Running: Race Recovery and Near-Future Prospects

My recovery from last Sunday morning's half-marathon race has left me with sore, tight calf muscles...but otherwise I'm doing fine.  On March 1st, Tavares, Florida (a few miles north of Orlando) will once again be holding its Orange Blossom Half-Marathon, which unlike the recent Gainesville Five Points race, is essentially flat and lacking in hills.  I ran it in 2013 and recorded my fastest personal half-marathon time.  I'm wondering whether I might just try it one more time,  although the travel from Gainesville to the race site tends to be bothersome...unless I stay overnight at a hotel (which is what we did last time).  Melissa and I enjoyed the 2013 event, as she walked the concurrent 5K race while I ran the 13.1 miles.  Only then, the weather was freakishly cold and windy, something neither of us anticipated with a central Florida March race, although we knew conditions would be colder than usual...

Then again, these races do cost money to enter and I can opt instead to continue my running at home.  I've run in three races this winter: the Starlight Half-Marathon in Palm Coast in the evening of December 21st, the Newnans' Lake 15K east of Gainesville on January 31st, and the Five Points Half-Marathon on February 15th.  So each calendar month I have run in a a race, making the upcoming Tavares run a possibility in my mind.  But there is an alternative choice for me: on March 14th there will be a more reasonably-priced 10K run in Tioga, just a few miles west of Gainesville.  It will be held on a Saturday late afternoon and there will be a post-race outdoor party with live music and refreshments.  Plus, there's a 5K run/walk for Melissa...

Two Interesting European Soccer Matches on TV Right Now

I enjoy following league soccer play, as opposed to the national teams that people are accustomed to seeing during the World Cup.  The only problem with this is that, outside of America's MLS league, the English Premier League, and Mexico's Liga MX, I don't have access to league games and as a result miss out on some of the greatest teams in the world.  Teams like Spain's Barcelona and Real Madrid, Germany's Bayern-Munich, and France's Paris Saint-Germain, for example.  However, interspersed throughout the regular season of the individual European soccer leagues is an ongoing interleague tournament, titled the UEFA Champions League.  Today they're showing on TV two live games: Fox Sports 1 (Gainesville Cox Cable channel 62) is showing the contest between England's Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain while Fox Sports 2 (channel 267) is showing Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk against Bayern-Munich.  The Donetsk team, by the way, is playing its home games this year away from its home town, which is the midst of the rebel strife going on in that country.

Not that I plan to stay glued to the TV the whole time, but it's going to be fun seeing how they play...

Just Finished Reading Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities

In a departure from the fantasy fiction I've been reading, I decided to try a contemporary American general fiction writer.  Why not Tom Wolfe?  So I read his 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities, an excruciatingly satirical look at the entanglement of politics, avarice, ethnic and social class divisions...and vanity, as they remove any vestige of "justice" in a big city's criminal justice system... in this case, that of New York City in the 1980s.  In a nutshell, without giving away the story to prospective future readers, a wealthy bonds trader named Sherman McCoy, while picking up a woman (with whom he is having an affair) from the airport, gets himself lost in traffic and the two find themselves in a run-down South Bronx neighborhood and encounter two young black men in an obstructed highway entrance ramp.  What ensues there drives the story for the rest of the book, from the investigations of the incident by the press (by English journalist Peter Fallow) and district attorney's office (by assistant D.A. Larry Kramer) to the Al-Sharpton-like agitation and protests by Reverend Reginald Bacon.  Each player in the story has their own personal agenda they are pursuing, and none of these really has anything to do with justice.  Ultimately, McCoy becomes the politically-convenient WASP symbol of wealth that (1) the D.A., trying for reelection in his heavily minority-populated Bronx, (2) Fallow, looking to advance his journalism career, and (3) Bacon, trying to advance his own persona as a civil rights  leader, can all use for themselves.  Never mind the facts, it all becomes a farce of justice.  As a matter of fact, the developing farcical nature of The Bonfire of the Vanities, to me at least, resembles the absurdity of the wartime military that Joseph Heller so aptly conveyed in his book Catch-22, published a quarter of a century earlier.

Each character in Bonfire is very consciously aware, to the point of obsession, of his or her own status regarding ethnicity, wealth, and social status and seems to be in a constant struggle to enhance that status.  I wonder whether that's really what it's like in New York City with people in general, or even in other places (such as my own Gainesville).  Or is Wolfe just exaggerating his characters' "vanities" to makes his own points?  I tend to see his characterizations in much the same way that Heller made his, which was to point out the foibles (and humor) of people's perceptions about themselves and their often ridiculous efforts to improve their perceived "positions".

I recommend Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities.  It also has an interesting kind of ending, expressed in its epilogue (I tend to be a "collector" of interesting story endings...like that in Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, for example).  I also discovered that a not-very-successful movie had been made for the book starring Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, and Bruce Willis.  I think I'll just steer clear of that one, thank you...

Ran Gainesville's Five Points Half-Marathon This Morning

This morning I ran the Five Points Half-Marathon here in Gainesville.  This is a great race, not only because it's held in my home town.  The course runs right through the city itself, including the University of Florida (passing through the football stadium along the way).  The terrain is moderately challenging with several Florida-level hills to climb.  But most of all, I like the way it was planned, from not having to worry at all about sharing the road with motorized traffic to the excellent facilities and water/Gatorade stations...and the very convenient parking.  I also like that they had pacers: I found the pair of runners going at a 2-hour pace and stuck with them for about 9 miles, after which I took off ahead of them.  The next 2 miles of the race (going down SW 2nd Avenue and running through the UF campus) saw me generally gaining on and passing other runners.  But after I had run about 11.5 miles, while passing through the University's Fraternity Row, my lower legs began cramping up on me...especially my left calf.  For the remainder of the race it was down to a struggle to finish in spite of the cramping: thankfully it never got to the point that Lebron James reached during the NBA playoffs a few years ago when he was rolling around on the floor in apparently mortal agony.  Curiously, once I passed the finished line, my cramps subsided: I was then just plain tired.  My final finishing time was 1 hour, 58 minutes, 48 seconds...good for 211th overall.  I'm not sure exactly how well I did in my 55-59 age group, which in Gainesville is extremely competitive, but I was able to see from preliminary results that I finished out of the "running" for an award.   My recovery from the race seems to be going quite well.  This is the third time I've run this event, the others being in 2010 and 2014.  My final time, although not my best by a long shot in the half-marathon (personal record: 1:50:53), still was my fastest for the Five Points races I've run...

The weather, for a change, was more to my liking with this race.  The temperature at the 7:00 AM start was about 47 degrees, so there was no need to wear anything more wintery than the usual tee-shirt and shorts.  Still, I was amazed to see people crowding around the starting line looking like they were going out in a blizzard with jackets, long pants, insulating caps, and gloves.  Needless to say, there was a whole lot of partial disrobing going on soon after the race began for these folks...

Football Talent and the Florida Gators

I don't claim to be an expert at football, and what all constitutes "talent" in the sport.  To me, since it is played at different levels depending on whether it's high school, college, or professional, that "talent" designation seems to be relative to how well a player can fit and thrive in the environment he finds himself in.  It's hard to isolate a player from his team and judge his skill level without taking into account how well he plays with others...and how well others play with him. We've just had the recruiting process for college football, and schools have been ranked on how well they signed up the top "talent" in high school players.  The University of Florida usually does well with this recruiting, typically ranking among the top in the country.  After their recent head coaching change had left them behind with the recruiting this go around, they quickly recovered through the efforts of their new coaching staff and reportedly now have a lot of  new incoming "talent" to work with.  As for the players leaving the team after playing for them a number of years, Florida also has many, in comparison to other colleges, whom the National Football League has considered to be talented enough to invite to try out for that league.  H-m-m, so the players are "top talent" coming in to UF and they're "top talent" going out...so why is it that, during the actual Gator football seasons in the last few years, all I've heard was that this team was having to make do with less talent than those around them?  It seems to imply to me that the coaching staff wasn't doing a very good job of developing that top talent that they recruited and that, only after the very best manage to leave Florida, do they finally see the opportunity to achieve their full potential under more competent direction.

I have a feeling that this discrepancy with the Florida football talent has a lot to do with the recently departed staff.  I have to grimace a little whenever I hear in the media that a particular team's head coach is so beloved by his players that he is commonly referred to as a "players coach".  That usually means that the team is lacking in consistency and discipline, and that the players aren't challenged enough in practice to better themselves...in other words, to develop the talents that they already demonstrated in high school and which had made them such promising recruits in the first place.  The new coach, Jim McElwain, seems more interested in molding together a winning team and developing his players' talents to the next higher level than the previous one, who seemed more interested in making them like him than anything else...  

John Batchelor Radio Show a Winner

On Sunday nights, on my local radio station WSKY "The Sky"/97.3, is the nationally broadcast John Bachelor Show.  This is not your typical right-wing rant-and-rave talk radio show, so if you are someone who likes to be spoon-fed your conservative Republican talking points, ready-made to spit back out at others, you're probably better off sticking to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Mark Levin.  Instead, Batchelor, himself a conservative, hearkens back to the better days of this genre, having on a great diversity of guests who share their research and expertise in various areas of history and the physical and social sciences...with the emphasis on history.  For example, the other night he had on as a guest someone who had written a book on the Malmedy massacre late during World World II (during the Battle of the Bulge).  Another topic was New York City's "Year of Anarchy"...1914...when the newly-elected reformist mayor, the Rockefellers, anarchists and the backdrop of World War I combined to cook up a recipe for disaster.  Later on, another guest on the show delved into the Russian crime organization that is behind much of the explosive growth in Internet identity theft hacking scams that have increasingly plagued society during the last ten years.  In each interview, the host demonstrates that he himself is not only interested in the guest's topic, but has also researched the subject material to the point where he asks pertinent and meaningful questions.  What a refreshing change from the usual drivel I hear on talk radio...

The John Batchelor Show broadcasts every Sunday night from 9 to 1.  The last part of his show coincides with my work schedule, and that's when I usually can pick up on what's going on.  If you find yourself tiring of the same old television fare on Sunday nights, why not just flick off that boob tube and tune in to this quality show on the radio.  Who knows, you just might learn something...

Watching International Internet TV for Foreign Language Practice

Today I resolved to give myself a little needed exposure to some of the languages I had been studying by watching Internet TV on my laptop using the site wwiTV.  On it, you can select whichever country you want to watch TV from, and then choose from one of the stations available.  It's all free, and it gives you the opportunity not only to practice your language listening skills (mine are sorely lacking) but also get a glimpse into life in other parts of the world.  For myself, I watched French, Russian, and Chinese TV in their languages...although with the latter two I presumed an inherent bias in their programming.  Of course, when you're watching a culinary show demonstrating the various ways to make dishes with duck, the opportunity for propaganda isn't very high...although seeing some of those scrumptious-looking meals made me want to reach into the computer screen and pluck them out...

I had been searching for some sites in other countries that broadcast their own soccer league games with the play-by-play in the native tongue, but I didn't find any.  I'm sure those stations are out there, but they probably come with an extra subscription fee, and that's a no-go for me. So, for soccer, I guess I'll just stick with my own cable TV service here in Gainesville and follow the English Premier League and the Mexican Liga MX, whose games ARE shown...

Just Finished Reading Daniel Abraham's The King's Blood

This weekend I found myself a bit under the weather with a bad, contagious cold, so as happens in situations like this, I stayed at home and watched TV (soccer and the History Channel series I mentioned yesterday)...and read a lot.  I managed to read the rest of Daniel Abraham's book The King's Blood, the second in his ongoing fantasy series The Dagger and the Coin.  Connected with famous author George R.R. Martin through collaboration and the latter's ringing endorsement on his books, Abraham also has written this series in much the same way that Martin has been doing with his A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series.  The ongoing story, spread out over this series' fantasy continent, features alternating passages presented from the views and experiences of various characters, mainly Cithrin, a young precocious teenage girl banker, Marcus, a soldier with a heroic and tragic past, Geder, a minor nobleman, very sensitive to slights, suddenly catapulted into power without any training or preparation, Dawson, a hard-edged nobleman,  and his wife Clara.  The main developing story line in this book seems to be the infiltration through various countries by a mysterious religious sect with its priests containing living spiders in their blood, and who can distinguish truth from lies as well as persuade people to believe what they say.  One of them, Kit, has left this group and recognizes its sinister nature, wanting to bring it down.  Meanwhile, Geder has visited this order and ridden into power over the kingdom of Antea on the backs of the priests' ability to distinguish loyalist from traitor by their speech.  Unfortunately, he has not yet recognized the fact that these priests, while able to tell whether someone is telling the truth or not, themselves have no qualms about lying if it suits their own agenda.  Not wanting to give away the story, I'll just say that Abraham successfully keeps the number of subplots at a manageable level and has done a magnificent job of bringing out each character's personality.  I feel that I somehow know these people...a great accomplishment on the part of the author.  In spite of the fact that I am tiring somewhat of the fantasy genre of fiction and don't plan to start reading any new series anytime soon, I definitely intend to keep up with this ongoing work.  I've already begun reading the next book in this series, titled The Tyrant's Law...

The History Channel Showing Excellent Series Right Now

I was channel surfing early this afternoon and, lo and behold, when I hit upon The History Channel, they were actually showing something about history, for a change.  As a matter of fact, the series they are presenting (and will be until 7 tonight) is a twelve-part blockbuster titled Mankind: The Story of All of Us.  I happened to tune in during episode #8, which covers the period from the 15th through 17th centuries.  It's quite an amazing series, and it ties the world together through the various trends, events, and personalities of each era.  I probably won't watch it continually until 7 (after which the usual non-historical, dull programming resumes on The History Channel), but then again, it's such an intriguing, well-written and produced series that I won't be surprised if I do...

Give Runners Choice During Race Between Half-Marathon and Marathon

My running training is rarely a matter of me establishing a set amount of miles beforehand and then running them.  Instead, I will run as circumstances dictate, both those external and internal.  For example, I may be operating one day under time constraints that limit the amount of running time I can spend.  Or I might be feeling under the weather or have a slight injury to nurse.  But when I have the flexibility of time and I'm physically feeling good enough, then my mileage on any particular run becomes open-ended...and it's always seemed to be that way, ever since I resumed the activity in 2007 after essentially ignoring it for thirty years (exception: a short three months running period in early 1998).  Sometimes this way I will go on and on with a run, racking up huge mileages...and sometimes I'll stop at a lower level.  Which brings me to a proposal about some of the long-distance races I've entered before...

As I see it, there are two types of half-marathon races out there: the races that only feature that one length of the course and those which combine the 13.1-mile half-marathon course with a 26.2-mile full marathon course.  One of the latter is coming up on February 15: Gainesville's FivePoints Marathon/Half Marathon, the two races being run concurrently.  That's important with regard to my proposal...

In the FivePoints races, both events run the same course for the first 13 miles.  Then, just as the half-marathon event is almost finished, all of the runners encounter an intersection with directing signs.  The arrow pointing to the right is for the half-marathoners to follow and finish up their almost-completed race, while the left-pointing arrow directs the marathon entrants to continue their race another 13-plus miles.  Of course, the way things stand now, there's no choice involved here: the runners have either signed up for the half-marathon or the marathon and they can only finish in that event for which they are already registered.  But suppose, just suppose...

Suppose that there is a third option for runners that gives them the opportunity to choose to go either left or right at that intersection!  That would be awfully intriguing for someone like me who usually keeps on running in my training when I'm feeling strong.  It would be a tantalizing decision to make, indeed.  It reminds me a little of the Matrix movie scene when Morpheus presents Neo with the choice of choosing the blue pill (end the adventure now and go back to life as you want to believe it) or the red pill (and see how far down the "rabbit hole" goes)...

Bad Super Bowl Call Evokes Memories of Earlier Game

I missed out on this year's Super Bowl between Seattle and New England, partially because I had to go to work that evening...and partially because, even though I liked the Seahawks, I still didn't want to watch the Patriots collect any hint of glory by being in it.  Of course, at my workplace,  one of the Patriots fans had to whoop and holler when she found out the game's ultimate outcome: a squeaker New England win after the Seattle coach Pete Carroll (who I still think is a good coach) made an idiotic call at the Patriots' goal line by passing up on giving the ball to their star running back Marshawn Lynch and instead calling for a short goal line pass, which was intercepted by the Patriots and ended the game in their favor.  This boner of a play call brought back bitter memories of another game involving New England, this one against "my" team, the Miami Dolphins...

It was the last day of the regular season in 2002 for Miami, which was shooting for their sixth straight playoff appearance.  The week before, at 9-5 all they had to do was to win one of their last two games to lock up a spot.  But they blew the first of the two to weak Minnesota, setting up the final showdown in New England against the Patriots.  That team had won their first Super Bowl in dramatic fashion in their comeback game against St. Louis the year before and Tom Brady had become very, very famous.  But the Patriots found themselves struggling for just a simple playoff spot, for which they needed to win their last game as well as get some "help" from other games.  The Dolphins, under their mediocre coach Dave Wannstedt, who was enjoying the fruits of a team that had been built up and coached previously by proven Super Bowl winners Don Shula and Jimmie Johnson, were still 9-6 and assured of a playoff position should they beat New England.  And they were winning the game late, 24-13.  But the Patriots, in typical Tom Brady fashion, caught fire late and narrowed it to 24-21. Miami had the ball deep in their own territory with about two minutes to go.  They had their then-star running back Rickie Williams, who that day had a career performance with already more than 180 yards rushing.  All Miami had to do was give the ball to Rickie and run out the clock...and then prepare for the playoffs.  Instead, Wannstedt the Genius had Miami throw three consecutive passes...all incomplete clock-stoppers...and they then short-punted the ball back to the Patriots, who sent the game into overtime (during which they scored and won) with a long field goal.  That game was a heartbreaker for me as a Dolphins fan, and it destroyed any confidence I had in their coach...

In spite of similar stupidity on the part of Pete Carroll, I have to remind folks that he did give the Seahawks two straight Super Bowl appearances and a championship last year.  He is worth supporting...and besides, everyone screws up every now and then.  I remember a game against the Colts a few years ago in which, late in the game with a fourth down situation, Patriots coach Bill Belichick opted to go for a first down deep in his own territory while defending a short lead...and failing, giving Indianapolis the chance to get the ball back and win it, which they did...

Flag Planters and Travel Addicts

I have never knowingly met John, a marathon runner whose commitment to the sport has placed him squarely in the "fanatic" category.  He is currently in his early seventies and claims to have successfully entered and finished marathons in more countries of the world than any other runner...not to mention all fifty states of the USA.  Now, though, his mounting health problems have forced him to give up this undertaking.  I'm sad about that, because over the past few years I had become fond of reading about his adventures on his blog.  I may have even inadvertently "run" into him without knowing it, since we were entered in the same races twice, in Gainesville and Ocala...well, actually, he was running the marathon in them and I was doing the half-marathon...

John is an example of someone whom I term a "flag planter"...as well as a "travel addict". Flag planting involves accumulating states and countries that one has visited and/or involved in their designated activities.  Travel addiction, not necessarily attributable to people who like to go on occasional vacations or special trips, refers to those who seem incapable of staying put in any one locale for very long. The two designations can coincide, as in John's case, but they can also be disjoint.  For example, people can be engaged in hobbies that don't necessarily involve travel but still involve counting how many countries (or states) they are covering with it.  As a kid, I used to have a hobby in which I would listen to my own cheap little AM radio (back in the 1960s) and try to pick up long-distance stations.  From southern Florida, I managed to get stations from 31 different states (and I remember them to this day).  Nowadays, though, with the Internet available, this doesn't seem like such an accomplishment.  And a few years ago, quarters were issued for each state as well, with many coin collectors trying to "fill the map" with that numismatic endeavor...

Travel addicts rarely openly admit to their affliction.  Instead, they usually have come up with some grand cause to justify their unceasing travels, be it through employment, education, religion, maintaining family contacts, or other rationales.  John is a case in point, with his goal of planting his flag across the country and world through his marathons.  But you can't do what he did over the years without getting off on travel.  Of course, travel costs money and some people need to have someone else foot the bill for their movements hither and yon.  Social media tends to affirm these habitually restless people as they document, photograph, and publish their various forays with almost assured multiple "likes"...

I am neither a travel addict nor someone who still feels the need to "plant my flag" in different places with my exploits.  That clearly distinguishes me from John, but there is one thing in common between us: we like to run and we are both getting older and more prone to medical/health issues that can limit that running.  John, who is about 14 years older than me, just happens to be a little ahead of me in that regard...

Groundhog Day Movie Carries Life Lessons...Up To a Point

Today is February 2nd, also more popularly known as Groundhog Day here in the USA.  I've never been into the story of the groundhog that either sees its shadow or doesn't and thus forecasts how much longer the cold season is supposed to last...but probably me having lived down here in Florida almost my entire life has something to do with that.  Still, I did enjoy very much the same-titled 1993 movie starring Bill Murray as selfish and vain Pittsburgh television weatherman Phil Connors, who gets trapped in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania while on assignment during Groundhog Day and keeps repeating it with no end in sight.  If you've seen this movie, then you understand how Connors eventually learns some lessons in living and becomes a better person at the end.  That's all very well and good for a make-believe story with an absurd premise like this, but in real life we all live hanging out over the edge of the "now", with our immediate actions taking on a kind of urgency that someone like Connors, with his knowledge that he could go "back to the drawing board" the very next day (which for him was that same day repeated), could be bolder and more experimental.  I suppose that any of us, given just one day to repeatedly live over and over again, could eventually get it "right" and achieve a kind of "sainthood", at least for that one day...but once we finally break through to the following day...with Connors it was February 3rd...we're all back to square one again, even if, like Connors, we gained some wisdom and character-building through our "Groundhog Day" ordeals.  I think the movie Groundhog Day would have been more interesting had it continued a little past its original ending and showed Murray's character screwing up again...

Ran Gainesville's Newnan's Lake 15K Race This Morning

After missing out on the Ocala Half-Marathon last week, I was looking forward to quickly bouncing back with my running by participating in Gainesville's Newnan's Lake 15K this morning.   My intention was simple with this race: go out and run the 9.3-mile course like it's a regular training run.  Of course, that strategy usually lasts just a few miles into the race before I get overcome with competition fever.  But this morning, at least for a little while, I was content with just going my usual pace, which hovers around nine minutes per mile...

When I first pulled into the race site's crowded parking lot (a park with a ramp for fishing boats into Newnan's Lake), the temperature had spiked downward for this race day and was around 37.  However, I was fortunate to find the last available space in the paved lot, which also happened to be about twenty feet from the starting line.  After registering for the race, I returned to the car and bundled up until just before race time at 8:30.  I stood near the front of the crowd, which the announcer claimed was a record, approaching 400 entrants.  I've stood near the rear at the start of  some previous races and have had a lot of difficulty trying to pass by excessively slow runners (and a few walkers), so I thought the passing would be kept to a minimum this way.  But during the first few minutes after the race started, it was other runners passing me...by the droves.  I began to wonder if maybe I wasn't in good enough shape to run this race.  As it turned out, after about three miles or so, I found myself in the midst of a number of runners who kept with my pace.  But at about that same time I began to experience some cramping on my right side, and I wondered whether it would worsen.  Fortunately, it didn't, but the pain still lingered on for a few miles.  I kept pushing on, not wanting to fade within my own group, and thinking that this just wasn't my day.  But I managed to hold on and finish the race, with a couple of runners passing me at the end and me passing another.  When I saw my final finishing time, I had to do a double take.  At my usual pace, I had been anticipating something around 1 hour, 23 minutes, but I felt as if it would be slower.  Instead, though, my final time was 1:18:21.  I'd been burning it up all along!  Which goes to show you that you can't always tell how well you're doing by comparing yourself to the runners around you or by how you physically feel during the race.  Gainesville is packed with talented, fast, and yes, fanatical long-distance runners...it's easy to come down with an inferiority complex in the middle of a race with them.  I finished seventh in my age group (55-59), so there was no point in hanging around the area for award time.

I liked the course for this race, which in places bordered on the swampy part of Newnan's Lake, but mostly went down woodsy roads or by a few houses in this sparsely populated area a few miles east of Gainesville.  Once the race had finally begun and I was running, the weather stopped being a factor and once again I wondered how some of the overdressed runners around me were able to withstand it.

My recovery from the run seems to be going very well, and I was able to close out the month of January, 2015 with a total running mileage of 342.  I ran on every day of the month, and my longest single run was 10.2 miles. On one day, though, I managed to accumulate 20 miles through multiple runs.

In a couple of weeks, Gainesville will hold the FivePoints Marathon/Half-Marathon race.  I still want to participate in it, but will definitely stick with the half-marathon event.  Also, having learned my lesson from the Ocala Half-Marathon, I plan to wait until the very last minute to sign up for it..

Just Finished Reading Franz Kafka's Short Story Metamorphosis

The German-Bohemian early twentieth-century writer Franz Kafka wrote a short story, published in 1915, titled Metamorphosis, and which I just read.  Its overt theme is preposterous: a young man wakes up one morning to discover that he has suddenly and completely transformed into a huge, human-sized bug.  His parents and sister, with whom he is living and whom he has been supporting through his employment, are more disgusted and horrified at his transformation than surprised...which is a clue leading the reader to assume that this is an analogy to something else the author wants to discuss. This unfortunate young man, Gregor Samsa, is still fully in possession of his reasoning faculties, but his efforts to communicate his thoughts to others around him fall on deaf ears: all they can hear are his insect sounds.  Gregor soon finds himself locked in his room, with only his sister showing the compassion to care for his needs.  But eventually even she tires of dealing with him, and he ends up wasting away by himself while his family stigmatizes and hates him.  So what is the analogy, anyway?

Some believe that this all has something to do with the persecution that Jews experienced in Europe, persecution that led to concentration camps and the Holocaust in later years. The sudden change in the story, this way, relates to the change in which Jews were suddenly viewed in society. I tend to disagree with this interpretation because the analogy breaks down too much.  Gregor has actually changed, not just others' interpretation of his status, and recognizes it himself.  Instead, as I see it, this tale has a two-fold meaning...

The first aspect I see is that the people one is closest to and most familiar with in life tend to be almost reactionary in their resistance to personal change...and if that change comes suddenly then a breakdown in communication can lead to shunning and a break in the relationship.  So if someone suddenly changes their religious belief system (or completely renounces religion) or succumbs to a form of mental illness such as schizophrenia, they may (at least to themselves) still remain in full possession of their faculties.  But the unwelcome rift caused by the draconian change will impede their ability to communicate effectively.  The fact that Gregor's transformation is so massive makes me believe that this may be an allegory for the descent into severe mental illness...and the prejudice against those so afflicted that ran so rampant through society back then (and even now, to a lesser extent).  Remember that just twenty years after the publication of this story, Hitler's Holocaust would begin with the rooting out and extermination of Germany's mentally ill, along with the physically and mentally handicapped.

A second aspect to Metamorphosis, as I see it, is how, once someone like Gregor, who has been holding his family together with his work supporting them, is taken out of the picture, the other members will adapt, grow, and become stronger and more self-reliant.  So this may also have been an early study on the phenomenon of co-dependence.

That's my own reaction to Kafka's Metamorphosis.  But as many writers will tell you, their own intentions behind their stories are not carved in granite and that what each reader takes away from the material carries its own validity...

My Two Cents Worth About the Upcoming Super Bowl

I'd better put in my two cents worth about the approaching Super Bowl game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots before I forget.  First of all, I like Seattle but am not at all happy to see New England in there.  Being a Miami Dolphins fan and remembering the infamous "snow plow" incident that cost them a game against the Patriots, long before the most recent scandals tagged to this franchise, I have never viewed them as a team that plays fairly.  So this "Deflategate" story doesn't surprise me a bit.  But now I'm hearing that the New England players are so angry about the accusations flying around and the negative media attention they are getting that they may be extra-motivated against the Seahawks and end up beating them badly.  This sounds to me a lot like the way the Seattle players went around last year with a chip on their shoulders, acting as if they weren't getting enough respect in comparison to their then-opponent, the Denver Broncos.  And they pulverized their Super Bowl opponent, 43-8.  Now I have a problem with this...

If you and your team suddenly find yourselves "motivated" due to a perceived slight and proceed to play at a high level in a particular game, doesn't that in turn imply, in more normal circumstances, that you are holding back your efforts and NOT playing at an optimal level?  Furthermore, these NFL players are professionals and are reaping in the money at a rate most people would find difficult to imagine.  Yet they behave as if the quality of their performance isn't due to their own ingrained character, talent, and training but rather is something somewhat whimsical, dependent on outside factors.  This makes me wonder whether any of these teams are worth rooting for, and after discovering during the Deflategate scandal what monumental prima donnas NFL quarterbacks are about "their" footballs, my doubts about their worthiness have only increased...

Just Finished Reading Tad Williams' Shadowrise

As I find myself increasingly suffering from fantasy fiction overload, I continue to make progress plodding through the remaining series I'm still reading...after which I plan to take a vacation from the genre.  One of these is the tetralogy by Tad Williams titled Shadowmarch (also the name of its first book).  I just finished reading part three, titled Shadowrise.  Only one more book left to go!  That's good, because the characters in this series all seem to be undergoing extreme, chronic suffering...that is, except the bad guys (who I suppose will receive their comeuppance at the end of the last book).  This is especially true for protagonist Prince Barrick Eddon of Southmarch to the point that whenever the book channels off into his story line, I automatically start groaning to myself...anticipating my own suffering as a reader alongside the young prince's unceasing ordeals.  It's almost comical, the relentless and almost universal suffering in this series. Also, Williams has so many loose threads going on with the plot and diverse characters that I anticipate much of the final book will be an effort on his part to explain it all.  Good luck with that...I already plan to go into book four with the idea that, at least at its conclusion, everyone will finally be put out of their misery.  I know I'll be...

My Running Back in Swing, 15K Gainesville Race This Saturday

Although I didn't run as planned in last Sunday's Ocala Half-Marathon because I felt horrendous the previous night, it looks as if another race has made itself available to me...one which is much closer and less expensive.  This coming Saturday morning, a few miles east of Gainesville, will be the Newnan's Lake 15K (9.3 miles).  I have never run it before since its scheduled time usually conflicts with the Ocala race.  But I'm feeling much better now...as a matter of fact, this morning I had a 10.2 mile run and have amassed, over the day, a total of 14.4 miles.  Still, I think I'll wait until raceday morning before I sign up, just to be on the safe side.  It should be fun to run this event, which seems to be very popular with Gainesville's running community...

Saw The Imitation Game Recently

The Imitation Game, starring rising actor Benedict Cumberbatch as English mathematician Alan Turing, is a great historical/biographical drama focusing on a period during World War II when Germany had the upper hand over the Allies...in particular Great Britain...and the latter was desperately trying to crack the German Enigma code that the Third Reich universally used in its naval transmissions.  Turing, as he was portrayed, was a difficult, socially incompetent individual who was nevertheless one of the foremost mathematical minds of his time.  He was able, along with the help of the team assigned to him, to construct a prototype computer, called the Turing Machine, that was able to finally crack the code.  The struggles between great minds under great stress, with deadlines, the struggle to obtain needed resources, and conflicts with the base's military commander, to invent what seemed to be an impossible solution out of thin air made The Imitation Game a masterpiece of suspense...even when we know in advance the outcome of the project.

During the project, as the movie depicts it, Turing goes out and selects two people to add to his team.  One of them is Joan Clarke, whom others around her belittle because of her sex but whose brilliance Turing totally recognizes as they work out many of the assignment's problems together.  Their relationship becomes rather personal, although it is known between them that Turing was homosexual...which at the time was a crime in Britain.  Later it was implied that, years after the war when the police investigated a burglary at Turing's home and his homosexuality was revealed, leading to a choice between incarceration and chemical castration, the great mathematician and savior of the Allies during World War II committed suicide not long after undergoing the latter.  It was important that the film covered this, if only to show the brutal persecution that gays have suffered, even (or especially) in recent history.

Because of the top-secret nature of his code-breaking project, it wasn't until decades after Alan Turing's death that the scope of his accomplishments were revealed, both in terms of his contribution to the defeat of the Nazi empire and the foundation of the computer era.  What an major, indispensable figure in history he turned out to be!  I don't know whether or not the Oscar-nominated movie The Imitation Game is the best picture of last year, since I haven't seen all of the others, but I highly recommend it as it is well acted and directed and provides an eye-opening perspective on a crucial aspect of modern history that had been hidden from us for so long...

Skipped Planned Ocala Half-Marathon This Morning

This morning I passed up on running my planned Ocala Half-Marathon due to either a severe food allergy reaction or a viral attack yesterday...most likely the former.  The problem with either of these is that they cause general inflammation throughout my body, and I have been advised by my physician to be on guard with this sort of thing when considering stressing out my body on long runs.  It is disappointing that I missed this race, which I had been looking forward to for a while.  Still, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not be foolhardy with my actions. This morning, as it turned out, I felt much better and have already run 3.5 miles.  I'll still have the opportunity to run in Gainesville's FivePoints Half-Marathon next month...but I think I'm going to delay my registration until the last possible moment...these races aren't cheap to enter!

Oh, by the way, my prediction (in an earlier article) of a downward spike in temperature was borne out, with it getting down to around 35 this morning at race time...

Worst NFL Teams Shouldn't Be Rewarded in Draft

In professional sports such as football and basketball, much attention is given to the annual draft of new talent into the league, and which teams have the top picks.  For the purpose of advancing parity, the policy is to reward the teams having the worst records with the best picks, something that I feel takes away from the integrity of the sport, especially in football (in pro basketball, a weighted lottery decides the final order of draft selection).  This past season's worst team in the National Football League, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will get the top pick.  But poor play should not be rewarded, and knowing that your team is in the running for that top draft pick is a disincentive to play your hardest to win in late season games that might have an important bearing on where other teams end up placing in the playoff picture.  Well, there is, in my opinion, a reasonable solution to this problem...and it comes from international soccer.

In many soccer-avid countries like England, Mexico, France,  Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and  Italy, to just name some of the most prominent, the teams that finish the worst each year aren't rewarded for that...no, instead  they are demoted to the next lower league!  Conversely, the same number of teams from that next lower league who have the most successful seasons get to be promoted to the next higher league.  The number of teams that yearly rise and fall varies for  each league (in Mexico it's just one team, in England it's three).  But the result is that, for the teams that find themselves near the bottom of the standings as the season progresses, there is a great incentive to continue playing competitively in order to avoid the humiliation and financial setback associated with demotion (or "relegation", as it is officially called).  So how would the NFL look under such a system?

Since American football is structured differently here with its well-developed system of college football, we don't have the multitude of professional leagues that could use promotion and relegation.  So what I propose is to create a second-tier league under the regular NFL, with ten-to-twelve expansion teams distributed among cities with promising pro football markets (including, of course, Los Angeles).  They would play their regular season parallel to the regular league.  At the end, the champion of this "junior" league would be promoted to the NFL AND get the top draft pick, while the NFL's worst finishing team would be demoted (relegated) to this second-tier league.  Or, the number of teams promoted and relegated could be increased to two or three.  Other than the promoted team(s) getting the top draft picks, the order of the rest of the draft could be randomized into a lottery unweighted by order of finish.  This would finish the prospect of any hint of a team writing off the season midway through it in order to enhance the following year's lineup through a higher draft position...

Getting the Victim and Aggressor Backward with Political Correctness

One of the big sticking points causing a lot of griping in the conservative media, be it talk radio, FoxNews Channel, the Internet, or print, is that whenever a terrorist attack happens anywhere in the world, be it in America, India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Iraq, France, Great Britain, Russia, Israel, Belgium, Libya, Spain, Pakistan, Canada...whew, I have to catch my breath...let's just say anywhere there's a country, and the violent act that takes innocent lives is openly described by the perpetrator(s) as being inspired by their interpretation of Islam, then our government simply will refuse to say the word "Islamic" or "Muslim" to describe the terrorists.  The chief guilty party in this is President Obama himself.  Instead, the population at-large is treated to a condescending lesson about how WE are not supposed to be prejudiced against other groups...including of course Islam...as if WE were the bad guys and were hell-bent on retaliating or discriminating against them...instead of the true haters, which are the terrorists and those within their faith (not the faith as a whole) who support them.  In fact, behind this "politically correct" self-censoring on the part of some of our political leadership is their own prejudicial assumption, which is that we the people are just a bunch of ignorant, emotionally immature and bigoted yahoos who have to be restrained and "taught".  I, for one, feel a bit insulted by all this when I can see what is going on before my very eyes.  No, Islam as a whole isn't responsible for terrorism that certain violent adherents within it perpetrate...but without certain doctrines and tenets of that faith that are being interpreted and acted on in an extreme and violent way, we would not have the overwhelming number of cases of terrorist attacks in the news that we have been sadly witnessing in recent times.  Sure, there are other extremist groups as well as lone-wolf nutcases and you hear about them from time to time in news.  But with them, it's apparently OK to dwell on the causes and possible belief systems underpinning THEIR deplorable actions...

President Obama Gives State of the Union Speech

Yesterday President Obama laid out his vision for the rest of his term in office in his State of the Union address, given before a joint session of Congress.  I did not watch it, but caught most of it from the radio. It was a good speech, as this president is so adept at when presenting prepared material to a group.  Although the President covered many topics, his salient points, as I saw it, were (1) the economic recovery is going full swing, but that it is important that the middle class and poor be able to enjoy the benefits as well as the rich (meaning raise taxes on the higher-income brackets), (2) our foreign policy should be carefully crafted so that we explore and implement a variety of approaches when dealing with our enemies abroad...so that we don't allow ourselves to get mired down in wars, and (3) we should invest in education and infrastructure to keep America at the forefront of the world.  With regard to the last point, he alluded to his recent proposal of granting free community college education (I wonder if that includes soon-to-be old-timers like me who want to do something new as retirement approaches...no, I'm probably excluded) as well as diminishing the significance of the important Keystone XL Pipeline issue now before Congress by stating that the various needed infrastructure construction and repair projects for the country would generate thirty times more jobs than "one pipeline".  And he pushed all of the required liberal social issue buttons, including more than once supporting gay rights and same-sex marriage (which he opposed back in 2008 when that stance was more politically feasible for him).

I don't have a problem with a lot of President Obama's speech, but I do have a major one with this tendency of him to smugly dismiss issues that others consider to be important.  For example, in 2009, after single-handedly forcing NASA to abandon its worthy and ambitious project to establish a base on the moon (after he had promised during the 2008 campaign not to do this), he brushed away any criticism with the flippant comment "We've already been there".  That offended me somehow.  Now it's just this "one pipeline"... just a drop in the bucket, right?  But it is the number one item for consideration for the new Republican congressional majority in both houses and, regardless whether you're for or against the pipeline (I happen to be for it), his casual brushoff of the issue does not bode well for his relationship with either the Senate or the House in the next two years.  No, sadly, I see this speech, which might have been more constructive and conciliatory, to have been little more than oratorical posturing for the primary purpose of shoring up the Democratic Party base for the next election, in other words, the same old "stuff".  Perhaps the saddest thing of all, though, is that regarding this president, whom I have supported through two elections (though not wholeheartedly in the last one), he would still get my vote were he eligible to run again as I look at the sorry list of Republicans (especially Mr. Romney, the perennial candidate) who currently have their power-hungry eyes fixed on his job...

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday.  It's January 19, although the late civil rights leader's birthday is on the 15th.  I'm off from work today, or should I say I WAS off for earlier this morning (I work on one of those problematic late night "graveyard" shifts). To many, I suppose, these "Monday" holidays can be seen as some extra free time.  But I think that the intent with the establishment of these special days on our calendar is for each of us to step back and reflect, at least a little, on their meaning and whom they are honoring...

Into the 1960s, even after the United States Supreme Court had, in 1954, unanimously nullified the "separate-but-equal" policy enacted after the ill-advised Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 that officially legalized and institutionalized racial segregation (and consequently, racial discrimination) in America, blacks were being prevented from sharing the same rights as citizens that whites had, especially in the Deep South.  Dr. King's struggle on behalf of blacks...and ultimately, us all...started in 1955 when he organized a boycott of Montgomery, Alabama's bus system after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger and was arrested for it.  For the next several years, King and others marched and pushed for integration and equal rights for all.  He was a strong voice in favor of peaceful protest, and during the 1960s when others were promoting a more violent agenda for revolution, he played the role of peacemaker.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was also very clear in his denunciation of the U.S. military involvement in Vietnam from its outset, and this refusal on his part to compromise his own principles cost him much popularity at the time with those who had supported his civil rights activism but also supported the war effort.  At the end of his bitterly short life (assassinated at age 39), he was working hard to expose the poverty conditions of millions in this country and improve them.  Never fully understood and respected during his lifetime, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by no means a perfect person (as none of us can honestly claim to be, either), has shown himself to have been a visionary whose compassion and stances on behalf of the downtrodden will go down through history...

Signed Up to Run Next Sunday's Ocala Half-Marathon

Get ready for a downward spike in temperatures next Sunday morning here in the Gainesville-Ocala area, for once again I am running in Ocala's distance running event then...and it ALWAYS is super-cold (i.e. below freezing) whenever I run one of these races in Gainesville or Ocala, for some perverse reason.  Just once I'd like the temperature at race time to be around 45 degrees or so... still somewhat cold...but pleasantly so.  But maybe, just maybe, this time around it will be a little bit warmer.

I had a good ten-mile run yesterday and have a lot of confidence in running this upcoming race, especially after doing better than I expected in December's Palm Coast Starlight Half-Marathon.  I've run this course twice before, in 2011 and 2013...and 2011's race was a full 26.2-mile marathon (in which I suffered an IT band injury under my right knee and had to walk the last seven miles).  I would have preferred to be a regular marathon runner, but the training for this long distance seems to predispose me to injury.  It's too bad they instead don't have 20-mile races, or even 30K races (18.6 miles)...I think I could regularly handle those distances.  Still, I'd like to run another marathon, even considering the upcoming Gainesville FivePoints event in February for this.  But it will depend greatly on how I feel as I approach the online registration deadline and have to decide whether to run the full marathon or the half-marathon (which I've done here in 2010 and 2014)...

NFL Playoffs Down to Four Teams

The National Football League playoffs are now down to the final four teams, with the conference championship games taking place tomorrow afternoon and evening.  The first contest will be for the NFC championship, with the Green Bay Packers visiting the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.  The second one has the New England Patriots hosting the Indianapolis Colts for the AFC title.  My preferences for these games lie with favorite Seattle and underdog Indianapolis.  With these four teams my best possible scenario would be for the Seahawks to repeat as Super Bowl Champs and the worst for the Dolphins' divisional nemesis Patriots to win it all. I'm a little bit concerned about New England because, regarding the two teams that have beaten them in the playoffs during recent years, Baltimore and the New York Giants, the Ravens were beaten by the Pats in last week's game...and the Giants never did manage to make the playoffs.  So somebody else will have to step up and perform the necessary deed.

And why to I like Seattle? This is a complete team whose members "get it" regarding working together as a unit...and those who don't are gone.  Their head coach, Pete Carroll, imparts a very infectious enthusiasm while maintaining a high level of team discipline, something that "players' coaches" like Rex Ryan (or my own Florida Gators former coaches Ron Zook and Will Muschamp) couldn't.  Not that the Seahawks players don't like their head coach: there's nothing like monumental success to breed affection.  I find that balance in Carroll's coaching philosophy to be fascinating...he could be the best head coach out there right now...

US Senate Offering Vigorous Debate, For a Change

The other day I found myself watching a TV channel that I used to regularly follow but had in recent years become accustomed to avoiding due to lack of stated content: C-Span2 (channel 81 on my local Cox cable lineup), which broadcasts live the floor proceedings of the United States Senate. Throughout the previous decade during the Bush administration, I enjoyed watching the debates on the various issues.  Sometimes the Democratic Party controlled the Senate and sometimes it was the Republicans, but things there seemed to hum along pretty smoothly, especially considering the partisan vitriol outside in the media.  However, ever since Obama was elected President, both sides have taken a strongly negative and, in my opinion, indecorous attitude toward each other in this body of Congress that has a longtime reputation for being polite and amicable in the midst of political disagreement.  Part of this problem rests with the Republicans' stated goal of bringing down Obama's legislative agenda by massively slowing down the Senate proceedings through technical objections... and part rests with the Democrats and their choice of contentious senator Harry Reid as majority leader.  So for the most part, whenever I did tune in to C-Span2 I would either see that the Senate had adjourned, had never met for that day, or was being indefinitely held up due to procedural wrangles.  This year, though, there seems, at least at the start, a change in how business is conducted that corresponds to a change in party control.  Now the Republican Party, under the leadership of formerly obstructionist Mitch McConnell, are running the show and, for now at least, have once again opened the floor for open debate with amendments for the various legislation.  Yes, I think it is a bit hypocritical for them to be touting their own openness now that THEY are in power...but I still welcome the change.  As a member of the voting public who actually consistently participates in this democracy during elections and is interested in the issues before us, watching such debates is both educational and fascinating.  For example, the first bill up for consideration this term is for the approval of the proposed Keystone XL [oil] Pipeline to extend through the country from the Canada-Montana border down to Port Arthur, Texas.  Hearing the two sides in this debate has helped me to come to my own conclusion on this issue.

Let's hope that the US Senate will continue to offer open debate on the various issues facing us.  One thing I noticed was that many of the senators I had been following before have either passed on, retired, resigned for various reasons, or been defeated in elections.  So there are many new faces for me to get to know and match with their names and states. Moreover, whichever senator happens to be sitting up front, presiding with the gavel as designated "president", is usually among the most junior,  newly elected senators of the majority party, and they are never identified on CSpan2.  No problem, Wikipedia offers a comprehensive list of the current senators, complete with all of the necessary information about each (including the crucial identifying pictures)...

Recently Saw The Theory of Everything

I don't know who directed or produced it, nor do I know almost all of the actors (one noted exception is the dude who played Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter movies), but I thought that movie The Theory of Everything, focusing on the life story of Stephen Hawking, was quite interesting. Hawking, as you may already know, is a renown theoretical physicist whose specialty has been cosmology...in particular, black holes.  He has expressed a strong desire to unify Einstein's General Theory Relativity with Quantum Mechanics to formulate a "theory of everything": hence the movie's title.  You may also be aware that during his early adulthood, while a graduate student at Cambridge, he became afflicted with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease), which almost completely incapacitated him and left him with a poor prognosis for survival.  But over the years he has endured and is a worldwide symbol of courage, determination, and scientific genius.

As for this movie, it didn't delve into the content of Hawking's scientific endeavors as much as it did his relationship with Jane Wilde, from their initial courtship through the traumatic diagnosis...and into their marriage.  She is portrayed as having sacrificed a lot in her devotion to him...yet they had three healthy children together and seemed to be doing well.  However, after Hawking's enormous success and celebrity following the publication of his best-selling book A Brief History of Time, he left her for another woman, with a divorce ensuing.  He and his ex-wife both remarried (others).

For those like me who had expected a personal angle given to Stephen Hawking's life but wanted more attention to his scientific exploits, there is bound to be a sense of letdown with this film, which in large part turns out more to be the story of his wife, from her perspective, as she goes through her trials with him and his illness. Still, I recommend The Theory of Everything, which did not sugarcoat his personal life but which did overlook some of the controversies surrounding him within the scientific community...

Some Thoughts on Football

At this moment I am right between what has just happened in the National Football League divisional playoffs this past weekend and tonight's college football championship game between Oregon and Ohio State.  With the NFL playoffs, I was generally pleased, especially in the National Conference with Seattle and Green Bay winning over Carolina and Dallas, respectively.  I was disappointed, though, that Baltimore couldn't hang on against New England.  And for once I was rooting for Denver, whose offense sputtered against Indianapolis in their loss.  However, between the Broncos and Colts I want the stronger team to go up against the Patriots...and Andrew Luck & Co. seem to be the outfit best suited for this.  Next week's matchups will see me rooting for Seattle against Green Bay and Indianapolis against New England.  Best ultimate outcome? Seahawks win the Super Bowl.  Worst? Pats!

In the college championship contest, which I'll miss completely because I now have to report to work an hour and a half earlier on my shift, I will be pulling for Urban Meyer's Ohio State team against Oregon.  I'm happy that Meyer, who brought two national championships to Gainesville while at Florida, is enjoying his success with the Buckeyes and don't at all begrudge him the opportunity to continue on in Columbus.  And as for the Ducks, I don't especially like that hurry-up offense of theirs: if anyone should be able to figure out a way to shut it down, Meyer's the man...

Melissa Off to India

India definitely ranks as one of the most important countries in the world.  Close to China in population, it is now also booming economically...although the benefits of that upsurge have yet to touch upon the population at-large enough to eliminate its problems of poverty and disease.  My wife Melissa is going there today for a two-week class with her seminary.  Being the first time for her out of the country, this is sure to be a great adventure for her...beginning with the multi-stage airplane flights hopping from one location to the next halfway around the world.  My hopes and prayers are with her, along with her teachers and fellow students.

Just Finished Reading Sue Grafton's "I" is for Innocent

For a long time I have been a fan of mystery writer Sue Grafton's "alphabet" series of novels featuring Californian private detective Kinsey Millhone.  starting with "A" is for Alibi and proceeding down the alphabet. Grafton is approaching the end: I thinks she's gotten past "V" at last check.  And I haven't read most of them.  The problem, though, is that I have trouble remembering which books I've already read and which ones I haven't.  This is especially true with the titles at the head of the alphabet.  I checked out "I" is for Innocent because I thought it was an unfamiliar title...turns out I was right, so I proceeded to enjoy a fresh mystery story.  Grafton's heroine Millhone is a very compelling protagonist with whom I feel no difficulty establishing strong empathy...there are definitely some personality similarities here between her and me (I'm probably closer to where she's at than you know, even if you think that you know me).  This story I just finished was one of those whodunnit murder mysteries with various characters presented at stages as possible suspects.  The "innocent" angle concerns a man, David Barney,who received a not-guilty verdict after being accused of murdering his wife...a verdict that many around him believe was erroneous.  Now, much like what happened with O.J. Simpson in the mid-1990's, he is having to undergo a wrongful death civil lawsuit trial. The plaintiff is the victim's earlier husband...as well as Kinsey Millhone's client.  The story develops as doubts about her case against Barney keep piling up and others start to look awfully suspicious.  Grafton's story, looking back on it, is pretty complicated.  But she is masterful at telling it (always in the first person from Millhone's point of view) in such a way as not to overburden me, the reader, with information overload.

Now I just have to remember that I read Sue Grafton's "I" book.  I'm thinking, though, of going back to "A" and reading each book in order...even if I already read it before.  It certainly wouldn't be the first time I reread well-written fiction.  Besides, there is, from book to book, a development of Kinsey Millhone's character with changes in her personal life and relationships...changes that make more sense if they are read in chronological (i.e. "alphabetic") order...

Just Finished Reading Stephen King's Revival

I just finished reading Stephen King's latest novel, titled Revival.  Opening with a short excerpt from classic horror fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft, this book definitely goes down the same path he went in so many of his stories.  This, however, isn't so obvious at the beginning...Jamie Morton, a six-year old boy living in Maine (ah, another Stephen King novel set there) who just so happens to be my age, is in the first grade around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis (I remember what I was doing then, too...although I wasn't aware of why we were led out of our South Florida classroom by our teacher one afternoon to line up crouched against the hallway wall with our heads down and our hands covering them).  A new young pastor, Charles Jacobs, has just started work at the family's church and strikes up a friendship with the boy...a friendship that will transform itself in the ensuing years into a curious relationship combining enmity and salvation.  Jacobs is also an amateur tinkerer in electricity, in fact an Edison-like genius in the field, and has discovered a "secret" form of it that has miraculous healing properties...as one of the Jamie's older brothers discovers when he loses his voice from an accident and is taken to him.  But is there a price to be paid for this kind of healing, and where does it lead?  Well, if you've been paying attention, you know that this novel has a lot in common with Lovecraft's horror stories, so you just might guess that there's something or someone "behind the door" and that this isn't going to remain a sentimental, nostalgic tale for very long.  Still, the full impact isn't realized until the end of the novel, an impact that can hit the reader with its force and brutality.  So I guess I'm saying that if you are faint of heart or tend to have nightmares after reading scary stories (and this eventually turns into a very, very scary story), then please avoid Revival.  Still, it is masterfully written and, to me, is one of King's best works...probably his best since his 11/22/63 story a few years ago.  But if you do happen to pick up a copy and start to read it, don't say I didn't warn you...

Ran at the Gym This Morning, Upcoming Races

This morning I went with Melissa to my local gym, which is Gainesville Health and Fitness (the facility at the 4800 block of Newberry Road).  It had been a while since I've gone there...all the way back to October 23rd last year, as a matter of fact.  But this morning, Melissa was going to one of the water aerobics classes there (the eight o'clock one) and I decided to come along and run on the treadmill while she worked out.  I was curious how I would handle running on the treadmill after avoiding it for so many weeks.  It was no problem finding one of the more preferable treadmills on the second floor: the University of Florida is still "off" for the holidays (but not for long) and many of the students who usually would be using the gym were still out of town.  Anyway, I set the machine at my usual 6.7 mph pace and started it up.  To my horror I felt it very difficult to keep up with it and could tell, after running for a little while, that it would be quite a chore to run much longer.  Could there be that much difference between the treadmill and running on the ground/road that a few weeks away from it would cause that effect?  Then it hit me: the incline setting was at "3"...once I lowered it I suddenly felt as if I were running downhill!  The rest of the run went flawlessly while I listened to music on my MP3 player.  I did have to stop after 7.5 miles, though...I ran out of time and didn't want to keep Melissa waiting!  My running for the day continues, though...so far I've amassed a total of 12 miles, with more to come...

The next race for me will be the Ocala Half-Marathon later this month on Sunday, the 25th.  Then in February, depending on how how things go for me and my running in the next few weeks, I'll either do the half-marathon or take a stab at the 26.2 mile marathon in the Five Points races here in Gainesville...

Just Finished Reading Robert Jordan's A Crown of Swords

A few days ago, I ranked the various fantasy series I have read over the years (or am still in process of reading).  Robert Jordan's extremely long The Wheel of Time series was my least favorite, not only because of its length (fourteen volumes), but also for the overly complicated story lines that have developed.  I simply cannot keep up with each character, always seemingly on a trip from one city to another for various arcane reasons...and the cities keep changing hands with their leaders.  I just finished his seventh book, titled A Crown of Swords, and the confusion continues unabated. However...

With The Wheel of Time, I am beginning to learn how to better like this series by not getting myself overwrought about trying to perform the near-impossible task of keeping abreast of everything going on.  Instead, I just sit back and enjoy how each character, with his or her special personality and outlook, experiences and reacts to the proceedings.  This ability for deeply developed characterization is, to me, Jordan's strong point with his writing.  I especially like following the character of Mat Cauthon, one of the main protagonist Rand al'Thor's best friends and someone who isn't caught up with how important he sees himself (unlike many of the other characters).  Since A Crown of Swords features him a lot, that contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the book.

There is a Wheel of Time Wikia on the Internet, but if you haven't yet completed the series, you are susceptible to plot spoilers should you frequent it.  That happened to me when I got on it and did a search on one of the characters...and then suddenly found out about her demise  in a later book and at whose hands...

Three Big College Football Bowl Games Today

There are three college football games that interest me on this New Year's Day, 2015.  One is the Birmingham Bowl featuring Florida against East Carolina.  The other two are obviously the championship playoff games: the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Florida State and the Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Ohio State.  The action begins with the Gators at 1 PM and continues on into the evening with the Sugar Bowl closing it.  I'm sure there are other games as well, but these three actually mean something (at least to me).  Not that I'm going to be sitting in front of the TV transfixed by football all day, mind you...I've got other things to do with my life as well today...

It would be sweet to see the Gators go out on a winning note and finish with a winning 7-5 record.  East Carolina has an incredibly explosive offense, though, and it should be interesting to see how they match up against Florida's good defense.  I'm finally done rooting against FSU this year, meaning that they'll probably lose this game against Oregon!  They just keep winning their games and extending their winning streak and the bigshot talking heads in the sports media keep degrading them and placing them below other teams.  I think their quarterback Jameis Winston has a professional's look about him when he stands behind the center before the snap and scans the defense...reminds me a bit of the Patriot's Tom Brady.  As for the Sugar Bowl game, I instinctively root against Nick Saban, the Alabama coach, anyway, and Ohio State's coach Urban Meyer is coaching the other side.  I'm siding with Meyer and his Buckeyes, largely out of appreciation for what he did when he was at Florida (two national championships)...

CORRECTION: OOOPS, the Birmingham Bowl is set for Saturday, not today...but except for that, the article stands...

My Personal December 2014 Running Report

In December I continued with more extensive running, amassing a total for the month of 315 miles.  My longest single run was the 13.1 miles I covered in the Starlight Half-Marathon in Palm Coast on the evening of December 20...half of it in total darkness (only aided by a flashlight).  Unlike the previous two months, I tended to be consistent from day to day with my daily running mileage, so my one-day high mileage, spread out over several runs, was only 14.4 miles.  I ran on every day of the month.

I feel that my endurance level has markedly improved over the past few months, and I had energy to spare at the end of the half-marathon race.  That's good news, for next month will be the time for the Ocala Half-Marathon on the 25th.  I'm not sure I'll be running in any other races in January, but I definitely want to return to the rolling hills south of Ocala's Paddock Mall for the third time in five years...

Personal Top Ten Favorite Songs of 2014

Well, another year has gone by and it's time for me to review my favorite songs of 2014.  Being an enthusiast for alternative rock music, it came as a very pleasant surprise a few months ago to discover that two local stations, Gainesville's WHHZ/100. 5 ("The Buzz") and Jacksonville's WXXJ/102.9 have changed their programming format to feature "my" kind of music.  Since then I've been accumulating a few personal favorites that they play periodically.  Most of these are current hits, but a few, like Florence + the Machine's Dog Days Are Over, have been around a few years.  But you'll notice that this song is still on my list of favorites from 2014.  Earlier this year I purchased Beck's latest CD Morning Phase and discovered a track, titled Blackbird Chain, which I regarded as my favorite song of 2014 for the first half of the year.  But when those two radio stations kicked in, a flood of other songs joined it on the "list".  Ultimately, it came down to five songs I liked the most...each of which has a distinctive sound, style and message from the others.  After giving it all due consideration, though, I have to pick the Foo Fighters' new hit Something From Nothing as my "song of the year" for 2014.  It reminds me a lot of the style of my favorite grunge band, Soundgarden, while at the same time gradually builds up in intensity and complexity much the same way that Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven did.  But the other tunes on the list are great, too.

Here's my list of personal favorite songs of 2014, with the artist mentioned in brackets:

1 Something From Nothing..... [Foo Fighters]
2 Dog Days are Over..... [Florence + the Machine]
3 Take Me to Church...... [Hozier]
4 I Will Wait...... [Mumford and Sons]
5 Come With Me Now...... [The Kongos]
6 Dangerous..... [Big Data]
7 Train Wreck 1979...... [Death From Above 1979]
8 Come a Little Bit Closer..... [Cage the Elephant]
9 Blackbird Chain..... [Beck]
10 The Walker..... [Fitz and the Tantrums]

Narratives, Police, Michael Brown, Eric Garner

It's hard to contest the testimony of many African-American men who claim to be repeatedly profiled by the police because of the color of their skin...I tend to believe these accounts.  The problem with proving this is that, in the justice system, things are done on a case-by-case basis and each specific case can be depicted by law enforcement in some way to exonerate officers even when they do profile blacks.  Another contention is that police are more brutal and use more deadly force in their interactions with black suspects...once again when investigations follow the result is often a flood of mitigating evidence letting the officers off the hook (hence recent grand jury refusals to prosecute police).  But the police are there to protect people and have to go into areas when called to respond to crimes and complaints.  In such cases, the officer may be white and the suspect may be black,...that isn't profiling, the cop is just doing his or her job.  In the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson this past August, that is what happened when a response to a call about a convenience store robbery and the suspect's subsequent stroll down the center of a street led to a police-suspect confrontation that culminated in the suspect being shot down dead.  Many witnesses were there, and depending on which version you might choose to fit your own narrative about the police, Michael Brown was shot either while attacking or rushing the policeman or he had his hands up and was moving away when killed.  I have a couple of questions, though, for those subscribing to the two diametrically-opposed narratives about this tragic incident...

For those, like Al Sharpton, who have made this crime-response case a matter of race and Michael Brown some kind of civil rights hero, quick to insert this case into their narrative that blacks can't get a fair shake in the justice system,  I would like to ask why do this when the situation does not indicate profiling, but rather an officer doing his duty to protect the public from crime and criminals.  As for those who seem to think that the police are grand, unimpeachable  heroes themselves and subscribe to the narrative that they, like combat soldiers in occupied lands, are under continual attack and have to respond in self-defense, my response to this narrative is that yes, if the police see themselves like that, I can see how they would respond with larger than necessary force.  But they are NOT soldiers in enemy land.  This is America, and at last report, we're not a police state or occupied territory. I ask myself why is it so many times, with all of the arms training that the police are supposed to possess, that I keeping seeing reports of policemen gunning down suspects to death when they should have been perfectly capable of incapacitating them by shooting them in less vital areas?  There is another case recently of a boy playing with a harmless cap gun shot to death like this...

Lending more credence to the profiling narrative is the case of Eric Garner, a black man who was approached by a group of police in Staten Island, New York while standing unarmed in front of a shop on the sidewalk.  Accused of selling tax-free cigarettes, not exactly a felony, when he asked the police to leave him alone they jumped him, pulled him down to the ground by his neck and sat on his chest...he died soon thereafter of a heart attack.  This case tends to support another negative narrative about the police, which is that they tend to be more confrontational and treat civilians with more brutality when in groups than when alone.  That old video of the Rodney King beatings comes to mind. It seems that aggression begets more aggression.

We all have our own experiences dealing with the police.  For the most part, they have done well by me, although I believe I was treated unfairly in a couple of cases...one a speed trap situation and the other a setup by several police to ensnare drivers who didn't subscribe to their strict (and to me, extreme) interpretation of a recently-enacted state law about moving over a lane to accommodate roadside emergency vehicles.  But I realize, quite unlike a large segment of the population, that it pays to be polite and cooperative with them, even in situations where I feel persecuted.  There seems, in my opinion, to be a serious gulf between civilians and police, both in how civilians expect the police to act toward them and in how the police expect civilians to act toward them.  Both sides need a crash course in decorum, politeness, and restraint...on a mass scale.

I have seen few issues like this in which opinions are so polarized and impassioned.  Not being black myself, I am not free to agree or disagree with the claim of police profiling from personal experience.  But my personal concerns about the police are real, too.  Although I do appreciate their valor and the important role they play in protecting us, especially from criminals, at the same time I tend to be very wary of them, even when I'm around them in Starbucks (where they gather for the free coffee) and I need to oh-so slowly reach down into my pocket for something like a pen or cellphone...

At Least the Ravens and Seahawks Made the NFL Playoffs This Year

After the failure of the teams I usually root for in the National Football League (Miami, New York Giants, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville) to make the playoffs this year, I was left with Seattle and Baltimore to cheer on.  Since the Seahawks had already made the playoffs and are playing for a good playoff position this weekend, this left the Ravens as the uncertain playoff possibility.  They had to beat Cleveland today, which they finally managed to do, coming from behind to win 20-10.  But the Ravens still depended on Kansas City beating San Diego, a game I watched this afternoon and which the Chiefs won 19-7.  So Baltimore is in as a wild-card team and Seattle, depending on how they do in their final regular season game, can run the range from home field throughout the playoffs to a wild card team playing an extra game, with all of them on the road.

As for the pitiful Dolphins, I predicted they would blow one of their last two games and finish another non-winning season at 8-8.  Sure enough, even playing at home against the cellar-dwelling Jets, Miami just couldn't hold on to a 24-14 lead and folded up (or choked, depending on what vocabulary you want to use), giving New York the last 23 points en route to a 37-24 drubbing.  Makes it awfully hard to want to follow a team lacking spirit like this year after year...

The News and Subjective Narratives

I've been a little remiss on this blog lately when it comes to commenting on the ongoing news stories.  Since I'm going to weigh in with my own opinion about each of them (but not today), most likely some of my readers will have a different point of view.  Some of the differences will be due to either my own ignorance regarding the objective facts or to that of the reader, but I imagine that most of the disagreement in analysis will come down to the differences in subjective narratives between us. So what exactly is a subjective narrative, anyway?

Before I get into subjective narratives, let's look at some of the ongoing news stories before us;

The police killing unarmed black people in Ferguson, Missouri and New York...and then getting exonerated by grand juries.

Sony hacked ostensibly for the current comedy film The Interview, apparently because it offended the North Korean leader.

The Democratic-controlled US Senate releases revealing documents about "enhanced" interrogation methods used on suspected terrorists.

The now-discredited story about rape at a University of Virginia fraternity.

Another fallen celebrity, this time Bill Cosby, and public reaction.

In each of the above examples, it is possible to take the "facts" revealed by the news outlets and selectively insert them into one's own narratives about an "umbrella" principle.

I have my own opinions and "narratives" about the above topics, and plan to lay them out in future blog entries.  The important thing to remember, though, is that as members of the public at-large, we are limited by the amount of accurate knowledge available to us concerning the above stories.  Instead, it is a much easier burden on our thinking to latch on to a narrative that we hear on TV or radio, or from a friend, co-worker, or family member.  As humans with a social nature built within us, it can be quite exhilarating to be united in a cause revolving around a narrative that tends to be passionate in its appeal and expression.  Sometimes, such narratives are justified when the underlying pertinent facts eventually come out.  But often, the opposite happens as well and there is something of a letdown, with many left with a "rush-to-judgment" feeling.  I'm not a news junkie who is glued to news sources and opinion pages.  Still, it's not difficult to come away with definite opinions about the stories before us.  And maybe, just maybe, some of these opinions of mine won't square with your own narratives.  A subjective narrative incorporates within it any "possible", even dubious, information that supports it while ignoring or dismissing any facts that would diminish or contradict it.  Let's see how this works regarding the current news. Stay tuned...

Gainesville's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon Proves Elusive

After my adventure in Palm Coast's Starlight Half-Marathon this past Saturday, I was looking forward to another edition of Gainesville's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon, which had been scheduled (on the Florida Track Club website) for January 1, 2015.  Usually this race had been held in November, and I ran it in 2010 and 2011.  I liked the fact that in this race (and unlike much of the Starlight race) it would be in the daylight and I would be able to see where I'm going...and the paved Hawthorne Trail on which it is run stretches for miles in the woods southeast of Gainesville, far away from any traffic.  Tonight I was planning to register for it online, but unfortunately this race was removed from the Florida Track Club calendar.  I saw elsewhere that it had been scheduled for January 15, 2015 (as well as another site that had it scheduled for October 25, two months ago)...but when it came to discovering any solid information about the race, all I got was a brief mention in the FTC December newsletter exhorting us to look forward to this race "in the fall"...implying, it seems, that for this year we can just forget about it.  That's sad...but I can still run on my own and train for the next half-marathon, which for me is the Ocala Half-Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, January 25...

Christmas Greetings and Movies

Merry Christmas to everyone!  Last night we sat, after returning home from the Christmas Eve service at our church, and watched one of Melissa's favorite Christmas movies, the funny and sweet Elf. As for my own favorite Christmas movie, it's The Polar Express and although there have been a few showings already on TV, I've only managed to get in a few glimpses so far this season.  But they usually keep showing it from time to time in the days following Christmas, so I'm sure that I'll get to watch it again all the way through at some time.  And of course, there is A Christmas Story, being shown repeatedly on two stations this year: TNT and TBS.  As well as gazillions of other Christmas movies on many channels...

There are the movies about Christmas, and there are the movies that are released on Christmas, not necessarily with any other connection to the holiday season.  This year I see two standouts: The Imitation Game and Unbroken.  The Imitation Game concerns the breaking of the German Enigma code during World War II with the crucial help of mathematician AlanTuring, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Unbroken is a biographical account of American athlete and war hero Louis Zamperini, who after appearing in the Olympics endured brutal treatment as a prisoner of war under the Japanese following an ordeal of several weeks floating adrift in the Pacific after his plane was shot down, again during World War II.  I'd like to see both of these, especially The Imitation Game...

Ran Palm Coast's Starlight Half-Marathon Yesterday

Yesterday (Saturday) Melissa and I traveled eastward a few miles to Palm Coast to participate in our respective races...I ran the half-marathon and she walked the 5K event.  Anticipating a downtown setting with cheering onlookers, I was surprised by the race location, which was in an isolated area south of the main city by several miles.  Other than a movie theater and an adjacent Christmas park display (much like the duck pond at Gainesville's NFR Hospital), there were just open fields and many walkways...not exactly civilization as I was expecting it.  For the races, which were started five minutes apart, the website had originally stated that the half-marathon runners would go first, followed by the 5K five minutes later.  But the event organizers abruptly reversed the order before the race, causing a lot of confusion among the runner/walkers, including Melissa and me.  But the races got off all right in the end, and we were on our way...

The starting times were at 6 and 6:05 PM, and we were already cautioned to carry flashlights or headlights with us to light up the nighttime paths...which they warned had "spots" of darkness.  That had to be the understatement of the century, for fully half of my half-marathon race was spent in pitch blackness on an isolated paved trail with only my flashlight providing any visual aid.  On top of that, the humidity was awful (temperature was moderate in the 60's) with it starting to rain at various times in the race.  My throat/esophagus had been irritating me of late, and unfortunately whenever I downed some water or Gatorade it would send me into fits of coughing...so I dispensed with any rehydration for most of the run.  Also, at about the 4-mile mark I began to experience a light stomach ache...but fortunately, that let up after about a mile.  Then, toward the end of my journey through darkness, around the 9-mile mark, the arch in my left foot began to ache...making me wonder whether I'd even be able to finish the race.  However, after about a couple of miles of this, once I was back out "in the light" and could see where I was going, I was able to speed up and run like I was accustomed.  This made the foot-ache completely disappear and I haven't felt any pain since.  A little past the 12-mile mark, I had a big scare when I misjudged the distance between the curb I was running off of and the pavement, causing me to go several strides in a near-horizontal position while I desperately floundered with my arms to maintain my balance and avoid a bad fall.  When I was finally able to straighten back up, I marveled at my own sense of balance through the ordeal and finished the race without further mishap.

My final time for the 13.1 mile run was 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 30 seconds.  I finished 4th out of 8 in my age group (55-59).  Melissa also completed her walk and made me proud!   After it all, they provided some food and drink for all us participants.  Overall, it was a good experience...but I still think the organizers misled us about how overwhelmingly dark conditions would be as well as the fact that the race was far, far away from the business area of Palm Coast (we were actually running through a swamp at one point).  As for my own running, I was astonished with my time at the end, although I had finished several half-marathons in the past with better times. The reason I thought I had run slower than I did was that I had to be very careful with my footing for about half the race because of the darkness...I'm sure I would have broken 2 hours had I been able to better see where I was going...

Just Finished Reading Shadowplay by Tad Williams

Continuing along with Tad Williams' four-part fantasy series Shadowmarch, I just finished reading book #2, titled Shadowplay.  It continues the various narratives of its characters, focusing on twin teenage nobles Prince Barrick and Princess Briony as they struggle to survive and deal with their own personal trials.  The background story, that of a war between the gods reminiscent of Greek or Hindu mythology with accompanying conflicts between various races of people in the world, is gradually revealed through cryptic chapter-heading "quotes" from old religious scriptures.  With this Williams presents a two-fold mystery: one, what actually happens to the protagonists as the story unfolds, and, two, the ultimate explanation of all the weird manifestations plaguing the world and poor Barrick, who miserably suffers from terrible nightmares and seems to have had a mysterious quest implanted in his mind from the enemy Qar leader.  The author also widely spreads out the narrative, and there are many story lines going on at the same time...a little hard to keep up with them all, sad to say.

Shadowplay, unlike a lot of other books within series, has no noticeable ending and as such is hard for me to regard as a separate entity.  Instead, all of the various subplots just trail off, presumably to be resumed at the start of the third book.  By contrast, take a series like Harry Potter that, while moving to an eventual resolution that happens at the end of book #7, still has distinct stories for each memorable book.  Not with Shadowplay, though.  I think this works against the reader being able to remember the story when they finally do get around to starting the next book in the series.  Also, all of this arcane mythology from chapter to chapter doesn't help things, either.  Still, since one of the saving graces of this series is that it comprises only four books, I've already reached the halfway point and expect the author to begin to work to tie everything back together in the last two volumes...he has quite a task ahead of him if he wishes to be successful!

Signed Up to Run Saturday's Half-Marathon in Palm Coast

Well, I finally got around to registering for another half-marathon running race, this one for the Starlight Half-Marathon in Palm Coast, Florida (between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach).  Both this race and the accompanying 5K walk/run, in which Melissa will be participating, are to take place at 6 in the evening.  So it will all happen after sunset...but then again, I'm informed that Palm Coast will be very decorated for Christmas and that the course will be pretty interesting.  Still, since it will be nighttime, we as entrants are each required to carry either a headlight or flashlight...no problem.

I feel very confident about finishing this upcoming race, which with Melissa along reminds me a bit of that cool Orange Blossom Classic dual race we did in Tavares back in March, 2013.  Should be a great adventure...