The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 83/90 – I Love Documentaries

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 83 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I watched two awesome documentaries!

    Movie Night! by ginnerobot from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    Movie Night! by ginnerobot from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    I love movies that are based on real events and documentaries. In the last year, I have spent a lot of time checking out movies from the library, and more recently I’ve been checking out mainly documentaries. I’ve learned that when it comes to fictional books and movies, I rarely remember what I read and see because my brain knows they’re not real, so it is difficult to convince it to retain any of the information as useful. So I can read or watch a work of fiction and enjoyed it, but I will barely remember it.

    I find real life and stories about real people much more engaging. This weekend was no different. I watched to documentaries in between doing chores around the house:

    • Dark Girls (2011): An investigation into people’s views about dark-skinned women in America – in Caucasian and non-Caucasian communities. I had no idea that being a lighter skinned was such a preferred characteristic, or that there was such a thing as the “paper bag test.” It was shocking to learn that this issue is not limited to the U.S.; skin lightening products are popular throughout the world, including third world countries.
    • Out in the Silence (2009): After Joe Wilson legally married his partner in Washington, D.C., he ran a marriage announcement in his hometown paper in Oil City, PA. This led to a documentary featuring the lives of several LGBT people in this small city and the views of heterosexual Christians who opposed homosexuality same-sex marriage.

    Documentaries show real people, in their real lives, sharing their real feelings and experiences. It’s raw. They provide a glimpse into someone else’s world. I also like that documentaries tend to be shorter than feature films. I can often get through two-four documentaries in a lazy weekend, which is great because there are so many documentary films that I want to see.

    In case you missed it: Day 82 of the 90 Days of Awesome – A moment of grace in the sea of sadness following the announcement of Atticus’ passing.

  • Day 27/90 – Biking my Errands

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 27 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I ran my errands by bike today.

    This is an old picture but it embodies how I felt after riding 21 miles today.
    This is an old picture but it embodies how I felt after riding 21 miles today.

    Last week, I proved to myself that I can easily bike to library to get books and DVDs.  Today, I took it to the next level and ran all my errands by bike. My ride started around 9am with a ride to the library to exchange some DVDs. I stopped off at home to drop of my DVDs and grab a snack before heading out again. I rode into Tempe to pick up a prescription and check out Zia’s Records. Zia’s is giving 20% off if you shop with a Golden Coupon during Independents Week (not a typo). I appreciate that the City of Tempe has invested a lot of energy and funding into making the city safer for cyclists with lots of bike lanes and racks. In all, I rode about 21 miles today. My legs were pretty tired and I was worn out in general by the time finished these two rides.

    Although I sprayed myself down with sunblock before I got dressed today, I still got a bit of a sunburn on my arms and the beginning of a farmer’s tan on my thighs. And I hate having tan lines. Note to self: re-apply sunblock frequently.

    I want to be someone who doesn’t rely on their car for every errand. Getting out and riding more often is showing me I can accomplish a lot even in a city with a substantial amount of urban sprawl.

    In case you missed it: Day 26 of the 90 Days of Awesome – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal!

  • Day 20/90 – I Love to Ride my Bike

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 20 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? Riding my bike!

    New bike pic
    I love my bike.

    I love to ride my bike. It gets me where I need to go. It’s a good workout. And looking at the world at bike-speed gives me a much more complete picture of each neighborhood than when I’m driving.

    This morning, I jumped on my bike and rode to the library to return and check out DVDs. When I’m not going that far and if I have the time, I’d rather bike than drive to my destination. I feel so much more free when I ride. I love the feeling of wind whipping past me as I zip along. It also make me feel like I’m more connected with my surroundings compared to when I’m closed up in my car with air conditioning and the radio blaring.

    My quads could tell that it’s been awhile since I’ve done a ride but they settled in after the first mile. Today’s ride was 6 miles round trip. It was a gorgeous way to start the day. Every time I ride it makes me think that I should ride more and look into biking to work and training for an all-day ride.

    I need to ride more often.

    In case you missed it: Day 19 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Lunch with Julia!