Run, baby, run

The cold, this cold, does not bother me. And I hate being cold. But running I heat up pretty fast. I am well dressed. But when it is this cold, with the snow coming down, it makes for some odd sensations. My face is bright with cold, ice matted into my beard, but under my jacket I am even sweating.

It took six years to extinguish the last round of Plantar Warts. I believe I killed this round in under three months. Of course I had to give myself a serious infection in order to accomplish that ... my foot blew up like a balloon and my crotch was so swollen I couldn't sit up. You would hope that would be enough damage to destroy a topical virus.

Sorry, was that graphic?

2008 Playlist
The Kids Don't Stand a Chance - Vampire Weekend vs. Miike Snow
Just Dance - Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis
Disturbia - Rihanna
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyoncé
Jai Ho - A. R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer
Mercy - Duffy
Check Yes Juliet (167 bpm) - We The Kings
Black & Gold - Sam Sparro

Distance: 3.5 miles
Temperature: 23º
Weather: brisk
Groundcover: more snow. and more snow.
Weight: 166 lbs.

3 weeks, 3 pounds. Okay.

... on the run ...

The 1960s playlists are weird, no doubt. I feel like I am Forrest Gump or something.

But now a word about Sha-Na-Na ...

To me, Sha-Na-Na has always been about their stupid TV variety show and their work in the motion picture Grease. When I was ten, I was not hip to the 50s revival. Not at all. Really, Bowzer makes me want to hide.

It wasn't until I revisited the movie Woodstock a few years ago that I even realized they were on the bill ... and their performance of At The Hop really turned my head around. I mean, look at them. That's not a 50s nostalgia act -- they're practically a punk band.

Jon Bauman, my apologies. Grease for Peace.

1969 Playlist
All Along The Watchtower - The Jim Hendrix Experience
Cold Turkey - John Lennon
Undun - The Guess Who
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry Orchestra
Chelsea Morning - Joni Mitchell
Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson
Old Brown Shoe - The Beatles
I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
Pinball Wizard - The Who
All Together Now - The Beatles
At the Hop (Live at Woodstock) - Sha-Na-Na


Distance: 3.7 miles
Temperature: 31º
Weather: downright tropical
Groundcover: Dry where it had been shoveled, dangerous ice and snow where it had not been.
Weight: 167.5 lbs.

Standing on the corner with a piece of pizza

Must find a new route away from the major thoroughfares until the snow is melted away. I can no longer manage the unshoveled sidewalks of foreclosed properties, shut-ins and Heights assholes (like that fucking condo development where the JCC used to be.)

1979 Playlist
When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty - XTC
My Sharona - The Knack
Pop Muzik - M
Making It - David Naughton
Look Back In Anger - David Bowie
Cleveland Rocks - Ian Hunter
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
Eat To The Beat - Blondie
Deathwish (178 bpm) - The Police

Distance: 3.7 miles
Temperature: 18º
Weather: cool
Groundcover: ankle-breaking hardened snow on most sidewalks
Weight: 167.5 lbs.

An evening eating spinach pie, fries and shakes at Tommy's and I still only bump up a pound? I must be doing something right.

Waiting for the climax

You know what is difficult? Maintaining an exercise regimen when you are just damn tired.

1989 Playlist
Praying To A New God (164 bpm) - Wang Chung
Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over) - Technotronic ft. Ya Kid K
Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun - The Beastie Boys
Steppin' To The A.M. - 3rd Bass
Electric Chair - Prince
Merely A Man - XTC
Ladies First - Queen Latifah ft. Monie Love
On the Greener Side - Michelle Shocked
Pet Semetary - The Ramones

Distance: 3.6 miles
Temperature: 28º
Weather: cool
Groundcover: and now - crusty snow
Weight: 166.5 lbs.

Let me get some action from the back section

1999 Playlist
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Accepting Applications At University - Lilys
Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) - Lou Bega
Army - Ben Folds Five
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer
Blame (172 bpm) - Everything But the Girl
Southside - Moby
Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix) - Beastie Boys

Distance: 3.6 miles
Temperature: 25º
Weather: snow
Groundcover: snow
Weight: 167 lbs.

Two pounds in two weeks. Let's see if we can continue in this manner.

Moving my hips like yeah

So what am I doing. I am making up for time off by running (nearly) every day. Running 3 miles a day is no big thing. Running three miles in snow is. The crusty, icy patches irritating and potentially damaging, but that's not what makes it the most difficult. It's the places that just have snow, light, slippery snow. My thighs get so tired. The front of my thighs, and my inner thighs. My calves hurt later on, because I am lifting my toes so much as I run.

So, the cold? No, not really. Not until it gets closer to ten degrees, I'm not even wearing the neckwrap yet. The wind, sure, especially on my way out up Monticello, but by the time I cut West on Lee it has subsided, most runs. It is simply wearying.


2009 Playlist
Dance Wiv Me - Dizzee Rascal Feat. Calvin Harris & Chrome
Hi Friend! - Deadmau5 Feat. MC Flipside
Fireflies - Owl City
New In Town - Little Boots
This Must Be The Place - Miles Fisher
Uprising - Muse
TiK ToK - Ke$ha
Sexy Bitch - David Guetta Feat. Akon
Animal - Miike Snow
Party In The U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus
1901 - Phoenix
Tigerlily - La Roux

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 20º
Weather: cold. just cold.
Groundcover: still a little mushy, not yet ice. hard to manage.
Weight: 161 lbs. (Broken scale?)

Searching for something to say

1970 Playlist
Instant Karma! - John Lennon
Spill The Wine - War w/Eric Burdon
Rock & Roll - The Velvet Underground
Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel
Everyone - Van Morrison
Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
25 Or 6 To 4 - Chicago
ABC - The Jackson 5

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 21º
Weather: light, refreshing snow
Groundcover: mushy, uneven snow
Weight: 167.5 lbs.

I can show you some of the people in my life

It has begun. The snow. Temperatures below freezing for the foreseeable future. My paths will be snowy, icy and treacherous for the next two months.

A working couple must have a crockpot. I cracked our crockpot two years ago, just dropped it from a high cupboard while half-asleep early one morning. Asked for a new one for Christmas, got two. Nothing keeps you well-fed and well-fed than a slow-cooked anything. Cheap, easy, filling, healthful. And the kids generally love whatever comes out of it.

1980 Playlist
Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads
A Forest (160 bpm) - The Cure
Fashion - David Bowie
Hell Is For Children (end bit: 166 bpm) - Pat Benatar
Take This Town - XTC
Incubation - Joy Division
Turn It On Again - Genesis
Red Light - Linda Clifford

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 27º
Weather: snowy, windy, in my face
Groundcover: blanketed with dusty snow
Weight: 167 lbs.

I came across a cache of old photos

WHO BROUGHT THOSE BROWNIES IN HERE???!!!

The moral of this story is quite simple. Do not snack, lose weight.

1990 Playlist
Violence Of Summer (Power Mix) - Duran Duran
Being Boring - Pet Shop Boys
Rhymin' On The Funk - Digital Underground
Jingling Baby (Remixed But Still Jingling) - LL Cool J
Justify My Love - Madonna
The Cactus (Remix) - 3rd Bass

Last night, while running, I got the idea for a scene which I incorporated into the Centennial script before tonight's read-through rehearsal. I didn't being writing it until this morning, but I knew where it came from and where it went and where it fit. I needed one more scene to complete the picture for my main character ... and its origins were ancient.

In the past several days or weeks (I cannot tell) I have been having vivid dreams about the old days. I mean, they take place now, in the present, and I am the age I am now. But I recently discovered props and furniture and books and cassettes and reel-to-reel tape from the Guerrilla Theater Co. days in a yard sale, only they were corrupted and covered in mold.

Then I dreamed I was finally adapting this movie from the 80s for the stage, a fantasy I have had in real life for some time, only we were producing it in the old space. Only there weren't any walls.

... Great. Suddenly I am Willy Loman ...

But the scene I wrote at 5 AM this morning was based in reality, with my experiences with a certain Cleveland theater critic (no, not him) and I got to play them out in this imaginary 1936 world I have created.

I love that shit.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 25º (Here we go ...)
Weather: cool, but not bad if you are dressed for it.
Groundcover: dusted with snow
Weight: 168.5 lbs.

They say it's over but man I'm still here livin

Laundry to fold, a scene to write, kids to put to bed. I was absolutely committed to not running tonight.

"Do you want to run while I put the kids to bed?" she asked.

And that is how we roll in this marriage.

2000 Playlist
The World Is Made Up For This & That (Fatboy Slim Mix) - Fatboy Slim
Outer Bongolia (154 bpm) - Stereolab
Da Funk DJ - Daft Punk vs. Madonna
Over My Head - Lit
Take It Or Leave It - The Strokes

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 32º
Weather: cool - and windy. ugh.
Weight: 167.5 lbs.

Let's run away and don't ever look back

The boy: Daddy, is this a "remix" of other songs?
Pengo: Yes, my darling boy. Yes, it is.

2010 Playlist
United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop The Pop) - DJ Earworm
We Speak No American - Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend
This Is The Remix - Girl Talk
Shout For England - Dizzee Rascal & James Corden
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song - Shakira ft. Freshlyground

My meralgia paresthetica has returned to where it irritates me in my bed. I wake with debilitating sinus headaches several times a week. I cannot comfortably fit into my pants. I have officially gained twenty pounds in the past two years. And today, I was choosing the elevator over the stairs ... to go down two flights.

It is a new year. There are important events afoot. Increased exercise means hot blood, more energy, clean breathing, and a flat stomach. Taking the time with make more waking hours available. I know this to be true. It is 2011, and I do not want to die.

And a new year means 44 PLAYLISTS FOR 44 YEARS. I hope you enjoy them.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 36º
Weather: cool
Weight: 169 lbs.