December 9, 2009 – 10:16 pm
I just finished Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall, and I’m really impressed–not necessarily with his writing. His writing is middle-of-the-road, but his passion and enthusiasm for the sport of ultra running carry this book. In some sense, Born to Run is about the famed Tarahumara, a race of super athletes who live in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. In another sense, it’s a history of ultra running and McDougall’s love affair with it. It’s a compelling read. I think if you’ve ever wondered why people who are running continue to run even when they look miserable, you might find this book worth reading. If you’ve ever wondered why doctors keep telling us running is bad for us when we’re the only simians with achilles tendons, you might find this book worth reading. If you want to learn how you might simultaneously avoid heart disease, arthritis, cancer, hypertension and diabetes while hunting a deer with just a knife and a pair of sandals–well, you might find this book worth reading.
The anthropological and physiological charges this man makes are bold. His story telling is superb.
I am suddenly impelled to pursue running as a new part of my life. It just makes sense.
November 23, 2009 – 5:11 pm
I made the 2010 STi calendar put out by the premier Subaru Impreza STi club in the world.
I be the December!
November 23, 2009 – 3:57 pm
I’m just now getting around to publishing some photos Evelina and I took when we visited the U of M Arboretum last October. It was an incredible experience. I wish I could have had more time to solicit portraits from people, like this couple, and their triplets decked out in matching fall colors. Hence, the name of the gallery: Fall Colors of 2009. Original, I know.
November 19, 2009 – 11:11 am
I received my springs yesterday. It’s a very mild 1″ drop in the ride height of the car. Slamming a car in Minnesota is like turning it into a personal snow plow. You won’t keep your front fender for long. So I went with a stiffer, less dramatic set of springs from EPIC Engineering. By this time on Saturday, I’ll have officially made my first suspension modification to a car, ever. It’s a little exciting.
I was just watching the Darjeeling Limited and this song comes to mind:
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November 18, 2009 – 12:34 pm
Dear media,
You’ve been hounding me with questions of whether or not I love or hate a certain someone. It should be obvious to most by now that you’re infatuated with this woman. I’m just asking you politely to make her go away. I don’t care what she’s doing–or writing, rather. I’ve no desire–absolutely none–to know this woman better. She’s a nobody; she’s a nothing; she’s less to me than any other piece of trailer trash. That’s what she is, really, but she wore a bathing suit and did the weather and shot a moose and weaseled her way into a governorship using vague references to some kind of Christian doctrine, so I guess she’s qualified (in your estimation) to point America’s moral compass. I guess.
Your reference to her as an inextricable part of our culture is self-fulfilling. No one would know or care about her if you hadn’t dressed her up in her Jackie Onassis costumes and paraded her around as the next best thing to a hockey mom slicing bread for her pregnant teenage daughter. Anyway. If you’d be so kind as to pull that soapbox you lent her out from under her, I’d appreciate it. Just take this story and put it back in the bottle where you found it and throw it as far out to sea as possible.
Love,
Jonathan
November 13, 2009 – 12:54 pm
I’ve been on a serious Ingrid kick today. I stumbled across this song today. It was written for me.
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November 11, 2009 – 8:23 pm
This time of year gets me anxious, anxious to get away, to drive away, to stay home, to cuddle-up next to a warm fire, and to be loved and to be free. I find my mind wandering, constantly. Consistently. For whatever reason. Any little old thought seems to send my mind to the moon.
I’ve got books. I should read them. But I’ve learned to hate reading, unless it’s something online and present-tense. I know I should break myself of this habit, but I’m being goaded by a palpable (my new favorite word) desire to experience something visceral. Viscera is at the top of my priority list right now. I work out 2 hours a day. I drive my car very fast. I eat spicy food almost exclusively, now. I listen to music that stirs me, loudly.
And I worry that I’m not being the best person I can be.
This song has captured my attention as of late:
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October 29, 2009 – 2:05 am
Nils installed track lighting and Domo installed Windows 7 on my laptop. My favorite part was when Nils blinded himself in the process of installing the halogen lamps. A brilliant end to a very long day for both of us–well, longer for Nils because he has to answer to The Man. What a ponce.
In case you didn’t know, we got a Domo. He’s cute, terrifying, and exceptionally useful. Charlotte hates him. I can only imagine it’s because he is her antithesis; she may be cute, but that’s her only positive attribute. It was Domo’s kind, after all, who began The Great Kitten Purge of the early 21st Century, a response, of course, to the wanton masturbation encouraged by the Left and made a compulsory experience by the Liberals and their so-called “public schools.” How God’s vengeance came to be wrought upon kittens, we may never know. But we know now the dangers of Liberalism and its influence on Western society.
Let us hope Domo’s presence in our home brings us more luck and no dead kittens. And since many of you do not believe that Domo exists, I’ve posted pictures as proof to my claims.
As you can see, the first image proves that God does exist (in our dining room), the second image proves that God is funny, and the third and fourth images prove that Domo exists. Goodnight.
October 17, 2009 – 9:32 am
I’m feeling sentimental this morning. It’s a once-in-a-blue-moon type of feeling for me. And here’s a song to go with that feeling, and a photo gallery to go with that song:
Rememberments 2009
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October 15, 2009 – 11:47 am
Apple just took our ability to make ringtones away. No more free ringtones. You have to buy them now. One more way to get that last dollar out of your torn and weathered wallet. They just hammered the last nail in the coffin of a lingering idea that I might buy a Mac laptop. They can kiss that thought goodbye. I’m so close to trading my iPhone in for a Blackberry. No Google Voice, no DIY ringtones, shitty GPS support. What else isn’t Apple going to let us do with our phones? That seems to be the question on iPhone users’ minds these days.
