Islands in the stream, that is what we are

Holiday greetings from Florida. I flew back to Fort Lauderdale today from San Antonio, and while the Italian mother & son I sat next to from Houston to FtL and the husband and wife who managed to miss their flight while sitting at its gate are interesting, I am most intrigued today by another individual who I happened upon earlier than both those.

I arrived at Terminal 2 of the San Antonio International Airport at about 6:15 a.m., for my 8:15 flight to Houston connecting to FtL. Whether because of the holiday travel or perhaps the hourly flights on offer to both Houston (Continental) and DFW (American--which displayed it as "Dallas-FTW" for some reason, rather than "DFW" of "Dallas/Fort Worth"), the line awaiting security was full. While it was moving relatively smoothly, I still was there long enough to notice a guy in his late 20s/early 30s in line behind me and the minor stain he had on the front of his shirt, catching the latter right about the same time that he noticed it.

A little while later, I was through security and had advanced to the restrooms in the gate area. After having relieved myself, I pass by the sinks, just as the aforementioned guy takes off his shirt and begins to try to clean the stain. As I headed out the restroom, I was admiring him not only for the buff torso he revealed in taking off his shirt, but also for his diligence to clean the stain.

The last I saw of him was a bit later as he was walking around the terminal, presumably in search of his gate. There was a rather large wet spot splashed across the upper right quadrant of the back of his shirt.

(The lack of holiday music on the radio--3 days after Christmas!--has me utilizing Islands in the Stream as today's subject, which I got from the Bee Gees CD I got for Christmas--this would be rather than a carol. I'll try to remedy this inadvertent succumbing to society's complacent acceptance that the holiday season is over, simply because Christmas Day has passed, and use a holiday song in my next post. And yes, I said Bee Gees: they wrote the Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton duet, later reworked as Ghetto Superstar. I also just realized that I've yet this year to listen to any of the holiday songs in my iTunes... so they are now playing.)

Everything is nothing when you got no one
And you walk in the night
Slowly losing sight of the real thing

Mele Kalikimaka is the way to say...

Greetings from San Antonio... I hope you're Christmas Eve goes well.

Today was the day I was to go to my old club team's annual reunion luncheon. So after a cutting short this mornin's shopping trip with my mom (some last minute stops), I donned my Reyn Spooner Christmas shirt (part of the pattern is pic'd at left--completely with a surfing Santa, Mele Kalikimaka, and wreathed nēnē), and headed downtown.

I parked across the street (parking tag at right) and walked over to the restaurant arriving at the appointed time (noon), and was the sole person there. Ahh the fun.

So much for this year's reunion; hopefully next year will be better.


Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way
To say Merry Christmas to you

People I know, places they go; make me feel tongue tied

Luck was on my side today. I am hanging out in the Fort Lauderdale Airport, awaiting my flight to San Antonio, where I will be for the Christmas week. With me is a portion of a Carnival cruise that apparently docked this morning, and dumped all its passengers--most of whom appear to be at the airport now.

As my friend and I drove up to the terminal, we saw that the sidewalks were packed with people awaiting curbside check-in. I wasn't too worried at that point, nor thought anything was terribly out of the norm, given the proximity to the holidays and the airlines involved (JetBlue and Southwest--neither of which I am on). So, I figured most of the people were outside, and inside would be relatively vacant. So, I got dropped offed, and ventured inside: which was just as packed.

All the baggage check lines were full, and all the seating was occupied (with people, presumably, on later flights today). Thankfully, thankfully (and for whatever reason), today I'm flying on an airline where I have Elite status, and consequently, I was able to bypass the long bag check line and the mega-long normal security line (i.e. I got to use the "Elite Access" lines). So, instead of taking 2 hours to check my bag and get through security and to my gate, it took about 15 minutes. Phew.

Course, now, I'm hanging out in with a "capacity" crowd at my gate.... But at least I'm just waiting my flight.

Crazy I know, places I go
Make me feel so tired
I can see how people look down
I'm on the outside

Here's, where the story ends

So close, yet so far away

The other day, I was texting a friend of mine in Austin. While plotting a dinner get-together with my former rowing crew, crewÜ (and doing a spectacular job of restraining myself from pestering encouraging said friend to sign up for Facebook), I tossed around the idea that the dinner could be for a group that promotes random usage of umlauts, and proceeded to include an excessive amount of the diacritic in the remainder of the text.

There was a slight snag though: my phone let me put the umlaut on all the vowels, save "e". So the text looked something like this:
"Cool, cool. Maybe we should turn the dinner into a meeting of the 'Söcïety för the prömötïön öf ümläüts', and also fete the Nöel."

Ironically, my phone wouldn't let me put the one correct umlaut into that sentence: over the "e" of Noël--mÿ cömpütër döësn't hävë thät lïmïtätïön; thöügh (Ï cän ëvën püt thë cïrcümflëx övër thë "e" ïn "fête").


So close, yet so far away
We believe in tomorrow
Baby more than today
We're so close
So close, yet so far away

Let me show you the world in my eyes

So while I was in Atlanta last week, I snapped the above picture of the "very vibrant" red leaves on one of the trees in my hotel parking lot. I was actually quite surprised by the tree. One, that the leaves were still on the tree, given how late in the year it is. Two, given the ever-green nature of the palms and other more tropical trees in South Florida, I've grown accustomed to not seeing leaves change color. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see not only one whole tree but a few have leaves completely changed from green.

So, I decided to snap a picture of the trees. I started by trying to get a wide view, which I had a couple of posts ago (on 12/5/08). When I took that shot, though, I didn't think I'd really captured/conveyed how dramatic the red seemed (though upon loading the pic to my computer, the wide shot kind of does). So, I went under the tree, and shot up. And the above shot came from that... complete with some close up branches, glimpses of a few stray yellow leaves, and a hint of sunlight and the sky peaking in through some openings.... (Note: the picture has been rotated back into the angle from when I took it--undoing the automatic portrait layout my camera forced on it.)

Let me take you on a trip
Around the world and back
And you won't have to move
You just sit still

Now that we've grown up together

It was two years ago that I took the picture at right: of the newly potted tree I parked outside my outside my front door. It was one of the two trees I picked up and planted two years ago. Its compatriot, however, has not faired as well; having died off about a year ago (and it was in the ground, no less).



However, that Spanish Stopper tree seems to be doing rather well in it's pot. A picture from the other day is at left. As you can see, not only has a railing been put in on the stairs, but the tree is 2-3 times its size from then. (Of course, it could just be the different camera angle between the two shots....)

Looking at the two pictures, I now find myself wondering two things:

• 1) Should I transfer it into a bigger pot?
• 2) I probably should do some pruning....

That's the price that we all pay
Our valued destiny comes to nothing
I can't tell you where we're going
I guess there's just no way of knowing

That's me in the spotlight, losing my religion

I returned from Atlanta last night. In preparations for my flight, I decided to disperse the items in the box that was my second checked bag from on the way up here. This so I could avoid paying $50 to bring it back with me. So after doling out most of the items, and cramming the rest into my suitcase, the box was ditched.

Loaded down with a heavier carry-on, as well as with my coat, I arrive at the check-in desk at Hartsfield airport and check in my 1 bag. And (now) get to pay $15 for the one bag--oh joy. After contemplating whether/not Delta is out to get me, and adding further support for my dislike of the airline, I learned that Delta implemented new baggage pricing whilst I was in Atlanta: first bag $15, second $25. So, a little miffed (i.e. seeing red, losing my religion), I paid for my bag.

And now, I'm preparing to contact Delta to see if I can get a partial refund on my bag fees, in light of the fact that the 2 bags on Wednesday were $50, and on Sunday they would've been $40... hasta.


Every whisper, of every waking hour
I'm choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you

Once I am going, I am gone

So I have arrived in Atlanta. It's a tad cooler here than South Florida, to the point where it actually feels like winter and the leaves actually do change color. There's even some very vibrant red (what appear to be Maple) trees in the parking lot of my hotel (pictured at right). And I believe I'm a few blocks away from where a friend used to live....

Things here are starting off well. I managed to get some Tex-Mex food Wednesday from a restaurant based in Houston and even had an only slightly disappointing visit to the local Taco Cabana. (Disappointing due to its restricted menu compared to within Texas, and they were out of Dr Pepper. Both were acceptable, particularly the latter since I am in the land of Coca-Cola.)

The meet I'm at (U.S. Short Course Nationals) got underway yesterday at Georgia Tech. That has led to my work starting. Otherwise, not much to report, other than I'm trying to figure out how to dodge the SEC Football Championship Game that is here tomorrow. Upon my return to my hotel tonight, it was suddenly packed with Florida Gator and Alabama Crimson Tide fans (hopefully they won't be yelling down the hall "Roll Tide" and "Go Gators" all night...)


(You can catch me poppin' that) Once I get going
(Droppin' that) I am gone...
(Ain't no stoppin' that)
(Are you watching that?)

Voices start to ring in your head, tell me what do they say

Well, I head off to Atlanta tomorrow morning for the rest of the week for work. I checked in for my flight today, and got charged $50 by Delta to check a second bag. Fifty! What is going on? I knew I would have to pay a fee, but thought it would be like $15, maybe $25 on the outside. But $50? Geez.

This and I've not even gotten to security yet, where I'll get to unpack half my bags and take off half my clothes. Maybe I'll just wait to get dressed and pack at the airport; TSA shouldn't mind (they are the ones causing the trouble anyways).

(I miss the days when you paid the airlines for your ticket and things like luggage where included.... or atleast when you figure out all relative associated prices when you were looking at purchasing your ticket.)


Voices start to ring in your head, tell me what do they say?
Distant echoes from another time start to creep in your brain
So you've claim madness like it's convenient
You do it so often that you start to believe it

If you wait too long you'll be too late I'm not telling you something new...

I am crestfallen.

I just read that Eli Stone is being canceled. This just further solidifies my desire to not watch t.v., a habit I inadvertantly broke a few years ago (which I'm glad I've done), though things like the networks continually canceling the shows I actually like did not exactly hurt, either. But this just sucks.

I feel a little better now, due to a rather good swim practice this evening (I went home with a pleasantly-raised body temperature--particularly cool to feel in my arm--which probably means I didn't warm down enough, I guess, but was nice). That, and I believe I saw a homeless person buying groceries at the grocery store today, presumably with the money he collected (I always hope the money people get goes to productive things, though this is possibly my first actual validation that it does happen). It made me feel better.

Though I'm still bummed about Eli's days being numbered....


Get down, beep beep, gotta get up outta your seat
On and on, the beat goes, on and on

Miles away...

I was going to be such a good kid this holiday weekend, and spend at least one whole day at home cleaning things up (and doing laundry). But alas, the weekend is now at an end, and I only managed a few hours today (which I guess is better than nothing).

My intentions going into the weekend were to clean either Saturday or Sunday. But then I got distracted on Saturday, first with seeing Madagascar 2 (I now should see the first one), then reading the 8^th (a for now, last published) Sookie Stackhouse book: From Dead to Worse. Later on in the day, another friend dragged called me up to see Twilight, which I did and then followed it up by finishing Dead #8 (all the titles in Sookie--also vampire--series have the word "dead" in the title). Course, I didn't finished reading that until 4 a.m. today, and consequently woke up at like 11 a.m. today. So then I spent about 6 hours doing laundry and cleaning (and watching some Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes--rounding out a very vampiric weekend). Then my friend demanded I come watch a movie (there was a "now" in the text I got), so I ventured over to watch Run Fatboy Run (which appears to have solidified my liking of Simon Pegg).

But in any case... I got distracted, and didn't get all my cleaning/laundry done--curses! And I head to Atlanta Wednesday-late Saturday, so I'm not sure how likely getting any of if finished this week is... will have to see.

I just woke up from a fuzzy dream
You never would believe the things that I have seen

Get into the groove

Gobble, gobble
(i.e. short Thanksgiving greeting to you, as I'm recovering from seeing Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour stop in Miami last night)
Happy Thanksgiving

Get up on your feet
Yeah, step to the beat
Boy what will it be

I'm a Pepper... wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?

Today is the day.

For today, only, Dr Pepper is giving away a free can of Dr Pepper to everyone in the US. This is the results of an announcement the company made back in March: if Guns N' Roses released their new album in 2008 (the one they have been working on for 15 years), then Dr Pepper would give a free can of soda to everyone in America, save departed band members Slash and Buckethead.

In October, the band set the US-only release date for Chinese Democracy (the album) as today. With that, Dr Pepper made today the day to grab a coupon off their website, fulfilling their end of the deal.

Now, if only I could get www.drpepper.com to load...


I'm a Pepper, he's a Pepper
She's a Pepper, we're a Pepper
Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?
Be a Pepper, drink Dr Pepper

You're out of touch, I'm out of time

Stop the Insanity! (where is Susan Powter when I need her?).

One of the radio stations here has already begun playing Christmas music. It's the week before Thanksgiving! It think the station might have not yet switched completely over to holiday songs, but I don't know for sure, as I'm doing my best to now ignore the station until mid-January (I keep having to remind myself of my self-imposed boycott as well). This is one of the things that gets me out of the holiday spirit... and it's not even time for Chrismas yet! I still hope, probably in futility, that radio will wake up and realize that Christmas should wait until after Thanksgiving, despite what the retailers of the US (aka their advertisers) would like them to believe... ('course, those retailers should know to wait as well).

And in other insanity-related issues this week, my alarm did manage to go off fine on Thursday and Friday--which was nice. It didn't help was that I got to work on Thursday to find 150 emails coming into my Inbox. By the end of the workday there were over 350 unreads there, and it took me part of Thursdays night and some of today to go through them. There's still some remaining, which I'm going to try to get through tomorrow (hopefully).


Broken ice still melts in the sun
And ties that are broken can often be one, again

All shook up...

Ever just have a week start off funky? I can't really pin-point one reason why this week has started off so, well, off, but it has.

Maybe it's because the power went off at my house yesterday morning, right when I was supposed to get out of bed. Consequently I woke up 10 minutes before I was supposed to be at the office, which meant I was 20 minutes late. (The power was still off when I scampered out the door.)

Tagging along from yesterday, this morning I woke up 20 minutes before I was supposed to be at the office. I discovered at 7:40 this morning that I'd set my clock for AM instead of PM when I got home last night. Consequently, my alarm was set to go off 12 hours late.... And then I was only about 5 minutes late to the office (not sure how that happened, particularly since I had to dodge waiting for a freight train this a.m., and then detour around road construction, and massive lines here and there...).

Course, Monday was strange as well, and I've had a bizarrely heavy email week... though hopefully tomorrow will be better. None of this really even gets into the cold weather that's around this week (it's colder here in South Florida than in Southern California at the moment).

Maybe it's all because I'm breezing through these Sookie Stackhouse books my sister sent me (I'm on the 4th one this week...). Hey, Elvis the Vampire is in it... or "Bubba" as he's referred to... which reminds me, I should get back to reading and find out. Hasta


Well please don't ask me what's on my mind
I'm a little mixed up, but I'm feelin' fine

Everybody wants to rule the world...

I have recently stumbled upon a county-by-county breakdown map of last week's Presidential elections, which I found rather interesting and wanted to share. (Obama is blue, McCain is red, shades of purple mean a blending of the 2.)

More maps available from Mark Newman at the University of Michigan. A flash map of FL was created by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel here. (The link has Florida and county poll results for the President race, Florida's Marriage Amendment--which dishearteningly passed--as well as a few other races.)


In other news, I have safely returned from a weekend trip to Jackson, Mississippi. And while there wasn't exactly a ton of stuff to do outside of the works items I was there for (read: downtown Jackson shuts down when the work week is done, and there was only a couple of episodes of House on t.v. to distract me), I do have some catching up on things back here in FL to work on. As well as I'm trying to not be shocked that the media seems to have suddenly realized Obama's ethnicity (they didn't really point out anything about his African American heritage for the "two years of the campaign"--the media's words on campaign length, not mine. Then for the rest of last week post election, all CNN, etc. seemed to be able to focus on was his blackness. I had hoped that we were getting past that, but I guess, sadly, I was mistaken). So...


There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do I'll be right behind you
So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

Ya no razona; no lo puedo controlar

I had a very South Florida day yesterday. This because it was Election Day, and in relation to my striving to vote.

Leading into yesterday, early voting here had been taking a long time for most people. A friend of mine waited in line for 6.5 hours on Sunday to vote; another an hour or so. The prolonged wait time due to the large number of people voting, the number of items on the ballot and the somewhat archaic bubble-sheets being used (supposedly because the computers used during the primaries earlier this year were too difficult for some to use).

I had decided a month or so ago to vote after work on Election Day, figuring that was the best time for me to do so as it offered me the most time to be at the poll. An itching to get my vote over-and-done with (and possibly in small part to have my "I voted" sticker on my shirt all day), however, spurred me to decide on Monday to try to vote prior to work. So, I got out my door a wee bit earlier than normal, and headed to my precinct's voting location, arriving at 6:45 a.m. for the 7:00 a.m. opening. 50 people were already in line.

45 minutes later, my previously determined time-to-leave-the-polls to get to work if I wasn't near voting arrived, with not a real sign of anyone having emerged from voting (i.e. there were still about 30 people in front of me in line). So, at 7:30 I headed to work, and left a friend a few places back of me in line with instructions to let me know how long the line took.

At work, I relayed the crazy line to my coworkers, some of whom had managed to vote that morning (one got in line at 6:00 a.m.). Faced with this, I began to plot to take lunch early, hoping that at 11:00 I'd be able to catch the polls before any lunch crowd. After a rather cramped freeway dash back to my precinct, I arrived to find the line to vote the same length. As it had taken me 20 minutes to get there, and my friend had relayed that it took her an hour and 40 minutes to get through the line early, I did a drive through of the parking lot, and headed back to the office, grabbing lunch on the way back.

Resigned to be heading to polls, post work, I left work shortly after 5:00, and made a bee-line for my precinct. As I approached my neighborhood, I was thankful for the seemingly lighter-than-normal traffic, and half-heartedly cursed the pesky stoplights that paused my journey to the elementary school where I vote.

Coming on the school, my nervousness heightened that the line remained. The back-side of the school showed an abundance of cars, which made me fear the main parking area on the other side being full. As I continued down the block and around the school, I anticipated seeing a full parking lot. I was pleasantly surprised, however, upon its sight to see the lot practically vacant. However, I still remained diligent in my advancement, a twinge of fear in my head that before I could get there, and as I watched, a flood of cars would enter the parking lot and with it a full-line's worth of fellow voters.

However, this did not materialized, and instead, I reached the lot and found a space without a new car in sight. Upon exiting my car, and hastened toward the school's library, bracing to find a line. Continuing forward, through the school's doors and down the corridor to the library, I encountered only a poll worker, idling around due to the lack of persons to help direct.

And, in course, I walked straight up to the check-in desk, and after holding up myself from finished by relating my astonishment at there being no line, picked up my 4-pages of bubble sheets and was steered toward a booth. Setting down Of Human Bondage that I had brought to read, I pulled out the "crib" sheet I had made to guide me through the various items and filled out my ballot.

About 5 minutes later, I had filled in all the necessary circles, fed the tabulating machine the four pages, beat my neighboring booth's occupant to completion, and picked up my sticker.

I guess the third time really was the charm... well, except for the fact that the sticker I got said "My Vote Counted" (which brought back memories of my last trip to the polls, for the Florida primary earlier this year, where my vote didn't really count--thank you very much national Democratic party); and my curiosity of whether/not people vote after work here....


Y empieza a cantar
Mi canta así, así...
Bidi bidi bom bom
Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom

Is there something I should know?

I have survived my weekend, and the people double-parking down from where I live so they can wait for hours to early vote (a friend of mine waited 6.5 hours yesterday...). And I have almost out-lasted the Boat Show... (just today to go! other than pesky clean-up).

With one more day comes tomorrow's Election Day. So tonight, I am plotting to research the 30 items on tomorrow's ballot. In case you're wondering what they are...

• 1. U.S. President/Vice President: 13 options: the 2 biggies Obama & McCain, 1 other name I recognize--Nadar; and 10 others from parties that I don't know what they're abbreviates are (my guesses included): Gloria LaRiva (PSL--People Stopped Listening), Chuck Baldwin (CPF--Coporations Performing Favorably), Gene Amondson (PRO--the Pro Party), Bob Barr (LBT--Libertine), Thomas Robert Stevens (OBJ-Objectivists), James Harris (SWP--Singles With Purpose), Cynthia McKinney (GRE--Graduate Requirement Examiners), Alan Keyes (AIP--Association of Insurance Professionals), Brian Moore (SPF--Sun Protection Factor) and Charles Jay (BTP--Big-Time Party).
• 2. U.S. Representaive
• 3. State Senator
• 4. Federal District Court of Appeals (just a question of "shall the person be retained in office")
• 5. State Circuit Judge
• 6. State Constitutional Amendment (SCA) #1: can aliens-ineligible for citizenship own property?
• 7. SCA #2: marriage=1 man & 1 women--only (the so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment"--though there are no provisions in it making divorces more difficult to get)
• 8. SCA #3: added wind protection or increased renewable energy on a property can't be included for future property tax assessments (assuming I understand it);
• 9. SCA #4: Property-Tax Exemption for conserved land
• 10. SCA #6 (#5 has been withdrawn): working waterfront property tax assessment
• 11. SCA #8 (#7 is withdrawn): localities can establish assesments to fund community colleges
• 12. create a County Metro. Transit Authority
• 13. County Comission can't interfere with County Administration
• 14. County Commissioner who have a conflict-of-interest can't participate in discussions on the topic of confliction
• 15. create a County Housing Council
• 16. the County is a regional/countywide authority?
• 17. Allow for the County to protect the parks it owns
• 18. The County should protect its citizens' right to a sustainable environment.
• 19. County Ethics Commission
• 20. Independent consultant for County Commission districts
• 21. Study the efficience of Committee meetings...
• 22. Circuit Course Clerk
• 23. County Sheriff
• 24. County Property Appraiser
• 25. County Supervisor of Elections (the person who sent me my sample ballot)
• 26. County Commissioner rep.
• 27. County Soil & Water Conservatory rep

Ok... so not quite 30. But this assumes there isn't some random city thing on the ballot, as well....

Please, please tell me now
Is there something I should know
Is there something I should say

It's oh so quiet (shh, shh), it's oh so still (shh, shh)

I'm being extra quiet tonight: I'm dodging trick-or-treaters because I lack candy to hand out... (I've even got the lights out).
Happy Halloween

(Shh, shh)
It's oh so quiet (shh, shh)
It's oh so still (shh, shh)
You're all alone (shh, shh)
And so peaceful, until...

Could you be, could you be, squeaky clean; And smash any hope of democracies?

As a cold front has moved into Florida (it was a beautiful 60 yesterday), I've decided that today, post-work, while awaiting this week's Eli Stone episode to download, I would (finally) plant some seeds I got a week/two ago. Actually I'd been plotting for a awhile to do it soon: I just didn't have all the things I needed until this weekend. And then I didn't have time this weekend to do the planting.

But tonight, I busted out the seeding soil I got, and planted some Cider Gum Eucalyptus (pictured) and California Redwood seeds. A wee bit ambitious of me, I believe, but we'll see what happens. I'm still trying to figure out the cool humidity needed for the Redwood....

But I have a sneaky feeling hope that the Eucalyptus will thrive here... but hopefully not to the 40 ft heights. (Course, the redwood could be even worse, but I'm not planning on them going freely into the grow--assuming I don't inadvertantly kill them before that.)


Anything is possible (seeds of love)
When you're sowing the seeds of love (sowing the seeds)

Even the devil wouldn't recognize you

Ahhh, one week to Election Day....

• 1 more week for my friend in the Bahamas to tolerate the Bahamas for Obama bumper stickers;
• 1 more week for me to prepare for a projected long wait at the poles (given that early voting is taking 4 hours here...);
• 1 more week of the oh-so-fun political commercials;
• 1 more week for me to recover from me and my group's disastrously bad attempt at this past weekend's Herald Hunt (we got like a quarter of the way through 2 of the first 5 clues: on the ING one and the Concert one--but next year, next year!); and
• 1 more week for me to figure out who the 10 other Presidential candidates on the ballot are besides McCain, Nader and Obama...

Minus whatever effects this week's Fort Lauderdale Boat Show and the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival have (though the latter's been going on for a few weeks now); oh, and there's Daylight Savings this weekend.

I barely couldn't, I barely couldn't recognize
I still played right into it, who am I to criticize
Somehow I'll get through it, and you won't even realize
Falling for your own disguise

Some boys take a beautiful girl, and hide her away from the rest of the world

So tonight, I'm catching up on this week's Eli Stone, and enjoying seeing Katie Holmes again after missing her as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, when low-and-behold I realized something (rather early in the episode as well): the location that Ms. Holmes sings "Hit Me With a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce" is where the video for Fiona Apple's "Paper Bag" takes place. (This location is also the club Eli takes Katie Holmes's character Grace to dinner later in the episode.)

Which of course, only a semi-mild Fiona fan (and above) probably noted, particularly since Paper Bag wasn't exactly anywhere near as popular as say Criminal and its video.

But, in any case, it was good to see Katie Holmes again as well, and I'm still enjoying Eli Stone... even though they seem to have dropped George Michael for season 2 (but thankfully, they did mentioned Duke Ellington as the source of 'Bounce').


That's all they really want...
Is some fun...
When the working day is done
Oh girls, they wanna have fun

For me and you, my part-time lover

About two weeks ago, Stevie Wonder's Part-Time Lover randomly popped into my head, and took up residence for a day.

I'm still not really sure how it resurfaced in my cluttered brain. I don't recall hearing recently prior to its prevalence in my consciousness. I didn't hear it randomly playing at multiple locations, like I heard Spandau Ballet's True (though I do wish that for a few of these latter occurrences that Mr. Wonder had been on instead). I did actually hear it on the radio about a week after it was in my head, though. All-in-all, strange.

As for the weekend, it goes. Unlike many of the previous weekends, I don't have anything planned to do this weekend, and my mom is off at her 50th high school reunion this weekend, so she isn't available to suggest I do something productive like laundry or clean. Consequently, I'm at a loss as to what to do. I don't really feel like just lazing around, as this tends to cause this notion to surface in my brain that I'm forgetting to do something (like looking for birthday presents for my parents--this weekend lies between their 2 birthdays).

So yesterday, I wandered into work and got caught up on some filing I had to do (excitement, no?). As for today, I'm not sure what I'll get up to... guess I'll just need to wait to find out. (Oh, and the new episode of Eli Stone: good.)


We are undercover passion on the run
Chasing love up against the sun
We are strangers by day, lovers by night
Knowing it's so wrong, but feeling so right

You know it's alright, it's ok, I'll live to see another day

Today, I am bemoaning my missing the second season premier of Eli Stone on Tuesday, as well as attempting to dodge coverage of last night's (equally scripted?) U.S. Presidential debate. And while trying to distract myself from the former (and wait for the episode to download from iTunes), I stumbled across this story: Disco tune "Stayin' Alive" could save your life.

The article talks about how the rhythm of the Bee Gees' song from Saturday Night Fever nearly matches the recommended rhythm for CPR (Stayin' Alive is 103 beats per minute; the American Heart Association recommends CPR at 100 beats per minute). It just made me smile....

But now, I will let iTunes download the new Eli Stone episode in peace. Hasta...


Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Disturbia, ain't used to what you like

This weekend marks the 3rd anniversary of my moving to Florida and being at my current job (woo hoo...).

I started my current position on Columbus Day in 2005, just slightly before Hurricane Wilma rolled through town. All-in-all, the 3 years have been ok. Not really great, but not terrible either.

Though I still miss Tex-Mex.

Throw on your break lights, we're in the city of wonder
Ain't gonna play nice
Watch out, you might just go under
Better think twice
Your train of thought will be altered
So if you must falter be wise

As I walked out in the streets of Laredo

Today's Grimmy is nice too...

As I walked out in Laredo one day

One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me

Top-10 reasons why I've not posted in over a month:

• 10. Work got wicked-crazy due to our annual event being held and one of my (former) co-workers getting axed right before it and me having getting to cover the vacancy until it was filled last week.
  (Notwithstanding the catch-up work involved, nor the project that got taken off hold--whole "when it rains, it pours" bit, and not the Morton salt variety.)
  
  

• 9. I wanted to finish another tale in The Canterbury Tales before I did my next post (I've gotten through the Knight's and the Miller's), but instead read 13 Things That Don't Make Sense and Anathem.
  (I've now started Of Human Bondage)
  
  
• 8. I was waiting for the hot water to return to the men's locker room showers at the pool.
  (finally Jeff!)
  
  
• 7. I got distracted by Obama/McCain radio spots, and had to wait until the "choose-a-side" coffee cups came to 7-Eleven.
  (They've even got an "Independent" option.)
  
  
• 6. I was in Austin the weekend that Hurricane Ike hit Galveston/Houston, catching the (very) outer bans of the storm, and it took me a wee bit to recover.
  
  
• 5. I was so traumatized when I learned that Rihanna says "disturbia" and not "start/stir me up", that I had to wait until the song wasn't stuck in my head anymore before posting.
  (so much for a Rolling Stones homage)
  
  
• 4. USA Swimming switching from a Top-16s to Top-10s threw me, even though I've known it's been coming for a year and a half.
  (Hey! This is a top-1o too!)
  
  
• 3. I miss that Gap commercial that so cleverly utilized Earth, Wind & Fire's September and was waiting for the 21^st night to post but then waited too long.
  (so you could say that I didn't remember...)
  
  
• 2. I got lost in contemplation about how the translation of the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius, seems to have changed to a superlative (i.e. from -er to -est).
  (and how inappropriate I feel that is)
  
  
• 1. I wanted to make the last post Linger.
  (and was giving everyone enough time to post a comment)

For some reason, I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call me name
Never an honest word
But that was when I rule the world

Do you have to let it linger?

Tropical Storm Fay has been has been hanging around South Florida the past two days, drifting Eastward from her projected path from Saturday (at left).

She also hasn't become a hurricane, yet, although new projections have her become one when in the Atlantic, before turning west and back into northern Florida.

At the moment, she's here:
Which means that Lauderdale is out of the main circulation area, if we were ever in it. (That white line across the bottom of the State is Alligator Alley/595, the Eastern edge of which is at the southern end of FtL.)

Anyways, Fay has just brought some rain and wind to my next of the woods: nothing too terrible. Although there have been some tornadoes nearby, apparently. Oh, and the pool's been closed down because were under a storm warning...

But I'm in so deep... you know I'm such a fool for you
You've got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger
Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger

So close, and still so far...

The Olympics have completed their first week. Cool things that happened from week 1:

• Togo won it's first Olympic medal ever: a bronze in the men's whitewater kayak slalom by Benjamin Boukpeti.
• USA swimmer Rebecca Soni won a silver medal in the women's 100 breaststroke, an event some folks think that someone else should've swam (but I don't think that someone else would've finished as well). Soni also (somewhat surprisingly) won and set the World Record in the 200 breaststroke.
• FINA awarded the third Swimming Youth Worlds in 2010 to Lima, Perú (strangely, the first 2 editions were also held in the Americas...)
• USA swimmmer Michael Phelps, in addition to being on a World Record spree, has become the owner of the most Olympic gold medals ever (13; he has to get a few more medals to have the most medals: Russian gymnast Larysa Latynina has 18). And as of this morning, is tied with Mark Spitz with the most gold medals ever at a Games, at 7. Phelps has 1 more possible event/medal: the men's 400 Medley Relay, which is Sunday morning in Beijing, and will air on U.S. television (really late) on Saturday night.
• USA (and Texas Longhorn) swimmer Ian Crocker still has the World Record in the 100 fly.

And falling into the not cool and somewhat strange categories: that "really late" part above. NBC pressured petitioned (and got) the International Olympic Committee to flip the time of prelims and finals of swimming at the Olympics, so that the finals were in the morning (instead of at night) and could be broadcast live in the U.S. Which would be great, except NBC isn't broadcasting it live in most of the U.S. It is only live in the Eastern and Central time zones; Mountain, Pacific and Hawaii broadcasts are all delayed.

And what's even worse: Beijing is 12 hours off the US East Coast. With morning finals starting at 10 a.m. in China, swimming can't air on t.v. until 10 p.m. at night Eastern time and 9 p.m. Central time. That's when it starts during the broadcast. It goes until midnight Eastern time; one night of which would be ok, but 8 in a row? Mountain and Pacific time score with this time, however (8-10 p.m. Mountain; 7-9 p.m. Pacific); but NBC isn't airing swimming live there.... Instead, it's back at 10 p.m. start time. Why??

So instead of NBC airing a tape delay and having people watch, NBC is airing a live broadcast which viewers have to tape and delay watching.... And they screwed up the swimming competition for everyone in the world for this: wasn't that nice of them?

A life goes by
Romantic dreams must die
So I bid mine goodbye, and never knew
So close was waiting

Confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks...

The 2008 Olympics kicked off yesterday (08/08/08 at 8:08 p.m., actually) in Beijing, China. (I hear 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture.)

And today begins a stretch of 8 days of swimming at the Games, with late nights in the USA thanks to t.v. network NBC. Based on the belief that slightly lower viewership for the 2000 Olympics was based on the tape-delay of things from Sydney (Australia) time (and not on the annoying way the network covers the Games), NBC got the swimming schedule flipped so that prelims are in the evening and finals are in the morning. And while this is possibly loved by South American swimmers who seem to have this format in their larger competitions, this time flip isn't going over so well with me (nor a lot of the swimming community, for that matter). Particularly given that the U.S. East coast is exactly 12-hours off of Beijing.

This means that when finals begin at 10 a.m. in the morning in China, it's 10 p.m. the night before here in Florida. 10 p.m.--that's when it starts! The finals sessions are scheduled (roughly) from 10:00 a.m. to noon local time, through next Sunday (August 17), which means that the (precious-to-NBC) live coverage goes from 10 p.m. to midnight. Sounds like a week of late nights if you're a swim fan...

I guess it's a good thing that morning practices aren't really happening for most U.S. swimmers at the moment: it being between seasons et al. But the timing does make me long for a tape-delay, which could allow the finals of events to be annoyingly sporadically placed during the evening's broadcast... at least then I might see some swimming in the 7 o'clock hour... (though I guess I could solve that by relocating to California for the week).

Though the flip does make the time of prelims: 6 p.m. Beijing time, a manageable 6 a.m. here in Florida. Though 3 a.m. on the West Coast sucks....

Now if only I could find consolidated results from prelims.


Lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
You've put me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead, singing

I said you wanna be startin' somethin', You got to be startin' somethin'

On Friday, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) made official what the media has reported on for a few weeks: that USA swimmer Jessica Hardy had a positive drug test at the 2008 Olympic Trials. USADA also confirmed that she had withdrawn from the team. This confirmation came about following Hardy's appearance before the North American branch of the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) on Thursday (you can read the report from that hearing here).

The reporting on this story, and the related matter of the vacationing third-place finisher in one of Ms. Hardy's event wanting to be put on the Olympic team in her place, have irked me. I've been mostly irked by the holes presented in the story:

• a supposed entry deadline gap between Ms. Hardy's notification on July 21 and the final Olympic entry deadline on July 23. Failing to mention: the date the USA swimming team roster was set (July 7), and the date the roster/entries were finalized (July 21--USA Swimming submitted the entries to the USOC to send to FINA to send to Beijing by July 23);
• that the selection procedure was published in February 2008, and (most likely) all Trials participants had a copy of it, which they may or may not have read (and I say "most likely" because I don't know and have not seen it addressed in the media);
• that official notification of the test and disqualification of Ms. Hardy as an Olympian had yet to happen (she actually left the Olympic team before she was kicked off it); and
• how can an alternate be named to a team, when there's not an officially open space for her?

(By the way, this doesn't even address the third-place finisher being on vacation, which most likely means she wasn't training/preparing to be at the Games....)

But Friday's announcement should help with my angst. Tomorrow's continuation of Ms. Hardy's hearing, to determine the fairness of her automatically garnered 2-year ban, should also be interesting and hopefully helpful. Who knows, maybe the way the story has been framed by the media will help her: it has seemed unfair coverage, in my mind, to her detriment. And I should point out: I do believe that if she really, purposely, took a banned substance, that she should not go to Olympics and should be banned. However, I also think she should be treated fairly until that is officially determined, which I don't believe happened. I also don't think USA Swimming has been treated very fairly, either.


Update 8/7/08:
USA Swimming's Executive Director released this statement regarding the situation (in some respects, they couldn't comment until now because of their situation; which made them appear bad in some eyes... as if they were trying to protect themselves or cover things up). The part that sticks in my brain from this: "...even when Jessica did test positive and was formally charged by USADA with a doping offense, she had the right to defend herself against this charge; remember, ours is a system in which you are innocent until proven guilty."


It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

Does your momma know that you're out?

Over the past weekend I was in Cocoa for a Masters meet, which went ok. It was about par for what has been happening: not great, but not disastrous, either... but I have left Cocoa in a much better mood than my previous encounter with it. (Which was on my move down here, and driving around semi-lost for 30 minutes trying to find a restaurant to eat at, while starving. And finally getting fed up to the point where I purposely left town just to get out of Dodge. Ironically, I ate at a restaurant right near where the critical point happend during the move: where I sat through 3 stop light cycles waiting for a left turn arrow, before finally running the light.)

But, in any case, now I have at least... 5 reasons to like Cocoa:

• averaging 43 miles per gallon on the drive up;
• Blue Bell ice cream in the grocery store;
• Sonic (can't really beat a slushee and tots);
• being able to justifiably name your meet the "Hot Cocoa" meet... (and it was rather warm both days, though luckily the water wasn't too bad)
• close enough to get back in time to see Mamma Mia! (of course, know I have ABBA stuck in my head...)

Well I can dance with you honey
If you think it's funny
Does your mother know that you're out?

Janie's got a gun

I'm at a McDonald's yesterday, munching down on some Chicken McNuggets for lunch while attempting to get through The Canterbury Tales (at the rate they're traveling with me, they'll never reach that cathedral.... But did you know that "you all" is in The Knight's Tale? Right here at line 1967. Well, actually "yow al". It makes me wonder if Chaucer inadvertently coined the term "y'all"... but I digress).

Anyways, so I'm dipping in my barbecue sauce and attempting to read. Seated next to me is a group of about 5 guys, dispersed out to about three 2-person tables (I guess so they were spaced out). I start hearing one of the guys talking about how stores like Kmart and Wal-Mart can't return things once they're delivered to them. That instead they must sell them to get them out of inventory. This apparently means that the item gets put on clearance at a discount to clear them out.

The guy had walked into a Wal-Mart and found such a clearance. On ammunition.

The price for the handgun and shotgun bullets were so low that they were cheap enough to buy and resell elsewhere (according to him). So low, in fact, that he wasn't sure they were priced correctly and so he checked with a nearby employee to make sure they were. After confirming the low price, he left... to call some hunting buddies to see if they wanted him to buy some shells for them (yes was the answer).

A few minutes later, the guy went back into the store, and asked a nearby salesgirl for all the ammo on clearance, to purchase. All. This entailed her having to go into the back and bring the back-stock out (she went around the shelves putting boxes and boxes into a shopping cart, loading the whole thing up). In the end, the guy walked out of the store with that shopping cart full of ammunition. And a security guard escorting him to his car (to whom the guy had been kind enough to show his concealed weapons license and gun; though he'd not been asked...).

Now, while the image of a shopping cart piled full of bullets is entertaining, I am a wee bit surprised/worried that one person can go in and buy so much ammunition at one time. Like they were stocking up for an arsenal... or something.

Then registering shortly after that crossed my mind initially, my brain registered/connected that the guy had a concealed weapon permit, which probably meant he had a gun on him right then, in McDonalds.... How American, I guess?

Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her whole world's come undone
From looking straight at the sun

It's not having what you want,It's wanting what you've got...

More spin than a good backstroke drill:
Earlier this month, maybe a week or so ago, I read this article about the 2008 Youth Swimming Worlds. Coverage of this event, for whatever reason (maybe somewhat related to how FINA covers itself, or just how press releases in general are) has been highly biased. This caused me to comment that it had "more spin than a good backstroke drill". (If you're not a swimmer, you probably won't get that comment at all... but it's hysterical! Ok, maybe just slightly lame funny).

Anyways, the spin in the article matched what was present in the daily coverage by FINA of the meet, particularly all the "fast" swims being done, demonstrated by the meet records being set. Of course, the writer fails to point out what I deem are slightly important facts:

• that this is the 2nd meet, so the records came from one previous meet.
• the meet format was different this time, and more conducive to faster swimming.
• their quality of competition at this edition was elevated from the first edition.
• and let us not forget that there are some new, speedy suits around (LZR anyone?).
  

So mentioning the fact that 38 of 40 meet records were set might be little less impressive (as if the fact that 95% of the records were better might not tip you off).

Anyways, the spin presented in that coverage reminded me of a peeve of mine: what I like to call "news from the future." There are really two types:

1. news from the other side of the dateline, which comes from "tomorrow's" edition, because it's already tomorrow, in say Melbourne, Australia. (I don't really have issue with this one; it's just kinda cool. But the other...)
2. when a news items is aired/published prior to the conclusion of the event it's describing.

This second type generally requires a prediction/assumption on the writer's part of what they think will happen, and seems to be all in the name of getting the news out first. (And not necessarily out accurately.)

The most common example of this second type of which I'm aware is the weekly U.S. weekend film box office tallies, that tend to be published at noon on Sunday, when most movie theaters haven't even opened for the day (Sunday's still part of the weekend, isn't it? Or has the weekend moved to start on Friday at 12:01 a.m., because that's when movies can come out?). Happens every week, and tends to be right on the main page of Yahoo et al, too....

One of my other favorite/frustrating examples happens with every election in the U.S., where the East Coast t.v. stations start predicting the results of West Coast states, sometimes hours before their polls close. (I tend to surmise this to the general notion that "our polls are closed, so there's must be".) I worry that it might effect the outcome of the voting there... and it doesn't really even address that there isn't anything to report for a few hours because things aren't done (but those 24 hours of news have to be filled somehow, and heaven forbid it be with another news story rather than the same one over and over and over...). And this doesn't really address Hawaii and Alaska, which are further still being the West Coast (but I have read about Hawaii wreaking havoc on the American Idol voting, which makes me feel a little better).

And it is a wee bit fun to read about things that haven't happened yet in the past tense... I guess. I just wish media people wouldn't be in such a rush that they couldn't go back and check their reports; or redo them (gasp) once something becomes actual. I guess the internet age heightens the visibility of this...

Which reminds me of a "shocking" news item recently seen: a fat calorie will cause equal weight gain as a "carb" calorie. Gasp! (more gasping, I know, I know). Might that be because a calorie is a unit of available energy? And when it goes unused, it gets stored as fat... (pesky nutrition, I know, I know).

Anyways, on a lighter side: do you know there's a World MiniGolf Federation????

I'm gonna soak up the sun
While it's still free
Gonna soak up the sun
Before it goes out on me

Calls to mind the silver screen

(Hopefully) Good movie... which I won't get to see until after this weekend, as I'm helping out at Sectionals through Sunday. This is also postponing my seeing Mamma Mia...

Calls to mind the silver screen
And all its sad goodbyes

I wish I could define, All the thoughts that cross my mind They seem to big for me to choose, I don't know which ones to lose

Greetings. I am recovering not only from yesterday's Bastille Day, but also from the weekend visit by my mom and step-dad who breezed into town. (Ok, not so much from July 14, but more so because of the visit. That, and Heidi's birthday today.)

Not much happened Saturday of note, save a few noteworthy incidents during dinner (most of the day was just hanging out type of stuff). Where we were eating had the USA softball team playing Canada in a pre-Olympic tune-up on several of the multiple televisions scattered throughout the place (not all the tv's in the place but both sides of our table could see the game). What we ended up noticing and being perplexed by--given that the sound was not on for any of the t.v.s--was that the USA women had on pink, and not red, jerseys. We eventually discerned that the non-patriotic pink was purposely being worn not in some effort to feminize the players (which had my mom and I not particularly happy: they should have been in red, white and blue), but rather for breast cancer awareness. This made my mom and I feel somewhat better; however, not before my mom used the word "parlay" in a sentence and completely missed any reference to Captain Jack Sparrow. I did find it entertaining though (and there was a "Captain Jack's" dessert on the menu...).


Sunday was a bit more eventful, as we headed down to Dania Beach (just south of Fort Lauderdale) to watch some jai-alai at Dania Jai-Alai (pictured). My mom was the instigator for this trip: she had gone when she was young with her father and wanted to see how it was now. I was also interested in going, although did not know much about it: my prior exposure to the sport consisting basically of the shot of play included in the opening credits of Miami Vice when it was on t.v. (way back when). Well, that, and that the ball moves very fast and is very hard, and has killed some people (also way back when--they wear helmets now to help protect against this).

The whole trip was neat and interesting. The play/game itself was fascinating, if not a bit frustrating, particularly if you wanted a particular person to win (adding on the pressure of a bet just made this worse, by the way). In some respect, the play is similar to racquetball/handball in structure, with the addition of 8 people/teams playing in a round-robin type format, where the winner of a point stays on court to play the next up in the line (for those curious to know). Beyond the game, the atmosphere was also entrancing to me: the 10,000 seats filled with just over a 100 people. In some respects, you could see and feel how popular the game used to be, and the hope that it might once again. That the remain bulk of the fans seemed to have stayed with the game since its heyday (i.e. it was an older population), also added to the atmosphere.

We ended up staying through the first 9 games of Sunday's 14 game schedule, which covered about 3-4 hours. Then departed to catch some dinner. All-in-all a good time, and I now have begun a plot to drag get a group of friends down there for a "field trip" of sorts....

Help me, make the right decisions
Know which way to turn, lessons to learn
And just what my purpose is here

Hold your head up (moving on), Keep you head up (grooving on)

Ahhh, another busy week. This time punctuated by a visit from my mom and stepdad this weekend, so again not a lot to write. However, I will point you in the direction of an article by ESPN's Pat Forde that I liked, about finishing outside the top-2 at the Olympic Trials (which were last week). That article is here:
The ecstasy of second and the agony of third

Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?

What happened to Miss Independent?

Happy 4^th of July!
(I'm distracted by the new Coldplay song Viva la Vida, as well as some pesky bill issues and enjoying the holiday weekend... i.e. more later)

Oh, and there's also the USA swimming Olympic Trials going on this week. Results here, videocast here ( 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Eastern daily, through Sunday; and then finals at night from 7:45 p.m. Eastern).

When Miss Independent walked away
No time for love that came her way
She looked in the mirror and thought today
What happened to Miss No Longer Afraid?

If I just breathe... let it fill the space between, I'll know everything is all right

Ahh, the fun. I have survived through the meet I swam in the weekend. All-in-all, not terrible, but not terribly good either. For example, my mile this year was roughly 40 seconds slower than what I went last year at the same meet. The only problem being that last year I swam the event after having come straight from the airport, as I'd been up since 4 a.m. that morning and flow back from Boston to Fort Lauderdale.... As I said, ahh the fun.

Anyways, times from the weekend:

Friday p.m.
-400 IM: 5:19.54
-200 Free (relay): 2:18.89

Saturday
-200 back: 2:26.22
-100 free: 1:01.25 (speedy--watch out)
-400 free: 4:41.48

Sunday
-200 fly: 2:21.75
-1500: 18:46.90

I guess the nice thing I can say, is that my times are consistent with my training... and hopefully I'll get some things straightened out before the next meet.


So you end up watchin' chances fade
And wonderin' what's real
And I... give it just a little time
I... wonder if you realize

When's it gonna stop, DJ?

I have survived yet another International Age Group meet here in Fort Lauderdale, which capped off a surprising short week last week (and helps account for the lack of post last week). Flying back from Cayman on Monday helped shorten things as well. But back to the "IAG"...

The meet is a 3.5 days beheamouth (Thursday afternoon on through Sunday), featuring over 1,000 swimmers who range in age from 10&unders all the way up to 17&overs. It draws an interesting mix of teams: local, out-of-state (e.g. Boston and Chicago), and out of the country (US Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Mexico City). And, as typical with South Florida this time of year, it rained for at least a portion of every day of the meet. Now, the thunder and lightning accompanying this rain caused the meet to be delayed and portions of it to be canceled/rescheduled to later times. It hung around the entire weekend, never completely over and done with but instead lurking off in the background (or rather waiting to emerge from the Glades).... Despite this, a fun atmosphere seemed to have prevailed.

The image sticking in my mind happened during the start of Saturday night's second warmup period (the first one had been truncated just as it was about to end by a thunderstorm, which delayed the meets start about 90 minutes). With the sun starting to come through the cloud-enshrouded sky in the backgroud, from the second story window near me I looked out across the width of the pool and saw a group of about 5-8 late-middle/early-high school aged boys, all wearing matching green team shirts (and various shorts), standing at the top of the still sparsely-populated grandstands and doing the Cha-Cha Slide (or rather attempting to do it: they didn't have enough dancing area atop the metal bleachers to really do the "2 hops this time", or the Charlie Brown).

It was a refreshing sight, to see the fun still being had. This despite the recent delay in the main reason of being there (the meet), and the hint of uncertainty still present that the storm might return (it did, actually, buy not before the session couldn't be snuck in). The Slide did reappear again before the end of the meet: the next evening (Sunday) during a time trial session--the's night finals fall victim to the weather (though 2 swimmers did qualify for next week's US Olympic Trials).

I don't wanna rock, DJ
But you're making me feel so nice
When's it gonna stop, DJ
'Cause you're keepin' me up all night

Having a good time, baby; wish you were here...

Greetings from Grand Cayman. At the moment, I'm recovering from yesterday's Flower's Sea Swim, which I and 635 other folks did yesterday along 7 Mile Beach (pictured at left and below right). The race was 1-mile, and started toward the southern end of the beach (left) and finished about mid-way up (in the right picture--the white tents on the sand are next to the in-water finish), next to the Governor's house.

Overall, the swim went well. The course was a straight line, paralleling the beach. Water temperature was nice: cool, but not cold (and not warm). Peskily, we swam into the current, which made for rough going but surprisingly flat conditions. I managed to come in second, just a hair behind first--which was nice. I also didn't win any of the cool door prizes (curses--and I was pulling for the trip to Rio), nor did any of my friends who came down from Fort Lauderdale with me (despite the fact that one of their numbers was "I 1", and we agreed that she should have one something, just because of her number).

As for today, my friend Alex took me on a driving tour of the eastern part of the island, around along the coast all the way to Cayman Kai on the island's north side. Was good too see, particularly as the western part of the island is considerably less developed than the western peninsula, but has some amazing looking water.

My trip here winds up tomorrow, when I head back to FtL in the afternoon. I may try to get out and about in the morning, but will see how things go. In any case, have a good Father's Day and hasta...

And you can't do a thing to stop me
(Can't do a thing to stop me, now)