I'm Sorry (but so is Brenda Lee)

I'm probably being misogynistic or transphobic or something, but is it just me, or does Elon Musk look like what we assume Amelia Earhart might after a makeover at any Rexall Drug store. 

His rouge and lipstick choices aren't really what you'd expect a multi-billionaire to choose.

But I'm not here to bash his looks (well, I kind of am....and did!). I'm here to bash him. Period. 

Musk can say he's not antisemitic, but philosemitic - but right now those are just words. And last I looked, the antisemitic tweet (can it still be called a 'tweet' if there is technically no Twitter?) is still up and nothing he's pulled back. 

He's antisemitic. 

Musk claims his trip to Israel was not an apology tour - but it was. And it wasn't. I think to be an apology tour one must at least say "I'm sorry".  And he did, in an truly non-apologetic way.  Something someone might say like, "sorry you took it the wrong way". 

Here is how we know he's not sorry. Several advertisers have distanced themselves from X. Mind you - many of these same advertisers distanced themselves before when he did / said something asinine....yet they came back. 

I'd like to think it's harder to align yourself to someone who has a platform, and has the most followers on said platform, who makes Jew-hating rhetoric.  You know who does that?  Antisemites. And Elon Musk. 

If A = B and B = C, then..............

So here was Musk's response to those advertisers: 

“I don’t want them to advertise,” he said at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York. “If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go fuck yourself. Go. Fuck. Yourself,” he said. “Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel” he added, referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who spoke earlier at the summit on Wednesday.

Smooth talker!

Also in the audience?  The CEO he just hired to woo advertisers. I'm assuming she negotiated a really really good exit clause package. She's gonna need it. 

So calling it 'blackmail' to pull dollars from a stinking ship (nope, not a typo) is hardly a 'sorry I fucked up' speech. 

Elon - if you want to treat people like shit (and clearly you do), you're gonna have to get a thicker skin. It's not a rubber / glue situation here. They're not treating you like shit, they're responding to their shareholders and their client base. It's basic capitalism. I'm sure Cracker Barrel and the KKK will be more than happy to spend their advertising dollars at your crappy little platform. 

And to quote you to you:  Go. Fuck. Yourself. 

Song by: Marshall Crenshaw

Give

'Tis the season. 

.....and I'm good with it. Well, some of it. 

Honestly, I haven't bought a thing.......well, for anyone in the house, or for anyone in my Secret Satan group, but only because we haven't picked names yet. 

But we do give back a few times per year - and always on Giving Tuesday, as for most organizations, they match the amount you give them, so it makes it a bit better. 

An unknown, to me, when it came to signing up for races, is that each race has a registration cost to it - which makes sense. T-shirts and bananas aren't free ya know.  They all have a donation option too - and each one supports a different organization, sometimes multiple. I always select one and donate something. 

That has indeed filled up my email in the last week. All of them worthy causes. Some are ones to which we already give regularly, some not. It's difficult opting to give to some at this time of year and not all. It's fairly impossible, or at least, improbable. 

Maybe $5 and $10 is enough and spread it around more. We try to make semi-substantial donations at this time, and while I'd love to give a good amount to all, it's just not realistic. I'm not sure if more in a few places is better than a little in a lot of places. 

We went with the former. 

Cash. As with places like food banks, $$$ is better than donating food. It's amazing what people give that the underprivileged can't prepare. Mac and Cheese being one, as they might not be able to afford milk. Food banks have the knowledge, so giving them cash can actually feed people they way that fits their means. 

Ditto with dogs and cats. And gay at risk youths. 

Where I do buy actual gifts is for the Jewish childrens's bureau. They house a lot of at risk youths - not all Jewish. And kids with special needs. And as it turns out, homeless. The last few years, most people have asked for gift cards, and that's easy and it was a pandemic. But I'd always choose 2-3 kids who wanted something physical. Yeah, they got a gifr card too, but hopefully they got things they wanted. 

This year, I picked a few who identified as homeless. They didn't want gift cards. They wanted sweaters or blankets, hats and / or gloves.  We got them everything. We added scarves and the likes, plus gift cards to food places. 

Listen, I'm a pussy. It was freezing yesterday, I couldn't last four hours on the street, let alone overnight. Or for a period of time. I hate that anyone has to. Does giving assuage any guilt I have?  No. Do I hope it makes an impact, even a little bit, to someone?  I do. 

I'm not smart or rich enough to take care of all these groups, but I wish I were. 

Indeed being kind costs nothing. Doing kind might cost a little something - so we try to. 

This wasn't intended to guilt others into giving. Honest. Just thoughts as I sift through my FB feed and email with dozens of Giving Tuesday requests. I hope everyone meets their goals........and then some. 

Song by: the Dandy Warhols

So Young

Back when the internet was young, there was this Top 5 list that came out daily. At the time I thought it was funny. 

They had contributors and subject a day that said contributors would submit their funnies to make it to the top 5.  

I attempted to break into that crowd and got a few try-out attempts, but never to actually make it. 

One of the lists were Ironic Celebrity Deaths. I can't remember four of them, but one was "Keith Richards: natural causes".  It made me laugh. 

Yet here we are 20+ years later and the man is 79 years old and still plugging away. Joke's on us. 

For the dozens and dozens of concert to which I have attended, the Rolling Stones has not been one of those - though on some level it is something I'd like to see. 

One could guess that them being in their late 70s and early 80s this could be the last go-round. I mean, they're already down from a five man band to three - though to be fair only one of those five has died (save Brian Jones in the late 60s). 

I'm not actually planning to go to their Cleveland stop, but never say never. 

I did smile at who is sponsoring the tour - it's absolute genius. It's not even a joke. 

Mick Jagger is the same age as Moscow Mitch. One struts, one freezes. I find it hard to believe someone like McConnell could ever have related to a Stone song even when being a young man. I'm thinking Lawrence Welk is too radical for Mitch. 

It would be nice if my AARP membership got me a 10% discount for tickets. And I'd love to know the average mean of the audience age - along with the ratio of guests to bathrooms. 

Song by: the Rolling Stones

My Music Monday

I've been in a Rickie Lee Jones mood lately. 

She has a new disk out, but it is covers, which makes it her third of that genre I believe. Most would know her from her debut album with her most associated hit, "Chuck E's in Love".  It's a great disk. 

Her follow-up disk, Pirates, was not a commercial smash, but it is so much better. It evokes album artists who didn't try to stick to radio single format and had songs 6-8 minutes long, making them unplayable for most radio back in 1981. 

The title track is what I'm using today and while did didn't conform to radio, it was more in the four minute range and it has some more commercial potential. It's not adventurous as "Traces of the Western Slopes" or "Woody Dutch on a Slow Train to Peking" (oddly the only two track on the disk co-written with Jones), but I still like it.   .....and this one you might sit through. 

Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!   

This is another record I bought twice - once again, a vinyl version for Mort. 

In a My Music Monday post a while back, I mistakenly blogged about the title track being my first exposure to the group Milky Chance. 

Yes, I love the title track "Living in a Haze", but it seems I did a My Music Monday months before on their song from the same disk called "Colorado".   .....and that is even a better song than "Haze". 

So, I went all in and bought the disk. Twice. 

The group consists basically of two guys from Germany. They've had a few disks apparently, but this was my first. 

I'd have to say I really really enjoy about half of it. The other half is good, but not stellar. 

So, you've seen two of the really good tracks, but also enjoying "Synchornize", "Golden" and "Feeling for You". 

More potentnial with more plays will be "Like a Clown" and "Purple Tiger". 

I feel the band does better with faster tempo songs, so a few aren't really hitting for me, but I've also learned over time that often, the song that resonates least with me on an album ends up being my farvourite over time. 

I still think it's a solid purchase and there are a number of song to which I can run - and yes, that is how I'm measuring some music these days. 

Laid Back

You'd think with a holiday week there'd be more pictures.  You'd be wrong. 

Part of that was two races in five days and I still worked three days in between. Simon has been keeping to himself it seems. Maybe it's winter-ish mode. Or growing up. 

That said, there are some decent shots. 

Oh - before I forget:  start sending your pet shots to me (along with names of each animal), as we are coming up on my annual reader pet post in mid-December. We had, I think, the most diverse submissions last year and I'd like to keep that going!

Shep needing content for his OnlyFans page. 

Simon just being a cat. He has found the radiators and that they give off heat. 

He's in his element. 

Stumbled into this. 

Not sure why he's up there - not that he should be. Worse case scenario: he tips over the lamp. 

Outside the Botanical Gardens.  

Day after T-giving and freezing. But he looked good. 

This weekend provided me two "naps". 

I don't take 20 minute naps. I take two hour naps. I woke up to Simon on the bed. He's always out of arm's reach. So far he's not a snuggler when I sleep like Tovah and Sophie were. Maybe when it gets colder. 

Song by: Crash Test Dummies

Hot to Trot

It's official:  the 2023 Running "season" is over. 

Races, that is.  I'll still run - treadmill and outdoor distances. But save a few holiday runs, there isn't that much out there, and I think I'm done for the year anyways. 

11 races in 12 months seems fine. Actually, 11 races in 9 months. My first race of the year wasn't until late April. 

Thanksgiving morning was Cleveland's (and just about every other city, county and township's) Turkey Trot. 

The Trot - as I'm calling it - had about 8,000-9,000 participants, which is on the same level as the Cleveland Marathon. 

The difference being, yesterday there were a lot of people walking, kids, dogs, strollers and such getting in my way. I get they were out for fun. I was out for a run. The first 1.5 miles was clogged with chit-chatters and the like which caused a lot of dodging while never fully hitting my pace until after that. 

Once the 5k group turned, it just left us 5 milers, and things got much better......except for the bridges with a mile incline. Still, those were easier without the others.  Those were easier, period. There was a time those hills would have gotten the better of me. 

Normally, I don't run with my phone but I did because even though when I run I'm not fun, it was a fun run and I thought I'd capture more pics than I actually did. 

Hell, I took two before the race (see one above) and didn't pull out the phone until the last mile for two - this being one of them. 

Hills.  UGH. 

It was a cold, but pretty day. I was warm while running, freezing when I stopped - mostly due to sweat becoming cold on my back. 

Despite the slow start, I had a decent run and a decent time. It would have been better if I didn't slow to take two pics and hit a water station........but whatta gonna do?  I felt better about my run than the one four days prior. 

I met up with some of the running group. 

I ran into more who didn't make the pic. 

Odd about the pic (besides my Santa hat) the guy in the grey. Absolutely handsome AF. Stunning in a way.   .........but not in pictures. He seems super bland in images. Hopefully that's my shortcoming too - pretty in real life, not so much in pictures. 

I won't say I'd do this every year, but you never know. It gets me out of the house on Thanksgiving morning and it's better than seeing some subpar Broadway show cast lip synch their horrible music at the Macy's parade. Or worse - marching bands. 

Song by: 10cc

Pilgrim

It's my possibly my least favourite holiday. 

You know, I drafted and scrapped the post I was writing. It was a downer. It was cathartic to write and all, but..........

You've probably read that in 20 other of my t-giving posts, I'm not fond of the meal. My dad's favourite, but not mine. Oh sure, I'll eat crisp turkey skin and cherry pie. I mean, I'll eat it all, I just get nothing out of turkey. 

Two years ago I attempted Brussel sprouts to some iffy reviews - from others and myself.  I'm giving it another go today. I'm determined to make this work. Maybe there will be a Cooking with Blobby segment coming. Perhaps not. 

I was invited by my sister to come to her house, and I want to go. Shep is the issue. He's unpredictable with some grown men with whom he's not familiar, and leaving him at home isn't a great option either. So, it will be us and my sister-in-law at our house - and that's fine. I'll try to see my sister and her kids this weekend. 

I do not miss these dinners at my parent's. Not when everyone used to attend. I'd always offer to sit at the kiddie table, because sometimes they were better behaved. Usually more entertaining too. And I had a paper napkin / tongue visual that made them squeal with laughter, so............a win for me. 

Enjoy your day. You family. Your meal. 

I'm like 99% sure a Christmas Story will start playing on a tv channel near you. It's the 40th (!!) anniversary of that classic!

Song by: Steve Earle & Emmylou Harris

Fox on the Run

One year ago, I ran my first race, a 5k. The Fox Run, if you will. 

Blobby returned to the scene of the crime 365 days later.......for the same event, though for the half marathon portion. I pretty much told no one. 

There were a few in my running group who were there, some to do the half, some to do the 5k. 

It was semi-cold. Nothing like last year, but a day where I was on the verge of: shorts or leggings?  short sleeve shirt or short sleeve shirt and long one over it?

I mean, it was 36° at race time, but I knew a mile in I'd be warm. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we were running directly into the sun. Blindingly so. 

I opted for leggings and two shirts because everyone else walking from the car to the park had them on. I'd regret this decision fairly early on. Kind of. 

By mile 4 I was hot. I was trying to think of ways of peeling off my long sleeve and not losing it. Too nice to toss to the side, too much to just tie around the waist, so I kept it as is. But glad I did. At mile 7.5 or so, it was cold again, and I needed it. 

I had an impressive first half of the run. The second half sucked eggs. I wasn't happy with my performance at all - and while I should have been happy just to finish (and in a way, I was) I thought the year of running and lots of races would have made me better. 

Since last year was my first, I had no real knowledge of post race anything. I knew this one was a chili / beer thing, but those are two things I don't want after a race.........or before 18:00. But all races have water, chocolate milk, bananas and protein bars. 

Well, they had bananas here. Almost frozen and about 8 days from being ripe. I took two bites and tossed it. In the trash that is - not like, my cookies. 

What I truly disliked about the race was me. 

All that self-doubt I had that somewhat dissipated as I trained for the marathon (save for the taper weeks) was back - and loud. "You can't do this!!!!" it said with almost every step from mile 7 on. It was mentally debilitating and truly affected the run. I need better coping mechanisms. 

Still, I finished. 

As for my physical health, with my first half last May, I really had to lie down afterwards, in the grass, due to dizziness. When I got home, I took a two hour nap. With my longer runs, and the marathon, my recovery time is quite different than it was six months ago. Yeah, I have sore calves, but that's about it. I got home, and then we took Shep out on a hike and came back and did chores.  After the first half, I took the next day off work; this time, I was back in the office like usual, and right after a gym work out (though I didn't run until yesterday). 

The good news is I've kept up training and will continue to do so until the running group reforms in February. There should be no deficit in my abilities where I start from square one like I did this last February. 

I'm down, but not deterred. 

Song by: Sweet

Nightswimming

We have really been lacking in the movie going / watching. I dare say my running schedule kind of fucks up some of our weekends. 

While there are few ones we want to see, I'm hoping we can get in a few over this holiday season. 

This one was a home viewing:  Nyad

On paper, it had a lot going for it: Jodie Foster, Annette Benning, the guy who plays Xenophillius Lovegood.  A story of triumph for an extreme athlete who is in an older age bracket - or ANY age bracket, for that matter. 

But it doesn't work. 

I've seen and heard Diana Nyad comment on sports on both ABC and NPR and while she seems direct and knowledgeable, in this venue, her character is harsh, loud, and unlikeable. I'm not sure if that is the actual character, or if it was an acting choice by Benning, or the directors - and yes, it took two of them to make this film. 

Foster is fine. Her work isn't outstanding, but it's credible and has some nuanced layers, which Benning's does not have or can't pull off.  While I knew the outcome, I never once rooted for Nyad. 

The only really goood performance was Rhys Ifans, who played Luna Lovegood's dad in the Deathly Hallows. 

Nyad co-wrote the screenplay, so clearly she has some insight here, so maybe that is what she's really like, but it's not entertaining enough for two hours, or even half of that. They mix actual footage - swimming and interviews with the real Nyad - in with the movie Nyad. It's been done before.......and better. 

I'm actually disappointed, as with the talent and subject matter it seems like it could have been so much more. 

2023 Movie Count / Goal: 11 of 15

Song by: R.E.M.

My Music Monday

I've been a Talking Heads mood lately. 

I'm 99% sure it's tied to the re-release of their concert film, Stop Making Sense. 

I REALLY wanted to see it in the theaters, but I fear I missed my window. I have a feeling it is no longer at the cinema, but I'll keep looking. 

I have been watching YouTubes of the band on their interview rounds regarding the film. The band has performed live once in the last 40 (or so) years and hasn't been on speaking terms for the most part, so it's been fascinating to me to see the interactions and their stories. Some times it is good, some, a little stilted. And not a lot of eye contact between the members. 

While technically, the band is a foursome, for the Stop Making Sense tour, they expanded the performers quite a bit. It's not dissimilar to Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave tour roughly around the same time. A lot of choreography and performance art to go along with the music. 

Anyhooo......the song I keep coming back to is "Cities"which is from their 3rd disk, Fear of Music, which is a great disk in itself. 

Leaving

You know, all the photoshopped images of Chris Christie on the beach, Bernie Sanders in his mittens and Ivanka BLOTUS in various parts of history all over the net, why is it so hard to find an altered picture of George Santos in a similar setting? 

I mean, isn't he super ripe for that?  I think I'm using the wrong search terms. 

So the man - if he is actually one - isn't running for a second term.  Ohhhhhhh.......noooooooo.

It seems a judiciary report has even more crap on him than the criminal charges currently filed. I mean, THAT can't be good. 

He's using campaign donations to buy $6000 shoes. Who is he, OJ? I mean Ferragamos. Is it 1985?  Oh and he used funds to play roulette, Botox and my favourite......OnlyFans.  Personally, if I had been a donor, I'd demand to know what content he was accessing.  She Male?  Butt stuff?  Ones where they fake the orgasms? 

But it really comes down to the bipartisan report - and even this paragraph:

“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” the committee wrote in a summary of its findings. “He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.”

Mind you, this is kid's stuff for most GOP folks (and probably Dems too). They just don't flaunt the lies so blatantly to get the Bat Signal shone right ON them.  So he was singled out. You just know he's not the only one. 

Yet, the GOP overlooked it because.........House majority. They wouldn't dare expel him when they can barely keep their 7th grade antics off of the front page. They can't reach consensus on a good day lately, and they haven't had a lot of them. Booting George would have meant a special election in a district that could have easily gone Democratic. 

The GOP is of the mindset: a warm body is better than no body. 

John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer also subscribed to that theory.

So by end of 2024, we won't have George Santos to kick around anymore. The folks in the NY prison system will be doing that. 

Song by: Pet Shop Boys

Short and Sweet

Not a lot, but they are good ones. 

1 of 2 daycare Meta posts 

Trying to guilt dad #2 to a walk. 

It worked. 

Pretty Kitty. 

Simon tried, but couldn't quite commit. 

Shep?  Oblivious. 

Front and Center. 

Just where I like to see him. 

Song by: David Gilmour

Leather & Lace

This day 13 years ago, 710, Rebecca and myself were making our way to the Smithsonian Castle for a wedding. 

No - we're not a throuple, but I wouldn't rule it out. 

It was just 710 and myself. Rebecca was our witness and honour attendant.......and entertainment, as she did read a poem as well. 

This is where our original and marriage anniversaries don't match up. But we wanted to get hitched during our 25th year together (yes, by all means, do the math!).  And no one wants to go to a wedding in January, so we held off till later in the year. 

We had spent a few days prior in NYC and then took the Acela down to DC. 710 is a train dude, so I got to surprise him with that part of the trip. 

I mean, I also surprised him with the marriage license, as I had taken his passport on a work trip when I went to DC and applied for said license.......without telling him. 

The man got roped into this marriage. 

We did not get married in the castle, but behind it. People eating lunch watched and clapped, and went back to their ham salad sandwiches. 

Jordan, the MFA candidate from American University is clearly getting his degree in sculpture, because his pictures were just mediocre to horrible. He got ONE good picture (you'll have to scroll down), so in a way it was worth it. 

I mean, look at the staging of the above picture. First, that isn't the place we got married, just a horrible posed pic with the leaf debris of Autumn. 

We've weathered three plus decades. 13 married. Less than that if you count how long Ohio has been recognizing same sex weddings. 

It is unclear if I will be grilling steaks for dinner tonight, or if we venture out. Anymore, I'm a homebody, but I could be talked into going somewhere......maybe. 

The traditional 13th anniversary is lace.  No one it tatting anything. Heck, no one is exchanging presents at all. We're not those guys.   Leather however.......................

Song by: Stevie Nicks & Don Henley

Big Fat Zero

I honestly got nothing. 

The Muses, should they exist at all, must be on a day trip......or two. 

There are days I struggle - not just to write, but in general. This would be one those days. I suppose I could write, should I be able think of a subject. 

Politics depresses me. Politics adjacent things might depress me more. 

I suppose I should know it would turn into nothing. My morning 5 miler yielded nothing. Somehow my watch recorded nothing. I got no stats. I got no credit. I mean, did it even happen? Bother. 

So, now it's time for dessert then bed. 

Song by: Graham Parker

Cereal

I let the evening get away from me.  So you get Ryan Gosling won't eat his cereal. 

This is a compilation. It is made of Vine videos.  I think Vine went belly up eons ago. And by 'belly-up', I mean they probably got bought out. 

Song by: the Verve Pipe

App of the Month

There is yet another NYT game.  Yay!  and Yay?. Honestly, I already try to do my five before work starts - though I'm not always successful. 

At least this new one is only weekly. 

 ....and as far as I know, it's not in their game section, it just gets emailed to me each week.

The game is called Flashback. 

The way you play is, they start at a point in history with a year and then provide you with an event and you have to say if said event came before or after that initial time. 

As you go through the following seven clues, you place them in the timeline. 

So the greyed out box is the initial point. The upper white box is the clue where you will drag it to before or after 1948

Yay me!   .....but I still have seven more to do. 

Now I have three options on where to place the new clue.......and so on. 

I bungled the 1889 clue. I assumed 'retirement' became a thing after WWII. 

......then of course, are the stats 

Boo Hiss......

....and then breaks down stats for every clue. 

All in all, it's an ok way to spend like, 5 minutes.  Maybe if I had taken 6, I'd have done better. 

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 163rd 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore.  

07:20.  JP - I got up late today.  Look - it's light out. 

I mean, I did wake at 01:30 and 02:15 and around 04:00, but I stayed in bed. Except for the middle time. I got up to pee. 

08:05.  Simon watching me leave. 

I think he was waiting for the coast to clear, so he could get up on things without anyone seeing. 

08:19. Gym time. 

Had it all almost to myself for the first 30 minutes. 

09:42.  Meeting my cousin for tea at a new place. 

He's going to have an art showing there next month with his photographs. 

10:59. David and I saying "hi" to our cousins

11:39.  Time to Winterize. 

11:56.  ....and do leaves. 

First city leaf pick-up is Tuesday. 

13:10. Shep still needs a hike. 

Beautiful day. Slightly chilly, but clear. 

14:30. the weekly grocery shop. 

Everything seems WAY more expensive than the few prior week. 

14:58. Shep "helping out" unpacking the food. 

17:48.  Zoom.

Our weekly call. Possibly the first non-alcohol call. 

19:00.  Dinner Prep. 

I made pasta with tomatoes. Normally there is basil too, but we were out. 

See you next time at 164 in a month. 

Get Together

The running group had a celebration of sorts for the end of the last training program of the year. The end of the season cultivated of half and full marathons in the group for Akron, Columbus, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York and a towpath and Rock Hall ones right here in Cleveland. 

At least one person from the group ran in at least one of these. 

I skipped the celebration at the end of the Winter/Spring training session because I just didn't feel that I fit in. This time, I opted to go. 

On a run with my "wife" a week ago, I mentioned how the first go-round went and the cliques that were in place. She seemed relieved to hear someone else say it. She said it took her three years to not feel excluded. So my 6 months was nothing. But we both agreed to go to the one the other night. 

First off, it was at a bar.....where you saw Asa in yesterday's post. A woman - from the west side group - brought her dog who was adorable. We got a 'free' drink and a raffle ticket. This would be the first drink I've had since the Columbus Marathon and only my third drink since vacation in August. 

I walked in and a guy named Daniel, immediately congratulated me on my Columbus run. I was just about to do the same thing to him on his NYC marathon. Daniel is a superior runner, so that he even knew I finished or who I was, was uplifting. A few others who came down to cheer in Columbus also came up to me - which was nice. 

For a moment I felt apart of the group. Then while I was waiting for my beer, a guy came up and tried to order one from me.  "You work here, right?".   No Jim, I run with you every Saturday", was my reply. All that good juju I was feeling just had a needle across the record affect. 

Nonetheless, I chatted with Daniel, not just about his run but the logistics of the New York Marathon. He was more than willing to talk about it. 710 said, his family and friends probably didn't want to hear it anymore and now he had a willing participant.

I had my beer. I opted not to get a second one.  

Technically there was a raffle, but everyone won something. 95% of it was I think swag leftovers. Hats, socks, fanny packs, bags and the like. Two things would have been nice - $100 store credit to FleetFeet. Or a paid training program, which was about $90. I've already paid for my 2024 program. The first one, anyway. 

As you can see, I won a hat and an xmas ornament. The last one says, "will run for wine" on it.  I won't. 

I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do with it, but I see it as someone's white elephant gift in the very very near future. 

When they were done with the raffle, they just started giving away the rest of the stuff, so I ended up with another hat. I can always use them. 

The coaches did the group ask of whose first 13.1 it had been. Then the 26.2. I had to believe there were others in the group who was doing their first, but I was the only one to raise my paw. It garnered a large round of whoops and cheers. I won't lie, it was nice. 

Only two more races for 2023. But I've already signed up for two in 2024......so far. Some of the others will be lotteries. 

Of all my addictive behaviours - this is probably the best for me. 

Song by: Madonna

Around the Corner

 It's Caturday.  And doggie day too. They help keep the spirits up.  Mostly. 

Our little Kitler. 

Has found out how to get up on a 5' high cabinet. With no effort at all. 

Simon is VERY proud of himself. 

Shep at one of our favourite hiking places. 

This is Asa. Asa was at a bar. 

So if I took a picture of Asa, it means I was at a bar too. 

Someone has put string at the bottom of our railings, so a certain kitten doesn't go over the edge. 

Ask me how well that is going. 

Stalking.  Always stalking. 

Simon has been getting up on counters, usually when we are not around.  That's a big no-no. 

We have found a stash of things he's been taking from the kitchen and back to his lair. 

This is going to be a big problem.

Song by: Mink DeVille