New Phone!

I finally got a new cell phone. The old one bit the dust the other day when I dropped it for like the 1,000th time coming out of work. I love my new phone. It's red. It's shiny. It has a really big colorful screen. But, despite all the love I feel, there are certain nuances that require some adjustment. For example, the space bar on this phone is one key over from what I am used to when texting. This means that I am constantly erasing the plus signs that result when I push the wrong button. ARGH!

I also need a new ringtone. Any fun ideas?

Old, but funny

Because you're never too old to protect yourself from robots.

It's Coming . . .

Two weeks from tonight!

Amazing . . .

. . . that Justin and I have been married for 5 years.

Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen

And I do.
Liberally.
Which is why I came away from a weekend in blazing hot/humid Anaheim area burn-free. I'm glad I finally gave up the dream of being tan. Consider me flying the sunscreen flag - staying UV free and proud!

Back to School

My grad school classes started last night. The professor of my Intro. to Graduate Seminar class, Dr. Dong, was my faculty advisor during my undergraduate years at Pacific. Walking into the WPC - one of the big classroom buildings on campus - was a surreal experience. It's been six years, but some things never change.

Oh, and goodbye social life for the next two years. Grad School is going to be more work than I thought.

It's Not About the Bike (Except When It Is)

I did my first triathlon on Saturday morning - a super sprint in preparation for a sprint distance in October. During this feat of athleticism I discovered that my mountain bike basically sucks when it comes to speed and distance. I must have gotten passed by 30 people (at least). Totally humbling. But, all in all it was a great first effort and I exceeded my expectations and my time goal, so that's all that matters!

Read more about this and see pics of my 10-year high school reunion at www.myspace.com/beckyperry. If you don't have a myspace - get one! It's how all the cool kids keep in touch.

Swim! Bike! Run!

Thanks to some forceful encouragement from my boss, and a need for some "real" training before my sprint triathlon in October, I decided to sign up for a super-sprint triathlon. The distances for each event aren't too long and it'll give me some much-needed practice in transitioning between the swim, the bike, and the run.

I'm nervous! It's my first open water swim and my first time actually "racing" on a bike! I DESPERATELY don't want to come in last. The cool thing: it's on Saturday - the same day as my high school reunion. So, barring injury or disqualification, I can attend my reunion as a "tri-athlete." Woo hoo!

On Second Thought . . .

My next plane ride will be sooner than anticipated. I'll be flying into Long Beach on Saturday, September 1st for the Disneyland Half Marathon. I'm super excited - I just wish I'd actually been training for it.

Dreams (not the Cranberries song)

In the past month I have had at least two dreams where I've either been involved in/or witnessed an airplane crash. Already a nervous flyer, this makes me even less excited to get on a plane - fortunately no flights scheduled in the near future.

I decided to look up "airplane" in one of those online dream dictionaries. This is what it said:

To dream that a plane crashes, suggests that you have set overly high and unrealistic goals for yourself. Your goals may be too high and are impossible to realize. You are in danger of having it come crashing down. Alternatively, your lack of confidence, self-defeating attitude and self-doubt toward the goals you have set for yourself is represented by the crashing airplane; you do not believe in your ability to attain those goals. Loss of power and uncertainty in achieving your goals are also signified.

Sadly, this is strangely accurate and says a lot about what my subconscious is feeling about some recent job changes. Although I have to wonder; where did the research of dreams come from? Is it at all accurate or is it on the same level as astrology?

No Fences

"Jim didn't think in terms of boundaries at all the way the rest of us do. There are always these fences we build around ourselves and our ideas. Jim seemed to have no fences."

--Jon Stone speaking about Jim Henson

"I believe in taking a positive attitude toward the world, toward people, and toward my work. I think I'm here for a purpose. I think it's likely that we all are, but I'm only sure about myself."

--Jim Henson

Pandora's Box

Last week I got moved out of my cozy under-the-radar office in the back of The Record's Circulation Department to new digs (a desk) right outside the Circulation Director's Office. (The jury's still out on whether or not this really was a promotion . . .)

So not the point though.

The point is that this change resulted in an amazing new discovery on my part. You see, my boss highly recommended the MSN Pandora music player. For those of you as clueless as I was, Pandora is a free service where you can type in your favorite music artist and they will start streaming music not only from that musician, but from others that have a similar sound.

IT IS SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

For the past few days I have been streaming Switchfoot radio, which gave me some great indie, punk, rock selections. Today, for a nice girl-power, self-esteem boosting change, I typed in one of my favorite pop artists (who I refuse to name out of embarrassment). Cough, Hilary Duff, Cough Cough.

The coolest part of all this is that you get to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to each selection. This helps the music player format even further to your musical tastes. The only bad thing is giving a thumbs up to a song that you know is abysmal, but still love it anyway.

For example, a few minutes ago I gave a thumbs up to a Britney Spears song. For a moment I felt like there could be a programmer in an office somewhere judging me.