Juror #8

My stint as juror #8 was cut mercifully short by a last minute ditch of the case by the District Attorney. Perhaps we as jurors just looked too sharp, perhaps not sharp enough; at any rate there was a closed door negotiation that went on after jury selection wrapped up and then just like that, the 14 of us who remained were summarily dismissed for the next 12 months with a thank you and a smile.

It's not such a bad deal, really, as the justice system was played out and all parties were satisfied with the outcome. I heard a few people grumbling about "wasting their time", but in the grand scheme of the judicial system, we each played our roles perfectly. I don't hope to be back any time in the near future (I am OK with the jury duty once a year, but any other showing between now and next February means that I or someone I care about is mixed up in something unsavory), but when I do appear again, I can take confidence in the fact that every citizen in this country is entitled to a fair trial with a jury of their peers AND they are assumed innocent until proven guilty...not a claim that can be made in too many other places in this world.

While we have plenty of opportunities in this country around rights and equality, I am still pretty happy and proud to be a part of it. Should I unfurl my flag now?

Civic Responsibility

I finally made good on my jury summons that came back in December; my original date was planned during our France trip, so I requested a deferral, then I requested a specific day and then I had to move it because of a work conflict. Fortunately, the good people of the Ventura County courts were accommodating and I do not have to live in fear of being arrested!

The morning started out easily enough; orientation and 2 jury panels...I wasn't called for either. It's a whole lot of sitting around and waiting, so I am grateful to benefit from my tax dollars hard at work with free wireless Internet! The hour and a half lunch certainly wasn't an issue in my book; it made for a nice 2-mile walk to lunch at Daphne's (I do enjoy the falafel every now and again!), the bank to deposit a check and then back again. I called David at lunchtime to brag about my long break to which he tersely replied, "It must be nice."...it was!

As soon as we returned from lunch, another panel was called, and I along with it! We trotted up to the 4th floor, were sworn in, received some directions from the judge (who is a character by the way!) and then the excuses began. When it was over, almost 1/2 of the panelists had managed to be excused. Once the case was announced, another 3 declared themselves unfit to serve, so off they went.

And then we were 30. I was in the first group of 12 called to the box, where I have so far answered about 15 questions about my personal life and beliefs. They haven't bounced me for any offensive behavior yet, and the judge had an appointment to go to at 3:30, so we were dismissed for the day and cordially invited (that would be mandated) to return at 9 am tomorrow.

Let's see how civic minded I am as this process extends from 1-day and turns into 1-trial requirement!

Moms in Motion

"Accidental Athlete" is a name that David bestowed on me a couple of years ago when I started to do different running, biking and triathlon events. We still laugh about this title, because it is accurate since I am not in any way super fast or skilled; I just like to do the events to raise money for a good cause and get some exercise in the process. Good exercising calls for good eating in my book!

I moved from accidental to intentional status this week when I officially joined a running/triathlon team in my area - Moms in Motion. Moms In Motion® is a Global Network connecting Moms through Fitness, Fun & Philanthropy. Moms meet other moms with similar interests and fitness goals. They develop friendships and get the support and guidance they need to reach their goals. The beauty in this group is there is not a lot of competition, just a lot of support and sharing of cool ideas.

I showed up for the first training run (it was actually the 2nd, but I had a community service gig the previous week that kept me away, plus I heard that it rained CRAZY hard during their session) at 7 am Saturday, uncharacteristically layered up in clothing because it was 32 degrees outside!

Our team (the Westlake MIMs...there is a group in New York with a funny but slightly controversial name of Sexy Mother Runners, but I digress...), has it's very own trainer, Gloria, who took us through a series of warm-ups and exercises to work our large and small twitch muscles. Imagine if you will 20+ women in a parking lot waving their arms as they skip or bounce or whatever step we were assigned to do across the pavement. It was surprisingly effective and helped to get the blood pumping!

Runs are done "Indian" style, which was new to me. The team is super focused on safety, so we run as a group (we were split out by time...you-know-who was relegated to the slow team, which we dubbed "team molasses"). The front person sets the pace for 2-minutes while everyone else runs behind, then the person at the rear of the line sprints to the front, where they then lead the charge for 2-minutes. It makes the time go by quickly and gives everyone an opportunity to speed it up a bit as they take the charge to the front.

Our first run was kind of short - 30 minutes or 2.75 miles at our 11 minute pace - but I can see the potential for lots of good workouts coming. I hear rumor that the triathlon team (which I also am a part of) has a tough ride planned for this week.

Bring it!

Summerland

I had the opportunity to drive to Santa Barbara this past Saturday (actually, I had to go deliver some product to a store that had a refrigeration issue and we decided that I could get to Santa Barbara with some borrowed product from Westlake faster than the dairy truck could get from the warehouse in LA to Santa Barbara, but looking at it as an opportunity rather than a requirement just seems much more pleasant and keeps me in a good mood).

The drive up through Ventura and into Santa Barbara is typically a beautiful one, especially once the ocean comes into view. Saturday (which also happened to be Valentine's Day) was a gorgeous day, so the view and scenery did not disappoint. Lots of blue sky, sunshine and sparkling water out on the horizon. Previous posts will tell you just how enamored I am with the Southern California scenery and this trip was no exception.

For those of you familiar with the trek to Santa Barbara, there is a little area known as Summerland. For some reason, I never really paid that much attention to Summerland, taking note instead of Sea Cliff, Carpinteria and the affluent Montecito. All very nice beach communities nestled away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

As I saw the signs for Summerland and realized the view that the residents of this city have, I decided that this must be a cool place to live. I am sure that like anything, being on a perpetual vacation could get old, but I think that it is a risk that I might be willing to take.

Could you imagine living somewhere called Winterland? Not at 10 below with 4 feet of snow, I can't!

Twenty seven steps

Wilshire Boulevard-the area that I traverse on foot-is referred to as the "miracle mile." I am not sure what gives it the miracle status, but speculate that it is a miracle I don't have a constant ringing in my ears after walking along it because it is so loud.

Buses, cars, motorcycles...you name it and it is out on Wilshire, day or night, and generating a ton of noise. This raucous sound had become something that I had to tolerate to cover the final 1/3 to 1/2 mile to get to my office. Not my favorite thing, but a fact of the commute.

I discovered a thoroughfare to some neighborhood streets last week, not at all unlike the little secret path I discovered over by Olympic Blvd and featured on a Friday blog a couple of months ago. One of the best things about this route is how quickly it goes from roaring traffic noise to the calming suburban sounds of birds chirping, the occasional dog bark and car doors slamming as the kids load up for school.

Ahhhhh. Serenity. I counted the number of steps that it took to escape the noise and enter the zen space...27. I definitely like the sound of that.

Basket Case

I am a big Trader Joe's shopper, tailoring many of my recipes to use TJ ingredients so that I can do all of my food shopping there and avoid the "regular" grocery store most of the time.

They strike me as a pretty cool company, and have a very loyal following. In fact, some very clever person made a video about Trader Joe's and posted it on YouTube. I only know this because my friend Joe posted it on his cool blog and I saw it there. It is lame to rip off stuff from someone else's blog, so check it out here and enjoy Joe's entry on Cool Things That Are Cool.

Back to my point. I was doing my usual Sunday afternoon shopping last week and got caught behind what I am going to guess was a 5-year old, organizing her mini-basket of groceries. Particularly interesting to me was the emphatic fashion that she was organizing her cart; she wanted everything to stack just so.

I can certainly identify with my smaller Trader Joe's counterpart; there are few things as annoying as having the yogurts flop around in the bottom of the basket with the bananas!

It's good to know that the breed of anal/obsessive/compulsive little kids carries on, for we grow up to make fine adults!

Wii are in Love

Happy Valentine's Day. We celebrated at the Newton household in a most festive fashion - with pizza and playing the Wii!

Yes, after months of hoping, wishing and almost-pleading, a Wii and Wii Fit were the family gift for my two Valentines. They were both very surprised AND very excited about it when they realized what it was. I am most impressed with the fact that neither of the two made any reference to a new TV, and both were genuinely surprised with the gift.

We cracked out the gift in the morning, but everyone had chores and work to do during the day, so the unveiling came in the evening. Schnoogs had everything out of the box and hooked up in record time; then she began to create our "Mii's" so that we could each have our own profile in the game. David cheered the creation on and I kept on eye (and made a few veto votes) on things from the kitchen while I made a family favorite for dinner; homemade pizza. Yum.

It might seem counter intuitive to register our fitness goals while munching on tasty pizza, but all agreed that it was a fun evening and we liked the interactive nature of things.

Looks like we definitely won't be needing a new TV anytime soon!

Stairway to Wilshire

I have blogged numerous times on the adventures of my Ventura County to Mid-Wlshire/Los Angeles commute, for there is always something new and exciting to experience and report on for every day that I bus-train-bus my way to the office on San Vicente.

One item that remains a constant, however is the multitude of stairs that one must climb to get out of the Red Line station and up to Wilshire Blvd. (or Lankershim on the way home, but it never seems as pronounced there). I could take the more passive route of the escalator, but I'm always looking for ways to squeeze in a little exercise.

I don't know what it is about this station, but the stairs loom above, daring me to try and trot up the four long stretches, followed by two shorter runs before the glittering walkway of the Wilshire/Vermont station plaza greets me at street level.

I start out solidly. Backpack firmly secured, I take the steps confidently one at a time, with just a little bounce in my step to make it feel like I am almost jogging up.

Section one, looking good. Section two, doing OK but I unzip my jacket because I'm starting to warm up. Section three, the bounce is starting to wane and the backpack is feeling heavy. Section four, it is now a flat-footed stagger up the stairs, the asthmatic wheezing has begun and my eyes are on the prize...daylight.

I hit the plateau for a few steps and then try not to trip up the last two short flights...what is the deal with the cardio-stress of an incline? While I am no Olympian, I do my fair share of regular exercise...you would think that I have been lying on the couch for the past two years the way my heart gets pumping!

I wonder if the 4 or 5 people who pass me on the third level are even breathing hard...

Creative AND Entertaining

A friend recently sent this video to me and it makes me laugh...plus it has a nice message.

It is also evidence that there are lots and lots of people out in the world with FAR more creativity than I have, so I am relegated to enjoying and sharing with my friends.

Hallelujah!

Six Words

I recently read an article about a book that had been written with contributions of various authors using just six words to describe love or any other emotion. The article intrigued me because of the challenge to be so succinct in a society where we super-size most anything, and rarely operate under the rule of "less is more."

Even more compelling was that report that Ernest Hemingway declared this contribution his best work ever: For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn.

I must admit, that's pretty powerful when one stops to really consider the message.

There were other examples in the article, the only other one that stuck with me was: Our prison visits were surprisingly romantic.

Certainly lots to mull over for that one!

The whole concept of six words has been marinating in my head for a couple of weeks, but I haven't really sat down to consider what my six words are or what I want to convey. This may be an exercise that I'll need to try once a week just to get in the habit of culling the crazy population of words and thoughts floating around in my brain to one coherent point.

For now, let's go with: Living the dream, loving my life.