm nervous about tomorrow. I'm worried my tummy will decide to be evil suddenly and that I will be miserable in some way. I'm worried my leg will hurt so bad I will have to stop. I'm hopeful I will make my goal of under 2 hours and I am too afraid to put in the numbers in the pace calculator to figure out what I COULD do if I kept my good pace.
ok, maybe I will look. I'm curious.
We went to a bbq today in jersey. It was nice. My pasta salad was super tasty! I got to hold a baby for a while. Now we're home, my race stuff is all put together and I'm good to go.
You can track my run at www.ingphiladelphiadistancerun.com and I am bib number 8862. I am pretty sure it tells you how fast I am going at the 5K, halfway point and end. I think in the marathon it didn't work, but hopefully now it does.
Good luck to jakshadows and my other friends in the race tomorrow!! |
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| 11:05pm 04/09/2008 |
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Well, I got hit for the first time by a ball off a bat tonight.
Thank god i didn't get hit in the fucking face. I took it in the right waist. The mark is obviously a softball and getting more swollen and bruised as I write.
The weirdest thing is that as soon as it hit me and afterwards (still), it hurt my back more than the spot where it hit.
I was fine at first, couldn't stand up straight as it felt better to be bent over, then went closer to the bench and started getting upset with everyone asking me if i'm ok....more and more upset, then sobbing, then get better. It really wasn't horrible, thank god, it certainly could have been worse (a girl last season had her wrist shattered so...yeah.)
Pictures forthcoming. :) |
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| livestrong race |
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| 01:51pm 24/08/2008 |
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Here are some pics from this morning. I did really well! Under 8 minute miles. It wasn't really a contest so I don't know if I will get any kind of rank, especially since they ran out of timing bracelets.
The Livestrong event was pretty cool and very well-run. Lance was there!! He biked with the 100-mile people. You could bike 100 miles, 70, 45, 10 or run a 5K. It would be pretty cool to bike it, I think. Kale didn't run, but brought his bike and took pictures of me and stuff, so that was cool! After I was done we went back to the post-race party, got more free stuff (a t-shirt from wmmr and a box of minute rice brown rice...), ate breakfast (the worst-looking turkey I have ever seen in my life), drank free beer. Then we went home and took a 3-hour nap.
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| 06:34pm 14/08/2008 |
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So! My good news!
Last night we were playing our normal Wednesday night quiz at the Moose. We saw the quiz guy, Bobby, down in Avalon at the Rockin' Chair because we knew he'd be there (and probably would ask the same questions.) He was really thankful we showed up! And we did win, though he changed some of the questions.
So we hung out at the end of the bar near him and the two barflies that are always there, and at the end of the night they were gone and he was talking to us about the olympics and our vacation and stuff, and he had said he was going on vacation the next week. Then he said he had a question for us... Would we be the host for quizzo next week? He would send us the questions and we would read them and do the music stuff!
EEK! YAY! This is gonna be fun!!
The sorta sad part is that Kale is not around. He has a reading game that night. So, it's me and his buddy Mike (I need Mike's music, trivia, and microphone expertise plus I think it will boost his very low self esteem right now). I'm really excited about it! And nervous, of course. If I try to be too funny, it's gonna bomb, so I'm just going to try to go with the flow.
Anyway, here are the details. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE everybody come out to support me!!
Wednesday, August 20.
8pm Ugly Moose, 443 Shurs Lane Manayunk
Specials are $3 Yeungling and Miller Lite drafts and Buy-One-Get-One Burgers. Prizes are $25 certificate to the Moose for First, 2 Pitchers of beer (or $15...it's negotiable) for Second, 2 Beers (also negotiable) for Third. |
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| 11:38am 02/08/2008 |
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I've joined facebook, and therefore, 2008. I friended a whole bunch of people and I guess they have to friend me back? I don't know if my Livestrong buddies have friended each other and i can't seem to find them...why can't i just search for people's names and not include a school?? Oh well, maybe they will find me.
I am almost 100% after my stupid endoscopy shit (pun intended, people. pun intended). I'll throw it under the cut if you want to read the gorey details. Let me tell you, ( they are gorey )
In a little while we'll be driving over to jersey to have my dad change my oil and then go have chicken bbq at the 4h fair. woot! the weather seems iffy but I hope it's alright.
Hope you all enjoyed my 'shitty' story. :) And may none of you have to go through it. It blows, but I lived. |
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| Pics! |
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| 07:03pm 28/07/2008 |
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Photos from the Livestrong summit this weekend...
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| 12:52pm 28/07/2008 |
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I just got back from the Livestrong Summit at THE Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio. It was pretty amazing and I am really tired, but happy I went! I met a lot of interesting and inspiring people and need to figure out my next personal fundraising effort.
( Long review of the Livestrong weekend, day by day. )
So that was that! I had a good time and enjoyed myself very much and when I woke up today I was so tired I thought my head was as heavy as a boulder. I called my boss and stayed in bed until 10:30, then drove to work. Now I'm getting tired again.
I may have pulled a muscle in my ankle...the outside of my right ankle feels funny when I walk on it...like it constantly has a charlie horse in it. I think that means I won't be running tonight. Bummer. I've got that 10-miler on saturday and I'm getting worried already.
I will probably post my pics when I get home tonight to add to this. Hope everyone had a great weekend too! |
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suerocks's journal
