I'm still alive!

Yes, I'm still out here somewhere. I've been finishing up my writing project for my final class and now it's done, turned in and I'm just waiting for my grade. I can't believe it's over!

I found out recently that I'll be teaching a developmental writing course this fall at the college where I work. I'll be putting that English degree to some use right away, it seems. I'm excited about the opportunity and I think it could lead to more and better things.

I'm continuing to run three days a week and it's gotten much easier than the first couple of weeks. There's no more soreness in my legs and only a little minor burning sensation above my knee. I'm hoping that goes away eventually, but I'm taking it pretty easy before I increase my mileage much.

Online Calendars

Toby Buckell gives a brief review of a calendar web application. It's not something that I've looked into much, but it sounds like it might actually be pretty useful as an additional tool for organizing your life. It might prove useful to have a calendar with meetings, appointments, etc listed on it that's available from any computer with internet access.

Tags: productivity organizing calendars

I saw a band over the weekend...

They were my nephew's band, young guys with a lot of talent and energy who are into the classic punk sound. Unfortunately, my nephew didn't get to play because the show was cut short by the lead singer and guitarist. This fellow has quite a bit of talent and stage presence. He was dressed like the punks I remember from when I was a kid, the plaid pants with chains and sleeveless denim jacket with all the band patches and logos.

This young man, all of sixteen years old, was the lifeforce behind this band. The night of the show, though, all he projected was hatred and contempt. The show started off okay, but soon degenerated into an anti-police (yes, the 'f' the police song), anti-government, anti-America and anti-everything else he could think of. Oddly, this message didn't play well in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

The show ended with an incensed crowd and some band members being held apart by a police officer so as to avoid a fight. I don't have any problem with people expressing their opinions, but the sad thing is that this show became all about hatred and anger instead of the music. Protest is fine, but when you hate everything, no one is going to hear your message. Most people, whatever their political persuasion, stop listening after hearing 'f' America.

Tags: music bands politics

I'm Damn Sore Today

Okay, before the day was even out yesterday I was getting sore. My quadriceps are aching pretty good today. I didn't realize how out of shape my leg muscles were. I haven't worked out much in the last month, but I have been using an exercise bike off and on for the last couple of years. Apparently there's a big difference in effort or in the muscle's you use between the bike and actually running.

As for the knees, so far, so good. I had been getting a burning pain at the top of both knees as well as a kind of deep throbbing ache just a little lower. This was accompanied by a strange kind of looseness in the knee joint that was causing them to crackle and pop like Rice Krispies. I forget the exact name he used, but the doctor said it might have all been caused by the quads and the hamstrings being out of balance, maybe from running up and down hills every day like I used to at my old house. I don't know if that was it, but I hope it's gone for good.