Waiting for the bus earlier today I was approached by a young man, maybe in his early 20s, hard to tell. A stout fellow, dark-haired, wearing a tank top and shorts and sneakers. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt you, but... are you a basketball fan?"

I was intrigued. That wasn't a line of inquiry I'd expected. "Well, yeah, but I haven't been following the playoffs this year much."

"But you like it, right?" I nodded, and he continued. "Do you remember when Portland played Detroit for the Finals?"

I thought a moment. Yeah, early '90s, I think. Maybe '92? I'd have to google it later. "I think so..."

The entire time he'd been talking to me, he seemed distracted by some thought, a strange but pleasant smile on his face. His smile deepened and he avoided making eye contact with me as he asked the important question he'd been leading up to. "Do you remember Charles Barkley being on that team?"

I shook my head. "Oh, no. No, he never played for the Pistons. He played most of his career for Phoenix." I racked my brains for details of the lineup for Detroit 15 years ago, but all I could remember was the ol' flop-master, Bill Laimbeer.

"See, it's the strangest thing..." the young man trailed off, lost in thought. After a moment he continued. "I can clearly remember Charles Barkley in a Detroit Pistons uniform, playing against Portland. My dad tells me I'm wrong, even the internet doesn't show him on that team..." He was wistful and sentimental. "But I can clearly remember it."

"Yeah, he wasn't on that team. Now, more than likely we had to go through Phoenix to get to the Finals, so I'm sure we played against him at one point, but, no, he wasn't playing for Detroit that year. I can't remember who their center was..."

"I was thinking as a power forward or a guard, not a center."

"Yeah. No."

He just shook his head and stared off into space. "I can clearly remember it..."

"Memory is a strange thing" I suggested. Why was he hanging on to this thought? He wanted some complicated explanation, or he was convinced that he was right and the rest of the world was wrong. But the simple explanation is that he misremembered it. And yet, in the face of so many counter examples, he was still confused by this errant memory? Weird.

For the record, the Portland Trailblazers lost to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals in 1991. So sayeth the internets, RandomGuy's dad, and me. • 9:41 PM 3 comments

I'm constantly surprising myself with my running.

Yesterday I felt like I'd overdone it, pushed myself too hard and too far and paid a price. I've done 5.5 miles before, and faster, too, but never before with so many hills. And running on the street is harder than any other kind of running except for trail running, and I even did a bit of that, too, since there are groomed trails through the parks on my long route.

Plus I was trying something new in my stride, something that's more of a push along the ground, to generate more speed and use more of the muscles in my legs and butt, rather than the normal, up-and-down jogging motion I normally use. For the record, I read that in this article. I'm not training to be a superfast elite runner but a little more speed or a little more efficiency would be nice. But even though, technically, using a larger group of muscles for the same effort is more efficient... the technique has its costs.

Suffice to say that after my run yesterday I was tired and sore. A bit more tired and sore than I have been for a while.

But, today, I knew I wanted to run, but didn't want to push too hard and didn't want to go too far. And it seems that everytime I set out to just go along and coast and yet try to just keep going... I exceed my expectations. There's a lesson in that...

Today, I ran a planned 2.5 mile, down-to-the-river-and-back, somewhat hilly route. And managed to average a 9:28 pace!

Here's my half-mile splits:

1. 4:46.31 (04:46.31)
   
2. 4:45.41 (09:31.72)
   
3. 4:26.18 (13:57.90)
   
4. 5:22.04 (19:19.94)
   
5. 4:20.39 (23:40.33)

I told myself, as I started the last half-mile, that since I had held back for the previous 2 miles, that I had every reason to push for the last half-mile. You know, since I didn't really care about overall time, if I pooped out and had to walk the last section, it wouldn't matter in the long run. And, damn if I didn't turn in a great time, both for that section and for the overall run.

Surprising that my soreness and tiredness from the day before has vanished today... so far, at any rate. Ask me again in a couple of hours. Right now I need food. • 1:06 PM 2 comments

Running schedule for the week:

• Monday: 2.5 miles
  
• Tuesday: 3 miles
  
• Wednesday: Rest day
  
• Thursday: 3.5 miles
  
• Friday: 5.5 miles (Run to work!)
  
• Saturday: 4 miles
  
• Sunday: Rest day
  

Total of 18.5 miles.

I'm sticking with the same total miles of last week, but shifting around the schedule to go a bit easier on myself in the early part of the week. Not sure which day I'll try some speed work on. Probably Saturday. • 9:48 PM 0 comments

Finally did my "long run" for the week. I slept in late, then figured I'd be no good on my run if I did it on an empty stomach, so I ate a small breakfast, then waited another two hours after that to be sure I wasn't running on a full stomach. Does that seem contradictory? It does? Don't care. Mainly I was stalling.

Plus I have a blister on my left heel, from my new/old shoes, the replacement Brooks Adrenaline GTS 5s. Bummer.

Five and a half miles is a long way. When I originally planned it, I was going to do the "run to work" thing -- bringing a change of clothes and toiletries to work the day before, then getting up the morning of, throwing on some running clothes and heading on in. Unfortunately, that plan was done in by lots of other things that caused me not to be ready. No laundry done by Wednesday, for example. Also, I had plans on Thursday night which precluded my going to bed early for my run. So I pushed it back to Saturday.

Then Friday came and went and I was tired 'cause it had been a long week and no running, which pushed both my 3 mile and my long run back another day.

I did the 3 miler yesterday. Which brings me back to where the post started; my 5.5 mile run. Yes, I'm even stalling about writing about the long run.

Since I couldn't do the "run to work" thing, my second plan was to run from work -- put on my running gear, grab my bus pass, take the bus downtown and then run home. But that didn't seem very fun, for some reason. So I decided to run in my neighborhood. Since my normal route is either a 3.5 or 4.0 mile loop, and I already know the half-mile marks, I planned on running along my normal route for 3 miles, then turning around and going back for 2.5.

The major difference between this new 5.5 mile out-and-back-again run and the 5.5 miles I run to-and-from downtown is that there are way more hills in my neighborhood. So it's a tougher run.

With all that in mind, here are my half-mile splits (elapsed time in italics):

1. 4:49.29 (04:49.29)
   
2. 4:55.84 (09:45.13)
   
3. 5:03.51 (14:48.64)
   
4. 4:45.00 (19:33.64)
   
5. 4:34.49 (24:98.13)
   
6. 4:59.86 (29:07.99)
   
7. 7:40.09 (36:48.08)
   
8. 5:49.13 (42:37.21)
   
9. 5:47.62 (48:24.83)
   
10. 4:50.30 (53:15.13)
    
11. 6:16.36 (59:31.49)

Yeah, I died after 3 miles, my turnaround point. My average per-mile pace was 10:49 or so. I'm tempted to recalculate it after tossing out the high one... but what's the point? I did what I did, and that's what I record. Oh, well. I did have one good half-mile after that but felt dog-slow for most of the last half of my run. Not sure why I've been so slow this week but, as I've said before, I'm not going to let it get me down. Just keep runnin'. • 6:49 PM 0 comments

Registered for the Mt. Tabor 5K today.

Had a brief moment when I thought I'd try the 8K, but... naaaaahhhh.

Also didn't get the t-shirt. Got enough of those to last a lifetime. Or at least years and years. • 5:13 PM 0 comments

I'm slower this week than I was last week. Not sure why but I'm not going to stress over it.

I didn't run at all on Friday, so I ran my 3 miles today instead. I actually did OK for the first 2 miles but couldn't maintain it for the last mile, as you'll see. I suspect it's because I slept in late and didn't have any breakfast, so I was running on an empty tank and without much warmup.

My half-mile splits (total elapsed time in parentheses):

1. 4:34.99 (4:34.99)
   
2. 4:46.92 (9:21.91)
   
3. 5:13.44 (14:35.35)
   
4. 4:38.04 (19:13.39)
   
5. 6:09.54 (25:22.93)
   
6. 5:47.26 (31:10.19)

For the first two miles, I maintained a nice 9:36 pace, but just couldn't keep myself going for the last mile; I had to stop and walk a bit. And my final average dropped to 10:23 or so. • 11:55 AM 0 comments

Friday Night Cat Blogging!

...and here's some more! • 2:42 PM 0 comments

OK, this is geeky and stupid.

When starting up Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), a window displays with a blue progress bar:



It turns out that that window is simply a place-holder until the LoginWindow process can launch. The progress bar? It does nothing, it measures nothing beyond guessing how long it will take before the LoginWindow process will come up, which it then uses to move the progress bar this time.

More details can be found here. The WaitingForLoginWindow process even logs how long it took to run, and has a freakin' man page!

That's stupid! I can't believe that such a thing actually exists. I and other techs have joked about such a thing for years, but for someone to actually build an example and include it in a major release as some kind of tech placebo is beyond me. • 11:34 AM 0 comments

Ran this morning. Had some plans for after work, and it's been warm and will be warm again today, so wanted to avoid the heat of the day. It still seemed warm to me, even shortly after sunrise.

Just did a quick 2.5 mile run down to the river and back. 24:14, or a 9:41 pace. Not bad. Felt a bit stiff since I'd taken yesterday off as a rest day for running... but still walked home from work.

I will likely swap my planned "run to work" tomorrow morning with my planned 3 mile run on Saturday. Won't affect total miles and may give me better performance on my long run. Actually, what I will likely do is take a bus downtown, and then run home. That way I won't have to leave a change of clothes and toiletries downtown Friday night. • 6:50 AM 0 comments

Quick note:

Today (25 May 2005) was:



I still miss Douglas Adams. The world will always seem less funny to me with him gone.

Actually met him once. He was not only a hoopy frood, but very very tall. • 3:48 PM 0 comments

Bought some new shoes last night, from the Portland Running Company. I mean, they're the same model as my old shoes, Brooks Adrenaline GTS 5, in the same style and color, but they're brand-new and don't have around 400 miles on them like my old ones. Plus I've bought enough shoes at PRC to earn a free set of socks. I'm working my way up the list to a free pair of shoes...

Supposedly you're supposed to change shoes every 300-500 miles, and if I do the math, I think I'm at the midpoint with my old ones, so it was time. I wanted to go the whole "try on a bunch and run in them while the staff watches you and helps fit you based on their knowledge" route, but I can do that later when I replace my pair of Nike Structure Triax. I really like the Brooks', they've got enough support and lots of room in the toes (I have wide feet) so I'll stick with them for now.

Looks like I've missed all the good races for May, which is a bummer. But, looking ahead, I will definitely make the Mt. Tabor Challenge, and in July, of course, is the Nike Run Hit Wonder. Nike has only posted the details of the New York race, a 5-mile course through Central Park on July 20, and this year it looks like the headliner is Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (rowr!) Since I'm planning a trip to New York anyway, and since the date of the trip has not been set, perhaps I'll plan the timing around running that race. I could do the RHW in NY and Portland... although the Portland race is 4 days after. Could be fun to try, though. • 6:53 AM 0 comments

Ran my 3.5 miles last night. Mostly I wanted to get out and move and be in the sun, since yesterday was a perfect spring day, sunny and warm. The kind of day that puts smiles on Portlander's faces after a long cold rainy fall and winter.

I did, in fact, time myself on my run, however I didn't push myself too hard and simply maintained a good pace. I'm happy with my time but am not going to record it for my future reference. It was just a good decent run. • 6:44 AM 0 comments

Brrr. Woke up at 4:30 AM and decided it was too cold to go running this morning.

Went back to bed.

I'll run after work. • 6:44 AM 0 comments

Everybody has a favorite pirate.

Mine is Jean Lafitte.

OK, technically, not a pirate; more of a smuggler or fence. He operated several shops in New Orleans, including Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, which is now a bar and the oldest building in North America being used as a bar (which has to qualify for the most-convoluted superlative ever).

Lafitte and his brother also supplied arms and ships from their fleet of "merchant ships" to aid Andy Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans against the British, during the War of 1812 (note: the Battle of New Orleans took place in 1815, even though the Treaty of Ghent had been signed the year previous to end the war) and recieved a presidential pardon for his efforts.

And he probably had a crazy French accent, too. • 6:41 AM 0 comments

Smacky was being pretty goofy yesterday morning. He made me laugh several times. I got some good pictures (but I'm saving those for next weeks' Friday Night Cat Blogging).

But I do have one story. Smacky was watching the birds outside, standing up in front of my screen door (like this) and I was standing about 10 feet back with a toy catnip mouse. I thought it'd be funny to toss it at him and see if he reacted.

The mouse hit the screen just above his head and apparently he wasn't expecting it at all because he startled and ran around the living room like a devil robotic terminator cat was after him.

Too funny. I didn't mean to startle him. I thought cats were more perceptive than that.

He was doing a pretty good job of jumping all over the place chashing bugs, however. I had to pick up my CDs from the CD rack only twice. But now they're all alphabetized by artist. Again. • 6:28 AM 0 comments

Running schedule for the week:

• Monday: 3.5 miles
  
• Tuesday: 4 miles (Speed day - faster pickup 1x per mile)
  
• Wednesday: Rest day
  
• Thursday: 2.5 miles
  
• Friday: 5.5 miles (Run to work!)
  
• Saturday: 3 miles
  
• Sunday: Rest day
  

Total of 18.5 miles. • 4:54 PM 0 comments

Went for a long walk this afternoon, trying to burn off some of the delicious food I ate the night before (mmmm... ginger stir-fry with chicken and papaya salad... mmmm, black velvet cake...)

Walked from my neighborhood down through the Hawthorne area and across the Steel Bridge into downtown. Only got caught by the rain once, while I was on the Esplanade; I hid under an overhang until the rain passed.

Took a lot of pictures. Did a lot of thinking. Most of it positive.

Like before, sometimes I'm surprised by the apparent contradiction I see in some signs, like this one; doesn't "creative" clash with "office space"? Really, the only creative office space I can think of is the movie.

But sometimes I just like the way certain colors look together, like the spot of green against the orange-ish brown of a building. Or the bright yellow plastic lining this construction site.

At any rate, it's fun to go looking for images. If I look for them, I always find them. • 4:32 PM 0 comments

Short Revenge of the Sith review:

Yeah, Lucas connected the dots. It's pretty much exactly as I pictured it.

Except for the gratuitous use of Wookiees. Not that there's anything wrong with that. • 3:07 PM 0 comments

Quick note of my running time this morning. As per usual, my half-mile splits:

1. 4:31.63
   
2. 4:51.36
   
3. 5:05.21
   
4. 5:19.70
   
5. 4:15.22

After my long run yesterday, I wasn't looking to break any land speed records, but even so, I did very well. Total time 24:03.12, so a mile pace of 9:37.2. Yay! • 9:14 AM 0 comments

Friday Night Cat Blogging!

(Hey, it's afternoon in my time zone...)





...and here's some more! • 2:11 PM 0 comments

Ran to work today. I ran 5.5 miles, but because I forgot to time the first half-mile I only have a total time for 5.

But the total time for those 5 miles is 50:10.91, for a per-mile pace of 10:02.2.

Whoo-hoo...

Almost 10 minutes better total time than the last time I ran to work -- and that was when I timed the full 5.5 miles. Wait, does that invalidate the comparison? Yeah, probably. OK, it's 42 seconds-per-mile better on average. • 7:16 AM 0 comments

Today is the 1,346th day since 9/11.

Which is the same length of time from the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 Dec 1941) to the end of WWII on V-J Day (24 Aug 1945).

:( • 4:06 PM 0 comments

Got up early this morning. I woke up due to, *ahem* hydraulic pressure, thinking I still had an hour or so to go until the alarm, but when I saw the clock, no, I had a couple of minutes until the alarm.

Since I'm running to work tomorrow, I wanted to run this morning rather than this afternoon, to give me a full 24 hours between runs. The long run (5.5+ miles) really takes it out of me so I want to be well-rested.

This morning I only planned on 2.5 miles, just down to the river and back, basically. I wasn't going to push myself too hard. At least that was the plan.

Here are the half-mile splits:

1. 4:38.02
   
2. 4:41.37
   
3. 4:15.02
   
4. 4:55.53
   
5. 4:15.66

Which totals to 22:45.6, and gives me a mile pace of...

TA-DAAAA!

9:06.24!!

I'm a rock star! Sometimes I amaze even myself. • 6:22 AM 1 comments

OK, I get so sick of people making this argument that I had to post something about it. Don't have time for the whole rant, so this short little rant will have to suffice.

Overheard two co-workers having a philosophical discussion. OK, actually, one was trying to goad the other into having a philosophical discussion, and by the way, kudos to the one who was avoiding it because the one doing the goading wasn't being intellectually honest about it and was essentially abusing his class status (he's a supervisor) but trying to do it in a "we're just shooting the breeze" kind of way.

(I suppose it doesn't help that I think the goad-er is an idiot.)

At any rate, the goad-er was trying to puncture holes in the "theory" that universe was created out of nothing. "What does physics have to say about something being created out of nothing...?" he prompted, hoping for the goad-ed to jump on the bait.

People who know me well will appreciate just how difficult it is for me to overhear something like this and not jump right in. Those who know me well will also realize that that restraint is only bought at the expense of my having to write about it later. Which is... uh... now.

Basically, the entire basis of the question "Where did the universe come from?" is about as non-sensical as asking "Does a shoe make a good goat?" The main issue with the first question is thinking that "the universe" is something like a person or a telephone.

It's not. In fact, "the universe" isn't an "it" at all.

Sure, there are common conceptions of the universe as being a discrete object, a thing like an egg or an iPod or a kitten. Some folk use "the universe" to mean, say, the planet Earth. Or the solar system. Or even our galaxy, the Milky Way. But those things are part of the universe.

In fact, the logical definition of the proper noun "the universe" is "everything that exists". If it exists, that is, if it has a discrete place, with finite boundaries in time and space, then it's part of the universe. All of those things, together, make up the universe as a whole.

The universe is properly thought of as being the conceptual organizing principle for everything that we think of as, well, things. Since it's a concept and not an actual object it has no finite boundaries at all. Therefore it wasn't "created". It can't have been created, except in someone's head as an idea, a mental bag to contain everything else.

If this definition is countered with something along the lines of, "Well, then, where did the Big Bang, which supposedly 'created the universe', take place?" the answer is quite simple: The Big Bang took place in the universe, since all the matter and energy that made up the singlularity that produced the Big Bang were all that existed of the universe.

Where did the universe come from? It came from our brains, to give us a way to think about everything else.

So no more asking that silly question. • 4:20 PM 1 comments

I had an awesome run tonight, even though it was in the pouring rain.

Four miles, 38:11.45 total time, average pace 9:32.9! I'm having trouble believing it. If I hadn't been there I'm not sure I would believe it.

Here are the half-mile splits:

1. 4:38.08 [downhill]
   
2. 4:53.13 [downhill]
   
3. 4:59.33 [uphill]
   
4. 4:40.58 [flat]
   
5. 4:33.41 [flat]
   
6. 4:23.04 [downhill]
   
7. 5:15.72 [flat]
   
8. 4:48.16 [flat]
   

All but one half-mile was under 5:00, and I don't go over 5:00 until mile 3.5.

I'm very happy with this time. Between yesterday and tonight, I'm going in to my rest day pleased with my performance lately. Lots of positive stuff going on lately so I won't single anything out but let's just say that I'm not inclined to change right now... • 9:00 PM 0 comments

One of the saddest things about the crumbling of our larger journalistic institutions is that, when they fall, the majority of the American public will no longer be exposed to the basic set of facts on which conservative or liberal opinions should be based.

Indeed, it seems that there's been an attack on the concept that there exists a common set of facts on which we can all agree.

Sorry for the short post. I could write much more on this whole topic but wanted to note this one meme that's popping out at me, as I read about the New York Times' hiding it's opinion columnists behind a wall of money, or Daniel Okrent's smokescreen on why he did his job as omsbudman for the NYT so poorly, or, of course, of course, the stupid acceptance of responsibility of Newsweek for violence that preceded their publishing of two-year-old information -- while the White House calls for their heads.

I know. I usually post this stuff over at the political blog but this was less an analysis of the news, than a simple sinking feeling about the loss of a democratic republic over 200 years young. • 6:54 AM 0 comments

Whoo-HOO!

I ran (at the gym, 'cause it was raining and cold) tonight very well. 30:00 even, 3.13 miles. Which works out to a 9:35 pace!

First mile was just a shade under 10:00, second mile was 9:32, third mile was 9:25... which is when I decided to run a full 30 minutes and see how far I could get. I was in the zone...

Very happy with my performance today. Maybe my once- or twice-a-week speed work is actually helping. • 6:24 PM 0 comments

I love the internets. They (all of them) are the best places for trivia hounds like myself (my friends call me "the friggin' genius").

Where else can you learn a new, more secure way to tie your shoes?

Or even learn why the old way isn't secure? • 4:03 PM 0 comments

Tenative running schedule for the week:

• Monday: 3 miles
  
• Tuesday: 4 miles
  
• Wednesday: Rest day
  
• Thursday: 2.5 miles
  
• Friday: 5.5 miles (Run to work!)
  
• Saturday: 3 miles
  
• Sunday: Rest day
  

Total of 18 miles. I know a couple of different 2.5 and 3 mile loops, so I have some options.

The 4 mile run... I only know one 4-mile run right now, in my 'hood. I might spend some time this afternoon plotting out a different 4-mile loop. Or I might not. • 12:09 PM 0 comments

Phew!

For some reason I'd thought that the Mt. Tabor Challenge 5K was in May. It's not. It's Saturday, June 18th, 2005.

I did, however, miss the Lake Run -- it was May 7th. • 11:36 AM 0 comments

Two months ago, I satirized the idea that it might be possible to deny that the color green existed.

This week, Tom Tomorrow satirizes that some might deny that human sexuality existed. (Link goes to Salon.com; Day Pass required.)

And then there's those that deny the fundamental organizing principle of modern science. Oh... wait. They don't intend that as satire. My bad. Those folk really would deny green or human sexuality if it meant they'd gain power. • 9:41 PM 1 comments

Reading the forums over at HarveyDanger.com, I was astonished to discover that there are a bunch of unreleased studio recordings from the boys of HD. Not just bootlegs or demos, but actual professionally-done songs.

The track listing is:

1. Save it for Later
   
2. Beautiful World
   
3. Snippet #1 (Warm-up)
   
4. Plague of Locusts
   
5. My Human Interactions
   
6. Defrocked
   
7. Snippet #2 (Voicemail)
   
8. Ballad of a Tragic Hero (Pity and Fear)
   
9. Is There Something I Should Know?
   
10. Snippet #3 (Radio oui)
    
11. Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)
    
12. Carjack Fever (original version)
    
13. Save it for Later (alternate version)
    
14. Authenticity (alternate version)

Yes, Harvey Danger covered Duran Duran (track #9). Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste.

And apparently if you ask nicely some kind souls have been emailing some of the recordings to faithful fans... which means that they're probably available on the internets. But if you dig through the thread I linked to, above, "existential cowgirl" posted links to several of the tracks. Don't know how long that's going to remain up, though. • 7:27 PM 0 comments

I took some pictures last weekend and posted them recently. They're pictures of signs in and around my neighborhood.

I seem to notice signs that didn't originally refer to each other but because of positioning seem to... That's an awkward way to describe the idea but it's the best I can do right now.

Like the Divorce Shoppe (which is, in and of itself, an odd idea to me) with the "Closed" sign in the window, the store itself dark and empty.

Or the way the Will Call sign points to Marion.

Am I over-explaining? Maybe so. • 3:56 PM 0 comments

I needed 5 miles today or tomorrow to reach my goal of 17 for the week, but having done 4 miles yesterday, I didn't really want to do another long run.

So I broke it up into two 2.5 mile runs. Two different out-and-back-again loops from my apartment, one in the morning and one in the evening. An interesting experiment. I suppose it would have been better if I'd done the same loop; that way could compare my times from the morning and evening to see when I'm a better runner. I've pondered that question before.

But that's not what I did. And I'm not sure about the overall distance for each loop; I think the morning one is a little short of 2.5 and the evening one is a little long. But I'm sure that, together, they constitute 5 miles total. So I'll only note the overall times:

• Morning: 23:56.31
  
• Evening: 26:06.99
  
• Total: 50:03.30

-- or just a teeny-tiny little shade over a 10:00 pace. • 8:06 PM 0 comments

Ran last night. It wasn't as nice an afternoon as Thursday night, but it was still a nice temperature and slightly overcast and not too humid.

What the hell. I was going to run anyway.

Planned (and did!) a 4-mile run. I did the same loop I did last week, with most of the tough hills towards the end. And I did about a minute better overall this week as last. Here are the splits:

1. 4:36.12
   
2. 5:19.12
   
3. 4:36.35
   
4. 5:04.13
   
5. 5:10.67
   
6. 4:46.61
   
7. 5:43.39
   
8. 5:08.10

Total time was 40:24.59, for an average pace of 10:06. But if you look at the individual times, I held back during the first mile (last week: ~9:28 vs this week: ~9:55), then beat last week's time for each mile afterward until the end. In other words, I saved my strength for the later part of the run. I ran smarter. Yes, I did in fact plan that that way.

Yay, me! • 9:14 AM 0 comments

Le Bistro Montage, under the Morrison Bride in close-in SE Portland, was, for the past fall and winter at least, not open for lunch; they did dinner only. Which was a shame because they have a great menu; all sorts of mac-and-cheese, Cajun-style jambalaya and gumbo, pasta dishes... Mmmmmm.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I saw a sandwich board (mmmm... sandwiches) out on MLK Blvd. saying that they were, in fact, open.

I went there today with some friends, and they've added a new item to their menu since last dined.

Po'boys.

They have catfish, crawfish, gator, oyster... And chicken and some other, more mundane meats. I ordered gator, Tracy ordered catfish, and Ken ordered the special, BBQ chicken.

Mine, at least, was garlic-y and just a tiny bit spicy. I was happy with my choice.

I'm going back at least once every two weeks.

PS: They also now take credit cards! Didn't before. Used to have to use this funky ATM that gave out vouchers, with which you could pay your check and then get change from. Which led me to almost do a dine-and-dash the first time I ever ate there... • 4:40 PM 0 comments

Friday Night Cat Blogging!

...and here's some more! • 4:20 PM 0 comments

Trend I've noticed -- a sign of selfish folk, self-centered folk, people who lack empathy: they tend to turn any complaint about them back on the complainer.

Couple of examples might help to illustrate my point. First, a legal example. I had a coworker who discovered some very disturbing things about our mutual employer. Well, specifically, some of the middle managers. She tried to file a formal complaint about the things they were doing, the illegal things, but the complaints were ignored by management and, in turn, they quickly built a case against her and terminated her employment. She then sued them for wrongful termination. And in their defense, they claimed that they had fired her because she was doing the things they were alleged to have done. In other words, their defense was a mirror of what she had originally claimed they were doing.

Second example, although a bit more of a poor match. The Republicans, over 30 years ago, were terrified by what a free media could accomplish when journalists reported openly and truthfully on the Republicans' "dirty tricks". It brought down President Nixon when he and his people's activities were brought into public scrutiny. So in response, the Republicans enlisted the help of corporations and conservative and wealthy men and remade the media, putting their people in control of key networks and newspapers, employing think tanks to massage their message and craft their public image, and eliminating laws like the Fairness Doctrine so that opinion can masquerade as "news". 30 years ago, nothing like Fox News, openly partisan and completely in the thrall of the conservative movement, could have possibly existed.

But all along, part of the conservative movement's "defense" of their actions was creating this myth that the media has some "liberal bias" against Republicans and their dealings. In other words, while they were secretly pulling the levers of power to gain control of the national discourse, they made the claim that, in fact, the opposite was the case.

Finally... I almost hesitate to bring this up, but it's an important point. At least, important for me to document for future reference. I have had several relationships in the past where I felt the situation was imbalanced. I compromised more, I gave more time, decisions on activities were decided in their favor more often than in mine. When, in the past, I've attempted to raise that complaint, more often than not the complaint was turned back on me. Where I asked that they make more time available for me, now they complained that I didn't spend enough time with them. Where I explained that their disrespect was hurting me, now they claimed to be the hurt one. When I asked them to not speak so harshly of me, now they claimed that my words were hurting them. And sometimes they attacked me, all in the name of "defending" themselves.

Picture that. The situation is what it was, no complaints from the other person. But as soon as I raise the alarm, try to get them to bring the relationship into balance, the other turns around and demands more concessions from me, considers it suddenly OK to attack me, and then tries to appropriate the issues for themselves.

Gee, if you had a complaint before, why not say something earlier?

Or better yet, why not own up to the complaint and address it? Why does it suddenly have to be "balanced" by action on both sides? I'm the aggrieved party here, I don't think it's very positive suddenly having to defend myself.

At any rate, I'm finding that, yes, very likely there was an imbalance there. I've been creating that imbalance by giving more of myself to my friends than I give to myself. I have an internal double-standard; I basically treat my friends much better than I treat myself. So I'm making an effort to eliminate the harsh standard by which I judge myself. It's difficult work. It's been difficult just to recognize that it exists, in fact. But it's made especially difficult by having relationships with people who make harsh demands of me. Not all my friendships are like that.

But I need to either change or eliminate the ones that are making those demands of me without being able to recognize and give back to me what I need. • 9:20 PM 1 comments

Tuesday was on the treadmill, and I managed to run 3.05 miles in exactly 30:00, for a 9:50 pace. I think I did better on the first two miles and had to slow down for the last mile. But I didn't stop to walk at all, so I was happy with the time.

Wednesday was a rest day.

Today I ran in my neighborhood. The weather has been gloomy and rainy, a hard rain, what Portlanders would call "pouring down rain", so when the weather turned out nice and warm and sunny, I had to get out there and run. And I did really well, too, which makes it doubly nice.

I planned on 3 miles, with plenty of warmup and cooldown before and after. Wanted to maintain the same pace I had on the treadmill, or as close as I could. And at the halfway point, 1.5 miles, I saw 14:14.17 on the stopwatch. A 9:29 pace! Wow. I couldn't keep that up for another mile and a half, though I still did well. I ended up with 3.0 miles, 30:01.41 total time, for a dead-on 10:00 pace. Yay, me! • 8:35 PM 0 comments

KEXP is still fuckin' with me. Or maybe I should see it as them trying to be nice?

At any rate, John in the morning played another Radiohead song I've never heard. He must have stumbled on a bunch of promos in the used bin down at the local music hangout.

The song? Yes I Am. Got to hear this one, unlike the other day. • 7:28 AM 0 comments

A short, healing run tonight. In the gym, because it's pouring down rain outside.

2.1 miles in 20 minutes exactly. 9:31 pace.

Ahhhh... that's more like it. • 8:05 PM 0 comments

Aw, crap. Spent all morning harassing the fine d.j.'s at KEXP about a song that John played this morning around 7:11 AM.

See, it was a Radiohead song that I'd never heard, called "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy". And because I only saw the song in the playlist but tuned in too late to hear it, I became, well, a teeny bit obsessed.

Because the listing on KEXP didn't show an album title, I assumed it was new music, music from a forthcoming album. Couldn't go back in the KEXP archives to listen to it (it takes several hours for the archive to update or be updated). Wanted to know more.

And both John and Cheryl are great on-air personalities. But wit the email, they're not so communicative-y. Got terse answers from them. Didn't help.

Well, I guess I should have just Googled the damn song. Turns out it's a B-side from Amnesiac. Or so saith atease.web.

Still not a song I've heard, but now I can live without having the song. Since I apparently have to get my hands on a Japanese import to own it legitimately. • 1:57 PM 0 comments

Question for my musically-interested readers:

Is the new Eels album ("Blinking Lights and Other Revelations") worth buying?

The only review I've read is over at The Onion AV Club and it said that it's long (2 CDs) and most of it is just the normal Eels stuff but there's buried gold amongst the average tracks. • 6:51 AM 0 comments

Would have been nice to run this morning.

If I could have done so and stay dry.

*sigh*

Oh, and sleep in. Heck, if I hadn't slept in, I would have missed that enlightening dream where a friend was bullshitting me about some simple piece of electronics while someone I don't know in real life but apparently knew in the dream was trying to sell a piece-of-shit Pontiac Fiero to some rube. • 6:32 AM 0 comments

Ran this morning. Even though I already had my "long run" on Friday morning (5.5 miles!) I still wanted to end the week with a total of 17 miles, which meant that I needed to run 4 miles today.

I thought about breaking it up into two 2-mile runs, but, well, because I was having Mother's Day brunch with family, with all it's attendant over-eating, I figured a nice long hard 4-miler would be perfect this morning, provided I could drag my ass out of bed in time.

And I did.

Here's my half-mile splits for (my own) future reference:

1. 4:21.29 (flat)
   
2. 5:07.44 (flat)
   
3. 4:30.96 (uphill)
   
4. 5:59.76 (uphill)
   
5. 5:13.94 (flat)
   
6. 4:48.73 (downhill)
   
7. 5:59.87 (uphill)
   
8. 5:20.86 (uphill)

Total time: 41:22.85, average pace 10:20.7/mile.

Note that I reversed my normal 4 mile loop, in order to put the harder uphill sections towards the end, just for a new challenge. Can't run the same ol' course all the time.

I'm happy with most of the times... Hmm. For some reason I can't (yet) string together 4 half-mile runs under or around 5 minutes. That is my new goal for the next month. I know I can do it -- but my most recent examples are on the treadmill, not in the real world of running on pavement and up and down hills 'n' such.

Oh, and I probably ate way more calories at brunch than I burned in that run. But, y'know, whatever. • 6:13 PM 0 comments

One of my guilty pleasures is reading advice columns. But not the mainstream ones, like "Dear Amy" or the faux-Abbys' out there.

I know I've mentioned this before, although I'm too lazy to go back and search for links. But my favorite advice columnist is Cary Tennis over at Salon. Several times a week, I find myself in complete agreement with his take on the world and all of us strange creatures living in it. Even when he's writing about a topic that I can't ever imagine myself in, his approach to facing the problems people describe to him so mirrors what I would like to be able to think and do it's uncanny.

And then, of course, oftentimes, sometimes, the topic is even closer to home.

Take, for example, this week's letter (link may require viewing a "Day Pass" ad, but it's so worth it) from someone accused of defensiveness by his ex-girlfriend. Here's Cary, explaining, essentially, how best to apologize to someone so as not to put them down:

Say you bump me on the sidewalk and don't say "Excuse me." I feel annoyed at the bump and insulted at your failure to acknowledge it or apologize. So I say, "Hey, watch where you're going!" And you say, "Hey, the sidewalk's too narrow, and besides, I was reading this book."

That's not information I happen to be interested in at the moment. What I want is an apology, clear and simple, no explanations. I want my dignity restored. I want recognition as a person who deserves an apology. I want civility.

I might be in the wrong -- perhaps I should have seen you blindly stumbling down the street and gotten out of the way. But to me, it's about the way I feel, not about why you did it.

She calls you "defensive" because you're defending yourself instead of giving her what she wants, which is validation, acceptance, courtesy. She's hurt, it has something to do with you, and she wants something from you. It's about her, not about you.

Perfect.

People want to be acknowledged. People want to be recognized. Even by strangers; many is the time I've angered some stranger on the street by responding to whatever request they make of me with my generic "I'm not interested." You'd think I called them some horrible racial epithet as the realization sinks in that they were just asking the time but I've brushed them off without even considering what their question was. In my darker moods I rationalize it by saying that I owe a stranger nothing at all.

But I'm only hurting myself by approaching strangers this way. It just makes it that much more difficult for me to honestly approach others when I'm in the mood to. It's walling something off inside myself that is better out in the open, even if it's more vulnerable.

But shifting from strangers to those who know me... dammit, is it too much to ask for that kind of acceptance and acknowledgment? If I've been hurt, and the other knows it, what is so difficult about a simple, unadorned apology? I have friends who can do that, and friends who don't, and I find myself less and less inclined to spend time around the friends who can't or won't see this truth. And the friends who do are often pleasantly surprised when I return the favor with my own respect. How sad that that kind of thing is so uncommon.

Respect me and my thoughts and opinions as I try to do yours. But don't be surprised if I view your judgments about me as hostility and arrogance, and return it with my own. • 5:36 PM 1 comments

It's afternoon in my time zone, so...

Friday Night Cat Blogging!

...and here's some more! (Sorry, no new ones this week.) • 12:55 PM 0 comments

Just found this enlightening FAQ (via James Randi) and thought I'd pass it along.

It's comprehensive, to be sure. Enjoy. • 12:36 PM 0 comments

This morning:

5.5 miles, 59:02.49, or a 10:44 pace.

Not as good as I'd hoped, but better than I feared.

Still feels good.

I got plenty of sleep the night before, and even got up at 3:00 AM to eat a half a bagel (with jam, 140 calories), so that I wouldn't be running on a completely empty stomach. • 6:27 AM 0 comments

It's "Lots O' Short Posts Day" at Lunar Obverse!

After giving it careful consideration, I've decided that Diet Vanilla Coke trumps Diet Coke with Lime.

Not that Diet Coke with Lime is bad, or otherwise undrinkable. Indeed, it's the only other form of Coke that is at all palatable. It's just that Diet Vanilla Coke is better. • 12:54 AM 1 comments

It's bad enough that, somehow, I ended up on Ticketmaster's spam list, and can't get unsubscribed.

But I gotta get emails reminding me not to miss Neil Diamond, too?

Ugh. • 12:52 PM 0 comments

*ahem*

A little somethin'-somethin' for the two or three people who read my blog and like music.

Bootleg Browser.

Just sayin'.

Me, I'm not so much into the live music. Unless it's a show I've seen and want to remember forever (Radiohead, I'm talkin' to you.) • 6:55 AM 0 comments

Ran this morning. Yes. It's true. I actually was able to drag my ass out of bed this morning early enough to go for a run. It was awesome. A complete victory.

Well, a nearly complete victory. I was going to do speed work this morning. The plan was to warm up a bit, then see how fast I could do back-to-back miles. I was hoping for close to 8:00 minute miles, but realized that was ambitious.

How did I do?

Let's look at the half-mile splits, shall we?

0.5 = 4:07.52
1.0 = 4:44.06
1.5 = 5:55.41
2.0 = 4:20.19

Um... one of those times is not like the others. WTF? Almost a 6:00 mile? I did stop to walk a little bit, but I do not remember it being that slow. But there it is. Dammit.

At any rate, my total for the 2.0 miles is 19:07.18, or a mile pace of 9:33.59. I know I can do better.

Tomorrow morning I'm running to work, at least 5.5 miles. I'm aiming for a 10:00 pace but, again, that's probably optimistic. But it's my goal. • 6:45 AM 0 comments

I've had cats in the past, and most of them have responded better to training than Smacky does. I've trained cats to come when I call (every time I called, but never for anyone else in the household, much to their chagrin), to fetch, to sit on my shoulders when I'm walking...

OK, Smacky does do that last one. He'll jump up on my shoulders when I ask him to and he's not busy attackin something else. It's just that, most of the time, he's attacking something else.

He likes to jump up on the kitchen counter and dragging my dishrag all over the house. I'll come out of the bedroom in the morning, stumbling around in the dark, half-awake, and step on the damp dishrag. First couple of times it happened I thought I was stepping in some biological waste, but now I just moan "Smacky..." drawing out the final vowell sound in frustration.

At which point, Smacky, who was rolling around on his side and back, stretched out and mewling and hoping for attention since I've been mean-spirited-ly ignoring him all night by sleeping, would then take my moaning to be the signal to pounce. On me.

If I was Smacky, I think I would understand a human shouting and yelling and dancing around trying to a) avoid stepping on me, b) keeping my feet out of the way of my sharp claws and teeth, and c) scrambling around looking for the water bottle to mean "Hey, the human doesn't want me to do this anymore. I should stop." But, apparently from Smacky's perspective, a, b, and c add up to: playtime.

I've recently begun bribing him with vile-smelling (to me) chicken and liver flavored treats if he would stop biting and scratching me. Unfortunately, I think he has interpreted this to mean, "If I bite and scratch him he will give me treats" so it's effective in an ineffective way, just reinforcing the behavior I don't want him to have. Argh.

Smacky is a stubborn learner. Or, actually, he's an awesome learner but not at learning the things I want him to. Technically I'm smarter than he is so I should be able to train him. But in all actuality, he's training me. • 6:14 AM 0 comments

When giving a gift to someone, you can give them something that you'd like them to have, or you can give them something that they've always wanted but would never buy for themselves.

Which gift is more thoughtful? • 9:22 PM 4 comments

Short "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" review: I hope it's not damning it with faint praise to say that it could have been worse.

Slightly longer review: Too many of the punchlines to jokes have been cut from the movie. For example, they have the setup of Zaphod stealing Trillian away from Arthur with the line, "Hi. Is this guy boring you? Why don't you come with me? I'm from another planet. Want to see my spaceship?"

...but then, later, when they have Trillian and Arthur talking about it, they don't show Trillian saying, "...but you have to admit, he did have a spaceship." Argh.

Similar things happened a bit too often, so the movie felt somewhat unsatisfying to me. But overall, I did laugh out loud many times, and it's delightful to see a big-budget version of Douglas Adams' vision and most of his story on the big screen. • 6:51 PM 0 comments

The lyrics to track 11 on The Offspring's "Conspiracy of One":

So here we go
Having the same old fight again
There she goes
Same old game that never ends If I could say
The right words
I know I could make you stay
If I could say
The right words
Things would work out all right

And if you go
I won't believe
That it's forever

And you can go
But I'll never leave
Cause it's not over

Replay last night
Talking it out don't make it right
I know she's tried, but my whole world
Is her and all we've got now

And if you go
I won't believe
That it's forever

I won't let go
Even if she say that it's over
I know it'll be
Different this time
If you'd just stay

And when we wrote this story
How did it end?
It was you and me for all our lives
Come on, don't say it
We'll try again
And if I'd just hold you
We could last

But she stands softly
Tears down her face
Hitting me, oh god
This is the end
I'd wait here for you
But there's nothing more now I can do
How did you know
How did you know
How did you know
Finally

...take on a whole new meaning when you find that the title is "Denial, Revisited". • 6:23 PM 0 comments