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I am tired. I had high hopes of entertaining you with photos of the vigil last night (but I’m sure you realize that even with my best intentions, candlelit photos mostly turn out blurry. There’s an artistic effect to that, but it’s obviously accidental, and therefore seems just silly). But this: It was beautiful, and I’m happy and proud Christy went with me. There were probably about 150 people there, standing in front of city hall (not bad for 24 hours notice), holding candles silently for forty-five minutes. Every race and age were represented. No one acted stupid. All the children were wonderful. I’m not sure if there was Benadryl involved, but they sat and held their candles and for the most part, just stared into the flames.

Oh, all right. I can hear you. I actually got up to get the camera to download the pictures. See how responsible I am? (If only that would translate to laundry. There’s still a camping clothes pile in my room, and it’s only getting higher by the day. Must. Do. Laundry.) Anyway, I did manage one okay shot of the vigil:

I had to sneak out just a few minutes early to go to work, which was located about a hundred feet behind the vigil, and I have to say, walking through the PD parking lot holding a candle, wearing a PACE flag wrapped around my waist felt good. Very, very odd. But good. I then became seriously annoying at work, I’m sure, because I brought over a bunch of voter reg forms and pretty much hurled them at people, but I’ll be damned if I’ll work with anyone not registered to vote. The women I work with are too smart to be missed on election day. But I’m sure they wanted to punch me in the snoot. “Yes, Rachael, I’m registered. Just because YOU realized you moved and hadn’t re-registered and had a minor freak-out in the grocery store the other day when it occurred to you doesn’t mean I’m an idiot as well.” Well, yeah. They didn’t say that, but they were thinking it. I could tell.

All right, I’m still tired. I don’t want to go in to work tonight. I think I’m over this whole work thing. You know those people who say, “If I won the lottery, I’d still work?” Nah. If I won the lottery (too bad I don’t play), I’d be happy to stay home and listen to music and write and knit and stare at bad TV. Happy, happy, happy. I get a hell of a lot done usually, but I am lazy at heart. Really, truly lazy, and I can feel the lazy blood singing to me today.

This weekend is going to be packed—hoping to see Banjo Girl tomorrow for at least a walk with dogs in the afternoon (she owns the two dogs I like best, which is handy), and then tomorrow night I Must Do Laundry if I have any shot at all at having any clothes to wear on Sunday’s run. Sunday’s run is seventeen miles.

Did you hear me? Oy. Seventeen.

I can’t even think about that. Having not completed the last long run (14 miles), I’m positively terrified. Out of my mind.

Not thinking about it.

Really. I’m not. See how much I’m not thinking about it (biting nails, tapping feet, twitch twitch twitch).

Here’s someone who’s REALLY not thinking about it. And he didn’t pee in the house today. Someone give us a gold star.

Really. A cat like that, purdy flowers, and knitting needles? That shot makes me happy. Happy weekend, all.

Look! The new Fall Knitty! I’m in mad, wild love with Zigzag. I mean, really. Could that be any more gorgeous? Veronik is a genius.

Just for info, darlin’ Greta‘s just fine and teaching a knitting class. She’s without internet connection, though, so she said she’ll be right back with us as soon as she can….

https://rachaelherron.com/just_for_info_g/

Do you know Bush hasn’t attended one single funeral? Of more than a thousand, I’m pretty dang sure there was one in his area, at least once. But maybe he was just really, really busy. Bein’ prezident’n’all.

I have to go buy a candle. I realize the ones I have in the house have either melted in the sun (ew) or are small, smelly votives that work well for baths but not so much for vigiling. Dude. I HAVE to have a regular candle in here somewhere. Don’t I? That’s just poor disaster planning.

Hey (no spoilers), didja see The Amazing Race on Monday? I just have to tell you—that whole Zorbing thing? Where they throw you into a big inflated clear plastic ball and then throw water in on you so you splash around inside and then push you down an eNORmous hill?

Done it.

Christy and Bethany and I did it all together once in New Zealand—we clambered in and they asked if we wanted the “wash cycle.” We said no, and it was good we did, because if you say yes, they throw water with soap inside the bubble with you and you come out with more than just suds in your eye…. We bounced off each other and screamed all the way down the hill, and then birth-wriggled our wet way back out into the sun. The girls had already bungee jumped earlier in the week*, but I had been too freaked out to do it with them. This was more my speed. Awfully odd thing to do. Don’t know why I’ve never seen it here, but it might be because the Kiwis are CRAZY. But fun.

*That bungee jump was something else—they did it at Taupo, the highest jump over water in New Zealand (where you can choose to actually hit the water at the bottom—that’s just asking for trouble, if you ask me). Bethany REALLY wanted to do it. Christy was gung-ho. I was all about being the photographer. I know the edges of my chicken-shittedness, and this was one of ‘em. No shame in that. This is not them, obviously, but this is from the platform:

Christy, on her way off the platform, realized that she might want to change her mind. She later described it: “You know when you fall off something and then you hit the ground a few seconds later? Well, if you don’t hit the ground within a couple of seconds, your mind realizes that this is too big a fall and that you’re going to DIE.” She screamed like I’ve never heard screaming before. Seriously. No one had ever heard anything like it—even the employees were rather shaken before the hysterical laughter started. I kept snapping pictures her whole fall (and rise and fall and rise again). I need to find those. (Yeah, I can giggle, but had it been me, I probably would have had a very literal heart attack on the way down. I couldn’t have done it.)

And Bethany? Cool little cucumber? When she remembered she wasn’t wearing a bra, she just snapped her shirt back up with one hand and kept falling. Of course, we have that one on video tape. Heh.

Now go light a candle. Kay?

More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have now been killed in Iraq. 1,000 of our brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, moms, dads, sons, and daughters have given their lives in service to our country.

To honor them and reflect on the loss of their lives, Americans everywhere are organizing candlelight vigils.

I’ll be at Oak and Santa Clara in Alameda at 8pm tonight. Where will you be?

New favorite thing about wireless: I can sit next to the screen door on the beanbag (after moving Adah, of course) and put my feet up on the coffee table. This rocks.

It’s still hot as hell here today. Well, heck. I just checked my pixie, and SHE says it’s only 72 degrees in Oakland. Strangely, I feel a little cooler now, even though I know she’s a LIAR. It’s still too hot. I could never live in the midwest. I would kill someone for hogging the ice or sitting in front of the fan, I know I would.

On the cat front, Digit has stopped peeing, at least for today. Yesterday the bathroom was hit. Thank god for tile. We had a good long cuddle session today (he loves sleeping during the day with me—we hold paws) and he seems much happier. He’s got serious separation anxiety, poor thing. He’s used to me being gone nights at work, but he hates it when I leave town. You know I had to do THIS, right?

Yesterday I was due for a maintenance run and I really knew I shouldn’t blow it off, since I had missed the seven-miler on Sunday by being up in Yosemite. (I planned on running the seven miles up there, I really did. I even bought an MP3 player to keep me company on a long solo run through the trees. Then, when I arrived, I remembered the campsite is at about 4500 feet, and that kind of altitude makes me LAZY. And there were hills. And it was hot. And there might have been bears waiting to eat me. Or really mean squirrels. I don’t like those kinds of risks. You understand.)

So yesterday, I knew I HAD to run. No getting out of it. It was bloody hot and I was miserable just thinking about it. But a certain Banjo Girl had mentioned that there was a long running/biking trail that goes for miles and miles along the Emeryville/Albany/Richmond shoreline, so I headed there to try it out.

It was possibly the best run I’ve ever had. Gazelle-ish. I flew. I ran three miles, and wanted to do more (but c’mon, I’m not THAT crazy). I listened to mixed tunes and the breeze was cool off the bay. I probably only passed three or four other runners but I felt safe as the running path is right next to the frontage road, which in turn is right next to I80. Lots of people could see me, but I didn’t have to engage (I don’t like having to be Polite while getting my steam on). I got to gaze at the San Francisco skyline and the water slapping on the rocks, and it was a happy, happy thing.

And know what? Since I’ve started taking those cold-water baths right after running (cold water in the tub, mixed with lavender oil and lots of Epsom salts, sit in it for 20 minutes with the New Yorker and a big glass of water), the shin splints have been getting better and better. They hardly hurt today at all, and usually the day after a run I can barely walk. I’m so pleased and excited I can hardly stand it.

I forgot until right now that I hadn’t publicly thanked the wonderful Amy for her donation to Team911! (And her Team Knitty has surpassed their goal, too! Yeehaw!)

Now back to being lazy until work tonight. I’ve paid bills and done several Very Responsible Things today, so now I have to catch up on the Amazing Race. Mwah.