Wow--it's been a whole month. I meant to update earlier, then I felt bad about not updating and went into a shame spiral of not updating even longer. Or something like that.
Vacation was awesome! The Portland Marathon was so much fun this year, and even though I didn't beat my record time, I finished in a not-too-embarrassing 4:12. More importantly, I felt better after this race than any of my previous marathons. I must be getting accustomed to it. The amazingly good night's sleep I had two nights before had to help--I usually miss out on that, and a decent night of sleep on the eve of the race has always been a lost cause for me.
The rest of the trip was awesome--I got to see so many of the important people in my life. And, of course, I hit a bunch of restaurants I like, and did a bit of shopping at REI, Powell's, and some outlets. Woohoo, consumer goods!
I came home to winter--snow covered the ground, and it hasn't gone anywhere. Coincidentally, I've been fighting a cold for the past week. I'm not done yet, but it's a lot like the boxing match in
Cool Hand Luke--I'm Paul Newman, and the cold is George Kennedy, in case you were wondering.
Nellie McKay's
new album is amazing. Funny, I was singing the praises of her last album a year ago. The girl works fast.
Isn't it interesting that the U.S. government is talking Turkey out of unilaterally attacking Iraq? I'm just saying, it's interesting. Perhaps even ironic, in the real sense rather than the Alanis Morissette sense.
Oh, and Stanford football is undefeated on the road, 2-0. Jim Harbaugh is making a believer out of me, even if we don't get a bowl berth this year.
In a tacit admission that the climate is in fact changing, the Coast Guard is building its
first base in the arctic, probably in my hometown no less. Apparently, the race is already on for shipping routes in arctic waters, or so
Harper's tells me.
I have plenty more to say, but it seems to leave my brain when I get in front of a keyboard. So more to come soon . . .
