A Loooong Run

I'm trying to get back into blogging more regularly, so here's a running update.

(don't get spooked about the length of the run, I've been kinda working up to it :) )

14.55mi - 1:54'31"

It was actually supposed to be about about a 10 miler, but on the way home I was feeling good so I went ahead and did a bonus loop. I wasn't really thinking about the mileage. I was actually thinking about doing a half-marathon that's coming up. Whoops. Already did. But I didn't even get a tshirt!

I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good, but going up the stairs now (several hours later) is, um... interesting :) The special joy was a very long post-run soak in a hot and then cool and then hot bath.

Of Handbaskets and Hell

Overheard in a very swanky deli:

"No, man. It all started on 9/11. They killed 3000 of our civilians. We owe them some civilians. I mean how come on 9/11 they kill 3000 civilians and it's no big deal, but when we kill some it's this huge deal?"

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand why we elect some of the people we do, why certain tv shows stay on the air and some fail, why a frightening percentage of the world sees the US as a threat. Then I hear something like this.

Meme-o

As first seen at Zerodoll's

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Can I get away without shaving today?

2. How much cash do you have on you?
$1.77 (one bill, two quarters two dimes a nickel and two pennies, cause I know you're curious)

3. What’s a word that rhymes with “DOOR?”
Bore

4. Favorite planet?
I like the wobbly ones that are found off in other solar systems that we can't really see yet. Other than that, I've always been partial to Saturn - The rings, ya know?

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Another TA from the class I teach

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Ummm... I really don't know. It's classical and nice, but I don't remember what it's called

7. What shirt are you wearing?
Old school 'go soccer team' t-shirt

8. Do you “label” yourself?
What the...? um... what a freakazoid question. I don't know... Rather than go into a tirade on identity issues, I'll just say 'no more than most other folks'

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing?
No shoes. Last pair I had on was a pair of nike pegasus tenny-pumps for the afternoon run

10. Bright or Dark Room?
I prefer dark, but I usually need enough light to read by, 'cause lord knows that's all I do anymore

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
She rocks in many ways, and she's got cool kittie-cats

12. What does your watch look like?
It's an old Nike (my, aren't I branded. Maybe I need to rethink that 'label' question.) watch that went with the pre-iSweat pedometer they had. It's ok, but I probably should have a more classy one. I don't like those all metal monstrosities though. Hmph.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping.

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
Something like 'call me,' I think. Hey, I got up and checked the phone to find out the 4th last missed call, and frankly, I can tell you already that the actual answer to this question won't be amusing enough to me or you to make it worth the effort :)

15. Where is your nearest 7-11?
I really don't know. I just moved here and haven't been around much, but I can't remember seeing one... Odd...

16. Whats a word that you say a lot?
'a' I also say 'an' and 'the' quite a bit. Some call me a 'smartass.'

17. Who told you he/she loved you last?
My mom

18. Last furry thing you touched?
Me

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?
if we say that drugs are the needing prescription or illegal hookup types, then none. Otherwise, there's caffeine and those drugs in chocolate and tea and all that stuff. Vague question - define your terms. B-

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed?
Need? none. I think I have a roll or two rolling around here somewhere. I do have a roll that I developed for someone and never got the prints back to him though.

21. Favorite age you have been so far?
I never know how old I am. I have such a lousy sense of age that I can't really answer this one. I like my now though.

22. Your worst enemy?
Myself (to quote Mr. Mercury, "Gimme a choice!")

23. What is your current desktop picture?
This one

24. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"'scuse me" (hopping past someone on the running trail)

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?
I think I'd go for the million bucks too, get back to me if the superpower changes though. I've just never been that excited about the being able to fly bit.

26. Do you like someone?
Do you mean like like, or like like? [] Check this box for like like or [] this box for like like.

27. The last song you listened to?
An old 1920's Shanghai jazz song called 'I Want Your Love'

28. What time of day were you born?
I knew at one time. Early morning? Maybe?

29. Whats your favorite number?
I don't really have one. If pressed, I might say 9

30. Where did you live in 1987?
Where the wind comes right before the raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains

31. Are you jealous of anyone?
Sure. Well, parts of people. I want her money, and his girlfriend and his body and her brains etc...

32. Is anyone jealous of you?
I know I have a better life than most people on the planet, but I don't think anyone who knows me personally really wishes they were me.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened?
Asleep in bed. My then girlfriend called to wake me up and tell me what was going on. I had to go to work at the bookstore that day. We stayed open for a half day and I kept my headphones on all the time listening to the news. Customers made me very frustrated that day.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
You know, I was going to make fun of this question, but it is interesting that the one thing I never do is call the number for a refund. Ok, maybe not so interesting.

35. Do you consider yourself kind?
[stolen verbatim from Zerodoll] I think so, but I also am selfish.

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be?
I'm pretty anti-tattoo, so if I were forced, I guess I'd get a single needle-prick's worth of a tattoo on the heel of my left foot.

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?
Ok, geek-out here, I'd love to be fluent in Latin. If it had to be a living language, I'd pick Arabic (so long as the military didn't find out and try to pull me back in), Chinese or Japanese.

38. Would you move for the person you loved?
Yes.

39. Are you touchy feely?
Sometimes

40. What’s your life motto?
People have life mottos? Umm... I don't.

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
I try to keep a pen on me. Um... sunglasses... I'm trying to think of things that not everyone would carry with them... Ah, USB drive.

42. What’s your favourite town/city?
Way too many. I love NYC, but I haven't been there in so long. London, Beijing, San Fran, honestly, just about any city can make me happy, well, almost :)

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
A wonderful 'California Burrito' from a local dive restaurant

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
um... I have not idea. Years ago?

45. Can you change the oil on a car?
I could, but won't. Note that I have no car.

46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
Married and doing theatre somewhere in... Texas maybe?

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry?
Personally, I don't know jack. There are, however, those in my immediate family who have traced us back to the 1600s I think

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy?
Fancy? That's another term that needs a definition. By the author's wacky British spelling of favourite, I'm wondering if they don't mean fancy dress as in costumes. Hmm... Anywhoo dressed up for a conference earlier this year and I can't remember the last time I did a costume party costume. It was probably that murder mystery dinner thing where I dressed up as Riker from star trek (I know, I know...)

49. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
A little post run soreness in my calves

50. Have you been burned by love?
I can't top Zerodoll who is copying running42k: Yeah, burned by my love of pizza. Hot cheese, yowsa! (With an "s")

Early Onset Alzheimer's

Things I have misplaced today:

• sunglasses
• where I left them on the counter
  
• keys
• where I left them on the bookshelf
  
• that book I should have been reading
• it was in my bag
• extra bonus - I looked in the bag multiple times and didn't see it
• combination lock
• in the old workout bag
  
• sanity
• TBA
  

All but the last have been recovered.

View From the Sidewalk

On the run this evening, I saw about 20 or so people sitting in line on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. They had chairs and blankets and coolers and stuff. I thought they might be getting ready to go see a game of something, but they weren't in team colors and they looked like they were settling in for a long time. I was running two big long loops, so I had time to think about what in the world they might be doing. by the time I got back to them, I realized it. Around the corner is the big techie store. They were waiting for this. It doesn't come out until Friday. Ok, folks, I'm a huge geek, but that... that's beyond the pale. And let me tell you, some of the people in line were really really pale. :)

I Know...

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On The Couch

I think part of the reason for my lack of posts lately is more than simply the fact that I don’t sit in front of the computer 7 hours out of every day like I did at Old U. I think it’s something a little more fundamental. I imagine it’s not odd or unexpected that a switch to a bigger and more ‘important’ university would lead to stress, anxiety and self-questioning. I generally hate doing or being thought of as doing what is expected, but there you have it – I’m having a bit of an stress crisis.

Part of it comes from simple insecurity. The main seminar I’m in right now is on a topic that I don’t consider strictly in my realm of study, but I’m wondering more and more if it isn’t dealing with a lot of topics that I need to be able to manipulate well. Add to that the fact that the class I’m TAing now (and will be for the foreseeable future) is one that I feel more than a little bit uncomfortable teaching, and it all adds up to me feeling that I’m not doing what I want to be doing, and I don’t feel particularly effective doing what I’m doing.

So. I’m buried in work about things that I believe are important but not particularly interesting or as rewarding as I would like, and worried that this is what the next 5 years (perhaps the entire academic career?) will be like.

All this makes me feel sluggish. I’m not running as much as I used to. I’m sleeping more than I should. I feel like my brain is set on slow. I sometimes struggle to force myself to read through a page of words that swim around the page only to realize that I didn’t really understand any of it and have to start again. I'm pretty lazy to begin with, but now it seems to be getting worse.

As an optimist against all reason, I should say that I’m glad I’m in the seminar, and I am getting a lot out of it. I’m glad I’m TAing the difficult class for a lot of reasons. I really do think things will come out all right, even though I couldn’t tell you how. I just hope that I’ll be able to find something to re-inspire me – something challenging but that I know I can do, and do well.

I’ve got a pile of grading I don’t want to do, several chapters left to read (at least they’re in English), and a response paper to write, but I think I’m going to put on my running clothes and see if that convinces me to get out the door and run.

Edited to add: Because of the Blogger outage, I didn't post this right after I wrote it, but I did get out and do a long run. It felt pretty good.

8.88mi - 1:05'55"

Rock, Paper Scissors

I looked around but the paper they had didn't explain its strengths and they weren't selling any rocks.

You Are Cordially Invited

To beat my score of 879 on this trigram game.

I nearly got stumped on a couple of them :(


And yes, I should be grading.

Curiouser and Curiouser

I have received a mysterious missive from a million-mile away man. Because of blocking by a blockheaded former bloc-land, he became bereft of blogger. Consequently, he came to be incapable of commenting. Crap.

Anyway - his emailed comment was that while I do look a bit like Mr. Bart, I am much closer to Ex-Daily Show and 40-Year Old Virgin Steve Carell. I have to agree. I think I look more like him than Roger.

So Overread is a mix of this and that, but poorer and less popular than either.

PS. It seems that mentioning Desperate Housewives really drives traffic. I doubt it's what they're searching for though.

Edited:
Hotlinking images is sometimes bad, sometimes funny. This time it was funny. I've been a good boy and removed the hotlinked images :)
PS - Roger Bart? is that a porn name?

I Know I'm Desperate, But I Didn't Think It Would Turn Out Like This

Well, it seems inescapable. I am Roger Bart. Two more people confirmed that I could be no one else. He's my doppleganger. This would be very cool if I could cash his checks, although I hear he died on the show, so the checks might not be as good now. Maybe I can at least get into swanky restaurants or something.

Are there any cool things I could do if I were passing myself off as a TV star?

Stop Them Before They Sing Again

Helpful hints and comments from Overread to the nice young women in the band that was playing outside the student center-ish place on campus:

1. Learn to sing. Really. It'll help. The guitars and drums sounded ok as I walked by, but unless you got a whole lot better, you need a singer. Because despite what you may think, you don't have one.
2. I understand that it's good to try to get the crowd all riled up and all, but after the first 10 or so times of trying to get them to chant your name, if they still don't, you may want to move on and umm... play some music or something. I would still advise against singing though (see #1)
3. Were you all drunk? Stoned? or just very uncoordinated?

Perhaps all of these boil down to #3.

Bonus quote from the Prostelitizer's Alley:

[Shouted loudly enough for me to hear from far far away]: "Get your religion out of my face!"

Again, In Lieu of Content....

'Cause I'm sure that someone needs this.

4.49mi - 31'55"

Perhaps a shorter run would have been... um smarter.

ouch, ouch, ouch...

Oh, and thanks to the humiliation of the iSweat Nike+ thingamabob, I can now easily see that it has been 3 full weeks since my last run. Gee. Thanks.

Along those lines. They ran the Chicago Marathon Today. The winner slipped and fell as he crossed the finish line. Expect this in video on Youtube any second now.

If You Blog It, You Will Go.

I'm feeling oh, so blah. I haven't run in a couple of weeks. Coincidence? I think not. The tough this is that running seems to be a self perpetuating thing. You feel good and through experience, you know that running helps you feel good so you keep doing it. On the other side, you feel lazy and blah, and because running takes energy and commitment, being blah and lazy makes you run less. So it just gets worse.

So, I have a whole crapload of stuff to get done today. I've finished my daily 'must surf' internet (more on that later), and I'm going to make time to go on a run. Like, now. And because I've blogged it, I can't back out, 'cause like, my 3 remaining readers (hi guys!) would make fun of me and I'm easily shame-able.

So - in closing, I give you the fruits of today's surfing (what can I say - I like strange ads):


Maybe I should just turn this into a video posting site. Sigh...

Is Nothing Sacred?

Why, no. Since you've asked, no, nothing's sacred.

Fraggle Rock: The Movie

Oh, yes - just in case you forget:

A Question of Qontent

See, here's the thing. I don't sit in front of a computer all day anymore. At Old U, I came in early, dumped all my bags and books and such in my office and wondered off to class. Between and after classes, I'd go back to the office and read, study, or... umm... well, blog.

And that's the thing. Finding time and opportunity to blog is a bit harder here at New U. I don't intend on stopping the blogging (and who knows, maybe the lyrics quizzes may pop back up from time to time), but it's going to take awhile for me to get into a new groove.

So, for now, let's see what I can put into bullets.

• Seminar OF DOOM is still kicking my tush. I'm feeling very underprepared in the theory department, but hey, that's one of the reasons I'm taking the seminar, right? I am however reading faster and better in the really hard language though, and that's clearly thanks tot he fact that I have to - 'natch. I'm still going to bitch about it though.
  
• I'm better at some things than others, and I think I may be enjoying that a little too much.
• I had to be videotaped TAing the class today. It was pretty disruptive. I don't think it's a good idea to bring a huge tripod-mounted video camera (VHS? are we breaking into brand new 80s tech?) into a class that needs a very secure and mistake-friendly environment. The cameraman looks bored. Maybe I should have asked him a few questions. In any case I think it went ok, but I'm not looking forward to reviewing the tape with the whole 'Who wants to be a TA?' seminar.
• I'm eating way too much and exercising not enough.

In closing, I present a scene from the theatre of the absurd as performed outside the student union-ish building.

[White Christian Proselytizer Dude stands in front of a table that is covered in pamphlets. He sees Asian-Looking Gal approaching. He dives behind his table and frantically shuffles through his pamphlets as ALG draws near. ALG passes near the table. WCPD jumps in front of her and thrusts a pamphlet covered in Korean characters under her nose.]

WCPD: [Victoriously] IS THIS YOUR LANGUAGE?

[ALG, after recovering well from a near cardiac arrest, applies a stare that could kill. WCPD watches ALG stride angrily away. WCPD sadly returns to his post dejected but undaunted, and awaits his next victim]

fin

And Now, For Something Completely Different

In lieu of content, I present to you, my childhood:

Yummy Licrorice, Odd Warning

Yummy! Gotta love black licorice (couldn't even get the photo before the bag was empty :) )



However, when I look closer at the bag...




Not for weight control? ummm... Has this been a problem? Forget eating less. Forget exercise. I'm going to start gorging on black licorice. Yeah, good plan, friend.

I'm A Big Boy Now!

The bed came! The desk came! Guess which has gotten more use so far. :(

If you guessed the desk, then you are sadly correct. The bed is quite nice and comfy (although now I want new bedding too). It's a little bouncy too, which is fun. As for the desk, it's wonderful to actually have a usable workspace in the place where I live - especially since I don't have a good office. I haven't had that for... well, even longer than I haven't had a real bed. Anyway putting both in the room required a bit of tetris-like arranging, but I think it's all good now. I still need one more big bookcase - like one of those nice 6 footersbefore I can finally get completely out of boxes... sigh... but alas, that's not going to happen for awhile, if ever.

Updates:
Seminar OF DOOM: I'm done with the chapters (2, English) and 2.5 articles (insanely hard foreign language). Now don't tell me that I've still got several articles left to read before tomorrow, because I don't want to hear it. Oh yeah, and a response paper. Gah.

TA class: I'm going to be filmed? Twice? Ugh. I mean pedagogically, I can see why, but but but... I don't wanna.

Class I'm TAing: Hehe... They think I know what I'm doing. Hehe... Oh, hello there, what's this? Homework!? Umm... I don't remember agreeing to this. I mean, a couple of papers, maybe, but homework grading? sigh... Oh, yeah, there's a quiz to grade too. Maybe tomorrow?

Now! Back to the stack of articles!

PS: Best misheard lyric: "Hold me closer, tiny Danza."