Mary Faust, Part Seventeen

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That lap top is making Dawn's eyebrows shorter and making her grow old!

POET

Depart! elsewhere another servant choose
What! shall the bard his godlike power abuse?
Man's loftiest right, kind nature's high bequest,
For your mean purpose basely sport away?
Whence comes his mastery o'er the human breast,
Whence o'er the elements his sway,
But from the harmony that, gushing from his soul,
Draws back into his heart the wondrous whole?

Shout Outs!

I need to get the bit of promo for "The Word" app that airs at the end of the Colbert Report to put on my website. It's the second one where Stephen points to and says the phrase, 'A Perfect World'. Happens to be the name of my comic and the domain name: aperfectworld.org.

Why dot org? When I bought the domain name the dot com version was being used by a male enhancement company. perfectworld.com is a MMORG. aperfectworld.com has nothing on it.

I subscribe to UUpdates feed. Below a list of individual blogs on UUpdates that I always read (no particular order):

• Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show http://mskittyssaloonandroadshow.blogspot.com/
• it's all one thing http://shetterly.blogspot.com/
• CUUMBYA http://cuumbaya.blogspot.com/
• Beauty Tips for Ministers http://beautytipsforministers.com/ (odd since I'm neither a professional minister or interested in fashion)
• The Chaliceblog http://chalicechick.blogspot.com/
• Tete-a-Tete-Tete http://tete-tete-tete.com/ (Sorry, too lazy to look up the html for accented characters)
• The Journey http://uuminister.blogspot.com/
• The Wild Hunt http://wildhunt.org/blog/ (another odd one for me since I'm not a pagan. Proof that I do read word press based blogs)
• Pfarrer Streccius http://pfarrerstreccius.blogspot.com/ (I skip the Illinois politics posts)
• Yet Another Unitarian Universalist http://www.danielharper.org/blog/
• Orcinus http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/

Thank you to each of you for sharing your thoughts.

I felt like making some recommendations since we all have a limited amount of time. I feel the above blogs are a good use of my limited blog reading time.

Looking over the list I notice a majority use Blogger and hosted by Blogspot.com. I use Blogger and this blog is hosted by Blogspot.com. I wonder if my list would be different if I used WordPress or a different platform?

Why I don't read your UU blog?

• Congregation specific (nothing wrong with that.)
• Read entries that grab my attention but not a regular reader
• Location specific
• Just not interested in the topic

Lack of quality is not a reason.

Mary Faust, Part Sixteen

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Giant Galapagos Island Tortoises are reading this and thinking, "Get on with it!"

Ents (the tree people from Lord of the Rings) consider themselves quite hasty compared to the pace of this storyline.

Which will come first: my 41st birthday (Feb. 21) or the conclusion of this plot?

--------------------------------

Poor fools the muses' fair regards.
Why court for such a paltry end?
I tell you, give them more, still more, 'tis all I ask,
Thus you will ne'er stray widely from the goal;
Your audience seek to mystify, cajole;--
To satisfy them--that's a harder task.
What ails thee? art enraptured or distressed?

Miracle Match Marathon

Finished the Miracle Match Marathon in Waco, Texas in 4:41:12.42 according to the time on my watch. Official results have not been posted yet.

This was the most challenging marathon I've run without an injury. Didn't set a personal record but I now know that I'm a sub-5 hour marathoner.

I would not recommend this race for a first-time marathoner but then again if you finish it as a rookie all the others in Texas will seem easy.

The challenging parts but scenic parts of the course are between miles 14 and 24. There is nothing in Bryan - College Station that could have prepared me for some of the downhill slopes. I had to walk down several.

Waco's Cameron Park is quite gorgeous and I enjoyed the running beside the Brazos River through a park. Waco should be proud of its parks. Their beauty, even in winter, made me wonder why I live in Bryan.

The race was well directed with plenty of friendly volunteers manning water stops in the freezing cold. Sponsors provided wonderful perks such as food, wine, beer and post-race massages. The finishers' medals looked incomplete but the finishers' windbreaker jacket more than made up for that.

The race packet swag bag had some good stuff in it. Surprising for a race with 1,200 total participants.

The cool thing about such a small race: the third place person in my age group (40 - 44 Female) had a time of 4 hours and 20 minutes. A slower person has a shot at placing.

The Miracle Match Marathon is a well-run smaller race that supports a great cause. If you're looking for a challenging winter race be sure to check this one out.

Exercise Log: January 24 - 30

Ran, biked, and walked 37.75 miles, burned 3422.7 calories and weigh 138.6 pounds.

Sunday: run - 8.25 miles in 1:23:50
Monday: bike - 5.19 miles in 20:54
Tuesday: run - 3.27 miles in 32:33.82
Wednesday: bike - 2.72 miles in 12:00; run - 1.37 miles in 15:00
Thursday: run - 5.40 miles in 52:50
Friday: run - 2.83 miles in 30:00

Mary Faust, Part Fifteen

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Maybe time to reinstate the Mary Watch: Number of Mary Worthless days. The over-arching lesson from the 2009 stories and continuing into 2010: stay off the internet.

As to a masquerade, with absent minds, they press,
Sheer curiosity their footsteps winging;
Ladies display their persons and their dress,
Actors unpaid their service bringing.
What dreams beguile you on your poet's height?
What puts a full house in a merry mood?
More closely view your patrons of the night!
The half are cold, the half are rude.
One, the play over, craves a game of cards;
Another a wild night in wanton joy would spend.

Mary Faust Part Fourteen

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I've given up trying to fit the text into the balloons. Easier to redraw balloons. I inflict my learning process upon you! Hopefully, the divisions will make more sense.

Wilbur doesn't own a cooler? I bet his condo neighbors appreciate him transporting the fish like that. Next panel: Dawn introduces her guest, Jill the Game Warden.

How it revolts the genuine artist's mind!
The sorry trash in which these coxcombs deal,
Is here approved on principle, I find.

MANAGER

Such a reproof disturbs me not a whit!
Who on efficient work is bent,
Must choose the fittest instrument.
Consider! 'tis soft wood you have to split;
Think too for whom you write, I pray!
One comes to while an hour away;
One from the festive board, a sated guest;
Others, more dreaded than the rest,
From journal-reading hurry to the play.

Exercise Log: January 17 - 23

This week I ran, walked, biked and rowed 49.01 miles, burned 4426.5 calories and weigh 139.9 pounds.

Sunday: Run - 12.35 miles in 2:02:56.07
Monday: Walk - 2.68 miles in 1:12:01.44
Tuesday: Run - 3.57 miles in 34:53
Wednesday: Row - 1.31 miles in 10:00, Elliptical - .45 mile in 10:00, Bike - 3.57 miles in 15:00
Thursday: Run - 5.05 miles in 47:29.26
Friday: Row - 1.90 miles in 15:00, Elliptical - 1.27 miles in 15:00, Bike - 3.53 miles in 15:00
Saturday: Walk - 3.32 miles in 1:20:16.36

Tomorrow, my final long run before the marathon.