Four More Posts

Four more posts until this site is officially retired. I must say, that 2,000 posts is definitely a lot. I never expected to get to that number when I started this thing. Progress is being made on the new one, but I am running into URL issues (the URL I really want is taken). Anyway, will come up with some sort of fix and will hopefully debut the new one come Monday or so.

I am t minutes 8 days and counting to my 5k open water swim in Chicago with my boy Dave (and probably 500 other people). I'm not enormously nervous, but I'm not feeling exactly ready either. I've really managed to pick up my swimming these past few weeks, but haven't done anything longer than an hour. I'm hoping that all the CrossFit pays off and that my shoulders are able to hold up. Will be interesting, that is for sure.

Another Football Season Is Upon Us

We are a day away from September which means only one thing - football season! I could not be more stoked. Our season kicks off on Saturday night against defending national champion Alabama. I'm not anticipating a great outcome on that one - I don't think we are quite in their league yet (though I think that under the leadership of Coach Hoke, we will get there in time). That said, I am very excited about our prospects this year, especially now that we have a year of Coach Hoke's new system under our belt.

I'm also excited about Denard Robinson's senior season. He's been a fantastic Wolverine - you could argue that he's an all-time great - and I suspect he will give us another great year. One prediction: I expect that he will show significant improvement in his passing game and will cut back interceptions significantly.

Anyway: Saturday night could not come soon enough. Hope springs eternal for this Wolverine.

Go Blue!

9/11 Memorial

One of the things I was able to do while in New York was quickly visit the 9/11 Memorial. Suffice to say, it is a pretty powerful experience in so many different respects. The sadness is tempered slightly by the site of the emerging Freedom Tower, which is absolutely inspiring. Seeing it is one of those moments where you are proud to be an American.

I was also able to pay respects to three friends who perished in 9/11.

Pete Kellerman was my buddy Dave's best friend from college (Tulane). I hung out with Pete a ton while we both lived in New York. He was a character and a great, spectacularly fun guy.

Steve Goldstein was my freshmen orientation roommate at Michigan. He was a fellow Jersey boy and we really bonded. We also lived on the same floor in the same dorm. We went our separate ways after freshman year but remained friends and occasionally got together during the Summer. Another great guy.

Melissa Doi worked for me back in my New York days. She was one of these bright, energetic kids who was always smiling. You had a feeling that she was going to change the world.

I miss the three of you and think of you frequently. You are gone but not forgotten.

Rest in peace, Amigos.

Howard Solomon Run for Thyroid Cancer, Part IV

I just this morning realized that our annual Howard Solomon Run for Thyroid cancer annual event is upon us. That is, if anyone is interested. You guys should know the drill by now - it's pretty simple. Everyone does something physically active (run, swim, walk, hike, bike, tennis, etc) on the designated date. You send me a picture. I post it. In the end I make a donation on our collective behalf.

That's it.

I'm thinking that the weekend after next might make most sense, as that is the date my boy Dave M and I are swimming an open water 5k in Chicago. I'm also doing a 5k run the day following.

September 8th and 9th would be the dates. Requesting a roll call on this; who's in??

And remember: any activity counts and the entire family is encouraged to participate.

Headed Home

Been gone a long while from these here page; was in Lake George for a week and then in New Jersey for several days. Typing this at Newark Airport where my Summer has come to a official end. Today is about getting back to work both figuratively and literally. It's time too, despite the fact that I had a really great time in every respect.

New Jersey was great - saw all of the family as well as two of my very good friends from high school which was a real treat. I'm hoping my boy Geremy revisits this site from time to time. What up Ger?

What else? Went to a Mets game at Citifield (very impressive - the stadium that is), went to Crossfit a few times (it's fun visiting other gyms), got a new camera (thanks Scott), and got a million mosquito bites (didn't miss you at all, Mosquitos).

I've got a lot more posts in the queue, including one on Lance Armstrong.  Will try to knock those put this week and might even unveil the new site, too.

Until then, big thanks to both sets of grandparent - Nana, Papa, Papa Gerry and Nana Ida - for the hospitality.

Greetings from Lake George, Part II

So the Kids are home from camp. IT's safe to say that the kids had a great time. Beyond great, apparently. It's all she will talk about and she's begging us to take her back. It was cute the first day but I'm starting to think she is obsessed. Better to have them love it though than otherwise.

It's great to see them, obviously though the 3.5 weeks was really over in a blink of an eye. We're having a nice time in Lake George and we are really taking advantage of the lake: I swam an hour yesterday and 40 minutes today (I have a 5k swim in a mere three weeks and am not yet ready - though I'm starting to get there) and we borrowed two paddleboards and have been paddling the hours away. Paddleboarding is super fun the the Little Boy in particular is terrific at it.

Tomorrow our friends the Berlents arrive in town, which will be super fun. Pictures will follow.

Here's Where I am At

So, if you recall I said that I was going to stop publishing this blog once I hit post number 1,200. I have ten to go.

A number of folks have encouraged me to carry on, which is really a very nice thing to hear. I wasn't sure if anyone really cared. So, I've struck a compromise.

I WILL carry on - but not with this site. I think it's kind of run it's course title and platform wise. A number of you have said that it's difficult to leave comments here and I've had the same issue, which I simply cannot seem to figure out.

So, I'm toying with a new platform, title, and look and feel. I'm going to continue to play around with it a bit and have some ideas; I'll look to "debut" within the next week or so.

In the interim, I do have a few titles I'm toying with but am open to suggestions.

Anyone? Bueller? Ferris Bueller?

Whomever comes up with a winner gets a (electronics) special prize. So put your thinking cap on. And stay tuned for more.

A Step Back in Time

My boy Wiley left yesterday after visiting for two weeks. I have to say, we had one heck of a good time. For two weeks, we stepped back in time, maybe 20 years or so. I'm not so certain that's sustainable for the long-term, but for a few short, summer months, it was super fun.

We definitely kept ourselves on the move and entertained. On Thursday, we had a great dinner with some buddies at a local drinking establishment and went to local music hall  Sweetwater. Upon departure, at o dark hundred, it was abundantly clear that none of us were getting behind the wheel of a car. We called a cab to no avail, so then called an audible; we were walking home. In the dark. Via the infamous Dipsea trail. Up all 673 steps. Using only moonlight to guide us.

Sounds crazy but was one of the most fun things I've done in a long while. And despite his initial protestations, I believe Wiley would concur.

The next night we went to a Pacifics game (Independent Baseball League) which was super fun. Saturday morning we got up early, went to CrossFit (me, anyway) and headed into San Francisco to meet up with an old friend and for Outside Lands. OL was a bit more crowded and colder than last year, but also fun. We saw Portugal. The Man, Big Boi, a few seconds of Alabama Shakes, The Kills and the absolute highlight of the evening - Metallica. I'm not a huge Metallica fan but man oh man - they are indescribably awesome live. We were both wowed.

After OL we miraculously got out of dodge without last year's problem and headed back to ... Sweetwater, where famous jam band God Iron Wine was playing. Another great show and super long but fun day.

Anyway, Wiley left early yesterday. I went to CrossFit, came home and immediately -- took a nap. I woke up, went to lunch (see attached photo for specific menu), went for an hour swim and then pizza with friends. Despite the fact that I very much miss my family, it was almost a perfect dude's weekend.

Anyway, sorry to see Wiley go. Though my liver strongly feels otherwise.

More Olympics

Two more days to go and it's all over. Not sure what I'm going to do with myself.


Three highlight from yesterday included:

1. Men's 200. What can you say about Usain Bolt, really? The dude is the best and I love him. He's arrogant though without being a jerk, he talks the talk but then walks the walk and most importantly - he is hilarious. There was a point during yesterday's 200, at about the 3/4 mark, where his teammate - who's also unreal - pulls close to him. Bolt gives a sideways glance - and then hits the afterburner. Dude is a straight up champion.

2. David Rudisha crushing - annihilating the field - en route to a world record time in the men's 800. Rudisha might have been pound for pound the most unbeatable distance racer in the Olympics. Dude split 49 and 51. That is almost incomprehensible.

3. The women's 10k swim. This is one of those obscure races that stokes me so greatly. 6.2 mile swim! How gnarly is that? The American and Hungarian ladies absolutely duked it out, with the Hungarian winningmy less than a half second. Can you imagine swimming for 6 mile and nearly two hours - to lose it by .4 second? Crazy-town and the last 300 meters was as exciting as anything I have ever seen.

Man oh man - they should really have the Olympics every year.

Men's 1,500 meter

If you haven't seen the men's 1,500 meter final, go find that on YouTube and give it the 3:32 out of your day that it deserves. Keep a particular eye on American and silver medalist, Leo Marzano. Pay particular attention to the 100 meter to go point and watch him make his move. THAT'S RACING. Wow - what a masterful race and what a kick. I've watched that one about ten times and can't get enough. I also can't wait to show it to my kids (in fact, I wrote a letter to the Little Boy early this am describing it in detail). That race defines the notion of racing. Man, do I ever love when the American's do well in the distance events and between Marzano and Galen Rupp we are looking good. A medal in the men's marathon would be a real silver lining.

My rant of the day? I can't believe I had to wait until midnight last night to see that freaking race. Had to wade through SO much gymnastics, beach volleyball and more. No offense to any beach volleyball or gymnastic fans, but man oh man. And meanwhile, cool but obscure sports like weightlifting, rowing and triathlon get ZERO love whatsoever. Kind of does not stoke me but I'm happy that I can at least webstream other events.

I'm really not sure what I am going to do with myself once these Olympics are over. I simply can't get enough.

Olympics

I've been watching non-stop Olympics. I can't get enough. One thing that I do wish is that NBC would broadcast some of the more "obscure" sports such as rowing, weightlifting and more. I have to say that I'm slightly tiring of beach volleyball (except the female bikini part of course) and gymnastics. I can't get enough of track and field and diving though. Track and field is my favorite sport, followed closely by swimming. Looks like Usain Bolt is going to be the star of this Olympics too, which is fine by me. I love hoe he rises to the occasion and he's hilarious. As well, he's a great sportsman and I loved how he stopped an interview so he could pay respect to the American 400 meter winner during her medal ceremony. That was super classy.

I thought the men's 10,000 meters was epic and was stoked to see Galen Rupp take silver. I'm equally for the distance races and would really like to see America do well, particularly in the marathon (go Meb - Go Ryan) and 1,500.

Lastly, I'm stoked for triathlon on Saturday. Look for a 1-2 finish by the British Brownlee brothers.

And speaking of the British, I think they are doing an amazing job both from a host-nation and competitive standpoint. Sebastian Coe is the man.

Last point: I will be super bummed in a week. I wish they lasted a month.

Yosemite Part II

Back from Yosemite. Wow - that is an absolutely wondrous place. If you all ever get a chance to go, go. I have so many thoughts. First is around the sheer vastness of the place. It is beyond enormous - apparently it's the same size as the State of Rhode Island. It's so big that it took us 45 minutes to drive from our camp site to the Valley. My second thought is that the Valley is where most of the action is, but poses a conundrum because it gets crazy crowded, particularly this time of the year.

But man - is it something. We got to see most if not all of the main characters; Half Dome, North Dome and the grand daddy of them all - El Capitan. El Cap moved me and to top it off, we got to see  a SAR (Search and Rescue) operation on a climber who got himself in a bit of trouble (understatement). Wow was that something - helicopter going back and forth up the mountain (along with requisite materials) where they eventually had to set themselves up to belay down the freaking Nose to rescue this moron. And based on our conversations with the lead rescue guy, this guy was indeed an idiot; inexperienced and on a short rope. We were captivated by the entire scene and must have sat out there for three hours watching the entire situation unfold. It was like something out of a movie. That dude was stuck on the mountain for almost ten hours too - though an idiot, I sure do hope he is ok (according to his radio report - he had a walkie talkie so we could hear him - he lost feeling in his legs).

The rest of the trip was great; We hiked a ton. We did a hike out together and when we hit our end point, I ran ahead and then ran back myself. Even though I never lost the trail (it was well marked) it was pretty disconcerting to be out there and not see any sign whatsoever of another human being. I realized that if I can blown off the path, I could have been lost for literally days. Sobering reality but again, I was never in any trouble at all.

The camping part was super fun. I'm not much of a camper but my friends are and I really enjoy it; more so than I ever thought possible. Only downside if there was one is that it's dry this time of the year and the campsite was DIRTY. And I mean - DIRTY. For all of you interested, I've attached a photo of my foot - and that is after having scrubbed it for a full 15 minutes. I was never so happy to see a shower as when I got home.

Anyway, I can cross that one off the bucket list. And I'd go back in a minute, hopefully with the kids in tow.

Yosemite

Headed camping for a few days with the boys to Yosemite. I've lived in California for almost 7 years now and still haven't been to Yosemite; I am stoked. I am particularly stoked to get some trail running in; from what I understand some of the Yosemite trails are absolutely epic.

On the unstoked side of the equation though, it's supposed to be a bit hot. Forecasts seem to be hovering in the mid 90's, but it cools down significantly as the sun sets (typical of Northern California). If internet access allows, I will be sure to post pictures.

In regards to the Olympics, it was interesting to see Michael Phelps make the same mistake as my kids - you gotta hit that finish STRONG. I cannot believe that he made such an amateur mistake. Just proves that no one is infallible.