woo-hoo

big times in surf town. the rain is pounding down so hard the building might fall down, according to our very sociable downstairs neighbor.

here's what i just wrote to a friend regarding the death my my father:

thanks for the kind notes about my dad. it's tough, though sometimes not in the ways i'd expect it to be. most of the difficulty is in the middle of dealing with the small details (closing down his business) and then being randomly hit by a chunk of grief.

ran a 5k of fartleks tonight; felt good, and feel great, despite a nagging cold. started with a new pair of running shoes to alternate with, the better for avoiding injuries.

j and i just got back from presenting at a conference in DC: lots of big times, lots of big drinking, until, after three days in a row of brewpub hopping, i had to slow down. the cold initially manifested as just beign sick and hoarse as hell after a night in brewpubs (reviews possibly to come). the conference was fine: j's poster was unquestionably the most visually attractive, and one of the most substantively interesting, around. of course, it didn't win the judging contest, since it was way out of the realm of what the boring pencildicks wanted. ditto our joint presentation.

trying to catch up on some email now. "unread" emails (i.e., re-marked as unread by me so that i'll follow up on them): 90. too many.

next week, begin move to saccaminnow. and leave things in boxes and crates, to stay prepared for the june move to SLC. i just love to move.

consumer protection...

today i got a $20 gift card and apology from the supermarket where i bought the expired medication so many months ago. (this is now on top of the return of the purchase price i received from the drug manufacturer.) yay for writing letters and following them up!

combat style photography

helped a friend tonight by driving all over the san diego coastal areas, and taking pictures of all of the various signs that welcome you into different communities. maybe i'll post some soon. maybe not.

had somewhat major dental work this morning: a tooth ground down, and a temporary crown created, with the permanent to follow in two weeks.

half marathon

i ran one today, the San Dieguito Half Marathon, in 2:07:00. while not a particularly impressive time, it was better than i expected, and the course was more difficult than i expected, too: it was FULL of hills.

more importantly, i felt good running it: with the exception of some calf pain (made much easier tonight by a lovely massage from E), i left with no physical ailments besides chafed, bleeding nipples (from the constant rubbing of my wet shirt on the skin.) you needed to know that, right?

next time i'll put band-aids on them.

feeling pretty good, otherwise. we leave for DC on wednesday at the unspeakable flight hour of 0640, which is a little bit of a joke at SAN, since flights are prevented from powering up until 0630, meaning all the first flights of the day stack up and leave late.

we're co-presenting at a conference, and J, brilliant mind that she is, is also giving a poster. hoping to see gary for bourbon, and hang out with J's family. should be fun, and it'll be nice to be done with travel for a little while.

marathon training (semi-)progress

friday 2/4: ran a 5k, fast walked another 5k
saturday 2/5: rested me weary bones
sunday 2/6: ran five miles, fast walked another mile

random notes:
friday: despite not having run in quite a while, breathing was fantastic: i think listening to music helps, so i can't hear my own breathing, and as a result don't think about it.
saturday: felt fine about not running.
sunday: got to the gym just in time to avoid the post-superbowl rush (which was wicked: within 15 minutes, nearly every treadmill filled up).
sunday: felt GREAT running despite starting out with tight quads.

Why the hell ain't you blogging, anyhoo?

well, uhhhh... 'cause i'm lazy, and busy; and tired, and my heart is sick and sad. (bonus points, payable in the form of a microbrew, for the first person to email me who can place that reference.)

so, see, it's like this: my dad died on December 19, 2004. it's been a busy, and hard, and sad time since then. and my sister in law had serious health issues, and so did one of my brothers. and i found out that i'm moving to Utah (Salt Lake City, to be more precise) in late june or early july. and i did one federal criminal trial, and acted as stand-by counsel for two more people going pro se, and helped about ten other amazingly courageous, passionate, strong, principled, beautiful people as they wound their way through the federal criminal "justice" system, and while most got three month sentences in federal prison for non violent acts of civil disobedience.

and then i flew back to san dee-egg-e, and immediately drove to sacca-minnow, and drove around looking to buy a car, and then (sadly) ended out happy but highly inconvenient carless time by purchasing a lovely little 2000 hyundai elantra station wagon with 42k miles.

and then i drove back to san dee-egg-e, and started running again, and made a wicked three-bean vegan chili, and drank a bunch of delicious beer, and prepared a presentation on public health law, which immediately after i finish, i need to start a conference presentation on implementing experiential education methodologies in teaching preventive medicine.

busy bee!