Am I wrong? (An Open Letter to John Goodman)

(A quick note to everybody not named John Goodman: Chalupa of the Lebowski Podcast sent me this story yesterday - once you read that you'll get up to speed on this letter)

Mr. Goodman,

Please accept my official invitation to attend an upcoming Lebowski Fest. I should mention now that I have no authority from Will Russell or Scott Shuffitt (the "founding dudes" of Lebowski Fest).

My invitation is merely just a suggestion from one Fest attendee (me) to another potential attendee (hopefully you). As someone who spent years on the sidelines wanting to go to a Fest, and finally did - I find myself uniquely qualified to help convince someone who appears to be on the fence about attending [such as you might be].

Knowing that your time is precious, I'll list a few quick reasons:

-It is as fun as it looks... And that's well before the bowling starts.
-It is not a Star Trek convention... Nobody is going to hassle you asking if you know the name of Walter's dog.
-You might end up taking more pictures than being pictured... I won't lie to you (no funny stuff), you will be very popular at a Lebowski Fest and many people (such as yours truly) will request to be photographed with you. But I can assure you that you are going to want to take pictures of your own to help share your experience with others.

Also, on a personal level, let me say that I get the sense that you will only attend if one of your fellow billed co-stars join you. Please, don't let this be the barrier preventing your decision to come out. The same reason kept me away for years, and I finally decided three years ago to fly it solo. It didn't take me long to meet instant friends. At the very least - you can hang out with me.

I can't offer you much Mr. Goodman. And, no offense, if I had the option of cutting off my toe to get you to a Lebowski Fest I would decline it and keep my toe. However, if needed: I will sacrifice my hotel room. People will be happy to let me crash in their room knowing I gave it up to get Mr. John Goodman to town.

May I suggest the 9th Annual Lebowski Fest in Louisville, Kentucky to be your first Fest? It's the weekend of July 16 & 17. Although there are many more in 2010, the one in Louisville would be your best option. Feel free to e-mail Will or Scott at dudes@lebowskifest.com for more information.

I look forward to meeting you,
TQ

How long does it take to accomplish a goal?

Q: What was the official 5K time?
A: 32:31 (an average of a mile every ten and a half minutes).

So of course it took me much longer than 32 minutes and 31 seconds to run five kilometers.
It took me about seven weeks of training.

I have been close to giddy-joy since Saturday morning. Most would be humbled by a time that "slow." Yes, I have coworkers who smoke nearly a half a pack a day near my office's door that ran faster times. Screw all that, I'm too selfish to care. There are many examples in my life in which rash decision making has led to zany misadventures. It feels really great to have one of my radical decisions end up with such a positive result. It's not even May yet, but what happened early on Saturday April 24 will be tough to beat in my personal "accomplishment of 2010."

Here's what happened:
(FYI: if you don't know what I'm talking about)

My Dad volunteered to be my support team. He's been saying he's wanted to do that since very early into this process. The offer was routinely met with jokes of him riding a bike just ahead of me while filming the experience for YouTube. But it wasn't until the Wednesday before the Saturday morning race did I finally accept his offer. It just made the logistics of it a ton easier.

It was a total and complete luxury to just step out of his car ready to go. I was able to leave my wallet, my phone, my what-have-you behind without needing to bother with any unwanted stress or the madness of the "gear check" area. I arrived to the pre-race rendezvous with a lot of my coworkers at 7:30 - right on time.

In a move that's surprised a lot of people, I decided to leave my iPod at home. On the other hand, nobody [that has seen me in other athletic endeavors] was surprised to see that I brought out the headband.

The start was an absolute zoo. A shoulder to shoulder sea created a feeling that I was at a sold out Aragon Ballroom show. It took me just over two minutes to finally get over the "start" line trying to not babystep on anybody's feet. People were then making mad dashes for open space by either funneling out to be the first to the sidewalk path or trailblazing drunken zig-zags.

In the first mile, I was very attentive to my pace. I didn't let any adrenalin fool me into a faster than I had trained for pace. However, I did need an extra kick to pass random walkers and get into the next available running space.

For the record, I'm using the term running - but let me be clear - I didn't run any of it. If you want to see me run, check me out on a fast break on Wednesday Nights. My "jog" may be more for show than speed. I jog at that same pace you "hustle" when the light turns yellow and you want to make the world think you're trying to get through the crosswalk quickly.

The second mile, well...
I have to be honest...
This was by far the easiest section for me.
By this time the race path had turned north onto Ravenswood (after 5 or so blocks west on Addison).
There was no pain or fatigue felt during this second mile because my mind was elsewhere.
Sorry to admit it sports fans, but I was fantastically distracted for the about four blocks tailing (pun chauvinistically intended) a knockout beauty. Somewhere after the 1.5 mark I lost by muse, but equally distracted myself both trying to find her again while trying to find another focus of my attention.

I gave up looking for race romance while on Irving Park Road (in which we turned onto heading east after our potholed Ravenswood section was done), which was the busiest four lane road shut down for the event. This might have been my favorite section of the race. First, you have such a large road that I personally have been stuck in traffic on numerous times now filled with runners. Second, there are many people just watching and encouraging complete strangers (my favorite were a few security guards at a roadblock high 5ing passing runners). And the third reason why this road was my favorite is because the last two blocks doubled back upon itself. This last point gave me the opportunity [of distraction] to look for friends who were running faster than me and then after the turn I was able to see if I could recognize anybody behind me.

After turning onto Clark street, heading back to Wrigley Field, I started feeling the strain. People started passing me like I was standing still. I couldn't focus on the large stadium ahead of me because it wasn't appearing to get any closer. Instead, I looked to the Metro (where I'll be seeing Los Campesinos! the following Friday) and used one of their drum cadences to help me keep jogging one step at a time.

Then it was a quick left onto Waveland.
A quick right into the concourse of Wrigley Field.
Jog past Ernie Banks.
Avoid running into pillars.
It made me think of Rudy.
(the scenes of the spunky Sean Austin running inside Notre Dame Stadium)
Mainly, at this point - I wanted it over.
I see the light at the end of the concourse.
We all exit under the landmark red marquee.
But - psyche! - it's not over yet... The finish line was another 50 or so yards around the outside of the building.

The master clock over the Finish line read just over 35 minutes. Knowing that it took me some time to get to the Start line I was happy knowing I completed the 5K in under 35 minutes. When the official times were released the following Monday, and I saw 32:31 there was a mini-solo-celebration in my cubicle.

So will I continue running?
I'm not sure.
For the summer, I probably will... Maybe just two times a week.
Burn some calories and get some non-basketball exercise.
There's another 5K that I'm looking at in early June.
When the winter starts, and I'm unable to run outside for free - I'll have a decision on my hands.

I do think that 5K is the limit I want to run. I'm not going to get obsessive about this. Also, I have since changed my mind and agreed with a couple friends about the sanity of marathon runners. That's just extremist behavior, no offense if you're one of those people that run to the point of self-defecation.

Special thanks to a few other people:
My friend Brian who ran his first 5K last year and planted the idea in my head and gave me encouragement when I first said, "running is hard"
My coworkers, especially Jess, Brad and John for always smiling back at me when I told them about my goal and my progress towards it.
All the miscellaneous facebook friends who "liked" my progress updates and stories... and subsequent result
Girl Talk, Daft Punk, Paul Oakenfold, Broken Social Scene, Los Campesinos!, and of course Kenny Loggins for creating music that I used to craft playlists pivotal in my training.
And finally MySister - who reminded me of the role Children's Hospital (the cause the 5th Annual Race to Wrigley benefited) had during our family's most trying time before my first step, let alone run.

Do you like your credit card?

Q: What died recently?
A: My favorite credit card.

There are a lot of stupid things that I do.
My 'logic' is very easily polluted by nonsensical mumbojumbo.
Take for instance, the fact that I refused to activate my "new" credit card.

About a year ago, Chase and MGM Mirage had ceased their relationship with each other.
This was probably more MGM Mirage's decision than Chase's. (City Center condo anyone? anyone?)
This made me go on a somewhat moderate spending spree last summer to make sure I hit the next "reward level" plateau and qualify/cash in as many MGM Mirage gift cards as I could. That funded my November 2009 Vegas trip.

Then I got my 'next' credit card in the mail to replace the card soon to expire. The card that featured a beautiful picture of The Bellagio on it. The new card: I'm not very happy at it's boring appearance.

Of course, this shouldn't matter at all.

But I refused to activate my newer card. This past weekend, less than a week before it would've been automatically rejected everywhere, I finally cut it up my 'outgoing' card.

So I'm just left with a boring old standard issue credit card.
The picture on the card was only recognized, or commented upon, by one person the 3 or so years I had it... It was actually by a countergirl at the In-N-Out Burger in San Bernadino, California.

Again, me being somewhat illogically crazy - that story made me enjoy having that card even more.

For the record, I've never once stayed - and don't plan on ever - staying at The Bellagio.

What's the dumbest thing you've said recently?

Q: Was it more of a Geek or Nerd thing to say?
A: Regardless, I instantly regretted it and laughed at the same time.

First things first: Kick Tan Laundry got a win on Thursday Night.

Down 3-7, KTL rallied for 5 runs in the bottom half of the 6th [of a 7 inning kickball game].

3 outs later the game ended with Kick Tan Laundry winning 8-7.
I took only a few pictures, the game was too late in the day. If we get an earlier game I will take more pictures.

All 12 members of the team (that were at the game) went out to celebrate the win. Usually someone has to get back to their non-kickball life, but not that night. Sure, the Bulls and Hawks playoff games that night might have been a factor for us all wanting to get to a TV sooner than later - but there was a lot of camaraderie that wasn't going to quit after six and a half innings.

GAME NOTES:
-The game winning "hit" was actually a move I'm calling "the stall" With runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs, a base hit scored the first run - but when while the kicker was caught in a run down trying to stretch it into a double, another run scored. Both runs counted, the inning was over, but that was all we needed.

-The same teammate who had the game winning RKI successfully executed the first "peg" of the season. In a crucial point of the game, he nailed a runner feet from home plate. Not only preventing another run being scored, but also getting the always elusive third out of an inning.

-Last season's Defensive MVP, due mainly to his excellent pegging skills, slipped during two flys to his post in the outfield. He might be wearing cleats next week, we'll see. He was the happiest we won because he was (wrongly) blaming himself for why we were losing.

-Yours truly had one highlight. While playing my usual position of 1st base I pulled off an unassisted inning ending double play thanks mainly to a coincidentally perfect kick path and an absent minded baserunner.

-Then there was my embarrassing moment of the evening. I had mishandled a throw to first when if I had caught it cleanly it would have been an out. Seeing as how there was another baserunner out there, I wanted to get the ball back to our pitcher quick to stop the play. I got the ball over to her, but for some reason couldn't think of the words, "time out." What did I say? I yelled, "Pause! Pause!" to the umpire. Everyone, both teams, cracked up in laughter. The only thing that's worse to say would have been, "Start button! Start button!"

By the way, did I mention that we won?!

When is Indie Rock too cute for its own good?

Q: Who is the early front runner for the Best Band Name I've heard in 2010 award?
A: Before I forget, the best band name I heard in 2009 was "Victory Auto Rockers" (inside joke only known to those living in Chicagoland)

You know me, I love NPR's All Songs Considered!
The latest episode is one I would like you to check out (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125857578).
The primary reason is because this particular episode features "my favorite band not named Radiohead"

NPR is also streaming the entire new album by Broken Social Scene, which I won't get my pre-ordered copy until the first week of May.


I will choose to wait until after their performance of "Forced to Love" (which will be on this Thursday's Letterman) gets uploaded to YouTube to tell you what I think of Forgiveness Rock Record.

Today I want to talk about The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt.
A song of theirs was also featured on the aforementioned podcast.

The song selected was "Iotdwykiyhtbr"

That's an acronym for "It's Okay To Do What You Know In Your Heart To Be Right"

It's from an album titled I Love You. I Love You. I Love You And I'm in Love With You. Have An Awesome Day! Have The Best Day Of Your Life!

The song is... okay... It seems like more effort was exhausted in the naming process. I'm kinda on the fence about these titles. It's a complete joke on itself, so you have to take it as fun. But there comes a point when you're just too cute for your own good. Here's where you can go hear the song.

If they made these for men, would they call it THUNDERWEAR?

Q: What's one good thing about not sleeping?
A: The commercials of late night television.

I got home really late last night, and decided to watch some TV before crashing asleep. I saw the commercial for "Booty Pop, the panties that make your booty pop" and had to make sure I wrote about it today!

There's nothing more I can say.

Why is your kickball teamed named 'Kick Tan Laundry?'

Q: Are you familiar with what "Gym Tan Laundry" means?
A: Feel free to check out Urban Dictionary if you don't.

My second season of kickball started Thursday Night at Brands Park (Located near the triple intersection of Belmont, California and Elston in Chicago). We lost 9-11. It was a solid contest with a few mistakes, but an overall admirable performance to start a season.

You could not have asked for a more beautiful late Spring night in Chicago, as far as the weather was concerned. The entire KTL team was in good spirits throughout the game. Even when we gave up a 5 run inning, which at the time put us down 3-9, we didn't lose our spirit. We answered with a five run inning of our own - capped by a three run homer that yours truly kicked with two outs.

Now, it might not go into the official box score as a HR, per se...
Some who were there may only call it a mile high pop up that just barely got into right field.
But in kickball, fielding errors are a part of the game.
Kicking it purposely to weak fielders is a key strategy most employ.

Here's all I say: I kicked the ball and ran around the bases scoring a run before the next teammate stepped to the plate.

Mark it Dude.

Hopefully next week I'll remember to take pictures.
Double hopefully next week we'll win.