Quick run that is… woke up a bit late and had to take a short run of 20 minutes at 5:40am. I need to be back at home by 6am, shower and get ready by 6:20am, at which time I have to wake the kids and get breakfast and lunch ready. We are out the door at 7:10am. That’s pretty much the morning schedule, btw.

Today I ran with my Shuffle hanging around my neck using the lanyard. Not sure if I liked it. It bounces around and I can hear an occasional click as it hits the plastic part of the cord. Plus that pristine white lanyard is going to get yucky pretty fast.

Yesterday at about 2:30 I went out for a run. I planned to run my usual 4-mile route, but when I reached the halfway point, where I usually turn around, my legs felt so good that I just kept going. I estimate that I ran a little over 6 miles. (I’ll have to drive the route with my GPS later to make sure) When I got home, I could feel my legs were a bit tired. Actually it was more my joints rather than muscles. But my breathing and heartrate seemed to be fine. And today my legs felt ready to go again. We’ll see if I can wake up early enough tomorrow morning. The problem with morning runs is that I don’t have enough time for a long run. I usually have to cut it short at 40 minutes or so. Oh well, it’s better than nothing. 🙂

The original plan was to swing by Target, which was supposed to have 60 Wii’s for launch day, at around 5am. We figured that not many people would be camping, and that most would arrive around 6 or 7am. That plan would have failed. Luckily, we used a different plan, and this post is about our successful Wii camping experience.

I just got home from Target, where Jeremy and I camped for our Wiis. We arrived at Target at about 1:15am and were 54 and 55 on the list. The total # of units for our Target was 60, so we just made it! They also had 60 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, one for each console, and I think everyone opted to get that as well… I am very tired right now, I got maybe 1/2 hour of sleep… more Wii info to come later!

This morning I got up at 5:10am to go on my morning run. I knew it would be cold, so last night I got my long sleeve shirt and jacket ready. The wireless temperature gauge read 54°F, but I knew it had to be colder. I got dressed and checked my computer, and it said that the temperature for Cedar Park was 40°F. Starting my run, it didn’t feel that chilly. I had the hood over my head, and my iPod Shuffle cranked up, and wasn’t cold at all. It was very clear and lot of stars out. I don’t run with my glasses on, but I think I could even see the Milky Way.

I decided to run my usual 4-mile route, which takes me to the High School and back, and it was the easiest 4-miles I think I ever ran. I hardly broke a sweat (maybe the sweat just froze and broke off and I didn’t notice) and my legs were on auto-pilot the whole time. My playlist this morning worked out pretty good. There is a hill about 2/3 the way into the run, and I found that “Penny Lane” by The Beatles was a great tune for it. I still can’t figure out some of the lyrics, like, “A four of fish and finger pies” and “And tho’ she feels as if she’s in a play, she is anyway.” Maybe it’s a British thing… but the tune is uplifting and I was looking forward to hearing my favorite lyrics, “He likes to keep his fire engine clean, it’s a clean machine.” Anyways, I reached the top of the hill just as that ended and the next song was “Alone in Kyoto” by AIR. This is actually a really great running song. It is slow and contemplative, yet has a feeling of tense anticipation. And then you can hear your own breathing in the background, which makes it kind of neat. Plus I loved the movie “Lost in Translation” so maybe I was feeling like I was in a sort of mini-movie or something.

I think that in order to cuss effectively, you need to be fluent, or very close to it, in the language you are using, or else it just sounds weird. Not so bad if it is a single word, like the S or F word, but when it’s used in a sentence, it just sounds wrong. Sometimes is kind of cute, but for the most part, it sounds like subltle Engrish. For instance, one photographer whose photos I really like said “yes the lighting is pretty shit (i like the crop) but her expression…” Kinda funny. But, I do admire the effort. And I wish I was as good at a second language!

From the Sierra Club:

Switching from driving an average car to a 13mpg SUV for one year would waste more energy than if you…

* Left your refrigerator door open for 6 years
* Left your bathroom light burning for 30 years or
* Left your color television turned on for 28 years

I bought the set of “classic” Star Wars dvds when they came out last year but haven’t watched all of it yet. Just bits and pieces of my favorite scenes. Just the other day, Bay and I were watching the end of Return of the Jedi and while I knew the ghost of Anakin would be Hayden Christianson, I had never seen the little celebration scenes at Bespin, Theed, Tatooine, and Coruscant. Unlike many people, I like the added scenes. Even the little bits like the banthas cruising Tatooine before we see the skiffs and Jabba’s sail barge. But what was really cool about the new Return of the Jedi was the ending Ewok song. I always hated the old Ewok song. Just too muppety. This new song, though, is not silly at all. It’s actually kind of cool. Sounds a bit like that Peruvian folk music… On the other hand, the new song/dance sequence in Jabba’s palace is just horrible! I guess you can’t have it all.

I must have been the last person on Earth to see Pirates of the Caribbean. I don’t know why I never watched it, but the movie was fun! Not super, but pretty entertaining. Johnny Depp definitely does a fine job as Captain Jack Sparrow. He has the best jokes. But what made the movie interesting to me was all the references to the Disneyland ride, like the doggie in the jail area, and how the pirates in the movie looked just like the pirates from the ride. And when Barbosa drank that wine and it flowed through his bony chest, that was just like the ride! I am looking forward to watching the second movie when it comes out on dvd.