View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Clear and quite warm.
I headed out about 45 minutes later today, but still well within the morning window. However, with a high of 31°C expected today, I knew it would be hotter than Wednesday no matter what. And it was!
When I started the run it was already 24°C and climbed to 27°C by the end. Bleah. I started out decently and ended pretty much the same (I’m not entirely sure where I found the reserves to pick up the pace in the final km), and the middle three laps were all right around 6:18 or so. The +5 for Performance Condition is probably because I stopped to take a phone call at about 0.61 km into the run and was on it long enough to bring my heart rate back down, so to the watch it must have seemed like the run was easy-peasy. It was not.
The heat and humidity acted as a kind of cap on my BPM. Since I could not push harder, my heart rate was lower, at 148. And despite the heat, I actually did not feel too bad. I sweated, but my forehead didn’t sweat as much, benefiting from slightly lower humidity, perhaps.
There were a fair number of other sweaty runners out, including the Spitfire, who looked like she was about to blow a gasket–pretty unusual for her.
A little past the 4K mark I saw a guy ahead of me sans top, but not glistening. This is because he was just standing there. He appeared to be checking something on his watch–perhaps starting a workout–then started jogging. I fell in behind him, expecting him to accelerate and leave me literally in his dust (the trail is very dusty right now). But he continued to move in this weird, almost dainty kind of trot, like he was roleplaying a show horse or something. I had no choice but to accelerate slightly and pass him, and this probably led to my faster finish. Once I added the extra speed, I just kept it up, all the sooner to finish the run and get to a water fountain and drink my weight in water.
The overall pace of 6:16/km is something of an improvement, given the conditions, so I’m actually pretty OK with the result.
The forecast for next week seems a bit uncertain, so we’ll see how it pans out. I’ll be happy with anything that isn’t super hot.
Still Creek, post-run, looking very still.
Stats:
Run 1,056 Average pace: 6:16/km Training status: Productive Performance Condition: +5 (I think this got thrown off, more below) Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 10:28 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 31:30 Weather: Sunny AQI: 61 (moderate) Temp: 24–27°C Humidity: 57–52% Wind: light BPM: 148 Weight: 171.7 pounds Total distance to date: 7,085 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (65/147/212)
In brief because I can only remember slightly less than an elevator’s pitch worth of description for each.
I’m fighting crazy cult women. I think it more a game of wits than a physical battle. I cannot recall why I was fighting them or how I fared.
Running along a scenic mountain trail. If I remember correctly, this started with me walking with a friend then transitioned, as dreams do, to me jogging alone along a trail that ran through bare trees that suggested winter or fall. As I kept running, my speed increased, first to an impressive sprint, then to something absurd and impossible, where I had to deliberately apply the brakes when jogging around a corner to prevent the momentum from flinging myself off the mountain. I wish I could move like that. Or maybe I don’t. It seems dangerous.
The last dream was in some kind of meeting room. I was sitting at a conference table. Across from me was Elon Musk. He was jacking up his office chair super high while sitting on it, laughing, and saying how he could do things like that. I said I could do the same thing and didn’t need a billion dollars to do it. I then threw a pink eraser at him. I have no idea what happened next. Hopefully I left.
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: High cloud, high humidity.
Or something like that.
In a remarkable turn of events, I actually headed out relatively early and started my run at 9:38 a.m. This is over two hours earlier than Monday’s run and yes, it made a difference. It was 21°C and humidity was relatively high. Just as importantly, there was a lot of high cloud covering the sky, which blotted out the sun for almost the entire run.
Because of these more favourable conditions, I had a little more spring in my step and sliced nine seconds off the previous run’s pace, tying my best post-surgery effort with an overall pace of 6:10/km. My BPM was up slightly at 150, but totally in line with the increased effort.
I felt pretty good throughout, with no issues, and actually picked up the pace in nearly every km, finishing strong.
Weirdly, the Performance Condition was listed as -1, but I think that’s because I started with a long uphill part that slowed me right at the beginning of the run.
Most of the other people I saw were fellow joggers, including one glistening topless dude who blitzed by then eventually circled back, and blitzed by again, this time allowing me to see his 1970s-style moustache, which I was not a fan of. He could really move, though.
Overall, a fine midweek effort.
Haze and lily pads from the bridge over Dee Lake Brook.
Stats:
Run 1,055 Average pace: 6:10/km Training status: Productive Performance Condition: -1 Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 9:38 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 30:57 Weather: High cloud, veiled sun AQI: 60 (moderate) Temp: 21°C Humidity: 66–62% Wind: light BPM: 150 Weight: 170.5 pounds Total distance to date: 7,080 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (60/134/194)
Music: Songs from the Big Chair, Tears for Fears (inadvertently in shuffle mode)
I feel like people checking recent posts here are going to leave, thinking, “This guy is really into birding and running and not much else”. But there’s more to me than that. I have other hobbies! I have opinions! I write lists!
But I have been going through some interesting times that have pushed me away from writing about other stuff here on the blog and I’m hoping to add more of that back so it’s not all 5K runs and here’s a Black-capped Chickadee. (Though I feel part of it is the desire to share and mull things over in a public space has withered away a little, though I can’t articulate exactly why this might have happened.)
In the meantime, here are some semi-random posts of mine you may find interesting. I have a certain, specific sense of humour and if it doesn’t match yours, some of these links may not do anything for you, but if you’re a nostalgia nerd, some probably will.
I will put an update at the top of this post if I add more links later.
Most of the fiction comes from writing prompts and these are essentially first drafts, so they may be a bit unpolished or even unfinished (I note the unfinished ones).
I spent a lot of time this morning doing things to avoid running. I’m not sure why, because I knew if I waited, it would just get warmer and the run would be harder. But I finally headed out and started my run shortly after noon–about three hours later than I’d normally like.
It was not quite as warm as last Wednesday, but humidity was higher. The AQI1Air Quality Index was 61, which is moderate, as high haze from distant wildfires hung in the sky. The air felt thick, or thicc if you prefer, you crazy hipster.
For the first four km my pace was very consistent, hovering right around 6:22/km or so and the average pace went down because, surprisingly, I had a little to spare to push a bit at the end and the final km was 6:10/km. BPM was a nice 148, while the sweat-o-meter was Very High. Despite the muggy conditions, I found I had the energy to keep pushing and never flagged or experienced issues. I drank from a fountain copiously upon completing the run, but that was all.
The trail had a modest level of activity, mostly other runners, some of whom looked unnaturally cool and dry, like they were androids or had some kind of futuristic cooling systems under their skimpy jogging clothes. Or maybe I just sweat a lot.
In any case, a decent start to the week under less than awesome conditions.
Late summer “fringes” along the edges of Still Creek are back and in full bloom.
Stats:
Run 1,054 Average pace: 6:19/km Training status: Productive Performance Condition: +2 Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 12:09 p.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 31:47 Weather: Sunny with high haze AQI: 62 (moderate) Temp: 22–23°C Humidity: 63–59% Wind: light BPM: 148 Weight: 170.3 pounds Total distance to date: 7,075 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (55/121/176)
Where: Blakeburn Lagoons Park, DeBoville Slough Port Coquitlam), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam) Weather: Sunny, 21–25°C
Brought to you by the colour green and a whole lot of bear poop.
Blakeburn Lagoons Park
One of the two lagoons, this one featuring a sneaky Green Heron.
I suggested Blakeburn Lagoons Park because Green Herons have been known to hang out there and we fleetingly saw one fly off on one visit. I didn’t actually expect to see one.
But we did!
At the first viewing platform was a couple with binoculars and cameras and the man described to us a nearby Green Heron at the edge of the lagoon. He also politely asked Nic to not squee too loud as the heron is apparently skittish.
And lo, there it was, hunkered down in front of the grass on the lagoon edge, very well camouflaged. We watched it attempt to grab a fish (it looked like it missed), then it flew off…but landed in a nearby tree, where it hung out for a good while, preening, and looking about before moving on. Neat.
We also saw three grebes, two adults and a younger one following one of the adults, because it was carrying a yummy fish in its bill. Most of the two lagoons were occupied by Mallards. The single coot was not present, except in our hearts.
DeBoville Slough
One of the spacious fields popular with bears.
Having scored early, we headed off to the DeBoville Slough, where it felt a lot hotter than it was, dang humidity. We saw a lot of bear poop on the trail and when we approached the first vast farm field on the left, there was a large black bear strolling through it, possibly looking for a place to poop (again). We later had people advise us of a black bear in a tree (we did not see it) and a mother bear with two cubs traversing the river’s edge (we also did not see these, which I am thankful for, because mother bears don’t always understand that humans without guns are harmless and not good to eat).
But what really stood out were the Eastern Kingbirds. We don’t seem them too frequently, but here they were out in abundance, flitting from tree to tree, chasing each other and occasionally sitting just right on a branch for us to get awesome shots. I don’t know if there was a Kingbird Festival going on or what, but I was pleased to get my best Kingbird shots.
Before the Kingbirdpalooza, we shot some young Savannah Sparrows hopping around on the trail, but it later turned out they were actually Chipping Sparrows. The adult males have extremely dapper scarlet caps on their heads (the colour, not actual caps, though those would also look very dapper) and while these younger ones lacked the colour, they were still very cute and energetic.
We also got some good views of kingfishers (it was a royal day for birding), spotted some waxwings, robins, and others, making the slough a surprisingly decent birding spot (we usually fall back on all the pretty scenery).
Tlahutum Regional Park
A lot of haze in the sky, but not much water in the Coquitlam River.
We concluded at Tlahutum, stopping first by the drinking fountain, which had a “Wasp Nest” sign on the opposite side from us. Handy.
Having not gotten stung, we ventured into the community garden and perhaps due to it being later in the afternoon and quite humid, we did not see many birds about. We did see even more Kingbirds, though. The Coquitlam River was very low and the big pond was almost nothing but mud, the water largely absent, revealing Nazi warships a plastic crate long hidden.
There were pollinators and plenty of pretty flowers, though, so it was fine.
At the end, I checked my stats and I had walked 500 miles. Or at least it felt like it. And I would walk 500 more (for another Green Heron, maybe).
The Shots
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
Duck ballet.
An eyeball drawn onto a railing at Blakeburn Lagoons Park.
Cable on a viewing platform.
A Pied-billed Grebe getting ready to snooze.
Lily Pads at Blakeburn Lagoons.
A wasp trundling across leaves.
A wasp collecting nectar.
A Green Heron stalking into position.
Green Heron Neck Articulation Sequence begins.
Green Heron Neck Articulation Sequence concludes.
The Green Heron later in a nearby tree.
A young Chipping Sparrow having discovered grass.
American Crow surveying the surroundings.
The Black Bear was apparently too fuzzy for my camera.
I must sacrifice my knees to get good grasshopper shots.
A vast farm field, the kind black bears like.
Good girl (or boy) with a stick.
A Great Blue Heron flying off, shortly before pooping. I missed the poop shot.
With all the bear poop, there were bound to be flies.
A fly head-on.
Western Painted Turtle sunning at the water's edge.
Another young American Robin.
Cedar Waxwing, looking sharp as ever.
An Eastern Kingbird looking regal.
Black and white plastic chair.
Coquitlam River, looking low.
Ripples in the Coquitlam River.
Red flower in the community garden.
Bumblebee on a sunflower.
A cup in the community garden.
A White-crowned Sparrow briefly stopping by.
Sun reflecting into a creek.
Ripe veggies. The one on the top left looks like it's reaching out for something.
Why? Because I was looking at my tags (all 100 million of them) and Nic noticed one that was so long it wasn’t wrapping properly in a column. I said it was probably for a review of the movie 2012, which I remembered correctly. Then we reread the review and Nic pointed out I had said the fissure in the Sistine Chapel appears between God’s finger and David, when it is, in fact, Adam. So I fixed it. The post was written on November 14, 2009.
I have a quote by journalist James Fallows at the top right of my blog which reads:
In my experience, what anyone serious about writing likes is having written.
Now, it’s entirely possible that Fallows came up with this on his own, unaware of Parker’s original quote, and the tone is different–appropriately, Parker’s version is more direct and cutting.
I’m unsure if I should keep the Fallows quote, switch to the Parker one or maybe put something else completely different in that upper right corner. Maybe I’ll put my own quote there. Or a cat. I will ponder.
Today, Instagram updated its logo wordmark. CNET had a nice image of the before and after, presented below as after and before:
Instagzam vs. Instagram
Although I don’t think AI was used in the creation of the new logo, it still smells of it in the way AI messes up things, like:
Goofy kerning
Goofy mix of cursive and non-cursive letters (apparently trying to call back to the previous logo the same way someone riding a bike off a picnic table and crashing calls back to Evel Knievel)
Goofy letters (notably the R, G and S. Someone on Ars Technica commented that the S looks like a side boob and now I can’t unsee it.)
Despite all the above, still looking limp and bland
My take? Yes, it’s bad. The old logo is instantly recognizable, legible and stylish. The new one is a graceless “reeks of committee” thing. It’s also exactly the kind of logo I’d expect a big (and awful) tech company like Meta to produce in 2026.
This led me to other logo redesigns of recent years, such as the also awful one for Pringles:
Here, I think they really hit it in 2009, though 2001 is pretty good, too. The flattened, gormless 2021 redesign is so bad that the longer you look at the face, the less it looks like a face and just a set of weird shapes. It also inspired me to do this:
I am your nightmare.
You’re welcome!
Another good (bad) example is Jaguar’s recent logo redesign:
Cool cat vs. A mix of letters
It went from instantly recognizable to something absolutely generic that says nothing (it’s still way better than Instagram’s, even at that).
In conclusion: Logo design is a fine balancing act between art, character, and image (the type you project). We live in an era where almost every logo out there is being flattened, simplified and stripped of all character and identity (see also: Jaguar’s impressively bad update). The only reason I can think why this is happening is companies are going cheap by making logos so simple they can be slapped on anything at any size with no need for adjustment. If it’s not this, then somehow bad design has become good design, the same way 2 + 2 = 5.
With more people talking about the idea of a dead internet, I find weird comfort in the gaming site Blue’s News, which served as my homepage over 20 years ago and looks pretty much exactly the same now as it did then:
You can almost smell the HTML.
I still don’t get the three lines at the top, though.
