Hope Could Never Escape

I'm sure most of you (especially those office-dwellers) are avid listeners of Pandora internet radio (something that helps me make it through many a workday).  Perhaps you're an aficionado of the Pandora jewelry line (yes, even anti-consumerism Melanie has a Pandora bracelet).  And I'm sure you've all heard of "Pandora's box."  

The other day, as I was listening to my latest station on Pandora (Ottmar Liebert's holiday station-- makes me feel like I'm walking through World Market at Christmastime... and yes, I know it's October), I began to think about Pandora-- I'd never actually researched her mythological roots.  Coincidentally, I've also been reading Bulfinch's Mythology-- a collection of classic Greek mythological tales compiled by Thomas Bulfinch.  Where better to learn about Miss Pandora than in a book of Greek mythology?

Bulfinch gives two versions of the story of Pandora's box-- but both are very similar.  Long story short (and you can read the entire version here if you so choose... or just read the entire book if you're into that), Pandora (the very first woman to exist in the world of Greek mythology) was sent by Jupiter to be the wife of Prometheus and/ or Epimetheus.  She was also given a jar, but with strict instructions that she was, under no circumstances, to open the jar.  Naturally, Pandora's curiosity got the better of her and she decided to open the jar.  And what was inside?

There are two versions of the story:

• First, that the box contained "a multitude of plagues for hapless man,- such as gout, rheumatism, and colic for his body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his mind," in addition to hope.
• Second, that the box contained Pandora's "marriage presents, into which every god had put some blessing," in addition to hope.

Though the contents of the box vary, both stories end the same-- after the lid was removed, all contents of the box (except for hope) escaped.  I like both versions of the story-- and though the second makes more sense (why would hope be in a box with a bunch of evil things? --like it was in the first version), I can appreciate both stories. 

What I found most intriguing, though, no matter which story you prefer, was that only one thing remained in Pandora's box after all else had escaped-- hope.  Hope can never escape us.  Even if we feel surrounded by a world of horrible things (like those plagues in Pandora's box), we must always remember that those "plagues" will not last forever.  They'll disappear, as they did with Pandora, and in the end, we are left with hope.  Or maybe you feel like every good thing in your life is being taken away-- the blessings that had once enriched your life are now fleeing you, just like the blessings in Pandora's box.  But you can be assured that there is still hope.  When all else fails, hope remains. Hope could never escape. 

My Own Private Asylum

When most people hear the word "asylum,"  they likely associate it with a large building with white padded walls and electric shock therapy-- a home for the insane.  This time of year, you can't turn on the radio or open the newspaper without hearing/ seeing an advertisement for a "haunted asylum."  Asylum, unfortunately, has gotten a bad reputation as a keep for the mentally unstable.  This is true, yes-- but there are other definitions.  For example... ever heard of political asylum?  (Merriam-Webster's definition: protection from arrest and extradition given especially to political refugees by a nation or by an embassy or other agency enjoying diplomatic immunity)  You don't have to be crazy to seek asylum.  You just have to be looking for a place of refuge, where you can find security and protection.

As I've written before, there are plenty of beautiful running paths in the Kalamazoo area.  One of my favorite things is unintentionally stumbling across something amazing while I'm out on a run.  A couple weeks ago, I had left my apartment and was out for a run.  Many times, when I'm out for my standard 3-4 mile run during the week, I run the same route.  This day was different.  I had just finished my half-marathon and was prepared to venture off on an unplanned route-- I didn't care how far I ran, or how long it took me, or whether I got lost.  These runs are usually my favorites.  The weather outside was perfect-- it wasn't raining, nor was it really cloudy-- but there was a double rainbow.  Not only could you see both ends of the rainbow, but there were 2 rainbows (look closely at the photo on the right).  An obvious good sign :) 

I continued to run and soon found the entrance to what looked like a heavily-wooded park.  Just past the entrance was a sign that displayed the map of the trails through the park, as well as a brief history of the area.  Turns out, I was in Asylum Lake Preserve.  a 274-acre wetland preserve (the lake lies in the Portage Creek Watershed) that is owned by Western Michigan University and is meant for recreational use.  I took a quick look at the available trails and started my run.  I made my way through the quiet preserve, down gravel trails, grass trails, and paved walks.  It wasn't long before I reached Asylum Lake.  Very rarely, when I'm on a run, do I see something that makes me skid to a halt and just stare.  Yes, this qualified.  All I could do was stop and look around.  It was breathtaking.  As you'll see from the photos below, I stayed for a while.  And as the sun began to go down, the sunset and clouds played with the palette of the sky, which was reflected flawlessly on the glassy surface of the lake-- perfect harmony.  Silent and completely tranquil, the lake was quite clearly a place of asylum-- a place to go when you want some refuge from the noise and chaos of everyday life.  I think everyone needs an asylum-- somewhere they can go when the rest of the world gets too noisy for them.  The rest of Kalamazoo could've been falling apart that night, but I wouldn't have noticed.  I had found my own private asylum.

ArtPrize - an afternoon of pure elation :)

A couple weeks ago, my sister Liz and I ventured to Grand Rapids, MI, to see ArtPrize, a large art contest.  Not knowing exactly what to expect (nor having ever visited the city of Grand Rapids), I was overwhelmed with anticipation on the drive up there.  I'd always heard that GR was a fantastic city (second largest in Michigan), so naturally I was excited to attend a large art festival there. 

We arrived in downtown Grand Rapids and quickly found a decent parking spot (which didn't cost a thing, by the way!) and began walking around downtown.  ArtPrize turned out to be even more phenomenal than what I had envisioned-- we found ourselves immersed in an art festival that had completely consumed the buildings and streets of the city.  What's so cool about ArtPrize is the fact that it's a completely open competition-- anyone from any corner of the globe is welcome to enter, so long as he/ she can find space.  Any Grand Rapids-based artist is welcome to enter his or her work in a venue in the city, as long as there is space available.  And the winner is chosen by popular vote-- and anyone with a cell phone is welcome to vote.  Very cool.

I want to make this very clear:  I loved each and every entry that I saw throughout my ArtPrize expedition.  LOVED them.  Naturally, though, I picked my favorites :)

1) Beili Liu's "Lure/Wave, Grand Rapids" -- composed only of red thread and sewing needles.  Each of the red circles you see is made of red thread woven into a flat circle and suspended from the ceiling by red thread.  If you go to the ArtPrize website, you can research the meaning behind the red threads, which is pretty amazing. 

2) Nathan Kukla's "The Alphabet Book of War."  Each page in this "children's alphabet book" displays a different letter of the alphabet -- and, where you might normally see "A is for Apple" or "B is for Bear,"  you see war-themed things like "A is for Ammunition" and "B is for Bomb."  Pretty morbid, yes, but nonetheless very interesting.

3) Luke Jerram's "Play Me, I'm Yours."  Mr. Jerram bought/ found a bunch of old pianos, tuned them properly, painted them fabulously (all complete with the phrase "PLAY ME, I'M YOURS"), and set them up around the city, free to be played by any willing pianist who wandered by.  To me, this is an absolutely fantastic idea-- aestheticize the city with artwork that's both visually and audibly stimulating.  I enjoyed walking by the different pianos and seeing/ hearing all that was going on-- groups of people crowded around these wacky pianos, all laughing, singing, and playing together.  True definition of harmony.

4) David Schofield's "Confess."  This may have been my absolute favorite.  Ever seen the All American Rejects video for "Dirty Little Secret?"  This was like a physical representation of that entire video.  A huge blank white surface, mounted on the wall, with the word "CONFESS" embossed onto it, with Sharpies and pens provided, which which observers had the opportunity to write their own confessions.  Some made you laugh out loud.  Some made you think.  Some made you blush.  And some made you want to cry.  I like interactive art (and yes, I added my own confession to the wall).  Here are some of the most interesting confessions:

No caption needed-- FiveFingers DO rock.

FiveFingers rock.

At the time, I thought this was interesting.  Now I can't remember why.

I wrote this.  To satisfy Andrew.

Some people do prefer hanging out with all guys.  I can understand that.

I believe in all fairies.  Magical.

I can relate.

This one broke my heart. 

Perfectly put.

Funny.

I believe it.

Unfortunately, this is the sad truth.  More often than it should be.

Again, another sad truth.

Common.

Interesting.

I don't want to die either.  Not yet.

Maybe the Cover of My Own Book Isn't So Pretty...

My job.  Have I mentioned that I love it?  In addition to my amazing coworkers and boss, I love what I do as well.  However, an added plus is the fact that I take a morning and afternoon recess in addition to my regular mid-day lunch break (this is true for many employees here, though not all of them).  There are a number of cafeterias in my building-- for morning "recess" (as I so affectionately refer to it), we almost always head to the cafeteria down our hallway.  My coworkers and I usually crowd around our own round table, drink our coffees, eat our breakfasts, and gab with each other-- but you can't help but take a gander every so often around the (small) cafeteria at the others who are also just beginning their day. 

And usually we see the same group of people there at the same time, day after day.  There's the group of very attractive electrician contractors (some of my personal favorites), and there's the three or four gentlemen who drink their coffee after divvying up the morning paper amongst themselves.  There's the group of production people who, every so often, have a morning potluck, complete with crock pots of very yummy-smelling food.  There's the lady who steams a bag of broccoli in the microwave (which, in turn, stinks up the entire area).  It's a great place to people-watch.

There's one man (who I don't personally know, by the way) who shows up every morning and sits with the same group of people.  I'm ashamed to say that, until just a couple days ago, I would see this man, middle-aged, with his arms covered in tattoos, complete with long, scraggly hair and beard, and I would make my own assumptions about him.  Then I made a point to actually watch him the other day.  This guy, who sits with all women, gets to the cafeteria before the rest of them arrive.  He rummages through the cooler (where employees keep their lunchbags) and pulls out a bunch of pink and purple lunchbags.  Then he goes around the table and sets each lunchbag down, with a napkin and silverware next to it.  Then his female coworkers sit down and enjoy their breakfast at their already-prepared table settings.  And he does this every day, with a smile on his face.

Don't we all wish we could work with an obviously caring gentleman like Mr. Tattoos?  I feel terrible that it took me almost 6 months to actually look at this guy and see how genuinely kind he is toward his coworkers.  Stupid, simple lesson for me-- something that was pounded into our heads when we were kids:  Don't judge a book by its cover.  This guy's cover seems a little ragged and beat-up.  And, granted, I haven't actually read the book yet, but the table of contents looks promising.  That'll teach me.  Suddenly my own cover feels a little ragged.

Halfway There

A few weeks  late... story of my life. September 25, 2010: The Park2Park Half Marathon (Holland, MI) with my dear friend (and running companion) Andrew.  It was amazing. 

Andrew had mentioned early in the summer that he was going to run this race.  Eager as I was to begin training for another race, I told him I'd run it with him.  Training went well for the first few months-- however, in August/ September, my training slowed down drastically (I took "taper" to a whole new level... for you runners out there).  I was able to head out for a couple long runs here and there, but unfortunately (and I'm ashamed to admit) I wasn't very diligent with my training.  Obviously this had me worried, since I had a whopping 13 miles ahead of me.  The week before the race, I decided to train--and hard. 

Well, I must've done something right.  I headed up to Holland bright and early that morning with Andrew (6 AM was our departure time, I believe).  I didn't have much time to eat, so I grabbed a measuring cup, filled it with my special blend of Chia seeds and water ("rock snot," as my dear coworker Ariane so affectionately refers to it), and hopped in the car.

We were given our numbers and 2 packs of Gu, and hit the starting line.  It was an excellent race-- I l-o-v-e-d the course.  Pretty flat, for the most part-- with a few hills here and there.  But the course wound its way through the most beautiful neighborhoods, and right along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  The weather was cloudy, but not too cold-- with a few raindrops every so often.  It was perfect running weather-- and, despite my shameful lack of training, I was able to keep on trucking-- and I even got a burst of energy around Mile 7 (I attribute this to my Chia seeds), which helped me  power through to the end of the race-- to finish with a new PR!  I was well pleased with my performance. 

I've run 5Ks before, and I plan to do some 10Ks in the near future, and even a full marathon in May (the Kalamazoo Marathon).  This race, however, was my second half-marathon (hopefully with many more to come).  I really enjoyed running this race-- in addition to the amazing course (and enthusiastic volunteers), I had an unusual amount of energy-- which was great, because of the many conversations I wasn't necessarily prepared for-- 99% of which were focused on my shoes (Vibram FiveFingers).  As I ran the race, I had the chance to chat with a number of runners-- I would hear one or more people say "She's wearing them!  Look, she's got those shoes!"  and after the first 2 or 3 conversations, I was prepared with answers (and a newfound lung capacity) for the ensuing questions, which were all the same:

• What do they feel like?  (running barefoot, with some protection from the rough surfaces you're running on) 
• When did you start running in them?  (March... so about 6 months)
• How is it on pavement?  (fine)
• On gravel?  (still fine)
• Are they hard to put on?  (at first, perhaps... but it gets easier)
• Do they smell? (YES)
• Don't they hurt your feet? (they're more difficult [at first] than your typical running shoes, but your feet adapt quickly)
• Why do you wear them? (our bodies were made for running barefoot, or with very minimal footwear... check out Born To Run by Christopher McDougall)
• Do you miss your old running shoes? (not at all... I can't stand putting on my Nikes anymore)

Let it be known that I do not work for Vibram or Mr. McDougall... I was merely introduced (by a friend) to an incredible product that I strongly believe in, and I enjoy telling others about my amazing "ape shoes."  Anyway, I was happy to chat with all these runners about my shoes, and I'm positive that I roused the interest of a few future FiveFingers owners.  Not too shabby.    

Anyway, I finished the race in 2:18, all the while snapping photos on my Droid phone (yeah, I know-- I probably could've had a better time had I not been technologically occupied during the race... but still, I was pleased).  The race was awesome-- my day was awesome-- and I can't wait to run the next one!