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.

Mary Faust: Part Thirteen

Click on comic to enlarge.

Wilbur and Kurt continue fishing.

Karen Moy gives the reader a feel for a real fishing trip when the fish refuse to bite. Too bad she didn't provide beer. A single keg should provide plenty of beer for everyone who actually reads Mary Worth.

Spin for their eyes abundant occupation,
SO that the multitude may wondering gaze,
You by sheer bulk have won your reputation,

By mass alone can you subdue the masses,
Each then selects in time what suits his bent.
Bring much, you something bring for various classes,
And from the house goes every one content.
You give a piece, abroad in pieces send it!
'Tis a ragout--success most needs attend it;
'Tis easy to serve up, as easy to invent.
A finish'd whole what boots it to present!
Full soon the public will in pieces rend it.

POET

How mean such handicraft as this you cannot feel!

Mary Faust: Part Twelve

Click on comic for larger image. The Sunday strip was a recap of the action from the previous week, which is to say, nothing has happened.

A sprightly fellow's presence at your play,
Methinks should also count for something too;
Whose genial wit the audience still inspires,
Knows from their changeful mood no angry feeling;
A wider circle he desires,
To their heart's depths more surely thus appealing.
To work, then! Give a master-piece, my friend;
Bring Fancy with her choral trains before us,
Sense, reason, feeling, passion, but attend!
Let folly also swell the tragic chorus.

MANAGER

In chief, of incident enough prepare!
A show they want, they come to gape and stare.

Exercise Log: January 10 - 16

This week I walked, ran, biked and rowed 58.03 miles, burned 5228.1 calories and weigh 139.1 pounds.

Sunday: Run - 20.09 miles in 3:25:19.90
Monday: Bike - 8.91 miles in 35:00
Tuesday: Run - 4.31 miles in 45:00
Wednesday: Walk - .61 mile in 15:20.45
Thursday: Run - 6.94 miles in 1:05:00
Friday: Row - 1.92 miles in 15:00; Run - 1.92 miles in 20:00; Bike - 4.32 miles in 20:00
Saturday: Walk - .70 mile in 19:57.63

There are other walking miles with Loki and during the work week not listed above that are part of the total. Loki walked a total of 3.42 miles.

Tomorrow, I start my taper for the Miracle Match Marathon. 12 miles on the agenda.

Will enjoy my 3 day weekend.

Good luck to everyone running in the Chevron Houston Marathon tomorrow. You can do it!

Mary Faust: Part Eleven

Click on comic to enlarge.

Wilbur kept the same glasses all these years.

A failure now, with words now fitly mated,
In the wild tumult of the hour is drown'd;
Full oft the poet's thought for years bath waited
Until at length with perfect form 'tis crowned;
What dazzles, for the moment born, must perish;
What genuine is posterity will cherish.

MERRYMAN

This cant about posterity I hate;
About posterity were I to prate,
Who then the living would amuse? For they
Will have diversion, ay, and 'tis their due.

Mary Faust: Part Ten

Click on comic to enlarge.

Has the boredom of Kurt and Wilbur's conversation driven everyone, including those out of earshot, from the lake?

POET

Oh of the motley throng speak not before me,
At whose aspect the Spirit wings its flight!

Conceal the surging concourse, I implore thee,
Whose vortex draws us with resistless might.
No, to some peaceful heavenly nook restore me,
Where only for the bard blooms pure delight,
Where love and friendship yield their choicest blessing,
Our heart's true bliss, with god-like hand caressing.

What in the spirit's depths was there created,
What shyly there the lip shaped forth in sound;

Mary Faust: Part Nine

Click on comic to enlarge.

Out of boredom, Kurt's legs have left the scene. A most extreme case of Restless Legs Syndrome.

Still in broad daylight, ere the clock strikes four,
With blows their way towards the box they take;
And, as for bread in famine, at the baker's door,
For tickets are content their necks to break.
Such various minds the bard alone can sway,

My friend, oh work this miracle to-day!

Mary Faust: Part Eight

Click on comic to enlarge.

Thanks and shout out to Seattle PI for making larger comics available. You can even rate each comic.

I enlarged a bit more when removing original dialogue but since I had a larger image to start quality has not degraded as much.

How make our entertainment striking, new,
And yet significant and pleasing too?
For to be plain, I love to see the throng,
As to our booth the living tide progresses;
As wave on wave successive rolls along,
And through heaven's narrow portal forceful presses;

Mary Faust: Part Seven

Click on comic to enlarge.

The posts are now erected, and the planks,
And all look forward to a festal treat.
Their places taken, they, with eyebrows rais'd,
Sit patiently, and fain would be amaz'd.
I know the art to hit the public taste,
Yet ne'er of failure felt so keen a dread;
True, they are not accustomed to the best,
But then appalling the amount they've read.

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

The tackle box does not have tackle in it.

Mary Faust Part Six

Click on comic to enlarge.

A yearning long unfelt, each impulse swaying,
To yon calm spirit-realm uplifts my soul;
In faltering cadence, as when Zephyr playing,
Fans the Aeolian harp, my numbers roll;
Tear follows tear, my steadfast heart obeying
The tender impulse, loses its control;
What I possess as from afar I see;
Those I have lost become realities to me.

Prologue in the Theatre
MANAGER. DRAMATIC POET. MERRYMAN.

MANAGER

Ye twain, in trouble and distress
True friends whom I so oft have found,
Say, for our scheme on German ground,
What prospect have we of success?
Fain would I please the public, win their thanks;
They live and let live, hence it is but meet.
-------------------------------
I'm filling balloons. Seven Sunday panels gives me lots of balloons.
I ran my final 20 mile training run - 20.09 miles in 3:25:19.90. I will set a new personal record if I can repeat that performance for the marathon on Jan. 31.

Mary Faust: Part 5

Click on cartoon to enlarge.

Sorry about the Comic Sans. I need to download Digital Strip to my home computer. I enlarge the comic strip and then paste text into balloons. I try to fit as much as I can while maintaining readability. I do cheat occasionally by slightly enlarging a balloon to add a bit of white space around the text.

Part of the third verse of Dedication:

Dispersed the throng, their severed flight now winging;
Mute are the voices that responsive rang.
For stranger crowds the Orphean lyre now stringing,
E'en their applause is to my heart a pang;
Of old who listened to my song, glad hearted,
If yet they live, now wander widely parted.

Mary Worth is the work of writer Karen Moy and artist Joe Giella and is owned by King Features Syndicate. All images from the comic strip are owned by King Features. Faust is the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and is public domain.

Exercise Log: January 1 - 9

This year so far I walked, ran & biked 44.04 miles, burned 3782.8 calories and weigh 141.3 pounds.

Loki has walked 5.62 miles. He had a great time today walking off leash in the woods and park.

Less than a month until my marathon in Waco. Tomorrow, I run my final 20 mile training run. Then I taper. Thinking about running by time rather than distance tomorrow. Maybe run 4 hours and see how far I go.

Jan. 2: walk, 1.08 miles, 23:36.25
Jan. 3: run, 8.31 miles, 1:24:42.48
Jan. 4: bike, 9.18 miles, 35:00
Jan. 5: run, 6.20 miles, 1:05:00
Jan. 7: run, 5.38 miles, 51:52
Jan. 9: walk, 2.82 miles, 1:04:53.98

Mary Faust: More Dedication

Click on cartoon to enlarge.

Today's larger word balloons allowed me to place more text. If you wish to keep up with the storyline as written by Karen Moy visit Mary Worth & Me. Wanders & friends do an outstanding job of keeping up with the goings on in Santa Royale. You will understand the humor of Mary Worth if you spend any time over there. Be sure to enjoy the Charterstone Jukebox.

Looking forward to the Sunday comic. Lots of balloons to fill.

Sorrow revives, her wail of anguish sending
Back o'er life's devious labyrinthine way,
And names the dear ones, they whom Fate bereaving
Of life's fair hours, left me behind them grieving.

They hear me not my later cadence singing,
The souls to whom my earlier lays I sang;

Mary Faust: Dedication Verse Two, Part 1

Click on cartoon to enlarge. Picture quality degraded because of enlargement. I don't know why syndicates don't make larger versions available for online venues. Maybe to prevent miscreants from rewriting crappy comics? It takes a larger comic to truly appreciate the care Joe Giella put into rendering Wilbur's comb over.

Shades fondly loved appear, your train attending,
And visions fair of many a blissful day;
First-love and friendship their fond accents blending,
Like to some ancient, half-expiring lay;

Mary Faust: Dedication Verse One

Click on picture to enlarge. (Click here for the first part)

Dedication

Ye wavering shapes, again ye do enfold me,
As erst upon my troubled sight ye stole;
Shall I this time attempt to clasp, to hold ye?
Still for the fond illusion yearns my soul?
Ye press around! Come then, your captive hold me,
As upward from the vapoury mist ye roll;
Within my breast youth's throbbing pulse is bounding,
Fann'd by the magic breath your march surrounding.

Mary Worth: Faust

Click on cartoon to make bigger.

An insomnia induced project idea: Goethe's Faust replacing Mary Worth dialogue. A fun way for me to read all of Faust and make Mary Worth a bit more amusing.

Also something to justify the continued existence of this blog.

Exercise Log: December 8 - 12

I ran, biked and walked 27.65 miles, burned 2357 calories and weigh 141.4 pounds.

Light week in terms of exercise because of Radio MASH. Very successful - collected toys for about 5,400 children. Once again, the Brazos Valley comes through.

Received an early Christmas present in the form of a Garmin Forerunner 405. Used for my 18 mile training run this morning. Collected all kinds of interesting data. I can run quite fast in short bursts even during the latter part of a long run.

Need to set the distance units back to non-metric. Accidentally set them to metric while playing with settings last night.

Icky Female Content

This post contains icky female content. If you're squeamish go away now. Here is a nice place: http://ihasahotdog.com/

I await menopause with great anticipation. Please get here soon. I'm tired of this monthly bullshit. 27 fucking years so far. Maybe I shouldn't be so angry and bitchy about a natural process but the copious amounts of Midol I've taken so far don't seem to be working. I'm in pain and I want it to stop. Please don't justify it with Old Testament theology. Adam & Eve ate the damn fruit and I get punished with this pain.

Wonder why women get so damn bitchy once a month? Guys, imagine this: starting around age 13, every month, someone visits your home, work or school and hits your nads with a baseball bat. After a while you might get a little pissed off at this and maybe give a hearty fuck you to anyone who says that this is natural and part of God's plan or punishment. Maybe get a little peeved when medical people and others don't take your pain seriously.

The over the counter meds suck. But because of some stupid crackers that lack self control I can't access more effective medicine without visiting a doctor who will probably say it's just female problems and not that bad compared to others. I am stronger and have better self-control - give me something effective.

At the moment I don't give a shit about the magnitude of others' pain. I just want mine to stop. 1,500 milligrams of acetaminophen and I still feel like someone is slicing my abdomen from the inside. I'm just pissed off that I've endured this crap for 27 years and there is no one I can blame, punch or shout at. At least the there is an entity in the bat analogy written above.

I don't know how or why I've endured this shit for 27 years. If I person did this to me I would have done something long ago. The pain will pass and I will forget about it until next month.

In about 5 minutes the office holiday luncheon will start. I have to make nice even though I don't feel nice. The annoying part is that this crap is joked about, trivialized and women are taunted if they express a bit of irritation because of this. Men injuring their nads is considered comedy gold but no one expects a man to be nice & polite while enduring the pain.

I'm in pain and I don't want to be nice. I just want it to go away and some space to be grumpy until it does.

Santa, I want menopause this year and an Evel Knievel stunt bike set.

Lunch 9/9/09

Healthy Choice Grilled Chicken Teriyaki - the package. Nice design with the exclamation point.

The reality after microwaving:

The apple stuff always splashes into the broccoli. Piece of broccoli invaded apple stuff compartment. No pineapple. Sauce off target.

Radioactive

Neat trick. Adrian does her impression of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I wonder if that will leave a mark on the wall?

Adrian, take your fingers out of your mouth otherwise you will spread the flu virus. Should we call you "H1N1 Adrian"?