Shame on you.

Day Seven at Sea: Last full day on the ship. We will enjoy this.

Distance: 1 mile
Duration: 11 minutes

Temperature: 64°

I could have gone further, but we have plans to do all the things today, and I cannot safely run in expectation. 

Running in circles in the middle of the ocean, if the deck were clear I would have enjoyed the view more, as it was it was far more pleasurable than running on place, watching a video of foreign lands.

45:33 - LCD Soundsystem

This track should be called 46:04. I need to run this entire composition some day.*

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, scrambled egg w/salmon over buttered bagel, orange juice

Coffee Break: latte (quite strong, a nice change)

Lunch: chicken & gammon pie, Cunard Red, also mixed veg.

High Tea: tea w/milk & sugar, cucumber sand, salmon & cheese sand, carrot cake, scone w/clotted cream & jam

Happy Hour: Dirty martini

Dinner: roaster red pepper salad, pork wellington, selection of cheese & crackers

Evening Cocktail: Dirty martini

Shakespeare Trivia: hot chocolate

*Of course. "45:33" was commissioned by Nike as part of their Nike+ Original Run series, way back in 2006. I should have realized this.

World before Columbus.

Day Six at Sea: No one is on the promenade at 7:00 PM, it would be a perfect time to run. But I don't want to run in the evening. It's so beautiful in the morning. But so many people, a throng of them toddled onto the deck shortly into my first mile.

When will I become like them? Old unstable, a shuffler. In the way. I hate asking them to step aside ("on your left") some are downright startled. I don't mean to ruin their walk. But I want to run, please. I want this, too.

Distance: 2 miles

Duration: 21 minutes

Figured out a system for keeping track, or should I say fingered. (I waggled my fingers for each lap, it was mnemonic.)

150 - 159 BPM Playlist

The World Before Columbus - Suzanne Vega

We Got the Beat - The Go-Go's

Starfuckers, Inc. - Nine Inch Nails

Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochrane

Power & the Passion - Midnight Oil

Yer Blues - The Beatles

Too slow a playlist today.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, orange juice, fresh fruit w/yogurt

Nooner: Honeysuckle something -- a rum drink

Lunch: Iced tea, tomato basil soup, toasted cheese & onion sand w/fries & mayo, small salad

Happy Hour: Cunard Red

Cocktail Hour: Suburban -- Maker's w/Port & orange

Dinner: watermelon salad w/feta & tomato, surf & turf, side of whipped potatoes, red win

Nightcap: Old Fashioned Deluxe

I want to get out on my own.

Book jacket photo

Day Five at Sea: We really are some of the youngest people on the boat. Not the youngest, no. There are families, kids, young adults. But seriously. So many old, white people.

When I woke at six on the first day, I had to wait for coffee, and to run. We've crossed two time zones, now I can barely get out by nine. Still, a slow and steady adjustment. It helps!

Distance: 1 mile

Duration: 10 minutes

150 - 159 BPM Playlist

Concrete Jungle - The Specials

Talk To Ya Later - The Tubes

This Corrosion - Sisters of Mercy

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit  yogurt

Trivia Time: latte, cinnamon twist

High Tea: tea w/milk & sugar, olive & tom sand, ham & chutney sand, apple tart, chocolate cream tart, scone w/clotted cream & jam

Cocktail Hour: Tanqueray martini, bean chips

Dinner: asparagus & red pepper marmalade, pork, cherries flambé, white and red wines

Is it appropriate for the band to play "My Heart Will Go On" on a Transatlantic crossing?

Oh! Mi corazón!

On loan from the ship library.

Day Four at Sea: Ran a treadmill, which was disorienting as the ship swayed and pitched in the mid-Atlantic, The system proved the option of a video that akes you through an exotic location. I chose Rome. Also?  I wore the hat. I didn't need to wear a hat.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 32:05

150-159 PM Playlist

Yesterday Never Tomorrows - The Stills

Good Times - INXS ft. Jimmy Barnes

Sisters - Cate Le Bon

Bushfire - The B-52's

Hello City - Barenaked Ladies

Spanish Bombs - The Clash

Damaged Goods - Gang of Four

Boombastic - Shaggy

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fruit  yogurt, orange juice

Coffee Break: latte

Lunch: Coca-Cola, cheeseburger, onion rings

Happy Hour: gin martini special, mixed nuts

Dinner: Anjou pears, Sambal chicken w/rice & bok choy, sticky toffee pudding w/ice cream, white wine

Nightcap: Cunard Red

The Cunard Red is a fave. Smooth. Mild.

Run me to the left.

Day Three at Sea: Perhaps I should have packed more warmly. Darling darling had packed a long sleeve workout shirt, for which I am so grateful.

Yes, fewer people at 8:00 AM, more followed. I actually saw one other runner, but we do seem obnoxious with all our runnings and asking people to make room for passing. 

Friends and neighbors ... 58 Playlists for 58 Years.

2024 Playlist

Yeah x10 [MIXED] - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross ft. Boys Noize

Take me to the River - Lorde

Texas Hold 'Em - Beyonce

Murder on the Dancefloor - Royer Otis

Von Dutch - Charlie XCX

Digging in the Dirt (162 BPM) - Sheryl Crow ft. Peter Gabriel

"I Know" [MIXED] - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross ft. Boys Noize

Bean Field - Shannon and the Clams

Distance: 2 1/3 miles

Duration: 28 minutes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, yogurt, bananas

Snack: caramel biscuits (2)

Lunch: Cunard Red (2), chicken tikka masala w/rice, naan chutney, papadam

High Tea: tea w/sugar and milk, chocolate banana tart, coconut cream, salmon sand, turkey cranberry sand, rich cheese sand, scone w/clotted cream & strawberry jam

Dinner: red wine, Caprese salad, French onion soup & a few small treats

Cocktail: Old Fashioned Deluxe

Love is an ocean.

Day Two at Sea: The promenade deck of the Queen Mary 2 is approximately one-third mile about. But I am terrible at keep track. Surely I ran more than two miles in twenty-five minutes, but I do wish to be accurate.

Distance: 2 or 2 1/3 miles
Duration: 25 minutes

1974 Playlist

The Thrill of It All - Roxy Music  

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding - Brinsley Schwarz

Take Me to the River - Al Green

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachmann-Turner Overdrive

Hooked on a Feeling,- Blue Swede ft. Bjorn Skifs

Rock and Roll Hoochie-Koo - Rick Derringer

Boogie Down - Eddie Kendricks

"Jogging" is not permitted on deck until 8 AM, and I was, as far as I could see, the only jogger at that tie. But there were lots of walkers, several in pairs. So I had to "on your left" a lot. Thank God they all got the memo on going counter-clockwise.

Still, I hated having to disturb people. But fuck it, I paid for this boat, too.

Dawn: cappuccino

Pre-Breakfast: coffee w/cream, orange juice, banana, yogurt

Breakfast: avocado & poached egg on toast, coffee

High Tea: tea w/milk & sugar, fruit cake, mint cream cake, beef sand, coronation (curry) chicken sand, cheese & tomato sand, shrimp sand, scone w/clotted cream & jam

Cocktail Hour: Tanqueray martini

Dinner: champagne (courtesy of the captain), wild rice salad, chateaubriand & mushroom tart, red wine, chocolate soufflé

Nightcap: old fashioned

Note: This diet seems unconscionable in its plenty, but I made and kept a promise to eat less than half of all dishes.