them social media people

hey katie, how's that new job of yours going?

well, thank you for asking!

it's been quite lovely.

and busy.

but i have no complaints!

i really am very, very content thus far.

and,

they sent me to a social media conference last weekend in tempe

let me tell you a unique feature of such a conference:

the audience is full of people who are likely on more than one techy device at a time, tweeting about the presentation as it's happening.

this is potentially the only venue out there where it's not rude to be actively using your cell phone, etc. during a  presentation, yes?

what did i learn?

here's a couple tidbits...

50-60% of people check social media first thing after waking up

94% of buyers [online and in-store] perform an online search about the product before making a purchase

having a properly optimized video on your site makes it 53 times more likely to show up in the first page of a Google search

...pretty fascinating, eh?

are you cats into social media?

twitter?

you'll find me at @k8ehawkes

[say hello!]

running report: down for the count

remember how it's training season again?

yep yep.

well, i set my official 1/2marty goal:

i want to run it in less than 2 hours

which means 9 min per mile or less

which is 30 min quicker than last year

i can do this!

well, i had a slight setback:

wait katie, do you really consider horrifically ugly toenails a setback....?

no no, stop looking at those -- focus on my purple toe!

oh, right right.

---------

enough of that selfersation.

[ooh, new made-up word for the win!]

ok but here's the deal:

a guy with cleats at a church football game had an encounter with my poor little phalange.

fact:

i haven't run in a week and a half

other fact:

i feel grumpy about it

[need a shot of endorphins, please!]

[...endorphin sounds like a type of dolphin]

other other fact:

my toe is no longer purple and swollen, but it is still sore

and yet another other fact:

i will be lacing up the running kicks again this evening

it's go time, kiddos!

wish me luuuuuck...

"an old maroon, hot air balloon"

last saturday night involved the following activities:

friends

a blanket

two corn dogs
a sunset

hot air balloons

sparkling sky divers

fireworks

really,

  a girl can't complain.

also, it all reminded me of this favorite song of mine.

you must click and enjoy.

the awkward mother of all exercise

um, you guys...

you guys.

the other day i said to my coworker,

"why do they call them jumping jacks?"

which inspired a google search

[as most of life's deepest questions do]

and said google search led to a discovery of the jumping jack's cousin:

the star jump

from what i can tell, the key term in this exercise's description is the word "explosive."

behold, the glory:

and, don't miss this gem:

you may notice that the first two pics are a woman, and the 3rd is clearly a man.

we pondered the significance of this:

did she fail to make a satisfactory star, in the end, and get cut from the photo shoot?

did she have an unseemly wardrobe malfunction with those red shorts?

do star jumps catalyze a cosmic explosion of some sorts that causes a gender transformation, mid-star??

whatever the case, as my coworker put it:

"something weird happened in that squat."

...bahahaha

confessions: mono-stripe-matic

sooo.....

can we say i have a small problem?

at least it's a beautiful, perfectly lovable problem...

and will serve me in any season...

shrug.

writing: one year ago, today

let's keep hiding, all quiet like

they'll keep seeking but they won't find us

let's keep living a quiet life

you and i

[a fine frenzy]

sometimes i pause

and think

about 365 days

one second there i am

in the middle of something big

or something small

but it's enough to preoccupy my thoughts

my emotions

my energy

my time

and then, as quickly as it came,

it passes.

and the calendar tells me, it's been a year

and my heart sometimes has forgotten

and sometimes is still hanging on

to whatever it was

hope?

exuberance?

uncertainty?

heartbreak?

there are always those moments

when the month and day stare back at me

and say,

"one year ago today..."

and sometimes the old feelings invade me

race through me

tighten my tummy

and lodge in my throat

but other times

they simply whisper in my ear

and are gone.

[me]

(sleepless in?) seattle

aaaaaand

here are the other half of the trip's pictures!

i know, there's a lot.

but some of my favorites are toward the bottom, so...

don't you quit on me now!

feel motivated? good.

enjoy.

oh, and that old-fashioned yellow building...
that's where we stayed.
seriously wicked cool.

p.s.

by golly, i love seattle!

must. live. in. a. houseboat. someday.

portlandia!

to understand the title reference, go here.

to experience the portland half of my recent trip, scroll down.

and yeah,

half the pictures are at a playground.

and a lot of ridiculous pictures of me on a teeter-totter.

i've got my priorities straight.

stay tuned for seattle!

yes yes....jelly beans on the train!!

just waiting for a certain wizard to come kick it with me.