Last night instead of sleeping, I started wondering why Julie Bowen, who plays Claire on Modern Family, got so absurdly skinny — like almost Ally McBeal skinny — last season. Isn’t it 2013? So I did all sorts of boundary-violating Google searching and came across an interview she did for Runner’s World. Not a bad article in many respects, but the best part is when she mentions that she sometimes runs to podcasts of NPR’s Fresh Air. Which reminded me how long it’s been since I ran to a podcast of This American Life. I love doing that for the same reason Julie mentions. I don’t do a very good job thinking while I run, and so it’s much better to have the NPR folks do my thinking for me. Pretty much always, actually, but especially while running.

So today I ran to last week’s Valentine’s Day episode of This American Life. As if you might need another reason to adore Ira Glass, how about this quote from the episode? A while back, Ira’s message to aspiring creatives struck a chord with me and a lot of others. When I heard these thoughts on marriage, I had the same feeling. Namely, that I love what he has to say so much that I kinda want to eat it with a spoon and make it part of me forever. The bad news is, that’s a little bit psycho. The good news, though, is that if I’m snacking on ideas while working out, I’ll never have to worry about getting Ally McBeal skinny. I know, right? Whew.

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