Saturday, 20 September 2003

Jackie and I went to Allerton, so I could do another training run on the trails. I've been running on paved surfaces too much--I could feel it in my ankles and knees. While I ran, Jackie called her mom on the cell phone, then walked in the park.

We're getting early fall weather--cool nights, mild days, plenty of sun, not much wind--so it was perfect running weather.

I attempted to run the same route that will be the race course next month. Twelve years ago, when I ran this race, the course went the opposite direction from what they do now. I remember seeing a map of the course, and I think there are some other minor changes. I may not have followed the exact route, but I covered a lot of the same ground; those trails will be a little more familiar than otherwise.

I didn't see any deer this run, but did see a flock of wild turkey.

The route takes me past this sculpture twice. The park's literature says the title is "Death of the Last Centaur," but I've always called it the "Dying Senator."

We had lunch at the Brown Bag in Monticello. For desert, Jackie got a straw-rhub pie by Inge. I had a chocolate-chip cookie.

After lunch a nap, then played some StarCraft with Steve and Charlie.

Jackie roasted a chicken for dinner, our first roasted thing since the weather turned hot back in April.

We watched "BulletProof Monk" after dinner. Not a very good movie, but there were enjoyable bits. In particular, I liked the costumes a lot.

I was in Germany for a few weeks back in 1984 or 1985, part of a team bringing our new software up on the real hardware (we'd been working on a simulator up to that point). One of my coworkers bought a Falco album while we were there and made me a tape of it--great music, which has gotten hard to find. So, I finally broke down and bought a Falco CD.

I don't usually listen to music while I'm writing, at least when I'm drafting new text. I concentrate better when it's quiet. I do like to listen to music when I'm doing other stuff, though, including some kinds of editing. Most of the lyrics to the Falco tunes are in German, which I find less distracting than lyrics in English when I'm writing in English.

I buy almost no CDs. I bought a CD every week for a while right after I bought my CD player. But I held off replacing my vinyl, waiting for prices to come down. Little did I know that CD prices would stay ridiculously high for more than a decade.