Come running back to me.

This photo is from last July.

Was looking forward to running with others this summer. That is not happening, I am on my own.

Distance: 3.5 miles

Duration: 33:05
Pace: 9:27

Completed a novel, Nosferatu by Jim Shepard (1998) a book I started a year ago and set aside, intending to return. It is not the story of Nosferatu: The Vampire, instead it is a fictionalized telling of the life of F.W Murnau, the director of Nosferatu (1921) and many other films.

I love the story of how things are made, in this case, silent film. I love Nosferatu, and indeed, the imagined journals of a queer German expressionist filmmaker.

Running Summer 2026

It Feels So Good - Matt Sassari ft. Hugel & Sonique

It's Not Right But It's Okay - Mr. Belt & Wezol

Beggin'  - Chris Lake ft. Aluna

Afraid to Feel - LF System

Wacuka - Avaion ft. Sofiya Nzau

10:35 - Tiesto ft. Tate McRae

2 Times - Dimitri Vegas ft. Steve Aoki, Ann Lee, Sound of Legend

So Much in Love - D.O.D.

Where Are You Now - Losy Frequencies ft. Calum Scott

Bless Me - Dombresky ft. Discrete

Talk to You - Anotr ft. 54 Ultra

Take It Off - Fisher ft. Aatig

That's a good one. Thanks for that.

Route: Martin Point Run
Temperature: 68°
Climate: bright & warm
Mood: all right

Yesterday evening a few of us headed out to see a local theater production. Earlier this week, the wife and I took a wrong turn in Damariscotta and I was surprised to see a large banner advertising a stage adaptation of an early 20th century science fiction short story which I have a long personal history with, including producing a radio drama of Eric Coble's adaptation, and even making reference to it in And Then You Die.

“Man is the measure. That was my first lesson. Man's feet are the measure for distance ... his body is the measure for all that is lovable and desirable and strong.”

Hot take? Never write a letter-size page of director's notes to be inserted in the program, explaining what you meant and how the production came into being. That's what your blog is for. Telling people how to think about what they are about to see (single spaced, man!) just before they see it is never wise.

As for the production itself, it would appear that a very effective thirty-five minute adaptation, rich with movement and sound and style and passion, performed by high school students and intended for a high school audience, has been expanded to an hour and now includes laborsome tangential stories meant to provide additional modern relevance, to wit; opinions about Covid and Liberal government overreach. 

I imagine the high school version was a hit, those young people deserved it. Wish I had seen that.

Stretches: 
Water: 

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

Leftover fried clams, like guests, begin to smell after three days.

A velvet sweat.

It has been rainy and cool. I am happy
with this. The kids make trips into town to get groceries and ice cream, while we lounge around the cabin.

I am working on Metropolis. I am reading the text again, and creating a synopsis. Of course, I could just feed the text (which is available online) into ChatGPT and have a synopsis of whatever length I dictate, and immediately. I could stick my head in the oven. 

Distance: 3.5 miles

Duration: 33:02
Pace: 9:26

This is a summer playlist I can depend upon:

Sweeping Up at Grebe's

Little Red Corvette (Special Dance Mix) - Prince & the Revolution

Don't Change - INXS

Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me - Trio

Saved By Zero - The Fixx

Whenever You're On My Mind - Marshall Crenshaw

Our House - Madness

Is There Something I Should Know? (Monster Mix) - Duran Duran

See link to hear Amir "Questlove" Thompson talk about why the Special Dance Mix of Little Red Corvette is his number one song by Prince.

Route: Martin Point Run
Temperature: 69°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: all right

The other day I learned that Duncan Bowen Black, author of Eschaton, is a runner. He wrote a short piece (they're all short pieces) about how AI summaries have been forced onto his running app, and how they are all non-specific but always super positive, which is not only useless but terribly unhelpful. 

"I'm always doing the right thing, somehow. Long and fast? Smashed it! Short and slow? Perfect recovery run! It never says, That was a shit run, pal."

Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Total bummer, however ... the eldest and their partner have had their flights canceled not once (Tuesday) but twice (today). They have decided to cut their losses and are making no new arrangements. This is due to global climate change (see: Canadian wild fire smoke, tornados and flooding in NYC) and the fact that airlines are horrible.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

It seems my weaknesses just keep going strong.

Hey! Me, too!

We settle in. We relax. Long mornings on the deck. No rush. A day can last a long time, if you use it well. Or don't use it at all. The cousins visit, we stay right where we are. We drink, a lot. It's cool.

Distance: 3.5 miles

Duration: 32:29
Pace: 9:17

Monday we planned a brief excursion to Damariscotta, it took the day. That's how we roll, out by ten, or ten-thirty, back around three-thirty, then a nap. We did discover a new favorite spot, King Eider's Pub, so that's news. Our old favorite place there, the one with the Bigfoot iconography, that's under new management. Alas.

The evening spent drinking and reading. Oh, and we visited the library. All good.

Except our other child had their flight bumped two days because of air quality. That's life in the 21st century. Not happy about that. 

Route: Martin Point Run
Temperature: 65°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: good?

Summer Hits of the 80s*

Working for the Weekend - Loverboy

Head Over Heels - The Go-Go's

The Boys of Summer - Don Henley

Don't You Want Me - Human League

Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves

Toy Soldiers - Martika

Faith - George Michael

Addicted to Love  - Robert Palmer ft. Eric "E.T." Thorngren

I didn't make this playlist. Most of these are not summer hits. No, they are not. I will do better next time.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

I'm chill like that.

Pretty epic.

Here's the thing about my last run, or my last two runs. They were slogs. Often, I am feeling down but when I hit the road I feel great. It's kind of why I do this.

The last two runs, especially on Monday, and in spite of the lighter weather, it took effort to lift my feet. And then on Tuesday I just tapped out at work. I almost passed out, twice, I think. Not feeling well. No pain, no temperature, just malaise, dizziness, exhaustion. I slept thirteen hours on Tuesday night.

Distance: 3.5 miles

Duration: 32:19
Pace: 9:13

The consistency, it has been a gift. Sometimes you need time off. We have been driving to Maine, getting in and out of a car has been arduous. Just sitting down. Just walking. Sitting down is actually more difficult that standing up. I need to see a doctor. 

Route: Martin Point Run
Temperature: 67°
Climate: light fluffy clouds & breezy
Mood: good

90s Summer Hip-Hop

Fantastic Voyage - Coolio

Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty By Nature

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) - Digable Planets

They Reminisce Over You - Pete Rock & C.L Smooth

Full Clip - Gang Starr

Slam - Onyx

Award Tour - Tribe Called Quest ft. Trugoy the Dove

Insane in the Brain - Cypress Hill

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

And now, we are on vacation. We are in Maine. I did not know if she would be with me, but she is. Beside me, holding hands, reading, drinking, writing, loving. It was a difficult drive (my leg, the weariness) but here we are. Currently at peace. 

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Feeding the rhythm.

Did it, though?

Forty years ago, we were playing at being adult. What does it do to one's immature psyche to be made to believe that just graduating high school is the most monumental thing you have ever accomplished, and that you are an adult and now you need to do adult things? Which is to say, nothing at all. To not have to think about school. To go out, to dance, to have sex.

Not to work, to learn adult skills like cooking, cleaning, accounting. Or how to properly care about other people, to care about anyone but yourself.

I was so in love. I felt freer than I ever had or ever would again. I was lost in the stars.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:50
Pace: 9:37

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 70°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: all right

Summer 1986 Mixtape

Sledgehammer (Dance Mix) - Peter Gabriel

The Lady in Red - Chris de Burgh

Danger Zone * - Kenny Loggins

Take My Breath Away * - Berlin

Venus - Bananarama

Howard the Duck - Leah Thompson & Dolby's Cube

Boys Don't Cry (86 Vocal Mix) - The Cure

Not actually a great year for music. Oh, well.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 170 lbs. (+5.0)

We indulged this weekend, it was a mania. Got high, saw lots of shows, drank lots of beer, ate lots of fried food. Yesterday, I had the chance to decompress. The wife and I watched Novelle Vague and Kansas City.

We have listened to the Kansas City soundtrack for thirty years, but never seen the film. The soundtrack is better. One thread of the narrative is a young person, a teenager, who has taken the train from Joplin to Kansas City to go to a maternity hospital. They don't spell it out in great detail, but it is made evident that there are many maternity hospitals in Kansas City, and that young women and girls come from all around to give birth there, for adoption.

What if I had seen that film thirty years ago? Would I have made the connection? Would it have made a difference to my father? 

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

I paid for the beer, man.

Still in the Seventies. Last weekend, our elder child humored me, they let me show them Dazed & Confused, Richard Linklater's second motion picture. Released in 1993, it takes place on the last day of school in 1976, in a small town in Texas.

I told my kid that it's not like other "teen movies" though watching it for the first time in decades, I'm not sure they would agree. It's not zany like some of John Hughes' movies, but it does dwell a great deal on the rude behavior of teenagers and some of it must seem downright psychotic.

Don't care. Love Linklater, love this movie. And it was the first great step into the 1970s revival of the 1990s. We'd spent the 80s loudly mocking the fashion and music of the Me Decade, and then we were handed this gem of a soundtrack. 

And the 90s truly began.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:08
Pace: 9:04

Dazed & Confused (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer

Slow Ride - Foghat

School's Out - Alice Cooper

Jim Dandy - Black Oak Arkansas

Tush - ZZ Top

Cherry Bomb - The Runaways

Fox On the Run - Sweet

Low Rider - War

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 78°
Climate: light clouds and hot
Mood: spirited

The run was great, felt great, not terribly hot. No pain. And yet, my continued exercise is certain exacerbating my sciatica. Also, both knees hurt, and sometimes a lot. I've been seeing many shows at BorderLight this weekend, the plastic chairs are not helping.

Maybe I should take a day off. Today was not that day.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (-0-)

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

It's you and me. Forever.

A respite, of sorts. I do not know how long. Mornings spent talking, loving. We drink our coffee black now. I used to drink coffee black, until I met her. She taught me cream and sugar. And then only cream. We change. Coffee is a blessing. I mean, it is the result of conquest, so I probably shouldn't call it a blessing. But I am grateful for the drink.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:45
Pace: 9:35

Still a band of pain around my right calf, and when I sit or stand it can be a minor ordeal. Some days. Other days no problem. The wife thinks I should see a doctor, and she is correct.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: (Spirit of) 76°
Climate: sunny & clear
Mood: grateful

Bicentennial Top 10

Silly Love Songs - Wings

Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band

Kiss and Say Goodbye - The Manhattans

Get Up and Boogie - Silver Connection

I'll Be Good to You - Brothers Johnson

Sara Smile - Hall & Oates

More, More, More Pt. 1 - Andrea True Connection

Misty Blue - Dorothy Moore

I made this playlist last month, expecting to use it on Independence Day, but forgot about it. I probably wouldn't have played it then, anyway. These are songs from Casey Kasem's Weekly Top 40 on July 4, 1976.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (-2.0)

Planks: yes
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: yes