It’s late and I need to get to bed, but wanted to post something, so, being 2023, I asked AI to do it for me!
Here’s ChatGPT’s three-line bedtime story:
Once upon a time, in a far-off land, Lived a tiny snail with a shell so grand, Every night, she would dream of being a butterfly, soaring over the sand.
It’s more a poem than a story, but what does it know? Thanks, AI!
Just some late winter blossoms, a few days ahead of the arrival of spring 2023.
Feeling my way means I set out to mostly run by feel, instead of monitoring stuff like pace and heart rate by checking the watch regularly and adjusting accordingly. I didn’t have any particular goal with today’s run, I just wanted the usual–keep the BPM close to 150, have a decent pace.
As it turns out, I am apparently not very good at going by feel, or at least today I wasn’t.
For BPM, it skewed slightly on the higher side at 153, mostly due to going a bit fast in several sections. My pace was all over the place. I tried to start slow, but my first km was still 5:40/km, then the second km was 5:33/km. I was more successful at moderating my pace after that, though the 6th and 8th km were also faster than expected. Conversely, the 9th km was a sluggish 5:59/km, which surprised me. I was running out of gas, and given how often I’d been stepping on the gas (without meaning to) this should not have been surprising at all.
In the end, my pace was a perfectly cromulent 5:50/km overall. But the watch again said I need 72 hours or so to recover. It says that after every run, pretty much. I think next week I may go back to my traditional Mon-Wed-Fri runs and see what it says then.
As for the conditions today: sunny! It was quite pleasant and while there were people out and aboot, no issues or complications arose. I started my run shortly after noon, as it was still 0C when I got up and I was willing to wait for warmer temperatures because spring is almost here, baby.
Here is a visual breakdown of my per-lap performance:
Stats:
Run 763 Average pace: 5:50/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 12:10 p.m. Distance: 10:03 km Time: 58:26 Weather: Sunny Temp: 9-10ºC Humidity: 62% Wind: low BPM: 153 Weight: 163.1 Total distance to date: 5680 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (352 km)
R.E.M. famously knocked their own song, “Shiny Happy People”, dismissing it as a “children’s song” with the implication that this somehow made it less worthy than their more serious fare.
And R.E.M. got very serious with the albums that followed the release that featured this song (1991’s Out of Time). The zany R.E.M. was dead, replaced by the self-important band that was happy (!) to leave behind any sense of playfulness. Instead, we got Around the Sun.
Yeah.
But prior to 1992’s (actually excellent) Automatic for the People, R.E.M. wasn’t afraid of being light and silly, with songs like this or “Stand” (1988) or “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” (1987).
That said, while I still find the song an effervescent pop gem, I have to admit the video is a bit cringy. Peter Buck looks vaguely uncomfortable every time you see him. Bill Berry is hamming it up and having a good ol’ time. Mike Mills is earnestly pitching in on a stand-up bass. Kate Pierson (of The B-52s) is slinky and fabulous. Michael Stipe is dressed in clothes that look randomly collected from a thrift store and is wearing a weird backwards cap (his hat phase).
Things get interesting at about the 2:43 mark, when a bunch of people appear alongside the band to shimmy and shake their way through the rest of the video. It’s an eclectic mix of people, the clothes have a clear early 90s vibe. And…wait, that mix of people isn’t as eclectic as it first seems. If you look, there are a lot of young college-age guys dancing around. In fact, if you were casting a movie about a bunch of young college guys, you’d have them right here, ready to go. Why do I get the feeling that Michael Stipe hand-picked each one of them? That rascal.
Here’s the video. Judge for yourself!
UPDATE: Nic offered a perfect description: “That video is precisely calibrated to make 90s bisexuals explode”
Here’s what I consider the prime example: Purple t-shirt guy with some sort of beret (?). He seems VERY happy (and look at Bill Berry in the background. He is clearly grooving).
It was quite nice today–mild and sunny, a perfect day for a walk.
But instead, I went on the treadmill.
I walked to the store and back, though, so I did go outside, just not for a general walk. So it’s totes OK!
What’s weird about today’s treadmill workout is I literally did not have to change any of the stats. Every stat you see below for today’s workout exactly matches yesterday’s workout. What are the odds? Also, a lot of 3s in there. Is 3 a lucky number? Will I win $3 million soon? Here’s hoping! Faintly!
Stats:
Speed: 6.5 Incline: 0 Pace: 9:13/km Time: 30:04 Distance: 3.26 km Calories burned: 233 BPM: 113
On February 2, 2005 I wrote my first post on this blog. You can read it here (it’s a mere single paragraph): Bloggity blog blog
In fact, why even make you click? Here it is, in its entirely:
I was the last one to get bell bottom jeans in grade 5 and now I’m the last person on the Internet to have a blog. Hooray for me! As you may have guessed, I am using WordPress for my blogging needs. An apparent feature of WordPress is relentless self-promotion, as witnessed by the three separate links for the software on this very page. I’ll be culling a few soon and adding some other links that might prove interesting or not.
Me, February 2, 2005
Not exactly a fascinating debut, but actual interesting writing eventually made its way to the site.
Eventually.
Here are some 2005 fun facts:
Today, I came across a story about an even older blog–https://kottke.org/. He has a billion more posts than me, has had an actual impact on the web (he created the permalink!) and has been on TV. It made me wonder what sort of impact my blog and its 4280 posts has had on the world, and whether that matters.
I suppose it doesn’t matter as long as the blog entertains me, or serves some kind of useful function for me (I think it does). But I do sometimes ponder about starting up another blog with a tighter focus (reworking this site would seem to almost go against the chaotic randomness of it). But the problem with going with a tighter focus is…my brain tends to wander all over the place. Imagine it with legs and a cute little suitcase. I write, I draw, I take photos, I run, I ponder, I make lists, I post things I find amusing or stupid. I complain (I have long-struggled to minimize the latter).
And in the end, I never do make that other more focused site, because I am not a focused person. At least not yet. Let’s see if I am for the 25th anniversary of this blog. Only seven years to go!
On my non-run days, I normally complete my exercise ring by going out for a walk. Since I walk fast and usually have a few minutes on ye olde exercise ring before heading out, I can wrap the whole thing up in less than 30 minutes. Easy peasy.
But after yesterday’s BDI1Bad Dog Incident. See here. I didn’t really feel like strolling to the park and face the possibility of being bitten repeatedly and torn apart. So I did a 30-minute workout on the treadmill and watched some YouTube videos.
The workout was fine.
And I’ll confess, I kind of watch The Tech Chap’s videos not just because he is a knowledgeable sort of person and his videos are well-made, but also because he’s totally the kind of guy I’d be chasing after if I was magically single and 30 years old again. And if he was into guys. And a billion other factors that would need to fall into place to support my absurd fantasy scenario.
Stats:
Speed: 6.5 Incline: 0 Pace: 9:13/km Time: 30:04 Distance: 3.26 km Calories burned: 23 BPM: 113
Today’s objective: Slow and steady.
Objective completed!
I was a tiny bit paranoid about it being cold, so wore two layers up top, which came in handy on the south shore, when the breeze actually picked up. Maybe this is more of an afternoon thing, as I didn’t start the run until almost 2 p.m. today.
Conditions were otherwise fine, with a mix of sun and cloud. The slower pace meant I encountered no issues and really, it was a nice way to start the week. I wanted to keep my heart rate below 150 and the average was 148. My pace was obviously slower, but still under the six-minute mark at 5:56/km.
Also, somewhat randomly, I got a badge for completing my longest run ever (on the Garmin Forerunner) because I squeezed in an extra 0.1 km somehow.
All the snow is completely gone now, woo.
The killer dog actually came post-run as I was crossing through Hume Park on the way back home. A dog on a leash (thankfully, as you will see) was staring at me while its owner was watching her kids in the play area. Every time I glanced over, the dog was still staring. Not moving, not showing any reaction, just the stare.
And then it suddenly went berserk, lunging hard on the leash toward me, snapping its teeth and barking in that “I want to tear your throat out and murder you dead” sort of way. The owner managed to calm the dig down after a bit. I stopped and stared back at them, because turnabout is fair play or something. I couldn’t tell how she was reacting because we were too far apart, which makes the dog’s sudden MUST KILL mode all the more puzzling.
Stats:
Run 762 Average pace: 5:56/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 1:57 p.m. Distance: 10:04 km Time: 59:35 Weather: Mostly cloudy, some sun Temp: 8-9ºC Humidity: 64% Wind: low to moderate BPM: 148 Weight: 163.4 Total distance to date: 5670 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (342 km)
Let’s try something new! And by “let’s” I mean me because ain’t no one else writing this.
Most Saturdays I go birding with Nic. Starting with this post, I’ll recount each birding outing: Where we went, the conditions, some photos (of course), and what we saw.
And now, the inaugural entry:
Where: Piper Spit (Burnaby Lake Regional Park), Colony Farm Regional Park Weather: Cloudy, occasional drizzle, around 8ºC
The Outing
The forecast was not looking great–about a 50-60% chance of showers, but apart from a few drops here and there, the rain held off, and the sun even tried to come out a few times. It was breezy both at Piper spit and Colony Farm, so it felt a little cooler than the actual 8ºC.
We encountered a fairly significant number of birds heading from the dam to Piper spit, including a rare sighting of a varied thrush dining out on a tree stump normally occupied by squirrels. We also saw some kinglets, but alas, I was unable to get any shots beyond “this blurry butt is definitely on some kind of feathered creature.”
At the spit, we saw the usual crowd, but also what might have been a hermaphrodite mallard, showing both female and male characteristics. The giant flocks of seagulls were down to just a few this time, though I’m unsure why, and the number of dowitchers was also down, though they were in their usual (current spot) just west of the pier.
At Colony Farm we observed blackbirds possibly gathering nesting material, but the biggest surprise there came at the very end, in one of the small creeks: a muskrat. I can’t remember the last time I saw one.
The Shots
The Birds (and other critters)
All birds seen at Piper spit unless otherwise noted.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Non-birds:
I had no issue getting up this morning after the “spring forward” due to the switch to Daylight Saving Time. It’s one hour, I don’t get the big deal. People are weird. And I appreciate the extra hour of daylight in the evening, it feels welcoming and inviting. So here’s a haiku to the time switch.
Daylight Saving Time Spring forward today Body clock forced to adjust But now run at night!
Although I’ve switched mostly to running in the morning, I like the option of being able to run in the evening, which has its own ambience and positives. And it’s just generally nice to have a stretch of daylight after dinner, it lets the day unwind more gradually, unlike winter where it’s pitch black at 6 p.m. and you feel weird going outside.
Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Next stop: Permanent Daylight Saving Time! (please)
I have a folder for blog ideas in Obsidian (my latest attempt to unify my note-taking with a platform-agnostic solution) and this is what I wrote for reference:
Am I suffering blockbuster fatigue? Let’s find out!
Another topic I pondered was how the pandemic cured me of going to the theatre to see movies. In early March 2020 a friend and I went to see Onward, which was a perfectly cromulent second-tier Pixar movie. A week or so later, all theatres shut down and by the end of March Onward was already streaming on Disney+. It would be a long time before theatres opened again.
Before that happened, I got a mirrorless camera (January 2021) and Nic and I substituted birding for going to movies. I find the birding a lot more enjoyable:
Now that theatres are open again, I have no desire to go back, because birding is better and I’m fine waiting for big releases to come to streaming later (or skipping them entirely). Why is that? Let’s go through my bullet list in order.
I saw the original Jurassic World in 2015. To me, it felt like a basic retread of the original, albeit with the twist of adding “What if they actually opened the park, THEN everything went wrong?” but with unappealing or uninteresting characters. It also felt a bit mean-spirited and cynical. I had no interest in seeing the sequel Dark Kingdom, and even the usually faithful pull of nostalgia couldn’t convince me to see Dominion, either.
All three movies still made a ton of money. I just didn’t care about them anymore. They felt like product, not actual stories that needed to be told. Maybe I was becoming cynical!
The fact that we have an abbreviation–MCU1Marvel Cinematic Universe to the one caveperson reading this and didn’t know.–to describe Marvel movies says a lot about how they are intended to be consumed: fully and completely. I did my part, watching all the movies as soon as they came out, starting with Iron Man in 1899 and going up to Avengers: Endgame in 2019 (I also saw Spider-Man: Far From Home in theatres, but this felt more like a dénouement to everything that came before). Then the pandemic hit, though the MCU movies still released in theatres, starting with Black Widow in July 2021.
With Disney+ arriving just before the pandemic, the MCU became even more of an obligation if you wanted to keep up on all the continuity. Now you had the movies (Phases 3, 4, 5, 297, etc.), plus Disney+ series that sometimes led directly to movie plots, with TV series WandaVision leading to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness being a prime example. I kept watching the movies (on streaming) and shows (also on streaming) but started to let things slide. I skipped The Eternals entirely. I have not watched Wakanda Forever, and I don’t give a flying fig about the new Ant-Man movie (which is apparently a not-uncommon sentiment).
At an undefined point, the fun of watching started to feel more like an obligation. I don’t want everything to be connected. I just want separate, entertaining stories. I don’t need Easter eggs, I want a self-contained plot that works without having to reference everything that came before it. I get that some people absolutely adore the continuity, but for me, it now feels more like a burden that gets in the way of simply enjoying the movies and shows. Also, it doesn’t help that a lot of the Marvel stuff has become fairly empty CGI spectacle, the formula well-honed and predictable.
I had to look up what the next film is (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and it’s another that I will get around to watching eventually. Maybe.
You could argue that Disney has cranked out too much Star Wars stuff–and there is merit in that argument–but the biggest issue is that after acquiring the rights to Star Wars from George Lucas, they started with a new trilogy of movies with no vision or purpose for being, other than to be more product and sell more merchandise. The first movie (a monster hit, showing the pent-up demand for more Star Wars) was a retread of A New Hope, but had some engaging new characters and held out some promise. The next two movies undid that promise, the first (The Last Jedi) by trying to deconstruct Star Wars a little too much, and the last (The Rise of Skywalker) by being a relentlessly stupid and inept piece of film-making. After that movie, I had no confidence in what Disney might do with Star Wars, so I’ve only dipped my toes in other efforts:
I’ve yet to watch Andor (which I hear is quite good, but also, understandably, also a downer). Overall, it feels like the TV part of Star Wars has fared better than the vision-free, fan service-heavy movies. Not all hope is lost, here, though I have to admit, I would still be reluctant to see a new Star Wars film in a theatre. I can’t imagine anything at this point that would spark more interest in me than, “hmm, interesting.”
I saw an interesting line about how the Avatar sequel, The Way of Water, could gross $2 billion (as of this post it’s just under $2.3 billion worldwide) and still be culturally irrelevant, and I think that’s accurate. People will watch it and its inevitable sequels. They’ll make billions of dollars, but they’ll have no real impact otherwise. They’re just big movies with dazzling effects and technology, telling familiar stories in entertaining and, dare I say–crowd-pleasing–ways. And that’s all fine! But it’s not enough to get me into a theatre because I’m way past “dazzling special effects” being a draw. Good writing may not be something sexy you can market, but it’s a lot more appealing to me now that I’m not a hormone-boosted 15-year-old. But even good writing probably wouldn’t get my butt into a theatre seat.
It might get me to check out a film on streaming, though.
In the meantime, most of my current movie-watching has been a very specific kind of nostalgia, re-watching science fiction movies of varying quality from the 70s through the 90s. I started watching Independence Day again, which in many objective ways, is a bad movie. Heck, the disaster porn doesn’t even start until 45 minutes in (1996 was a simpler time). And yet, I watch because it’s dumb, but easy to digest, with no commitments. It’s anti-MCU.
And for now, at least, that’s enough.
Actually, it’s probably more than I can’t focus long enough to sit down and write something. In any case, I intend to start cranking up the old writing machine in the next few days, seeing if I can hit a goal of an average of two posts per day for the month (62 total). As of right now, I am 10 posts behind. That’s a lot of McTopics. I need to get cracking.
Here’s a haiku to start. I even wrote it myself instead of outsourcing it to ChatGPT!
Time to Write Time to get writing Put fingers on the keyboard Magic gushes out
Er, maybe I’ll try another haiku tomorrow.