New and improved “Hand in Hand”.
So, in celebration of the end of the world, I have procured a bass guitar and some newfangled electronic drums and I spent the day re-recording my favorite song about the world breaking down.
Please enjoy. I did, it was literally a (minor) dream come true for me.
I liked to think of myself as the type of person who liked owning his media. If I thought that I might like an album enough to listen to it multiple times, then I usually bought it. Rdio.com has turned me into a renter – and a happy one at that.
I’m listening to the smashing pumpkins today and it strikes me that all their best songs are those where you feel like your sitting inside Jimmy Chamberlin’s snare. Don’t know why that’s so, but it is. That’s all I got.
I mostly have work to blame for my 10 month absence. I’ve been working a lot. To the point where I’m so out of shape that running two miles is a Herculean task. But it’s like Thom Yorke says :”you do it to yourself”. So now I begin the task of undoing it to myself… and that’s what really hurts.
The above pic is one on my home studio. I took most of yesterday to acquaint myself with the wonders of GarageBand…wow, great stuff. The fruit of my first attempt:
Not a finished product, not fantastic, but kinda cool for a couple of hours of messing around.
They are.
I only write from airport waiting areas now – it’s a shame that i don’t have a guitar with me. My flight leaves in an hour and it’s already delayed, but it’ll likely work out for the best. It’ll mean less time in Houston. Not that it’s necessarily a good thing (to have less time in Houston) – it’s kind of a hike between terminals/gates in Houston (or anywhere else) when you’re flying from Gulfport/Biloxi. There will be less waiting around though.
I leave Mississippi with a bag that weighs about 10 more pounds and a body that weighs at least half as many less – this is amazing for two reasons:
I’ve also probably run over 20 miles in the last two weeks, so maybe it all does make sense. I’ve run on roads and bay side boardwalks and hotel gyms and these two weeks that have seemed more like a paid vacation in spite of the mentally rigorous work.
In short, it’s all good and I’m very much on track to be very ready for my scheduled half-marathon in November. I feel strong and healthy and most rare of all, happy. If everything goes as planned, I should be in Texas by 10:30 and in my own apartment (and with my guitar) by 4PM. I can hardly wait, but I’ve seriously come to flat out love this part of Mississippi. It’s in the middle of a lot of cool stuff. 90 miles from New Orleans, less than that from Mobile and on average, less than a 6 hour drive from almost any interesting part of The South.
Well whatta you know, the flight is on time again. I wonder how that happens…but I’ll not complain. Also: This airport loves the hell out of A-Ha’s “Take on Me” – I’ve been here four times now and I’ve heard it every time. I would hate to work at a place that only had one CD. I’d either quit or perform harakiri in gate 3 – I can be a little dramatic some times.
Now they’re playing the Cure’s “Close to me” – that’s much better. It might be enough to keep me sane if I didn’t have an ipod with me.
I think I’ll leave you with the musical highlight of the latest run:
South Texans – especially those who live near the Rio Grande think they know humid (and they do) – the Mississippi coast just has a lot more water to work with. I ran five miles today (right neer da beach) and I don’t think that I’ve sweat that much in years. It was a good run. It was good to get out, my previous two runs this week happened inside the hotel’s exercise room (on a treadmill). Today though – the breeze off of the gulf, the remarkable sunset, and some very friendly fellow runners made it all very enjoyable.
My ipod was on random, but it played some very appropriate music by Collective Soul, Dr. Dog, Jimi Hendrix, the dexateens, nine inch nails, and lots of Wilco (that last one is rarer than you might expect) – given the current circumstances in the gulf, my advanced state of exhaustion/dehydration at the time and my new-found but deep appreciation for this area, I found the last song of my 5 mile run particularly poignant:
I’ve been busy, but I’ve not stopped running. Technically, I start a new job today – but I’ll mostly just be flying and landing through various parts of Texas and Mississippi. The hotel that I’m staying off for the next two weeks has a treadmill, so I’ll have little excuse for not running. There’s also a beach (a possibly oil-covered beach) and many roads that my nikes and I can get acquainted with.
I’m in San Antonio right now, at the airport, and I’m waiting for my flight to board. I’m enjoying the free wifi, but my audiobook will likely not download before 8:45 (darn).
Back to the running though – the runs have been good lately. I think that I’m pretty much acclimated to the summer. I’ve had a couple of 6 and 5 mile runs in sunny 90 degree (and higher) weather. Gulfport probably isn’t going to be much cooler than south Texas has been.
More later, about to board.
Musical Highlight of latest run:
Long time no post, I know. Lots going on.
I began this year by running a lot and running often – nearly 200 miles so far. Now, I’m switching gears and running less often (about 3 times per week), but I’m going to run longer distances. I’m on day two of an actual half marathon training program and everything’s working well so far. The training program should last three months, but the half marathon that I’m signed up to run doesn’t happen for another 6 months. I plan to repeat the training program (albeit a more rigorous version of the same program) for the second three month period.
So I’m only running three days out of the week – Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. I plan to rest on Sundays and use a crappy (but effective) elliptical the other three days. I’ve been using the elliptical for the last week and a half and it gives me a great workout with little to no strain on my joints. I think that it’s making my runs better, but I’m only on day two – so what the hell do I know?
musical highlight of the run:
I ran 6 miles today and it felt pretty alright. It took me about an hour and two minutes. It was a hard run because it was sunny (and then not), very humid, windy and hilly. I ran three miles out and three miles back, so it was obviously only uphill halfway – still, at several points it was an entire mile-long stretch of uphill goodness. That’s hard on the legs.
Still, I am surprisingly not hurting. My right knee sort of hurts and my feet and hamstrings (the real hamstrings) cramped up immediately after the run but all things considered, I feel great.
I actually made a playlist this time for the first time in a long time. Looked a little like this:
| You Make My Dreams | Hall & Oates |
| It’s the End of the World as We Know It | R.E.M. |
| Mysterious Ways | U2 |
| Breakin’ Up | Rilo Kiley |
| Merry Happy | Kate Nash |
| Impossible Germany | Wilco |
| Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2 | My Morning Jacket |
| Maps | Yeah Yeah Yeahs |
| Love Dog | TV On The Radio |
| Needing/Getting | OK Go |
| My Mathematical Mind | Spoon |
| Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows | The Beatles |
| All My Friends | LCD Soundsystem |
| Everlong | Foo Fighters |
| Do The Evolution | Pearl Jam |
| Sleep Now In The Fire | Rage Against The Machine |
Musical highlight of the run:
“Pain is weakness leaving the body”, said a very fit 18 year old’s t-shirt as it flew by me. The Marines know this. Nike, Gatorade, the Phoenix (as in the fire bird not the city) and even Wilco (You have to learn how to die if you want to be alive) will tell you variations of the same. I’ve come to accept this warrior wisdom because every time that I run it hurts, but it mostly only hurts in the beginning. (yes, this is an elaborate set up for all the “that’s what she said” enthusiasts)
After you get past two miles, there are really only two limits to how far you can run:
I don’t know that I have a point in discussing any of this – in fact, I’d bet that I don’t. It’s just something that I’ve been fixating on lately during my runs.
So, not to completely change the subject and transition awkwardly, but I ran five miles today and it felt pretty great. I’m still a little tipsy on endorphins. Feeling pretty good indeed.
Musical highlight of the run:
Every time I hear them play this song live I go, “Oh, well…why would you play that???” – and then a minute and thirty seven seconds in I’m like, “What an awesome song! I’m glad they played it!!!”
