Why I love running in the rain

It’s the fourth Wednesday of the month and that means Blogapalooza where we are challenged to write a post and publish it in one hour. Here is tonight’s challenge:

(Once a month, for Blogapalooz-Hour, we are given a topic and have one hour to write about it. This month’s topic is,

“Write about something you find beautiful that you feel others may not understand”

Here’s my take:  I love to run in the rain.

According to my Athlinks profile, I’ve run over 100 races, including 22 marathons.  Which means I’ve trained in all sorts of weather.  There have been Fucktacular Hor Days and Craptastic Cold Days and Abso-blood-lutely Humid Days and everything in between.  To be fair, there are also Amazificent Goldilock Days where weather conditions are perfect.

I’ll take all the Amazificent Goldilock Days I can get but I’ll also take a few rainy runs.  Not thunderstorms or torrential downpours of course, but I rather enjoy a light drizzle or soft warm rainfall with my runs.  Often when I’m running in the rain, I think of this oldie but goodie:

The sun was shinin’
The sky was cryin’
It just tore apart
And down came the rain

An’ I was soakin’
Yea I was freezing
But I was feeling
No kind of pain

I had a vision
A revelation
I took a look inside of me
And I am a sensation

Days like these
I feel like I can change the world
Days like these
I feel like I can change the world

…
May be brutal
May be glory
But whatever else it is
It’s my story

…

And I was thinkin’
About the Indians
And how they sing true wisdom
Only comes through pain

…

What doesn’t kill your
Only makes you stronger
And today I’m strong enough
And anyway, I love the rain

…

Days like these
I feel like I can change the world

Asia – Days Like These Lyrics | MetroLyrics

There were many races were the weather was terrible and a portion of the participants (and race volunteers) bailed but I showed up.  In my heyday I ran a lot faster and there were some races that begain with dreary cloudy skies but ended with sunny warm finish line Personal Bests (PB).

 

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Say It Isn’t So, Maria Sharapova

I’m not a big tennis fan but I do pay attention whenever there is a story about the Williams sibling rivalry.  The only other tennis star I’ve really heard of is Maria Sharapova.  She is after all a five-times Grand Slam champion and the highest earning athlete in any female sport.

UPDATE:  Maria Sharapova appealed her two year suspension.

When my friend posted on Facebook about Sharapova failing a drug test, I did my google-fu to see what I could dig up get the full story.  Initially I learned that she was suspended by the International Tennis Federation and sponsors like Nike, Porsche and Tag Heuer were wasting no time parting ways with her because she tested positive for the drug meldonium.

Apparently she has been using this drug for 10 years but it was recently added by World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to the list of banned substances effective January 1st of this year.  My first thought was this sounds like Bears Quarterback Jim Miller’s suspension in 1999.  Miller said he “had unknowingly taken the banned substance nandrolone for four days as a substitute for his regular dietary supplement.”

I looked on Sharapova’s Facebook page and there  was a link to her website with a press release video.  I thought it odd not to simple post a link to the video and this was probably a calculated move.  The entire 7+ minute press conference is linked above.  I give her props for taking ownership of her actions and not trying to deny the test results or blame her doctor.  I also gotta say even though I understand the attempt at humor, the comment about the ugly hotel carpeting (2:55) didn’t win her any friends.

Fans and proponents are calling for the ITF to be lenient with her punishment.  Anti-doping advocates want to make an example out of Sharpova.  The Court of Public Opinion will hash out whether this was a deliberate attempt at gaining a competitive edge or an honest mistake.

We have drug testing of athletes for a reason.  It’s not precautionary like a smoke detector or seat belts.  It’s because athletes are under such pressure to perform at a high level and the demands led to the temptation to gain any edge possible.

However the ITF decides to handle this, they must be consistent and judicious.  Whatever punishment they doll out for this, it has to be the same punishment they would give Venus Williams, Roger Federer or some unknown last place professional tennis player if they had failed the same test.

You can be Pollyanna and believe that it was an honest mistake.  That she didn’t read the notice the ITF sent in September and didn’t realize the drug she was taking — that she knew by the name mildronate — was also meldonium.

You can be cynical and think that it was a calculated risk that has now blown up in Sharapova’s pretty and very marketable face.  Meldonium isn’t known for its magnesium supplements or diabetes fighting ability.

Or you can even be both.  I kinda think that she was taking the drug for legitimate health reasons and learned that it had some performance enhancing usefulness.

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Liberals could learn a few things from Southern Baptists

This is a post from a guest blogger, Kerri K. Morris, who writes Cancer is Not a Gift, also at ChicagoNow. Many thanks to Mysteries of Life for letting me use this space to air some political views.

This is a strange election. As a progressive and liberal and an unapologetic atheist, I’ve found myself feeling grateful for Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, Karl Rove, and other Republicans who have spoken out against Donald Trump. And, then on Friday, I found myself feeling grateful to the leadership within the Southern Baptist denomination for doing the same and separating themselves from evangelicals.

On the other hand, I find myself increasingly irritated with my fellow Democrats who are threatening to leave the country if Trump is elected. On Facebook they are talking about moving to Canada or maybe south to warmer climates, abandoning their fellow citizens, many of whom couldn’t leave if they wanted to, to live under the rule of a racist, authoritarian, and it embarrasses me.

So, let me start with the Baptists. I was raised in a Southern Baptist home. My father is still a Southern Baptist minister, as he was from the time I was born. I even followed in his footsteps and graduated from Wayland Baptist University.

But the Southern Baptist Convention broke my heart when they moved from advocating the “priesthood of the believer” into a hardcore, far right political machine. Since the 1980s, Southern Baptists have excelled at transforming their culture into a hostile place.

They not only don’t support, but have also fought against, equal treatment of women, LGBT people, and people of color. One of their leaders, Bailey Smith, in 1980 famously said, “God almighty doesn’t hear the prayer of a Jew.” I have no love for the Southern Baptist machine.

But, then I heard this on NPR: “Evangelical leaders question movement’s support of Trump.” I almost had to pull the car over when I realized they had interviewed Southern Baptist leaders, men who said things like

“Donald Trump [is] a moral degenerate” and “Scripture tells us that we are to engage with people who disagree with us with kindness.”

The interview with three Southern Baptist leaders was even nuanced. They articulated an understanding that the term “evangelical” is a political category, used by people who identify with far right beliefs but who aren’t necessarily practicing Christians.

I heard these men trying to reclaim some of the decent values of their denomination and realizing that they’ve been hijacked, not only by Trump, but by a host of politicians who are using the pulpits of many churches for their own purposes.

It may well be too little, too late, but it’s a far cry from denying that Jews pray to the God of Moses.

On the other hand, there are my own, who are posting all over Facebook the news that Google had a spike in search terms about moving to Canada after Trump’s success on Super Tuesday. Some claim they’ll move to Canada if Trump is elected, and others claim they will do so if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate.

I’ll admit that I have, myself, joked about moving out of the country should Trump win. But as I’ve thought about it I’ve become embarrassed. This is a new sort of “white flight.” It’s the white flight of liberal, upper middle class folks. It’s the flight of privilege.

If Donald Trump is so very dangerous, how can we leave our country to him? The response to the Donald Trumps of this world—and he is not singular—is to dig in and recommit. The best response is to reclaim our country.

And here, I have to admit, I’m taking heart from Southern Baptist Leadership, who are reclaiming their core values. They have had a terrible realization, and I do choose to take them at face value. They are showing courage by speaking out and rebranding themselves. I have no illusions that they will ever embrace equal rights, but I am heartened that they reject Trump’s particular brand of hate.

Instead of threatening to leave this country should Donald Trump become our president, we liberals and progressives need to make clear that we’re here to stay. We have work to do.

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Dear Single People: Married People don’t have a clue either

The following was posted by a friend of a friend on her Facebook page a while back:

Question:  Ok, married FB friends…what’s your secret? I’ve been on every dating site and am also very self-aware. I’d like to think I’m a catch!!! What’s the dilly-o?

My Answer:  No f-ing clue.  There isn’t any magic or secret.  Finding someone who wants to be with and spend their life with you as much as you want to be with them is 51% luck, 49% timing and the rest is both people deciding to be with each other.

Dating is a lot harder than it should be and I honestly don’t know why.   I’ve graciously accepted the blessing of Singledom Amnesia, essentially being able to forget how rough dating and navigating being single was.  But every now and again I’ll read a CN blog which focus around the dating life and the bad memories come crashing down.

Young couple sitting on subway train (blurred motion) Photo credit: Sarah jcb/ Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Back in my Single Daze, many a night was spent with friends over brews lamenting what was wrong with me.  Being friends/connected with some of the many ladies who took a pass on me, I see some of the guys then ended up with, even short-term, and I think OMG how damaged am I if she chose that serial killer/drug dealer/pedophile over me!

But therein lies My Mistake:  buying into the perception that something was wrong with me when I was single.

The default answer to Why You Are Still Single is because you haven’t found the right person yet.  However, you are the star of the Your-Name-Here Show and only you can honestly answer if you truly haven’t found the right person, or took a pass on a good match for a stupid reason or gave the wrong person too much of your time, or some combination of the above.

In 2008 my obsession with finding my dream house began in earnest.  I had a list of criteria I wanted, nay required.  And four years later we bought a house that pretty much had everything I wanted in some shape or form.  However, my House needs have changed since then.  While our house is still suitable, it does lack a few things a family with children could use.  It also has some shortcomings that were not immediately noticeable sans children.

My point is I think many people look for the partner they want/need now instead of looking for the one they will need later in life.  Good looks, great dancer and life of the party is great now, but they don’t pay the bills (Unless you are Mikhail Baryshnikov).  Or tend to a sick child at 2 in the morning.  or clean up baby puke or change a million diapers.

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If you really like a free app, make a donation to keep it around

To manage the emails for this blog, I used an app called Mailbox.  I also subscribe to a lot of other blogs (pro-tip for bloggers: do this!)  with this email address and the nice thing about the app was when I was behind in my reading, I could forward an email to the future.  It wasn’t a perfect app and it left a bit to be desired such as having to deal with one email at a time instead of being able to select a batch.  Still it was a handy way to separate my personal spam email from my professional spam blog.

Unfortunately, Dropbox decided to shut down its email management application along with Carousel, a photo sharing app.  While not admitting it directly, I suspect Dropbox couldn’t figure out a way to monetize it.  The same thing happened with Google Reader, an RSS feed aggregator that many nerds including myself loved because it was so simple to use.

It always boils down to money.  Even if there was never any intent on making money directly off users, the development, maintenance and support didn’t come free even if you didn’t pay a dime for it. This is especially the case when you’re using something offered for free.  Because you never know when something will end.

Actually, you probably do know it’s going to end someday and are just in denial that someday will come sooner than you think if someone doesn’t keep paying to keep the lights on.

The same is even more true outside the virtual world of the internet as well.  Your favorite restaurant, clothing store or watering hole won’t be around for long if you don’t frequent them.

So if you have a favorite restaurant, bar or boutique store it might be smart to make it part of your routine to visit them as often as economically feasible and make a purchase.  As for the free apps, they usually and not so subtle  .ask for donations.  Sending them a $5 isn’t going to keep the lights on.  But if everyone who used the app did, they would be inclined to keep it around even if they pour the revenue into some other product.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you will comment below. Here’s the part where I beg for stuff because we get paid in likes, shares, re-tweets and feedback. Please also do any and all of the following:

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Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.