Three point five thoughts from a full weekend

Last weekend I patrolled the sidelines of Steakfest '11. For a while I tried to update scores by smartphone, but eventually lost interest. The guys ended up in 14th place. They were troubled by only having 9 players and eventually losing their star to a hamstring pull in game 2 on Sunday. They had a 2-6 record, but one key victory in a crossover game to make it to the championship bracket. They beat Cornell-B and Ursinis and lost to Georgetown, Columbia (x2), TCNJ, and American. They narrowly missed upsetting Georgetown in the windy opening game. They had two shots on universe point and one of those bounced off Lemon's outstretched hands (See how close they came here .) The girls ended up in 2nd place, going 5-2 with both of their losses coming to TCNJ. John G. was patrolling their sidelines and got good reviews. The girls dominated a few games notching victories of 15-0 and 15-1 and from the bits I saw are really starting to play some Ultimate.

There is much I could comment on, including how proud of everybody I am, but there are a few moments that I'm going to record for posterity.

The first is about Ben. Ben is a transfer and he's our secret weapon. He's started to catch everything, he cuts well, and he just keeps getting better. He's got a little hitch in his throw and he doesn't commit to the dump the way I think he should (shocking, I know), but he's really helping out the team. After making another fine grab, Ben is five yards out of the endzone. The count gets to nine. Ben just decides to get rid of the disc. Somehow his flick comes out vertical. It's a blade. The blade strikes a defender in the noggin, bounces or rolls over the defender's head and is caught by a diving Cocco. It was pure wackiness.

The second is about spiking the disc. In the championship game, down something like 12-4 and feeling frustrated, Super Jess makes a deep cut. Knockout throws a nice flick down the line, Jess jumps up and grabs it. Score. She comes down and spikes it hard on the ground. It's a celebration, but there's some angst in there. The game is observed, so I think that's held off some of the ugliness, but there's still a clear distaste forming between these two teams. Next point, the girl from TCNJ makes a grab and spikes the disc in clear retaliation. For a second everyone stops. It's shock or confusion or some combination of the two. A little chatter starts and then what's been observed is reflected by the observer. TCNJ girl was not in the endzone. Turnover. The sidelines guffaw. It's inconsequential as far as the outcome of the game, but not a moment I want to soon forget.

My final note on Manheim, PA is to say that other than the RV in Dallas, I've never stayed closer to a field. We walked out of the hotel and onto the fields. We could see the fields from our room. I don't expect that luxury regularly, but how sweet it can be.

Now, I want to play. I want my shins to stop hurting. Let's go.

Inheriting a car for a month

Giving up my car several years ago was a triumph of public transportation and good sense. I've made the most of it for many years. I've biked, grabbed rides from gracious friends, taken the Metro, participated in car-sharing, and perhaps stayed a little closer to home. Last month after C went down with a broken leg, her car suddenly became very available. I couldn't resist its lure. As the temperatures hovered just above freezing and the Ultimate practices hovered just before bed time, I borrowed the car on a regular basis. At 8 o'clock at night and beyond, the car was a treat to warmly whisk me to practice and home again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all evening back street driving. Clare also asked me to drive her a few places. Those adventures didn't go as well. The hour was usually day time and the traffic was thicker than I like my milkshakes. I don't have a great sense of direction anyway, but having a passenger who would rather be driving only made my misdirection seem more severe. All my reasons for choosing to be mostly car-less came rushing back. I think what Sartre really meant was, Hell is other people- in cars. In this city there are just too many cars vying for too little space. Then they want to park too.

It has been a great relief to return to my bike. Yes, I often feel that I'm going to be crushed under the weight of a giant unfeeling steel and plexiglass box on wheels, but at least I'm going to go out with a sense of freedom and control.

Part II
Although Clare has reclaimed her car, this experience has made me realize that in the world of car-less, I no longer fully count. I'm not pure. I do have more access than before. I live in a household with a car. At some point in my life, I think this blurring of the line would have bothered me greatly. Now, I acknowledge it, but I'm going to go about my business. Also, I think I'll go for a bike ride.

A tale of a mattress written in exactly five minutes
At first there was nothing, but a sleeping bag. Then came a mattress out of a garage. I look back on that time and I wonder, "how was that ok?" It was.

Next came a mattress, just the mattress, flopped on the floor. I was happy there. The mattress was firm. I was low to the ground. The danger of falling was minimized. Time passed and my need to stay low was overtaken by a need to grow up. Pressure mounted. I caved. My mattress was joined by box springs.

My firm Serta Ferndale Supreme mattress and a fine box spring made their way together through the years. Until, one day, my mattress and my box spring no longer fit my life. I needed a new mattress. I found one. It was firm. It would fit.

It arrived damp. Phone calls were made. Angry action threatened. Curses sent under my breath. Nothing took effect. Finally, a call to my credit card company stopped payment on the damp mattress. Still it sat in my room, propped up on the window, unmoving. For months. I had to get another mattress. I chose quickly. I felt pressured to right my wrongs, pressured to find a satisfying sleep.

A mattress trade later and I had just enough comfort to survive. This is not an easy tale to tell. I tried to call Serta to see if they had a replacement for the Ferndale Supreme, but they needed more information. My frustration continued.

Finally, they came and took my damp mattress away. It's only been 5 months.

That story took an extra 22 seconds. The end.

Live Blogging the Oscars (until I get bored)

Oops. I'm late. Good thing I don't actually have live readers. (Not that you're not alive, just, well you know...) I caught the introduction, got excited about Back to the Future and then thought that it was poorly used. I liked the younger dynamic joke, but am unsure about these hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Hey, Morgan Freeman! Why isn't he hosting?

Gone with the Wind references and all this mom talk have me missing mine.

8:45 Let the awkward speeches begin.

8:49 First commercial break- affordable fashion with JCPenney, inspiring children with McDonald's, the family angle with Hyundai. Finally, iPad (oops I mean Samsung Tab) is the first one to not hit the "women's Super Bowl" demographic hard.

8:52 Kirk Douglas pulls off that compliment to Anne Hathaway with class.

8:54 Helena Bonham Carter looks great and King's Speech is the only one I saw, but I bet True Grit gets best supporting actress.

8:56Good thing I don't bet. Melissa Leo from The Fighter seems completely shocked, genuine, and just got censored. Yes!

9:01 The hosts seem to be relaxing. Maybe that's not good.

9:02 An app joke? Unimpressed. And are those breast tattoos Mila? I know they aren't and I might still be impressed.
I'm not sure I'm young and hip enough for this Oscars, though.

The problem I'm having here is providing context and a response. I'm starting to doubt my talent as a LiveBlogger. Perhaps, I'd be better off watching with someone else rather than reaching out to the Internet.

9:09 Commercial break: We're going less overtly female this round. Hyundai is back again. So's Samsung Tab; no wait, that's Kindle. I kind of liked the quiet pitch they made. Then came the quiet pitch for Fancy Feast. How in the world does a cat food manage to tie itself into the wedding industrial complex? And does that make sense?

9:15 Aaron Sorkin can write. He just picked up the Screenwriter's Oscar. Seems like an interesting fellow. I'd listen to more but the musical hook is coming to take him away. Still he manages to ask for respect from a guinea pig. Not bad.

Ok. Thanks for reading. I'm through. This isn't doing it for me. I'm not sure how much Oscar I have left in me anyway. Good night and good luck.

My fountain of youth makes it hard to walk

Decked out in neon green shorts and matching neon emblems on our chest, the Catholic team split in two for the first tournament of the semester. It was mixed, the only one on the schedule this year. We pulled in some alumni help and I strapped on my ankle brace and laced up my cleats. I'd been bothered by a shin splint all week, but at game time the pain was gone. That was a relief.

Dubbed team pretty, we had most of the handlers while the other team was team gawgeous and had most of the cutters. Gawgeous looked fast and explosive, but they were mostly without our star Paul as he's battling an injury. In this one day tourney, Gawgeous would be 2-2 in pool play and end up tied for 3rd overall with a nice performance from a couple rookies and strong leadership from Lemon and John. They had lots of hustle, including the exciting return of Senor Banjo in short spurts.

Team pretty got off to an ugly start. Our throws were off and our cuts just weren't coming. We were quickly and easily dispatched by one of the teams that would reach the championship. Our second game was better, but we still struggled in spurts with throwaways and the little big things like setting up cuts and using good fakes on throws. Pretty was joined by Jim and Kyle and both were big contributors to our success. Jim's forehand huck was our weapon of choice, but he also found some success with his backhand. I had a personal highlight in the second game as universe point rolled around. The other team had the disc on the goal line and was looking to score. I was on the mark and as the thrower released I yelled up just as the disc smacked into my hand. We went on to win the game. It was probably Ben who caught the score, though I don't remember for sure. Ben emerged as our favorite target coming down with lots of scores during the day.

It was fun to see Kyle and his amazing little-guy ups. I'd love to see him with bigger throws. For me as I was cutting deep for him, but also for him because I know he sees the field and reigns it in. Frodo continued to play well. The best part for me is to see him shake off mistakes. He had a couple rough ones: a dropped pull and a dump for a callahan, but he shook them off immediately and got right back to business. We were fighting some injuries on team pretty, but as our numbers dwindled a bit, we seemed to be clicking better.

The women played well. Jess is dominant and fun to watch. She skyed a guy and scored a number of times on up the line cuts with sweet little grabs. She forced a few hucks that worked in our favor too. The crowd loves her and she works hard. My only criticism is that when she meets her equal in speed, she ends up chasing on D. This is my recurring complaint about most of the team this year, so I shouldn't be too hard on her. This was Marian's first tournament and I was excited to see her get a score and a couple catches as a cutter. She's feisty and I get the sense that once she figures the game out she's really going to like it and contribute. I hope that can happen within this semester.

Back to me, it's my blog. The fields were short and the competition sometimes shoddy, but I had a good time. I got frustrated and tired at times, but Ultimate is good. I loved pulling down deep puts from Jim and I felt like my deep puts were having more success than usual. I had one or two bad drops and five or six bad throwaways, but I also had a couple grabs that I'm really proud of. They felt well timed. Overall it was a good day. That's what it's all about. I think because I knew alumni were around and playing, I never let that feeling of not belonging creep in. It's pretty awesome to still be a part of Catholic Ultimate. The drama has been high at times this year, but days like yesterday make that easy to forget. We ended up fifth, dominating a game to 5 as the sun was setting. Thanks, Catholic.

There's music in my pants

Drums are awesome. When I was a kid, I wanted to be in a drum line. The thrill of the bang, a parade, that rhythmic sound like a giant heart beating. BAM, BAM, BAM of the bass, the rat-tat-tat of the snare made me wave my arms and play in my imaginary band. It brought the streets to life. It gave the lines of clowns and shriners a pulsing hop in their step. I wanted to be a drummer.

I don't really remember when that dream went quiet. I think it just slowly leaked away from me. It might have been the inferior quality of my Fisher Price drums or it might have been the value of peace and quiet that my parents subtly instilled. The high cost of a drum set surely played a part, but I was too young to understand that. It could have been that I just went to fewer parades. Do parades in another countries have drum lines? The marching band seems like it could be more American with its size and volume. Maybe I missed some that way.

My memory is fuzzy, but the drums got replaced by another instrument. What it lacked in verve it more than made up in portability. Particularly, my first harmonica, which fit easily in the pocket of a first grader. My first harmonica was a miniature. I could blow through it and then hide it under my tongue. It was a great recess trick. I did worry about choking on it in the event that I was hit by a four-square ball (or more likely in a game of sap), so I was careful to use my trick away from the ball games. It was fine for when I was climbing on the lincoln-log-esque tee-pees or for trying to get the attention of the girls like Candice and Autumn.

I suppose I lost that miniature harmonica. I had a tendency to lose things at that age, especially hats, so to lose an instrument smaller than my finger seems quite likely. I soon replaced the miniature with a beautiful full-sized Hohner Echo in a yellow carrying case. It fit in my pocket, but not under my tongue. The Echo was made in Germany and probably purchased there too. I can't remember picking it out specifically, but I do remember looking through many glass counters at the rows of harmonicas. The rows were full of musical possibility. Possibility that has mostly gone unrealized for me. These days the twenty-something Echo has lost a bit of its shine. The red edges still contrast with the silvery metal, but a bit of rust and twenty some-odd years of boy mouth dust have collected on the front side.

Somewhere along the line, I picked up another harmonica. I think it was a Hohner too. Single hole, in a blue carrying case, possibly a G rather than a C. It shows a little less wear. Sometimes I play these harmonicas, picturing myself in Folsom prison, out on the prairie, or riding the rails. I don't play them well and I don't usually play tunes that are recognizable, but there's something about that metallic sound and its portability that makes me keep them around.

Creative block

I've run out of pithy observations. I've adopted my own metro stare and I'm avoiding elevators with a high rate of success.

My cleverness no longer impresses me. Fake mustaches stuck to my forehead and the line, "they'll grow on you," notwithstanding.

Generally, I feel heard. I don't need an outlet to share my thoughts, because I have people who are willing to listen to me, or at least "like" my Facebook status updates.

I stumble over words when I'm trying to write. This may be self-perpetuating. I don't write as much, so I don't practice and then I haven't practiced, so I don't feel like writing.

So much is being said. There are so many blogs, that have started and stopped, and started again. Sometimes I feel like every idea I have has already been spewed onto the Internet before. Probably in song and with better visual effects.

I want to write. At least I think I do. Yet, I'm impatient. I don't like to revise. I like to get it out and be done with it. I like to write something and smile a self-satisfied smile while I wipe my hands of it. Maybe I've become more critical. My internal editor has seen it before and he wants it to be better. The writer in me needs to step up and answer the challenge.

For now, he's going running.

Hey KIDS!

I thought I'd try to live blog the State of the Union address. I'll give my reactions as we go. A few disclaimers before we start:
1. I really just need a new blog post, I don't expect to pull out much insight.
2. I usually don't last the whole state of the union.
3. It somehow seems important to watch since I'm down the street.

9:13 It's nice to see the ceremony of politics sometimes. It gets so much more polite than the rest of the TV shows that I watch about politics. Let's go. (edited that comment a bit).

9:15 Is Joe Biden updating his Facebook page?

9:18 Xerox corporation CEO? It's been a busy day for Xerox in my life.

9:19 Nice. I like the spin on what the election meant. Figure it out together.

9:21 Oh. I just realized why there were so many police officers around the capitol tonight. (forehead slap).

9:23 "The future is ours to win." I missed the how.

9:24 Oh. That's the rest of the speech. Thanks, Obama.

9:27 Can't help but hope that the budget isn't out of this world, with all that space talk.

9:31 I won a science fair once. It was a tea-related experiment.

9:32 I like all these sports comparisons- race to the top, ours to win, etc.

9:34 Teachers as "nationbuilders". Wow. Makes me want to be a teacher and build a nation. Too bad I'm most interested in English.

9:39 Taking on the issue of immigrants seems like a massive undertaking.

9:40 Highspeed rail and highspeed Internet? Awesome.

9:44 Snack time.

9:46 Is our food safe to eat? Maybe our foodstuff is. I realize how lucky I am when I can make that snarky comment and also how much I've been reading about nutrition and/or watching The Biggest Loser

9:53 He's really pushing the bipartisan approach. He does it well.

9:55 YES! Simplify the tax code. Please.

9:56 Reorganization? I wondered if that was coming earlier when President Obama was talking about cutting the budget. I've been hanging around big companies too much lately. Sheesh.

10:00 C's home. I'm feeling a little sheepish about this project now.

10:03 "Begin" to bring our troops home. This seems like what's been said before...

10:05 I'm losing steam, but it seems rude to abandon the President. My landlord just started rocking out on his electronic keyboard. John Kerry would smile if he could hear it.

10:08 "One voice." The push for unity is everywhere around me too.

10:10 Selling messy democracy. He's at it again. Man, he's good. Somebody should elect that guy.

10:15 BAM. Let's do big things.

Well, looks like the VCR clock is running a couple of minutes ahead. That's the clock I was using. How embarrassing (right). That was an interesting way to view the address. I missed a few things, but it was also a bit like taking notes. I wasn't very clever, but I think this might be interesting to look back and read. In some ways, it made me feel shallow, but in other ways I felt good because I was really paying attention and being thoughtful. Several themes have emerged from my life of late. A number of speeches and books are on the motivational, even inspirational side. The reorganization, the budget cuts, the push for unity all keep cropping up.

I have high hopes for highspeed Internet and rail, as well as electric cars, alternative energy, simplified tax codes, and more. I'm ready for big things.

Don't be cruel

The following scene remixes my Saturday from a week ago. I couldn't find a way to include a memorial for my neighbor Yelba, but somehow I think that's probably for the best.

I glanced outside to find six snowflakes on a windshield. The track workout is on, I thought to myself. After breakfast, a toothbrushing, and some unrelated thoughts playing pong in my mind, I looked again to find the white coming down hard. I checked my phone. I checked email. No one was going to give up. With nothing left to check, I headed out the door. Purposefully overdressed, running ahead of schedule, I tromped down 14th on my way to the track.

With a Lincoln look-a-like in one cage and a cardboard Washington Monument dipping down to enter the other, round one of the Elvis Birthday Fight Club was all but underway. Lincoln would land the early punches and take control of the phallus. What looked like certain victory was snatched away when a trap door opened in the cardboard masonry and out popped a six shooter.

The track was white with snow. The quiet seemed more morning related than snow-related, but once my partners arrived it was obvious we'd have the track to ourselves. We warmed up slowly, our footfalls tracing the oval in shoe sizes.

Lil' Dutch and more than her fair share of make-up were disrobing. The poor seating arrangement blocked anything below waist level and for the most part this seemed ok. Out came the tassles, on went the twirling. What a curious talent. With a mixture of awe, horror, amusement and something not entirely unrelated to arousal, I watched spinning tassles with my head bobbing in time.

Paul went out too fast in the first half mile. I couldn't keep pace knowing that I was under-trained and we still had seven halves to run. I wanted to slow Paul down, but wasn't sure that my pace was the right pace, so I let him go and sought a realist's pace while trying not to slip on snow. The rest lap came quickly and soon we launched into another half and another round.

Colonel Sanders seemed to handle the chicken easily, he may have even choked it, but then just as the match seemed to be in hand, he took to making a racist rant. It wasn't long before the crowd turned on him and his goose was cooked. The chicken would live to fight another day.

By the third half, Paul had come back down to earth and I had sped up slightly. I felt ok at our 5:30ish mile pace, but was unsure how long I'd last. I lasted longer than the giant cross-dressing man. He won his early round, but then fell to a better-dressed opponent.

I made it through four and five before the personal bargaining began. I'd do one and sit one I thought. Or, I'd sit now, so I could finish the last one ok. Yet somehow, like the burlesque dancer on burlesque dancer fight that broke out in the middle rounds, it seemed like I just didn't know when to quit. As shirts and boots were tossed aside and as I seemed to recover just enough each time, I survived five and six, then happened upon half number seven.

A robot was fighting a chicken and technical difficulties ensued. I stayed close through seven convincing myself that I'd be done after it was over. Then I couldn't quite quit. I started eight. I tucked in behind Paul and ran strong for 400 meters. Chicken wings were flying. Robots were dancing the chicken. Chickens were dancing the robot. It was a back and forth battle and my mind lost. I slowed considerably, and fell off the pace. Way off. It's not how I like to finish a workout, not how I want to finish races.

I think the chicken emerged victorious. I don't think that was a metaphor. Thanks Elvis. Thanks Paul and Bill.

I'm one of 'em

I'm inspired by the new year, inspired by sitting around and doing little to nothing in the last week as I let a cough peter mostly out and let my social life do the same. Once 2011 hit and I finished my stockpile of Gilmore Girls episodes, I morphed into a man ready to take flight in all areas of life.

I'm ready to exercise, eat right, spend my time wisely, and on and on. Oprah magazine has the answers. Or the books I'm reading. Or the newspaper. I've got vague ideas and half-formed plans. I'm off to a good start and recognize that I cannot sustain this momentum completely, but I'm hoping that I can hold up enough to make a difference. When's the last time I was able to get a workout in, make dinners ahead of schedule, clean up, post to the blog(s), and still find time to bathe and read? Unheard of? Nay, it's 2011 and the new year shines with possibility.

I'm off to floss!

Happy New Year

1...2...3... Go. I woke up today, drove to Gaithersburg, got lost, managed a long line and an abbreviated warm-up and then found myself at the front of the starting group at a 5k. This is the third year of the last four that I've kicked off with this race, so the comparisons are getting a little too telling.

I didn't mean to start from the front. At some point, I had a conservative plan of running 5:50 per mile. In the front, that plan seemed foolish. Instead, I decided I should run with the gentlemen surrounding me. After all, I could keep pace, even if it was a faster pace than I wanted. I did keep pace, through most of a mile, which clicked off at about 5:27. Then my weak last few months of training and my ongoing battles with cold and flu-like symptoms kicked in and 10th place became 11th, became 13th, became clinging to 13th. The two mile came at 11:20 and the pain kept coming. I kept clinging to 13th place and finally sauntered home in 18:21. It was a battle and I probably cost myself 10 to 15 seconds with that start. The ego won out and I paid for it.

Now, I have all of 2011 to think about it. I didn't break the 5 minute mile in 2010. I've started off 2011 with the stuff of a freshman. It's time to get going again. Hello '11, here I come.

2010 movies

I've really been clinging to the past recently. I re-watched Finding Forrester, Star Trek, and have the Back to the Future trilogy all lined up as a possibility for tonight. The new ones in 2010 went like this-

1. All About Steve
2. Fired Up
3. Legion
4. Good Dick
5. Avatar
6. Hollywoodland
7. Confederate States of America
8. Singles
9. Blindside
10. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
11. It's Complicated
12. Hot Tub Time Machine
13. The Invention of Lying
14. Kick Ass
15. Bottleshock
16. King of California
17. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
18. District 9
19. Funny People
20. The Chateau
21. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
22. $9.99
23. Appaloosa
24. Paul Blart Mall Cop
25. Inception
26. Zac and Miri make a Porno
27. Bicker Schlecker's Cool Idea
28. Moon
29. Jackson Pollack
30. The Girl who Played with Fire
31. Mongol
32. Men who stare at goats
33. Malice in Wonderland
34. Visioneers
35. ???? Something with Time Travel in Vermont?
36. The Kids Are All Right
37. Piranha 3D
38. Invictus
39. The Town
40. Inglorious Basterds
41. Leap Year
42. State of Play
43. Gran Torino
44. Public Enemies
45. Iron Man 2
46. Valentine's Day
47. The Express
48. Paris je t'aime
49. I Love You Beth Cooper
50. Clash of the Titans
51. Monsoon Wedding
52. In July
53. Please Give
54.

Inception was good. Piranha 3D was everything it promised to be and gets credit for that and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a pretty solid movie version of a good book. Good Dick was odd and uncomfortable. Public Enemies was pretty disappointing.

I miss Netflix on demand.

2010 books

For some reason I've started several books in the last week and not been able to finish them. I also launched in for a quick re-read of the last 200 pages of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's still a winner. Here's the ones that I got all the way through in 2010.

1. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and sex
2. Bel Canto (re-read)
3. Up in the Air
4. Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories
5. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual
6. Olive Kitteridge
7. The Lost Symbol
8. The Yellow Jersey
9. My Life in France
10. The Girl Who Played with Fire
11. Never Let Go
12. Nudge
13. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
14. Ender's Game (re-read)
15. Traffic
16. An Abundance of Katherines
17. Seeing
18. Abide with Me
19. One Day
20. The Wind-up Girl
21. The Simple Truth
22. Drive
23. Getting to Yes
24. B is for Beer
25. Soon I will be invincible
26. Simple Genius
27. Click
28. The Bean Trees (re-read?)
29. Bounce

The tops: Olive Kitteridge was really well-written, but kind of depressing. My Life in France was entertaining and fun to read in France. The Girl books were suspenseful and fun. Bounce was really interesting, but odd at the beginning and the end.

The ones that disappointed: B is for Beer, Seeing, The Yellow Jersey.

I walked intro the living room this morning and saw my mom reading the news on the iPad. The paper is gone and this tablet remains. In the same moment, I glanced at the fireplace and thought of the crumpled newspapers of another era and their use as fire starters. How would we start fires now? The electrical switch on the wall should suffice. The electric fire will sizzle to life. I bet even misbehaving children will receive batteries in their stockings here.

I am hunting and pecking to make this post a reality. Very quickly I am realizing that the iPad is not a tool for use with the old ways, blogging, email,etc., but for apps that I have not yet discovered.

The speed of change is reflected in the statement above as now a generation of change takes place in a

I promised an update

Bad news. It may have been the high road. It may have been differing tastes in humor. It may have been too much other stress, but I'm afraid that my follow-up to yesterday's prank is to report that there was little reaction to our hi-jinx. I heard mumbles that "maybe someone thought taping the fridge shut went too far" and my particular scrawl was recognized, but otherwise nada.


Sorry, kids. Hopefully, Santa's next prank will go over better.

I probably won't be featured on a tv show about an office any time soon

Tomorrow is the holiday party at my office. One of my coworkers is on the planning committee. Today, before he left work, he taped the refrigerator shut and posted signs that no one was to touch the food or open the fridge. This seemed a little excessive to a few of us. I mean, he taped the fridge shut.

We considered a few revenge scenarios, including emptying the fridge and leaving a ransom note or taking a bite out of each item, but ultimately decided that hysterics and/or a heart attack were not going to feel like victory in the morning.

Instead, we broke through the tape and placed post-its with comments from Santa and friends on all of the items. Comments like:
"Ginger ale gives the elves gas."
"Where's the beef?"
"I almost named a reindeer Tiramisu."

We were as clever as we could be and we tried not to leave any item out. We then taped up the fridge and covered his note with a letter from Santa. Reactions tomorrow...

An observation or four

*I don't prepare my legs for winter like I prepare the rest of my body. When the cold comes and the wind whistles and my pants flap, my legs think, "Hmm. There should be a leg-shaped sweater."

*One of my favorite things about snow is the accompanying silence. I always thought that was somehow related to the acoustics of frozen water. Tonight as I walked to the store in biting cold it occurred to me that the silence might just come from folks staying bundled up indoors.

*I never understood how anybody could want to do things like manage or go in to business for themselves. Time passed. I can now see how either the frustration of being managed and/or the thrill and challenge of taking control could drive a person to such places.

*The Internet must be the most important place in the world; why else would I spend all of my time there?

I just felt like running

Here's the poetic version:

'Twas the night before jingling and all through the house,
my hacking cough was scaring the mouse.
Paul was recovering from an intestinal party
Amelia announced that she'd be quite tardy.

Michelle tracked down friends from her personal history
while Bill disappeared leaving only a mystery.
The maybe's had all turned to no
while the tiny drops of rain wished to be snow.

Darkness and fog were the monuments' blanket
and four of us wondered if we could tank it.
Surrounded by Santa's caps and elfish hoisery
jingle bells were scattered from shoelace to rosary.

Packed in like sardines enjoying a can,
we heard nothing but jingling and saw bouncing man.
On Katie, on Michelle, on Dave, and Paul
running a 10k for one and all.

Paul bolted early like a missile toe should,
and conquered Hain's point before the rest of us would.
Next came Dave alone, then Michelle and Katie as a duet,
all ran as quickly as their bodies would let.

The fog never lifted, but spirits were bright
those elfish legs were quite a sight.
All four finished wet and strong,
to the cheers of a jingle bell song.

And then before the risen sun,
we said "That was fun."
Oh and also,
"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good run."


Results here.

Bill did join us and so we managed to place 14th as a team!

The prose version follows:
The runny nose started on Wednesday. The hamstring strain on Thursday. The ankle has been acting up for a couple of weeks and the back jumped into the mix early last week. As the nose was joined by a sore throat and a cough, I stopped pressing and started trying to heal. Cough syrup and vitamin C were in heavy rotation with sleeping.

As I went to bed last night, nursing my NyQuil, I wondered if running in the Jingle Bell 10k was wise. I still wondered at quarter to five when I woke up. I didn't want to miss the race. There was a loose team counting on me and it also happens to be the social event of my weekend. Sniffling, I borrowed a car and headed to the polo fields for the second Sunday in a row.

I arrived by 6 since I still needed to pick up my race bib. I found there are parking spaces in the middle of the night and the early morning. Under the cover of darkness and fog, I picked up my packet and bided my time, inefficiently, I might add. I spent some of the wee hour forgiving myself for taking a car to the race. Not every test of my mettle needs to test every single mettle I've got. I wasn't worried about my race performance, I knew it was going to be a rough day. My main worry was ramifications later in the week and general discomfort from cold and rain. The rain was light. At around 7, I gathered with pieces of a team and we casually made our way to the starting line. We eschewed the warm-up in favor of polite conversation.

I remained well dressed and warm up until start time. Even then, I decided to keep all my clothes on and choose comfort bordering on overheating over a swifter outlook. We missed "go" but followed the hundreds in front of us. I trudged out of the gate and Paul took off. I sped up after him, but could tell that I couldn't keep pace today. I crossed the mile in a comfortable 6:12. I passed a few more people and then found my battleground. In another 6:35, I crossed the two mile mark. Just under a third of the way through and finishing seemed possible.

The jingle bells were louder this year. Perhaps they echoed off the fog on the Potomac. Or maybe my breathing wasn't quite as heavy. There were good moments where I felt strong and fast and bad moments where I felt sickly. For a while "here comes Santa Claus" played on repeat in my head. I crossed the 5k just a hair under 20 minutes, my optimism was intact but fading. I chased some nice looking elf legs and traded places with several challengers in a see-saw battle.

I tried to recall the quote I'd sent out to the team- "It's
very hard to understand in the beginning that the whole idea is not to
beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is
against the little voice inside you that wants to quit." ~Dr. George
Sheehan. I never came up with it directly, but I felt it most of the way as I battled myself above all others.

I passed mile 5 right at 33 minutes. A sub 40 minute 10k still seemed possible, but it wasn't. I struggled mightily during the last mile and then closed as hard as I could. I finished in 40:53 in 108th place. I was nearly 4 minutes slower than last year, but I was ahead of some of my challengers of this day and behind some others.

Knowing that I'd been sick and unsure of whether I'd even run, I remembered that running fast isn't the only reason I run. Having a sense of purpose, a reason to wake up before the sun and be excited is a reason. So is meeting people and sharing an experience. So is competition which occurs just as vigorously at 6:35 per mile as it does anywhere else. I didn't feel wacky out in the rain. I just felt alive. It's hard to ask for more than that, especially before 9 AM on a Sunday.

Bike sharing

On the surface there seems no reason why I'd need to participate in a bike sharing program in my own town. I've had some success sharing abroad, but a year or two ago when Smartbikes came to DC, I had no use for them. I've got a bike (or two) that I can ride, so I couldn't justify becoming a member of the bike sharing community. The model Smartbikes was using didn't make sense to me either. They wanted a membership fee like Zipcar uses so they could issue a card for using their bikes. I understand why a person can't just walk up, swipe a credit card, and drive, but the same logic doesn't apply for a bike.

Recently, Capital Bikeshare has come to town. They've come to town in a big way, too. While I've only seen two Smartbike locations, I can rattle off at least five Capital Bikeshare racks. Capital Bikeshare has a member fee too, but they get it right because they also have a 24-membership fee of $5. Tourists and those as indecisive as me can take advantage without commitment. Grabbing a bike to get to and from a location in trips of less than 30 minutes keeps that fee at $5. That's more than a bus ride, but getting pretty close to a Metro ride. A little extra time costs more money, but it's a reasonable amount. These bikes aren't meant for all day touring, but they are great for short jaunts.

I chose to test them out because I didn't want to leave my bike locked out in the open all day this past Saturday. I had to be at CUA before the Metro was running. I had limited options, so it seemed like a good excuse for a test. The bikes have three speeds and for city riding third gear was passable. There were a few flat spots on the Metropolitan Branch Trail where I could have used a bigger gear, but it wasn't bad. The seat is oddly lumpy, but not as uncomfortable as it looks. I missed my toe clips a bit, but I suspect I'm in the minority on that. The system is simple to use. The charges are reasonable and now I'm considering adding a bike share membership for the year to my legion of transportation options.

Ah, big city life.

Subs, you say?
For the first time that I can recall, I stood on the sidelines with CUA teams and wondered what to do with all of the subs. The open team had 18 players at CUFF this weekend while the women ran with 11 or 12. I spent most of Saturday with the women. They continue to improve and traded points early with Georgetown, took half, but fell 9-7. They played down to Towson B in a sloppy game and managed to win 9-7. They then took on a fiery Salisbury team and again took half. It was 9-9 as the play-makers for both teams were making plays on offense and defense. Salisbury eventually pulled away to win 11-9, but it all seemed so close. The final game of the day was against powerhouse Maryland and after the tough loss, the egg would not get cracked.

The women’s team is captained by two seniors, both handle well and both claim they’d rather cut, despite their general effectiveness as handlers. I believe the rest of the team, except for one grad student who pops in and out, is sophomores or freshmen, so there’s lots of hope for the future. We’ve got two handlers in training who seem to be improving in those roles, but aren’t quite comfortable yet. There are three sophomores cutting who played at Sectionals last year and they have strong cuts and good hands. All three make a pretty big impact on both sides of the disc, but one in particular has really started to read the disc and catch well above her head. When her hands go up and she starts to extend, 8 times out of 10 she’s been coming down with the disc. This makes her highly effective on offense and a solid deep-deep in the zone on defense. Of the new players, we have a couple speedy receivers who have decent hands and are working on their throws. We have one who quietly goes about her business and I need to watch more closely, but I think she also quietly shuts down her opponents. They just don’t touch the disc. She also came up with one big D on Saturday on a deep put that floated. There are a few others with promise as well. There’s a lot to be excited about, as they notched a hard-cap victory over Messiah and two close losses, one to ?, and one to conference (rival of the future) St. Mary’s. Habit ended up 16th overall, dropping in seed a few notches, but I think they’ll come back stronger.

I spent less time with the men, but got to witness the highlight of the weekend on Saturday. After going 2-1 in pool play, Habit faced off against Salisbury for the right to enter the championship bracket. The basic game plan was to keep our go-to guys in the game until they needed rest. This was 2 cutters and 1 handler. We then rotated 4 handlers around the other 2 handler spots, trying to keep them fresh and focusing on offense or defense where we could. The other 2 cutters were rotated between offense and defense, some occasionally going both ways, but usually between 3 players on either side. Using those 13 players, we still had 5 in reserve on the sidelines. Salisbury felt the full force of this plan as Habit was tearing it up with those 13. It was 4-0 before they knew what hit them. It was 7-2 at half and 13-3 by game’s end. The lengthy defenders gave them fits and the speedy cutters did the same. It was a thing of beauty. It was hard for me to leave 5 people standing on the sidelines, but they all said they understood and if they truly did, I have high hopes for the future.

When we tried the same mix again against Delaware on Sunday, we found out that Delaware was not as impressed. We fought hard, but Delaware was much stronger and dispatched Habit 13-5 (I think). From there, our legs started to give. We gave Rutgers an early fight, but made some costly mistakes and seemed to lose interest in defense so we fell behind 7-3, before opening up the rotation and losing 13-4 (I think). It was a similar story with Towson, particularly because they made sure to keep the disc out of the right hands making our offense sputter. That too was made worse by some ill-timed (or well-forced) mistakes. We didn’t open that one up for rotating in subs, and soon fell 13-4 (or 5). I didn’t watch the game for 15th place, but with an open rotation and our captains on the sidelines, we fell hard again. We all checked our egos as best we could and hope that we’ll build character from this experience. I have high hopes for the team this year. They look as strong as ever and we have some depth to go with the talent. We’re going to have to more fully form into a team, but I think we took a step in the right direction as we move toward the vision of DIII Nationals. I don’t think it will be an easy road, but with some time together and some good luck, I think it’s a very real possibility. That’s pretty exciting. And subs are pretty exciting too!