Running into Cats

Have not been posting here since I started my running blog last week. However, some relevant news for cat lovers. I just saw on the back of a Big Blue Bus that the Cat Show is in town today and tomorrow at the Santa monica Civic Auditorium. Now, I've seen snippets of a cat show on the Animal Channel, and the cats are really judged on being pretty. They don't trounce around like dog shows accompanied by their masters. Now if I go to this thing, will I require binoculars? Will it be worth it? I could always just drop by the animal shelter and give some attention to those cats in the cages - Now those are some animals looking for some much needed attention. Looks from the website though that any cat can enter to be judged - pedigreed or not. Check it out! Here's the website for the Santa Monica Cat Club Cat Fancier's Association Cat show.

New Running Blog

I've started a new running blog at http://runnersalmanac.blogspot.com If you're a runner at any stage of the game, drop by and leave a comment. Thanks!

She moves in mysterious ways...Women mystery writers in California

So I finished the latest in the Spellman File books – a mystery/chick lit/none of the above comically-leaning series by Lisa Lutz - about a month ago, and now I am ticking off the next of my latest favorite mystery writer, Sue Ann Jafarian and her Odelia Grey series. My interest in mysteries started with Sue Grafton’s ABC mysteries which I started reading about 8 or 9 years ago (also did a couple of books on tape). Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone became one of my favorite all-time heroines, and only recently did I start reading other woman-helmed stories of the same genre. I first read another mystery besides Grafton after I met writer Joan Blacher at the LA Times Festival of Books and read her book “Murder Canyon” which I blogged about on this site. I found out that she hasn’t written another mystery since, but it’s a good one to spend some quality time with.

I don’t remember how I came to read the first of Lisa Lutz’s book the Spellman Files, but after starting the first book and seeing her speak at a couple different events, I fell head over heels for her no-nonsense brash (and yes, alcoholic) 30-year old heroine Izzy Spellman and her adventures in the streets of San Francisco. Izzy has some definite similarities with Kinsey, and it’s probably here that I find both of these series so attractive. Neither are girly girls – more fond of jeans than any time of skirt or dress – and both have an honest get to the point personality (except when they are obviously lying to get what they want from their sleuthing efforts). Spellman books are more comic and less murder providing interesting adventure based around a family of private investigators - including a mother and father who believe that running a credit report on Izzy’s latest love interest is routine business. The third Spellman book didn’t disappoint mainly in the area of romance brimming between Izzy and detective Henry Stone. The first book is still written the best, I think, but I’m definitely looking forward to book number four, which is supposedly coming out next year.

I met Sue Ann Jafarian at a book signing event at the LA Times Festival of Books this year. She is the author of the Odelia Grey series which is a definite murder mystery series whereas Lutz’s books are more mystery-inspired. Odelia is a middle-aged BBW (Big beautiful woman) from Newport Beach who is a paralegal by day with a hobby of solving murders by night. The beauty of this series is the comedic charm of its main character, the ease with which we can relate to the characters, and the somewhat over-the-top nature of the crimes. I’ve read the last and the first in the series so far, and both books have mysteries with a sexual natural – Not as disturbing as CSI – Special Victims Unit – but still content appropriate for more adult readers. I'm also a big fan of California based books - Grafton's are set in a Santa Barbara like community, the Spellmans live in San Francisco, "Murder Canyon" is in Ventura, and Odelia is based in Orange County. The best part so far is the relationship between Odelia and her wheelchair bound lover Greg – “handicapped” romance has never been so scintillating! I just started reading “Curse of the Holy Pail” and laughed from page one – Which is a nice break in the day from work. Sue Ann Jafarian is speaking at a panel tonight at the Hawthorne Library on comedy mysteries. Check out her blog . I’m looking forward to the book launch for her new series in September at the Mystery Bookstore in Westwood

LA Marathon - Less show more substance

The LA Marathon has been officially moved back to a Sunday in March for 2010 - March 21st - which may just fall on the spring equinox (aka the first day of Spring - which may also be Norooz depending). I was happy with the memorial day Marathon this year, although many other runners supposedly were not. The date change threw off training schedules and many expected an unbearable run in the heat. On the contrary, the weather was beautifully overcast and it fell smack on on a milestone birthday for me - which made it the perfect inaugural marathon for your truly.

Apart from the date change, LA organizers also changed the course to the (Dodger) Stadium to Sea (Santa Monica) proposal which recently won approval from the Santa Monica City Council. According to the LA Marathon website, the course will now go through iconic parts of LA including Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Personally, I loved this year's course and enjoyed going through downtown and other parts of the city that I wouldn't visit. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica? C'mon - I'm there all the time I don't need to run a marathon through there. The experience of running through the neighborhoods in south Los Angeles was unique and touching - especially the crowds of fans - big and small - who greeted us. They haven't posted the official course online yet, but I'm hoping that it'll go through Silver Lake, Echo Park, and spend more time in parts of LA that may not be the "iconic" spots the Marathon wants to re-affiliate with. Chinatown wouldn't be bad either.

I also liked this year's Marathon course because of the loop of the race - We started in downtown and ended in downtown. The logistics of starting at Dodger Stadium and ending in Santa Monica is something of a nightmare. Are runners expected to park to the start and hitchhike back with sore legs, sore bodies and potential digestive problems that plague long distance runners (believe me, it's not pretty)? When the course went from Universal Studios to downtown in years prior, theorganizers could at least tout the metro system as a convenient way to get around This is SO not the case with Santa Monica. I hope that the organizers keep these kinds of problems in mind when they decide to manage the course in the process of confirming the LA Marathon as a legimitate 26.2 mile race that keeps runners in mind first rather than showy external appearances. The good thing about the loop course was that spectators could travel along the metro system to a degree and watch the runners. I feel like this stadium to see course should have received some sort of community feedback before its confirmation for next year's marathon.

I would also recommend extending this philosophy to the expo event the weekend before race day. This year's LA Marathon expo was underwheling and a sad representation of what a true marathon convention should be - It was a poor showing in comparison to Pasadena's Expo. In Pasadena, the organizers culled from local community running clubs and organization, wheras the LA Marathon expo was all about the sponsors and some internet-based resellers. The impression was that it was very costly to get a booth at LA, whereas Pasadena was very much community-focused.

In truth, I loved the Pasadena Marathon, eventhough I did the 5K and found the parking situation a bit confusing - But the vibe of that event (DESPITE the fact that the rain was merciless) was all about the love and fun of running. I may just decide to run Pasadena this next year, but we'll see.

Cat socializing for the day

It was my first day as a volunteer at Pet Orphans. This is a an independent "orphanage" for cats and dogs in beauutiful Van Nuys! I spent the day with the cats in the two room cat house that was fully airconditioned (otherwise, it would have been a hair-raising coughing congested experience in the valley heat). It seems that more volunteers spend time with the dogs so I'm happy I got the two rooms largely to myself for about an hour. There were all kinds of cats - black, calico, long haired, short haired - But what really distinguished each of them was their eyes. Two of them had the saddest eyes - as if they had misplaced something but they didn't know what it was - It broke my heart. For a few moments, I just sat and observed the territorial behavior of the cats - particularly amongst diva-esque Tilly - a super friendly cat to people, who doesn't get along with any of her fellow felines. When I checked her name info card outside the door, I noticed that she had actually been returned from a home - possibly because she didn't get along with the owner's other cats. One cat was sooo incredibly thin she was all skin and bones - A beautiful little calico who I believe was called Priscilla.

Please visit the petorphans website and see if any of these beauties speaks to your heart. There are also little kitties in the "Not Feline Well Center" who are getting strong enough for adoption. Of course, there are also dogs of all sizes - and their photos are all on the website as well:

www.petorphans.org

Don't be fooled by the picture below - Although Tilly looks victimized by the black cat, she was actually on her way to get another cat who was up behind the TV (can't see in this photo). It was like gang warfare for a few moments in the cat house!

An online UC system could really rake in the dough...

The Dean (Edley) of Boalt Hall - The UC Berkeley Law School - had an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education about adding an 11th UC campus - one that is virtual. Think about it - No parking, no commute, no inconvenient class schedules for working students and a great idea (in my opinion) for today's tech-savvy university system. There are so many tools that can make a virtual class great including the blackboard module and all of the nifty student-friendly accessories - including discussion forums, the ability to post documents online, and even uploading video. I had an online component to GIS class once and it worked very well. Mr. Edley says that teacher's will be pooled from the UC system and the admissions process will still be "selective"; although I would think not as competitive as UCLA or Berkeley given that most out of high school college students would probably prefer a live in-person college experience. This option would probably work best for the working student, either out of high school or returning after some sort of absence.

Here's the link the article:

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/A-California-Dream-Saving/7249

Just one question: What will this UC be called? UC Silicon Valley? UC Virtual? Mr. Edley wants it called UC XI. Let's just call it UC Matrix and get it over with. Any suggestions?

No wonder this is just a comic

If this were true, I'd be wildly popular because of my ability to be magnetically indifferent.