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Giving running another try

2012-04-18T15:07:23Z

I never thought running was for me. Ever since grade school I've always been one of the slowest runners, and in high school I inevitably received a D in gym class whenever the mile was involved. Every run was painful and an exercise in humiliation. So I've never really thought I was capable of running, never mind enjoying it. It's definitely been at the bottom of my priority list when it comes to "fun things to do" or even "tedious things that are necessary to stay healthy". And in the past, the few times I did agree to go for a run, it felt like a huge chore and a struggle.

]]> My attitude towards running has evolved into something different over the past few months. Wayne has been training very steadily with the aim of running the marathon and I couldn't help but be curious. I also read the Murakami Book on running and thought to myself, this actually sounds like something worth exploring. And I wanted an activity that would complement my karate training, especially when it came to building my stamina for fighting. So I decided to approach running with an empty slate and to let go of the baggage I've been dragging around for years. So I set up some parameters:

Run as slowly as you need but don't stop.
Set a distance goal but don't pay attention to a time limit.
Don't compare yourself to others, just focus on reaching the next goal.
When my mind wanders focus on the breath.
Enjoy what's going on around - Don't run on treadmills!
Run only as many times a week as I feel I want and don't feel obligated otherwise.
Give it at least six weeks of steady training before making any decisions about "liking" or "hating" running.

And I headed out.

As with anything, the first few runs were tough. Just as tough as in the past. I was dying for air and completely sore after a little more than 1 1/2 miles. But I stuck to my guns - I ran really slowly, but I still completed the goal I had set at the beginning. I ran the same course multiple times and I started to notice things. Like how I didn't have to run up a hill with everything I had. To breathe a little differently so I didn't have to struggle for breath. I changed up my stride, tried various paces to see what was comfortable.

And I could really see these improvements through Runkeeper. It was in the stats - my average pace decreased a little, my route got a little longer, I maintained a steady pace more consistently. Seeing these data points helped me keep my motivation up - especially when I thought I had had a really tough run, but in looking at the numbers I had actually run a faster time.

The encouragement that I got from Wayne and many of my friends who enjoy running is an enormous help too. Getting positive feedback no matter my pace was such a welcome relief. I was even motivated to run a race, which I never would have thought of doing six months ago. Even though I run alone, running started feeling like a social activity.

With that encouragement and by sticking to those parameters, I've run distances that I never even considered possible for myself. The other day I ran the Central Park Loop - more than 6 miles - and I had a good time! I'm still not a fast runner by any means and I still struggle (I've only experienced that "runner's high" once for about five seconds) but I'm seeing other aspects that I hadn't before.

I love spending the time outside no matter what the weather is, and I honestly like running in winter more because I tend to overheat quickly when it's warm. I enjoy the time I have to focus on my breath and my body moving through space, it almost becomes a meditation. And the challenge of reaching a goal and not giving in to feeling "tired" or out of breath is daunting yet satisfying. I've realized that I don't have to fit into labels like "runner" or "athletic", rather running can be a continual process of improvement and understanding.

These days I look forward to the weekend ritual of putting my shoes on and heading out the door with only my phone and subway pass and the wind at my back.

Baked Eggs with yogurt and chile

2012-04-14T21:11:08Z

This really is my favorite new brunch recipe. It's from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty and I find that I've been getting a lot of mileage out of this cookbook. The recipes are vegetarian but not in a "I can't eat meat and that sucks" vegetarian kind of way; instead, it uses lots of inspiration from Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and even Asian ways of cooking and flavoring things. So you never feel like "oh my god I'm missing meat".

This recipe is ridiculously easy to make but the results are so deeply satisfying. I think it also holds a special place in my heart because it uses kirmizi biber, a Turkish dried red chile flake that we encountered everywhere when we were in Turkey. In fact, we've been using up our supply that we bought at the farm that we spent a few weeks working at - we'll have to make a trip to Sahadi's or Kalyustan's soon to remedy that situation.

]]> This is my take on the recipe - I made a few changes and substitutions to the original. The original called for arugula but I really like it with chard or kale. I also like to add fresh chilies in at the beginning to give it more of a kick, but of course you can leave that out.

Serves 2

1/2 bunch of swiss chard, stems and leaves separated
1/2 serrano or jalapeno chile, chopped (or to taste)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 garlic glove, minced
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp kirmizi biber (you can substitute a mix of dry pepper flakes and cayenne pepper)
6 sage leaves, shredded

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Chop the stems of the chard into bite sized pieces and set aside in a bowl. Chop the chard leaves and put it in another bowl. Heat a pan over medium heat, when it's ready add the olive oil. Add the chard stems, a bit of salt and saute for about four minutes. When soft, add the chard leaves and chopped fresh chilies. Saute for another 3-4 minutes until wilted.

Transfer to a small ovenproof dish and make four deep indentations in the chard. Break an egg into each hollow, taking care not to break the yolk. Place in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until the egg whites are set.

While the eggs are in the oven, mix the yogurt with the garlic and the pinch of salt. Stir well and set aside; do not chill.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the kirmizi biber and a pinch of salt and fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the butter starts to foam and turns a nice golden-red. Add the sage and cook for a few more seconds. Remove from the heat.

Once the eggs are cooked, take them out of the oven. Spoon the yogurt over the center and pour the hot chile butter over the yogurt and eggs. Serve immediately.

Spring Cleaning. Of a sorts.

2012-04-08T20:55:36Z

On this beautiful, beautiful spring day, I spent most of the afternoon hunched in front of my computer combing through files in terminal looking for hacked files and to upgrade all my various far-flung software installations (MOVABLE TYPE I AM LOOKING AT YOU) so that I won't get hacked.

I'm all for control over my data...yes, I still have a non-gmail address for those paranoid moments when I don't want Google to know what I'm up to. But god what a pain in the ass it is to deal with hackers. Then the guilt comes on, like "oh god I haven't blogged in a YEAR what is WRONG WITH ME". And then I look at my site and I think "oh god WHAT IS WITH THIS DESIGN."

Oh right I'm making stuff all over the place, just not here.

Where I'm at these days:

Tumblr - This is more like a "I read this super long article in Instapaper and I thought it was interesting and maybe one day I'll get around to commenting on it" link blog.

Foursquare - This has totally supplanted my "Eaten" blog. Oh well. The key thing is that I can find stuff while I'm out and about.

Lonestar Taco - Our taco joint! If I am putting energy towards blogging more likely it'd be there.

I have pretty much abandoned Posterous, it was great while we were on our trip but I haven't been that into this whole move to Spaces (and now it's been acquired?!). Typepad is dead to me. (unless someone can convince me otherwise.) I tweet like twice a week. I guess I'm gonna go old school and start blogging here again even though the layout totally annoys me.

LONG LIVE MOVABLE TYPE!

(ps. - WHAT THE HELL is up with this zemanta plugin? *fail*)

oh and yay for figuring out how to embed my latest instagram photo.

Chauncey

2011-05-26T15:29:54Z

he loves being out in the backyard.

You and I

2011-05-25T21:47:28Z

I totally love "You and I", the new power ballad from Lady Gaga. And I realized that it distills qualities of music that I've been listening to for my whole life, and that she's created a huge tribute to so many of these artists. And that these are awesome karaoke songs. (Looking forward to adding this one to the repetoire)

I made a playlist of this on Mog, otherwise - um d/l off of iTunes?
Update, 6/2/11 - I dumped Mog for Rdio and it's so. much. better. here's the embed:

You and I - Lady Gaga

Dude, she got Brian May out of retirement to play on that track? Amazing. Every good power ballad builds to a crazy crescendo and this song has it in spades. And damn she's got a set of pipes.

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Alone - Heart

Funnily enough, this song came on in the pharmacy this afternoon. And I thought "this is the ultimate 80s power ballad." I love the tinkly piano entrance, it seems so meek, but then it builds into this wall of Ann Wilson's vocals. And even though the tempo is slow, it has this epic quality that never lets you get bored. Lady Gaga must have spent many hours in her childhood singing this to the mirror in her bathroom.

Always - Bon Jovi

The other band that immediately comes to mind when the phrase "power ballad" is uttered is Bon Jovi. These guys were tough ("Blaze of Glory") but had a cheesy soft side too ("Bed of Roses"), and you can't deny that they had the best hair. And maybe it's Jersey pride, but I still love listening to their songs. And doing karaoke.

Open Arms - Journey

All power ballads are held to the Steve Perry standard - can you hit those notes, with the intensity and feeling that he does? Listening to this song, I want to cry. And this quote from Steve Perry is just so awesome:

The line "wanting you near" -- I just wanted that line to go up and soar. I wanted it to be heartfelt. Every time it would come by I would just have to keep my head down and try to swallow the lump in my throat. I felt so proud of the song".

Lady Gaga feels that way about her music.

You And I - Queen

The obvious Queen choice would have been "We Will Rock You" (hello, sample!) but I think this one points to why I like Queen so much. Freddie Mercury's vocals shine on this track, and you get both the clean and layered versions of Brian May's signature guitar. It also has this happy go lucky tempo and this epically cheesy bridge where the entire band is the chorus (a la Bohemian Rhapsody). And Lady Gaga could not have ignored the fact that she named her song exactly the same thing.

Take Me to The Pilot - Elton John

Most of the time I don't know what the hell the lyrics are for Elton John's songs (except "Tiny Dancer", and I blame that on "Almost Famous"), but it so doesn't even matter. The aggressive piano intro is so striking, I feel like I could identify this song after only hearing three chords. I do wish I had been able to see Elton John in his "crazy 70s outfits" period, but alas I only got to see him on tour with Billy Joel. I do love the Grammies performance where Lady Gaga brought Elton John out onto the stage and did "Speechless/Your Song", and it's even more appropriate that she's Elton John's son's godmother.

Mein Herr - Liza Minnelli

This is not exactly a power ballad, but you can't ignore the influence of the American musical on Lady Gaga's work. Liza Minnelli was at Lady Gaga's concert the night we were! And of all the musicals, I think the dark, Weimar Republic atmosphere of Cabaret (plus Bob Fosse choreography) seems most apt.

New York State of Mind - Billy Joel

It's hard to mention Elton John without Billy Joel. Of course Lady Gaga is much closer in temperament to Elton John (wardrobe-wise and musically) but Billy Joel did have some sweet piano ballads - especially his ode to New York, which I think Lady Gaga would really appreciate.

A Fool for You - Ray Charles

All of these songs are rooted in the bluesy-gospel-y goodness of Ray Charles. 'nuff said.

Martha

2011-03-30T16:11:38Z

(I actually wrote this back in December but only now am publishing it.)

I am currently in the land of Martha. I don't really pay much attention to her when I'm in Brooklyn, but spending time in the 'burbs for the holidays made me realize that you can't escape. She's everywhere - on TV, magazines, the radio, the grocery stores, the mall. The past few days have been a barrage of decorating tips, makeovers, recipes, and craft ideas. And damn is it alluring. I totally got sucked into reading the past two issues of Martha Stewart Living from cover to cover, and thinking, wow, these are such great ideas! I should totally do that! Why haven't I thought about making little velvet Christmas trees? Why haven't I invited people over for a dignified brunch with poached eggs and croissants? Why don't I have a nicely painted pegboard of craft supplies? And I could make so many awesome labels!!! I couldn't get enough of it.

But after a couple of days Martha started bugging me. I couldn't figure out why at first, it was just this sense of uneasiness that I couldn't pin down. As the parade of decorating experts came through on her radio show, I realized that I disliked the way it made me feel. It gave me this sense of inadequacy - if only I was a crafting wizard and expert chef and the perfect hostess could I be happy. Because it's all about impressing other people. She's tapped into this desire that women have to be seen as the perfect homemaker - beautiful, classy, practical, ingenious. Even I can't escape from feeling like I want that when I flip through her magazine - who wouldn't drool over those shots of her home and all of the beautiful things she has and makes?

My militant feminist side starts screaming, "What the hell?!! Didn't women's lib happen already? How could you even get sucked into this crap?!! You're already beating your own drum, why feel like you need to even care about this?" But it's still there, no matter how hard you fight it. Martha's just a manifestation of what our culture values. How else could someone go to jail for like two years and get back on TV like nothing happened? If anything she's tightened her hold on her empire. If you wanted to, you could live in a Martha fantasyland 24-7. And that's what makes me feel uneasy more than anything else.

I could see how easily I could get totally submerged in yearning after a proscribed Martha Stewart life. If only I had xyz it would make me happy. If only I had a bigger house to hold my Martha crafts and to cook my Martha recipes and to throw my Martha parties. Instead, I'm going to resist dropping one of the five million subscription postcards that fell out of the magazine into the mail and look forward to returning to my non-crafty home in Brooklyn.

Onion

2010-11-19T23:17:50Z

I never thought I would, but I've gotten into watercolor this year. Especially because of our trip.

Down in Texas

2010-11-12T15:00:00Z

I can almost hear Hank Williams singing this.

Winter

2010-11-10T15:00:00Z

Winter is coming.

On My Way

2010-11-08T00:13:28Z

I've been thinking a lot about what happened to Ted's house and everything in it. This place will always be frozen in time, in my memory. I can see where everything was, every picture, every book, every sculpture.

A Voce

2010-11-07T23:22:29Z

After spending (literally) hours trying to figure out which Italian restaurant to take his parents to, we settled on A Voce. After looking over the menu, it seemed to get the right balance of familiar Italian dishes done with a bit of a haute cuisine twist, and the atmosphere was on the interesting side but still acceptable at the parent level. It was also important that the place wasn't tiny and cramped, like so many New York restaurants tend to be; more for the sake of Wayne's parents, as we wanted to make sure that they could enjoy a long-ish dinner in a comfortable setting.

The restaurant was exactly as we had hoped. We had a spacious table against a wall, so half banquette seating and two chairs. The restaurant was on the quiet side when we arrived, but the noise level built to a pleasant buzz as the evening went on. The server was attentive at the beginning, and knew the menu relatively well (she was able to answer our questions without sputtering), but she was a bit too perky for my taste.

I had a lovely mushroom and walnut soup which had a creamy, velvety texture and an earthy flavor. It was rather filling but I could have had another bowl of it, I enjoyed it so much. Wayne ordered the cassoncini con prosciutto di parma, these amazing fried balls of dough filled with prosciutto that just melted in your mouth. We also ordered the terrina di polpo, the octopus terrine. It had a bright, citrusy flavor and the octopus was cut paper-thin, so the texture was soft and chewy in a good way.

I was actually quite full at that point, so it was a bit harder for me to enjoy the trout as much, but it had a nice grilled charcoal flavor but was still tender at the same time. And perhaps we went overboard, but we did order dessert. The bomboloni were the best, very light even though they were fried, and the chocolate sauce was rich and decadent.

The real test was Wayne's parents: they declared the meal to be amazing and were quite happy with it, so I can definitely recommend it if you have parents coming to town and you want to impress them.

Char No. 4

2010-11-07T23:01:18Z

I hadn't been to Char No. 4 in a while, and we needed a place to take Wayne's family. The trick was finding a restaurant that had something for everyone, that wasn't too exotic for the parents, had vegetarian options, wasn't too expensive and was interesting and well-executed enough to satisfy me and Wayne. Char No. 4 fit the bill rather nicely and we were quite pleased with the way it turned out.

The atmosphere is contemporary and sleek while still creating a feeling of warmth - definitely a plus for parents who aren't used to city restaurants. The banquettes are set up in a way to feel rather cozy and intimate, but it was a bit of a squeeze getting 6 adults in. The waiter was very understanding and patient with our large group, and managed to keep all of our orders and requests straight without getting annoyed. It was busy, as it was a Saturday night, but the pacing was mostly right - the main course came out a bit more slowly than we would have liked, but we were in the mood for lingering anyways, so it turned out fine.

The food was better than I remembered it. The brisket sandwich was tender and flavorful, and of course I could have eaten twice as many pork nuggets as we had ordered. Wayne's mom thought that the chicken was cooked nicely but had too much preserved lemon on it. The drinks list is good and of course the selection of bourbon and whiskey is top notch. Unfortunately I (obviously) couldn't partake in much of it.

It's moderately priced, you can get a sandwich for around $12 or a large entree for between $12-$25. I highly recommend this place if you have family or friends in town and you need to take them somewhere that has a city-ish vibe but perhaps are eaters on the less adventurous side.

Buddha Bodai

2010-11-07T22:52:21Z

This place is perpetually busy. They have dim sum whenever you want, you fill out a form and they bring it to you - no carts. They have the standard, garden variety Chinese menu, but of course everything is kosher and vegetarian. I have nothing against that, I've had some amazing vegetarian meals, but the food is just not very good. The food lacks flavor and needs much more salt, it's just very bland. Everything tends to be on the sweet rather than savory side, so when you order "mock duck" or "mock roast pork" of course I feel rather let down.

The staff is on the helpful side, not as gruff as you would expect in Chinatown. So that's a plus. But the lack of flavor in the food is a real turnoff - sometimes it's better to just make food the way that it is rather than trying to imitate meat.

Think Coffee

2010-11-07T22:46:48Z

This mini-chain has multiple locations - I've been to the one on Mercer the most. The coffee is decent, not the best by any stretch of the imagination. However if you have friends who aren't as in to coffee as you are, then it's a good place to get a variety of other drinks like chai and tea. They also have food, but I've never had any of their sandwiches. The atmosphere is very dorm-ish, young NYU students basically camp out there and do their homework. If you can find a spot it can be a good place to meet up with people, they don't give you the stink eye for lingering. There are even some couches if you can snag them.

La Colombe

2010-11-07T22:38:56Z

Excellent coffee, especially the lattes. They have a good selection of pastries, I especially like the apple turnover - very flaky and buttery. The staff is friendly. The place can be busy but it mostly seems like take away, not many people linger. The space is airy, lots of natural light. Good people watching for fancy people in Tribeca. Not sure if they have wifi or not.