Wine and Love (6)

Wine and Love (6)

It's time for this week's Wine and Love, hosted by Nora. This is where you list the things that are happening this week that are making you reach for the wine and all the things that you love!

WINE: 

- Not working. It sucks. I wouldn't mind it if I knew that I had a sure thing coming at some point, but not knowing the when or where is hard sometimes. I knew it would be like this going in, and I have money saved just for this reason, but still, when there is no "end" in sight, it is hard to plan the rest of my life.

- My running headphones are broken. I can only hear out of one ear bud. I guess it's time for new ones, but I swear, I go through about 2 pairs of them each year! It's getting to be an expensive habit!

- I haven't been reading. In March, so far, I have only read ONE book. I know it's my own fault; I am not making time for it, but I miss it. I need to fit it back into my schedule. I am pretty much on track for my 12 in 2012 reading challenge still, but I need to get in gear or I may fall behind!

- Gas Prices:

LOVE: 

- That I have more loves than wines.

- Today, I am on a plane headed to see one of my best friends! She and I plan on doing LOTS of catching up, eating, window shopping, walks and time spent together. I can't wait.

- This week my brother met up with me in the city and we went to the Fillmore to see the Kaiser Chiefs. I haven't been to a concert in a long time, but it reminded me how much I love going to see live music!

- Sunday I had a great chat on the phone with both of my parents. It's nice to catch up and to hear their voices. I miss them.

- I finally bought new running shoes! I wore them for the first time on Tuesday for a 6 mile run and they feel GREAT! I was waiting to get a good deal; I looked online and compared prices and then ended up going to Sports Authority because they were having a sale PLUS 20% off one item. I scored my shoes for $50! Hurray! I was hoping to spend less that $70, so this was a steal of a deal!

- The weather. Right now we are having perfect, 45-50 degree days. It is great running weather, the sky has been clear and on my runs I can see all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge! I love it.

- One of my goals was to do yoga one day a week. I am doing it, although only for about 15 or 20 minutes, but it feels great. I am trying to build it up, little by little and am looking forward to seeing where it takes me!

What's on your wine/love list this week? What earphones do you use? How much is gas where you live?

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Wine and Love (5)

Wine and Love (5)

Happy Thursday and Welcome to March! You know the drill; today we talk about what makes us whine, or why we feel like we need a glass of wine, vs what we love! Thanks to Nora for hosting. Make sure to go over to her site and link up!

{Wine}

- Top Chef is over! I won't spoil anything but the one I wanted to win, won! I guess this is kind of a funny wine, since I didn't watch the season really during the season. But I just caught up with it on my friend's On Demand and now I am sad that there is not another season to watch. That's what happens with the On Demand. They hook you!

- I have been very unmotivated lately. It's like being unmotivated begets being unmotivated. The less I feel like doing, the less I do and then I just feel like doing even less. Why is that? When I am super busy, I get so many more things done, even though I have less time. When I have time to actually do all those "to-dos" I always wanted to try/do, I don't WANT to!

- I have also been very hungry lately. Oddly enough, I have been eating more, but the things have less calories. I have been eating a lot of fresh veggies and salads and things like that, but I must be eating 10 pounds of food a day! ps I checked on Answers.com to see what the average person eats and it's 4.7 lbs/day.

- The weather has been a lot cooler this week. I am not REALLY complaining, because it's snowing in Mr. Lovely's neck of the wood (and yours?) but still, I was LOVING the 70 degree days last week! 

- Running or lack thereof. So far, I've only run twice this week. Again, see wine #2. It has been very hard to get out the door and just do it. 

{Love}

- Remember the Pilgrimage? My goal was to write 400 words a day, starting the 8th of February and going (at least) through the end of the month. My average per day was 488! I am happy about this, but want to try to step it up a little more in March.

- The weather this week. Okay, so it's not as nice as last week, but it's still not winter! So that makes me happy. It's actually perfect for running.

- Spring Break! Mr. Lovely, who went back to school, has a break coming up and we are going to hopefully spend it lying on the beach, sipping cold drinks and watching all the drunk college kids make fools of themselves. I mean, why not?

- This weekend I go to see my parents and to run my #3 Half Marathon. It is in a beautiful place and I am looking forward to the location, the race, and visiting with family!

- Remember this friend of mine? The adult? Her and I are going to a Chinese New Year celebration. Yes, we know it's a little late, but her friend, who is Chinese, is too busy during the actual time, so she has a party a month later. She spends over a week prepping for it by cooking up various things. I can't wait to see what she made! And eat it!

- Yoga. I did a half an hour today. I also did a half an hour of weights. It was one of my goals for the year to try to do something besides running at least once a week. It felt great and I did it while watching Top Chef so it was easy! I don't know why it's so hard for me to make time for it!

Do you do yoga? How was your hump/leap day yesterday? How is the weather where you are?

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Wine and Love (4)

Wine and Love (4)

I have not done one of these in a while! In case you forgot, or you haven't done this before, here is the scoop. You list what things this week are making you reach for the wine and what things you are loving! Easy, right? You can go over to Nora's site for a linkup!

Things that are making me reach for the wine this week:

- People who walk three abreast on the bike trail and don't even consider moving when you try to pass by them, turning sideways and trying to be as skinny as possible.

- Drivers who drive 55 in the fast lane. In their Prius. So they can get optimal gas mileage for their car. I am all for you getting good gas mileage, but do it in the right hand lane please.

- The unknown. The fear caused by it. This may actually warrant a martini. Or a shot of whiskey.

- Pet hair. I went to visit my brother and now I look like a walking lint brush advertisement.

- That BMW driver on the freeway. Why is it that they are always jerks? 

Things that I am loving this week:

- Visiting my brother and his girlfriend. We had a great time hanging out, cooking, eating and catching up on Kitchen Nightmares.

- Spending quality time with K & A. Every time I go and see them, that little girl is bigger and bigger! I feel like time is flying by when I see her!

- Running in a new place each day! I like to map out different runs depending on where I am staying, so I ran in 4 different places this week! It keeps it from getting boring, even if it does take a bit more time to plan.

- Going grocery shopping. Yes, I love it. It makes me happy to buy food, prepare dishes and eat them! When I am having a bad day, cooking is my stress release.

- Being in the Bay Area. Near my friends and family and Trader Joes.

- Spring. Or whatever this is. It was 70 degrees today.

Overall, this has been a great week! I have more plans to see friends this weekend so it's shaping up to be another great week again!


How was your week? What made you want a glass of wine? What do you love about your week?

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Come on, Ride The Train

Come on, Ride The Train

I know you were wondering, "don't you have a marathon coming up in a few weeks?" Or maybe you had forgotten, since I haven’t talked a lot about it. I do have one coming up and believe me, I have not forgotten. Each weekend, I have been dragging myself for hours down a path, a road or a trail, so that I can get my long run in. Every week, four times a week, I run up mountains, over dales and around bear poo, in order to get those training miles in! I was joking with my Mom the other day about how it’s not the mail carrier who braves the elements, it’s the runners! I've run in hail, sleet, rain and snow! Uphill both ways! Barefoot! (okay I may have gotten a tad carried away there)

It’s been pretty cold, with temperatures in the 40s and winds and sometimes snow, but the train must go on. So, how is it going, you ask? In fact, it’s going pretty well. I have been supplementing runs alone with races on the weekends, which definitely makes the running time go by faster. Here is a quick recap.

October 30: My long run of 18 miles was a few weeks ago. It was long. I ran in a place that was new to me and I accidentally ran on the wrong trail, which took me up a hill and caused me to have to backtrack, as well as being tired due to the additional hills. It was also about 75 degrees, which I was not expecting, since I had been running in 40 degree weather. So I had too many clothes on and ended up drinking a ton of water and still being a little overheated afterwards. In fact, I felt a little nauseous, but it must have been the heat factor, because a Frappuccino made me feel much better!

November 6: Luckily the long runs are staggered, so for this weekend I only* had to run 14 miles. I took advantage of this and signed up for The Almond Bowl Half Marathon. It went really well (click link for race recap).

November 13: The dreaded 20 mile run. This was my last long run before the taper started.  I was a little nervous beforehand becuase a) it's TWENTY miles! and b) I was going to visit a friend of mine and had never run in her area. It went fine. Another friend ended up running 5 miles with me and then heading back. I felt good actually, as in, not as bad as I thought I would. I think I am going to live, folks.

TODAY: I am really, REALLY glad that the taper is beginning. Especially since it is pretty good timing with Thanksgiving coming. I couldn't have planned it better myself.  This means that this weekend I only have to run 12 miles and next weekend, I only have to run 8, which is...I have to admit, a blessing. And then it's Marathon time! I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't nervous. 

BUT, in the last 457 weeks, okay 18 really, I have come pretty far. I feel good about that. 18 weeks ago I could barely run 2 miles. Not only do I feel more focused and healthier, but really I feel that am ready for the marathon. I may not be the fastest person there, but I will finish. I have it all tested out. I have my hydration belt worn in; I figured out what fuel works best for me; I have my lucky pair of shorts; I have a pair of shoes that will carry me. I know I can do it, but that good old reliable nervousness is starting to set in anyway. 

So, two more weeks of training and then...the big day. And a lot of turkey in between! 

*OhMyGoodness. I just said “only” 14 miles. That was weird. 

 Are you training for anything right now? Are the holidays going to cause a setback? What is the weather like where you are now?

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Marvelous Marin

Marvelous Marin

If you have never been to the Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur, you need to hightail it down there right NOW and get yourself a Point Reyes Porter. If you have never been to Point Reyes, you should go there either before or after going for a beer. Your choice. It is a little sticky outie thing (a point, hence the name, I guess) about an hour north of San Francisco that has the cutest tiny little lighthouse on it. You can walk down to the lighthouse or you can go surfing or beach-combing nearby.  {Photo Credit} **If you are from the Bay Area, you are hopefully have fingers crossed with me that the Giants are kicking Diamondback booty! (or already did, depending on when you are reading this)**

If you are new here, welcome. What we do each Sunday (inspired by Kim's Grab a Beer and Look What I Did Last Week) is get comfy on the couch, get your favorite brewsky out of the fridge and check out what happened last week! You can join in by going to Kim's site and leaving your link there! Let's get started!

____________________________

As you may have already heard about my race recap post, my Dad came into town and we did some Missouri style sight seeing. This may be my new favorite barn. 

We took a hike at the Trail of Tears State Park. You walk along the Mississippi for a while and sometimes the bluffs are pretty huge! It's a lot different from the Mississippi that is near New Orleans!

Then we headed to the district fair. Where we ate copious amounts of fried foods in the name of carb loading.  And we saw things like this. Huh, camouflage is a good look for a pickup and is only enhanced by the addition of the hand-made sign on the back.

I found a new ride. Sweet, huh? I'm really loving the color and it handles like a dream. 

Then there was the race. This girl whupped my butt. Probably because she was more streamlined than I was. And had sportier glasses. Actually, this was before the race, where I said to my Dad, "huh, I bet she is from South Africa". So he, being the Dad that he is, goes up to her and says, "where are you from?" "South Africa," she says. "Can  you take a photo with my daughter?" Aw, DaaaAaad! Some things will never change. (PS she was a good sport and a very nice girl)

After the race, I ate a whole ramakin of cheese. And a strawberry shortcake. In the name of recovery.

A few wise words: 

And...last night I parked my car in the "red car" parking section. If you think you are smart and are going to take down my plate number and find me in rural MO, you are wrong. It's a rental and you may just be stalking an overweight, hairy, biker. But that would be funny. I shouldn't have told you. You would have had quite a surprise!

Well this was not a very exciting week in photos, but probably because work has been super busy! We are getting close to finishing up in our area and who knows where we will be off to next. A new hotel, a new running trail, a new set of coworkers, like I mentioned earlier this week. 

What about you? What did you do this week? Has your week been busy/slow? Boring/fun? Are you doing anything fun this weekend?

Also, I added a new thingy -- if you like this post, you can Stumble It. The icon is right at the bottom of the post (probably right below this line here).

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3:12 White Balance

3:12 White Balance

Welcome to Week Three of 12 Weeks To Better Photos! This week our task was to learn about White Balance. Even with a point and shoot, this is a fun experiment to try! The button should look like this one on the left, the little plus and minus in a box. Don't forget to go to Kate's page where you can link up after you've tried this experiment! HERE is the pdf for week three. It's also not too late to try weeks one and two as well! The links will be up until the end of the 12 week course!

source

Here are the common WB settings (missing from this list is Auto and Custom, which is different for each camera). In case you were wondering, Florescent is office or warehouse type lighting. Tungsten is the normal yellow bulbs you use at home. I think the others are self explanatory. 

Our task this week was to try all the different settings to see what the differences were. We were also tasked to learn how to set and use our custom setting (which is not on the above menu) which you have to do using a white piece of paper (so your camera knows what "white" should look like in the current light).

The question to answer was: What can I do to combat color cast in indoor photos? 

The subject once again was, you guessed it, Papa P. But today for you penguin lovers out there, we have a surprise guest... MAMA P (I know you were wondering about Papa, but don't let the top hat and bow tie fool you)!! Here they are, in all their penguin glory, in 5 settings: Custom, Auto, Tungsten, Florescent and Sunny.

Notice they are each a little different in coloring. Some are more yellowish, some more bluish. Actually, since Papa and Mama are dark and the chair behind them is dark, this is not a great example. I just wanted to introduce you to Mama. Here is a better example. My white shirt has a better contrast.

So now you see. Sunny is a little too yellow; tungsten is more blue and florescent is more pink. Custom is supposed to balance out the white, but I may have set it wrong, becuase I still prefer Auto. I definitely need more practice. This is a good experiment though becuase even though I did not show my face, it too would be...yellowish, bluish or pinkish. And nobody wants that. It is important to have the right White Balance, or you may look jaundiced, sad or drunk.

Which one do you think is the "truest white"? Have you experimented with White Balance? Do you have a favorite photo you'd like to share? Put your answers and the link in the comments below!

Join us next Thursday for Week Four: Flash.

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I'll Drink To That

I'll Drink To That

So I have only heard this song a couple of times, and it is SO stuck in my head! So, Happy Sunday and here it is for your head.
So, like she says: Cheers to the Freakin' Weekend, I'll Drink to That!!

Now, for another episode of Kim Inspired Grab a Beer and Look What I Did Last Week!  I took a little road trip. It's very important to have plenty to eat and drink when you are in the car. (ps I use old cottage cheese containers as Tupperware. Classy, I know)

 This store had a bit of everything. Need a wedding dress? No? How about a Snuggie?

This guy has the right idea.

I went out for Fondue. I love cheese! 

Yum, yum, yum.

 

You may have noticed that I have a tiny pony fetish. It can't be helped. Look how cute they are!Is it just me, or are there a lot of tiny ponies in MO? I don't remember there being this many at home.

OH! There they are, my Tupperware! They even come with labels. Notice the one on the left. Be good or I will put you in there too!

I went Thrift Store Shopping! Yay. And they had everything but the kitchen sink. 

Oh wait, there it is!

 Instead of the sink, I bought all three sweaters, a pair of jeans, some books and three long sleeved shirts and a jacket.I didn't pack for cooler weather apparently. Obviously I didn't have enough books before.

Stephany, if you are reading this: I lied. I do go shopping more than once a year. Sorry.

In total (3 sweaters, 1 jacket, 1 pair of jeans, 3 long sleeves and a "few" books) = $25.

 

 

On 9.11, my uncle and my cousin, who are Firefighters, were in the pregame ceremony at AT&T park in San Francisco. They are my heros. Plus they are Giant's fans. 

(Did you read THIS POST? The Uncle below was the one that took me to my first game!)

(I did not take this photo. I am not sure where it came from. I think it's a freeze frame from a TV station)

The Fair is in town! Below is my running trail, plus, if you look closely, in the background is the fairgrounds (and my favorite ride!) I can't wait to eat some fried butter! (<-- seriously, click on this if you want to have a heart attack).

Just kidding. But I think a funnel cake may be necessary for my pre-race carb loading. Right?
 

 I sent some books to someone. I was trying to recycle an envelope and all I had was scotch tape, so this is what it ended up as. My Mom would scorn me. Don't I know how to properly wrap a package? Don't I have a few dollars to spend on proper tape? 

Apparently not. 

Sorry Ma.

We had a huge storm which darkened the sky and sent the rabbits scurrying. This photo was taken around 4 o'clock. It looks like 7 o'clock, right? The good thing is that it was about 95 that day and the next day, it was in the 60s! Sweet!

 And then I rode off into the sunset on my trusty steed.

How was your week? Have you ever eaten deep fried butter? (or been to see the butter cow at the Iowa State Fair?)Do you like Thrift Store Shopping? Or Rihanna?

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The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth

The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth

I was going to take a Day Off today, but when The Lightning and The Lightning Bug picked me for their writer of the week, of course I had to join in with their Dare to Share link up! In case you don't know about it, each Saturday, Katie picks a topic for the weekend. You write on the topic, post it and link up HERE. It's one of my favorite link ups, since I frequently blog in "laundry list" form. It gets me out of my laziness comfort zone and encourages me to write about topics I may not explore otherwise.

This week's topic is: Fight For Your Right: write about something that involves standing up for something you believe in. You can stand up for a cause, support your opinion, or just rant about something that makes you mad.

I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things, but generally I do not voice them. I do not fight for as many rights as I should be fighting for. I would rather seethe with anger under my skin than say anything. Actually, I wouldn’t rather seethe, not really. I would like to know how to effectively stand up for what I want, to voice my opinion without getting unnecessarily angry. 

My boyfriend and his family are very vocal. If they have something to say, they say it, and in my mind, sometimes it’s a little much. To them, this is the way they are, honest, sometimes brutally so. To me, it is scary. This is not to say that he or his family are wrong in the way they express their anger and opinions, they just do it differently from my family, which probably has a lot of un-spoken issues, just waiting to explode. 

This makes for an interesting relationship. There are many instances where he is yelling at me to, “tell him what I want” and I am silently staring him down with the evil eye and my mouth drawn tight in a line and my hands clenched in my lap. He thinks I am thinking what an A-hole he is, while really I am thinking of all the things I could have said or should be saying. I am crafting a discussion in my head, as if it were an essay. First I will say X and then, he will say Y. If he says Z, I will say W. But he will probably say V instead. 

So when I finally squeak out my answer from my clenched lips, which of course NEVER comes out the way that it was playing in my head, I never really feel as satisfied as I thought I would. It usually comes out gruffer, more hurt or angrier than I really am. Why can’t I just say what I mean, and say what I want, and say it nicely? Why can’t I stand up for myself without making it a big deal? I don’t know. Maybe it would work better if my relationship were letter based, like in the olden days. 

“My love, I have missed you so much. Perhaps when we finally see each other, we can go to that brunch place I have wanted to try. Love, your sweetheart forever. “

Did those people fight over nothing when they finally met up for brunch?

I am learning, however. Learning that it is better to just say what you want, what YOU need. This may not avoid an argument, but at least all bets will be on the table and you can go from there. You have to SAY what you want to even come close to working to get it. It’s like winning the lottery; you are never going to win if you don’t play. 

As Mick Jagger said, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” 

______

Also on a totally unrelated note, I have a race tomorrow and here is the weather forecast. Bummer. So please everyone, cross your fingers for clarity (and lower humidity) between 7:30 and 9:30 tomorrow morning! Thanks! 

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2:12 ISO and Shutter Speed

2:12 ISO and Shutter Speed

Hello everyone and welcome to Week Two of the 12 week photo course, which focuses on ISO and Shutter Speed.  Hopefully you have joined in this week. If not, it's not too late. You can find the assignment for  Week Two HERE. Also, if you want to catch up, the pdf for Week One is here and you can still link up for the assignment over at Twenty-Six To Life. <---- click there to get to the week one link up!  Click HERE to go to her site for this week's link up!

This week the question was: When should I use a faster shutter speed?

I often shoot in Shutter Priority (the little S) Mode, since it allows me to manipulate the light by changing the shutter speed and ISO. However, I always need extra tips and it was nice to go through step by step instead of just playing around with it when I am trying to take important photos! 

Our assignment was to put an object (I used a glass) in the sink under running water and try changing your shutter speed (and consequently your ISO) in order to see what happens. Here is what I ended up with. Excuse the quality, or lack of it.

For the first photo, I used a slow shutter, which gives the water a silky effect. However, the light was hard to control. If I upped the ISO, it was too bright, but as you can see, this one is not really light enough.

The second. Better light, not so silky water. You can start to see the bubbles, which means the higher shutter speed is stopping the motion a little.

Here we have a faster shutter speed, which means you have to put the ISO up even more or else you don't get enough light in that little bit of time. Notice the bubbles are more pronounced.

In this last one, you can see the individual water drops. However, the shutter speed is so fast, barely any light is getting in, so I had to bump the ISO WAY up, which causes the photo to be grainy.

After we were done playing in the sink, the assignment was to use your manual setting and your light meter to find a good light balance, becuase as you can see from the (bad) photos above, the light is the most important element. 

Below, once again, is Papa P. He will probably be a regular feature. He holds nice and still. (click over to Kate's site and see who HER regular feature is!)

After doing the assignment, I experimented indoors and out to find a good balance of light. 

Inside: Slow shutter, high ISO

Outside: Fast shutter / low ISO

So, what I have decided is that I need more practice, especially with moving objects, as the shutter speed will change a lot when the movement changes a lot.

Have you experimented with different shutter speeds? 

Have you used the manual setting on your camera?

Join us next week for Week Three: The Color of Light

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Message Received

Message Received

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Communicating is sometimes hard for me. I don't always like to talk on the phone; I am not very good at expressing myself vocally; I prefer to write things in a letter or a journal or on a post it note. When I was young, my mother used to yell at me and I would just glare at her wordlessly. I am not good with words. If there is a "wrong thing" to say, I may accidentally say it. I take that back, I will probably say it. So I sometimes keep quiet instead.

When I went to college, I received my very first email address from CSU, Sacramento. I had no idea what to do with it. The only people I knew with email addresses were the other students in my classes, and I could just talk to them. Why would I go all the way to the computer lab to email someone that lived right next door to me in the dorms? However, I did go over there to sometimes play solitaire on the computer between classes. Other than that, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about, maybe because there was no fuss.

The first time I went abroad, I lived and worked in France for three months. Every couple of weeks, I would buy a phone card and go and stand on the street at a pay phone and call my parents to let them know that I was okay, where I had been and what I was doing. I sent post cards and letters and beer labels home to my friends. I wrote in my journal and kept a box of scrapbook worthy items (mostly beer labels). There were internet cafes, but they were mostly full of people smoking and drinking coffee in front of empty computer stations. I did have an email address, but I still did not know a lot of people who had emails themselves, nor was using email as a means of communication yet a habit.

I am learning to communicate. I am still not very good at doing it vocally. However, through the means of email, I have learned to ask questions and to ask for help; I have asked people out on lunch dates that I may not have asked before; I have learned things about people that I would not have asked them about. I have made friends that I probably would not have made if I had to pick up the phone and talk to them, not only around the world, but even on a smaller scale such as around the office at work.

Both the internet and I have come very far since the 90s. I did not have that first email address until I was 18. I didn’t really use it until I was 22. And then that was ALL I used the internet for. I didn’t even own my own computer until I was 26. I didn’t need it! I went to the computer lab to study and to write papers and to do research on the internet. Now I use it to find knowledge and different worlds and great people.

The communication lines are now open.

I always wonder if I would be different if I had been a child in a world full of Internet. Would I know more or less? Would I be more outgoing or less? Would I still hand-write Thank You cards or not?

This post is part of the Write on Edge RemembeRED prompt. Today's assignment was:

Many of us remember life before the internet. We wrote letters instead of emails, used encyclopedias instead of Google, and went to parties that weren’t of the Twitter variety. For this week’s prompt, we want you to recall those early memories of being online. Tell us how it impacted your life and what it meant for you. Write about your experience in 600 words or less.



Now tell me -- do YOU remember the days before the internet? When did you get your first email address? When did you actually start to use the internet regularly?

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