Stillness
Tonight
I reflect on
Life’s currency-
a plate with orange rinds
&
a knife-
my focus now
I ask myself:
“How do you adapt?”
Ebb & flow,
ride with the tides
of daily existence.
Take comfort
where it exists
&
Provide support
as best you can.
The house resonates-
-strongly scented-
of many types of flowers
The blooms are
Beautiful…
I cannot fathom
what she feels
I try, but
my heart/mind
cannot conceive of
how the uncertainty
upsets her fragile balance.
I have no
answers-
My comforting ways
are suspect.
How I do not want to believe:
“We are all alone.”
at this particular point.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The future of waste disposal
As I watched this video (courtesy of Fried Rice Thoughts), I found myself thinking of the waste of food being committed. And also how I'd ever produce anything like 20 golfballs or 18 hotdogs that I'd need to flush.
Take a look for yourself:
null - Watch more free videos
IanCasselberry of the aforementioned Fried Rice Thoughts blog suggests that maybe this is the future of incriminating evidence disposal? Chew on that, CSI!
Take a look for yourself:
null - Watch more free videos
IanCasselberry of the aforementioned Fried Rice Thoughts blog suggests that maybe this is the future of incriminating evidence disposal? Chew on that, CSI!
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Running update
I finally broke a 9 minute mile. Yea me! It happened because there was a slightly faster runner on the indoor track. I passed her at the start of my run, but then she overtook me after 5 or 6 laps. I don't know why, but following a faster runner always makes me push myself, and even though she finished her run before I completed my mile and a third, I still was pleasantly surprised to see I had run the first mile in 8:54. The goal now is to improve my endurance and get up to a 5K distance by the end of April so I can start running in some races when the weather improves.
Brian is improving his endurance as well. He ran intervals on Tuesday night and I'm proud to report that he is still doing a complete weight training circuit 3-4 times a week. My weight lifting is still improving, although I still can't bench press my weight like I was able to do in my 30s. Then again, I weighed about 30 pounds less when I was in my 30s, so maybe if I can keep exercising on a regular basis, I will be able to lift the equivalent of my body mass.
With Daylight Savings Time arriving this Sunday, it should be possible to run outdoors in the evenings. Especially if the temperature warms up like the weatherman is predicting. As much as I enjoy the sheltered comfort of the Y's indoor track, it gets boring running in circles, especially since each lap is only 1/17 of a mile. I don't know how I was ever able to run 6 miles or more on that tract without going bonkers (Oh, yeah, the aerobics classes used to be held in the gym, providing a welcome visual diversion; much better than the current youth basketball classes).
Brian is improving his endurance as well. He ran intervals on Tuesday night and I'm proud to report that he is still doing a complete weight training circuit 3-4 times a week. My weight lifting is still improving, although I still can't bench press my weight like I was able to do in my 30s. Then again, I weighed about 30 pounds less when I was in my 30s, so maybe if I can keep exercising on a regular basis, I will be able to lift the equivalent of my body mass.
With Daylight Savings Time arriving this Sunday, it should be possible to run outdoors in the evenings. Especially if the temperature warms up like the weatherman is predicting. As much as I enjoy the sheltered comfort of the Y's indoor track, it gets boring running in circles, especially since each lap is only 1/17 of a mile. I don't know how I was ever able to run 6 miles or more on that tract without going bonkers (Oh, yeah, the aerobics classes used to be held in the gym, providing a welcome visual diversion; much better than the current youth basketball classes).
Fantasy Baseball Tools
I've been experimenting with Access databases and Excel spreadsheets as tools for drafting in fantasy baseball leagues. I've created a Two-Tiered Cheatsheet, as well as a compilation of the 2009 projections from PECOTA, CHONE, Oliver and Marcel (I realize only fantasy geeks will understand the references-just be advised that these are the four main stat projection services available). I weeded out what I don't normally look at in evaluating players and kept the rest for both pitchers and hitters.
I must express my deep affection and heart-felt thanks to my wife, Lee Ann, for her assistance in setting up the database for the Projections Compilation. I may have been able to fumble the database together after a few frustrating days of work, but she made it happen in a matter of hours.
I've saved all the spreadsheets to Google Docs (what a great service!) so anyone that is interested can download them for personal use. I also put a link to the spreadsheets in my articles on Fantasy Gameday for easy access.
Over the weekend, I also put together a spreadsheet for one of my readers who plays on CBS (formerly known as CBS Sportsline). I transferred all the projections from CBS's player pages to a spreadsheet, then wrote a formula to value those players based on the league settings for the reader's league. I think I could do this for any league at this point, but I doubt I'd use the CBS projections now that I have my own Projection spreadsheet. If anyone is interested, drop me a line and I'll see what I can put together.
Projections spreadsheet
Projections webpage
Two Tiered Cheatsheet spreadsheet
Two Tiered Cheatsheet webpage
I must express my deep affection and heart-felt thanks to my wife, Lee Ann, for her assistance in setting up the database for the Projections Compilation. I may have been able to fumble the database together after a few frustrating days of work, but she made it happen in a matter of hours.
I've saved all the spreadsheets to Google Docs (what a great service!) so anyone that is interested can download them for personal use. I also put a link to the spreadsheets in my articles on Fantasy Gameday for easy access.
Over the weekend, I also put together a spreadsheet for one of my readers who plays on CBS (formerly known as CBS Sportsline). I transferred all the projections from CBS's player pages to a spreadsheet, then wrote a formula to value those players based on the league settings for the reader's league. I think I could do this for any league at this point, but I doubt I'd use the CBS projections now that I have my own Projection spreadsheet. If anyone is interested, drop me a line and I'll see what I can put together.
Projections spreadsheet
Projections webpage
Two Tiered Cheatsheet spreadsheet
Two Tiered Cheatsheet webpage
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Fantasy Baseball Information Sources
Fantasy Baseball Information Sources
http://www.kffl.com/
(good for football, too)
- http://www.couchmanagers.com/
http://www.rotoworld.com/default.aspx
http://www.sportsgrumblings.com/index.php
http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage
(Eric Karabell’s blog especially)
http://cbs.sportsline.com/fantasy
(good basic cheatsheets)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Shaping Up
So, my youngest son had been bugging me to use our Y membership for a few months. I decided that his idea was worthwhile and we've been going to exercise 3 nights a week and on weekend afternoons. I was surprised that I could still run a mile without pause, altho' my first efforts were not real running, more like jogging. I used to get upset when I was running 10Ks at a sub 7 minute a mile clip and people would remark, "Oh, so you're a jogger, huh?"
"No," I'd patiently respond, "I run. Anything under 8 minutes a mile is running."
Yeah, pretty humbling to trudge along so slow now. I am happy to announce, however, that I can now approach a 9 minute mile pace, and last night was able to run an extra 3 laps at a 31 second pace (the indoor track at the Y takes 17 laps to make a mile).
I haven't overdone the weight lifting this time, either, and haven't felt that horrible pain in all my muscles 24 hours after a lifting session.
Brian is extremely interested in continuing our sessions, although he balks at the concept of disrobing in the open of the men's locker room, and doesn't appreciate the sauna the way I do after an exercise session. We both like to unwind in the whirlpool after finishing our workouts.
Brian and I even played a bit of racquetball last Sunday, but I realized early on that I had forgotten some of the rules (I've since refreshed my memory). I suspect it will take him a bit of practice to be competitive with even me, but so long as he is willing, I'll reserve a court every weekend and we'll bang the ball around for a half hour or so.
My goal is to run a local 5K race this spring (I'm thinking May would be a good time, but April is a possibility) and not totally embarrass myself by finishing last. I have 2 months to build up my endurance and lungs after about 8 years of basically sedentary living.
"No," I'd patiently respond, "I run. Anything under 8 minutes a mile is running."
Yeah, pretty humbling to trudge along so slow now. I am happy to announce, however, that I can now approach a 9 minute mile pace, and last night was able to run an extra 3 laps at a 31 second pace (the indoor track at the Y takes 17 laps to make a mile).
I haven't overdone the weight lifting this time, either, and haven't felt that horrible pain in all my muscles 24 hours after a lifting session.
Brian is extremely interested in continuing our sessions, although he balks at the concept of disrobing in the open of the men's locker room, and doesn't appreciate the sauna the way I do after an exercise session. We both like to unwind in the whirlpool after finishing our workouts.
Brian and I even played a bit of racquetball last Sunday, but I realized early on that I had forgotten some of the rules (I've since refreshed my memory). I suspect it will take him a bit of practice to be competitive with even me, but so long as he is willing, I'll reserve a court every weekend and we'll bang the ball around for a half hour or so.
My goal is to run a local 5K race this spring (I'm thinking May would be a good time, but April is a possibility) and not totally embarrass myself by finishing last. I have 2 months to build up my endurance and lungs after about 8 years of basically sedentary living.
What Makes a Great Steakhouse
Here's a great post from Adam D. Robert's The Amateur Gourmet website. Since I am going to Michael Symon's new restaurant in the refurbished Book-Cadillac Hotel, Roast, in mid-March, it fits in nicely with my new-found desire to start updating this beast more often than once or twice a year.
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