Head-dibs

Being refreshed with some good R&R but today's WOD was different. Learned a new move today called the Death March. Think: Walking Dead(lifts) Miss my training partners, that's for sure. Plugging away at it though. One WOD at a time. A. 3x Dumbbell Push Press x 8-10 reps (35#) Rest 45 seconds Death March x 20 steps (35#) Rest 45 seconds Side Plank x 45 seconds each side Rest 45 seconds B. AMRAP 10 10 Wall Ball Shots 10 Burpees

Nice day out. Feels like Springtime! Planted re-started lettuce and celery this morning , then went to training in the garage, which I deep cleaned  on Monday--more room for training! So that my training brethren know I'm not just sitting around binge watching Netflix all day (just in the evening), here's today's WOD (ok, so I'm a day behind--but I cleaned my garage--get it? "Cleaned"? It's a weight lifting joke . . . never-mind) . . . A. Four sets of: Romanian Deadlift x 6 reps (185#) Rest 60 seconds Single-Arm Dumbbell Press x 8 reps each (35#) Rest 60 seconds 100-Meter Suitcase Carry + Waiter’s Carry (35#) (hold a DB at side in suitcase carry, and another DB overhead in waiter’s carry) Rest 60 seconds B. AMRAP 9 12 Kettlebell Swings (35#) 9 Goblet Squats (35#) 6 Burpees

And boy are they happy! See, just get the seeds in the ground and watch em' grow.

(ht: Open Culture) " Matthew Might , a computer science professor at the University of Utah, writes: 'Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is. It's hard to describe it in words. So, I use pictures.' In his Illustrated Guide to the PhD , Professor Might creates a visual narrative that puts the daunting degree into perspective. Anyone who has already pursued a Ph.D. will see the wisdom in it. (Or at least I did.) And young, aspiring academics would be wise to pay it heed." Find the Illustrated Guide here .

Got a late start to the garden this year but we are just now beginning to enjoy the fruits of our labor. It's hard work getting the soil turned at the start, but that's the hardest part--and once it's done, it's done! Get the seeds in the ground and the rest goes according to design. Cukes are still taking their time as are the peppers. Saw tiny watermelons on the vine--about the size of a pill. Unmistakable dark and light stripes--they look so cool! Tomatoes are on the way. Celery is growing slow. Hoping to draw squirrels away from the tomatoes with the celery. This nice little zucchini harvest means Italian Steak for Father's Day! Yay!

FIRST, A MATTER OF INTEREST  (at least I think it's interesting) Recently reading Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, I remembered that I had bound in one volume a copy of his works that include writings from Boston and London (1722-1726), Philadelphia (1726-1757), London (1757-1775), Paris (1776-1785), Philadelphia (1785-1790), Poor Richards Almanac (1733-1758) and of course, The Autobiography. Link Source As I thumbed through the volume I discovered a great disparity of difference between the Barnes and Noble version I was reading and The Library Of America publication I now held in my hands. With no comment from the editors or publishers, I found large and inexplicable omissions in the B & N text. I was disappointed. Performing some line-by-line and page-by-page comparisons, I noticed the language was lightly softened for the modern reader, but could not shake the disappointment of feeling deceived by the publisher making such changes without commentary. As ...

One of my favorite authors is the Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn (I made mention of him in yesterday's post ). I was first exposed to his writing as a freshman in high-school and was so captivated by the imagery he conveyed that I read all three volumes of his Gulag Archipelago . Solzhenitsyn is perhaps one of the most powerful writers of our age, though it seems that age is passing. Suddenly this truth becomes an illustration of the point that stands out to me today: the will to live. Solzhenitsyn was a fighter. He stood for he stood for truth and human dignity in the face of oppressive Communism. He personally demonstrated the will to live by withstanding years of imprisonment and persecution as well as surviving an assassination attempt by poisoning in 1971. This short prose-poem by Solzhenitsyn is a near-perfect picture that captures the kind of indomitable spirit he displayed, a symbol of strength we are hard-pressed to find today. "We were sawing firewo...

The title by no means is unique to me or The Beatles, sorry to say. I'm of the persuasion that the hit 1967 song was inspired by the short book "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn published in 1962. But I could be wrong. A gripping book, by the way. A short read but deeply moving, full of deep, beautiful and tragic thoughts: But I'm taking the long way 'round to this post. My intention is to give a kind of a snapshot of a typical week-day in my own life. It's a journal post, after all.  5:45 a.m . Wake up, fall out of bed, find coffee. Should be brewed and waiting. 6:00 a.m. Shower, get dressed. Drag the comb across my head. 6:15 a.m. Fix breakfast, get lunch together, keep waking up. 7:15 a.m. Leave the house. 8:00 a.m. Arrive at the University 8:05 a.m. Start coffee (most mornings), eat breakfast and get all systems booted up. 8:10 or :15 a.m. Start workday: e-mails, phone calls, so-forth and what-not 8...

The guys over at The Art of Manliness posted this collection of " 20 Classic Poems Every Man Should Read ."  I believe the primary reason poetry remains a timeless effective literary device in all cultures for the simple reason that many things are best said in through poetry; in other words, narrative cannot convey the depth of meaning mastered by poetry. Besides, poetry keeps a guy from getting calloused over and keeps him feeling. I'm glad to recall how a few of these poems were introduced into my own life, even memorized at a very young age. What follows are a few comments on a handful of personally significant poems from the list (above) along with a few choice lines. Ulysses (Tennyson):   life is for the living, so live it to the full.  "I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees . . .  Come, my friends,‘T is not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds T...

Quick garden update: Zukes are coming in! Harvesting already! Cukes are happy too!

80 days is a long time for a 20-year-old to be on a ship, especially in 1728. Few actually “went along for the ride” as mere passengers on a vessel. There was an expectation that each person accomplish a measure of work while on board at the very least; regardless, there remains plenty of time for a young man to think. This is what Benjamin Franklin did on his return trip to Philadelphia from London--he thought. A common practice of Franklin’s time was for a man to construct a set of resolutions. The young Franklin came away from this return voyage with a short list of traits that ultimately became a list of virtues that he would practice until the age of 79, noting by his own admission that he often failed in his attempt though remained faithful to the spirit of the endeavor. As an older man he confessed that despite his shortcomings he felt he was far more happier having tried. In other words, he did not achieve the moral perfection expected from the virtues, but he found himsel...

The first and only "mini-moon" of the year. Saturn was the bright "star" just below The Ruler of the Night (not pictured) but Saturn proudly led the procession, glowing brightly in the West. Beautiful night for observation and took a few great pictures. You might say it was "stellar"!

I first met Benjamin Franklin in grade school and would you believe that, while his kite-flying-in-a-rainstorm got my attention, it was learning of his inventions that held my interest. I was too young to appreciate his contributions as a Statesman but that he gave us swim fins (attached to the hands, not the feet) made me take notice . Being the proud owner of bifocals (now trifocals) in more recent years keeps me mindful of what happens when a man sits down to think and in turn, makes a contribution that helps many. On that note, permit me to be clear that Franklin did NOT invent electricity. He developed the lightening rod (among other things). This is like saying that Franklin invented the Gulf Stream--which he only mapped. Review his inventions and see how he harnessed nature. He did not invent nature. Given the course of the series so far this month, I am revisiting Franklin's Autobiography paying careful attention to his exploration of virtue and moral perfection, notin...

We love you. We believe in you.

Zukes and Cukes are climbing, Melons creeping along the ground. All plants blossomed and a harvest is not long in coming. Bell Peppers are taking their sweet time. Enjoying cooler temps this last week with rain nearly every night. I sprinkle crushed eggshells at the base of the plants to deter soft-bellied creepers (they don't like the sharp edges). Also, mix diamotaceous earth with water to spray on the plant to deter other bugs. The mixture sticks like glue and doesn't come off easily once it dries on the plant.

When I look back through my work experience, I am intrigued at how my work history forms a kind of “ramp” into what I do now. For the most part, I’ve always worked alone or had positions in companies that permitted me to work alone. I recall how when interviewing for my job here at the University, my supervisor (who now serves as Dean and to this day, remains my supervisor) asked, “are you able to work alone?” To which I was able to reply with a resounding “Yes!” www.backintheawesomedays.com My work history began (I think) with doing little jobs around the office when visiting my mom or dad at their work. You know, “busy work” given to kids to keep them out of the way, mostly. Like tearing off the perforated edges from the paper that was roller fed through dot-matrix printers. Remember that “continuous feed” paper that came in large boxes? After that I sometimes traveled with my dad on day-trips. But that was all before I could legally work. My first job in Junior High Scho...

I was recently reminded how a few great authors honed their writing skills by copying letter for letter, word for word, paragraph by paragraph, page by page, and sometimes entire books written by authors they admired. A handful have reproduced for themselves the classic Don Quixote, for example. Actor Johnny Depp reports how Hunter S. Thompson copied Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby more than once , so he could get in touch with what a masterpiece felt like. Thompson also reproduced Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms to find the the experience of writing like a great author. When a teenager, I sat and copied by candlelight entire passages and Sonnets of Shakespeare onto parchment with a nib and ink for the same reason--to experience the production of something great by my own hand, learning to write like a master. The same is true also when I play Bach’s Cello Suites. photo credit: http://www.jazzwritesandsingsforyou.com My writing is hardly masterful, but I love to write. For many yea...

I didn’t get to say goodbye. Actually, that’s not true. I did say goodbye. It was one of those goodbye’s I'd rather forget. But I can’t. So I’m stuck with the less-than-memorable goodbye because now she’s gone for good. She’s been gone for a couple years now and I’ll never forget her. Just wished I could have said "goodbye." Her high school picture sits front and center on my desk, her youthful black and white Mona Lisa smile cast dreamily off-camera. She always had that far-away look in her eye, like something "over there" always had her attention. Around the house are mementos that are unique for these are not mementos  of her per se , but pictures by her. In turn do they become mementos of her.  See, she was an artist and her large paintings on the wall or the small water colors on the table are the way she saw the world. Looking at those paintings is to see what she saw, so we look through her eyes. Those canvases and boards hold t...

Permit me to explain: as part of my blog series this month, today’s challenge is to write the story of my life in six words. As one’s life story assumes the end of one’s life just as it assumes it’s beginning, my story is not yet over so what can I say? I can only say what is most important, obviously. I have to think of everything I wanted to be and what I’m doing now. I have to think of who I wanted to be and who I am now.  I have to think of all the expectations I had in younger years and take into account what’s changed (location, career, family, etc.). I have to think of what may or may not happen in the future. Six words. So much to think about and so little time. Like life--so little time. Life is so short. So what can I say? The best narrative I can find that tells the story of my life comes down to these six words: “I’ll Be Found In The End”

Commander Mark Divine (U.S. Navy SEALs, Retired) in his book The Way Of The Seal  leads the reader to consider the question, "What do I want most out of life?" The answer to that question is the starting point for the lifelong learner to discover one's values and in turn begin to nurture those values into virtues . If one is committed to personal growth and seeks to reap a bountiful harvest as the result of that growth, then one must gain strength holistically; that is, through balancing the physical, mental, emotional, intuitional and spiritual areas of his being. Identifying one's values not only helps one answer the question, "why am I here?" but also helps a person on their journey to being whole. Commander Divine suggests that one identify five values to move toward, and five "toxins" to move away from. This is not a new idea but a reiteration of a very ancient teaching encouraging one to "put off the old" and "put on th...

Today we graduate our youngest from High School so to you we say, "Congratulations, Young Man!" We are excited for all your accomplishments. Our Dedication for your Graduation (read before receiving his diploma):  "It is said that, 'Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.' William, you are well on your way to being a great man. Your inner strength is evident as you soar in every good thing you set your heart and mind to do. We give you the blessing to go even higher." This is a milestone day in all our lives because we all did this, together. Though he's the last one to graduate from High School, he was preceded by his siblings. Young women and another younger (but older) man who are making their way through life, convinced of what they know yet still trying to figure it all out. You are all doing the best you can--or at least you should be. You know who you are.