Moving at one million miles an hour.

Increasingly now, numbness in my hands. Mostly the right, but also the left. Is this poor circulation? Nerve damage? At the moment it is merely unpleasant. It wakes me earlier than I'd like and makes it impossible to go back to sleep. 

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 35:54
Pace: 8:58

Welcome to the Pleasuredome - Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)

Welcome to the Pleasuredome (Escape Act Video Mix)

Relax (Come Fighting)

War

Two Tribes

Born To Run

Wish (The Lads Were Here)

Krisco Kisses

The Only Star In Heaven

The Power of Love

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 80°
Climate: sunny & HOT!

Mood: good!

We were Frankie Fans. Relax had been released in late 1983, and was rattling around on MTV — but only a little — in early 1984. It was part of the mix, the general wash of British disco that was worming its way into my consciousness.

In summer I participated in the Experiment in International Living (EIL) and after a fraught couple of weeks engaged in culture and language training, we flew to Spain. The first night was spent in Madrid, before taking buses to our month long homestay in Lugo.

The bunch of us, twelve nervous American teenagers, were at a disco talking and drinking. I wasn't much of a dancer then, I had only ever been on a dancefloor a couple times over the past couple years. but Footloose was a thing and I tried to get over myself. I love music. But I didn't know how to dance.

The synthesized bass line for an extended mix of Relax (the New York Mix, I believe) it had a prolonged, melody-free intro, and I was distracted. "What is this song? I know this song. What is this song?" It built and built and I needed to know what it was. When the beat dropped, I think I actually shouted, and I got up from the table to take the floor. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I needed to be out there.

I've been chasing that high for a very long time.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs. (-1.0)

The original double-album for Pleasuredome included several interstitial gags and songs that are not part of what is currently the official release (on CD and also streaming services) but they are slow songs, anyway, like Bacharach's San Jose and the Liverpudlian classic Ferry Cross the Mersey, so I didn't want to run to them, anyway.

Planks: yes
Pushups: yes

Yesterday I had a big cookie, a scoop of ice cream team, and popcorn. I didn’t even enjoy the popcorn, it was too salty. A snack between/after every meal. That’s not necessary.

You Were a Pretty Queen of New York City

This holiday season I have been thinking a lot about Nineteen Eighty-Seven. That's a quarter century ago. Maybe it's because that's when I bought the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, and listened to it until my mother was driven to distraction. Or when my father first turned me onto Brubeck's Time Out. Or the first Very Special Christmas Album.

Nineteen Eighty-Seven was my first full year as an adult. It was an emotional trajectory from low to high, all year long. My first serious dating relationship broke up during the holidays in 1986 ... okay, that's not fair to the girls I dated in high school. What I mean is this was the first time she broke up with me.

I took Accutane to stanch hideous, scarring acne. In that year I had sex with more different people than in any other. I do not think those two facts are unrelated.

The year began with a mullet. By the mid-summer my hair was dyed black. I learned how to actually dance. I started clubbing. My first mosh pit. There were drugs. I began work on my first daily comic strip. There was freedom. There was a complete lack of personal responsibility. It was also the fall when I first met my wife.

Yes, things were carefree and crazy in 1987. I had a near nervous breakdown less than a year later, but that goes without saying.

Temperature: 37°
Distance: 3.25 miles

1987 Holiday Playlist
Fairytale of New York - The Pouges ft. Kirsty MacColl
It's A Wonderful Life (Gonna Have A Good Time) - Fishbone
Winter Wonderland - Eurythmics
Vanishing Girl - The Dukes of Stratosphear
Gabriel's Message - Sting
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison
Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S