I am in three March Madness basketball pools this year.  As of last Wednesday, I was ranked first in two of them and second in the third.  Then Syracuse lost and suddenly I have no chance of winning anything.  I’m not really bitter – I’m actually glad that all the 1-seeds didn’t make it into the final four like last year.  The past few years have taken the Madness out of the tournament, but I’m glad 2010 brought it back.

Anyway, I have also discovered some other non-sports-related brackets this year that have helped me waste time during the month of March.  First, there was the Cakes vs. Pies competition (Go Ice Cream Cake!).  Then there was the Bracket of Evil (I still can’t believe that Prop 8 and Glenn Beck didn’t make it out of the first round).  But then Galen introduced me to the Name of the Year competition, and I’m hooked.

Here’s the deal.  These guys collect nominations all year long for the Name of the Year.  Then they verify that the nominees were born with that name and didn’t choose it (legal name-changers and nicknames not allowed).   Then they arrange them in a bracket, with each of the four regions named after past winners – Bulltron, Sithole, Dragonwagon and Crotchtangle, and let the competition begin.  Want to know how they seed the names?  Listen to the podcast.

To see a list of past winners, including my faves, Honka Monka and Barkevious Mingo, check out the Names of the Year.

Galen and I spent the weekend in Arizona with his family (photos and stories coming soon!) and he asked his siblings and parents to fill out their own bracket while we were on vacation.  I’ve got mine here… But I was just thinking I’d open it up to all of you.  Who would be in your final four?

Note: The competition has already started.  Go to the Name of the Year Blog homepage to check in on its progress AFTER YOU VOTE on your final four in the comments section.  NO CHEATING!  DAD, I MEAN IT!

Well, it’s been almost two months since I started my running routine.  I’ve tried to run at least three times a week, but have been occasionally thrown off course by a cold, a busy social schedule and Galen introducing me to LOST.  Did you know there were 25 episodes in just the first season?  And there are SIX SEASONS?!?!

But I digress.  The 8k race I’ve been planning to run is on April 18th.  I decided I needed a warm up race between now and then, so I signed up for a 5k on this coming Sunday.     My ONLY goal for Sunday is to run the whole time.  It may take me an hour, but I’m going to try my hardest never to walk, even though my “tired run” is slower than my walking pace.

So I thought this would be a good time to update you, Internet, on the things that I’ve learned.  In case anyone else is thinking about taking up running because they hate it and they want to be overly prepared before embarking on such an adventure.  (A.K.A. The list I Wish I’d Had Two Months Ago):

Gear:

• Shoes.  I’ve learned these are very important.  I spent $100 on my running shoes, which is about $80 more than I wanted to spend, but it was totally worth it.  I went to Portland Running Company, where the sales guy watched me run up and down the block in various shoes until we were both comfortable and happy with the result.  (I actually left the place horribly embarrassed not only by the size of my feet, as usual, but by the way he said, “Oh interesting.  Usually people with flat feet pronate, but since you’re also pigeon-toed, it looks like you actually supinate.”  It may be interesting to you, sir.  To me, it just makes my feet more freakish.)  Anyway, I’m very, very happy with my shoes and the sales people were super nice and helpful.  It’s not their fault I have a foot complex.
• Long sleeved Nike Dri-Fit under shirt.  I know there are millions of brands that make these moisture-wicking shirts, but I happen to live closer to a Nike outlet than a grocery store, so it’s the easiest place for me to shop.  I love running outside even when it’s chilly and/or raining, so this is a must.  Although, if you’re like me and do laundry rather infrequently due to inconvenient laundromat hours, I might recommend buying a few of these shirts.  The smell after a use or two is downright foul.
• iPod shuffle.  Perfect little thing for listening to those Couch to 5k podcasts I was telling you about.  I have a big iPod, too, but bought a shuffle for running.  You can get them pretty cheap on the refurbished Apple website.  They’re so light and easy to run with and mine even clips to my clothes.
• Nike running watch.  Galen got me this for my birthday and it’s great.  It has tons of features I haven’t even figured out yet.  Plus it’s so sleek and cute.

Tools:

• In addition to the Couch to 5k Podcasts, I’d highly recommend checking out MapMyRun.com and FavoriteRun.com.  They’re both websites created to help people find good running routes in their areas.  In my opinion, MapMyRun is easier to use when you want to figure out how long your run was or if you want to make up your own route.  FavoriteRun is easier to navigate, however, if you’re looking for run routes that someone else suggested.  Either way, they’re good tools.

So, armed with this gear and these tools, I head into the world of 5k races.  Wish me luck.  And if you see a tall, awkward girl running like Phoebe from Friends in downtown Portland on Sunday morning (or afternoon, for that matter), please don’t tell her how unnaturally large her feet are.

For my birthday, I decided I wanted a hammock. My apartment complex has a HUGE deck/patio area on two different levels, which was part of the reason I wanted to live there. Since we actually had sun last week (!) I realized that I’m going to want to spend pretty much all my time outdoors here pretty soon, and a hammock would increase my enjoyment of that time exponentially.

The only problem is that there aren’t any trees on the deck, so I’d either need to tie the hammock to the railing, which would mean it would have to be in one of the corners… or I’d need a hammock stand.

Okay, so after I find some good cheap hammocks online, I search Craigslist for a hammock stand. No luck. I turn to Google products… Lots of results. When I sort them based on price, the cheapest one is this (click on the image to enlarge it):

Which is exactly what I was looking for, obviously.

Yikes. It was harder this year than I remember it being last year…

Thanks for reading, everyone! Hopefully I won’t drop off now like I did last year. I’ve got a fun trip to North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida planned this week, so I’ll try to take photos!

And… Just so I don’t feel like this post was a TOTAL waste of your time… I bring you:

The 15 Funniest Animal Videos the Web Has to Offer and my personal addition, The Goat that Yells Like a Man (thanks for sharing, Bean!).

So, I’m sitting here on my purple couch with my dad, talking about blogs.  I told him about some of the blogs I follow and showed him how Google Reader works.  Then he told me about a couple that he likes.  I am looking for more cool blogs to follow, specifically ones that aren’t mommy blogs, since I may be at capacity for those considering I am not a mom.  (It seems worth noting here that with one exception, I know all of the moms whose blogs I follow – I’m not THAT creepy).  Anyway, since I am looking for advice and suggestions from YOU, Internet, I will prompt you by giving you some good ones I’ve got.

Lifehacker

My dad and I found out yesterday that we both follow this one.  Sometimes, it’s too techy and nerdy for me, and other times it’s totally awesome.

Stair Porn

My dad just showed this to me.  We stared incredulously at this beautiful staircase for a surprisingly long time.  He explained to me what cantilevers are.  I am impressed.

The Daily Dish

I don’t check this one nearly as much as I should, but it wins awards every year and deserves them.

The other ones I check religiously I have either mentioned before (dooce, Blythe, Emily) or I know the author(s) personally (friends, cousins) and I’m not sure they want me talking about them or drawing strangers to their blogs.  If I am, in fact, wrong, please let me know.

As Blythe would say, I’ve shown you mine, now you show me yours.

A good family friend sends out a daily photo-a-day email that occasionally includes poems, links and quotes. Yesterday he sent an email with a link to Wordle, a program created by Jonathan Feinberg (who has some other pretty awesome things on his resume). In the email, Martin included this Wordle of his photo titles:

I thought it was so cool, I created one from the top three posts viewed on my blog, plus three of my favorite posts:

The words in mine aren’t nearly as cool, but it’s such a neat concept I wanted to post them both anyway.

Highest-Rated Ruminations

Some of these are really just… Too good.

One of my coworkers and I always joke that these days all sentences seem to begin with “In these troubled times…” So we’ve started saying ridiculous things like, “In these troubled times, I find our dress code policy to be rather limiting.” or “In these troubled times, it’s hard for me to stay focused on work all the way until 5 p.m.”

But in all seriousness, in these very difficult and trying times, I find myself frequently turning to the following two pieces of genius and wisdom:

This photo

and this quote:

“The process of collapse is not always degenerative.”
- Gloria Steinem

And they help me get through the days.

(Alternate titles for this post include, “It’s a Long Story” and “I am SO Big Time.”)

I think most people who start blogs have blog-idols. I started my blog because I wanted to be more like the following people:
1. Holly
2. Blythe
3. Abby

Abby and I went to college together and I consider her one of my closest friends. She was the first friend I had that started a blog and I am continually impressed by her writing and insight.

Blythe is actually the woman who let me in to college, which is why I often say that she is responsible for every good thing that happened to me after the age of 18. She also recently moved back to Portland, and I’m proud to say she allows me to occasionally play with her son Theo, the Cutest Toddler Ever. Blythe’s blog is always interesting not just because she’s funny and smart, but because she writes about everything from having a baby in Germany to her memories of growing up in a small town in Montana to what she thought of Natalie Portman’s dress at the Oscars.

Holly is the only one I don’t actually “know” in the traditional sense of the word. She and I don’t actually have much in common, other than we’re both brunettes with blogs who enjoy shopping and board games. She grew up in multiple foreign countries and now lives in an amazingly well-decorated apartment in San Francisco. I grew up in one place (Like one of my favorite T-shirts says, “Missoula, Montana. A place. Sort of.”) and now reside in an apartment where all decorative pieces belong to my roommate except the random paintings I did and the license plates I turned into a coat rack. Holly has a fiance she has been in love with and lived with for years. I’m rockin’ the single life and living with a gay man.

She’s hilarious, though, and I love her stories. Last year, I read about Holly’s attendance at a conference called BlogHer and thought it sounded like a blast. Lots of female bloggers interested in similar things getting together and talking. Great, right? So I looked into this whole BlogHer thing and thought it sounded interesting. I decided I might want to attend the conference someday to see what fascinating things I could learn.

Jump to December, when I was home for the holidays and my mom told me she had talked to her mentor about me. She said she was talking to him about ways to connect with other people who do what she does (of which there are none in Montana). He recommended she start a blog.

So she told him about her daughter who had a blog. And he told her about his daughter who started a company for women who blog.

When she came home, she told me about her meeting and said his daughter was one of the founders of BlogHer. Had I ever heard of it?

It was as if she just told me her mentor was Justin Timberlake’s father.

I couldn’t believe I was separated from one of the founders of BlogHer by only 3 degrees. I immediately got online and decided I would like to support the BlogHer community in any way I could, considering I now felt connected to them in a different way (i.e. we were both somehow related to Montana). I signed up for a bunch of stuff on their website. One of those things was their advertising package. They had a waiting list, so I didn’t anticipate hearing from them anytime soon.

However, I did. And it turns out in order to host their advertisements I had to host my own web page. So you can now find me at megolomaniac.com OR continue to use the old address and it will redirect here. You might also start noticing ads on the right-hand side. Think of them as a way to support my illegal-parking habits.

When I switched my blog over, I had to redesign the site, too. (Sort of a bummer, but I’m getting over it). I don’t know if this is what it will look like forever, so don’t freak out if the scenery changes in a month or two when I have more time and patience to figure out what the hell CSS code is. In the meantime, enjoy the flowers.

Any and all feedback is always appreciated!