Once more, with the cold and the rain. Now that the playlists are through, I have less impetus to get out into shitty weather. But I do need to continue the exercises. The weight work has helped my injured shoulder considerably.
Sometimes I feel old and weak. And sometimes I really don't.
Alternate 2023 Playlist
Exhausting Lover - Ben Folds
Eyez - The Arcs
Daily News - Bartees Strange (160 bpm)
Welcome to My Island - Caroline Polachek
$20 - boygenius
Worth Nothing - Twisted ft. Oliver Tree
Nothing Left to Lose - Everything But the Girl
Hello to the Weekend - Maria Isa
Pontius Pilate's Home Movies - New Pornographers
Yup. There have been songs released so far this year, and I am aware of them.
2023 Playlist - or - "Fuse" by Everything But the Girl
Nothing Left to Lose
Run a Red Light (164 bpm)
Caution to the Wind
When You Mess Up
Time and Time Again
No One Knows We're Dancing
Lost
Forever
Interior Space
Karaoke (160 bpm)
Hilarious. I did 1968 twice. No idea how that happened.
And none of you told me.
What is 2023? Our youngest child will graduate from high school. I achieve a Masters degree. The eldest spent a semester in Costa Rica. My wife is the happiest she has ever been, working in a bookstore. What will the rest of the year bring? No idea. Being hopeful is tinged with fear, knowing it can all come so swiftly to a screeching halt. We will do our best to look forward.
Since the pandemic, I have been developing sties with disheartening regularity. My left lid has been red and swollen for two weeks. It even healed for a bit and then regained strength. This had never been a problem for me before and now it's part of my existence. Sigh.
I begin with anxiety. There are many reasons for this. Because it's later than I hoped to get out. Because it is raining a little, and I hope it will not rain more. Because of writing. Because of not writing. Because of professional uncertainty, that's vague enough. And because I am about to listen to the entirety of a new album from an act I love who have not recorded new music since I was thirty years old and I hope it goes well.
The entire album is only thirty-five minutes long. Perfect for a run through the park.
Fuse (2023)
"I lost my mother / then I just lost it."
fuse fuze / (fjuːz) / n. device by which an explosive charge is ignited v. to become united
Oh, Tracey and Ben. I have missed you very much.
Distance: 3.8 miles
Duration: 35:34
Pace: 9:20
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 54°
Climate: light rain
Pavement: wet
Mood: much better
Stretches: yes
Abdominals:
Upper body: 10 reps.
Water: yes
Breakfast: coffee w/cream, Haribo Starmix (well?)
Coffee Break: latte w/oatmilk
Lunch: nigiri & roll sushi, salad
Treat: more Starmix, banana, Twizzlers (Jesus)
Dinner: lemon chicken, bok choy over rice, scallion pancake
Oh my God, this woman handed me a dozen fun size Twizzlers and I ate them. I have had so much sugar today. Total backslide. Damn.
Man. Looking over from when I started this blog. I had plantar warts. Those plagued me for the better part of five years. That was horrible. Thought those would last forever.
Then shin splints. I was told those would also never go away. But they do. The body has a tremendous capacity for change, for healing.
No, two drinks last night was not necessary. Not advisable.
Distance: 1 mile
Pace: 9:08
Route: one time round the block
Temperature: 45°
Climate: sunny & cool
Mood: good
1973 Playlist
Can the Can - Suzi Quatro
You're So Vain - Carly Simon
I think I figured it out, why I choose lists from the early 70s or late 60s for short runs. The music is excellent, to be sure. But they do not inspire nostalgia, I have no memories associated with them. So they are just music, and not memory.
Spotify not being helpful with my this morning, so I found a "1973 Number Ones" mix on YouTube, and found two new songs to add to my lists ("You're So Vain" was released in 1972).
What will be on my final playlist of this cycle, the one for the year 2023?
Matthias & Pengo So 80s. Totally New Wave. Totally.
My left knee hurts most of the time. I have a bandage on that. My shins feel better. Got decent sleep last night. That's all it takes man. eight hours, it makes all the difference. If I could just keep that up for the rest of my life, I'm good.
Lots of stuff going on, in my head. Writing I am struggling with
Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 37:04
Pace: 9:16
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 42°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool
Mood: good
1983 Playlist
Nur geträumt - Nena
Der Kommissar - Falco
I Love You - Yello
Mr. Pink Eyes - The Cure
Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes (a Trevor Horn side project)
Big Log - Robert Plant
Beat Box - The Art of Noise (another Trevor Horn side project)
Tell Her About It - Billy Joel
Buffalo Gals - Malcolm McLaren
Church of the Poison Mind - Culture Club
My playlists for the years 1983 and 1984 are far and away the longest, with nearly nineteen hours of music on both lists. Why are these two years so important to me? Because I was fifteen, sixteen years old? Because upbeat dance music was particularly popular, there was more of it?
Maybe it was Trevor Horn.
What was 1983? MTV and compulsive masturbation. Started smoking weed. AFS dance party on our driveway. Serious FOMO. There were Germans in our house, the Cold War was in high dudgeon. Europe never felt so close.
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: no
Upper body: no
Water: yes
Breakfast: coffee w/cream
Coffee Break: lavender bergamot tea latte
Lunch: Monday's pizza (1 slice), salad, blue cheese dressing
This morning I felt weak and sore. We are no longer getting the rest. We have been getting no longer eight hours, merely seven, or fewer.
But I still do not drink on week nights, Abe o am not snacking. It is amazing how I can gain weight without sneaking cookies, soda, or chips. And yet, no cookies, soda or chips.
Man. Remember smoking? What was up with that?
Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 39:41
Pace: 9:55
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 43°
Climate: sunny & cool
Mood: good
1993 Playlist
Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus & Pliers
Shape of My Heart - Sting
Cannonball - The Breeders
All That She Wants - Ace of Base
Ripcord - Radiohead
Boom! Shake the Room - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
Killer/Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (Live) - George Michael
Nuthin' But a "G" Thang - Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
Helpline Operator - The The
Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
Gepetto - Belly
What was 1993? Peak Guerrilla. The Taming of the Shrew.Operation Rescue Invasion. Womad. Mania. I wrote a lot. We were writing a lot.
Some day's off are well earned. Achy on Saturday. It was a big week. Wore a shin brace all day on Saturday, been wearing the knee brace on and off all week.
Sunday
Breakfast: coffee w/cream
Lunch: leftover Chinese
Treat: two chocolate chip cookies, oatmilk
Tea Time: tea w/cream & honey, dark chocolate Oreos
Dinner: Cilantro barbacoa burrito, fizzy lemon water
Baseline: 195 lbs.
Current: 181.5 lbs. (+2.0)
Goal: 175 lbs.
Put simply, fast food is high in calories. Cook more.
Yes, indeed. I prefer to wake up refreshed, and not zonked. Last night was foolish. Fun, but foolish. You made too much progress to backslide so ridiculously.
Morning detox run. Settle that stomach. Drink that water.
Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 31:25
Pace: 9:40
Route: Boulevard Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: good
On the 3's. We are in the homestretch. Big plans for the 2023 playlist.
2013 Playlist
Dangerous - Big Data
Lose Yourself to Dance - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams
Chocolate - The 1975
Some Nights - fun.
Can't Hold Us - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton
Y.A.L.A. - M.I.A.
1x1x1 - Cloud Cult
What was 2013? Double Heart, the tour and the Fringe. Also, These Are the Times and Adventures In Slumberland. It was all coming together! Right?
Fair-weather runners are running! All over Cleveland Heights!
Distance: 2 miles
Duration: 20:48
Pace: 10:25
Route: Up the street and back
Temperature: 69°
Climate: dark
Mood: high
So? OK. I tried an experiment. It was awkward. Do not. Smoke weed. And go out for a run. First of all, cottonmouth is a thing. I thought it was just some old trope, a joke, but I am here to tell you it’s real, And by the end of the run, I could not swallow. Second, you have no control over your limbs. I have no idea how goofy I looked, I was probably hopping or something. You cannot control how you lift your knees, it’s pure muscle memory, and good luck to you. Finally, no matter how short you plan your run it will absolutely take 10 times longer than you expect
1974 Playlist
Hit Or Miss - Bo Diddley
It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)- The Rolling Stones
The morning is forty degrees. Dinner time is sixty degrees. I hate waiting all day before taking that run.
Distance: 4.0 miles
Duration: 38:14
Pace: 9:33
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 55°
Climate: sunny & beautiful
Mood: good
1984 Playlist
Adult Education - Hall & Oates
Whisper To a Scream (Birds Fly) (European Version) - The Icicle Works
Love In a Dangerous Time - Bruce Cockburn
Hyperactive! - Thomas Dolby
What Difference Does it Make? * - The Smiths
When Doves Cry - Prince & the Revolution
It's Yours - T La Rock
Welcome to the Pleasuredome (Pleasurefix Mix) - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
What was 1984? I learned what cheating felt like. How cruel American kids can be. What it feels like to be really fucking high. To be chronically infatuated. To care about my appearance. 1984; It was never more 80s.
Christ, I am sick of cold weather. I'm just done. I need a gym membership or something, because I am not going out in the bleak and damp anymore.
Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 31:01
Pace: 10:01
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 43°
Climate: overcast & cool
Pavement: dry
Mood: good -- now
And yet. Feeling listless, adrift and sore. we head out into the cold. Tomorrow is more promising.
1994 Playlist
I Don't Understand Anything - Everything But the Girl
Supernova - Liz Phair
Stay (I Missed You) - Lisa Loeb
Prayer for the Dying - Seal
B-Boya Makin' With the Freak Freak - Beastie Boys
My Name Is Jonas - Weezer
Welcome to Paradise - Green Day
Here Come the Hotstepper - Ini Kamoze
And for our efforts, we are rewarded. I feel energized, the rest of the day looks bright, in spite of the clouds. Seriously, I take a day in between to rest and it feels to me as though it's been a week. Keep it up, even when the year runs are over, and you might make something of yourself.
What was 1994? Like the man said (though he wouldn't say it for a few years), "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Guerrilla fell apart. My marriage fell apart. The most significant relationship in my life took a new direction. And here we are.
Big weekend. State Thespian Festival. Backstage Bash. Going to rain later, time to run now. Beautiful fucking hot gorgeous day.
Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 38:35
Pace: 9:39
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 78°
Climate: overcast & hot
Mood: good, you know?
Push it out on a warm and breezy Sunday afternoon before the rain. Good playlist, too.
2004 Playlist
Just a Ride - Jem
(Reach Up For The) Sunrise - Duran Duran
This Fire - Franz Ferdinand
Holiday - Green Day
Grown So Ugly - The Black Keys
Golden Touch - Razorlight
Ooh La La - Ditty Bops
Breathe Me - Sia
Walk Away - Kelly Clarkson
Destroy Rock & Roll - Mylo
Whatsername - Green Day
What was 2004? First iPod, which started this entire endeavor. Seriously, without modern audio technology, I would not be a runner. I always ran, but I never ran consistently until this year. Also? New York International Fringe Festival, and the end of Bad Epitaph.
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec. (2x)
Upper body: reps
Water: yes
Saturday
Breakfast: coffee w/cream, doughnut
Lunch: Caesar wrap, Doritos, cookie
Dinner: tater tots, chicken strip, GLBC Burning River (2x)
Long day, teaching improvisation at a school and hour's drive away. Coming home at 3:00 PM, seventy degree heat, literally almost fell asleep once or twice. Not good. I should have pulled over for a beverage. This is a lesson.
Distance: 2.5 miles
Duration: 24:51
Pace: 9:56
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 73°
Climate: sunny & hot
Mood: good
Snuck in a short run before heading over to a friend's to see them on Jeopardy. I thought, maybe tomorrow? But there's no way I have time for a run tomorrow. I also need to make sure I don't fall asleep at the wheel.
2014 Playlist
After the Disco - Broken Bells
She's Not Me - Jenny Lewis
Figure It Out - Royal Blood
Animals - Martin Garrix
Timber - Pitbull ft. Ke$ha
Fever - The Black Keys
I'm Not the Only One - Sam Smith
What was 2014? Not great. The year of no plays (there was Seven Ages.) Doing a great deal of research for The Great Globe Itself. Felt as though I blew every opportunity to be a good parent. Like, I there was not one thing I couldn't fuck up.
Man, I was ravenous yesterday. Late breakfast, early lunch. Still, maintenance. It has been a challenging week, and it will only get more so. Personal disappointments, professional opportunities.
I'm going to take a basic run, just to keep moving. The weather is good, and the weekend might not afford its usual time.
Distance: 2.5 miles
Duration: 24:47
Pace: 9:55
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: very nice
I may need physical therapy on my right shoulder. While recuperating from my eye surgery, I had to sleep on my right side entirely for, I don't know. A couple weeks? As a result, my shoulder is always sore and it isn't getting better. Reaching up has become an issue, and that is not good. I have been doing upper body exercises in the hope of strengthening my arms, but that is always a challenge for me.
1975 Playlist
I Got The ... - Labi Siffre
Low Rider - War
Rock Creek Park - The Blackbyrds
Over My Head - Fleetwood Mac
Love Will Keep Us Togerther - Captain & Tenille
Jive Talkin' - Bee Bees
Love To Love You Baby - Donna Summer
First three songs were sampled by (in order) Eminem, Beastie Boys & De La Soul.
Phone strap already falling apart. Not even one year. Everything is crap.
The guy woke up too early this morning, not remembering it's a late start. So why not run? He only wanted to do one mile, which turned out great for me, because he got my heart racing with a fast lap around the block, and then I went to the park for an extended run. Five miles! Just as well, because 1985 is one of my very longest playlists.
Distance: 5 miles
Duration: 47:34
Pace: 9:30
Route: one time around the block + extended Forest Hill loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: perfect
Mood: excellent
1985 Playlist
One Vision - Queen
When All's Well - Everything But the Girl
Silent Running - Mike + the Mechanics
Broken Wings - Mister Mister
Another Generation - Fishbone
Raspberry Beret - Prince
Forever Man - Eric Clapton
Tarzan Boy - Baltimora
Sinking - The Cure
How to Be a Millionaire - ABC
Fire in the Twilight* - Wang Chung
Last year I didn't finish the year runs until Father's Day. I'm already seeing the conclusion. At that time, I had also dropped to 179 lbs., but then I almost lost sight in one eye, had a period of recuperation, and soon gained it all back.
I am trying to maintain the mildness of March. Did not drink a lot in Athens, not comparatively. Nothing last night, no drinking school nights. Keep going.
What was 1985? I thought I would be an actor. Damn Yankees. Directing Living Together. All Thespians, all the time. And marching band. And fooling around, a lot. And really, really depressed. And having the time of my life. It's pretty amazing, being seventeen.
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Upper body: 5 rep.
Water: yes
Really. It's okay not to run every single day. It's all right. Let yourself rest.
Heading out for a morning run, and I was surprised and delighted that the boy wanted to go with, I assumed everyone wanted to sleep in. I make a game of asking him to guess what year we are listening to. It's an anthropological mystery.
Listening to the year 2015 on the drive down, he was jarred by memories. So was I.
Distance: 2.8 miles
Duration: 27:19
Pace: 9:45
Route: South Green Loop
Temperature: 55°
Climate: sunny & nice
Mood: very good
Took a hill, walked for a bit through campus. Nice work.
1995 Playlist
Geek Stink Breath - Green Day
Stutter - Elastica
Roll To Me - Del Amitri
Girl U Want - Devo
Down By The Water - PJ Harvey
Scream - Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson
Hidden Charms - Elvis Costello
Shook Ones, Pt. II - Mobb Deep
Hyperballad - Bjork
Missing (Terry Todd Remix) - Everything But the Girl
What was 1995? Started the year with an empty house, ended it with The Realistic World. Dobama's Night Kitchen, Bummer. Also, Junk Bonds at Cleveland Public Theatre. The new girlfriend moved in, life started again, again. But not for the last time.
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec. (2x)
Upper body: 5 (2x)
Water: yes
Saw AIR last night. Man. Everybody still thinks runners are fucking weird.
Breakfast: coffee w/cream
Lunch: Reuben w/10000 Island, fries & ketchup, more coffee
Drive snacks: Vanilla Coke, Cool Ranch Doritos
Dinner: Mac & cheese, peas
First Doritos since February. And they’re not even Nacho Cheese.
Beautiful run with the kids down the South Green bike path, and then onto the campus, weaving our way through Old South and through a new(ish) park on West Green. I called it the Hammock Park, Zelda says that's what everybody else calls it.
Distance: 2 miles
Duration: 20:31
Pace: 10:07
Route: Emeriti Loop
Temperature: 63°
Climate: gorgeous
Mood: wonderful
2005 Playlist
DARE - Gorillaz
Every Day is Exactly The Same - Nine Inch Nails
Don't Fear the Reaper - Caesars
Marvo Ging- The Chemical Brothers
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Fall Out Boy
What was 2005? Our son was born, he who lived. Broke my foot. Merry Wives of Windsor. Officiated my first wedding.
Full strength on the sidewalks. All I need is above forty temps and SUN.
2015 Playlist
Disappointing - John Grant ft. Tracey Thorn
Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, wth Crescendo) - EL VY
No Cities To Love - Sleater-Kinney
The Less I Know the Better - Tame Impala
Lone Dagger - Caravan Palace
Cake By the Ocean - DNCE
Sugar - Maroon 5
Leave a Trace - CHVRCHES
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
What was 2015? Ran my fastest marathon, and the most enjoyable. Things were happening, I was writing, plays that got produced. The Great Globe Itself, Rosalynde & The Falcon. Performed in White Rabbit Red Rabbit. Saw another person perform I Hate This. And my parents and all of their children and grandchildren watched A Christmas Carol together. That was a good year.
March passed with barely a headache. But now I have sinus pain every day. Wednesday afternoon my face felt worse and worse and I ended up crawling into bed all evening. Long night’s sleep, though.
Distance: 1 miles
Duration: 10:08
Route: one time around the block
Temperature: 47°
Climate: overcast & mild
Pavement: dry
Mood: tired
Also? I have decided I do not like running in forty degree weather anymore. Like, for the duration. But hey, since I started running one milers, I guess I should.
1976 Playlist
Sunny - Boney M.
Afterglow - Genesis
You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees
Man. Illness. Sinus headache hangover. I feel like I'm starting from the beginning -- which I'm not. But today was a one mile slog. Overdressed, but I also didn't want to feel cold. Just a drag. But so glad I went.
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes
Wednesday
Breakfast: coffee w/cream, last night's Caesar salad
Let’s talk about vertigo. It developed some time last year, and then went way. I did the exercises, which I think helped? But it just stopped. It's back, though. Lying down, sitting up, very disorienting.
Distance: 3.75 miles
Duration: 38:11
Pace: 10:10
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 64°
Climate: perfect
Pavement: dry
Mood: very good
For years I might wake up with a sinus headache and think, this is my fault because I had a drink the night before. And yet, I woke this morning feeling that way and I had not. It was from sleeping too warm. Lasted all day, too.
1986 Playlist
Tuff Enuff - The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Crush On You - The Jets
Paranomia - Art of Noise
Into the Groove - Madonna
Coming Up Close - 'Til Tuesday
Dying - XTC
The Boy With the Thorn In His Side - The Smiths
Book of Love - Book of Love
I Walk Away - Crowded House
You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
The 1986 running playlist has almost fourteen hours of music on it.
What was 1986? Graduated from high school, had my first mature relationship (ahem). Started college. Had my heart broken. So it goes, so it goes.
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes
Perfect run. The kind I thirst for a beer after.
Breakfast: coffee w/cream, tuna wrap
Coffee Break: latte w/oatmilk
Lunch: gyoza, variety of sushi rolls
Dinner: spicy pizza (1 slice), Caesar salad, raspberry fizzy water
Our eldest is home from Costa Rica! They are staying with us for a few days before returning to Athens, today we took a nice run. What an amazing person. An amazing, adult person.
Distance: 3.15 miles
Duration: 31:22
Pace: 9:57
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: overcast & beautiful
Pavement: dry
Mood: very good
1996 Playlist
You Used to Call Me Sadness - Stereolab
The Boy From Ipanema - Crystal Waters
#1 Crush - Garbage
Put a Lid On It - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Naked Eye - Lucious Jackson
Birth-Day (Love Made Real) - Suzanne Vega
Tales From the Far Side - Bill Frisell
Every Day Is a Winding Road - Sheryl Crow
What was 1996? Dobama's Night Kitchen. The Realistic World, This Vicious Cabaret. Vacation in Toronto and Montreal and Maine. Living the Gen X life, you know?
Stretches: not really
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: oops. forgot.
Oh, uh. Yeah? I was on the other side of town and I was like, no I'm not getting fast food for lunch. Then I'm like, tacos from Taco Bell aren't very big, are they? Easy, slugger.
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