Thoughts On:

Violence: I went to an AHL (almost hockey league) game this weekend and ended up leaving a little bit broken. I'm not talking about the kind of broken that comes with beers costing $8 and parking an arm and a leg, I'm talking about broken optimism for my fellow human beings. Every single time there was a fight (usually caused by #4 from the North Carolina Checkers) all the spectators would get on their feet and cheer. Children as young as 5 were yelling for the opponents to "kill each other!" It seemed to me that there was more uproar over the fights than there was about the actual goals. A father sat in front of us with his two sons, both hockey players, and slammed 5 of those $8 beers during the two hour game. He became increasingly belligerent as the evening went on, proceeding to flip off the entire hockey arena. Riiiiight, like the players can see you? I may or may not have made a comment under my breath about the many children in our section, hoping that he would chill out on the language, and he did. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the parents that our future leaders are growing up with as examples. If this is the kind of society I would be bringing my children into, I suppose I'll think twice about starting a family.

Fashion: While on a hunt for the perfect coat for the winter months, now dubbed "Peacoat-gate 2010", I spent many hours at the mall on Saturday afternoon. I hate the mall. I feel like the older I've gotten, the less I can tolerate large groups of people. After my first Black Friday panic attack in 2008, I've realized that massive groups of people just aren't for me. But I learned something on saturday, that every teenie-bopper store is targeting our youth to dress like crack whores. Yep, I said it, crack whores. The "dresses" I found were the size of a regular t-shirt and somehow, people thin it's okay "as long as the girl wears it with leggings." Really? Because last time I checked, leggings still leave little to the imagination, especially if you can see up the dress. I really don't belong in 2010. I'd say, more like 1912 or an area where it was less acceptable to dress like trash than it is today. I hate the phrase "if you got it, flaunt it" no, if you got it, cherish it and protect it.

Running: I ran my first REAL 5K this weekend in Virginia Beach and finished it in 36:30. I came in 508 out of 600+ runners so I see it as I beat 100ish people on my first run... very exciting. My goal is to get down to 30 minutes flat by the time Christmas comes around and just keep on trimming time. Next 5K will be in March in Cincinnati with college friends :) End goal? Marathon by the time I'm 30. Enjoy the sweaty pictures that follow.