Decisions, Decisions

My trusty Canon Powershot Elph has died. May she rest in peace. Now after the obligatory mourning period, I have decided its time to buy a new one. Here's what I'm considering.

Canon Powershot S95 $369

Pros:

Takes pictures in low light without flash
Allows for manual adjustments
Small, Portable
Image Stabalizer
HDMI Connection

Cons:

For a little bit more money, I could get an SLR.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 $399
Pros:

Large lens allows for better zoom, color saturation, and better soft-focused background shots.
Can attach other lens to camera
High Quality HD Videos
Light and easy to carry around
Full Manual Control

Cons:

For $399 on Amazon, plus shipping, this is getting dangerously close to SLR territory.

Nikon Coolpix S8100 $228Pros:

Huge high resolution photo display on the camera
High zoom lens
Fast pictures (up to 5 frames per second)
Subject tracking helps take moving shots better
Some great Night/Dark light (automatic) photo settings
Best bargain

Cons:

Doesn't allow for any manual settings as far as I can tell.

Leica D-LUX 5 $799
Pros:

Manual option as well as full suite of automatic photo settings
Classic Leica design (not sure if this a perk I care about, but it's all over every review I read)
Good low light photos
Comes with a free Adobe Lightshop download
High quality video

Cons:

Video quality is less than all the others, though still HD.
Cost! At $799, there is a whole host of SLR's with automatic features available.

Canon EOS Rebel XS $489

Pros:

SLR camera at a decent price point.
Noise-free picture taking

Cons:

Price
Photo quality is lesser than some of the digitals

Nikon D3000 $589Pros:

Fully functional SLR
6 auto modes
Guide Mode helps you learn to use the camera
Fast picture taking (eliminates shutter lag)
In-camera photo editing
Auto-focus

Cons:

At $589, it's not much less than the D3100 which takes much high quality photos.
Less megapixels a lot of point and shoots

What are your thoughts? Did I miss anything really good out there?

I'm looking for something that will take great pictures, but doesn't cost a fortune and is fairly easy to lug around the city in my purse. I used to know how to use an SLR camera in high school, but I'd have to relearn again, so that's a definite disadvantage to the SLR's. But photo quality is a major, major, major plus.

So many things to think about... I'm going to head to B&H this weekend and if see if one of those camera geeks can't teach me a thing or two and help me decide.

Songs on Repeat for the week of February 7

This week started off with the Super Bowl and an awesome commercial which reminded me of home, and which inspired my playlist this week.

Cinderella Man by Eminem

No Love (featuring Lil Wayne) by Eminem

This Plane by Wiz Khalifa

Lose Yourself by Eminem

I need a doctor (featuring Eminem) by Dr. Dre

Love the Way You Lie, Part II by Rihanna & Eminem

Mockingbird by Eminem

Nothing like a little rapper's angst to get the adrenaline flowing.

NYC Half Marathons

Last year, I made a major mistake at the Brooklyn Half-Marathon: I forgot to sign-up. It gets worse too. I didn't realize it until the day before the race.

UH OH.

Wow, was I embarrassed.

Boy, was I majorly disappointed that I couldn't run thirteen point one miles in Brooklyn.

I even tried to buy a bib (illegally) on Craig's List. Turns out a lot of people want run half marathons in Brooklyn.

So I consoled myself with some red wine, macaroni and cheese and a cupcake. Hey, when life gives you lemons, make a big comfort meal of carbs and cheese and wash it down with vino.

Lesson learned. Check race registration confirmation. Check it again. Email the race organizers to double check.

Of course, there's always next year right? Nope. The 2011 Brooklyn Half Marathon is May 21st, which is five days after I get home from a ten day trip in Espana.

I guess there's always 2012.

But I still wanted to make sure that I got a New York half marathon in this spring. There are a lot of great half marathons across the country, like Chicago and Boston, but I didn't want the stress of travelling. The only stress I'm looking for is the stress that comes from running thirteen point one miles, fast.

I did some research and came up with a few halfs in the area. Here's what I considered. To even get in the running, the race had to be easily accessible from my apartment in the Upper East Side, so I limited it to races within the five boroughs only.

More Half Marathon: I ultimately nixed this one because it's two loops in Central Park, which is where I run daily. Plus Central Park is very hilly and not exactly good for PR's.

NYC Half Marathon: This race
is closed and the only way to get guaranteed entry is by raising over one thousand dollars for charity. It's a big ticket race and I seriously considered it, but the uncertainty of March weather in NY and the chore of raising money during my busy season at work ultimately deterred me.

13.1 New York: This is the one I decided to go with. The entrance fee is manageable - eighty-eight dollars. The course is pretty flat and it's not an out and back, but it's almost a loop course. But at least it's not a loop that I run weekly.

There are some good races right outside of New York City too, like the Unite Half Marathon and the Long Island Half, but these are outside of the city and would require hotels and cars, or else a huge commute the day of the race.

Unfortunately, if you are a looking for a race in the NYC area, all the races I mentioned are closed except for the 13.1 New York and the NYC Half if you are willing to raise money for charity. Even Brooklyn closed in a few days.

But the good news is that the NYRR will be hosting the Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, and Grete's Great Gallop later on in the year. So if you are looking for a NYC half, all is not lost.

Made in Detroit

This blog is about many things but as the name of this blog suggests, it's mostly about me running in New York City.

The city where dreams are made. The city that never sleeps. The city that makes you when it can't break you. The city. New York is where I live and I shamelessly adore it. It's not always easy living here. Often times, I feel like the score is NY: 50, Amanda: 5. This city kicks my ass more often then I like to admit.

And yet, despite all of this, I put my rain boots on, curse out the city in a tone the suggests pride, annoyance and wonder all at once, and keep on going. Yep, it's my city, warts and all.But as much as New York is the city of my moment, I am no New Yorker.

If you don't live here, I might seem like one to you with my black clothing and intimate knowledge of subway trains, but in New York City I am just another one of the city's many imports.

The new Chrysler 200 commercial featuring Eminem debuted during the Super Bowl on Sunday, and it was, in a word, awesome. The whole time it was on, I kept on squealing, OMG, that's Detroit! That's Hart Plaza! That's Joe Louis's arm! That's the Spirit of Detroit! The beat to Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' building, as I swelled with pride...for the city that I no longer live in.

How can I feel proud of something and want to lay claim to a place from which I left five years ago? A bigger insult couldn't exist than writing a blog about the very city I ran to, a clear snub to the city I left behind.

The truth is that I didn't leave Detroit because I didn't like it. I didn't run away to New York because of some Sex and the City fantasy or because of the economy. I left because I wanted to find a new path for myself on my own. I always had my sights set on leaving.

In the sixth grade, we were asked to predict where we would be in fifteen years and then read the prediction aloud. I bet a lot of my fellow sixth graders don't remember that day, but I do. They all announced varying dreams of professional sports careers, six figure cars, houses with double digit rooms, and more than a few had a kid or two figured in already. Everyone except me. You know what I said? Fifteen years ago I thought that I would be living in Paris studying art right now.

Oh how silly and idyllic I was once upon a time.

So I didn't really get it right, but living in New York City, accountant by day, blogger by night isn't that far off when I really think about it.

And Detroit? Well, that's part of my life tapestry. I create networks through Wolverines. It's an icebreaker too, as almost everyone I know has asked me at one point if I live on eight mile (no, thirteen mile). And when it gets cold in New York, I have to act tough because I'm from Detroit, which is like Antartica to people here. I notice when the cabs are American made cars, and when they aren't. And I love the fall in NY - not because the heat finally breaks and everyone comes back from the beach - but because it's college football time. Oh yeah, that's all because I was made in Detroit.

Forget all your cares and go, downtown

Today marks my first double digit run of the year. I'm not going to play any games today or try any new tricks. Just a nice flat run down memory lane. All I've got with me on my run today is some water on my fuel belt, money, Metro Card, my keys, and my music.Just me, the sun, the songs and the wind.
Here's the route I'm taking and a few adaptations depending on where you start below.




This ten miler is best for those who live on the 4/5/6 line. Just pick a starting point on the 4/5/6 between 59th and 110th, then run to 5th avenue. If you are starting below my starting point at 85th Street, for every two blocks lower you start, cut across the park 1 block sooner. So if you start at 65th Street, then cut across the park at 100th Street.

If you live on the West Side, then tack on an extra 3 miles by running over the Brooklyn Bridge and that back on the Manhattan.

The ending point is the Brooklyn Bridge stop, so you can take just about any subway train you want home. Or you can grab a nice open faced sandwich or a delicous pastry at Le Pain Quotidien on Warren Street.

Amazing, Wonderful, Magical Stomach

My stomach is amazing. For twenty-seven plus years, it’s been here for me every single day no matter what I threw it’s way. Hot sauce, monosodium glutamate, vodka, corn syrup, broccoli, artificial flavor and coloring, chocolate, coffee, sodium acetate, lactic acid, cola, steak, butter, calcium silicate – you name it, and I’ve sent it to my stomach. And somehow, some way, it all gets broken down into the building blocks of my blood, brain, lungs, muscles, heart, and even, yes, even my stomach.

And that folks is amazing. No matter what I eat, no matter how processed, how chemically derived, and preserved, my stomach finds a way to get the good stuff out of it.

That is what I call loyalty.

Try asking a panda’s stomach to do that for him. Or your dogs stomach. Has your dog ever gotten into the leftover dinner and then thrown-up behind the big armchair in the living room that night? I’ll bet he has (and if you have a Labrador retriever, I’m sure you’ve seen him get into Tupperware containers, sealed garbage bags, the fridge, your neighbors trunk full of groceries while they unload the car, too.)

Have you ever seen a tiger grazing on grass or a cow tearing into a freshly run down deer? Probably not, and trust me, even if your zoo trips haven’t given you enough experience to confidently know this for sure, they don’t do that, like ever.

I’m sure there is lots of scientific information out there which would explain why human stomachs can break down pretty much anything, and convert it into energy and cells. But I don’t think a trip to the library or a massive googling episode is necessary to prove this point. Everywhere I look, nature provides lots of examples of how other stomachs just can’t handle all the crap that I love to eat.


Which brings me to my real point here: just because I can eat it, doesn’t mean that I should. Because my stomach's only really flaw is it's willingness to get down with anything and everything. Unfortunately, when a particularly unhealthy item is consumed, digestion is at the expense of another process inside the body. Have you ever felt like you needed to take a nap after a particularly heavy meal? That’s because your body is working so hard on digesting that even the process of keeping you alert is taxing.

I’m not a scientist, and I’m certainly no doctor. All I can claim to be is an expert in ME. I have noticed that I have more energy when I eat a ton of vegetables before a workout. Eating fried food for lunch mean's I'll definitely have to make a Starbucks run at three o'clock. Bananas give me lots of energy before a workout, but so does a good old cup of coffee. All I need to know that about eating a cleaner, more raw and more vegan diet is that it makes me feel good.

That we don’t have to lie around all day waiting for that antelope to digest or regurgitate our food so we can chew it again, is only icing on the cake.

The Keyboard is Fixed and Vegan Kale Chips

Finally, I’m back!

I bet you thought that I was kidding about being back to writing my blog in January and that it was just another New Year’s Resolution that had finally lost its steam. Not quite.

Actually, what happened is that one cold, grey Sunday – you know the type, where all you want to do is curl up on the couch and watch your favorite movies and snack on comfort food your mom didn't let you eat as a kid – I woke up to find that a few select keys on my keyboard didn’t work. Miraculously, my computer password doesn’t use any of those keys so I was able to log in but I couldn’t type in ‘gmail’, ‘Amanda’, ‘google’, or ‘nymag.’

As one of my friends on Facebook pointed out, this wasn’t nearly half as bad as Egypt (unless you count the emotional turmoil I felt inside by not being able to check my favorite blogs (blocked at work), facebook (also blocked at work), and generally the fact that I have to do work at work….how unfair!). But I felt unhinged and bored nonetheless. Oh yeah, didn’t you know? I don’t have cable TV. So my computer is not only my link to the world wide web, but my DVD player, my Netflix and my DVR. I do have basic cable but I can only watch so many reruns of Seinfeld and Two and Half Men (take notice CBS), before you just need to do something.

So what did I do? Well, I took to the kitchen and made like a Top Chef. I made vegan kale chips, granola bars, spaghetti and garlic bread, a Thrive pizza, vegan pesto, and a bunch of new salad combinations. The best part about the week is that I finally crossed a huge threshold that has been staring me down for the better part of four months.

Nutrional Yeast. EWW, right? Yes, it does sound gross, but seriously get over it right now, because cheese is moldy milk, beer is fermented wheat and mushrooms are fungi. It’s yeast that is grown on molasses and unlike the yeast used in bread, it is not alive or active. When you buy it from the store, it comes in light yellow flakes and is almost odorless.


But the best part about it is that it melts and tastes like mild cheddar cheese, and it’s chock full of vitamins. One serving (3 tablespoons) has more than your daily recommended allowance of B-1, B-2, B-3, B-6, folic acid, and B-12, plus nine grams of protein, five grams of fiber, and only eight calories. Sounds like a power food if ever one were to exist. I used the nutritional yeast in Averie's vegan kale chips recipe, which also included a ton of cashews. It didn’t quite come out looking the same way and I think its because I used the food processor instead of the blender. The second time I added a dollop of tahini because I heard that goes well with nutritional yeast, but the flavor was a bit too powerful for me.

So don’t be afraid. Try them! And if you still can’t get your mind around nutritional yeast, then get your fabulous behind to a health food store and buy some and try some. Trust me, you will be surprised that vegetables can be so deliciously bad.