In keeping with my earlier plan to keep up to date with developing tropical weather disturbances this 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, I'm reporting only a potential so far out in the Caribbean and Atlantic just north of Hispaniola, a low pressure zone that different forecasting models predict will develop some time next week. These range from having it attain hurricane strength and threatening Florida to it only becoming a depression and entering the Gulf of Mexico. In any event, the more northern waters in my Gainesville latitude are much cooler now as we enter the month of November and should interfere with any intensification if any storm comes our way. Still, I'm not all that enthusiastic about having to follow yet another threatening tropical system...
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Weekly Short Stories: 1998 Science Fiction, Part 3
Here's another installment in my weekly review of short stories as I read them. The year I'm currently covering is 1998, and the anthology I'm reading is The Year's Best Science Fiction, Sixteenth Annual Collection, and featuring short stories and novellas from 1998 that series editor Gardner Dozois, also a sci-fi writer in his own right, selected. I got through two tales this week, so here are my reactions...
TAKLAMAKAN by Bruce Sterling
Taklamakan is a desert area located in central Asia, specifically in Xinjiang, China. It's the setting for a "black ops" spy operation in the future as a pair of operatives...one a humanoid alien...infiltrate a heavily-defended (by myriad robots) complex in that desert. Sterling's stories often reflect a cynical view of the "world order" with multinationals and militaristic countries vying for power. It's the same here...what they find once inside reminded me a little of the premise behind the Matrix movie series. And the author's depiction of the robots and their "ecosystem" is nothing short of staggering...
THE ISLAND OF THE IMMORTALS Ursula k. Le Guin
I looked it up: the archipelago and specific island in this story are apparently fictional...maybe that's for the better as the protagonist is on a quest to discover the rumored immortal people dwelling on that island. Yet while everyone there seems to confirm this, their utter lack of enthusiasm about the notion of people living forever is quite a shock. That is, until he discovers what is behind their immortality...and where their "eternal life" eventually lands them: quite a surprise ending. A sobering tale by a legendary author in the genre...
Next week: more about science fiction from 1998...
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Anybody Else Following the '24 World Series?
This past Saturday, if you looked hard enough among all the TV channels featuring college football games, you might have discovered that Major League Baseball's vaunted World Series had begun. I'm curious: without first looking it up, do you even know who's playing? Or, for that matter, have you ever followed baseball? When I was a little kid, I collected (along with my father) baseball cards we cut out of the back of Post cereal boxes. I knew of Mickey Mantle, Willy Mays, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra...to name a few...but at the time (1962, I was around six) I didn't really know anything about the game itself. You step up to home plate, swing at the ball the pitcher throws at you with your bat, and try to make first base. But I had never played the game, and to be perfectly truthful, at my more advanced age of 68 I still haven't. Oh sure, we would have weeks in school physical education class when softball would be the sport of interest, but even our version of that game was modified a bit. Nevertheless, I came to enjoy following it, especially with the beginning of the 1969 season...that was the year the "Miracle Mets" astonished everyone and won it all. Then, over the years I'd sometimes keep up with what was going on...and sometimes the World Series would pass by with hardly a notice. I do notice one thing: whereas before I would be more interested in the teams, now I like to sit back and observe the process of the unfolding game. This 2024 season saw a traditionally familiar matchup in the World Series: the American League champion New York Yankess vs. the National League's pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. Before tonight's contest...played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx...L.A. had won the series' first three games, largely through the home run heroics of their first baseman Freddie Freeman, and were aiming for a series sweep. And wouldn't you know, Freeman stepped up again early on and delivered yet another home run, putting them ahead. But the Yankee bats woke up finally and pounded out 11 runs, handily winning this contest. So tonight they'll be at it again, and without all those college football games to compete against for viewers' attention...
Monday, October 28, 2024
Just Finished Reading Forever Strong by Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is a family physician who has made a name for herself as someone focusing on geriatric health, with her podcast and numerous appearances on different YouTube channels. I've seen her on some of these and decided to read her recently-published book Forever Strong. Dr. Lyon, like her "ally" Dr. Peter Attia, is primarily concerned with both extending one's life span as well as their "health span", maintaining that to accomplish the latter it is necessary to counter the tendency of the aged to drastically lose their muscle mass, a condition medically termed "sarcopenia". As such, both Lyon and Attia stress much larger daily protein intake than is officially recommended, along with regular resistance/weight training, to maintain muscle and strength in elderly people. Lyon is also a big advocate of animal protein, maintaining that this is superior in nutrition to the plant-based type. All of this she includes in her book, which presents some admittedly compelling arguments for her positions. She, like Attia, claims that falls in seniors...made more likely from loss of strength and balance...carry with them a high risk of mortality. But cardiovascular disease and cancer still dominate the death picture throughout life, especially as one grows older. Eating more sparingly can help alleviate the risk of succumbing to these two latter "horsemen", as well as fighting chronic conditions like diabetes and dementia. Maintaining a healthful lifestyle, as I see it, is a kind of daily dance, balancing different factors that, individually taken to extremes, can be harmful. I accept positions such as those held by Lyon and Attia for the truth value I see in them, but I will never just follow such advocates blindly...
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Book Sale, Early Voting Yesterday
After our charity fundraiser walk at Celebration Pointe for the fight against breast cancer, Melissa and I decided to attend the opening day in Gainesville's twice-a-year Friends of the Library used book and media sale, on the 400 block of North Main Street. Arriving only a couple of hours after its opening, we were taken a little aback at the still-long lines of people waiting to enter the sale's warehouse site...but we persevered and made it inside. The sale was as it usually was...some things change little over the years. What was different is that I didn't buy anything, although Melissa did pick up three 50-cent paperbacks. The browsing was fun, though, and I'm glad we went. After parking a few blocks away from the sale, we had walked through the half-empty parking lot of the county elections office, where they were holding early voting for the general election. One thing led to another and before you knew it, the two of us were in there, casting our votes. Whew, glad that's over, now I can just forget about all that political crap, right? Wrong, sigh...this country's hopelessly hooked on it, and my workplace by its very nature throws it in my face whether I like it or not. I do care who wins, along with the referendum questions. But beyond my vote, which represents just a drop in the ocean of the final results, I resolve to be at peace with it all and deal with the things in my life I actually have some modicum of control over. But all in all, I'm glad we voted...
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Walked Against Breast Cancer This Morning
The organization American Cancer Society, with its Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraisers, held a fund-raising walk this pretty Saturday morning at Celebration Pointe on the southwestern outskirts of Gainesville. My dear wife Melissa, a survivor who has just completed her treatments after a successful tumor removal in May, formed a walking team, "Team Irwin", consisting of her, me, our wonderful daughter Rebecca, and some of Melissa's work associates and students. Lots of folks were there as we swamped the closed roads, normally abuzz with motorized traffic. If you're interested in making a donation to this fine effort, you can click HERE for more information...
Friday, October 25, 2024
Quote of the Week...from Pema Chödrön
Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to let another person or event control your emotions.
---Pema Chödrön
Pema Chödrön is an American-born and raised Tibetan Buddhist nun who has written a number of books promoting her beliefs. Whereas I'm not all that keen on immersing myself in another religion's underlying mythos and dogma, on a more practical level they often can provide some useful insights into living and how to approach it. The notion of "inner peace" isn't just an element of Buddhism, though, and doesn't have to necessarily be tied to organized religion. The above quote of Pema testifies to this, although if you're stuck...say on the job...in a subordinate position to a bullying and disrespectful supervisor...it may prove to be challenging to implement. Yet I've discovered that I can deflect it all, by refusing to let myself become entangled in conflict, and once free, I am definitely at peace. Pema's quote is true, but as I mentioned before, implementing it is sometimes difficult...
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Tired of 2024 Hurricane Season, Still Not Done
I've been happy during the past few days to be experiencing generally dryer and cooler weather conditions here in Gainesville...although that temperature has been climbing back up. Unfortunately, I also experienced a sore throat the last couple of days...that seems to be abating at this writing late Thursday. It looks as if...according to the Weather Channel...a new low pressure system may be gradually developing in the western Caribbean and could eventually head back over here, taking the same general path that Helene and Milton did earlier when both slammed into Florida as strong hurricanes. The "pattern", if you can call it that, is for the Weather Channel and Fox Weather to speak in loose, overly general terms for days on end regarding specific areas of concern until, one day, they suddenly go into "alarm" mode and proclaim a rapidly-intensifying hurricane with 24 hours, and naturally, headed my way! "Patty" would be the next named Atlantic tropical storm...I don't know about you, but I'm quite ready to put a close to this already-old and disruptive 2024 hurricane season. The only blessing I can muster is that I have been living here in a zone of what they call "hostile winds" that have kept us from more direct hits. May those hostile winds continue...
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Weekly Short Stories: 1998 Science Fiction, Part 2
Here's another Wednesday, time to continue with my ongoing reactions to short stories I've just read, my current project being the Gardner Dozois anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Sixteenth Annual Collection, and featuring the editor's selections from this book of 1998 tales. Looking back on that year, I remember really liking certain songs I heard off the radio: Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz (my "song of the year"), Building a Mystery by Sarah McLachlan, The Way by Fastball, Ray of Light by Madonna...and Intergalactic Planetary by the Beastie Boys immediately come to mind. It was a good year musically...but back to those stories...
APPROACHING PERIMELASMA by Geoffrey A. Landis
This is a remarkable, science-packed speculation into what it might be like to go through a black hole, along with the necessary drastic preparations that include uploading the observer into a heavily-fortified 1 mm tall body. If you're a Stephen Hawking fan, this description of the event horizon and the various characteristics of black holes should be a treat. The only drawback I see in the story is the notion that personal identities can be transferred...and extinguished...this casually...
CRAPHOUND by Cory Doctorow
While the previous tale delved into black holes, this one is a treatise on the art of discerning hidden treasures found in yard and junk sales. The aliens have landed, and they seem to be unusually interested in memorabilia...the tackier the better, trading valuable high-tech secrets for what seems to be essentially worthless "crap". The narrator befriends one of these traders and resents the extraterrestrial for outbidding him on a highly-sought item. A very funny, tongue-in-cheek tale that seeks to present a possible positive outcome of first contact...
JEDELLA GHOST by Tanith Lee
A young man, a writer, encounters what appears to be a young woman...around eighteen...who had wandered into town from the woods. She says she is sixty-five, though, and does not understand what death or sickness is when she witnesses it. The man eventually goes on a quest into the woods to discover the mystery of her origins. This is a mood piece that might have fit in well with the old sixties television series Night Gallery, and was a refreshing departure from the usual type of sci-fi short stories I have been reading. Actually, I see this tale as being more in line with the more psychologically-intense fiction so ably produced by Stephen King...
Next week: more stuff from '98...
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Nadine and Oscar Mark Dwindling Atlantic Hurricane Season
This morning we have the Weather Channel on the TV, and they were discussing...among other things...the current situation in the Tropics as the Atlantic hurricane season enters its final weeks. The other day, at almost the same time and after many days of looking of two weak systems...one in the western Caribbean and the other north of Puerto Rico...they were both suddenly named tropical storms, Nadine and Oscar. Nadine quickly landed in Central America at Belize and dumped its rains on that small country and further on in Mexico's eastern end. Oscar briefly rapidly intensified in a Category One hurricane before hitting far eastern Cuba and weakened when hostile winds from the northwest (protecting us in Florida) tore into it, redirecting it away from us into the open Atlantic. Elsewhere in the Atlantic potential tropical storm development is unlikely anytime soon. That's okay with me: I and too many others have long grown tired of this tedious, destructive Atlantic season. Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene, Milton: no, that's way more than enough...
Monday, October 21, 2024
Local Library Now a Crowded Early Voting Site
This morning Melissa and I were driving down NW 43rd Street here in Gainesville when we passed our nearest public library, the Millhopper Branch. I had wondered when they would begin to pepper the surrounding landscape with campaign signs, for this place is a designated early voting site. Sure enough, with today marking the beginning of early voting in the 2024 general election, there they all were, along with accompanying campaign volunteers waving at us and the other passing vehicles. The parking lot for the library was packed with what I assumed were voters, cars circling within it looking fruitlessly for empty spots. I'm not sure what the deal with these folks was other than maybe it's like the opening day of the local Friends of the Library book sale when lines stretching a city block attend this (also) multi-day event's opening moments. Friends, there's going to be plenty of time to get your votes in...for what it's going to be worth...in the next few days. Or, if you're like me, you'll just wait until Tuesday, November 5th, and visit your local precinct...for what that's worth. For me, no way am I suggesting how you should vote, but sure, I've left a few of my own opinions in past articles. In the final analysis, one thing is certain: power seekers will win their power, and dress it all up as public service...
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Updated Personal Cumulative Running/Walking Race History Record
I've copied and pasted my May 11, 2024 article listing my record of public running/walking events and finishing times. I had been writing more recent races into the record, but feel that it's time to bring the list up to the present...
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I've updated below my cumulative running race record...you can see that since the previous update on December 10th 2023, most of my ventures have been to a single location: Gainesville's pretty Depot Park where, on Saturday mornings, they hold a free 5K race/run/walk called the "Depot Parkrun"...I've covered it 42 times at this writing on May 11, 2024. I also ran half-marathon and 10-mile races during the intervening weeks. Races 10K (6.2 miles) or longer I have highlighted in red. If you see a race you'd like to read more about, just click on the listed title to read my same-day blog article (the first five, though, are "ancient history" from the previous century). Each entry contains, from left to right: date, distance, my finishing time, event name, location. As for the distance abbreviations, m=miles, K=kilometers, M=marathon and HM=half marathon. And now, on to more running (and walking) adventures...
3-23-73 2m 11:56 Nova HS at Piper track meet Piper High School, Ft. Lauderdale
4-10-73 2m 11:35 Broward Country South Division Meet S. Broward HS, Dania
11-27-74 ~2m ?? Turkey Trot (BCC) (1) Davie, FL
11-?-75 ~2m ?? Turkey Trot (BCC) (2) Davie, FL
7-?-76 ~5m ?? -unknown- Hollywood, FL
11-01-08 5K 24:28 Dog Days Westside Park2-14-10 HM 2:17:10 Five Points of Life (1) Gainesville
3-27-10 15K 1:23:55 Climb for Cancer Haile Plantation
4-24-10 5K 23:05 Run Amuck NFR Office Park
5-22-10 5K 25:00 Somer's Sunshine Run Orange Park
6-05-10 5K 23:23 Cpt. Chad Reed Memorial Cross City
7-04-10 3m 23:04 Melon Run (1) Westside Park
11-6-10 HM 2:01:41 Tom Walker Memorial (1) Hawthorne Trail
1-23-11 M 6:04:35 Ocala Marathon South of Paddock Mall
11-12-11 HM 1:59:38 Tom Walker Memorial (2) Hawthorne Trail
1-01-12 HM 1:56:07 De Leon Springs De Leon Springs
7-04-12 3m 25:45 Melon Run (2) Westside Park
11-22-12 10K 53:10 Turkey Trot (1) Tacachale
1-20-13 HM 1:55:20 Ocala Half-Marathon South of Paddock Mall
3-03-13 HM 1:50:53 Orange Blossom Tavares
11-09-13 2m untimed Gator Gallop University Ave, SW 2nd Ave
2-01-14 5K 25:53 Education for Life Westside Park
2-16-14 HM 2:07:36 Five Points of Life (2) Gainesville
11-27-14 10K 56:56 Turkey Trot (2) Tacachale
12-20-14 HM 2:03:30 Starlight Half-Marathon Palm Coast
1-31-15 15K 1:18:21 Newnan's Lake (1) West of Newnan's Lake
2-15-15 HM 1:58:48 Five Points of Life (3) Gainesville
3-14-15 10K 56:24 Run for Haven (1) Tioga
12-05-15 6.5m 1:03:52 Lumber Around the Levee Micanopy
1-30-16 15K 1:31:20 Newnan's Lake (2) West of Newnan's Lake
3-12-16 10K 59:00 Run for Haven (2) Tioga
5-14-16 5K 28:36 May Day Glow Run (1) Tioga
7-4-16 3m 28:22 Melon Run (3) Westside Park
11-24-16 10K 1:01:13 Turkey Trot (3) Tacachale
2-26-17 HM 2:24:29 Five Points of Life (4) Gainesville
3-11-17 10K 58:45 Run for Haven (3) Tioga
5-21-17 5K 33:00 May Day Glow Run (2) Tioga
1-27-18 15K 1:38:41 Newnan's Lake (3) West of Newnan's Lake
2-18-18 HM 2:19:37 Five Points of Life (5) Gainesville
3-17-18 5K 29:17 Chris Lacinak Scholarship Gainesville
12-8-18 15K 1:37:33 Season of Hope (1) Hawthorne Trail
1-5-19 5K 30:00 Depot Parkrun (1) Gainesville
2-9-19 5K 30:36 Depot Parkrun (2) Gainesville
3-16-19 5K 31:16 Miles for Meridian Tioga
4-27-19 10K 1:01:52 Run the Good Race (1) NFR Office Park
5-5-19 5K 30:38 May Day Glow Run (3) Jonesville
11-10-19 HM 2:35:20 Tom Walker Memorial (3) Hawthorne Trail
11-28-19 10K 1:02:16 Turkey Trot (4) Tacachale
12-7-19 15K 1:35:48 Season of Hope (2) Hawthorne Trail
4-3-21 5K 32:40 Headwaters (1) Gainesville
5-29-21 5K 30:50 Depot Parkrun (3) Gainesville
6-12-21 5K 33:06 Depot Parkrun (4) Gainesville
12-4-21 5K 33:03 Depot Parkrun (5) Gainesville
2-20-22 HM 2:33:51 Five Points of Life (6) Gainesville
3-19-22 10m 1:48:24 Micanopy Ten-Mile (1) Micanopy
10-15-22 10K 1:04:55 Tom Walker Preview (1) Hawthorne Trail
10-22-22 10K 1:03:20 Run the Good Race (2) Gainesville
11-06-22 HM 3:05:29 Tom Walker Memorial (4) Hawthorne Trail
1-15-23 HM 2:34:42 FTC Mary Andrews (1) Hawthorne Trail (east end)
4-22-23 5K 32:47 Depot Parkrun (13) Gainesville
4-29-23 5K 33:34 Depot Parkrun (14) Gainesville
5-6-23 5K 33:08 Depot Parkrun (15) Gainesville
5-20-23 5K 31:46 Depot Parkrun (16) Gainesville
5-27-23 5K 45:14 Depot Parkrun (17) (speed-walk) Gainesville
6-3-23 5K 31:22 Depot Parkrun (18) Gainesville
6-10-23 5K 33:38 Depot Parkrun (19) Gainesville
8-19-23 5K 32:52 Depot Parkrun (20) Gainesville
8-26-23 5K 31:29 Depot Parkrun (21) Gainesville
9-9-23 4m 41:59 Is It Fall 4-Miler (1) Squirrel Ridge Park, G'ville
9-16-23 5K 32:17 Depot Parkrun (22) Gainesville
9 -23-23 5K 30:23 Depot Parkrun (23) Gainesville
10-14-23 10K 1:04:51 Tom Walker Preview (2) Hawthorne Trail
10-21-23 5K 30:19 Depot Parkrun (24) Gainesville
11-4-23 5K 30:14 Depot Parkrun (26) Gainesville
11-12-23 HM 2:18:06 Tom Walker Memorial (5) Hawthorne Trail
11-25-23 5K 29:47 Depot Parkrun (27) Gainesville
12-9-23 15K 1:33:02 Season of Hope (3) Hawthorne Trail
12-16-23 5K 28:57 Depot Parkrun (29) Gainesville
12-23-23 5K 42:20 Depot Parkrun (30) (speed-walk) Gainesville
1-1-24 5K 27:38 Depot Parkrun (31) Gainesville
1-13-24 5K 1:00:40 Depot Parkrun (32) (walked with Melissa) Gainesville
1-14-24 HM 2:07:40 FTC Mary Andrews (2) Hawthorne Trail (east end)
1-20-24 5K 57:26 Depot Parkrun (33) (walked with Melissa) Gainesville
2-3-24 5K 1:10:25 Depot Parkrun (34) (volunteer walker) Gainesville
2-10-24 10m 1:39:18 Micanopy Ten-Mile (2) Micanopy
2-24-24 5K 27:36 Depot Parkrun (35) Gainesville
3-16-24 5K 28:19 Depot Parkrun (36) Gainesville
3-30--24 5K 28:18 Depot Parkrun (37) Gainesville
4-13-24 5K 28:47 Depot Parkrun (38) Gainesville
4-20-24 5K 39:43 Depot Parkrun (39) (speed-walk) Gainesville
4-27-24 5K 27:10 Depot Parkrun (40) Gainesville
5-4-24 5K 28:19 Depot Parkrun (41) Gainesville
5-18-24 5K 38:58 Depot Parkrun (43) (speed-walk) Gainesville
5-25-24 5K 49:27 Depot Parkrun (44) (social walk/running) Gainesville
6-1-24 5K 27:23 Depot Parkrun (45) Gainesville
6-8-24 5K 38:49 Depot Parkrun (46) (speed-walk) Gainesville
6-22-24 5K 27:41 Depot Parkrun (47) Gainesville
6-29-24 5K 27:01 Depot Parkrun (48) Gainesville
7-4-24 3m 26:55 Melon Run (4) Gainesville
7-27-24 5K 38:19 Depot Parkrun (49) (speed-walk) Gainesville
8-10-24 5K 38:19 Depot Parkrun (50) (speed-walk) Gainesville
8-17-24 5K 26:51 Depot Parkrun (51) Gainesville
8-24-24 10K 1:00:45 US Road Running (1) Gainesville
8-31-24 5K 27:25 Depot Parkrun (52) Gainesville
9-7-24 4m 36:46 Is It Fall 4-Miler (2) Squirrel Ridge Park, Gainesville
9-14-24 5K 39:15 Depot Parkrun (53) (speed-walk) Gainesville
10-5-24 5K 27:28 Depot Parkrun (54) Gainesville
10-12-24 5K 26:58 Depot Parkrun (55) Gainesville
10-19-24 5K 27:17 Depot Parkrun (56) Gainesville
11-2-24 5K 26:56 Depot Parkrun (57) Gainesville
11-10-24 HM 2:54:40 Tom Walker Memorial (6) (speed-walk) Hawthorne Trail
11-16-24 5K 26:31 Depot Parkrun (58) Gainesville
11-24-24 M 5:07:49 Mega Cupcake Marathon (1) Hawthorne Trail (east end)
11-28-24 5K 28:25 Depot Parkrun (59) Gainesville
12-7-24 15K 1:29:19 Season of Hope (4) Hawthorne Trail
12-14-24 5K 27:39 Depot Parkrun (60) Gainesville
12-21-24 5K 39:22 Depot Parkrun (61) (speed-walk) Gainesville
12-28-24 5K 27:32 Depot Parkrun (62) Gainesville
1-1-25 5K 1:11:58 Depot Parkrun (63) (walked with Melissa) Gainesville
1-1-25 1m 8:25 Frank Shorter Mile Gainesville
1-4-25 5K 27:42 Depot Parkrun (64) Gainesville
1-11-25 5K 27:51 Depot Parkrun (65) Gainesville
1-18-25 5K 27:45 Depot Parkrun (66) Gainesville
1-20-25 HM 2:05:13 FTC Mary Andrews (3) Hawthorne Trail (east end)
1-25-25 15K 1:25:22 Newnan's Lake (4) West of Newnan's Lake
2-1-25 5K 39:15 Depot Parkrun (67) (speed-walk) Gainesville
2-8-25 10m 1:36:50 Micanopy Ten-Mile (3) Micanopy
2-15-25 5K 27:32 Depot Parkrun (68) Gainesville
3-29-25 5K 44:52 Depot Parkrun (69) (speed-walk) Gainesville
4-5-25 5K 42:28 Depot Parkrun (70) (speed-walk) Gainesville
4-12-25 5K 41:23 Depot Parkrun (71) (speed-walk) Gainesville
4-19-25 5K 34:51 Depot Parkrun (72) (run-walk mix) Gainesville
5-3-25 5K 28:19 Depot Parkrun (73) Gainesville
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As for the standard-distance races from 2008 through the present, here are listed my total races finished for each distance along with my personal best time for them...
# of Finishes Personal Best
1 Mile 1 8:25 (1/1/25)
5K 87 23:05 (4/24/10)
10K 12 53:10 (11/22/12)
15K 9 1:18:21 (1/31/15)
10 Miles 3 1:36:50 (2/8/25)
Half-Marathon 19 1:50:53 (3/3/13)
Marathon 2 5:07:47 (11/24/24)
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Ran This Morning's Depot Parkrun 5K
Today I got up early to prepare for Gainesville's free running/walking event: the Depot Parkrun 5K, held at that site a few blocks south of downtown on Saturday mornings. At 7:30 race time (although the organizers balk at calling it a race), it was a pleasant 60 degrees with 87% humidity...fall is definitely finally (and thankfully) setting in. Since here in Gainesville this evening it's the University of Florida's homecoming football game (against Kentucky), I had thought that today's Parkrun would be crowded, but I had little problem getting a parking space near the starting line, so go figure. Since I'm planning next Saturday morning to do a fundraiser walk with Melissa, today I decided to run it again. It looks as if I've pretty much settled into a consistent "groove" of 5K finishing times between 26:51 and 27:28...today I crossed the line at 27:17. You can see the results by clicking HERE. Parkrun is a non-profit network of 5K events spread over several countries, originating in England. You can register online and they will provide a barcode for you to print and take to the event for scanning and posting...
Friday, October 18, 2024
Quote of the Week...from Mark Twain
I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had suffered not the slightest inconvenience from it. ---Mark Twain
I read the above quote from the beloved American writer Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemons) a few weeks ago on a Facebook reposting...that app does occasionally have some use in spite of its serious drawbacks. Of course, religious doctrine fueled some of the reactions of the comment section, distinguishing between pre- and post-physical life. Believe what you want about that and stay in your own cognitive/metaphysical bubble if that comforts you...no judgment from me. What Twain was talking about was the absence of the physical, breathing, animated life and consciousness that people experience within their lifespans on Earth. Fear of death is a sweeping, important survival trait of anyone and contributes to people not only being careful about how they take care of themselves, but also how they treat others...the cornerstone of civilized society. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, I believe is how the saying from Jesus goes. Yet physical nonexistence as a living organism is something preceding my conception and birth for eons upon eons, and my body will return to ashes at some future time. We can draw comfort from the assurance of an eternal spiritual life beyond that, but I also believe that there is comfort in Twain's truth regarding the past...
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Doubling Down and Gaslighting
I'm sure that manipulative, controlling people have been around ever since, well, people have been around. But lately I've been hearing a lot of two different terms describing what seems to me to be essentially the same thing. They are "doubling down" and "gaslighting". When someone espousing something false is confronted with the truth, hopefully...with the caveat that the truth-speaker is tactful...the recipient will receive the message and process it in a rational manner, perhaps changing their viewpoint if reason dictates or maintaining their position if that is called for. But too often nowadays, I see folks take contradictory input as a personal attack on themselves, and their ego takes over as they even more vehemently reiterate their obviously flawed perspectives. That's "doubling down" and is also indicative of "gaslighting", which is when someone tries to alter your perception of reality by preying upon your own fears and self-image, bringing whatever is discussed down to a contest for domination instead of truth-seeking. Even if not precisely the same, I see the two tactics as being intimately interwoven, and I am becoming increasingly adept at noticing them when practiced on me...
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