FAQs

A blog? Ugh, why don't you just go write in your diary.
This was an actual response by a family friend when he heard of my lil' project. Ha! I have a stack of diaries that I've started over the years but quit writing in after a couple days. I am easily distracted. 1) I can type much faster than I can write and 2) blogging helps to keep me accountable for this 100 Day Challenge. It helps me process what I read, do and see in new and hopefully interesting ways knowing that one or two people might periodically check in on me. Plus, I think it is kind of fun!

OMG stop talking about yourself!
Hey, I am not an expert in many things but I am an expert on ME! Therefore the majority of the posts involve me, myself and I and what I did, do and think. Deal with it or go read about celebrity mishaps on TMZ or something. 

Who edits this crap?
No one, clearly. On rare occasions, I run something by a friend or two for feedback but usually it's just me. I'm trying to get better about writing "drafts" in advance, reviewing, editing, and editing some more before just publishing anything. But that's the beauty of a blog, apparently I can write whatever I want! Don't like it, don't read it.


What's with your photos? They look funny and there aren't any people in them.
I don't want to carry a huge, fancy expensive camera with me wherever I go for one very important reason: I don't own one. I use the crappy camera on my iPhone 3G and "edit" the photos using the ShakeItPhoto app. With one tap, the app puts the cute frame around the photo and makes the colors richer like an old Polaroid. It takes less than 30 seconds and is the lazy woman's Photoshop, which I also know nothing about. I actually love photography, preferably shots of landscapes, scenery and nature as you may have already figured out. People just distract from the gorgeous view and cool shots. Get out of the way, I'm taking a picture!

What do you do?
Ah, the preferred question of "getting to know you" champions that can make or break a conversation! Currently, I "do" nothing assuming you are referring to my job, or am "between opportunities" as I prefer to call it. It's all about how you spin it! For most of the past six years, I've worked as a freelance assistant production coordinator (APOC for short) in the Texas film industry. It's a pretty hard gig with long hours and a crazy unpredictable schedule but I do get to work on cool projects with good friends. On rare occasions it has driven me to drink on the job, see photo below. Freelance also means I get laid off at the end of every TV show, movie or project I work on which can be anywhere from 2-6 times per year depending on the length of the projects. I've also worked at an advertising agency, briefly did credit repair at a mortgage company, inventoried old lady bras at a lingerie shop, guarded lives at a country club pool and was an ice cream scooper for a summer in Florida (which was awesome - spend the day on the beach, the night at work, hang out with friends and repeat). I am on the hunt for my next career move and hoping that this challenge will help inspire me.

No, I did not drink that whole pitcher in one sitting.

What do you LIKE to do? 
I love sports, but not the football, basketball, baseball variety. I don't mind watching a game or two, but sitting around a TV watching other people have fun bores me. I love sports and activities that I can learn, participate in and do moderately well, preferably outdoors and somewhere scenic. I played lots of sports in high school but ignored this love for the first half of my twenties for some dumb reason and have spent the past three years reigniting it. I love running most distances up to half marathons, triathlons, running, hiking, skiing (though I haven't actually done it in years), kayaking, swimming, and biking both on the road and on mountain trails, etc. When I am a millionaire I plan to travel to the world's best scuba diving spots, as it is a rather awesome but expensive hobby I have only been able to afford once. I also have a new found love for tennis after an epic weekend of tennis camp with some good friends. I will now be spending many hours perfecting my game so I can beat one particular friend who has a knack for kicking my ass in everything we do. Who knows, maybe I'll even like golf too! I also quite enjoy combing my love for athletic endeavors and crazy challenges with fund raising for good causes. I ran the Austin marathon in 2010 to raise money for The Life Raft Group and did my first triathlon with Team in Training that fall to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Both were awesome experiences and I plan to do more in the future, once my friends and family recover and forget how many times I've hit them up for money.

Survived the marathon, barely. Homemade sign by my dad - he's pretty good with markers.

Austin Triathlon with Team in Training

How did you come up with the 100 Day Challenge?
Don't say you can't learn anything from bad reality television. I was house sitting just after Christmas and spent a good, solid three days parked in front of the large flat screen television watching whatever I could find. (Reason #467 I do not have cable television. I am an addict.) This included four made for TV movies in a row on Lifetime, more than a few Real Housewives of New Atlanta County Hills, The Millionaire Matchmaker and countless other bad TV shows. One show was about an 18 year old girl who wanted to lose 100 pounds in 111 days before she went off to college. (She was very overweight and actually did have over 100 pounds to lose.) The TV show hired her a trainer, put her to work and chronicled her transformation and success, which was actually pretty impressive. This got me thinking about what I could do in a set period of time (not lose 100 pounds, fortunately I don't have that problem) especially since I was about to have quite a bit of free time on my hands with unemployment. I had a rather large stack of unread books and had not been regularly working out since I did my first triathlon back in September, hence the 100 Day Challenge was born.

Are you REALLY doing 100 minutes and 100 pages every single day?
YES! I really am. It is hard, especially on the days I actually have plans and other things going on. I try to get it done early or end up staying up late biking on my stationary bike in my living room and reading, getting in the minutes and pages when I can. In addition to the stationary bike, I also have a couple yoga and Pilates DVDs to do when the weather is terrible outside. I try to take a book with me wherever I go, so if I have any down time while waiting to meet someone I can knock out some pages. Some days it is harder to fit the minutes in especially when it is frigid outside, other days the reading is the hard part when all I want to do is go outside and play in the sunshine (like today).

Are you single?
Yes, please refer to this post for further explanation.