Facial Hair?!

"All the ladies just want me for my beard." -Nate's reaction to being told the editor of Mo. Life likes his style. Yikes.

Summer Nights in CoMo

"I love when your smile makes me stop,
and rest for a while and see what I've got."
-Serena Ryder, who opened for the Wallflowers at last night's Summerfest.

Our New Place

"Home is where the heart can laugh without shyness." -Vernon Baker

Finally getting settled into the house!

Read Up

"When I was old and rich I'd get subscriptions to, I don't know, thirty magazines. Anything that interested me slightyly. And I'd buy hardback books, not paperbacks." -a line from Martha Moody's Best Friends.

Another Bumper Sticker

Torn between agreeing and thinking this person should suck it up and fix the problems him/herself.

Great Day to be a J-Schooler

"Print is alive and cradling injured birds." -from Esquire's "Things A Magazine Can Do that a Kindle Can't." Check out the 14-reason list here, and breathe a sigh of relief that I might not be in the wrong profession after all ;)

Best Postcard Ever

Field of Dreams

Ray Kinsella: It's Iowa.
John: Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.
Ray: Is there a heaven?
John: Oh yeah. It's the place where dreams come true.
Ray: Maybe this is heaven.

Headed up north for the weekend to see Matthew & meet the RAGBRAI crew.

Side-ponytails & Spandex

"Are you part of the Show-Me State Games?" -some lady questions our running wildly through the streets of Columbia during last weekend's '80s Run. Clearly we looked like serious athletes.

Check out the Missourian's slideshow here (turn sound on).

Harry Potter 6

Watson Is Dead

"A limited number bricks from each residence hall will be specially prepared and offered to alumni who make a philanthropic contribution to Student Affairs." -my first-year dorm has been demolished. Somehow I don't think buying a $200 brick will fill the void...

Bathroom Talk

"Women live longer than men because they sit down more." -an occupational therapist's comical side-note to the "Toileting" slide she discussed in her "Strategies to Address Function in Everyday Life" presentation at Saturday's Parkinson's Rally.

Mr. Marathon

...and what's even better is that he published our interview on his Facebook profile for all his 1,124 friends to see (if this doesn't get me noticed by Runner's World, I don't know what will).

Best line from his thoughts on Columbia's Heart of America marathon: Easley Hill "makes Heartbreak at Boston seem like a bump."

Tagalong Time

"Do you want to camp out in my apartment?" -Kristy invites Aaron to literally pitch a tent in our furnitureless living room (which would be fun if we all weren't so sad that she's moving to Mississippi on Sunday ... and if we could roast s'mores).

All Ears - Or Not?

"He's lost his hearing range in the tone of my voice." -a woman at the gym complains about her husband's selective listening.

Paddling for Parkinson's

"Go big or go home." -pretty much sums up my latest Vox article about Joe Forrester, a UVA med student who's paddling down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to raise money for and awareness of Parkinson's disease.

The Big Picture

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge; myth is more potent than history; dreams are more powerful than facts; hope always triumphs over experience; laughter is the cure for grief; love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum

This is Me

Spotted in the Hy-Vee parking lot. Love it.

Running Crazy

"The state mental hospital is located in Fulton about three blocks east of the city square. Most people who heard of our venture felt we were stopping three blocks short of where we should go." -an article by Bill Clark about the very first Heart of America marathon (1960) that stretched from eastern Columbia to the town square in Fulton, Mo.

Looking forward to running this year's 50th HOA on Labor Day ... also looking forward to writing about it for Vox.

Away We Go

LN: They bought us a stroller.

Burt: What's wrong with a stroller?

LN: I love my babies. Why would I want to push them away from me?

Good film; saw it at Ragtag last night.

Red Zone

"I love the landscape, but I'm not crazy about the politics." -response from an acrylic artist I interviewed yesterday; I asked him what he thought about living in Missouri.

Interesting Times

"There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time int he history of mankind. And everyone here will ultimately be judged - will ultimately judge himself - on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort." -Robert F. Kennedy, 1966.

Status Update

"Social networking is a paradox because usually the people who are the most active online are the least active in real life." -check out the full article here.

Marathon Man

"As of today I've completed 448 marathons (including 44 ultramarathons), and I run about 20 marathons per year now. My 80th birthday will be on October 4, 2009, and I plan to celebrate it and Marathon #453 by going to Oregon to run the Portland Marathon that day!" -excerpt from a letter to the Columbia Track Club from Washington-based member Bob Dolphin. This gives me hope for growing old...

How Things Are

"Rule No. 413: The best backup singers are overweight. Rule No. 429: That single earring is not doing for the middle-aged gentleman's image what the middle-aged gentleman thinks it's doing. Rule No. 441: The car in front of you that is just in your stinking way is either a Prius or a Subaru. Rule No. 452: The middle reliever gets laid the least. Followed by the batboy." -Esquire's July '09 "The Rules."

No Such Thing As Normal

The Good Old Days

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Independence Day

"The essential principles of our Government... form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety." -Thomas Jefferson's first Inaugural Address, 1801.

*photo: Chinatown, San Francisco

My New Mantra

Gobble Gobble

Flavored (flavoured) water purchased at Birmingham airport yesterday.

British Books

"England has two books, one which she has made and one which has made her: Shakespeare and the Bible." -Victor Hugo

Goodbye, UK; hello, Missouri (home of Mark Twain & Laura Ingalls Wilder, speaking of literature). Glad to be heading back to Columbia today (especially after spending the night in the airport).