Rachel Toor's Blog, page 17

Gender and Competition

In February I was supposed to do a talk/reading from my book, Personal Record, at the EWU women's center. I had to bail on it because, well, my mother died.

It seems you can run, but you can't hide. They asked me to reschedule, and I agreed. It will be tomorrow at noon.

So I've have more time to think about how I want to do this. I had a chance to look back at my book, think about what I did well, and what I did not so well. I feel I did a pretty good job of describing what running meant to me--w

Walk and Talk for the Cure

This Sunday morning I am looking forward to combining some of my least favorite things--a big race, a 5K (too short to even bother lacing up your running shoes for) and walking--to do some of my favorite things--be with a group of people I adore, spend an hour just talking, and raising money for a good cause.

We will be meeting in the parking lot of the creative writing program's building (501 Riverpoint) at 8am for a warm-up jog of about 30 minutes--at the dean's target heart rate. Then we will

The Pig Redux

It was a bit surprising today to have the FedEx guy leave me a box full of Pigs. I'd kind of forgotten that the Bison Books edition was coming out this spring. It's now available at Amazon. And I guess you could ask for it at your local indy bookseller.

How great to finally have a cover I love, and to be rid of the god-awful subtitles.[image error]

EWU Faculty Reading

On Monday, April 13, we will be having our annual Eastern Washington University creative writing faculty reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Empryean Cafe in lovely downtown Spokane.

Please, someone, stop me from eating an entire chocolate "no-bake" cookie. They're fantastic, but a little goes a long way. I always forget that and eat until I'm sick.[image error]

Finding a Dentist in Spokane

One of the hard parts of moving to a new place is finding the folks who can take care of you, not just the friends, but the professionals. I feel that I finally have a posse of peeps here, good friends who make me laugh and will hold me when I cry.

I have an accountant who seems very nice, and whose wife (receptionist) is a warm delight. I have a massage therapist who lets me hit him and curse at him if he goes too deep, but he doesn't back off when he knows I need it. I have a dermatologist who

Page Proof

Oh, how nice to be back writing for my regular readership. My latest Page Proof column was published this morning, and I've already had some lovely email messages, links to it from blogs, and a request to reprint. I love writing for academics. Beats the heck out of writing for MDs.

Here's the essay.[image error]

Project Runway

As usual, I was late to this party. Thanks to Netflix, I've just watched the first season.

I'm not much into fashion (though I did just publish a column called "Pre-race Couture" in Running Times, about going to thrift stores to outfit myself during the long, cold waits before the start of marathons), but, as everyone else in the world already knows, this show is really about creativity and vision.

One thing that struck me: All those horrible homophobic boys (and girls) who picked on the flamboya

I get paid to do this

It's the start of a new quarter. The university quarter system is just plain weird. First, it's not really quarters for most of us. It's thirds. So now, after coming back from spring break, we're starting a brand new term. When the sun is finally shining, and it's warm outside, we will still be in stuffy classrooms. I don't like this part.

But what I do like is teaching. I can't believe that I get paid to do this. This quarter I have one of my favorite classes, the senior capstone course for crea

Anyone out there?

Does anyone ever read this? I'm not used to writing and getting no response. At least the doctors were quick to tell me how stupid I am (You need to take a deep breath," said one surgeon). Recently I got a bunch of emails in response to my Lynn essay from hot women deans who dress well. We would be friends with them.

But truly, if you are reading this blog, could you leave a comment, if only to tell me how stupid I am? I hate not knowing. (Whether or not people are reading; I'm pretty sure I'm s

Peeped

Since I got back to Spokane, I have been on a sugar high. It's because I came home to a house that had been Peeped. Everywhere I looked, there were Peeps. Not just the canonical yellow marshmallow chicks, but also pink, blue, purple, orange, and green ones, and some pink and purple bunnies. At first I thought they were color coordinated, then I realized that they were just doing what all smart critters do, and trying to blend in with their environment--a blue Peep in a nest of blue plastic straw