Today is officially the first day of summer and it defied expectations, given the weather we’ve seen so far this year. Rather than raining brimstone and fire or perhaps just letting loose with another monsoon, the day instead was a bit breezy but pleasant, with clear skies, sun and temperatures hovering just under 20ºC–right around seasonal.
It was kind of weird.
I took advantage by actually going for a walk at lunch. I admit I have a motive other than enjoying the nice weather, and that is a renewed effort to get the rest of the flab off me.
On that note, I make a solemn vow now: No more Goldfish crackers. These are like year-round shortbread for me. They are small and tasty and so it’s easy to eat five or ten or 5,000 of them before you know it.
No more.
Begone, Goldfish! You will be a lightly-salted memory from now on. As soon as I finish this bag, that is.
There’s no need to be wasteful, after all.
But anyway, the first day of summer was pretty nice.
Run 500 Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 7:04 pm
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 27:54
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21ºC
Humidity: 47%
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Weight: 166.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3890 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I completely forgot this was run #500. Go me!
As runs go, it was better than Saturday’s pace by eight seconds–pretty good–but three seconds slower than the last river run, which is okay since three seconds is no big deal.
I again seemed to slip into a reasonable pace and didn’t budge from it until I gently put on the gas for the last few hundred meters. I didn’t see a massive collapse in the second km like on Saturday, just a more typical fall-off. Unlike the last few runs, the first km was actually the fastest at 5:20/km vs. 5:22/km for the last km.
My right heel and right foot in general felt a bit sore. Nothing painful, just painfully annoying. I don’t think it affected my pace but maybe it did, even if only a little. Toward the end of the run I was able to finally put the foot out of my mind. Er.
On the other…leg…the left knee behaved itself for the entire run. Hooray.
And now in celebration of run #500, a statistic:
I have run approximately 3890 km total over 500 runs for an average distance of 7.78 km per run. Not too shabby. This stat is boosted by my insane effort in 2012 when I ran almost 1,000 km and most of those runs were 10K or better.
Here’s to the next 500 runs and hopefully precious few of them will be tagged with damn [appendage].
Today’s writing group was well-attended despite some SkyTrain shenanigans that delayed the arrival of some. A fire or something fire-like led to service being closed between New West and 22 St. stations, meaning anyone at Columbia had to take a special bus to Edmonds station. For those not familiar with the SkyTrain network, this is what qualifies as a major pain in the butt, especially since we meet at the Waves Coffee one block away from, the New West station.
I only faced the minor inconvenience of getting off at Columbia and having to walk a few extra blocks. I was first to arrive and apparently the drizzly weather was a major turn-off for people as the place was empty (business picked up as we moved into the afternoon).
We had seven total, though one had to leave early for a spontaneous house-viewing (don’t you hate it when that happens? I’m speculating because I never knew such a thing could happen.)
My plan today was to write the chapter where Christian goes to his first AA meeting but despite turning out over 2,000 words he has yet to attend because I found myself putting him through mind games instead. Specifically he can hear what may be the tinkling of the beer bottles in his fridge calling to him. He dismisses the thought and heads off to a local bakery…where he hears the tinkling again.
Then Rachel–from the house party–shows up. I’m not sure what happens yet but I’m eager to find out.
He’ll eventually get to that AA meeting.
I have been subtly reshaping bits of the story to create more ambiguity on whether Christian is actually experiencing things or merely thinking he is because his drinking and current mental state are such that he can never really be sure.
In all, a productive outing. I am still amazed at how gigantic most of the others’ laptops are. One person has a purple Dell laptop that I’m pretty sure you could land a Cessna on. I still think my MacBook Pro at slightly over three pounds could be lighter and these behemoths probably cause permanent damage to your muscle tissue if you actually try placing them on your lap.
Still, if the tool works for you, it works for you.
Run 499 Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:50 am
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:33
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 15-17ºC
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Weight: 165.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3885 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I returned to the lake today after a longer-than-usual three-day layoff from running. I skipped Thursday to help take care of my sick partner (it was also coincidentally a monsoon for most of the day). Conditions were generally good–overcast skies meant no bright sun beating down on me, but the air felt a bit muggy with the lingering humidity from recent rain (see aforementioned monsoon).
The first km was not great but decent but the second km my pace dropped massively, mainly due to a cramp in my lower left side. Cramps mean I’m pushing too hard, so I eased up (apparently with relish). My pace recovered a bit and I finished once again with the final km being my best. Still, my overall pace was off at 5:40/km.
On the other hand, I got out, did the run and walked back without any real issue. Even the right heel mostly behaved itself. My walking pace on the route back was also snappier than usual.
I may have also been slowed the last two km or so by by my body’s klaxon letting me know I had a bowel movement pending. As you might guess, running and pooping do not really go well together. In fact, running tends to worsen the conditions that are optimal for a movement of one’s bowels. When I finished the run I crossed the athletic field and used the toilet in the “Men Joggers room” which is a change room with showers and a single toilet stall to fight over. Fortunately the room was empty so no fighting occurred. The walk back was about a million times better than it would have been otherwise.
Also, the poop monsters were out again with their young uns. This is the only time I think of geese as being kind of cuddly. Once the down feathers are gone they become full-fledged poop monsters, bad enough to be featured on the signs warning about wildlife alongside bears and bobcats.
Warning: There be spoilers ahead, so if you want to be surprised(ish) while reading, you may want to skip this review.
Nightmares Unhinged is not a bad collection of horror stories but it’s not an outstanding one, either. It contains few surprises and while some of the stories are fun, a good portion of them are filled with nasty, unlikable protagonists who usually get their comeuppance. If that’s your thing you may enjoy these stories more than I did.
Here’s a one or two-sentence review of all twenty:
“The Brollachan” – A shapeless monster of legend takes over a girl while her grandmother rends the English language apart with the world’s greatest Scottish accent, lovingly depicted in phonetic detail. At least you don’t end up hating all of the characters, d’ye no ken?
“Fangs” – Vampire vs. dentist. The more cruel and clever one wins. Sorry, vampire!
“The Chair” – Homage to Lovecraft featuring, yes, a chair. It levitates so that’s weird.
“The Man Who Killed Texas” – Proving that family is not always the best thing in the aftermath of a global pandemic. A sad tale told well.
“Scarecrows” – Kids and evil scarecrows. There, I just rewrote the story in four words.
“Zou Gou” – Mean aliens conquer the Earth and conduct mean experiments. Twist ending! (But not really.)
“Needles” – A PSA for why junkies should not get pregnant. No one here is likable and the life lesson seems to be “don’t sleep with weird monster men.”
“The Projectionists” – Creepy old man runs the projector for Grandma’s two-screen movie theater. Grandson gets curious, skin unravels like unspooling film (that’s a metaphor. Actually, it’s not, his skin really unravels).
“The Wolf’s Paw” – Vampire vs. Werewolf. This time the vampire wins.
“Danniker’s Coffin” – The end of the family line comes to terms with his inability to carry on the tradition of coffin-making and his own mortality, neatly combining the two. A nice break from vampires vs fill-in-the-blank.
“Deep Woods” – a gory prequel (sequel?) of sorts to Friday the 13th. Everyone is unlikable but everyone dies, so it kind of balances out.
“Diamond Widow” – not-so-clever jewel thief and creepy guy picks up a jewel-making woman who turns the tables on him by turning him into a diamond. Not through magic, through some sort of crushing machine. Seriously.
“The Camera” – Unlikable couple hiking in the woods. Staged sex, shootings and revenge. Why did I read this?
“Lost Balls” – Troll vs golfers. The troll wins. Balls–the kind men have between their legs–figure prominently in the story.
“Bathroom Break” – Creep has an affair, decides to end it when his office co-worker turns out to be a little too goth for his liking (velvet drapes and black sheets, oh my), ends affair by snapping her neck in a washroom at staff Christmas party but the joke’s on him because she shambles back to the party naked, holding out his wedding ring while his wife looks on. Because being goth means you come back to life as a zombie or something.
“Marginal Ha’nts” – Genuinely fun story about a new ghost who aspires to be the best ghost he can be.
“Delicioso” – Would-be psycho killer tries to pick up latest victim but–twist!–she’s also a psycho killer and is a better one than he. You may have guessed but neither character is likable.
“The Librarian” – Funny, albeit somewhat corny tale of a strange librarian, his new and unsuspecting assistant and an even stranger regular customer. I won’t spoil this one even if you may see what’s coming. It’s hammy but it works.
“Gurgle, Gurgle” – In which half the text is in italics because the author is constantly dropping in Spanish words. A nephew inadvertently discovers the genie lamp of his uncle and along with his friend makes a few wishes with monkey’s paw-like consequences. A light if predictable story. Warning: contains giant exploding penis.
“Taking the Dare” – Neighborhood kids think the creepy man living on their street is the local serial killer. And he is! Lots of stabbing and chasing. The protagonist gets “flashes” from making contact with people, ala Johnny Smith. In a longer story this might have been more significant, but here it’s simply the device to get the plot rolling. Promises more than it delivers.
I meant to post this back when I took the picture but I probably got distracted by a funny cat picture.
Anyway, this is a shot of the sunrise from Sapperton station, taken just after 6:30 a.m. on April 4, 2017. This is by far the most vividly colorful sunrise I’ve seen in a long time. I actually had to wait for others to take their pictures before I could take mine. 😛
Run 498 Average pace: 5:29/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:41 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:39
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 15ºC
Humidity: 66%
Wind: light
BPM: 169
Weight: 165.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3880 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I found a nice comfortable pace for tonight’s run and especially wanted to avoid pushing it, as my right heel was a bit sore today. The heel actually felt fine for most of the run (a tiny bit sore toward the end) and it was my left knee that again was more of a concern. Similar to a previous river run, it started feeling creaky about 3-3.5 km in but worked itself out after a minute or so and was fine after, so I’m not concerned…yet!
Conditions were similar to Saturday and while I might generally gripe about the cool, cloudy weather when we’re so close to summer being official, the reality is it’s near-perfect conditions for running.
My pace improved slightly over my last run by three seconds, coming in at 5:29/km. My best pace before that nasty May cold struck was 5:15/km, though I was definitely pushing on that one. I’ll be happy to draw closer to 5:20 for now.
I probably encountered more cyclists than people out walking because the sky looked a bit threatening and mean and cyclists don’t care about getting wet.
For music I listed to Queen’s A Night at the Opera which is still a seriously whack album. It works surprisingly well for running.
While the weather was an uncertain mix of cloud, sun, and “will it rain?” (it didn’t, hooray) my writing was a lot more focused and I’m now confident that the first draft as written so far, at around 66,000 words, is basically where it should be, with inconsistencies smoothed over and scenes that no longer fit removed (but put in safe storage for possible use later). The only major piece still left somewhat unresolved is the whole piece that the novel currently takes its name from, namely the closed road and the mysteries of Miller Woods.
Ultimately I don’t want Miller Woods to seem more important than it really is. It’s where the murder victim was buried and another person dies but beyond that it doesn’t serve much purpose in the story. It’s almost a red herring of sort as it stands now, with Christian and Kevin investigating it, trying to find answers, while also grappling with who or what Wendy is.
On the other hand I currently have Christian receive secondhand information from Wendy urging him to go there to find clues to a “dark past”–what he interprets as a possible clue or clues to her murder. And indeed there may be clues there that help lead him to the killer and ultimately closure for Wendy–should he survive (himself).
Anyway, all good food for thought and I’m comfortable with writing the rest of the novel, wrapping the first draft and then letting it sit for a few weeks before plunging back in again.
As for the actual group, two of us were early, three more arrived and it was a quiet but productive session, with lots of typing to be heard. We only had two hours instead of the usual three, so maybe that egged everyone into doing more with the time we had.
Run 497 Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 2:31 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:53
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16ºC
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light
BPM: 162
Weight: 164.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3875 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I was running late this morning and feeling slightly unmotivated so while doing a few chores around the place, I said to myself I’d run at 10. Then 11. The noon. Finally, I changed and headed out around 12:30, only to find the cloudy morning had changed into a monsoon.
We never seem to get light rain much anymore, it just monsoons for awhile then stops.
I checked the weather radar and it looked like this nasty bit of precipitation would pass over soonish and then it would be cloudy but dry for at least long enough to get in my run.
It took an hour of waiting but at last, the rain stopped and I headed out.
Amazingly, the rain did not suddenly start again when I stepped back outside. The sun even peeked out once or twice.
My right heel felt a bit sore initially but settled down. It was humid but not really warm so weather-wise it was a lot more comfortable than Tuesday’s run. Normally my runs at the lake are slower than comparable runs at the river but today I was pleased that my average pace was faster than Tuesday’s–by one entire second! Over the course of the entire run it worked out to a six-second difference and the distance was exactly the same on both runs, 5.03 km. It’s kind of freaky that I can be that consistent.
Overall it was an encouraging showing, though the right heel became sore again on the walk back (the trip from the lake back home after a 5K run is a little over 9 km and I had about the same distance already logged from walking to the lake and then the run itself. What I’m saying is the right heel can be a bit if a pain sometimes [ho ho] but doing nearly 20 km of walking and running is not exactly pleasing it these days. The heel is on The List of things to talk to my doctor about).
Blind Lake is a near-future story that imagines a world where we have created powerful quantum computers without really understanding how they work or what, in fact, they might do. It also imagines that people will still print out copies of their email to read. 😛
Author Robert Charles Wilson falls into the trap of trying to extrapolate near-future gadgetry and technology and having current technology (as of 2017) make the extrapolation look a little silly. While the quantum computers at the Blind Lake research facility that create video images of two distant worlds, one with sentient life, seem reasonably convincing–mainly because they are steeped in mystery–the references to “pocket servers” that all of the characters tote around feel outdated in a world overflowing with smartphones (the novel predates the iPhone by four years).
Still, the story, a combination of mystery and suspense on both human and cosmic scales, is well-told and builds convincingly toward a conclusion that slightly disappoints by feeling a bit disconnected, somewhat like most of the characters.
Those characters include a withdrawn eleven year old who sees a “Mirror Girl” that looks like her and may or may not exist only in her mind, Marguerite, the mother of the girl and a scientist who doubts herself and her ability to judge others after a failed marriage to a Ding Dong-munching and verbally abusive bully–who also happens to work at Blind Lake, a reporter named Chris who carries guilt over the role his book may have played in a person’s death. Nearly every character has some kind of emotional baggage and when the Blind Lake facility is sealed off from the outside world, with no explanation as to why, the various doubts, neuroses and obsessions escalate in parallel to the budding crisis caused by the quantum computers perhaps taking a little too much initiative.
In the end Blind Lake is a weirdly hopeful sort of story, albeit in an ambiguous way that may even lead to a sense of existential dread–as it does for at least one character. The detachment and relentless struggles of everyone is a bit wearying at time and Marguerite’s ex-husband Ray is an odd sort of pseudo-villain who never gets fleshed out enough to really resonate as well as he could.
Still, the escalation of tension and the unfolding mystery of both the observed alien race and just what the quantum computers might be doing, make Blind Lake worth visiting. Just be sure to leave before you feel the earth move. It’s definitely not romance.
Run 496 Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:25 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:59
Weather: Sunny, high cloud
Temp: 28ºC
Humidity: 27%
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Weight: 164.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3870 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
The weather roller coaster continued tonight, with temperatures reaching a midsummer-like 28ºC. It felt really humid but apparently humidity was only 27%. The air was thick and heavy so it felt more like 2700%.
I was seven seconds slower than my last run, something I attribute about 100% to the weather. It was a slog. My left knee creaked for a few seconds but was fine and I felt a mysterious slight pull on the left side of my groin from time to time, odd because I have had no fun with my groin recently that would cause it to be sore. Since the issue was intermittent and minor, maybe my form was off due to all the panting and sweating.
I missed another weekend run and feel guilty about it. The last few weekends have been stupidly busy for me, but I do plan on heading out this coming weekend, whih probably means rain (current forecast for Saturday is, in fact, rain).
For fun here are the temperatures of my last four runs, all done at the same time of day:
22ºC
12ºC
18ºC
28ºC
You tend to notice temperature variations of 10 degrees from one run to the next.
