I have a couple upcoming interviews, which I’m excited about as the authors are pretty well-known–but I’ll hold off on saying who until I know for sure these folks have time to finish the questions I sent. Both authors have had a profound influence on my own wannabe writing style. I blogged recently about incorporating…
I’ve been so busy with running and hiking lately that by the time I sit down to blog about it, I seem to be writing nothing more than a quick account of where I went and what I saw. Trust me, though, I do carry long, languid, drifting thoughts and memories when running through the…
Saturday is “Earth Hour” starting at 8:30 pm. The idea is to turn off power and switch on climate action and, if you want, have a social hour off-grid. At work, we have a contest for how people are celebrating Earth Hour, and ideas range from running to camping in the backyard to candlelit dinners…
Yesterday morning was a cool, rainy morning, and we set out to Stanley Park for the annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K. I signed up thinking it was mostly a fun run but later realized that it is one of the most competitive 5K races around. The winner clocked just over 14 minutes. There were still…
Last week was my first non-running week this year. Not for lack of desire, though. I was so busy at work; throw in a painful tooth extraction, a worsening of my shoulder tendonitis, and so on, and I figured maybe I would slow down some and test whether the shoulder would get better or worse…
Winters in Vancouver don’t have much snow or very cold temperatures unless you get at some elevation. What we do have are endless days of rain, wind, and–occasionally–the near freezing clear night with many stars, which sleeps soundlessly until a layer of frost brings on the next morning. Our rainy season feels moody, and I…
I’ve been spending nights curled up in bed, with the sounds of cold rain washing through the cedars outside, reading Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Though the book is over a decade old now, its relevance is timeless and Neil, the main lyricist–and of course Rush’s great drummer–is a writer to…
There’s a documentary on Netflix called John Denver Remembered, and it’s pretty good. Growing up when I did, with parents who had his albums, his music was an integral part of my life from childhood on. My musical tastes are pretty eclectic. I like hard rock, a little rap, some old Kentucky fiddle music (from…
As the rainy winter season lingers, I find myself both loving the cooler running weather and wondering if we’ll have another heat wave and drought from May to September this year. Yesterday after work I ran on a campus trail that was super muddy; the light was beautiful, so close to dusk. The run was…
Sunday was day six of the 10K training (repeat of the program), which was a straight 35-minute run. I went to Mundy Park, which is just up the hill from where I live. It was a cool but partially sunny day. The rainforest floor was still quite damp from the rain we’ve gotten lately. I…
