Realization, Part 1

As I looked back upon my entries for the last few months (OK, most of this year), I had a realization. Most of my posts are about some outdoorsy-type fun (mainly runs or races)...... which means I'm severely limiting my potential readers (not to mention the attention spans of those I love and want to also keep in contact with). Brilliant conclusion, eh? But then I realized, it hasn't been writer's block (like earlier in my stellar blogging career), so much as time? No. Money? Definitely not. Work? Well, that always gets in the way.

Anyway, the realization of diversity hit me. And not just in concept or symbolism. In one's life. And not what the current moral/political/media-driven/societal norms environment says. In one's life. Your own life. Independant, thought-driven practice. Imagine that. It seems to me that while catching headlines of the latest celebrity scandal or star-gone-mad that we are seriously drained as a world, a society, a community. Perhaps community would thrive again if we stopped paying any mind to the expected world drivel and moved on with our own train of thought?

OK, now I'm just rambling, but I wonder about me and about diversity. And how specific interests or thought-du-jour can drive our lives, unknowingly and definitely unwittingly. What else is out there? How does one discover? By adventure, by reading, by discussion, by travel. Life goes on and time ticks by, no matter our small-world distractions. Live! Life!! Feel!!!

Another year gone by.......

So, I've had a couple new posts in the queue for a week or two now, but haven't been energetic enough to complete to my satisfaction. So, as a goodbye to 2007, I have the following random thoughts/self-indulgent brainstorming list to present:

--> I officially start my 2007 training season on Tuesday, January 1 to accomplish the 25-mile version of The Gemini Adventures-sponsored Trail Running Festival. Giddyap. This basically means I cut back on my consumption of beer, booze, refined sugar, and saturated fats for the next 4 months - all the while running about 25-40 miles a week. Wait, WTF am I doing?!?

--> I hope to do my first 50K, or perhaps - 50-miler - later on in the spring or summer. Suggestions anyone?

--> I look forward to a new baseball season. One not shrouded in a drug-induced haze. It'd be nice to feel like I'm 10 again. And could someone please tell Jose Canseco to shut the eff up? No one cares about him anymore.

--> I look forward to my runs in the snow. And my runs in the wind. And my runs in the heat. And sun. And clouds. And summer storms in Colorado. To running - period.

--> I look forward to a new president-elect. Jesus H., save us please. Get this war-mongering, self-indulgent, power-grabbing, all-too-consequential, excuse-making, track-covering, poor-excuse-for-a-Christian, crooked, lame, not intelligent AND lacking common sense, craptacular "president" out of what used to be (before his "election") the most powerful and respected office in the world.

--> To weather of all kind. Regardless of the all-too-apparent global cimate change upon us. It is nature after all - and can one on either side of the argument truly prove it one way or the other? Really. And besides, in Colorado - you don't like the weather? Wait a minute or two.

--> To some really good new music. And to the reunion tour of Van Halen. And your favorite local act.

--> To ever-enduring optimism and love abound.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Happiness, Part 1. What Makes YOU Happy?

So, I sit here pondering nothing in particular. Because I can. And I'm not ready for bed. The Gomez song "See the World" just came on and made me smile. Then came Jimi's "Voodoo Child" and I got chills. Is there a better intro to a song than that guitar riff?!? Top 5, all-time for sure. And now Sugar's "Going Home?" Very cool. But it's not just about music. Though music surely does speak volumes, and on many levels. So many emotions. So little time.

What makes YOU happy? Besides music and the arts? Me, I dunno - lots of things:

Warm weather with a cool breeze and cool weather with a warm breeze.
A packed meeting hall with familiar faces and a vacant remnant reminiscent of days gone-by.
A wide open trail with activity abound and a deserted single track where nary a soul exists for hours.
A sunrise stroll and a moonlit run.
A sunrise run and a moonlit strool.
Sweet summer rain and light 'n' fluffy winter snow.
A long weekend's outing and a short month's vacation.
The crack of a bat and the smell of freshly cut infield grass.
A perfectly-poured pint of Guinness and a fizzy, frothy hefeweizen (with lemon).
The buzz of a city and the hum-drum calm of a long, country road.
A calm, cobalt-blue ocean and an ominous, black&stormy sky.
A fresh plate of homemade pasta from Gondolier on Pearl (formerly Cafe Gondolier). That's it - just pasta. It is SO good, you can eat it by itself.

This could probably go on forever. But now slumber does call. It's always nice to put pleasant thoughts out there for sharing. And for sleeping. Sweet dreams to all, however that comes to be for one and all.

My Blog De-Virginizing

Well, well, well, here I am. Unaware and unbeheld. Strange feeling really. Never felt I'd have the "need" to feel so vulnerable. But I suppose that's what life tends towards. So, why not grasp it and hang on for the ride? Enjoy it - though you may not comprehend at that moment in time. Nor am I figuring on what I am getting in to. Very strange.

My creative outlet(s) has taken a turn for the nothing in recent years thanks in large part to that so-called "work" thing. The client must be satisfied, much like many different types of situations - it is rarely you that comes first. Not a bad thing. Just a thing that one must come to realize is the norm. And when you get your proper due, have at it. Enjoy it.

Anyway, I plan on writing about many different topics through this outlet, but the majority will be focused on trail running and outdoorsy "stuff" as those are my favorite things to do. In addition, music and general entertainment, social commentary (I'll try and keep that one to a minimum), and travel will also be peppered in here. Plus your gratuitous miscellaneous stuffs when those somewhat out-of-the-ordinary-things-may-occur will surface as well.

Might I infringe upon your many liberties and you share your own as we venture through this thing called life? OK then. After all, we're all in it together.