Now for something lighthearted: Sesame Street Slayarrrggghhhh!

Seems to me a lot of life is reconciling opposite extremes, the video above is something nice and lighthearted compared to my last blog entry. It also shows a dualism combining the cute muppets of Sesame Street with the heavy metal rage of Slayer (properly pronounced: SLAY-AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!)... Enjoy!

Remember: Neda Agha-Soltan (Neda Soltani)

Neda Agha-Soltan (Neda Soltani) was killed in Iran during the recent political protests. Reports allege she was shot by pro-government militia who were trying to stop protesters.

To add insult to injury, the government ordered her family to bury Neda immediately and barred them from holding a memorial service. Apparently authorities in Iran are ordering mosques not to hold services for any people who have died at the recent protests.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/world/middleeast/23neda.html?_r=1
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/21/iran.woman.twitter/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8113552.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jeJnPi6AOx5JpqWi2Wwv3AaesBPAD98VPEOG0

Usually I like to experience the feeling of schadenfreude by reading the occassional news story about a tragedy, many of which are brought on by the foolishness, ignorance, and/or stupidity of the person suffering the indignity. However in Neda's case, she has become a martyr for the freedom and rights of humankind. Her death, as any person whose life is cut short, is a loss to be felt by us all. It makes me both sad and angry at the same time.

We have so many problems in this world to overcome without killing each other. That somebody's daughter, son, father, or mother dies because of something like this is BULLSHIT. Rage Against the Machine's song "Killing in the Name" is currently stuck on repeat in my head as a mantra of defiance against those immoral assholes who only exercise power to control: FUCK YOU, I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!

To the kind, moral, and thoughtful people of all creeds, religions, and philosophies, I beseech you to look past surface differences and realize we are all in this together... Peace to Neda, her loved ones, the people of Iran, and the people of the world.

Politics makes me laugh...

This FITS Makes News interview with "Michelle Obama" makes me laugh... Quite unlike the crap news pundits on "real" TV news channels! My favorite quote: "Michelle, is there a reason that several hundred secret service agents suddenly trained their guns at my head after you made the sweeping gesture?" You gotta watch it to get it... Much more entertaining than the usual news talk!

Prelude to the 2009 Boston Marathon

A few days before the 2009 Boston Marathon, I got a phone message from a reporter at the Gainesville Sun, Megan Rolland, asking if I would be willing to be interviewed for an article she was writing about area runners running the Boston Marathon. I told her I sure would as it is cool to be in the newspaper as long as it isn't for something criminal!

Since the article was about five different runners from the area, there was only a little bit about each one of us in the article. But since I have this seldom-used blog here, I figure I'd post the long form answers for your reading pleasure below... Just some insight into the enjoyment that running marathons gives me. Also a little more about why the Boston Marathon is so cool and if you'd like to qualify what you need to do, sorta...

HOW I STARTED RUNNING: I started in 2000 just before my 30th birthday to try to get in shape and run the 2 miles of Gator Gallop. In the summer of 2003, I decided to train for and run the 2004 Walt Disney World marathon to re-ignite my enthusiasm for running and to get the really cool finisher's medal! That led me into becoming and considering myself a "marathoner". It's like a lifestyle to me.

WHY RUN MARATHONS: Because I can. I also like the irrationality of it all because it really doesn't make much sense to run that far!

RUNNING IDOL: Tinpothy Gordon, Gainesville's "Running Man". He actually calls me "Marathon Man" because we became acquainted at a marathon, so he's called me that ever since! (Nobody else does!)

MARATHONS RUN: 9 so far and this year's Boston will be number 10.

FASTEST MARATHON: 2008 C&D Runfest marathon in 3:11:33. I went to visit my sister and her family for a week and topped it off with a nice little run on the weekend that turned out to be my fastest marathon.

THE BOSTON MARATHON: I never thought I would qualify to run Boston, but somehow after running a few thousand miles I actually qualified at the 2007 Five Points of Life Gainesville marathon, my 4th marathon. Before the start of that race, I took a sharpie marker and wrote "BELIEVE" on my right arm and "IN YOURSELF" on my left arm as a message to myself and the spectators along the course. At the end it was the most painful race I'd ever finished in my entire life but it was worth it! When I ran Boston in 2008, it was an incredible experience. Everybody talks about how difficult it is running up the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill in particular. They are not that tough; instead, what is most memorable are the spectators. The streets were lined with cheering spectators, and they treated every runner like he or she was an olympic champion. They really, REALLY appreciate the effort the common person puts into running the marathon up there. It's amazing. Anybody who considers themself a marathoner should experience the Boston marathon at least once in their lifetime.

I am trying to meet the minimum criteria for joining the Marathon Maniacs club which is to run 3 marathons within 90 days, so I ran Ocala and Five Points of Life Gainesville marathons in February and plan to finish up the trifecta in Boston.

ADVICE FOR BOSTON QUALIFYING: As far as practical advice, the main thing is to run as much as you can without becoming injured or turning into a running zombie. Also, it helps to run with friends or run with people who turn into your friends; I have met some very nice people in the Florida Track Club to run with and have made some good friends with the side effect of becoming a better runner. The Florida Track Club is open to runners and walkers of all abilities (see http://www.floridatrackclub.org/). For runners in general: focus on the next few steps ahead. Don't set artificial limits and don't get mesmerized at how far off in the distance your goal might be. If you focus on the footsteps one at a time, then eventually you will end up having made a long journey that was worthwhile in and of itself even if you didn't get to where you thought you were going. I am not a talented runner, but I've achieved faster times than I could've imagined, so running marathons has been a good lesson to me for approaching life in general.

FUTURE GOALS: I will attempt to run faster than 3:10:00 at Boston, but if I don't, I will try again in the future. Eventually I would like to run under 3 hours for the marathon and run under 20 minutes for the 5k distance so I can win a pie at the Race for the Pies 5k in Jacksonville! I would also like to earn a Ph.D in the Microbiology and Cell Science graduate program at UF.

Just for fun, mashitup!

For some reason I find the idea of the musical mashup cool, but to be totally honest most of them just plain stink. DJ Schmolli is just about the only mashup artist that is musical. While I'm not a fan of Jordin Sparks or Jimmy Eat World, I have to give props for the craftsmanship of Schmolli as well as the video maker bw49. The video above is just fun and a nice slice of pop music.

Just hoping to bring a little entertainment to your day... nothing thoughtful comes to mind right now! 8^)

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

I saw the above quotation in Christopher Bergland's book, The Athlete's Way, where it is attributed to Frank Outlaw. Another version attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson states, "Watch your character, for character is everything." Yet another version is attributed to the words of Buddha. Just from some lazy internet googling, I can't tell who really first wrote this. But that doesn't take away from the essential truth behind the words.

One of the things I really do believe -- and I came to this conclusion before I ever saw the above quotation -- is that our thoughts and beliefs create the universe around us. Therefore we have a moral obligation to make sure our thoughts and beliefs are not corrupt, for they eventually manifest themselves in the physical. Getting the right start is almost always half the battle, so it is important that we have thoughts and beliefs that are in harmony with the universe. I am trying to live up to this concept, and I hope everybody else who reads this will strive for the same as well. Best wishes!

P.s. The above illustration is Michael Zulli's "Unknown Dervish 2: Wild Birds". Michael is a really talented artist, and if you would like to explore more of his art, just visit his website at http://www.michaelzulli.com to check out his art as well a couple of his blogs about his work and his thoughts.