• Category Archives Tuesday Time-Waster
  • Tuesday Time-Waster: Boston dreams

    Yesterday was the 119th Boston Marathon. I watched the marathon’s live stream worked while friends did amazing things in less-than-ideal weather.  It’s been two years since bombs went off at the finish line, destroying lives and permanently changing many others. Earlier this month, the surviving bomber was found guilty of all charges against him; today the penalty phase starts, when the jury will be tasked with determining whether he dies or spends life in prison.

    There is no real “closure” in tragedy. When someone is brought to justice, it doesn’t bring back the victims and remove their loved ones’ pain. I tend to think the only thing to do is to keep living in honor of the ones who died too early. Two years ago, hours after the Boston bombing, I wrote, “Life should be lived, and dreams should come true.” I still believe that, and I just re-read that post of mine. Every bit of it resonates with me just as much, perhaps even more today.

    Maybe it’s ego-centric, but that piece about Boston is today’s Tuesday time-waster. I wrote it when I had one of those magical urges to write — when they come, if I have the opportunity to sit down and write, magic happens. The words come from somewhere deep inside, from a place I only wish I could tap into at will.


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: Virtual LA Marathon (and Boston links)

    The Boston Marathon is next Monday, and I’ll be tracking diligently working all morning. A few friends and my uncle are running it, and I’m looking forward to all the coverage.

    But I’ll have more about Boston in a couple paragraphs, because today’s Tuesday Time-Waster is about another large marathon. In the spirit of racing, the LA Times in March created a fun interactive LA Marathon graphic. You enter your marathon time (I had to enter a pace, too, to get it to work correctly), pick your opponents, and then click “Run!” to see how fast you are in comparison.

    The good news: I beat chef Gordon Ramsey by 45 seconds (though we won’t talk about who would win in a cooking contest). The bad news: If I ever have to out-run a California grizzly bear, I’m doomed. It turns out, those lumbering beasts can run about 20 minutes faster than world record.

    I'm the turquoise dot, running neck and neck with Gordon Ramsay's red dot. We left Freddie Prinze Jr. behind, but a bear as well as a bus beat us...

    Getting back to the Boston Marathon, here’s a list of the starting times. If you’re speedy and your name is Norman, then you start at 10 a.m. Eastern time, which means I won’t even be at work yet. If you’re my uncle Pete who recently dominated a 5k, you start at 10:50 a.m. To find a runner’s bib number and wave, go here. To track up to 10 athletes and get alerts on their progress, there are free iPhone and Android apps that you can get in the app store by searching for “Boston Marathon” or via this link. Live online coverage will be shown here — and that’s when I’ll be saying, “I need a third monitor!” (Yes, I have first-world problems.)

    To those of you running Boston, have a wonderful race. To those of you, like me, who dream of qualifying, do not give up. After all, at least we don’t have to run from a California grizzly.


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: incorrect phrases

    A minor pet peeve of mine is when people say they “could care less” about something when they actually mean they couldn’t care less. If you could care less, it means you do actually care. For instance, I really could NOT care any less about ultimate fighters. I don’t watch them, I can’t stand their cauliflower ears (I’m shuddering as I type this), and I would rather turn the TV off than watch it.

    Hm, I’m not really sure how I ventured into the topic of ultimate fighters. Anyway, today’s Tuesday Time-Waster read is about that phrase, along with 19 others that people commonly confuse. “20 Embarrassing Phrases Even Smart People Misuse” is really worth the read, and maybe the bookmark. And the title is correct: I think most of us weren’t sure about at least a couple of these phrases, and the explanations are useful.


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: PacMan

    Google has done something fun again: You can play PacMan on Google maps!

    It’s pretty simple. Go to Google maps, preferably to your own neighborhood for extra fun. Look at the lower left corner; see the PacMan game square? Click that.

    You may have to move the map around if Google tells you it won’t work in that area. It needs enough connecting roads in order to play the game.

    But then you should get the start screen. (This is not my neighborhood, in case you’re a nutcase that wants to hunt me down — like the Canada geese have been doing to me lately.)

    Use the keyboard arrows to move PacMan around. If you’re like me and are too busy taking screenshots, you might not last too long:

    So, there you go. I have a feeling Google timed this for tomorrow’s April Fools Day, so I don’t know if it will work for very long.


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: 50-state road trip

    I like road trips, and I’ve long wanted to do one that hits every one of the continental U.S. states. I never actually sat down and mapped it out (though I did do most of the mapping on this road trip from San Francisco to Chicago). Well, now I don’t have to, because a Michigan State nerd/awesome person/student did it for me!

    Yes, that’s right: This map has a stop in every one of the lower 48 states, for a total of 13,699 miles. Bonus: Every stop is a landmark. (However, Carhenge in Nebraska is worth a stop, if you ask me.) Here’s the link to just the map, and you can click on each location.

    And, last but not least, here’s the original blog post, with all of the nerdy details. He even released the Python code if you a) know how to use it, and b) aren’t satisfied with Google maps.

    Hat tip to Lorelei for the link.


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: St. Patrick’s Day

    Since St. Patrick’s Day happens to fall on a Tuesday, I’m subjecting you to some greenaplooza. (That’s a word, I’m sure.)

    First, there was this fantastic text this morning from Michaela:

    Then there was Google, which was cute and linked to this street view collection of Ireland:

    And then there is my own Instagram post, showing off my earrings, sweater, toenails and emoji usage skills:

    You can go here for all of my Instagram posts. Maybe that’s my official Tuesday Time-Waster 11:11 a.m. link for the day?

    And here is one more bonus photo, as proof that I’m always ridiculous on March 17 (and every day, for that matter). When one is in Portland with a friend’s kid, one does this:


  • PostSecret revisited

    More than four years ago, I saw a PostSecret event, which is kind of like a cross between a book tour and a speech. If you haven’t heard of PostSecret, go look at it and then come back here for a related link, as well as an explanation for why I’m posting about it (again).

    Did you look at the site? Okay, welcome back. Now you can go read my old explanation of what it is and the time I saw the author speak at a PostSecret event in October 2010. That was an event at University of the Pacific in Stockton (thanks to Patrick for the ticket, and to David for giving me one of the books), and the auditorium was full. I guess there’s something intriguing about the hundreds of thousands of anonymous postcards people send to a random guy in Maryland. It’s a strange, unique, fascinating mix of humor, sadness, reality and make-believe.

    And now we come to the point of this blog post, and what I want you to think about for a few minutes on this Tuesday. The PostSecret project has raised more than $1 million for suicide prevention, and the author’s ongoing hope is that people can feel relief by letting go of their secrets — enough relief that they want to keep living. PostSecret is affiliated with this extensive suicide prevention hotline directory, also with the hope that it will be a place for someone to get relief, rather than taking their own life.

    I’m posting this because last Sunday marked one year since a young woman ended her life. And in a few days I will be remembering how it was exactly one year since I drove to the memorial service that was so very beautiful, and which caused a friend to say, “This should have been her wedding.” Her parents have changed forever, that much is painfully and obviously clear. I cannot begin to imagine the torture and agony they still face. I don’t know if PostSecret or a suicide hotline would have helped her at all. But I do know that if somewhere, someday, one person reads this or any other tribute to her and decides to seek help, it will be a ray of hope that she did not die in vain. Her parents may never know, I may never know, but the person who seeks help WILL know. If that person is you, make the anonymous call for help. And know that you can always talk to, text or email me. (I don’t have my number online due to spammers, but I’m happy to give it to you. layla@ thesmudge.com without the space.)


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: Running cartoon

    My friend Marc recently texted me: “You inspired this one” with a link to this comic he drew. No, I’m not posting the picture here; you’ll have to click to follow the link. But it’s certainly worth five seconds of your time on a Tuesday.

    That really did happen: I dropped my car off at the shop, got a ride to work, then ran a little more than seven miles back after work. The guys at the shop hadn’t believed I was being literal when I told them I would just “run back” in the evening. They also didn’t know what to make of the fact that a girl was dripping sweat all over the place while looking at the ESPN app on her phone to see the World Series score — before she asked if her car was fixed. For the record, the Boston Red Sox went on to win that night and my car was all better. A win all around.


  • Tuesday Time-Waster: Animal group names

    You probably know that the English language has a large number of words for groups of animals. It’s a “flock of sheep,” a “herd of cattle,” and the fun “murder of crows.” I tend to use the word “herd” for fun, because “a group of bicyclists” just isn’t as silly as “a herd of cyclists.”

    However, did you know that there are many, many other words for animal groups? I present to you, courtesy of my friend Matt, this rather extensive list. I love the mental images of an “army of caterpillars” and a “mob of emus.” A “band of coyotes” sounds like a wayward musical act, and perhaps they should join forces with a “cast of falcons.” But the funny thing is that I don’t actually know some of the animals on this list, either. Until now, I never knew that “Look, there’s a fling of dunlins!” is a legitimate sentence.

    And, one more thing before I stop rambling on like a word nerd: Follow that link up there and scroll to the bottom of the page, beneath the table. You’re welcome.