I AM AN IDIOT; AND NOT BECAUSE I RAN TO THE TOP OF A 75 STORY BUILDING

OK, I signed up for this race, like forever ago and only realized it was on a Friday as opposed to Saturday, when a friend's wedding landed on the Saturday that I thought the race was on.
That's not why I'm an idiot.

I've taken on way too much lately, perhaps even more than I usually do, which tends to always be too much. This means I have been sleeping less than usual which is never enough anyway.
That's not why I'm an idiot.

I'm an idiot because I had plenty of time to get to the race with time to spare and I instead tap-tapped away on the computer, checking e-mail and facebook, looking up every in a while to see the US Bank downtown, seeming so close. How long could it take to get there?

On a Friday? In LA?

That is why I'm an idiot. Because regardless of how many times I just make it somewhere or am a little late or am a lot late or oops couldn't make it because of traffic, I seem to be in denial that "Rush Hour" has become "Rush 20" with the hours between 1 am and 4 am being somewhat traffic free.

So even though I was supposed to be at the event an hour before my race at 6:45, thus 5:45. I didn't end up leaving until ten minutes after six and I didn't have the exact address. I mean I could see the building after all, how hard would it be to find it.




So close and yet so far.




Inching forward.

I ending up just making it. I was pinning on my race bib as runners started ahead of me. The race is staggered and timing chips time racers individually. But I ended up being the last person in my division to head up the stairs. I was still fumbling with my Ipod, actually my shuffle and just remembered to start timing on my watch several flights up. But some how, even though I had just gotten out of maddening traffic, and had been up since 4:30 in the morning, worked all day and barely had trained, somehow, I managed to better my time, clocking in at 17:09 placing 70 out of 258, 14 out of 35 in my age group. So all in all it turned out well.




There it is 75 stories of fun, fun, fun.





Those are the three winners, all coming in with sub-10 minute climbs. Maybe next year, with a little more training and.....

Coming up for Air as My Bluff Is Called

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been almost two weeks since I last posted and well a lot has gone on in its passing, both personally and, yeah globally. A little shake up in the Markets, the Palin problem, (for those Palin supporters, she is a PROBLEM because at bet she is a distraction, an underhanded attempt by McCain to take the focus off the issues, she is the marble in the political shell game our election process has become. At worst she is a set-back for women, epitomizing the hypocrisy that seems to have taken over the religious right. Jesus was about acceptance and forgiveness, check your Bible and ego before legislating your morality and beliefs on people who see things differently.)

Ok back on to the business of the day, oh yeah, what is that by the way, "big government" coming from the traditionally "less is more" government of the Republican camp. What the F**k is going on?????? No to Universal Health Care but yes to Universal Bail Out, When and Why did Fiscal Health so outweigh Physical Health? That's right when the wealthy and upper-middle class hurt not the poor uninsured or those Vets that fought that Illegal and Ill-perceived overpriced WAR.

Sorry for the political rant. But it matters. It matters to me more than possibly offending people.

WAKE UP!!!!! LOOK AND LISTEN TO WHAT IS GOING ON

Personally, I've been working as a shopper on a pilot, called LAPD. That has been a trip. Just out there shopping for someone other than myself or Cindy, its been like, over a decade or something. I am working with Brian Kasch, our last collaboration was when he decorated the first season of Twin Peaks and I was on the set dressing crew.

I have also been spending a bunch of time organizing seminars and workshops for the Set Decorator's Society of America, SDSA annual Marketplace event, happening Oct. 18. It has been a lot of work, but really informative and I have been learning so much.

Speaking of learning, Cindy has been taking over the home school teacher duties and this 5th grade is off to an amazing start. I can't wait to get back to it, but for now Cindy is doing and awesome job and Skye is soaring.

Skye before heading off to the "Time Traveler's History Club", similar to the Super Duper Show and Tell, but obviously centered around History, this month was the Caribbean 1500-1600, just in time for Speak like a Pirate day. Sept 19.

And then there's the upcoming StairClimb looms over me, literally, cause I'm working downtown so I see the US Bank daily. It's tall.

And the Pattons decided to call my bluff by signing up for the upcoming,

"The 2008 Arrowhead Day at the Beach Triathlon , Oct 12
I have yet to try a Triathlon, so go ahead dare me, or better yet join me on my virgin tour."

So I better stop blogging and sign up and start training.

Climbing stairs, chasing skirts and running through tar

Ever since the Nike Human Race wake up call I have been vowing to get back in shape. To that end I have signed up for a few fun events and am contemplating a bunch of others. It would be way cool if I had some pals along with me.

Stairway to heaven?
In just about 3 weeks I will run up the US Bank Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi, 1,108 feet. Climbers will race, walk, or crawl up 1,500 steps (75 stories) and take an elevator down. Most participants will climb to the top in 20 to 45 minutes. Elite climbers will race to the top in 13 minutes or less. The course record is 9:28. Last year I finished under 18 minutes. So I'll be trying to beat that this year. I could use some encouragement and some sponsorship. Come on its for a good cause. Just click on YMCA Stair Climb enter my name and sign up.




This is a self-portrait from last year. I would love to see some familiar faces this time around.

Tar-babies

On October 5th the whole family will be at the Miracle Mile Run at the TARFEST.

the Skirt Chaser race series

Ok, had to sign up for this one because of how un-pc it is and its just a 5k. Cindy doesn't know yet that she's signed up for it as well. The ladies get a head start and then the dudes try to catch up. I don't know, it seemed like fun and its local Culver City. Again come along and join us on Nov 1.

I have not signed up for but am considering the following events and races, some need team mates. A gentle nudge and some friendly competition or a willing team mate could get me to register:

Marine Corps BOOTCAMP CHALLENGE, Oct 4

Marine Corps Bootcamp enough said?


The 2008 Arrowhead Day at the Beach Triathlon , Oct 12
I have yet to try a Triathlon, so go ahead dare me, or better yet join me on my virgin tour.

Renegade Sprint Adventure Race--Oct 19
I need a three person team--who's with me???

Renegade Sprint-Adventure Race & Vasque 3 Mile Trail Run Challenge--October 19

Family Field Trip to the Dump

Over the past few years we have had 40 yard dumpsters in front of our house on a regular basis. This of course was before I got on my anti-landfill contribution kick. 100 tons of landscape and construction refuse has caused a me certain amount of waste guilt. So in the past months, I have been accumulating dirt from my various landscape projects on one side of our house until I could figure out an environmentally sensitive way to get rid of it.

And finally I found such a place, California Waste Service, "the first and only Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste processing facility in Southern Los Angeles and the South Bay." "Nearly 70% of the C&D waste us sorted into separate and reusable commodities."

So I went down to the depot rented a truck and loaded it up with my collection of dirt and rubble. After finishing loading I was putting away the ramp I had been using. I looked down and remembered the pair of cinder blocks. I thought about hauling them back to a stack of unused and unneeded block and decided to just throw them on the truck and be done with them.

Big Mistake!!!

Apparently that block was the straw that broke the camels back, because this piercing alarm went off. I turned on the truck and turned it off, but the horrendous alarm continued. I noticed now the sticker warning of overloading the truck. I quickly ran back and took off the one cinder block and then another. And the wailing continued. I took off a couple of buckets of dirt to no avail. I got in the truck and drove away and the noise ceased. I turned around and reparked it and the alarm sounded again. I ran in to tell Cindy we had to leave now.(Remember this was to be an educational, family field trip) So I sat in the truck, in drive with my foot on the brake. I started fiddling around and finally got the truck parked on an incline in such a way that the alarm stopped. By then Cindy and Skye were ready to go.

When we got to the dump and parked on the scale the sonic alarm started up again, until the truck was weighed and we were off to unload. Of course, when we got to the where we needed to get rid of the dirt, the ear-splitting noise started in again. So Cindy got in the driver's seat, kept the truck in gear with her foot on the brake while I lightened the load. Finally, I had thrown off enough stuff to get the truck to shut up so that Cindy and Skye could truly appreciate the wondrous waste processing (not landfill) facility I had taken them to. I think that appreciation lasted less than a minute before they were back in the comfort and relative silence of the air conditioned vehicle.

In the end, the mission was accomplished. And I left feel green and waste-guilt-free.








Apparently this was one cinder block over 3500 lbs. Although according to the scales it was only 3020lbs and I know that those trash cans didn't weigh 500lbs. I'm feeling a little ripped off by the Depot. Oh well.

The Human Race

Last night I joined over 12,000 people downtown at the LA Coliseum and thousands more around the globe to be part of The Human Race, the largest running event in world history and for us in LA to see Kanye West and Common in a huge post-run concert.

The event was pretty awesome in its scope and a lot of fun in spite of some major logistical blunders on their part, more on that later. But what the event was for me was a major wake-up call. Through the course of this very social and full summer, I had allowed myself to slip to weigh the most I had in months. An injury that kept me from doing a lot of different excercises could be blamed, as could the very busy schedule and crazy social summer we'd just concluded. Yes summer is officially over and not a minute too soon. I have been eating and drinking to much crap, caffine, and alcohol and not getting my veggies(I have been planting them, just not eating them).

I had no intention on getting a good time. With over 12,000 runners bumping into each other I knew that to try to run this run for a time would end up in stupid frustration. I've run several other hugely hyped Nike 10k's, (the Run Hit Wonder series) and knew it was better just to relax and enjoy the event, which I did.

In other races there is a division for runners over 200lbs, which I qualify for right now and of course, called the "Clydesdale" division and after hitting 40, that puts me in the "senior" or "master" or at least the "over 40" category. And that is just how I felt, a big ol' horse lumbering back to the stable. I felt terribly out of shape. So, once again I am setting out to get back in shape. This time around I'll "Just Do It". See Nike's less than subtle branding is working.

Getting back to the race. It was cool. It's always very festive. And getting parked and getting my bag checked in and the pre-race hype, with race results and video coming in from around the world was really well done. The race itself was a pretty easy and fast course, although I was surprised as to the insane humidity that left me soaking wet.

As Nike put it, "Runners had the time of their lives as they made their way through a 6.2 mile course featuring 9 global performances ranging from Japanese Taiko Drummers to French Can Can Dancers. Host Randy Jackson was able to keep the show rolling with exciting special guests such as Olympians Lisa Leslie and Jessica Mendoza."

My time, was 54 min 57 seconds, which put me in exactly 2000th place, not too bad, but not that impressive. Like I said, it was a big wake-up call and it was more of event than a run. My first mile was spent dodging slower runners and walkers. The best LA time was 30' 38" and with Munich coming in 1st with a 29'25" time.

As far as how LA did Number 1 was Tapei with 46'15" (What is that about?) Los Angeles came in just ahead of Istanbul at number 21 with a run average of 1h 05' 20".

And then the post-race concert, I was totally looking forward to celebratory beer while taking in Kayne and Common. I just need to grab my bag from the Bag Check-in. I mean the LA marathon with around 20,000 racers managed to get my bag in a couple of minutes and I finished before like what around 10,000 people, so how bad could it be.

Over an hour of waiting in line in one of the worst organized things I've been part of and I finally got my bag. The concert was well under way, I could hear it and see the lights and smoke rising above the stage, as another frustrated racer put it, trying to make light of it, "It's almost like being there".

Finally got my bag, got that beer and enjoyed that last half of the concert.




A sea of red race shirts rocking out to Kayne.




It was a cool, memorable event.




PARTY, PARTY,PARTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




I know this pic is fuzzy and hard to make out, so I'll explain. This is the line of people STILL waiting in line for their stuff, after the concert at around 11 pm. There were literally hundreds still waiting to get their bags. It was crazy!!!!