Things I enjoyed this week (June 22nd)
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  By George Mandis <george@mand.is>
  https://george.mand.is/2014/06/things-i-enjoyed-this-week-june-22nd
  Sunday, June 29th 2014

<p>This week's list feels longer than usual. It also includes something I don't typically feature — pictures!</p>
<ul>
<li>Running grand distances. It's not quite so cool as <a title="Friday-night 5ks, glow sticks and 2nd place finishes" href="/2014/06/friday-night-5ks-glow-sticks-and-2nd-place-finishes/">placing 2nd second in a race</a> I entered at the last minute, but I went a total of about 19 miles today. This slightly bested <a title="How to make simple things hard and hard things harder-still" href="/2014/06/how-to-make-simple-things-hard-and-hard-things-harder-still/">my epic run</a> from a few weeks prior, though only 14 of those miles were actual running. I get consistently, overwhelming <em>hungry</em> somewhere between miles 10 and 13 without fail. Today I pushed it to 14 before I started fantasizing about <a title="A healthy smoothie recipe" href="/2014/06/a-healthy-smoothie-recipe/">smoothies</a>. With all the barbecues this time of year all I need to do is catch one whiff and I'm done.</li>
<li>Artsy- Craftsy projects. I finished making some <a title="Making custom wedding cufflinks" href="/2014/06/making-custom-wedding-cufflinks/">custom cufflinks</a> for my friend's wedding this week, per his request. They turned out much nicer than I thought I would:
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1277" src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/georgemandis/media/2014-06-27-16.46.38-1024x768.jpg" alt="2014-06-27 16.46.38" width="1024" height="768" /><br />
And now I have enough left-over cufflinks parts to open-up an Etsy store:</li>
<li>Post-run I stopped by to visit my family. They've had a regular hummingbird visitor, which is not all that unusual this time of year, but instead of going for the hummingbird feeder that's normally up it's been going for the recently planted flowers. The little guy is quite fearless and came in for a snack even while we were all out there chatting just a few feet away.
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1279" src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/georgemandis/media/2014-06-29_20_08_14-1024x828.jpg" alt="2014-06-29_20_08_14" width="1024" height="828" /></li>
<li>I got a haircut. As I paid the person at the counter she said "You look like a completely different person. We were just talking about how you should've knocked over a liquor store or something before coming in." I think that was... complimentary? It was not quite so memorable as my <a title="A year in haircuts and the worst haircut ever" href="/2014/02/year-haircuts-worst-haircut-ever/">international hair-cutting experiences</a> had been, but was able to follow the conversation better.</li>
<li>Bananas. No story or picture — I just like bananas. I've been eating a lot of them lately.</li>
<li>Finding that beautiful balance of activity and rest. I'm always striving for it and don't always hit it, but this past week it's been alright.</li>
<li></li>
</ul>