David Wilcox

“Start with the Ending” by David Wilcox is an excellent song, along with “Get it Out of the Way”. Both on the album “Live Stories and Songs.”

monday

Today I found a check from work for $160.05 in my glove compartment. I used the envelope to write down Starbucks orders.

Now I only need $118,839.95 to buy this yacht on Ebay.

Man in Space, by Billy Collins

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All you have to do is listen to the way a man

sometimes talk to his wife at a table of people

and notice how intent he is on making his point

even thought her lower lip is beginning to quiver,

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and you will know why the women in science

fiction movies who inhabit a planet of their own

are not pictured making a salad or reading a magazine

when the men from earth arrive in their rocket,

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why they are always standing in a semicircle

with their arms folded, their bare legs set apart,

their breasts protected by hard metal disks.

“cancel or allow”

marathon photos

Oh yeah! I dig the Coliseum in the background.

I’m sort of jealous of the guy in the spandex. Less wind resistance, you know.

I love my students!

Now may be a good time to mention the changes I’ve undergone at my work. In my former position I functioned as both a teacher for students and a mentor to the other teachers at my center. However, I recently got offered the chance to do pure administrative work. This position is also much closer to home! As many of you know, I used to commute about an hour to and from work every day.

All that is in the way of background for this: I will miss my students greatly. I didn’t realize how much until Friday when I had to say goodbye. They’ve been a bigger blessing to me than I think I’ve been to them. Funny how that works.

The Virtual Marathon

I fully understand that in the age of the internet things have to be immediate for them to be relevant. Yes, the marathon was a full 2 days ago. But dammit, I’m still sore, so I’m still going to write about it.

Check out this Google Earth fly thru of the route. The most notable parts are the Coliseum about halfway through and the buildings of downtown at the end.

If you want to feel like an old man, run a marathon

Details from my LA Marathon experience:

I finished in 6,742nd place, with a time of 5:03:12.
I sustained no blisters.
The volunteers handing out cups of water every mile were most encouraging.
My 60 year old uncle beat me by 5 minutes. During that interval, nearly 500 people crossed the finish line.
Fred Mogaka won the race in 2:17:14. That’s a 5:14 mile, folks!
My only coherent thought between miles 20-26 was, “I’m NEVER doing this again.”