Random List #1

Perhaps this is a sign that I need to revive my blog of Top Five/Top Ten lists, but I am adding a new feature (for lack of a better word) to this blog. Here is a list of what I think to be true about myself. All topics are off the top of my head. These lists don't belong on the hibernating Top Five/Ten Lists blog, beause it is a list of superlatives. Here we go...

Favorite Band I've Never Seen In Concert U2

Favorite Vice of Mine Coffee

Least-Favorite Vice Procrastination

Favorite Continent Australia

Favorite Obscure, Failed Movement US Metrification

Favorite Movie I've Never Seen City of God (that one is for you Kirk)

Favorite Spanish Word palomitas

Most Universally Agreed Upon Song that Sucks That I Kind of Like The Macarena

Most Univerally Appreciated Musician That I Do Not Like At All Dave Matthews

Favorite Guns N Roses Song Paradise City

Sightless Sorties for Sore Legs

There is a timeless quality to running in the dark.

For the past three weeks I have been getting up at 4:50 a.m. to meet a friend of mine for our daily run. It takes a few blocks for my body to wake up. The first three houses I pass, my body spends stretching the muscles to running length. The next 15 houses, my feet are working out the mild plantars fasciitis I now have that comes with having 35 year-old flat feet, and for about 20 more houses, my quads still have some sleep they need to work out.

My friend and I meet at scenic Minnehaha Falls because it is equidistant from our respective houses (six tenths of a mile away for both of us). As you can tell by the picture below, the falls are quite beautiful.



But it turns out at 5:10 a.m. (our meeting time), it doesn't matter. Minnehaha Falls might as well be Minnehaha Corn Syrup Refinery (but without the smell), because you can't see a damn thing. Sunrise is a good 70 minutes away. And so my friend and I run the exact same route every day, along West River Road on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River, before crossing over to East River Road in St. Paul.

It is truly a beautiful run, but it is also a course I have easily run 300 times in my lifetime (or at least portions of the course). So it's scenic and boring at the same time. But it turns out everything is dark and everything is the same. I reckon you put me on the wheel that hamsters run on, and if I was in a dark room, it would feel just the same as my 5 a.m. runs (only not as frigid).

In high school I worked at restuarant and got home after 10 p.m. every night in the summer. I'd end up going for my runs after 11 p.m. Each night I ran one of two courses and never got sick of it. If you add 50 degrees to the air temperature tomorrow morning, and take 15 pounds off my frame, I'll feel like I'm 17 years old again. When you run in the dark, fat or skinny, warm weather or cold weather, there is a universal feel to your run. It's just your legs, your friend, and the elements. You can be anywhere in the world, but the only thing in your universe is running.

I hate getting up at 4:50 every morning, but it takes less than 30 minutes for me to feel it was worth it. And now I am off to bed, as you can imagine I have an early wake-up call.

Christmas List

I went to our neighborhood gift store last week and was surprised to learn it is time to start shopping for Christmas. Then, yesterday, as I was carpooling to the Bad News Bears' final cross country meet of the season (I am pretty sure we finished in last place), we saw a truck full of Christmas trees being delivered to some vacant lot or Home Depot, I assume. Are you shitting me? What kind of fire hazard will those trees be by December 25th?

But I don't want to be a Grinch and crush your Christmas spirit less than two weeks after Hallloween. So rather than criticize these events, I will give you my Christmas wish list. But hurry; there are only 43 shopping days left.

All I want for Christmas is a silver and black (SPURS!!!!!!!!) SmartCar, like the hundreds that I found in Germany this summer (one of which I took a picture of, as you can see below).

Random Thought #982

I've never been called a chauvinist or a feminist. That being said, why isn't there a women's Tour de France? Is this the last sporting event that isn't co-ed? I mean, heck, we even have women's boxing.

Get Plenty of Sleep, Eat Right, and Stay Hydrated

In the world of distance running, there is an old coach's wife's tale that the night before the before race day is the most important night, in terms of rest. I don't know if this applies to Election Day, but tonight is the night before the night before November 7. And I anticipate Election Day the same way I used to look forward to big races. So rest up tonight voters, so you are ready to vote your conscience on Tuesday.

So without further ado, here are the races I'm most interested in, along with how I'll vote (for the two readers who may live in the Twin Cities).

US Senate: Amy Klobuchar Democrat (DFL)
US House Rep 5th District: Tammy Lee Independence Party (IP)
Governor: Peter Hutchinson IP
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie DFL
Minneapolis Instant Runoff Voting YES
Minnesota Transportation amendment YES

I really hope everyone votes for Ritchie for Secretary of State. The incumbent, Mary Kiffmeyer is getting a little scarier by the year. And I mean scary in a "voter suppression" sort of way.

And please vote for Instant Runoff Voting if you are a Minneapolitan. If this voting method proves to work at the city level, who knows, maybe it will one day trickle up to the state level. And then in the future the whole "do I vote for Hatch or Hutchinson?" debate will be unnecessary.

Select-A-Candidate

Minnesota Public Radio's website has its Select A Candidate feature again. You answer questions about state and national issues, rate how important each issue is to you, and the website calculates how closely you scored to what the candidates said.

I checked on the Senate race, the Governor's race, my House of Representatives race, and the Attorney General's race. And for every race, the candidate my answers were to closest to was never a Democrat or a Republicans. Rather in each occasion I was closest alligned with the Independence Party candidate.

It is sad because these candidates speak their mind, mostly because they have nothing to lose, but also because they are beholden only to their own beliefs, not to special interests. And of course, they have no chance. But I have yet to vote a straight-party ticket in my 17 years of voting, and it doesn't look like I'll start this year.

I know I'll vote for the Democrat, Amy Klobachar for the US Senate, but I am still undecided on all the other races. I will say this: I do believe this state and country needs a rational and credible third party more than it needs a Democrat governor or legislator.

Click here to see the Select A Candidate website.