I gave Jared a gift card to Maine Lobster Direct for his birthday, which was way back in February.  Jared LOVES lobster.  Boston boys typically do. This week he finally got around to ordering his lobsters using my gift card.  This past Wednesday, 8 live lobsters showed up at his office.  His co-workers got a kick out of live animals being shipped to the office — something only Jared would do.

That night, Jared and his friend cooked up the lobsters and enjoyed a Wednesday night dinner of 4 lobsters a piece.  He said, “The lobsters were the best birthday gift he had ever received.” I guess I peaked way too early.

At this point (around Mile 12), I still have a smile on my face and energy to wave!

I had been training for 4 months leading up to the marathon, but I was still very nervous that this “difficult” marathon would get the best of me.  I ran in the 2004 Philadelphia Marathon and the 2006 New York City Marathon, which were both hard, but not particularly hilly. Of the three marathons I have run, the Boston Marathon was by far the most difficult. Those hills in Newton almost got the best of me.

Fortunately, my family was waiting to cheer for me at Mile 10 in Natick and then again at Mile 22 at Boston College.  Plus, my awesome friends Tori and Melissa were waiting at Mile 24 to give me a big hug.  Although, I wasn’t quite sure if I’d be able to get my legs moving again if I stopped at Mile 24 so Melissa and Tori got an “on the run” hug

I ran this 113th Boston Marathon as a member of the Melanoma Foundation of New England’s Running for Cover team.  The Melanoma Foundation of New England was founded in 1999 to combat the rising rate of melanoma and melanoma deaths. The Foundation provides the public with a variety of educational programs targeting the prevention and early detection of skin cancer and melanoma for both children and adults.

All of my friends and family provided wonderful support through their donations on my behalf to the Melanoma Foundation of New England. I feel fortunate to have been able to raise money for an organization that fights a disease that has impacted me personally and many members of my family as well as have the amazing opportunity to run one of the world’s most famous and challenging marathons.

I’m not so sure I’ll have the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon again, but I’m glad I did it once in my life!

Read: April 2009

Description:

In Linda Olsson’s debut novel, Veronika Bergman returns to Sweden after a childhood following her diplomat father around the world and after publishing her first novel titled Single, One Way, No Luggage. She rents a small house in a rural town to work on her second book, but finds herself tormented by nightmares and the memories of her recently deceased fiancé. Astrid Mattson, an old, reclusive  woman thought by the village to be a witch, lives across the way and takes an interest in Veronika. The two strike up an unlikely friendship based on loss and pain. Against the backdrop of the changing seasons and their small, intimate houses, the two women slowly tell each other their most closely guarded secrets, and venture, cautiously, out of the safety of their routines.

My Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed following the relationship that developed between Astrid and Veronika. Although a story in which two damaged people have the good fortune to find each other and help one another through their pain sounds cliche, the story felt original and the relationship between the two characters was a breath of fresh air.

I thought the lack of dialogue and focus on descriptions and character thoughts would make the story hard for me to get through. However, I felt the characters were sympathetic, and I was interested in learning more about each character’s history which kept me moving easily through the narrative.

Although Olsson tries to be subtle and cryptic in her revelation of traumatizing events in Astrid and Veronika’s lives, she ends up just being vague. Plus, the reader is hit over the head with hints of what is to come.  For instance, Veronika repeatedly demonizes the ocean, leading the reader to predict a life will be taken by the ocean way before that actually happens.

Plus, I was not satisfied with the ending.  Without giving too much away, I thought that one character left the other character with more pain and loss and possibly guilt, which was what both characters were trying to overcome the entire story through this relationship.

Live…Take risks! That is really what life is about. We must pursue our own happiness. Nobody has ever lived our lives; there are no guidelines. Trust your instincts. Accept nothing but the best. But then also look for it carefully. Don’t allow it to slip between your fingers. Sometimes, good things come to us in such a quiet fashion. And nothing comes complete. It is what we make of whatever we encounter that determines the outcome. What we choose to see, what we choose to save. And what we choose to remember. Never forget that all the love in your life is there, inside you, always. It can never be taken from you.

Astrid & Veronika
Linda Olsson

No matter what channel I am watching, this advertisement always seems to find me. Still, the Lincoln MKZ commercial is just like so many other car commercials with the typical images of the interior and exterior of the car spliced with shots of the car in action.  Typically — no matter how many times or how often I see this commercial — I would be inclined to completely tune out the advertisement.  However, this commercial catches and holds my attention EVERY time I see it because there is no voice over — just a song playing throughout the whole spot that’s quite, well, interesting.

After a bit of Googling, I learned the song is Shiny Toy Gun’s cover of Peter Schilling’s Major Tom (Coming Home). Those who like the song can download the MP3 — for FREE — on Lincoln’s MKZ web page. And, more Googling revealed that this commercial is part of a series of commercials that Lincoln is running, which do not have a voice over, but, instead, feature a Major Tom song. Major Tom is a fictional astronaut created by David Bowie, and he “appears” in Bowie’s Space Oddity, Ashes to Ashes, and Hallow Spaceboy as well as Schilling’s Major Tom (Coming Home), Rocket by Def Leppard, and Rain or Shone by Five Star. In Lincoln’s MKS commercial, Cat Power covers David Bowie’s song Space Oddity.

So, although, marketers strive for the perfect mix of reach and frequency to achieve top of mind awareness for their products, making sure the the advertisement is memorable with elements like music is just as important.  Oh, and free MP3 downloads on your website always helps to build your customer base too!

Basically, they’re macaroons topped with Hersey’s chocolate eggs.  I don’t think they turned out too bad for a first try, and they were quite tasty too. I have made one resolution though.  I refuse to cook with marshmallow again.  Marshmallow is delicious, but a pain to use in any recipe.

I also dyed Easter eggs Martha Stewart-style.  Martha doesn’t dye her eggs.  She marbleizes them.  The trick?  Add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil to the color tablet and vinegar mixture.

They didn’t exactly turn out the way Martha’s eggs did, but then again, has ANYONE really been able to replicate Martha’s crazy-difficult crafts?

Unfortunately, a few members of my family got hungry Sunday evening and decided to have egg salad sandwiches.  We’re now down to only a few Easter eggs.

Easter wasn’t without its surprises.  No, the Easter bunny didn’t show up. But, I did receive a lovely surprise from Jared.

Easter Lilies!

They were delivered to my house on Easter morning, and I’ve been enjoying them ever since. Flowers and lots of chocolate in one day = A Very Happy Kate

Hope you all had a festive and enjoyable Easter with your family and friends!

Well, there’s a resemblance, at least.  I love that I can pull off a latex bodysuit in cartoon form. I must admit that it was a difficult choice between the samurai sword and the laser whip.  I went with the whip because it went with my outfit so well.

Want to be a superhero too? Get your new identity and super powers here.

When you get what you want in your struggle for gain
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The one whose verdict counts most in you life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be the one who got a good break,
And think you’re a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you’re only a fake
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the one you must satisfy, beyond all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

Dale Wimbrow (c) 1934
1895-1954

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Read: March 2009

Description:

Set in the aftermath of World War II, Juliet Ashton, a single, thirty-something writer, is looking for her next book subject. So when Dawsey Adams, a native of Guernsey, the British Island once occupied by the Nazis, finds Juliet’s name in a used Charles Lamb book and strikes up a correspondence with Juliet, she discovers a whole community  that peaks her professional and personal interest. Dawsey and his neighbors exchange letters with Juliet, detailing their lives under Nazi rule including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club formed as an alibi to protect its members from arrest by the Germans. Through their letters, Juliet learns about the island, the members’ taste in books, and the powerful impact the German occupation had on the Guernsey inhabitants’ lives.  Captivated by their stories, Juliet sets sail for Guernsey and finds not just inspiration for her next work, but also for her life.

My Thoughts:

This book came highly recommended, and I feel  it lived up to the hype. A departure from the typical style of historical fiction, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is written as a series of letters. The format of the book is surprisingly refreshing. At first, I thought that these letters would not be as satisfying for the reader as a typical narrative format and jump haphazardly from character to character, but the authors were able to convey a cohesive, thoughtful story using this unique storytelling technique.

The entire book is written in the first person, yet the reader hears from a new “first person” in each letter. The letters have a unique way of communicating each character’s personality. Juliet’s letters in particular are witty while Dawsey’s letters effectively convey his sincerity.

The one hurdle I had with this book was liking the character Elizabeth as much as the authors wanted me to like her. I was not at all satisfied with Elizabeth’s fate.  I actually had a hard time sympathizing with her given that I felt her final decision that determines her fate completely disregarded her responsibility as a mother. Elizabeth was a very corageous woman yet in all her concern for others she forgets the one person who truely needs her love and devotion — her daughter, Kit.

Anyway, I wanted to share this quote, which I found on Real Simple’s Daily Thought web page:

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

–Joseph Campbell

I cerntainly agree that life happens while your busy making plans! Like last night, I had planned to park myself in front of the television to watch Lost and write this blog post, but, my computer had other ideas.  So, instead, I had a two hour conversation with a very nice Apple employee who helped me save my computer