Ran 3 miles today at lunch. Total so far: 227/ Miles to go 773.
Well the results are in. After on week on the Cabbage Soup diet I lost 10 lbs. Put on a pair of khaki pants this morning that I could not button last week. There is an entire closet of clothes both here and in New York that I want to ware and can't. My goal is to lose another 17 pounds and see how they fit! I know that with any crash diet you can gain it back fast, but I am on a mission and this Cabbage Soup works for me. May incorporate it into my routine one week a month for a while.
Today I enjoyed eggs and bacon for breakfast (but no toast) and had soup with rice for lunch and for supper some pork tenderloin and steamed squash for dinner. In between I ate an apple, drank some non-sugar added fruit juice and had an Atkins Bar. Going to continue with moderation and my running and add some weight training...."Belly beware....I got my eye on you!"
Also spent some time this morning writing some stories that my dad used to tell me. They are part of a book I have been working on called An Extraordinary Ordinary Life, a biography of my dad. Mostly I want to preserve them for myself and for my family. I have told many of them to my kids. They have become part of the family folk lore, the oral tradition. Dad was the consummate story teller. In his later years, especially as he declined physically, we would talk by phone twice a day. He would regale me with stories and I never ceased enjoying hearing them. I miss him. This book is a tribute to the man. And for your enjoyment, here is one of his stories!
Machine Gun Tommy
My father was an extraordinary ordinary man. Born in Little Rock Arkansas on November 1, 1925, he was the first child of Cameron Jenson Camp and Salome Bridget Camp. His birth was followed by two more sons: Edward, who was "never quite right" and Johnny, the brash youngest later to be body builder and communist college professor who moved with family and 5 step sons to Canada in the 1960s so they could all avoid the draft. I remember the FBI coming by our house one time asking about him. But this is not their story, although their lives weave part of the tapestry that was the life of Cameron Jenson Camp, Jr. or "CJ" as he was known in his early years.
Dad did not talk a lot about his childhood, but when he did it was by way of stories. He was a born story teller and in these brief vignettes, we were transported to his world. Little Rock in the Great Depression. Machine Gun Tommy has always been one my my children's favorites. Tommy was a large kid and the butt of frequent jokes by his peers. His nick name came from his habit of farting in multiple spurts when excited or agitated.
Dad has a crush on a girl named Beatrice Fargo. Beatrice was both rich and smart. Dad was smart, the class clown, but poor an certainly not in her league. Trying to get her attention one day in class, Dad, who was sitting right behind Tommy, put a nail in his shoe and was kicking his foot closer and closer to Tommy's large behind. Tyring to ignore him, Beatrice could not help but watch in fascination as the nail came closer and closer to Tommy. In fact, most of the class was watching by this time as the oblivious teacher continued to write problems on the chalk board.
Once of Dan's friends, Edgar, as I recall, had been following the cadence of Dad's foot swings and just as Dad's food reached its zenith, a few inches from Tommy, Edgar gave Dad's food a swift kick, propelling the foot and nail into Tommy's plump posterior. Tommy yelled and proceeded to let out a series of his signature farts, machine gun style.
The class broke out in pandemonium. The furious teacher, upon surmising what had happened, send Dad to the Principal's office. Beatrice, her face red, could not help laughing and that was reward enough for Dad. Upon entering the Principal's office, Dad was still feeling triumphant.
"Why do you do these things, CJ? I sometimes think you must like getting punished" the tired Principal asked before administering another paddling.
The Principal never could understand Dad. Most kids who showed up in his office were poor students. Dad was smart and popular. He was elected student council president in Junior High. Being poor, he only had overalls to ware to a city wide meeting of all student council officers to represent the school. Dad told me he vividly remembered this same Principal asking him if he did not have something "more appropriate to ware?" Dad did not. But until then, he had never really thought about that much. Country people learn to get by.
Life is Good!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
July 26 Monday Back To Basics and Cabbage Soup!
Ran 3 miles today (Monday the 26th of July). Have run an addition 23 miles on top of that since I last posted. Total so far: 224/ Miles to go: 776. Way behind the 1000 miles a year goal, but have decided to keep running and see both how many miles I can run in a year and how long it takes me to run 1000 miles in my 56 year old body.
Gambling investment so far $84 with winnings of $45 so losses so far equal $39. Gym Rat tells me I should buy two lotto tickets each time....one with my number and one quick pic....thinks only the quick pics actually win based on the winning numbers he sees ("I mean, who would pick on their own 4 or 5 numbers in the same sequence?" or so his argument goes). Debating that theory. Implementation would mean an increase of $2 a week. I will decide Wednesday when I make my purchase of lotto ticket and Weekly Grand.
I hit a slump, big one, with the running and writing. After my last post about a month ago. I have been traveling a lot and also teaching at night (7:50 to 9:30 which means I get home after 10 many nights a week). Finished last class of summer school Friday with the exam. These are excuses which reminds me of what a coach once told me in high school "Excuses are like ass holes. Everyone has one but they all stink!" In any event, since I last wrote I have been to New York twice, Ashtown Oregon and Chicago. I don't plan to travel for a while. Hopefully this will help me get back into the running/writing routine.
But speaking of traveling, had an "airplane" experience. As the small Delta commuter jet from Medford Oregon (closest airport to Ashtown) was about to land in Salt Lake City, it pulled up and did not land. The pilot came over the intercome and explained "I guess you realize we did not land. The landing gear did not go down. But don't worry, we have a lot of gas so we will circle the Salt Lake until we figure out what to do."
Holy $@%$," I thought,' "What do you mean when you say don't worry?" "What am I supposed to do?" Everyone was looking at everyone. I did what all good Catholic boys do....started praying all the prayers I had memorized as a child...the Our Father, the Act of Contrition, some Hail Marys, etc. I also thought, "Why tell us this? I really did not need at this moment to know that the landing gear were not going down....Ok....if they can't get them to go down and we need some special training right before we crash...tell me. But now, just let me fly in blissful ignorance of my potential demise." Fortunately, the pilot later came back on the intercom and said they had fixed the problem. Everyone breathed a collective sign of relief and the flight attendant (only one on the mini plane) told us that their pilots were the best! Later a former pilot friend of mine told me that the pilot had to tell us why when we did not land, but I did not believe him...or at least felt like he could have been less precise.
Lots of fun things happened on these trips and I may write more about them later. For tonight, tired and wanting to post, I will just let you know that today is day 7 and the last day of my 7 day Cabbage Soup Diet (also sometimes called the Dolly Parton diet....oh my). I have done this once before. It is a good way to jump start a diet/exercise routine. You are supposed to lose 10 lbs in on week. All my traveling and over indulging combined with less running the past month had left me feeling bloated in my tight pants. I want to lose 20 lbs by Labor Day, hence this jump start.
The diet is fairly simple. You make this soup and eat as much as you want every day. The soup consists of green onions sauted, two bell peppers, a bag of sliced mushrooms, some carrots, celery, a large can of tomatoes and you add a large bottle of V-8 juice and water. You can also add beef or chicken broth and lipton onion soup mix if you want and other spices. I like to use the spicy version of V-8 juice and/or spicy tomatoes. The soup tastes good (if you like V-8 juice) but you do get tired of it after a few days.
On day one of the diet you can eat as much fruit (other than bananas) and drink no sugar added fruit juice and have as much of the soup as you want. On day two you eat as much vegetables (other than corn or beans) and the soup and reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter for dinner. On day three you eat as much soup, fruit and veggies as you want but no potato. Day four is my favorite. You eat the soup and 8 bananas and a quart of skim milk. By then, you are so tired of soup and veggies the bananas taste great as does the milk. Day 5 you can have steak, tomatoes and the soup and Day 6 you can have steak (or skinless chicken or broiled fish) and soup and veggies. The final day (today) lots of brown rice and soup and veggies and you can drink sugar free fruit juice. I end up having to make a second pot of soup about day 5 or 6. You can also drink tea (I cheat and drink my coffee black) and should drink lots of water.
So tomorrow morning I will stand on the scale and report back to you how much I have lost. I feel thinner, and better. One thing about the diet is that you don't drink alcohol, so I have missed my wine and scotch for a week now. Starting tomorrow I am going to try to do the "push away" diet for a few days....i.e. just push the food away before I am stuffed and also the "avoid the whites" diet (no bread, potatoes, sugar) which means higher protein and less carbohydrates. We will see how I am doing on Friday again. Saturday will be a through away day. Going to visit Mrs. Savage in Tyler and whatever she cooks I will be certain to eat....and I will have the obligatory cocktail with her at the appointed hour.....Life is Good!
Gambling investment so far $84 with winnings of $45 so losses so far equal $39. Gym Rat tells me I should buy two lotto tickets each time....one with my number and one quick pic....thinks only the quick pics actually win based on the winning numbers he sees ("I mean, who would pick on their own 4 or 5 numbers in the same sequence?" or so his argument goes). Debating that theory. Implementation would mean an increase of $2 a week. I will decide Wednesday when I make my purchase of lotto ticket and Weekly Grand.
I hit a slump, big one, with the running and writing. After my last post about a month ago. I have been traveling a lot and also teaching at night (7:50 to 9:30 which means I get home after 10 many nights a week). Finished last class of summer school Friday with the exam. These are excuses which reminds me of what a coach once told me in high school "Excuses are like ass holes. Everyone has one but they all stink!" In any event, since I last wrote I have been to New York twice, Ashtown Oregon and Chicago. I don't plan to travel for a while. Hopefully this will help me get back into the running/writing routine.
But speaking of traveling, had an "airplane" experience. As the small Delta commuter jet from Medford Oregon (closest airport to Ashtown) was about to land in Salt Lake City, it pulled up and did not land. The pilot came over the intercome and explained "I guess you realize we did not land. The landing gear did not go down. But don't worry, we have a lot of gas so we will circle the Salt Lake until we figure out what to do."
Holy $@%$," I thought,' "What do you mean when you say don't worry?" "What am I supposed to do?" Everyone was looking at everyone. I did what all good Catholic boys do....started praying all the prayers I had memorized as a child...the Our Father, the Act of Contrition, some Hail Marys, etc. I also thought, "Why tell us this? I really did not need at this moment to know that the landing gear were not going down....Ok....if they can't get them to go down and we need some special training right before we crash...tell me. But now, just let me fly in blissful ignorance of my potential demise." Fortunately, the pilot later came back on the intercom and said they had fixed the problem. Everyone breathed a collective sign of relief and the flight attendant (only one on the mini plane) told us that their pilots were the best! Later a former pilot friend of mine told me that the pilot had to tell us why when we did not land, but I did not believe him...or at least felt like he could have been less precise.
Lots of fun things happened on these trips and I may write more about them later. For tonight, tired and wanting to post, I will just let you know that today is day 7 and the last day of my 7 day Cabbage Soup Diet (also sometimes called the Dolly Parton diet....oh my). I have done this once before. It is a good way to jump start a diet/exercise routine. You are supposed to lose 10 lbs in on week. All my traveling and over indulging combined with less running the past month had left me feeling bloated in my tight pants. I want to lose 20 lbs by Labor Day, hence this jump start.
The diet is fairly simple. You make this soup and eat as much as you want every day. The soup consists of green onions sauted, two bell peppers, a bag of sliced mushrooms, some carrots, celery, a large can of tomatoes and you add a large bottle of V-8 juice and water. You can also add beef or chicken broth and lipton onion soup mix if you want and other spices. I like to use the spicy version of V-8 juice and/or spicy tomatoes. The soup tastes good (if you like V-8 juice) but you do get tired of it after a few days.
On day one of the diet you can eat as much fruit (other than bananas) and drink no sugar added fruit juice and have as much of the soup as you want. On day two you eat as much vegetables (other than corn or beans) and the soup and reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter for dinner. On day three you eat as much soup, fruit and veggies as you want but no potato. Day four is my favorite. You eat the soup and 8 bananas and a quart of skim milk. By then, you are so tired of soup and veggies the bananas taste great as does the milk. Day 5 you can have steak, tomatoes and the soup and Day 6 you can have steak (or skinless chicken or broiled fish) and soup and veggies. The final day (today) lots of brown rice and soup and veggies and you can drink sugar free fruit juice. I end up having to make a second pot of soup about day 5 or 6. You can also drink tea (I cheat and drink my coffee black) and should drink lots of water.
So tomorrow morning I will stand on the scale and report back to you how much I have lost. I feel thinner, and better. One thing about the diet is that you don't drink alcohol, so I have missed my wine and scotch for a week now. Starting tomorrow I am going to try to do the "push away" diet for a few days....i.e. just push the food away before I am stuffed and also the "avoid the whites" diet (no bread, potatoes, sugar) which means higher protein and less carbohydrates. We will see how I am doing on Friday again. Saturday will be a through away day. Going to visit Mrs. Savage in Tyler and whatever she cooks I will be certain to eat....and I will have the obligatory cocktail with her at the appointed hour.....Life is Good!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 116, Hobbesian Choice
Thursday June 24th, Day 116....Ran 4 miles. Yesterday I ran 3 miles. Total so far: 198/ Miles to go: 802
Realized I got my numbering off in terms of number of days I have been on this challenge and had to correct it. Maybe the lesson is that I need to return to my daily blogging. Need some gently razing from readers about where are the posts. Have gotten lazy. In part my excuse is that this summer by teaching summer school at 7:50 at night, by the time I get home at 10 or later I just don't feel like writing. But I know that is just an excuse and that if I sit down and start I will be able to write. But here I sit Friday morning with first cup of coffee trying to wake up.
Learned something last night in class. In a case we were discussing I was explaining that when a loan is in trouble the lending is often faced with the "Hobbesian" choice between advancing more money to save the company (which the bank might lose if the company cannot turn around and become successful) or calling the loan and suffering a loss, perhaps at once or if this action forces the company into bankruptcy. I asked the class if anyone knew what I meant by a Hobbesian choice. No one raised their hand. One student volunteered that he had heard the expression before. He thought maybe Hobbes was some philosopher.
Disappointed I went on a little rant about how we have lost some of our common cultural underpinnings when concepts are not shared between generations, etc. I then explained in my pompous professorial manner, that a Hobbesian choice meant a choice between two alternatives, neither of which were very appealing...a dilemma, no pain free solution.
After class, a student called to me and I went to his chair. He had googled Hobbesian choice and discovered that I was not quite right. It is actually "Hobson's" choice, named after an English livery man, not Hobbesian after the philosopher Hobbes. It also does not mean a choice between two bad alternatives, but rather, a "take it or leave it" choice. Seems Hobson would tell his customers they could take the first horse in a stall or nothing as he did not want to take the time to show them all his horses.
I was a bit chagrined by my mistake in usage, but also was placated a little by the google commentary that explained that my mistake in both attributing the idea to philosopher Hobbes and believing it meant the dilemma of no good choices, was a common mistake. But it made me wonder what other word uses I had assumed I was educated enough use were actually incorrect.....oh well, if I have to make the Hobson's choice of not using phrases I think I know for fear of making a mistake or using them, I will go on using them. Wait, did I use Hobson's choice correctly in that sentence? Oh well, and lest you think I am the only one with this problem, below is a little article making fun of another lawyer who may have used Hobbesian choice wrong....in an argument before the U.S. Supreme Court! Life is Good!
Peter Wood
Archive E-mail Latest
April 21, 2003 8:50 A.M.Hobbesian Choice An oral translation.
I thought that's what I heard Mr. Payton said, but I had to wait for the transcript to be sure. John Payton is the lawyer who argued the University of Michigan's case to the Supreme Court in Gratz v. Bollinger on April 1.
His defense of racial preferences in undergraduate admissions was amazingly inept. Listening to it, I began to wonder whether diversiphiles are paying an unexpected price for having ostracized all dissenting opinions for the last two decades. Perhaps by having refused to debate the issue on campus, they now don't know how to debate it in Court.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -No, that's probably not it. Maybe Mr. Payton was just having a bad day. Justice Scalia asked him why, if the University of Michigan put such a high value on diversity, it didn't just lower admission standards for everybody. Mr. Payton thought that approach would impose an unwelcome choice, which is what prompted his remark about a "Hobbesian choice." What in the world is a Hobbesian choice?
It sounds a bit like a Hobson's choice. Tobias Hobson was an innkeeper in 17th-century Cambridge, England, who gained lasting fame for requiring those who wanted to rent a horse from his stable to take whichever horse was in the stall next to the stable door. Hobson's approach was praised by the Spectator as a way of ensuring that "every customer was alike well served, according to his chance, and every horse ridden with same justice." But the phrase has come to mean a "choice" in name only: an imposition.
So was Mr. Payton objecting that Justice Scalia's question implied no real choice for the University of Michigan? That doesn't seem right. To the contrary, Justice Scalia's question pointed to existence of choices that the University could make within the law. It could set high standards and apply them consistently to all students regardless of race or it could set lower standards and apply them consistently to all students regardless of race. It could take the horse in the stall next to the stable door, or any other horse in the stable so long as he agreed to treat that horse fairly. No Hobson's choice there.
So presumably Mr. Payton didn't mean "Hobson's choice." A "Hobbesian choice" must be something else. A choice like that made by Thomas Hobbes, the English political theorist best known for his justification of monarchy, The Leviathan? A choice that once weighed on Hobbes the stuffed tiger in Bill Watterson's comic strip "Calvin & Hobbes"?
Thomas Hobbes is perhaps best known for his exceptionally gloomy view of the human condition. Humans, he thought, are driven most basically by a "restless desire of power after power." If men are not subjected to a king or other dominant authority, they live, said Hobbes, in a state of war "of every man against every man." That condition puts all in "continual fear and danger of violent death; and [makes] the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
So did Mr. Payton mean that, in the absence of racial preferences, the state of Michigan would be reduced to the Hobbesian state of nature, with the war of all against all? That is, I suppose, one way of considering race neutral college admissions criteria. Every student for himself. Still, I doubt that the result of race-blind admissions in Ann Arbor would lead to an increase in the number of students who elect the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short lifestyle.
If Mr. Payton was in fact referring to Thomas Hobbes, he may have been paying wry tribute to the guiding spirit of diversity. After all, Hobbes is a kind of patron saint of illiberal oppression. He not only favored a powerful central government but, like today's diversiphiles, recognized the merits of high-minded obfuscation. Hobbes recommended encouraging people not to think too deeply about official rationales, lest they discover the phoniness inside. "For it is with the mysteries of our religion, as with wholesome pills for the sick, which swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure; but chewed, are for the most part cast up again without effect."
So with diversity? Swallow it whole and it will work, but start to chew it over and all the magic effects of "critical thinking," promotion of democratic participation, and loads of good fellow feeling will be lost?
I understand that lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court have only a few precious minutes, and many of those are taken up with answering questions. Thus they have to give pithy answers and sometimes depend on sly allusions that may convey a lot to the Court but can puzzle laymen. Mr. Payton appears to be a master at this kind of coded communication.
And therefore he may have intended to combine this erudite reference to Thomas Hobbes with his comic-strip namesake, the skeptical plush toy tiger whose shares the adventures of Calvin, the six-year-old boy with the hyperactive imagination. In the strip, the dubious Hobbes repeatedly gets into the transmorgifier with Calvin knowing it will propel them into mischief and disaster. The Hobbesian choice, in this context, is to assume unwanted adult responsibility — and I can understand why Mr. Payton would object to that. He would rather transmogrify unqualified kids into college students.
But perhaps I am misreading Mr. Payton's remark. It may be that he was not referring to the transmorgifier episodes, but to some other Calvin & Hobbes adventure. "Attack of the Snow Goons?"
The New York Times, the Washington Post, and dozens of other news outlets are busy spinning the story of what happened at the oral arguments. Essentially they are saying that higher education's "diversity" doctrine looks like it will survive the twin legal challenges of Grutter v.
Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. That could be, but I read the Court differently. Several of the justices — including some who are thought to be soft on racial preferences — asked the University of Michigan's lawyers skeptical questions.
That day diversity's defenders came across as stridently self-righteous and pretty sloppy about the details. Mr. Payton's aversion to making a "Hobbesian choice" captures that perfectly.
— Peter Wood is author of Diversity: The Invention of A Concept and a professor of anthropology at Boston University.
Realized I got my numbering off in terms of number of days I have been on this challenge and had to correct it. Maybe the lesson is that I need to return to my daily blogging. Need some gently razing from readers about where are the posts. Have gotten lazy. In part my excuse is that this summer by teaching summer school at 7:50 at night, by the time I get home at 10 or later I just don't feel like writing. But I know that is just an excuse and that if I sit down and start I will be able to write. But here I sit Friday morning with first cup of coffee trying to wake up.
Learned something last night in class. In a case we were discussing I was explaining that when a loan is in trouble the lending is often faced with the "Hobbesian" choice between advancing more money to save the company (which the bank might lose if the company cannot turn around and become successful) or calling the loan and suffering a loss, perhaps at once or if this action forces the company into bankruptcy. I asked the class if anyone knew what I meant by a Hobbesian choice. No one raised their hand. One student volunteered that he had heard the expression before. He thought maybe Hobbes was some philosopher.
Disappointed I went on a little rant about how we have lost some of our common cultural underpinnings when concepts are not shared between generations, etc. I then explained in my pompous professorial manner, that a Hobbesian choice meant a choice between two alternatives, neither of which were very appealing...a dilemma, no pain free solution.
After class, a student called to me and I went to his chair. He had googled Hobbesian choice and discovered that I was not quite right. It is actually "Hobson's" choice, named after an English livery man, not Hobbesian after the philosopher Hobbes. It also does not mean a choice between two bad alternatives, but rather, a "take it or leave it" choice. Seems Hobson would tell his customers they could take the first horse in a stall or nothing as he did not want to take the time to show them all his horses.
I was a bit chagrined by my mistake in usage, but also was placated a little by the google commentary that explained that my mistake in both attributing the idea to philosopher Hobbes and believing it meant the dilemma of no good choices, was a common mistake. But it made me wonder what other word uses I had assumed I was educated enough use were actually incorrect.....oh well, if I have to make the Hobson's choice of not using phrases I think I know for fear of making a mistake or using them, I will go on using them. Wait, did I use Hobson's choice correctly in that sentence? Oh well, and lest you think I am the only one with this problem, below is a little article making fun of another lawyer who may have used Hobbesian choice wrong....in an argument before the U.S. Supreme Court! Life is Good!
Peter Wood
Archive E-mail Latest
April 21, 2003 8:50 A.M.Hobbesian Choice An oral translation.
I thought that's what I heard Mr. Payton said, but I had to wait for the transcript to be sure. John Payton is the lawyer who argued the University of Michigan's case to the Supreme Court in Gratz v. Bollinger on April 1.
His defense of racial preferences in undergraduate admissions was amazingly inept. Listening to it, I began to wonder whether diversiphiles are paying an unexpected price for having ostracized all dissenting opinions for the last two decades. Perhaps by having refused to debate the issue on campus, they now don't know how to debate it in Court.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -No, that's probably not it. Maybe Mr. Payton was just having a bad day. Justice Scalia asked him why, if the University of Michigan put such a high value on diversity, it didn't just lower admission standards for everybody. Mr. Payton thought that approach would impose an unwelcome choice, which is what prompted his remark about a "Hobbesian choice." What in the world is a Hobbesian choice?
It sounds a bit like a Hobson's choice. Tobias Hobson was an innkeeper in 17th-century Cambridge, England, who gained lasting fame for requiring those who wanted to rent a horse from his stable to take whichever horse was in the stall next to the stable door. Hobson's approach was praised by the Spectator as a way of ensuring that "every customer was alike well served, according to his chance, and every horse ridden with same justice." But the phrase has come to mean a "choice" in name only: an imposition.
So was Mr. Payton objecting that Justice Scalia's question implied no real choice for the University of Michigan? That doesn't seem right. To the contrary, Justice Scalia's question pointed to existence of choices that the University could make within the law. It could set high standards and apply them consistently to all students regardless of race or it could set lower standards and apply them consistently to all students regardless of race. It could take the horse in the stall next to the stable door, or any other horse in the stable so long as he agreed to treat that horse fairly. No Hobson's choice there.
So presumably Mr. Payton didn't mean "Hobson's choice." A "Hobbesian choice" must be something else. A choice like that made by Thomas Hobbes, the English political theorist best known for his justification of monarchy, The Leviathan? A choice that once weighed on Hobbes the stuffed tiger in Bill Watterson's comic strip "Calvin & Hobbes"?
Thomas Hobbes is perhaps best known for his exceptionally gloomy view of the human condition. Humans, he thought, are driven most basically by a "restless desire of power after power." If men are not subjected to a king or other dominant authority, they live, said Hobbes, in a state of war "of every man against every man." That condition puts all in "continual fear and danger of violent death; and [makes] the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
So did Mr. Payton mean that, in the absence of racial preferences, the state of Michigan would be reduced to the Hobbesian state of nature, with the war of all against all? That is, I suppose, one way of considering race neutral college admissions criteria. Every student for himself. Still, I doubt that the result of race-blind admissions in Ann Arbor would lead to an increase in the number of students who elect the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short lifestyle.
If Mr. Payton was in fact referring to Thomas Hobbes, he may have been paying wry tribute to the guiding spirit of diversity. After all, Hobbes is a kind of patron saint of illiberal oppression. He not only favored a powerful central government but, like today's diversiphiles, recognized the merits of high-minded obfuscation. Hobbes recommended encouraging people not to think too deeply about official rationales, lest they discover the phoniness inside. "For it is with the mysteries of our religion, as with wholesome pills for the sick, which swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure; but chewed, are for the most part cast up again without effect."
So with diversity? Swallow it whole and it will work, but start to chew it over and all the magic effects of "critical thinking," promotion of democratic participation, and loads of good fellow feeling will be lost?
I understand that lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court have only a few precious minutes, and many of those are taken up with answering questions. Thus they have to give pithy answers and sometimes depend on sly allusions that may convey a lot to the Court but can puzzle laymen. Mr. Payton appears to be a master at this kind of coded communication.
And therefore he may have intended to combine this erudite reference to Thomas Hobbes with his comic-strip namesake, the skeptical plush toy tiger whose shares the adventures of Calvin, the six-year-old boy with the hyperactive imagination. In the strip, the dubious Hobbes repeatedly gets into the transmorgifier with Calvin knowing it will propel them into mischief and disaster. The Hobbesian choice, in this context, is to assume unwanted adult responsibility — and I can understand why Mr. Payton would object to that. He would rather transmogrify unqualified kids into college students.
But perhaps I am misreading Mr. Payton's remark. It may be that he was not referring to the transmorgifier episodes, but to some other Calvin & Hobbes adventure. "Attack of the Snow Goons?"
The New York Times, the Washington Post, and dozens of other news outlets are busy spinning the story of what happened at the oral arguments. Essentially they are saying that higher education's "diversity" doctrine looks like it will survive the twin legal challenges of Grutter v.
Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. That could be, but I read the Court differently. Several of the justices — including some who are thought to be soft on racial preferences — asked the University of Michigan's lawyers skeptical questions.
That day diversity's defenders came across as stridently self-righteous and pretty sloppy about the details. Mr. Payton's aversion to making a "Hobbesian choice" captures that perfectly.
— Peter Wood is author of Diversity: The Invention of A Concept and a professor of anthropology at Boston University.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day 113 A room with no view! By By pitbulls!
Monday June 21st Ran 6 miles. Miles so far 191/ Miles to go 809. Bought two weekly grands and the Wednesday lotto ticket. Won 4 dollars on the Weekly Grand so my $5 investment became only $1. Gambling investment so far $63/ Winnings $37...Total losses $26
Ran 6 miles at lunch. It felt good to be in such a mileage deficit reduction mode. Two days in a row at six miles. But all afternoon I was dragging and I had to teach my class at 7:50 so by the time I got home around 10:15 I was really tired. I stopped at the Kroger to get some essentials. We were out of paper towels and I needed contact lens solutions and new tooth brush and some face and body soap, etc. Since I am trying to do more high protein Atkins kind of eating I picked up some fiber mix because one of the recommendations from my roto routering was to be sure I had plenty of fiber in my diet. Orange flavor...will be like my morning OJ with out the OJ lol. By the time I checked out, my little stop for a few items ended up costing around $70. I wonder how that is possible.
Yesterday as I filled up a water bucket to water the four large crepe myrtles that I planted in from of my house which do not look too good in this 100 degree heat and are certainly not blooming yet like most of their older cousins at other houses on my block, I realized that I had lost my 1960s era kitchen window view. My house is in a vintage sixties ranch style home neighborhood. I am one of the few with an upstairs. Next door the son of the woman who owned the house is moving back in after her death and has been renovating for what seems like forever. He is cheap and seems to always hire contractors whose prices are too good to be true because they aren't. Then they walk off the job leaving him with half finished projects and more expense than if he hired a good one to begin with.
From my kitchen window I used to have the vista of a chain link fence through which I could see into his yard and see an old fashioned clothes line...yes the original I am sure. It always reminded me that when I was a kid I used to hang by my knees from the cross beams of cloths line poles until one time when there was still dew on one and I slipped bumping my head and injuring my pride more than anything else. I don't know if kids do that sort of thing anymore. It may have died along with tree climbing and bottle rocket wars. I even remember coming home one time from Tony Komen's house covered in peach juice. He had several peach trees in his yard and several of the neighborhood gang had participated in a rotten peach fight. The pits could really hurt if they hit you square on. It was a much more rough and tumbled world I suspect that many kids of my contemporaries where mothers arranged "play dates" at public parks where kids could be watched 24/7. I remember leaving the house after breakfast and returning after dark for dinner. Oh well....I know my younger readers and thinking "and you trudged six miles to school in the snow yada, yada, yada...
Back to my kitchen window view, before all the renovation began, the side and back fences of my neighbor's house were hidden by very mature shrubs so that after looking through his yard, I saw just the hedge and the tops of neighbors' trees beyond. It was a pleasant, pastoral sight. The first time I realized that this was going to change was when I heard the chain saw and looked out to see all the side yard hedges being unceremoniously chopped down. I wondered how long they had stood there. The naked stumps looked so forlorn and suddenly through now revealed chain links I could see the next neighbor's yard which contained a large tent like structure covered with ugly blue plastic in which he keeps pit bulls that we suspect are used for fighting. I am told the police have been to his house many times and he has many tickets, etc. The owner of the bulls is the son of the house owner I am also told. In any event this view was no substitute for the nice line of 12 foot hedges.
My neighbor had decided he needed an 8 foot wooden privacy fence and three contractors and several weeks later, it is up. Now from my kitchen window I see the metal poles and wooden slats of his castle walls....bad news...no more shrubs....good news, no more blue caped killer dog tent, bad news...my vista is gone. I plan to plant some vine or something on my side of the fence so over time I will see something other than the ugly side of the fence. But this entire episode made me long for a simpler time of chain links and clothes line poles....
More on vistas in a later post.....but life is good!
Ran 6 miles at lunch. It felt good to be in such a mileage deficit reduction mode. Two days in a row at six miles. But all afternoon I was dragging and I had to teach my class at 7:50 so by the time I got home around 10:15 I was really tired. I stopped at the Kroger to get some essentials. We were out of paper towels and I needed contact lens solutions and new tooth brush and some face and body soap, etc. Since I am trying to do more high protein Atkins kind of eating I picked up some fiber mix because one of the recommendations from my roto routering was to be sure I had plenty of fiber in my diet. Orange flavor...will be like my morning OJ with out the OJ lol. By the time I checked out, my little stop for a few items ended up costing around $70. I wonder how that is possible.
Yesterday as I filled up a water bucket to water the four large crepe myrtles that I planted in from of my house which do not look too good in this 100 degree heat and are certainly not blooming yet like most of their older cousins at other houses on my block, I realized that I had lost my 1960s era kitchen window view. My house is in a vintage sixties ranch style home neighborhood. I am one of the few with an upstairs. Next door the son of the woman who owned the house is moving back in after her death and has been renovating for what seems like forever. He is cheap and seems to always hire contractors whose prices are too good to be true because they aren't. Then they walk off the job leaving him with half finished projects and more expense than if he hired a good one to begin with.
From my kitchen window I used to have the vista of a chain link fence through which I could see into his yard and see an old fashioned clothes line...yes the original I am sure. It always reminded me that when I was a kid I used to hang by my knees from the cross beams of cloths line poles until one time when there was still dew on one and I slipped bumping my head and injuring my pride more than anything else. I don't know if kids do that sort of thing anymore. It may have died along with tree climbing and bottle rocket wars. I even remember coming home one time from Tony Komen's house covered in peach juice. He had several peach trees in his yard and several of the neighborhood gang had participated in a rotten peach fight. The pits could really hurt if they hit you square on. It was a much more rough and tumbled world I suspect that many kids of my contemporaries where mothers arranged "play dates" at public parks where kids could be watched 24/7. I remember leaving the house after breakfast and returning after dark for dinner. Oh well....I know my younger readers and thinking "and you trudged six miles to school in the snow yada, yada, yada...
Back to my kitchen window view, before all the renovation began, the side and back fences of my neighbor's house were hidden by very mature shrubs so that after looking through his yard, I saw just the hedge and the tops of neighbors' trees beyond. It was a pleasant, pastoral sight. The first time I realized that this was going to change was when I heard the chain saw and looked out to see all the side yard hedges being unceremoniously chopped down. I wondered how long they had stood there. The naked stumps looked so forlorn and suddenly through now revealed chain links I could see the next neighbor's yard which contained a large tent like structure covered with ugly blue plastic in which he keeps pit bulls that we suspect are used for fighting. I am told the police have been to his house many times and he has many tickets, etc. The owner of the bulls is the son of the house owner I am also told. In any event this view was no substitute for the nice line of 12 foot hedges.
My neighbor had decided he needed an 8 foot wooden privacy fence and three contractors and several weeks later, it is up. Now from my kitchen window I see the metal poles and wooden slats of his castle walls....bad news...no more shrubs....good news, no more blue caped killer dog tent, bad news...my vista is gone. I plan to plant some vine or something on my side of the fence so over time I will see something other than the ugly side of the fence. But this entire episode made me long for a simpler time of chain links and clothes line poles....
More on vistas in a later post.....but life is good!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Day 109 Wonderful Fathers Day Weekend but I think Nolan Ryan should stick to Baseball!
Sunday, Day 109, Ran 6 miles, also ran 1.5 miles on Saturday. Total so far 185/ Miles to go 815
Did not win lottery Saturday and they did not have any weekly grands at the Exxon where I purchased my lotto ticket. May buy one today on the way to work. Gambling investment so far: $58/ Winnings $33 Loses $25
Was a wonderful Fathers Day Weekend. I love June....double goodies of my birthday and Fathers Day. Friday oldest and dearest friend, Nickie, whom I have known and loved since the 6th grade, cooked me a lobster and shrimp salad at her beautiful Lakewood Home. Over crisp Chardonnay we laughed about good times we have had over the years and conspired to visit the mountains of Mexico again soon....maybe for her birthday in August.
Friday night son Eric and wife Karla treated me and Karla's Dad, Mike, to Korean Barbecue at a local Richardson Restaurant. I love that place and it is the same one where two weeks or so before I celebrated by birthday with friends. It was a Fathers Day meal fit for a king and I left stuffed and content and mellow (helped I am sure by the Korean potato vodka I shared with Karla!)
Saturday friend, Pat Parise treated me to brunch at Cyclone Ananas, a trendy Mexican restaurant named for the founder, a famous wrestler whose half naked pictures are found all over the walls. A scotch mary (bloody mary made with scotch instead of vodka....yum) accompanied my eggs scrambled with spicy choriso (mexican sausage) and cheese. This was another late birthday lunch.
Lunch was followed by a short nap then a work out at Golds Gym at their north Dallas location with Gym Rat. Part of my routine now is to add weigh lifting to the running and Gym Rat should have been a personal trainer. We worked legs and arms and this helped overcome some of my guilt for not running on Friday and for all the meals and celebrations. Ran only 1.5 miles though, so that meant another "deficit day" i.e. a day of less than 3 miles. If I am going to meet my goal I have to reduce these deficit days and increase the "deficit reduction days" i.e. days of more then 3 miles, which I plan to do.
Gym Rat took me to the Black Eyed Pea, for a country birthday dinner. The yeast rolls and corn bread are to die for and the vegetables (fresh mashed potatoes with skins on and lightly breaded crisp fried okra) were also good. I made the mistake, however, of ordering the Nolan Ryan sirloin steak which was about at tough and tasteless as a baseball hit off of a Ryan fast ball....why do we think that fame has anything to do with quality when it comes to another field of interest? The two large onion rings that accompanied the steak and the nice bed of caramelized onions and mushrooms tried their best to make up for the poor quality of the meat....but they failed miserably!
After dinner, we decided to try out the Kings Spa. Gym Rat had never been and had heard about it. It was packed with families, mostly Korean, and most of whom were there for the night. It stays open 24 hours on the weekends and there were kids everywhere and people sleeping on mats and couches. If you are not Korean and want to feel like you are in another country you do not need to purchase an expensive ticket to the far east. Just go to the Kings Spa late on Saturday night. We did enjoy the time in the hot pools and sauna and some of the specialty saunas and the banana shake I got at the restaurant in the middle of the spa, which was open late, was very tart and tasty.....not too sweet. Unfortunately Gym Rat's mango shake was not sweet enough. Oh well, it was not his birthday/fathers day month.
Sunday I went to the Dedman Center at SMU to run only to find that it was closed and would not open until 1. So I went back to Golds Gym uptown and ran 6 miles which felt really good, especially as it was a big deficit reduction day. I hope to run at least 4.5 miles Monday.
The run and late night tired me out so I took a long nap. Of course loved talking to the kids and hearing their well wishes for Fathers Day. I was a little melancholy to no longer have my dad to call, but thought of him with fond memories. The weekend ended with a dinner of pork spare ribs at Cyclone Anayas, this time with Gym Rat. They were excellent, falling off the bone no need for a knife tender and a little spicy. The margarita with sangria swirl was as tasty as it was pretty.....and I told Dr. Atkins where he could stick it as I stuffed the chips and hot sauce in my mouth...vowing that Monday I would return to the low carb lifestyle but this was my weekend and a little splurge I could overcome. Life is Good.
Did not win lottery Saturday and they did not have any weekly grands at the Exxon where I purchased my lotto ticket. May buy one today on the way to work. Gambling investment so far: $58/ Winnings $33 Loses $25
Was a wonderful Fathers Day Weekend. I love June....double goodies of my birthday and Fathers Day. Friday oldest and dearest friend, Nickie, whom I have known and loved since the 6th grade, cooked me a lobster and shrimp salad at her beautiful Lakewood Home. Over crisp Chardonnay we laughed about good times we have had over the years and conspired to visit the mountains of Mexico again soon....maybe for her birthday in August.
Friday night son Eric and wife Karla treated me and Karla's Dad, Mike, to Korean Barbecue at a local Richardson Restaurant. I love that place and it is the same one where two weeks or so before I celebrated by birthday with friends. It was a Fathers Day meal fit for a king and I left stuffed and content and mellow (helped I am sure by the Korean potato vodka I shared with Karla!)
Saturday friend, Pat Parise treated me to brunch at Cyclone Ananas, a trendy Mexican restaurant named for the founder, a famous wrestler whose half naked pictures are found all over the walls. A scotch mary (bloody mary made with scotch instead of vodka....yum) accompanied my eggs scrambled with spicy choriso (mexican sausage) and cheese. This was another late birthday lunch.
Lunch was followed by a short nap then a work out at Golds Gym at their north Dallas location with Gym Rat. Part of my routine now is to add weigh lifting to the running and Gym Rat should have been a personal trainer. We worked legs and arms and this helped overcome some of my guilt for not running on Friday and for all the meals and celebrations. Ran only 1.5 miles though, so that meant another "deficit day" i.e. a day of less than 3 miles. If I am going to meet my goal I have to reduce these deficit days and increase the "deficit reduction days" i.e. days of more then 3 miles, which I plan to do.
Gym Rat took me to the Black Eyed Pea, for a country birthday dinner. The yeast rolls and corn bread are to die for and the vegetables (fresh mashed potatoes with skins on and lightly breaded crisp fried okra) were also good. I made the mistake, however, of ordering the Nolan Ryan sirloin steak which was about at tough and tasteless as a baseball hit off of a Ryan fast ball....why do we think that fame has anything to do with quality when it comes to another field of interest? The two large onion rings that accompanied the steak and the nice bed of caramelized onions and mushrooms tried their best to make up for the poor quality of the meat....but they failed miserably!
After dinner, we decided to try out the Kings Spa. Gym Rat had never been and had heard about it. It was packed with families, mostly Korean, and most of whom were there for the night. It stays open 24 hours on the weekends and there were kids everywhere and people sleeping on mats and couches. If you are not Korean and want to feel like you are in another country you do not need to purchase an expensive ticket to the far east. Just go to the Kings Spa late on Saturday night. We did enjoy the time in the hot pools and sauna and some of the specialty saunas and the banana shake I got at the restaurant in the middle of the spa, which was open late, was very tart and tasty.....not too sweet. Unfortunately Gym Rat's mango shake was not sweet enough. Oh well, it was not his birthday/fathers day month.
Sunday I went to the Dedman Center at SMU to run only to find that it was closed and would not open until 1. So I went back to Golds Gym uptown and ran 6 miles which felt really good, especially as it was a big deficit reduction day. I hope to run at least 4.5 miles Monday.
The run and late night tired me out so I took a long nap. Of course loved talking to the kids and hearing their well wishes for Fathers Day. I was a little melancholy to no longer have my dad to call, but thought of him with fond memories. The weekend ended with a dinner of pork spare ribs at Cyclone Anayas, this time with Gym Rat. They were excellent, falling off the bone no need for a knife tender and a little spicy. The margarita with sangria swirl was as tasty as it was pretty.....and I told Dr. Atkins where he could stick it as I stuffed the chips and hot sauce in my mouth...vowing that Monday I would return to the low carb lifestyle but this was my weekend and a little splurge I could overcome. Life is Good.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Day 106 - Take Care of Your Mother!
Thursday, June 17th, Ran 3.3 miles/ Total so far 177.5/ Miles to go 822.5! Gambling - did not win lotto or weekly grand Wednesday :) Total investment so far $57/ Winnings $33 Net Loss $24!
Got up at 4 am to catch the red eye back to Dallas Wednesday. Gym Rat Picked me up at DFW Airport. But before he arrived as I was waiting in front of the terminal a husband and wife with a boy about 11 drove up. As the father unloaded the pick-up truck and said his goodbyes it became apparent that his wife and son were going to visit her father for father's day. There were the customary kisses and hugs and his wife wished him a happy father's day too. Then, as the son and wife walked off and were about to enter the terminal the father yelled to his son "Son, remember what I told you. Take care of your mother!"
I was so touched. What a wonderful value to be instilling in that young boy. In a world where parents lavish children with things and experiences and we have televisions shows about spoiled girls and 16th birthday parties, how great to remember the responsibilities that come with being a son or a daughter. And the admonition was also a recognition of the role of being a man in the future and all that entails.
I remember that my father had to drop out of school in the 9th grade to take care of his mother and younger two brothers when his family was abandoned for a while by an alcoholic father. Not and easy time. He moved his mom and brothers to Little Rock Arkansas were there were more jobs and started working in a drug store.
Gym Rat teaches in a public school and is always asking his students what they do for their parents who work so hard and buy them so many things....and asking indulgent parents what the expect from their kids and why they do not require them to do their homework, etc. I am glad that this family reminded me a this value. I think that television and movies have contributed to this in some way by how parents and adults in general are portrayed. Usually kids are portrayed as smarter and parents as idiots. It may be funny but not such a great signal or role model for the next generation.
Oh well, off my soap box. Despite it all Life Is Good!
Got up at 4 am to catch the red eye back to Dallas Wednesday. Gym Rat Picked me up at DFW Airport. But before he arrived as I was waiting in front of the terminal a husband and wife with a boy about 11 drove up. As the father unloaded the pick-up truck and said his goodbyes it became apparent that his wife and son were going to visit her father for father's day. There were the customary kisses and hugs and his wife wished him a happy father's day too. Then, as the son and wife walked off and were about to enter the terminal the father yelled to his son "Son, remember what I told you. Take care of your mother!"
I was so touched. What a wonderful value to be instilling in that young boy. In a world where parents lavish children with things and experiences and we have televisions shows about spoiled girls and 16th birthday parties, how great to remember the responsibilities that come with being a son or a daughter. And the admonition was also a recognition of the role of being a man in the future and all that entails.
I remember that my father had to drop out of school in the 9th grade to take care of his mother and younger two brothers when his family was abandoned for a while by an alcoholic father. Not and easy time. He moved his mom and brothers to Little Rock Arkansas were there were more jobs and started working in a drug store.
Gym Rat teaches in a public school and is always asking his students what they do for their parents who work so hard and buy them so many things....and asking indulgent parents what the expect from their kids and why they do not require them to do their homework, etc. I am glad that this family reminded me a this value. I think that television and movies have contributed to this in some way by how parents and adults in general are portrayed. Usually kids are portrayed as smarter and parents as idiots. It may be funny but not such a great signal or role model for the next generation.
Oh well, off my soap box. Despite it all Life Is Good!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Day 104 Conquered Central Park!
Tuesday, June 15th Ran 6.2 Miles/ Miles so far: 174.2/ Miles to go 825.8
What a glorious run today. Taka and I ran all the way around Central Park....6.2 miles from Columbus Circle to Harlem and back. The weather was perfect and the Park is beautiful in summer....much of the run was under a canopy of huge old trees of many varieties. People who have not been to Central Park have no idea what an urban oasis it is.
What made me especially happy was that when I began this blog in March, Leigh and I ran at Central Park and the 2.5 mile loop was all I could do. So to be able to run the long loop and almost triple the mileage felt really good. I have to admit, it was not easy and there is one steep hill after you turn the corner of the park and head back from Harlem towards Columbus Circle that is a killer and I did not know if I would make it. I kept thinking of the children's book of the little engine that could. Taka was good at encouraging me to and we stopped along the way for water.
After the run and a quick shower, we went to the park across from the apartment at World Wide Plaza and ate take out Japanese food which we washed down with vodka cranberry in tall thermoses. It was a perfect lunch after a wonderful run which I followed with a nap.....wish I could recreate more of those days....in fact...think I will! Life is Good!
What a glorious run today. Taka and I ran all the way around Central Park....6.2 miles from Columbus Circle to Harlem and back. The weather was perfect and the Park is beautiful in summer....much of the run was under a canopy of huge old trees of many varieties. People who have not been to Central Park have no idea what an urban oasis it is.
What made me especially happy was that when I began this blog in March, Leigh and I ran at Central Park and the 2.5 mile loop was all I could do. So to be able to run the long loop and almost triple the mileage felt really good. I have to admit, it was not easy and there is one steep hill after you turn the corner of the park and head back from Harlem towards Columbus Circle that is a killer and I did not know if I would make it. I kept thinking of the children's book of the little engine that could. Taka was good at encouraging me to and we stopped along the way for water.
After the run and a quick shower, we went to the park across from the apartment at World Wide Plaza and ate take out Japanese food which we washed down with vodka cranberry in tall thermoses. It was a perfect lunch after a wonderful run which I followed with a nap.....wish I could recreate more of those days....in fact...think I will! Life is Good!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Day 103 Prosciutto and Fig Sandwich....who would have thought it?
Monday, June 14th, Day 103 Ran 3 miles/ Miles so far 168/ Miles to go 832
Was a wonderful day in new york. I wish I were here all week instead of having to return on Wednesday. "Summer's Lease has all to short a stay." to quote Shakespeare. I slept in late and after my coffee went to the Gold's Gym on 54th near 8th, just a few blocks away where I ran three miles on the treadmill. I could have gone further but I have promised my close friend, Charles Michell that we would have brunch and he was picking me up with a cab at 49th and 9th avenue at 1. After a quick shower and change I walked the block from our apartment at 49th and 8th and at the appointed hour Charles and the taxi arrived. Charles is a world class voice coach and has a company called the Voice Bank which if anyone is interested in making money doing voice overs, they should contact for on line coaching. He has lived in New York since moving here right after college and we share the same age and birth month. It was his and my birthday celebration that I last wrote about.
Charles said we were heading to the Village (Greenwich Village to non-New Yorkers) to get out of our neighborhood. We were dropped off in its heart and just sauntered down a few tree lined narrow streets till we stumbled upon a small little Italian restaurant with an outdoor seating area. The weather was perfect as was the ambiance and I ordered some kind of fru fru fruity drink with various fruit liquors and an open faced sandwich which had prosciutto ham and figs on that Italian bread that begins with a F that I can never pronounce.
I have patterns that I seem to follow (some would say ruts) when it comes to ordering at restaurants. I either get the same thing every time I go to a restaurant because I love it and that is the reason I go to that restaurant; or I get what I consider the "gold standard" for that type of cuisine to see how the restaurant measures up....usually for the first time I try it so I would order meat lazzannia at an Italian restaurant or Cheese Enchiladas at a Mexican, etc.; or I order something I have never had and would probably never make......hence the figs and ham sandwich was was actually very tasty and was paired with a small green salad. I ended my repast with a crisp glass of proseco while Charles ordered a cappuccino and nibbled on a few cookies they supplied. I was a wonder brunch which I followed with a nice nap back at the apartment.
After my nap I met daughter Leigh for coffee across the street at our neighborhood Starbucks. She was grabbing a quick bite before going to Proof Reading Class. Later I met a friend for Thai food down the street and a couple of beers. Soon it will be sleep time and a wonderful day will be just another memory....but Life is Good!
Was a wonderful day in new york. I wish I were here all week instead of having to return on Wednesday. "Summer's Lease has all to short a stay." to quote Shakespeare. I slept in late and after my coffee went to the Gold's Gym on 54th near 8th, just a few blocks away where I ran three miles on the treadmill. I could have gone further but I have promised my close friend, Charles Michell that we would have brunch and he was picking me up with a cab at 49th and 9th avenue at 1. After a quick shower and change I walked the block from our apartment at 49th and 8th and at the appointed hour Charles and the taxi arrived. Charles is a world class voice coach and has a company called the Voice Bank which if anyone is interested in making money doing voice overs, they should contact for on line coaching. He has lived in New York since moving here right after college and we share the same age and birth month. It was his and my birthday celebration that I last wrote about.
Charles said we were heading to the Village (Greenwich Village to non-New Yorkers) to get out of our neighborhood. We were dropped off in its heart and just sauntered down a few tree lined narrow streets till we stumbled upon a small little Italian restaurant with an outdoor seating area. The weather was perfect as was the ambiance and I ordered some kind of fru fru fruity drink with various fruit liquors and an open faced sandwich which had prosciutto ham and figs on that Italian bread that begins with a F that I can never pronounce.
I have patterns that I seem to follow (some would say ruts) when it comes to ordering at restaurants. I either get the same thing every time I go to a restaurant because I love it and that is the reason I go to that restaurant; or I get what I consider the "gold standard" for that type of cuisine to see how the restaurant measures up....usually for the first time I try it so I would order meat lazzannia at an Italian restaurant or Cheese Enchiladas at a Mexican, etc.; or I order something I have never had and would probably never make......hence the figs and ham sandwich was was actually very tasty and was paired with a small green salad. I ended my repast with a crisp glass of proseco while Charles ordered a cappuccino and nibbled on a few cookies they supplied. I was a wonder brunch which I followed with a nice nap back at the apartment.
After my nap I met daughter Leigh for coffee across the street at our neighborhood Starbucks. She was grabbing a quick bite before going to Proof Reading Class. Later I met a friend for Thai food down the street and a couple of beers. Soon it will be sleep time and a wonderful day will be just another memory....but Life is Good!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Day 102 New York State of Mind
Sunday, June 13th, Day 102 Ran 4.5 miles on Wednesday and 4.5 miles on Friday and 3 miles on Saturday. Miles so far, 165/ Miles to go 835. Gambling investment so far $54, won 2 dollars on Wednesday with weekly grand and 4 on Saturday for a total winnings so far of $33 Means I am down $21!
Flew to New York on Thursday for a seminar and a little vacation. Leigh moved this weekend from her Mid Town Times Square apartment to a 5th floor walk up in China Time. Taka, Leigh and took two cabs and drug all her stuff out of old apartment and into the new. I am totally exhausted. Happy for her. We will go to dinner tonight to celebrate.
My flight to New York was quiet eventful. One of the Executive Platinum American travelers who was among the privileged who get to board first was stopped by the luggage gestapo because he was trying to carry on both a roller bag and an overstuffed computer bag which obviously would not fit under a seat. She told him he would have to check on of his bags. He insisted that he always carried both these bags and she said he could not put one under his seat and told him to look at the tester space. He tried to put the computer bag in the space but had to take his computer out to fit and she said "See!" He then demanded to speak to a supervisor and she said fine and one was called. As he fumed and waited the platinum traveler asked the boarding agent again..."What is different this time from my flight here when I took both on?" She replied....."You did not have me to deal with last time I guess." Lovely vignette . Meanwhile on the plane there was a new mother with baby in some kind or new age wrap with all hosts of bags and baggage which, since she was sitting in the front row, all had to go in the overhead bin. There was all kinds of problems and baby crying and as she was adjusting passengers were trying to pass by and getting more frustrated. Then a man tried to put a small bag in the overhead bin and another gestapo yelled to him "Put that under your seat...overhead bins are for roller boards! Shear Chaos.
But once in New York, Thursday night found me at a wonderful Greek Tapas restaurant with Leigh as we munched on grilled octopus, sausage and fried cheese. The cheese arrives with a flame and flourish. A pitcher of sangria was the perfect complement. After tapas we wandered down the block to one of our haunts, Vice Versa for a cheese plate, bottle of wine and more catching up on life.
Friday and Saturday I attended the American Association of Law Schools Property Section Mid-Year meeting, the justification for this trip. But Friday afternoon Taka and I ran along the Hudson River for 4.5 miles and Saturday I ran 3 miles at the Gold's Gym nearby. Friday night we ate at a neighborhood Chinese noodle joint called Mee. Saturday we went to a family run French Restaurant, Tout Va Bien for a joint birthday dinner for me and friend Charles Michells. They know us there and the evening was full of merriment....escargot, mussels, lamb, Beaujolais, champage and a multitude of desserts.
Today, after a wonderful brunch at Mont Blanc, an Austrian Restaurant ran by Marie where we ate in her garden under a real Apple Tree, in the Middle of Manhattan! Taka, Leigh and I took two taxis and moved all of Leigh's things into her new apartment....up 5 floors. I thought I would pass out....but we made it. Tonight Taka and visiting friend from Japan, Shin are going to the Tony's. Leigh and I will hopefully have a nice quiet dinner in the neighborhood....Life is Good!
Flew to New York on Thursday for a seminar and a little vacation. Leigh moved this weekend from her Mid Town Times Square apartment to a 5th floor walk up in China Time. Taka, Leigh and took two cabs and drug all her stuff out of old apartment and into the new. I am totally exhausted. Happy for her. We will go to dinner tonight to celebrate.
My flight to New York was quiet eventful. One of the Executive Platinum American travelers who was among the privileged who get to board first was stopped by the luggage gestapo because he was trying to carry on both a roller bag and an overstuffed computer bag which obviously would not fit under a seat. She told him he would have to check on of his bags. He insisted that he always carried both these bags and she said he could not put one under his seat and told him to look at the tester space. He tried to put the computer bag in the space but had to take his computer out to fit and she said "See!" He then demanded to speak to a supervisor and she said fine and one was called. As he fumed and waited the platinum traveler asked the boarding agent again..."What is different this time from my flight here when I took both on?" She replied....."You did not have me to deal with last time I guess." Lovely vignette . Meanwhile on the plane there was a new mother with baby in some kind or new age wrap with all hosts of bags and baggage which, since she was sitting in the front row, all had to go in the overhead bin. There was all kinds of problems and baby crying and as she was adjusting passengers were trying to pass by and getting more frustrated. Then a man tried to put a small bag in the overhead bin and another gestapo yelled to him "Put that under your seat...overhead bins are for roller boards! Shear Chaos.
But once in New York, Thursday night found me at a wonderful Greek Tapas restaurant with Leigh as we munched on grilled octopus, sausage and fried cheese. The cheese arrives with a flame and flourish. A pitcher of sangria was the perfect complement. After tapas we wandered down the block to one of our haunts, Vice Versa for a cheese plate, bottle of wine and more catching up on life.
Friday and Saturday I attended the American Association of Law Schools Property Section Mid-Year meeting, the justification for this trip. But Friday afternoon Taka and I ran along the Hudson River for 4.5 miles and Saturday I ran 3 miles at the Gold's Gym nearby. Friday night we ate at a neighborhood Chinese noodle joint called Mee. Saturday we went to a family run French Restaurant, Tout Va Bien for a joint birthday dinner for me and friend Charles Michells. They know us there and the evening was full of merriment....escargot, mussels, lamb, Beaujolais, champage and a multitude of desserts.
Today, after a wonderful brunch at Mont Blanc, an Austrian Restaurant ran by Marie where we ate in her garden under a real Apple Tree, in the Middle of Manhattan! Taka, Leigh and I took two taxis and moved all of Leigh's things into her new apartment....up 5 floors. I thought I would pass out....but we made it. Tonight Taka and visiting friend from Japan, Shin are going to the Tony's. Leigh and I will hopefully have a nice quiet dinner in the neighborhood....Life is Good!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day 97 Long Run before Roto Router Day!
Day 97, Monday - June 8th, Ran 6 miles/ Miles so far 153/ Miles to go: 147
Got up early this morning to take Taka to the airport for his return to New York. I was so glad that I could use the HOV Lane on IH 635 (also known as LBJ Freeway) as the traffic was really bad at rush hour. There is the phenomenon about highway names in Dallas. It seems that most of them have more than one name and so people get really confused who do not live here. Natives tend to call them by person names, like "Take LBJ to the Central Expressway Exit then south to Woodall Rogers" When the road sides will say IH 635 and State Hghy 75, etc. We name all the main roads after someone but then street signs usually just have the highway number. Glad I am a native is all I have to say, although they are building or widening so many roads, especially toll roads, that I fall victim to this same phenomenon when I travel to a new area of the MetroPlex. I think they should sell naming rights to the roads instead of naming them after dead people. That would at least help pay for the confusion! But then, no one really has asked for are cares about my opinion on that issue I suspect.
After dropping Taka off, I went straight to the gym at school. I wanted to get my run in because I knew I would not be able to run tomorrow, Wednesday. This is because I had to have a "procedure" i.e. what I call the "Roto Router" done...a colonoscopy and if you don't know what that is you are lucky....google it if you want more info. I have this done every 5 years since my Dad had colon cancer and detecting it early is the best way to beat it should I follow in his hospital slippers.
Fortunately they put you completely asleep and you really don't remember a thing about the procedure. That is the good news. The bad news is that the day before you have to have a total cleanse. They make you drink only clear liquids and take laxatives then drink about 64 onces of yucky fiber stuff, mixed in lime gatorade which then lets you travel about every 10 minutes or so for several hours back and forth to the bathroom. So much for a good night's sleep.
My procedure called for me to be there at 6:30 in the morning. Upon arrival the admission nurse was sickeningly sweet. I am sure she gets tired of saying the same thing every day over and over but she acted like she was a pre-school teacher and I was 3 years old. "Mr. Camp, let's go over our papers." (Just as an aside, don't you hate it when medical people use the plural "we" when it is really about "me"? These are my papers, my body that is about to be pricked and poked!) She continued "I will mark all the places that you need to initial or sign to make it easy for you. You don't have to go over all this unless you want to....it is a lot I know. This page just says that if anything goes wrong we told you it might so you wont' sue us and in fact you agree that if anything goes wrong it is your fault...." Well, she did not actually say those things about not suing, but she did tell me where to sign and mark it and honestly, I did not see a single patient read any of the consents or disclaimers, etc. After completing the 7 pages of materials, I was called to the back where they gave me heated socks and a blankie...nice. Another nurse came and got me to sign more of my life away with more papers for the anesthesiologist who would put me to sleep.
After that, I was stick for the IV, wheeled into the procedure room and, after greeting the pleasant young "put me to sleep" doctor and the older pleasant "I saw you 5 years ago" doctor, whom I am sure did not remember me from Adam, I was put under and woke up an hour or so later to a box of berry juice followed by an ice cold real with sugar coke that tasted fantastic! Gym Rat took me to his apartment, since I was not allowed to drive, where I took a long nap. The release papers told me I could not make any important decisions that day either. As I write this blog, I am about to teach my class. I suspect I will be a little more spacey than usual but this too shall pass. Oh...and the good news? Clean bill of health with the admonition to eat more fiber! Life is Good!
Got up early this morning to take Taka to the airport for his return to New York. I was so glad that I could use the HOV Lane on IH 635 (also known as LBJ Freeway) as the traffic was really bad at rush hour. There is the phenomenon about highway names in Dallas. It seems that most of them have more than one name and so people get really confused who do not live here. Natives tend to call them by person names, like "Take LBJ to the Central Expressway Exit then south to Woodall Rogers" When the road sides will say IH 635 and State Hghy 75, etc. We name all the main roads after someone but then street signs usually just have the highway number. Glad I am a native is all I have to say, although they are building or widening so many roads, especially toll roads, that I fall victim to this same phenomenon when I travel to a new area of the MetroPlex. I think they should sell naming rights to the roads instead of naming them after dead people. That would at least help pay for the confusion! But then, no one really has asked for are cares about my opinion on that issue I suspect.
After dropping Taka off, I went straight to the gym at school. I wanted to get my run in because I knew I would not be able to run tomorrow, Wednesday. This is because I had to have a "procedure" i.e. what I call the "Roto Router" done...a colonoscopy and if you don't know what that is you are lucky....google it if you want more info. I have this done every 5 years since my Dad had colon cancer and detecting it early is the best way to beat it should I follow in his hospital slippers.
Fortunately they put you completely asleep and you really don't remember a thing about the procedure. That is the good news. The bad news is that the day before you have to have a total cleanse. They make you drink only clear liquids and take laxatives then drink about 64 onces of yucky fiber stuff, mixed in lime gatorade which then lets you travel about every 10 minutes or so for several hours back and forth to the bathroom. So much for a good night's sleep.
My procedure called for me to be there at 6:30 in the morning. Upon arrival the admission nurse was sickeningly sweet. I am sure she gets tired of saying the same thing every day over and over but she acted like she was a pre-school teacher and I was 3 years old. "Mr. Camp, let's go over our papers." (Just as an aside, don't you hate it when medical people use the plural "we" when it is really about "me"? These are my papers, my body that is about to be pricked and poked!) She continued "I will mark all the places that you need to initial or sign to make it easy for you. You don't have to go over all this unless you want to....it is a lot I know. This page just says that if anything goes wrong we told you it might so you wont' sue us and in fact you agree that if anything goes wrong it is your fault...." Well, she did not actually say those things about not suing, but she did tell me where to sign and mark it and honestly, I did not see a single patient read any of the consents or disclaimers, etc. After completing the 7 pages of materials, I was called to the back where they gave me heated socks and a blankie...nice. Another nurse came and got me to sign more of my life away with more papers for the anesthesiologist who would put me to sleep.
After that, I was stick for the IV, wheeled into the procedure room and, after greeting the pleasant young "put me to sleep" doctor and the older pleasant "I saw you 5 years ago" doctor, whom I am sure did not remember me from Adam, I was put under and woke up an hour or so later to a box of berry juice followed by an ice cold real with sugar coke that tasted fantastic! Gym Rat took me to his apartment, since I was not allowed to drive, where I took a long nap. The release papers told me I could not make any important decisions that day either. As I write this blog, I am about to teach my class. I suspect I will be a little more spacey than usual but this too shall pass. Oh...and the good news? Clean bill of health with the admonition to eat more fiber! Life is Good!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Day 95 Braving the Heat on the Katy Trail
Day 95, Saturday June 5th Ran 4.5 miles/ total so far 147/ miles to go 853. Won neither the lottery nor the weekly grand so now gambling investment so far 51 dollars and winnings of 27 dollars so down 24 dollars so far. :(
Saturday Taka and I took to the Katy trail around 10 a.m. Taka is hard to run with because he runs much faster and further which I attribute to the 9 years age difference (ignoring that he runs more consistently than me these days it seems). He wanted us to run 7 miles on the trail (3.5 out and 3.5 back). It was hot and I forgot my baseball cap. I did put on some sun block, but soon sweated it off. After 2.75 miles I had to stop and let him continue. I walked and then he returned after completing the leg out and we walked back together. I tried to run again and stopped after 1/4 mile, content that I had at least ran 3 miles. But when we got to the marker that said there was only 1.5 miles left Taka pushed me to run some more. I had intended to just run another 1/4th mile or so, but I put my head down and started doing a counting game and before I knew it I had run over 1.2 mile and then I realized that in around 10 or 12 minutes I would reach the end of the trail and so I just kept running and counting and even sprinted at the end to make a good 4.5 mile run with about another mile and a half of walking.
There was an old fashioned lemonade stand manned (or should I be PC and say, personed or peopled) by three young girls and Taka and I truly enjoyed the 50 cent glasses of tart lemonade. The run was followed by champagne cocktails and a nice salad that Taka prepared and a nap. I love weekend naps.
Saturday night we spent with good friends in Ft. Worth at their lovely home. We had a gourmet dinner and then and ended up singing until the early morning hours. I never knew you could find most songs in a karaoke version on UTube and their was connected to the television. Music of the Night has never been song the way I did it after too much red wine I am sure!. Saturday was a wonderful day and life is good!
Saturday Taka and I took to the Katy trail around 10 a.m. Taka is hard to run with because he runs much faster and further which I attribute to the 9 years age difference (ignoring that he runs more consistently than me these days it seems). He wanted us to run 7 miles on the trail (3.5 out and 3.5 back). It was hot and I forgot my baseball cap. I did put on some sun block, but soon sweated it off. After 2.75 miles I had to stop and let him continue. I walked and then he returned after completing the leg out and we walked back together. I tried to run again and stopped after 1/4 mile, content that I had at least ran 3 miles. But when we got to the marker that said there was only 1.5 miles left Taka pushed me to run some more. I had intended to just run another 1/4th mile or so, but I put my head down and started doing a counting game and before I knew it I had run over 1.2 mile and then I realized that in around 10 or 12 minutes I would reach the end of the trail and so I just kept running and counting and even sprinted at the end to make a good 4.5 mile run with about another mile and a half of walking.
There was an old fashioned lemonade stand manned (or should I be PC and say, personed or peopled) by three young girls and Taka and I truly enjoyed the 50 cent glasses of tart lemonade. The run was followed by champagne cocktails and a nice salad that Taka prepared and a nap. I love weekend naps.
Saturday night we spent with good friends in Ft. Worth at their lovely home. We had a gourmet dinner and then and ended up singing until the early morning hours. I never knew you could find most songs in a karaoke version on UTube and their was connected to the television. Music of the Night has never been song the way I did it after too much red wine I am sure!. Saturday was a wonderful day and life is good!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Back on the Track and Post! Birthday Fun and the United Nations Gas Station.
Day 94 Friday, June 4th. I ran 3 miles today and 4.5 miles on Thursday. Total so far 142.5/ Miles to go 857.5 Gambling investment 48 dollars, won $2 Saturday and Wednesday so winnings total 27 dollars...total losses so far, 21 dollars
But, someone from Dallas won 98 million with a lotto ticket from a 7-11 in Garland on Saturday. I have to admit I experienced disappointment and the sin of coveting of my neighbors goods, or at least his lotto ticket. I mean, here I have been supporting my local Richardson Indian owned gas station convenience store and someone in the DFW area wins with a ticket from 7-11? What is up with that? My store is like a mini-United Nations. The owners are Indian but they rent out the little cafe area to a Pakistani family! Talk about peace among peoples! And it is only one block from the Mosque so there is a constant stream of Arabs and other Muslims, especially since it is also right next to the small Arab strip center where there is an Islamic Bookstore, cafe, hair salon and a space formerly occupied by a Hookah Cafe....now boarded up. I do not know if the cafe failed because there weren't enough Hookah officianaldos (don't really know what one calls those who partake of the Hookah) or if the construction in front of the center drove them out of business. Spring Valley Road has been torn up for about a year as they construct a new Light Rail mixed use development with apartments, town houses, restaurants, retail and office. The construction also brings a menagerie of construction workers into the store where I buy my lotto tickets....Mexican Americans, blue collar whites, etc. Yes I think that my store should have been the one to receive that winning lotto ticket and I should have been the one to purchase it....in the name of World Peace....But as I joked with the cashier when I did not win....maybe next time!
My running and blogging has suffered lately. Memorial Day Weekend found me grading exams all day long all weekend long. It is a tedious task, like reading the first chapter of War and Peace a hundred times and trying to find out minor differences in language and grammar. I am almost through and can't wait to turn in my grades. Unfortunately, summer school has already began and I am teaching Real Estate Transactions at 7:50 on T/W/Th until 9:30 for seven weeks. The good news is that I love to teach and get paid extra to teach summer school. The bad news is that I have not had a real break and psychologically I am tired...especially with all this grading!
Wednesday was my birthday and dear Mrs. Savage arrived with delicious beef tenderloin in tow to prepare a birthday feast. She also baked Boston creme pies for my birthday cake! Good friends celebrated with me and I will need more runs to work off the birthday calories. My birthday celebrations continued Friday night as I joined friends at a Korean Barbecue Restaurant for a second Birthday celebration. Life is Good!
But, someone from Dallas won 98 million with a lotto ticket from a 7-11 in Garland on Saturday. I have to admit I experienced disappointment and the sin of coveting of my neighbors goods, or at least his lotto ticket. I mean, here I have been supporting my local Richardson Indian owned gas station convenience store and someone in the DFW area wins with a ticket from 7-11? What is up with that? My store is like a mini-United Nations. The owners are Indian but they rent out the little cafe area to a Pakistani family! Talk about peace among peoples! And it is only one block from the Mosque so there is a constant stream of Arabs and other Muslims, especially since it is also right next to the small Arab strip center where there is an Islamic Bookstore, cafe, hair salon and a space formerly occupied by a Hookah Cafe....now boarded up. I do not know if the cafe failed because there weren't enough Hookah officianaldos (don't really know what one calls those who partake of the Hookah) or if the construction in front of the center drove them out of business. Spring Valley Road has been torn up for about a year as they construct a new Light Rail mixed use development with apartments, town houses, restaurants, retail and office. The construction also brings a menagerie of construction workers into the store where I buy my lotto tickets....Mexican Americans, blue collar whites, etc. Yes I think that my store should have been the one to receive that winning lotto ticket and I should have been the one to purchase it....in the name of World Peace....But as I joked with the cashier when I did not win....maybe next time!
My running and blogging has suffered lately. Memorial Day Weekend found me grading exams all day long all weekend long. It is a tedious task, like reading the first chapter of War and Peace a hundred times and trying to find out minor differences in language and grammar. I am almost through and can't wait to turn in my grades. Unfortunately, summer school has already began and I am teaching Real Estate Transactions at 7:50 on T/W/Th until 9:30 for seven weeks. The good news is that I love to teach and get paid extra to teach summer school. The bad news is that I have not had a real break and psychologically I am tired...especially with all this grading!
Wednesday was my birthday and dear Mrs. Savage arrived with delicious beef tenderloin in tow to prepare a birthday feast. She also baked Boston creme pies for my birthday cake! Good friends celebrated with me and I will need more runs to work off the birthday calories. My birthday celebrations continued Friday night as I joined friends at a Korean Barbecue Restaurant for a second Birthday celebration. Life is Good!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Day 86 SIX MILES! The power of LSD
Day 86 Thursday May 27th Ran 6, total so far 135, Miles to go 865. Gambling won $2 with Weekly Grand. Gambling investment so far $42 winnings $23 losses $19
Running still in fits and starts. Combination of busy at work and fatigue. Need to get back into my rhythm of running some every day. I think I will be able to do it.
Impressed myself by running 6 miles. I realized that I have been speeding up so fast that I have made myself tired too soon. So I went back to a slower pace and increased in 1/2 mile increments instead of 1/4th mile. This dropped by overall pace to more than 10 minutes a mile but allowed me to run a little over an hour and 6 miles. I am going to stay with this approach for a while and see if I can increase mileage and begin to make up my deficit. I now consider 3 miles the minimum so that everything over 3 is "Deficit Reduction" Wish our government would consider deficit reduction a priority lol. I call my approach LSD (long slow distance) and hope that by using it I can start running 10 miles at least one day a week...talk about deficit reduction!
Friday I had planned to run in the day but I ended up with a lot of work and errands and then son Eric and daughter in law Karla came over so my run was supplanted by cooking beef stew and brownies....need a caloric reduction now to make up for that wonderful dinner with two incredible people. Unfortunately, the drama of home ownership intruded into my blissful family meal time as one of my roommates, Tim who is also a handyman par excellence, came into the dinning room announcing that there was a huge leak in the water line in the back yard. The good news is he spotted it or it would have leaked all night. The bad news....well it was a huge leak so he shut off the water. The good news, he was there and knew what to do and is fixing the leak today. The bad news....well it costs money to fix things and well it seems with an older house each month brings a new manifestation of the not to wonderful "joys of home ownership." Thinking about it today made me reminisce about life in a small posada (like a Bed and Breakfast or small family inn) in Mexico where all I own would be a few changes of clothes and where I would have a small room with a bed and night stand, which the posada maid cleaned every day. I would have fresh towels and in the morning could drink coffee with the proprietor and wander down to the town square for a lite breakfast. After my siesta I could order a nice meal with some wine or beer and retire to a book and bed. The next day would repeat the prior....my combo monk retirement fantasy....no responsibility, traveling lite, simple, simple, simple.
But for now, I am going back to reality and will spend the Memorial Day Holiday grading exams! Such is life. But Life is Good!
Running still in fits and starts. Combination of busy at work and fatigue. Need to get back into my rhythm of running some every day. I think I will be able to do it.
Impressed myself by running 6 miles. I realized that I have been speeding up so fast that I have made myself tired too soon. So I went back to a slower pace and increased in 1/2 mile increments instead of 1/4th mile. This dropped by overall pace to more than 10 minutes a mile but allowed me to run a little over an hour and 6 miles. I am going to stay with this approach for a while and see if I can increase mileage and begin to make up my deficit. I now consider 3 miles the minimum so that everything over 3 is "Deficit Reduction" Wish our government would consider deficit reduction a priority lol. I call my approach LSD (long slow distance) and hope that by using it I can start running 10 miles at least one day a week...talk about deficit reduction!
Friday I had planned to run in the day but I ended up with a lot of work and errands and then son Eric and daughter in law Karla came over so my run was supplanted by cooking beef stew and brownies....need a caloric reduction now to make up for that wonderful dinner with two incredible people. Unfortunately, the drama of home ownership intruded into my blissful family meal time as one of my roommates, Tim who is also a handyman par excellence, came into the dinning room announcing that there was a huge leak in the water line in the back yard. The good news is he spotted it or it would have leaked all night. The bad news....well it was a huge leak so he shut off the water. The good news, he was there and knew what to do and is fixing the leak today. The bad news....well it costs money to fix things and well it seems with an older house each month brings a new manifestation of the not to wonderful "joys of home ownership." Thinking about it today made me reminisce about life in a small posada (like a Bed and Breakfast or small family inn) in Mexico where all I own would be a few changes of clothes and where I would have a small room with a bed and night stand, which the posada maid cleaned every day. I would have fresh towels and in the morning could drink coffee with the proprietor and wander down to the town square for a lite breakfast. After my siesta I could order a nice meal with some wine or beer and retire to a book and bed. The next day would repeat the prior....my combo monk retirement fantasy....no responsibility, traveling lite, simple, simple, simple.
But for now, I am going back to reality and will spend the Memorial Day Holiday grading exams! Such is life. But Life is Good!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Day 83 Meat Loaf and Cherry Pastries....yum! And the trip that almost happened!
Day 83, Monday May 24 Ran 3 miles/ Total so far 129/ Miles to go 871
Gambling did not win :( Total invested so far $39 Winnings $21 Losses $18
Spent the weekend with Mrs Savage, my second mom. She arrived Friday night with meat loaf, a bag of red new potatoes and an onion (for mashed potatoes), some broccoli salad, a tray of cherry pastries, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, a cheese ball and all the fixens to make Old Fashion's. For those of you who are not of "a certain age" or not familiar with any mixed drinks other than rum and coke or crown and coke (lol) an Old Fashion is a mixture of bourbon (mostly bourbon), bitters, sweet syrup or in her case, sprite, with an orange slice which you use to coat the rim of the glass before squeezing and leaving in the drink. It is served with rocks. Pat Savage has to have her cocktail each evening and I enjoyed one (well actually more than one) too as we ate crackers, cheese and some pate and then her wonderful meal. I ate the rest of the meal left overs last night and have been munching on cookies from the freezer and heating up pastries for breakfast.....needless to say I will need many more miles to cancel out the calories form her visit which also included a greasy double cheese burger with grilled onions from Dallas' oldest drive-in, Keller's, washed down with cold root beer which Pat and ate from her car after shopping for my birthday present....4 lawn chairs and an umbrella and base for my patio table. She wanted me to have a nice space to enjoy in the back yard and had seen these chairs on sale at Big Lots. They do look good, as does the umbrella!
Saturday night, after planting flowers we also bought in new pots, and attending Saturday Mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, we went to Papasitos near by for Margaritas and Tex Mex. Pat left Sunday and I continued my gardening with the purchase of 4 red rocket crepe myrtles for the front yard and a couple of hibiscus to replace those that died in the freeze. I expect to enjoy lots of color all summer from my front porch. Needless to say, all the company and gardening got in the way of my running.....bad excuse but mine. I will catch up this week (InshAllah...God Willing)
Monday morning found me up at the crack of dawn at Love Field for a trip to Austin and the swearing in ceremony for those who passed the Feb. Bar Exam. Normally I try to go up the night before, but because of Mrs. Savage I did not. Unfortunately, after taxiing out to the run way the plane did not take off. We sat over an hour then went back into the terminal. They did not know how long it would take and the next two flight were full so I had to cancel my trip. Later that morning the Dean of Career Services called and asked if I forgot something? She said a student at the ceremony had told her that they announce my name as a representative from SMU but nobody stood up. I explained that I had not forgotten, but......
The entire experience reminded me of a Zig Zigler routine. Zig was a great positive thinking speaker. I used to listen to his tapes. He tells the story of being told his flight was cancelled. To the astonishment of the desk attendent he replies, "Fantastic!" When asked why such news was fantastic, he replied, "There are only three reasons why my flight was cancelled. First, there is something wrong with the plane. Second, there is something wrong with the pilot who is going to fly the plane. Third, there is something wrong with the weather that the pilot is going to fly the plane into. If it is any of those three reasons, I do not want to be up there in the plane. I want to be right here on the ground. You see, you can cancel my flight but you cannot cancel my day! It is 24 hours for me to use productively."
And so I returned to my office and my day and got a lot done that I would not have been able to do in Austin. Good news, Bad News, who is to say!
Life is Good.
Gambling did not win :( Total invested so far $39 Winnings $21 Losses $18
Spent the weekend with Mrs Savage, my second mom. She arrived Friday night with meat loaf, a bag of red new potatoes and an onion (for mashed potatoes), some broccoli salad, a tray of cherry pastries, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, a cheese ball and all the fixens to make Old Fashion's. For those of you who are not of "a certain age" or not familiar with any mixed drinks other than rum and coke or crown and coke (lol) an Old Fashion is a mixture of bourbon (mostly bourbon), bitters, sweet syrup or in her case, sprite, with an orange slice which you use to coat the rim of the glass before squeezing and leaving in the drink. It is served with rocks. Pat Savage has to have her cocktail each evening and I enjoyed one (well actually more than one) too as we ate crackers, cheese and some pate and then her wonderful meal. I ate the rest of the meal left overs last night and have been munching on cookies from the freezer and heating up pastries for breakfast.....needless to say I will need many more miles to cancel out the calories form her visit which also included a greasy double cheese burger with grilled onions from Dallas' oldest drive-in, Keller's, washed down with cold root beer which Pat and ate from her car after shopping for my birthday present....4 lawn chairs and an umbrella and base for my patio table. She wanted me to have a nice space to enjoy in the back yard and had seen these chairs on sale at Big Lots. They do look good, as does the umbrella!
Saturday night, after planting flowers we also bought in new pots, and attending Saturday Mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, we went to Papasitos near by for Margaritas and Tex Mex. Pat left Sunday and I continued my gardening with the purchase of 4 red rocket crepe myrtles for the front yard and a couple of hibiscus to replace those that died in the freeze. I expect to enjoy lots of color all summer from my front porch. Needless to say, all the company and gardening got in the way of my running.....bad excuse but mine. I will catch up this week (InshAllah...God Willing)
Monday morning found me up at the crack of dawn at Love Field for a trip to Austin and the swearing in ceremony for those who passed the Feb. Bar Exam. Normally I try to go up the night before, but because of Mrs. Savage I did not. Unfortunately, after taxiing out to the run way the plane did not take off. We sat over an hour then went back into the terminal. They did not know how long it would take and the next two flight were full so I had to cancel my trip. Later that morning the Dean of Career Services called and asked if I forgot something? She said a student at the ceremony had told her that they announce my name as a representative from SMU but nobody stood up. I explained that I had not forgotten, but......
The entire experience reminded me of a Zig Zigler routine. Zig was a great positive thinking speaker. I used to listen to his tapes. He tells the story of being told his flight was cancelled. To the astonishment of the desk attendent he replies, "Fantastic!" When asked why such news was fantastic, he replied, "There are only three reasons why my flight was cancelled. First, there is something wrong with the plane. Second, there is something wrong with the pilot who is going to fly the plane. Third, there is something wrong with the weather that the pilot is going to fly the plane into. If it is any of those three reasons, I do not want to be up there in the plane. I want to be right here on the ground. You see, you can cancel my flight but you cannot cancel my day! It is 24 hours for me to use productively."
And so I returned to my office and my day and got a lot done that I would not have been able to do in Austin. Good news, Bad News, who is to say!
Life is Good.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Day 80 Bras in the Breeze and Broken Ankles!
Day 80, Thursday May 20 Ran 3.5 miles/ Total so far 126/ Miles to go 874
Started the day on my front porch with coffee. It was muggy and a little warm. I am afraid that my cool mornings outside will soon come to an end as the heat of Texas summer drives everyone indoors (accept when you are by a swimming pool, which I do not have and do not want, thank you). I had a pool once, in Kuwait. I have to admit that the kids really enjoyed it. Things were easier there, of course. The landlord of our villa had a pool boy who came and cleaned and maintained the pool, so I did not have to mess with the whole business of chemicals and scrubbing, etc. Absent such a luxury again, I will confine my use of pools to gyms, hotels, resorts and pools of friends.
Thinking of that pool in Kuwait brings back two distinct memories. First, our next door neighbors were a very nice, but very conservative Kuwaiti family. One day the mother asked if she and her two young children could swim in our pool. Of course we said yes. I looked out of my window a few minutes later to see two children have a wonderful time and my neighbor with them, in the pool, in full black abaya, covered from head to toe. It was like watching a nun from my Catholic School days playing in a swimming pool except I had never seen a nun in a pool and the thought that they might even swim never crossed my mind, at least, not when I was little. In fact, the first time I realized that nuns were women was when I was in 5th grade and as I walked to the back of the Convent to take my piano lesson from Sister Margaret Rose (who later changed her name to Sister Patricia...guess with the modernization they were allowed to get their old names back?). On the clotheslines behind the Convent....yes, it was in the days when people actually hung clothes to dry, I saw bras blowing in the breeze! OMG I thought. Nuns ware bras. I was so struck by that thought and all the ramifications that I am sure I was a very poor student that day for my lessons. Later someone stole a bra and flew it from the school flagpole....boys will be boys.
My second pool memory of Kuwait involved the time my ex, Kay, slipped on the wet marble steps leading up to the villa after getting the kids out of the pool. She broke her ankle and some good Kuwait friends took her to the hospital and called me. When I got to the hospital, which was a big public hospital with large wards swarming with people (medical care is basically free for everyone with a small payment for drugs) Kay was fit to be tied. They had already tried to Xray her leg twice but the machines were not working and of course, each movement brought more pain. In exasperation Kay hollered out "This is a rich country. They should be able to afford Xray machines that work! This is ridiculous!' Our Kuwaiti friend became a little alarmed at her outburst. He told he to please be calm and not make such statements or maybe they would ask her to leave the country. In response, and in a louder voice, Kay said "They ask me to leave Kuwait and that is a bad thing? No that is a good thing!" That did happen to be the last year we were in Kuwait, but our leaving had nothing to do with her broken ankle and after the release of that defiant statement she did calm down.
I ran at lunch. I will hopefully run at lunch again on Friday. Second Mom, Pat Savage is coming Friday night for a short weekend visit so I will need to hurry home from work......Life is good!
Started the day on my front porch with coffee. It was muggy and a little warm. I am afraid that my cool mornings outside will soon come to an end as the heat of Texas summer drives everyone indoors (accept when you are by a swimming pool, which I do not have and do not want, thank you). I had a pool once, in Kuwait. I have to admit that the kids really enjoyed it. Things were easier there, of course. The landlord of our villa had a pool boy who came and cleaned and maintained the pool, so I did not have to mess with the whole business of chemicals and scrubbing, etc. Absent such a luxury again, I will confine my use of pools to gyms, hotels, resorts and pools of friends.
Thinking of that pool in Kuwait brings back two distinct memories. First, our next door neighbors were a very nice, but very conservative Kuwaiti family. One day the mother asked if she and her two young children could swim in our pool. Of course we said yes. I looked out of my window a few minutes later to see two children have a wonderful time and my neighbor with them, in the pool, in full black abaya, covered from head to toe. It was like watching a nun from my Catholic School days playing in a swimming pool except I had never seen a nun in a pool and the thought that they might even swim never crossed my mind, at least, not when I was little. In fact, the first time I realized that nuns were women was when I was in 5th grade and as I walked to the back of the Convent to take my piano lesson from Sister Margaret Rose (who later changed her name to Sister Patricia...guess with the modernization they were allowed to get their old names back?). On the clotheslines behind the Convent....yes, it was in the days when people actually hung clothes to dry, I saw bras blowing in the breeze! OMG I thought. Nuns ware bras. I was so struck by that thought and all the ramifications that I am sure I was a very poor student that day for my lessons. Later someone stole a bra and flew it from the school flagpole....boys will be boys.
My second pool memory of Kuwait involved the time my ex, Kay, slipped on the wet marble steps leading up to the villa after getting the kids out of the pool. She broke her ankle and some good Kuwait friends took her to the hospital and called me. When I got to the hospital, which was a big public hospital with large wards swarming with people (medical care is basically free for everyone with a small payment for drugs) Kay was fit to be tied. They had already tried to Xray her leg twice but the machines were not working and of course, each movement brought more pain. In exasperation Kay hollered out "This is a rich country. They should be able to afford Xray machines that work! This is ridiculous!' Our Kuwaiti friend became a little alarmed at her outburst. He told he to please be calm and not make such statements or maybe they would ask her to leave the country. In response, and in a louder voice, Kay said "They ask me to leave Kuwait and that is a bad thing? No that is a good thing!" That did happen to be the last year we were in Kuwait, but our leaving had nothing to do with her broken ankle and after the release of that defiant statement she did calm down.
I ran at lunch. I will hopefully run at lunch again on Friday. Second Mom, Pat Savage is coming Friday night for a short weekend visit so I will need to hurry home from work......Life is good!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Day 79 Graduation past and Monterrey Mexico
Day 79 Wednesday, May 19th. Ran 5 miles. I also ran 3.1 miles on Wednesday the 12th and 3 miles on Sunday the 15th but did not post....crazy week with graduation and out of town guests, etc. So now total so far: 122.5 miles/ Miles to go 877.5. Getting a little further behind and decided to not do the "how far behind" until the end of the month....too many statistics.
Gambling.....spent 6 more dollars and won 4 so I am 2 dollars further behind and not a millionaire...total so far $36 invested 21 won so down $15. Almost had a panic attack at 10:30 last night when I realized I had not bought my lotto ticket. I had gone to dinner with gym rat after my 5 mile run and at 10:30 he asked if I had my ticket....I had intended to buy it after work. I immediately checked the numbers and fortunately no one had won so now the jackpot is over 90 million. I wonder why they don't just split the money between say 1000 people and make a big difference in a lot of people's lives. They would not be millionaires but the extra money would flow back into the economy and help a lot of people and maybe more people would play with the odds of a large pay off were greater, even if it wasn't millions. Oh well, what do I know about the science of fleecing people of their money, I am just a humble lawyer.
Since the last post so much has happened. Saturday was the "hooding" ceremony at the law school where the graduating class is honored and receives their diplomas. I was humbled and happy that the valedictorian ended his speech with the phrase "Good News, Bad News, Who is to say?" my signature expression told in my orientation speech every year. Nice bookends to hear it again at the end of the law school journey and an inside joke for the students and faculty.
We had a weather crisis. The ceremony is normally out of doors. The law school quad is transformed into a beautiful garden with flowers and flags everywhere for the several thousand graduates and guests. It is a magical setting with horn players and a mini orchestra and lots of pomp and circumstance. The procession of faculty is lead by Professor Joseph McKnight who was a senior member of the faculty when I was a student back in the 1970s. 80 now, he still teaches and he very slowly and laboriously leads the procession wearing some dead animal around his shoulders, a relic of his Oxford degree I believe.
Friday it rained and there were flash flood warnings. It was supposed to rain Saturday too, the day of the ceremony. All the other SMU schools who had scheduled out door ceremonies for Saturday, announced that they had decided to move them inside on Friday. The law school was the lone hold out and I have to give it to our Dean, his guts paid off and the rain held back and the ceremony went forward and was beautiful. I cannot believe this was my 5th and July 1st I will have been at SMU 5 years. It seems like only yesterday I was pulling into the parking garage at my office at Jones Day in the Harwood building in Uptown.
My wonderful friend, Peggy Dean visited last week and this past weekend. We spent many nights on the front porch, she with her tea and me with my scotch (she was doing some detox program or we would have been sharing a bottle of wine). Mornings found us with coffee and laughter. Her last night, Sunday, we sang on the porch...softly so as not to disturb. I feel so blessed with wonderful friends.
Monday morning I was off to Monterrey Mexico and a trip to a law school there to interview for potential LL.M. students (International Masters of Law) and to meet with the Dean of the School. One of our LL.M. students from this past year, Cezar Garza, was my host and had arranged the trip and the introductions to the Dean and the students. What wonderful hospitality. He put me up in his family's suite hotel in the middle of the old city and each moment was filled with wonderful conversation, food and visits to sites around Monterrey.
It was my first time to visit and I had never realized how big and cultured the city was. There are huge plazas and parks and public buildings. US cities need more of this concept of the public space. There is a little river walk, like in San Antonio. My first lunch was taken on top of a mountain overlooking the city and my last dinner was in a restaurant built inside an old steel plant, once again overlooking the city. Monterrey is surrounded by mountains. I want to go back and spend more time as a tourist.
I also learned a little of the history of the region. It seems many if not most of the original families were of Spanish Jewish background who fled to Mexico during the Spanish Inquisition. Some had converted to Catholicism and others were more secular but there are still many traditions from this past which are observed.
I met Cezar's father, a successful lawyer of my age with a twinkle in his eye and more jokes than even I can remember. Cezar's mother was a beautiful and gracious woman with an easy smile and a regal but kind presence. The best way to see a new city is with a native and I had the best hosts. I hope more students from Monterrey will come to SMU, and that I get the opportunity to return and recruit and perhaps teach a short course, which was suggested by the Dean of the School.
This post is getting long so I will stop...hope to run today at lunch and write more tonight...Life is Good!
Gambling.....spent 6 more dollars and won 4 so I am 2 dollars further behind and not a millionaire...total so far $36 invested 21 won so down $15. Almost had a panic attack at 10:30 last night when I realized I had not bought my lotto ticket. I had gone to dinner with gym rat after my 5 mile run and at 10:30 he asked if I had my ticket....I had intended to buy it after work. I immediately checked the numbers and fortunately no one had won so now the jackpot is over 90 million. I wonder why they don't just split the money between say 1000 people and make a big difference in a lot of people's lives. They would not be millionaires but the extra money would flow back into the economy and help a lot of people and maybe more people would play with the odds of a large pay off were greater, even if it wasn't millions. Oh well, what do I know about the science of fleecing people of their money, I am just a humble lawyer.
Since the last post so much has happened. Saturday was the "hooding" ceremony at the law school where the graduating class is honored and receives their diplomas. I was humbled and happy that the valedictorian ended his speech with the phrase "Good News, Bad News, Who is to say?" my signature expression told in my orientation speech every year. Nice bookends to hear it again at the end of the law school journey and an inside joke for the students and faculty.
We had a weather crisis. The ceremony is normally out of doors. The law school quad is transformed into a beautiful garden with flowers and flags everywhere for the several thousand graduates and guests. It is a magical setting with horn players and a mini orchestra and lots of pomp and circumstance. The procession of faculty is lead by Professor Joseph McKnight who was a senior member of the faculty when I was a student back in the 1970s. 80 now, he still teaches and he very slowly and laboriously leads the procession wearing some dead animal around his shoulders, a relic of his Oxford degree I believe.
Friday it rained and there were flash flood warnings. It was supposed to rain Saturday too, the day of the ceremony. All the other SMU schools who had scheduled out door ceremonies for Saturday, announced that they had decided to move them inside on Friday. The law school was the lone hold out and I have to give it to our Dean, his guts paid off and the rain held back and the ceremony went forward and was beautiful. I cannot believe this was my 5th and July 1st I will have been at SMU 5 years. It seems like only yesterday I was pulling into the parking garage at my office at Jones Day in the Harwood building in Uptown.
My wonderful friend, Peggy Dean visited last week and this past weekend. We spent many nights on the front porch, she with her tea and me with my scotch (she was doing some detox program or we would have been sharing a bottle of wine). Mornings found us with coffee and laughter. Her last night, Sunday, we sang on the porch...softly so as not to disturb. I feel so blessed with wonderful friends.
Monday morning I was off to Monterrey Mexico and a trip to a law school there to interview for potential LL.M. students (International Masters of Law) and to meet with the Dean of the School. One of our LL.M. students from this past year, Cezar Garza, was my host and had arranged the trip and the introductions to the Dean and the students. What wonderful hospitality. He put me up in his family's suite hotel in the middle of the old city and each moment was filled with wonderful conversation, food and visits to sites around Monterrey.
It was my first time to visit and I had never realized how big and cultured the city was. There are huge plazas and parks and public buildings. US cities need more of this concept of the public space. There is a little river walk, like in San Antonio. My first lunch was taken on top of a mountain overlooking the city and my last dinner was in a restaurant built inside an old steel plant, once again overlooking the city. Monterrey is surrounded by mountains. I want to go back and spend more time as a tourist.
I also learned a little of the history of the region. It seems many if not most of the original families were of Spanish Jewish background who fled to Mexico during the Spanish Inquisition. Some had converted to Catholicism and others were more secular but there are still many traditions from this past which are observed.
I met Cezar's father, a successful lawyer of my age with a twinkle in his eye and more jokes than even I can remember. Cezar's mother was a beautiful and gracious woman with an easy smile and a regal but kind presence. The best way to see a new city is with a native and I had the best hosts. I hope more students from Monterrey will come to SMU, and that I get the opportunity to return and recruit and perhaps teach a short course, which was suggested by the Dean of the School.
This post is getting long so I will stop...hope to run today at lunch and write more tonight...Life is Good!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Day 70 "Large sums of money should not be raised for a three day beer bust." Really?
Day 70, Monday May 10th. Ran 5 miles (at better than a 10 mile per hour pace thank you!). Total so far 111.4 miles/ Miles to go: 888.6/ Miles behind pace per day 80.6 (should have run 191 by now...ouch).
Gambling totals: Saturday won 5 dollars on Weekly Grand yahoo! But did not win the lotto (or I would not be writing this post lol). Gambling investment so far: 30 dollars/ Winnings 17 dollars...Down 13 dollars :(
Whew! Lots of statistics to keep up with.
Did not run over the weekend. I had planned to get up early Saturday morning but I did not get home from work until after 11. I had to stay (for the third night in a row) and monitor exams. At least they are over now. I drove to Tyler to spend the weekend with my wonderful second mother, Pat Savage. Pat is 80 and is family to me and my family. She is part of every family occasion whenever possible, like reading at son Eric's wedding. I wanted to spend Mothers Day with her and with her daughter, Chris, who was visiting from Houston. Chris and I were classmates together since the 5th grade and are like brother and sister. Pat's lost a son and I lost my mother the same year, when I was 15 and a sophomore. We bonded in our loss and love.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way to buy a box a special mixed crackers that I know she likes and some mixed nuts that she had specifically asked for. I also wanted to pick up a nice potted plant and ended up with a larger purple geranium. The next stop was the liquor store for a bottle of Skyy Vodka and some bourbon...she also likes her cocktails. My best friend, Nickie who went to school with Chris and I in Tyler and, like everyone in our class, knows and loves Pat, contributed a "knock out rose" bush so I looked like a traveling florist/liquor store in my daughter's two seater Miata.
In fact, Pat had been the chaperon for our Senior Trip to New Orleans back in 1972 when Nickie and I had been the last to show up having stopped in a little town called Pawhattan on the way where Nickie's Italian uncle, Joe Leone, operated Joe's Last Chance Liquor Store and, upon realizing that "Little Nickie Faye" had graduated from High School, had promptly loaded us down with free beer and good wishes.
We were not supposed to have a senior trip that year. Father Joseph, the young ardent new Principle of the Catholic High School had called us in and told us that "Large sums of money should not be raised for a three day beer bust!" He misjudged us as a class. I was class President and Chris was the Treasurer and we knew better than Father Joseph what large sums of money should be used for. So we had our car washes and raised our money but, unlike in years past when the senior trip had predated the graduation ceremony, we waited until after we had graduated and then, with degrees in hand, proceeded to the French Quarter and our three day beer bust! Nah nah da boo boo, you can't touch me! was our motto. And Pat Savage and another mother were co-conspirators in our rebellion. I will always love her for that!
But I have digressed. I am sure there will be more about Pat in future posts. Needless to say it was a nice weekend of good company and good food. Upon arriving in Tyler I had a nice lunch of chicken salad and fruit and the first of many scotches.
Brunch was later followed by 5:30 Mass. Pat is a true old school Catholic and does not miss Mass, ever! Now you can go to Mass on Saturday night or Sunday and avoid having the mortal sin on your soul of missing Mass. She was serving at the service, so we went Saturday night.
I had theological problems with the sermon given by a genial Puerto Rican priest. Since it was Mothers Day Sunday, he was talking to the women. Told them that they needed to look up to the Virgin Mary as a role model. Then asked if we knew how Mary knew they were out of wine at the Marriage feast at the Wedding at Cana...you know, Jesus's first miracle in the Bible where He turns water into wine. Mary tells Him that they are our of wine. Jesus says something like "why are you bothering me it is not my time yet to be about my Father's business." But undaunted, Mary tells the waiters to do as Jesus instructs and Jesus tells them to bring water jars and suddenly the water is now high quality wine....as the wine steward tells the groom..."funny you are serving the good stuff now....most people serve the good stuff first, etc." Must have been some party....like our Senior Trip!
Well this Priest explained that Mary had a servant's heart so surely she knew they were out of wine because she was in the kitchen working and not at the Head Table being served......So the role model for women is stay in the kitchen? I thought, you know, she was a relative and maybe she knew they were out of wine because she had asked for a glass and had been told they were out! I wanted to stand up and say something like...how about a role model like being a Priest! Then maybe the women would not have to look in the kitchen for purpose in the Church, but out of respect for Pat, I sat there quietly fuming.
Mass was followed by a nice dinner party at Pat's house with friends of Pat's generation. I really love that age. They have lived. All had lost partners. There is something about that time in ones life. The chaff is blown away and what is left is the best part. One woman talked about her large family and how two of her sisters had become nuns and one brother a priest. She said the nuns had their eyes on her when she was in high school but she would have none of it. She was not cut out for that life. Our discussion was made livelier by the wine and wonderful steak and vegitables. I could not say know to the chocolate cake and ice cream which capped the dinner and the night!
Sunday was a perfect day. We ate a nice brunch of salmon and salads outside on Pat's beautiful garden table. I started out with Scotch Marys which are Bloddy Marys made with scotch instead of vodka. I love the smokey flavor that the scotch adds to the tomato juice. The Scotch Marys followed by the wine served at brunch, made me sleepy and I took a luxurious nap. On my way back to Dallas I purchased three rose bushes. Tyler, my home town, is known as the Rose Capital of Texas and roses are everywhere. I hope they grow in my garden.
I also brought back from Tyler an orchid which Pat had bought for me - she is a gift giver and I could not leave without gifts even though it was Mothers Day (which included some chicken and dumplings, cut fresh fruit and a slice of chocolate cake). Back in Dallas I met a friend who was in town for work from San Francisco at the Mi Concina's in the Shops at Legacy in Plano, north of Dallas. I did not realize how far north it was... I felt like I was almost in Oklahoma!
So you see how the weekend robbed me of my running (although I had brought my shoes to Tyler thinking maybe I would run there.) I woke up Monday determined to run and to begin to catch up on my miles. After work I ran 5 miles in less than 50 minutes. It felt good, but I was coughing a little and decided not to run the last mile. Have to increase my weekly mileage to make my goal....but Life Is Good!
Gambling totals: Saturday won 5 dollars on Weekly Grand yahoo! But did not win the lotto (or I would not be writing this post lol). Gambling investment so far: 30 dollars/ Winnings 17 dollars...Down 13 dollars :(
Whew! Lots of statistics to keep up with.
Did not run over the weekend. I had planned to get up early Saturday morning but I did not get home from work until after 11. I had to stay (for the third night in a row) and monitor exams. At least they are over now. I drove to Tyler to spend the weekend with my wonderful second mother, Pat Savage. Pat is 80 and is family to me and my family. She is part of every family occasion whenever possible, like reading at son Eric's wedding. I wanted to spend Mothers Day with her and with her daughter, Chris, who was visiting from Houston. Chris and I were classmates together since the 5th grade and are like brother and sister. Pat's lost a son and I lost my mother the same year, when I was 15 and a sophomore. We bonded in our loss and love.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way to buy a box a special mixed crackers that I know she likes and some mixed nuts that she had specifically asked for. I also wanted to pick up a nice potted plant and ended up with a larger purple geranium. The next stop was the liquor store for a bottle of Skyy Vodka and some bourbon...she also likes her cocktails. My best friend, Nickie who went to school with Chris and I in Tyler and, like everyone in our class, knows and loves Pat, contributed a "knock out rose" bush so I looked like a traveling florist/liquor store in my daughter's two seater Miata.
In fact, Pat had been the chaperon for our Senior Trip to New Orleans back in 1972 when Nickie and I had been the last to show up having stopped in a little town called Pawhattan on the way where Nickie's Italian uncle, Joe Leone, operated Joe's Last Chance Liquor Store and, upon realizing that "Little Nickie Faye" had graduated from High School, had promptly loaded us down with free beer and good wishes.
We were not supposed to have a senior trip that year. Father Joseph, the young ardent new Principle of the Catholic High School had called us in and told us that "Large sums of money should not be raised for a three day beer bust!" He misjudged us as a class. I was class President and Chris was the Treasurer and we knew better than Father Joseph what large sums of money should be used for. So we had our car washes and raised our money but, unlike in years past when the senior trip had predated the graduation ceremony, we waited until after we had graduated and then, with degrees in hand, proceeded to the French Quarter and our three day beer bust! Nah nah da boo boo, you can't touch me! was our motto. And Pat Savage and another mother were co-conspirators in our rebellion. I will always love her for that!
But I have digressed. I am sure there will be more about Pat in future posts. Needless to say it was a nice weekend of good company and good food. Upon arriving in Tyler I had a nice lunch of chicken salad and fruit and the first of many scotches.
Brunch was later followed by 5:30 Mass. Pat is a true old school Catholic and does not miss Mass, ever! Now you can go to Mass on Saturday night or Sunday and avoid having the mortal sin on your soul of missing Mass. She was serving at the service, so we went Saturday night.
I had theological problems with the sermon given by a genial Puerto Rican priest. Since it was Mothers Day Sunday, he was talking to the women. Told them that they needed to look up to the Virgin Mary as a role model. Then asked if we knew how Mary knew they were out of wine at the Marriage feast at the Wedding at Cana...you know, Jesus's first miracle in the Bible where He turns water into wine. Mary tells Him that they are our of wine. Jesus says something like "why are you bothering me it is not my time yet to be about my Father's business." But undaunted, Mary tells the waiters to do as Jesus instructs and Jesus tells them to bring water jars and suddenly the water is now high quality wine....as the wine steward tells the groom..."funny you are serving the good stuff now....most people serve the good stuff first, etc." Must have been some party....like our Senior Trip!
Well this Priest explained that Mary had a servant's heart so surely she knew they were out of wine because she was in the kitchen working and not at the Head Table being served......So the role model for women is stay in the kitchen? I thought, you know, she was a relative and maybe she knew they were out of wine because she had asked for a glass and had been told they were out! I wanted to stand up and say something like...how about a role model like being a Priest! Then maybe the women would not have to look in the kitchen for purpose in the Church, but out of respect for Pat, I sat there quietly fuming.
Mass was followed by a nice dinner party at Pat's house with friends of Pat's generation. I really love that age. They have lived. All had lost partners. There is something about that time in ones life. The chaff is blown away and what is left is the best part. One woman talked about her large family and how two of her sisters had become nuns and one brother a priest. She said the nuns had their eyes on her when she was in high school but she would have none of it. She was not cut out for that life. Our discussion was made livelier by the wine and wonderful steak and vegitables. I could not say know to the chocolate cake and ice cream which capped the dinner and the night!
Sunday was a perfect day. We ate a nice brunch of salmon and salads outside on Pat's beautiful garden table. I started out with Scotch Marys which are Bloddy Marys made with scotch instead of vodka. I love the smokey flavor that the scotch adds to the tomato juice. The Scotch Marys followed by the wine served at brunch, made me sleepy and I took a luxurious nap. On my way back to Dallas I purchased three rose bushes. Tyler, my home town, is known as the Rose Capital of Texas and roses are everywhere. I hope they grow in my garden.
I also brought back from Tyler an orchid which Pat had bought for me - she is a gift giver and I could not leave without gifts even though it was Mothers Day (which included some chicken and dumplings, cut fresh fruit and a slice of chocolate cake). Back in Dallas I met a friend who was in town for work from San Francisco at the Mi Concina's in the Shops at Legacy in Plano, north of Dallas. I did not realize how far north it was... I felt like I was almost in Oklahoma!
So you see how the weekend robbed me of my running (although I had brought my shoes to Tyler thinking maybe I would run there.) I woke up Monday determined to run and to begin to catch up on my miles. After work I ran 5 miles in less than 50 minutes. It felt good, but I was coughing a little and decided not to run the last mile. Have to increase my weekly mileage to make my goal....but Life Is Good!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Day 67 OMG I realize I am behind!
Day 67, Friday April 9th Ran 3.4, Miles total 106.4; Miles to go - 893.6 So the Good News is that I ran today after not running for the past two days. My failure to run represented a combination of still fighting this check cold and working late each night monitoring exams so that I do not get out of the school until around 10:30. Yesterday I had a breakfast meeting and I have had a lunch each day this week other than Tuesday when I ran and so....no running. This morning I ran before work and it felt good, even though I continue to cough. Now for the Bad News, I just did the calculations and realized that to meet my 1000 miles in a year goal I need to average around 2.74 miles a day. At this point if I was on schedule, I would have run about 183.6 miles. I have only run 106.4. This creates a deficit of 77.2 miles so far. I will have to up the pace so as an incentive, for future posts I will add a column for where I need to be to be on track and where I actually am. Hopefully I can whittle away this deficit over the summer.
Now I stated my discussion with the "Good News, Bad News" format in honor of the UTube video that the law students have posted about me telling this Good News, Bad News" Old Man in China story that I tell every year during orientation. Check out the side under the title "Who is to say?" Well I tried to paste the link and failed. Good News, Bad News, Who is to say? I will try to add it later.
But Life is Good!
Now I stated my discussion with the "Good News, Bad News" format in honor of the UTube video that the law students have posted about me telling this Good News, Bad News" Old Man in China story that I tell every year during orientation. Check out the side under the title "Who is to say?" Well I tried to paste the link and failed. Good News, Bad News, Who is to say? I will try to add it later.
But Life is Good!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Day 64 "You gave up your freedom and your dignity for a crust of bread!"'
Day 64, Tuesday, April 6th. Ran 3 miles Run so far 103 miles Miles to go 897. Gambling investment 27 dollars. Winnings 12 Down 15 dollars. Won 4 dollars on the Weekly Grand Saturday!
After the triumph of my 100th mile in New York City, I returned to Dallas and promptly got sick as a dog with a bad chest cold. Today was the first day I could run again. I ran three miles at lunch time on the track at SMU. It felt so good to be back running, although I did find myself still coughing a lot. I also got a little too much sun for my fair skinned face.
There were four African American runners and their coach at the track. They were shirtless and wore tight black running pants. Their bodies were amazing. I knew that I had never looked like that nor would I ever. Natural athletic bodies sculpted like statues. I ran on the farthest out lane to stay out of their way.
One of them had was accompanied by his two year old daughter. She was beautiful with a big mop of curly hair. A future track star I am sure, she ran all the way around the quarter mile track with such glee. It was a wonderful sight. All the other runners were cheering her on.
After work I had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, Cyclone Anaya's, with Gym Rat. My watermelon margarita was too small in size and too expensive in price, but the steak quesadias were tasty. Afterward, he wanted me to go with him to the self service car wash. I have to admit that I cannot remember how many years its has been since I washed a car. Probably as many as have passed since I mowed a yard. Gym Rat said that there had been some robberies at night and he wanted me to be there with my cell phone punched to 911 in case we needed assistance quickly. It is true that there have been some robberies at places like ATMs at night when people go to get quick cash. In any event, I was a good sport and went along.
Gym Rat has the cleanest car you can imagine. A grey Lexus. I did not even think it needed to be washed. It certainly was much cleaner than mine which I had been OK with, given that the recent rain had washed off a few layers of grit. He methodically vacuumed the inside of the car then rinsed the outside and scrubbed it with soap and rinsed it again with an efficiency that belied his experience at washing cars...only his car. When another car did pull up and the person got on his phone (and showed no signs of planning to wash his car) I have to admit that I did hold my finger a little closer to the 911 button. But soon that car left and we were alone again. I left Gym Rat and his clean car and went home.
All day I have been thinking about an old Russian tale I read recently about how dogs became domesticated and at what cost. It seems that there was a pack of wolves in Siberia and they were very hungry. They had not eaten in a long while. The old leader of the pack told them to be patient and that deer would come again as they always did, and they would be full. But one young wolf said he was too hungry and left, to go to the camp where the humans were to see if they would give him anything to eat. They did and he decided to stay. He began to hunt with the humans. One day his human master shot a wolf and the young wolf, now dog, ran up to fetch it but when he got to the old wolf he realized that it was the old leader of the pack. The young wolf was very remorseful but the old wolf would have none of it. He told the young wolf "You have made your choice. You have given up your dignity and your freedom for a crust of bread. Return to your masters."
It is a good story. There is much wisdom in the admonition that we have to be careful not to sacrifice freedom for security or we could lose both.....but Life is Good!
After the triumph of my 100th mile in New York City, I returned to Dallas and promptly got sick as a dog with a bad chest cold. Today was the first day I could run again. I ran three miles at lunch time on the track at SMU. It felt so good to be back running, although I did find myself still coughing a lot. I also got a little too much sun for my fair skinned face.
There were four African American runners and their coach at the track. They were shirtless and wore tight black running pants. Their bodies were amazing. I knew that I had never looked like that nor would I ever. Natural athletic bodies sculpted like statues. I ran on the farthest out lane to stay out of their way.
One of them had was accompanied by his two year old daughter. She was beautiful with a big mop of curly hair. A future track star I am sure, she ran all the way around the quarter mile track with such glee. It was a wonderful sight. All the other runners were cheering her on.
After work I had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, Cyclone Anaya's, with Gym Rat. My watermelon margarita was too small in size and too expensive in price, but the steak quesadias were tasty. Afterward, he wanted me to go with him to the self service car wash. I have to admit that I cannot remember how many years its has been since I washed a car. Probably as many as have passed since I mowed a yard. Gym Rat said that there had been some robberies at night and he wanted me to be there with my cell phone punched to 911 in case we needed assistance quickly. It is true that there have been some robberies at places like ATMs at night when people go to get quick cash. In any event, I was a good sport and went along.
Gym Rat has the cleanest car you can imagine. A grey Lexus. I did not even think it needed to be washed. It certainly was much cleaner than mine which I had been OK with, given that the recent rain had washed off a few layers of grit. He methodically vacuumed the inside of the car then rinsed the outside and scrubbed it with soap and rinsed it again with an efficiency that belied his experience at washing cars...only his car. When another car did pull up and the person got on his phone (and showed no signs of planning to wash his car) I have to admit that I did hold my finger a little closer to the 911 button. But soon that car left and we were alone again. I left Gym Rat and his clean car and went home.
All day I have been thinking about an old Russian tale I read recently about how dogs became domesticated and at what cost. It seems that there was a pack of wolves in Siberia and they were very hungry. They had not eaten in a long while. The old leader of the pack told them to be patient and that deer would come again as they always did, and they would be full. But one young wolf said he was too hungry and left, to go to the camp where the humans were to see if they would give him anything to eat. They did and he decided to stay. He began to hunt with the humans. One day his human master shot a wolf and the young wolf, now dog, ran up to fetch it but when he got to the old wolf he realized that it was the old leader of the pack. The young wolf was very remorseful but the old wolf would have none of it. He told the young wolf "You have made your choice. You have given up your dignity and your freedom for a crust of bread. Return to your masters."
It is a good story. There is much wisdom in the admonition that we have to be careful not to sacrifice freedom for security or we could lose both.....but Life is Good!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Day 56 100th Mile! Yahoo!
Monday, April 26, Day 56. Ran 4 miles/ Total so far 100/ Miles to go 900!
I have done it. I am one tenth of the way through the challenge. I will need to increase my weekly mileage to reach 1000 in a year but I am sure I can do it. Just knowing that I am on tenth of the way is a milestone. It is raining and cold here in New York so I ran the miles in the Mid City Gym on a treadmill. It took slightly more than 40 minutes. Felt great! Tomorrow I return to Dallas and law school life, but today is all about food and friends.
Mid City Gym (www.midcitygym.com) is the oldest gym in Manhattan. It is at 49th and 8th Avenue. You have to go downstairs past a sign that is always out front advertising gym memberships for only $39 a month. The inside is very utilitarian with weird drawings on burnt orange walls. The place is small and basic. There are some free weighs and some machines and a few cardio machines. The floor is uneven with rubber mats laid on top of each other then connected with yellow and black hazard tape warning members that they need to step up or down depending upon which direction they are going.
There is not a lot of talking going on at Mid City. Hard Core no nonsense body builders grunt and grown as they lift. This is where Arnold the Terminator once trained and there are pictures of him in the gym on the walls. There are not whirlpools or saunas or Pilate's rooms and no-one teaches aerobic dance. If you belong to Mid City you are there to lift weights and go. I like the spartan atmosphere. Such a contrast to the LA Fitness in Richardson that I wrote about in earlier posts. If you are in Manhattan check them out. The sale day memberships for $10 I believe but if you are nice they may give you a free pass to try them out...they did for me.
After the 4 mile run on the treadmill I went home and took a nap. We have four friends staying for the film festival in the two bedroom apartment we call home in New York. It was a bit crowded in the living room and I was tired from the night before. The nap was wonderful, enhanced by the fact that it was cold and rainy outside, perfect sleeping weather for me.
Monday night 8 of us went to a Japanese restaurant in the neighborhood, Yaki Tori, which specializes in what I call for lack of a better name, Japanese Tapas....little plates of lots of stuff, especially chicken. Most of the food comes out on little wooden skewers as you discover you are eating chicken heats, and liver and gizzards, etc. When asking what we are eating Taka just tells everyone to "Shut up and eat!" There are also wonderful fried baby octopus...tastes like calamari and a minced chicken breast that you dip in a quail egg that you have stirred in a little bowl they brought for you. Wonderful salads and special rice are all part of the fare. We also drank this Japanese vodka which is mixed with grapefruit juice that you squeeze at your plate on an individual juicer. Very fresh and tasty.
We were celebrating Israel's birthday (which was actually the next day, Tuesday). What a wonderful time to celebrate your birthday with a successful movie at a major film festival. Very proud of him and friend and co-producer, Tony.
I went to be right after dinner....To return to Dallas and work on Tuesday meant getting up at 4 and catching a 6 o'clock flight. All in all the New York trip was a nice break from a hectic time at work and reaching my 100th mile was a milestone I was glad I could accomplish there. Life is Good!
I have done it. I am one tenth of the way through the challenge. I will need to increase my weekly mileage to reach 1000 in a year but I am sure I can do it. Just knowing that I am on tenth of the way is a milestone. It is raining and cold here in New York so I ran the miles in the Mid City Gym on a treadmill. It took slightly more than 40 minutes. Felt great! Tomorrow I return to Dallas and law school life, but today is all about food and friends.
Mid City Gym (www.midcitygym.com) is the oldest gym in Manhattan. It is at 49th and 8th Avenue. You have to go downstairs past a sign that is always out front advertising gym memberships for only $39 a month. The inside is very utilitarian with weird drawings on burnt orange walls. The place is small and basic. There are some free weighs and some machines and a few cardio machines. The floor is uneven with rubber mats laid on top of each other then connected with yellow and black hazard tape warning members that they need to step up or down depending upon which direction they are going.
There is not a lot of talking going on at Mid City. Hard Core no nonsense body builders grunt and grown as they lift. This is where Arnold the Terminator once trained and there are pictures of him in the gym on the walls. There are not whirlpools or saunas or Pilate's rooms and no-one teaches aerobic dance. If you belong to Mid City you are there to lift weights and go. I like the spartan atmosphere. Such a contrast to the LA Fitness in Richardson that I wrote about in earlier posts. If you are in Manhattan check them out. The sale day memberships for $10 I believe but if you are nice they may give you a free pass to try them out...they did for me.
After the 4 mile run on the treadmill I went home and took a nap. We have four friends staying for the film festival in the two bedroom apartment we call home in New York. It was a bit crowded in the living room and I was tired from the night before. The nap was wonderful, enhanced by the fact that it was cold and rainy outside, perfect sleeping weather for me.
Monday night 8 of us went to a Japanese restaurant in the neighborhood, Yaki Tori, which specializes in what I call for lack of a better name, Japanese Tapas....little plates of lots of stuff, especially chicken. Most of the food comes out on little wooden skewers as you discover you are eating chicken heats, and liver and gizzards, etc. When asking what we are eating Taka just tells everyone to "Shut up and eat!" There are also wonderful fried baby octopus...tastes like calamari and a minced chicken breast that you dip in a quail egg that you have stirred in a little bowl they brought for you. Wonderful salads and special rice are all part of the fare. We also drank this Japanese vodka which is mixed with grapefruit juice that you squeeze at your plate on an individual juicer. Very fresh and tasty.
We were celebrating Israel's birthday (which was actually the next day, Tuesday). What a wonderful time to celebrate your birthday with a successful movie at a major film festival. Very proud of him and friend and co-producer, Tony.
I went to be right after dinner....To return to Dallas and work on Tuesday meant getting up at 4 and catching a 6 o'clock flight. All in all the New York trip was a nice break from a hectic time at work and reaching my 100th mile was a milestone I was glad I could accomplish there. Life is Good!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Day 54 Tribecca Party Nights and Big Burgers are the Best!
Saturday, April 24th, Day 54 of challenge Ran 3 miles/ Total so far: 96 miles/ Miles to go: 904
Did not win lottery or weekly grand. Gambling investment so far 21 dollars/ winnings 8, down 13 dollars.
Thursday was another marathon day at work. I had lunch with three Japanese judges. One is a visiting scholar. The other two are here for a few days observing the US jury system. Japan has recently introduced jury trials in some criminal matters. They are sent by the Japanese Supreme Court. We have law school alumni on the court and a long tradition of hosting visiting Japanese scholars and judges.
I have been studying Japanese by listening to tapes and wanted to impress them a little but that morning I could not remember a special expression used only the first time you meet someone which roughly means "Hello and pleased to meet you." I looked at my booklet of 30 some odd tapes and tried to remember which CD had introduced that expression. I use the Pimsleur system. It is very good and teaches by having you listen and repeat conversations between native speakers in 30 minute increments, but there is no booklet or index telling you what is covered in each CD. I was running late and knew I only had one chance to pick a CD that I would listen to in the car. I used my psychic powers to try to discern which to pick. Number 21 was calling my name so I grabbed it and popped it into the CD player and off I drove. Amazingly, the first question on the CD was "How do you greet someone for the first time?" By the time I arrived at school I had practiced my phrase and was able to duly use it when I greet them. I am sure I was more impressed by myself than they were. But I did decide that maybe I needed to try more psychic power before buying my Weekly Grand...etc.
The afternoon found me hosting a delegation from the Cultural Mission of Saudi Arabia who were visiting to discuss programs at the University for their students. It gave me a chance to use my Arabic language skills which, though rusty (I learned Arabic when I was in Kuwait years ago...more in future posts) are better than my Japanese. They seems more impressed and happy to hear me greet them in their own language. We have many Saudi students and and I am an academic advisor to them. The visitors gave me a plaque and a shirt and some other gifts and told me that the students told them how much they appreciated my help. The feelings of camaraderie are mutual. I had to explain also that I was sorry I would miss the dinner and celebration they were having that night. I had a student leaders meeting at 5 and also had to teach my class that night, which was followed a meeting with two transfer students who had not taken my exam last fall and wanted to review it before this semester's exam. I did not get home until around 10 and fell into bed No running Thursday :(
Friday after a brief stint in the office I drove to DFW Airport where I was lucky enough to catch an earlier plane. I arrived and shared a cab from the airport with friend Lars who had also gotten on standby. We stopped at the apartment, dropped off suitcases and pick up daughter, Leigh, continuing on to dinner that night with my good friends, Israel, and Tony and the cast of their movie, Ticked Off Trannies with Knives which was showing that night at midnight at their Red Carpet premier for the Tribecca Film Festival. Taka had arranged the dinner at a wonderful restaurant called, La National. It is the oldest Spanish Tapas restaurant in Manhattan and the food was scrumptious, especially the black ink seafood paella. From the restaurant we went to a club for the pre-party then to the movie. I skipped the post party as the movie was not over until after 2:00 a.m. Great day but once again not running.
Saturday was a beautiful day of perfect weather. I got my hair cut from my favorite Russian barber shop two blocks from our apartment. I love the place. It is a little hole in the wall where an old Russian immigrant and his wife and 21 year old son all cut hair. They always greet me warmly and ask about Texas. The haircuts cost 11 dollars and I give a 4 dollar tip which I know they appreciate. The conversation can meander about life in the US and life in Communist Russian where the older man used to live. His son mostly is interested in sports and the night life in Dallas. I remember one time around the first of the year the son was cutting my hair and his father was making a fresh salad with cucumbers and onions and tomatoes. It smelled so good. When he finished my haircut, the son told me that his father wanted to see me "in the back" which was behind a curtain. I was not sure what was back there and for a moment wondered if this barber shop was a front for the Russian Mob and I was going to disappear...I know, irrational but I guess I have seen too many movies. When I pulled the curtain back, the old man offered me a plate of salad and give me a shot of vodka. "Celebrate Russian new year with me!" he commanded. We downed our shots and I ate the delicious salad and I felt special...like I have been included in the family. Today there was no salad or vodka, but I was still glad I had waited until this trip to New York to get my hair cut.
After the barber shop, I took Leigh to Nana's, the Korean nail salon a few doors down from our apartment. Nana and her crew love us and make a big deal out of each visit. I only wanted a manicure but I knew Leigh would appreciate the luxury of a manicure/pedicure and she did. Nana was so excited. "You bring beautiful daughter!" she exclaimed, then promptly asked Leigh if she was married yet. Leigh laughed....and explained that she was not. Nana proclaimed that she should not worry and that surely soon she would be. I am sure Leigh had not thought to worry at age 22.
The post Nana's day found Leigh and Taka and I running along the Hudson River. Taka runs much faster than we do and had to slow down and loop back, urging us to run faster, which urgings we ignored. After the run we stopped at an outdoor restaurant called the Piers or something like that. We ordered a bucket of 6 Carona beers accompanied by three of the largest cheese hamburgers I have ever seen, surrounded by mountains of seasoned fries. We basked in the sun with our beer and burgers. Since I had run 3 miles I felt no guilt as I pushed the last fry into my mouth.
After an afternoon nap, Leigh and I went to Mont Blount, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants where Maria, the proprietress and Patricio the Argentinian waiter made sure we felt at home with our crab cakes and mussels and hard crusty bread. The pear and watermelon martinis were the perfect complement to our food.
I skipped another late night Tribecca Festival party and choose instead to go to bed after dinner. I slept well. Life is good!
Did not win lottery or weekly grand. Gambling investment so far 21 dollars/ winnings 8, down 13 dollars.
Thursday was another marathon day at work. I had lunch with three Japanese judges. One is a visiting scholar. The other two are here for a few days observing the US jury system. Japan has recently introduced jury trials in some criminal matters. They are sent by the Japanese Supreme Court. We have law school alumni on the court and a long tradition of hosting visiting Japanese scholars and judges.
I have been studying Japanese by listening to tapes and wanted to impress them a little but that morning I could not remember a special expression used only the first time you meet someone which roughly means "Hello and pleased to meet you." I looked at my booklet of 30 some odd tapes and tried to remember which CD had introduced that expression. I use the Pimsleur system. It is very good and teaches by having you listen and repeat conversations between native speakers in 30 minute increments, but there is no booklet or index telling you what is covered in each CD. I was running late and knew I only had one chance to pick a CD that I would listen to in the car. I used my psychic powers to try to discern which to pick. Number 21 was calling my name so I grabbed it and popped it into the CD player and off I drove. Amazingly, the first question on the CD was "How do you greet someone for the first time?" By the time I arrived at school I had practiced my phrase and was able to duly use it when I greet them. I am sure I was more impressed by myself than they were. But I did decide that maybe I needed to try more psychic power before buying my Weekly Grand...etc.
The afternoon found me hosting a delegation from the Cultural Mission of Saudi Arabia who were visiting to discuss programs at the University for their students. It gave me a chance to use my Arabic language skills which, though rusty (I learned Arabic when I was in Kuwait years ago...more in future posts) are better than my Japanese. They seems more impressed and happy to hear me greet them in their own language. We have many Saudi students and and I am an academic advisor to them. The visitors gave me a plaque and a shirt and some other gifts and told me that the students told them how much they appreciated my help. The feelings of camaraderie are mutual. I had to explain also that I was sorry I would miss the dinner and celebration they were having that night. I had a student leaders meeting at 5 and also had to teach my class that night, which was followed a meeting with two transfer students who had not taken my exam last fall and wanted to review it before this semester's exam. I did not get home until around 10 and fell into bed No running Thursday :(
Friday after a brief stint in the office I drove to DFW Airport where I was lucky enough to catch an earlier plane. I arrived and shared a cab from the airport with friend Lars who had also gotten on standby. We stopped at the apartment, dropped off suitcases and pick up daughter, Leigh, continuing on to dinner that night with my good friends, Israel, and Tony and the cast of their movie, Ticked Off Trannies with Knives which was showing that night at midnight at their Red Carpet premier for the Tribecca Film Festival. Taka had arranged the dinner at a wonderful restaurant called, La National. It is the oldest Spanish Tapas restaurant in Manhattan and the food was scrumptious, especially the black ink seafood paella. From the restaurant we went to a club for the pre-party then to the movie. I skipped the post party as the movie was not over until after 2:00 a.m. Great day but once again not running.
Saturday was a beautiful day of perfect weather. I got my hair cut from my favorite Russian barber shop two blocks from our apartment. I love the place. It is a little hole in the wall where an old Russian immigrant and his wife and 21 year old son all cut hair. They always greet me warmly and ask about Texas. The haircuts cost 11 dollars and I give a 4 dollar tip which I know they appreciate. The conversation can meander about life in the US and life in Communist Russian where the older man used to live. His son mostly is interested in sports and the night life in Dallas. I remember one time around the first of the year the son was cutting my hair and his father was making a fresh salad with cucumbers and onions and tomatoes. It smelled so good. When he finished my haircut, the son told me that his father wanted to see me "in the back" which was behind a curtain. I was not sure what was back there and for a moment wondered if this barber shop was a front for the Russian Mob and I was going to disappear...I know, irrational but I guess I have seen too many movies. When I pulled the curtain back, the old man offered me a plate of salad and give me a shot of vodka. "Celebrate Russian new year with me!" he commanded. We downed our shots and I ate the delicious salad and I felt special...like I have been included in the family. Today there was no salad or vodka, but I was still glad I had waited until this trip to New York to get my hair cut.
After the barber shop, I took Leigh to Nana's, the Korean nail salon a few doors down from our apartment. Nana and her crew love us and make a big deal out of each visit. I only wanted a manicure but I knew Leigh would appreciate the luxury of a manicure/pedicure and she did. Nana was so excited. "You bring beautiful daughter!" she exclaimed, then promptly asked Leigh if she was married yet. Leigh laughed....and explained that she was not. Nana proclaimed that she should not worry and that surely soon she would be. I am sure Leigh had not thought to worry at age 22.
The post Nana's day found Leigh and Taka and I running along the Hudson River. Taka runs much faster than we do and had to slow down and loop back, urging us to run faster, which urgings we ignored. After the run we stopped at an outdoor restaurant called the Piers or something like that. We ordered a bucket of 6 Carona beers accompanied by three of the largest cheese hamburgers I have ever seen, surrounded by mountains of seasoned fries. We basked in the sun with our beer and burgers. Since I had run 3 miles I felt no guilt as I pushed the last fry into my mouth.
After an afternoon nap, Leigh and I went to Mont Blount, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants where Maria, the proprietress and Patricio the Argentinian waiter made sure we felt at home with our crab cakes and mussels and hard crusty bread. The pear and watermelon martinis were the perfect complement to our food.
I skipped another late night Tribecca Festival party and choose instead to go to bed after dinner. I slept well. Life is good!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Day 51 As a last resort....Singing to my Class!
Day 51 Wednesday, Ran 3 miles/Total so far 93/ Miles to go 907
Did not win lottery or Weekly Grand :( Gambling investment so far 18, winnings 8 down $10.
This week has been a marathon of a week so far with work. It is the last week of classes and I have breakfast and lunch meetings every day almost and dinner meetings too before teaching three nights. As my Dad would always say in stressful times, "This too shall pass!" I know he is right, just ready for it to pass.
Tuesday started with a 7:30 breakfast at the Preston/NW Highway Taco Diner...I have decided I do not like this place. My migas were dry and almost inedible. I was meeting with the other officers of the Dallas Bar Real Estate Section where I am Treasurer this year. We were planning the rest of the year's events, etc. Normal committee work that people do who the volunteer work that most are not willing to do...like the story of the Little Red Hen....most prefer to eat the bread once it is cooked rather than grow the wheat, harvest, grind and bake.
Tuesday lunch involved taking a law school classmate of mine and now faculty member at SMU to the International Law Section of the Dallas Bar where she was giving a presentation on Australian Litigation Law. I serve on the Executive Committee of this Section since I work with so many of our international students and I had secured her as a speaker.
Tuesday at 5 was a graduation planning meeting with the law students who are graduating this May. One of the big orders of business was to vote on what percentage chance of rain in Texas' fickle weather, would be so much that we must move the ceremony from the outdoor quad of the law school which is beautifully decorated each year, to an indoor venue at Moody Coliseum. The atmosphere was festive and the anticipation that school was almost over was electric. I cannot believe how quickly this year has passed.
In between all of these meetings was a string of meetings with students with last minute requests to withdraw from a class, or get an exam accommodation, or deal with other issues. All things that I do all the time, but this week the volume increases exponentially. By the time I taught my class at 7:20 pm I was truly tired. I could tell my class was also tired. The energy level was low and a few minutes into my lecture and Socratic questioning I was not getting anywhere. The student I had called on was just not responding, refusing to admit they were not prepared and desperately trying to scan the case for the answer to my questions when most of my questions were common sense and not found in the case....requiring independent thinking.
When I could no longer stand it, I broke out in loud a Capella singing from an old country song which to which I made impromptu lyric changes:
"I know it's late"
"And I know your weary"
"And I know your plans"
"Did not include preparing for class"
"Still here we are"
"For about an hour more"
"I need some help here"
"What do you say?"
At which point either because I had woken up some of the students or probably to shut me up, another student said, "Dean Camp, I know the answer" and he was mercifully more prepared and as the laughter died down we muddled through the rest of the class.
At this point I was totally exhausted. I had taught the night before my breakfast meeting and the bed was calling. But I also knew that the rest of my week would not be any easier. I decided I would run even though I was so tired. Thanks to this goal and the blog I dragged myself to the gym and ran three miles. I am going to New York this weekend and expect to reach my first 100 mile, 1/10th of the way goal there, where this who blog/challenge started. I am behind a little but know I can catch up as the mileage increases....I appreciate all the support. Life is Good!
Did not win lottery or Weekly Grand :( Gambling investment so far 18, winnings 8 down $10.
This week has been a marathon of a week so far with work. It is the last week of classes and I have breakfast and lunch meetings every day almost and dinner meetings too before teaching three nights. As my Dad would always say in stressful times, "This too shall pass!" I know he is right, just ready for it to pass.
Tuesday started with a 7:30 breakfast at the Preston/NW Highway Taco Diner...I have decided I do not like this place. My migas were dry and almost inedible. I was meeting with the other officers of the Dallas Bar Real Estate Section where I am Treasurer this year. We were planning the rest of the year's events, etc. Normal committee work that people do who the volunteer work that most are not willing to do...like the story of the Little Red Hen....most prefer to eat the bread once it is cooked rather than grow the wheat, harvest, grind and bake.
Tuesday lunch involved taking a law school classmate of mine and now faculty member at SMU to the International Law Section of the Dallas Bar where she was giving a presentation on Australian Litigation Law. I serve on the Executive Committee of this Section since I work with so many of our international students and I had secured her as a speaker.
Tuesday at 5 was a graduation planning meeting with the law students who are graduating this May. One of the big orders of business was to vote on what percentage chance of rain in Texas' fickle weather, would be so much that we must move the ceremony from the outdoor quad of the law school which is beautifully decorated each year, to an indoor venue at Moody Coliseum. The atmosphere was festive and the anticipation that school was almost over was electric. I cannot believe how quickly this year has passed.
In between all of these meetings was a string of meetings with students with last minute requests to withdraw from a class, or get an exam accommodation, or deal with other issues. All things that I do all the time, but this week the volume increases exponentially. By the time I taught my class at 7:20 pm I was truly tired. I could tell my class was also tired. The energy level was low and a few minutes into my lecture and Socratic questioning I was not getting anywhere. The student I had called on was just not responding, refusing to admit they were not prepared and desperately trying to scan the case for the answer to my questions when most of my questions were common sense and not found in the case....requiring independent thinking.
When I could no longer stand it, I broke out in loud a Capella singing from an old country song which to which I made impromptu lyric changes:
"I know it's late"
"And I know your weary"
"And I know your plans"
"Did not include preparing for class"
"Still here we are"
"For about an hour more"
"I need some help here"
"What do you say?"
At which point either because I had woken up some of the students or probably to shut me up, another student said, "Dean Camp, I know the answer" and he was mercifully more prepared and as the laughter died down we muddled through the rest of the class.
At this point I was totally exhausted. I had taught the night before my breakfast meeting and the bed was calling. But I also knew that the rest of my week would not be any easier. I decided I would run even though I was so tired. Thanks to this goal and the blog I dragged myself to the gym and ran three miles. I am going to New York this weekend and expect to reach my first 100 mile, 1/10th of the way goal there, where this who blog/challenge started. I am behind a little but know I can catch up as the mileage increases....I appreciate all the support. Life is Good!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Day 48 "If you get into her shit you will get shit on you!"
Day 48 of Challenge Ran 5 miles/ Total so far: 90 miles/ Miles to go: 910.
Sunday was cold and rainy. I really did not mind. I know that in a few short weeks summer will slap me and Dallas with hot dry weather and I will miss the cool, wet spring we have had this year. I had planned to do a lot of work at the house, both personal and for school, but as I sat on the front porch with my coffee, Gym Rat called and asked me to meet him from brunch at Lucky's. I enjoy Sunday brunch and succumbed to the offer. I also assumed that he wanted to talk about putting in an offer on the condo, etc., things we could have discussed and finalized yesterday instead of shopping at the Gap, but I did not bring that up.
As I have written before, even though the food is not as good as it once was, there is an energy and ambiance at Lucky's that brings us back many Sundays. It is always crowded, with lines sometimes outside the door. You serve yourself coffee while you wait and usually see some friends or other regulars that you recognize who also frequent the place. This Sunday was no exception. I worked my way through the crowd to the coffee area at the bar and found it occupied by one of the more annoying species of customers...a gaggle of "pretty girls" too made up in the face for the sports outfits they were wearing. They were either oblivious of the coffee etiquette or just did not care, because after getting their coffee they kept standing there, chatting nonsense and blocking the way for everyone else who wanted coffee. Fortunately the outdoorsy type bartenderess behind the counter noticed my frustration and in a loud voice hollered out "Move on Ladies, people want coffee!" God bless real women in plaid shirts who tell it like it is!
Unfortunately the coffee was very weak and I wondered if that was another casualty of the demise of local ownership of Lucky's like the loss of fresh strawberries. When they called out our name "Oscar" I was happy to get a nice table by the window with our favorite waiter, Jim. Of course, neither Gym Rat or I have the given name, Oscar. We just use it at Lucky's. It was a mistake that David the Host once made and it stuck as a running joke. My brother Cameron, on the other hand, often gives the name Wong when waiting for a table, particularly at a Chinese restaurant, but then, you would have to know Cameron to understand this behavior.
It was past noon and I decided I wanted lunch after a week of cooking eggs and bacon at the house. I ordered grilled salmon which came with a side salad and two other "sides". I tried to pick the healthy ones, broccoli and steamed spinach. When it all arrived I knew this was another mistake. The salmon was overcooked as were the vegetables and the salad was tasteless. I ended up eating half the salmon and a few bits of the rest. I did not feel great for some reason and this was enough. Lucky's was followed by a stop a Luke's Locker, a local running store across the street from Lucky's, where Gym Rat needed to pick up some running shoes he had ordered. As he was fitted I picked up a number of race forms. I think I will try running a lot of races as part of my training and as a motivation.
After lunch, the lure of another nap called my name but I resisted and I have you and this blog to thank. I knew if I went home and napped I would not get back out and run, especially in this weather which is perfect for sleeping. So I went instead to the gym and ran five miles. I was not as fast as Friday. I tried using ear phones attached to the monitors so I could hear the tvs stationed in front of the cardio machines. I did not really like any of my choices. CNN was too depressing and golf was too boring. After just a few minutes, I pulled the earphones out and went back to my mind games of calculating how long I had to run to hit gravy and then double gravy and triple gravy, etc. I guess I need to break down and get an Ipod and join this decade's technology (or was that last decade?)
After the run, my calves were hurting some, even with stretching. I decided to go to the King Spa and reward myself with an acupressure treatment and lots of hot whirlpool and steam. In truth, it does not take much to want to reward myself with a trip there. It had been a couple of weeks since my last visit. I was lucky when I checked in that the Phillip, my favorite therapist, was available for a 90 minute treatment in about 30 minutes. I went to the sauna and steam and whirlpool and then to my massage, which Phillip refuses to let me call a massage. "It is acupressure, not massagee!" He tells me in his heavy Korean accent. "Massagee, like Swedish, it ok, but not like this....I have special training and this is acupressure...get rid of all toxins and treat all of body...not just rub up and rub down like Swedish!" And he is right, after pounding and pulling and pushing and stretching and even walking on my feet and legs with his feet, I felt like a piece of overcooked spaghetti, but it was wonderful.
After the massage, and on strict orders from Phillip, I went to the wet area again in the Men's locker room for more whirlpool and sauna. That is where I met another strange cast of characters. Usually about two thirds of the patrons of King Spa are Asian. Sunday night was no exception. In the sauna there were four older Asian men and when two younger ones entered, there was the proverbial introductions and bowing. While I did not understand the language, I gathered from the body language that one of the newcomers was the son of one of the other men.
The ritual in the wet area is to go from sauna to steam to whirlpools (three with slightly higher temperatures) showering in between and then to plunge into the cold pool and do it over again. My second trip to the steam was where I encountered the first of my memorable characters Sunday. When I entered there were three older large Caucasian men and two younger fit men in the steam room. One of the fit men, I shall call Blondie, was explaining to the older guys how they could stay in the steam for 15 minutes if they first went to the cold pool. He had that "truck driver from the country" accent. "Yeah, I looked it up and I learned all about the technique of this place" he explained. The older guys said that they did not think they could make 15 minutes. Just then, one of the spa workers, a Mexican cleaning boy, opened the steam room door and asked if Kevin was there. "Yeah, I'm Kevin." Blondie remarked. The worker continued "Some girls are outside. They said they are ready to leave and want you to come out." Kevin just sat there and the worker left. "Shit" he explained. "If my girlfriend thinks I am leaving now she is really dumb. I spent over 70 bucks for us all to come here and I will be damned if I am going to leave until I am ready to leave. She can just wait....she is probably not comfortable with being naked and all of that, this being her first time here and all, but hell, men don't give a shit. She was in a car accident and it was pretty bad but she and walk and shit...."
At this point I had to use all of my willpower not to laugh. My perverse mind was wondering so many things. First, how he had the self confidence to just do what he wanted and piss her off and not care. I have always been too nice. It was refreshing, in a weird sort of way, to see someone totally content to just do what they were going to do and let the rest of the world adjust or not. I knew that in the world of Cosmopolitan Magazine or Oprah, he would be considered a world class asshole. But there was something strangely liberating about listening to a man who was not "sensitive" in these politically correct days. And then there was the entire speculation about how we use words today when they can have so many meanings. Like shit...when he said his girlfriend could "walk and shit" what did he mean? Was he using shit as a verb or a noun? I know, gross and way too much information, but after the acupressure and steam, I was tripping. It was at least another 45 minutes and two more urgent messages from the spa worker before Blondie finally left. I wish I could have heard his encounter with his girlfriend. But I will just have to speculate.
I also saw what I have always assumed a Sumo wrestler must resemble without the little cloth. This black man opened the sauna door and promptly slipped on the wet wood floor coming withing an inch of crashing to the floor. He somehow caught himself and I was glad because I do not know what I would have done if he had fallen down and blocked the door. No way I could have moved him. He did not even stay. He was just opening the door so he could hang a large towel (his own, as they do not supply these at the spa and instead give you mountains of small ones about the size of a large dish towels). I am sure you are not supposed to use the dry sauna for a dryer. I told him to be careful and he left. Later as I was leaving I saw him again and what was definitely the most creative use of belly fat. I wish I could have recorded it for America's Funniest Home Videos. He was walking around with one of the small towels that they furnish covering his privates, but the way he attached it was amazing. He simply slid one side of the towel up under his belly fat roll and the weight of the fat hanging down against his belly held the towel in place so he could walk around and comb his hair, brush his teeth, etc. Amazing and creative.
The final character I encountered at King Spa was a Dear Abby kind of a guy sitting in the locker room area in his towel and pontificating to someone on the phone about how to handle some drama in their life. I could not help but overhear his conversation (as I am sure everyone else in the locker room could considering the volume, including the strange eastern European man speaking to another in a language I did not understand...this man having tied a towel around his head in some manner I cannot explain other than to say that there were round towel buns on both sides of his head so that he looked like a Scandinavian girl who has twisted her braids into buns on the side of her head...twilight zone) Mr Abby told his mentee "Listen, She gots lots of pressure now...you gots to let her blow or it will blow up on you man, you get it?...You can listen to her shit, but don't go trying to solve anything or get messed up in her shit or your gonna get shit all over you...you understand man?" Shit was flying everywhere it seems at King Spa tonight.
I returned home to eat the rest of my bar b cue chicken from yesterday's Kroger experience. I opened a bottle of Zinfandel left over from the Easter party to wash down the chicken and went to bed. Life is Good!
Sunday was cold and rainy. I really did not mind. I know that in a few short weeks summer will slap me and Dallas with hot dry weather and I will miss the cool, wet spring we have had this year. I had planned to do a lot of work at the house, both personal and for school, but as I sat on the front porch with my coffee, Gym Rat called and asked me to meet him from brunch at Lucky's. I enjoy Sunday brunch and succumbed to the offer. I also assumed that he wanted to talk about putting in an offer on the condo, etc., things we could have discussed and finalized yesterday instead of shopping at the Gap, but I did not bring that up.
As I have written before, even though the food is not as good as it once was, there is an energy and ambiance at Lucky's that brings us back many Sundays. It is always crowded, with lines sometimes outside the door. You serve yourself coffee while you wait and usually see some friends or other regulars that you recognize who also frequent the place. This Sunday was no exception. I worked my way through the crowd to the coffee area at the bar and found it occupied by one of the more annoying species of customers...a gaggle of "pretty girls" too made up in the face for the sports outfits they were wearing. They were either oblivious of the coffee etiquette or just did not care, because after getting their coffee they kept standing there, chatting nonsense and blocking the way for everyone else who wanted coffee. Fortunately the outdoorsy type bartenderess behind the counter noticed my frustration and in a loud voice hollered out "Move on Ladies, people want coffee!" God bless real women in plaid shirts who tell it like it is!
Unfortunately the coffee was very weak and I wondered if that was another casualty of the demise of local ownership of Lucky's like the loss of fresh strawberries. When they called out our name "Oscar" I was happy to get a nice table by the window with our favorite waiter, Jim. Of course, neither Gym Rat or I have the given name, Oscar. We just use it at Lucky's. It was a mistake that David the Host once made and it stuck as a running joke. My brother Cameron, on the other hand, often gives the name Wong when waiting for a table, particularly at a Chinese restaurant, but then, you would have to know Cameron to understand this behavior.
It was past noon and I decided I wanted lunch after a week of cooking eggs and bacon at the house. I ordered grilled salmon which came with a side salad and two other "sides". I tried to pick the healthy ones, broccoli and steamed spinach. When it all arrived I knew this was another mistake. The salmon was overcooked as were the vegetables and the salad was tasteless. I ended up eating half the salmon and a few bits of the rest. I did not feel great for some reason and this was enough. Lucky's was followed by a stop a Luke's Locker, a local running store across the street from Lucky's, where Gym Rat needed to pick up some running shoes he had ordered. As he was fitted I picked up a number of race forms. I think I will try running a lot of races as part of my training and as a motivation.
After lunch, the lure of another nap called my name but I resisted and I have you and this blog to thank. I knew if I went home and napped I would not get back out and run, especially in this weather which is perfect for sleeping. So I went instead to the gym and ran five miles. I was not as fast as Friday. I tried using ear phones attached to the monitors so I could hear the tvs stationed in front of the cardio machines. I did not really like any of my choices. CNN was too depressing and golf was too boring. After just a few minutes, I pulled the earphones out and went back to my mind games of calculating how long I had to run to hit gravy and then double gravy and triple gravy, etc. I guess I need to break down and get an Ipod and join this decade's technology (or was that last decade?)
After the run, my calves were hurting some, even with stretching. I decided to go to the King Spa and reward myself with an acupressure treatment and lots of hot whirlpool and steam. In truth, it does not take much to want to reward myself with a trip there. It had been a couple of weeks since my last visit. I was lucky when I checked in that the Phillip, my favorite therapist, was available for a 90 minute treatment in about 30 minutes. I went to the sauna and steam and whirlpool and then to my massage, which Phillip refuses to let me call a massage. "It is acupressure, not massagee!" He tells me in his heavy Korean accent. "Massagee, like Swedish, it ok, but not like this....I have special training and this is acupressure...get rid of all toxins and treat all of body...not just rub up and rub down like Swedish!" And he is right, after pounding and pulling and pushing and stretching and even walking on my feet and legs with his feet, I felt like a piece of overcooked spaghetti, but it was wonderful.
After the massage, and on strict orders from Phillip, I went to the wet area again in the Men's locker room for more whirlpool and sauna. That is where I met another strange cast of characters. Usually about two thirds of the patrons of King Spa are Asian. Sunday night was no exception. In the sauna there were four older Asian men and when two younger ones entered, there was the proverbial introductions and bowing. While I did not understand the language, I gathered from the body language that one of the newcomers was the son of one of the other men.
The ritual in the wet area is to go from sauna to steam to whirlpools (three with slightly higher temperatures) showering in between and then to plunge into the cold pool and do it over again. My second trip to the steam was where I encountered the first of my memorable characters Sunday. When I entered there were three older large Caucasian men and two younger fit men in the steam room. One of the fit men, I shall call Blondie, was explaining to the older guys how they could stay in the steam for 15 minutes if they first went to the cold pool. He had that "truck driver from the country" accent. "Yeah, I looked it up and I learned all about the technique of this place" he explained. The older guys said that they did not think they could make 15 minutes. Just then, one of the spa workers, a Mexican cleaning boy, opened the steam room door and asked if Kevin was there. "Yeah, I'm Kevin." Blondie remarked. The worker continued "Some girls are outside. They said they are ready to leave and want you to come out." Kevin just sat there and the worker left. "Shit" he explained. "If my girlfriend thinks I am leaving now she is really dumb. I spent over 70 bucks for us all to come here and I will be damned if I am going to leave until I am ready to leave. She can just wait....she is probably not comfortable with being naked and all of that, this being her first time here and all, but hell, men don't give a shit. She was in a car accident and it was pretty bad but she and walk and shit...."
At this point I had to use all of my willpower not to laugh. My perverse mind was wondering so many things. First, how he had the self confidence to just do what he wanted and piss her off and not care. I have always been too nice. It was refreshing, in a weird sort of way, to see someone totally content to just do what they were going to do and let the rest of the world adjust or not. I knew that in the world of Cosmopolitan Magazine or Oprah, he would be considered a world class asshole. But there was something strangely liberating about listening to a man who was not "sensitive" in these politically correct days. And then there was the entire speculation about how we use words today when they can have so many meanings. Like shit...when he said his girlfriend could "walk and shit" what did he mean? Was he using shit as a verb or a noun? I know, gross and way too much information, but after the acupressure and steam, I was tripping. It was at least another 45 minutes and two more urgent messages from the spa worker before Blondie finally left. I wish I could have heard his encounter with his girlfriend. But I will just have to speculate.
I also saw what I have always assumed a Sumo wrestler must resemble without the little cloth. This black man opened the sauna door and promptly slipped on the wet wood floor coming withing an inch of crashing to the floor. He somehow caught himself and I was glad because I do not know what I would have done if he had fallen down and blocked the door. No way I could have moved him. He did not even stay. He was just opening the door so he could hang a large towel (his own, as they do not supply these at the spa and instead give you mountains of small ones about the size of a large dish towels). I am sure you are not supposed to use the dry sauna for a dryer. I told him to be careful and he left. Later as I was leaving I saw him again and what was definitely the most creative use of belly fat. I wish I could have recorded it for America's Funniest Home Videos. He was walking around with one of the small towels that they furnish covering his privates, but the way he attached it was amazing. He simply slid one side of the towel up under his belly fat roll and the weight of the fat hanging down against his belly held the towel in place so he could walk around and comb his hair, brush his teeth, etc. Amazing and creative.
The final character I encountered at King Spa was a Dear Abby kind of a guy sitting in the locker room area in his towel and pontificating to someone on the phone about how to handle some drama in their life. I could not help but overhear his conversation (as I am sure everyone else in the locker room could considering the volume, including the strange eastern European man speaking to another in a language I did not understand...this man having tied a towel around his head in some manner I cannot explain other than to say that there were round towel buns on both sides of his head so that he looked like a Scandinavian girl who has twisted her braids into buns on the side of her head...twilight zone) Mr Abby told his mentee "Listen, She gots lots of pressure now...you gots to let her blow or it will blow up on you man, you get it?...You can listen to her shit, but don't go trying to solve anything or get messed up in her shit or your gonna get shit all over you...you understand man?" Shit was flying everywhere it seems at King Spa tonight.
I returned home to eat the rest of my bar b cue chicken from yesterday's Kroger experience. I opened a bottle of Zinfandel left over from the Easter party to wash down the chicken and went to bed. Life is Good!
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