Redemption Song (happy belated birthday, Bob)

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 14.5% body fat

Last night's shows were great. The first one was at Which Brew, where I caught a set of "Sarah's Rhythm Recipe," a bluesy rock band featuring jazz/blues singer Sarah Ayers. Stu and Cathy were there, and I'm starting to suspect that they've taken me under their wing, the project being to set me up with one of her friends... I had one beer and -- well, not escaped, exactly, because the girl was nice, but I did have to get to Bethlehem.

It was at the Funhouse that I saw "the Fellas," a group of college kids playing a sort of jam-band jazz: guitar/bass/drums, with sax and trumpet. They played all original instrumentals, all very danceable (more like dancing for Phish or the Dead, rather than say ska or the Specials), and there were a lot of cuties dancing. I met Joe down there, then after a while I saw Doug, then a little later I saw Eric and Kris come in. I also saw Cos's brother Jake & his girlfriend, Creepy Dave, and a few others, so there were actually more people there that I knew than back at WB. Anyway, the band was awesome, but I skipped the last set to get a somewhat early start on Sunday.

Today was pretty much the first group ride of the year. Joe & Cindy, Brian, Curt's son Matt, and Rob Goody left from Curt's house and did a 23 mile road ride. Joe & Matt were on fixed gear road bikes, Brian was on his old touring bike, and Cindy and I were on mountain bikes (unlike Cindy, I was riding slick tires though), but Rob was riding his full-suspension mountain bike, with studded tires -- can you say rolling resistance? Big heavy bike, thing rides like a pig on the road and with studded tires to boot, and he was at the front the whole time. Monster of the day award.

I wasn't fully up to snuff but I felt OK, rode at my own pace. It was very windy out, and it seemed that every climb ended with a "wind-swept hilltop" -- headwinds both ways, of course. With the upright MTB position, I felt like one big sail trying to push through the air, but the mountain bike came in handy when we hit ice or other winter road hazards... long story short, it was a good ride, though a bit on the hard side, then afterwards we went to Jack Creek for a quick dinner.

Pattern Recognition: I happened to see in the paper this article about a "cool hunter," someone who goes around the world looking for trendy new cool stuff to mass market. That was Cayce Pollard's job in William Gibson's Pattern Recognition, so it seemed pretty neat at first, in that postmodern hipster economy way, but it really wasn't all that cool of course, just a little more of the Great Rock And Roll Swindle... the guy was French, and I thought "where are the Situationists when you need them?" A little pie in the face could come in handy right now...

Anyway, that brought me to thinking about Bob Marley, whose birthday was Friday. Who he was, what he stood for, and fought and sang for, and how they're using him now to sell good times and time shares in Jamaica, mon. Well, after this kind of rehabilitation, maybe someday there will come true redemption. I hope so.

The Spew: keeping you up-to-date since 2003

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 14% body fat

I went swimming last night, which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was Doug and myself, as guests of Greg H at the Bethlehem YMCA. The setup there is pretty nice, not too big on weights or cardio machines that I could see, but they have several racquetball courts, hot tub & sauna, etc, and of course a pool. The water was chlorinated, but not too strongly.

I forgot how much of a workout swimming can be! We each did our own thing, swimming laps in the same lane -- a woman sharing our lane but "driving on the left side of the road" if you know what I mean, fled to the (empty) next lane over, after bumping heads with Greg... He was doing some specific workout, two double laps (ie 100 yards) hard, then a quick break before doing another two, over and over, while I did a bunch of laps in a crawl, then a "resting" double lap on my back, then a few more crawl, then a double lap of breast stroke, etc; Doug just did laps and worked on his form. Plenty of rest & BS breaks, the time flew by: we were there for an hour, finishing at 9:30. I'm sure I did more than a half mile -- 18 double laps -- but less than a mile. Greg did considerably more, Doug about the same as me. Afterward, we each went our separate ways -- I was meeting Joe G at Which Brew.

Before swimming I made that "pasta & wilted greens" dish, which was awesome but leaves you with a very strong garlic aura... the poolwater & subsequent shower burned it off, but after a while at WB I started to smell chlorine, then garlic again, so I called it an early night before I offended too many people. (Also, I've been thinking about the Superbowl, and am not too happy with some of the decisions I made -- don't ask -- so I think that'll be it for blowouts for a while.) Anyway, while I was there I had an Old Heathen Imperial Stout, and some black bean hummus (again with the garlic), and that seemed to whet my appetite because when I left I didn't go straight home, but to Taco Bell and got a shitload of all the wrong things... Damn you, Taco Bell!

Today I ran with Dawn, my trainer. I've been working with her for years, mainly weights which she's good at but it's not her thing; I think she's been waiting for me to break down and ask her for running advice for more than a year now! Anyway, she's helping me get ready for that 5k, pretty serious about it too, more than I am so I better get my act together...

In other news: soon I will be a godfather to my as-yet-unborn niece, but first my sister-in-law has to survive her pregnancy. She and my brother are the ones who got married in October; now they have a baby on the way, but apparently she's having a rough time, serious health issues, and she just went into the hospital. Her doctor was thinking of inducing labor early, say March 1, but is now talking (worst-case scenario) of possibly a C-section as soon as the baby can survive outside the womb... I talked to them last night on the phone: Amy's in a bit of pain but she seems to be holding up OK, and I joked with her to keep it in perspective: someday the baby will be thirteen and giving her lip! Anyway, that was my connection with the adult world for this week. (My next task: are conditions still OK for XC skiing, or should I do a road ride with Joe C and crew tomorrow instead?)

The view from the office (lunchtime, sucka!)

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 13% body fat

Got up and ran this morning, not so bad out that early, but when I drove to work it was getting nasty: cold rain while de-icing the car, somewhat slippery road conditions. I took 173 after I heard a traffic report of an accident on Jugtown Mountain.

Words to live by: "I'd rather have 25 degrees and snowing than 40 degrees and raining." -- Greg, in the 40 degree rain, before the Michaux race several years ago. I think he's absolutely right, and I think I'll take an invite to go swimming with Doug at Lehigh rather than ride. (On the other hand: "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices," and that college poolwater did a number on my skin & sinuses at Lafayette years ago. Ahhh, just go swimming, ya wuss.)

What A Difference A Day Makes

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 14.5% body fat

Got up this morning and ran, despite being up late last night. (Well, midnight, late for nowadays.) I felt pretty good, and took a minute off my time: ran my 15 minute route in 14 minutes. If I can get the pace up consistently, I'll add some distance to keep the time at 15 minutes, at least for a few weeks -- I eventually want to go up to 20-30 minutes at least one or two mornings a week. That's a little into the future though.

Work: eh. Interesting day, I guess, cool projects and also John Jackson's 50th birthday. He wasn't happy when he heard that people knew about it, and was even less happy when they threw the "surprise party" ... I wasn't too happy myself, after I ate a slice of that cake. I normally try to only eat fruit, like bananas etc for snacks at work, but had a corn muffin every day this week -- and now this! The horror, the horror...

I may have been the sugar rush from the icing, or yesterday's rest day, but tonight's spin class was pretty awesome. Hard & fast, but I felt good and my heart rate was up there, between 80%-90% of max for almost half the class.

Some computer "housekeeping," a little bike work (brakes, again) then it's bedtime for me. I'll probably run tomorrow morning, but biking may be out of the question: there's a possibility of significant ice on the roads. That, and the cold rain coming down, ought to keep me inside. Yesterday's ride: shoulda, woulda, coulda...

doldrums

Morning weigh-in:179#, 12.5% body fat

Bored. Going to go for a ride maybe, do some MTB-on-road, maybe the Hellertown loop. Nothing else to say.

UPDATE: No ride. Instead, I stayed up late, cleaning out and reorganizing my Mozilla bookmarks.

Superbowl of Chili: Now it Can Be Told

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 14% body fat

Listening to WLVR. Apparently the Lehigh kids are still on vacation, so their station still rocks.

The Chili Contest: yes it rocked too. We (me, Eric, Doug & Lori, Brian, and Joe & Cos) started with a hike at Merrill Creek, where we later ran into Lee Sindet, and Karen Fox & her boyfriend Brian -- we were supposed to meet them but had parked in different lots, oh well. It was a good start to the day though, and hiking was the right choice, the trails were ruined for XC and except in one or two places the snowshoes were unnecessary. About an hour and a half of walking around and playing in the snow, and we went back to the cars, changed, and headed for Easton.

We got downtown about 11:30, and there already a lot of people there on line, but we lined up inside, where we were warm and could order beers. (Not long after we got there the line went out the door -- this is a half hour after the pub opened, and at least an hour and a half before the start of the contest -- so we lucked out.) Time flew as we hung out and people-watched, and it didn't seem too long before we were inside sampling the chili.

(A quick note: the contest is among local pubs and restaurants, judged by a panel of "experts" like local reporters & firemen or such like, and the grand prize is a top-of the-line stereo system. There is also a "People's Choice" award that people like us get to vote on. The whole thing is for charity and $5 gets you in. Beer is full price, but the chili & water are free...)

This year there were a lot more contestants than last year. Personally, I think Pearly Bakers really dropped the ball or something last year: no advance work, no advertising etc, and it showed... luckily, plenty of people showed up, and despite last year's disappointment they showed up again this year... There were probably thirty contestants, maybe a few more, and they were all good, like there was nothing there (among those I could eat: some had nuts or mushrooms) that wasn't excellent, it really was hard to pick a favorite but I liked entries from Porters and the Savory Grille best. This is probably the biggest deal in Easton, with the possible exception of Heritage Day. I saw Kelly-Jo and crew from Which Brew, and the Green Cafe crowd pushing their wares, and a ton of people out there consuming...

We ate our samples, then voted and left (I forgot to mention we hooked up with Dick Saul there), to escape the crowds and to let others get a chance. We went next door to Mothers, then up the street to Porters, then the day started catching up to all of us, so we headed home. I was asleep before the kickoff...

Checking In Before The Crash

Morning weigh-in (Sunday): 180.5#, 14% body fat
Morning weigh-in (Monday): 179#, 14.5% body fat

Going to bed in about 5 minutes but thought I'd just stop here to say that the Chili Contest was a smashing success. More on this maybe tomorrow, but right now I'm freaking exhausted and need my beauty sleep.

This weekend's theme is: spicy foods!

Morning weigh-in (Saturday): 178.5#, 13.5% body fat

I just made a spicy tempeh stir-fry, crushed red peppers plus two habaneros to help the fire take effect. Note to self: wash hands repeatedly before rubbing eyes! Tasty, but hot. Last night I had a "chutney pizza" at Which Brew, where Indian food was being prepared by a couple of regulars acting as "guest chefs." That was also good but spicy, in that spicy-Indian-food way (well duh). And of course, tomorrow is the Superbowl of Chili...

Listening to the Electronica charts over at SoundClick, but soon I'll be heading down to the ol' WB for to hear Spirit Island.

Morning weigh-in (Friday): 177#, 13.5% body fat

Wake up, run, work, eat, bike, Which Brew (Doug & Lori, Eric & Kris, Brian, Joe), goodnight.

"All Right Then, We Are Two Nations"

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 178#, 14.5% body fat
Morning weigh-in (Thursday):179#, 14.5% body fat

I saw a reference to John Dos Passos the other day, a quote from The Big Money in this article about the DeCSS Haiku (the author un-anonymized himself), and have been thinking about him ever since. Funny, I recognized the quote; I have that page bookmarked with photos I took from a power plant, of coal barges on the Monongahela River. Couple of my friends got long diatribes about the structure of the USA trilogy, characters, themes, literary techniques, won't repeat it here -- you're welcome!

But here's some quotes from the stream of consciousness chapter "The Camera Eye (51)." It starts like this:

at the head of the valley in the dark of the hills on the broken floor of a lurchedover cabin a man halfsits halflies propped up by an old woman two wrinkled girls that might be young chunks of coal flare in the hearth flicker in his face white and sagging as dough blacken the cavedin mouth the taut throat the belly swelled enormous with the wound he got working on the minetipple

and ends thus:

the law stares across the desk out of angry eyes his face reddens in splotches like a gobbler's neck with the strut of the power of submachineguns sawedoffshotguns teargas and vomitgas the power that can feed you or leave you to starve
sits easy at his desk his back is covered he feels strong behind him he feels the proscecutingattorney the judge an owner himself the political boss the minesuperintendent the board of directors the president of the utility the manipulator of the holdingcompany
he lifts his hand towards the telephone
the deputies crowd in the door
we have only words against

...the next chapter is called "Power Superpower;" it's a satirical biography of Edison's assistant Samuel Insull.

A New Toy

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 14% body fat

Cold again this morning, but the running is coming along -- tomorrow will be tougher, we'll see how 6"-10" of snow affects things.

My new toy: I got a 21" monitor today for $25, and the deal included an Intergraph computer, keyboard, and power strip, all (supposedly) in good working order. No OS/applications, HD is supposed to be wiped clean. If it snows hard enough tonight to keep me home tomorrow I'll look at it then; I've been surfing since I got home and there's no more time tonight.

By the way, WLVR is great.

UPDATE: Note that this is a late night entry for Tuesday, rather than early Wednesday...

Pynchon, Pynchon, Pynchon

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 15.5% body fat

Looks like tomorrow will be my first real running test: it'll probably be drizzling in the morning, we'll see how things work out in those circumstances. This mornig it was snowing, but not much -- still very cold though, single digits before the sun comes up.

Pretty good day yesterday, by the way: brunch was excellent at the Green Cafe, though the place was as chilly as ever. The hike was good as well, though we got such a late start -- we being myself, Joe, Cos, and Daaaaave -- that we didn't bother to go all the way to the Pinnacle, just up "the initial" and down "the Missy," these names being what we called the first climb (of many) and the final downhill (named in honor of downhill racer Missy Giove), way back in 1995 & 1996, when the Chain Gang did hill training there on Wednesday nights. I can't believe that I still know the place as well as I do, after that many years...

Anyway, Joe had rented "Once Upon A Time in Mexico," which is a great move but the third in a trilogy. Turns out Cos has not only cable (unlike either Joe or myself), but a copy of "El Mariachi," the first one, on VCR. So, I grabbed a few of those holiday brews still lying around, plus a little hummos & pita, and they cooked a dinner, and we caught "The Simpsons," where Thomas Pynchon played himself with a paper bag over his head. Now that I've seen him, I'd know him anywhere... Then came "El Mariachi." Just as stylized as "Once Upon A Time in Mexico," though with poorer production values, and in Spanish with English subtitles. It was like watching folklore being invented, or maybe folk motifs being turned into a movie.

By the way, Joe seems to think he's in a battle for my soul, or at least my stomach. I borrowed a vegan book from him a week or two ago, he's all hyped up about my healthier eating habits, and he took great offense to a recent disparaging remark by Brian about my dieting... yesterday was vegan brunch, vegan dinner, I even brought over organic vegan snacks and organic beer... I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd had a turkey sandwich before coming over.

That was yesterday. Today was work, then spinning (this was my fourth consecutive Monday, I'm so proud), now a little pre-snowstorm shopping, and then to bed. Yo, later.

Morning weigh-in:180.0#, 15.5% body fat

Didn't got to the movie last night: Route 33, the main road north, was closed (don't know why) and alternates would have taken me too long. So, I phoned in my regrets and went to Which Brew (well duh!), to see A Pair of Armadillos (aka the Aardvarks). The original Armadillos were a good bar band that broke up a while ago, and this duo is a remnant of the original; I at least partly expected a trio, since this dude Jason, a friend of my old next door neighbor Joe McK, had been playing drums with them but I guess not. I also expected Joe G to show up at 8:00, but it turns out he fell asleep and never made it out...

Breakfast eaten, laundry and dishwasher scrubbing away, and I'm heading to Bethlehem. Meeting Joe & Cos at the Green Cafe for a little brunch, then heading up to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary for a hike.

an approaching high tide

...waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 14% body fat

Really cool Harper's, but I went out last night anyway; Joe G was alread on his way to Which Brew so I said I'd meet him there. The place was mobbed, lots & lots of cuties and me with a bulbous red nose... Hung out with Joe and "Two Brew Stu," also talked with Jackie S for a bit, couldn't catch Bill's attention, tell him we're going to Vermont. Not much chance for talking anyway, Three Monks were playing and things were loud. Their sound has really come together.

Anyway speaking of things coming together: every weekend lately has been great, been seeing a lot of great bands, work is good, ditto reading/surfing, I'm losing weight and my body feels like it's firing on all cylinders for the first time in a while (it likes sloth, but does better with something difficult to chew on), things are starting to come together... so when when and how will they all come apart again?

Going to see a movie tonight, In America up at the coffee-house-cum-movie-theater in Stroudsburg. I hope I don't crash on the way...

One more thing: I saw an ad, "Free to Good Home" for a black lab, 5 years old and rescued from an abusive situation (the new owner is moving & can't keep him). I wish I could have a dog.

Asthma Barbie Sez "Breathing ice is hard!"

Morning weigh-in: 179.0#, 13% body fat

Jeebus, it was cold this morning. Ran a little further than yesterday (which was further than the day before), took 12 minutes. A little further and I think I'll have my distance dialed in -- I want to run 15 minutes every weekday morning. Things started out OK, but after a while I thought I was going to puke from respiratory distress. Work week is over, so now I'm getting to go back out for my Friday bike ride. It's about 14 degrees and the snow is a serious nuisance, so we'll see how long I stay out there. It goes without saying that I'm going alone...

The dry air at work (& cold air everywhere) has been irritating my nose, I've been using vaseline to keep things from drying out too bad, and last night I started to get "snot burn" around my left nostril (or maybe it's frostbite, heh heh): nasty, red, swollen & painful, I think I'll be staying in tonight. Joe called, wondered what I was doing and I told him I didn't "feel pretty;" he said "just put some foundation on it." A real riot, that Joe. I could put lipstick on it, make it less red...

Anyway, the new Harper's is here, with the usual jeremiads (Medicare, "The Oil We Eat"), but also an article about Centralia -- I once read somewhere that the town will probably burn for another thousand years. Anyway, good night to stay in.

A Lively Meeting

Morning weigh-in: 179.0#, 13% body fat, obsession index approaching 105%

I guess great minds think alike -- or is it just that fools seldom differ?

At our meeting last night, most Chain Gang members opted in to a weight loss challenge we called "lose the flab for Moab," though not everyone is going to Moab this year, and you don't have to be going to join the challenge... Joe & Bob both had scales (we went with Joe's as the official one, after much debate), we paid $10 into a pot and weighed in as well as measured our heights. The formula is this: if your BMI is above 25, your target is the greater of either 95% your current weight, or the weight that gives you a BMI of 25. For those with a BMI below 25, the target weight is 97% of your current weight. (Those with a BMI below 20 were ineligible to participate.)

I'm not sure how you win though. It's either "winner take all" for the first person reaching their target, or the pot is split between all those who reach their targets by a certain date -- say, the meeting before Moab, which would be the March meeting because the trip is in the first week of April. All I really know is that Cindy now has my $10.

Things got pretty raucus as we all weighed in, checked our heights, and then made up a spreadsheet with the data and our target weights. Really, just one of several lively things at the meeting; I think the year is off to a good start.

So anyway, I got up this morning and ran, same time as yesterday but I ran a little further, which is good but I wanted to have the same pace and take longer... Took a spin class after work, then was dinner, now blogging and soon to bed. Tomorrow night I'm riding the towpath, then Three Monks are playing at Which Brew, & I want to make the most of my night out since I don't think there'll be too many more, at least until I win my money back...

a new thing, crashing through

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 14% body fat. woo-hoo!

Got up this morning at the early time, and ran. Only 10 minutes because this is an "acclimation period," and I wanted to leave room for bug fixes (note to self: wear a hat), but I was out there. Even with the early rise I managed to get to work late -- the sun glare between Exits 3 and 6 has I-78 pretty much stopped dead every morning. Another week or two and the sun will be up early enough for me to avoid this.

Anyway, once in work I see an email from the IT department, selling old computers & monitors: $25 gets you either a 17" or 19" monitor, with free computer plus maybe a keyboard (no mice) included. So I got one. I talked to a friend & he said the 'puters are old & low end (166 MHz) but the monitors are OK. Dual screen on my main computer, with backup server running maybe Slackware...

Back to work.

Another One Of Those Days

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 13.5% body fat

Yesterday, continued: Got home from work, ate a little something then went to spin class, which I had a lot of trouble getting motivated for, and which may have been a mistake (heart rate wouldn't go very high, felt tired), but it felt good to go anyway, and I really didn't push too hard, so OK whatever. Got home, decided to cook some couscous, and managed to spill an entire box of it on the floor (before you cook it, the stuff is like sand), and it got everywhere...

Today I got up late again. The "earlier rise acclimation plan" isn't really working out; I got up at 6:00, but went back to bed until 7:05. Great dreams though, between the alarm & the actual wake-up: yesterday I was in the apartment building (the narrow one with the lobby and the internal balconies) in dream-Easton, and this morning I was down by a river that looked like the Delaware, but was the Leimgruber's backyard, though it also had a Which Brew logo on one of the trees.

I don't recall thinking of the Leimgrubers in years. Lenny and Joanne, and Jennifer, and Steven. They were our next door neighbors in Englishtown until they moved, and Joanne (the mother) was my mom's best friend. She passed away from brain cancer many years ago. They were younger than my parents, and Joanne kind of treated me as a kid brother; she also gave me old back issues of Scientific American from her real kid brother... Their daughter Jennifer is exactly thirty years younger than my mom, a coincidence that was always good for a few chuckles. (Strangely enough, Brian Hahl's mom also has the same birthday as my mom.)

Anyway, off to the gym. Tomorrow is the first attempt at "early rise plus running," but otherwise it's a rest day because of the Chain Gang meeting.

UPDATE: Blew off the gym tonight.

One of those days

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 14% body fat

Gaaah, setbacks on multiple fronts!! Well, "slipping is crash's law" as Emily Dickenson sez, and I did a little backsliding yesterday: beer and cheese at the Beef Baron, then more beer at Porters (where I watched the aftermath of the Eagles game live from Philly), then up late surfing and answering emails. I also set my alarm a half hour early, so I'd get used to it (hubris: I plan to use the time to jog before work).

So, this morning: I get up at the new time, turn off the alarm, go back to sleep, get up for real at 7:15 -- 45 minutes late, 15 minutes before I have to be out the door -- so there's no time for healthy breakfast at home, and the scale tells me a sorry tale...

Well, tonight is Colette's spin class, and I can eat a healthy dinner and go to bed a little early, hope springs eternal.

Recommendo: "The Triplets of Belleville"

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 14% body fat

Saw that movie last night, I highly recommend it if it plays near you. Kind of funny, it started as a "cartoon in a cartoon," and in there were cameo appearances by Django Reinhardt (speak of the devil!) and Josephine Baker... anyway, great movie.

I went riding this morning, over at Jordan Park with Joe, Doug and Eric. We were supposed to meet at 1:00 but it got pushed up to noon. ( I was busy sleeping in when the call came -- doh!) Since it snowed all last night and through this afternoon -- wet, heavy stuff, 6" or more -- the riding was a real workout. It probably would have been frustrating if it wasn't supposed to just be stupid fun, which it was so I had a blast. Then again (and unlike Joe and Doug) my bike functioned flawlessly, no mechanicals. Afterwards I went with Joe and Doug to the Beef Baron, grilled cheese and a Stoudt's Winter Ale.

Next up: I think I'll stop in Porters while laundry is drying, see if anyone's there and if the Eagles game is on (if the game's not already over). And then to bed.