Morning weigh-in: 185.5#, 9% BF
WEnt to the gym last night, then to the Which Brew "re-gifting party." I ended up with a bottle of wine, which I'll be bringing to Fred & Lara's party tomorrow night. Early night despite everything, but I skipped running this morning -- I was too tired, figure I needed the sleep...
Hitting the towpath tonight, then tomorrow is a busy day.
Morning weigh-in: 184.5#, I forget the BF
Last night didn't work out quite as planned: I rode the towpath with Doug & Eric, but we didn't actually finish (late start, slow pace) until almost 11:00, then went out to get some food, ended up at Shruty's after exhausting all other possibilities -- I didn't get home until almost 1:00 AM. Needless to say, I didn't bother getting up early to run this morning. Chili, cheesesteak, two pints o' Guiness and skip the exercise...
By the way, new photos at Flickr.
Morning weigh-in: 184#, 10.5% BF
Still nibbling away at Against The Day, up to maybe page 85-90 or so. Just went through some stuff involving the Michelson-Morley experiment, bar-room cabals of aether-enthusiasts growing despondent, waxing philosophical, & speculating on double refraction and alternate identities/realities, as rumors of the experiment's results start seeping out of the lab... Next was stuff about a traveling photographer ("alchemist") and his young daughter, who ends up getting a job in Cripple Creek, where we run into labor agitator and dynamite junkie Webb Traverse blowing up a railroad bridge on the Fourth of July -- that's where I closed the book the other night.
"Echoes" brings to mind "resonances," as in "harkening back to the mystic chords of memory etc," but maybe the more sterile but light-oriented "reflections" will have to do... there is a lot here that I'm picking up: Speculations on the Luminiferous Aether like those on the Soniferous Aether in Gravity's Rainbow and that whole 19th-century vectors-vs-quaternions thing, the father and daughter with missing mother mirrors Zoyd and Prairie in Vineland (ditto the Traverse family thing), and now shades of The Monkey-Wrench Gang.
Anyway, it's tomorrow and I didn't finish this post, so what-EVAH...
Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 13.5% BF
I was going to say something about Pinochet's death the other day, but better writers beat me to it: here's a little something from Sadly, No!, and here's where Steve Gilliard weighs in (he got that here, also very good -- but notice the trolls in the comments). It's really too bad I don't believe in Hell, now's a time I could use it -- I wonder what Isabel Allende is thinking right now?
Anyway, yoga last night, running this morning, dinner (and breakfast) in between was the last of the GoLean Crunch (aka Crack-In-The-Box, my favorite but extremely gassy cereal) that I bought the other day.
Morning weigh-in: 185#, 10.5% BF
Tough weekend...
Friday night I went to the Long Valley Pub to meet some friends for a holiday dinner. Good place: pretty decent brewpub beers and excellent food, and much closer to where I work than I realized -- I arrived early because of that, and got to check out the bar. The people I met there for dinner were my new friends Joe and Dawn, with a number of their Piccatinny Arsenal co-workers and similar folks, all people they ride with, maybe a dozen all told. (I'd met most of them from Allamuchy this year: Chris, Lenny, Tony and Beth all raced.) Dinner was a Philly cheesesteak wrap, washed down with some of the local Porter, appetizers were some hot wings and calamari -- the only calamari I've ever liked. Conversation was good but a bit confused, I talked mostly with Beth (sitting next to me) and pick up bits and pieces of stuff from further down the table. Big group, lotsa stuff going on.
I left there about 9:00 and was home by 10:00; I was tempted to go to Which Brew for a nightcap but decided to go to bed instead.
Saturday is supposed to be my "selfish day," when I get most of my chores done, but it seems to be turning into an exercise day. I started off with an early morning yoga class, then went to the Coffee Exchange for breakfast before going to the gym.
I've been taking a lot of beginner yoga classes (naturally), but felt that the time was right to start moving up, which is where Saturday comes in: the class is listed as "mixed level," as in intermediate, "previous experience strongly recommended." The last time I took a Saturday class it seemed to be run at a higher level (and pace) than I expected, and though I felt like I was OK and not totally lost there, I was left wondering if there wasn't some level between the beginner levels and this class -- and this Saturday's class fit that bill exactly.
Anyway: yoga, coffee, gym, then I went to take those pictures of the Christopher Columbus statue. They didn't turn out as nicely as I would have liked, but I will post them anyway. Shopping, lunch at the Quadrant, then home and it was time for a nap.
I got up, went out but my Saturday night was pretty abbreviated: corned beef & cabbage dinner at Which Brew, caught one set of the band and I was home by 10:30, to finish my nap...
Sunday was another early morning, and another workout chasing Bob and friends around Allamuchy. I caravanned down with John C after meeting him for breakfast, and the ride (two rides: a "fast group" comprising me, Bob, John, Joe C, Joe G, Cindy, a Brit named Alex and Steve F, and a "slow group" of the people I saw Friday night). About four and a half hours of hard riding, cool but dry and very pleasant, and we were back at the cars. I was whooped once again. Home, another nap, and then I caught the first half of the Cowboys game while eating a steak sandwich w/ Magic Hat #9 at Porters, before going back to bed.
Morning weigh-in: 183#, 11% BF
A lot of people are piling onto this lame Christopher Hitchens article, including Amanda Marcotte and Steve Gilliard (check their comments for more goodness), so other than "what they said," all I really have to add is that here in reality, of my three funniest friends, two are women.
A Change in the Weather: Got up this morning and, though it's usually quiet at 6:00 AM, it seemed especially silent outside and my first instinct was to look out through the blinds. Snow! Not much, maybe a quarter inch accumulation, but it was enough to turn even the grass white. My run was freezing, it was ten degrees and windy out there.
Winter Harvest: This time of year has always been pretty tough around here (work), with the physical stress of the first cold weather combined with the emotional stress of the holidays; one or two of my co-workers passes away every year around this time. It's not always by surprise, in the sense of someone healthy getting hit by a bus or something, but even if the person was not in the best of health it's never really expected. This morning I came in heard that Gene C passed away last night. He was older and had once been very overweight, but he'd manage to lose quite a bit over the last year or so. Still, he had heart problems, and he'd recently had some procedure done, so maybe it was getting worse -- he was here working yesterday though. Nice guy, easy-going and very savvy, influential here and trusted by our customers. Very sad.
Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 13% BF
Worked late last night, got home & did some chores & then went for a towpath ride at about 8:45. Real easy pace on the singlespeed, got home around 10:45 and microwaved a can of black beans for dinner, then went to bed.
Got up this morning, ran, and now I'm back at work -- lunch is a turkey sub from the place up the street, the other half slated for dinner since I'll be here late again -- hitting the gym on the way home. Time flies...
If you go to this webpage about Christopher Columbus monuments, you can find this page about the statue in Easton. Picture look familiar? That's because I took it! Used with my permission of course... the guy found it on Flickr & asked me if he could use it. Of course I said yes, and will be getting him some better shots if I can. Stay tuned...
Morning weigh-in: 184.5#, 11% BF
(Comments should now be working OK...)
Did chores and went to yoga last night, then did more stuff at home, then had dinner at Which Brew -- this time I was right, they did have meatloaf, with mashed potatoes and corn. Meatloaf sandwich, actually, and while I'm not usually a big fan of meatloaf this was really good. Washed it down with a Brooklyn Chocolate Stout.
No run this morning: tonight is a towpath ride. It's gonna be cold.
I don't usually talk about much more than myself, and usually make a point to avoid politics but that's not true of all bloggers -- here's one person's fiery explanation of why she blogs. Go read it! A-and here is a little something else that's interesting, in the same vein but a little more shameful.
What child is this? I saw a review about The Road the other day, that the little boy represents a sort of Christ figure. Hmmm, I can see it...
Morning weigh-in: 184.5#, 12.5% BF
So last night I went to yoga, then came home & wrote the rant that was my last post, then went down to Which Brew for Mug Club night (where I apparently missed Brian by a few minutes), and continued my rant there...
For some reason, I thought that they had a meatloaf special, but it was just an unsubstantiated rumor so I had a cheeseburger instead, plus a Weyerbacher Winter Ale.
Got up this morning & ran; tonight is more yoga.
Morning weigh-in: 184.5#, 13% BF
First snowfall for the season this morning, a squall that blew through around 10:00 AM. No accumulation, just wind and flurries for about fifteen minutes and it's been pretty clear ever since.
Had a pretty good weekend, with one exception...
Skipped the towpath ride Friday night (that's not the exception), rain and especially lightning gave me the excuse for an unscheduled rest day. Went to Which Brew, caught Post Junction but I left early and was in bed by say 11:00.
Saturday I got up early and went to 8:00 AM "mixed level" ("some previous experience strongly recommended") yoga class, which was a quantum leap up, in pace and intensity, from the beginner classes I'd been taking. I knew what to do (for the most part -- I skipped the headstands), or could fake it by watching my neighbors, but this class was way more of a workout than any I'd done yet. It felt great, actually, and the experiment was such a success that I'll probably be incorporating this class into my Saturday routine.
After that was breakfast at the coffee shop, then the gym, where I felt I did well despite the earlier workout, then chores and a nap. I met friends for dinner at Cactus Blue (awesome time) then went to Which Brew. Awesome time there too, and Joe G showed up and we were actually having a pretty good time -- until he decided to pick a fight with another friend. Shit mist sprayed over the whole evening, nice move wacko.
Saw him the next morning at the Sunday trailwork session at Sals (he was hiking with his dog, not there to help of course) and was all like "whatever." Yeah, "whatever" back at ya, thank God I don't have to deal with him on a regular basis anymore, or be the one who has to apologize for him...
Good solid day of trail maintenance though, we got a lot done, then went for a nice ride (hard, and I was dogging it), and I went home to another nap.
Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 13.5% BF
Been easing my way into Against the Day; last night I got up to about page 46. I'm completely absorbed, but the going is slow because there's so much going on and I don't want to miss anything... I read parts that seem to be echoes of Mason & Dixon, and Vineland and Gravity's Rainbow (Wikipedia's front page had an article about The Crystal Palace the other day); other things remind me of my own dreams, especially my dream-Easton landscapes; and last night there was an appearance by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, visiting the Chicago Worlds Fair -- shades of V and "Under the Rose" as bodyguards try to prevent his murder -- and looking to "hunt" Hungarian stockyard workers. (I remember visiting Franz Ferdinand's residence at Konopiste, and seeing the thousands of deer antlers and boar tusks mounted on little plaques, like Little League trophies of appreciation, covering every wall. Live by the sword, die by the sword...) It's like he's talking directly to me.
Anyway: worked late last night, then went to the gym, where things are going really well by the way, then home & some reading before an early bedtime. Tonight will be another towpath ride on the singlespeed, then off to catch Post Junction playing at Which Brew.
Morning weigh-in: 181#, 12.5% BF
Rode last night, did the towpath on the singlespeed. I met up with Joe G and Bob R (Rob likewise ss'ing it) and Joe's dog Riley. They'd started from Sand Island, got to Riverside Park and turned around there, and I caught up with them just past the Bethlehem Boat Club. They were moving rather slowly (in fact they were stopped when I found them) because of the dog -- dogs are much faster than bikes on real singletrack, but the towpath puts them at a relative disadvantage and you have to take it easy on them. But, that's the kind of ride I was looking to do...
Like I said, when I ran into them they were stopped and giving Riley a breather, and we sat in the dark for a while, BS'ing and watching the river. While we were there a crane (or maybe a heron, one of those kind of birds) landed by the riverbank, on a downed tree trunk over the water. It was situated very dramatically, standing on one leg in silhouette against the light of the river, framed by the dark woods all around, and we stood watching until it noticed us and flew away. Pretty cool.
We took off from there, had a few more wildlife incidents (deer in the canal) and when we got to Sand Island we hung out and watched an enormous flock of crows fly around from tree to tree. Also very cool. I left them there, interacting with more deer on the way back (they were a little less shy now that the dog was gone), and hit the hay almost as soon as I got home.
This morning I got up early and ran, and tonight is the gym.
Me again. It looks like just I'll have to get used to this new ugly look for my blog...
Went to yoga last night, pleasant surprise when I saw Art there. I also saw Megan, who took the same class, but I didn't recognize her until she got right up in my face (I don't wear glasses in class). As usual, after it was over I was pretty glad I went, though I had reservations beforehand because of nose/ear/stuffiness issues.
After that I went home, changed, and went to Which Brew for dinner.
UPDATE: Fiddling with the new Blogger setup, I think I found a look I can live with for now, and now I just need to get comments up & running again and I should be golden.
Morning weigh-in: 183.5#, 13% BF
Into the beginning of Against the Day, and I'm already pretty absorbed... (I may have to re-read Vineland, maybe re-evaluate/rehabilitate its status in the Pynchon pantheon; there are rhetorical and thematic, and also character, continuities between these two which all of a sudden make Vineland look a lot better.) Anyway, a central motif in Against the Day will apparently be light: light and dark, electricity and electromagnetism, I'm liking it already.
Morning weigh-in: 185#, 9% BF
Fucking charming. I just finished reading this, and now I read this.
Meantime, I saw that "Borat" movie Saturday night. Too funny, I thought I was going to die I was laughing so hard... Hard gym workout in the morning, and I was feeling tired and still a little sick so I went home (straight to bed after the movie. Sunday I/we took advantage of the nice weather, and rode up in Tamaqua.
What to do? I got home from the Thanksgiving visit, planning to go out tonight and found my Amazon order -- it's not one, but two books, which I now realize I should never buy more than one book at a time, to avoid trying to read them together... Anyway, I'm about 35 pages into The Road and it's already broken my heart, and I'm a page into Against the Day, which is where I got the quote for this post's title.
Good Thanksgiving visit: Mom & Dad, Uncle Pat, Chris & Tara & not-so-young Christopher, and Tara's parents, a full table for the turkey dinner. A little birthday cake for Uncle Pat afterwards, and I was as stuffed as that bird... Stayed up into the wee hours & watched "Jaws" with my parents.
Today was a singlespeed ride at Huber Woods and Hartshorne Parks (near Red Bank, NJ, ie near where I grew up), where I was joined by my friends, new club members Joe and Dawn. They're from up near Allamuchy, but have been wanting to check these trails out. Happy to oblige, and it was nice to ride there with someone for a change, almost like showing the place off.
I think I will go out.
Morning weigh-in: 184.5#, 11.5% BF
Got a call the other day from my high school friend Mike B, telling that another HS friend, Steve Spodak, was in the hospital. Congestive heart failure, difficulty breathing, diabetes -- if you saw Steve or know him, you really wouldn't be surprised: he's always been pretty heavy, and sort of out of control with the food/drink issues (among many other things).
Apparently, he was hanging with yet another old friend (Bob N, who is now, amazingly, a radiologist), and Bob happened to notice the breathing & made him get it checked out, which is what landed Steve in the hospital. I talked to Mike after he visited; it sounds like Steve is kind of in denial about his health problems, since he was trying to get someone to bring him a cheeseburger from the cafeteria, or at least a Coke from the vending machine. Hmmm, sounds so familiar...
Got a Spodak on my back,
It's a Spodak attack!
Reading: Just finished rereading Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Just in time too, since I got an email from Amazon, saying they just shipped Pynchon's new (woo-hoo!) Against the Day and McCarthy's new The Road. They should both be here by the weekend.
