9/15/07

Today turned into an incredibly busy day! But ended up being crazy fun.

Nike Run Hit Remix:

• I was pretty psyched about this run, because 5 miles suddenly seemed short compared to 13. I didn't realize that there were going to be concerts along the course. Our friend met us at our apartment and after a Starbucks run, we headed up to pay $10 for parking.
  
• The stars we saw:
  
• Carl Lewis (who won 9 medals at the Olympics at the LA Coliseum!)
• Serena Williams
  
• Maria Menudos
• Blu Cantrell (for the National Anthem, and her one-hit wonder)
  
• Naughty by Nature
• Sir Mix A Lot
  
• The Sugarhill Gang
• Dawn Robinson of En Vogue
  
• MC Hammer
• I was bummed I didn't bring my iPod. But, we thought we'd be able to hear the concerts the whole time.
  
• The course went from the side of the Coliseum, north on Figueroa to Pico (just before the Staples Center), turned around, down Exposition and into the Coliseum through the tunnel on the opposite side of the start line. It was crazy long, but really nice to have a downhill slope to the finish.
  
• Everyone was in their red shirt. Surprisingly we didn't have too hard a time finding each other, although I never saw my classmate who was also running.
• My time: somewhere between 53-54 minutes. I didn't cross the mat until almost a full minute after the clock started, and the official times aren't posted yet. First place went to a guy who did all 5 miles in 24:30!!
  
• After the usual chip clipping, medal (which is shaped like a record), water, banana, and Jamba Juice, everyone piled on to the field for the MC Hammer concert. He started late, and sang the shortest version of "Can't Touch This" that we've ever heard. Then again, the last time I heard that song was at a Wisconsin roller rink 16 years ago. And no, he was not wearing Hammer pants.
  

Wired NextFest:

• During the trip up, we were talking about the expo and had planned to get up and go early tomorrow. But, after the concert, we all wanted to go, so we did! Despite the sweaty smelliness. We already had $10 parking (it would have been another $10 to go tomorrow), and during the run the convention center didn't seem that far. Note: distance and travel time are much faster during a race. We ended up walking nearly 2 miles from the parking lot, with a stop at Jack in the Box (I was starving!) on the way.
  
• The expo was amazing. There were so many creative ideas, new products, technology ... all these things people had dreamed up and brought from all over the world. It was huge, too, easily filling the main hall.
• I had to slip out for a 15 minute conference call with my project management group. But it was a pretty easy thing, so I didn't feel too bad not being in front of the computer.
• Most importantly, we saw Keepon. And there was not one Keepon. There were FOUR. And two were wearing HATS. I was beside myself. There was another girl, about my age, with her boyfriend, who was probably just as excited as I was to see it. There was also a monitor set up that circled the face that Keepon was looking at any point in time. And they danced to Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger." The best part? Andy took my picture with creator Hideki Kozima:

He seemed like such a kind person. A couple of young kids came up to examine Keepon, and he seemed so happy to talk to them, explaining how it all works to them in a way they'd understand. Marek Michalowski explained to my friend that they haven't sold Keepon commercially yet, because his components cost as much as a car. The whole thing made me happy on the inside.

• I'm sure I would have enjoyed the expo more if I hadn't completely pooped out after a couple of hours. We ended up taking the Dash back to the parking lot, for $0.25 each! I couldn't believe it was so cheap - if we can manage to live near a Dash line, I am so taking it. And to think, we were going to call a cab.
  

Afterward, we were all going to watch the USC-Nebraska game, but I really needed to get some homework done. I have the game on, but it hasn't been that interesting. The first play was weak, I took the longest, best feeling shower, and I'm still exhausted. I also have food coma from my Pizza Hut meal - to be fair, Slim-Fast says I burned about 600 calories today.

I also tried to order my mom's birthday present through Harry and David. Now, I'd gotten a gift card through work that I thought would cover most of the cost (like my new wallet!), so I thought I was being really clever. First, the Harry and David site is a little bit techy. I was OK with it, but you know ... older people send Harry and David gifts. Anyway, the gift that I wanted could be delivered, at the earliest, October 3! Everyone, that is late. Plus, they tried to trick me in to some kind of overnight shipping, which would have added $18! Even after regular shipping, I still had to pay $20 + my $20 gift card. I could have skipped the whole thing, but I really, really wanted to send her this particular item. So, I ordered it anyway. But now I need to think of something nice and timely to do ... immediately.