a Very Special run

Run Time -- 15 minutes 10 seconds (+0:18)

• indoors

• Total Running Time for December -_______44 min 38 sec
____________________November -- 2 hours 18 min 45 sec
_____________________October ---_______57 min 06 sec
____(starting Oct. 1)
· Weight Loss Goal -- 24 pounds (11 kg)
_________· So Far -- 10 lb... finally double digits

Alright! Another excellent run today!! Another milestone kinda, sorta... no, not really... 1/16th of the way to running a marathon! Uhhh... whew, I've a lonnnnnngg way to go. [big sigh] Oh boy. Increasing by 15-20 seconds each run will never get me there. Actually sure it will, I haven't done the math, don't have the insanely impossible to comprehend Einstein-kind of ability to figure it out instantaneously, don't wanna take a whole part of a minute to figure it out, but if I did do the math then maybe I'd know in about 35 years or so I'd be up to 4 hours... if my body doesn't fall apart first. Ay caramba. Part of me wants to jump up to half minute increments. I know I can do it. Surely I can. I think. I'm not sure. The other part of me is just fine with the exercise I'm getting now. Better than nothing! And besides, running a marathon is not my dream... more like a crazy idea and with the sole purpose being to raise money for charity. I could care less about accomplishment. Since there are other ways and other things I can do to raise money, not using a marathon for that purpose will probably be just fine.

Yup, in any case -- good run at the gym today! Got there just before noon and as usual was in and outta there and back home gettin' cleaned up in less than an hour. Time for a nap soon... I gotta work at 9 tonight, all night long, another overnight shift, my last for at least a couple weeks.

Hopefully another run tomorrow.
I'll probably be too darn tired but I'll see how it goes!

Part 1 is one post
before this one...
here's the rest...


A
Very
Special
Christmas

1989






192 kbps whole album dload
► A Very Special Christmas (Volume 1)

256 kbps
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) -- U2
I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas -- Bon Jovi
Christmas In Hollis -- Run D.M.C.
Winter Wonderland -- The Eurythmics
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -- The Pretenders
Run Rudolph Run -- Bryan Adams
Merry Christmas, Baby -- Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
+ a bonus tune...
• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town -- Springsteen & The E Street Band

There are a bunch of really good tunes on this album. Part 1 has the songs I care less for while (most of) these are my favorites. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) has seriously, I think, gotta be one of U2's best songs ever. Even the tune from Run D.M.C. is pretty cool as is Winter Wonderland from Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (The Eurythmics.) And Run Rudolph Run is a fun romp from relic Bryan Adams... I guess he was pretty big when this was released in '89.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmasby The Pretenders is absolutely without a doubt one of the best versions I have ever heard. Chrissie Hyne makes this beautiful song just about perfect. It completely gives me the feeling of a peaceful and pleasant Christmas that I used to have years ago.

And while they don't have the same quiet sound as Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, both of Springsteen's tunes here are also Christmas to me. Each of them I used to hear on the radio quite often around Christmastime, back on New York City's WNEW (the best radio station in the world once upon a time) when I was growing up out in the Jersey 'burbs.

So much Christmas music I can't tolerate because it's garbage. Fortunately there are collections like this that give me some excellent Christmas tuneage that can be enjoyed all through the year, not just in December. With this album there's something for almost everyone and it's for a great cause which makes even sweeter!

This is an album that benefits an amazing and wonderful 501(c)(3) non-profit that does a beautiful thing in the world so please consider buying this and/or other volumes in the series.

The Special Olympics doesn't operate solely in the United States. Currently they reach an incredible 2.5 million people in 165 countries. If they had their way, they would leave NO one out.

Or please consider donating your time or a few dollars to this great organization. You don't have to give $100 or even $25... they would still appreciate even just 5 dollars! Most charities would. Please help. Thanks.

Monday Morning META

I guess you don't have to be a vegan to support PETA. Probably don't even have to be a vegetarian. Afterall, God gave us animals to eat, right? They should be killed humanely, though. And we should always give thanks for the food we are blessed to eat while so many have nothing to eat at all.

But if you're Michael Vick then I suppose animals don't really mean much. Use 'em for fun by staging dog fights? Why not! Shouldn't they just be a spectacle as they viciously bite the hell and the life out of each other and make, literally, a bloody mess? Yeah! And gamble on 'em, what tremendous fun! Those that are losers, the weak ones, kill 'em, discard the carcass, go bury it out back somewhere and shhh, hush hush, no one's to know. No, wait, THAT'S NOT RIGHT, Michael Vick. Dumbass.

PETA may be pretty wacky and looney in some of the things they do but it can't be denied that they do some good in this world concerning the treatment of animals. Personally I believe its human souls and human suffering that needs to be addressed a trillion times over. But as a side-hobby, animal rights as well as environmental matters are good to care for too.

In any case, this morning I indulged in a little META:

Music for the Ethical Treatment of Animals...

Tame Yourself

An album to benefit
People for the
Ethical Treatment
of Animals

1991

256 kbps
	Don't Be Part Of It -- Howard Jones
	Tame Yourself -- Raw Youth
	I'll Give You My Skin -- Michael Stipe & the Indigo Girls
	Damned Old Dog -- k.d. lang
	Quiche Lorraine (live) -- The B-52's
	Slaves -- Fetchin' Bones
	Born For A Purpose -- The Pretenders
	Don't Kill The Animals ('91 Mix) -- Nina Hagen & Lene Lovich
	Fur -- Jane Wiedlin
	Asleep Too Long -- The Goosebumps
	Rage -- Erasure & Lene Lovich
	Bless The Beasts And Children -- Belinda Carlisle
	Across The Way -- Aleka's Attic
	Do What I Have To Do -- Exene Cervenka

whole album @ 192 kbps Tame Yourself

Some pretty cool tunes here. I'm most definitely not a fan of k.d. lang or the indigo girls so for me those two songs help make this not as good as it could be if I did like them. Hey, that's just me so oh well. And just 'cause this is a benefit for PETA, that doesn't mean everything here is animal-related. It's not. The song The Pretenders do could actually 100% qualify as a Christian music tune since it's about God. Other songs are clearly about animal rights while a few more one could associate the meaning of the song to animals. Interesting to hear River Phoenix and his band Aleka's Attic. Across The Way is one of their only songs to be released on CD since the dumbass OD'd and they never could finish up and release a record. The B-52's live is awesome! I guess there's nothing truly remarkable here (that's why it can be found in the bargin bin) but I like it, it's not bad. The best part is you don't even have to support PETA at all to listen.

Pretending

Back on the trail again! And today's run it appears I may have reached a milestone, sort of. Prior to officially keeping track of runs, I might've had five or six and with those, right through to a couple days ago, immediately following each run, right after I stop moving, I'd stop dead in my tracks, half bend over with hands on knees, half dead and deeply breathing and so, so thankful my jog had come to its end. In that position I'd stay for only two or three seconds, not long, but it was always a needed thing in order to help recover from the semi-torture I had just put myself through.

But this evening I had no moment like that. Nothing. When I ended my run I kept moving, walking slowly down the trail. No need to stop! I noticed it instantly. Excelling I am.

But if only I knew how far I run. Definitely, probably, I'm feelin' about 97-99% sure it's over a mile. Perhaps a mile and a half? That might be wishful thinking there. To drive a car along the route to check on the odometer is something that just can't be done. Ain't about to buy a pedometer that won't be accurate. I suppose I just won't know and that's okay for now because I'm running on a trail in the woods and not a roadway or paved footpath. I wouldn't have it any other way!

total time out: about 72 minutes

running time -- 8 minutes, 50 seconds (another 22 seconds up from previous run)

tunes:

Pretenders -- self-titled debut album (1980)

Up The Neck
Precious
The Wait
Lovers Of Today
Tattooed Love Boys
Private Life
Space Invader
The Phone Call
Stop Your Sobbing
Mystery Achievement
Brass In Pocket
Kid
+
Walking Blues -- Bonnie Raitt
Cold Rain & Snow -- Henry Kaiser
I Know You Rider, Going Down The Road Feeling Bad -- David Cullen
&
Touch of Grey -- Grateful Dead
(undated live version from Brent era . . .
off the album San Francisco for a Sustainable Future a.k.a. For Young People)

The debut album from the Pretenders has got to be one of the best albums ever! Five or ten best? Top 25? No way but Top 100 or perhaps Top 250. Almost perfection. Shed a song or two and then what a tremendous collection of post-punk/new wave/rock & roll. Excellent stuff!