One Full Day Left for Jupiter to Explode

.......according to the late Sir A.C.C.

Every Seat Taken

This morning I slept in, instead of running as I had planned. Er... actually, I had planned to run yesterday, but well, I just didn't feel like it. But you know, I probably needed the sleep anyway. But having slept and eventually woken up late in the morning on a work day (reporting time 2:30 pm), I also missed out on my early morning Starbucks session, where I tend to focus my brain on what I want to do during the day (and even occasionally compose a blog article). That opportunity having been shot to hell along with another missed running day, I decided to try to salvage something out of my dwindling pre-work freedom. I dragged myself around the house in a half-stupor eventually cleaning, dressing, and finally getting the hell out of the house. My goal: sit in a Starbucks and concentrate my thoughts on my day and what I had left to salvage out of it. I went to the closest Starbucks, at the Hunters Crossing shopping center: every seat was taken, and I quickly walked back out. Then to my old dependable Magnolia Parke Starbucks, where, ditto. Then I drove past the 441/16th Avenue Starbucks: "drove past" since every parking slot was taken. Down to the Archer Road Starbucks and the neighboring Panera's (both packed to the hilt). Then it dawned on me: just go to McDonald's! The seats were plentiful and the coffee was cheaper and better tasting!

Ran On Christmas Anyway, Covered 20.68 Miles

You could probably tell by the tone of yesterday's article that I had wanted to go running and was disappointed at the outside haze. But by early afternoon, it turned out that the haze had dissipated and, although the temperature had risen to 70, I decided to go out on a run. I initially decided to run just for continuity's sake, not trying to cover any appreciable distance. But as I ran, I decided at each step to cover each section of my personally-designed marathon course. I was feeling pretty good for most of the run, and after 13 miles was sore but still had plenty of energy and muscle coordination. The sky was overcast for almost the entire run, and this contributed to a premature nightfall as I found my way back into my home subdivision. I was pretty tired by then, but already had the repeated experience of "gutting it out" during previous runs and thought that I had a chance to complete a full-length marathon (26.2 miles) on this run. I also realized that, to do this, I would be finishing under very dark, night conditions. I was still on target with this goal until around the 19-mile mark, when I "ran" into a figurative wall: my energy level plummeted and I suddenly felt like a feeble old man, with my feet hitting the pavement hard instead of springing with elasticity and balance. At that point I realized that going another 7 miles just wouldn't happen today, and I valiantly struggled to finish my course, albeit curtailed a bit at the end. My final distance was 20.68 miles, a personal record length, with a time of 3:23:56.

Ten minutes after I hobbled back into my house around 5:40, the rain began to fall and didn't let up until late at night. So I was spared a thorough soaking, which would have happened had I run any further. Still, my recovery from this run was pretty rough. I had made the mistake of quickly downing a couple of 20-oz. bottles of G2 (Gatorade "lite") after the run, consequently inducing severe abdominal cramping and pain for about a half-hour. My legs were also very sore and ached badly for a while. It wasn't until after midnight when I finally began to feel a sense of relaxation. Yes, the recovery was rather brutal; the run itself was a piece of cake in comparison. But here I am the next morning, sitting here and feeling good in my good old dependable Magnolia Parke Starbucks, thinking about when I'll once again set out to conquer a personal distance record!

I look back on yesterday's run and feel that I had made some substantial progress with my endurance training. It is within that painful struggle at the end, which is actually more mental than physical, that I grow and approach eventual marathon-level capability. It had been a while since I had pushed myself this far, but it was how I had successfully prepared myself to run the half-marathon at the beginning of this year. I'm taking today off from running, for recovery's sake. I wonder how I will run on Monday!

Christmas Haze Fits the Occasion For Me

Today I stepped out of my front door, to go out on another long run as planned, when I took a whiff of the air: smoky haze. Apparently, the winds shifted and were blowing this stinking haze through Gainesville from a woods fire somewhere in the vicinity. No, I wouldn't run outside in these conditions (although I saw others running). Instead, I'll wait until tomorrow and see what the weather brings. I'd rather run under just about any conditions other than smoke. I mean, if I wanted to poison myself this way, I could just go down to the store, buy a carton of cigarettes, and chain smoke for a couple of hours!

Yes, by the way, it's Christmas today. I am frankly not a fan of Christmas; in fact, I actually may detest it to an extent. For someone like myself, who tries to live an ordered life, this holiday "season" throws everything around me in turmoil, not the least of which is the whipping up of unbridled greed among the population, along with the stress of an imposed deadline on supplying the "goods" for the "greedies". Yuck. Thankfully, I have some gracious, mature intimates in my life who have helped to shield me from this crap. But there is no completely avoiding it.

And then there is this pretense of "respecting" the holiday by closing practically every business in town, starting in the evening on Christmas Eve and going through the following day. But wait, come Christmas Day + One, the greed comes blowing back with a vengeance (post-Christmas sales). Whoopee, I can hardly wait.

Still, there is still a smidgen of rationality remaining as my favorite Starbucks happens to be open this Christmas morning (where and when I am writing this instead of choking on the haze outside). Now that is at least something to help my life get back in order!

Weather Forecast Disconnect

I'm a little bit curious about the disconnect between my newspaper (Gainesville Sun) weather forecast and that on my cable TV weather station. On TV it says that tomorrow's weather will bring partly cloudy skies and just a slight possibility of rain. Then on Sunday there will be a lot of rain, with the temperatures staying in the forties all day. But according to the paper, it will rain tomorrow in the afternoon, intensifying in the evening. By Sunday, it will clear up (in this alternate universe).

So which will it be on Christmas day tomorrow? Since I'm planning on a long outdoors run, it matters to me a little more than usual. Of course, it might actually turn out better if it rained a little during my run. After all, in the marathons I plan to run during the next two months, there is no telling what the weather will be like then and it might be helpful to get in a little "rain-running" experience. I remember seeing the photos of last year's Knoxville, Tennessee Marathon with all of the rain-soaked runners, so although we are technically in the "dry" season here in northern Florida, rain still happens!

What kills me is that on some weather sites they have something called a "100 Day Outlook". And they can't even get it right within 24 hours! Shoot, why don't I just buy the Farmer's Almanac and consult it instead?!

Back to Long Runs

Earlier today I once again ran a "long" run (15 miles or longer): 16.18 miles to be exact. I had decided to skip one more day to further my recovery from my sinusitis, and then decided to see how far I could go. Alas, due to the chronic restraints of time in my life, that wasn't entirely possible, but I was able to squeeze in a good run anyway. My time was 2:26:32.

The next logical opportunity for a long run should be two days from now on Christmas (Saturday). I wouldn't have any time restraints on my run, either. But the weather station I have been watching is predicting a lot of rain and stormy weather that day. But...maybe this could be a fun adventure, running in a storm. After all, I remember that beach run earlier this year in a raging lightning storm!

Back to Running

I am looking forward in the next few weeks to my special adventure in running: training up to marathon distance (26.2 miles) and then participating in at least two races: the Ocala Marathon on January 23 and the Gainesville Five Points Marathon on February 20. Monday I ran 7.18 miles as I recovered from my sinus infection after taking a few days off from running. Tomorrow I will see if I can't get the distance back up to around 14 miles. And then, bit by bit I will try to attain the marathon distance during one of my training runs.

Busy As Usual At Work in December

December is definitely by far the busiest month of the year for me, a postal worker. And even more so, since I work in the section that processes parcels. I have been working my off days and even overtime on top of that as the volume of mail has skyrocketed. Today was possibly the peak volume day. The company man within me says, "Hurray, keep going with the USPS, we deliver, go team go!" But the rest of me emphatically says, "Bah humbug!"

Senate Repeals Don't Ask Don't Tell

One of the unexpected, albeit probably temporary, benefits of the recent bipartisan agreement between the President and the Republican side of the congressional aisle regarding tax cuts and unemployment compensation may have come with yesterday's Senate vote to repeal the onerous "don't ask don't tell" policy in the U.S. military. This policy, in effect since the Clinton administration in the '90's, has had the effect of persecuting gays by denying them their right to reveal their own sexual orientation while in service to the country. I was surprised that several Republican senators crossed over to support the repeal, especially Nevada's John Ensign, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, and North Carolina's Richard Burr. Cool. I wonder whether, after Murkowski's encounter with the reactionary Tea Party during her recent Senate reelection campaign, she won't "go rogue" on occasions against her own party. Not that the Republicans are always wrong: I am just tired of this party-line block voting and would like for our elected representatives in government to vote according to their own personal and professional convictions and not just the way their hack party leaders order them to.

On the down side, I am dismayed to observe the continuing slide into a reactionary worldview by John McCain, who led the opposition to the repeal. McCain, for whom I initially was delighted in 2008 when he won the GOP nomination for president, used to really be a maverick at times against his own party's often overly conservative stances on social issues. Now he seems like a very bitter, angry old man every time I see him get up on the Senate floor to talk.

The repeal of "don't ask don't tell" was important, but still is only one step toward gays finally being accorded the basic human rights that straights enjoy in our society. In other areas, such as gay marriage, the struggle for progress goes on. Still, this vote was something to give me some hope for the future.

Under the Weather, But Recovering

For the past three days, I have been suffering from a sinus infection. While running 14 miles on Wednesday, I noticed aches that normally didn't exist. Later that day, I could sense the process of inflammation in various parts of my body as well as headache, stuffed sinuses, and sore throat. I went to my nearest urgent care center and was able to obtain a prescription for an antibiotic, which I have been faithfully taking and am happy to report that I am recuperating (gradually).

I remember a time about thirty years ago when I suffered an infection on one of my fingers and consequently endured a flu-like malaise for a couple of weeks before I finally had the precipitating problem taken care of. It's important, at the first sign of infection, to see a doctor and get it treated before it spreads. Also, the inflammation that is caused by the body's response to the infection can present its own hazards. So I have been laying off the running or any other form of strenuous exercise until this sinus infection clears up.

I have also read that running in an arid environment, which presents itself more often here in northern Florida during the wintertime, can dry up the sinuses and make sinus infections more likely. So I'll have to keep that in mind as well, although the running continues! Maybe a nice, long, hot, steamy shower after a workout would fix that problem!

One of the problems I experienced with sinus infections has been their insidious nature. Sinusitis with me first manifests itself as something resembling a light cold, but after a few days the cold doesn't subside, a threshold is passed, and the symptoms become full-blown. I need to take greater care in the future to pay attention to the warning signs my body is giving me that a sinus infection is beginning to occur.

Muschamp Replaces Meyer As UF Coach

Will Muschamp has been hired to be the new University of Florida head football coach, replacing retiring two-time national champion coach Urban Meyer. Thirty-nine year old Muschamp, although without experience as a head coach, does have an extensive resume as an assistant coach, and with some great teams (like LSU and Texas). Hopefully, Gator fans will show some patience with him as he establishes himself in his new position and works to build a formidable, winning team.

But it is not considered to be a very wise thing to try to fill in the shoes of a legend. After Steve Spurrier left UF to coach professional football, his replacement, Ron Zook, had difficulty gaining acceptance from the Florida faithful. Muschamp may experience some similar skepticism, although the rather disappointing last season (7-5) that Meyer coached should give him a break, at least as far as expectations for next year are concerned. I just hope that he turns out to be a coach who runs a clean program and who doesn't take himself too seriously (as Meyer did).

After all, football is a game, a form of entertainment. It's good to be rooting for a winner, but having a winner to root for means more when the fan has the experience sometimes of rooting for a loser!

Marathon Race Outlook (For Me)

I am looking at my marathon calendar to see what's ahead. It appears highly unlikely that I will be participating in the Jacksonville Bank Marathon this Sunday morning unless my boss unexpectedly offers me Saturday off at the height of the heavy Christmas season where I work. Besides, the weather forecasts indicate rain for that day. The Florida Marathon in Clermont (a few miles west of Orlando), scheduled for January 1, has been canceled. I had thought about entering it as my first marathon, but decided against it because of the very hilly, challenging terrain. I need to focus first on just covering the 26.2 miles! But that decision is moot, anyway, since that race has been wiped off the slate.

The Disney World Marathon on January 9 was something I had been considering, but I read some accounts of participants in previous years and decided against it. I don't see the point in trying to run in a group of 24,000 runners, and the convoluted way in which Disney World herded the participants around in the wee hours of the morning before the race didn't seem very appealing, either. So what's left with marathons around where I live?

On January 23, the Ocala Marathon will be held, about forty miles from Gainesville. This event will be easy to travel to and from. If I am in shape, I will run in it. On February 20, LifeSouth will once again stage its Five Points of Life Marathon in Gainesville. Last year I ran the half-marathon; this year it will be the full distance.

If all works out well for me with the Ocala Marathon (meaning that (1) I complete it and (2) I make a complete recovery) I may apply for some time off in early March to compete in the Snickers Marathon in Albany, Georgia.

And then the marathon season once again goes northward. Seeing that I have a job, a budget, and other obligations, I am not in a position to go flying willy-nilly around the country running various marathon events. But it would be cool, once I have the experience of actually completing a marathon, to pick out some remote, obscure place (like in North Dakota or Wyoming) and run one more marathon there. Then I'll reevaluate where I'm going with my running: I will either continue with the marathons or taper down my distance a bit.

The Aviator at Wild Adventures

I miss the enjoyment of sitting through simple theme park rides like this one, The Aviator, at Valdosta, Georgia's Wild Adventures. This park is slightly less than a hundred-mile drive from Gainesville and is the closest theme park with roller coasters and other thrill rides. Perhaps later this month I'll see if I can't steal some time away from the elements in my life that are stealing it from me and go there for a few hours of fun.

Cold, Windy Morning in Gainesville

Once again it dipped below freezing this morning in Gainesville. But unlike up north, the air is very dry with not a hint of any kind of precipitation. But there is a very, very strong wind from the northwest at a sustained 25 mph. The question I have to pose myself is how much of a wimp am I going to be to excuse myself from running this morning because of the weather?

Later today.....I did wimp out on running in the very strong, cold wind, but I didn't cop out on my training: I went to the YMCA instead and ran ten "miles" on the treadmill there. Treadmill running isn't something I want to do regularly, but it does come in handy, like on this extreme weather day.

A Little Difficulty with China

I'm having just a little difficulty with China these days. I keep hearing how capitalistic it has become, with the free market dominating its economy. Many Chinese come to the U.S. for study and employment, and then return to their beloved homeland. I don't see here the extremism of the Cold War Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, where citizens of socialist "paradises" were shot trying to escape into supposedly evil, decadent capitalist nations across their borders. As a matter of fact, there is still one of these Cold War holdovers adjacent to China: North Korea (whose border is closed to China).

When I last went to Walt Disney World's Epcot Center, I visited the Chinese pavilion there. There was a large gift shop which contained "things Chinese". I saw a lot of traditional stuff, but strangely not a thing about socialism, communism, or the "revolution". Not a single picture of their bigshot revolutionary hero and leader Mao Zedong was to be found there. Yet, whenever the Chinese government comes out with anything, it is still clouded with all sorts of references to this clearly outmoded system that essentially collapsed on itself in the mid-1970's. So why...

Why is it a crime for a Chinese citizen like Liu Xiaobo to publicly advocate for a peaceful transition to a pluralistic, representative democracy that more appropriately reflects its newly found economic freedoms? Why is the Chinese government so uptight about Liu, who is in jail serving an eleven-year sentence, being picked for this year's Nobel Peace Prize...even to the point of pressuring other sovereign nations to boycott the ceremony?

The extent to which the Chinese authorities are going to quash any dissent or push for democratic reform tells me one thing: that like the repressive Iron Curtain regimes, their authority is built upon a "house of cards". No one believes in the Marxist-Leninist theory that the State still officially sanctions; it's just that for anyone serving within that government to condemn or even criticize it is taboo, a sure-fire formula for losing one's job or even freedom. But once the door gets jarred open a little and more and more people openly push for reform, an irreversible threshold may be passed and the ensuing torrent of freedom will be difficult for the repressive regime to withstand.

Unpleasant Friday Run

Yesterday I set out to run another 14 miles as I had previously established as a minimum training distance. I had run 14.03 miles Wednesday, or so I thought. But no, as I began running yesterday, the thought occurred to me that I had inadvertently skipped a .1 mile segment of my course, finishing instead at 13.93 miles. Dammit! Still, I did run 14 miles, for all practical purposes: especially when considering the distance accrued from the times I crossed streets back and forth for various reasons. That alone would have put me over the 14-mile mark.

I wasn't too happy seeing Friday morning's humidity at 70%. Regardless whether it is cold or hot, a high humidity usually leads to a more taxing run for me. This is one of the main reasons I have avoided night running, since the nighttime is usually marked by an upward spike in humidity. As it turned out, at the run's start it was 45 degrees. I first felt uncomfortable with a tee shirt, as opposed to some heavier clothing over my upper body, but within a mile of running I was glad of my decision.

It's funny how others seem to relish the high humidity: the roads and paths were full of joggers. Most of them were heavily clad; I wondered how they would survive the sweltering heat they were building up under their clothing. But to each his-or-her own, I suppose.

My run went pretty well, given the unwelcome moisture in the air (it actually broke out into a light misty rain a few times). But I had to curtail it at 10.48 miles because my bladder was overloaded. I suppose that, in retrospect, I could have gone back out and finished the 14 miles after relieving myself. But it simply was not an enjoyable run. And as I have stated before in another article, I seem to always have a time limit hanging over me anyway, with other areas of my life making their demands on me.

Urban Meyer Retires

After six seasons of coaching the University of Florida football team, Urban Meyer is retiring, citing his family's interests as his primary reason. Meyer, who led the Gators to national championships in 2006 and 2008, has also struggled with his health during the last year. I appreciate his efforts and contributions to giving UF not only such a successful football program in terms of winning, but also in terms of maintaining high ethical standards for the players and staff. He will be missed.

During the next few weeks, UF athletic director Jeremy Foley will face the task of finding a suitable replacement for Meyer. Several names are already floating around in the media, among them Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen (who used to be offensive coordinator at Florida under Meyer). Oklahoma's coach Bob Stoops is also on the long list of possibilities.

Regardless who gets the job, Florida's very demanding fan base needs to give him some initial latitude in setting things up the way he wants it. This almost certainly will entail a different emphasis on each aspect of the game. Florida's current players also need to work with whomever the new coach is and not automatically assume that transferring to a different school or opting out early for a professional football career is the best route (although I think that anyone who feels capable of getting one of those high-paying NFL jobs should jump at the chance whether or not Meyer had stayed on).

Let's just sit back and enjoy Florida's final game under Meyer: New Year's Day at Tampa's Outback Bowl against Penn State.

Running Upped to 14 Miles

Today I ran 14.03 miles (time span: 2:12:31), marking a change in my training pattern. For the previous eight workouts, I had run between ten and eleven miles apiece. I had established ten as the base mileage for a run. Now, as the time for running a marathon nears, I am raising the bar and establishing fourteen as my base mileage. I have a great course to run, and all I have to do is just step outside of my house...and return after 14+ miles! Today I could have run much further, with temperatures in the upper forties and the humidity dipping to 22%. But alas, I do have a life, and with that life there are time limits to what I can do. But 14 miles rocks!

I read that Mr. John Wallace, the sexagenarian marathoner with his Maddog Marathon site, recently ran the Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa. I wonder what his future Florida marathon plans are. If I ever run into the dude, I'd like to shake his hand! He is an inspiration, although I think I would be wiser to listen to his advice about generating personal wealth than about running marathons! Wallace likes to refer to fellow competitors he thinks might be in his age category as "old farts". I'd be sure to let him know that, all visual evidence to the contrary, this "old fart" isn't in his age group!

Florida's NFL Teams So Far This Year

It looks as if there is a real possibility that all three Floridian National Football League franchises, the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars may miss the playoffs this year despite all three having pretty good teams.

The Dolphins are 6-6 but in the most competitive division: the AFC East with perennial power New England ahead at 10-2, closely followed by the much-improved New York Jets at 9-3. Miami has games against each team, but they lost both of their first contests with them earlier this year. The Dolphins don't have much of a chance to catch up with them, so these games to me just seem now like very difficult obstacles to surmount. Their only real hope of reaching the playoffs would be to win their remaining four games and hope that someone else stumbles.

Tampa Bay, likewise, is in a very competitive division, the NFC South. Atlanta and New Orleans are ahead of them in the standings. At 7-5 the Bucs are also behind in the race to make it as a wild card team. Still they are much improved from their 3-13 season last year.

Jacksonville probably has the best chance of getting into the playoffs. Picked by many to finish last in the AFC South, the Jaguars have managed to get themselves, with a 7-5 record, into a one-game lead over surprisingly disappointing Indianapolis with four games to go. The Jaguars still have a remaining game against the Peyton Manning-led Colts, whom they beat earlier this year. Should Jacksonville win again against them, they would be in a strong position to make the playoffs as division champion. If they lose, I doubt that they would make it even though they would still be in the running.

I like seeing Florida's NFL teams doing relatively well, but it has been a while since any of them has enjoyed a banner season. One or more of them, though, could well do just that next year.

Temperatures Falling in North Florida

One of the funny things about living in Florida, even the northern part as I do, is discussing the winter weather when it gets cold. The cold temperatures here have been long in coming, which you know if you've been following this blog. Now that they are finally here, I am beginning to wax nostalgic about the summer!

For the last three mornings, the temperatures plummeted below freezing, lows being around 30. But for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow morning, we are expecting record lows, dipping down into the low 20's. The highs shouldn't pierce the 60 degree mark until the end of the week.

Meanwhile, I just heard that New York City got four feet of snow. Relatives living in Kentucky are sending pictures showing snowman construction zones. And I'm harping about the weather here, which incidentally is exceedingly dry, no precipitation of any sort forecast in the foreseeable future.

This past February, I was dismayed on the morning of the LifeSouth Half Marathon when at the 7:00 start of the race it was 28 degrees. I wore a sweatshirt (the same one I'm wearing right now in Starbucks writing this) and long training pants to run the race. It heated up during the run, though, resting in the early 40's when I finished sweating like crazy under the insulation. So my current training strategy is simple: wait until temperatures climb up to the 40's and then go running in my usual tee shirt and shorts.

No, I WILL make an effort to revel in this coldness and even thrive in it! After all, down here I don't have to concern myself with snowdrifts and icy roads!

Birthday Celebration Propriety

Someone at work recently celebrated her birthday, and some of her co-workers organized a small celebration with a cake and mini-party. Then they decided to meet after work at a local late-night restaurant to continue the festivities. Everyone was invited to celebrate the fact that this individual had been born. I for one was very glad that she was born and had a birthday to celebrate. But being the obnoxious curmudgeon that I am, I have a problem with certain people being singled out in a social environment for this honor while others are virtually ignored. Does the converse hold here: if some are publicly shown appreciation for having been born, then does it follow that for those so ignored, their lives then don't add up to a hill of beans for these people? That may be the unintended message that is conveyed.

In a family, it would be catastrophic for parents to celebrate one of their children's birthdays while ignoring the other's. Within a circle of tight, close friends, whether or not someone gets the birthday "treatment" can be seen as an indication of their acceptance by the others (unless of course the circle isn't one to celebrate birthdays at all among any of its members).

Now come to place like a school classroom or the workplace. There are also tight social circles here and birthday celebrations abound in these areas. But in my opinion, they should be confined to a more private setting and not imposed on everyone. Especially on those whose own birthdays are clearly ignored by the same ones bestowing special honors on their personal buddies. I understand this and don't feel slighted about having my birthday passed over while another with whom I closely work is doted upon. I am not into the "birthday" thing anyway, at least outside my immediate family. I couldn't care less when anyone else was born. Why can't we all just get together and openly express happiness that we're ALL alive? But I have seen it happen in the past when a colleague, wanting to have her own upcoming birthday remembered after seeing others so recognized, slipped obvious hints around that her birthday should be publicly celebrated as well. She was ignored, her birthday passed by, and this obviously fostered some bad feelings that lingered long thereafter.

The Chinese had traditionally solved this birthday problem by the simple concept of having everyone's birthday offically recognized on the same day, regardless when they were actually born (a tradition probably long gone by now). But in our oh-so-narcissistic Western society, forget it! It's ME-ME-ME-ME!

My Running and Swimming Lately

For each of my past seven training runs, I have covered ten miles. This seems to be settling into a pattern, making ten miles my minimum, base distance. Considering that I intend to enter and complete at least one 26.2 mile marathon race between now and March, this is probably a pretty good strategy. I don't think that anything shorter is going to do me all that much good in trying to build up my distance.

I don't run every day, usually (but not always) leaving a day set aside for recovery. Often I take these occasions to go down to my local YMCA pool and practice my swimming. I am currently reteaching myself to swim freestyle, as well as the backstroke and the breaststroke for the first time. I am following swimming instructor Terry Laughlin's precepts on working to achieve and maintain balance in the water while swimming, a difficult but crucial step in becoming able to swim long and efficiently. I've begun to swim pool laps, which are about 25 yards in length. The first lap is usually a breeze, but by the fourth I am very tired and lose my sense of "balance", beginning to lunge and flounder about in the water more. It's funny that my running endurance doesn't seem to automatically transfer over to swimming! Still, I see swimming as a good long-term activity to carry over into old age (along with walking and bicycling).

Although I want to run long-distance for a few more years, I am also aware of the relatively high injury rate with this activity. My plan there is to accomplish my marathon(s) this year, maybe repeat for another year, and then taper down to half-marathons and 10-15K races. From then I'll see what I want to do. It is interesting, though, that with all of the support for swimming given by the medical establishment as a worthwhile athletic activity, there are no publicly-available swimming competitions (other than as a part of triathlons) as there are with running (at least in my area). Maybe this will change, hopefully. Not that I would aspire to do anything in a swimming race other than not finishing last!

Senate Standoff Over Extending Tax Cuts

It looks like a standoff in Congress during this lame duck session. The Senate Republicans, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell, have lined up all 42 of their senators behind the idea of holding up any legislation until the Bush tax cuts are extended in their entirety. These cuts, which the nation as a whole has grown accustomed to being the regular rates, are technically temporary in nature. They are due to expire on January 1 next year, creating a massive de facto tax increase. President Obama and the Democrats want to extend the cuts for the lower and (what they call) middle classes, but want them to expire for those making at least $250,000 per year. It is this arbitrary line that the Democrats have drawn that, in my opinion, is causing the division between the two parties on this issue.

I know that the wealthy can afford to pay more taxes; they won't have to make difficult and even sacrificial personal choices affecting their health care, transportation, energy, or any other areas pertaining to their standard of living. On the other hand, I think that including those making $250,000 as the "wealthy" is stretching things to the point of class warfare. Warfare against the middle class!

I'm afraid that some on the political left hold a stereotypical view of large businesses and small businesses. To them, with the big corporations they see some arrogant cigar-smoking tycoon sitting back in his ritzy penthouse office with his feet on his desk, planning how to exploit the needy for his company's aims and to fatten his own wallet. And on the other end of the spectrum, a small business is typically seen as a little family-owned shop or diner. But while many small businesses are of the mom-and-pop variety, there are others who are larger in scope and whose owners operate their businesses on margins of profit, which they plow back into them. It is with these medium-sized businesses, which employ an enormous number of people nationwide, that dramatically raising taxes will cause hardship to be passed on to "average" people by keeping those affected business owners from hiring new workers.

So I'm holding my nose on this tax dispute and for once siding with the Republicans. We are still in recovery from what the Obama administration itself calls the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and to which it responded in 2009 with a Draconian stimulus bill. This is not the time to let the Bush cuts expire, for although Democrats can talk until their faces are blue about how they aren't really raising taxes, in fact the sudden rises will be traumatic for EVERYONE. I don't like the way the GOP has conducted itself during the last two years, especially in the Senate, by adopting an obstructionist strategy. This one time, though, that strategy may actually be in the national interest. For a change.

Personal Radiohead Top-30 List

I was going to make a list of all the Radiohead songs I know, ranking them all the way from my top favorite to least favorite. To me, this makes sense as this is probably the best band of the century so far, deserving a place in the pantheon of renown rock bands of the past like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, R.E.M., and Pink Floyd. However, there are still a couple of glitches in my quest: I only know a minority of Radiohead's songs, even though I have six of their seven studio albums and know all of the tracks on these pretty well.

The one Radiohead album I am missing is their first, Pablo Honey. It contains their most famous single, Creep, along with other good songs that I like (and some I don't particularly like). But I haven't heard it enough to form a clear judgement about the material, as I have on their subsequent works: The Bends (1995), OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), and In Rainbows (2007). I am currently exploring the least expensive (albeit legitimate) avenue through which to obtain a copy of Pablo Honey, so it is just a matter of time here. But there is an even greater factor delaying my comprehensive Radiohead songs list.

Much of Radiohead's released studio material comes from EP releases or as singles B-sides. I'm thinking of about 60 songs here, and I have just begun to explore them. Of course, I could just limit my initial top-to-bottom Radiohead list to their full-length studio albums and deal with the rest later. What I'll probably end up doing is eventually to include Pablo Honey as I become more familiar with it, along with a number (but not all) of those "extras".

Here is my personal Radiohead "top-thirty" so far, with their albums in brackets (note that #2 and #3 are different versions of the same song):

1 Reckoner [In Rainbows]
2 Morning Bell [Amnesiac]
3 Morning Bell [Kid A]
4 Faust Arp [In Rainbows]
5 I Might be Wrong [Amnesiac]
6 In Limbo [Kid A]
7 Go to Sleep [Hail to the Thief]
8 Sail to the Moon [Hail to the Thief]
9 Dollars and Cents [Amnesiac]
10 Karma Police [OK Computer]
11 Idioteque [Kid A]
12 There There [HttT]
13 Everything in It's Right Place [Kid A]
14 Scatterbrain [HttT]
15 Planet Telex [The Bends]
16 All I Need [IR]
17 Pyramid Song [Amn]
18 15 Step [IR]
19 Paranoid Android [OK C]
20 Punchup at a Wedding [HttT]
21 Bodysnatchers [IR]
22 My Iron Lung [Bends]
23 Optimistic [Kid A]
24 No Surprises [OK C]
25 Jigsaw Falling Into Place [IR]
26 National Anthem [Kid A]
27 Bones [Bends]
28 Packed Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box [Amn]
29 Videotape [IR]
30 Subterranean Homesick Alien [OK C]

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Now this is an indication of my blog's present condition. Ideally, I would be getting feedback comments saying things like "yeah, I like that song" or "dude, wtf are you thinking, ranking that one that high". I doubt that my good friends from New York and Maryland even listen to Radiohead, so although I DEEPLY value their input, in this case I am depending on a broader input from readers. Which apparently isn't there!

Murkowski Over Miller: So What?

I suppose I should be happy that "mainstream" Republican (or former Republican, that is) senator Lisa Murkowski was able to muster enough votes as a write-in independent candidate to defeat Palin-endorsed Tea Party Republican Joe Miller in the Alaska U.S. Senate race. But how much should I really rejoice, anyway? It seems that for the last two years, Republican senators have pretty much consistently voted in a straight block against ANYTHING on that legislative body's agenda in a cynical attempt to delay and obstruct the duly-elected majority Democrats from being able to claim any credit for accomplishing anything. It didn't seem to matter whether the GOP senator was an ideologue like James Inhofe or a moderate like Richard Lugar. It was in essence a two-year "block party" for all concerned. Murkowski may have been personally inclined toward being a moderate, but she still followed the party leaders' directives and contributed very little of a positive nature during the last two years. So I don't see how her reelection will make much of a difference during the next two as well. Of course, sooner or later the Republicans will regain a Senate majority...and then they'll expect the Democrats to work with them. Yes, Lisa Murkowski will then once again be on the Senate floor proposing legislation and doubtlessly criticizing the Dems for being obstructionists! So I guess I would eventually rather have her in there instead of Miller, who strikes me as being of the same ilk that George Wallace was in the sixties and seventies. Only the targeted demographic scapegoat groups have changed from blacks back then to Mexicans, Muslims, and gays now.

Blog to Stay Active

Well, I was going to lay this blog aside and explore other areas on the Internet, but my friend Barry from New York sent me an encouraging e-mail, convincing me to ride out this period I'm undergoing of aversion to writing. After all, I look at most of the other blogs individuals publish and see huge gaps in their entries, some even spanning months. So I canceled that last entry and am keeping things active here. After all, I can determine how much I want to write and how often according to my standards.

Barry, I do appreciate your kind input and your friendship going back into the 1960s. I would like to increase readership and get a diversity of commentary on it. Perhaps I need to advertise this blog on my Facebook page, which I have rarely ever used.

Obama's Commissions

When Barack Obama devised his commission in 2009 to determine what to do with the U.S. space program, he pretty much already knew what he wanted to do: scrap the ambitious and important plan from the previous administration to set up a base on the moon. So what happened but the commission (surprise, surprise) recommended that the President abandon Bush's plan in favor of some vague future projects to land on an asteroid or Mars. And, incidentally, also contract out all launching rockets, making NASA essentially helpless in trying to launch people into space for a few years. It was just what Obama had wanted all along, since he has never been the least bit interested in space exploration and only promised Florida voters that he would stick with Bush's project in order to win that state in the 2008 election. In the words of that rude-ass South Carolina congressman during the President's address last year, "You lie!"

But Obama had authority to dictate whatever changes in NASA that he wanted since this is a federal agency and he is the president. Now he has another commission delivering its report: how to reduce the federal deficit. And it appears that Obama may have gone just a bit too far with his love of study commissions.

After all, it is Congress that determines the federal budget, with the president able to wield some power with the threat of veto. Almost no one likes the commission's findings, so the outcome can only make Obama appear to be weak and ineffectual.

Maybe our president can learn from this in setting up his future commissions (for which he may just have a couple of more years). Make sure you can control who is on the commission as well as assure that the results of their research conforms to your own preconceived ideas. And then make sure that this all takes place in an area that you can act upon without needing to cooperate or compromise with others who may have conflicting views. If you can accomplish this, then you can once again arrogantly flip off criticisms of your decisions with ignorant comments like the one that we aren't going to the moon because "we've already been there". Well, Mr. President, I've "already been there" in the voting booth, voting for you in '08. Maybe I don't have to go back there either!

16.9 Mile Training Run Today

Earlier today I ran 16.9 miles as I continue to prepare for some uncertain marathon race in the not-so-distant future. My time was 2:39:52. The temperature went from 63 to 77 during the workout, while the humidity dropped from 73 to 43%. Not excruciating conditions, to be sure, but also not conducive for me running up to a marathon distance (26.2 miles) either. Still, I came out of the run feeling better than after recent ones, and the run itself went smoothly. I could have even gone a few miles further, but it seems that there is always an externally-imposed time-ceiling limiting my runs. Something is always coming up that I have to deal with, and this demands that I limit my running even when I want to go further. Frankly, even if the weather was perfect for a long run, I don't know how I would be able to swing it. This leaves me with the feeling of being a bit harassed, and I resent it. Still, I keep plugging away.

Brief Blog Hiatus

I'm keeping the faith with this blog; it's just that I've had other things going on in my life recently. Consequently, the blog articles have been few and far between. Still, I plan to resume writing before too long.

Personal Running Observations

I am sitting in a Starbucks close to home, reflecting on my running. Today I ran a very modest 8.1 miles. Modest in that I have recently attained the distance of 20.54 miles, while this past week alone I ran (hard) in a 13.1 mile half-marathon and did a 15 mile workout two days later. But today's much shorter run left me tired and wondering what exactly I'm doing to my body. I want to run in a marathon race this winter, which entails covering a whopping 26.2 mile distance. But the weather down here in Florida has been fighting me tooth and nail in my endeavors to attain that distance in my training. For example, today it climbed to 79 degrees by my run's end. But just five days ago, the half-marathon race occurred under 39-49 degree conditions, ideal for running. We just can't seem to keep it very cool, at least for very long. I would be quite content just to have it in the fifties for my running, and it does dip into the forties before sunrise. But immediately thereafter the temperature shoots rapidly up. Ugh!

I don't know that it is necessarily in my best interests for me to emulate some of my fellow runners and embark on a year-round lifestyle of marathon training and racing. For one, I really don't know how much of a toll it's already taking on my body. For another, I already know how huge of a chunk of time it takes away from my already limited free time. So I'm thinking of a change in strategy with my running.

I will train to run in a couple of marathons. The first will be in late December or in January next year. Options are the upcoming marathons in Jacksonville, Clermont (the Florida Marathon), Disney World, and Ocala (all in central or north Florida). Then, on February 20 it will once again be time for Gainesville's Five Points marathon event. Last year I ran the half-marathon; this year I'm shooting for the full marathon. After that, I'm tapering down the distance I train for to between 6 and 13.1 miles.

Will I change my mind again later and just stick with trying to run marathons? Maybe, but there's still more to it than just being in physical shape to cover the distance.

I just saw how one of the freed Chilean miners ran the entire New York Marathon last week. Bravo! He sure had a lot of guts to try that, considering the long ordeal he just recently suffered through. But although I don't want to detract from his feat and my admiration of him, for me there's a lot more involved in running in a marathon race just just "running in a marathon race".

The Chilean miner no doubt was entered by another and pretty much transported right to the starting line, after which he was escorted through the race by a party of assistants. He didn't have to worry about getting time off from work to schedule for the race or about transportation to the site and back home again. Or about where he would stay before the race. All of this I have to consider when trying to decide where to enter a race. Even the relatively close Jacksonville Bank marathon presents a problem because, although it is held on an "off day" for me, the previous night I work until late. Other events present similar problems, and usually they arrange it so that an entrant HAS TO stay overnight in the race's city just to be able to pick up the essential racing packet that contains the timing chip and other important items. I can guarantee you that, if these hassles were removed from me, I wouldn't have any qualms about trying to gut out a marathon, be it in New York or anywhere else.

George W. Bush's Reappearance

Lately, former president George W. Bush has been making the media rounds while promoting his newly-released memoirs. I have heard a lot of positive reaction to him as he made his case for the often controversial decisions he made during his two-term tenure from 2001 to 2009. I know of several people who could find a multitude of items to complain about him, but I will spotlight two: his insistence on tax cuts favoring the rich throughout his presidency and the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, he had a right to claim some credit for not only balancing the federal budget during the last few years of his presidency, but also for generating a surplus that cut into the national debt, reducing the interest that taxpayers would pay on said debt. When Bush came onto the scene in 2001, there was a buzz going around in some conservative circles to the effect that the surplus was somehow bad in that by having "extra" money (a falsehood, since as mentioned the cumulative national debt was still staggering), the federal government would begin to invest in private business and thus begin to insidiously control them. Apparently, young Bush subscribed to this theory as he made it clear that having a yearly surplus was a sign that the government was holding onto the people's money (in spite of the overall debt). And that this money should be given back. Hence the continual deficit-spiraling tax breaks for the duration of his presidency and the first two years of Obama's. Congress gave Bush his wish regarding tax policy, but apparently Obama isn't going to be accorded the same respect (even though he wants to keep much of the tax break intact). Not that I completely agree with Obama: We are in an economic downturn and ending this long-term albeit "temporary" tax break now would, in my opinion, just stifle business investment in growth and jobs at a moment when it needed all the encouragement it could get. But although Bush's tax breaks could have initially been justified for the same reason, they should have ended once the economy had rebounded by the end of his first term. Instead, coupled with the unwarranted invasion and occupation of Iraq, our national debt was allowed to skyrocket while Democrats or anyone else criticizing the president's decisions were labeled as unpatriotic and/or anti-business by his supporters, fiscal responsibility be damned. But the moment Obama stepped into office in 2009, those very same people got "religion" and began to preach fiscal responsibility!

Besides draining the country of its money, the unprovoked invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 and beyond exacted a tragic human toll across the nation due to the deaths and injuries deriving from it (not to mention the much more severe toll inflicted on the Iraqi people). The unprecedented level of international support for America shown after 9/11 vanished, with the U.S. looking more like the bully on the block.

So yes, George W. Bush looked like his typical likable, "regular guy" self during the interviews I have witnessed lately. And I, unlike some others, don't hold him responsible for the 9/11 attacks. But even considering that, he left his two terms with this country in worse shape than when he started. And his many apologists, who equated support for his decisions with national loyalty, suddenly threw that notion out of the window when a Democratic president succeeded him. Obama never was accorded a "honeymoon": Bush was and he squandered it.

Personal Time Management Needs Improvement

Thought for today: If there is anything that I need to change more than the way I manage time, then I don't know what it is. But how do I run my life in a more efficient, timely manner? I first need to distinguish between two general time situations in my life: committed time and free time.

Committed time is that during which I am, as the title implies, committed to certain activities. The most obvious is work-time, but also sleep-time goes under this category. Work and sleep are pretty predictable, inherently cyclic, and can easily be planned for. But spending time with my wife and children also goes under "committed" time and isn't so predictable. This is a "floating" area that I need to be consciously attentive to and flexible enough by rescheduling other planned events to accommodate family opportunities as they arise.

Free time is time that I am more or less free to schedule my own activities as I see fit. Not only do I want to avoid wasting this precious time through sloth, but also I need to distinguish among the more appropriate use of different times as they relate to specific endeavors I want to accomplish.

So at the start of each day, as well as the end of the previous one, I list areas in which I need to engage myself. Then I set up a rough hourly schedule in which I jot out my plans to fulfill those goals I have written.

Even after the main goals I want to accomplish have been fulfilled, I often find myself with more free time and want to avoid simply vegetating in front of the TV set. So there is another tactic I use whereby I set my pocket timer to 20 minutes and devote myself to a particular activity in a frenzied manner until the timer signals the end of that span. Since there are plenty of activities for me to do that don't necessarily carry with them specific objectives, I'll never run out of ways to occupy myself with the "timer" method. The psychological advantage to this is that, if it's something that I don't particularly want to do (like cleaning the garage or doing yard work), I can see an end to it (the 20 minute mark), beyond which I can switch to a more pleasant activity (even if I'm leaving some work undone in that area).

But ideas for better time management are just that: ideas. It is actually implementing them and developing good time management habits that will change this aspect of my personal life for the better.

My Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon Run

Earlier today I ran the Florida Track Club's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon. It was the first public running race I participated in since my unpleasant three-mile Melon Run (also put on by the Florida Track Club) on July 4. I had decided to run only in longer events and not place any store on the race administrators' ability to accurately record and post my finishing time and placing relative to the other runners. This local half-marathon event seemed tailor-made to prepare me for the upcoming marathon races I plan to enter.

This morning at sunrise, just before the race's start, the weather was so cold at 39 degrees (remember: I'm a Floridian) that I seriously considered just turning around and getting back in my car and driving home. But I stuck it out and shivered for the ten-to-fifteen minutes before the race's start. I wasn't going to make the same mistake I made earlier this year at the Five Points Half-Marathon and overdress; I wore shorts and a "technical" running T-shirt. Anything more would have created stifling conditions for me as the run wore on. Oh, and to avoid the pointless crowding and jockeying for position among runners at the race's start, I simply resolved that issue by making sure I was initially behind EVERYONE. Then I began my own personal timing of my run as I crossed the starting line a few seconds into the race.

The Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon has a distinctive course. On one hand, the entire race takes place away from streets, going completely down a pleasant nature trail on the southeast side of Gainesville. On the other hand, and unlike with other races of this type, the trail in question, the Hawthorne Trail, is paved, wide, and smooth (with no motorized traffic permitted). It was a joy to run down it. Now that I know of its existence, I'll have to take others in my family down it sometimes for bicycling.

Initially, I had planned to follow Jeff Galloway's walk/run principles during this race, but the discomfort of the cold made me want to keep running (to stay warm). Instead, I decided to listen to my body and walk whenever I felt the need. I never did. What began as an intended easy-paced workout ended in a lengthy near-sprint at the end. I finished with a time (by my watch) of 2:01:41. The official time will probably show me going a little over 2:02. That doesn't place me anywhere near the elite runners, even among those within my own age grouping (50-54). But I feel quite satisfied with my performance. And although I didn't employ "walk/run" during the race, this strategy, which I used in my training throughout the long, hot summer, had built up my endurance drastically to the point where I didn't need to use it, at least for this 13.1 mile race. A full 26.2 mile marathon is a different matter entirely, though.

The next race I am considering running in is the marathon taking place in Jacksonville on Sunday, December 19. Alas, there seem to be a few glitches with this plan regarding the logistics of getting there in shape for the race: I have to work at least until 11 PM on the Saturday before and may possibly have to stay even later due to the heavy Christmas parcel season. And the race, I think, starts at 7 the next morning. So I'll have to think about this a little before I commit to paying the entry fee (which now stands at $65).

Mid-Term Elections Reaction

Last night the mid-term elections yielded the generally-expected result with Republicans taking back control of the U.S. House, the Democrats managing to hold on to the majority in the Senate, and state gubernatorial races tending to fall into the GOP's win column. Many voters in Nevada who disliked sitting senator Harry Reid nevertheless couldn't bear to vote for his teabagger opponent Sharon Angle and so the Senate Majority Leader was reelected, much to the surprise of many. As I said, there were many Republican victors, so to whom did ABC's Good Morning America decide to give a spotlight interview? Christine O'Donnell, who as expected badly lost her own Tea Party/Republican bid for the Senate against Christopher Coons. I wonder whether ABC even sought out Coons, who actually is the individual who matters and who will be representing Delaware during the next six years.

In Florida, Marco Rubio, a very conservative Republican embraced by the Tea Party movement, coasted to an easy victory over sitting governor Charlie Crist and Democratic congressman Kendrick Meek. Although he is on the opposite end of the political spectrum, I see Rubio's rise as being very similar to Barack Obama's, who successfully ran for president only four years after winning his Senate race to represent Illinois. Rubio strikes me as being just as ambitious as Obama. In the Florida governor's race, Republican Rick Scott appears to have won a real squeaker against Democrat Alex Sink.

We'll see whether or not the Republicans in the new Congress will at least partially abandon their obstructionist tactics against the Obama administration. I would think that they HAVE TO in the House since they are going to be the party in power with the gavel and will control the legislative agenda there. One thing that always happens when the opposition party takes one or both houses during a president's term will probably happen here: they'll begin to have investigations and hearings on alleged or implied improper behavior within that administration. Don't believe me? It happened with Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush during their tenures in office.

As a post-script to this article, my friend Barry, unable at the time to submit a comment on Blogger, e-mailed me a comment regarding yesterday's article. He considered my analogy in it between the election campaign and competitive sports to be inapt and also questioned that I would wave at those people on street corners supporting candidates or issues that I disagreed with. To the first difference I would say that no analogy is perfect; you can always find some point where it breaks down. But being a "good sport" is a life-lesson that children are supposed to be taught at home and at school. And exhibiting gracious behavior toward one's opponent in the face of fierce competition is a crucial element of that good sportsmanship that later in life becomes a crucial social skill useful in many areas, not just in sports. Areas like, for example, adult personal relationships, the workplace, driving through traffic, conducting business either as consumer or provider, legal matters, and yes...politics (among many others).

As for the "waving"...to each his own, I suppose. I don't think, though, that me waving at someone who supports another candidate as he or she is waving at me is anything more than simple social courtesy. But each of us has our own hands to control as we see fit.

Elections, Voting, Sportsmanship, Duality

As Melissa and I went over our sample ballots to determine (or review) how each of us were going to vote today, I recalled the torrent of dire programming on television I have witnessed in recent weeks, particularly on the politically diametrically-opposed news channels MSNBC and Fox News. I also have a pretty good memory of previous elections when one side seemed to be of the mindset that by taking back control of one or more houses of Congress they would be taking the country back from that awful, nasty other side (who were supposedly screwing everything up).

The Republicans are certain to take over the U.S. House of Representatives in January because of today's elections and the Democrats are probably going to maintain narrow control over the Senate. This will change the dynamics of national government, especially now that the prevailing administration has to contend with the opposition party being in power in one of the legislative branches. I will accept the election results and go on with my life, but unfortunately, many others are in perpetual campaign mode. The day after the 2010 election to them just signals the start of the 2012 election campaign season.

When I drive past supporters of various candidates and referenda, they wave at me and I wave back, regardless whether I plan to vote their way. They are fellow Americans who believe in what they are doing and are participating in the process. I respect them for that. I don't regard the candidates I vote against as the "enemy", but apparently many others do. I don't regard people I know who support the "other side" as being stupid or misled, but I know others with this attitude. I feel that they need to get a sense of perspective on things.

It's fine to get passionate about voting and caring for your candidate and party. But it's also important to exercise some restraint and show compassion and respect for those you disagree with. It's similar in sports: A team or athlete prepares hard for an event. During the actual contest, each side tries as much as possible to defeat the other. But after it is over, both sides come together on the field or court and greet and congratulate each other in a good-natured spirit of sportsmanship. This sportsmanship has all but disappeared in the area of politics, and it doesn't bode well for our future.

If everyone is in perpetual campaign mode, then there will never be any time for the compromises and deal-making necessary to get anything done in elected legislative bodies. We elect people to represent us but then won't stand back afterward and let them do what we elected them to do.

Let's bring back the duality of passionately supporting our candidates and positions while respecting and working with the "other side". We can all be Americans who believe strongly in the correctness of our views and at the same time try to understand in a sympathetic way the views of those who disagree with us. How about starting now?

My 20.54 Mile Training Run

Today I reached a distance running milestone by passing the 20-mile mark. I ran 20.54 miles with a time of 3:21:32. At the beginning, the temperature was 61 (O.K.) and the humidity was 92% (ugh). By the end, the temperature had risen to 77 (ugh) and the humidity had dropped to 51% (O.K.). Overall, the weather conditions, although no longer at excruciating summer levels of heat and humidity, were still unseasonal for early November and not very conducive to distance running. As was the case with my recent 18.39 mile run, I didn't enjoy it very much. I did seem to have more energy at my disposal, which may be partially due to my switch to Gatorade from Powerade Zero. But my legs ached badly toward the end. The recovery didn't go too well either, and I was more fatigued than usual.

I plan to take it easy for a couple of days and then resume running at a more moderate distance. I plan to run in a half-marathon race scheduled this coming Saturday in Gainesville, although I will not try to beat other runners. I'm just going for the experience.

Last-Minute Election Nonsense

I have long ago decided which candidates I will be voting for on November 2, as well as how I will be voting on various referenda and amendments that are on the ballot. Apparently though, there are many people out there who are "swayable", even at this late date. How do I know this? By the incredible flood of political advertisements stuffing my mailbox, most of them virulently negative and even hateful toward the opposing candidate.

I've gotten to the point where, just by seeing an ad from a distance, I can guess who is putting it out. If it features a candidate either in black and white or "fuzzed" up, then the opposing candidate is putting it out. If the picture shows a candidate in relief with large-print words next to it, then the same holds, with that candidate being vilified for having said something (probably taken completely out of context) at some point during his or her lifetime. But if the picture is in color, especially if it pictures the candidate together with family (the more children the better), then you can bet your bottom dollar that this one is that candidate's "positive" ad.

Speaking of that last comment, I have to this day yet to figure out why some candidates for public office have the notion that they will be better public servants than their opponents because they have demonstrated what compulsive breeders they are! But then again, this may all be a part of trying to gain whatever edge they can to sway those nincompoop "still-undecided" voters!

Speaking of nincompoop voters, we've had early voting in Alachua County since October 18. Yesterday I went to my local public library branch, which also is serving as an early voting location, to replace a lost library card. The parking lot was overflowing, packed with people apparently desperate to get their votes in early (the last available day for "early" voting, that is). I lucked out when, having given up on finding a parking spot and making my way toward the exit, a car suddenly pulled out and left me its space. Having seen this spectacle on Saturday, I predict once again a virtually empty polling precinct on Tuesday morning when my wife and I go to cast OUR votes! Imagine that, actually voting on Election Day!

14.03 Mile Training Run Friday

Yesterday, as expected, the temperature and humidity went down a bit, making a more reasonable training distance possible for me. Although I had slept in and had to be at work early in the afternoon, I still managed to squeeze in a "middle distance" 14.03 mile run. The conditions were so good that I knew that, had I more time at my disposal, I would have been able to cross the 20-mile threshold. I have switched to full-sugar Gatorade (or "G" as they now call it), and I think that this also aided me in maintaining my energy level throughout the workout. The humidity, averaging about 40%, coupled with the temperature (61-75), resulted in me hardly having broken out a sweat during my run. But alas, the temperatures are once again beginning to climb!

Oh, to live in the Pacific Northwest!

Anti-Tirade Tirade

In the 1986 movie Mosquito Coast, Harrison Ford's character Allie Fox is an inventive genius with all sorts of ideas he wants to inflict on the world. He is also a very verbally overbearing personality, constantly going off into loud and often angry tirades about any of the pet topics that draw his interest. The others in his family and anyone else within earshot are reduced to passive stick-figures having to absorb his wrath and venom without being accorded a respectful hearing of their own feelings. If you've seen this movie, maybe you have some idea about what I mean by "tirade".

Tirade should also be a verb ("to tirade") and "tirader" a noun that describes one who performs this abusive form of speech. If you're a language purist, you just might want to skip the rest of this article, because I plan to use these two forms, correctness be damned.

Tiraders, the way I see it, have a couple of problems that cause them to talk as they do. One, they don't have enough self-restraint regarding the expression of anger or aggression when these feeling arise within them. Two, they are basically contemptuous of the dignity of others (particularly the listeners who have to suffer through their tirades) and feel that their own personal narratives and opinions are the ONLY narratives and opinions that count.

When I am around someone who goes off into a tirade about something else (not about me) in their life or that they heard from radio or television, the harsh, aggressive tone of their speech has the same emotional effect on me as if I were the object of their anger anyway. And I then automatically begin in turn to become angry at them, regardless of the truth value of what they are expressing.

There is what I believe to be a mistaken notion in our society that it is important for people to vent out their feelings to others, especially if the feelings have a negative character to them. It feeds into the idea of "release": just let it out of your system by sharing it with another. But to me, all this really does is to spread the poison. Besides, many of the tirades I have suffered through in my life have little to do with the negative experiences of the speaker and more to do with his or her mental fabrications.

Our society also seems to collectively regard tiraders as somehow being stronger and more important than others, deserving special attention and respect. So now we're stuck with abusive professional radio tiraders like Michael Savage, Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh. While watching C-Span I've seen representatives and senators from both sides of the political aisle get to the podium and loudly pitch angry fits on behalf of their opinions, expecting this to somehow bolster their arguments. And who can forget the flood of vitriolic tirades at the town hall meetings while the health care reform bill was being debated?

There are people in my life who, in varying degrees, have given themselves over to tirading. And it hurts me when they do that. They are showing by talking like this AT me that they feel that I am insignificant, essentially a nonentity incapable of thinking for myself and arriving at my own conclusions. Plus, a tirader implicitly inserts a nasty ultimatum into the tirade: if the listener rejects the tirader's point, either in whole or in part, and expresses this disagreement, no matter how respectfully or softly, then the tirader takes it as a personal attack. The listener than becomes either an "idiot" (one of Mark Levin's favorite terms) or an enemy.

Yeah, like I really want to hang around people who treat me like that!

Partisan "Non-Partisan" School Board Races

A few days ago I was reading an advertisement put out by the Democratic Party. Pictured on it were the state-wide and local-area candidates for public office who were Democrats, and whom the ad was obviously endorsing by dint of their party affiliation. They included Democrats running for the US Senate, Florida Governor, Florida Cabinet posts, Florida State Senate and House, Alachua County Commission, and Alachua County School Board candidates. Uh...only one problem with the three pictured Democratic school board candidates...

The Alachua County School Board positions are elected officially on a non-partisan basis, with the candidates' parties deliberately left off the ballot. In the newspaper analyses of their positions on issues as well as their appearances on radio or TV, the question of whether they were Democrats, Republicans, something else, or "none of the above" was avoided. But the ad makes those races de facto partisan. Hey, for all I know, the Republicans might have put out their own ads identifying their school board candidate as being in the GOP, who knows? But this does present a potential problem for someone in my position.

As a federal worker, I have certain limitations placed upon my political activity by the federal Hatch Act. I am free to express my opinions as I wish (and I do on this blog), but I am restricted as to the degree that I can involve myself within PARTISAN campaigns. I am accorded more latitude under this law when the races are non-partisan in nature, so maybe you can see what the problem is.

Suppose I had been very active in pushing one of the "non-partisan" candidates, only for the race to later turn into a partisan contest, for all practical purposes. Then where would I stand?

Political parties need to take care when placing ads in local contests, as some of these are non-partisan in nature. Different rules apply, not only to the candidates, but also to other elements of the population, depending on how an election is officially characterized.

2010 World Series Begins Today

Well, the 2010 World Series starts today and it's a lock to be a groundbreaking one as well. The Texas Rangers, originally introduced into the American League as the expansion Washington Senators (replacing the original Senators who had moved to Minnesota), have never been to the World Series before, much less won it. And their National League opponent, the San Francisco Giants, haven't won a Series since 1954 when they were still in New York and a young Willy Mays made his spectacular running outfield catch against the favored Cleveland Indians. So a new city will be partying at the end of this year's World Series.

It looks to me as if there are two main questions that will determine the eventual winner. The Rangers have as their ace pitcher the incredible Cliff Lee, who has been almost completely unhittable during their previous two series against the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. It looks as if Lee will get at least two starts against the Giants, as well as a possible third if the series goes the limit to a seventh game. How the Giants bat against Lee in those games should go a long way toward swaying the series to one side or the other. The other factor I see is how well the Rangers continue to bat while facing San Francisco's vaunted pitching lineup. We'll see, it should be interesting. I still haven't figured out who I'm going to root for.

A sidenote: When I was in Times Square in NYC this past April and sitting in Junior's restaurant there, the TV was tuned in to the Yankees' season opener against Boston. I wonder, since the "pin-stripers" didn't make it to the World Series this year, whether they'll show it in Junior's. Hey all you readers up there, do me a favor and run down to Junior's and check it out for me...

...Just kidding!

Alas, More Unseasonably Hot Weather

While writing about the weather may seem to be a cop-out choice for a blog article, this week's abnormally high, even stifling temperatures in Gainesville are nothing less than a big news story to me. Until Friday, temperatures are expected to rise into the nineties with little relief with the humidity. For someone like me who has been training to run a 26.2 mile marathon in December, this has been a real thorn in my side. I have had to run more moderate distances while waiting for temperatures to eventually drop again.

Of course, this unseasonably hot weather doesn't just affect my locality. In Valdosta, Georgia on Sunday, temperatures had soared as well into the nineties, making our visit to the theme park there less pleasant than it could have been. And we are getting no help at all either from a lack of rain throughout this period.

Friday morning is supposed to see the end of this meteorological anomaly, with highs returning to around eighty and lows in the fifties. I fully intend to get then go back to exploring the frontiers of my running endurance by piling on the mileage!

Wild Adventures (Valdosta) Visit

Today I took my family with me on an excursion to Wild Adventures theme park on the outskirts of Valdosta, Georgia. I've been there many times (going back to 2002), but not recently. I read somewhere that Wild Adventures had fallen on lean financial times and that closing it down had been considered. But they seemed to still be hanging in there, although they had redesigned the place somewhat with several of the old rides gone and a few new replacements. I miss the now-gone Power Surge and Inverter, two of my all-time favorite theme park rides. Also missing were the Gauntlet, Sindwinder, Gold Rush, and Tiger Terror rides. The latter two I had a rather fond attachment to as they were "baby" rollercoasters that helped me to gradually overcome my fears until I was ready for the "big guys". Also, Double Shot was shut down but not removed (yet). Hopefully, they'll keep this fun ride for the future. Wild Adventures did add some new rides, although the only one I really cared for was the thoroughly awesome Rattler.

We bought season passes for Wild Adventures that will last through the year 2011. This park, which is a manageable 90 minute drive north from Gainesville on I-75, also contains a nice water park within its borders that runs from mid-spring to early fall. And they have concerts as well (the Doobie Brothers are one of the featured coming attractions). All of this is covered by the discounted passes we bought. Hopefully, the company will stay in business long enough to cover their duration!

Gainesville's Crazy Bye Weekend

This weekend marks the one time in the fall season here in Gainesville when the University of Florida football team has a "bye". And every sort of event has consequently been planned for this time: the Pride Parade, the Butterfly Festival, the Macintosh Fall Festival, the Asian Culture Festival, the Friends of the Library book sale (a.k.a. the Friends of Compulsive Hoarders book sale), and my own church's version with the "friends of compulsive hoarders" garage sale. No doubt each of the organizers for these ambitious events looked at the football bye weekend and scheduled their events without any regard to anyone else who may have had similar designs. It reminds me of a scene in one my all-time favorite movies, Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind.

In A Beautiful Mind, protagonist John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) is a stressed-out Princeton mathematics graduate student searching for a topic about which to produce a truly original paper. Finally, as he is about to give up, he is sitting with his classmates at the school's diner/social hall. A stunningly beautiful blonde walks into the place with some of her friends (also attractive). As Nash listens to his buddies pining over the new object of their affections, he comes up with the idea that will form the thesis for his paper: if all of the men go after the blonde, they will crowd each other out and nobody will win. And her friends will then in turn reject them because nobody wants to be "second best". But suppose the men instead agree among themselves to avoid the blonde and each concentrate on a different friend of hers. No conflict ensues, and everyone gets what he wants (except for the blonde, that is). Nash would apply this idea in his ensuing paper to economics.

I believe the folks planning this weekend's events in the Gainesville area could have benefited from John Nash's reasoning. Picture this "bye" weekend as the beautiful blonde that everyone wants. Not all Gator football games are at home; some Saturdays they are playing at another school, and these weekends could be seen as representing the blonde's (albeit less attractive) friends. Why not everyone just ignore the bye week and work with each other to schedule their events on different weekends when UF has road games? Then people wouldn't be torn as to which events they would have to attend and which to pass by. Each event would also enjoy the full attention of the local media without competing events concurrently scheduled. And the parking would not be so overwhelmingly difficult to come by.

Oh well, it was just an idea. Instead, I expect more of this nonsense by event planners in future years.

Celebrity Chic Leaves Me Cold

Earlier this week, I received an e-mail from the Florida Track Club, an organization of which I am a nominal member. The announcement was that Jeff Galloway, a long-time, famous marathon runner whose philosophy on the sport has greatly influenced me, would be visiting Gainesville. He was even planning to go out with any interested FTC members for a group run in the late afternoon. It turned out that I had to work that day and couldn't meet Mr. Galloway in person. But truth be told, had I been off, I doubt that I would have anyway.

I respect Jeff Galloway and have adopted much of his advice about running. I even bought one of his books on the subject. But the fact that he is a celebrity does not impel me to divert my activities in order to meet up with him. Nothing against him personally, but I feel this way about ALL celebrities.

A couple of years ago, I took my daughter out with her middle-school level flag football team to the University of Florida to watch the Gators football team do a spring practice session. All of the big stars were there, including Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, future NFL star receiver Percy Harvin, John Brantley, and even Cameron Newton (now a Heisman candidate playing for Auburn). After the practice, fans approached different players for autographs, and they responded to the requests with patience and friendliness. But around Tebow there was a kind of irrational, even creepy fan frenzy, with children and adults alike crowding around the big star to get his autograph. The whole scene disgusted me, especially when I saw a woman crowding out children to get to Tebow, and I fervently wished at the time to be somewhere else. No, this celebrity chic leaves me cold.

I could make a list of many famous people whose accomplishments I greatly admire, and it would be a pretty long list. But I can't think of a single soul among them whom I would want to seek out as a fan would seek out a celebrity. I can think of quite a few with whom I would want to "sit a spell" at Starbucks over coffee and chat (my version of Obama's beer diplomacy). But that would entail a dialogue between two complex human beings with each having something to contribute and something to learn, not some kind of role-playing game involving someone fawning over the image of another. That's just me, though, and I really don't want to get into judging those who are more in sync with this society's bizarre (to me) celebrity mania.

Dean Koontz's Novel Intensity

I recently finished reading my third Dean Koontz novel, titled Intensity. It was quite a departure from Midnight, which was the previous novel of his that I read. Midnight, which was about a mysterious coastal California town whose population was undergoing a profoundly sinister change. Intensity, on the other hand, was a life and death struggle between protagonist Chyna Shepherd and her adversary, Edgler Vess, a sadistic killer. This initially disappointed me as I was looking for another "Midnight" and wasn't getting it with this story. But I then began to pick up some things with Intensity that made it stand out as novel with its own worth.

Both main characters had strong personalities and deeply entrenched personal narratives that they used to justify their present behavior. Chyna came from a very unstable family background, continually surrounded by abusive (and criminal) adults. She developed during these early times the crucial survival skill of "invisibility", which came in handy in the story as she tired to elude Vess. Vess , for his own part, created a personal philosophy that life should be lived to its fullest intensity at each moment and that there was really no good or evil. This he did to justify the murderous, sadistic acts he compulsively committed against others since childhood.

It was the examination of these two characters' worldviews that finally salvaged this otherwise overly violent and gory tale for me. I hope that the next Dean Koontz novel I read will have a different type of theme. Still, I got a couple of things out of Intensity.

Chyna's "invisibility" reminded me of my own personal ability, at times, to behave in such a way as to deflect the attention of others, almost to the point where it is as if I am not there. I don't think this is a very healthy way of presenting oneself before others, do you? Also, Vess's "philosophy" of "intensity" made me think of all the people around me and across the world who disguise their own prejudices and hates by donning the clothing of religion and political "principles".

Things Going Swimmingly

My swimming progress is coming along slowly, but it is definitely progress nevertheless. If you have been reading this blog lately, you would already know that I am basically relearning how to swim, according to long-time swimming athlete Terry Laughlin. Laughlin emphasizes balance in the water and streamlining the swimmer's body in order to make swimming efficient. He also teaches that it is the body's core, not the arms or legs, that provide the energy needed to propel the body forward in water. So I have been going to my (very close) YMCA pool on almost a daily basis, practicing my form each visit for about 15-20 minutes before leaving. I have a long way to go, and it is very clear to me that I have a lot of "unlearning" to do. But "slow and steady" are the watchwords here, and I am working on my form to the exclusion of getting the strenuous physical exercise that I see others doing in the "lanes". My aim is lifelong swimming. So far so good. But it will be interesting as the seasonal temperatures continue to drop and I continue to go to the increasingly chilly pool area! In a way, it will be an ironic reversal of my almost-insane running training I did in very hot summertime conditions. But the YMCA at least heats their outdoor pool up. They plan to keep it open throughout the winter, only keeping it closed on very cold mornings until the temperature climbs to a few degrees over freezing (like around 35). I'll just freeze my ass off getting in and out of the warm water!

Shopping Cart Design Unsafe

When I began working at the post office many years ago, I thought they had it all backwards with their rolling equipment. Designed to transport mail from one location to another within the mail processing plants as well as into (and out of) trucks, they come in different sizes and shapes: the U-Cart, the Hamper, the GPC (general-purpose-cart), the Cage, and the BMC (bulk-mail-cart). Except for some old types of hampers, all of the rolling equipment features turnable wheels (can change direction) on one end and locked wheels (can only go forwards or backwards) on the other, similar in design to the typical shopping cart I would use in stores. The only problem was that I (and most everyone else) was accustomed to the store carts with the turning, steering wheels at the cart's narrow front. But except for the small u-cart, the other postal equipment is designed strictly for pushing from the end where the turnable wheels are. They also consider it to be an important safety issue to push from this prescribed end, with notices to this effect placed on the equipment itself. At first I felt awkward pushing around carts like this, but then quickly realized that by doing so I had much more steering leverage with the steering wheels close to me.

The only postal rolling equipment that has the steerable wheels away from the operator is the small u-cart, and its front end is tapered and relatively narrow, much like the old-fashioned shopping carts. I know that this tapering was no design accident, as it mitigates the lost steering leverage with the "moving" wheels being in front by preventing too much weight from being put into the front of the cart. But nowadays, stores have come out with rectangular-shaped shopping carts with as much storage room in front as in the back. And this can create a greater hazard for injury and accident. The shopper, often someone who is frail or even handicapped in some way, has enough of a burden just steering around one of these carts when it is empty; it can get to be overwhelming when loaded down with groceries! This wouldn't have presented a problem if the cart designers had switched the cart handles around when they changed its shape.

When I go shopping for groceries at my local Publix (which is one of those places with the rectangular carts), I often push the cart around (very adroitly, I must say) from the so-called "wrong" end, often eliciting worried glances from my fellow shoppers. But they are the ones who are working against the laws of physics affecting the strain on their bodies and their difficulty in steering and stopping. Not only do these shopping carts present a hazard for those pushing them, but also for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the path of a "pusher" who has lost control of such a cart.

My 18.39 Mile Run Today

In another "step" toward my goal of covering the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, I set out at 9:30 AM to see how far I could run. The temperature was 52 and the humidity 82%. I felt kind of crappy at the beginning, but thought that this feeling would shake off once I got into my running groove. Unfortunately, that groove never came, and the entire run was a struggle for me against fatigue and soreness. I had beforehand allotted myself enough time to cover the marathon today, but as it turned out I just couldn't go on past my 18.39 miles. My time was 2:59:04. The temperature at the end of the three hours had risen 27 degrees to 79 and the humidity plummeted to 32%.

18.39 miles still surpasses my previous mark of 17.71, set just a few days ago. I'm wondering if my use of the no-calorie drink Powerade Zero hampered me in today's workout. I think I'll switch to Gatorade for my next long run, which will take place at least a week from now. I may just be needing an energy infusion while I'm running. By the way, this is how I classify my running distances:

Long: 15 miles or greater
Medium: 10-14.99 miles
Short: 5-9.99 miles
Tiny: 3-4.99 miles
Why Even Bother: Less than 3 miles

Quite a change from a year ago!

Balance

I have recently been re-teaching myself how to swim, according to the sensible precepts of veteran swimmer Terry Laughlin. In his Total Immersion program, designed for the four basic swimming strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly), Laughlin emphasizes the preeminent need for balance in the water. And this aquatic balance is very different from our land-based sense of balance.

As land-based creatures, humans depend on centering their feet directly below their bodies' center-of-gravity in order to stand, walk, or perform any variation thereof. We have fluids in the semicircular canals of the inner ear to aid us in this. In water, though, this instinct hampers the kind of fish-like balance that we need to move efficiently there. A balanced position for swimming has the head, arms, and upper torso on one side, with the hips and legs on the other: a horizontal, not vertical position. Swimming education has traditionally ignored this need for water-balance, an omission contributing to an almost universal difficulty among the population with swimming. What I'm doing is unlearning bad swimming habits and beginning anew from scratch, working to establish within myself a new "instinct" for water balance.

The concept of balance can be allegorically extended to life in general, although with this it is necessary to establish some parameters. And since each of us, with our own individual natures, emphasizes different parameters according to our own values and priorities, there is no truly objective guide for "balance" in life. So I can only speak for myself and let others speak for themselves.

For me, balance is composed of integrating the good things in my life together to the point where nothing worthwhile suffers at the hands of excess attention to something else. And like with swimming, it can be quite a struggle to unlearn bad habits that create imbalance. Also, over time the parameters that I am trying to balance may themselves change, often causing a "life-direction" shift.

Stuck on Studying in Coffee Shops

I think I have been spending a little too much time in coffee shops studying. Maybe, with the turn in the season and its lower temperatures and drier air, this would be a good time to reconnect with the great outdoors and do my studying, writing, and reading in some of the many public parks here in Gainesville.

You might ask, why not just stay at home and do this? Well, I have always seemed to have the need to get out in order to focus my attention properly. But sitting outside in my yard or on my porch should also serve my purposes.

I am not a "home-studier". I need to get away to another place in order to focus my concentration on what I want to do. This has always been the case with me. Had I known that I studied better in coffee shops and diners when I was younger (high school), I might have been able to turn up my grades a notch or two.

Oh, and where am I sitting writing this? No place other than my nearby Dunkin' Donuts, pausing occasionally to swill some of my large coconut-flavored coffee with cream! But I look out the window and it does look pretty. Maybe I should just stuff my study materials into my backpack and ride my bicycle around until I find a suitable spot to establish my temporary outdoors "office".

Stop Demonizing Government and Corporations

It's always interesting to me, when hearing either the political left or the political right discussing what they believes ails this country, to notice how each side seem blinded to a major part of the argument. With the left, they have no problems railing against the excesses of powerful big businesses, especially those multinational corporations that they accuse of exporting our jobs oversees, wrecking the environment, fighting the labor movement, and corrupting anything they want to control with their money. But these critics seem to be lacking in awareness as to the dangers posed by an ever-increasing government and the dangers it poses to people's freedoms.

The right-wingers, for their part, have no problem making anything and everything about government into a scapegoat for society's problems (well, except for the military that is). Government makes laws that hurt business and the economy. It uses its ability to spend money in order to make large segments of the population dependent on it. It tries to impose its own version of morality with "activist" judges who decide what will be good or bad for everyone. But those on the right seem blind to the abuses that powerful corporation are susceptible to, just as the left seems blind to problems arising from the State.

There is a terrible irony I see from either demonizing government or corporations. These two institutions are not "disjoint sets", set apart from the "people". Government rather is the reflection of the people's wishes, democratically expressed through the ballot box and tied to the Constitution, which protects their rights and liberties. Corporations, for their part, produce many goods and services that are indispensable for our still-high standard of living, as well as serving to continually research into newer, better ways to provide those goods and services. But more than that, it is the "people" who actually own them. True, the richer hold more sway in corporations than do shareholders with more modest means. But corporations are deeply entrenched within our society, not some almost alien threat as some on the left like to portray them.

So let's chill out a bit, recognize the good and bad in both government and corporations, and work to form a coalition of the reasonable: working to strengthen these crucial institutions and enable them to serve our interests, realizing that we are a part of them.

Running MP3 Shuffle Reshuffle

This entire past summer, throughout my training runs, I have listened to my mp3 player, with it on "shuffle" mode and programmed for one artist: Regina Spektor. I have heard every one of her songs she did on her five albums so many times that I probably don't really need my mp3 any more to hear them: they play themselves quite well in my head. Well, I do love her music but perhaps I need to mix things up a bit.

So I decided to create a larger group of my favorite musical acts to shuffle during my future runs. And which acts will those be, you're probably asking. Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. They are Regina Spektor, Sufjan Stevens, Radiohead, Metric, Beck, The New Pornographers, and Neko Case. Neko Case, by the way, is my current favorite country artist and is also a prominent singer in the New Pornographers, a Vancouver-based independent/alternative band.

I finally decided to do this after one day changing things up and shuffling through my Radiohead collection during a nine-mile run. What mysterious, eerie, and beautiful music! But Regina, your music is still Number One for me!