Brian O’Halloran at W&W
Famous for his role as Dante in “Clerks”, Brian O’Halloran will be at Wild and Woolly Wednesday from 3-4 PM to sign autographs and meet and greet.
I loved that movie when I was going through my hangover phase. Dante reminded me of Bilbo with his whiny ‘but it’s my day off!’, the way Bilbo would complain about all the bother and inconvenience with his adventure as if he were forced, like he wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Anyway, go give your loved one a snowball.
Today I swam 3,000 meters straight without warm-up or cool down with the main goal of not drowning. I forgot my swim cap, a towel and underwear (I wore my suit under my sweats to the gym) which was quite unfortunate. I think most women would say their hair has a life of its own but it’s quite illustrative under water. Those suckers become tentacles, stingers and ribbons that flow. They flow right up the nose, into the mouth, stuck in a crevice in the neck and strangle me. To make matters worse, I’m pretty sure I had a booger hanging out of my nostril for at least 1,000 meters. All I needed was for it to adhere to my hair. It’s the new infinity braid. Despite all this fuckery, I managed to eek out the 3k in a smidge over 63 minutes. Nice and easy whilst whipping one’s hair back and forth and snorting like a pig to dislodge a booger.
Quick congratulations to everyone who participated in the Running of the People (my term) a/k/a The Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and Half-Marathon. The weather was PERFECT. Overcast and cool. In what is becoming a tradition, I brought something to sip and got silly and gave tons of hugs to sweaty people. I saw 3 Elvii, several Captain America’s, Apollo Creed, a guy in a tux and an awesome unicorn. Most people I know obliterated their old records for new personal bests. Good job!
Can’t help but be jealous. I want to be out there. Baby steps first. Walking without pain for 15 minutes is my hope this week.
Said Family Friend was a speaker at a very interesting event yesterday. In Kentucky, Rosemarie Smead was ordained as a priest. Pope Benedict blanket called all women ordained would be excommunicated. But Smead, who in her past lived as a nun and obtained a doctorate degree, teaching at Indiana University psychological counseling (this is how she knows FF who is a licensed psychologist), pretty much said at 70, there’s really nothing the Catholic church can do to frighten her away. Although the organization carrying through the ceremony is not officially recognized by the Louisville Archdiocese or the Roman Catholic Church, those backing Smead say she is not leaving the church but leading Catholics into a new era.
Is this enough to get me back to church? No it isn’t. I’m the outlier of my family. Although I do have immediate family members who left the Catholic church to follow Islam and Judaism, they follow an organized faith. But if the papacy were to recognize women as church leaders, it would make me disagree with the institution one step less. Opening the door to discourse on the subject would at least make this Pope’s esteem rise in my view.
The last time I ran the Chicago Marathon, a runner in cutoff Daisy Duke-length jeans and Crocs crossed near one of my friends on the course. He inspired her with the thought “No fucking way I’m letting a fucking guy in Crocs pass me!”
Well, now these exist. I’m wondering how coincidental the blue and yellow of the Boston Marathon is featured with this promo pic but whatever. They’re still Crocs and the black socks don’t help with the dignity factor. I have a pair of knock off mock Crocs as slippers for home but they don’t go beyond the boundaries of my floors. Not sure what’s up with the heel stacking, the somewhat not quite perforations like the Nike Free soles (like it’s just molded to look like it has Nike Free features) and if rock on trails or even gravel on roads would rip this shoe. Yeah. I’d get sticks and gravel stuck in the venting holes with a shoe like this because runner, know thyself.
I don’t know any marathons that have escalators on the course so Croc doffers, you’re clear there.
Oh, well. Perhaps RW already has a shoe test on this to prove me wrong.
Yesterday, I was following the Boston site to follow Wesley Korir, last year’s winner who’s from my hometown. He came in 5th on a cool morning – he excels in the heat which, bless him, somebody’s gotta love it. Korir was just elected to Parliament to add to his long list of good deeds. This guy is changing the world.
A somewhat related note, I was following runner Josh Cox’s tweets – he was interviewed by one of my favorite Xangan peeps, Buyit. His was the first post I saw that mentioned explosions and the picture he posted looked like it plowed through spectators. The video posted later was deafening – I would’ve never thought it was a transformer. When WWDTM host Peter Sagal posted he finished in around 4 hours when the bombs went off, my co-worker and plowed through internet sites and were calling questions to each other’s offices – “How fast was xxx going to finish?” “Were there injuries?” “How many runners from Greenville?” “The charity runners, oh my God, they finish about that time” “Was that the grandstand seats?” “Thirty people lost legs – that can’t be right.”
Then I think of the generous cheering and volunteering in the right place at the very worst time. I’m heart broken for all of them.
Running is Funny put up a post he called ‘Heroes’. I really admire all the runners that try so hard and I have to admit, it’s easy to beatify the atheletes. Mike reminds us that most of the victims were people cheering and volunteering. He quotes a Jezebel story called “The People Who Watch Marathons“:
Without those people, a marathon would just be an exercise in self-abuse from a large group of crazies. But there is meaning in marathoning: the people who watch.
Running can be a lonely sport — hours on the road solo at times so early people can still be seen stumbling out of bars and hailing cabs home, declined invitations to evening activities, neglected significant others, and truly disgusting feet. In fact, unless a runner trains with a group that doesn’t annoy the living daylights out of them, the months leading up to a long race can be profoundly antisocial. But on race day, all of that disappears when, as the marathon runner embarks along a path lined with people — all kinds of people, they’re bathed in the encouragement of thousands of people who cheer for them without knowing their names.
When I can stand for longer periods of time I’ll volunteer for more charity runs and I’ll thank the race directors. When I run, I’ll thank the water people and try to hit the trash cans better. When I can race again, I’ll give more high fives and sweaty hugs. I love people and in these big races, the positive energy is invigorating, inspiring and sometimes downright humbling. One of my most favorite and lasting memories I have of a race is a Flying Pig where a girl in a wheelchair was cheering for us runners. In the rain. At 7am. She gave me the BIGGEST high five. She didn’t even have anybody she knew close to her running, her mom said she just likes to cheer. I want to run the Pig in the hopes of seeing her again and this time, I’ll ask her name. She didn’t even have to be there – that kills me! But she and people like her come out and support masochistic never say die types (says the idiot who lived no pain no gain). She’s a hero. I want to tell her that one day.
Please read the rest of Mike’s post here: http://www.runningisfunny.com/2013/04/16/heroes/
Wow, I’ve been downright terrible updating and even worse with any meaningful content (in the last, oh, 5 years). So have a musical interlude.
The first time I heard this (studio version), I gave it about 40 seconds and thought it sounded like a kid pounding on the keys too hard. Then an ex took me to see him live and I kind of went batshit crazy because it was fun as hell. It’s not as huge a reaction as the first time I saw Chico Marx with his gun shooting glissandos, but still. Fun as hell and it plays like a damned aerobic workout.
Avalon, Harry Connick Jr.
Recent Comments