What I have learned...

I thought I'd end the month by sharing just a few more profound (and not so profound) thoughts. Behold, "what I have learned" (version 3.0):


Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Two wrongs don’t make a right but three rights make a left.
Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake.
Happiness is not something ready made, it comes from our own actions.
There is no more intrepid explorer than a kitten.
Muskrats suck.
“Meow” is like “aloha” - it can mean anything.
No one is hurt by doing the right thing.
Clowns are kind of creepy.
In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away.
Isn’t it ironic that the only vehicles that are ever reported to break down on the highways are the disabled ones?
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.
The adage about time flying just isn’t true. Time moves as fast or slow as you allow.
Take control of your reality.
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you sleep but singing works just fine for me.

Peace.

Visual signs of spring...

I've always wondered what happens to the photos that random people take of racers during events like the Boston Marathon. It's fair to say the girls of Wellesley take shots of the guy runners with their shirts off (cue the image Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey running on the beach sans shirts or the Matt Damon parody of McConaughey - "why don't y'all come down to Texas, where I'm from, and we can take our shirts off and pick up chicks) to share with each other. The drunken BC guys take shots of the female runners who aren't puking as they pass through Cleveland Circle to prove that women can be attractive even when they aren't throwing up. And every now and then someone jumps out and takes a shot of me. Why? Who knows. But here's proof.

In the old days of film, I envisioned these folks leaving the Marathon and heading straight out to develop their rolls of memories. One day later (yes, I'm going w-a-y back in time), they pick up their film at Fotomat and flip through their stack saying "good, good, good, nice shot of ole' Uncle Willie sleeping, good, good, who the heck is this..." and toss my mug straight into the trash.

Images are easier to capture and share in the digital age as many a celeb, politician, athlete and "owned" college kid has unfortunately learned. Photos pop up everywhere for all to see. I guess I just joined the ranks. Horray, it seems I'm now just a click away!

I found this photo online and it spoke to me. And that is to say I focused on it even before I realized that the lightening fast subject blazing through the viewfinder was me. There are many layers to this --- from the historic and chic Boston brownstones with blossoms popping in the background to the fact that my image is blurry which is proof enough for me that I actually was m-o-v-i-n-g at some point of the race. There are signs of positive energy, forward motion and determination. I see signs of rebirth. I see love and support. To me, the photo is almost a personal, visual reward for a winter of training and racing in not-so-great conditions. Fantastic!

So, thanks "apdonovan" for the great shot. Who ever you are. And if you happen to read this, nice photos of the Dropkick Murphy's on Flickr, too. How'd ya get so close?

Peace.

To all the peeps workin' your a--es off through finals, here's a helpful secret you might wanna remember...good yuck y'all!

Don't be a jerk...there are already enough of 'em out there!

New World Order...

With today's important primary in NC, I thought I'd share a map accordin' to our current prez. I wonder how it will look come next year?

Vote!

Bruce is proving it...

So I just saw Bruce Springsteen in concert…yeah, that Bruce Springsteen. He’s the same guy who was rocking before I was 10 years old; the same guy who graciously, free of charge, donated a previously unreleased song entitled “Shut out the light” to us at World TEAM Sports in 1999 for our Vietnam, Long Time Coming CD simply because he believed in what we were doing; and the same one who, I swear, has got to be the greatest endurance athlete on the planet. Think about it…he’s 58 years old and rocked without a break for 2 hours 45 minutes. And most of the time he played well above his LTHR. I hope I'm still doing marathons around that time when I'm 45...forget 55 and older. Wanna know what else is kinda cool? He introduced his sax player, Clarence Clemmons, like he usually does by saying “you all want to be him but you can’t.” I think that dude is like 80 years old. There’s a few lessons to be learned somewhere in here but I’m not going to go into it. For now, have a listen to one of my favorites. This clip is from a show just a few months ago (although there’s a better guitar version of this out there from 1978 if you search really hard).

Peace.

Family Fun and Boston Marathon Smiles