Between getting ready for my bridal shower this weekend, planning a wedding, landing a new job and looking for a new place to live, this blog has — unfortunately — been neglected. However, I thought I would add a quick post since I think this picture is hysterical.
I gave Jared a gift card to Maine Lobster Direct for his birthday, which was way back in February. Jared LOVES lobster. Boston boys typically do. This week he finally got around to ordering his lobsters using my gift card. This past Wednesday, 8 live lobsters showed up at his office. His co-workers got a kick out of live animals being shipped to the office — something only Jared would do.
That night, Jared and his friend cooked up the lobsters and enjoyed a Wednesday night dinner of 4 lobsters a piece. He said, “The lobsters were the best birthday gift he had ever received.” I guess I peaked way too early.
On Monday, April 20th, I ran in the 113th Boston Marathon. I’m just now getting around to posting about it because I’ve been in recovery, both physically and mentally, since that day. I couldn’t even write about running, let alone actually go out to take a jog, until now. Hands down, running the Boston Marathon was one of the craziest things I have ever done. Basically, I was running — nonstop — for 4 hours and 17 minutes.
At this point (around Mile 12), I still have a smile on my face and energy to wave!
I had been training for 4 months leading up to the marathon, but I was still very nervous that this “difficult” marathon would get the best of me. I ran in the 2004 Philadelphia Marathon and the 2006 New York City Marathon, which were both hard, but not particularly hilly. Of the three marathons I have run, the Boston Marathon was by far the most difficult. Those hills in Newton almost got the best of me.
Fortunately, my family was waiting to cheer for me at Mile 10 in Natick and then again at Mile 22 at Boston College. Plus, my awesome friends Tori and Melissa were waiting at Mile 24 to give me a big hug. Although, I wasn’t quite sure if I’d be able to get my legs moving again if I stopped at Mile 24 so Melissa and Tori got an “on the run” hug
I ran this 113th Boston Marathon as a member of the Melanoma Foundation of New England’s Running for Cover team. The Melanoma Foundation of New England was founded in 1999 to combat the rising rate of melanoma and melanoma deaths. The Foundation provides the public with a variety of educational programs targeting the prevention and early detection of skin cancer and melanoma for both children and adults.
All of my friends and family provided wonderful support through their donations on my behalf to the Melanoma Foundation of New England. I feel fortunate to have been able to raise money for an organization that fights a disease that has impacted me personally and many members of my family as well as have the amazing opportunity to run one of the world’s most famous and challenging marathons.
I’m not so sure I’ll have the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon again, but I’m glad I did it once in my life!
In Linda Olsson’s debut novel, Veronika Bergman returns to Sweden after a childhood following her diplomat father around the world and after publishing her first novel titled Single, One Way, No Luggage. She rents a small house in a rural town to work on her second book, but finds herself tormented by nightmares and the memories of her recently deceased fiancé. Astrid Mattson, an old, reclusive woman thought by the village to be a witch, lives across the way and takes an interest in Veronika. The two strike up an unlikely friendship based on loss and pain. Against the backdrop of the changing seasons and their small, intimate houses, the two women slowly tell each other their most closely guarded secrets, and venture, cautiously, out of the safety of their routines.
My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed following the relationship that developed between Astrid and Veronika. Although a story in which two damaged people have the good fortune to find each other and help one another through their pain sounds cliche, the story felt original and the relationship between the two characters was a breath of fresh air.
I thought the lack of dialogue and focus on descriptions and character thoughts would make the story hard for me to get through. However, I felt the characters were sympathetic, and I was interested in learning more about each character’s history which kept me moving easily through the narrative.
Although Olsson tries to be subtle and cryptic in her revelation of traumatizing events in Astrid and Veronika’s lives, she ends up just being vague. Plus, the reader is hit over the head with hints of what is to come. For instance, Veronika repeatedly demonizes the ocean, leading the reader to predict a life will be taken by the ocean way before that actually happens.
Plus, I was not satisfied with the ending. Without giving too much away, I thought that one character left the other character with more pain and loss and possibly guilt, which was what both characters were trying to overcome the entire story through this relationship.
I just finished reading Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson. The following is a passage from that book that I thought offered simple yet poignant advice.
Live…Take risks! That is really what life is about. We must pursue our own happiness. Nobody has ever lived our lives; there are no guidelines. Trust your instincts. Accept nothing but the best. But then also look for it carefully. Don’t allow it to slip between your fingers. Sometimes, good things come to us in such a quiet fashion. And nothing comes complete. It is what we make of whatever we encounter that determines the outcome. What we choose to see, what we choose to save. And what we choose to remember. Never forget that all the love in your life is there, inside you, always. It can never be taken from you.
When planning a media campaign for any product, marketers typically try to reach as many target audience members as possible as frequently as a campaign budget will allow. A good example of effective and efficient reach and frequency is the new Lincoln MKZ commercial. Lincoln has been hitting the public hard and often with this commercial:
No matter what channel I am watching, this advertisement always seems to find me. Still, the Lincoln MKZ commercial is just like so many other car commercials with the typical images of the interior and exterior of the car spliced with shots of the car in action. Typically — no matter how many times or how often I see this commercial — I would be inclined to completely tune out the advertisement. However, this commercial catches and holds my attention EVERY time I see it because there is no voice over — just a song playing throughout the whole spot that’s quite, well, interesting.
After a bit of Googling, I learned the song is Shiny Toy Gun’s cover of Peter Schilling’s Major Tom (Coming Home). Those who like the song can download the MP3 — for FREE — on Lincoln’s MKZ web page. And, more Googling revealed that this commercial is part of a series of commercials that Lincoln is running, which do not have a voice over, but, instead, feature a Major Tom song. Major Tom is a fictional astronaut created by David Bowie, and he “appears” in Bowie’s Space Oddity, Ashes to Ashes, and Hallow Spaceboy as well as Schilling’s Major Tom (Coming Home), Rocket by Def Leppard, and Rain or Shone by Five Star. In Lincoln’s MKS commercial, Cat Power covers David Bowie’s song Space Oddity.
So, although, marketers strive for the perfect mix of reach and frequency to achieve top of mind awareness for their products, making sure the the advertisement is memorable with elements like music is just as important. Oh, and free MP3 downloads on your website always helps to build your customer base too!
