I missed my Saturday workout, but got an afternoon run in -- treadmill action with the exciting sights of Nascar. I started at 5mph then went up to 7 for the last half mile. My knees tell me to run straight so I'll have to pay attention to them in case they decide to be uncooperative.
Running Log: 4.14 miles
Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach to Chesterfield on The 101. I met a bunch of people, several names I forget. Lexie and Kim were there with Carter, mentor Kirstie and Maureen(?) were leading with Neil showing up for pizza later. Fireman Mike was there, Stephanie, Kristy(?), and The Girl from New Zealand.
Pizza Port still rocks.
I'm still running pretty well, though I had to walk a bit at around 3.25 miles. Bummer. A minute walk, then finished strong. Oh well, I'm just not the stud I want to be yet.
Running Log: 2.84 miles last night
Took a few to get off the couch, but I'm glad I went. I've got a run at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach after work today that I'm lookin forward to. GO TEAM!
p.s. No cigarettes since last Friday! Even though I've only been a social smoker, I feel good about not picking up since then.
This week's training regimen: train with me!
Sunday May 21st:
Half: A runners: 20 min. easy run or XT; B runners: 2 mile ez run or XT.
Full: A runners: 30 min. easy run or XT; B runners: 3 mile ez run or XT
Monday May 22nd:
Half: A runners: 30 min. jog/walk; B runners: 2-3 miles aerobic
Full: A runners: 45 min. run/walk; B runners: 3-4 miles aerobic
Tuesday May 23rd:
Half and Full: A runners: Off; B runners: Off or easy XT
Wed. May 24th
Half: A runners: 20 min. jog/walk; B runners: 2 miles easy
Full: A runners: 30 min. jog/walk; B runners; 3 miles easy
Most A runners and some B runners will take incremental walking breaks where easy jogging is alternated with 1-3 minute walking breaks. Mentors will lead these pace groups at Saturday sessions.
Running Log: 2.44 miles today, 3.14 on Saturday
That puts me at 5.58 miles so far. This is according to Google Earth. More to come.
Somehow the symphony got to be REALLY fun!
Maybe it's not so much of a surprise to me. You know, I like going for the dramatic/sensational headline.
Truth of the matter, though, is that I had an amazingly fun time at the San Diego Symphony today! Yelim Bronfman was the Guest Artist performing Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 in D Mino, Opus 30 ("The Rach" from the movie "Shine" with Geoffrey Rush). That was sandwiched by a piece by Schnittke, (K)ein Sommenachstraum [translated: (Not) A Midsummer Night's Dream] and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Opus 36.
First off, Schnittke had a helluva sense of humor and a real talent for fun and whimsy in his symphonies. The piece I heard was at times harmonious then discordant, melodic then razzy. I laughed deeply, well more of a chortle since I had to keep quiet. I could just imagine the composer snickering to himself. I <3 snickering. Oh, a little touch to the piece was the fact that Schnittke sat the 2nd Violin's 3rd seat in the last seat of the section, then had that musician play a bouncing conversation with some woodwinds. It was the first bit of play in the piece that just brought a smile to my face.
The Rach was so satisfying. I got a deep emotional hit from the movie Shine because the drama was something I could relate to in a not too far off way. I certainly never experienced near the trauma that David Helfgott did, but I could sympathize with his compulsion to master his ivory tower of music. Unfortunately, the movie segued into dreaminess during the final performance and the distortion worked for the movie, but presented only a pittance of the actual composition. Mr. Bronfman handled the piece with nothing short of mastery, leading and playing well with the symphony orchestra which sounded exceptionally strong themselves. I felt the full force of the concerto thanks to the musicians and I was left with serious Perma-Grin, something that I last had when I went Drift Racing with Team McKinney.
Last came a piece from Tchaikovsky, also playful at times but deepened with very somber and melancholy tones, yet finishing as strong as any piece of music could. There was an entire movement where the strings never touched their bows, instead playing all notes pizzicato -- picking with their fingers. The sounds was sublime, especially when the music flowed across several of the orchestra sections, like ripples over water.
I'm inspired to attend more next year. I scored tickets for $40 a piece that put us on the front row right next to the orchestra! The only bummer was being on the right side of the stage which had us facing the back of the Mr. Bronfman's piano. His fingers must have been an amazing sight to behold.
All of the composers in addition to Yelim Bronfman were Russian. It made me remember a man from my hometown, Sam Rothman, who was a good friend of my father's in Roseland, NJ. I used to go to his house as a kid of about ten and watch him practice. This guy would poor so much effort into his practices that he'd be dripping sweat, hammering on the piano. It was intense! So much power moving from his hands into the piano, I was only impressed by the physical effort as a kid, but now I feel the transmission of energy so much more. That, I think, was the source of the Perma-Grin.
I have to imagine that the sense of satisfaction was a direct effect of the Music Director, Jahja Ling. First off, he has perhaps one of the coolest names ever. Second, he brought his A Game to this performance along with all the musicians in his charge. I now know the profound impact of a true leader in a venue like the symphony. His playlist was so rich, like a deep culinary experience with music instead. Thanks, Mr. Ling.
p.s. I got a CD after the show from Sam Goody of Rachmaninoff playing his own concertos. Beware recordings of old, dead people. The fidelity is awful and there's so much noise. The recording is really like an old scrapbook image, faded with fond memories, but I'll have to hunt down a more recent recording as I can hardly distinguish the piano playing. Oh well.
Spread this flyer!
I've come up with a flyer to spread around to help my fundraising. If you can, Post This Note and Spread This Word! I can use all the help I can get.
We'll see how well 3M spray adhesives hold photo paper at 90 mph. I'm hosting this at Flickr, so you can get various sizes including a large version.
Ten Things I Hate About Commandments
Yeah, I agree with Mr. Doctorow. This is "milk-out-the-nose" funny...
Watch the video, but don't drink anything while doing so. You've been warned. (thanks to BoingBoing)
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a movie made by Al Gore and others that addresses the Global Warming issue. I'll be at the movies on either June 9th or 16th to see the film in San Diego. Join me if you can!
From the maker(s) of Ren & Stimpy
all kinds of stuff
John Kricfalusi has a really cool blog with fun, zany stuff a la Ren & Stimpy as well as How To's on cartooning and more. Check it out!
First three miles of training
Saturday morning was the first workout for my involvement with Team In Training. I pulled out three miles from this crusty body that hasn't run in months. This is all about my running in the San Francisco Nike Marathon while raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).
I'll be sending out more info soon, but you can click to my fundraising web page right now. More to come...
Nation comes down from a bad trip
Bush job approval falls to 29 pct in new poll - Yahoo! News
This struck me as if the country was finally coming to the recognition of its hubris, sort of like the morning after when you wanna say "I drank what?".
It's a good thing the Prez is in good physical condition from the last couple of years. Pretty soon he may be running away from the general population.
My Xbox is blogging!
Check out my Xbox's blog to see what I do each night. It hasn't chosen a name of its own yet, so it might sound a little impersonal, but at least you can see a more steady stream of activity than you've been getting from me.
Consider it my own blog once removed...
There's something hot about women playing ping pong
I'll let you know what it is when I figure it out, but it definitely gives me cause for pause.
The Post About Panama - The Prerelease Edit
Here's a case of being reluctant to write because of lack of skillz and a sense that words can't convey the bliss. Oh well, shoot me if you don't like the writeup, but try using your imagination anyway to read between the lines.
And now, let me take you back in time...
Flying back to LA from Panama. It's been a wonderful week of surf and yoga, no agenda, lots of rest, meeting new friends. The water was warm, the food was fresh, the people were nice. Funny, though, how I found myself really protecting my solitude and personal desires. The funniest part of it was the fact that I felt a bit of a loner for most of the week, feeling clumsy not getting close to the largest group of people. But, then, through a stroke of stupidity, I found myself with an extra twelve hours in Panama City alongside the same group of guys. (I read my itinerary to say that I was leaving at 7AM instead of 7PM. Good practice eating poo.) Turned out that I got the opportunity to settle down with them to a much more familiar degree. Each of them were very personable and I enjoyed their company very much.
I also gave myself a nice walking tour of Panama City. I'd visit that town again but I expect I'll definitely make a point to travel to Morro Negrito again. That was a slice of paradise.
The internet cafe next to the Centroamericano hotel was fifty cents for half hour. It gave me time to check my work email on Saturday morning so I wouldn't be surprised on Sunday. Brad continues to rock. C confirmed she'd pick me up from L.A. What a bud! I dig her so much.
So, who'd I meet? Peter from Boston, a musician, four time visitor to the camp. Alex, a nineteen year old who celebrated his birthday this past week. Rafi, a really nice guy who supposedly hurt his back. Jeff, the camp leader, Steve the camp owner. Local kids: Johnatan, Iris, Violas. Dennis and his two sons: Matt and Travis. Jeeper. The Colonel, a photographer. The Guys: Jon (Air Force), Reeves (Navy), Chris (Realtor in Hawaii), his brother Mark, Alistair (Zimbabwe to S.A. to Maine), and Henri (anesthesiologist from Boston). Denise, Randy, Adam, and Brittney. Marcia and Jewel from North Carolina.
Oh yeah, I met Ruffy the dog.
I missed a whole bunch of people, first and foremost Sarah, then Calvin, Emily, C, group, and Hsiao.
There were lots of animals: land crabs, ants, lizards, frogs, sand crabs, vultures, hammerhead sharks, a stingray, more fish than I could count. I ate fresh dorado, mahi mahi, and yellowtail(?). Bananas, guapo seeds, cookies, snacks (from Marcia -- thanks!), lots of pollo, rice, lentils, chorizo (in Panama City), apples, and watermelon.
I attended five or six yoga classes and definitely opened up my hips and shoulders. My muscles were SORE -- more from yoga than surfing. I did some snorkeling west of Leftovers, surfed the beach break at Snickers a couple times, swam from P-land to Leftovers and back. I spent a lot of time in various hammocks (I intend on buying one promptly with some portable mounts).
(Note from the Now: Yes, I did buy a hammock, two in fact, and as a sign that I have a serious connection with this form of lazing, I received a third hammock in my shipment that hammocks.com decided to let me keep gratis.)
I watched The Constant Gardener on Brad's suggestion, started Crash, watched Ultraviolet (la-hame!), was reminded of how much I wanted to see Resident Evil: Apocolypse again, almost finished Night Watch. I read both Alfred Bester books that I just bought: The Stars My Destination (Insta-review: Sci-Fi Excellence!!!) and The Demolished Man. I read a bunch of Cell from Stephen King, grabbed a couple books from the shelf at the camp and left the first book from Bester there. I took a bunch of panoramas on the island and in the city. I wish I had gotten pictures of all the staff at camp.
Oh, yeah! I met Rowen from L.A. who works for American Apparel. He researches innovative materials for his company and he's very interested in sustainable fabrics.
There was a fella who came to the camp at the same time as me but left early due to a head injury. I hope he's okay.
I've got some video of the surf next to camp. Just the sound was awesome. The night sky was amazingly clear too. This media will be posted soon for your listening enjoyment.
I got some good sun, not too much. I got some pictures of Barnaby on the trip as well. I bought a bracelet for Sarah, then discovered it'd probably be better for me, but was unable to get any more from Iris (a young local girl) to replace it with. Bummer. The only one, though.
I'm really looking forward to seeing C tonight. I wonder if she feels the same.
I listened to Donald Fagen's latest a bunch. Spent some time with Alex Hephaestion's mixes, The Doves (uh oh! dinner tray coming!), (BACK LATER!!!)
(And now, back to the past, later than before...)
I’ve been back for two weeks now and I’ve finally got enough time to put down some impressions of Panama.
Oh, what a feeling. The short version -- nature, fresh fish, fresh fruit, fresh water, surf, yoga, friends, and time.
Here’s what the plan was before the trip: no agenda, bring a toothbrush, shorts and a towel. The plan worked perfectly from Saturday until Tuesday when the mission changed. At that point, I realized my trip would have been successful if I felt satisfied and fulfilled at resting.
The trip was truly a success.
I don’t think my vacation could have been any better. There was enough time and space for me to do whatever I wanted to do. Even though the airline lost my luggage for over four days, I didn’t miss it at all. Randy and Denise loaned me a pair of shorts and a towel and I had my toothbrush. That was enough.
My typical day was like this:
- Sleep in while listening to the early birds go surfing at 6:30a
- Wake up without an alarm clock at 7:10
- Walk over to the yoga deck for a morning wake up session with Denise
- Eat some breakfast
- Hang out and talk
- Find a hammock and read
- Play ping pong with Adam
- Play chess
- Eat lunch
- Hang out some more
- Swim or surf
- Read in another hammock
- Nap
- Wake up for yoga in the evening while watching the sunset
- Eat dinner
- Read some more
- Play more ping pong
- Play more chess
- Go to sleep
It was warm every day. I hardly wore a shirt all week. I slept in the nude. I did all the yoga I wanted. I did all the surfing I wanted. I snorkeled. I swam in the ocean. I walked in the jungle. I marveled at the surf in front of the camp. I gazed at the moon and stars. I reminded myself how far away I was from everything else in my life.
I felt so grateful, peaceful, rested, and happy.
I met wonderful people:
- Marsha, an artist from North Carolina, and her daughter Jewel
- Peter, a musician from Boston
- Dennis, Trav and Matt, home builders from Hawaii
- Jon from Oregon
- Mark (Accountant) and Chris (Realtor), brothers from Denver and Hawaii
- Reeves from Denver -- poor guy is a DBA.
- The Captain, a photographer from Boston
- Jeeper, visiting the camp for three weeks
- Ted, a software developer from Boston
- Henri, an anesthesiologist from Boston
- Alistair a financial advisor from Maine
- Jeff, Rafi, Nick (Alex?)
- Steve the camp owner from Encinitas
- Rich a high school psychologist/counselor from Arrowhead, and Elyse, his juggling fourteen year old daughter
Denise, Randy, Adam, and Brittney are great traveling friends. I haven't travelled with family's before, but I'd rate them highly at "familiestotravelwith.com" given the chance.
There you have it. Anyone feel like editing? I don't. I'll post later if I feel like it. Love you all...
There's not NEARLY enough of THIS Trek in the universe
Eugene: Star Trek 2.0 - "It's Solid Beef... Baby!"
Today's Star Trek yuks are courtesy of eson from Los Angeles. I spent time with Eugene at Eudora for a coupla years but he got smart and left the corporate tech industry for writing fiction.
I can honestly say that Eugene is one of the Best Geeks I Know.
Yes, I know a published author
Pete Edwards sent me word of this article in the Washington Post. Hardly scandalous, but newsworthy as far as I'm concerned.
Congrats on the exposure, Pete!
Sites Let Amateurs Be Published Authors Without the Book Deal
Just give it time
I just got complimented on how well I've been handling things, not just now but also in the past. There was a long time where I was unappreciated for what and how much I did as well as how hard I had worked. "The last 10% distracted from the 90%..."
Well, I've got mixed feelings about the compliment, which I don't doubt was sincere. I guess it brings up a lot of resentment and hurt from the past which I had pretty much gotten over for myself. My feelings of hurt and anger certainly aren't anything that I can't deal with, but this is another reminder of how, even though I can "get over" something without the cooperation of "the other party involved", I probably won't get over everything on my own.
And that's okay.
Why do I put this out in public? I'm walking towards the light, baby, walking towards the light. Maybe someone else can use this as an analogy to their own dispute or pain.
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