Please. Don't confront me with my failures.

Perhaps a little exercise? I will be on my own the next 48 hours, as the wife returns the boy to Cincinnati. Thanksgiving is done, the holidays have begun. Four years ago (no, not three as I almost typed) this was the beginning of the end for our mother. And yet, here was are. Our lives continue. Is that rude?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:12
Pace: 9:44

Instead of blogging, I have been reading. Not as much as I would like to, but is it ever? Finished Yellowface by R.F. Kuang this morning. Outrageous and compelling. 

Route: 3.1 miles

Temperature: 42°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: anxious

 
Stretches: yes

Water: no. seriously? fuck. no.

I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load.

Who wore it better?

Stayed off my ankle for a couple days. These little kinks are crazy. I was on my feet for several hours on Tuesday and wow was that exhausting. And yet, we feel good, don't we? So much to be thankful for.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:02
Pace: 9:21

Thanksgiving Dinner Playlist

Lovely Day - Bill Withers

Thank You - Dido

Take It Easy - Eagles

Riptide - Vance Joy

I've Got Plenty To Be Thankful For * - Bing Crosby

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

Better Man - Leon Bridges

We Are Family - Sister Sledge

I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch) - Four Tops

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 45°
Climate: beautiful

Sunny, crisp fall day. Just perfect for a run. Folks walking dogs, kids watching the birds on the lagoon. We spent the morning watching the parade as a family. It's gonna be a lovely day.

Mood: 

 
Stretches: yes

Water: ope

What was it we were thinking of?

Sunday. One more day on my own until the season turns. Tomorrow it is all writing contest preparation, the eldest comes home (the wife prefers elder, reminding me that there is one older than they ... but not more aged) and the holidays are underway.

Will we run together? Maybe Turkey Trot? I do not know. I do not care. Family will be present and I will be full of joy. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:11
Pace: 9:40

Us - Peter Gabriel (1992)

Come Talk To Me

Steam (Oh, Oh, Let Off Steam Mix)

Digging In the Dirt

Kiss That Frog (Mindblender Mix)

Secret World

I love Peter Gabriel, I do. But mostly his upbeat work. The slow songs seem to me, sometimes, very, very slow. And similar. And besides, I need to run.

This album will always remind me of the first year of Guerrilla, for many, many reasons, and not only the timing. Though, sure, mostly the timing. Good timing. Frenetic. Sexual. Transgressive. There it is.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 47°
Climate: bright & sunny

Mood: determined

 

Got a kink in my right ankle in the park, had to walk, worked it out, kept limping along, and soon it went away. But I think this might happen more often these days.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 40

Upper body: 40 reps.
Water: yes

Breakfast: oatmeal w/dried fruit, butter, brown sugar & cream

Lunch: linguine alfredo w/green vegetables, fizzy water

Snack: raw cookie dough, cookies

Dinner: squash curry over rice

Beverage: Festivus!

I could not run fast enough to flee them.

The purge continues. I'm talking household items, not anything gross or violent. The November Purge in which we search for things we do not need and either donate or trash them.

Holidays coming. Must make room.

Distance: 3.25 miles

Duration: 31:46
Pace: 9:46

We're at that strange time of year when I have no idea what I want to listen to, and that makes it challenging for me to get out onto the road. That and the temperature. But it is a bright and sunny day.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 45°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

 

Yeah, felt good. Not great, but good. Beautiful day, kink in my ankle and in my knee. Wishing for spring again.

 
Stretches: yes

Upper body: 20 reps
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, homemade pastry w/egg, sausage & cheese

Lunch: fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Snack: cinnamon toast

Dinner: cocktail, cheese board

Movie: popcorn, beer

What's That Lyric?

An Arrow In the Wall - Death Cab for Cutie

Kozlar da jitte.

This morning I was exhausted. No reasonable reason why. Had a reasonable night's sleep, rose at six, felt fine, did some reading, and then I lost it. Weird. No pain, no ill feeling, just tired.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:58
Pace: 9:38

"Fall is here."

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: cool

Mood: good-ish 

What's That Lyric?

Saginou - Zulya

Gasping, but somehow still alive.

Last night we saw The Killer. I have been on a Fincher kick. Two running gags in the film are the (unnamed) assassin's use of characters from sit-coms as aliases, and that he listens to The Smiths to relax.

In fact, I enjoyed these moments of "comic relief" so much, it really irritated me when one of his aliases was Sam Malone. All of the other other references -- Robert Hartley, Reuben Kincaid, Archibald Bünker -- were from the 1970s. Including a Cheers reference threw me and it still bothers me this morning.

David Fincher is too exacting to have made such an error. 

 

Distance: 4.1 miles

Duration: 40:59
Pace: 9:9

"The Killer" Playlist (Songs by The Smiths)

Well I Wonder

I Know It’s Over 

How Soon Is Now? 

Hand in Glove

Bigmouth Strikes Again 

Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now

Girlfriend in a Coma

Shoplifters of the World Unite

Unhappy Birthday 

This Charming Man

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: sunny & beautiful

Mood: good

  

Trying to run slower, to be intentional. My knees hurt after every run, like they never have before. Taking pain reliever, sure. But I wonder if I am doing damage, or it's just getting old and I have to deal with it.

The run today was glorious. Just perfect. Lovely day.

Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Upper body: 20 rep
Water: yes

I don't even care what my best friends are doing.

The wife works at a book store, so she will be very busy from now through the holidays. She's working Friday nights, which means I need to plan my evening. I could go out, sure. See a play or a movie. Last night I made a pie, from scratch. My first. Never even made a crust before. It was a success.

I was also taking large pieces of furniture and other things out of the house to put onto the curb. And not drinking. Or not drinking right away. It was after the chores were through and the pie was baking that I sat by the fire, listened to music, read and had a cocktail.

It was a very good night alone with David. I'm learning better how to be with me. 

Distance: 3.25 miles 

Duration: 31:51
Pace: 9:48

Oh, shit. I finished the first draft of a new script. See? Good day!

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 45°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

Just keep running, okay? Doesn't have to be far, doesn't have to be fast. Just run.

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes 

Play script: Sugar the Play by Gloria Shea

What's That Lyric?

Bad Dream Baby - Hippo Campus

I would really, really love to stick around.

Been watching a lot of David Fincher recently.

We have returned to form. A good breakfast, a high-calorie mid-morning coffee drink, an early lung( god dammit, I packed but forgot it again, what can I do) followed by an afternoon snack and horking nuts while making dinner over not one but two drinks.

We are gaining weight, like that's the thing we are supposed to do in November. Alack, alay.  

Anyway, tonight I'm baking an apple pie.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:23
Pace: 9:28

The wife suggested I run. So I did. Good call, wife.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 49°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

What's That Lyric?

Freedom 90 - George Michael

Everybody wants a box of chocolates.

Gracious. I have now logged more runs than I did in 2009 -- and those weren't even all runs. I was recording blog posts about the play And Then You Die that year. So, 2023 has been far and away the year I have taken the most most individual runs, except for 2015 when I not only had a diabetic scare, but trained rather successfully for the Twin Cities Marathon.

Not sure I can make another twenty runs before end of the year, but who knows? Seems kind of arbitrary. Why this year? Another health scare, the scare of just getting old?

Regardless. It's still enjoyable. I hope it continues to be so.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:05
Pace: 9:42

Took shoes to Athens and Cincinnati. A beautiful weekend, perfect weather, no chance to run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: all right

 
Stretches: yes

Upper body: 30 rep.
Water: yes

What's That Lyric?

Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen

Just can't wait to get on the road again.

Miguel sings "Careless Whisper"

Stayed up late, watching the Rock Hall inductions. Both Miguel and Carrie Underwood did some lovely interpretations of George Michael's work. Adam Levine was also there. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:38
Pace: 9:33

Rock Hall Class of 2023 Playlist

Strong Enough - Sheryl Crow

On the Road Again (Live) - Willie Nelson

Bulls on Parade - Rage Against the Machine

Faith - George Michael

Then Came You - The Spinners ft. Dionne Warwick

Lose Control - Missy Elliott ft. Ciara & Fatman Scoop

Ain't Nobody - Chaka Khan ft. Rufus

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 55°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: good

The years pass, and the old guard, those you could count on to show up at an induction ceremony, they are all very old, or dead. Or they are Jann Wenner and he wasn't there, either. Now the inductees are my age (or dead).

I saw Sheryl Crow open for Crowded House in early 1994. She was on her first single then, now it's almost thirty years later and she is playing a duet with Olivia Rodrigo, who is twenty days younger than our eldest living child.

The Rock Hall has protested its relevance and the "power of music" but really, it was always about nostalgia. That's why I stayed up past midnight to experience it, though I will probably not be doing that again. I was there for George.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 40
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: 10 reps. (5x)
Water: yes

Play script:

Check my vital signs.

Sometimes I pay a lot for great seats.
Sometimes they're free.

Been feeling queasy. I felt like this ... last year? Not sick, just poor digestion. Unhappy bowels. The diet has not been great. A lot of meat, fried things, bread. I can do better. I don't want to.

Becoming more and more aware of my weaknesses. I do not have the balance, the equilibrium that I used to. Then, I've always had weaknesses. When I take care of myself I can mitigate them, but it must be consistent.

The weather turns. My motivation to run wanes with the weather. I do not like cold, not really. Not at all.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:21
Pace: 9:08

Perfect fall evening. The run was great, but my knee (right) has been in pain the entire week. I don't hurt when I run. Just all the other times.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 56°
Climate: overcast & nice

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Upper body: 10 rep. (3x)
Water: yes

Play script: Nobody Heard, Nobody Saw by Luke Brett

What's That Lyric?

Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day