And so another birthday has come and passed. This time it's the uneventful 39 yrs old. Everyone says ,"1 more year!!!" and the shit really starts to get crazy right? Pffft Turning 30 was actually a really good thing for me. I dare say 40 is going to be even better. I'm going to be one of those 40 yr old men who say "I'm in the best shape of my life!" And although I'm still convinced a large portion of this healthy trend is tied to some hidden mid-life crisis, it's still a good thing. Hopefully I can continue to improve my mental focus and outlook as well as my physical condition.
Got my first food order from a local farm co-op. Soon I get to cut up some whole chicken and eat my fresh green eggs. I get to eat my organic popcorn and compare it to Orville's. I got my chia seeds and raw honey comb!!!
Watched this really cool vid from spaceweather.com where a 13 yr old girl named Anna Herbst video taped the SDO rocket disrupting the ice crystals that were causing a sun dog. You can see it here
Anyway, thanks to all my friends who sent me bday wishes. I've never been big on birthdays, but it is nice to get txts and emails from you. So thank you. (btw Jennifer Anniston's bday was the day before mine! lol) Here's an old picture for you then to contrast such a cheery ending!
I spent a good hour working on something in photoshop tonight and when I came back down later, my pc had rebooted on its own. WTF! It wasn't even that cool of a project, but still.....I was pretty upset with the whole thing.
My real downer for the day though, was the trip to the dentist for my daughter. At first, I was so proud that she laid back in the seat by herself while she had her teeth cleaned like a big girl. Polishing, scraping, sucking of sprayed water, all done very well.
For me growing up, the dentist office was just this sterile place that smelled weird, and had some big stuffy guy in it with a huge moostashhhh.
It didn't help that I never brushed my teeth and had about 11 cavities by age 7 or so. The pediatric dentist we go to now, has brightly painted walls with a huge farm painting, stuffed animals,toy room, swivel tv's, cool little sunglasses, and 7 different flavors of polish.
I sat there as 3 children lay down each watching their own tv and having their teeth cleaned. The dentist was wearing really tall heels that had a tan alligator skin pattern. She's always so chipper too. It's kind of odd to have her tell me in such a cheery manner that my 3 yr old has a cavity!!!
So she got her first xrays too as she wore this little lead shield with a smiley face on it. I felt some more pride watching her tackle with biting down on the relatively large xray bite wing thingees. But soon it started to sink in. Our efforts to help her avoid cavities were apparently not enough.
I was just so deflated for the rest of the day. She has no idea that she's going to get a filling next week. Ugghhh!!!!
Anyway, I guess it's time for some changes for both of us...to create some better habits and be more consistent.
Well the weekend has come and gone. Pretty low key here. My tongue blister was like having a needle constantly poking me in the tongue. Part of me kept saying to man up dude! so I gargled some listerine and then ate a bunch of hot sauce. Got to practice being stoic! lol
Finished Born to Run, started Animals in Translation, and bought another running book. I will prolly put a review on youtube for Born to Run because it's that awesome. Anyone want to read it?
Still toying with the idea of getting Vibram Five Fingers. I've found a couple of comparisons on running in them versus Nike Free 3.0 and 5.0's so I'm still curious. Besides it just keeps snowing here, so it's not like I'll be running outside anytime soon. I was shoveling today and thought mofo! it's cold out here. I thought it was 17 degrees , nope it was like 1 degree but it felt even colder than that. Weird.
Pretty normal day really. Got my shovel on today for the latest round of snow. I'm very glad we will not be getting 2+ feet like DC will be getting. Having lived there, I can say that much snow is going to seriously wack that town out.
Later, I was dragging my girl round the backyard on the sled and hurt my foot. I don't think it's serious, but I was kinda bummed to not be able to run today. And I have this crazy blister on the side of my tongue. Makes me lisp and hurts when I swallow( of all things!)A dulling combo of inconvenience it is. Found a website where I can buy some human bones for cheap. Ya know cuz I think I need to buy some! Give them away as gifts maybe. haha
Here's a pic showing what will happen when you're out of state looking for meth labs all day and singing kids songs replacing the lyrics with naughty stuff.
And yah what about Mexico City? Is it a good place to visit ya think?
Bernard Lagat is a 35yr old professional runner. He's won several medals in World Championships and Olympic events at races from 5K and under. His personal best for a 5K is 12:59:22 Putting that another way the average runner does a 5K (3.1 miles) in about 30-40 minutes. Anyway, the guy is fast and he continues to be fast which is what is so inspiring about him. He defies the logic that at over 30 he can still win events.
So I'm reading the latest issues of Runner's World and Lagat's story doesn't really grip me right away. I'm not really interested at this time in being fast, but just as I begin to flip away to another section a certain word catches my eye. That word is a scary word. It's (say it in a whisper) ....circumcision! AHHH! yah cutting flesh off the penis. Sure I don't remember it, but it still brings about horrid painful images right? So here's the story right from Runners World.
Lagat grew up in Nandi Kenya. The Nandi had the custom of ritual circumcision. For Lagat to 'become a man' he would have to declare himself ready for circumcision sometime between ages 12 to 20. I can see that conversation now in 7th grade. Hey man, you gunna do it this year? I don't know man. My parents said they'd get me an Xbox if I did it!" lol
And here's the kicker. A boy has to do it in front of a council of warriors and old men and 'command himself to remain stoic'. If he shows any signs of pain or blinks, or betrays his feelings, then he is dubbed a coward. This is such a huge disgrace he may never be allowed to marry or own a house! yah man no drivers license for you, you wussy!
It may seem primitive, and sound painful as hell, but does it perhaps make a more meaningful impact than a Graduation?
pic is by Peter Read Miller/sports illustrated
I used to follow news photography a lot. I even had a folder where I'd collect/store a bunch of these really powerful images. A lot of it is fairly intense tho as the news tries to be as well. So I stopped in favor of other pursuits. Anyway, I was googling something or ruther and found a series of pics on yahoo news that I found interesting, so I've been coming back. About a week or so ago, I saw pictures of a dog that was part of a group of dogs in Japan maybe? that could smell certain cancers. Just google that and you'll find some crazy stuff. Apparently the dogs can smell the unique proteins in your body from the cancer...just from your breath!
As I side note, I saw a show on bed bugs too that sent waves of disgust through me. Turns out the pest control used a Beagle to find the bugs in the woman's house. Did you know male bed bugs forcefully penetrate the back shell of the female to mate? And they have to be full of blood when they do it! ewwwwww
Well today I found pictures of a cat who lives in a retirement home and apparently this cat can tell when you're time is up. It sounds kinda creepy to me. Crap! the cat is by my door! Nooooo!!!, but seriously upon more reading it sounds like a very unique and touching situation.
I had read about half of 'Animals in Translation' before I stopped, and now that HBO has made a movie about Temple Grandin ( staring Claire Danes) I think I'm going to complete that book. But perhaps this new book about this uncanny feline might go on my list too.
It snowed a bit today. Enough to require a quick shoveling. Seems like I wear less and less every time I shovel. My daughter loves to shovel too, but in her own insane way which includes throwing chunks of ice at me. Most people I know would prefer warmer weather, but I think I'm going to miss the cold next year.
Liz decided we should order take out from Chili's tonight. Mmmmm fajitas are always so good! We ordered some Bottomless chips and Salsa too. They gave us like 2 large size potato chip bags full of chips. Dats a bunch of chips man!
Anyway, here's a pic from 03. Me and horses...its so weird to see that.
