Raced On the Base

OakMonster ran a race!

This is my final original article as the Face of the Race for the Los Alamitos Race on the Base. It’s been fun writing for them!  Please give the Race’s blog some traffic and click here to see the original post.  Also, I was interviewed pre-race with both the Race on the Base blog AND the Orange County Register. Check them out! After all this time of having shared with you about my journey and struggle with running, I almost didn’t make it to the Race this past Saturday. Tuesday night before the Race, I was clutching the toilet bowl...
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Why We Love to Run

OakMonster.com - What I feel like when I run

This is my final original article as the Face of the Race before the Los Alamitos Race on the Base! I think I will probably have one more post-race. Please give the Race’s blog some traffic and click here to see the original post. My oldest brother, an avid runner, sent me a blog post last week from the Guardian called “Why We Love to Run”. Just over a week away from the Race on the Base, it is a good day to ask ourselves that question. Why, indeed? The blog post said we love to run because it’s a...
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The Greatest Audition That Never Was

Steven Spielberg J.J. Abrams Joss Whedon Will Wheaton

I scrambled into a waiting room full of hopeful actors.  A friendly face looked up and waved me over to an empty seat next to him. “So, when are you going up?” I asked. “Soon,” he said. A few steps away, a glass door swung open.  A lady with a clipboard called out a name, and my friend stood up. “Break a leg!” I called up at him as he walked by. He gave me a thumbs-up as he crossed in front of the clipboard lady. The lady followed his line of sight to me, then looked down at her...
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Running Home, Literally

Another biweekly installment of my update as the Face of the Race for the Los Alamitos Race on the Base. Please give the Race’s blog some traffic and click here to see the original post. This version is a smidgeon different as I found more resources to add. Great news! Your mostly-unemployed favorite blogger has gotten a part-time temp job right here in beautiful Los Alamitos.  My morning shift ends at 11:30 a.m. and the office is a little shy of 2 miles away.   The moment I was told I got the gig, the first thing I thought was, “Gosh....
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Confession of A Kept Sister

OakMonster.com - Get Along Shirt

You may not think that I am my family’s pariah, but I am. I’m that one sibling you usually don’t bring up in conversation.  I’m the one to be hidden away from view. Or in my case, hidden away in another country altogether. And even that, in the social media age, isn’t far enough, it seems. Some days, it is hard to not think about the pieces of broken sibling relationship on my hands.  Some days, I blame myself. Others, I blame them. Some days, I wish there’s a Get Along shirt that would fit 3 adults across 2 continents,...
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Five for Friday: Saving Lives, Running with Wings, and Breaking Up with Glee

OakMonster.com - Running with Wings

Five for Friday is a weekly (well, almost) series about the five new things I learned each week. (Hey, it’s still technically Friday! Sorry I’m late. Hee.) Actually, I should call this as Five for January. I haven’t written on of these since Christmas!  Well, having the year end recap, my 2013 goals, and Race on the Base updates did throw me for a loop.  We’ll just go with whatever I fancy for the past month, alright? I’ve Learned CPR Oh yes. I now have a CPR card. I just have to remember exactly how many compression (30) and how...
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