recent beer reviews!
under my (other) nom de plume, Warmstorage, i review lots of beers and brewpubs on a couple of different sites. of late, i've mostly been reviewing on beeradvocate.com. a few recent reviews:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (aka The Mothership), Chico, CA (reviewed : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beerfly/user_reviews/140/
Beermann's Beerwerks, Lincoln, CA: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beerfly/user_reviews/8817
(both Sierra Nevada and Beermann's Beerwerks were visited, imbibed with, and reviewed cojointly with The Good Senator .)
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/rate_results/140/2671/latest/0/warmstorage/
Sierra Nevada Best Bitter Ale: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/rate_results/140/8169/latest/0/warmstorage/
Anchor Brewing, 1997 Our Special Ale (Christmas Ale): http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/rate_results/28/2880/latest/0/warmstorage/
Sunday, March 20, 2005
homebrew!
i'm fretting quite extensively about the IPA that S and i homebrewed on Friday (he took the day off of work to brew: there's a man who has his priorities straight!)
it was the first batch i've brewed in a long time, and the first time he's ever brewed. more worrisome to me, i've always brewed with other, more experienced brewers, who were in charge of when the inevitable existential and logistical crises developed. being the lead brewer was pretty nerveracking.
good things:
i'm fretting quite extensively about the IPA that S and i homebrewed on Friday (he took the day off of work to brew: there's a man who has his priorities straight!)
it was the first batch i've brewed in a long time, and the first time he's ever brewed. more worrisome to me, i've always brewed with other, more experienced brewers, who were in charge of when the inevitable existential and logistical crises developed. being the lead brewer was pretty nerveracking.
good things:
- we got it all brewed, without totally destroying the kitchen in the rented home he just moved in to about two weeks ago.
- it's the correct general color
- it started with a VERY vigorous fermenting action
- i have yet to be made sick by it
bad things:
- i dropped the carboy (thankfully, we spent the extra $20 for a high tech, plastic carboy!) while aerating it, spilling probably a half gallon.
- the disinterested guy that sold us the homebrew equipment didn't bother to point out that the high tech plastic carboy needed a smaller rubber cork for the airlock, so the homebrew spent its first 24 hours of existence with ziploc bag taped over it for an airlock.
- we only had a 15.1 liter pot to brew in, so we were volume limited, and i didn't add enough plain water to the fermenter, so we only have about 3.5 gallons fermenting in the 5 gallon carboy.
- the fermenting action has dropped dramatically, leading me to worry incessantly.
- S's house is FUCKING COLD, so we've had to turn on the heat to keep the fermenting temperature warm enough, which makes the front living room area of his house unbearably hot. so i closed all the vents in the house outside of the room where it's fermenting.
i'm toying with re-pitching yeast tomorrow if we don't get some fermentation action.
in other notes, The Good Senator is in town, and we spent most of yesterday brewpub touring. links to reviews to be posted soon.
back to worrying about the homebrew, and reading Papazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
annualcreditreport.com
for fun, i used the new FACT Act free credit report service last night, to see what random things have popped up on my credit reporting since i last checked it, about a year and a half ago. it's a decent service, although, bizarrely, i failed the security check questions asked by Trans-Union and Equifax, and so was only able to view my Experian report.
imagine my surprise to see a collection account for an old T-Mobile bill ($46) that i already paid off once for nuisance value. i'm on hold now with the fucking new collection company, and since i can't figure out what bank i wrote the check on (it was about two years, five addresses, and several banks ago) i guess i'm going to pay it off AGAIN for nuisance value. sure makes me mad, but it makes me even angrier to have it marring my otherwise good credit.
this time i'm going to CC the letter to the president of T-Mobile and see if I can get them to confirm that it was, in fact, paid off this time.
i know these rude, curt, terse bottom feeders are really just regular people doing their shitty, barely above minimum wage jobs (and in fucking florida, at that.) i know this. . .
but fuck, can't you just give me an address to send a check to for $46.39, so i can pay this fucking thing off? why do you need to transfer me to two different people, and then call me back? why?
for fun, i used the new FACT Act free credit report service last night, to see what random things have popped up on my credit reporting since i last checked it, about a year and a half ago. it's a decent service, although, bizarrely, i failed the security check questions asked by Trans-Union and Equifax, and so was only able to view my Experian report.
imagine my surprise to see a collection account for an old T-Mobile bill ($46) that i already paid off once for nuisance value. i'm on hold now with the fucking new collection company, and since i can't figure out what bank i wrote the check on (it was about two years, five addresses, and several banks ago) i guess i'm going to pay it off AGAIN for nuisance value. sure makes me mad, but it makes me even angrier to have it marring my otherwise good credit.
this time i'm going to CC the letter to the president of T-Mobile and see if I can get them to confirm that it was, in fact, paid off this time.
i know these rude, curt, terse bottom feeders are really just regular people doing their shitty, barely above minimum wage jobs (and in fucking florida, at that.) i know this. . .
but fuck, can't you just give me an address to send a check to for $46.39, so i can pay this fucking thing off? why do you need to transfer me to two different people, and then call me back? why?
back in saccaminnow
back now in the house that i grew up in. it's a little odd, and a little comforting. i've been running, and riding, and walking a lot (the upside of not having our car here: J is driving it up later this week from san diego.)
while there are certainly parts of san diego that i'll miss (yes, it's pleasant to go look out over the ocean), there are so many that i won't: traffic; image-obsessed, plastic people; absurd cost of living; the right wing reactionism. it was awfully nice to walk around in december and january in shorts and short sleeves, though much of san diego's supposedly "perfect" weather is, as noted by me before, just smart (and untrue) marketing.
a series of physical and gastrointestinal ailments, and two bad colds in two weeks, have left me way off of marathon training pace, and doubting whether i'll be in good shape for a may marathon. since the travel schedule only calms somewhat in the next few months, i'm likely to reschedule training and a marathon for Utah, when i can do it right. in the meantime, the likely plan is to keep exercising and stay in good shape, so that i'm not starting over when i do begin active marathon training again.
plans on the middle burners include a bike tour (with J) down the Oregon and northern California coast, seeing how many brewpubs and wineries (if not vineyards) we can hit without going very far out of our way. i just bought the brand new edition of Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall, the acknowledged bible of this bike route, which i also used when i rode from Saccaminnow to San Diego in spring 1995.
that ride was on the cheap, and totally self-supported: i was loaded down with a sleeping bag, several changes of clothes, etc. this time around, our older and creakier bodies are requesting that we do it much less on the cheap. while we're certainly not planning a true "credit card tour", we are going to stay mostly/entirely in places with roofs, and not carry pounds and pounds of food, and find a laundromat a couple of times along the way, so that we can mostly carry extra socks and underwear, and not multiple changes of clothing. i expect it to be a hell of a lot more pleasant ride, and probably every bit as scenic.
now i'm going to go strip, sand, and stain five pieces of furniture. it's nice to have a garage and driveway to work with again!
back now in the house that i grew up in. it's a little odd, and a little comforting. i've been running, and riding, and walking a lot (the upside of not having our car here: J is driving it up later this week from san diego.)
while there are certainly parts of san diego that i'll miss (yes, it's pleasant to go look out over the ocean), there are so many that i won't: traffic; image-obsessed, plastic people; absurd cost of living; the right wing reactionism. it was awfully nice to walk around in december and january in shorts and short sleeves, though much of san diego's supposedly "perfect" weather is, as noted by me before, just smart (and untrue) marketing.
a series of physical and gastrointestinal ailments, and two bad colds in two weeks, have left me way off of marathon training pace, and doubting whether i'll be in good shape for a may marathon. since the travel schedule only calms somewhat in the next few months, i'm likely to reschedule training and a marathon for Utah, when i can do it right. in the meantime, the likely plan is to keep exercising and stay in good shape, so that i'm not starting over when i do begin active marathon training again.
plans on the middle burners include a bike tour (with J) down the Oregon and northern California coast, seeing how many brewpubs and wineries (if not vineyards) we can hit without going very far out of our way. i just bought the brand new edition of Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall, the acknowledged bible of this bike route, which i also used when i rode from Saccaminnow to San Diego in spring 1995.
that ride was on the cheap, and totally self-supported: i was loaded down with a sleeping bag, several changes of clothes, etc. this time around, our older and creakier bodies are requesting that we do it much less on the cheap. while we're certainly not planning a true "credit card tour", we are going to stay mostly/entirely in places with roofs, and not carry pounds and pounds of food, and find a laundromat a couple of times along the way, so that we can mostly carry extra socks and underwear, and not multiple changes of clothing. i expect it to be a hell of a lot more pleasant ride, and probably every bit as scenic.
now i'm going to go strip, sand, and stain five pieces of furniture. it's nice to have a garage and driveway to work with again!
back in saccaminnow
back now in the house that i grew up in. it's a little odd, and a little comforting. i've been running, and riding, and walking a lot (the upside of not having our car here: J is driving it up later this week from san diego.)
while there are certainly parts of san diego that i'll miss (yes, it's pleasant to go look out over the ocean), there are so many that i won't: traffic; image-obsessed, plastic people; absurd cost of living; the right wing reactionism. it was awfully nice to walk around in december and january in shorts and short sleeves, though much of san diego's supposedly "perfect" weather is, as noted by me before, just smart (and untrue) marketing.
a series of physical and gastrointestinal ailments, and two bad colds in two weeks, have left me way off of marathon training pace, and doubting whether i'll be in good shape for a may marathon. since the travel schedule only calms somewhat in the next few months, i'm likely to reschedule training and a marathon for Utah, when i can do it right. in the meantime, the likely plan is to keep exercising and stay in good shape, so that i'm not starting over when i do begin active marathon training again.
plans on the middle burners include a bike tour (with J) down the Oregon and northern California coast, seeing how many brewpubs and wineries (if not vineyards) we can hit without going very far out of our way. i just bought the brand new edition of Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall, the acknowledged bible of this bike route, which i also used when i rode from Saccaminnow to San Diego in spring 1995.
that ride was on the cheap, and totally self-supported: i was loaded down with a sleeping bag, several changes of clothes, etc. this time around, our older and creakier bodies are requesting that we do it much less on the cheap. while we're certainly not planning a true "credit card tour", we are going to stay mostly/entirely in places with roofs, and not carry pounds and pounds of food, and find a laundromat a couple of times along the way, so that we can mostly carry extra socks and underwear, and not multiple changes of clothing. i expect it to be a hell of a lot more pleasant ride, and probably every bit as scenic.
now i'm going to go strip, sand, and stain five pieces of furniture. it's nice to have a garage and driveway to work with again!
back now in the house that i grew up in. it's a little odd, and a little comforting. i've been running, and riding, and walking a lot (the upside of not having our car here: J is driving it up later this week from san diego.)
while there are certainly parts of san diego that i'll miss (yes, it's pleasant to go look out over the ocean), there are so many that i won't: traffic; image-obsessed, plastic people; absurd cost of living; the right wing reactionism. it was awfully nice to walk around in december and january in shorts and short sleeves, though much of san diego's supposedly "perfect" weather is, as noted by me before, just smart (and untrue) marketing.
a series of physical and gastrointestinal ailments, and two bad colds in two weeks, have left me way off of marathon training pace, and doubting whether i'll be in good shape for a may marathon. since the travel schedule only calms somewhat in the next few months, i'm likely to reschedule training and a marathon for Utah, when i can do it right. in the meantime, the likely plan is to keep exercising and stay in good shape, so that i'm not starting over when i do begin active marathon training again.
plans on the middle burners include a bike tour (with J) down the Oregon and northern California coast, seeing how many brewpubs and wineries (if not vineyards) we can hit without going very far out of our way. i just bought the brand new edition of Bicycling the Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall, the acknowledged bible of this bike route, which i also used when i rode from Saccaminnow to San Diego in spring 1995.
that ride was on the cheap, and totally self-supported: i was loaded down with a sleeping bag, several changes of clothes, etc. this time around, our older and creakier bodies are requesting that we do it much less on the cheap. while we're certainly not planning a true "credit card tour", we are going to stay mostly/entirely in places with roofs, and not carry pounds and pounds of food, and find a laundromat a couple of times along the way, so that we can mostly carry extra socks and underwear, and not multiple changes of clothing. i expect it to be a hell of a lot more pleasant ride, and probably every bit as scenic.
now i'm going to go strip, sand, and stain five pieces of furniture. it's nice to have a garage and driveway to work with again!
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
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:
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.
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.
Monday, February 14, 2005
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.
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.
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.
Monday, February 07, 2005
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.
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!
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!
Monday, January 10, 2005
marathon training (non) progress
i haven't been able to run or jog or even turn my head fast for about a week, since i pulled or strained a muscle in my neck pretty painfully, and i haven't been willing to risk aggravating it.
sitting on planes and in airports waiting for the idiots at SFO air traffic control to let my people go didn't help, either: after several days of basically feeling better, it felt as bad as ever when i arrived in Saccaminnow friday evening, six hours behind schedule.
moan, piss, moan.
i haven't been able to run or jog or even turn my head fast for about a week, since i pulled or strained a muscle in my neck pretty painfully, and i haven't been willing to risk aggravating it.
sitting on planes and in airports waiting for the idiots at SFO air traffic control to let my people go didn't help, either: after several days of basically feeling better, it felt as bad as ever when i arrived in Saccaminnow friday evening, six hours behind schedule.
moan, piss, moan.
i was writing this to the good senator:
ha! ha!
i LOVE it when you start out an email with:
> JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!
the reason itself was fairly uninteresting, but the lead in was a beauty.
tonight i meant to come over a couple of hours ago to the internet cafe where the free wifi regularly drops at the most critical moments and gobbles up my emails. but then the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions was on television, and so, of course, i HAD to watch it until the end.
a further complication arose when, playing a silly little free word scramble game on my laptop, i was running down the battery, and this cafe only has ONE working outlet for laptops, and only within reach of ONE table at that, so i was potentially SCREWED given that my mom's house DOESN'T HAVE POLARIZED (3 prong) outlets in most of the house. jesus christ, welcome to the late 1970's!
all is well, though, since i got the one good table, and not only that, got a free shot of decaf espresso in my decaf coffee, 'cause the really nice barista felt bad when the airpot of decaf killed at the "room for cream" stage.
oh shit. i think i need to post this whole piece of nonsense to my blog. hang on a second.
(by way of which attempt, i just noticed that blogger.com can be easily typo'd as booger.com. wonder where that resolves?) oh well: nowhere good.
ha! ha!
i LOVE it when you start out an email with:
> JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!
the reason itself was fairly uninteresting, but the lead in was a beauty.
tonight i meant to come over a couple of hours ago to the internet cafe where the free wifi regularly drops at the most critical moments and gobbles up my emails. but then the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions was on television, and so, of course, i HAD to watch it until the end.
a further complication arose when, playing a silly little free word scramble game on my laptop, i was running down the battery, and this cafe only has ONE working outlet for laptops, and only within reach of ONE table at that, so i was potentially SCREWED given that my mom's house DOESN'T HAVE POLARIZED (3 prong) outlets in most of the house. jesus christ, welcome to the late 1970's!
all is well, though, since i got the one good table, and not only that, got a free shot of decaf espresso in my decaf coffee, 'cause the really nice barista felt bad when the airpot of decaf killed at the "room for cream" stage.
oh shit. i think i need to post this whole piece of nonsense to my blog. hang on a second.
(by way of which attempt, i just noticed that blogger.com can be easily typo'd as booger.com. wonder where that resolves?) oh well: nowhere good.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
marathon!
i've long been a recreational runner, but i've wanted to run a marathon for a long time. now, people's reasons for running marathons are varied: some want to do it to prove they can, some want to lose weight, some want to punish their bodies for the real or perceived sins of their brains. i guess i fall into the "just want to do it" category. here is a good article on "The Marathon Mystique": http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/01julaug/mystique.htm
we started training today, as J has decided to train for a half marathon. (which is the longest distance i've done myself up to this point.) the target is for a may marathon, perhaps San Diego's Rock 'n Roll Marathon on June 5, 2005; or Anchorage's Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon on June 18, 2005.
if you want a good page with helpful comments about different marathons, here it is:
http://www.marathonguide.com/
and if you want a fantastic, free page with training programs for all lengths of races and all levels of runners, check out the amazingly helpful Hal Higdon .
i've long been a recreational runner, but i've wanted to run a marathon for a long time. now, people's reasons for running marathons are varied: some want to do it to prove they can, some want to lose weight, some want to punish their bodies for the real or perceived sins of their brains. i guess i fall into the "just want to do it" category. here is a good article on "The Marathon Mystique": http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/01julaug/mystique.htm
we started training today, as J has decided to train for a half marathon. (which is the longest distance i've done myself up to this point.) the target is for a may marathon, perhaps San Diego's Rock 'n Roll Marathon on June 5, 2005; or Anchorage's Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon on June 18, 2005.
if you want a good page with helpful comments about different marathons, here it is:
http://www.marathonguide.com/
and if you want a fantastic, free page with training programs for all lengths of races and all levels of runners, check out the amazingly helpful Hal Higdon .
gone, and forgotten
sadly, i had several posts in december that seem to have been eaten by the BloggerMonster. maybe i'll try to make up with sveeral posts in one day. yeah, that'll make up for my ongoing flakiness, won't it? here's a neat page linked to on that last blog i posted (Abandoned Bicycles of New York), which is at http://jschumacher.typepad.com/:
http://www.newyorkcitywalk.com/.
this guy walked every single street in manhattan. it's not (yet?) a very deeply developed web page, but it's pretty, and his effort deserves some advertising!
sadly, i had several posts in december that seem to have been eaten by the BloggerMonster. maybe i'll try to make up with sveeral posts in one day. yeah, that'll make up for my ongoing flakiness, won't it? here's a neat page linked to on that last blog i posted (Abandoned Bicycles of New York), which is at http://jschumacher.typepad.com/:
http://www.newyorkcitywalk.com/.
this guy walked every single street in manhattan. it's not (yet?) a very deeply developed web page, but it's pretty, and his effort deserves some advertising!
favorite new blog: Abandoned Bicycles of New York
what a GREAT page. great photography, pithy comments that avoid being obnoxious. check it out: http://jschumacher.typepad.com/photos/abandoned_bikes/index.html .
what a GREAT page. great photography, pithy comments that avoid being obnoxious. check it out: http://jschumacher.typepad.com/photos/abandoned_bikes/index.html .
Thursday, November 18, 2004
"we will shut them down"
at the SOAW legal collective office: very interesting operation, doing great work. their office is literally outside the front gate of Fort Benning, where the action will take place.
after so many years of knowing and hearing and reading about this event, it's super exciting to finally be here.
the flights to get to atlanta cheap were ridiculous: San Diego to LA to Las Vegas to Charlotte to Atlanta. but many frequent flyer miles were accrued, and all the flights were made. note to plane watchers: the exit rows on USAir 737-400s are great: regular tray tables on the seat in front of you, so normal seat widths, and armrests that pop up!
more soon. "staffing" the empty legal collective office now.
at the SOAW legal collective office: very interesting operation, doing great work. their office is literally outside the front gate of Fort Benning, where the action will take place.
after so many years of knowing and hearing and reading about this event, it's super exciting to finally be here.
the flights to get to atlanta cheap were ridiculous: San Diego to LA to Las Vegas to Charlotte to Atlanta. but many frequent flyer miles were accrued, and all the flights were made. note to plane watchers: the exit rows on USAir 737-400s are great: regular tray tables on the seat in front of you, so normal seat widths, and armrests that pop up!
more soon. "staffing" the empty legal collective office now.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
rural border counties voting "blue"
while i still maintain that giving the republicans the color red is ironic at best, i'll use the pundit colors so as not to confuse this point: using the "purple america" maps,
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/ ,
it looks like some counties in Arizona went heavily dem (Pima, Santa Cruz, and Coconino counties), while only one went heavily rep (Graham.) Pima and Santa Cruz together comprise, physically, a majority of the total border. now, Pima's population base is heavily centered in the relatively progressive university city of Tucson, and Santa Cruz County is tiny, but don't stop here: the other Arizona Counties, again excepting Graham (rural SE Arizona) are all varying shades of purple, meaning relatively close elections returns. so how then do we get AZ going red? how skewed do the population bases have to be for Maricopa County (Phoenix) to fuck it all up like that? well, they did. which is problematic when the "blues" can't win major urban regions. (you know, as goes Manhattan, so goes New York state; as goes LA, so goes California...) i mean, what is Washington just gave up on King County?
my main interest in this is actually that rural border counties seem to have gone "blue" in otherwise red states: Imperial County, CA (even though CA is blue, it's worth noting, especially since San Diego County went red, like it usually does. i can tell you, Imperial County is no bastion of progressive activism.) then Pima and Santa Cruz counties in AZ, then Doña Ana Co. in New Mexico. now get this: in President Dumbfuck's "home" state of Texas ("home" is in quotes since hereally grew up more at Kennebunk, but who's counting/), Presidio County went blue, and then practically all of southern Texas went blue! (Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, Starr, Hidalgo, Brooks, Kenedy, and Wilacy counties, it appears.) if you're wondering why Texas still did the stupid, ignorant thing overall, it's because, of these counties, only Hidalgo has a meaningful population base.
but my main question remains: what is happening in these border regions, traditionally thought of as bastions of conservativism and pro-shrub, bible belt crackers, that is casuing them to vote dem? what can be cultivated out there besides crops and cows?
while i still maintain that giving the republicans the color red is ironic at best, i'll use the pundit colors so as not to confuse this point: using the "purple america" maps,
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/ ,
it looks like some counties in Arizona went heavily dem (Pima, Santa Cruz, and Coconino counties), while only one went heavily rep (Graham.) Pima and Santa Cruz together comprise, physically, a majority of the total border. now, Pima's population base is heavily centered in the relatively progressive university city of Tucson, and Santa Cruz County is tiny, but don't stop here: the other Arizona Counties, again excepting Graham (rural SE Arizona) are all varying shades of purple, meaning relatively close elections returns. so how then do we get AZ going red? how skewed do the population bases have to be for Maricopa County (Phoenix) to fuck it all up like that? well, they did. which is problematic when the "blues" can't win major urban regions. (you know, as goes Manhattan, so goes New York state; as goes LA, so goes California...) i mean, what is Washington just gave up on King County?
my main interest in this is actually that rural border counties seem to have gone "blue" in otherwise red states: Imperial County, CA (even though CA is blue, it's worth noting, especially since San Diego County went red, like it usually does. i can tell you, Imperial County is no bastion of progressive activism.) then Pima and Santa Cruz counties in AZ, then Doña Ana Co. in New Mexico. now get this: in President Dumbfuck's "home" state of Texas ("home" is in quotes since hereally grew up more at Kennebunk, but who's counting/), Presidio County went blue, and then practically all of southern Texas went blue! (Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, Starr, Hidalgo, Brooks, Kenedy, and Wilacy counties, it appears.) if you're wondering why Texas still did the stupid, ignorant thing overall, it's because, of these counties, only Hidalgo has a meaningful population base.
but my main question remains: what is happening in these border regions, traditionally thought of as bastions of conservativism and pro-shrub, bible belt crackers, that is casuing them to vote dem? what can be cultivated out there besides crops and cows?
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