Inside the Mind of Suz

World Famous Pig Run 5k

The 2010 version of the World Famous Pig Run 5k at the Columbus Jazz & Ribfest is next Saturday, July 24th. It looks promising and let me tell you why: it starts at 7PM.

I know a lot of people wake up and run first thing in the morning. Good for y’all! I don’t roll like that, though. I run at night. 8AM 5K races will be run as a last resort, and only when there are no options for later races. My body simply does not function properly in the AM hours.

I usually like to decide on a race and then give myself a couple of weeks of fine tuning to get ready. This one would give me maybe 1 or 2 more trial runs (Sun/Tues or Mon/Wed), then I’d need to rest the legs ahead of race day. I’ll sleep on it. If I can’t do this race, it might be another month before another evening one shows up…

The TV Gods have answered our prayers; they are allowing up to see a new season of TBS’ hit comedy “My Boys”!

About time! Now, if they would give us some reruns during the off-season, I’d be even happier, but beggars can’t be choosy, I guess.

Anyway, check out the new Season 4 promo below:

And be sure to watch season premiere, July 25th at 10 PM (ET) on TBS.

If I had a quarter for every time I’ve seen someone (mostly on Twitter) make a comment about the way my boy Evan Turner speaks, it would fund a nice trip to Vegas; which, coincidentally, I need to start saving for.

There are harmless comments, which I don’t mind seeing because a lot of people have just started becoming familiar with him. But it’s the ones making uncalled for comments and jokes that make me want to gouge people’s eyes out. But again, these people probably wouldn’t make those comments if they knew his back story. I try to keep that in mind, but it’s just so damn tacky.

So this post is dedicated to NBA fans, and Philadelphia 76ers fans in particular.

Don’t know his back story? Let me fill you in right quick. Evan had a rough beginning to his life. He had so many incidents and medical issues in his early years. Consider this short passage from ESPN:

A strapping 10-pound baby at birth, Turner had chicken pox, pneumonia, asthma and measles before he celebrated a birthday. When a measles epidemic swept through Chicago in the winter of 1989, Iris found her baby so ill he couldn’t even cry. She called a doctor who, presumably figuring she was exaggerating, suggested she come to the office. Guided instead by her mother’s instincts, Iris took him to the emergency room.

“Doctors took one look at him and just took him away,” Iris said. “They had tubes and machines and everything there in a second. He nearly died.”

Turner survived the measles but had severe breathing problems. Surgery to remove his adenoids and tonsils eventually eased the struggles, but for the first year of his life, Turner slept on his mother’s chest every night because when she put him on his back in his crib, he would almost stop breathing.

Continuing through his Job-like childhood, Turner survived being hit by a car as a 3-year-old (his mother saw him flip in the air and land on his head, but Turner walked away with just a concussion and stitches).

Oh, but there’s more…

He also struggled to speak as a toddler. Saddled with oversize baby teeth and a difficult overbite, he was capable of talking, but only his older brother, Darius, could understand him. Even Iris would turn to Darius for interpretation and translation from the boy who called her “Bobba” because he couldn’t say “Momma.”

“I don’t know what he would have done without Darius,” Iris said of her two boys’ special bond.

Intense speech therapy helped Turner, but the sting of special classes and the frustration of not being understood left Turner reserved and insecure. “I’d be yelling, ‘Darius, what does he want? What does he want?’ and poor Evan would get so frustrated, he’d say, “Oh, nebber minb [mimicking the way Turner spoke].”

Still got jokes?

And no, he is not deaf. I’ve seen quite a few people asking that.

Just want people to keep that in mind next time they’re ready to go in on Evan Turner’s voice. He’s going to be a force in the NBA, so learn the story, spread it, and get used to hearing him speak!

S/O: Did y’all peep Evan’s NBA debut in his Orlando summer league game tonight? He had almost as many rebounds as points. Should sound familiar to us Buckeye fans. He was also rocking Scarlet shoes. Once a Buckeye…

Postgame interview after you jump!
(more…)

Evan Turner continues his post NBA draft tour tonight in his hometown by throwing out the 1st pitch at the Cubs/Pirates game. He also gave a so-so rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch. But let’s be real. Has anyone ever heard a really good celebrity take on the popular tune? Hmmmm…

Good thing he has that whole basketball thing going for him, right? Still love me some ET, though!

Here are some pics of him at the game, all found on Twitter via Crowdreel (awesome, awesome resource for photos shared via Twitter. Check it out!)

Catch his ceremonial pitch from his Philly debut, Friday, after the jump…shot. (more…)

My trials and tribulations with Windows are well documented on my Twitter account. The saga took an ugly turn a couple of weeks ago when we had a sudden power outage. I didn’t know it at the time, but it pretty much sentenced my hard drive to death.

After we got power back my comp was acting really strange. Freezing and hanging at random times, when it hadn’t done so before. I was also have start up problems and receiving sporadic I/O errors. I tried repairing my Windows installation but it kept telling me that I needed drivers and wouldn’t accept the ones I was offering up. I began to pull my weave out.

A few times, there were glimmers of hope. I’d get Windows to load and get to browse around. I even wiped my disk and reinstalled Windows successfully. That only lasted a day, however.

Frustrated, I declared my desktop computer, Butch, dead.

I let him sit for a day and think about what he did and how he was going to make this up to me. Then I thought about how I didn’t want to give up on fixing this because it would be a while before I could afford another computer since I just got this one in October. I was contemplating selling one of my prize telephoto lenses, Bessie, to give me some cash.

Then I remember that Ubuntu was much more friendly to systems than Windows and would probably buy me some more time to figure out what was wrong with Butch. I loaded the live CD and installed it over Windows as my primary (and only) operating system. After everything was all configured Ubuntu flashed a warning alert after booting up that let me know that my main hard drive was thisclose to failing! Its exact words were “DISK FAILURE IS IMMINENT!” — and yes, it was in all caps!

So was this why I’d been having so many problems? The hard drive? I thought it was something more serious like the motherboard. Getting a replacement hard drive was a piece of cake solution! I went to Best Buy today and picked up a nice Western Digital Caviar Green 500 GB drive. I spent the better part of the evening installing it and Windows.

And now, I am writing this post from my desktop that has returned from the dead! And it’s all thanks to Ubuntu! Don’t sleep on it if you’re having Windows problems and can’t afford to upgrade to a Mac! I probably would have kept it, even on this new drive, if it weren’t for the fact that I need to be able to use iTunes for my iPhone. (Ubuntu isn’t compatible without jumping through a lot of hoops, and even then it’s not guaranteed to work)

BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

The only reason I watch the WNBA, the amazing Candace Parker, has been placed on the LA Sparks IR. (Yes, I’m aware basketball teams don’t have IRs, but just go with me here, ok?)

She dislocated her left shoulder in a recent game and is out for the remainder of the season now that it’s been revealed that the injured shoulder needs surgery.

So, what do I do now? Is it football season yet, or what?

In other CP3 news, Candace is up for the Subway Sportswoman of the Year at next week’s (June 27) BET Awards.

ETA: Candace tweeted her thanks for fan support after news spread that she was on the shelf for the rest of the season.

I have quite a few guilty pleasures on TV. I just started watching Betty White’s new show “Hot In Cleveland”, after all! I do watch some reality programs, but not of the competition variety, or any of the stupid crap on MTV. I like a lot of E!’s and Bravo’s shows, though.

One of those is the Rachel Zoe Project featuring megastylist Rachel Zoe. The new trailer for her upcoming 3rd season is out and I can’t wait!

Season 3 premieres Wednesday, August 3rd at 10 PM (ET)!

It happens every year. And every year, a voice in the back of my mind says “there’s no way!” or “I’m not sure we’re ready!”

What am I talking about? The Week 5, Day 3 Couch to 5k running workout that moves us up to one 20 minute run after only previously doing a max of 8 minutes. I always see it as this huge obstacle and almost dread it as it looms; this year was no different.

But every year I do it (with no stopping), and when I’m done I’m proud and almost surprised that I was able to complete the run.

At this stage of my c25k training, I’m usually pretty good to go after about 8-10 minutes. I’m able to settle into a comfortable stride with good and productive form. This is confirmed by how my pace (according to RunKeeper gets faster every 5 minute segment).

I completed the 20 minute run on Saturday and it was the most muggy and humid day of the year so far. So gross outside! At first I could barely breath and thought “oh boy, this is going to be a rough workout!”, but it really wasn’t bad once I got going.

I come to this conclusion every year, so I thought I’d share this small bit of wisdom to anyone who reads this. Even if you don’t think you’re going very fast, it doesn’t matter. Just know that if you continue to push through, chances are it probably will get easier. So keep running!

P.S. BEP’s “I Gotta Feeling” is pretty much the perfect song to use for a warm-up or cool down walk. Great BPM pace for me. Same with Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”, BEP’s “Let’s Get Retarded/It Started”, and Michael Jackson’s “Leave Me Alone”.

P.P.S. I had an old high school friend ask me about my podcasts on iTunes. I briefly shared with her that I had had trouble making my XML file iTunes compliant, so I abandoned all hope of getting it back on iTunes. Well, I’m trying again. Hopefully I can figure it out this time!

I always come to this conclusion after the NFL holds their draft, but never really put my thoughts down in writing…UNTIL NOW!

Dear NFL GM’s,

Please stop drafting players that play one position only to move them to another one after you sign them. This isn’t the NBA, where teams frequently draft the “best available” and then figure out where to put them later. There are only 5 positions in basketball, so it’s a lot easier to mix and match than in professional football where there are complex defensive and offensive schemes. Draft the wrong player and you set yourself back a ton of $$$ and potential success on the field.

For instance, if your team runs a 3-4 defense, why draft a player who has played nothing but DE his whole career, and then try to immediately turn him into an pass-rushing OLB. It’s not the same thing!

Then you and your fanbase will bad mouth them if they don’t mirror their collegiate production from the 1st snap. It simply doesn’t work like that!

Now, I understand that if you’re paying all that money, players should be able to learn a new position. Totally understand that. But if your expectation is that he learn it during fall camp and have it perfected by the 1st regular season game, you need your head checked. That’s just not realistic! Players take years to learn their positions and you knew what you were getting when you drafted them. Don’t act all shocked if they suck at the position you moved them to. You don’t draft a kicker to QB your team, do you? (Yea, bad example, but sometimes I feel like these teams are that stupid)

You’ve got no one to blame but yourself for your 1st round NFL Draft disasters. If you have a position that is a crucial and immediate need, DRAFT SOMEONE WHO HAS PRODUCED AT THAT POSITION IN COLLEGE or go the free agency route! If you can afford to wait a year or two before heavily relying on this player, then by all means, take that risk and develop them.

You get paid the big bucks, so why not actually do some homework before the draft, k?

< / end rant >

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

I know many of you don’t care, but I dooooooo!

Any time I meet or see someone with the last name “Lowrey”, I have to bust out a “He’s Mike Looowwwwwrrey” in my best Martin Lawrence voice. You know the part!

And when someone drives like crap, but suddenly gets it together, I share an enthusiastic “Now that’s how you supposed to drive! From now on that’s how you drive!” Don’t judge me! I love my black-centric action movies!

Anyway, after Bad Boys 2 came and went in the theaters, we heard rumblings of a 3rd installment, but no official word. That was 2003, folks!

ComingSoon.net reports that super producer Jerry Bruckheimer had the following to say re: Bad Boys 3:

“It’s a wish and a hope and a dream. We’ve been working on a screenplay, which is excellent. It’s an idea Will gave us, so hopefully, it will come to fruition, we would love it to.”

I’m not taking this news as confirmation that it will definitely happen, but it’s nice to see that they’re working on one of my favorite action movie franchises. Now, hurry the hell up guys!