Today is a bulletpoint day. Bear with me. (ed. I always like the idea of writing it out as “bare with me,” which would involve much less clothes and could be decidedly more fun)

  • I’m running this year’s Marine Corps Marathon in late October. I “ran” (totally ran the first thirteen miles, hopped/limped the next ten, walked the remainder) it back in 2006 but I want a significantly better time this time around. So, against my better judgment, I’ve been training.

Now, there is a magical moment in a runner’s life when they truly become runners. At that point, we need running like we need coffee (or tea, I don’t judge) or food. And the runs are not only addictive but are almost a zen-like experience. It’s tough to explain, but it happens. And it’s happened a couple of times and it’s why I run. However, until I get to that point, I detest the process. It’s painful, I end up sweaty and smelly, and it takes a long time to see progress. That’s pretty much where I am now: I know it’ll get better if I keep it up, but damnit if I’m not sore, not running awesomely, and it’s all still a chore.

Can we just skip to the good part?

I feel like I just walked into a “running as an analogy for life” future post.

I’m a huge Mika fan and when we went to his concert at the 9:30 club back in 2006(7?) Mika secured his place as the best performer I think I’ve ever seen. That concert had so much energy, so many happy people (gay and straight, though mostly gay), so much candy and bubbles and smiles…it was great.

And then there was the music itself: so well done and Mika is an amaaaaazing singer. When he covered one of my favorite songs of all time, the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back, I may (or may not) have squealed like a schoolgirl and jumped up and down with my arms flailing.

Speaking of shows, he is playing on June 23rd in NYC and it seems to be his only US show for 2009. Anyone game for a road trip?

(pictures thanks to Ali. )

  • I’ve been trying to watch True Blood, I really really have, I promise. I’m trying really hard to be open minded and accepting. But sweet flying spaghetti monster is it as campy as I remember it. I’m on episode 4 and I want my time back. It isn’t quite as bad as BBC’s Merlin (which, by the way, seems to be about to air in the US on NBC) but it’s close.

My thoughts on Merlin are decidedly here.

  • I’ve been made aware of the inability to get an RSS feed for 12minds. Rather, its difficulty with Google Reader. As a temporary solution, fit 12minds.com/rss into Google Reader and it should work fine. (If you’re using firefox, it should take you straight to the Google Reader part and hook you up, if you’re using IE, I don’t really know what to tell you.) The entire site is going to go through a revamp sometime in the next couple of weeks, but as a temporary stopgap, the /rss addy should work fine. If you encounter any other problems, hiccups, or if you have comments in general, feel free to leave a comment or to email me. Witty comments and trivia are also appreciated.