Soooooo tired of political speechifying. It's all meaningless.

Gotta love when the presidential nominee mentions your hometown by name to talk about job loss. Nice touch, though, adopting Bush's tactic of talking about people by name to bring out larger issues (or to avoid actually talking about anything of significance).

Ok, I haven't run since Sunday, and I still cringe every time I get to stairs. Hmph. This had better change soon. Not running puts me in a very, very bad mood.

Funny how you can be so wrapped up in your own life that you forget not everyone is in the same world as you. After the keynote last night I picked up my phone to call my mom and see if she'd watched. And realized I'd missed a call from my mom. Her message: "I'm just calling to see if you watched the speech by, um, Barack Obama. I guess he's running for Senate in Illinois. I just heard something about him this morning on NPR and I watched the speech just now. I think he's going to be president someday. I hope you were watching."

I was dumbfounded that yesterday was the first she'd heard of Obama. I have no idea why I thought my mom in Ohio should have heard of a state senator in Illinois, but since I hear his name every 5 seconds I just assumed everyone else did too.

Obviously I loved the speech. I did take exception to one thing, and it was the thing a lot of people seemed to love. I am NOT "my brother's keeper," and I dislike that phraseology. Let's forget for a moment that it limits us to an exclusively Judeo-Christian worldview. In my opinion it's also a misreading of Genesis to think that even in the BIble being someone's keeper is a good thing. Remember it was Cain, who'd just murdered his brother, who asked God if he was supposed to be his brother's keeper-- a word usually meant in the Bible to mean jailer or animal herder. God didn't say, "Yes, you should be."

I think when Democrats adopt the rhetoric of borther's keeper, they are living up to the worst stereotypes of Democrats as painted by Republicans. For me, it does not follow that because I care about fellow humans I should be a jailer, guard, or even babysitter of those same humans. It should not even mean that I have a responsibility for every person in the world or the country.

I do care about other people; I do care about the environment. I would like to think I am not overly selfish. But to me the true difference between Democrats and Republicans (and mind you, I am only a Democrat because it's the lesser of two very big evils for me) is not that Democrats are compassionate and unseflish and Republicans are not. The difference is how to best serve one's own personal interests.

Le's be honest. Am I an environmentalist because I think it's the right thing to do or because I believe the natural world is sacred? Well, maybe in part. But, really, I'm an environmentalist because I get cough when I breathe in smog, because I like my air to be clear enough to see beautiful mountaintops and my water clean enough to keep me healthy. I recycle because we're running out of anywhere to put the trash.

Do I care about education because I believe it's an inalienable right? Sure. But I also believe that a more educated society is likely a less dangerous society and one I'd rather live in.

Do I like welfare? No. I'd prefer everyone could earn their own money or had families to help them get back on their feet. But I'd prefer welfare to robbery when people can't afford to eat.

Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit here. But I honestly think the best rhetoric for the Democrats is not to rely on the slippery slope of brother's keeper but instead to focus on the interconnectedness of all people in a way that demonstrates how wanting to help others is actually a selfish concern (not in those words). Let's show people how it helps them to focus on things like education and hurts them to focus on war and big business.

Just a thought.

After Granddad died Grandma started cleaning out her house in anticipation of moving to an apartment. She hasn't moved yet, but we have inherited a lot of stuff. When I someday have more than 300 square feet I will have several Hummels to display. What I have now is lots and lots of books. Two of them are very cool-- a nursery rhyme book from 1914 and Robinson Crusoe from 1915. They were gifts to Granddad's older brother from his grandmother. My brother inherited a physics books from 1898. Teaching in physics have changed just a bit since then :) But I also took two boxes of random mystery novels, some I'd read and some I hadn't. On my way out the door this morning I grabbed a book from the box and stuck it in my bag. It wasn't until I opened it on the train that I realized the book was large print. Now I love large print books. I stare at computer screens and small print books so much I go cross-eyed, and it's nice to have large print every once in a while. But reading a large print book with lots of sex scenes on a crowded train was a whole different experience.

I ran 16 miles yesterday!

I can barely walk today.

I'm going through major Tour de France withdrawal. Need Olympics now.

I was watching a rerun of Becker the other night. One of the main characters is blind. Near the end of the show they did the commercial for the sponsor of the closed captioning. It made me think. Which would be more difficult--being blind or being deaf? And by this I mean for someone who had previously had been able to see and hear.

For me, it wasn't a difficult question-- it would be far more difficult to be blind. I don't hear very well. I don't listen to much music. I don't remember things if I only hear them. I always email/write letters if I can avoid making phone calls.

But I LOVE to read. I remember facts by remembering how they looked on the page. I love numbers and stats. I figure out math problems by seeing them. And I love sightseeing and peoplewatching. Not to mention, of course, that while I may not enjoy driving, I love hiking, running, walking, biking, backpacking-- and I really enjoy doing all of those things alone, difficult if I could not see.

Not that anyone is ever given the choice, but for me, it'd be obvious. I could handle being deaf, and I often wonder if I'm losing my hearing. But being blind would be very tough for me.

I was having dinner with my mom last night at FlatTop (mmmm...), and I ran into a girl I knew in high school! High school-- which was two states away and eight years ago. Even stranger-- she and I now work at the same place :) Sometimes it's a very, very small world!

My just-keep-running strategy appears to be working. That, and wonder-drug Alleve.

Yesterday, King Lance recovered le maillot jaune AND won Stage 15 in a sprint to the finish. I want to be in that kind of shape when I'm 32. Or now. And I want to stop thinking in the foreign language that is cycling-speak.

Sweet. In reading up on the pain in my calf, I have begun to think I may have Lateral compartment syndrome. This means that my calf muscle has grown beyond the sheath that surrounds it. If it's chronic, the only real solution is surgery. Woo hoo. Or I suppose I could stop running and let the muscle atrophy. Hmph. I think I'm just gonna keep running and see what happens. After all, I have health insurance now.

Weekend recap:
Burlesque show good
Calf injury bad
Mom in town good

Aujourd'hui La Tour de France était très passionnante!

Yes, I got up early this morning to listen to a live feed of the Tour. Or at least the end of stage 13. And Lance won! At this point I think the Tour is his to win or lose, as I can't see anyone beating him. Voeckler may have retained his overall lead (by 22 seconds), but I can't see him holding on to that once they enter the Alps on Tuesday. Ivan Basso--the yummy Italian--seems to be Lance's fircest rival at the moment, but I think Basso will come in second this year. Lance will get his 6th and hand over the reins to Basso next year. That's my totally unscientific and only partially informed predicition :)

And I've decided not to challenge Sheryl Crow (or Chryssi) for Lance.

Sooooo bored at work. Want to go home and sleep and sleep and sleep.

I'm also suddenly very obsessed with the tour de france. That's great in the morning when I first get to work... I can follow the end of the day's stage live on the internet. However once I "watch" the finish and read the instant analyses there's nothing to see until the next day. Damn 7-hour time difference. Go Lance and US Postal Team!

Maybe you have to be a former grad student/ current university administrator to find this as funny as I did, but anyone who's been to college should be amused.

7 miles without the knee brace!

Sadly, that's not only the most exciting thing in my life this morning; it's also the only thing.

But tonight I walk with Eulalia, so that's something.

I forgot the best part... I ran those 3 miles without knee brace for the bad knee or band for the good knee. I haven't run braceless in months. I still won't try it on a long run, but I may be slightly better.

Oh, and I swear that I woke up to someone on xrt talking about the primacy of woo and how they dissected the meaning of woo. But I fell back to sleep, so I don't know what that meant or if maybe I was just dreaming.

I ran 3 miles! 10-minute miles and felt like hell, but hey, I did what the schedule said.

My 14-mile run yesterday became a 14-mile walk. Today I feel miserable-- nauseous and headachy. I don't think A caused B or B caused A. I'm pretty sure C (humidity) caused A and B. I hate humidity.

I just checked the weather online, and the current visibility is 800 miles. I don't know about all of you, but where I am the clouds are so dark I can barely see across the street.

What a shitty way to start a day.... As soon as my door clicked shut this morning I realized that my keys were on the other side. I guess there are some advantages to living in a big apartment building. I called the management company and got a message telling me to press 2 if this was an emergency. Once I pressed 2 I heard a list of emergency situations--including fire, flood, burst pipes, and lock out. Perhaps I'm odd, but if there were a fire, I think I would call 911 first, not my management company. Eventually, a maintenance man came and let me into my apartment. I knew I had to pay the $25 fee upfront. I didn't realize it had to be cash. Apparently it's in the lease, but I don't carry around copies of my lease and no one at the management company mentioned this before sending the maintenance man. I finally convinced him that a check written to him should be fine. He claimed in the past those kind of checks often bounced. WTF? He knows where I live! Anyway, it ended ok. I got to work on time; I now have my keys. I still don't know anyone in my building, so this won't cause me to leave a key with a neighbor or anything. I just won't ever set down my keys again! I would've gone to work and dealt with the key thing in the evening, except that my work keys-- office, desk, etc, were also on the keyring, and it would've been a hassle to be without them.

While I'm complaining, I saw a commercial for low-carb dogfood last night. Yes, dogs probably need more protein than carbs. Yes, there are overweight dogs in the world. But this whole low carb things has just gone too far. Cutting out carbs should not replace actually thinking about nutrition. Am I the only one in the world who remembers that a GRAM (not ounce, thanks Pete!) of protein and a gram of carbohydrate (simple OR complex) have exactly the same number of calories--4. Am I the only one who remembers that a gram of fat is what will hurt you-- 9 calories. You lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. Not by cutting out vegetables and bread. Ok, done ranting.

From my Dad:

Kelly

Any interest for Hall of Fame stuff this year? Inductees are John Elway (boo), Barry Sanders, Bob Brown, and Carl Eller. If any of your friends are Detroit fans, they might want to see Barry Sanders. I'm not sure I will allow any of your friends who are Elway fans to come, but .........

Parade is Saturday, August 7; Enshrinee Dinner is also Sat.; Induction is Sunday; and game is Monday - Denver Broncos vs. Washington Redskins.

Let me know - I can get you tickets to anything.

Dad

So, anyone in for a trip to Ohio? I'm definitely going, at least for the weekend, probably the game, too.

I just had a sudden craving for a Whopper.

There's a sign hanging on my front door staring me in the face every time I leave my apartment. It provides a whole list of bad situations, following each with "run anyway." For instance, if you have a hangover, run anyway. I suppose I meant it to be motivaional, but I don't actually follow its advice. Instead, I try to avoid those situations. If I suspect I'll be hungover on a given day I schedules my runs so that that's a rest day. If it's snowing I run on a treadmill. Etc.

But yesterday I followed one of the lines: "If it's raining, run anyway." And it was fun! I called Scott around 4pm when I observed a hurricance outside my office window and asked if he still wanted to run. Of course he did, and by the time I got home at 6:30 and saw clear skies I felt silly for even calling. But we ended up running in a massive downpour. Other than the rain getting under my contacts rendering me blind and the guys along the path staring at my white t-shirt, it was quite enjoyable. Maybe in the future I'll actually follow my own advice and run anyway. Especially now that Scott says it's ok to call myself a runner :)

Best birthday ever! Ok, I guess my best birthday was the actual day I was born, and any birthday where you're still alive and healthy enough to celebrate (and run a 10 mile race) is a good one. But this was definitely the best in recent memory, thanks to good friends :) A big thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy Mexican food and sketchy bars or who called to wish me a happy birthday!

Does bocce ball count as cross training?

Chryssi lands in a little over 21 hours! :)

This weekend is beginning to fill up very, very quickly. With any luck it will be a good birthday. I tend to be disappointed with my birthdays. I suppose that's the problem with a holiday birthday. There's an upside-- I never have to work on my birthday (and this year I get paid not to work!). But there's also a downside-- the day is just not about me. I've always had to contend with friends going out of town, busy with family functions, etc. I remember going to three parties on my birthday one year, but not a single one of the parties was for me, and in fact most people had no idea it was my birthday. Last year was definitely the worst though-- I was at a wedding on my birthday. The reception was certainly not designed to celebrate me, and I was seated at a table of my high school friends, who all had spouses/significant others with them. I was alone. Not that I mind being alone, but they kept bringing it up, asking me when I was going to settle down. And I had too long a drive home to be able to drink heavily!

A far cry from the days growing up when my parents would tell me the fireworks and bbqs and parades were all for me!