All flesh, begone!

The boy's doctor suggested he get proper running shoes for exercise (of course) so today in addition to other back-to-school numbers, we picked up clearance-priced sneaks at Nordstrom Rack.

I have new New Balance Abzorbs, Asics Gel Absorb-4s. Time to hit those streets!

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 76°
Climate: sunny, bright
Mood: okay

We ran a little, walked a little, around the block. His feet hurt, he thinks from trying on other shoes, not these. His feet usually hurt when we hit the pavement, it's also humid and hot. He did so well in Maine, though. It's probably the weather. And those other shoes.

He's been very conscious of his diet, in a good way. He gave me most of his bread from lunch (sensible portion of mac & cheese, with salad) which I then ate. I didn't need to eat that.

Exercises: later

Great run by myself, around the park. Folks grilling, fishing, walking dogs. I am a hot and sweaty mess, but at least I feel good.

I still need to write about acupuncture.

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 170 lbs. (-0-)
Goal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Poor Skeleton Steps Out - XTC

My writing ... my writing ... my writing ... my own writing ...

Okay. Okay, okay. I need to write about acupuncture. But not tonight.

We hit the gym, the boy, the wife, and I. It was good.

Distance: 4 miles
Route: Rec Center
Mood: yeah. good.

Exercises: yes

What's That Lyric?
Dissident - Thomas Dolby

I take your pain away.

The low-grade sinus headache, the kind that drags me to the ground. A lazy Sunday afternoon, but not relaxed. Thought best to nap, close my eyes, as my body was demanding, but caffeine had kicked in and the mind was on fire. Also, it ached.

The area around the bee sting (for that is what it must have been) does not sting, or ache, but it itches. Bee stings are few and far-between, my last was (embarrassingly enough, but also spectacularly painful) on my scalp, six years. The stinging came and went in waves for days. But not this itching. Odd.

The boy and I headed to the gym.

Distance: 3 miles
Route: Rec Center
Mood: all right

Stepping into the sunlight, after our rounds, I noticed my headache had almost entirely subsided. This was not the case after one mile, when I thought I couldn't continue. I tried changing it up, running a mile, doing a round of exercises, then and another mile. This worked out fine, but it felt like it took a long time.

During the third mile, my right ankle crashed out. This happened last week, sudden pain the ankle, I'll walk,stop or stretch (all three, actually) and then continue. When it hurts, it really hurts. Bu when it's gone, it's gone.

I think it means I need new shoes.

Exercises: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 170 lbs. (+1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Sigh.

What's That Lyric?
Tightrope - Janelle Monáe ft. Big Boi

You're doing fine.

Martha Walsh sang lead vocals on Everybody Everybody (Black Box), It's Raining Men (The Weather Girls), and Gonna Make You Sweat (C+C Music Factory). And you don't even know where you are.

Can't listen to Everybody Everybody without putting myself right back into Fridays in the Flats in summer, 1991. Good times ... I think.

(Thanks to Stephanie for introducing me to the Hit Parade podcast!)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 75°
Climate: bright & beautiful
Mood: good

Beautiful run in the park, not too humid. Lively. Then, around mile two, I was stung. Not sure by what, I thought it was a horsefly and swatted it off, but part of it remained behind, and it continued to sting. Not a tic, I do believe it was some kind of bee or other stinging insect. I stopped and looked around for the rest of it, but that was useless, so I ran home.

It still stings. I'm icing it, the wife will search for a stinger. We'll see what happens next.

Exercises: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 169 lbs. (-0-)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Okay.

What my mama told me
Let my father mold me
- Madonna, "Deeper and Deeper (1992)

Did what my father said,
and let my mother mold me
- Janet Jackson, "Control" (1986)

Huh. Missed that.

Everybody Everybody Playlist
Everybody Everybody - Black Box
Deeper and Deeper - Madonna
Control - Janet Jackson
Keep On Movin' - Soul II Soul
Move This - Technotronic

Can't stop. I might end up in the hospital.

David Byrne
(Jacobs Pavilion)

So my wife took me to see David Byrne at Jacobs Pavilion the other night, which was an inspiring birthday present. The backdrop for the space is the Cleveland skyline, depending on the light you either did or did not see both the Key Bank Building and Terminal Tower.

Very physical, impassioned, delightful. In the open air, after the rains, just a gorgeous night.

The kids do not know who this man is, and that is all right, I guess. Anyone under thirty-five I mentioned the show to did not recognize his name.

Talking Heads, sure. But I am surprised his name doesn't ring a bell. I was also surprised few in the audience seemed familiar with the new single "Everybody's Coming To My House." I guess I should not have been.

It's odd, his music, his band's music, was and is iconic because it holds you at a distance. It's ironic, intentionally satiric. Music about buildings and food. ("Love's kind of big," Byrne once said in an interview with himself.) And yet, there it is. In my heart. Expressing so much, about life, anxiety, even love. His music is and always has been about being human, right now.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 79°
Climate: overcast & humid
Mood: not bad

Very humid tonight. It was five degrees hotter the other today, but tonight I was gasping like a fish. I need to run more often. Yesterday I took the boy to get his annual physical. Lot of talk about his weight. The doctor emphasized daily exercise. Lately he's been better about that than I am.

Exercises: yes

The exercises continue. They increase. The wife sees definition in my arms. That's new.

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 169 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Okay.

What's That Lyric?
Crosseyed & Painless - Talking Heads

Have you seen my self esteem?

Not throwing away their shot at a silly photo.

We have a lot of cake and ice cream in this office. It is a perk for which I am grateful. By tradition, however, I am out of town on my birthday (Leos and all those with summer birthdays when they were kids will feel my pain) and for the past several years my co-workers go out for ice cream and then send me a picture of themselves celebrating me in my absence.

Once they all crammed into my office with multiple copies of my headshot.

This year was particularly inspired (see up right.)

So you can imagine my surprise when, Thursday, I was presented with an actual cake! A cake with my name on it, from the new Corbo's downstairs (big ups, Corbo's Playhouse Square!)

Now, you would think a big slice of chocolate cake would be good enough for a boy trying to cut down on his caloric intake. So explain to me why I would have an urge, following a session with my chiropractor, to get an ice cream cone? Or why I shoved two stale Oreos in my mouth when I was home briefly that evening?

I can't even describe what my dinner was like, at a tavern in the airport neighborhood, when my mother's flight was delayed. Okay, it was a buffalo chicken wrap. With fries.

Just stop, okay? Have the salad. And when you get cake, just enjoy the cake.

I got cake!

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 84°
Climate: hot but overcast
Mood: decent

Hot run! Fast run. Not taking my phone, it is a distraction. However, what if I have a heart attack? I mean, right? I should take my phone.

Today I did not take my phone.

I only stopped to walk once, briefly, which was awesome. Just stopping once, I mean. I do miss Martin Point, all the humidity is just whipped away. It wasn't so hot, it was so nice. Felt like I could run long distances easily.

Last Thursday the chiropractor actually popped my back. An "adjustment." That was new. I have been seeing him for a couple months now, all the stereotypes about chiros had left my mind, then he just cracks my back.

This is my personal Thursday Club.

That's an in joke, you know.

Exercises: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 168.5 lbs. (+1.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
National Disgrace - Atmosphere

I smell of the earth.

Home again, and we begin with a funeral. It's been a long, difficult day. Could be worse. Could be raining. (Seriously, though, it could have rained, but it didn't.)

Came home exhausted and unhappy, knowing I should run, wanting to sleep. So? A ten-minute nap. Lying down, I could feel the pain and tension in my shoulders.

I am grateful the wife encouraged me to do the exercises last night. Hadn't for two days, that would have been three. Travel is an excuse, but we were now home.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Run
Temperature: 73°
Climate: overcast & humid
Mood: not as bad as before

Good, brisk run, Started out sluggish. It is more humid here, and naturally less inspiring. I mean, come on. But I kept it up, my left side hurt more than usual, but nothing unhappy-making. My ankle was hurting a mile or so in, so I stopped. I walked. I kept running. No more issues there.

And I feel a touch lighter in my soul.

Exercises: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 167 lbs. (+0.5)
Revised Goal: 165 lbs.

I ate with impunity. I also did an awful lot of planking, so in spite of the additional weight I can still fit into my pants. And yet, we must resume our healthy diet.

The wife said that when I was at my leanest, at the beginning of June, she thought I looked too skinny. Whatever. 160 is the final goal. It is where I want to be. Perhaps muscle will make up the visual difference.

What's That Lyric?
I Am Stretched On Your Grave - Dead Can Dance