Get the blood to flow.

Pandemonium 2023

I was a good boy last night. Not only did I have a wonderful time participating in Panedmonium, I had one drink and came home and went to bed at a decent hour. After yesterday's nonsense, I wanted to be sure today was productive and relaxed.

Yes, and. I have been working on the new play script, and also made cookies (okay, that was a failure) talked to my brother and did laundry. Also? Taking a run.  

Distance: 1 mile

Duration: 9:17

Route: Haselton Loop 

Temperature: 70°
Climate: overcast, cool & damp

Mood: good

Pleasant mid-afternoon miler. Tomorrow I hope to do a pre-work 5K. Depends on if it rains!

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20
Planks: 90 sec.

Water: yes

It's cute, Peter Gabriel has finally produced a song that sounds exactly like all other Peter Gabriel songs.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, bagel & egg sandwich, cookie (1x) 

Lunch: n/a

Happy Hour: almonds & dried cranberries, Manhattan

Dinner: tuna casserole w/peas, fizzy water

Treat: scoop of ice cream

Alcohol? yes

Reading: HTD

Writing: typing that sweet, sweet script.

What's That Lyric?

Road to Joy - Peter Gabriel

Kiss me and kiss me 'til I'm dead.

Should I run today? I don't know. Socked with a Saturday morning headache for no reason I have managed to do good, in spite of the pain and nausea. I did my writing! I put down over fifteen pages of my new play script! I bought new shoes! 

I have also taken two naps and feel highly vertiginous. Maybe I should just not. But Pandemonium is tonight and I want to clear my head and move my body. So here we go!

It will not be a late night. When my gig is through, I am having one beer and going the heck home.

Distance: 4 miles

Duration: 37:34
Pace: 9:23

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 69°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: good

Truly the last relevant original movie soundtrack, on this Gen X and Millennials can agree.

 

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Music from the Motion Picture

#1 Crush - Garbage

Local God - Everclear

Angel - Gavin Friday

Pretty Piece of Flesh - One Inch Punch

Whatever (I Had a Dream) - Butthole Surfers

Lovefool - The Cardigans

To You I Bestow - Mundy

Talk Show Host - Radiohead

You and Me Song - The Wannadies

Exit Music (For a Film) - Radiohead

*Kym Mazelle's cover of Young Hearts Run Free and Everybody's Free (To Feel Good) by Quindon Tarver are not currently available on Spotify.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Water: yes

Good call. I feel so much better, and ready for the evening.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: ramen w/egg

Treat: chocolate filled croissant (from my love)

Dinner: taco bowl w/rice, chicken  beans

Alcohol? Dortmunder (1x)

Late Night Snack: pizza (1 slice)

Reading: HTD

Writing: transcribing the scenes!

Run to the hills ('cause the end is near.)

Back to 1936

Tonight is STATION HOPE! Amaya and I will perform a short play we have written together, we tried it out last night and it seemed to go over very well. I'm excited!

Distance: 3.75 miles

Duration: 35:02
Pace: 9:21

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 67°
Climate: sunny & warm

Mood: very good

Goodness. Really. It just feels better to run when it is warm.

Gorillaz Playlist

New Gold ft. Tame Impala & Bobbie

Cracker Island ft. Thundercat

Stylo ft. Mos Def & Bobby Womack

Feel Good Inc. ft. De La Soul

We Got the Power * ft. Jehnny Beth

Dirty Harry

19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)

Clint Eastwood * ft. Del the Funky Homosapien

DARE ft. Shaun Ryder

Playlist was a little short. Ope. Had this act burned into my head the past two weeks (see below).

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: tbd

Upper body: 10 reps. (2x)
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream 

Lunch: NOLA pizza (1x), cole slaw (1/2 C.)

Yardwork bevvie: fizzy water

Dinner: TBA

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 176 lbs. (-1.5)

Goal: 175 lbs.

An endless path unbroken.

Took the boy and his friends to see THE IDLES last night.

Sleep is important. Glad my head doesn't hurt today. Still, great concert.

Tonight is PANDEMONIUM. I plan to be at home and in bed before the party is over. Because I can't deal anymore.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 31:04
Pace: 10:01
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 75°
Climate: overcast & muggy
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Abdominals:
Water: yes

Weight: 181.5 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 180 lbs.

Ugh. Heat, light, humidity. And not enough good sleep. These things are relevant.

What's That Lyric?

Let Me Go - Heaven 17

Proving to the world it was wrong.

There be witches.

Great gosh amighty, I am laden with angst.

But tell me. When was the last time you ... party rocked?

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 31:09
Pace: 10:03
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 44°
Climate: cool, man.
Mood: all right
Weight: 184 lbs. (-1.0)

Spring cannot come soon enough for me. It took all my nerve to get dressed and get out there, and know what? It was lovely. Just got to be careful around the patchy snow and ice which remains. No snow or below freezing temps forecast for the next. So?

Intake

Breakfast: cold cereal w/milk and bananas, coffee (2x) 

Lunch: SBJ & milk

Dinner: TBA

This week my new play script THE WITCHES gets a workshop at Cleveland Public Theatre. Join us!

2011 Playlist

You Make Me Feel - Cobra Starship ft. Sabi

Breakthrough - Brigit Mendler ft. Adam Hicks, Naomi Scott & Heyley Kiyoko

Midnight City - M83

Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock

Money - The Drums

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra

Ok - Beastie Boys

Ritual Union - Little Dragon

Rolling In the Deep - Adele

Took two months to run six times. I hope we can improve upon that.

Forest Hill Partner Run

Chris came by and we ran my usual through Forest Hill Park. Last night was Pandemonium, I got off all right, feeling decent this morning but also tired. Very, very tired. Stayed in bed until ten, which is nice because I don't usually get to do that.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 56°
Climate: rain
Mood: decent

The mornings include rising at five. I have to get up at five, so I can shower, but also maybe read. Writing has not been part of my routine, which concerns me. Motivation is low. Life is good, I'm not depressed, I'm just kind of floating.

It is, after all, September. It's not like I am not busy. There are many things to do. But my time doesn't feel like it's mine.

Exercises: soon

It's nice running with Chris, we get to talk about stuff we don't get to talk to anyone else about. I think this is what the humans call "having a friend."

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 172.5 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Take a rest.

Thugg Lyffe

Rehearsals at CPT this week, employed as an actor for a short new work as part of Entry Point, which is in two weeks. I wrote recently about creating in the cold, this is a prime example. Slipping and sliding down the Shoreway to collaborate after dark with new friends and old on something unknown. It is a life-long tapestry.

Distance: 2.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:37
Duration: 21:32
Route: Three times around the block.

Currently I am on a meal-only diet, which is to say, I eat at mealtimes. It leaves me not so much hungry, but listless. I had to sleep in yesterday morning. Between meals I get food crazy, not so much hungry, just obsessed with whatever it is I need to eat next.

Pavement: snowy
Temperature: 14°
Climate: cool
Mood: driven

Keeping to the neighborhood, running the block, heading out at first before I warmed up my head was so cold I wanted to have the opportunity to bail. But it's tedious, like a frozen treadmill. Thank heaven for the music.

Nose stung a bit on the final lap, probably just as well I didn't take a longer loop route. I should return to weaving up and down the streets, the varying elevation might keep me cheerful.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 170 lbs. (-0-)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

1991 Playlist
Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) [Extended Decision Mix] - De La Soul
Money Don't Matter 2 Night - Prince & The New Power Generation
Cream - Prince & The New Power Generation
Come As You Are - Nirvana
Unbelievable - EMF
Kiss You Back - Digital Underground

Better move now.

Tiresias Riddles The Fates

Here's the story, I eked it out the last two days of the week, rising at 4:00 AM to run eight and six miles. On Saturday I had an early rehearsal, then needed to prepare for an evening event. Should I go out into the rain to run four hours because the calendar said I had to? Or just sit tight and run the last twenty miles on Sunday, and be done with it?

For real. What would you do? I had costumes to iron.

But then, there was the Saturday night thing. The entire day, really, Rain and action and excitement and highs and, well, only highs, really. The boy played better than he ever has in a rock set of Joan Jett songs at the Beachland Ballroom, then the girl and I joined the company at CPT for Pandemonium in a downpour, and still had an amazing time.

I woke feeling absolutely wrecked. No way. Not twenty miles. No time, no energy.

And you know what? I don't care. I got this. I have been working up to this weekend for a month, my time is free my brain is clear, my early morning runs this past week have been surprisingly enjoyable, and it is time for tapering and tapering I will do. No second twenty miles run, that will wait for October 4.

Because I know what I am doing.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 23:52
Avg Pace: 7:56
Route: Boulevard Loop

Joan Jett set at Beachland Ballroom

Middle-aged men in Lycra ‘are a turn-off for new cyclists’

 Lycra-clad “weekend warriors” are deterring new cyclists from the sport- Evening Standard (UK)

This makes me sad. Because I am middle-aged. Question: Should I wear the skin-tight Captain America shirt for the marathon? Or does that thing just look embarrassing on me?

Week Thirteen Total: 22 miles
Training To Date: 403 miles

Temperature: 61°
Weight: 159.5 lbs.
Intake: bangers & mash
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric?
Move Now - Marshall Crenshaw

You've always got further to go.

Do you remember the time?

Not enough upper body work. Progress I made during the summer has run slack. It's not something I generally think about, but the strap for my iPhone is not supposed to wrap around my triceps two times.

Leaning towards demoralized. Been training since, I don't know, the beginning of the year, it seems. March, anyway. Not the official start of training, just when I started working out. Losing the weight.

But there have been moments of great beauty and wonder and satisfaction ... and they are not longer happening. I am tired. I am rushed. It doesn't feel good.

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:05:49
Avg Pace: 8:13
Route: South Euclid Loop

Last night we had our final rehearsal for a brief scene we are creating for CPT's annual benefit, Pandemonium which will be held this Saturday night. The work continues. A good boy, I was asleep by ten,

Tiresias Riddles The Fates

This morning I rose at 4 AM, earlier to allow time for all the necessaries and perhaps even to get my prescribed eight miles in.

Temperature: 66°
Climate: humid, clear
Weight: 157 lbs.
Intake: yogurt, banana & granola
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: yoga (10 min.)
Upper Body: 70 reps

Two things. One, that was a perfectly timed run. It felt great, the entire way. Yes, I could have used water, but it wasn't an issue, I felt great. Little traffic, cool air, gradual inclines, awesome, laid back, alt-rock, 1980s playlist.

Two, I have a play. It has two scenes. It needs a third scene. I just figured what happens during the third scene. This is running at its finest.

What's That Lyric?
Quiet Heart - The Go-Betweens

Your legs give way, you hit the ground.

We return to JJ, for additional guidance in managing anxiety and depression. Anxiety, of course, can stimulate one to act, which I have found very effective. It is in combination with depression that we get into trouble. I do not feel I have been depressed lately, at least not for maybe two months. No ass-dragging depression. Just anxiety. Constant anxiety. Relentless anxiety.

We had a date last night, the wife and I. We went to see There Is a Happiness That Morning Is at CPT. That was incredible, really enjoyable, emotional and outrageous and hilarious and ultimately satisfying.  The moment I walked in and saw the set I was filled with joy. And yet, there were moments when my thoughts flew away on a troubling journey of analysis.

About a half-hour in, after bringing her up-to-date on everything that has occurred in the past two or so years since out last session (by and large, there were good things to report) she asked me what makes me happy. I spoke before I even thought.

"Running," I said. "I love running." And then I started to tear up. "Running makes me happy."

Temperature: 50°
Climate: Bright, cool, perfect
Distance: 3.25 miles

So what keeps you from running? You say you are now running once a week, if it makes you happy, why only once a week?

The Annual Playlists are a major motivation to get out and run during the coldest months. Trying to get them all in before the end of April, for example. That's not me saying I want to run, that is a task to be accomplished, something outside of myself, a compulsion, even. And a satisfying one. It has a beginning, a middle and end. There is a celebration.

And then, transition. How do you handle transitions? Transitions are very depressing, aren't they? Even transitions from the planning to the execution, the waiting, it is time to fear failure, that you are a joke, that no one loves you. Until they all show up and everyone has a good time and you were a fool for doubting yourself.

I am in transition. Another transition. A big transition. We all know that. So. Running will help. How do we run more than once or twice a week? The wife helps, but she is not responsible for this on her own.

Keeping my kit clean, and folded and organized, that always helps. Lord, I hate having to search for my shoes.

We will meet again in two weeks.

Whenever You're On My Mind Playlist
Whenever You're On My Mind - Marshall Crenshaw
Save It For Later - The Beat
In The Street - Big Star
Ah! Leah! - Donny Iris
If I Didn't Love You - Squeeze
The Ballad of El Goodo - Big Star
If I Can't Change Your Mind - Sugar
Helpless - Sugar

Music for Summer. Music for nostalgia. Here we go again.

You can't break me, 'cause I'm already this way

Socked with another terrible headache yesterday, this time on the left side of my sinuses. This is distressing because I am trying to judge the effect of this new medication and it comes exactly at the change of season - when I traditionally get killer migraines.

I felt it coming on when I woke up. I do not believe 8.30 is sleeping in, and this never happened over the summer when I would occasionally get some extra sleep, only when the weather cools.

40 degrees. Jacket weather. Downing a "Jet Blackberry" GU I found in my kit box. Doesn't expire for a year but it seemed more appealing to me this morning than a banana.

Until I ate it.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 40º
Weather: awesome
Weight: 163.5 lbs.

A second piece of quiche? No, thanks. A beer? That's okay, I'll just drink this. Mn, no popcorn, not tonight. Let's see how long I can keep this up.

Future Sightings Genius Mix
Future Sightings - I Am The World Trade Center
Brakhage - Stereolab
Watch The Tapes (153 bpm) - LCD Soundsystem
Divorce Song - Liz Phair
Girl and the Sea - The Presets
No Expectations - I Am The World Trade Center
Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious - Stereolab

Ah, the skunks of Cleveland Heights. Okay, I am just waiting for a knee to blow out. Really. Because one must, right? Could be either one. I have no idea what is going on inside of me. I guess there is not much to be done about it except to keep on until injury, and keep taking omega-3s, being kind to myself, etc.

A lot of talk this weekend at the censorship symposium at CPT about my shows this Spring. At least, a lot of talk in my vicinity. Really, can I see a show at CPT without Raymond calling me by name - twice - from the stage? (Am I complaining? Of course not.) But I did get to sell the piece to a number of people.

Now I need to work on it. Actually technical work, of any kind, is on hold until KILL WILL goes up ... my entire crew is working on that. But though I have the edits in my head, I have not spent much time actually making them. I get some writing time this Sunday, if I can focus I could dedicate that time solely to these pieces.

Cleveland Public Theatre Announces 10-11 Season

I Hate This and And Then You Die in repertory by David Hansen
Directed by Alison Garrigan
Storefront Studio
April 7 - 23

David Hansen performs his two award winning solo shows in rep. One is an exploration of personal loss and recovery, while the other is about obsession and victory. Both shows were developed in CPT's Big [Box] and have gone on to successful runs at the New York Fringe.

CPT's Entire 2010-11 Season

Very excited about this. The script needs some work, there are revisions which are obvious and have already been made. The character is less sympathetic - less apologetic, I have tried to just let him be, and the let him off the hook fewer times.

It was 80 minutes, and I need to get it down to 60. Costume changes are out, I will be wearing a black running suit for the entire show. That cuts five minutes out of the show right there, seriously.

I wonder how it will come off, paired with I Hate This. Worried that may piss some people off. It's a risk.

Good morning, Mr. President. Happy Independence Day. Took a run through the Lakeview Cemetery this morning. "The Chauffer" came on as I headed for Rockefeller's monument, and I found myself sprinting up the hill, and dashing through tombstones. Very odd.

Stopped to gaze at the John Hay monument. Now that is a guardian angel. It is my favorite statue in the park, bar none. Beautiful, majestic, forceful, peaceful. Ancient, too, stone cracking at its base.

Rio Remix Run
New Religion (Carnival Version)
Hold Back The Rain (Remix)
Rio (Carnival Version)
Last Chance On The Stairway
The Chauffeur (165 bpm)
My Own Way (Night Version)
Lonely In Your Nightmare
Hungry Like The Wolf (Night Version)
Save A Prayer

Distance: 5.5 miles
Temperature: 65º
Weather: sweaty
Weight: 157 lbs.