Work Is Love Made Visible

OakMonster.com - Work Is Love

Remember how I ran home from the Office about a month ago?  Well, running home is no longer an option.  My hours have been extended to 6 hours a day now, and that would mean I have to run home after lunch. There was no way I could do that with my issue with side stitches, and I wasn’t about to starve myself all day for a run. The key point from that paragraph is that I am now working 6 hours a day. At that same company. I’m 2 hours away from working full time, y’all. This gig was...
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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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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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10 Goals for 2013

OakMonster.com - Win with Oakley

Brandon suggested that I shouldn’t call these “Goals” but “Aspirations” since they’re more of a guideline of what I want to accomplish rather than what I’m driven to achieve. Well, lack of the drive is my fault. Not the goals. However, having setting up goals every year, I have an average of 50% success rate and many of those successes become a part of my regular ritual.  For examples, Veggie Tuesday is now permanent, also made easier with being more meatless than almost vegan.  Reading through the magazines as they come in is also now a habit.  So, it’s not...
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Can We Agree to Disagree?

OakMonster.com - Safe Ferrets

Politics. This is the stuff that breaks up families and friends forever. In every country. In every language. I had an online AND offline argument with a friend over Thai politics many years ago. We agreed to disagree, and we never talked politics again ever since. Agree to disagree. Some people would consider that phrase a cop out, a surrender, or sometime an invitation to keep laying on their point of view.  I consider it the olive branch. A spirited discussion over politics, fashion, music, movies, etc. is normal in any circle of friendship. Democrats vs. Republicans. Beatles vs. The...
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