New On Cloud Running Shoes

Slice of Life3 Comments on New On Cloud Running Shoes
On Cloud Shoes
On Cloud Shoes

I got a new pair of running shoes last week: On “Cloud” running shoes. They are very light and would be classified as a minimalist shoe, but they do have some decent padding. I’ve always run in a standard-type running shoe – shoes with a medium amount of padding, but in the past several years there has been so much variety in the market, with minimalist shoes becoming popular a few years ago, and now super-cushy shoes are getting the spotlight. So for my latest pair of shoes, I wanted to try something besides my standard shoe. A few of my friends really liked their minimalist shoes so I decided to try some, figuring I would ease into the new type of running by alternating between the Cloud shoes and my standard running shoes.

Running in the new shoes the first time was great! First of all, these shoes are so light – they weigh almost nothing! I was expecting a really different feel because these shoes supposedly have less support and cushioning than my regular running shoes, but it was really comfy. The angle of the shoe is different, so I do have to change my running form to a more forward posture, with shorter strides. My normal running style is with pretty short strides, so there wasn’t too drastic a change form me, but the shoes felt really good. I ended up running 2 miles on that first run.

The next day, my feet were a little sore. But it was a good kind of soreness, not like an injury or anything. The following day I was fully recovered and went running again in the Clouds and enjoyed the run even more. My third run was the best so far and I haven’t actually went back to my normal shoes yet. Today I am taking a day off from running, but I am planning on trying to run maybe three days, then one day of rest. We’ll see how that goes. Overall, I am happy with the On Cloud running shoes and would recommend them!

Terminal Time

, Daily Prompt2 Comments on Terminal Time

Terminal Time – You’re at the airport, your flight is delayed for six more hours, and none of your electronic devices is working. How do you pass the time?

Ugh, all my batteries are dead! So… I reach into my backpack and pull out my sketchbook/notepad and either sketch what catches my interest, or work on a blog post, a story, or ideas for a story. Speaking of sketches, if you don’t follow Hamahouse yet, his Instagram feed is wonderful! It’s full of cool (and quick) sketches he does, and a photo of the sketch with subject in the background. I wish I had his talent!

I went to art school from High School through college, but I am not a good illustrator. I have always envied people who can draw. It’s something that many people misunderstand about creative types – a graphic designer, painter, sculptor, etc. is not necessarily good at drawing. I remember once in a drawing classes in college, there was a particular student who could accurately sketch just about anything that was in front of him. His sketches were technically accurate in proportion and lighting. His work was amazing! Our instructor (whom I greatly respected) said he had a real talent for drawing, and said she wished she had that talent. That kind of stuck with me… that a talented painter might not be great at drawing. By that time in school, I knew that I didn’t have that same level of talent in drawing, however, my instructor’s comment gave me inspiration to keep up with what I was specializing in, which was painting. I must say though, that it is a little deflating when I have to admit to someone that I cannot draw so well, even though I have a degree in art.

At any rate, here’s a sketch I did while at one of my son’s piano lessons. Not nearly as cool a Hamahouse’s, but I am trying!

A Sketch at Bay's Piano Lesson
A Sketch at Bay’s Piano Lesson

This post was prompted by The Daily Post from WordPress.

Pizza Margherita and Peperoncino Pasta

Food, Slice of Life2 Comments on Pizza Margherita and Peperoncino Pasta
Pizza Margherita and Peperoncino Pasta
Pizza Margherita and Peperoncino Pasta

Tonight’s dinner was homemade Pizza Margherita and Peperoncino Pasta, made by my wife. As I’ve mentioned many times, she is an amazing cook and we eat like kings at home. The other night we went out to a local Italian restaurant which was rated pretty highly on Yelp, but the food was just too salty for our tastes. I think maybe that left my wife unsatisfied since she really wanted Pizza Margherita. So, she made us a homemade pizza pie! It was great!!!

It got me thinking a little about how American and Japanese palettes are different. I’ve come to realize that I don’t like too much salt on my food anymore, but here in the States it is common for food to be pretty salty. There are always salt shakers on the tables in restaurants, and they get used really often! After eating Japanese and Japanese-style food for years now, my taste buds are not used to so much salt, so lots of times the standard restaurant fare is just too much for me. To be more specific, the type of saltiness I am used to comes from shoyu and miso, and not regular table salt, so it is a more complex flavor. I guess it is rare for us to say about a Japanese meal that it is too salty, but we might say that there is too much shoyu in it. I hope that make sense.

What is also a little uncommon about our meals is that often times there is no meat in the meal at all. Honestly, I don’t notice much of the time because the food is really delicious. It is such a normal thing to have a meat component to a meal in America and I think we’ve been conditioned by the meat industry that we need to have meat as a main component for every meal, whether it be breakfast sausage or bacon, turkey or ham in our sandwiches, or chicken in our pasta. It might be hard to believe, but there are delicious meals without any meat in them! I don’t mean to be preachy, but I do think we as humans should realize the impact our over-consumption of meat has on our environment, as science is showing us more and more in studies. I think it is really good, though, that people are becoming more aware of these studies and are choosing to be more mindful of where their food comes from, and the resources that are required to produce our food. The sharing of information on the Internet has a lot to do with that.