Everybody's coming to my house.

Last night.

Long, relaxing day of birthday revelry yesterday. Did not stray far from the house, except for a walk out to Beatrice Bay.

As we were stepping down out of the woods onto the beach, I hear a muffled crashing sound. The wife said she didn't hear it, but it sounded to me a like a tree falling. Making our way back after some time out on the rock, we discovered that something like a tree had fallen, a very large dead branch lay right across our path.

I was a bit unnerved. That may have struck one of us, or both. She was not concerned. I remain so.

Distance: 3.5 miles
Route: Martin Point
Temperature: 72•
Climate: cloudless & sunny
Mood: worried

Fast run! The fog has burned off (mostly) and it has become a bright beautiful day. About time. My glasses steamed with sea spray by the beach, I had to remove and wipe them off. But it was a brisk run, I felt strong. Even yesterday I did my exercises. I will commit. I will work to achieve. I will be strong.

Exercises: yes

We had a full deck for wine hour last night, and lots of things to eat. The wife made spaghetti and meatballs and a beautiful carrot cake. Michele and her family were present for dinner, of course, and also children of my cousins; Nathan his family -- and Anne, who we happened to run into Wednesday at Round Top. Incredible! I have not seen Anne in perhaps twenty years. Thanks to Facebook, we recognized each other.

So, there's that, Facebook. Thanks.

"We'll Figure It Out"
(Music From the Big Love 2015-2018)

Disc Two:
Dead Sea - The Lumineers
Shape of You - Ed Sheeran
Want You Back - HAIM
tonite - LCD Soundsystem
Remember Me (Ernesto de la Cruz) - Benjamin Bratt & Company
The Way - Fastball
He's a Rebel - The Crystals
The Crown Main Title - Hans Zimmer
All the Stars - Kendrick Lamar ft. SZA
Everybody's Coming to My House - David Byrne
Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
Heaven On Their Minds - Brandon Victor Dixon & Company
Bad Bad News - Leon Bridges
This Is America - Childish Gambino
Remember Me (Lullaby) - Gael García Bernal, Libertad Bernal & Gabriella Flores

Disc One yesterday.

Oh, and I got tickets to see David Byrne!

I was running. You were walking.

Mr. Applegate & Joe
Damn Yankees - Bay High School, 1985.
I am smoking a lit cigarette on stage.

Went out for drinks with an old friend last night, someone I hadn't really spoken to in about thirty years or so. It was good to see Rob, if you looked at him you'd say he is a middle-aged lawyer with gray hair, and you'd be right. He has gentle eyes and a kind voice. A good guy. That's also the way I have always thought of him, and I was comforted by the fact that we share so many thoughts about things, especially considering how many ways I think differently from when I was in high school. Sometimes I am afraid to earn what the people I used to know now believe.

We're both Bay Village expatriates, each of us chose Cleveland Heights after college and feel so much more at home here. Our children were raised here, they will tell their children they are from here. It is quite a different world.

We ran into each other at a street fair years ago and said we'd catch up, but it took years. Facebook helped, he proposed a meeting and I said yes, and it finally happened. First the Wine Spot, then we moved to Brennan's. Heights!

Facebook cuts down on small talk. How many people do we know from high school, from college, from other jobs, who we used to date or were even once married to, who we may acknowledge or interact with only briefly, over years ... and yet, they know how old our children are, if we have been through a major illness, where we are and where we have been?

I didn't need to tell Rob my father had died, he knew already. (Strange, I keep finding myself surprised by people who I see every day who I surprise with the news, and only because they don't use Facebook.) We were talking about my half marathon, and the terrible weather, and how I have become this runner guy, and how impressed he was by my dad because he didn't look like a runner, and yet he was always heading out to run.

Rob said, "He'd run at night," meaning my dad, and that surprised me, so much, because I'd never thought about it. I mean, I couldn't picture him going out to run. Certainly not at night. If you asked, I couldn't tell you when he would take his runs. Only makes sense, he left for work before dawn, and came home in time for dinner. But honestly, I never thought about it.

But Rob could picture it. He described my home as a cool place to be, we'd hang out, my parents were nice to talk to, we'd watch TV all hours, it was great. And Dad would take off, maybe ten o'clock at night to go running. Sometimes I do that, too.

Distance: 3 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop

We're in it for the duration now, the summer weather. Stepping onto Euclid Avenue last evening, people in the streets in shirt sleeves, so many people. The city is alive again.

Temperature: 70°
Climate: hot!
Weight: 163 lbs.
Mood: good

Spring 2016 Playlist
Send My Love (To Your New Lover) * - Adele
Wedding  - Poliça
Angels * - Chance the Rapper ft. Saba
Go! - M83 ft. Mai Lan
Born Again Teen * - Lucius
Breathe Life - Jack Garratt

Yes, Adele's new single could be performed by Taylor Swift. I don't care, I don't care!

Warmdown
Voices In My Head * - Bob Mould

Run with the creeps.

Something just broke Sunday night. It began when I was in father's office, accounting of his things. In the week following his death we sorted his clothes, because that was what mom asked us to do first, to get those out. But when it came to the several and varied items in his dresser and desk (Swiss army knife, a watch) I thought it would be best to leave those, to write them down and then decide their fate later.

And so there I was, a month and a half later, doing that. I was making notes of items, lacquer college society pins, penknives, and so on, and I just felt like there was so much nothing. It didn't feel worth writing down, just cart it all up and take it to a junk shop or something. Good Lord, what the hell am I keeping in my dresser?

That night was "Second Easter". We hadn't been with mom for Easter, we had been in Athens. It was important to anyone at the table, Easter, not anymore, anyway. The absence at the head of the table was suddenly very strong to me, and I found that hard to take.

Distance: 3 miles
Avg Pace: 7:07
Duration: 21:22
Route: Boulevard Loop

I am continuing to avoid Facebook. It is apparent to me the extent to which I can use it to avoid doing others things. The boy plays Minecraft, I used Facebook. I have gotten much more done in the past week, and I do not miss the negativity, but I realize there is also a lot of positive energy there, too. I feel very alone without it.

Hail.

Temperature: 55°
Climate: WIND, man.
Weight: 163 lbs. (-1.0)
Mood: so much better

Weather this afternoon and evening has been absurd. The boy got off the bus, walked a few steps, and suddenly he was being pelted by hail. That lasted for about fifteen seconds as he ran down the street, then it just stopped, and turned into light rain.

I kept checking the temperature, it remained in the mid-fifties, but the wind was crazy, I was sure snow was going to blow in any second. But it didn't. Hard run, and by that I mean I was hard. Fast and fierce for three miles. It was a blessing.

The Message Playlist
The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
King of Rock - Run-D.M.C.
All the Lifestyles - Beastie Boys
Witness (1 Hope) - Roots Manuva
The WildStyle - Time Zone

Running miles. It doesn't stop for you.

Paranoid Android.

Yes, two beloved artists passed away within days of each other. What is bizarre is how people have started posting new articles of people who died years ago as though they just happened and everyone piles on with shock and distress until someone points out that Dave Brubeck actually died in 2012, for example.

Actually, this happens all the time. I once re-mourned Lena Horne, and was embarrassed to have forgotten she'd died in 2010. I should have known that, I'd been reading about her when she passed.

Of course, when someone posts the death of Bob Denver (d. 2005) as the "third" in a row we're all waiting for, you have to wonder if you are being snowed. Because when I think of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, I am immediately reminded of Bob Denver.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Avg Pace: 8:01
Duration: 26:04
Route: Forest Hills Loop

2010 Playlist
Psychic City (Classixx Remix) - YACHT
Sleepyhead - Passion Pit
Blow - Ke$ha
Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club
Too Dramatic - Ra Ra Riot
Tightrope - Janelle Monáe ft. Big Boi
Rocketeer - Far Eat Movement ft. Ryan Tedder
Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

Temperature: 32°
Climate: cool
Pavement: wet

Brisk day. Good morning run through the park, the short version. Thought I would get that in before it gets colder. Wondering how long I will be able to run in the park. When it snows, I am sure they do not shovel the paths. I will report if they do. But any time it thaws, the stuff just runs into the lagoon.

Which makes for a pretty full lagoon. We'll see. It does take a mile to get there and a mile back, just so I can run for a mile (or so) through trees. But it's worth it. I am preferring it to running through town. Fewer obvious inclines, less traffic to worry about.

Weight: 163 lbs. (+1.0)
Mood: good

Contestants in a suicidal race.

I'm not in it for the shirts, like I don't seek autographs from famous people or make video recordings of my children performing music. I don't need evidence, I know I was there.

The race shirts that are made of wicking material are at least useful and I keep and use those. There are many race shirts I have received and almost immediately put in the giveaway pile.

However, the shirts the girl and I received for the Independence Day Run are by far the softest garments ever and make the happiest sleeptime wear imaginable and have totally made my summer.

Distance: 4 miles
Avg Pace: 8.10
Route: Cain Park Loop

Difficult morning to wake up. Our perfect summer has hit a wall, each of us engaged in our own anxiety or ennui.

I am trying, very hard, to write. There are a mountain of distractions. I have asked the wife to change my Facebook password to curtail my use. This is successful only to a point, the entire rest of the internet still exists.

Finished Station Eleven the other night. Full report due by the end of the afternoon.

Temperature: 68°
Climate: overcast, cool but humid
Weight: 155.5 lbs.
Intake: energy gel
Hydration: yes
Water stop: yes
Stretches: yes

We finish at 32:00 (on the clock)

What's That Lyric?
Synchronicity II - The Police 

As I drift off into the night, I’m in flight.

Schmuck face.

Now the nights get long, rehearsals stretching to 10 pm. Coming home I find a dish waiting for me because my wife and family love me and take care of me. I do my part my washing things and putting them away. But the nights push into midnight and there is not much chance for sleep. We head back to work, stare into a screen, assemble, cut, compose grant requests plus the odd assignment.

Our internet is out. I spent the morning away from Facebook and found that I had accomplished the entire morning routine of creating lunches, washing leftover dishes and preparing breakfast, which usually takes about an hour, in ten minutes.

You know, there’s a six of Heineken in the fridge I bought, like, ten days ago and it’s still untouched. This does not mean I have not been drinking. It just means an entire bottle is a time commitment I do not have and a small glass of wine goes so much better with food.

Temperature: Not sure. 25°?
Climate: crusty, uneven snow
Distance: 3.25 miles
Weight: 175.5 lbs.

Bit of a sinus headache, and an empty stomach. Running took care of both. That, and a Sudafed.

2001 Playlist
Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box - Radiohead
Digital Love - Daft Punk
Get The Party Started - Pink
One More Time - Daft Punk
This Charming Man - Stars
Point Of View Point - Cornelius
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head - Kylie Minogue
Weapon Of Choice - Fatboy Slim

Stephani wants me to tell you all I have been doing yoga. So that’s happening.

He whom life can no longer surprise.

Respite from the freezing temps, which should last all week. I hope this means more running. I feel huge, and having to bundle up for work only exacerbates this feeling. But so much to do now, grant requests to be created, this morning I had some beautiful pictures pop into my head for a script I have been working on.

Facebook is my Achilles' Heel, but if it weren't that it would be something else. I get so mad at myself for looking at it which I should work working, writing, thinking, reading or playing, but it has its uses. Not least of which is to share the misery.

No, back up, not true. Facebook is where I am exceeding precious and clever. The misery is to be found here.

Temperature: 39°
Climate: Wet, crusty, clear and slushy.
Distance: 3.25 miles

In SHORTS, son.

Not usually do I have the opportunity to exchange pleasant words with other runners on the run. We are running away from each other, or towards each other, or on the opposite sides of the street. And besides ... how awkward, to be running next to someone you don't know. What is the etiquette?

However, I was at the top of my street, and happened upon another fellow at the light. He seemed in great cheer, taking a run with his dog. I had to take off my headphones.

He told me this was his first run in ten days -- that was when he and his wife had a baby! The sleep deprivation had been keeping him from running and it was really getting to him, but not to complain. He said he even felt a bit selfish taking a run, but I absolved him. Healthy body, healthy mind, they need him in top form.

That is my job. I absolve people.

1972 Playlist
I Wanna Be With You - The Raspberries
Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
Watched of the Skies - Genesis
Go All the Way - The Raspberries
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Burning Love - Elvis Presley
Reelin' in the Years - Steely Dan
Day After Day - Badfinger
Rocks Off - The Rolling Stones

Ladies and gentlemen ... Mr. Eric Carmen. CLEVELAND REPRESENT.