Monday, May 30, 2011

Can I kiss you on the boob?


Observations While Running ...

DUDE: You know how birds make that "V" formation then they fly? You know why one side of the "V" is always longer?

ANOTHER DUDE: No, why is one side longer?

DUDE: There's more birds on that side.

I love that joke. Thank you, Chris Bohan.

Running by the Hocking, however, I saw something I'd never seen before. One flock of birds (not sure what they were) flew up from one band, as another flew up from the far bank. Each was in a single, opposing, diagonal line. The two lines came together gracefully over the river - creating a "V".

Here's a reminder for runners who sit by the pool or wear the flip-flops. Put sunscreen on your feet. Because they can burn. Yes they can.

Every now and then I get numbness or tingling in my fingers when I run. Not all the time. Today, for example, and a week or so ago. Answers? Anybody?

Bumper sticker of the weekend:

When evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.

Thank you, Athens. Time to head home.

Distance: 4.25 miles
Temperature: 69°F


1992 Playlist
House of Love - East 17
Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover - Sophie B. Hawkins
Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees
Steam - Peter Gabriel
Rump Shaker - Wreckx-N-Effect
Springtheme - Ween
Free Your Mind - En Vogue

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Hold the other cheek brave.

The aroma of pre-treated raw sewage always takes me back to my pre-adolescent romantic yearnings.

Distance: 4.25 miles
Temperature: 76°

The morning is for families and disgruntled golfers. Packs of families on bicycles, baby-wagons in tow, maybe mom is pedaling with dad on a pair on in-line skates. Everyone wearing wide-brimmed floppy hats and reeking of sunscreen. Meanwhile, dudes by the river, trying to get a putt in wait, survey, wiggle their hips, look up, get this pissy look on their face and wait a little longer.

2002 Playlist
Spectral Mornings - Cornershop
Cry Me a River - Justin Timerblake
Heavy Metal Drummer - Wilco
Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
Let's Go Again - Telepopmusik
Ug (178 bpm) - Mr. Scruff

Hot. Sweaty. Sunshower, mmmm. Dr. Bronner's. Sundried. We're all going to the pool!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Saturday night's all right.

Exhausted. Eye-strain. Slightly nauseous. Dehydrated? Big glass of water. Banana. Feeling bloated. Two days of troubling digestion. Beautiful in Athens. Time for a run.

Distance: 4.25 miles
Temperature: 79°

Late afternoon run by South Green. Undergrad couple having a picnic by the Hocking. I've been there, I've done that. I look at the parking dock behind Wray House, and the one next to it, can't remember its name. Twenty years ago this weekend I flew home from Los Angeles to go with my girlfriend to a three-day pagan festival in Indiana. Seriously. Two decades.

Awesome run. Every symptom I reported at the beginning of this post? Forget about them. I feel spirited.

Time to eat grilled burgers and swill iced mojitos.

1973 Playlist
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - Elton John
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five - Paul McCartney & Wings
Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
Free Ride - The Edgar Winter Group
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel
Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
Blockbuster - Sweet
Heartbeat (It's a Lovebeat) - The DeFranco Family
Keep Yourself Alive - Queen

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

How does it feel?

Running from dusk until dark, the temperature is high but the breeze is cool. Deceptive. Muscles relax, warm, I fly down the street. I am not even trying.

I have not run for ten days. It never lets up. Grants to complete, birthday parties to throw, houses to clean and laundry to do, classic novels to adapt (no time to read) meetings to attend, notes to take ... I am not missing anything, but I am hitting everything. So much to do. But as long as the rain holds and the air is good.

My head is clear. The seasons have changed. My head does not hurt, my sinuses are free. Remember this feeling. Be glad. You can breathe, and think.

My basement is seeping. The garage is falling over. When I am dead these things will not matter. My girl stayed up past 10 PM to finish her science project. She is so dedicated to her work, whatever it is.

The boy and I played baby pat-a-cake games from a book ... I have seen this book on the shelf for years but never opened it, not this one. He said the book is really for little kids, but he didn't care. He's going to be big so soon.

Let the basement crumble. Let the garage collapse. This day will never come again.

1983 Playlist
Don't Let Go - Wang Chung
Leilani - Hoodoo Gurus
Young Guns (Go For It!) - Wham!
I Love You - Yello
Kiss Off (177 bpm) - Violent Femmes
Just Got Lucky - JoBoxers
Blue Monday - New Order
I Don't Remember - Peter Gabriel
Someone To Talk To (158 bpm) - The Police
Undercover of the Night - The Rolling Stones

That was a really good year for music.

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 70º
Weather: GLORIOUS
Weight: 169 lbs.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

They're terribly, terribly, terribly moody.


The Full Cleveland in Four Minutes

The answer is no, I am not running The Cleveland this weekend. I actually entertained the idea of running the Half - once again - but in the interests of not doing serious damage to, well, any part of me, really, I would have insisted on doing at least a modicum of preparatory runs but they never happened. 10 miles two weeks ago? 8 two weeks before that? Just too much else going on.

I am a little happier with the route. They keep altering the route. Now it's back to up the Shoreway first, and West Cleveland then through Ohio City & Tremont before coming back through downtown - and up Euclid, which is entirely new. It's still six miles flat out of tow, only now with a jog North on 55th Street to Chester before hitting MLK and the horrible run into the wind, back into the city.

Euclid Avenue means -- PlayhouseSquare! And Cleveland State University! And ... eventually ... wait for it ... past a bunch of brownfields ... don't like the look of that guy ... here we go ... and ... The Agora!!!

Here's to all my homies on the run tomorrow. I'll put in six for you on my own.

1993 Playlist
Too Much Information (12" Jellybean Mix) - Duran Duran
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
Human Behaviour - Björk
Rebirth of Slick - Digable Planets
Macarena - Los Del Rio
None Of Your Business - Salt-N-Pepa
My Sister - Juliana Hatfield Three
Step It Up - Stereo MC's
That's What I Think - Cyndi Lauper
Nuthin' But A G Thang - Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 66º
Weather: rain ... humid ...
Weight: 169 lbs.

Had my gear on yesterday, and it came down hard, so I decided not to. Then it stopped, and I suited up again, and it rained again, so I gave today. Today I was all ready to go, and it started to thunder and pour.

I started out anyway. And it stopped after 30 seconds. Thor can suck on it.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Just 'cause you feel it doesn't mean it's there.

After the rains ... Cleveland Heights smells like ... freshly peeled potatoes. That's weird.

The George Gund Foundation employed world-renown, award-winning photographer Amy Arbus to capture images of artists from Cleveland arts organizations they support, including Cleveland Public Theatre, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Karamu House, GroundWorks DanceTheatre and the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. I am honored to have participated. All of the photographs are beautiful, and make me proud of Cleveland's cultural arts scene.

The weather is turning. I have been wearier of all of the carping about this winter than of the weather itself ... but it has been grueling. A lot of snow. A lot of cold. A lot of rain. And here we are. Almost makes it worth it.

2003 Playlist
Zombie Nation (Dave Clarke Remix) - Kernkraft 400
Milk Shake - Melis
There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) - Radiohead
Krazy In Luv (Junior's Dance Radio Mix) - Beyoncé
Toxic - Britney Spears
Sunrise - Simply Red
Burning Down The House - Tom Jones & The Cardigans
Mainframe - Kaada
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service
The Way You Move - OutKast Feat. Sleepy Brown
Slow (Chemhical Brothers Remix) - Kylie Minogue

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 61º
Weather: what i dream about when i dream about running
Weight: 170 lbs.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Bet you'd sell your mother.

Tweeting about eating.

In the mid-morning, I hunger, and feel ill. I try to stanch the feeling with water, maybe coffee, or a piece of gum.

At lunch, at last, I eat. By this time I have snacked, hopefully on something good I have brought with me, like carrots or an apple.

Regardless, I feel bloated and unhappy. I need to unbutton my pants. I have gas. I become lethargic, less productive. I struggle.

When I eat a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie, I see the face of Jesus.

When I have 99 cent bag of Doritos, it tastes like ground glass. When I tuck into a Family Sized bag, all is right in creation.

So much housework, no time to run. Feels pointless, anyhow.

Eating is easy. Making time for me is hard.

1974 Playlist
Stone Cold Crazy - Queen
The Wall Street Shuffle - 10cc
Loose Booty - Sly & The Family Stone
Chameleon - Maynard Ferguson
In The Cage - Genesis
It's Only Rock N' Roll (But I Like It) - The Rolling Stones
Boogie On Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder
September Gurls - Big Star

Distance: 4 miles
Temperature: 64º
Weather: warm and lovely
Weight: 170 lbs.

Happy Mom's, yo.