Dear World

Good Morning.

More will be said later when blood caffeine levels reach statistically significant levels and hormone levels increase to appreciable amounts that make writing and talking actions easier.

I have spoken.

Far From the Madding Crowd

I just started reading this book and feel that Gabriel Oak and I have an awful lot in common. Hopefully, he'll win the heart of his sweetheart at the end of his journey. It would be the perfect ending...

A story:

I had an epiphany yesterday.

I was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, took a side trail, got lost, re-discovered the AT, hiked 13 miles in the wrong direction, backtracked, and ended up walking 30 miles. Yes-you heard that right.

Thir-ty miles.

So yes, I’m tired…and thirsty.

Oh, did I mention I also ran a 5km road race at 7:30 A.M. the same day? Finished 10th out of about 200 people.

I finally made it back to my Mazda just as the most glorious sunset occurred. There were actually people pulled off the road taking photos of it.

Ten hours is a long time to spend in the woods. I had a  dream furry woodland creatures were inviting me to live with them. A rather large grey squirrel…his name was Mr. Poggins…was extolling the virtues of baked acorns and invited me for dinner. I respectfully declined his offer…that, and I couldn’t fit in his treehouse.

Today's long-distance running training advice: In the long run, one must be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Moving Right Along

In one months time I shall move back to the great state of West Virginia. Eight years have I lived in the merry state of Virginia and I'll miss it. Well, except for the high tax rate...but that's another story.
 
"And just how long do you plan to stay in West Virginia, Jason?"

Good question. I really don't know. I've moved...in the last ten years...at least ten times. You could call me a traveling nomad. I've always known I never would live permanently in VA or WV for long so I've been renting off people and never bought a house. The West Virginia thing seems...right now...and semi-permanent situation. I could see myself living anywhere in this country of ours except for perhaps Alabama or Louisiana. Don't get me wrong, I like these states...in much the same manner one loves certain relatives who chain smoke, tell obnoxious jokes, and kick cats...but some places you can, and should, appreciate only from a long distance.

Seattle or Portland is a possibility. Albuquerque another. New York City...definately...under the right circumstances...as in if I found a great deal near Central Park so I could run 10 miles a day and feel like I was in the country...situation. London is yet another possibility. Sometimes I think I was born there and kidnapped by hippie bohemians during the 70's, hidden in the cargo bay of a rather large ship, and dropped off at an orphanage in Fairmont, WV. This would explain my difficulty in remembering the first two years of my life and these recurring dreams that involve lots of water and boxes.

Today's long-distance running training advice: in the long run the long run should only be a "long" run if you run the run long, so...run long.

"Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything." --Thomas Merton

You know. No matter how sincere someone is when they try to persuade you the color of the sky is purple, I cannot help but think it is, always has been, and always will be blue. There is a hidden meaning here.

After 25 years...guess who is back?

No Sweat.

8.2 pounds-amount of weight I lost due to sweat during today's hour and a half run in 91 degree heat.

Peace Tea

Leave it to some Californian tea company to actually design a proper tea can.

I can quite honestly say I have no more problems with houseflies...

Meet Myrna and Loy. My newest fishy origami creations.

More Origami Madness

12 pieces of paper folded into this contraption called the WXYZ Project. Yes-it was difficult.

The left item was made using 6 sheets of square paper and the tiniest bit of glue. The right item, called the I-Ching Square, was created using 8 sheets of paper-without glue.

Bookcase with little origami books. OK...OK...so I do have quite a bit of free time.

Close-up shot of one of the mini books.

Origami Madness

With the advent of a 4-day period of no water or electricity this week, I decided to practice my origami skills. Origami, you should know, is the Japanese word for the art of paper-folding. Coincidentally, in Korean it is the word for torture. Here is a Kusadama ball I made from 60 small square pieces of waxy paper.

Stage 1: the little papers are folded into triangles, glued, and clothes-pinned together.

Close-up shot of the little papers ranging from perfectly flat to folded to glued together. 5 triangles were glued together to make one 5-petal flower.

Next, two flowers were glued together petal-to-petal, clothes-pinned,, and resting precariously in a beaker filled with paper clips. Note: glass beakers also make great green tea holders.

Finished! One Kusadama ball that will be sent to a special friend of mine for inspirational purposes.

Sometimes, I think God arranges the hearts of men so they hopelessly in love with a girl. And the girl, try as hard as she might, finds it difficult to not reciprocate the action...