My Way of Living:
connection

I don’t know why you read blogs, but I read them like books, I read them for inspiration, for enjoyment, and for the sheer pleasure of drifting away into another persons world. For the joy of friendship, those whom I have connected with and are no longer considered just a fellow blogger, but a friend. Some make me laugh, some make me cry, and others make me think, wish, dream, hope, and create. There is nothing like the thrill of a new [to me] blogger that seems to speak to my heart. Be it a decorating/crafter blogger, a photographic blogger, a travelling blogger, or a gardening blogger, when I find one that is inspiring me it’s almost like having a little crush. Reading their first few posts gives me a thrill almost like drinking the first glass of lemonade on a hot summers day. Or maybe it’s like meeting a new friend, one that you just know is destined to become an important part of your life. It’s simply sublime when I open each new post, and feel a connection, a deep interest in their blog. That’s what I mean by a blogger crush’s. Reading the archives, getting a feel for who they are, it’s all good. If you are curious whom I read, take a look at my sidebar, I am sure that you will find some new fav’s yourself. There are blogs from all walks of life, some are new, some are old friends, all are cherished. And…if you are a reg, and you don’t see your name on the sidebar, let me know. For some reason some of the blogs are not showing up. Big whoops on my part. Jane

I do believe there is a black hole. A endless sucking vortex that swallows all of those good blogging ideas you have. [Along with your single missing socks, gloves, spare change you knew that you had in your wallet…you get the idea.] It's headquarters are situated right here, it lurks in the shiny new blogging planner I bought.

It started with such great intentions, get a blog planner, write down every single idea that pertains to blogging. From the brilliant to the mundane…get it out there in the universe. Get ahead of the game, plan, schedule, and sit back and relax. Watch how fast the pages get filled up with interesting things, make a system that highlights post ideas, so should the remarkable day come when I need a idea, I just page through it and voila! Sure it filled up quickly…with notes, ideas, quotes I wanted to use, tips, and blogging advice that I needed to retain. But something odd keeps happening. The ideas concerning the blog titles that I write down disappear as soon as they are written. Much like invisible ink…whoosh it's gone. That great idea I had about Baby Boomers…whioooooshhh. Wafting onto the air…like a snowflake. Sure was good while it lasted. And that funny post about the Boo…slurp…drank it up as soon as I wrote it. When I make the connection between pen, paper, and brain, all that is left is the title.thoughts, the ideas that would flesh it out are gone. Much like my resolve around chocolate cupcakes with vanilla cream frosting, made with real butter and cream. Gone.

Do you? Have you? Any thoughts on using one? Not the cupcake…the blog planner. Should you be distracted by thoughts of deep chocolate…with a touch of raspberry filling…and ooooohy gooey fudgy deep chocolate…and cream vanilla rich frosting…see what I mean…what were we talking about again? I'm sure it's a great idea those blog planners… Now all I need to do is put down some ideas about eating chocolate cupcakes with vanilla cream frosting, write them down twice to be sure it works to plan. And voila…those ideas will be gone too. For now I'm off to find some more cupcakes. I've got a blog planner to fill.

Maybe it’s the internets fault, or maybe it’s from oncoming snowstorms. But things are slow, and spotty, in blog land when I try to read your blogs. It’s so frustrating that I am seeing polka dots, those little circles that seem to just go around forever, while the blog loads!

So I’m sorry if you are one of the people who’s blog I just can’t seem to leave a comment on. I am trying to read them all, it’s just that for some reason, I either can’t pull up your blog, or if I can, I can’t leave a comment on it.

At first I thought it was our internet connection here at the farm, it does seem to be affected by oncoming snow storms, and I can lose the connection at any time suddenly. I can post, not too many problems there, but I just can’t read, or comment on many of the blogs that I used to be able to see without any difficulty. But then I started to read about other bloggers having the same difficulties… and I knew it was a mixture of both internet, and blog land.

Polka dots those slow circles, are driving me… round the bend. So now you know, if you haven’t heard from me in a while, there is a good reason. Please wait, sending request…

We talk about personal journeys in blogging a lot.
How the road can be rocky at times, how you might lose your direction, your voice and how you will find it again.
It might seem just a matter of sitting down, writing, popping in a few photos, and voila, a blog post
Yes that’s a blog post, but when you share even the smallest details you become part of something that is bigger then you are.
Build a tribe, the experts will tell you when you start to blog.
Gather those together who like your blog and support it.
Those who tweet it, plus one it, and generally get the word out there into blog land.
Where does a tribe live?
They live in a village, I really like mine, and I think they really like me, we share, we comment, we celebrate good things, commiserate over the not so good, welcome newcomers, and look out for each other. Stop posting for awhile, and see how many of your villagers email to find out what’s wrong.
I’ve found blogging to be one of the most life changing social media experiences I’ve ever participated in. It’s a community, a like minded group that supports, and cherishes it’s members, allows them to grow at their own speed, and still remain true to themselves.
And despite that there are still those who are not involved in blogging that just don’t understand what all the fuss is about. You don’t blog for them, you blog for your village.

Why does it take a village to write a blog? Because it’s a support system, they are going to cheer you on, uplift, and inspire your thoughts, just as you uplift, support, cheer on the sidelines, and inspire others.
It’s give and take, it’s feeling that spark of creativity you might get after leaving a comment, a hey there’s a blog post somewhere in here, and you are off and running.
It’s following, and learning from someone who is an more accomplished writer then you are, not in order to copy their style but to better learn what yours is, and how to express it fully.
It’s looking at awe inspiring images that tug at your heart, wondering how they did that, and vowing to learn to be a better photographer, going back and rereading tutorials, taking the camera out once again, it’s that little push that encourages you to grow.
It’s reading a how to on something that has eluded you, learning a better way to do it, it a oh my goodness, I didn’t think I could do this, kind of feeling.

Building relationships with those who are into blogging is not just something to do because it’s pinned as the top 10 things to do to build a audience. It’s not just to keep your readers coming back, or your stats up, comments flowing.
It’s you being real, and authentic.
It’s only then that you realize just how big this village really is. It’s astounding how much support you can get from people that you have never met in person, how great friendships can develop.
F rom comments come conversations, those develop into friendships. Those friendships are real people… not just words on your blog, yes they are a tribe, and they live in your village.
Being part of that village will require honesty, truthfulness, and integrity, it’s not about oversharing, but discerning what to share, and how. It’s a driving force, that encourages you to write better posts with some regularity. You will want to write something worth reading, because you know that the people who read your blog, are interested in what you have to say.

In your village, bloggers will come, and some will go. It’s part of life, we are all nomads as bloggers, while it’s sad to lose touch with someone we have met and feel a connection to, and we miss their comments it was time for them to move on, interests change, situations change.
Expect the village to shift in size regularly, and be welcoming to those who are new to it, and c elebrate being part of something bigger then yourself.
Because it takes village to write blog.

I started a blog to share some of my photos, the huge emailed files were clogging up my friends inboxes, and what better way of recording my garden through the seasons.
I’d been sending photos of flowers, petals, stems, upside, underside, flowers in shadows, in bright light, with overlays, without textures, in black and white… if it was a flower it seems that I took a photo of it. Eventually accumulating over 20,000 of them. I had very patient friends, or else they were quick on the delete button when I sent those files, thank goodness I will never know that answer.

It’s a total cliche apparently… get a camera, take tons of photos of flowers, send them to your friends, but what can I tell you, I can now take a good flower portrait.
I learned to take a good photo because blogging taught me that. And I expanded beyond flowers.
Blogging is also what turned a small, quiet, inner voice, the very one that used to speak to my heart in a whisper, saying “look at the way the light hits the leaves and makes them shimmer like crystals, do you see how the sun on the mountainside is gilding the fir trees” and turning away because when it spoke no one listened, and some laughed at it.
It was shy that inner voice, and the laughter hurt.
Blogging and your support has made it a stronger more confident voice that has learned to speak up, and share what it feels, and rarely do people laugh at it anymore.
And I suppose if they do, then that’s life isn’t it, not everyone is going to understand everything it has to say.
It’s also a voice that may take over blog posts, insisting that the topic go left, or right, or even change full course. U sually right after most of the post is written, and the clock is clicking fast, it’s timing is nothing short of annoying at times.

It’s not just a blog it’s a connection, a meeting up with those who like what we like, that spark that flows through the computer screen, and makes us nod in agreement, saying yes, that’s me.
They’ve got me to a “T”, they understand, or that’s a product that I might be interested in, maybe even hey there’s a tutorial on something that I was wondering how to do the other day.

Might be that we love the way they write, their style of photography speaks to our heart.
They have a way of presenting ordinary objects with joy.
Blogs are a outlet for our creativity, for our opinions, for our wish to share what we see, and how we see it.
Saying it’s just a blog, really doesn’t begin to describe what it is. I want to say thank you to all who visit, and are leaving such supportive comments on my last post. Yes, I am still blogging, and will do so for as long as you want to read my posts, and most likely continue even if you don’t, it’s in me to blog. That post wasn’t about taking a break, it was about feeling blogging guilt because I can’t keep up with visiting, and commenting. And i thank all of those who are letting me know that they understand.
I am trying to visit your blogs when I can, life is demanding a good share of my time but know that I am trying my best.
I need to write, these words come from my heart, wind through my mind, sprout from the pen, transferring themselves into letters scratched on scraps of paper scattered through out the house.
The camera also calls, demands, pleads to be taken out for a joy ride… despite the less then perfect weather some days.
Because that is what blogging is made of.
Jane

So you read the header and it's gonna be one of those reviews again. Yes, it's one of those write-ups that would hinge on my verbose and completely un-expertlike opinion. But before we talk about this... .

Let's go back a couple of years... ... .

OBMC High. 1999.
As I had mentioned before, was never really a fan of Adi Dassler's creations. Okay maybe I was . Once. I took the plunge a long time ago, from a time and place that seems to have been relegated to the far recesses of my mind. Wore the Kobe Bryant KB8 "Feet You Wear" shoe during my senior year just because they looked so different from any basketball shoe that was on the market at the time. It was the new "in" thing. And in high school's ever changing lexicon of social stratification, different + new = social status level up.

My ticket to high school social status nirvana
Lord I'm such as sucker for effective advertising (x_x). I thought they were the coolest things ever, bragged about them incessantly, could have sworn they improved my standing from "freaky tall geek" to "he's just really strange don't mind him he has cool shoes anyway".

Geeky GBM got a boost with them chickies

But then the real test came when I had to play ball with it. With a lot of confidence, I went up for a fancy "tapboard" (people who played high school ball could relate), made my best Kobe impression and BAM I fell with a thud, breaking my ankle in three places. Strangely enough, my juvenile incarnation blamed the Adidas shoes for that, swore it to high heavens, and never wore another pair again... ..

Until now.

Flash forward to 2009, and lo and behold I have a pair of Adidas Adizero Tempos staring me in the face. Literally begging for a shot at redemption. Like a scorned lover acceding to one last shot at reconciliation, I took a leap of faith and went for it. Did it work out? Let's see how my 3-week dalliance with an old flame has worked out so far.

What's on the label :

It is a lightweight running shoe designed to give runners comfort and support over long distances. ForMotion stability adapts to the ground for improved handling and stability and the pro-moderator medial support device prevents overpronation. The TORSION SYSTEM gives midfoot integrity and adiPRENE in the forefoot maintains propulsion and efficiency.

The air mesh upper gives maximum ventilation and the perforated EVA tongue gives additional lightweight comfort and breathability. The dual-layer anti-microbial adiLite-respoEVA sockliner controls odor and gives added step in comfort. Finally, the adiWEAR outsole offers the ultimate in high-wear durability.

Dazed Reader, through SMS : WOAH. BLAH BLAH BLAH. You're talking Greek here! What the fudge was that all about???

Okay, okay. Let me give it a shot.

What I understood of the Adidas jargon mumbo jumbo :

The cushioning system of the shoe is backstopped by its hyped- up Formotion technology utilizing Adiprene 45 . The logic behind it is that you have a well-cushioned heel but not enough to make it bounce around during hard runs. Note, too much bounce = pain and suffering . Some more seasoned runners may view this as completely "babying" heel strikers, but that's one of the reasons why the Tempo is quite enticing to newbie runners.

In addition, mild overpronators can count on the shoes aptly named pro-moderator system to negate the level of pronation, utilizing two plastic heel plates that slow side-to-side movement.

And if just to avoid more jargon, the shoe has features which make it very breathable inside and minimize stitching, while providing good forefoot touch-off cushioning for the fast people out there.

Pedigree

The Tempo has been touted as the "performance stability" shoe in the Adizero series, providing the benefits of a lightweight racer along with enough stability to prevent you from blowing up your plantar or ITB. To those relatively unfamiliar with the Adizero line, these have been touted to be the lightest in their class, and have the distinction of being the shoes running legend Haile Gebrselassie used when he broke the marathon world record at Berlin.

Haile on Yellow Adizeroes en route to the WR

Weight Implication - Injuries, Training and Racing
Its main selling point is that at barely 300 grams, the Tempos are nearly a 100 grams lighter than my old light stability shoes. Upon wearing them, you would barely feel that there's any resistance there at all. You can accelerate without the weird clunky feeling. At first, I was very apprehensive to try these out, as they look like the eye candy shoes you would wear to the mall and it seemed to me that any form of running on these would blow out my knee. Initially thought that these were limited to neutrals, but after nearly a month of using them, the injuries have thankfully been nowhere in sight. And to think I was coming off a bout with ITB. Whew.

Still look good despite taking a beating from the rain

After a few weeks on this, an attempt to use my old light stabs gave the feeling of having ten-pound weights on my foot. The difference was very noticeable. How noticeable? A good example was my tempo training on consecutive days. Same splits, same level of fitness, different shoes. With the old shoes, my best split was a 5:10/ km. The following day, same thing, I miraculously lowered it to a 4:40. I highly doubt I could have shaved 30 seconds off my split in a day. Was it the shoes? Placebo? Whatever it may have been, happy camper right here.

Racing-wise, two weeks later I set a 10k PR of 50:14 with the Tempos, shaving nearly a minute and a half off my previous best. The time was good enough for 26th place at Ayala Eco-Dash, which made me an even happier camper. Pertinent factors to keep in mind : No changes in training, weird level of fitness coming off an injury. Could it have been the shoes? You be the judge of that.

Other stuff that you need to know, just in case:

These are NOT wide shoes. When you first slip into them, coming from say a Mizuno or New Balance, your feet would feel constricted and with no wiggling room. I'm a US size 12, and these usually afford sufficient toe allowance. These ... did not. First time I ran on them they were so tight that I got near blisters on my toes.

I was about to completely give up on them and sell them to the people at Takbo.ph (even if I knew that they're going to ask for a ton of discounts) when the pain started to... disappear. Now I don't even notice it's there.It took about two weeks worth of break-in to get the job done. So for the well-endowed people out there, either you adjust your size or break it in well before racing it.

Final Take

Overall I find this to be the quintessential, aesthetically pleasing shoe that strives to synergize both form and functionality. For neutrals to mild overs looking for a highly serviceable speedwork or raceday shoe, this brings significant eye candy points to the table with decent stability to boot. Should you fall under this category, this is a very strong option right here.

So how would I evaluate the three-week reco with my old flame? Love affairs come and go, that's the nature of the beast. As one leaves for greener pasture, another comes in to fill the void. Everything that happens in between? Oftentimes forgotten. But sometimes, all it takes is a single spark to reignite the connection.

I hated Adidas. They broke my ankle.

But after three weeks of PR's and good races...

Guess old flames aren't so bad the second time around.

The morning that we left Armstrong to come home, we made sure to stop by my parents place and have a visit. My Mom took me out to see her share of the community garden, it's towering sunflowers dwarfing her, with their nodding yellow heads. She picked some kale for us to take home with us that she had seeded herself, and we walked among the sunflowers while I took lots of photos.

It was a short moment, one that I am cherishing. We don't see my family very often, and the visits can be intense with their busyness. These quiet few moments of connection are even more special to me, and I can pull them out anytime I am lonely for family. I had picked up some gorgeous April Cornell place mats, and cloth napkins with a sunflower motif to give to her as a parting gift. She adored them, and has always loved any of April Cornell's work. We noticed how they matched with the sunflower cards I had made for her so I spread them out, and took some photos. When I got home that night, and was reading blogs, I noticed that April Cornel's blog was featuring her designs for tablecloths, and one of them was the exact same sunflower pattern that I had given to my Mom. A small coincidence, but every time I see a sunflower now, I have this great memory of the time I walked through Mom's garden with her.

I’m back, whew it was a long time to be away from blogging… and it being summer, I won’t lie to you and say that I missed it as much as the good blogger part of me thinks I should be saying I do.
It’s both easy, and somewhat difficult to come back to… easy to get back into the rhythm of blogging, hard to sit at the computer when the weather is so beautiful, because I just want to be outside.
There was another reason for the break, I wasn’t going to say anything, and my apologies to those bloggers whom I asked not to mention it, and thanks for keeping it quiet. I am recovering from surgery and still have a few weeks to go until I am back to normal, all is fine… let’s put it behind us, and move forward.

Clarity:
I’ve found that for me social media and blogging are like jam and toast. I love jam, but when it’s spread too thin, there isn’t a point in having it on your toast. Before the break I was feeling very thinly spread, not berry jammy at all.
So… for the next little while I’ve decided to post on Fridays, Sundays, and Wednesdays. I can’t seem to keep up with returning comments, reading blogs, and creating posts, taking photos at the level I would like, so I’m trying to find a balance in my life, and use my available energy wisely. Hopefully this will allow me to get back to my previously neglected creative side of my life.

That said, can we talk?
I love reading your comments, and growing blogging relationships with you, it truly makes blogging worth the effort and time, of which I know we are all limited in, but…

I’ve felt so bad about not being able to leave comments on blogs that use word verification that I’ve been jumping through hoops trying to respond to bloggers who use it. Sorry, I can’t work the darn thing, it’s frustrating, and time consuming, and I am having to make a difficult decision not to read or leave comments on blogs that use word verification, especially since there are so many other options available. I can no longer respond to blogs that leave “no reply comments” [no connection to their blog through the comment they leave] I’m not alone in this, and I hope that you understand. If you change your settings please let me know, and I would love to visit again.

I really don’t want to lose any readers, but this decision is one that I’ve been putting off for sometime. Now that I am recovering from surgery, and my blogging time is even more limited, I’ve had to make some choices. I am looking forward to catching up, I’ve missed you… and I hope that everyone is having a great summer. Recuperating,…