Famous People Running Races

This last weekend my friend Mabel, her husband Clive and I ran the Rhody Run 12K. There were impromptu water stations set up on people's front lawns, there were drum circles, bubbles, a really steep and long down hill where you could actually feel the wind blowing through your hair (or in my case a rain and sweat soaked pony tail), there was the guy who runs the race every year and makes up his own Marine chants every 1/2 mile or so, ocean views and free beer and massages at the end off the race. And, while this year lacked the bagpiper and free champagne at mile six, we all knocked something like seven minutes off of last year's time. WHICH WAS AWESOME!

Until we looked at the professional photos online today.  

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Seriously.

They were so bad that they prompted this conversation on Facebook less than 16 hours ago:

Mabel:  Did you change your profile pic because you're getting psyched for the half marathon? Less than 5 months!!

Me:  That and I wanted to remind myself how much I liked to run! Plus, it looks waaaaay better than the pics from the Rhody Run this last weekend. :)

Mabel: That photographer should be fired!

Me: Or start to work seriously on their airbrushing technique!

Mabel: For sure! I want him to make me look like Zooey Deschanel skipping through the finish line with a big happy smile on my face.  I would totally buy that picture!

Me: You'd make a perfect Zooey Deschanel! Can I be Myrna Loy? Because a classic never goes out of style, and it would make complete sense considering they gave out free beer at the end of the race*!

Mabel: Sure....

Know what? Turns out, airbrushing skills aren't that hard Race Photographer Man. I mean, all I had to use was a pair of scissors, a stick of glue, a sharpie and some paper dolls from Katie's craft cupboard and KAPOW! We look ten times awesomer! 

You look AMAZING Zooey/Mabel!

Keep the intensity Edward/Clive!

Look! It's Myrna/Me! Run Myrna/Me! Run!

I mean, I even managed to figure out how to take our finish photos and paste them all in the same photo so it looks like we finished the race at the same time! Look! I even got Edward/Clive and Zooey/Mabel to hold hands! 

My GOSH but we're GORGEOUS!

Airbrushing? Totally not hard. 

And, like always, I'll take my payment in coffee, Mabel!

*This joke makes way more sense if you've seen The Thin Man movies.  

It's Like The SAT. Only Shorter.

Is this a picture of:

A.  The lyrics from Vanilla Ice's new album*.

B.  A psychology experiment to see how long parent approved graffiti will be tolerated at the local playground.

C.  Super Secret Spy Code for "The TURKEY! travels at twilight". Because, as everyone knows, all the super spies speak in alliteration at aach and avery awportunity.

D.  A refreshing change from the demonic poetry written by some guy at the park last week. (In his defense, he did write it in pink and green chalk. Which, apparently, were the most demonic colors he could find.)

Thirteenbazenteentilishous points and this picture (points below) if you know the answer!

Note: This is not a picture of Vanilla Ice. Or of Jon dressed in a rapper outfit.  But those are his shoes.




*Now, don't get me wrong, I totally appreciate the fact that the lyrics to Vanilla Ice's "Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!" are squeaky clean.  I mean, dude, they're even clean enough to be used while teaching Sunday School, to, you know, set the musical tone for the morning before Jon raps the story from Acts 12 for the kids. Which he didn't do. Because he has "self respect", or because he's a stick in the mud.  One of the two.  Which forced me to use this video instead.  And, yes, this is how lazy people teach Sunday School.  (waves hand.  points to self.) With YouTube.

Go Ninja! Go Ninja! Go!

Because it's Mother's Day weekend, I got my traditional gift of 15 minutes of yard work from Jon and the girls today*.  And, while they were digging the dandelions from under the lilac bush, and I sipped (OK, gulped) my expertly crafted plain latte, my phone and I serenaded them with The V.I.P.'s "Ninja Rap" because, Dude! Vanilla Ice has his own TV show! Like, a This Old House type of TV show! But with less beards and more tattoos! And Jon found it for me last night on the Internet!  And I got to see Vanilla Ice pull a palm tree out of the ground! The ground people! Just like the dandelions from under the lilac bush! (Kinda.  I mean, Vanilla Ice used a huge tractor, and, well, Katie and Ellie didn't.  But, basically the same thing!)

Now, first, when Twitter told me about Vanilla Ice having his own TV show, I was a little upset, because, DUDE! Vanilla Ice has his own TV show! I shouldn't have to find out about these things from Twitter! I mean, sure, when everyone was bustin' a move to "Ice Ice Baby" and sitting in dark theaters watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles battle Shredder for the last canister of mutant making ooze I was singing along to my "Chipmunks Go Hollywood" tape and memorizing "Boil Them Cabbage Down" so I could perform with the Junior High Fiddling Club**.  So, yeah, sure, technically, I wasn't his target audience.  But, just because I could sing "Eye of the Tiger" in a falsetto chipmunk voice didn't mean everyone in the Fiddling Club was as clueless about popular music as I was. I mean, I think some of them even wore fanny packs! So, it's not like I didn't know who Vanilla Ice was, I just, didn't, you know, find his music interesting enough to not change the radio station when "Ice Ice Baby" came on. (Maybe he should have added a singing chipmunk to his act.  Or a duck.  Or a chicken.  Really, any kind of singing animal would have probably livened it up for me.  And a banjo. Because there is nothing not awesome about the banjo when you are 14 years old.)

Obviously, someone should have told me about this sooner.  Because, guys, his show is fly! Seriously, it's all that AND a bag of chips! I watched two episodes of it and not only did he pull a palm tree out of the ground, he planted other plants, drained a pool, swept up raccoon poo, laid pavers around the pool and battled a six-foot long alligator! (OK. Kinda.) The only thing that could have made the show better was if Vanilla Ice and the alligator had broken into a duet remix of "Fame".

You know.  Like the Chipmunks.

Because cute singing animals never go out of style.



Unlike fanny packs.


*Which I plan to exploit One Grain of Rice style in the Mother's Days to come.  Because literature can give people dangerous ideas. Or, rather, mathematically sound ones that will land them on the deck in 7 to 8 years, with their feet up for the whole weekend, as the yard is mowed, weeded, trimmed, barked, planted, etc. As long as I don't teach the children to count.  Or add.  Or multiply.  Or...read.... Aw, crud puddles. Well, at least I don't electrocute myself with the mower anymore.

**Too bad no one played the banjo....

My Mother Does House-Bound, Well, Like This:

Not too long ago my mom fell and broke her leg.  In two places.  Not too long ago, I flew down to Arizona with a suitcase filled with my knitting* and all the summer clothes I could find in my dresser (i.e. two pairs of shorts) in order to sit with my house-bound mother.

Yeah.  I don't know what I was thinking either.

Things You Do With Your Mom When She Has A Titanium Rod Newly Attached To Her Femur

1.  You drive her to each and every doctor visit she can think up, because, she's only allowed out of the house for doctor visits and church. (Hahahahahaha! You crazy doctors! It's like you don't even know my mother!)  

2.  You go to church, and then on the way home she says something like, "Hey! Aren't we close to the 'Vettes and Bombers show? Maybe we should drive by? Or get out and walk around for an hour or two? Might be fun for you! Don't worry, I'll find a nice shaded place to sit down with my walker when I get tired and visit with people.  I just thought it'd be fun for you!" (FYI, she never sits down.)

3.  You go to the 'Vettes and Bombers show.  And, you stand and watch as she debates with herself whether they will let a woman with a broken leg take a ride in this airplane:

4.  While at the 'Vettes and Bombers show, you visit with her corvette buddies and they ask you questions like, "What kind of car do you drive?" And you watch, as both your parent's chairs are suddenly 2 inches further away from yours, as you answer, "An '03 Honda Civic. It's a, um, a four cylinder...."

5.  You walk the mall early in the morning with her, while she wears this hat:

Because it's an awesome hat.

6. She gives you a ridiculously long spoon to stir your coffee with each and every morning.  Because she doesn't drink coffee.  And because she thinks it's funny. Which it is, after the first cup Mom, ONLY AFTER THE FIRST CUP!

7.  You have to sneak out of the house each morning before 6am (just like in high school!) to go running by yourself. Otherwise, she'd probably figure out a way to ride her bicycle with a broken leg so she could go with you (just like in high school!).  Also, as a bonus, you score these photos of springtime in your old neighborhood:

8.  You do yoga amongst the orange trees in the backyard after your run in the morning, just to see if she'll come out and join you.  She doesn't.  Yoga is too weird.

9.  Because your sister and nephew come to visit for the weekend she thinks it would be fun if we all drove up to Payson "just for the day." For a 4-wheel drive trip.

 
10.  While sitting in camp, you talk with some of her 4-wheeler friends, and they ask you questions like, "How much 4-wheeling do you do up in Washington?" (Uh, none.) and "So, what do you drive?" And, you watch, as both your parent's chairs are, once again, two inches further away from yours, as you answer, again, "Um, we drive an '03 Honda Civic...."

11.  You finally head home, back to the misty Puget Sound area you live in, and hope against hope that she didn't see this at the Bombers and 'Vettes show:

Because one broken leg is enough, Mom!


*Look, knitting has become really popular, people.  I mean, everywhere you look someone with tattoos and a vintage flare to their wardrobe is purling out stuff like this:

http://oddstuffmagazine.com/awesome-urban-knitting-woolen-street-art.html

And this:

http://oddstuffmagazine.com/awesome-urban-knitting-woolen-street-art.html

And even socks with pockets!

http://www.sewklassic.com/

People who can do that are awesome! And, because I'm a wuss who will never get a tattoo in real life (Because it would hurt. Plus I'd get something really cool tattooed on me, like the word TURKEY! or maybe just a replica of my awesome TURKEY! poster or something, and then I'd be a senile 102 year old woman stuck in some nursing home and the nurses would see my tattoo and they'd immediately think that turkey was my favorite thing to eat and they'd start serving me turkey sandwiches for every meal, and I wouldn't be able to tell them that I'd been a vegetarian for 80 some odd years and all those turkey's would needlessly die to feed my senile 102 year old self, and that's a lot to have on a person's conscience. And yeah, mostly because it would hurt.) and also being someone whose wardrobe will not be moving from a jeans and t-shirt theme into a more vintage-y look anytime soon (thank you small children), taking up knitting was the only way I could think of to make myself more culturally relevant, or, just, you know, kinda cool..... Hip.  Hunky-dory! Boss!  Wicked!  Meritorious! 

Unfortunately, after almost a years worth of work, my knitting looks like this:

And, once I look at it juxtapositionally, with my mother who spends her free time racing corvettes, 4-wheeling, and wearing groundbreaking fashionable duck hats on one side and me who has spent almost a year knitting a dishcloth.... Yeah....I may really need to get that tattoo after all.  Thanks, Mom.