Knitting Confidential

"Sick Day"

2012-01-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

I got up bright and early so I could get a root canal. Fun stuff. I had decided that regardless of how I felt, I was going to take the day off from work. I've been stressing over all the stuff that I need to get done, but I figured I could use a day to myself.

I've felt pretty good in general, which is nice, and I'm relieved that the endodontist just needed to go in there and clean everything out of the tooth. In other words, there isn't a fracture.

So I laid around and watched TV, played video games, and took a nap. I'll gladly give up days like this if a root canal is what I have to get to give myself one, but this was a nice pause before letting things go back to being crazy. Plus, I'm feeling better physically, which makes a world of difference too.

Rediagnosed

2012-01-25T22:56:00.000-05:00

So that sinus infection that I said came raging back? Now I wonder if it was ever a sinus infection.

The swelling had gone down, but there was still an area that was blown up. I began to suspect that this problem may be dental. Of course, way back when this began in late summer 2010, I thought it might be, but the dentist and his assistant couldn't find anything to suggest that it was. Like a dummy, I rolled with it and chalked it up to sinuses or allergies. And didn't do anything about it. Sometimes it was sorer than others, but it was never really bad.

At other regular cleanings nothing was spotted, so when I went to the doctor back in December, I mentioned that I thought I had a sinus infection. He applied pressure where the sinus is, it definitely hurt, and he prescribed an antibiotic and nasal spray. Problem solved, or so I thought until last week.

I've been dutifully using the nasal spray and taking the different antibiotic prescribed last week to beat the infection, but the last couple of days I began to wonder if perhaps this problem was dental-related after all. Something didn't seem right--the swollen gum, namely--and when I finally took a peek at it, what I saw sure fit the description of an abscess, as previously explained to me by the dentist.

In a panic--I had mistaken the meaning of an abscess for a fracture--I called the dentist's office and secured an appointment for that afternoon. About an hour later I felt the abscess deflate. I was really worked out. Mistaking an abscess for a fracture, I thought this meant I was going to lose the tooth. (The abscess was near where I've had a root canal.)

What did the dentist have to say? Yep, that was an abscess and had nothing to do with my sinuses. (Did it ever? Who knows?) He determined that I need to have a root canal. On a tooth that already had a root canal. Several years ago I had root canals on two adjacent teeth. After tomorrow morning both will have had second root canals. (The other one had a nerve left behind, which could have happened if I had an extra one and the endodontist didn't look for it.)

So my reaction to all this is somewhere in the middle. I'm relieved that, at least for now, there isn't any suspicion of a fracture and the need for an extraction. I'm aggravated that I'll be paying again to have a root canal on a tooth already treated in such a manner. I can't say I'm looking forward to the procedure tomorrow morning, but I'm relatively at peace with it and glad/hopeful it isn't more serious.

As for the other medical thing that's caused some discomfort, I ended up getting in at the specialist on the day of the referral. He didn't find anything and thinks it may be referred pain. So that's a win in the interim. But could this year ease up on the health/medical concerns, pretty please?

Ouch

2012-01-20T23:31:00.001-05:00

Checking in to say I haven't fallen off the edge of the planet.

I haven't felt like writing here due to how I've been feeling. It's not anything serious--not that I know--but I've had a bit of a painful start to the year. There's something that has caused some distressing pain, although it hasn't been persistent. I did go to the doctor after worrying about it a couple weeks. I followed his advice for the past week, but the issue still hasn't gone away entirely. Looks like I ought to call the referred specialist next week.

To top it off, a sinus infection that I was treating and seemed like it was mostly cleared up came raging back out of nowhere a couple days ago. It's more painful than it ever was before and has kept me up for the better part of the last two nights. I did get a prescription for another antibiotic phoned in, which will hopefully start taking care of business soon. Half of my face is swollen, and yes, it hurts, sometimes a lot. I do think I have that under control with some extra strength ibuprofen left over from a recent prescription. Or so I hope.

I'm usually in pretty good health, which makes me more stressed about all this, not to mention feeling the actual discomfort. Here's hoping this sinusitis calms down this weekend and I can get the other thing checked out in the next week.

Elliptical

2012-01-12T23:24:00.002-05:00

Oh, hey there.

Just been working and working out, which explains my extended absence (again).

December was pretty much a loss when it came to exercise. Between being busy and doing some physical therapy to get my upper body loosened up, I didn't spend much time in the gym. I returned to it this week to find it way busier than I'm accustomed to. I don't know that it was New Year's resolution overflow--almost all of the exercisers were students--but regardless of the reason, I had a problem. All of the recumbent bikes and treadmills were occupied.

One of the elliptical machines was free, so I thought I'd give that a shot. I quickly discovered that it required a new skill set. I found it tiring faster than what I'm used to doing, but then again, I'd kind of taken the past month off. Obviously I wasn't going to jump back into exercise with quite the same stamina.

As the minutes ticked by I entered into the usual bargaining that comes when wanting to be good and exercise yet not thinking I can finish the whole hour. If I can get to a specific time short of the target, I'll stop then. Reach that time and set another one. I made it through the hour workout.

I decided that mixing up what I do isn't such a bad idea, so for this week I'd stick to the elliptical machine. That plan was all well and good until I got to the gym today and saw them all the same ones in use. I mistook a cross country skiing machine for the same thing and hopped on it. Again, it didn't take long to find out that it presented a new set of challenges even if it was mostly similar.

The main thing I noticed is that it felt like I was having to do the exercise with slightly bent knees the whole time. Basically it was a very mild crouch but enough of one to make the legs work extra. I thought there was no way I could last long doing this. The posture felt strange, and the exercise was wearying. Ten or fifteen minutes in I hit a rhythm where I felt I had the knack of it while thinking there was no way I could last an hour. If I could get to a half hour, perhaps one of the regular elliptical machines would be free.

Just before I was to finish on the machine and get onto another, the last free one became occupied. All right, I guess I'll have to press on for a bit more. Again, I was more than ready to stop at the first sign of another machine freeing up or when I hit 45 minutes. In the end I completed an hour on the machine I started on.

Although I wish I were already in better shape and had dropped more weight than I did last year, I have to take some satisfaction in the four hours of exercise I've done this week. My conditioning is decent, and my mental stamina must be too if I can push through two workouts that I really didn't feel like I could finish. Perhaps switching up the machines I use will keep me from feeling like working out is less of a chore on those days when I'm not feeling like I want to be in the gym.

Keeping up

2012-01-06T23:23:00.001-05:00

It's been a very busy couple of days--as usual--which meant that I've neglected blogging of some sort here. While daily blogging was not on my list of resolutions for 2012, it's something I wanted to work at resuming after failing to keep the years-long streak going in late 2011. I suppose I could have backposted entries or forced myself to stay up, but I think the best thing for me as a writer (and as a person who needs to sleep) and you as a reader is to hold myself to a more reasonable standard.

What might that be? Simply put, I pledge to write here on a daily basis within reason. Some days, like yesterday, I'm simply too swamped to write something, especially anything of value. When that happens, so be it.

I'm going to aim to write earlier in the evening, which ought to help with typing up something more worth your while. Typically I'll sit here after 11 or 11:30 p.m. (or into the next day) grasping for a topic. Trying to whip something up when I'm tired doesn't exactly lead to great results. I think too that waiting until the very end of the day, or start of the next one, has made this feel more like homework that I've procrastinated on.

Writing for writing's sake can have its value or rewards, but it also means a lot of unproductive work. On a related note, I bought a Moleskine journal for writing down immediate reactions, notes, and thoughts for the movies I see. I'm bad at taking notes--I don't, in fact--and while I remember broad strokes and some details fairly well, the sheer bulk of what I watch means there's plenty of things that occur to me that I don't retain. Putting those thoughts down in a physical book has already aided in the writing I do about film and, strangely enough, may be more helpful in finding them again.

The future at present

2012-01-03T23:50:00.000-05:00

Streaming, streaming, streaming. Everybody's streaming. Obviously I'm able to stream movies and TV on my laptop, although that's not how I'd prefer to watch. I can access Netflix through the Wii, but the best it can output is standard definition. Not good enough. (Yes, how incredibly spoiled that sounds.)

Recently I bought a Roku. Tonight I hooked it up with an HDMI cable and proceeded to see what I could find and might want to watch. Without intending to seek it out I ended up burning through all six episodes of Portlandia's first season. The picture quality was remarkable. Suddenly I have the potential of always having something I could be watching.

Sure, cable television has offered lots of channels for awhile, although there's always been the issue of finding nothing worthy on. (Look how far we've come. Springsteen's song sounds like he's talking about a puny lineup now.) The channels on Roku don't have everything one could ever want, but it would take an intensely dedicated or hard-to-please viewer to exhaust these resources.

I imagine some of you don't think this is a good thing. Having the capability to find something to watch on TV at any moment may even sound like a nightmare scenario. Fair enough. I just can't help but marvel at how quickly the technology has made this a reality.

Year in review

2012-01-02T19:47:00.002-05:00

2011 was not without its challenges. There's the perpetual job drama, which has been going on for five years over the same point of contention. I had some concerns about my health. While I waited longer than I should have to get them checked out, my fears were basically overblown. I felt pinched for time quite often, but in most cases it was because I was making time to exercise, which has made me feel better, and doing things I enjoyed.

All in all, it was a pretty good year that saw it's share of firsts. I visited New York City not once but twice and couldn't have had a better time. I finally attended the Toronto International Film Festival and managed to see a film from one of my favorite filmmakers several months before I would have been able to otherwise. Plus, he and the main cast were in attendance. Although my favorite team wasn't playing, I attended a World Series game. I saw Paul McCartney in concert

On top of that I went to my fair share of ballgames and made my annual trips to film festivals in Cleveland and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. On two occasions I got to see my favorite singer, who doesn't play in this part of the country regularly. I even meet her and her husband, who she was performing with, after one of their shows. I met and renewed acquaintances with several folks I've known online. My parents moved to a home that is unquestionably the nicest place they've ever lived and are a solid ninety minutes closer, which makes visiting, especially at the holidays, easier to do.

I know it is often easier to complain and focus on how things are not how one wishes for them to be. I'm certainly susceptible to dwelling on what I'm dissatisfied with and worrying about stuff I can and can't control. So it's important for me to look at last year and appreciate the ridiculous amount of treasured experiences it gave me. I didn't expect a significant number of those things to come to pass. Whether 2012 can equal or surpass 2011 is irrelevant. I had a very good year. Now let's see what this new one will bring.

Resolve 2012

2012-01-01T20:42:00.001-05:00

January 1 means resolution time. I'm going to carry over last year's resolutions, which I had mixed success accomplishing. Those resolutions are:

-Lose weight/continue to get in shape.

-Read the Bible all the way through.
-Read more.
-Give more to charity.
-When it comes to media consumption, aim more for depth among the breadth.

Those are all well and good, but if that was last year's list, I need to add to it, right? So let's toss these out there and see what I can do:

-Keep my apartment straightened up more.

It's easy for me to let it go and become a mess. I'm going to tell you upfront that I know this will be tough for me. The desire to do it often isn't there, and time seemed at a premium last year. But I'll try.

-Knit on a regular basis.

It wasn't by design that I did minimal knitting in 2011, but I can do better, especially since I have a project or two in mind.

-Avoid letting election year politics stress me out.

It's inevitable that I won't be able to escape the chatter everywhere about the Presidential campaign, not to mention all the other races. I'm already completely sick of it all, so I need to be mindful of not letting it drive me crazy.

-Catch-all: general personal improvement.

One can dream, right?

Evaluation time

2011-12-31T09:18:00.003-05:00

With it being the last day of 2011, it's time to check on the resolutions I set at the beginning of the year and see how I did. Let's dole out some grades.

-Lose weight/get in shape again: B

On the plus side, I lost approximately 26 pounds. (Since I don't weigh myself, this is going by doctor's visits in the latter part of 2010 and December 2011.) On the down side, I think I lost most of that in the first part of the year and only took off a little in the second half. Maybe the difference is the muscle I added from September on. So great, I lost a not insubstantial amount, but I'll admit to wishing I'd taken off more.

I was going to grade myself more harshly on this one, but expectations may be clashing with reality here. I ran in four races--three 5Ks and one 4+ mile race--and was clearly faster and in better shape by the time I completed the last one. I have to give myself some credit for that. Plus, I'm stronger and feeling better. Granted, I haven't reached my target, which puts this resolution more in "in progress" status, but it seems like I'm on the right track.

-Read The Bible all the way through: D-

I kept up with this daily read for about a month or month and a half and then fell behind and never resumed. For at least sticking to the resolution a little bit I'll avoid dropping an F, but clearly I didn't do so well here. Next year will mark my third undertaking of this resolution. That'll be the charm, right?

-Read more: C-

As best as I can remember, I read four books in the span of a couple weeks, began another, and then failed to make any progress beyond that. Three of those books were the entries in the young adult series The Hunger Games, which I could rip through quickly anyway. Time seemed to be a pressing issue this year. Time to try and carve some out for this resolution in 2012.

-Give more to charity: C

Perhaps I'm being charitable here with that grade, as I think I may have given less in 2011 than I did in 2010, although when I put this on the list, I didn't really know how I was going to go about it. I do have something in mind for next year, for what it's worth.

-When it comes to media consumption, aim more for depth among the breadth: C+

My iTunes is so full that I've had to start unchecking things to free up space to fit everything I want on the iPod. I did do somewhat better in terms of ripping the CD, listening more than once or twice, and moving on, but I can surpass this year's habits. I received a new set of headphones for Christmas, which have been a revelation when listening to music versus the ear buds that were going bad. That should help as I try to work on this next year as well.

Overall, lots of middling grades and one success, which doesn't surprise me as I spent a lot of time working on that fitness goal. Undoubtedly the time invested in it affected some of the others, but it was (and is) the most important of the bunch.

Whether I succeeded at accomplishing what I resolved, 2011 was a pretty good year for me in a lot of respects. I'll write about some of that in the coming days and refocus resolutions for the new year. So, as I write here for the last time in 2011, here's hoping this was a good one for you and that 2012 will be even better.

A merry little Christmas

2011-12-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas came and went as a small, mostly quiet holiday. In what has been a busy December, I'll gladly take sitting around eating more than I should, listening to music, and playing cards (not at the same time) over some big to-do.

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew checked in via Skype from their vacation in Germany. My other two brothers were here. Without any request my mom made monkey bread for this morning's breakfast. She also made rolled cookies that had been her mother's recipe (I think). I remember these usually being made around Christmas when I was a kid and had considered making them myself because it's been ages since I've had them.

In a day without anything scheduled except for church at 10 a.m., it was odd how packed the day was. My time here for the holidays is more than half over. It's zoomed by. But I suspect that's a good thing.

Hope you also had a good Christmas, whether it was a big production or little more than time home with family.

The night before

2011-12-24T23:58:00.000-05:00

Taking smart phone photos in church is probably something to be frowned upon, but here's a little something to wish everyone a merry Christmas tomorrow. So I meant well!

Baby steps

2011-12-16T23:48:00.000-05:00

Could I get a couple extra weeks before the end of the year? I looked at the calendar and wonder how in the world I'm going to get everything done that I need to do.

I want to make time for the knitting that I've neglected this year. Where I'll find it is to be determined, but I took one step toward picking up the needles again. I popped into a local yarn shop--have I been in any all year?--and looked for yarn for a scarf.

I sort of feel like I'm going to be starting over, as though everything I learned has leaked out of my brain. I don't know what pattern, if any, that I'll be following to make the scarf. I knew the color I wanted and found something that approximated it. Now to carve out time to cast on.

In the stream

2011-12-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

Something that came across the Twitter feed and made me laugh...a lot:

I suppose what one finds funny says a lot about the individual. This very short piece--"E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying To Give Out Over the Phone"--made me laugh like a maniac and then laugh harder the more I thought about it and reread it. Seriously, I'm shaking with laughter having just read it again. So there's some insight into what makes me tick.

Something that came across the Twitter feed and made me almost tear up:

A pair of Canadian teen girls are trying to draw attention to their school and its impending closure, so they sang a Neko Case song, posted it on YouTube, and got the artist's attention. I'd ignored it but for some reason followed the latest link and their performance, which features excellent use of reverb from the stairwell.

It compares respectably to the great, haunting original.

Cold weather

2011-12-11T21:59:00.001-05:00

The cold of winter has finally descended. I slow cooked a big ham I impulse purchased a couple days ago. I'll be eating that thing for days. (Is that a sign of adulthood when an eight-pound ham is something you decide to buy on a whim?) I put together a shortlist of albums to listen to for determining my own top 10. It's been nice to have a day where (mostly) I can shut out the hustle and bustle and squirrel myself away in my apartment.

Christmas is somehow just two weeks away. A new year arrives one week later. It's time for quietly winding down 2011 and easing into 2012. Sure, I don't expect for the frenzied pace to drop until maybe the last day or two on this year's calendar, but it's nice to imagine that I'm settling into this friendlier rhythm.

It's been a year of little knitting for me. This wasn't a deliberate choice but a matter of what I ended up prioritizing. So be it. Now as the weather makes it so I need the items I've knitted, I feel like holing up at home and working on a new scarf and a hat. I like what I've made and don't need more of either. I just like having options to mix and match and change up. I'm going to try to get a project started before the year's out. (Just don't hold me to it, folks.)

Reemerging

2011-12-10T23:15:00.001-05:00

Where was I?

It was one of those weeks. I was busy, often didn't get home until late, and was too tired to write. So, let's play catch up.

The main thing has been figuring out what is going on health-wise. The occasional chest pains returned and were troubling me on Wednesday. Luckily I could get in to see the doctor on Friday. In between I experimented with what I thought might fix the problem, which mostly entailed laying on my back and trying to sleep that way. I sort of had it figured out, or so I thought, and the doctor essentially confirmed my amateur diagnosis.

The muscles in my upper body are tight. Surely stress has been a part of that, but how I sit at work is likely a big contributor to muscle soreness there. I'm to see a physical therapist for a few sessions to find some solutions--I probably should request a different desk chair at the office--and that is hoped to take care of it. And with that answer, I expel another big sigh of relief.

Realistically I did not suspect that I was having heart problems--it isn't something that runs in the family--but I've been concerned about the pains in my chest and upper body. Mainly I've just worried about this and occasionally let it lead to the occasional hysterical suspicion that it's something terminal. The mind wanders where it shouldn't when laying there at night.

After a week of being doped up and almost another week of wondering if an answer would be pinpointed, I think it's all good. There's still plenty of work to do on my posture and getting in shape. Now I have further motivation to do it.

Piping up

2011-12-03T23:03:00.001-05:00

When I let the every day blogging drop, I really let it drop, right?

Just wanted to pop in to say that the combination of being busy and (more importantly) being on muscle relaxants has sapped me of all desire to blog this week. I'm down to my last one tomorrow, so perhaps I won't be quite so wiped out when it comes time to write an entry on Sunday.

Whee

2011-11-29T23:28:00.001-05:00

Muscle relaxant relaxed to the point of indifference. That's all I can muster tonight.

Every breath I take

2011-11-28T21:27:00.001-05:00

While at the football game yesterday, I noticed that when I took a deep breath, I'd feel some pain in my chest. It wasn't unfamiliar. I've had it pop up before, maybe over the last year or two, and I want to say I chalked it up as a muscular issue. Some pain in the left pectoral area did get me to have an EKG done at the doctor's office last year, though. If I recall, he attributed it to posture and the like. Nothing appeared to be wrong with my heart.

The pain varied in intensity while I was at the game, on the ride home, and while I sat at home watching TV. I'd experienced the pain in the same spot, but I couldn't recall ever having it for this long of a time. And thus began my great capacity for worrying. Logically I didn't think I was having a heart attack or displaying the symptoms. I'd engaged in no physical activity that would explain its appearance, but there it was anyway.

This is the point where I began looking up information about heart attacks and the like to determine if I really should be getting to a doctor as soon as possible. It was later at night, and by now I had sufficiently scared myself into deciding that I would call the doctor's office first thing in the morning. I also had the irrational (?) idea that I'd be better off staying awake the entire night so that if something more serious did manifest itself, I could call 911. I didn't want to go to sleep because what if something happened and I didn't/couldn't wake up?

I didn't feel in immediate danger, although I'll grant that not wanting to go to the emergency room and rack up big bills there was playing into the decision too. My attempt to stay up all night couldn't be maintained by the time 3 a.m. rolled around, but I awakened a mere three and a half hours later to sweat out the remaining time until the doctor's office opened.

As it turned out, I couldn't get an appointment today and was pointed toward urgent care or the emergency room. Again, trying to keep costs down, I went to urgent care and gave a detailed history as to what I thought might be going on and why. Long story short: the EKG seemed OK, but you walk into urgent care reporting chest discomfort and (as I found out) you're pretty much guaranteed to go to the ER. They would not allow me to drive myself. That's understandable, although I wasn't thrilled.

So I was transported by ambulance to the hospital. All the time I felt like I'd be OK and that I'd made a possibly expensive decision to get this checked out. But what was done was done.

Blood and a couple chest x-rays were taken. I laid out the whole story to I don't know how many people again. And then I waited while arranging for my aunt to be available to take me back to my car. (Like I said, I felt pretty certain that this wasn't something serious despite my presence there obviously meaning I'd been worried enough.)

My blood was fine. No clots were spotted. Everything looked OK. The doctor thought that it was musculoskeletal and may have been a lingering symptom from the early 2010 car accident I was in. He offered to crack my back, so to speak, and that this may pop whatever into place that was causing the problem. I agreed to give it a shot, and I'm relatively assured that this may be all that was needed. (The ER doctor said something about everything in my back perhaps having been out of alignment.)

I left with prescriptions for ibuprofen and muscle relaxants as well as--and more importantly--(mostly) peace of mind. After a night of working myself into a fearful state, I'll take that result.

Sunday afternoon in The Jungle

2011-11-27T21:51:00.001-05:00

I've been to my share of Major League Baseball and National Hockey League games, but when it comes to the National Football League, I can count the number of times I've attended a game on one hand. The tickets are more expensive (if available), there are fewer games, and the weather often can be less than hospitable. It doesn't help that may favorite team, the Cincinnati Bengals, has not been very good for most of my teen and adult years, which lessens the desire to bother springing for tickets.

Before today I'd been to an NFL game twice. I saw the Bengals host the Detroit Lions in 1989 and Baltimore Ravens in 2004. A friend won tickets to today's game against the Browns and invited me, so add a third game to my list.

For late November the weather certainly could have been worse. It also could have been better. The sky spit rain intermittently, and when the wind came through, it could get chilly. I suppose I could have dressed warmer, although I was wearing the hat I knit in Bengals colors last year.

I'd been to Paul Brown Stadium once before, but I had little memory of the stadium's interior. Maybe it's because the building is not owned by the team or maybe because it's used for a limited number of events per year, but the concourse lacks personality, especially compared to the baseball stadiums I've visited. Is that how most football-specific stadiums are? (While I haven't been inside, the one in Dallas most assuredly is not.) It isn't a big deal, but unlike baseball team homes, this one was less than awe-inspiring.

The NFL's product is very friendly for the TV viewer. To a certain extent that's to the detriment of the fans at the game. The stadium experience was lacking in some areas. Since our seats were in the corner of an end zone, there were times we were better off watching the action on the scoreboard to have a better idea of what was happening on some plays. The length of TV timeouts is more deeply felt as you stand around waiting for the action to resume. Although out-of-town scores and highlights are displayed, one feels sealed off from much else at an NFL game.

Those reasons, in addition to those I mentioned in the first paragraph, are probably enough to keep me from ever being a regular attendee at NFL games. (That the team is a two-hour drive away factors in too.) Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the time at the game, which was a good one in general. The Bengals won in semi-dramatic fashion with a late field goal at the end where we sat. I definitely won't complain about that. Unlike other league's games, though, I don't know that seeing them in person is the best way to experience them. Weird, that.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T23:18:00.001-05:00

The appeal of diving into the mess of day after Thanksgiving shopping eludes me. Fine, there are deals to be had, although I wonder if they're often as good as they're perceived to be. Camping out a couple days for one of them strikes me as absurd. Even doing it once "for the experience" doesn't interest me. To each their own, I suppose.

That said, I did use this Friday to stock up on something I needed: rest and relaxation. There was more football and basketball to be watched on TV after a day spent also doing much of the same. There were cards to be played with my family. There were naps to be taken.

Shoppers, you have it your way, and I'll have it my way.

Turkey Day

2011-11-24T23:50:00.001-05:00

I know I've been quiet here the last few days. It's been a hectic run-up to Thanksgiving.

Speaking of running, I wanted to fit in one more race this year if I could, and it so happened that there was a 4-mile race today in Fort Wayne, which is relatively close to where my parents live. I got up way to early on a holiday and ran with perhaps close to 3500 folks this brisk morning.

Some dressed for the occasion, meaning Thanksgiving-related outfits or hats were donned. (I saw one person in a turkey suit and another in a chicken outfit.) There was even a real, live turkey available for photo ops, which you see above in all its blurry, smart phone photo glory. That turkey was remarkably calm, especially when considering the number of people around it in the gymnasium's lobby.

The hilly route was mostly in a cemetery and enough of a challenge on this gray, foggy morning. I felt like mostly good throughout the run and kept what I felt like was a good pace, although I'm sure it dropped off around the middle.

I was hoping to crack 44 or 45 minutes, but I finished the course in 46:46. (Hey, I beat around 1500 participants.) Having looked more closely at the results and the course, I see that it was a bit more than four miles long, so my 4-mile time was 45:56. I feel pretty good about that.

I had my dad drive me to the race, and I was glad that he got to see me finish. I don't think anyone else in my family has run in a race like this, so it meant something to me to be able to show the result of what I've been working hard to do to get in shape. While I still have a ways to go, I can take satisfaction after a run like this one that I'm doing OK.

And while I didn't pig out at lunch, this made it easier to justify eating a little extra for Thanksgiving lunch.

In the stream

2011-11-20T23:41:00.000-05:00

Amid a lazy Sunday of watching football, napping, and wondering what in the world I did to pull something in my lower back (or so I assume), a thread about Toto flared up in my Twitter feed. I thought I could only name three songs by the band. You know, the one about Rosanna Arquette, the one with ridiculous lyrics shoehorned in about the eponymous continent, and "Hold the Line". After checking out what singles of theirs charted, I recognized one more.

And that's all I have today. Time to hobble around like an old man.

Creep

2011-11-19T23:01:00.001-05:00

Christmas candy and decorations were out at the grocery store the day after Halloween. People were complaining about Christmas creep before Halloween. Typically I'd be one of them, but for some reason I don't mind this year. Scanning through radio stations while in the car last night I even thought I wouldn't mind finding one playing Christmas music.

Why the change of opinion? As best I can figure, it has to do with wanting a transition to what December usually represents. I'm ready to wind down for the year and hole up at home after a hectic fall. This autumn has been especially busy with the longer academic term that seems like it's never going to end. I want the mental break that comes with a break in the work schedule. I want to be thinking about year-end lists and getting awards screeners on a near daily basis. I want to feel like everything isn't one big rush.

In actuality December isn't necessarily a slow, peaceful time, but I'm searching for what it might be or what it could be. That doesn't mean I can't chase it in its idealistic form or be reminded of it as a chill permeates the air and retailers encourage anticipating that time. It does mean that I ought to think about how I can make it possible. Since Thanksgiving isn't here yet, I'm certainly capable of putting that work in.

Into the past

2011-11-18T23:57:00.000-05:00

I've seen Dave Alvin's name thrown around enough that I knew it even if the only song I'd probably heard him do before tonight was the one he performed during a season 2 episode of the TV show Justified. I thought, why not go see him play this evening? So I did.

The concert was a long one--and enjoyable--but what really won me over was the venue. The Grand Valley Dale Ballroom seemed like something out of another era. Apparently it has had quite a history, especially from the big band era. I had no idea.

What a cool step back in time by entering this facility. It's a wonder that it's still around. You'd think it would have been torn down by now. While easy to get to, it's off the beaten path and wouldn't seem like the place to bring in performers with national reputations now. Still, I'd have to think that stepping foot inside is all that would be needed to persuade someone that this was just as good as any downtown club, if not better.

An independent promoter has started booking his roots music (for lack of a better identifier) performance seasons here since the previous spot is being taken over. I've gotta say, I think he found a winner. I can't wait to go back.

A little night music

2011-11-17T22:54:00.001-05:00

Several years ago I found it helpful to listen to music when trying to go to sleep. Particularly good was an ambient music program on the local NPR station. Echoes, which is described as a "two-hour music soundscape" on its website, is tailor-made for such purposes. I don't mean that as a slight against the music on the show, even if it what appears on it isn't what I'd likely listen to during more wakeful parts of the day. It is good for passive listening, especially when trying to relax.

I hadn't listened to the show in a long time, but last week, for whatever reason, I tuned it in on the clock radio by my bed. I'd been trying to get the classical music station, but its move to a new frequency appears to mean I can't pull it in where I live. As I scanned down the dial, I landed upon the show I used to turn to for winding down.

It's been a stressful couple of weeks, so listening to Echoes has been good for attempting to clear my mind as I try to get to sleep. The only problem is that the show runs from 10 p.m. to midnight Mondays through Fridays. Typically it's unusual for me to hit the sack before 12 a.m., but I'm making an effort to curl up with the radio by 11:30. (Let's face it, I could stand to get to bed earlier, especially on weeknights.)

Depending how I set the sleep timer, I'll drift in and out of BBC news. On the weekend I've ended up hearing radio drama, which was actually kind of interesting, and what is the public radio version of a Saturday night dance party mix.

I hadn't engaged in this old habit of falling asleep to the radio. I think I did it fairly often growing up too, although the music was surely livelier. Honestly, sometimes it probably ends up keeping me awake longer. Still, it's kind of nice, and if it improves my sleeping habits, it can't be a bad thing.

Time of day

2011-11-16T23:04:00.001-05:00

I was looking for a song by U2 that shares the name with a certain popular series of books and film adaptations, the latest of which opens Friday. It was going to be a dumb joke leading into some thoughts on the whole phenomenon--I saw the latest entry tonight--but I've scrapped that because...well, because I wasn't sure where I was going with it. (I haven't liked any of the films, but I don't begrudge the audience that goes in droves liking them.)

So, instead here's another song by the band that came from the same performance. It's quite a good one. Plus, "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" is kind of what I always feel like when it comes to writing something for this space.

'Tis the season

2011-11-15T23:21:00.001-05:00

Social media introduces one to the sorts of things that may not be stumbled upon in the normal course of things. Today that saves my blogging bacon and keeps me on topic. So, here you go: knitted gnomes vs. snowmen.

In a mood

2011-11-14T22:33:00.001-05:00

Near the end of the work day and a metaphorical fire appears.

About a half hour later another one ignites.

Then I think I've lost my iPhone. (At least this turned out all right and I found it.)

The fires will have to continue to be dealt with tomorrow. In other words, I'm in no mood for much of anything tonight.

Adjusted

2011-11-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

Perhaps it's simply the result of being in better physical shape, but I've felt a lot better after the switch to Daylight Savings Time a week ago. I woke up that morning well rested and grateful for the extra hour on the clock. Even though this past week was a hectic one, I didn't feel tired or terribly thrown off by it getting darker earlier. Falling back is more appreciated than springing forward time-wise, naturally, but I want to say that both have typically required an adjustment period of some sort.

Not this time. I rolled with it and have been feeling about as good as I can remember. Best I can tell, it's because I'm actually getting restful nights of sleep, which didn't happen for most of last year and early stretches this year. There's no denying that exercise has played a big role in that.

It's funny what we get used to, even those things that aren't beneficial. After the car accident last year and the eventual physical therapy, I was still locked up some in the neck and upper back. While I didn't attribute the headaches or restless sleep to that, it seems apparent to me that the tightness in those areas was responsible for such effects. Having strengthened my shoulders and lower back, those problems have largely dissipated. My neck will still pop some, but it's nothing like what it was doing earlier this year. I'm thinking clearer too.

I'm often content to roll with the punches. How it is is how it is. While that is a useful way to go about things, especially when you don't feel much in control, I can see that making the necessary adjustments to what is in one's power can lead to improved results. I'm far from being in perfect condition, but that I'm feeling more like I'm there tells me a lot about where I was.

Unplanned hiatus

2011-11-12T22:17:00.001-05:00

There I go letting the daily blogging streak end last month. Look what that led to: not blogging most of this week. I couldn't even drag my sorry behind to the blog on 11/11/11.

So what's the deal? Mainly it's just been trying to keep my head above water. Work occupied a good share of my time this week. Then I had to go into scramble mode to clean up my apartment as my brother and his almost one-year-old flew up here a day earlier than expected. (My brother is in town to attend a wedding.) I was particularly concerned about how much of a hazard my place is for a baby, especially one crawling around. Then they got here. Simply put, there have not been enough hours in the day.

The upsides in all this are that my apartment is straightened up (somewhat), I found my missing checkbook, and I got to see my nephew again (even if I did lose some hours of sleep during his stay). But what a crazy week this has been. Or is that the theme for the year?

Winning and losing

2011-11-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

I like watching sports and do plenty of it. Of course I want my teams to win, but enduring years of losing shows that success isn't essential to keep me following them. But you know, winning is so much more fun.

I was hopeful for this fall's NHL season to start as the local franchise had made some splashy moves in the offseason and presumably addressed the biggest deficiencies. I was pretty pessimistic about my NFL team of choice as the football season approached. So far my expectations were completely wrong for both.

The hockey team has been dismal in getting off to a franchise worst start, which is saying something considering the club's history. How bad has it been? The season sure seemed like it was essentially over two weeks in. A month in it definitely looks like they're left playing for pride. Never mind that the regular season isn't over until early April. The team doesn't just lose; it looks uninspired. (They lost 9-2 last night in a sport in which putting up nine goals is not common.)

I am a partial season ticket holder for this team--I have a 10-game plan--and I'm kind of regretting having those tickets now. I'm not demanding them to field the best team in the league, but yeah, I do expect them not to put the worst one out there, especially since they're not in rebuilding mode. They're not even losing in ways that make my attention justifiable.

On the other hand, the football team has been surprisingly good, especially since I anticipated them being the worst team in the league this season. On the weeks their games haven't been on local TV I've gone to a sports bar and cheered them on. Imagine this. It's been fun. Everything seems to be going their way, and they are winning games. Dumb as it sounds, it feels good to watch them win.

I don't stake my identity or happiness on the outcomes of the games my teams compete in, yet the results do have an effect. For now I'm glad at least one of my teams is coming through. I hope it lasts.

Keep on running

2011-11-05T23:33:00.000-04:00

At best it was in the low 40s when the 5K road race began this morning. It may well have still been in the 30s. Wearing a thin long sleeve t-shirt, a light jacket, and shorts, I was dressed for the event, not the temperature. I certainly regretted that while waiting for the race to start, but once I got moving I was comfortable. This was more proof that running when it's on the cool side is preferable.

I felt very good throughout the run. Clearly my regular exercise on a recumbent bike has done wonders for improving my legs' strength, but it's the weight training that may have made the most difference. My posture and upper body strength are better, so I wasn't burning energy trying to avoid slouching over. Perhaps that's common sense, but I was surprised how much this affected my performance.

As I came around the last turn and saw the race clock, I opened it up and let it fly. My legs could more than handle a short sprint as I zipped by two people near the finish line.

I finished in 35:25, which is a good five minutes faster than the best time I've posted in the two other 5Ks I've run this year. (Because of my sensor not working in the first race and an estimated time in the second, I'm not sure exactly what I ran in those races. I was slower, though.) My goal is to break 30 minutes. If I get another crack at it this year is to be determined. Regardless, I'm on the right path. I've run in a fair number of races over the last fifteen years--probably about one a year--and this one was among the easiest. Do I have enough in the tank to slash another five minutes off my time? We shall see.

The night before

2011-11-04T23:59:00.000-04:00

Gotta get a good night's sleep as I'll be running in the Olympics tomorrow morning. Scratch that. It's a 5K race in the suburbs.

By the way, what a weird detail to include in this video at :35. There's a close-up of the composer taking a big drag on a cigarette.

The sands of time

2011-11-03T23:59:00.000-04:00

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future. As I try to keep up with everything and spin my wheels here, I wanted to post Squeeze's fun "Hourglass" video loaded with optical illusions, but embedding is disabled. The vintage Letterman clip up top is nice to see, though.

In the stream

2011-11-02T23:58:00.003-04:00

The day's already almost over?! OK then, a couple items recently in my Twitter stream:

-Anonymous art left around Scotland. (Seriously, take a look.)

-How to make kids hate you on Halloween. (I got a pretty good laugh out of this.)

Where it's at

2011-11-01T23:37:00.001-04:00

I have little need for personal checks in this era of debit and credit cards and online bill payment. I have one monthly bill that I must still pay by check, but an electronic option appears to be in the works soon. If it weren't for paying the rent, I'd come close to writing zero checks a year.

Yet that way of paying one bill remains, which is why the fact that I can't find my checkbook is all the more vexing. I have other checks on hand to make one out (and throw off the sequence), but the location of the half used checkbook is beyond me.

I looked in the two places where I expected it could and should be but came up empty-handed. Hmm. I'm certain it hasn't been stolen but that I've misplaced it. But where? It's probably under a stack of something. This means I really need to straighten up the place, doesn't it?

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T23:20:00.003-04:00

Really, is there anything else to say after that?

Situation normal

2011-10-30T23:32:00.003-04:00

You don't know what you got until it's gone...or until it returns. That's how the song goes, right?

The last few days I was feeling less than one hundred percent due to...well, let's just say a problem that had me running to the bathroom, so to speak. (Seriously, am I going there with this post?) Although it definitely caused discomfort, I felt OK otherwise, which may have made the whole situation worse. What brought it on all of a sudden? Why does it not seem to be going away?

I didn't give it much consideration for the first day and a half, but after that I began to wonder what was wrong. I picked up something from the grocery that I thought might do the trick. It didn't seem to help. I went back and asked a pharmacist for a suggestion. That didn't seem to make a difference at first. (I believe it has since worked.) I was getting ready to plan a trip to the doctor's office on Monday morning.

Today, though, everything has seemed OK. There haven't been any repeats of the distress that began Wednesday night and continued through Saturday. Whatever it was--a bug, something bad I ate--seems to have gone away. Phew.

Like I said, this wasn't anything really serious, but it has reminded me of how easy it is to take one's normal status for granted. I don't necessarily think about or take notice of feeling fine. It's sort of what I expect. Then something small but disruptive comes along and makes you appreciate how wonderful it is to feel like you usually do. Consider me suitably reminded.

Scary

2011-10-29T23:59:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for something scary to watch this Halloween, may I humbly suggest The House of the Devil? Made in the style of '80s horror films (and set at an indeterminate time in that decade), it's one of the scarier films I've seen in recent years, and it does a bang-up job of utilizing The Fixx song seen in its official video form at the top of this post. (I would have embedded that scene up top, but out of context I don't know that it sells it much. Plus, why ruin the fun?) It should be pretty easy to find for rental or streaming. Just don't blame me if it freaks you out.

Look, it's baseball

2011-10-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

A pretty good World Series concluded this evening, although not with the winning team I adopted and cheered on in person this postseason. The Texas Rangers will have to wait at least another year to get their first title in franchise history.

Last night's Game 6 was sloppy before transforming into the sort of game destined to become the stuff of legend. Folks were tripping over themselves this morning to declare it the Best Game Ever. It was a dramatic game, no doubt, but let's not rush to judgment.

As Octobers go in baseball, this was a terrific one. The playoffs featured a healthy amount of excitement. This World Series was probably the best one in awhile.

A recent tradition at this point in the year is for sports commentators to be poised to point out how baseball's TV ratings aren't as strong as in prior decades and note how this means the game is hurting. OK, fine, baseball has ceded it's status as America's favorite sport to football, but the number of people watching on broadcast television, say, thirty years ago versus now isn't a worthwhile comparison. Think of how many other channels and entertainment options are available now. A hundred or more cable channels, not to mention DVD/Blu-ray, streaming video, and the internet, are there to pull away viewers versus the four broadcast channels that dominated home entertainment back then. Of course the ratings don't measure up now, and i should care that they don't because why?

Of all the professional sports, baseball is the one that's there almost every day while it's in season for seven months. It's fitting that as this season ends the weather has just changed to colder temperatures, when it's time to change the type of clothing one wears. As baseball steps aside for a bit, so too do the warm months. They'll be back before we know it.

Dance, dance, dance

2011-10-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

Over the years I've come to realize that I like dance movies. I'm not sure why. It's not something I know particularly well or participate in. I had to learn some dances in a junior high physical education class, and I have reluctantly (and terribly) danced a couple times at weddings. That's about the extent of it.

I figured that if I enjoy these dance movies, then I ought to check out the real thing. An excellent opportunity to make good on my intention to see a dance performance presented itself through a production incorporating a band I like a lot (Radiohead) and an absurdly cheap ticket via Groupon. So I can now say that I have attended my first ballet.

Ballet Maribor's Radio & Juliet tells a spare version of Romeo & Juliet that is scored to slower and more industrial selections from the Radiohead catalog. I got the gist of the narrative--it's kind of familiar--and found the interaction with the songs to cast the lyrics in a different light from how they were intended. Could I say if it was good? I liked what I saw, but I can't speak to the artistic merits. I'm simply not knowledgeable enough to say one way or the other.

What surprised me? I didn't expect the dancers to be so quiet in their movements. It's not as if the music was blaring and thus covering up the sounds from the stage. I didn't expect the performance to be so short. (I clocked it at about 55 minutes.)

I wasn't sure what the etiquette is regarding applause after a piece/movement has concluded. The audience seemed a bit split, as there was crowd silence in the gaps between several routines and scattered shows of appreciation during others.

I'm glad I went and will have to check out another dance performance eventually. Fine arts!

Stunning

2011-10-26T23:59:00.000-04:00

I happened upon this stunning piece of work by accident. It's near where my brother and sister-in-law go to church in downtown Dallas. While we waited for her to get their son from the nursery, we wandered down to the Chapel of Thanksgiving in Thanks-Giving Square.

The stained glass spiral, which I recognized from being used in The Tree of Life, is in the ceiling of this building. The chapel is a small, unassuming room. Look up and...wow.

Bushed

2011-10-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

Flew back from Dallas today. Boy are my arms tired.

Yes, it's an old, predictable joke. It doesn't ignore the fact that I'm bushed.

See you tomorrow.

Pit stop

2011-10-24T23:21:00.000-04:00

On my last full day in Texas for this trip, what else could I do but get some barbecue? My brother vouched for the excellence of Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell, and he was dead on. With the way I've eaten down here, it's a good thing I'm leaving on Tuesday.

For the meat you order by the pound. Be careful.

The chicken poppers--mesquite smoked chicken wrapped with green pepper, onion, and bacon--were unbelievably good. I may regret having to work off this meal, but it was delicious.

Even the taxidermied animals are excited about the Rangers and their bid to win the World Series.

Game 4

2011-10-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

As a lifelong baseball fan, what a thrill it was to be at a World Series game. My team wasn't playing, and the seat, while certainly satisfactory, was not exactly close. It didn't matter. Here I was at one of only six or seven of these games that will be played, and I'm there with one of my brothers and my eleven-month-old nephew. (I know that sounds like a bad idea for the little one to be there. I said as much. Nevertheless, the little guy was really well behaved.)

Although a Dallas Cowboys regular season game was taking place across the parking lot, the ballpark was predictably packed with folks eager to see the Texas Rangers even the series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Zooey Deschanel was there to sing the National Anthem (and promote her sitcom on the game's network broadcaster).

There were flags, including this big one on the field during pre-game...

...and a former baseball great (Nolan Ryan) and former President (George W. Bush).

The sellout crowd went nuts when Mike Napoli hit a three run home run to put the Rangers ahead 4-0.

All in all, it was a beautiful night in the mid to upper 60s. I'm sure there's more I can say, but it's been plenty of work to get this posted after tonight's game.

Baby, water gardens, birds, tacos

2011-10-22T23:59:00.000-04:00

Babies are shameless, especially ones who are related.

The Fort Worth Water Gardens seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Pretty though.

Especially in a secluded spot like this one.

Looking out at downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

I could not believe how loud these birds (grackles?) were, let alone the number of them.

Yeah, I had to eat here. That logo!

Food and family

2011-10-21T23:50:00.002-04:00

I could write up some thoughts about things I observed or pondered today, but this photo pretty much summarizes it all. This was a travel day--I'm now in between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas where my brother and sister-in-law live--and it's been marked by the food I've eaten and the company I've kept, namely my nephew.

The last time I saw my nephew was at Christmas, about a month after he was born. We got along famously, and I showed him off to my parents via Skype.

I've been doing a good job of eating sensibly...but not today. In addition to some airport barbecue in Memphis, I had my first visit to the fabled In-N-Out Burger. I enjoyed a double double animal style (but without cheese), fries, and a Neapolitan shake.

It was quite a busy day but a good one. And just think, I still have a World Series game to attend while I'm down here.

The night before

2011-10-20T23:59:00.000-04:00

The night before leaving for a trip never fails to be far too busy. While I get ready (and try to get into bed for a good night's rest) for my trip to Texas, let me point you toward a local effort via a knitting clinic to show support for a Girl Scout leader with a form of leukemia.

The right attitude

2011-10-19T23:20:00.001-04:00

Not much to say other than this longtime knitter certainly has the right attitude.

Let's hear it for the boys

2011-10-18T23:34:00.001-04:00

Here's a nice story about boys at a grade school in London who have taken to knitting. The most surprising part to me is not that boys have taken to it but that the school's name is Dog Kennel.

Gold star

2011-10-17T23:59:00.000-04:00

I had an unexpected twelve-hour work day, so in lieu of writing anything, here's a (relative) oldie but a goodie from one of my all-time favorite bands.

Historical

2011-10-16T23:29:00.001-04:00

"The Duke of Windsor, seriously worried over a virtual British government boycott of his wedding, has resorted to knitting to soothe his jangling nerves, it was understood today.

Such was the news in the May 22, 1937 edition of The Pittsburgh Press. Somehow this detail didn't make it into The King's Speech.

Last minute trip

2011-10-15T23:59:00.000-04:00

And with this result, it means I'm headed to Dallas next weekend. Crazy.

It started with me thinking, "Huh, I wonder if my brother might be able to scrounge up tickets to a World Series game down there and if flights are reasonable." Both rhetorical questions could be answered in the affirmative, although the latter took a little bit more looking--and buying blindly from Hotwire--since the airline I was going to fly on doubled their round trip rates between Tuesday and tonight. Raised costs in the intervening days had been my big concern, but I wasn't going to book until the game was a certainty. Even when the Rangers led by a likely insurmountable number of runs, I avoided booking. Ultimately I paid less than I expected, although I'm getting back a bit later than I had hoped.

It'll be fun to go to the game and see my nephew, who will have nearly doubled his age since I saw him last. I expect it will also be nice simply to get away for a few days too. What a year of unexpected activities and travels.

Friday night video

2011-10-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

Crashing into the end of the work week and too fried to write. Enjoy a new song from Wilco.

Five years

2011-10-13T23:58:00.000-04:00

Five years ago I had my first crash course in how to knit. Has it really been that many years?

Admittedly, my knitting has fallen off this past year, and I'm not nearly as fanatical as I was in the first year or two. Chalk that up to the enthusiasm of the newly converted and a real need to knit to keep me calm from the drama of stress where I was living and at work. It was inevitable that I wouldn't be cranking out scarves at the rate I was then. (I also had a deadline to meet.)

Looking back, the biggest question for me is where did I find the time? (That's a recurring question for me these days.) OK, so I wasn't sleeping as much then, and I knit a lot more while watching television. Blame the HDTV for some of my productivity drop-off.

I'm glad to have learned how to knit, and I really need to get back to doing more. Now would be as good of a time as any, wouldn't it?

Saturation

2011-10-12T23:59:00.000-04:00

Seven of the last eight nights I've not been home for the majority of the evening. Some of it's been for pleasure, some of it's been for work. All of it points back to my feeling that there aren't enough hours in the day.

So, beginning with Saturday, I think I need to vow to be at home at night for a week straight and heed these two words: slow down.

Making the unlikely likely

2011-10-11T23:25:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what it is about this year, but if there's a recurring theme, it is that the unlikely has become likely. To be sure, none of these things are necessarily unusual. I suppose I just didn't foresee them happening even if I made explicit plans at some point in the process.

For instance, until this year I hadn't been to New York City and didn't exactly see it as somewhere I'd be going anytime soon. Driving there, not to mention the cost, intimidated me. Having a brother who was conveniently (and temporarily) located in that area for a spell made it feasible. I had a great time, figured out how to "do" NYC, and went back a second time this year.

For awhile I'd also wanted to go to the Toronto International Film Festival but thought the price was probably too steep. When the circumstances around a closer fest led me to cut back on how much of it I attended, I started thinking about how to divert some of what I would have spent toward going to the big international event. Looking ahead allowed me to determine if it was doable and find someone to split the costs. And so I went to TIFF and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Today I thought about the possibility of going to a World Series game in Texas. My Dallas-Fort Worth-dwelling brother and sister-in-law went to one last year. At least before tonight's game the Rangers were looking like good bets to advance to this fall's World Series, so I shot my brother an e-mail to see if he might have access to tickets. If the Rangers host games, two of the three are during the weekend, so I could make a quick trip down there, see a game, and be back at work with missing little or no time. Some reasonably priced flights are out there. So, if the Rangers make it to the World Series, there's a good chance I may go to a game. (I might even drive, if that's what it takes.)

As a lifelong baseball fan, the idea of going to a World Series game is pretty exciting even if I'd have no vested interest in who's playing. (I will certainly be a good citizen and root for the home team if I end up there.) I would have thought attending one of these was unlikely, yet there I was today working out a plan that should click.

The lesson in all this, if there is one other than "plan", is that I am in charge of making the unlikely likely, at least to a certain degree. (Obviously there are things that are out of everyone's control.) I'll be the first to admit that it is easier for me to sit back, let things happen as they do, and wait for something to occur, even if the results (or lack of them) aren't always what I might prefer. In the things I've listed above there was no real risk in deciding to put plans in motion to achieve them, yet it took a smidgen of initiative to make them possible. The challenge, I suppose, is applying that in other scenarios.

Insert punchline

2011-10-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

Since I saw this sign I've been trying to come up with the perfect joke about Schrödinger's cat, but with so many options, I've not been able to settle on any.

For what it's worth, I'm not laughing at the misfortune of those who have lost the cat. But the uncertainty about the whereabouts of a cat with that name, which is why it amuses me, is almost too good to be true.

Acknowledged

2011-10-09T23:44:00.000-04:00

I had a good run of blogging here every day for about four and a half years, but with how busy or tired I've been this fall, it's time to acknowledge that I've slipped too far behind on empty days. Yes, I have entries in mind for the dry spell early last week. Yes, I could go back and fill in yesterday's blank spot and the couple I have in September after returning from Toronto. But I think it's best to consider that streak finished and move on. I'm too far behind now to try and plug the holes.

I'll still operate with the goal of blogging every day. I like the idea of writing something each day even if the difficulty of doing so caught up with me. There's no doubt I've been somewhat stuck for awhile when it comes to writing here, especially since my knitting has ground to a halt. There's also no doubt that finding time for everything I want to do has been a challenge.

With the old streak officially ended, consider this a reboot. Sometimes that's needed to get things working properly again.

Blind luck

2011-10-07T23:38:00.002-04:00

A new pro hockey season is here, and excitement is in the air around the local team. They made some major moves in the off-season and should be better. They lost 3-2 tonight, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself this evening anyway.

The picture at the top of the post shows where my seat was. I joked how I was on the glass, just not the one anyone would think of. Incredibly, though, someone wanted my seat and was willing to trade tickets. When I found out where his was, I quickly agreed to a swap. Where did I move to?

I went from eight rows in the upper bowl to six rows from the ice. The trader had two friends sitting directly behind me and wanted to be near them. That's also the only explanation why anyone would trade a ticket that cost more than double for mine.

I've sat in the lower bowl for a hockey game on three occasions. One was lucking out and finding a scalper looking to dump a ticket close to the game and when demand was low. Another time the franchise did an upgrade for one game of my partial season ticket package. They're nice spots to watch the game, although they do have their drawbacks--and no, I'm not referring to the higher prices. From this corner I couldn't see the flow of play develop as well, especially if it on the near side at the other end. Still, the trade off is getting a much better sense of the game's speed and power. Plus, with this being a sold out opening night, the crowd was really into it, which made for a fun environment down there.

As if being close wasn't enough, during a break the promotions team threw pizza boxes into the seating and one happened to land in my lap. So I won a free large pizza too. (If you've ever been curious what is inside the boxes, a coupon the size of a business card is taped inside.)

Sure, I would have been happy to stay in my original seat and leave with nothing more than the team winning, but this sort of thing doesn't happen often. For one evening I gladly accepted the trade-off.

Temporary hiatus

2011-10-06T23:24:00.002-04:00

With four days of no activity here, you might be wondering what's up. Honestly, it's nothing more than being busy and tired. (I went to bed at 10:30 p.m. Monday, if that tells you anything.) Finding the time or energy has been a challenge.

The thing is, I have entries in mind for the currently empty days this week. Hopefully this weekend I can go back and fill those gaps and render this one moot. It seems silly--just move on, right?--but I do feel like I've neglected this space.

I may need to make a change, such as writing earlier in the night. Thinking about blogging after 10 or 11 p.m. isn't cutting it right now.

Anyway, if you were wondering why I'd suddenly turned silent, that's what's up.

Scraps

2011-10-01T21:19:00.003-04:00

-Something I brought back with me from Canada: squeezing fresh lime in a Pepsi. One of the places I ate at in Toronto provided a lime wedge when I ordered a Pepsi. It seemed like a weird combination, but it is a nice complement to the soda. I did see Pepsi Lime as a bottled product that could be purchased up north, but best as I can tell, it's only available (maybe) in its diet version in the U.S.

-Seeing that my preferred pre-packaged salad was on sale, I bought a couple containers of it. At checkout the product ran up as $5.99. The tag read $2.88. I don't necessarily keep a close eye on the prices that are rung up, but the large difference here caught my attention. I went back and looked, and sure enough, the scanned price was wrong. The clerk adjusted the price without any trouble, but I was really surprised that the price was that far off. The regular price is 41 cents more, so it wasn't like the sale price hadn't made it into the system. The price was completely wrong. Guess I better keep closer watch on what price things scan at.

-Speaking of unexpected prices, I headed to the campus area to see a couple movies in the late morning and early afternoon. The theater isn't terribly close to Ohio Stadium. I wouldn't consider the parking garage for it a logical place to park if going to the college football game, yet four and a half hours before kickoff this garage wanted $20 upfront. (Ordinarily it's $1 per hour, with the theater validating for $1 for three hours.) I explained that I was there to see a movie but was told that didn't matter. I had to pay for parking and would get a coupon for a "free" movie ticket and popcorn. (A drink might have been in the mix too, but that didn't matter.) Outrageous. Never mind that I have a pass that already means I'm not paying for a ticket. Even without it I wouldn't have been spending $20 there, nor would I have wanted the forced purchase of concessions.

-I hope it warms up a little bit. So far we've skipped right on by the slightly cooler fall weather.

Canary

2011-09-30T23:59:00.000-04:00

Like a dinosaur, I still purchase CDs. Perhaps I don't buy as many at brick-and-mortar stores as I used to, but that's because selection has declined at places like Best Buy. That alone should be an indication of where the future of physical media is headed.

The canary in the coal mine that I want to address, though, is the number of shoppers I see when I'll drop in on a new release Tuesday. It used to be that the stores would be busy and the parking lots were relatively full. Over the last couple years I've noticed that there are a lot fewer cars outside and a lot fewer people inside. I can go around lunch time and not have to wait to check out. Best Buy is the behemoth of the big box electronics retailers that's still standing, but how much longer can they still make a go of it?

Sure, when Christmas shopping madness kicks into gear at Thanksgiving, I'm sure the lines will be long and the parking lots packed. Maybe the fourth quarter is enough to sustain business, but I'm beginning to wonder if most of these big retailers, which have fought a war of attrition to rule their markets, can last in the long haul.

Granted, this is just anecdotal evidence, but years of new release Tuesday shopping shows me that there's definitely a decline in those joining me.

Time

2011-09-29T23:59:00.000-04:00

Seems like I don't have enough of it these days.

162

2011-09-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

Realistically my Reds have been out of the pennant race for two months, if not longer. It was a disappointing year to be a fan of the baseball team in Cincinnati. A busy September and nothing to see them play for meant I watched few of their games as they played out the string.

Still, I am a baseball fan, so I tuned in to see which teams would grab the last two spots in the playoffs. I didn't have any particular rooting interest. Sure, I preferred for Atlanta and Tampa to advance, but it didn't have anything invested in the outcomes.

As it turns out, it was a great night to be a fan of the sport. Of the four games that mattered, only one didn't require one's close attention. Two went to extra innings, one of which probably never should have needed the additional frames. One was decided with a two-out ninth inning rally. Two of the games with somewhat improbable endings wrapped within minutes of each other.

Except for sporting events, technology and time-shifting have rendered live viewing of television largely inessential. (You can get away with recording games to watch later, but you're also probably more in danger of having the result spoiled.) Tonight's dramatic conclusion of the regular season had to be experienced as it happened, though. Whether it was switching between channels or interacting with friends through Twitter as we watched the games while hundreds of miles apart, being in the moment is what made it so thrilling. It certainly was worth fighting through the slumber trying to overtake me.

Cosby sweater

2011-09-27T23:59:00.000-04:00

Now this what I call a Cosby sweater.

Round two

2011-09-26T23:26:00.000-04:00

Having recovered from last week's first sessions with a student trainer, I returned today for a second week. Basically I spent last week sore from the workouts, but it comes with the territory. I'd had enough days off that I was looking forward to continuing the work.

And once again I left emptied. Honestly, it would be comical except for the struggling to do much of anything with my arms after these workouts. They've been turned into gelatin. It takes practically all I have to pick up something or take off my shirt. (Lifting my arms up is a real struggle.)

I'm interested to see if this is going to be an occurrence twice a week for almost the remainder of the year. If so, Monday and Wednesday evenings will find me being virtually useless.

A Sunday read

2011-09-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

Amid the frantic pace I've been keeping I find that Sundays are best as prescribed: a time of rest. And watching (or sleeping during) football games.

Still, I want to blog something, and since I've been light on the knitting content, I thought I'd dig up a link to something that applies to it. So, here you go: the daughter of The Clash's Joe Strummer talks about handcrafting and knitting in the punk tradition.

On your mark

2011-09-24T20:04:00.001-04:00

A student group at my alma mater put together a 5K Homecoming run to raise money for charity. I knew that I could use the exercise and was curious to see how I'd fare. So I signed up despite not spending any time on the recumbent bike the last two and a half weeks and being sore from some weight training. Since my legs felt fine, I figured I could run the race without much difficulty.

The good news: I ran the whole thing, and generally I felt pretty good. The cool weather was to my liking, even if it was a bit on the chilly side. The mix of track, pavement, and grass was easy on the knees. The muddy terrain made for some treacherous turns, but it wasn't so bad at my low speed. My time was within a range that I'd consider acceptable for now.

I could have posted a faster time if I hadn't needed to stop eight to ten times to stop and tie a shoe whose laces kept coming undone, and I imagine that running in some of the slop slowed me down. Since the finish line's exact location was somewhat unclear, I didn't air it out at the end, which kept the time slower too.

But I wasn't really running for the time. I was running to see if I could do it and do better than the 4th of July race. I was running to see how I felt during and after. I was running to get in another exercise session that I hadn't been able to fit in during the week.

I felt good throughout the day and feel good now. All things considered, I'd have to consider this race a big success for me. Next time around, though, I'd like to see what I'm capable of beyond merely surviving.

Why not?

2011-09-23T23:59:00.002-04:00

Consider it aspirational thinking. I signed up today for a 5K on Saturday morning. I'm probably not ready for it, but why not run it?

My arms are still sore from training sessions this week. I'm going to be busy working for a good portion of Saturday. Taking that time in the morning to get some extra sleep or just sit at home and be wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Instead, I'm going to wrench myself out of bed before 8 a.m. and attempt to run this entire race. Wish me luck.

Zzzz

2011-09-22T23:59:00.000-04:00

Long day. I just want to put this on repeat and fall asleep to it.

Talk about the passion

2011-09-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

R.E.M. announced that they were calling it quits today. As a longtime fan I'm a little sad that they're hanging it up as a band, but they had a long, remarkably consistent run. The last two albums have been a return to form after easily their weakest effort and thus make for as appropriate of a way for them to close the book as anything.

Perhaps there will be the standard new album and reunion down the line, but I don't get the sense they'll take that path. Whether they were a big underground band or a big (and somewhat unlikely) mainstream rock outfit, they didn't seem to be all that different. I get the sense that the guys will continue to work on their own projects and be content to see where that takes them.

As best I can remember, the first time I heard R.E.M. was when "The One I Love" began getting radio play. I was a freshman in high school and not particularly into "alternative" music. In fact, I thought they and some of their peers were weird.

For that matter, I didn't buy music then. I listened to the radio but wasn't all that caught up in rock and roll. Document produced some pop hits, as did their major label debut Green, and I had friends who were fans. Still, I didn't get on board until Out of Time and "Losing My Religion", which I consider among my all-time favorite songs.

For me U2 and R.E.M.--the two were virtually inseparable as modern rock titans--became a gateway to another kind of music being made that was at least a bit off the beaten path and of my generation. To like R.E.M. was to assert one's identity as quite distinctly different from the hair metal bands and classic rock vestiges that dominated the rock mainstream then.

For a time R.E.M. surely held the title as my favorite band. I collected albums and singles and lusted for the imports I'd see at record stores but wouldn't buy due to their high price tags and sketchy origins. I desperately wanted to see them live, but I became a fan right when they took an extended break from touring.

I finally got to see them two days before my college graduation in 1995. Despite buying tickets in advance through the radio station where I was doing part-time work, I didn't have a great seat, but it didn't much matter. I managed to see them two other times, in Cleveland in 1999 and in Cincinnati in 2004.

That last time seeing them was fraught with my peril. Originally the concert was scheduled for Akron. I had a seat in the second or third row--fantastic!--and just happened to find out a few weeks before it that the concert was cancelled. It was rescheduled for Cincinnati and put on sale with little notice where I live. I was the first (and only) person in line at Ticketmaster when I plunked down the money to see them. This time I ended up in the front row. I could hardly believe my luck. If that is to be my final memory of seeing the band, how can I complain?

R.E.M. hasn't been a huge band in commercial terms in a long time, certainly not what they were in the late '80s through mid '90s. Whereas The Beatles and Led Zeppelin were still touchstones for my generation, does R.E.M. fill the same role for today's high school and college students? I tend to doubt it, mainly because they were never THAT massive, but the music blogs have healthy respect for them that may sustain R.E.M. through younger listeners.

For those my age, though, it does feel like a shift. My Twitter feed had plenty of comments and memories from fellow Generation Xers about the band's role in shaping what they listened to and what it was like to see them live. I feel like they and U2 were on that last wave where being the biggest band in the world meant something. As much as I love some of their inheritors--Arcade Fire, for instance--is it still possible for a rock group to penetrate mass consciousness like that?

Although the mainstream was hip to them for awhile, R.E.M. was never a trendy band, and that may be a key reason why they will endure. Listening to their songs and albums today, they don't sound especially dated. Sure, I link them to specific periods in my life, and I suppose at some point I may listen to them out of nostalgia. The workmanlike solidity of their music should still hold appeal, though, for future teenagers...or so I hope. R.E.M. was never The Beatles, nor was that what they were meant to be. Nevertheless, they are a defining band of the '80s and '90s, and it'd be nice to know that they have a deserved place in the canon in the years to come.

Looking for the magic

2011-09-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Busy. Tired. Have had this song stuck in my head since seeing it in a film that used it a lot.

Work it out

2011-09-19T21:41:00.003-04:00

I had my first workout with a student trainer as part of a program at the university, and boy are my arms tired. Rather, make that almost every fiber in me.

I know that I need to get stronger, particularly in the shoulders and lower back, so that's what we're working on. It's not about getting ripped but getting in shape and feeling better. I still have some issues lingering from the car accident last year that are related to being weaker in the upper back. This seems like as good of a way as any of fixing them.

I think it's fair to say that on day one he pushed me to my limit, or at least what that point was today. Talk about having little left in the tank. My arms were so tired that I didn't feel like I could carry much of anything after we were done. And I was starving.

I've done little to no work on my own with weights, so I imagine results should come quickly if I push my way through the workouts. I'm sure these early sessions are going to leave me drained and likely sore the following day. It'll be worth it, but I can't say I expected to be so thoroughly tired after this first one.

Backposting

2011-09-18T22:07:00.000-04:00

I've gone back and posted photos and a few words on my trip that I didn't have time for when I was actually in Toronto. So, you can scroll down or use this handy list of links:

-September 8
-September 9
-September 10
-September 11
-September 12
-September 13

I still have two other days of backposting to do--those would be the days where I essentially came home and slept--but these posts should give you a taste of my time at the movies in Canada.

Zonked

2011-09-17T22:42:00.004-04:00

I'm getting backlogged on the currently unblogged days. Blame Canada.

Undoubtedly the lack of sleep and go, go, go nature of my time up north caught up with me since I've returned. Thursday night I came home from a long day of work and proceeded to doze for a couple hours before getting up and going to bed. Friday followed the same pattern.

I'm usually a light sleeper, but on both of these occasions and during my time in Toronto, when I was out, I was out. I did feel better during the day than I have since Tuesday, and I haven't really napped tonight. I'll take that as a sign that I'm mostly back to normal.

Let's face it. I was overdue to crash like this. I felt remarkably good during the six days in Toronto, especially since I was getting around five or six hours of sleep a night. If this post-trip weariness is the price to be paid, I'll take that every time.

But it is taking some time to get back into the swing of things.

Off the grid

2011-09-14T20:55:00.000-04:00

Despite my intentions to post photographs at a minimum while I was in Toronto, that's all going to be happening after the fact. Truth is, some occasional wi-fi issues and an insanely busy (and insanely fun) schedule kept me from keeping up here. I'll be going back and adding pictures on the days I took them. I did the blog entries in my head; I just didn't have the time to take care of business. I had 22-waking hour days on the dates I arrived and departed, so cut me a little slack.

The event I was attending surpassed my high expectations. I did not want to leave. In fact, my friend and I stuck around quite a bit longer and left twelve hours or so later than originally intended.

There was only one drawback, and that had to do with data rates when you leave the country. Driving over the border jacked the data rate to $15.36 per megabyte. I turned off data roaming, push notifications, and 3G to avoid racking up an enormous bill. While I could connect to wi-fi when I found it, I was effectively off the grid while roaming the streets. (Taking note of internet hotspots was important, especially since I was trying to organize meet-ups while out and about.)

On one hand it was nice to be freed forcibly from the phone. There would be no constant maintenance of e-mail, particularly those from work. From a mental perspective I was very much in the physical surroundings. As much as I might ordinarily rely on the smartphone's tools in this situation, I was able to get by in "the old way", although this was probably more of a hybrid.

I was also largely divorced from the news of the world. I didn't have time to monitor everything, so when I did have time, I was keeping up with a Twitter list that was of direct use regarding the event. There's so much noise in the media that it was nice to escape it, as unlikely as that might sound for being downtown in a major international city.

The downside is that I do rely on the ability to be in constant communication with anyone and everyone. I met up with several colleagues, some I've met before and some I've never met. Trying to coordinate plans to get together was a challenge, especially if I'd go eight hours or more without being able to contact them. If I wanted to find a place in an unfamiliar city on the spur of the moment, I probably couldn't.

Anyway, I'm back on now and have no plans (for now) to leave where I live until Thanksgiving, so I'm back to being plugged in all the time. Perhaps I'll be more mindful of how it?

Bonus day

2011-09-13T23:59:00.000-04:00

The original plan was to return home this morning, but neither of us really wanted to leave. So, I ended up being able to stick around for four more films, including the one I most wanted to see at the festival. That also meant leaving around 8:45 p.m. and arriving home at 4:00 a.m. on September 14th. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Up top you see the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the two restaurants--the O&B Canteen on ground level, Luma on the second floor--attached to it.

Here's a look at the swanky VISA Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre.

And here's Damsels in Distress director Whit Stillman and cast members Carrie MacLemore, Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, and Analeigh Tipton.

With that, I bid Toronto adieu. I had a wonderful time and hated to go. Hopefully I'll be back no later than a year from now.

Eat and run

2011-09-12T23:59:00.000-04:00

If there's only one time for one meal a day while I'm at the film festival, make it count, right? Big Smoke Burger on King St. E. fit the bill today.

Business as usual

2011-09-11T23:59:00.000-04:00

I'd like to be sampling Toronto's cuisine more than I've had time for. Basically it's been a donut and one meal, but I was able to sit and enjoy my lunch today at the O&B Canteen, which is next to the festival's hub, the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

There's really no reason for posting another view of my lunch other than to give you a little bit better sense of the surroundings.

And then I saw the new film starring Val Kilmer and directed by that guy who made The Godfather.

If this all seems frivolous on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, well, that's how I spent the day. I'll admit that it was kind of a relief not to be around what I imagine was inescapable reflecting on the tragedy. The festival acknowledged it with a well-intended but ultimately misguided short that preceded each film. September 11 falls during the festival every year and affected the tenor of it in 2001, not that I was at it then. So bringing it up made sense, even if the piece about it was, umm, awkward.

Off the red carpet

2011-09-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

The film festival up here has its share of glitz and glamour. I've seen a few filmmakers on the streets but haven't walked by any stars in the normal course of attending films. I happened to be near the Moneyball red carpet on Friday and tried to peek through the throng to see if I could see anyone I may have caught a glimpse of Brad Pitt, but I couldn't tell you for sure if it was him. That was kind of a crazy scene.

I am getting to see directors, actors, and actresses on a pretty regular basis when they introduce films and talk about them after they've played. Up above you see the director and star of Trishna. I don't expect you to know who Michael Winterbottom is, but you may recognize Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, or L'Oreal ads.

The screening for Melancholia had a red carpet, although for those of us lined up to get inside, there wasn't much gawking we could do as we were ushered inside. For us the star power was reserved for the stage. Showing up for the premiere were Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgård, Kiefer Sutherland, and Udo Kier.

I'm not up here for the celebrity spotting, but it is kind of exciting to see these folks. Coming out of Melancholia I was about ten feet from the red carpet for the next film and caught good looks of Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks. Yep, I guess I'm at a big, international event.

Say what?

2011-09-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

I know a fair number of people who are up here at the festival, although some of them I've never met. I have an iPhone to keep me connected with people, but while I'm in the city (or in this country, period) I'm at the mercy of those places pumping out free wi-fi to try and arrange meet-ups.

Crazily enough, I've attended six films so far and not sat by myself for any of them. Today I had lunch with a local at C'est What, met someone else at another film by virtue of each of us describing our clothing on Twitter, and ran into someone I know from home at the last one.

On King Street W. on the walk back to the hotel I passed by a promotional trailer--literally!--that's pictured at the top of this post. It was a bit strange to see someone in a hazmat suit attending to someone having a seizure on a gurney, but Contagion doesn't just promote itself.

Quite a start

2011-09-08T23:59:00.000-04:00

I knew I'd have to wait in a line of some sort to pick up my tickets, and I calculated at least an hour when backtiming for my arrival in Toronto. With my first film at 6:00 p.m. at a theater that is approximately a twenty to thirty minute walk from the festival box office and calculating that I want to be in line there by 5:15, then I figured I ought to get into town by 3:00 or 3:30.

The plan was to leave at 6:30 a.m. I slept maybe four restless hours before finally giving up and getting up at 4:45. It's not the way to start what would prove to be a long day--I was up about 22 straight hours--but the extra time gave me the comfort of knowing I had everything ready to go and not being in a hurry.

Because neither my friend nor I were hungry and we went through a stretch where there wasn't anywhere compelling to stop to eat, we made fantastic time with just one bathroom stop and another one for gas and its weird Canadian pricing. Cents per liter?!

Arriving at the downtown hotel at 2:00 p.m. would then seem to give me time to breathe. The room wasn't ready, so I figured the best bet was to get the tickets and then figure things out from there. As it turned out, the extra time was essential. After walking to the festival box office and picking up the ticket package with ease, I then found one of those quirks of the system. Picking up the individual tickets I ordered meant getting into a different line. (I could also turn in my vouchers and do any exchanges in this line.) That line only took, oh, about 90 minutes to get through.

Since I was not going to be heading back to the hotel--and would not be there until about 2:30 a.m.--I began heading to the first theater. At this point I realized I had no Canadian currency. I popped into a Hilton on the way and got money changed at an absurd rate. (Nice little racket there with the fee everyone charges. It was the same changing money at a bank.)

And then I saw three movies.

Did I mention all I'd had to eat all day was a cinnamon roll and a decaf coffee? After the third movie I did get a slice of pizza at 2:00 a.m. and ate it while walking the twenty minutes or so to the hotel...where the room was not in my name and I did not have a key.

Luckily I didn't have any problems at the hotel and finally collapsed into bed by 2:45. Quite a start to the festival.

Another year

2011-09-07T20:49:00.002-04:00

And as the calendar turns to today, I celebrate my birthday.

It's been a modest day. I enjoyed a partially free breakfast as I scheduled my pick-up of a free spicy chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-a for this morning. (I paid for the coffee and mini hash browns.) A quick web search turned up that Firehouse Subs gives you a free medium sub on your birthday, so lunch was mostly on them. (I sprung for chips and a drink.) I paid for all of supper.

Since I'm leaving for Toronto in the morning, today has been more about getting ready for the trip than anything else. In previous years this would have been a slow day at the office, but there was plenty to take care of there. Tonight at home will be packing and doublechecking that I have everything I need. With my focus so otherwise directed, it's kind of hard to think of this as my birthday.

The trip to the film festival isn't a birthday gift I'm giving myself, but it does tie in nicely. That I had my first meeting with a trainer on this day is also coincidental. This is a free program with the university's student trainers, and I figured I could use some help mixing things up with my workouts. Twice a week for the next three months or so I'll have someone else putting me through the paces.

It has been nice to see the birthday wishes come in, and overall the day has been a good one. Has it been anything special? Not really. That's OK. There will be plenty of fun in the days ahead to make up for a relatively quiet and business-like birthday.

Summer's end

2011-09-06T22:36:00.001-04:00

Since Labor Day has come and gone, the summer is unofficially over. So how did I do with all the little projects I hoped to immerse myself in? Not very well, it turns out.

I read The Hunger Games trilogy in a short period of time, but those were the last books I read. I started an Elmore Leonard novel but didn't get very far in it. The TV series on DVD that I hoped to catch up on didn't find their way into the player except for a few episodes.

I started the summer sitting on one of my balconies, enjoying being outside, and watching the birds. Somewhere along the line I got too busy and that fell by the wayside. I really should do some of that this fall.

Where did all that time go? What did I do with it? I'm not entirely sure, although I'm guessing that work and exercise took up a significant part of it.

While the summer went much too quickly and wasn't filled with some of the media I'd hoped to consume, I certainly can't complain about how the season turned out. There were trips to D.C., New York, Cincinnati, Dayton, Ann Arbor, and my parents' new home. I saw a fair number of baseball games and two Broadway plays. I attended concerts of some favorites who don't get here often but came nearby twice and saw a Beatle for the first time.

And in less than 48 hours I'll be in Toronto. What a way for fall to unofficially begin.

In advance

2011-09-06T00:04:00.001-04:00

Do you find yourself getting stressed out before a vacation? I know I have often put myself in the situation of not packing early enough or getting everything together in order sooner than I do. Plans? Those are usually set well ahead of time. Doing what needs to get me out the door? That's usually reserved for the last minute, and it does me no favors.

I am trying to be better prepared for the trip to Canada this week. Part of the reason is because there have been so many moving pieces that I don't want to be scrambling at the last minute. I want to get to bed early the night before--yes, even if it is my birthday--so I'll be rested before an early rise and lengthy drive.

I gave up a significant portion of today to working. While I didn't complete everything on the list, I was pleased with my productivity. I made good strides. I plan to hit the sack at a reasonable hour to reset my clock. (This will do me no good once at the festival, but I'm most concerned with that first day.) I want to do most of the packing on Tuesday so it's not a concern on the day before departure.

I've been stressing out about this trip for awhile, mainly because there's been so much to keep on top of. Hotel reservations were made three or four months ago. I bought the ticket package about two months ago. Last week required getting the specific tickets allotted where I wanted. That's done, at least for what's within my control. Who's driving and when we're leaving has not been discussed, although I kind of figure that I'll be the one who ends up behind the wheel. By virtue of the ticket distribution giving me something Thursday night, I have a much more pressing need to get there with ample time, thus necessitating an early morning departure. Then there's figuring out where to park, how to get around, etc.

Let's put it this way: I've been dreaming about all this.

I'm sure things will go fine and that I'll have a good time. The anxiety leading up to it, though, has been more than I expected. And so help me if I somehow forget my passport.

Recharging

2011-09-04T23:59:00.001-04:00

Some moviegoing, some napping, some straightening up around the apartment, and some TV viewing. (I had three episodes of Breaking Bad to catch up on, including tonight's latest installment.) That's what passed for this Labor Day weekend Sunday.

Call it the calm before the storm (or after the storm considering the busy nature of last week). I'm planning to work on Monday so that I'll have cleared the one thing that could be hanging over me while I'm gone for a bit. I want to be able to go to the festival without that writing nagging me. I expect the abbreviated work week to be plenty packed as is, so if I can feel like I got ahead of something before going out of town, all the better.

Speaking of which, I'm already anticipating that my schedule in Toronto is going to preclude much in the way of blogging here. So, for whoever's reading, I'll promise to post a photograph and some short bit about the day while I'm in Canada. Anything more than that is icing on the cake and, frankly, not likely to happen.

First batch

2011-09-03T21:41:00.003-04:00

I tried my hand at homemade Oreos tonight, but due to my mistakes, I imagine they look better than they taste. If you'd like to attempt to make them, correct these errors that I made.

-Roll the dough out more.

You can see that the wafers are a lot puffier than what you expect from Oreos. I thought I'd rolled them out enough, but clearly that wasn't true.

-Don't use powdered sugar of uncertain age that has been in the cupboard probably picking up other smells.

The filling definitely tastes off, and I think the blame falls on the powdered sugar. I was surprised how much the texture and consistency of the filling is like the "stuf" in Oreos.

-You don't need to make as much filling as is suggested. I didn't come anywhere close to using it all.

-Use the suggested food coloring if you want the cookies to resemble their inspiration.

I decided not to bother with food coloring--it isn't essential--but without it you can't sell the illusion of homemade Oreos as much.

On the positive side, the lid from something in the spice cabinet works very well for cutting out the cookies. With all that didn't work, I found these pretty easy to make. Now that the rough draft batch is out of the way, I'll have to do them up right.

Keeping up with the neighbors

2011-09-02T22:24:00.002-04:00

My residence has been a recurring topic on this blog, so get ready for the latest update.

The neighbor who lived below me has officially moved out. I suspected as much when I returned from New York City, not to mention the fact that it seemed like she and her daughter weren't here often, but confirmation arrived on the last day of August. Of anyone in these units, I had spoken to her more than the occupants of the four other apartments, mainly because I'd encountered her a couple times in the parking lot. While her smoking pretty much meant I could no longer keep the sliding door open in cooler weather or sit on the balcony when she was around, I appreciated that she and her child weren't loud.

Now I bide my time waiting to see who moves in next. Since the other apartment in this unit was filled relatively quickly after the last people moved out, I wouldn't be surprised if someone is in there by the time I get back from Canada.

As for the new next door neighbors, a second one is here now. A young guy was already there. A young woman moved in last weekend. I don't think they're a couple. The names on the mailbox are different, so I don't think they're siblings. If I were to guess, one or both are Ohio State students.

They've been much better neighbors than the previous occupants, at least so far. Noise hasn't been an issue. For that matter, they aren't in and out and in and out and in out like the last ones. (They didn't necessarily go anywhere. If anything, they were here too much. They just had lots of dogs to take out, and sometimes they'd smoke in the stairwell.)

Tonight the guy did do something that never ceases to confuse me. He came out of the apartment talking on a cell phone, conducted some of the conversation in the stairwell, and then walked into the parking lot to continue it for a good long while. If you have your own space, why would you do this? I can't hear it if you're in your apartment. I can, and so can several others, if you're outside.

I've become the old lady keeping tabs on everybody, haven't I?

Refocusing

2011-09-01T23:17:00.003-04:00

September, and a young man's thoughts turn to knitting. OK, maybe not, but the last third of the year is when it seems like time to start thinking more about projects. This August was cooler than usual while the first day of September saw the temperature jump up, but milder weather should be on its way.

This blog has been witness to a serious lack of knitting on my part this year. I confess to being busy and directing energies elsewhere--exercising mainly--but I need to get back into the swing of things knitting-wise. The transition into fall will hopefully be an impetus to doing so. I'm ready to park myself in front of football games on TV. That's good for knitting, especially when I want to avert my eyes from my favorite professional team, a bad franchise that looks to be even worse than usual this year.

Before you break into wild applause, let me hedge by saying that I don't anticipate refocusing some of my time and energy into knitting until the middle of the month. I am crushingly busy right now. Then I leave the country for five nights, which will keep me occupied going to movies and enjoying whatever else the city has to offer. After I return home do I foresee any serious knitting time ahead of me.

Mainly, though, I just wonder where all the time goes and has gone? Did days use to be longer?

I just wasn't made for these times

2011-08-31T22:04:00.002-04:00

I don't make a point of reading the comments on YouTube, but while I was digging through it for old music videos, I noticed two strains of thought emerging around the common theme "they don't make 'em like they used to".

Predictably, one set of commenters were reveling in nostalgia. They wrote how the music of that era was so much better and how these songs take them back to times when things were perfect in their own way. Keep in mind that I was mostly looking at music videos of the 1980s, although some were from the '90s. In other words, these are not people who are on the porch in the rocking chairs reflecting on the good ol' days...or they shouldn't be. (Also, the '80s wasn't exactly an easy, carefree decade.)

Clearly I'm not immune to the allure of nostalgia. What was I doing but clicking on videos for songs I haven't heard in ages. Granted, my interest was more in hearing with new ears what was once familiar. (The same idea is behind my current kick of watching pop cinema of the '80s and early '90s.) Nevertheless, it's impossible to do that without triggering memories. But people--and I'm speaking to my generation--must we already be resigning ourselves to cementing our cultural tastes and wistfully recalling high school?

The other set of commenters were teens wishing they were growing up during that time when the music was good, etc. What's funny to me is that '80s pop culture was not particularly well thought of at the time. I do feel like I can say it is not considered a rich time for rock music.

I suppose this way of thinking is common enough. I knew people in high school who pined for life in the '60s, which, you know, also had its share of social upheaval and other stuff that might take the shine off it.

For those who believe the pop culture of their youth was the last gasp of creative excellence, chances are they're reliving it through a rose-colored prism and forgetting about all the garbage or that they didn't like it quite as much as they recall. For those who believe the pop culture of a time before theirs is superior to anything done now, they can't see the forest for the trees. They're living through the sorting and canonization for their time rather than approaching it after it has been settled. People talk about the golden age of Hollywood or the early days of rock and roll. Guess what? There's plenty from those eras that no one gives a second thought to and for good reason.

Now excuse me while I go look up videos for pop songs I learned how to play on piano when I was in grade school.

Pop music

2011-08-30T23:34:00.003-04:00

While I try to get my head together from another long day on the clock, enjoy this recent performance by Fountains of Wayne. I don't know of many bands these days that can strictly be categorized as pop, but I think they fit the bill quite nicely. Their new album is pretty good--this single sounds better on it, for what it's worth--and just the thing to listen to as the summer approaches its end.

Early to bed

2011-08-29T21:42:00.003-04:00

Lots accomplished at work today, tons yet to do tomorrow. I'd thought of continuing to work from home tonight, but I've realized that I don't have it in me to do that.

In fact, I'm going to call it a night very early so I can get up early and get a jump on things while no one is around for a couple hours. It isn't what I'd prefer to do, but there's not a better solution.

This is going to be a tough week, no question.

Turn, turn, turn

2011-08-28T19:17:00.003-04:00

It comes as no surprise that today I hit the wall I've been speeding toward. This has been a busy summer at work and in recreation. On top of that, it is a short summer. So this was the perfect recipe to cause me to crash this morning. I woke up and promptly decided to go back to sleep for another three hours. I didn't really get up until 1:30 p.m. or so. I never do this.

Facing up to the punishment for taking a vacation, I intended to work this morning and afternoon, but clearly my body and mind had other ideas. Considering the rate at which I've been running around these last few weeks, it's probably for the best that they overruled my plans. I needed to take a day to vegetate. While I regret what will inevitably a stressful next couple of days, there's no doubt that I needed the rest.

Classes resume tomorrow, which is earlier than usual. My employer has switched to semesters, which accounts for this August start and the abbreviated summer. In the past the academic year has not begun until a week after Labor Day. I am in no way prepared for this, especially having just come off vacation, but like it or not, it is here.

So the seasons are changing on my calendar. The weather even got a jump on things, as it has been a cooler August than we typically have. I'll get to extend summer for five or six days with a trip to Toronto and its film festival in less than two weeks, but it's time to gear up for a different season and daily ritual.

I've had a good summer, and I look forward to what's coming up. I just wish I felt ready for it.

Marking time

2011-08-27T23:59:00.000-04:00

The details are sort of fuzzy, but best as I can determine from this article, there are male inmates at a New Zealand prison taking part in a knitting program.

You'd think I'd have more to add regarding a story about men knitting but I don't. Just another entry to tide me over for a day. Something substantial tomorrow. Promise.

Suit up

2011-08-26T23:24:00.002-04:00

Busy times over here at Knitting Confidential HQ. I'm not feeling energetic enough to write a proper blog post, so with a hurricane expected to hit the East Coast, here's something from a few years ago that ties into the moment. I hadn't seen this before, but it made me laugh.

Randomize!

2011-08-25T23:08:00.003-04:00

-I drove by an apartment complex that had a sign outside with "Pets free" on it. I assume that means there is no charge to have a pet while residing there, but couldn't one reasonably think that it means there are no pets in the complex? (I'm not going to propose that one might be misled to think they are giving away pets.)

-Difference I noticed between visits to New York City in March and August: going up flights of stairs from the subway platform was less taxing. Exercise on the recumbent bike has made a difference.

-I need a vacation from coming back from vacation.

-It would seem that my new common wall neighbor is quiet. Since they've moved in, I've not heard anything from that place. Color me relieved.

-While I was out of town, I think the person who lives below me moved out, but I can't say for certain. If so, I can open up the glass sliding doors and sit on the balcony more. The previous (?) occupant smoked really rank cigarettes.

-While working out tonight I saw an ad for a pizza place I haven't been to in a long time. So of course I picked up dinner from them on the way home. Advertising works sometimes.

Minding one's knitting manners

2011-08-24T23:59:00.002-04:00

What might Miss Manners say about knitting in public at events, whether in church or at recitals? Now you can find out.

Lost in the supermarket

2011-08-23T23:59:00.001-04:00

While I was away on vacation, I absentmindedly left out some bananas. Naturally, I returned to an apartment with more little fruit flies than I'd care to be sharing my space with. I was advised that setting out some vinegar in a container and covering it with plastic wrap that has a hole poked in it should get rid of the pests. I had no vinegar and no plastic wrap.

On the way home late tonight I stopped at the grocery store to get these items. I found the vinegar easily enough, but for the life of me, I could not find plastic wrap. I looked and looked and looked. The closest I could find was parchment paper, but that wouldn't do. (Plus, I have that at home.)

I tracked down an employee and was finally pointed in the right direction. This isn't unusual if I'm buying something I get infrequently. I guess that I tend to buy the same things over and over and am blind to everything else. That makes sense, I suppose, but I thought I was more observant than that.

Back

2011-08-22T23:57:00.003-04:00

You can forgive a guy for not doing much in the way of daily blogging when he's coming off six days of a fairly intense vacation, at least in terms of movement, and driving more than five hundred miles today, right? Let me put it this way. I think the earliest I was back home for any evening was about 10:30, and that was on the first night when I was running on five hours of sleep.

Let me put it this way: three professional baseball games, two Broadway plays, likely somewhere in the area of 1200 miles driven, and probably a few hundred city blocks walked. I've been a busy bee...and I don't really feel like saying much more than that at the moment.