Just back from Arizona. Figure I'll be cooled down by Wednesday or so. Jesus H. Christ. How do people freaking survive - literally - in weather like that? Crazy Mama, care to shed some light on this for us???
Joking aside, it was a nice trip and always fun to hang with the family. Highlights included one 24 hour span which featured:
1. Summer getting crapped on by a bird at breakfast in full view of the entire restaurant (she was a great sport about it)
2. Summer running full steam into a glass sliding door (fortunately, uninjured)
3. Summer falling out of bed in the middle of the night (monster fat lip but no blood or missing teeth).
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I was thinking this past weekend about what Lance calls the "obligation of the cured." Even though I am not cured quite yet I still haven't really done much to help further "the cause." Unfortunately, I really don't have the time right now to do "real work" (i.e. fundraising, advocacy, events, PR, etc.) though I will absolutely make the the time at some point in my lifetime. What I can do, though, is give money. Even though this is the easy route, it's better than nothing and at the end of the day, moneythis is what most cancer organizations need most.
So, I was thinking about a fun way of raising money. I am loath to hit you all up for money ala many other well-intentioned organizations. That's not my style. Instead, I'd rather get you all running.
Here's what I am proposing:
I invite you all to "virtually" join me on September 7th when I ran the Big Kahuna Half Ironman in Santa Cruz. For all of you who run between three and ten miles on the same day I do the half ironman, I will donate 25 dollars in your name to Thyca (see the link to the right to learn more). If you run between 10 and 20 I will donate $50 in your respective names. If you run over 20, I will donate $100. Note the use of "I". The financial part is all on me; all you have to do is run. However, if you want to donate direct, thats fine by me too, but I'm not asking you to do so.
While this is by no means the world's largest or popular blog, there's enough of you out there reading this that we (I) can make a fairly substantial contribution. It will also provide further motivation and inspiration for me personally when I do Big Kahuna, knowing that you're out there with me in body and spirit.
So, what say ye? Who is in? Let's make this even more fun and don't email me privately -- state your goal on the comments section. And it's all good by me -- if you simply want to run three, that is awesome in my book. The goal is simply to get us all running.
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Speaking of comments section, my father is kind of bummed out (an understatement) that there was so few comments to his guest blog, so give him some love people, otherwise it will be hard to cajole another article out of him.
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Happy Father's Day, all you fathers. Hoope you had a great day.
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Tomorrow's commentary will focus on the Dauphine Libere bike race, the final tuneup to the Tour de France, which wrapped up yesterday. With the Tour coming up I warn you in advance that you are about to see a LOT of bike related posts. I recognize that this might turn some of you off, but try to hang with me if you can. Despite the recent doping scandal, pro cycling is really a beautiful sport and I will do my best to make it interesting.
Ou tof rnow; off to watch Entourage.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Heat
Greetings from sunny Scottsdale, AZ.
It's so freaking hot here I cannot even see straight -- and that's at 9:25 am. You know you are in the desert when the people at the hotel say things like "It wasn't so bad today, just 105. We usually start to see problems when it gets to 110" or "We had a cold spell in May. We were stuck in the 80's all month."
Seriously, both lines are true.
I like AZ and the desert panorama is quite beautiful and April LOVES the heat (biggest nonsensical line ever, btw -- "But it's a dry heat." Screw that. Hot is hot) but personally, I need to be near water. Nice place to visit but I could never live here.
Anyway, enjoyable day though I ended up having to work the entire day. Plus, good lord was it hot. I wanted to go for a late afternoon run but it was literally impossible.
Anyway, I can't complain.
Line of the day came from Summer at dinner. We were talking about the Soprano's and I was reciting some of the lines and out of nowhwere she blurts ... no joking "Mommy used to be daddy's goomah." How'd she know?
(I can't link from this computer but if you don't know what it means, go to www.wikipedia.com and type it in).
That's all for now.
It's so freaking hot here I cannot even see straight -- and that's at 9:25 am. You know you are in the desert when the people at the hotel say things like "It wasn't so bad today, just 105. We usually start to see problems when it gets to 110" or "We had a cold spell in May. We were stuck in the 80's all month."
Seriously, both lines are true.
I like AZ and the desert panorama is quite beautiful and April LOVES the heat (biggest nonsensical line ever, btw -- "But it's a dry heat." Screw that. Hot is hot) but personally, I need to be near water. Nice place to visit but I could never live here.
Anyway, enjoyable day though I ended up having to work the entire day. Plus, good lord was it hot. I wanted to go for a late afternoon run but it was literally impossible.
Anyway, I can't complain.
Line of the day came from Summer at dinner. We were talking about the Soprano's and I was reciting some of the lines and out of nowhwere she blurts ... no joking "Mommy used to be daddy's goomah." How'd she know?
(I can't link from this computer but if you don't know what it means, go to www.wikipedia.com and type it in).
That's all for now.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Story of My Life: As Told By My Father
Alrightee. This is the post that many of you have been waiting for; the guest blog from my father. For those of you know him, I think you will recognize his unmistakeable "voice." Those of you who are unfamiliar with him, well, let's just say that if you stick around, you'll get to to know him soon. Depending on your sense of humor, you're more likely than not to be amused.
The parameters I set forth were simple: I asked him to guest blog on any subject he wanted. I have not edited one single word, though in the interest of full disclosure, after submitting the following he did ask me to add one additional sentence which I didn't think was appropriate (the sentence, that is). If any of you are interested in seeing this "addendum", please email me privately.
Also note that the family is headed out for an extended weekend of R&R to Arizona, where, according to weather.com, the temperature is a rather tepid 113. No exaggeration. So, not sure if I'll have the ability to post (because I will likely have melted), but will try.
Lastly, thanks for the cascade of good wishes today, everyone. At the risk of sounding trite, it really means a lot; actually, it means more than you know. Heavy duty day; I sincerely hope that none of you ever find yourself in this lifetime sitting in a doctor's office, waiting the outcome of your cancer scans.
Anyway. without further ado ... the Story of My Life in less than 500 words. Also note I've asked him to weigh back in as guest columnist on a monthly basis.
Here you go:
GS sitting in for howard .we (parents and brothers scott and neil) are very proud of h. i did not have high hopes for him after his low to mediocre 4 years at Michigan. The number of English majors at the time he graduated was only slightly lower than the number of roaches in the big apple. I knew he could work because he was a relentless worker at my co. during his high school summers but for 4 years he tasted the good life of college. The first clue i had of his ability was when he went to work for my cousin who had a failing advertising co. howard ,for no pay, made cold calls and if he was successful in making an appointment his reward was to go along to the meeting. My cousin surprised me by saying that if he had h a few months earlier they might have been able to save the co. still, smoking 2 packs a day and choosing to live in off the beaten track in Greenwich village supported some of my old doubts.
It all started in the boogie down Bronx. Probably the thinnest baby born in Bronx Lebanon hospital came home to our apt. in riverdale with a 24 hour case of hiccups. Scared the crap out of us . H. was so thin he only had one side. People came to see his heartbeat thru his skin. A year later came our move to n.j and the arrival of his 1st bro. another skinny kid. They fought all the time but noone ever got hurt because there was no beef. Soon comes neil. H and n team up against s. so we buy s a dog for s. Dumbest dog ever.
Turns out h. had something that attracted most of the neighborhood kids . I think it was that he always had something to do in mind while the others didn,t.this boy of many friends continued that way thru high school. His interests were gambling (card, racetrack) and music. He liked outdoor reggae concerts where he was the only white kid. How did he survive?. He was a good student in high school and was class pres. College for h was a place to make friends and he obviously did it with a passion. Drugs? Why not?
One day he and a friend from work decide to run. Next thing i know;a marathon and no more smoking. Soon after a wife ,a good job a,move to Chicago with a chance to save a black sheep office after many top knockers tried and failed and h succeeds. Along comes the new thin baby champ,z and then his seasonally named sister. H is now running, swimming and biking and does an iron man in lake placid. I am becoming more winded than he by these accomplishments.later a transfer to s.f and more of the same except with better scenery.
Look out ; a pain in the neck turns out to be the big c. scares us all. Still h continues to do his things. April and his father and mother in law become his support team and his friends from all over come to his psychological support. The future for a kid like this should be good.better be good.i am blessed to have a fighter like h.as his grandfather (99 years at time of death in las vegas) would have said “this kid kicks ass.”
The parameters I set forth were simple: I asked him to guest blog on any subject he wanted. I have not edited one single word, though in the interest of full disclosure, after submitting the following he did ask me to add one additional sentence which I didn't think was appropriate (the sentence, that is). If any of you are interested in seeing this "addendum", please email me privately.
Also note that the family is headed out for an extended weekend of R&R to Arizona, where, according to weather.com, the temperature is a rather tepid 113. No exaggeration. So, not sure if I'll have the ability to post (because I will likely have melted), but will try.
Lastly, thanks for the cascade of good wishes today, everyone. At the risk of sounding trite, it really means a lot; actually, it means more than you know. Heavy duty day; I sincerely hope that none of you ever find yourself in this lifetime sitting in a doctor's office, waiting the outcome of your cancer scans.
Anyway. without further ado ... the Story of My Life in less than 500 words. Also note I've asked him to weigh back in as guest columnist on a monthly basis.
Here you go:
GS sitting in for howard .we (parents and brothers scott and neil) are very proud of h. i did not have high hopes for him after his low to mediocre 4 years at Michigan. The number of English majors at the time he graduated was only slightly lower than the number of roaches in the big apple. I knew he could work because he was a relentless worker at my co. during his high school summers but for 4 years he tasted the good life of college. The first clue i had of his ability was when he went to work for my cousin who had a failing advertising co. howard ,for no pay, made cold calls and if he was successful in making an appointment his reward was to go along to the meeting. My cousin surprised me by saying that if he had h a few months earlier they might have been able to save the co. still, smoking 2 packs a day and choosing to live in off the beaten track in Greenwich village supported some of my old doubts.
It all started in the boogie down Bronx. Probably the thinnest baby born in Bronx Lebanon hospital came home to our apt. in riverdale with a 24 hour case of hiccups. Scared the crap out of us . H. was so thin he only had one side. People came to see his heartbeat thru his skin. A year later came our move to n.j and the arrival of his 1st bro. another skinny kid. They fought all the time but noone ever got hurt because there was no beef. Soon comes neil. H and n team up against s. so we buy s a dog for s. Dumbest dog ever.
Turns out h. had something that attracted most of the neighborhood kids . I think it was that he always had something to do in mind while the others didn,t.this boy of many friends continued that way thru high school. His interests were gambling (card, racetrack) and music. He liked outdoor reggae concerts where he was the only white kid. How did he survive?. He was a good student in high school and was class pres. College for h was a place to make friends and he obviously did it with a passion. Drugs? Why not?
One day he and a friend from work decide to run. Next thing i know;a marathon and no more smoking. Soon after a wife ,a good job a,move to Chicago with a chance to save a black sheep office after many top knockers tried and failed and h succeeds. Along comes the new thin baby champ,z and then his seasonally named sister. H is now running, swimming and biking and does an iron man in lake placid. I am becoming more winded than he by these accomplishments.later a transfer to s.f and more of the same except with better scenery.
Look out ; a pain in the neck turns out to be the big c. scares us all. Still h continues to do his things. April and his father and mother in law become his support team and his friends from all over come to his psychological support. The future for a kid like this should be good.better be good.i am blessed to have a fighter like h.as his grandfather (99 years at time of death in las vegas) would have said “this kid kicks ass.”
No Surgery; More Radiation
Just got back from Dr. Clark and I nailed this one 100 percent; it's exactly what I expected and I almost posted by prediction last night -- in fact, I started to type the words, but then decided I didn't want to potentially jinx myself.
Good news: no surgery. We know definitively that there's something in there but it's small enough to be undetectable by the MRI, CAP and PET scans, all of which came back negative. So .. that's good. I just bought myself a triathlon/running "season."
Bad news: there's no getting around one more big radiation treatment. This will hopefully eradicate everything in the neck and prove once and for all that the hip is indeed clean. I won't bore you with all the details re: the hip and we'll never know whether it was in fact cancer or a false positive but man has it proven to be a pain in the ass.
Anyway, that's that. Radiation will probably be a 100 milicures, which is slightly less than the 150 dose I had back in September. I will have to go through hypo/diet hell one more time and I will need to go into isolation for 72-96 hours. The family will once again need to clear out fo the house. But now I get to live blog with minute-by-minut updates!
So, the radiation sucks but such is life. You do what ya gotta do as they say.
So .... that's it; about as expected. I wouldn't exactly categorize it as "good" news because my November and December will be an immense hassle, but in looking at the flip side, I guess it could be worse.
Good news: no surgery. We know definitively that there's something in there but it's small enough to be undetectable by the MRI, CAP and PET scans, all of which came back negative. So .. that's good. I just bought myself a triathlon/running "season."
Bad news: there's no getting around one more big radiation treatment. This will hopefully eradicate everything in the neck and prove once and for all that the hip is indeed clean. I won't bore you with all the details re: the hip and we'll never know whether it was in fact cancer or a false positive but man has it proven to be a pain in the ass.
Anyway, that's that. Radiation will probably be a 100 milicures, which is slightly less than the 150 dose I had back in September. I will have to go through hypo/diet hell one more time and I will need to go into isolation for 72-96 hours. The family will once again need to clear out fo the house. But now I get to live blog with minute-by-minut updates!
So, the radiation sucks but such is life. You do what ya gotta do as they say.
So .... that's it; about as expected. I wouldn't exactly categorize it as "good" news because my November and December will be an immense hassle, but in looking at the flip side, I guess it could be worse.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Survey and Other Thoughts
The time has come for a new pair of sunglasses for my biking and running. I stumbled upon these, which look pretty cool and have obvious appeal. The question is, will I look like a total Fred?
Your opinions and comments are welcomed.....
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I am pretty certain Tony died. I watched it again last night and the evidence is pretty overwhelming. What's even more incredible, though, is the public's reaction to the last five minutes. At the risk of deep hyperbole, I am fairly certain this will go down as the most controversial and discussed scene in television history.
By the way, the first 1 hour was just ok. Interesting but ok. It was the last five minutes that transformed it to the realm of epic.
On the topic of TV, I watched the season debut of Big Love last night. It is very well acted and written and it's a fairly interesting and certainly unique subject, but the problem as I see it ... it just isn't captivating. I don't think it's capable of achieving "A" level status in the spirit of other great HBO shows such as Soprano's, Deadwood and Entourage. The thing about the great shows is that they immediately leave you anticipating the next episode .... and by this measure, Big Love fails. I'm guesings that's one of the reason why it got relegated to the graveyard shift (Monday night). It's still early but I think the same fate might be in order for John in Cinci.
_______________________________________________
The Yankees won again tonight; their sixth straight. Clemens is back and Wang and Pettite are pitching well. A-Rod is killing it like it's April redux and all of a sudden, baseball is getting a heck of lot more interesting.
Despite their May swoon, expect them to be competing for a wild card spot. That being said, fair is fair and I must say that the Red Sox are formidable this year. This team scares me -- even more than the 2004 squad. They have an exceptionally deep line-up a great rotation which is only going to get better as Dice-K figures things out, and the best reliever in the league in Papelbon. They also seem to have good team chemistry, which I personally believe is vastly underrated in the game of baseball.
_______________________________________________
Tomorrow is Dr. Clark appointment. I'm looking forward to finally getting some firm direction in terms of next steps. Send out good vibes.
_______________________________________________
Lastly, look forward to a guest post from my inimitable father on Thursday. It's written and in the last stages of editing. Be sure ot check back; it promises to be a good one.
Your opinions and comments are welcomed.....
______________________________________________
I am pretty certain Tony died. I watched it again last night and the evidence is pretty overwhelming. What's even more incredible, though, is the public's reaction to the last five minutes. At the risk of deep hyperbole, I am fairly certain this will go down as the most controversial and discussed scene in television history.
By the way, the first 1 hour was just ok. Interesting but ok. It was the last five minutes that transformed it to the realm of epic.
On the topic of TV, I watched the season debut of Big Love last night. It is very well acted and written and it's a fairly interesting and certainly unique subject, but the problem as I see it ... it just isn't captivating. I don't think it's capable of achieving "A" level status in the spirit of other great HBO shows such as Soprano's, Deadwood and Entourage. The thing about the great shows is that they immediately leave you anticipating the next episode .... and by this measure, Big Love fails. I'm guesings that's one of the reason why it got relegated to the graveyard shift (Monday night). It's still early but I think the same fate might be in order for John in Cinci.
_______________________________________________
The Yankees won again tonight; their sixth straight. Clemens is back and Wang and Pettite are pitching well. A-Rod is killing it like it's April redux and all of a sudden, baseball is getting a heck of lot more interesting.
Despite their May swoon, expect them to be competing for a wild card spot. That being said, fair is fair and I must say that the Red Sox are formidable this year. This team scares me -- even more than the 2004 squad. They have an exceptionally deep line-up a great rotation which is only going to get better as Dice-K figures things out, and the best reliever in the league in Papelbon. They also seem to have good team chemistry, which I personally believe is vastly underrated in the game of baseball.
_______________________________________________
Tomorrow is Dr. Clark appointment. I'm looking forward to finally getting some firm direction in terms of next steps. Send out good vibes.
_______________________________________________
Lastly, look forward to a guest post from my inimitable father on Thursday. It's written and in the last stages of editing. Be sure ot check back; it promises to be a good one.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Good Deeds
I'm not a terribly religious person (though given my circumstances, perhaps I should be giving this more consideration), though I would say that I come from a "traditional" Jewish background.
Despite being a somewhat lapsed Jew, there's a certain tenet in Judaism that has long resonated with me on a personal level; the concept of performing daily mitzvot. Regardless of whether you are Jewish or not, I suggest taking a look at this link; it is relevant to everyone on this planet, regardless of race, religion or creed.
The simplified version is this (actually, I'm not sure if what I am about to write is in fact the "technical" description. Instead, consider it my own personal interpretation) is that everyone should strive to perform frequent good deeds for others for reasons that have nothing to do with personal gain. You should make an effort to occasionally do something good simply to help make the world a slightly better place. Maybe you help someone you don't know who's out of a job with networking; maybe you help an old lady cross the street. Both are perfectly good examples of mitzvah's.
I've tried my best to abide by this code but since my diagnosis I believe I've been a tad too self absorbed and haven't made it the priority in my life that I have in the past. So, with this in mind I've been making an effort of late to keep this top of mind both at home and at work.
I'm not even remotely spiritual but I'm a big believer in karma and in the concept that what comes around, goes around. It takes minimal effort and time to help someone else in need and you have to think that in the end, the universe has an uncanny way of settling all debts.
Anyway, that's my diatribe for the evening and that's about as "heavy" as you'll see me get on these pages. Tomorrow I'm sure I'll be writing about very important subjects such as the Soprano's, Big Love and the lack of good television during the summer months.
That said, I suggest that you give this concept a real life whirl.
In fact, start today.
Despite being a somewhat lapsed Jew, there's a certain tenet in Judaism that has long resonated with me on a personal level; the concept of performing daily mitzvot. Regardless of whether you are Jewish or not, I suggest taking a look at this link; it is relevant to everyone on this planet, regardless of race, religion or creed.
The simplified version is this (actually, I'm not sure if what I am about to write is in fact the "technical" description. Instead, consider it my own personal interpretation) is that everyone should strive to perform frequent good deeds for others for reasons that have nothing to do with personal gain. You should make an effort to occasionally do something good simply to help make the world a slightly better place. Maybe you help someone you don't know who's out of a job with networking; maybe you help an old lady cross the street. Both are perfectly good examples of mitzvah's.
I've tried my best to abide by this code but since my diagnosis I believe I've been a tad too self absorbed and haven't made it the priority in my life that I have in the past. So, with this in mind I've been making an effort of late to keep this top of mind both at home and at work.
I'm not even remotely spiritual but I'm a big believer in karma and in the concept that what comes around, goes around. It takes minimal effort and time to help someone else in need and you have to think that in the end, the universe has an uncanny way of settling all debts.
Anyway, that's my diatribe for the evening and that's about as "heavy" as you'll see me get on these pages. Tomorrow I'm sure I'll be writing about very important subjects such as the Soprano's, Big Love and the lack of good television during the summer months.
That said, I suggest that you give this concept a real life whirl.
In fact, start today.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
And That Was That
Wow. Not exactly sure what to make of The Last Episode: it was so unexpected (in a less than dramatic manner, I might add) that I think I need a night to process it. I will say, though, that the last five minutes was very interesting. I thought for sure Tony was going to get whacked in front of the entire family. Perhaps he did; I guess we'll never know for sure. More on this later and feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.
I'm about 10 minutes into John from Cinci. We'll see if this one makes the cut. Little too quirky for my taste.
Beautiful weekend here in in Marin, CA weather and action wise; a few representative photos are attached. Things kicked off on Friday with Summer's graduation from nursery school; it was pretty darn cute. Yesterday's highlight was the Colt's season ending game. Z man ended the season in fine fashion, going 4-4 though he unfortunately failed in his season-long effort to squeeze a hit past the pitcher. What can I say though -- he tried hard, took it seriously and had a lot of fun in the process. Can't ask for more than that. Following is a picture of Z and a few of his fans, who surprised him a colorfully adorned "Go Zevan" sign. He was more excited about his fan base than the game itself.
Z went on a trip with a friend today so we took Summer on a brief hike on one of our favorite trails in Tiburon. This one features unbeatable views; it looks straight into San Francisco on one side, and the Bay and San Quentin prison on the other. Alas, our bucolic family hike was shortened by my hike-resistant daughter, who had the line of the weekend, "I'm going to die of walking." Classic.
Training wise, did an 1 hour 15 gnarly ass trail run yesterday morning fromTennessee Valley straight up Coastal Coast trail. It's one of the toughest trail runs out here and all in all, I felt pretty good. Swam a little over 2 miles this morning at my Sunday am master's swim followed by a 3.5 mile trail run and think I am finally rounding into half decent shape. I'm hoping Dr. Clark gives the no surgery word on Wednesday so that I can salvage a season.
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