Freestyle Friday

Every time I sit down to write one of these “Freestyle Friday” posts, I realize how very bad I am at, uh, freestyling. Oh well. Let’s get to it.

• Maybe you hoped I wouldn’t, but I’m going to talk about running again. I’ve been very good about sticking to my RunKeeper Sub-65 Minute 10K program, which is a huge deal for me because I am oh-so-very-good at getting in my own way when I try to do things like this. I’ll do a program for a week, and then I’ll decide some little bit needs to change. Just some small thing, ever so slightly. Why not just take the base program and make my own program with that small alteration? But then maybe I should make a few other alterations, too. And that’s how it goes until I’ve basically altered it enough so that I feel overwhelmed by the whole thing and just give up entirely. Not this time, though. Not yet. I just do what the program says, and the only thing I alter is my route. I made this playlist on Spotify that I put on shuffle and just go.

• I found a terrific excerpt on Runner’s World from Running and Being by Dr. George Sheehan. This is the 35th anniversary edition of this classic book on running, which I have never read. From the excerpt, though, it sounds like a book  that’s about so much more than running:

So each day I take to the roads as a beginner, a child, a poet. Seeking the innocence of the beginner, the wonder of the child and the vision of the poet. Hoping for a new appreciation of the landscape, a new perspective of my inner world, some new insights on life, a new response to existence and myself.

There are times, more often than the good times, when I fail. I never do pierce the shield. I return with a shopping list of things to do tomorrow. The miraculous has gone unseen. The message has gone unheard. I have had one of those loveless days on a lovely day for love.

Still, there is always the chance I’ll have beginner’s luck. And this run, this hour, this day may begin in delight and end in wisdom.

• I know I said I wouldn’t buy any books and I would just read what I have but then I broke down and bought We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. I bought it in the middle of a particularly stressful work day this week. And worse? It’s a Kindle book. From Amazon. I know, I know. But they just make it so easy. Don’t be afraid to click the link for the book. I am not taking you down with me. It takes you to the author’s website. When I read it sometime in 2016 I’ll be sure and let you know what I think.
• Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness has a thought-provoking post about book bloggers writing sponsored posts. (The original article appeared on Book Riot.) You may have seen it but if you haven’t it’s worth reading. Many of us sign up for or accept offers of advanced reader’s copies (ARCs) in exchange for our honest opinion. That, my friends, it not the same as writing a sponsored post. A sponsored post is when someone else directs what you can and cannot say, what images you can use, and what the ultimate message should be. This is very common in the beauty, fashion, and fitness blogging world, and I’ve stopped following many a blog in my time when they started to sound like they were more interested in sponsoring/monetizing than grassroots sharing. (And, back in my perfume blogging days, I turned down many offers to review products when they required me to message things a certain way.) I realize that not everyone has the same goals or priorities when it comes to blogging; some people want the reach, attention, and connections that might come with sponsoring posts, and they still find an audience. Me, I’m not their reader.
• I’m so excited for next week because I get to share my review of Megan Abbott’s The Fever with you. I guess by telling you that I’m excited you pretty much know how it’s going to go. I also made a playlist for it. Total geek fangirl. Fanwoman? Whatever.