Sofa Hooks

*Disclaimer: This post is a random musing of my afternoon. If you're looking for something with more depth, try this.*

I went into Borders tonight to browse for a new read. It's been a while since I walked around a bookstore without a purchase in mind. I found a ton of books that looked interesting, but I promised myself I would only bring one home. I started in the Travel section, where I looked for books on Nida, Lithuania. The Eastern Europe section isn't very big at Borders, and finding a spine that read Lithuania was almost impossible. Finally I found a LonelyPlanet titled Lithuania, Latvia, and Riga. The section on Nida has some good details on bus schedules and places of interest, so I shoved it under my arm and kept meandering.

Next was fiction. I guess you could divide fiction into several categories. In fiction you'll find Mystery, Mystery/Thriller, plain Fiction, Romance, Western, Horror, Horror/Mystery, and last but not least Science Fiction. Now, I'll admit, I'm the type of person that judges a book by it's cover. It's the first thing I see on the shelf! I also lookout for multiple copies. I figure, if a store has more than 6 copies of a book, they must anticipate it to sell and it be in demand. (And in turn usually, I conform to the majority and pick one up.) Tonight was different, I guess. I saw this dingy green paperback, and it was the only one of it's kind. The plot sounded good on the back flap, so I added it to Lithuania, Latvia, and Riga.

After walking aimlessly for another hour and browsing the entire store, I had picked up four books. It was decision-making time. Did I want Lithuania, dingy green, language, or history? I sat down in Border's comfy black leather armchair and read the first paragraph in each book.

-Now that I'm home, I realize how unfair this was for the non-fiction books. They don't have to provide a hook!-

I like getting a feel for author's writing styles before choosing. After reading the four paragraphs, I made-up my mind and chose Germ, by Robert Liparulo. I won't type-out the first paragraph which gripped me. All I have to say is, I am a big thriller buff. The intro is a bit graphic too, so I'll leave it for you to read.

I was tagged!

Names you go by
1) Jeff
2) Jeffrey
3) Jay
4) Jeffrey-Clark
5) J-Alex
6) Alex

3 Restaurants I love
1) Elephant Bar and Grill
2) Samurai Sushi
3) Red Lobster

3 Trips to plan on this year
1) (Not really this year, March 2009) Study in Russia!
2) Pleasenton, CA
3) Oregon

3 Things you want badly
1) To be fluent in another language
2) To travel
3) The new Canon 5d mark II EOS camera (It's amazing, due this November)

3 Pets you have/had (There are many)
1) Jake - Jack Russel Terrier
2) Shaq - German Shepherd
3) Rocky - Chameleon
4) Jack & Gill - Chameleons
5) Snake - Kenyan Sand Boa
6) Petunia - Leopard Gecko (She lived to be 13 years old, got her when I was 7!)
7) Missy and Dusty (Current pets - German Shepherd and Pitbull/Terrier mix)

3 Things you did yesterday
1) Watched the 49ers game
2) Cut down a tree in Grandma's backyard
3) Played in a soccer game

3 Things you ate today
1) Mini-Wheats
2) Banana
3) Turkey and Guac Sandwich

3 Fears
1) Drowning
2) Public Humiliation
3) Not living up to expectations!

3 Things you plan on doing today
1) Gym
2) Babysitting
3) Watching Heroes

3 Things you plan on doing tomorrow
1) Yard work for Grandma
2) Running
3) Get a haircut

3 Favorite Holidays
1) Christmas
2) Thanksgiving
3) Halloween

3 Favorite beverages
1) Water
2) Green Tea
3) Pepsi (I've been clean for 5 months)

3 people I tag
1) Nobody?

Saturday Run!

Check out the elevation!

Auburn Overlook

Average Pace: 13.35 (This includes the short breaks)

Apple Hill - Photo Entry

Fall is here and that means the apples are in full harvest!

First stop: High Hill RanchThey must have just loaded their pond. Schools of fish filled the water.
Accorns littered the ground and Victoria found every single one of them.

Victoria was deep in thought. What does an 18 month old daydream about?



This goat was hungry.

So Victoria decided to stare him down.

Then it snowed! The flurry lasted about 20 minutes, so we had lunch in the car!

Plubel's Farm in the snow.

After the sun came back out, it was time for the pumpkin patch.

Mom and Victoria.

Victoria sharing her thoughts about the day!

No Title Today

In the past few weeks I've helped a cousin move into his new place, bought a Samsung flat-screen, and experienced all that is Cabela's. And now it's back to business. During those two weeks I didn't exercise once, nor did I eat clean. I felt pretty disgusting after I got home last week. Some of the words I would use to describe the feeling are: sluggish, fatigued, sloth-like, apathetic, and torpid. (All of these words can be found in The New American Roget's Thesaurus)

This week has gone by much healthier. I started out by running with Stephanie, who thankfully invites me for her long runs. We ran 15.03 miles, and I really felt the last .03. I felt bad, just as it felt like we were almost finished, Stephanie asked, "how far have we been?" I looked at the GPS and mistakenly said "14.69", or somewhere close to that. What the GPS really read was 13.69. But we trudged onward around the block for the last mile. Sorry Stephanie!

-Click here to view our run-

What else is new...

Oh yes, I've applied for a part time job at The City. They are no longer Circuit City, just The City. This is my attempt to save a little extra before leaving in March. I'm hoping they will give me a job and not turn me away. Everywhere else I've applied with has denied my application because I'm leaving in 5 months. I don't really blame them though. Who wants to go through the process of hiring someone, who's just going to vanish in a couple months? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.