Running: An Effective Yet Dangerous Ani-Depressant

Runner's World has a very interesting article about the coupling of running and depression as seen through the eyes of (absolutely amazing and inspiring) ultra-runner Lisa Smith-Batchen.

The article discusses how exercise is a natural anti-depressant that has been shown to be more effective than pharmaceuticals. Many people (myself included) rely on running as a mood stabilizer, and it's no secret that when you exercise regularly you feel also better mentally. But... you also tend to feel down and depressed when you stop working out, effectively dropping into an exercise withdrawal. Veeeeeery interesting to see what happens when depression, obsession, addiction, parternity, and endorphins collide within Lisa Smith-Batchen's physique and psyche. It's a crazy upward downward back again spiral that makes you wonder, in spite of yourself, whether running really is a mental illness, and Smith-Batchen needs a re-diagnosis.

We'll make it I swear...

I would just like to say that at this very moment there are a bunch of drunk people outside butchering (I mean singing) Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and for some reason it is making me really happy.

More Rejection Love!

I promise I won't turn this blog into an exlusive rejection-fest, but I will post the most delicious rejection emails for your "I didn't want that job anyway!" enjoyment:

Thank you for your interest in -----------. We are in receipt of your resume. While your resume is solid, it does not strongly match our current hiring needs.

We will keep your resume on file against future hiring needs and contact you at that time.

Thank you again for your interest.

Oh man, I feel like a Victorian novelist "dashing" out the proper nouns. It is so devious.

More rejection coming soon...

Happy hunting...

The best way to kick off a weekend?

Thank you for your interest in employment at ***. We have reviewed your resume and decided to pursue other candidates whose qualifications more closely match those we are seeking for this position. We wish you the best in your employment search.

Impersonal, polite, email rejection! The ironic part is, this is one of the few jobs where I felt I my qualifications actually do "closely match those [they] are seeking." Just goes to show you...I know nothing about this "employment search" stuff...

Right on!

Alex Roth succinctly sums up why environmentalists have been notoriously unsuccessful in past decades as he attacks PETA's new anti-meat campaign. Thank you for saying what we've all been thinking!

Standing in line to see the reading tonight...

Yesterday Kaya and I tried to go see Junot Diaz, an MIT professor and fiction writer, read from his new novel. We (and a surprisingly large number of other disappointed fan-boys and fan-girls) were turned away because the reading was sold-out. They through us a (small) bone, telling us the talk was being recorded for re-broadcase on CBS Sunday Morning. I think I'll have to tune in, because while public libraries are amazing things, they aren't the best if you want to get your hands on new fiction (I'm 45th in the "hold queue"...at least I'm only 25th for An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England).

And now I'm going to take a few seconds to embarrass Paul. (Ok, so it's not that embarrassing, just funny to me...) Last night it appears he went shopping. Here's the complete list of what he purchased:

paper towels
Snyder's pretzels (which are quite addictive, I have to add)
Gatorade
frozen pizza
beer (good beer, at least: Peak Organic Pale Ale)

Did I miss anything? Paul, I'm just teasing you because it exactly fits the bill of what you'd expect a 25-year-old male to buy.

Now get to work!

Quote of the Day (designed to make all you aspiring writers out there, yours truly included, feel like shmucks)

Ninety-year-old screenwriter Millard Kaufman, whose first novel is being released this month:

"Years ago, I was working in Itaty, and Charlie Chaplin and his family came from Switzerland. We were at a beach north of Rome, and it was a very foggy day and the beach was lousy. At about three o'clock it cleared up, and Chaplin said, 'I'm going back to the hotel. Unless I write every day, I don't feel I deserve my dinner.' That made an impression on me." (a la The New Yorker)

Because Tyra Banks looks good in emerald...

I'll be back soon, for real, but first...

America's Next Top Model goes green!

(Can you say "guilty pleasure"?)

Stay tuned for some culinary (mis)adventures...

Move it!

Sorry I disappeared for a while. I was hiding in my...new apartment! Last weekend, as everyone who lives in Boston knows, was the grand headache of all headaches, when everyone in the entire city (or at least everyone under the age of 35) decides to pack up their wordly treasures, strap them to the roof of their car, and honk, swerve, and hold on for dear life for a few miles before arriving at a new residence. It also happened to be the weekend before most of Boston's dozens of colleges start. This grand balancing act (how does everyone and everything manage to shift in perfect synchronicity? Ok...it isn't quite perfect, but somehow everything ends up working out in the end) turns Bed, Bath, and Beyond into a cross between a zoo and a battlefield (you are now picturing ostriches and polar bears hurling hand grenades at each other, right?) and Comm. Ave. into a demolition derby. It's great fun.

In other news, I waited for 3 and a half hours at the doctor's office because they "forgot about me." Also, in case anyone forgot what region of the country I'm living in, at the beach in Scituate this weekend, I heard an eight year old kid say, "It's a pretty view, Julie. A wicked pretty view."

Happy September. (And happy birthday, Erik!)