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[01 Jan 2009|10:39pm] |
01.01.09
373.
Hex asked me to provide a "Top Ten" list of sorts for 2008 for the new Hex Records Blog. I am exceptionally terrible at remembering exactly when recent things happen, so I feel my list was fair at best. It was an "best things about '08" list, but I included a bit more in the way of music in it than I may have otherwise, because his is a music blog. Bill Baker, and Eric Sanford posted some solid lists, and thought I do find fault with some of their choices (T-PAIN?!?! Eric, you make me so very sad), I would refer you to them, for a better critical look at the year in film and music. Now, to my list:
1. Ingraham Rams Cross Country 2008.
I put in a lot of extra time volunteering at the school this past year, and it paid off in an insane fashion when almost 50 kids turned out to run. They exemplified good sportsmanship, team spirit, and fun in a way that caused the rest of the district to officially commend them. I can't say enough about how awesome the season was, and I thank all those friends of mine that had to put up me trying to do so.
2. The Helm US Tour 2008/Writing the new album.
Two words summed up awesome in '08 for us: Jerad Shealey. The new bass player/great dude. Were it not for him, things would not be rolling so well.
3. John 25 moving to Seattle. More rad folks should try it.
I should also include Adriane, with whom John moved, because she is also awesome. John has been a friend of mine for many years, and having them around Seattle has been a fun experience.
4. Giant (or whatever their new name is). Awesome dudes.
Nine shows of our summer tour were played with these dudes, who played 4 amazing, atmospheric, epics each night, while we blasted through 11 or 12 songs. Not only were they an insanely good live band, they were also some of the most solid bros ever, and we were honored to open for them each of those nights.
5. Hex Records, and that despicable bastard who runs it.
Ryan "Hex" is one of my favorite dudes of all time. Not only can't I thank him enough for all he's done for The Helm, but, also for hardcore in general. He's a promoter of quality shows, bands, and art, as well as being one of my favorite frontmen ever. The Helm's new record, tentatively titled "Home" will be released on Hex Records, in '09. We are incredibly excited.
6. Finally seeing The Breeders live.
It took almost 16 years, but I saw them, and they were totally worth the wait. What a band. Crazy in such a wonderful way.
7. Cursed - "III: Architects of Troubled Sleep".
The final work from hardcore's best band of the past few years ripped from start to finish, and had lyrical content that knocked me on my ass. R.I.P.
8. Portishead - "Third".
It's no secret that this band writes the best sex-jams ever. Seriously. They came back from the dead in a haunting, beautiful way.
9. "The Dark Knight."
It sits atop many a "Best Of" movie list for '08 for good reason.
10. Earth - "The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull".
10. One Day as a Lion - "One Day as a Lion".
This was a tie of sorts, because I wanted to fit a little more music into the list for Hex. Both these albums ruled, for entirely different reasons, but they both involved lions in their titles. Intriguing.
Here are some things I would include if given another chance, or more than 10 spots on that list.
-Dave, Aram, and I and our trip to "Rivalry Fest".
Fucking epic. Enough said.
-My class of '08.
Such a great group of kids. I miss them, and wish them the best in all that they do.
-The unreleased Heiress Demo.
Adam Paysse is totally unhinged, and a frontman you should look out for.
-The Night Owls Demo, and live.
Grant Johnson is one of my favorite musicians of all time. His return in '08 was awesome.
-The University of Washington Women's XC team.
They dominated the NCAA in '08. I am a nerd. But this news also had "normal" people interested in an unappreciated sport.
-Kenenisa Bekele.
Wins the 5,000 meters, and 10,000 meters in Beijing. He set Olympic Records in both, and ran his last mile in the 5k in under 4 minutes! Brutal.
-Fedor Emelianenko.
He fought Tim Silvia for only 36 seconds, because that was all he needed to crush the former UFC heavyweight champ.
-Lady Hornets.
Heffernan and Davies are deranged in such an amazing way.
According to Last.fm, the following are the 10 artists, and tracks, that I listened to most in 2008. (Thanks for the idea, Eric.)
1.Rachel's, 2.Portishead 3.Doves, 4.Tristeza, 5.Joanna Newsom, 6.Bloodlet, 7.Fugazi, 8.Dead Can Dance, 9.Mogwai, 10.Radiohead,
1.The Helm – Boarded Up (Demo v1)
2.Bloodlet – Eucharist
3.Bloodlet – Shell
4.Tristeza – The Marionette
5.Portishead – Wandering Star
6.Joanna Newsom – Emily
7.Cursed – Night Terrors
8.Cursed – Architects of Troubled Sleep
9.Dead Can Dance – Severance
10.Portishead – Threads
The track of the year, however, didn't show up on this list for some reason.
"Werewolf Barmitzvah" its a song from 30 Rock, by "Tracey Jordan"
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This is, apparently, my 999th entry on LJ. Its been a long time...
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[18 Dec 2008|06:35pm] |
12.18.08
372.
Dearest Friends,
I am alive and well. For now that is. Those of us here in Seattle have been assailed by three days of snow, and though the accumulations have been rather small in real-world amounts, they have been more than enough to bring the Emerald City to its knees. That last bit of hyperbole is, of course, what the news has been reporting. All day long, shrill television reports have shown us footage of traffic brought to a halt, people stranded by buses that will never arrive, and the inevitable accident, or twelve. This city finds it very hard to maintain roads in this weather, the schools have been closed through Friday, and I have been out of work. I haven't gone much of anywhere in two days, except for a short run last night. I would have reveled in a longer one today, in the snow and accompanying chaos, but for the fact that I seem to have hurt my left foot again. I am beyond pissed about it.
I have been reading again, though. For the first time in a long while, I've just been getting comfortable, and immersing myself in the written word. I just finished S.M. Stirling's "The Sunrise Lands" (I needed a bad sci-fi fix), and have begun tackling Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America". I have also slowly been making my way through "Daniels' Running Formula" and taking copious amounts of notes. I have 10 1/2 weeks until the beginning of track season, and I am doing everything I can to position my runners for even greater success than they achieved last year. Yeah, I'm that obsessive.
Things have otherwise been very quiet. I have the feeling that my dreadful financial situation, compounded as it has been by the school closings, is going to cause me to have to keep a fairly low profile for the next little while, which is not really much of a change from the norm. I am a hermit.
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[24 Nov 2008|10:28pm] |
11.24.08
371.
Dear Seattle Sports Fans,
This year, it seems like most everything your baseball, basketball, and football teams try to achieve ends in failure. Y'all dwell on that shit way too much. Try to broaden your horizons, and appreciate the fact that the UW won a national title today, two days after their terrible, terrible football team lost yet again.
The UW Women's Cross Country Team not only won a national title today, they did so in a convincing fashion, despite having a sub-par race. "Sub-par" for this team meant having a day most teams would still kill for, crushing the runners up, the #2 ranked Oregon Ducks, by 52 points. The Huskies dominated college cross country so thoroughly this season, their victory was seen as expected. That's not something that any team from here has been able to claim in quite some time.
It's really too bad more people didn't pay attention.
Seriously. Go here: Lady Hornets. You won't be disappointed.
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[19 Nov 2008|10:36pm] |
11.19.08
370.
Winter is on it's way, I suppose. Cross Country '08 wrapped up in a crazy way for our team, as we sent a kid to the state championships. When he got there, he did exceptionally well, finishing 6th in the 3A race. It was intense, and awesome, and a blast to ride out to Pasco, and be a part of all the State Meet festivities. I love this sport, so an entire day of the best of Washington was almost mind-blowing to me.
Sorry if I haven't been around much, I have kept a very low profile, especially with how wrapped up in the season I was. I will be out and about more now, I promise.
I have no real winter plans, besides hanging out with y'all, running, and doing band stuff. The Helm is swearing off shows for a bit, in order to focus on writing material for our next album. Maybe it will be the "next great American hardcore album", an eardrum-shattering "On the Road", or "Catcher in the Rye". One can only hope. Seriously though, we have seven songs in various stages of completion, and I really like them all. Having gone through this process before, I have high hopes that recording for new full-length will be infinitely easier than "Grim Harvest". I love what we did on that album, but I can hardly ever listen to it, because various tracks remind me of how aggravating "the studio" can really get.
I finally saw The Breeders last week. They were incredible, almost in spite of themselves. Kim and Kelly Deal are two of the most awkward people I have ever had the chance to witness on stage, but they still managed to lay it down in epic fashion. Running through a tight, but varied, set of songs that encompassed thier entire history, the made me quite sad that this was the only time I have had the opportunity to see them in the last 15 years.
Hey! Go here: Lady Hornets. Simply Amazing.
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I am not sure what the hell I am doing in that pic.
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[27 Oct 2008|03:17am] |
10.27.08
369.
A link of interest from The Seattle Times.
Okay, so most of that article is about a local prep school demolishing thier competition at our league championships this past Thursday. You can feel free skip to the most important part:
"The runner who prevented a perfect 1-2-3-4-5 finish for Prep was Ingraham junior Abraham Berhe, a transfer from Roosevelt who placed fourth."
It was a fucking sensational race. One of the most exciting I have had the chance to coach. To have one of our runners play the lone spoiler was pretty damn amazing. After his race, kids from other schools approached him, thanking him for keeping Prep from a perfect score. Good times.
That was just the start of an insane day. Twenty-one of my kids set personal bests at that meet, and both our guys and girls teams advanced to districts the next week. Spectacular.
Life is good.
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Thanks to Mark for the pic.
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[25 Sep 2008|12:18am] |
09.25.08
368.
Hey there. It's just past midnight. I am now 32.
Today, my team runs a meet in West Seattle. I am excited, and happy. There are few things I'd rather be doing on my birthday.
That's all for now.
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I get to sleep in past 6:30 AM for the first time in nearly a month. Awesome.
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[17 Sep 2008|11:48pm] |
09.18.08
367.
Cross country 2008. It's fucking wild. I managed to get an unofficial picture of our team today, after the official photo was taken. Last year, our photo had 17 kids. This year, it's a few more, and that's with a few people missing. Damn.
We have a huge team, consisting entirely of great kids, including, as of Friday, a transfer from another school, who has qualified for the last 2 state meets. Yeah. Insane.
First meet tomorrow. We're gonna catch some people by surprise. It's gonna rule.
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[09 Sep 2008|12:09am] |
09.09.08
366.
The above pic is from tour. It's fun. We sweat a lot. The rest of this entry has very little to do with it.
...
Life is fucking insane.
Last cross country season, on a good day, we were psyched to get around 16 to 18 runners out to practice on any given day. That was most of the team, and was cause for a celebration, considering all the other activities they had going on. I coach "hella" nerds.
Today, at a fairly normal practice for 2008, we had 32. That's with four to five kids being out for play rehearsal. Three new kids showed up to check things out, and will likely be on board in the next few days. In addition, I have been told of a few more interested parties. Our original estimates of 30-plus kids are now being replaced with the crazy thought that we may even peak at about 50(!) before too long. I am pretty certain that's more than even the football team. Damn!
Needless to say, this turn of events has made me a lot busier than I had planned. And though I have absolutely no complaints, Its hard not to feel a bit overwhelmed on occasion, as I try to keep up with everything. I have an ever-patient, and hard-working assistant, but she can't be around as much as she (and I) would like, as she is a graduate student at the UW. Getting 30-plus kids between the ages of 14-18 to all stay focused on one task at the same time, by yourself, takes far more energy than I had ever envisioned.
That repeating voice in my head, the one that says "Don't fuck this up." repeatedly, whenever I am coaching a team, seems a lot louder now than it ever has. I feel as though I am succeeding though, and am enjoying this incredible voyage while it lasts. For 12 weeks a year, I have the best job ever.
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[28 Aug 2008|12:21am] |
08.28.08
365.
On the very first day of Rams Cross Country 2007, four kids showed up to our first practice. We had as many as eight or nine turn out that first week.
The 2008 season started Monday. Twenty-five kids have turned out so far, eighteen on the first day alone. Insane. Needless to say, things have been a bit hectic as I deal with the influx of all sorts of new people into the program. Last year, our roster was twenty strong by the end of the season. Even the most conservative projections that Meghan and I have discussed for this year startle me.
All this from the same school that fielded a team in 2006 with less than ten runners. Things are coming around. I am incredibly psyched.
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[20 Aug 2008|11:51pm] |
08.20.08
364.
Time moves slower for folks approaching the speed of light, and it sure as hell moves slower for folks on tour. Einstein described "time dilation" in respect to the former, in his special theory of relativity, but didn't spend so much time on the latter. Too bad. I imagine the dude could have made a pretty decent roadie for a touring band, at the very least. He seemed to keep track of numbers pretty well. My life has seen a marked difference between my clock, and that of the world at large, during this past month. Since returning home, I still haven't synced things back up.
That being said, tour was amazing. The Helm not only returned with the entire line-up it left with, we also returned ready to write, and record. We found the country filled with receptive audiences, and wonderful individuals. Thanks to all those who supported us on our trek. We will retun. I am incredibly happy to be home, but, I am super excited at the thought of going out again.
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[27 Jul 2008|09:59pm] |
07.27.08
363.
Jeffery once said that, "touring is travel with purpose." I have taken that to heart, and tried to make the most of every moment of tour so far. Not only have I been fortunate enough to hang with terrific people at every show, the three other guys in our silver van are solid dudes of the highest order. Things run smoothly, spirits are high, and each show has been fucking great. Van problems have been present, but none too insane. I have been using my downtime as best I can, and done a lot of reading, and writing. We are currently spending our last night in California. Tomorrow, we turn east.
For more details about all the shows, check Jared's Myspace Blog. He's keeping a great account.
We have 19 shows left. Catch us if you can.
Jul 28. The Chamber. Phoenix, AZ
Jul 29. Albuquerque Peace & Justice Hall . Albuquerque, NM
Jul 30. 1919 Hemphill. Fort Worth, TX
Jul 31. Red 7. Austin, TX
Aug 1. Cave 9. Birmingham, AL
Aug 2. Feral Skateshop. Athens, GA
Aug 3. 609 S Elm St. Greensboro, NC
Aug 4. Ramakins. Richmond, VA
Aug 5. The Party Mansion. Philadelphia, PA
Aug 6. The Stolen Sleeves Collective. Brooklyn, NY
Aug 7. Easy Axxess. (House show) Pawtucket, RI
Aug 8. American Legion Hall. Brookline, MA
Aug 9. Wasted City. Colchester, VT
Aug 10. The Westcott Community Center. Syracuse, NY
Aug 12. The High Five. Columbus, OH
Aug 13. The Dipping Station. Milwaukee, WI
Aug 14. The NELC. Minneapolis, MN
Aug 15. The YRS. Waterloo, IA
Aug 16. 1205 w. 23rd street Sioux Falls, SD
Aug 22. Dog City (Camp Nowhere). Seattle, WA
More info is available on our Myspace page.
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[15 Jul 2008|12:42am] |
07.15.08
362.
"What if there were no Coen Brothers' movies?"
Dave posited that question question to me the other day, and the thought of such an existence knocked me on my ass. A cinematic world without Walter Sobchak's ringer, Chigur's cattle-gun, and Everett's fist-fight in the Woolworths would make little sense to me. How many conversations have been had that included "Lebowski" quotes? Far too many to count!
Right now, I am obsessed with the amazing trailer for "Burn After Reading", their new film, which opens in September. Let's hope it's more "Lebowski" than "Ladykillers".
Red-Band Trailer. Not particularly work-friendly.
Trailer 1b. Though "clean," still watchable as all hell.
That's it for now.
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"There are all manner of lesser imps and demons, but the great Satan himself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail and carries a hayfork."
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[11 Jul 2008|12:39am] |
07.11.08
361.
This morning, I woke up with something sticking in my right eye. It apparently got caught, unnoticed, last night on my bike ride home, and sleeping on it buried it in the sclera (white), just below the Iris. the trip to they ophthalmologist, was expensive, and annoying. No permanent damage was done, however.
On a more pleasant note, I may be coming to your city soon. The Helm is leaving for tour next week. Our route is as follows:
Jul 17. Viaduct . Tacoma, WA
Jul 18. Dog City. Seattle, WA
Jul 19. 3701 W. Nob Hill Blvd. Yakima, WA
Jul 20. The Myrtle Morgue. Boise, ID
Jul 21. Artopia. Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 22. The HQ. Reno, NV
Jul 23. 418 Project. Santa Cruz, CA
Jul 25. 924 Gilman Street. Berkeley, CA
Jul 26. Biko Co-op. Isla Vista CA
Jul 27. The Pharaoh’s Den (EARLY SHOW). Riverside, CA
Jul 27. TBA (Later Show?). Riverside, CA
Jul 28. The Chamber. Phoenix, AZ
Jul 29. Albuquerque Peace & Justice Hall . Albuquerque, NM
Jul 30. 1919 Hemphill. Fort Worth, TX
Jul 31. Red 7. Austin, TX
Aug 1. Cave 9. Birmingham, AL
Aug 2. TBA (GA)
Aug 3. 609 S Elm St. Greensboro, NC
Aug 4. TBA (VA)
Aug 5. TBA (Philadelphia, PA)
Aug 6. The Charleston. Brooklyn, NY
Aug 7. Tim's House. Providence, RI
Aug 8. American Legion Hall. Brookline, MA
Aug 9. Wasted City. Colchester, VT
Aug 10. The Westcott Community Center. Syracuse, NY
Aug 12. The High Five. Columbus, OH
Aug 13. TBA (Milwaukee, WI)
Aug 14. The NELC. Minneapolis, MN
Aug 15. The YRS. Waterloo, IA
Aug 16. TBA (Sioux Falls, SD)
Aug 22. Dog City (Camp Nowhere). Seattle, WA
Most everything marked "TBA" is also pretty solid, and will be updated on our Myspace page, as soon as the info becomes available. Check there, or with me, for more info.
Some other notes:
1. WALL-E was pretty fucking sweet.
2. The new Heiress jams fucking own. Mastered or not. (R.I.P.)
3. Does anyone remember Cast Iron Hike? Who loves them like I do? "Watch it Burn" rules.
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[06 Jul 2008|10:09pm] |
07.06.08
360.
I leave for tour soon. The details seem to be falling together quite well.
On a sad note, I have been battling a stress fracture in my left foot for weeks now. Haven't run in some time. It's incredibly difficult for me to deal with. Especially with all the track and field action I have been watching on TV these last few days, all the reading about running I have been doing, and all the coaching. All I can do is ice, ride the bike, and wait it out.
I'd very much like to wait this one out on the road, though.
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[10 Jun 2008|11:29pm] |
06.10.08
359.
Graduation was tonight. I had just planned to show up and cheer for my kids, but by the time the last goodbyes were being said, and it all started settling in, I was pretty bleary. I'll miss the seniors, they were great kids, and it was tough saying goodbye to them, knowing that I may never see some of them ever again. I just hoped that I helped in whatever small way that I could. I know they helped me, and I know that I am a better person for knowing them all. I wish them all the best.
The strangest and most amazing part of the night, to me, was how some of the kids gave me cards, thanking me for helping out, and being awesome to them. I honestly couldn't read them there, because I was pretty overwhelmed by the sentiment. All sorts of their teachers, school staff, and and other people that they saw more (and dealt with arguably more practical things than running) were in attendance, and, and they still chose to seek me out and thank me personally.
I still find it hard to comprehend.
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[03 Jun 2008|09:11pm] |
06.03.08
358.
It's hard to believe it's June already. I feel like the year is rocketing by so fast.
I have secured a sub position at a middle school through the end of the school year. It's a nice school, and I am liked by both the teachers, and students. In light of my frequent work with kids from the two of the major immigrant communities in Seattle, East Africans, and Latin Americans, I feel that I need to enhance my language skills. I have begun to work on strengthening my Spanish fluency, largely atrophied from under-use over the years. I also plan to begin studying Arabic, once I return from tour. The kids I deal with from East Africa speak many different languages, but, a good majority have at least some exposure to Arabic, and I feel like I can be more useful to both the kids, and the schools, if I can approach helping them with more linguistic tools at my disposal.
Thirty-five kids showed up at my informational meeting for cross country this coming fall. That's ten more than showed up last year. More incoming freshman than ever have shown interest in the sport, and, many more kids from the school have sought me out since the meeting. We are looking at having a record turn-out, our first ever summer running program, and a more successful season than ever before. I have been frantically working on all sorts of schemes, both large and small, to help maximize the awesome for the kids this year. I just feel sometimes like I am never doing enough, and that everything is gonna fall apart due to my inadequate preparation. It's only June, but already I feel like I am behind, and at some point in the near future, the wheels (or in this case, the shoes) are gonna fall off this whole thing, and it's gonna wreck.
Speaking of wrecking, either my old shoes have really failed me, or I have some sort of foot problem (stress fracture?) that is no fun at all. I may have to start hitting the bike for a bit (ick). I am so bummed.
My job, and my cross country work, have kept me at the high school often enough to cause some of the kids from my team to make fun of me for having no life. I have been pretty asocial as of late, but, It's a sad day when high school kids give me shit for it.
Finally, being in The Helm "again" is pretty fucking amazing. Never before have I been so consistently sore, and completely happy, after shows. I feel lucky to be a part of it all.
That is all for now.
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[15 May 2008|10:46pm] |
05.15.08
357.
Dave and Michaelanne are gone for over a week. Being home alone too much is depressing.
My subconscious is strange. Here's an everyday example of it in action:
On the drive home today, I heard a report on the radio that two people have died in "riptides" already, in Washington, this spring.
My first thought:
"'Riptide'? Wasn't that a detective show in the 80's?"
My second thought:
"Remember 'Jake and the Fatman'? That was a detective show, too."
My third thought:
"Why did 'Jake and the Fatman' come to mind?"
These were both shows I had seen, but not in many many years, so I was pretty foggy about any details. When I got home, I hit up the internet, and was reminded that both shows had the same actor in a starring role. This was not a dude who really ever broke out beyond these two shows, but, somehow my mind had filed him away as being in both. Strange. I can't remember the names of people I met earlier today, but shit like this just comes to me. It happens all the time. Who the fuck even remembers that these shows were on to begin with?
At least these are hilarious to me:
Video of the "Riptide" intro.
Video of the "Jake and the Fatman" intro.
That's it for now.
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[30 Apr 2008|11:20am] |
04.30.08
356.
Quote of the day from my only day off this week:
"I'm trying to make so much more out of this song, but I am pretty sure its just about some chick getting nailed by a dude in a mask."
Amazing.
Decide for yourself. Check the video.
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R.I.P. Ms. Branigan, R.I.P.
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[25 Apr 2008|11:36pm] |
1979-89
355.
I've been staffed in a school computer lab the last few days. It's in an international school, with 33 different countries represented amongst the student population, it makes for a pretty intense, but rewarding, assignment. This computer lab is pretty fucking sweet, too, but they were having some trouble getting their scanner working. I took care of things, and tested the equipment with some more classic photos. These ones are quite a bit older than the last set.
As with last time, click on any of these pics to view a larger version.
This is my mom's family, sometime during 1979. I am the handsome guy in the red vest. For a short time that year, we lived with my grandparents, the kindly folks at the center of that photo, in British Columbia. My mom was still pretty young, she couldn't have been more than 23 when this was taken, and my dad was always being sent strange places by the Air Force. We met back up with him, in West Germany, a few months later.
This picture is of my sisters and I at the zoo, in Syracuse. It's dated 1986. Apparently, we were pretty excited to be there. I remember that green hat, it once belonged to my dad, and, it's in any number of the pictures that I have from back then. Thankfully, I don't remember those shorts, though. Ouch.
I was thinking about how it is that my brain works, and how I'm always looking to fit things into some sort of chronology. Of how I can't think of things in isolation, and how instead, I look at everything in order. It's strange, because, I have a history of being pretty fucking disorganized from day to day, but I can't stand seeing events contextually misrepresented. That same part of me sees this picture and dates it to the spring of 1989. I was in 7th grade, we were living in Liverpool, and I had just gotten those horrible glasses. I remember a trip to the movies, right after I got them, and being so amazed at how sharp the picture looked. By the way, I also remember that the movie was "The Burbs", and that we saw it at Great Northern Mall. Hilarious.
I've always been an historian. It's what I do. I probably should finish that degree sometime.
Goodnight.
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I scanned some more old runnning ones too. They are terrible. I will save them for later.
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[15 Apr 2008|08:08pm] |
1992-93
354.
Today I was assigned to a school office that I have staffed a few times before. Knowing that they have a scanner, and I might have some down-time, I decided to digitize a couple of photos from antiquity.
These three are classics from a running scrapbook I put together as a kid. It's fun, so I still have it, and have been known to produce it for a laugh or two. As hilarious as I think I look in these photos, there are a few, still un-scanned, that make me cringe far more. The scrapbook contains a number of other items of interest to me, not the least of which are several detailed lists of times and personal bests. I was a pretty intense nerd.
Click on any of the following photos to view a larger version.
Two of the these photos are from Autumn 1992. This team picture is from the our league championship meet, which took place that November at Lemoyne College. I was a junior, participating in my first cross-country season ever. The pic at the top of this entry is cropped from here.
Them's some big glasses.
This next picture was taken on Saturday, October 10, 1992 at Van Cortlandt park, in The Bronx, during the Manhattan College Cross-Country Invitational. I know this, because, in my intense-nerd state, I apparently wrote all that info, and more, on the back of the photo. I am awesome.
If I remember correctly (which I do, ha) that was taken along the final stretch of the race. As you can see, people are not often very photogenic while running, and this comes across quite well in the above photo. Regardless, I've always loved this one, because there's no doubt about my effort here. I was pretty damn proud of that performance.
The black and white photo is from a year later, at our first race of the season. First races are always strange, as often you have no idea what kind of shape you are in. It's common to under-perform in these situations, as you still figure out how capable you are. I ran fast that race, but, far slower than I had in me at the time, and only realized as much when it was too late to do anything about it. I took some lessons from that experience that I still use to this day when working with the kids I coach.
That's all for now.
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This was a fun entry. Goodnight.
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