Rider Strong

OK, so I am almost ready to run. Tomorrow or Wednesday I will be back on the streets, on my feet, I swear it. As I hinted before, as soon as I return to running, I will share The Secret of My Success.

In the meantime, I have been biking everywhere (or "everythere" as I just mistyped) and I've continued to scavenge, though not to the extent I do when afoot. I told you of the photo frames I found. A few of them I've refilled with my own art collection. (See below.)

Sidebar...

As I write I am filling the background with "Glee" Yes, I am a gleek (should that be capitalized?). At this very moment last year's Christmas special, a take-off of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It is amazing. The music (from "The Island of Misfit Toys" to the "Whoville" chorus), the storyline, a Chrismas miracle (times three)... I gotta tell you, all you "Glee" haters out there don't know what you're missing. Check it out.

Resume...

Anyway, I was biking up Broad Street (or maybe I was still on Cherry) to pick up a graduation card (late!) for my Amazing Amanda (daughter No. 2) when I spy with my little eye a rectangle with jagged edges and writing on it. It's a cool wooden sign, about 4-by-10 inches, that reads "A REAL RIDER LIVES HERE." Being black with orange print, it is undoubtedly intended for a Harley owner. Perhaps it was ripped from its post by the high winds we've had periodically over the past week. Alas, I don't have a Harley or any motorcycle, but I do consider myself "a real rider." Heck, I'm more rider than runner. It IS who I am.

Ironically, or perchance just coincidentally, I next came upon... get this, you won't believe it ... a key to a ... wait for it ... a Harley-Davidson! (Carl Sandburg Drive, just east of Lincoln Park Drive, westbound lane.) It bears a four-digit number on one side. I'll have to check into whether that is an I.D. to the bike. If so, maybe it can be returned to the registered owner. I'll be making a trip to Nees Harley-Davidson tomorrow.

In one of the frames I've placed the bar band
poster I snagged from the front of the old
West Cinema in downtown Galesburg. It
reads: "The 1st and Last Annual Pageant of
Death." Gotta love it.

Finally, after a stop at Hy-Vee for the grad card and a perusal of the food stuff (didn't really need anything, so I didn't buy anything) I came across a kitchen towel in the middle of Henderson Street. (!?) I thought it was cloth of some sort when I first breezed past, but when it fluttered in the wind as I turned around I was momentarily disappointed to think maybe it was just a plastic bag. I completed my 360, however, and bent over the frame of the Jaguar (more on that tomorrow) and determined it was a nice kitchen towel. Why kitchen, you ask? Well, the print on it is a grape-and-leaf pattern. Not a dish towel, for drying the dishes (better to air dry anyway) but a hand towel for after the dishes are done.

I know plenty about doing dishes. I've done it professionally (or at least for pay -- WIU and Ponderosa) as well as at home and volunteer at church. I think I'm pretty good at it. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the years of training (my parents didn't get a dishwasher until all three kids had moved out of the house). Coulda been worse: After my best friend (God rest his soul) and his sister left home, his parents put in a hot tub. Living only blocks from home still, I keep hoping my folks will eventually follow suit. Somehow I don't think it's likely.

Print brought back from
Sweden, 2004. Not sure
what it is. Need to work
on translation.

Today's Stats
Temp: 82 degrees F
Distance: 5.5 miles
Treasure: Kitchen Towel, grapes print; Harley-Davidson key; "A Real Rider Lives Here" wooden sign.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)Wonderful - Adam Ant

 When Love and Hate Collide - Def Leppard
If Ever I Lose My Faith in You (live) - Sting
A New Machine - Pink Floyd
State of the Union (Hidden Bonus Track) - Drywall
Moby Dick - Led Zeppelin
Reno - Bruce Springsteen
Black & White People
Don't Let It End - Styx
Take On Me - A-Ha
Shine (Re-Mix) - Newsboys
Her Diamonds (video) - Rob Thomas
Me and Howard Hughes - Boomtown Rats
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
The Rain Song (live) - The Jason Bonham Band
On the Dark Side - John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
Undun - Guess Who
Her Diamonds - Rob Thomas
Country Honk - The Rolling Stones

I think all of us on the Rotary District 6460
Group Study Exchange to Sweden, spring 2004,
bought a copy of this interesting poster.
It's an educational poster of the alphabet,
with pictures and words for each letter.
What made this one interesting, is the
illustration for "N." It shows a squatting
African tribesman with the word, "Niggern."
It struck us as odd, given Sweden's reputation
for liberal thought, tolerance and understanding.

Photo Finish

As you might have guessed I've been off track for a while. No running in more than a week. I finally started to make some progress on the healing front a couple days ago. I'll pen a testimonial -- or should I say "key a testimonial"? -- soon about the device that's helped to restore my muscles to working condition.

As found on the curb.

In the meantime, I've been biking everywhere as usual and today I happened across another scavenger jackpot. Riding down Academy Street on my way back from Target I spotted an odd assemblage on the curb in front of a home for sale. Surrounding a small white garbage bag were seven assorted photo frames, family photos still in them. There are wedding photos, family portraits, the baby in the bath, the toddler on Santa's lap, a huge group shot taken on an ocean cruise, another huge group shot on the tennis court or something, a "Happy Birthday Bung" photo signed by loved ones. How strange.

It was so odd I wasn't sure they were intended as trash, despite their location on the curb; one was even in the gutter. But they were arranged with some almost as if they were being displayed. But there was that garbage bag. And an empty box from a DVD player or something and a bin of recycleables. Well, just to be sure, I parked my bike and went to the front door to knock. No answer. I tried the handle on the storm door to see if I could knock on the inside door to be better heard. It was locked.

It just so happens that the jackpot house is next door to the home of a co-worker. Maybe Mike or Shelly will know if the neighbors meant to trash such memories. While the door was open, my knock drew no answer. So ... DIBS!

Displayed outside my apartment building.

Some of the frames are pretty nice, in a utilitarian way. We're not talking fancy, custom jobs. But a couple are build-it-yourself types that allow you to match pieces to get just the length and width you desire. I could use these. So I took six of the seven and later told my co-worker to let the neighbors know they could have their photos back if they weren't intended for the garbage man. Mike shared an interesting tale about the elderly folks who moved out last week and it doesn't seem likely they'll come calling.

I'll extract the photos and store them safely for some time, though, just in case.

Rob's Really Good — Really

While I nurse my aching body back to running health, let me enlighten you on a new product I discovered at my favorite store, Big Lots. Perusing the aisles recently I came upon a display of flavored water drinks called Rob's Really Good. Of course the name caught my attention and I was intrigued by the organic status and clever labeling.

Each flavor carries a unique message for positive life change. It may sound like green hippie B.S. to some of you and maybe it is. But I like it better than "New and Improved," "Better Taste, New Package," "Limited Edition" and the other mundane, totally self-promoting, idiotic claims found on most food packaging. I mean, really, are Doritos "Limited Edition" taco flavor tortilla chips a collector's item? Am I supposed to save the bag?

Ooh, I guess so. I just checked and, sure enough, new packaging is coming soon! Seriously? WTF? Who gives a flying leap? Or, to quote the Wedding Singer: "Whoopee-dee-doo!" Who in the farthest reaches of Hades gets excited about new packaging? OK, I actually have a thing for cool packaging, particularly reusable boxes and the like; but chip bags? C'mon.

Having had my laugh over the name of this new-to-me drink, I decided a should try it. You know, conduct my own little taste test. A Pepsi Challenge, sans the colas. So I bought two bottles: Brazilian Orangeade and The Coconut Drink. The orangeade went to work with me Saturday night. The message from South America:

Live & Give Affirmation

Dear Friends,
Thank you for becoming part of our community & enjoying Rob's Really Good drinks. Rob is a master of flavor & attraction. Rob is a real authentic guy & a self-proclaimed genius trying for social change. Buying a Rob's starts your journey of change.

Rob's Secret of Life

Keep your thoughts positive & let abundance flow into your life.

THIS IS YOUR MOMENT.

Be a starter. Send a positive affirmation to a friend.

As with wine, the bouquet
must be sampled first.

I'll up the ante and send a positive affirmation to all my friends who read this. You are wonderful people and you make my life worth living. And to Rob's I say, YUM! I like orange — fruit, juice, candy, color (in Denver Broncos logos) and more. The orangeade was tasty and refreshing. No points for math, though. A 14 oz. bottle contains "approx. 2" servings. I guess that helps keep the nutrition numbers low: 60 calories, 5mg sodium, 16g sugars, 16g carbs. Why not declare 14 ounces to be a serving and give us those numbers. Does anybody drink half a bottle? Not likely. Why did 8 ounces become the serving standard for liquid refreshments?

Anyway, I digress. 

Ahh, refreshing!

It took me a couple of days to get around to The Coconut Drink. No reluctance on my part, just wasn't in a rush. I've had coconut milk straight from the coconut before and it's sweet and tasty. Recently I read something about the health benefits of coconut milk and it's cropping up in health drinks, like Rob's. Less sweet and alluring than the orangeade, The Coconut Drink also contained fewer calories (48) and slightly lower carb and sugar numbers (13) but the same amount of sodium. I may or may not buy it again. The orangeade, though, will pass my gullet many more times I think. 

Oh, almost forgot the words of wisdom from the coconut bottle. More about the power of positive thinking, plus an exercise in affirmation:

Repeat each 5 times.
Practice often. You'll get there.

- I can do anything I set my mind to.
- I keep my thoughts positive.
- Only good comes to me.

Do this every day and attract the positivity of the universe. Rob's Really Good reminds you that happiness is a choice you make. So pop the top and drink in the abundance.

Give it a try. I am. Hopefully it'll help get me back on the streets picking up cans and random treasures.

Commando Run

In honor of the U.S. Navy SEALs (and laundry day) I dubbed today's little jaunt the "Commando Run." It was otherwise a rather lazy day. Slept in 'til 8:30, decoupaged my storage trunk (watch for video later) and took a nap. Finally got my butt up and went for a run, visited my buddy Shubie at the church and now I need to go to the store; you can't find everything on the street.

In fact, I didn't much of anything on the streets today. You can see the list below. The coolest piece today would have to be the hoop earring, found in the driveway to the Cottage Hospital doctors' parking lot on the south side of the hospital. Why is that cool? Well, I guess it isn't, except that it's in really good condition. Often metal jewelry found on the street will be bent out of shape or roughed up from being ground into the gritty pavement.

I did get some free food today, but not from the streets. This stuff is unopened and looks good for consumption. Neighbor across the hall and down a door (No. 13) was moving out today -- cute blonde college gal -- and her boyfriend/friend/brother knocked on my door and asked if I would like a carton of Breyers ice cream (Vanilla Caramel Brownie) and a Jack's frozen pizza (sausage). "We're moving and we don't have room for this. They're unopened," he offered. Sure! 

Yea for that. Funny, I've been here about five weeks and I never saw that girl. Of course I don't see many of the other tenants here on a regular basis. One or two a day coming or going, rarely anyone actually on my floor. Weird.

So my trunk project is nearly complete. I need to touch up a few spots where the Mod Podge didn't get a good coat and the edge or corner of a paper is loose. Then I'll give it a sealer coat of something. Let it cure and it'll be ready for storage of blankets. The interior is covered in old college papers -- class notes, tests, fiction stories -- some comic pages from an Amazing Spider-Man comic I picked up at Free Comic Book Day last week, a site map from Grant Village in Yellowstone National Park, a brochure for Philmont Scout Ranch (where I took this trunk filled with my clothes for two summers on staff in the mid-1980s) and some newspaper clippings trumpeting the Denver Broncos' Super Bowl victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The biggest piece is from a full-page "Got Milk?" ad featuring Super Bowl MVP John Elway!

Today's Stats
Temp: 69 degrees F
Distance: 3.7 miles
Weekly Total: 13.5 miles
Treasure: 1 Buick emblem (plastic); 1 large hoop earring (silver); 1 empty pack Basic 100s; 7 cans.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
The Healer - John Lee Hooker

City of New Orleans - Willie Nelson
Come to the Sunshine - Joni Mitchell
Living Thing - ELO
Blank - John Mayer
Move - Miles Davis
Too Many Fish in the Sea - The Commitments
Hey Girl - Billy Joel
Bona & Paul (live) - Wynton Marslis Septet
The Hill - Once
Forth Eorlingas - Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

Long, Live Rock

Five songs in today's randomized playlist are live recordings, including one not labeled  as such in any way on the CD. Hence the title of today's post. Yes, that is correctly punctuated. It's not the phrase "long live rock," but "long, live (rhymes with jive) rock." Get it?

With the approach of summer (feels like it's already here today), I believe it is time to restore running discipline and rise early to beat the heat. Last time I heard the temp on the radio before heading out the door it was 72 degrees. Because I spent a few minutes upstairs painting my storage trunk, I figured it was probably a solid 75 by the time I hit the street. Upon returning to my abode, drenched and dripping with sweat, hot and tingly from the sun, with a light burn beginning on my lilly-white, freckled flesh, WKAY/WGIL's Terry Cavanaugh read the weather and declared it to be 85 degrees (high today is expected to be 90!).

You get the point. Already it's feeling hot. Winter running seemed so strange and difficult at first, learning how to dress so as to not freeze nor overheat. I think I've got that down and I prefer it, at least in the middle temps. I've run when the mercury's hovering around zero and that's not really fun. But the heat is just about as bad. The up side is that with the sweat pouring off your body, you just know you're dropping pounds. That feels good -- especially after packing on a few during the winter like some furry woodland critter.

Speaking of furry woodland critters, the kind I often see squished in the road, I almost joined their ranks today. For some reason I just wasn't really alert the first few blocks and twice darted out in front of traffic. I will say, the second instance was only half my fault. The light had turned red for me, but the driver to my right stayed put and appeared to motion to me to cross. I obliged (without bothering to look left) and received a honk and a wake-up call about intersection safety.

Today's Stats
Temp: 75-85 degrees F
Distance: 4.9 miles
Weekly Total: 9.8 miles
Treasure: 1 red washcloth; 1 Wave 100's Menthol Green cigarette pack; 1 Marlboro red pack; 1 nickel; 1 blue plastic bracelet; 1 shower curtain hook, metal; 1 nut; 1 gallon of sweat; two sore nipples; 15 cans.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Time for Me to Fly - REO Speedwagon
Little Sister (live) - Jewel
The White Tree - Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings soundtrack)
If You've Got Trouble - The Beatles (This video is a gem; audio synch is off, but still waaaaay cool!)
Only You - Chicago
What Good is Life? - Guitar Shorty
Run - Collective Soul
Deep Blue Polka Dot - Stan Ridgway
Elevation - U2
Into the Fire (live) - Bruce Springsteen
Believe In Me (live) - Dan Fogelberg
Excitable Boy (live) - Warren Zevon
How Stupid Mr. Bates - The Police
The River (live) - James Taylor & Joni Mitchell
Racing in the Street - Bruce Springsteen

Mother of a Run

Tonight's run was intended to be a shorty, just to whet the appetite for tomorrow and a new week. Alas, I think tradition says Sunday is the start of a new week. I don't know; it's all so confusing. Calendars kind of befuddle me: Gregorian, Roman, Hebrew, lunar, etc. I think even the work week ends Saturday for those whose jobs entail at least occasional Sunday labor. I don't know. Being a salaried bloke, none of that matters to me. I just turn up as needed and "Git R Done."

Quite a weekend was Mother's Day weekend. Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. I've never been a comic book fan or collector. I once dabbled, ever so briefly, and sough to be different from my friends. I decided I liked the Green Arrow. I think there was some companionship with the Green Lantern, but I liked the guy with the bow. I think I bought one comic about 25 years ago. The cover showed Green Arrow at the end of a dead-end alley, the open end blocked by a slew of bad guys. The thought bubble read something like, "Fifty-to-one. I've got 'em outnumbered!" Loved it.

FCBD's focal point was Green Lantern, because of the recent movie release (or upcoming: I don't know and don't care enough to Google it for accuracy's sake here).

Anyway, I scored a handful of freebie comics, primarily because I'm decoupaging the inside of an old storage trunk with college English course notes and thought some comic pages would add some flashy color. One to note is Civil War Adventure, which claims in the forward: "Civil War Adventure is a series of graphic novels that presents exciting, fast-paced, fact-based, illustrated stories, of the the war that tore our country apart. ..."

Thinking at first it was just that, before I'd even read the forward, or glanced through a few pages, I initially passed it by. Then I overheard someone say something about "the Civil War and zombies..." and I was intrigued. So I grabbed one of those, and a Simpsons, and Elric, Criminal Macabre, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Mouse Guard, Toy Story, Overstreet, 2000 AD. I am totally ignorant of all but The Amazing Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Elric and Toy Story (because of the movies).

But it was a big comic book day and there were extra specials. Stone Alley Books & Collectibles offered 20 percent off graphic novels. I used some of my extensive storeries.  credit from trade-ins and bought the first hardcover volume of "The Walking Dead." After the discount and store credit for half the cost, I paid about $16. Su-wheet. I haven't really delved into that, but I watched the first season of the AMC TV series on  DVD a while back and was hooked. Had to check out the origins of the AMC production. It is simply awesome.

Pursuing that vein, I bought a handful of raffle tickets at Alternate Realities, the Main Street comic, book and gaming store -- for the benefit of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Knox County -- and ended up winning issue No. 75 of The Walking Dead.

Topping it off were the extra goodies in the shopping bag from Stone Alley. A clip-on badge declaring R.I.P. Superman (with his logo); a one-day free pass to Discovery Depot Children's Museum; a Free Comic Book Day pin-on button; a Free Comic Book Day temporary tattoo; a couple of comics; and, for knowing the Green Lantern secret password, which Stone had posted on his Facebook page Friday night ("Beware My Power."), a tiny Green Lantern figurine by Heroclix.

All right, enough geek speak. Not really my bag, as a geek. I'll admit to geekdom, but it has limits, or shall we say direction. Not that there's anything wrong with comic books or graphic novels. In fact, I've picked up a couple of really cool graphic novels: one is an interpretation of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," the other a collection of Edgar Allan Poe tales reimagined in graphic novel form. 

Anyway, on to Mother's Day, shall we? While shopping with daughter No. 3 for Mom and my in-town mom, we were perusing the ecclectic goods of the Calico Cat on South Seminary Street -- I love the oddball gifts they have there -- I came across a "Smoking Donkey." There also was a "Smoking Elephant." Though not expressly political, the symbolism was not lost on the son of a pair of "yellow dog Democrats." Although I don't wish to support the nasty habit of smoking tobacco products, I couldn't pass up the donkey.

He is molded to resemble an old-time miner's companion, bearing a pack with a shovel and pickaxe on either side. You load the pack with your cigarettes of choice, and when you push down on his ears, his tail raises and out "poops" a "butt." Classic. I might just buy one for myself to see if it'll dispense crayons, or at least "candy sticks" -- the politically correct version of the old candy cigarettes.

To my slight dismay, my parents already owned one, a gift from my Aunt Betty, who has a knack for finding oddball gifts for any occasion, like the ultimately cool electricity meter lamp she got my dad one year for Christmas. It's a lamp with a base made from an electricity meter, which spins along to show the kilowatt/hours consumed as the bulb burns.

Well, have I rambled quite enough? My parents had a good chuckle at the coincidence of my choice of gift, but ultimately displayed the two donkeys nose-to-nose atop their refrigerator. All's well that ends well.

You can see from the stats what I collected on tonight's run. I had spotted the hanger earlier today and all the cans while biking out to Menards for some needed item. The wheel cover I noted a few days ago while visiting the dreaded Walmart (they haven't questioned my backpack the past three visits with it). Not a bad night, though. Strangely, the Toyota wheel cover matches one I found a while back, so now I have two identical. Oddly, they do not match those on either Toyota in the driveway on Bateman Street. Maybe they'd attract a buyer on eBay.

Today's Stats
Temp: 70 degrees F
Distance: 4.9 miles
Weekly Total: 4.9 miles (I think the new week is begun)
Treasure: 1 Toyota wheel cover/hub cap; 1 plastic hanger (dark blue); 12 cans.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Time and a Word - Yes
I'll Be Back - The Beatles
The Scientist - Coldplay
Yer Blues - The Beatles
Hey Ya! - OutKast
Theme Time - The Tobasco Donkeys
Your Long Journey - Robert Plant and Alyson Kraus
The Arrival (live at the Village Vanguard)  - Wynton Marsalis Septet
Introduction (live at the Orpheum) - The Don't Be Brothers
America - Simon & Garfunkel
I Ran (So Far Away) - Flock of Seagulls
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
What Do You Want from Me? - Pink Floyd

Bonus Post: RANT!

The trouble with mass production is that it's created our throwaway society. Why do people pitch things that would take minimal effort to repair? Because of the expense. It costs more to repair an item than to replace it with new. Or damned close.

I've already noted the easily repaired La-Z-Boy I salvaged from the curb during Cleanup Days. That fix involved two screws and some wood glue. The wood piece through which the screws  passed cracked with the invasion of screws slightly larger than the nails they replaced, but if that eventually fails, I'll obtain a replacement piece by some inexpensive means.

But the latest example is the DVD/VHS recorder/player I received recently. It came with the caveat that the VCR half did not work. The last tape inserted into the mouth had to be pried out. Unbelieving such a wild tale, I had to have proof. It just needs a good head-cleaning, I figured. So I tracked down a tape-head cleaner (you know how hard those are to find these days?) and went to work. Clunk. Tape jammed. No ejecting it. No playing. No cleaning. No nothing. Fine. Whatever. I'll just watch a DVD instead of dubbing an old tape for posterity.

The gear in question is to the right of the one
labeled 1, above.

Guess what? With the VHS engaged and jammed, the DVD player wouldn't kick in. No movie that night. So I removed the cover to get at the tape. Head cleaner removed, I gave it another try — maybe it just stuck because I didn't get it going quickly enough when I pushed the tape through the door-flap. Nope. Stuck again. Extract tape and start observing.

Now, I'm not very mechanically inclined, but I eventually figured out that a drive gear was broken. When the machine was powered on I could see the "worm gear" turning in screw-like fashion, but it wasn't connecting with the round gear beneath it, the one that would engage the tape with the mechanics that play, FF and RW. Cool. That looks like a simple enough repair.

Fat chance. I spent 21 minutes on the phone with Sony customer service (several of those minutes waiting for the first representative to track down another who might better grasp my description of the broken part. When we finally got on the same page, Service Rep 2 informed me the part cannot be supplied. I suppose the gear assembly cannot be disassembled to allow for individual replacement. Out of curiosity I thought to ask if the entire VCR interior could be replaced as a unit. Surely that couldn't be too much in this DVD-centric age. Well, if you consider $117 not expensive.

Better view with the crappy part circled.

OK, get it in Galesburg. On to Lindstrom's TV and Appliance I rode to see if they possibly could repair it. The service tech wasn't in but I was told it would be $75 to $80 to fix it (I'm guessing they can't even do it). I understand mechanics enough to know that even the smallest part — a defective O-ring, for example — can wreak havoc or render a machine inoperable. But should something like this make repair fiscally illogical? That simply does not make sense to me.

Here's an interesting tidbit I found just now while searching for an image to accompany this rant.

I discovered during a trip to Walmart yesterday that a comparable Magnavox machine is available new for $140 or $150. Not that I'm buying, just noting the ridiculousness of this situation.

Save A Prayer

"Don't say a prayer for me now / Save it 'til the morning after..."

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Oh, what controversy. Remember the hubbub over President Obama's supposed cancellation of the National Day of Prayer? Bogus. False. Read about it here. Besides which, who really cares if the president proclaims, celebrates or otherwise observes or designates a national day of just about anything?

Sure, the president has ceremonial/symbolic duties to perform, but is that his primary function? No. Hmmm. Quick Googling indicates maybe it is. OK, not really his (or, someday, her) primary function, but the dude (or dudette) does sign a slew of proclamations each year. Yikes! Some are pretty ridiculous. But nobody gets his or her panties in a twist over National German-American Day, Leif Erikson Day, White Cane Safety Day or National Safe Boating Week. So give it a break. If you don't like religion (usually that opposition is narrowly targeted at Christianity), then just save a prayer for the morning after ... you just might need it.

But hey, it's also Cinco de Mayo today. Now there's something to celebrate. Imagine my surprise this morning to hear WKAY radio play a 27-year-old song by a band most people probably haven't heard of. I knew I recognized Stan Ridgway's voice, singing Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio." Didn't make the connection with Cinco de Mayo until later, though. 

A proud recipient of Mrs. Renfro's Salsa
sampler, Feb. 15, 2011.

Of course the exciting aspect of this particular day is that we'll be celebrating May 5 at The Register-Mail newsroom with a looong-awaited sampling of Mrs. Renfro's salsas. Assistant Editor Jay Redfern, my good bud with the noisy office next to my desk, received a box of four Mrs. Renfro's salsas after bemoaning the lack of a fine store-bought salsa in town in one of his Jay Talking blog posts quite some time ago. It never seemed an opportune time to Jay-bird to break out the salsa, but I managed to convince him a couple weeks ago that it would be appropriate to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a salsa sampling. He'd better not renege.

The goods.

Today's Stats
Temp: 50 degrees F
Distance: 3.3 miles
Weekly Total: 10.4
Treasure: 1 page sheet music ("Blessed Is the Lord"), folded into a paper airplane; 1 Pall Mall box; 7 cans.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Walk This Way (Original) - Aerosmith
Night Time - George Thorogood
The Blue Side of Lonesome (cover) - John Prine & Mac Wiseman
Old Dan Tucker - Bruce Springsteen
The River (live) - James Taylor & Joni Mitchell
Young Lust (cover) - Luther Wright & the Wrongs
Havana Daydreamin' - Jimmy Buffett
Into the Fire (live in Gothenburg, Sweden, 2003) - Bruce Springsteen (Video link is to a 2002 show in Stockholm)

All for Naught

Should I return for his pelt? Coonskin caps could come back.

So why did I run today? Guilt over so many skipped days and a screwed-up schedule? That's probably it, really. It was a battle of wills, me against me. The Good Intentions Will said, "Hey, man, let's get up early and run Tuesday. You owe it to yourself and others." 

I listened to him and got up about 6:30. Lay in bed a while, had some breakfast, then lay down again when Sloth Will said, "Dude, it's your day off running and you don't work until afternoon. You're sleepy. Rest, man."

So I listened to him, too, and lay back down. Finally, about 9:45 I got my rear in gear and got outta here. I decided to keep it short, shorter than any regular run since I started a year ago. Glad I did. My shins and calves are aching and my butt still hurts from that mattrass-haul. The worst part is, I bagged a whopping two cans and naught else. Well, I guess I gained the benefit of the run nonetheless. And blogging notwithstanding, that's the real point.

 I'm still working on pix from graduation (waiting for D1 to deliver), but here's one I took as sort of a flash forward. D3 was helping to carry grad gear after the ceremony and department reception and donned D1's mortarboard. Confession to my photog buddies: This shot is posed -- I wasn't quick enough (phone cam takes time to activate). Forgive me.

Today's Stats

Temp: 45 degrees F

Distance: 2.34 miles

Weekly Total: 7.1 miles

Treasure: 2 cans.

Apropos of nothing, I just had to chuckle at
the misfortune of the new bar that used to be
Crappy's. Consider it a lesson in the silliness
of "clever" spellings. Sidetrax started out as
Sidetracks on the awning, or so it appears.

 iPod Playlist (shuffle)

And I Love Her - The Beatles

Midnight in Paris - Wynton Marsalis

There's No Other Way - Blur

It's All Been Done - Barenaked Ladies

Soul Doctor - Foreigner

Rebel Rebel - David Bowie

Do You Want to Know a Secret - The Beatles

Graduation Day: Part 1

My baby graduated yesterday. Daughter No. 1 "finished" her formal education at Illinois Wesleyan University a week ago with her final final. Actually she has an independent study class to complete during May Term that is just prep for her CPA exams (two down, two to go). She graduated summa cum laude in accounting as a recent inductee in Phi Kappa Phi honors society. She's quite a young woman. Photo later.

This is Part 1 because in 30 days Daughter No. 2 concludes her years in the public school system and prepares to head for nearby Monmouth College in the fall. She's an incredible young lady, too. As is D3, my occasional running companion and bestest reading buddy. But this week belongs to Melissa and her achievements. Already she has a job lined up, starting after the first of the year in 2012; summer will see the continuation of bank teller duties. 

So as she commences her life, I commenced my running this morning. I was encouraged by honks and waves from friends I did not recognize through auto glass reflecting the glare of the morning sun, but it helped me to pick up my pace, if only temporarily. It was a dull day scavenging-wise, but it was a good run. I did pass up a basketball in the gutter (a less scrupulous scavenger might have grabbed it, but I figured some kid just let it roll too far). Besides, what would I do with a basketball? My apartment is in the former Galesburg YMCA, but the gymnasium is full of oddments of furniture and appliances; no room for balling or running or any other activity in there. 

More to come, but I have to run (metaphorically speaking).

Today's Stats

Temp: 50 degrees F

Distance: 4.76 miles

Treasure: 1 plastic hanger; 7 cans.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
I Can Make You a Man (Reprise) - Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
The Rising - Bruce Springsteen
I Wanna Be a Cowboy - Boys Don't Cry
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant
Digging in the Dirt - Peter Gabriel
Jumpin' Jack Flash (live) - Peter Frampton (cover)
Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles
The Fuse - Bruce Springsteen
The Burn - Matchbox Twenty
So Much To Say - Dave Matthews Band
If I Needed Someone - The Beatles
Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett