It’s as if we’re creating two classes of customers: tech-savvy and otherwise. I don’t see why someone who knows how to use Twitter deserves to get her problem with the cable company fixed any faster than the person doing it the traditional way, over the phone. Social media is a Band-Aid, and not a very good one, at that; with these huge companies, only a tiny fraction of users are getting their concerns addressed this way. And sure, maybe the payoff for the company is that those users don’t start a PR fiasco, but how much does a little social media fracas now and then really hurt a huge company’s bottom line long-term, anyway?

Let’s fix customer service from the bottom up – empower the call center representative to actually solve users’ problems, and go from there. Then, maybe a big company like Sprint or Fifth Third Bank or Cox doesn’t need to have a Twitter page that’s almost exclusively replies to pleas for help, and it can go back to actually promoting and enhancing its brand.

• The Summerland Tour is coming to town. It features Everclear, Lit, Sugar Ray, the Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground. My 13-year-old self has died and gone to heaven; my 26-year-old self has chosen to see the Beach Boys this summer instead.
• The Glee kids performed the New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give,” including the part at the end with all the now-dated pop-cultural references to people that most Glee viewers probably couldn’t identify (Hanson, Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson).
• I’m considering purchasing some khakis from the Gap. (Is it just Gap now? I think it’s just Gap.)

So, wait, what year is it? Mom, can I have a ride to the mall to buy those khakis… and some butterfly hair clips from Claire’s? Maybe some glitter body spray while we’re at it? And if I’m 13 again, does that I mean I get the whole summer off with no work or adult responsibilities? That would be pretty awesome.

If you skydive into your wedding party, you probably have bigger concerns than eyelash extensions. (Photo credit: hans905)

Can we talk about this article on The Hairpin, a supposedly feminist/progressive site, called “Bridal Beauty: Five Things to Do to Your Face”? This is the kind of thing I’d expect to read in something from the “Women’s Interest” section on the newsstand. Hey, ladies, if you don’t want to look like total crap on your wedding day, you’d better alter the color of your skin and teeth and the shape of your facial hair, or else! Who wants to look back at photos of your special day and think, “Well, I’m so happy with my spouse now and getting married was the best decision we ever made, but man, I just don’t look spray-tanned enough”?

Seriously?

Here’s the thing: I am not opposed to beauty and style articles on lady blogs. If I were, that would be pretty hypocritical, what with how I used to be a style blogger and all. But The Hairpin generally does a good job of presenting them with some sort of context or irony or just… groundedness (is that a real term?), and this particular post really fell flat. I realize it’s a sponsored article, but still!

And thus ends my amateur media criticism for the day. Timely, related thing I just discovered (but seem to be a bit late to the party on): The Naked Face Project.

Capsicum annuum (Jalapeno variety). Location: Maui, Foodland Pukalani (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not much of a food blogger, but here’s a little marinade recipe I came up with the other day. I can’t speak to what meat it would be good on. Chicken? Fish? I made tofu steaks with it; your mileage may vary.

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (lime would work too, but then you’d have to change the name of the marinade)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Some parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded
• Salt and pepper to taste

I'm in the pink tank top on the right. Thanks, Patti!

First half marathon in the books. 2:36:14, for those of you keeping score at home. My goal was 2:30, so I’m not too disappointed. I found the guy running with a large inflatable Oral-B toothbrush easier to follow than the actual 2:30 pace group. (Cincinnati is Procter & Gamble’s home turf; when you know this, seeing a guy run a marathon holding some inflatable P&G item doesn’t seem that unusual.) I also may have spent some time on the course desperately trying to get ahead of a runner wearing a Ron Paul shirt. Hey, motivation is motivation. Hope he enjoyed his time on our government-provided roads, protected by a government-provided police force and road blocks. But I digress.

Lessons learned:

• A mid-race porta-potty stop is worth it. I kept skipping them because the lines seemed too long and I didn’t want to waste the five minutes, but as a result, I couldn’t pick up any speed the last few miles due to all the fluid I was holding in (sorry for the TMI). That, and I probably should have consumed less fluid prior to the start to begin with.
• On the same note, there is absolutely such a thing as too much Gatorade. I kind of never want to drink it again. Until the next half, anyway. Ditto protein bars and gummies (although I do kind of like Clif Shot gels). Runner nutrition is weird.
• The idea that “the hills are over” after Eden Park is a lie. I already knew this, because I run between my house in East Walnut Hills and Eden Park all the time; Victory Parkway is a hill. So, it turns out, is MLK. These hills are smaller, but perceptible after eight or nine miles.
• My legs were too tired to speed up when running back downhill on Gilbert. That part sucked. I really wanted to pick up the pace and couldn’t; it was just too hard on my knees and ankles. Next time, I might try taking the uphills and Madison/MLK stretch just a little slower and see if my knees can handle the downhills better afterward.

Best parts:

• Seventh Street at dawn, particularly to the tune of the Foo Fighters’ “Next Year.”
• My neighborhood. Best cheering section, high-fives from friends; a quinoa cookie from my Pilates teacher – East Walnut Hills FOREVER.
• The sign held by a young black boy in Eden Park: “Run like an angry Kenyan”

So, what’s next? Probably the Hyde Park Blast, then Color Me Rad, then… who knows. Part of me wants to say Columbus, but c’mon… that’s the kind of thing one of those crazy runner people would say.

I guess maybe I am one of those crazy runner people now. (For real, though, probably not doing Columbus. Probably.)

P.S. If you have a Flying Pig recap of your own, please leave it in the comments! I’d love to read it.