When I'm breathless I'll run 'til I drop. Hey.

Sitting by the fire, or in warmer weather, on one of our porches, to write uninterrupted or, more recently, to read, is a morning ritual that provides me peace and clarity of mind.

This is where I take my first cup of coffee and, more recently, a tall glass of water. This is how I choose to begin my day, and those are generally the best mornings.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 27:44
Pace: 8:57

The working week began with a Macbeth workshop at JCU, and concluded with a Macbeth workshop at Ideastream. And last night the wife and I decided, hey! Why not go see the show?

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: overcast, mercury falling
Mood: okay

Man. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

1979 Playlist

Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - The Spinners

Dance This Mess Around (Party Mix) - The B-52's

Too Hot - Kool & The Gang

They Don't Know - Kirsty MacColl

Down in the Park  - Tubeway Army ft. Gary Numan

Hold On - Ian Gomm

London's Burning - The Clash

Fool In the Rain - Led Zeppelin

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 161 lbs. (-0-)

Yesterday we celebrated Calvin, visited Riverside, made every thing look nice and festive. The brick, which we planed by the front step some time ago, has been neglected. I couldn't find it for a moment, it was under a half-inch of soil. But I cleared, cleaned, and colored it up.

Between those celebrations and our Saturday evening date, there was no time for a run, but hey. I guess I banked that last weekend. Good for me!

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

See you Tuesday.

Goddamn right, it's a beautiful day.

You may notice my posts have gotten longwinded. Once upon a time, they were quite brief, now I go on about all manner of things relating to my personal life (ideally related to my personal health) and there is a good reason for this:

I write them in advance.

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 29:29

Pace: 9:30

I used to compose my posts after I took a run. Ostensibly, to write about the run I just had. Which can be tedious.

"Had a run. The run was good. Weather is nice. Ah, uh. Yeah."

Because right after I have had a run, I am sweaty and winded and my keyboard gets drippy and salty. Better to reflect on how I am feeling between runs, when I can think and I am dry.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 58°
Climate: clear & lovely
Mood: tender

As with the playlists, which I plan in advance because there is nothing worse than trying to decide what to listen to right when I am about to head out. The "year" playlists are the best because I don't need to think about those at all, they are just there.

2000 Playlist

Mr. E's Beautiful Blues - Eels

Saginou - Zulya

Renegades of Funk - Rage Against the Machine

The National Anthem - Radiohead

Ms. Jackson - Outkast

Oops! ... I Did It Again - Britney Spears

Bye Bye Bye - *Nsync

Playground Love - Air ft. Thomas Mars

I even jot down what the first song will be, in advance. Usually the newest track to add to the list.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Late night. Survival run this afternoon. So many plans laid to waste. But it was a wonderful party.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Yes! We did that. Back on track. See you Tuesday.

Evening Bike/Run

It has been a couple of weeks. Low motivation, but also very busy. The wife was out of town this weekend, the rest of us kept close to home, seeing friends, doing homework.

Distance: 2.9 miles
Avg. Pace: 9.23
Duration: 27:14
Route: Neighborhood Loop

The three of us took Christine to see The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Great Lakes on Friday night, which surely wins the This-Play-Isn’t-About-Trump-But-It-Kind-Of-Is-Now Award of 2017.

Temperature: 64°
Climate: cool, perfect
Mood: all right

The boy and I took a lovely if a bit gnat-infested run up around Mayfield Road and back. Yeah, I'd like to be running more often. Shorter runs, more often. That would be fine.

All there is and ever was.

Actual size.

iPod Nano Silver. My former model had 2G, this one has 16.

Sixteen! GET IT?

Next year is Twenty-Sixteen. That's it. That's all I meant.

Started this blog on January 10, 2006. Have already signed up to run the Cleveland Half Marathon (yes, shut up.) Next year also signifies thirty years since I graduated from high school. No idea if I will be attending the festivities.

Perhaps if they arrange a 5K ...

Part of all this angst about working out the music situation on my iPhone is that I want to start the year with my annual list of playlists.

This year there will be fifty. 1967-2016.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hills Loop

Here's a first. My house key actually made its way out of my shorts pocket. Always worried that might happen, because I worry about losing things. Never has. I was in the park and realized that that was exactly what had happened.

Instead of worrying about it, I thought, well. Nothing I can do about that, and kept on running.

Found it lying on the sidewalk on my run home. See? Nothing you can do about that.

Temperature: 48°
Climate: cool ... oddly cool
Weight: 161 lbs.
Mood: not bad

Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol Writing Contest was broadcast on WCPN 90.3 yesterday. Have a listen, this is a lot of what I have been up to the past several weeks. Have a listen, it's pretty sweet.

What's That Lyric?
The Shade - Metric

I could run ...

For the past three years, I was reminded of National Running Day maybe the day before it happens, and then spend most of the day itself worrying whether or not I will get that symbolic run in. This time I set my alarm.

My daughter graduates from fifth grade this morning. The distance from 2009 to now has been vast, all the moments, all the achievements, all the injuries and disappointments. All the great, personal success. My wife is a mess about it. I take longer to process this stuff.

Yesterday the education department came to our house to close the book on a great year of work. That is something I can more easily wrap my head around.

GLT Actor-Teachers 2013-14

Temperature: 62°
Distance: 3.25 miles

Guns & Horses Playlist
New In Town - Little Boots
Youth - Daughter
I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids
Houdini - Foster the People
Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash
Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend
I'm Not Alone - Calvin Harris
Ready For The Weekend - Calvin Harris

Work it out.

Spring has sprung, and not a moment too soon, so has As You Like It at Great Lakes Theater.

Full disclosure: I work for Great Lakes. But I will also mention that I have developed serious attitude about As You Like It. It is such a popular piece of work, and is performed so often, that in spite of my being, in a word, sick of this play, I have now seen it eight times.

Eight times. Second only to the number of times I have seen Hamlet - and I will travel to see Hamlet. I will watch it on TV.

You can read a full account of my numerous opportunities to see As You Like It here. But now, allow me to enumerate just a few of the many reasons that the current production at Great Lakes is the best production of As You Like It I have ever seen (apologies to all other productions, you were all very pretty):

1. Director Edward Morgan has created dramatic tension which provides context for the behavior of the villains. For example, Orlando is usually just this handsome, put-upon guy. As performed by Torsten Johnson (who is very attractive, with or without a shirt) his bitterness towards his oppressive brother Oliver manifests itself in actual menace. He is a capable, strong, motivated individual. No wonder Oliver feels threatened. This is just one example where Morgan has made a surprising discovery that illuminates and expands on the text.
2. Touchstone is really difficult. First off, he makes jokes which probably played very well for Shakespeare’s audience, but in the mouth of a modern actor don’t make any sense. He must be a true comedian - he can’t just say funny things, he has to say things funny. Also, he’s kind of an asshole, whining about everything, and expressing contempt for everyone. Dustin Tucker embraces all of Touchstone’s flaws unapologetically, but also never stops playing for the crowd, like a true clown. He is brash and unafraid and totally sells the mustard bit. He also does a nifty two-step.
3. David Anthony Smith as Jaques, performing the Seven Ages of Man. Enough said.

The entire company is solid, the Industrial Era time period working for the text instead of against it (Adam in the Union soldier uniform of his youth, for example, is very touching) I would strongly recommend this production to anyone, it’s just beautiful.

Temperature: 46°

Distance: 3.25 miles


2005 Playlist
DARE - Gorillaz
Touch the Sky - Kanye West ft. Lupe Fiasco
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz ft. De La Soul
Pon de Replay - Rihanna
Badass - The Crystal Method
Marvo Ging - The Chemical Brothers
Tear You Apart - She Wants Revenge

Girl Run
Temperature: 50°
Distance: .85 mile

That was an unhappy run. Sometimes she asks to run, but then the process of putting on the shoes becomes an issue. I won't go into the details. It is enough to say I am not convinced it is the shoes, because I am sure this behavior doesn't manifest itself at GOTR. Sometimes it is about her feet, or her confidence in herself. She describes the feeling of being excited about going running, but then she suddenly feels like cold water has been thrown in her face and she doubts her resolve.

I though that an apt metaphor. Haven't we all felt like that?

Cold, clear, and bright.

You were MP's favorite.

D.A. asked how on earth I can run in weather like this, and by that I mean he really wanted to know how it is physically possible. Do I run when there is a blanket of uneven snow on the ground? The answer is yes, I do. I really pick up my feet (which is taxing on the knees, and tiring) and trying to be as careful as possible.

One major drawback is that I do not wear the clown shoes when the weather is like that, I would like a little distance between the ground and my actual feet so the uppers get as little snow on them as possible. Sometimes this is a lost cause, but in general I wear my old sneakers in the snow.

Not surprisingly, when I ran the other day, it was the first time in a long time that my knees hurt afterwards. Of course ... that may be because of the snow.

Temperature: 27°
Pavement: drifts of creamy, white snow, like ice cream
Distance: 2 miles (felt like 3)
Weight: 175.5 lbs.

Last night we took my in-laws to the Ohio Theater for their first time seeing A Christmas Carol. For my kids it was time number six or seven. I ask them every year if they want to go, and every year they give an emphatic "YES?!" like I am crazy for even asking.

It's such a clear, sincere retelling, it's no wonder it continues to attract audiences for twenty-five years. Last night, before the show a young couple received a special, private "backstage tour" which culminated in the young man proposing to his girlfriend right there on the stage.

Numerous actors and stage hands were just milling about, waiting for it to happen. It was a pretty loose secret around the company. The ASM came walking through before our guests returned to the stage to wrap up their tour, and admonished all of us (with a smile), "God, you guys, do some stretches or something, you look obvious."

And my nephew Rex was born in Athens, Ohio. 'Twas a magical day.

Holiday Run
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - Bruce Sprngsteen & the E Street Band
All Together Now - The Farm
Santa Claus Is Back In Town - Brian Setzer Orchestra
Christmas Reindeer - The Knife
Gabriel's Message - Sting
The Little Drummer Boy - King of Clubs
Santa's Beard - They Might Be Giants


All together now.