My head’s so clear.

Okay, I did it. An hour-long playlist featuring one track from every single Everything But the Girl LP. That's including from Worldwide.* 

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 25:53

Everything But the Girl Workout Playlist

Five Fathoms (Kevin Yost Everything & a Groove Mix)
Fascination 

Nothing Left to Lose (Extended Club Mix)

When All's Well

Rollercoaster (King Britt Scuba Remix)

Route: rec center
Temperature: 35°
Climate: partly cloudy
Mood: get it

A few days off become anxious, I have been neglectful, and there is so much to do. I need to re-collect. Last night we were back in town, had dinner with old friends. Tonight my slate is clean, but that also requires planning and preparation.

Make. Clean. Do. Read. Write. These are things I enjoy. Feel good. It will feel alright.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

*Two tracks from Temperamental to make it an hour, and nothing from their eponymous American debut because it is mostly identical to their UK debut Eden.

Not running out while my heart's unsteady.

Mini-vacation is Cincinnati. The boy has not one but two gigs this week. Feels like an exercise in enforced relaxation, for which we are immensely fortunate. A couple of nights at the Gaslight Bed & Breakfast, our home away from home, to write, watch TV, listen to jazz and flop around. And run.

Distance: 2 miles

Duration: 18:00
Pace: 9:00

The Best of Everything But the Girl (2025)

Before Today

No Difference

Driving

Each and Every One

Rollercoaster

I love each and every one of these tracks. But are they the best? Which is to say, is there nothing above? I have to quibble. Three tracks from Walking Wounded and one track from Temperamental -- and it's not "Five Fathoms"?

Nothing from Love Not Money? It's okay there isn't anything from Worldwide.

They should have asked me to curate. And perhaps I still may. A playlist called The Very Best of Everything But the Girl.

Route: Gaslight Loop
Temperature: 50°
Climate: sunny & beautiful
Mood: determined

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Actual lyric: "Not running out for a while, my heart's unsteady."

Two steps ahead of everyone.

How odd. By the end of the day on Wednesday, I was feeling poor, like I was getting a cold. I noticed during my run that I felt rather weak. Not weak enough not to run, and maybe that was it. I was using a BPM playlist and perhaps pushing myself harder than I should have been.

I thought I would wake up Thursday completely sick, but that did not happen. I am grateful. I don't want to be sick.

Still, in my torpor I polished off a bag of Peanut M&M's and what was left of a bag of Doritos from Sunday night. Illness as an excuse.  

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 26:01

I'd really love a brief uptick in the weather, for one more run in the woods. Committing to the rec center so soon is a drag. The fact is, I run faster in the rec center; it's flat, level, no dips or possible places to trip. I sometimes torture myself with images of losing my feet and going forehead-first into an I-beam.

But I can't tell if I'm the asshole or if it is everyone else. I know you are enjoying your time at the gym, but I am sick of people walking four abreast. They know there is a runner on the track, but they just chat and try to pay attention to when I come around but it's not that wide of a track. I come around in less than a minute.

I think they think I should just use the treadmill, but Jesus Christ, so could they.

Route: rec center
Temperature: 38
Climate: overcast & cold
Mood: driven

Best thing about the track is that I pause, briefly, after every mile and have a big healthy drink of water. That’s extremely helpful.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs.

We're failing sugar season. Time to tighten up. But I did make this amazing pizza last night, using the marinara pasta with Romanesco as a topping.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

The Best of Everything But the Girl (2025)

Missing (Terry Todd Radio Edit)

Nothing Left to Lose

Tracey in My Room (Lazy Dog Bootleg Vocal Mix)

Walking Wounded (159 BPM)

Single

Corcovado (157 BPM)

This singles collection was released today, November 14, 2025. Most of the tracks I listened to today are from 1994-1996, so there's a lot of guilt and shame in there. My God, what would I have done without Tracey and Ben?

Oh, mama. Running out of luck.

Every other day, for more than one month. This time last year I weighed 173.5 lbs. Consistency. Mindfulness. Obsession. I mean, how else am I supposed to stay fit?

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 25:17

These have been long days, which is good. I like living life, and life -- for me -- is good. Attempting to visit three different schools today, I found myself traversing several two lane roads, and with time to get coffee. 

Seeking something that is not corporate, I pass a school I did not expect to see, one with which I am familiar, but no my destination. And I remember in a moment there is a small strip mall right across the street, and that mall includes a cute, independent doughnut shop.

Hell, yeah, I got that doughnut.

Route: rec center
Temperature: 45°
Climate: cloudy & cold
Mood: improved

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What’s That Lyric?

Barely Legal - The Strokes

"We are holding our own."

Scott & Sarah

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

as performed by

Gordon Lightfoot

Tuttle ft. Pool & Geuel

Anna Coogan

Laura Cantrell

Tony Rice

Distance: 3 miles 

Duration: 25:00
Route: rec center
Temperature: 32°
Climate: cold
Mood: concerned

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Though I dress for every situation.

Julius Caesar, Act II, scene i

Making plans for an informal play reading tomorrow night, taking in summer furniture, rolling up the new awning for the season.

The season turns, we move indoors. 

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 25:06

Route: rec center
Temperature: 47°
Climate: dark clouds and breezy
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 162 lbs.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

What's That Lyric?

Situation - Yazoo

You're getting called out because you're running your mouth.

America's Mayor!

Today I clocked as many runs as I made in all of last year. Every other day, this is the way.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:03
Pace: 9:02

Zohran Mamdani Has Run the NYC Marathon Twice. Now, the Mayoral Candidate Might *Actually* Run NYC by Theo Kahler, Runner's World, 10/31/2025

"Before he scored a stunning victory over Andrew Cuomo, the 34-year-old campaigned through the five boroughs—on foot."

Update: Mamdani *will* actually run NYC.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 41°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool
Mood: getting there

Another lovely fall day. I wear shorts but also a cotton hoodie and gloves. The hoodie is awkward, I tie it close to my face so it doesn't bounce around, I'd wear my jacket but I want to cover my ears and neck.

Anyway, lovely. Falling leaves, strutting geese, the sun rising and feeling strong and capable.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Maintaining. Even with all the candy.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

What's That Lyric?

My Kink Is Karma - Chappell Roan 

It must be nice to be a man.

Spooky season has closed. The holidays approach. How do I know this? Because we are in the adjudication process for the writing contest, and I expect that when I get to work that the halls will already have been decked.

Why have I become so obsessed with the holidays? This is not a new phenomenon, but it continues to grow in me, every year. Performing in the show last year was remarkable, it was a fluke thing, one I had not asked for, and yet it happened and I felt marvelous. To be a participant in such a tradition, even for one season.

The memories of holidays past burn brightly, even and maybe particularly the quarantine. I hope we never have to deal with something like that again, though we may. But even then, we had family, warmth, fellowship, communication, love and hope.

I wonder what this season will bring. I hope. I fear.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:32
Pace: 9:31

We're trying to maintain a writing regimen. It has been a while. How consistent can we be? It depends on time. I also need prompts, I think. I need to look for them during the day (makes a note) so that I can let my imagination wander. It's all a bit too sharply focused on what is right in front of me. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 40°
Climate: clear & beautiful
Mood: working on it

I was all set to go to the rec center, it was forty degrees out. Then I moved our kid's car into the street and realized it was going to be a beautiful day, and that I wanted to be outside. And I was never so glad.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Lily Allen Playlist

West End Girl - Lily Allen

Human Behaviour -Björk

Pussy Palace - Lily Allen

My Old Ways - Tame Impala

Just Enough - Lily Allen

Dive - Olivia Dean

Fruityloop - Lily Allen

One of the Greats - Florence + The Machine

I feel adrenaline.

Trick-or-treat was a lovely success, there were fewer kids than usual but not by an extreme margin. However, it is disappointing to learn that neighbors on adjoining streets don't share in our attention. One of the folks just around the corner said he got ten children.

I can guess why, there is a concentration of houses with their lights on where we live, the side streets are spaced further apart and appear less occupied, or friendly. Last year, I started making a map of the houses that would have candy, only I'm afraid that might actually just go to further illustrate that point.

Our neighborhood needs to get to know each other again. It's been a long time.

Horde 0122

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:23
Pace: 8:50

One more spooky zombie story before I begin leaning into the holidays. And this time, it was pretty exciting!

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 52°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: ugh

Spent some time with friends last night, then watched SNL live … did too much, stayed up too late, had a late, late morning, with head pain.

And yet, this run was just what I needed to reset. It’s a perfect fall day for running, I hope that is the case for my running colleagues in New York.

The question … will I, can I join them next year?

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What’s That Lyric?

Black Friday (pretty like the sun) - Lost Frequencies ft. Tom Odell

You keep stopping when you could be walking.

Let's just not nitpick over the password stuff.

Have not successfully completed fifteen runs in one month since June. I would like a high-five.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 25:28

Route: Rec Center
Temperature: 43°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: anxious

Could have run outdoors with a jacket, it's nice. But just cool enough that I wanted to be indoors -- and that's how we do that.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Monster Bash Playlist

I Lied to You - Miles Caton

Nightmares - A Flock of Seagulls

Dinner With Drac pt. 1 - John Zacherle

Dead Souls - Joy Division

Walking With a Ghost - Tegan & Sara

Goo Goo Muck - The Cramps

Horror Movies - Skyhooks

You’re running around. You know better, daddy.

Ten runs, every other day. Consistency. Dedication. Anxiety. Commitment. Today I ran as many runs as I did in 2012, a marathon year -- no literally, I ran a marathon -- these are the numbers I rack up training for a marathon. And there are two more months in the year.

Consistency. Dedication. Commitment. And anxiety.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 24:49

Men need twice as much exercise as women to lower heart disease risk, study finds by Ian Sample, Science Editor, The Guardian 10/27/2025

"Under NHS guidelines, men and women aged 16 to 64 should take at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, each week, combined with muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week."

Route: Rec Center
Temperature: 52°
Climate: cloudy and cool
Mood: very anxious

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What’s That Lyric?

I Put a Spell on You - Sonique

I was born to run.

Doing some substitution work this week, stepping into Willy Loman's shoes for the first time in, well, a very long time. And these damn arch supports are killing me.  

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 25:28

Route: Rec Center
Temperature: 48
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: delirious

The evening is pleasant, but I don't run in the dark anymore.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 162 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

What’s That Lyric?

Midnight Sky - Miley Cyrus

It'd be safest if you ran.

In 2007, the Death Clock said I will die Monday, October 7, 2047.

Now it says I will die Wednesday, May 7, 2042.

What the fuck, Death Clock?

I don't want to die on a Wednesday.

Seriously, though, and to paraphrase Logan 5, "Do I get my five years back?"

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:09
Pace: 9:04

Now avoiding all the pre-Halloween Halloween candy in the office. And yet, at home I have started just putting things into my mouth. When it's the other half of the banana I had as part of breakfast, okay, I guess. When you are putting away the leftovers and decide, at the end of the night, to have another "little" bowl of pasta and sauce, that is not okay, that is weirdly compulsive.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 50°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: all right

He's got legs.
He knows how to use them.

Capsule review: FRANKENSTEIN (2025)
Given the essential subject matter and also popular trends in gothic horror this film featured a surprising lack of dong.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs. (-9.0)

It's cool and damp, but the sun is shining so brightly. An indoor run would be a crime.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Spooky Workout Mix

Rasputin (Club Mix) - Boney M. ft. G. Mart

Mother - Danzig

Sick, Sick, Sick - Queens of the Stone Age

Blood in the Cut - K.Flay

Into The Void - Nine Inch Nails

Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Revolting Cocks

Tooth - Lady Gaga

Shit, got some new ideas for the Monster Bash Mix.

This race is all but run.

The weather has finally, truly turned. Depressing headache yesterday, as the clouds came in and the temperature dropped. It's rained for about a day, we're bringing the plants inside, I'm starting to close the windows, the heat is on.

And it is time to hit the rec center.

Distance: 3 miles 

Duration: 25:42

A few years ago, when I was having trouble turning a small idea into a big idea, I started to go on longer and longer runs. The urge was to make a metaphorical idea come true; by tracing a bigger area with my feet, perhaps I could trace a bigger idea with my mind.

-  by Ben Ratliff, "Run the Song"

Route: rec center
Temperature: 45°
Climate: rain
Mood: irritated

Just a few days ago, it was my Noomaversary. Surprised they didn't let me know, but that might run counter to their programming, drawing attention to the passage of time. Or maybe a lot of people quit after one year.

My recreation center membership renews in December. That's how late I signed up, how long I ran in the cold and rain before taking that step. Now, I just need to prepare in the morning, and I go. It's not a big deal.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 170 lbs. (+10)

How do you jump ten pounds in two days? It was surprising to me, but not too surprising. The fact is, the past two days, yesterday especially, were not "mindful." They were, in fact, ordinary. The headache compounded my desire, I sat in a classroom in Aurora, miserable, taking notes, and thinking how much better life would be with sugar and caffeine. I made a beeline to the nearest Starb*cks and got not only a PSL, my first, and hopefully only of the season, and why not, a slice of banana bread.

That banana bread is 380 calories, all by itself. This was after having had my traditional breakfast.

Lunch was packed, which was good. But it is sugar season and there is candy all over the office, I had one, two, I mean, they're so small, three pieces of candy. Two of them were chocolate.

Last night I was on my own and I made dinner. Leftover mac and cheese, but I did not measure it, and so it was closer to two cups, not just one. In that way I could just empty the container. Why not? And I grazed on pretzel sticks as I air fried sweet potatoes.

Later, watching TV eating dinner and having a beer, I decided not to let the honey mustard I made go to waste and fetched two unmeasured handfuls of pretzel sticks, but also made additional honey mustard to go with it.

Unregulated, unmeasured, unrecorded, unmindful. This describes what used to be a normal day for me. Just, eating whatever.

There is a lot of produce in the fridge, but I could not be bothered to make something good for just me, which is unfortunate. But there you go, ten pounds in two days. A lot of that weight is probably just working its way through me, waiting to get out. But some will remain.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

What’s That Lyric?

It’s Not Over (‘Til It’s over and Done) - Bleu McAuley

How weak you must feel.

Good lord, tripped on a cat on my way upstairs in the dark last night and it feels like I sprained my toes.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:50
Pace: 9:18

As many runs as I completed in both 2019 and 2021. And in 2019 I was training for a marathon. Of course, that was also the year I was losing my mother and basically didn't run the last two months of the year.

Then again, after Chicago, I am surprised I ever ran again.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 58°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool
Mood: all right

Fall quarter, freshman year. I was eighteen. This was thirty-nine years ago. For context, thirty-nine years before that was 1947, when my parents were only twelve. Don't know how that is relevant, but it seems important to me to appreciate just how long thirty-nine years is. I digress. 

Fall quarter, freshman year. It was 1986. I did not know yet how to take care of myself. I remember I was ill that semester, and in the middle of the night I was hungry and had some milk (don't ask, it's gross, adults who drink milk are monsters) and was surprised to learn it had gone sour. I was grateful that one of the water fountains on the floor was right outside my dorm and was able to spit it up there.

The point is, I was eighteen and had never had bad milk before, because I had a mother who would never let anything go bad in her refrigerator. I had never thought to check the expiration date, of anything. It had been taken care of. I had been taken care of.

And yet, there I was. Living, in a way, on my own. Someone still made my meals for me, that is what a dining plan is for. And I was warm and safe, presumably so that I could concentrate on my studies which was why I was there. I was still like a high school student, but in many ways, on my own. Still a pampered child, only now I drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and screwed.

My girlfriend had a roommate who did not care for me, and I do not blame anyone who did not care for me when I was below the age of thirty-five. When I think of the room they shared I see the bed, the cinderblock walls, the naked, tile floor. It was a room like the other rooms. We did not sleep over at each others' rooms, that may have had as much to do with our own feelings of discomfort (sleeping in the same bed as someone else is a skill, especially a narrow dormitory bed) as it did with our roommate situations. Better not to make things weird.

Also, I think it wasn't allowed. That makes more sense, too. But people did it, of course. We did not.

"You have this, too? I have this."

Her roommate had a copy of Suzanne Vega's first album, and the girlfriend developed an affinity for it. So did I, though even at that time I felt that she, and by she I mean Vega, was criticizing me. Or maybe, more to the point, that she had my number. Or that she had ours.

I want to be clear, I was never physically abusive to her, my girlfriend. But that does not mean I was always kind, or smart. I was a fool. Several of the songs on this album (others of hers, too) allude to domestic violence, even as she serenely sings and elegantly plays her guitar. The song Marlene On the Wall, more than any other song on that album, reminds me of that time, of that place, and of that young woman. 

An old black and white poster, it may have been that one that every female college student had at that time, "Kiss by the Hôtel De Ville" by Robert Doisneau, the one Campbell Scott shows us in Singles (if you know, you know) but in the song it is Marlene Dietrich, witnessing the uneducated fumblings of a couple who are soon to come apart, a poster blu-tacked to the painted cement, a romantic image that attempts to add warmth and style to a utilitarian domicile with cold walls and a cool floor.

Other evidence has shown that

You and I are still alone

We skirt around the danger zone

And don't talk about it later

Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega (1985)

Cracking

Marlene On the Wall

Small Blue Thing

Straight Lines

Undertow

The Queen & The Soldier

Knight Moves

Neighborhood Girls 

But the only one here now is me

I'm fighting things I cannot see

I think it's called my destiny

That I am changing

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Got my kit on this morning, stepped outside and it was raining. I'm not in training, there is no reason to deal with that. Not cold, not wet. Time to transition to the rec center.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Running on the fumes that I gaslit.

Interesting fan art (right) which forgets that Runner 5 is a runner. Even if we are in the zombie apocalypse, and Under Armour is no longer a thing, those jeans would still be cut-offs. 

Siege 0121

Distance: 3.2 miles

Duration: 29:36
Pace: 9:14

Big day in the streets yesterday. The problem is that, for the people we need to reach, reality exists on the screen. And yet, we march. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: light rain & mist 
Mood: maintaining

Following several nights of sleep interrupted by a rangy old cat, I have been unmolested in bed the past two nights and I have slept, big sleeps. Ten, eleven hour sleeps.

It has been an anxiety inducing month. I am grateful for this moment of rest.

Stretches: not enough
Water: not enough
Weight: 164 lbs.

Okay, that’s weird.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Rushed it, hope I don't regret it. No idea how hard it would rain, put on the jacket (too warm) and took it easy. Feel good. Slight head pain now, where did that come from?

Fall '25 Workout

Cha-Cha - Sophie Hunter

Vogue - Noizu

No Broke Boys - Disco Lines ft. Tinashe

Cops & Robbers - Sammy Virji ft. Skepta

Diamonds On My Mind - Eli Brown

Gimme That Bounce - Mau P

Counting (Sammy Virji Remix) - Hamdi

Modelizer - The Dare

Abracadabra - Lady Gaga

Thank you, Ms. Sun. That playlist is a banger.

I hear you're mad about Brubeck.

Will you be there?

The mornings start later, the mornings get cooler. It is supposed to be a beautiful, warm day tomorrow, and then the rains come.

Running out of doors, feeling the air, watching the leaves turn. Giving the geese a wide berth. It's a lovely park.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:28
Pace: 9:11

Most days I had to start thinking about my writing task from the moment I got up ... so I felt obliged to take with me into the park whatever music I was writing about. As I ran, finding an alertness parallel to whatever I was listening to, I would form an idea of a way to start an essay or description of a sound as I felt it through moving limbs and whizzing atmosphere, sometimes an idea so crazy I had to dare myself to type it out.
-  by Ben Ratliff, "Run the Song"

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 42°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: better

Sophisti-pop 80s Workout Playlist

Tinseltown In the Rain - Blue Nile

New Frontier - Donald Fagen

These Early Days - Everything But the Girl

Appetite - Prefab Sprout

The Love Parade - Dream Academy

Mermaids - Andy Pawlak

If You Don't Love Me - Prefab Sprout

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Wore shorts, but with a hoodie. That was ideal. A lovely fall day, cool but not windy. The air, the sky, the pavement, the trees. Deer in yards.

The Sophisti-pop thing ... we didn't call it that in the 1980s, the term came later. But we were in it, wearing ties and blazers, saddle shoes and concerned about our hair (I could never do anything with my hair, anyway, no loss) smoking cigarettes and sniffing glue.

Then, nearly ten years after, Toni and I were courting and we were lost and I was married to someone else, and she showed me Washington Heights and she showed me her room and we listened to vinyl records from our teen years and fantasized about an adolescence together we never had.

And then and then, some six or eight years ago, I discovered the Blue Nile. How could I have never heard of the Blue Nile? And it took me back to 1994 and to 1986, and I got all confused. And I was happy in my confusion. 

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Standing with our feet on the ground.

Temperatures and precipitation remain pleasant. Every day we can go before having to seek refuge at the recreation center is a good day.

Blogger is trying to do stupid things to blogs now. An "AI" assistant will automatically at "google search links" to your post. Apparently this means making each word in your post searchable. 

What? Why? With a click I can now do a Google search of the words Distance, Duration, Pace, Route ... but why the fuck is that in any way useful?

The manners in which they are trying to incorporate AI into our lives aren't just pointless, they're dull.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:16
Pace: 9:07

Good evening at the Dark Room last night. Had a piece read, a comic vignette. Seemed to go over.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 55°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Sophisti-Pop Workout Playlist

Me Ship Came In! - Style Council

Walk Out to Winter - Aztec Camera

Pale Shelter (2nd Single Version) - Tears for Fears

Thinking of You - The Colourfield

Imagination - Belouis Some

The King of Wishful Thinking - Go West

Blow the House Down - Living in a Box

Love Resurrection - Alison Moyet

What can I say? It's a mood. A fall mood.

Tears run rings around my eyes

There are, like, ten people who regularly follow this blog. Or maybe, just ten people randomly access blog posts the moment they drop. I get ten or twelve hits, and then it just sits there.

Which is fine. People don't need to see this, unless they are also weird about running or need ideas for workout playlists.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:17
Pace: 9:07

Though music has no tangible form, it has a physical form, and can enter a body. Moving with it -- running with it, as I run round my neighborhood -- can make it a memento or marker for a present and a past experience. Running with it can also reveal music as a disposition, as a philosophy, or as an open system, even if you don't own the music as a physical document.
-  by Ben Ratliff, "Run the Song"

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 51°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: better

A bit chilly. Wore the jacket.

Reading about the way others run is akin to learning how others have sex. It's shocking. Really? You do it like that? In the case of Ben Ratliff (this is in regards to running) I was shocked to read that he stretches for fifteen minutes before running, and that he runs every day, and that he runs between four and twelve miles. Every day.

And he is Mr. Ratliff significantly younger than I am? Or in some bizarre way, older? Why no, he was born in 1968, and so was I. Jesus.

I wonder how he fucks.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

We don't "noom" as responsibly anymore, these things happen. I keep track of meals early in the day, which gives me a better idea of how to manage the rest of my day, so I don' need to record that. My weight, which was constant, has these little jumps which I clock and behave accordingly. I just want to maintain. This is not obsessive. No, really. It's not. It's not obsessive.

Sophisti-Pop 80s Workout Playlist

Shattered Dreams (12" Extended Mix) - Johnny Hates Jazz

Tears Run Rings - Marc Almond

True - Spandau Ballet

Mirror Man - Human League

Every Day I Wrote the Book - Elvis Costello & the Attractions

When It Started to Begin - Nick Heyward

I Confess - The Beat

This playlist is currently nine and a half hours long.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Do you read this blog regularly? Leave a comment.

Your heart is racing.

Fall continues. This should be the breathing space, but it's not. There are responsibilities. There are also post-responsibility drinks, and that part is nice.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:19
Pace: 8:48

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: bright & cool
Mood: better

Listen In 0120
Stretches: yes
Water: not really
Weight: 161 lbs.

Six episodes this season. The beginning appeared to lead somewhere but then they got a bit silly. We're back into some kind of ongoing narrative, but it doesn't matter. I like the voices. Breaks up the run.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA
Sit-Ups: TBA

This episode, however, was surprisingly relevant, dealing as it does with those people who believe they can do your job better than you do and talk behind your back to recent recruits about what you're doing wrong. We've all been though that, haven't we?

Fall '25 Workout

TGIF - GloRilla

I Know You'd Kill (The Blessed Madonna's Godsquad Mix) - Joy Crookes

Feeling Good (Austin Millz Remix) - Nina Simone 

Sex  - The Dare

The Beast - Lady Gaga

Different - Lady Can't Swim

I Can't Escape Myself - The Dare

Heaven Scent - Soulwax ft. Chloe Sevigny

This playlist keep giving.

The sweet, sweet songs that cloud your eyes.

Now reading:
Run the Song
(Writing about Running about Listening)
by Ben Ratliff

Monday was a very unhappy day, following a seriously anxiety ridden weekend. I cannot tell you how many ways I fucked it over the past several days, it has been difficult, difficult, difficult.

Monday night I had something like a nightmare, but not a scary one. A very, very sad one. I was in love with a very special person, and they did not love me. We talked, we flirted, we understood each other. I wasn't so fond of her at first but she was for me, but as our relationship grew I was just her very special person, but it was not to be. I woke many times that night and each time, no matter what else I had been dreaming of, I felt the heartbreak.

If I could put that into writing, I would have a very successful play, but maybe I've already written it and it didn't work. That's another kind of heartbreak.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:18
Pace: 9:07

Sophisti-pop Workout Playlist

Slave to Love - Bryan Ferry

World Machine - Level 42

My Ever Changing Moods - Style Council

Kiss and Tell - Bryan Ferry

Cue Fanfare - Prefab Sprout

Temptation (Extended Mix) - Heaven 17

Up the Junction - Squeeze

This playlist is a work-in-progress.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: very anxious

God damn, what a day. Didn't sleep well Monday night, slept worse last night. Things keep not getting better. Family is good, health is good, friends are good. I need to be writing, then at least I could say, at least I'm writing.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 162 lbs.

Good run, though. Beautiful weather. The leaves are turning. Reminds me of falling in love, all the times I fell in love ... and out again.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

My friends run the game.

Sick poster. Zombies, Run has been around since 2012, and there are hundreds of episodes. I usually do around four or five each spooky season, so I will probably never run out so long as they app doesn't disappear.

This is my fifth run for the year, fifth run for Runner Number Five. If I do another mission, that will be some kind of record. I think I may. 

An Unimportant Mission 0119

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:37
Pace: 9:13

Today we have completed as many runs as in all of 2013, and that was a good running year.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: anxious

Fall '25 Workout

RATATA - Skrillex ft. Missy Elliott & Mr. Oizoi

Power - Ye

DJ Turn It Up - Yellow Claw

All the Way Up (Remix) - Fat Joe ft. Remy Ma, Jay-Z, French Montana & Infrared

Brand New Bitch - Cobrah

it boy - bbno$

Chroma 001 Helium - Bicep

Bon Bon - Fcukers

Stretches: Yes
Water: Yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

How are we at the start of this massive week? Well-rested, I am glad to say. I received vaccinations for both the flu and Covid (so fuck you, RFKJ) and while I was feeling it last night, I took a Benadryl and got nine hours of sleep and today I feel great. Except for, you know, the anxiety. 

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Well, I'm dressed up so nice and I'm doing my best.

On the most recent installment of the Dear Hank and John podcast, John Green recounts an episode in which he was at a party and his friend said he'd like to leave in ten minutes or so and John announced, I will have one last beer, then.

His friend said to him, "No one has ever regretted not having that last beer." So John did not grab another beer, and he did not regret that decision. Sometimes, I am entirely in tune with that vibe. In fact, I had already though something like that last Monday at a company function. I had had one beer, I thought of having another but instead grabbed a seltzer. I do not regret that decision.

Now, if I can only make it through a long evening at home savoring one drink instead of having two, just because I can, I would really be onto something.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:39
Pace: 9:34

Big weekend. Lots of different places to be. Hope to make them all.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 83°
Climate: sunny & hot
Mood: very anxious

Hot, midday run. I will miss these days and they will be gone soon. Kink in my right knee, just walking hurts today. Feeling the age. Also, attending an induction ceremony for my high school, I felt at once very old and also that I hadn't gained any self-confience at all since 1984.

High School Run (1982-1985)

Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer

Cruel Summer - Bananarama

What a Day That Was (Live) - Talking Heads

I Ran (So Far Away) - Flock of Seagulls

Flashdance ... What a Feeling - Irene Cara

Conga! - Miami Sound Machine

Back of Love - Echo & the Bunnymen

Couldn't Stand the Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughn

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Our bodies displayed through the dance.

Fourteen runs in September, best since June. Time was, I would get into these bursts where I'd run every day, like I was in training or something, and it would get to me. That was doing all this running -- every single day -- but not for any reason. Just to rack up runs.

Running every other day just feels normal. A day off feels good, but so does running again, after a day's rest. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:01
Pace: 9:02

DID YOU KNOW ..? Infatuation is an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.

Life In a Spanish Disco
Let the Music Play (Remix) - Shannon

Blue Light - David Gilmour

Infatuation - Rod Stewart

To France - Mike Oldfield

Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

Relax (New York Mix) - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

One of my Lugo compatriots just recently posted photos from a return trip, forty-one years later. They mentioned the playlist, I am glad to put this together, back in 2009 (it was a twenty-fifth anniversary inspiration) because I'm not sure I would remember them all now.

I always wondered if we would have a reunion but I don't believe that is in the stars. Goodness, we were all so very very young then. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 57° 
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: good

Stretches: yes 
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

Moves? I make them.

The vast majority of Zombies, Run fan art features a female presenting Runner 5. I am entirely okay with this.

Eavesdropping 0118

Distance: 3.2 miles
Duration: 29:21
Pace: 9:02

No, I can't seem to run every other day. This won't always be the case, but I have been busy, busy, busy.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 76°
Climate: clear & warm
Mood: angsty

I seem to be gaining weight. Either that, or I have been standing on the scale wrong and if that's the case, I just need to be wiser with my diet.

I didn't think it was an out-of-control weekend. In fact, I skipped lunch on Saturday, without even intending to. As we head into sugar season, I must be mindful.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 164 lbs.

My right knee had been in pain for over a week, even waking me up at night, but that has subsided.

Now my left knee hurts. What the actual.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Upbeat Mix

360 - Charlie XCX

Now That We Found Love - Heavy D & the Boyz

Block Rockin' Beats - Chemical Bros.

DARE - Gorillaz ft. Shaun Ryder & Roses Gabor

One Girl/One Boy - !!!

Whip It - Devo

Alright - Janet Jackson

The lengths that I will go to.

*attacked*

Okay. Yesterday, I came home from work and worked. I got up this morning (see below) and continued that work. Then I went to work. It's Saturday.

I was going to go out of town for a day and a half, but I'm no longer doing that. I'm owed a couple days off, but the timing is all wrong. Because I have to work.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:55
Pace: 9:00

My right knee has been giving me some serious shit. It's even been keeping me up in the middle of the night. A lot of ibuprofen. I have been waking at 4:00 AM the last couple of days just to take more pain reliever.

Maybe I should take a break from running, but

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 75°
Climate: clear & warm
Mood: all right

Rock Mix

Take Another - Filter

Losing My Religion -R.E.M.

Jumping Jack Flash - Rolling Stones

Hungry For You - The Police

Let the Day Begin - The Call

American Music - Violent Femmes

Terrible Lie - Nine Inch Nails

Come As You Are - Nirvana

Gen X, right?

Stretches: yes 
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

People of the world unite.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:40
Pace: 8:54

Pop Playlist

Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
Hella Good - No Doubt
I Feel Love - Sam Smith
Who Do You Think You Are - Spice Girls
This Love - Maroon 5
Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - Ylvis
Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

It's been a week. Great run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop 
Temperature: 69°
Climate: clear & lovely
Mood: good

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Gotta strut like a front suspension.

The beginning of a long week. Rising at five am isn't the problem, going to sleep at nine pm is. 

Last night, Brian took me to see Emo Philips, who was hilarious. I tried describing him to one of my Gen Z colleagues and it wasn't easy. Gaunt, bug-eyed, non-sequitur humor with a Prince Valiant haircut ... and now he's old! 

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:26
Pace: 9:10

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 69°
Climate: misty and damp
Mood: good

160 - 169 BPM Playlist

Little Girl Gone (Workout Remix) - Chinchilla

It's Indian Tobacco My Friend - Cornershop

Greatest - Eminem

Take It Or Leave It - The Strokes

Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals

Young Americans - David Bowie

I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones

Concrete Jungle - The Specials

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Got a stitch while running through the wood. That's not normal but it's the second time that has happened to me in the past week. I'm so used to never getting cramps, but at least I can run through them.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: yes

Me? I flew.

I used to be like, no zombies. The very idea of zombies freaked me out. 

Vampires are people who attack people, drinking their blood is weird but it's not horrifying, no more than just being attacked and murdered. And you can talk to a vampire like a person. They are practically human.

Ghosts are freaky, I guess, because they mess with your head, what you see, what you hear. And the idea of a ghost, a spirit that lives after the death of the body, that's something I think about, it's interesting.

A zombie is the opposite of a ghost, right? All body, no spirit. No identity, no sense. Just a rotting corpse wandering around with no purpose, just the memory of being and a deep, unending hunger. Not crazy about that. Don't really want to think about it.

Except, now, for the metaphor. That society has broken down, due to a virus, a plague, God forbid, fungus. Our kid has us all watching The Last of Us together. It's not really about "the infected" is it? It's about the last of us, and we have been infected with something else.

There is no utopian future. All the good things science fiction promised us will never happen. It is all about disintegration, and what we do to each other as it happens.

So, anyway, that's why the Zombies, Run app. I'm into zombies now, because I think I am one. 

Information Exchange 0117

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 28:46
Pace: 8:51

Missed a day, could not be helped. Next week, we need to be out of the house by 6:00 AM. Can I get fifteen runs in September?

Fall '25 Workout

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Tesla - Mau P

Is Everybody Having Fun? - John Summit ft. Gorgon City & rhys from the sticks

Tambourine - The Dare

Stop Playing With Me - Tyler, The Creator

dashstar* - VIP - Knock2

Notorious - Malaa

Bangarang - Skrillex ft. Sirah

So Pretty - Reyanna Maria

Kyoto - Skrillex ft. Sirah

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 73°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes -- not enough, though 
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

I have been this weight, more or less, since February. I often gain weight during the September rehearsal period. Consistency. Mindfulness. I'm never hungry. Often, I am bored. 

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Update (later that same day): For the first time, one of my posts has been flagged for sensitive content warning: "This post was put behind a warning for readers because it contains sensitive content as outlined in Blogger’s Community Guidelines." I have not edited the original post. Can you figure out what the content advisory regards? Because I am flummoxed.

Update 9/21/2025: No longer flagged, no explanation. Weird.

Rolling in Andromeda.

More B-52's! More songs about space age fantasy and hot bods at the beach!

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 36:55
Pace: 9:13

The B-52's - The B-52's (1979)

Planet Claire

52 Girls

Dance This Mess Around

Rock Lobster

Lava

There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon) *

Hero Workshop

6060-842 *

Downtown

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 72°
Climate: clear & warm
Mood: all right

Bit of a surprise, my cholesterol is not high, it is merely elevated and not only that it is borderline elevated. The doctor does not suggest medication, but improved diet and to continue exercising. That last is easy, the former is more challenging. But not impossible.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Sweat. Work it.

Blood draw this morning. If my cholesterol remains elevated, I may begin medication. I have tried to eat better -- and I certainly have -- but it may simply be a matter of genetics.

Scouting Mission 0116

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:57
Pace: 9:20

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 58°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: anxious

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs. (-0-)

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

Fall '25 Workout

Work It (Soulwax Remix) - Marie Davidson

Little Girl Gone (160 BPM) - Chinchilla

Don't Touch That Dial (Make a Dance Remix) - Django Django ft. Yuuko Sings

Wild for the Night - A$AP Rocky ft. Skrillex & Birdy Nam Nam

Dis Badman - Sammy Virji ft. Champion & IRAH

Girls - The Dare

The New Workout Plan - Kanye West

Shining in the Dark - Parallelle ft. Fulltone & Barbara Lau

Follow your bliss.

We were Seniors once, and young. Last fall we visited Good Stuff, the mediocre follow-up to the career reviving album Cosmic Thing by The B-52's. Not every band gets such a powerful second act, and one that was arguably, thanks to the corporate awareness of college music.

When I hear the song "Deadbeat Club" I was always remember my best friend, singing along with this big, beatific smile on his face. He loved singing to the girls' parts.

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 37:38
Pace: 9:24

Cosmic Thing - The B-52's (1989)

Cosmic Thing

Dry County

Deadbeat Club

Love Shack

Junebug

Channel Z

Topaz

Follow Your Bliss

Never crazy about the song "Roam." I know it was a big hit, it kind of gets on my nerves. I think it's because it sounds like a very ordinary pop song, the least B-52's thing they ever recorded.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 56°
Climate: ideal
Mood: all right

The band composed some amazing instrumentals. The album closer is so atmospheric, evocative, makes me feel youthful. Were we ever so youthful?

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs.

God bless Nile Rodgers.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Bright every day I wake up.

Run group steps up after attack on woman at Rocky River Reservation (News 5 Cleveland)
By Nadeen Abusada, 9/9/2025

A young woman has come forward with her story, last weekend she was attacked while training for her first marathon. She was seventeen miles into a twenty mile run when she was assaulted.

Here are some basic rules about running with safety:

• Go with a friend or group
• Run during daylight hours and in popular areas
• Share your live location

I run in daylight hours for my own safety, and our park is fairly well traveled. And my live location is always available to my family. However, running with a friend or a group, while ensuring much better safety, is unfortunately much more necessary for women than for men.

And I hate that. Women should be free to run, and to run alone, anywhere, at any time.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 29:00
Pace: 9:20

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 56°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: anxious

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

Old School Playlist

Freedom of Speak (We Got Three Minutes) - De La Soul

Funky Cold Medina - Tone-Loc

Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children - Queen Latifah ft. De La Soul

Open Up Your Door - from "Standing at the Sky's Edge"

Aaron Burr, Sir - from "Hamilton"

Kiss You Back - Digital Underground

En Focus - De La Soul ft. Shortie No Mass & Dres

Hey Ladies - Beastie Boys

Run for cover, motherfucker.

It's spooky season! It's been three years since I started this journey, and I'm only fifteen episodes in (and there's a question as to how long this app will remain available) but though I enjoy them, I only like them when the leaves are changing and the world looks a little more like it's dying.

Virtuous Circle 0115

Distance: 3.2 miles
Duration: 29:29
Pace: 9:13

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 50°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: good

Trying strangers' playlists now, the algorithm offers me what it knows I like -- songs that are already on my playlists. Not other tracks by the same artist, the exact same songs. Some new playlists are really cool ... like this one!

Fall '25 Workout

Don't Stop - Prospa

Baddadan - Chase & Status ft. IRAH, Flowdan, Trigga & Takura

Krack - Soulwax

CVNT - Sophie Hunter

Victory Lap Five  - Fred Again et al

Obsessed - Sophie Powers ft. Ashley Sienna

Backbone - Chase & Status ft. Stormzy

Mannequin Love (The Dare Remix) - Justice ft. The Dare & The Flints

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

With one foot in the past.

"Bardo Pieta"
Joost Witte

Slept until nearly 10 am on Saturday, a surprising development. It was an exhausting week, I guess. I had not taken any manner of sleep aid on Friday evening (one beer at the movie theater, just one, even though the event was three hours long) but the deal with my car Thursday evening was surprisingly depleting and I had gotten up early to run Friday morning. It was a great day, altogether, and yet I slept something like eleven hours.

I have activated a Libby account, in a quest to expand my audio consumption. I have been listening to an awful lot of enjoyable but, in the long run, meaningless podcasts, for years. And as I thought of what to download first, I was reminded that I have often thought of the book Lincoln in the Bardo, like, I think of it a lot. I was even thinking of rereading it, it's been a long time since I have read something a second time.

To my surprise and delight, the audiobook is read by over one hundred different voices (Nick Offerman and David Sedaris being the main two voices, which is in itself uniquely fantastic) putting me in mind of one of my very favorite stories from This American Life, "The Unknown Soldier" by Lucy Sante.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:54
Pace: 9:19

Back to School Playlist

Adult Education - Hall & Oates

I Don't Understand Anything - Everything But the Girl

True - Spandau Ballet

Happiness In Slavery - Nin Inch Nails

Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears

Take On Me - a-ha

Making a playlist of songs that remind me of fall, that were released in the fall, were popular in the fall, have a fall vibe. At the moment, it's not moody enough. Suggestions?

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & gorgeous
Mood: good!

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes