Category: Things I Like
I love numbers. I was thinking about numbers and dates on my run yesterday. Here’s a few fun ones for you.
101010 – On 10/10/2010 the answer the life, the universe, and everything will be revealed.
030309 – Isn’t it fun to have square root day be “prime square root day”? How many of them are there in the 21st century? How about 02/02/04, 03/03/09, 05/05/25, 07/07/49. That would be five. So there are a prime number of prime square root days.
090909 – Number 9, Number 9, Number 9 is the day that the Beatles version of Rock Band is released. As a special bonus it’s the second day of my Q3 off the grid vacation.
Got any other good ones for me?
I find trail running to be a magical experience. I live behind Eldorado Canyon State Park just outside of Boulder and have a plethora of trail runs that I can start and finish at my house such as Eldorado Canyon Trail, Walker Ranch, Rattlesnake Gulch, Fowler Trail, Dowdy Draw, Mesa Trail (and all the branches), and South Boulder Creek Trail.
I’ve run them all – many times – in many different permutations. Since Amy and I own a lot of property that is adjacent to Colorado State Park land and Boulder Open Space, I’m very respectful of staying on the trails as it makes me crazy whenever someone comes off of the Eldorado Canyon Trail or Rattlesnake onto our land.
So – it was with great pleasure that I discovered that Goshawk Ridge Trail is now open. I ran it today from the Fowler Trail direction.
I have a standard 60 minute out and back run on Fowler trail. I used to be able to stretch it to 90 minutes if I ran on Denver Water Board land up to the private property boundary. With the opening of Goshawk Ridge I now have a great new 90 minute loop. In addition, the trail system now connects up with the Spring Brook Loop and all the Dowdy Draw improvements. I think I just got another 15 or so miles of trails to play around with, along with links to other trails that I previously had to run on the road to get to!
One of my favorite things about trail running is the serenity. After about five minutes on the trail, I don’t even notice that the world – outside me and the trail – exists. No cars, few people (I saw more deer today than I saw people), occasional wildlife (including – er, eek! – snakes), and periodic magical and mystical surprise moments.
I also don’t ever care about my time or pace on the trail run. I just run. I’ve never met a hill I couldn’t run up, but I’ve met some that I had to walk down because of my “racehorse ankles” (Amy loves to chide me about my thin ankles). I don’t look at my watch – I just pay attention to my breathing and heart rate.
I’ve had a hard time getting in a consistent gear since running the Huntsville Marathon. I had some great runs at the end of 2008, but then twisted my ankle hard in mid January and have been struggling to get in a groove for the last few weeks. After the last few runs, I’ve found that groove. And – I’ve found some great new trails. Thanks Boulder Open Space!
I’m completely laughing my ass off after watching Samantha Bee’s Future Shock – Roombas of Doom segment on Comedy Central.
Important Things With Demetri Martin
There are so many reasons to love Valentine’s Day. My favorite is that on 2/14/09 the Unix Time will be 1234567890. This happens at exactly 00:31:30 CET. Yeah – it’s a little bit of a cheat since CET = GMT+1 and – correspondingly – it will still be 2/13/09 in the United States. Just another good reason to go to Paris for Valentine’s Day. (Thanks ScottM).
Every now and then I run across someone who is still using software that we wrote at Feld Technologies. Some of this software dates back to 1987 – a fact that never ceases to amaze me. And – no, I can no longer provide tech support at any price.
We didn’t have much swag at Feld Technologies. In fact, I think the only swag we had, other than a few t-shirts which still make their appearance every now and then, is the mug pictured above. A fraternity brother of mine from MIT emailed me this picture recently – apparently this mug sits on his desk and serves a very mug-like purpose.
I remember how agonizing it was to buy these mugs. Should we get 50? 100? There was probably a price break at 200 and we even considered that. Were they too plain? Should we spend an extra $0.17 per mug and get a grey background to match our stationary? Who should we give them to? Should we charge for them? Decisions, decisions.
Anyone recognize that font?
Howard Lindzon produced 4 minutes of fucking poetry. Episode #2 of the Fly. I’m not even sure I can spell all of those words. Hilarious.
Remember – turn off the TV – especially CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN. They aren’t doing you, your brain, or your soul any good unless Paul Kedrosky is on and is ranting about something. Paul – when are you going to start your own Youtube channel?
I’m been fighting through one of the worst colds I’ve ever had. I started feeling crummy on Friday, spent the entire weekend in bed, suffered through work on Monday, and had the entire experience crest with the worst headache and one of the longest pain filed and sleepless night ever. I finally am feeling better today, but man that was a nasty 27 headed viral monster.
I’ve never been a fan of handshakes. While I get the formality of it, I hate germs and – in a parallel universe – would probably spend all my time with my extremities wrapped in saran wrap. I’ve had a running joke of it with some friends, including Paul Kedrosky, who also thinks handshakes are stupid.
Today, Paul and I decided to start a movement – “No More Handshakes in ‘09"’. Fist bumps, elbow bumps, and hugs are fine – just no handshakes. Join us!
In 2006 I ran the Boston Marathon as a Charity Runner for The Michael Lisnow Respite Center. I had a tremendous Experience At The Boston Marathon even though I got a nasty email from someone a few days before that was a Major Emotional Bummer for me. I learned plenty from processing the entire experience (good and bad) and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
A year ago I adopted Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis as one of my official 50×50 marathon sponsors. They are a great nonprofit based in Boston that is working to cure MS by determining its causes. It turns out that they have some extra Boston Marathon charity passes this year. They asked me if I wanted to run Boston again but since I’m still focused on one marathon in each state, I passed on this year’s race.
To qualify for the number, you don’t have to be located near their office or have an MS connection. You just have to be able to physically finish the marathon within 6 hours, and there is a required fundraising component (that ACP will help you to achieve).
If interested in running one of the *most* prestigious marathons and supporting a high impact, highly efficient nonprofit, please email Jane at or call her at 781-487-0010. I can’t recommend ACP highly enough – they are just great folks. Thanks Jane and crew for supporting the Boston Marathon Charity program!
I fly a lot so I’ve been bizarrely obsessed with the US Airways crash last week. While most of the video comes after the plane is in the river, it’s a pretty heavy video.
I think the pilot who landed this plane is an absolute heroic figure. I only hope that in situations that intense I keep my cool.