I'm saturated.

So, I have developed another bout of sciatica. Alas. It's on the right side, just above the glute, and goes all the way down through my calf. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that's also why it feels like I pulled a string in my right big toe. Or maybe that is why I feel that. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:37
Pace: 9:13

"He looked at his friends. He saw these beings who never wearied, unless from sport -- who never sweated, unless for sport -- who were never out of breath, unless from sport. Beings requiring their joyous games in order that their food and drink might agree with them, in order to be able to sleep well and digest easily."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 62°
Climate: lovely
Mood: good

Lovely day off yesterday. Much personal work accomplished. Return to my desk for the first time in three weeks, all of June. Imagine working.

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

Okay, working on a period accurate summer mixtape for the year 1988, and by that I mean tracks I was actually listening to at that time -- and recently released. Which begs the question ... should I include a song from Joy Division? A CD collection called Substance (also the title of New Order's greatest hits collection, released the previous fall) dropped in July 1988, exposing myself and countless others to the band.

This is is why, amongst Never Tear Us Apart by INXS and The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen, it makes sense that Love Will Tear Us Apart is in Donnie Darko.

I think I just answered my own question.

Summer 1988 Mixtape (in progress)

Guns In the Sky (Kick Ass Mix) - INXS

Monkey (Jam & Lewis Remix) - George Michael

Spark (acoustic) - The Church

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

Suedehead - Morrissey

(Nothing But) Flowers - Talking Heads

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Leaving me here on my own.

The days are full and occupied. I have something of a groove? The running, yes. And the writing, journaling mostly, but there's also the reading. Turning old ideas around in my head, trying to see something new, to interpret a classic story through a modern lens.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:42
Pace: 8:55 

Putting things away, throwing things away, selling them on eBay. Yesterday, I adjudicated the annual Shakespeare competition at a local independent school. That went well. Making phone calls, trying to learn new things about potential candidates.  

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: beautiful
Mood: good!

"Can one confide oneself to somebody of whom one knows nothing but how his laugh sounds."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou

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

Stayed up a bit too late last night, the kid came home from the studio and we sat up, just hanging out on the deck. Then Tiger wanted some 2:00 AM attention. Anyway, I didn't think I'd be up for a run this morning. But I am.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What's That Lyric?

Cruel Summer - Bananarama

I need to choose what I am going to run to the night before. It is stressful trying to choose right before I step out. Not like big stress, but it brings me down. And it's not necessary.

Saturday run? High school music. I think.

Nice try. Get out the way.

One more week in the school year. Soon we will put this mess behind us, I hope. It's not even a full week, and yet. It feels as though a month is laid out before me.

Last night, I heard some reassuring words. Sometimes I lose faith. Sometimes faith is provided to me without my asking.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:53
Pace: 8:59

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 63°
Climate: gorgeous
Mood: let's go!

"Nothing happens in Metropolis which does not come to my father's ears."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou (See: Matthew 10:29)

Stretches: yes
Water: no
Weight: 165 lbs. (+1.0)

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What's That Lyric?

mangetout (The Dare Remix) - Wet Leg

Wonder why you stopped getting high.

The wife has departed for points west, not to return for almost two weeks. The elder will join me in a day or so, but they have such a busy schedule I will still be largely on my own.

The school year winds to a close, there is so much yet to do. The question is whether I will be able to take advantage of my time alone to be productive, remain focused, and feel satisfied with how I am spending my time.

Distance: 3.2 miles

Duration: 28:35
Pace: 8:55

Prepared my first batch of cannabis brownies last night, yes, a 57 year-old man making the pot brownies. Would I be successful? I was. They hit after about an hour, I wisely took a modest sample because they turned out to be pleasantly potent. For the first time in many days, I slept well and long -- and still woke up before eight am. What a weekend! 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 68°
Climate: partly cloudy & nice
Mood: mellow

"For the inventive spirit of man there is no Utopia: there is only a Not-yet."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou

"And if you use crack now ... get help now!"
- Jenny Lewis (1986)

Block Rockin' Weekend - The Current

Charles Bradley:

   Changes

   Heart of Gold

   Stay Away

Hank Williams:

   Your Cheatin' Heart

   Jambalaya on the Bayou (165 BPM)

   Honky Tonk Blues

Jenny Lewis:

   Red Bull & Hennessey

   Heads Gonna Roll

My shins, both of them, have been stressed. No doubt the result of a week spent on my feet, teaching three days of classes in schools. I will take additional ibuprofen and wear some bandages.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 164 lbs. (-1.0)

It's easier to manage my intake when I am alone. I set alarms for meals so I'm not thinking about it. But then I don't have to wonder; when does she get home? Six? Seven? Eight-thirty? We had dinner Friday night after 9 PM, of course I was snacking before then.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes