![Post image for The Ugh![ly] Truth…checking into holiday/running rehab](http://www.remanents.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/BookFair1.jpg)
by Monica on December 27, 2009
Maybe it’s the snow on the ground…or the high caloric intake…or even the general exhaustion from the late nights and last minute preparations. Maybe it’s just all that being nice. But holidays are not good for my running. Went out for a 7 miler this morning and felt like I was crawling. The moments of denial that found me saying “as soon as the holidays are over” rose up to greet me this morning on the run. Ugh! I need running/holiday rehab.
I once read that Bill Gates takes a week off every year to catch up on his reading. He shuts the whole world off and just feeds his soul. I have always thought this was a brilliant idea. I stayed in yesterday and read a book (Little Bee–great read…highly recommend it) and snuck out with my husband to see a movie (A Single Man–Tom Ford’s 2 hour long Gucci movie featuring the sublime Colin Firth as a gay man in the 60′s…loved it!). Now to just add the running element and a de-tox diet free of butter and sugar. A declared stay-cation of exercise in the AM and nothing after that…nothing pressing anyway.
So maintenance runs and strength workouts by morning, books (so many “best of 2009″ lists to tackle), movies (so many Oscar contenders to view) and family games by night (children to talk to–gameboys to shut off)…holiday/running rehab at my house.
And perhaps, if I have time on a break from doing nothing, I will work on my running New Year’s resolutions…maybe not.
by Monica on June 21, 2009
The true gift of Father’s Day (and actually Mother’s Day) is the household moratorium on complaining. My husband, in the occasionally cunning spirit of parenthood, seized the opportunity to enlist (coerce) our teenage children to do something he wants them to do without the grumbling. Today he took them to see FOOD, INC the new documentary from filmmaker Robert Kenner about the food we now eat. I have already seen the film and think every person out there (especially runners and parents) should take the time to digest it’s message.
A visual feast of images and plethora of information, the film takes us to where our food actually originates. It will make your stomach turn and your blood boil. It asks (and attempts to answer) the very relevant question I often ask myself in the produce section of any Whole Foods market…”Why does this good organic food cost so darn much?” (actually, it’s not even just organic vs non-organic…it’s also why does broccoli cost more than potato chips). It exposes the corporate take over of the American food chain and it’s disregard for the struggling farmer. Labor violations, obesity, E coli outbreaks are all residual topics brought to the table. Eric Schlosser (of Fast Food Nation and one of the producers of the film) and Michael Pollan (author of the Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food) help sort and clarify the message in a series of appearances throughout the film.
Runners understand that an enlightened relationship with food can translate into strong runs and quick recovery. This movie’s revelations will leave you hungry for answers and perhaps empower you to join this food fight. At the very least it will motivate me to read my labels more carefully, shop at the farmers market as often as possible, and consume as much as we can from our own garden.
by Jamie on February 20, 2009
The Class-winner of the Palm d’Or at Cannes, up for best foreign film at the Oscars.
François Bégaudeau wrote a novel about his experiences as a junior high school teacher in the working class, multicultural 20th arrondissement in Paris. The Class is based on the novel. All of the characters are played by students, administrators and teachers from the school.
Bégaudeau is passionate, attractive and exasperated. He prods and antagonizes while encouraging conversation. The students are prickly, relentless and often beguiling. My first thought (as a school social worker for too many years): don’t go there! Bégaudeau’s teaching approach is brash and outspoken; something has got to give.
American public school teachers are generally a cautious bunch. Teachers like Bégaudeau are culled from the herd quickly. Administrators’ fear that the students will spin out of control or that a teacher’s remarks, usually taken out of context, will result in critical phone calls by parents or worse—trouble down the road. I reminisced, mid-movie, about those moments when I risked the heat to connect with students, an exhilarating and exhausting state of being.
The Class, engrossing, heartfelt and provocative, with a documentary vibe, has the power to bring out my inner policy wonk. The wonk who believes that kids thrive with a combination of teachers— that ultra-experienced, consistent and measured individual (who often leaves inner city teaching as soon as they can), as well as the provocateur that may set their hearts and minds ablaze.
by Monica on February 7, 2009
There is a new Sundance movie getting a lot of buzz that features a guy who writes greeting cards! Not since Mr. Deeds has the stationery world (which in itself I think resembles a Christopher Guest movie) been represented. Check out the trailer for 500 days of summer. Can’t wait till it comes our way.
