Love me some August.

It's been awhile, huh? Sorry about that. There's been a lot going on and thus I plead the endemic North American excuse: I've been busy. At least I can say that my time has been happily spent doing two very valuable things: being with people and moving into a place of my own.

Lately there's been an influx of people and events into my social equation and it's WONDERFUL. After returning from Costa Rica in May, I began “training” for my first 5k as an adult (I had unnatural amounts of energy when I was nine years old and ran my first 5k. I don't think it counts, really). Not just a 5k, either, but the Color Run. I try never to get carried away with creating expectations, but I ran with it on this one (pun intended!) and got pretty pumped imagining my glorious run/dance through the streets of Philadelphia as cheering Color Run volunteers showered me with clouds of vibrant, exuberant happiness. Er...I mean, paint. Clouds of powdered paint. I think I was jazz-running in my mind, lightly leaping and spinning, much like how Christopher Starr navigates obstacles both mountainous and urban.

In my imaginings, I did not picture 22,000 other joggers/walkers/strollers/teenagers/photo-takers/lollygaggers. Nor did I envision what heat waves look like rolling off pavement dyed pink and purple by paint. Didn't register ahead of time that breathing in powdered paint would trigger moderate coughing and some really colorful boogers. HOWEVER! Despite the unexpected hitches in the glorious dream-to-reality rainbow hooplah that was the Color Run, it was a blast. There was music at every kilometer mark to facilitate my grooving through the paint zones. The uber energetic 5k began and ended at the Philadelphia Art Museum, the route being a great scenic tour along Martin Luther King Boulevard and the river. And finally, the people I went with were much fun to run alongside. Or stare at with disbelief as they sprinted away into the multitude without a trace (What the heck, Joe!). Everything said and done, I'm still running, inspired by the Color run to train for a zombie attack 10k in October. And I will definitely do Color Run next year. So proud of my tee shirt and I love seeing people around town in theirs. I've exchanged quite a few high fives with complete strangers, just because I spot them and say, “Hey! You did Color Run? Me too!”

Ahhh, what else...oh yeah! Since I got home Nevous Nikki and the Chill Pills played a show at Steel City Coffe House. I went to the beach with my parents. Dad had surgery (and is okay). I started working at the Collegeville location of my thrift store. Went rock climbing, lavender picking, wine tasting, tea-gardening, berry-picking...and learned that I like olives (the green kind...I still won't try the black ones. Baby steps!). I entertained old friends and roommates, went up to New York City for the weekend to sightsee with my favorite Dane, started to get really into Zumba at the gym.

And in the midst of it all, I moved out.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen...six months behind schedule, I found an apartment to rent and moved out of my parent's house. I wonder sometimes how it's going to all work out - paying the rent and eating, primarily. More than anything I'm nervous that my living-alone-now skillset will never improve and I'll be eating homemade bagel pizzas three years from now. But then I think about the billions of people who have done this successfully before me and the billions in the future who will follow their lead. I think I can make this a successful endeavor and evolve my living-alone-now diet to boot.

You want a description of my apartment then, huh? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where my camera is, so buckle up! This is going to be a long paragraph. It's on the third floor of a house that's been broken into four apartments. So I live in an attic, sloped ceilings and all. I walk up two flights of stairs, open a door, some more stairs, then I'm in my living room/kitchen. It's a good amount of space, with a living area, bathroom, kitchen, a small bedroom and a large bedroom. Right now it is painted some pretty funky colors, but I'm working on it. Thus far I have opted out of hooking up the T.V. or getting a wireless hot spot (or something-or-other...thingy). Which means I'm reading a lot more (but totally on the grid, with my nook, which tempers the lack of other technologies). I can't say I've relaxed too much in my apartment yet. I've either been out and about or cleaning. In a few weeks though, when everything is the way I want it, you are officially invited to come over to an open house to see it. Actually, ESPECIALLY if you are reading this blog. Alllll four of you can come over.

There are repairs that need to be made to the apartment and there are people who would say it's the landlord's responsability. But here's the deal. I trust my landlord completely - she's someone I've worked with for a long time. She is also charging me very little for this apartment given its location and the space. I think she's open to me making the changes to it I want to make (baby steps, again...I got permission to paint and we'll see where I can take it from there). So honestly, it's a good time for me to learn how to caulk a tub. Or knock out hornets nests. Or learn what deodorizers I can use in the summer when it's too hot to have windows open for ventilation. Or how to use CLR or buy the right drip pans for a stove range. This is a huge opportunity to learn, in short. I don't think I'd trade this chance to live in an anesthetized apartment complex. “It's got something,” my friend Dylan said. And it's true. This apartment is...well, whatever. I won't wax emotional. It's a cool place to live.

So that's the excuse for not writing. But without a T.V. and without internet, I'm basically back to the downtime occupations that I had in Costa Rica. Which consisted mainly of, if I remember correctly, writing blog posts.