MLynnC

Friday, January 8, 2010

Learning to Run, Part 1

Beginning with walking is easy and makes me feel in command of my body. My limbs stretched forth proudly to fill the track lane, no stagnate treadmill would do. I wanted to feel the wind. My mood lifted and I was determined that this, this run will be accomplished. Those first steps to heave my body into a run were pure awkwardness. My body had certainly run in the past, even interval runs. Although, never for more than a minute at a time. What was wrong with my system, my body?

I remembered back to quotes in Scott’s book about the strangeness of running for the first time or running for the first time in a long time. Albeit, most of the quotes were from women running in the seventies and eighties when women just could not possibly be serious runners, or could they? As those feminist thoughts flowed through my mind, my attention wavered back to the awkwardness that melted into a graceless lumbering down the track where my thighs saluted and flexed to my brain’s command.

There it was, the light breeze on my bare face and arms and the rhythmic swaying of my ponytail. I was lumbering, but I was lumbering to a rhythm. After a minute, I was confident that I could go for two. After two minutes, I pleaded with my heart to slow to the rhythm of my staggered walk. When my heart recovered two minutes later in sync with my unyielding stride, I just knew I could not run for two minutes again, not so soon and not with this sharp pain in my collar. What the heck does my collar have to do during running? My wretched lifestyle of inconsiderate eating and inertia somehow dug into my shoulder as a reminder.

I compromised with the evil pain sitting on my right shoulder like a vice and ran for one and walked for one. My vice muffled and I pushed myself to run for a minute and a half, reminding myself that soon I could walk for eleven and a half minutes and I would be done.

My second interval run on Wednesday, January 6, went quite the same way, but it was my heart I was pleading with rather than having my vice whisper, “you can’t do this” in my ear. I discovered my heart does not whisper; it grasps the lever in my brain that controls my legs and thrusts it to walk without discussion. We will see if my brain can cajole my heart into easing off the lever. Perhaps training five days a week will spur my heart to last longer and longer. That is my hope.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

OOAK Chicago 2009 (Part 1)

Today, I visited the One of a Kind Show & Sale Chicago at the Merchandise Mart. The place is huge and the number of booths filled with fabulous goodies became overwhelming. There is no way I could remember all of the great art without grabbing cards. Here is a list of my favorites from several categories in no particular order. Some of the websites do not do the art justice, but thankfully there are only a few in that category.

I will write up a separate posting for the jewelry. More than half of the cards I grabbed were from jewelry booths.

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ACCESSORIES

Gina Marie Sabo
Gina Marie Handbags

Brooke Costello
Tongue Tied
The website is not currently up, but I hope it eventually gets there for you to see these amazing repurposed tie wares. She uses vintage and couture scarves and ties to make handbags, cellphone pouches, and many other things. They were fabulous!

Karen Hoelscher
Karen Hoelscher Handbages & Accessories: Unexpected

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CERAMICS & POTTERY

Jo Anne Willemsen
Old Oaks Pottery

Timothy Sullivan
Creekside Pottery

Jodie Atherton
Whitewater Ceramics

Lenore Lampi
Birch Pottery
These pieces are amazing. I really wanted to bring one home with me.

Elizabeth Lurie

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FINE ART

Laura Beth Cartwright

Heather Offord

Emmy Star Brown

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GLASS ART

Jennifer & Michael Burt
Burt Studios of Art and Design

Scott Pernicka
Internal Fire Glass

Tom Sourlis & Twyla Butler
Sourlis Glass Studio

Alison's Stained Glass

Mark Lewanski & Mary Simcox
Glass Box Guy
These are adorable and fun.

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GOURMET

Amy Peterson
Amy Peterson Chocolates
To die for hot chocolate!

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HOME FURNISHINGS & FURNITURE

Alex & Viviana Santamarina
Club Mersa Stainless Steel Mesh Baskets
This work was amazing and I really wanted to bring it home with me. We found a place in our kitchen perfect for it.

Katherine Martin & Michelle Zorich
Things of Steel: Furnishings for the Fearless

David Young
David Young Furniture Design

John C. Sterling
J.S. Sterling Fine Furniture & Accessories

David Stine
David Stine Woodworking

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PHOTOGRAPHY

MaryEllen Malinowski
The Infrared Light Gallery: beyond the visible
Ben was mesmerized by this woman's work.

David Mayhew
David Mayhew Photography

Scott Fishman
Fishman Photography: Capturing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Audrey Heller
Audrey Heller Photographs
Her work is just plain fascinating and fantastic.

Steven Huyer-Honig
Great Lakes Editions: Beauty Worth Preserving
The pictures are way more impressive in-person, than on the website. The pictures just glowed with light. I felt as though I was standing on the beach, looking out, and feeling my hair combed by the lake's breath.

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SCULPTURE

Mary & Spencer Watson
Silver Stone Handcrafted

Mark and David Stepper
Sculptures by Stepper

Darren Miller
Prairie Ornamentals
We found a perfect piece to hang on the empty wall in our dinning room.

David Noguchi
Noguchi Sculpture

Wayne Trinklein
Trees by Wayne
Hyper-realistic tree sculptures give me the feeling I'm King Kong. I like that feeling.

Myra Burg

Jan R. Carson
Moon-Lily Silk Mobiles
I picked out the perfect mobile for my office. Too bad it is still at the show.