Category: Fall 2012

Let me say first that the Seahawks are 2-0 since I began this crazy sports fast. I have read zero articles and seen zero video highlights of their two victories. I’ve not visited CBSSports.com to read the grade given them for their performances. But I did hear a student mention at school today that they won yesterday’s game by a score of 58-0. How does a team win by 58 points?

I think the Seahawks should pay me to continue my sports fast.

Say, is it a gluten-free diet if you avoid eating gluten but TALK about it?

Toady’s photo is a screenshot I took during our Skype chat with Chloe from an hour ago. It’s always nice to catch up with one’s kid who is away at college. And what an amazing thing the Internet is. We had a video chat with her, Chloe using her iPhone and Melinda & me on my laptop.

What’s next, watching TV on your computer?

First, today’s photo is of Laurent just after he finished running the Nantes Marathon in April, 2011. You may recall that Laurent is my main inspiration for running, especially for running long distances. In my training I often picture him on this day.

You may also recall that I went for my first post Seattle Marathon run last Sunday and pulled up lame after just 30 minutes. I’ve been icing and resting, resting and icing, my right knee since then. I decided to take a little risk today, stepping out in my running gear. I ran for a little less than 30 minutes, including a 9 minute mile on the Burke Gilman Trail, with no significant pain. My knee is a tiny bit stiff tonight, but I feel like I’m back in the game.

No, that expression, back in the game, is not a violation of my sports fast.

So I logged on to the Seattle Times website earlier this evening (the front page, not the sports page) to see the weather forecast. I’d heard there was a chance of snow in Seattle in a few days and was curious to see how serious of a chance this is. You know, I’m a school director and all so a little snow in Seattle can cause widespread panic and school closures. I figured I should be prepared for the chaos.

It turns out that the threat is quite small so I turned instead to watching the Sarah Silverman Program on Netflix with Melinda. But not before my eye got a glimpse of a sports headline, right there on the front page! What’s this, the Mariners signed Jason Bay? Really?

Me, I’m not sure because I resisted the temptation to click on the link. I’m in the midst of a sports fast, as you know.

Today’s photo comes from the 1960’s. That’s my paternal grandmother, a fan of the Minnesota Twins, coaching her eldest son’s three sons. That’s me in the center. I’ve got a pitcher’s grip on that baseball. Nice hair, too, eh?

To celebrate the birthday of musician Tom Waits, Melinda and I bought tickets to a show in Ballard at which oodles of local bands were playing nothing but Tom Waits songs. That’s a pretty good idea, if you ask me.

In fact, it reminds of the time Melinda & I hosted a birthday party for Tom Waits. We invited him and a bunch of our friends, telling them to each bring Tom a present. If he wasn’t able to make it we’d trade gifts, all ending up with something meant for him. He wasn’t able to make it (my conclusion when he no-showed) so we divvied up the presents.

I got a candle intended to help me get good deals on eBay. Cool.

This picture is from the bar at which the show was held. It’s Melinda, if you can’t tell, getting ready to order us a couple of drinks.

The purpose of this post is to explain that me going on a sports fast is no small thing. I grew up in a family of sports fans so following sports is in my DNA or something. We think the sports page should be the front page of the newspaper. It’s the section we turn to first.

But like I said yesterday, I’m really tired of the business side of sports. Take hockey, my favorite sport, for instance. The NHL, the highest level of the sport, isn’t even happening because the team owners and players can’t agree on how to divide up the boatload of money they are (were) making.

Oh, that’s me from 5th grade, the year I played on an ice hockey team in Omaha. I wasn’t very good because I couldn’t skate. I never scored a goal. I never assisted on a goal. At one of our games, my brother yelled out to me on the ice, “Trip someone. Get a statistic!”

That’s brotherly love.

When we were in France, Melinda & I went on a “news fast.” That’s where you avoid watching the news on TV or reading about it online or in newspapers, etc. The basic premise is that most of the “news” is not something you actually NEED to know, and that, because most of it is negative, it contributes to you feeling negative. Learn more by reading #9 of this link.

Well, this weekend I started a “sports fast.” I’m tired of the high-paid athletes and millionaire owners of sports teams arguing over how to divide up their massive profits. I’m sick of the performance enhancing drug cases. I’m saddened by people involved in athletics thinking they can play by a different set of rules.

It’s out of control and I’m taking a break from it. So here I am, tearing up an issue of Sports Illustrated in symbolic protest.

Here’s another photo from last night’s dinner at Melinda’s parents’ house. It’s pretty explanatory, yes? I think Michele was looking over at Perrin when I snapped the picture, pleased with her birthday cake. Speaking of that cake, it was delicious. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Or as Melinda referred to it, cream cheese frosting with a little bit of carrot cake. Yes, there was that much frosting.

Anyway, today is Michele’s actual birthday (76th – get the blog post title now?) so I present a very specific happy birthday post to her. Happy birthday, Michele!

I took this photo tonight to send to Laurent & Frédérique in Nantes. Laurent provided the bottle of wine, bringing it from France when the Boudeaus visited this summer. And Michele said that tonight was the perfect occasion to open it.

You see, we’re over at Dwight’s & Michele’s for the night as our wood floors get polished. And since it’s Michele’s birthday tomorrow, we doubled it up as a little birthday bash for her. Brenda, Greg & Perrin joined in, thus making it a family birthday party.

I am excited to report that Brenda & Greg made one of my favorite Michele recipes, what I call Disco Stew. More context for the Boudeaus, Dwight & Michele, Brenda, Greg & Perrin, and Disco Stew can be found at this post from nearly two years ago.

A week ago today I looked like this because I had just minutes earlier finished running a marathon. Today I’m feeling the same way because I guess I hurt my right knee while running it.

I’ve had this pain in the back of my right knee since the marathon, but I really didn’t think that much of it. I can walk well enough and I figured it would go away. It persisted, but still, it was behind my knee and it just felt tight, likely because I altered my running for the last 10 miles or so because of the blister I developed on the bottom of my right foot.

Maybe it was a bigger deal doing so than I thought.

I went out running this morning, my first jog since the marathon. That spot behind my right knee was stiff but it didn’t bug me too much as I started. But as I went on it didn’t loosen out like I expected. Worse, I started to feel pain in the front of my knee on the right side. It got significant enough that after 35 minutes I stopped running and walked back home. As the day has progressed it’s tightened up and is sore.

Now what?

Ella is having an overnight elsewhere and Chloe is away at college. What does that mean for Melinda and me? Well, in our Americanized French we say we are “sans enfants.” And that means sushi, Fran’s chocolate, and a nightcap of fresh juice.

Evolution Fresh is a new restaurant/juice bar/health food store that just opened at University Village, a hop, skip & a jump for us from home. We stopped in tonight to try it out and came away impressed. The juice was fresh, cold, thin, and without additives of any kind (including sugar). In other words, it was delicious.

I’m happy to report that we are now home, sitting in front of a cozy fire, and listening to holiday music.