Calling It Quits

It's time to put these puppies to bed. I could probably go down the list of each running shoe I've had. I'll put these to memory as well. The duct tape is falling off the back and the inside padding has more or less disappeared.

Retirement isn't pretty for these guys either. They usually end up pulling river duty or some other unwanted task.

They were good shoes, but they wore out too quick. I usually buy shoes after the Indy Mini each year, but these shoes will never tread heavy over that famous yard of brick. It's like the running back that gets tackled on the one-yard line, only to have the quarterback sneak it in on the following play. But they'll at least see me through one last race. The Cincinnati Mini Heart Marathon is this Sunday. I'm hoping it's their finest hour.

Hocking

Saturday was spent in Hocking Hills. The weather was hardly agreeable but we got out there nonetheless and tooled around some of the more popular trails. Old Man's Cave, the Rock House. Spent the night at one of the hundreds of cabins/cottages they have around the park. Honestly, they're farkin' everywhere. But this one really was pretty nice, I must admit.

We woke up this morning. Easter. I think we were the only folks at breakfast that hadn't been to church. Or showered for that matter.  It made me feel out of place. Not enough, however, to make me go to church. The rest of the day was spent at my aunt and uncle's in Dublin. I used to be better at going to church... when it was more mandatory. Free will just might be the devil in me.

Oh well, it was a great weekend in all.

Art Schooled

I went and saw Jesse James Garrett this evening at the Columbus College of Art & Design. The Columbus Society of Communicating Arts has a speaker about once a month in CCAD's auditorium. I have less than no idea about who most of the speakers are until after the fact, so that's why I try to make it to each one... so I can later say, "Hey, I went and saw (insert famous artist here) speak last night."

I'm glad I go. With the exception of one lone presenter (and I won't mention names), everyone has been incredibly intelligent and uber talented. Tonight wasn't any different. Even though Mr. James isn't necessarily a graphic designer, a lot of his presentation could be applied in work, life and even pleasure. It came down to problem solving. I even ran into someone I know from Piqua. The printer he works for did the show posters, so I talked with him for a bit.

Best one to date has been Tony Spaeth... or Michael Wilson. It's a tie.

Seeing Things Clearly

This past Saturday, Boltron and my sister made the trip north to Columbus for some good times. I'm not sure if they found what they came for, but we went out nonetheless and woke up with splitting headaches Sunday morning. 

I remember that every once and a while in school, I'd wake up on a Sunday morning after a particularly heavy weekend of drinking and not be able to focus my eyes. This would last most of the day. Very strange at the time and I'm happy to note that although my camera suffers from the same ailment, I've avoided such episodes for several years.

I wish I knew exactly what my camera was going to produce from one shot to the next... but instead, I get Erica's faked baked face on the left. I know it's the incandescent bulb that's on across the room, but Boltron's skin tone is very natural. Different setting, but I mess with them so much and I don't take notes so I change a setting and forget what the last one did. Erica thinks I could join a camera club. As good as that might look on paper, my stereotypes concerning "clubs" are near and dear to me.

Bus'n A Move

I'm fortunate enough to be able to use public transportation for my daily commute. I live in Grandview, work downtown. This is my stop. Less than a block from the apartment.

And I'm not going to go on about how ridiculous it is to see something as big as a car carrying one person... which is the case for most of the commuters I see in the morning? One per car. Or how the car is polarizing communities and creating isolated islands of people. Nope, I won't talk about any of that. I was considering talking about America's obesity problem and how everyone wants to blame it on video games and corn... but not on our ever-growing dependence on the automobile. Nah, none of that. 

Take Cover: The Aftermath

Look, it's buried. I made a promise to myself that this will be the last I talk about the winter weather episode that will go down in the books as the Blizzard of 2008, but was never really a blizzard. It's just that there's really nothing else to talk about. It was warm today so it was a shloppy mess. Hidden lakes laid in wait under melting snow... waiting for you to step up to your ankles in freezing water.

I got home and ran five. On Erica's advice, I took off towards Upper Arlington. They must pay poor people to get their streets extra clean, because there's a big difference between their streets and our streets. But then again, I don't think it's any secret who gets the special treatment around town... and it's not those who rent. You could almost see it in the faces of those driving by... "I pay to have these streets accessible to ME and my SUV, not for you to run!" Well then I owe you a taco, because it sure beat the hell out of running in a foot of slush.

I actually hope this is the last we see of old man winter. Until next year you rascally rascal. You snuck a late one in on us this year. Let's keep it in-bounds in the future.

Take Cover: Day 2

Everyone's gone! It was worse than even I could've imagined. I came across this grisly scene as I took most of the day to assess the damage. A parking lot full of empty cars. It's a sure sign that all is lost. 

I got my 4 miler in early. The lack of traffic made it a great run, but I was nearly engulfed by the fleet of plows I came across on Northwest Boulevard. To see them on the big open freeways is one thing... to see them three-deep on a city street is a sight. They really do make every BucklRus with a plow on their F-150 look foolish. After a shower, I decided to set off into the white abyss. In total, I walked nearly 7 miles. The snow was very deep at times and I saved the headwind for the final leg. What was most ridiculous were the amount of cars on the road that you knew had no business being there. Honestly, unless it was Chipotle or family-owned, it wasn't open... and here some twenty-something is flying down 5th with a foot of snow still hanging on to the back of the car. Where's the fire? But there were a lot of people out walking around. It was fun, no doubt, but 60 degrees is already in the 5-day forecast. 

In total, they say over 20 inches of snow fell in this 2-day storm. I still say the storm in December of 2004 was worse. It all fell in the span of 24 hours. My car was completely buried.