Why?
I'm not really sure why I've decided to do it but I'm running in the Marine Corps Marathon. It's Oct 29 in DC and I'm signed up. I guess that means that I'll be training in the heat of summer. I've run a half-marathon before. And I've run about 16 miles tops (when I got lost in Umstead one day on a 13-mile run). It should be fun. They'll be about 30,000 runners and probably three times as many spectators. I'm hoping my friends come to DC to cheer me on.
I've got an 18-week training program. That means I officially start training in mid-June right when it's nice and hot. Long runs are on Sundays and start with an 8-mile jaunt and increase up to two 20-milers.
On the Move.
I could not let this go by. Amelia started crawling last night and we got this cool video (set to "Upon this Tidal Wave of Young Blood" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). I knew that money spent on the video camera would be a good buy. This makes is totally worth it. And she's getting better. Though not captured on video, today she crawled across a good portion of the front yard stopping only to pull up grass. Guess it's time to finally clean up the Tex's poop in the grass.
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Help Me Value My Time.
If a movie is a critic's darling that's usually good enough for me. I value the opinions of the New York Times, Roger Ebert, USAToday, and even Entertainment Weekly. That said, will someone please explain to me how all of those places raved about A History Of Violence starring a great cast of Viggo Moretensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris? It was one of the most predictable, shallow and boring movies I've sat through in a long time. Maybe I missed the whole deeper story and symbolism. The only good thing I can say is that Ed Harris was killed rather early in the film so it wasn't really his fault.
As I explained earlier, my movie time has been cut back dramatically. Next on my Netflix cue is Thumbsucker, Everything is Illuminated, Capote, Matchpoint, King Kong and Brokeback Mountain. If I'm going to hate any of these please tell me now. And I'm open to some other suggestions too.
Passover Seder.
I had tortilla chips and leftover dip from Meredith's book club party. What about you?
I don't remember seders being this good:
I think I need to reconnect with my Jewishness. I'm missing out.
My Daughter the St. Bernard.
One of the things I've found as a new father is that my definition of disgusting or gross changes nearly daily. If you haven't kept up with my 6-month-old, Amelia, then you probably wouldn't know that she's got a couple of teeth coming in. Well, she does.
And I was prepared that cutting teeth may make babies a little cranky (which she hasn't been). But nobody told me that it would also turn my precious, sweet little angel into a slobbering St. Bernard. It's constant. And amazing. They are really, really long streams of slobber. The kind that just dangle from her mouth to my chin no matter how far away I hold her from me.
I won't get into poop stories yet. I'm sure better ones are on the way.
The Squid and The Whale.
One of the things that I've missed the most since becoming a new Dad is going to the movies. No more. I've re-joined Netflix and now there all the movies I've missed are there for the picking. My first choice -- The Squid and The Whale. For some reason this movie seemed really interesting to me from the first time I saw the preview and it was atop my list and in front of a lot of others like Good Night and Good Luck (next on the list), Thumbsucker, Capote, A History of Violence, Everything is Illuminated and many others.
Anyway, The Squid and The Whale didn't disappoint. It had that warm feeling despite the overall depressing storyline of a family coping with divorce. There were some great performances by Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney (two of my favorites) but the two kids in the movie stole the show. Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums and The Life Aquatic) was the executive producer.
Thanks New York For Describing My Life.
OK, so maybe it's not EXACTLY my life, but it's pretty close. I'm holding on to my youth as my post about my new Vans professed. And I guess that means that my music choices are reflective of that too. Of course it's all relative. If you live in New York perhaps you spend $200 on a haircut. I don't have that kind of budget. But I still like a nice haircut (even for $25), good jeans and retro sneakers. And I love my family.
Anyway, I won't say much more about this article. I'll let it speak for itself. Here's the whole thing and some of my favorite parts (if you don't want to read all 8 pages):It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old. It’s not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent. It’s about the hedge-fund guy in Park Slope with the chunky square glasses, brown rock T-shirt, slight paunch, expensive jeans, Puma sneakers, and shoulder-slung messenger bag, with two kids squirming over his lap like itchy chimps at the Tea Lounge on Sunday morning.
If being a Grup means being 35, and having a job, and using a messenger bag instead of a briefcase, and staying out too late too often, and owning more pairs of sneakers (eleven) than suits (one), and downloading a Hot Hot Heat song from iTunes because it was on a playlist titled “Saturday Errands,” and generally being uneasy and slightly confused about just what it means to be an adult in these modern times—in short, if it means living your life in fundamentally the same way that you did when you were, say, 22—then, let’s face it, I’m a Grup.
See, Grups aren’t afraid of parenting. Grups don’t avoid having kids. Grups love kids. In part, though, this is because Grups find kids to be perfect little Mr. Potato Head versions of themselves. Of course, there’s more to Grup parenting than simply molding your kid’s tastes. You must be vigilant that you don’t grow up and become uncool yourself.
“It’s hard to say right now, because most of these kids are between the age of zero and 5,” says Pollack. “So they’re still . . . I don’t want to say accessories, but they’re still moldable. You can still sort of play with them.” Although, if you’re planning to take this parental approach, you’d better make damn sure you’ve got good taste. “I find myself arguing with dads about the music their kids like,” he says. “One guy was telling me his son was really into Wilco. And I was telling him that’s lame. Because Wilco is so over.”
“It’s really important for us to be whole people, and not feel like our kids have . . . look, we love our kids,” says Hermelin. “The point isn’t to raise cool kids. We want passionate kids. And I think that by us doing the things that we love to do, that models that passion for our kids.”
Being a Grup isn’t, as it turns out, all about holding on to some misguided, well-marketed idea of youth—or, at least, isn’t just about that. It’s also about rejecting a hand-me-down model of adulthood that asks, or even necessitates, that you let go of everything you ever felt passionate about. It’s about reimagining adulthood as a period defined by promise, rather than compromise. And who can’t relate to that?
Hoop Tunes.
Most of you know that I've been spending most of my time keeping my basketball blog up-to-date in this time of March Madness. Usually basketball and indie rock do not meet. But it did my heart good to see Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn talking about Hoop Tunes on his blog.
Luke, I've got to get that new Loose Fur record and one of these cool Tivoli portable stereos.
Music Tips.
I've been avoiding you for a while. Focusing on basketball. But I'm back with some good music.
Band of Horses sounds just as Pitchfork describes them, My Morning Jacket meets The Shins. Their new record is really good. You can download the great song, The Funeral, to give them a try. You'll like it.
Tapes 'n Tapes are the current darlings of the music scene. They made a big splash at the recently completed SxSW music festival and are all the talk (and have been) of the better music blogs. By the way, my favorite music blog is Gorilla vs Bear. But here's a Tapes n Tapes clip. And the Pitchfork review.
My New Shoes.
I hear you, oh diligent reader, and respond. I got new shoes. They're the Vans Prison Issue 23. I assume they're called "prison issue" because instead of laces they have velcro. I guess in prison you can't have laces so you don't hang yourself, right? Anyway, they're sort of an homage to my youth. Meredith says that one day Amelia's friends in kindergarten will also have velcro strap shoes. Then, when I get older, I'll need velcro strap shoes. So judge my style however you'd like. I think it's just geek cheek.
The Ricky Gervais Show.
Have you listened to the Ricky Gervais Show podcasts? They're hilarious and you can find them here. And I thought Rick Gervais was a genius. Until I stumbled across this video of his band from 1984. Maybe this was just a comedy sketch too?
By the way, they've started Season 2 of the Podcast (they'll be at least four episodes) but now you've got to pay for them.
March Madness.
And if you're not checking out my basketball blog. You should. If you're into basketball. I'm blowing up. A couple good trackbacks and links from some other hoops blogs and I've had 458 hits already today. I'm amazed. That's the real madness. People are interested in what I'm saying. And that there's never enough commentary on college basketball.
Anyway, I was proud of myself and thought I'd show off a bit. Look at me.
