Vacation Goodness

Wow, I haven't updated this thing in forever.

I got back Friday morning from a whirlwhind 8-day tour, in which I slept in 5 different time zones. The jet lag never got too bad . . .

First stop was Chicago, to see the family. Had a wonderful visit--I packed a lot into 2 days, including some time just lounging around. I got to follow my brother to work, see a great stage production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and eat a lot of good food. I got in just after noon on Thursday, and left for Cleveland early on Saturday morning.

Once in Cleveland, we took a bus tour of the marathon course, which itself took an hour (to cover 26.2 miles). That was followed by a big lunch, some hanging out, and, in the evening, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame fundraiser for their education program. That was fun, actually--quite a range of one- and two-hit wonders, including Tom Cochrane, Dr. Hook, Ton Loc, A Taste of Honey, the lead singer of the Stylistics (whose name escapes me), Billy Squier, Mitch Ryder, and, to close, Ronnie Spector. So quite a range, from the 60s to the 90s. And Paul Shaffer was the bandleader.

Race day itself, Sunday, started early, around 4:30. We drove into Cleveland from Kent, and started the race at 7:00. I was running pretty strong, and was making really good time before the 20-mile wall. Even after that, I was making decent time. Then around mile 24, I was on the final hill, and decided I'd treat myself to a walk. Big mistake. Once I tried running again, my quads cramped up on me, no matter how much I stretched them. Strangest thing--I was well hydrated too. So, I ended up walking the last 2 miles, and running the last few steps across the finish line, grimacing in pain. I was shooting for 3:45, and finished in 4:19, 11 minutes slower than my best time--oh well. I'm still a 4-time marathoner, and there will be more races for me. I'm thinking of going back to the drawing board as far as training goes anyway--vary my routine a bit, do some work on nutrition. There's always room for improvement, and I'm far from an expert at this.

After the race, I took a LONG afternoon nap. There was some celebrating that evening, and a lot of eating. I caught a 6:00 a.m. plane to Denver, so we had pretty a much a full day in Denver when I got there. Which we spent chilling out mostly--we did see the state capitol, which the civics nerd in me always enjoys, and check out a microbrewery (yummy). Tuesday, we went to some wineries, most of which were closed, sadly. We did find one that was open, and the wine was pretty good! I'd never had a white merlot before, but it was tasty. We also checked out the Stanley Hotel, made famous by The Shining (although the classic Kubrick film used the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood). Before heading home, we walked around downtown Boulder, one of those nice liberal college towns. We need more like it!

On Wednesday, I got to see the inner workings of a coffee shop :) Then we went to see Blades of Glory, which I found pretty funny. I've done a complete 180 on Will Ferrell, thanks to Old School and "I need more cowbell." I had a wonderful time in Denver, albeit too short a visit!

I spent that night in Seattle, at the home of an old college roommate who is now a prof at UW. How the time does fly. We hadn't seen each other in 5 years, so we grabbed a couple of beers on the way home. He and his wife are expecting their first child this summer, which is exciting! I slept for a couple of hours, then caught an early flight to Anchorage.

In Anchorage, they were all out of economy rental cars, so I got stuck with a PT Cruiser. I went downtown to meet a law school classmate for coffee, then a friend for lunch. I followed that with my first eye exam in 6 years, then a new pair of expensive, stylish glasses, then an order at the Brown Jug. Quite the busy afternoon--I didn't even go load up at Costco. Then I drove out to the Mat-Su valley to stay with some good good friends. It was a great evening, and yet another short visit. If only there were more hours in the day!

So I got back to Bethel early Friday morning, feeling quite groggy. Then I got a 3-day weekend to rest up from my vacation--I even got a short run in. Let the marathon recovery begin.

Soon I'll be back to commenting on the rest of the world. Opinions? I got a million of 'em.

Yay, Oregon!

It feels good to be a former Oregonian--Gov. Kulongoski signed two bills yesterday, one which "allows same-sex couples to enter into contractual domestic partnerships with the same state benefits as married couples[,]" and another which "ban[s] discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accomodations, and creating a civil cause of action for violations of the act." Both are pretty common-sense measures that are sure to make the Jerry Falwell crowd crazy. Civil unions/domestic partnerships are a step in the right direction, but marriage equality is what we really need--there are literally hundreds of benefits that married people enjoy under federal law that are still off limits.

So, I applaud the legislature and the governor for making some progress, and let's keep leaning on our elected officials to make them do the right thing!

More VECO Fallout!

I didn't know, but am not surprised, that VECO Chairman and CEO Bill Allen, was also publisher of the defunct conservative Anchorage Times. For those of you who weren't following Alaska news in '92, the Anchorage Daily News bought the Times, making Anchorage a one-(daily)-paper town (always sad). The Times had a contract to continue on, using a half-page space on the Daily News editorial page, "The Voice of the Times." They were reliably conservative and pro-development, as a counterbalance to what they perceived as a liberal bias in the Daily News (I never saw it--heck, I'm pretty sure they endorsed Ted Stevens a few times--someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Anyway, Bill Allen plead guilty to federal bribery and corruption charges this week, and the "Voice of the Times" contract happened to be up for renewal. The Daily News decided not to renew. A more cynical version of me would make a witty remark about the embodiment of conservative values, but I'm much too gracious for that, oh yes.

It's still thinking about springtime here--39 and rainy at the moment. I made an appointment for an annual physical--it's been a couple years, and it's always nice to have a professional reaffirm that I'm feeling great. And after going to my first dental appointment since before law school (no cavities!), I'm on an appointment kick. Just try and stop me--I just might see an optometrist next!

Meh.

Tired again. But luckily going on vacation in a week, with lots of fun stops along the way!

The documentary version of Howard Zinn's autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train is really good! I haven't read the book in 5 years or so, but the film's got great footage, and it's narrated by my man Matt Damon.

While I was not blogging, 3 Alaska State Legislators (1 current, 2 former) got arrested by the FBI for selling their votes on an oil and gas tax bill last year to oil services giant VECO. Our esteemed governor called it "a sad day for Alaska," but if you ask me, that sad day was the day 3 lawmakers let themselves be bribed.

Anyway, not much to report. Running is delightfully tapering off, with race day in 11 days. Woohoo!

Stop Making Sense

Once again, Ted Rall hits the nail right on the head with this week's column. In a nutshell, instead of applauding George Tenet for speaking up now, we should be asking why he didn't do so four years ago when it could have prevented this awful, awful war. The obvious answer is careerism, while a principled resignation would've been the right thing to do. Here's a good paragraph:

Just as the Nazis wouldn't have gotten anything done without their Vichy partners, Bush and Cheney needed the technocratic expertise of opportunistic men like George Tenet--as well as the political cover provided by such shortsighted enablers as Condi Rice and Colin Powell. Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neil, Tom Ridge, Tommy Thompson, Ari Fleischer, Christie Todd Whitman--they all knew better than to accept positions with an illegitimate administration who viewed We the People as an annoying obstacle to their agenda. But they did it just the same.

I just know he'll get in trouble for using "Nazis" and "Bush and Cheney" in the same sentence.

Now they can take out your appendix by going in through the mouth and leaving no visible scar. How cool is that?