Saturday, October 03, 2026

I thought that we'd always be friends.

Homecoming 1985
Attended the first evening of the big reunion weekend last night, and I am as insecure as I was as a teenager. I understand now that it comes off as arrogance. And I was arrogant, too, believe me. I think it's important that we have these rituals to remind us of how terrible we were and of how far we've come.

Or maybe, no. No. We don't actually need that.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:01
Pace: 8:42

Anyway, I left it to a couple hours before departing that I would actually go. I have become accustomed to ordering NA beers at bars now. No one cares. I am SO GLAD I didn't drink last night. I might still be there. I stayed about an hour an left, talking mostly to my closest though I worked very hard to reach out to those others.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 57°
Climate: light clouds & perfect
Mood: f*cking driven

Fall 1985 Mixtape
Take on Me - a-ha
Fortress Around Your Heart - Sting
Pop Life - Prince & the Revolution
Kayleigh - Marillion
Head Over Heels  - Tears For Fears
The Sweetest Taboo - Sade
Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer

I mean. The 80s are fucking classic.

Today
Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 168.4 lbs.

Switching to a digital scale has messed with my sense of self, and of what weight I should be, exactly. I thought 155 lbs. was the goal, but the other day I got into a pair of 32" jeans that was part of my costume for The Velocity of Autumn. That is as thin as I need to be.

I was 165 pounds. If I was ever 155 pounds I would be emaciated. No, 165 is the goal. And I am nearly there.

Huh. Everyone talks about losing weight in time for their high school reunion, and look at me.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes
Sit-Ups: yes

Thursday, October 01, 2026

Life is good, wild and sweet.

Long days, reaching (straining) for the conclusion of rehearsal season. Knees are sore, ankles kinking. 

But we made fifteen runs in September. Well done.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:07
Pace: 8:44

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 78°
Climate: dusk, humid
Mood: stressed

Fall 1983 Mixtape
Mama - Genesis
True - Spandau Ballet
All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie
Ain't Nobody - Rufus ft. Chaka Khan
Heat and Soul - Huey Lewis and the News

What can we say about fall 1983. Sophomore year of high school begins, and so does my association with cannabis. And alcohol. So many opportunities to look like a jackass in public. Speaking of which, it's the weekend of my 40 year high school reunion. Ope.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 168.8 lbs. (+1.8)

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

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Hit the beat now.

As long as the weather provides, I will be doing evenings. Soon enough it will be too dark for that and we will return to the recreation center. I'd love to resume cold weather runs, but my joints are just too achy for that.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:59
Pace: 9:02

Survived the first day in schools, rising before my five o'clock alarm at 4:30 AM, we arrived at the school at 6:40 AM and departed at four. Then downtown for a surprise part for a co-worker, after which I prepared the rehearsal room for the first read-through of The Right Room. That began at 8:00 PM.

I was in bed by eleven ... only to wake up before my five o'clock alarm at 4:30. Bit of a raggedy morning.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 67°
Climate: lovely & warm
Mood: driven

We have been dry for over two weeks. It truly is a secret society, but not so secret anymore. I was at the party and wondering what to get from the bar when a colleague went by with an Athletic. They have them by the can at Parnell's.

Drinking NA beer has another than the obvious advantage -- they all have about the half the calories of the other stuff.

Fall 1987 Mixtape
Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything) - Dead Milkmen
The One I Love - R.E.M.
Can't Hardly Wait - The Replacements
Girlfriend In a Coma - The Smiths
It's a Sin - Pet Shop Boys
Mony Mony - Billy Idol
Lost In Emotion - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
Hit the North - The Fall

Crazy, I keep getting ideas for new, little projects. This playlist is responsible for a new one.

Stretches: I mean.
Water: yes
Weight: 167 lbs. (-1.0)

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

Sunday, September 27, 2026

I'll run away with you.

We've had a great running September. Tomorrow, I will be at a school at 6:50 AM, attending an event after, and then a read through of The Right Room. It will be a hyper-long day, so I am getting that run in now.

I also need to get new knee braces. The cool weather is doing me no favors.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 26:07
Pace: 8:25

Gee whiz, David! That was fast!

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 67°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: good!

Fall 1987 Mixtape
Faith - George Michael
True Faith - New Order
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
Need You Tonight - INXS
Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
Lips Like Sugar - Echo & the Bunnymen
Seattle - Public Image Limited

Sophomore year you come back and feel like you own the place. You know where everything is, you're running into all your old friends who you haven't seen all summer. You are confident, or in my case, a little too confident.

THEY SAY that 1986 was the worst year in the history of popular music, and that may be. Too much of it sounded the same, and the synthesizers had gotten entirely out of control. But 1987 was when so many artists popped for me, and they all seemed to have a new release that season.

This playlist is historic.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 168 lbs. (+0.6)

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

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Wherever you go ... there you are.

DM for more information.
These fall days. I can't sleep all the way to the alarm. I wake, my knees ache, my side. But so? I get up. I have a morning. I can write, eat a good breakfast. And I run. And I love the run. 

Not looking forward to the rec center. The park is a beautiful place to be at dawn. The geese, the deer. The turning of the leaves.

Distance: 3.1 
Duration: 27:03
Pace: 8:42

My brain is still adjusting to the absence of sertraline. It has been several weeks, and I still get dizzy and my brain buzzes.

I am adjusting very well to sobriety. I have entered into situations where I could drink, and I may yet, but I choose not to.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 57°
Climate: ideal
Mood: all right

Fall 1986 Playlist
25 or 6 to 4 (Alternative Version) - Chicago
When Problems Arise - Fishbone
Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland - The B-52's
Word Up - Cameo
Walk This Way - Run DMC ft. Aerosmith
Don't Stand So Close to Me '86 - The Police

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 167.4 lbs. (-2.4)

Got my annual fall vaccinations. Suck on that.

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

Thursday, September 24, 2026

These zombies in the park.

HelenArt
Ultra-Violet 5K
Race Mission 1
Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:12
Pace: 8:45

Yesterday began dark and miserable, cloudy and rainy and cold. By afternoon it was still cool, but sunny, bright and beautiful.

Fall is lovely.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 51°
Climate: light clouds & cool
Gear: long sleeves 
Mood: all right!

Also, though, the pain. With the cool weather has come complaints in my knees and hips, and in the muscles down my legs. I suppose this is just normal daddy stuff.

Autumn Mix
Babylon - David Gray
Crystal - Stevie Nicks
So Real * - Jeff Buckley
Cough Syrup - Young the Giant
White Horses - Wolf Alice
She’s Not There - THE ZOMBIES
If Yao Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 169.8 lbs. (+1.0)

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

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

You feel you want to run away.

That's the face he makes.
Saw Tony again last night, this time with Toni. I liked it better the second time. First, because I wasn't taking it too seriously. Second, because the theater was full and there was a lot of laughter. Third, she was sitting with me.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:54
Pace: 9:01

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 55°
Climate: crisp & ideal
Mood: down in it

Songs from "Tony" (2026)
Magic Mountain * - War ft. Eric Burdon
Girlfriend - Modern Lovers
The Calvary Cross - Richard & Linda Thompson
Mighty Sly - Funk Society
Everything Merges With the Night - Brian Eno
Something On Your Mind - Karen Dalton
Strawberry Letter 23 - The Brothers Johnson

The more we make movies that take place in the 1970s, the deeper the needle drops have to get.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 168.8 lbs. (-0.4)

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