Andy Smallman

That’s my friend Duncan with me in today’s photo, taken at about 11am, soon after we had returned to Seattle from Kirkland, the two of us having finished running a 12k this morning. Duncan ran the Portland Marathon in October and I, of course, ran the Seattle Marathon 3 weeks ago. He suggested to me early in the week that we consider running this race, thinking we both needed the psychological boost to overcome the dark and dreariness that is a Seattle December.

I’ve only run a couple of times since the marathon, my right knee having been giving me trouble. But I decided the focus of an actual race would be good for me. And, boy, was it ever. I surprised myself by how good I felt and I blitzed through the 12k in just over an hour, running miles in about 8.5 minutes, almost a minute and a half faster than I ran miles in the marathon.

My knee is a touch tender tonight and I’ll know more about how I’ve come out of the race tomorrow. But psychologically I am very, very pleased.

Two nights ago I referenced a singer named Jona Lewie. It’s unlikely many of you have heard of him, but I became a big fan of his right around 1980. It was his song “(You’ll Always Find Me in the) Kitchen at Parties” that got me hooked, but I found I liked most everything he released. In 1982, when I was a deejay, in Alaska, he released an album called “Heart Skips Beat” that I still play to this day.

There is one song on the album you might have heard. It gets a lot of airplay around the holidays because it has a Christmas reference. As you might have guessed by now, it’s called “Stop the Cavalry.” The version most commonly heard isn’t Jona’s original, but of a chorus singing it. Today’s photo is of me holding a 45 (remember those?) of Jona’s version. And embedded below is the music video, again Jona’s version.

Let me know if you are familiar with this song.

This is one of those days that don’t make sense. I had fabulous interactions with students and some not so great interactions with adults. Overshadowing everything is the horrific acts of violence at an elementary school in Connecticut. Horrific acts don’t make sense. As such, I can’t make sense of them.

What I can make sense of is that I have a wonderful family. We are all safe and secure. Chloe is having a great experience in college and will be home for the holidays in less than a week. Ella turns 16 on Tuesday and on Monday takes her driver’s test, a rite of passage for American youth. Melinda spent today, what was intended to be a day off for her, working hard on upgrading a database for PSCS. I had some meaningful and important interactions with some PSCS students, the kind of thing that invigorates me and helps me know why I exist. I had a lovely phone call with my parents.

Focus on the positive, on what makes you feel connected to whatever is sacred to you. On that note, Melinda and I raised a glass tonight in acknowledgement of our friends and family. We gave an extra thought to Christine and Bernard, people we met in Nantes on our sabbatical and who will be traveling next summer to be with us in Seattle.

Cheers.

I don’t really recall how this worked but I wrote for my high school newspaper without being in the journalism class. I think it had to do with me knowing most of the people on staff really well and having had a class conflict. Whatever, occasionally I got a byline.

I got to thinking about this because one byline I did get had to do with an interview I conducted with a local deejay at the time, an eccentric by the name of Stephen Rabow. He was on my favorite radio station, the vastly alternative KZAM-AM, the only station in 1980 that played Elvis Costello. Rabow had a program on Saturday nights that was pretty slick. When he played Jona Lewie’s “(You’ll Always Find Me in the) Kitchen at Parties,” I was hooked as a fan.

This became all the more relevant because I recently found a Stephen Rabow page on Facebook and have been having fun getting his messages.

What a surprise it was last night when I found a copy of that issue of the high school paper.

That’s today’s number puzzle. It’s your job to figure it out.

Meanwhile, let me point out that it’s pretty cool being me. Really. People think of me when they see cool videos or read touching stories on the Internet. Then they send them to me with statements like, “I was reading the New York Times and found a video that made me think of you right away.”

See? That’s cool. And it’s what one of my students wrote (and sent) to me tonight.

Today’s photo is a screenshot of that New York Times link. Here it is for you – Solo Piano. Warning: It’s touching and sad.

I found this picture scrolling through the family archives. That’s me in the center in my Santa outfit (I was Santa Claus for Halloween that year – Holiday Confusion Disorder, or something). On the left is my brother Steve, looking good at being good-looking. I’m trying to figure out what he’s holding. A pack of baseball cards maybe? On the right is my brother Scott, looking as fashionable as ever. Dig those glasses, for sure, AND a ukelele in his lap. But the gem is his T-shirt. If I recall correctly it says, “National Insect Week — Bug Somebody.”

Nice.

The picture was taken at the home of our maternal grandparents in Denver. Quite often we drove from Omaha to Denver to be with them for the holiday. I remember one Christmas Eve driving in a blizzard and having to pull off the road…

But that’s another story.

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.