Weekly Record (Oct. 16 - Oct. 15, 2011)

By and large, another disappointing week. There were a few “ups,” but I am finding my motivation and spirit lagging. My morale was pretty low. Consequently, I’ve been exploring some solutions to get me past this morass, most notably, meditation. I’ve returned to Joseph Arpaia and Lobsang Ragpay’s Real Meditation in Minutes a Day to help me focus on recommitting to the most important aspects of my life.

Sunday

No work.

No excuses here. Just a bad day to rollout. I'm finding my weekend sleep-ins to be somewhat counter-intuitive to what I'm trying to do here. I'm going to try to start up the next week with getting up at the same time, regardless of whether I am working-from-home, going to Denver, or on a weekend date.

Monday

• Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout Phase 2, Workout 1 (80 lb barbell; 21 lb. dumbells)
• 14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).2 mile "Boys' Training Run"
• 5.3 mile run (time not recorded)
• 10 minutes yoga/stretching

A very good day. This is the kind of banner day that I'd like more of my days to turn into. But I think sometimes I'm trying to force to much into one day to make-up for days that I "take off." I don't think that's helpful. I should do better about doing some each day rather than a lot two or three days a week.

Tuesday

• 20 minutes yoga/stretching, incorporating aspects from the Men's Fitness Prehab Workout (no weights, body resistance only)

Meh.

Wednesday

No work.

Awful. Absolutely no excuse for taking Wednesday off other than fatigue. Fatigue is not being "relentless."

Thursday

• Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout Phase 2, Workout 2 (80 lb barbell; 21 lb. dumbells).
• 14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout & 100 skipropes x 10 reps.
• 2 mile fun run.

Again, another day where it appears I'm just trying to make up for down days. Have to find a way to strike a balance here.

Friday

6.7 mile run in 57 minutes (8:30 miles)

Now we're talking. I've been gradually upping my distance over the past couple of weeks. I can't remember the last time I nearly hit 7 miles...probably in preparation for the BolderBoulder. Now that I'm back to being in excess of 10K, I would like to start adding a half mile to my runs and doing two longer runs (for me, anyway) twice weekly. Must hit 13.1 by March.

Somewhat psyched that my new running shoes came in the mail on this day, too, though too late to run in.

Saturday

No work.

Ugh. A slave to the old habits. Had too much of a good time on Friday night and paid for it with a bad night's sleep, a stiff neck, and a surly attitude all day today. My wife was kind enough to give a little time to try to balance out and I spent it revisiting Real Meditation (see above). Recommitting to my mental health as a most important aspect of my health starting tomorrow in earnest. I tried a "warmup" session today with terrible results -- I fell asleep. Got to be better about it starting tomorrow. Planning on extended sessions in the morning (hence the need to get up at the same time each day) and five or six rapid recharge sessions throughout the day.

I'll have more details on my meditation progress starting tomorrow.

Dia De Los Muertos - Longmont Museum

It probably comes as no surprise given the name and imagery on the blog, but I'm quite a fan of Mexican folk art, particularly as it pertains to Dia De Los Muertos. There's just something about the Day of the Dead and the Mexican way of marking the occasion in a comic yet tributary manner that's engaging to me. The Great Equalizer as clown. Or showman. Someone who lurks unseen in our daily activities like a Caspar in our back pocket waiting to point at a watch, shrug, and say, "Time's up. Now...if you'll just step right this way, friend."

Wonderful.

Annually, in the Fall, our local museum here in Longmont sets aside the main exhibition space to allow for "tribute altars" to be created (or recreated) in the Latin tradition. It is an exhibit that I look forward to every year. Sure, the medium is always the same, yet the message and the altars themselves are as different from year-to-year (indeed altar-to-altar) as the people to whom the tributes are directed. It is a spectacular, moving event and the largest of its kind in Colorado.

The tribute altars this year are of special note. Artists Zarco Guerrero and Laurie Beth Zuckerman have created amazing Latin-themed tributes that transcend nationality and seek to incorporate elements from the prehistory of Latin tradition all the way through to modern times.

There are also altars created by Latin families memorializing their ancestry, altars created by students and children as learning experiences, and one altar in particular that is so moving and and heart-wrenching that words fail to describe it. It must be seen to be appreciated, even if it cannot be fully understood. You will know it when you see it.

I'll mark this personal note this as well: a local Longmont person created a tribute to one of their relatives, actor Richard Basehart. I remember watching him as Admiral Nelson on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea on TBS reruns. I was knocked out. I don't think I've (recently) been twacked on the head with a reminder of my childhood as I was with that altar. It's funny, too: that show consciously or unconsciously informed a lot of LEGO creations here in the house (flying sub, anyone?). A very well done tribute.

This exhibit is so well-worth seeing, I cannot recommend it highly enough. I hope you will make an effort to get there. Or maybe seek out a similar exhibit closer to home.

Our local exhibit runs through November 6.

Best to you this season!

Weekly Record (Oct. 9 - Oct. 15, 2011)

Trying something new this week: providing a little context around the workouts and runs with an effort to be as honest with and about myself as possible.

Sunday

• Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout Phase 2, Workout 1 (80 lb barbell; 21 lb. dumbells)
• 14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).2 mile "Boys' Training Run"

NOTES: The Yearlong Workout is the 2010 version, a cycle I’ve completed once before (this is my third yearlong cycle, I did the 2009 one as well). I like it quite a bit inasmuch as I know I’m going to get a balanced workout for core, upper body, lower body, etc.  I know that I’ll get a little variety throughout the month and that I’ll get a change to the workouts every month. I have to have variety on these things or I burn out. I should note that with the pull-ups, I used to start with ten, take a 45 second break, then do another ten, etc., then 8, then 5, etc., until I just started seeing depreciating returns. With this week, I’ve changed it up. I started with five, did a 30 second break, 5, 30 seconds, etc., all the way through to 50. This, I think, was more intense, but at the same time allowed me to concentrate on form.

The pushup routine is going well (another thing I picked up from a fitness magazine). My goal is to add another set every month (I started with 12), but I think I may top-out at 15. We’ll see. Regardless, it is really improving my upper body tone. It is over quickly, but it is hard, hard work.

The  two miler boy’s run is just a quick jaunt out with N8 and another neighborhood lad. Nothing daunting, but worth recording.

Monday

• Men's Fitness Prehab Workout (no weights, body resistance only)

• 14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).

NOTES: The Prehab Workout I’ve been on for over a month as my off day between "weights workouts." It promised to get me to realign by body and find some muscular balance and it promised to do so in a month. I’m not seeing it or feeling it. In fact, by lower back continues to pain me and I continue to have pain in my left hip flexor and all the way down my left leg. I’m committing to one more week of this and then may turn the page. Or go back to yoga.

Tuesday

• Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout Phase 2, Workout 2 (80 lb barbell; 21 lb. dumbells).

• 14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout & 100 skipropes x 10 reps.

NOTES: Ahhh, the boxing routine. Working out with Lumpy (the heavy bag) and Stretch (the jumprope). Something I dread doing until I’m actually doing it. I have to admit that I do picture certain faces on the bag and that helps. After a month or two of sets of ten, I think it’s time to add a couple of minutes to the routine to keep me challenged. I’ll shoot for 12 sets starting next month.

Wednesday

No work.

Listening to the body and the body says an extra half hour of sleep is in order. Already kind of feeling that I've moved on from the Prehab workout.

Thursday

• Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout Phase 2, Workout 3 (80 lb barbell; 21 lb. dumbells).
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout & 100 skipropes x 10 reps.
• 4.3 mile run (in a disappointing 35:30)

14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).

NOTES: First run for distance in what seems like forever. And 4 miles isn’t a whole lot. But I am having quite a bit of pain in my right foot that extends from the base of my big toe all the way through my arch to my heel (which I have started referring to as runner’s gout). My guess is a strain/sprain leftover from the Sombrero Trail Run. And my adidas running shoes are wrecked. The outside looks great, but in excess of 200 miles has really smashed the interior. I’d say it’s time to start looking for a new pair, but that time was probably quite a while ago. I hate trying to find running shoes that fit, fit well, aren’t too terribly expensive, and that, well aren’t white. I hate white shoes.

Friday

No work.

NOTES: Again, here I decided that I needed a little extra rest and didn’t get up to do anything. Disappointing, since I was looking forward to logging a “perfect week.” Still, rehabbing is key here. I’m not getting any younger.

Saturday

No work.

NOTES: Yes, a long week and I didn’t have what it took to get out of bed and get after it again on this day. I console myself with the notion that I was a little taxed in every phase of my health this week, particularly my patience and restraint. But, the upside is, typically when I have weeks when I feel like I’ve underperformed, I push to get more done the next week.

Weekly Record (Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 2011)

Sunday

• No Work (Recovery Day)

Monday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 1."
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps.

Tuesday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only.
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).

Wednesday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 2" (70 lb. barbell; 21 lb. dumbells)
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps.
• 3.5 mile road run. 28 minutes; 8:00 miles.

Thursday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only.

Friday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 3" (70 lb. barbell; 21 lb. dumbells)
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• 5 mile road run in 40:00 (8:00 miles)

Saturday

• 14 pushups, rest for 14 seconds; 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (105 pushups).
• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only. 

Weekly Record (Sept. 18 - Sept. 24, 2011)

Sunday

• Trail run: 5 miles at 48:25 (9m:42s miles)

Monday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 1."
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).

Tuesday

• 5 mile trail run (Picture Rock) in 46:10 (500 ft of elevation gain).
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only 
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps.

Wednesday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 2" (70 lb. barbell; 21 lb. dumbells)

Thursday

• 5 mile trail run (Hall Ranch) in 46:10.
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only.

Friday

• No work - recovery day.

Saturday

• Sombrero Trail Run. 4.5 miles, 1200 feet vertical climb. 52:29 finish.

Notes on Hunter S. Thompson's *The Rum Diary*

Hunter Thompson’s The Rum Diary is a manic read.

The first few pages italicized pages are well-crafted, almost painterly in their evocation of a particular time and place, in this case 1950’s Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, this promising start is not sustained (and this from an unabashed Thompson fan). Instead, we are quickly dropped into Thompson’s fevered world of cartoonish violence, mayhem, and paranoia.

Ostensibly, the novel is about Paul Kemp, a transplanted New York journalist who lands at a Puerto Rican newspaper on the verge of collapse. Kemp has various run-ins with the staff, the police, the citizenry. And he does it all with a drink in his hand practically the whole time. Pair this with an uneven portrait of a love triangle between himself, his co-worker, and a woman named Chenault and you have the entire novel (at 200 pages, really a novella). The turning point comes late in the story and I won’t spoil it here, but it is, in a word, disturbing how Thompson describes it and deals with it from a narrative perspective.

Stylistically, the novel is unbalanced. Some sections – those dealing with the newspaper and its erratic drunken staff – are staccato. Short, jabbing sentences put the reader on edge just as much as the story itself. Other portions take a more leisurely pace. The effect is that Kemp, our narrator, comes across as somewhat schizophrenic. Maybe this was intentional, but I cannot think that it is.

There are passages of tremendous insight, flashes of absolute narrative brilliance. But they are few and far between in a scattered, eclectic storyline.

Giovanni Ribisi, Johnny Depp, and
Michael Rispoli in The Rum Diary

I read The Rum Diary in anticipation of the upcoming film. After reading it, I’m not certain if I will even see it (at least, not in the theaters). I can tell from the trailer that they are taking quite a few liberties with the plot, embroiling Paul Kemp in what appears to be a real estate swindle that, I’m guessing, he will be made to combat in the newspaper.

The funny thing about The Rum Diary is that I can’t recommend it, but I’m glad that I read it.

Weekly Record (Sept. 11 - Sept. 17, 2011)

Sunday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only (flexibility) 
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• 4 miles at 32:45 (8m:12s miles)

Monday

• No work.  

Tuesday

• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 1."
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps.
• 4.75 mile run in 41:45 (8m:45s miles)

Wednesday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only 
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).

Thursday

• 5 miles on the hotel treadmill in 35 minutes.

Friday

• No work

Saturday

• No work. 

Weekly Record (Sept. 4 - Sept 10, 2011)

Sunday

• No work.

Monday

• No work.  

Tuesday

• No work.

Wednesday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 2."
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).
• 20 minutes of yoga.

Thursday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only (flexibility) 
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).

Friday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 3."
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91 pushups).

Saturday

• No work. 

David Roberts - *Finding Everett Ruess*

I went into David Roberts’ non-fiction study Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer with high expectations. I’m not even sure I can say why. Up to this point I’ve read two other Roberts books: A Newer World, the history of Kit Carson and John Charles Fremont’s explorations of the Sierra Nevada, and In Search of the Old Ones , his account of his personal journeys in the southwest among ancient pueblo sites. Neither impressed me much -- A Newer World is surpassed in scope by Tom Dunlay’s encyclopedic study of the wilderness scout, Kit Carson and the Indians, and in narrative and journalistic ability by Hampton Sides’ excellent and much recommended Blood and Thunder. In Search of the Old Ones has nothing on Craig Child’s compelling personal odyssey, House of Rain.

So why did I start this book with such eagerness? Was it Outside magazine’s rave up of it? Or the endorsement by Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer that got me going? I suppose, really, it was the notion of Everett Ruess himself: a young wilderness aesthete who, in the early 1930’s at the age of sixteen, set off on a series of journeys into the great southwest, his only companions a burro or two and a stray dog. By the age of 20, he had disappeared into the canyon country, never to be heard from again, his remains lost to time. He left behind a legacy of words in his personal journals and correspondence that has garnered him a cult following around the globe. A poet, a painter, a woodcut maker, an ancient pueblo enthusiast, Ruess is a fascinating study. His legend obviously resonated with Krakauer who found him to be a prototype for his cockeyed protagonist and tragic self-knowledge-seeker Christopher McCandless (from Into the Wild -- Ruess merited a few pages in that bestseller).

That, I believe, is it: the stories of a people committed to exploring the self in nature’s hardest climes has always intrigued me. That willingness and ability to just walk away from everything. Add in the mystery of the disappearance and, well, you have the makings of a great true story. Finding Everett Ruess is more than just a biography, though. It is also a narrative of Roberts’ personal quest to find out what ultimately happened to Ruess and the mistakes that he – Roberts – made along the way.

Everett Ruess

The first part is a well-balanced look at Ruess’ life, overall. Roberts devotes essentially equal time to Ruess’ formative years. Of particular interest is Ruess’ relationship with his parents, who essentially encouraged and cultivated his aesthetic sense and wonder in art and nature. A small wonder, then, when the sixteen year old Ruess departs on the first of his travels – a nine month journey in Yosemite. Ruess’ relationship with his parents will be a recurring juxtaposition point for Roberts. It is interesting to watch Ruess as while contemplating how much financial support he enjoyed from his parents. From here, Roberts chronicles Ruess’ various journeys in and around the southwest while peppering his narrative with quotes from Ruess’ own journals and correspondence. The recursive nature of this trips, the repetitive methods with which Roberts describes it, are draining and I found myself eager to move on to the next section, the next chapter.

Some exploits are truly entertaining, memorable, and easily pictured. Ruess’ misadventures during the Sierra trip, for example, his disenchantment with the seeming monotony of this exploit, come through in the letters and journal entries Roberts provides. In many ways, this trip, while dissatisfying for Ruess, is more entertaining. Roberts spends a bit of time relating Ruess’ ongoing problems with his burros and his horses – nearly drowning them in one instance. Ruess’ short stay in San Francisco also provides certain illumination on his character. And I did find myself turning the pages more rapidly and with more commitment to the story the closer Roberts got to Ruess’ ultimate demise at age 20 in Davis Gulch (no secret given the cover and bookflap).

 Seemingly the end? Of Everett Ruess, yes. Of Roberts’ narrative, no.

Over the last nearly two hundred pages, Roberts devotes his time to describing both contemporary efforts to find Ruess as well as his own attempts to find him well into this century. There are legends. Stories. Myths and markings. Many deadends and blind alleys. The most heartbreaking passages relate Christopher and Stella Ruess’ indefatigable efforts to find their son. They fall prey to con-men and amateur historians and, in the process, lose their son’s irreplaceable artifacts. There is admittedly a little empathy for Roberts and his CSI-esque quest to discern whether remains found in Chinle Wash on the Navajo reservation are those of Everett Ruess. The science behind this study, the engagement of scientists from the University of Utah and the University of Colorado (and, as implied, the tacit prodding of the National Geographic Society) is truly fascinating. In fact, I found myself enjoying the last two hundred pages more than the first. The hunt for the man was, to my mind, more fascinating than the man himself. At the last, in closing, Roberts is less than contrite, maybe even defensive, perhaps deliberately refracting his involvement in the identification process.

Is Ruess a person the reader sympathizes with by the end of his tale? Is Roberts? Should they be?

Ruess lacks something of the self-sufficiency to be really lionized. Perhaps in time he would have gained the proper insight and wisdom, but alas, a mere twenty years does not a guru make. And Ruess’ latent racism and his periodic lapses into melodrama (forgivable, naturally, in a teen) make him less sympathetic. Don’t get me started on how he treats the dog. It is a difficult comparison to hold Ruess up against other travelers of note. John Muir, the two Jacks (London and Kerouac), and the aforementioned Christopher McCandless. For me, the obvious parallel is with the mysterious disappearance of Ambrose Bierce, but oddly Roberts never mentions Bierce.

Krakauer observes in his forward that Finding Everett Ruess is Roberts’ best book. It probably is—half of it anyway. I’m still waiting for a better book out of Roberts.  

Weekly Record (Aug. 28 - Sept. 3)

Sunday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only (flexibility) 
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps (10 mins on bag; 1000 skipropes). 
• 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (78 pushups).

Monday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 1." 

Tuesday

• No work

Wednesday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 2."
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps (10 mins on bag; 1000 skipropes).
• 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (78 pushups).

Thursday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only (flexibility) 
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps (10 mins on bag; 1000 skipropes).
• 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (78 pushups).
• 3.5 miles in 28:45 (8m:15s miles)

Friday

• No work.

Saturday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only (flexibility) 
• 13 pushups, rest for 13 seconds; 12 pushups, rest for 12 seconds; 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (91pushups).
• 3.2 miles in 27:20 (8m:34s miles) w/hillwork

Recipe - Glazed Spare Ribs

By popular demand, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: the glazed spare rib recipe.

I've made this recipe a couple of times. The first was for my birthday last spring and Joanne liked it so much she asked for it for Mother's Day. This is also the recipe I used for her 40th birthday. This makes for a great dinner, or, when cut into individual ribs (recommended), excellent finger food/appetizers.

We've used the rub alternatively on chicken cuts and pork chops with great results. Whenever you use it, the longer you leave the rub on the meat in the refrigerator, the more tender the meat will be (the rub actually tenderizes the cuts).

It is a very slight variation on Thomas Keller's recipe from Ad Hoc at Home. Thomas Keller, as I've noted before, is a genius.

Ingredients:
Rub
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon pepper flakes (I use chile caribe, but up to you)

2 slabs ribs, about three pounds each, cut into 3-bone portions

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.
Rub ribs on all sides with the rub mixture.
Wrap the ribs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for between 2 and 6 hours.

Grilling Instructions:
Heat your grill on all burners to medium heat. Take an onion and slice it in half. Put the onion on a grill fork and dip the flat side into some canola oil. Rub the flat side of the oiled onion on the grill to clean and season it. (This tip alone, from Keller himself, has improved all of our grill flavors geometrically).

Prepare your grill for direct heat cooking, followed by indirect cooking. Depending on your grill, your settings will vary, obviously. For ours, we have a small/medium size grill (two long burners, front and back), so I fire up the front to high and leave the back one off. The temperature of the grill should remain around 250 degrees F.

Sear the ribs in batches. Don't crowd the ribs, man!

Place the ribs meat side down and sear for about two minutes. Turn 90 degrees and sear another two minutes to create that classic crosshatch pattern. Turn the ribs over and set on the cool side of the grill, meat side UP. Close that lid and leave it closed for about two hours. As long as the temperature stays at about 250, you're good.

After two hours, take the ribs off and cut into individual bones (recommended). Enjoy with maybe some mashed potatoes or fries, a nice salad, bread and a cold one or two. Maybe something from...Belgium?

Weekly Record (Aug. 21 - Aug. 27, 2011)

Sunday

• Hiked Mount Audubon. 8 miles, 2700 feet elevation gain.

Monday

• No work.

Tuesday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 1." 
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps.
• 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; 9 pushups, rest for 9 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (66 pushups).
• 5.52 K Run (27:05 = 7.54/mile)

Wednesday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" - No weights, body resistance only (flexibility) 

Thursday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 2." 
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps.
• 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; 9 pushups, rest for 9 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (66 pushups).
• 4.8 K Barefoot Run (25:30 = 8.5/mile)

Friday

• No Work (Slacking. No excuse.)

Saturday

• Men's Fitness "Yearlong Workout - Phase 1, Workout 3." 
• 11 pushups, rest for 11 seconds; 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; 9 pushups, rest for 9 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second (66 pushups)
• 6 miles on the bike.

Roberto Bolano - *2666*

I’ve just finished the late Roberto Bolańo’s 2666. At 893 pages, it is an enormous brick of a book that defies simple description. Ostensibly, it is a work primarily concerned with and set in the fictional northern Mexican city of Santa Teresa in the mid-to-late 1990’s, though it is truly a transnational novel.

It is divided into five parts. The first three vary greatly in style and intent. “The Part About the Critics,” is a largely mundane story of a love quadrangle (one woman, three men; all scholars) and the participants’ preoccupation with a German novelist, one Benno Von Archimboldi. The second, “The Part About Amalfitano,” is a wildly surreal exploration of a professor and his estranged (and strange) wife. The third, “The Part About Fate” introduces a reporter and is a stylish variation on noir in the vein of David Lynch (who is name-dropped in this section, I cannot believe coincidentally). These first three portions, while connected only tangentially, combine into a mosaic of impending and cycling dread. We are witnesses to a gradual decline into chaos, in both an immediate and global sense: “…it’s a sign,” a character quips in Part Three. “’A sign of what?’ asked Fate. ‘That we’re living on a planet of lunatics,” said the editor.”

With Bolańo as our Virgil, we arrive at the threshold of the abyss in the novel’s fourth section: “The Part About the Crimes” and Bolańo wastes no time in descending even further. Abandon all hope, indeed.

Part Four, the anchor, is primarily concerned with narrating the events and circumstances around the deaths of 400 some odd women in Santa Teresa. Frequently, Bolańo writes in gruesome detail about their separate (yet frequently referred to as collective) fates. In the hands of a less skilled writer, the novel would become just another exercise or example of misogyny or “horror porn.” Rather than thrilling to the murders of so many women, what we find is that the relentless onslaught, the description after description after description, is eventually and unfortunately – though perhaps purposefully – desensitizing.  Conversely, other stories appearing between the killings more fully engage us. How is it that a story about church desecration, for example, enraptures more than the fates of the factory women? Why are we more invested? It is a complete irony: we care more about the sensational events that happen in the churches – mere buildings, really – than we do about the women, the humanity, the church is designed to serve. The same can be said to a greater or lesser degree about the events that transpire in a prison. Like the guards who remove their hats and take out cameras to film the atrocities perpetrated on and by the inmates, we are riveted to the scene, invested more in the criminals than the victims. Bolańo indicts us as voyeurs of the worst sort.

That is exemplar of Bolańo’s real point here: how can the killings of so many women be casually dismissed out of hand? The reader, numbed by the descriptions, is complicit. We shrug. The narrative departures from the killing catalog are largely about the men (The Penitent, Juan de Dios Martinez, Klaus Haas, the narcos, etc.). These stories draw us in more fully and are more fascinating. Part of that is stylistic – Bolańo presents the masculine stories with more artistry and flair. The killings themselves are somewhat coldly and journalistically described with an air of detachment. Figuratively and stylistically, they are newspaper clippings or police reports. It is a tribute to Bolańo’s technique that he can execute on these stylistic back-and-forths with seeming effortlessness and a completely unified voice. Through these devices, Bolańo amplifies our sense of separation from the women and their fate. Bolańo seems to be saying ours is a society that wants to own, consume, and ultimately dispose of women. Until that changes, what hope is there for anything else? Any other kind of real, significant meaning? How can you not see this hell around you?

The sensation is cumulative over the first four sections: the female scholar, the professor’s wife and daughter, the reporter’s mother, the murdered women. The gradual descent. The fourth section is the exclamation, the shouting from the proverbial rooftop.

And then there’s that enigmatic title. It is a cue from the artist. 2666: “To 666” or “To Hell.” It’s not a year, folks, it’s a destination. But is there a difference? We’re talking eventualities here.

The final portion is devoted to the German novelist Benno Von Archimboldi referred to in sections 1 and 2. It is the story of Hans Reiter and his transformation over time from an imaginative child and caring brother into an adult. Born in 1920, Reiter grows into manhood and is quickly enlisted into the German service, fighting in World War 2 along the Russian Front. Bolańo uses his stories-within-stories-within-stories device here to great effect. We observe Reiter’s evolutions and devolutions and his life and loves. Despite some very grisly descriptions of war and the horrors of Nazi Germany, this section has the most cohesive narrative structure overall. And, despite the fact that there have been countless narratives about World War 2 and Nazi Germany, we are really entering new terrain here. Bolańo’s take on the scene is surreal and dramatic and artistic. The recursive nature amplifies the question implicit in the narrative: what is the role of the artist in our chaotic and often nightmarish world?

As readers, we carry with us into Part Five the expectation is that, somehow, this last section will bring all of the diverse elements of the novel together. That it will, as Faulkner told Malcolm Cowley about The Portable Faulkner, make “the whole thing fall into pattern like a jigsaw puzzle when the magician's wand touched it." Alas, it is not to be. What we get instead is a glimpse into the writer’s life and perhaps a small window on the artist’s role in challenging the chaotic nature of the universe. Is Archimboldi a stand-in for Bolańo himself? The mysterious man? The ever elusive author? Who knows?

In terms of style, 2666 is written simply, the prose unornamented. In those places where Bolańo does offer up a strange, uniquely-his-own metaphor (“They moved like commandos lost on a toxic island on another planet.”), it is a bit jarring. The denser passages and the paragraphs that go on for pages can become a little hypnotic. The stories within stories element in all of the parts is a nice narrative device. It works in 2666 just as well as it does in other favorite novels: Don Quixote and Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing come to mind. It makes the narrative richer, more real, and yet still manifests the characteristics of a dream. I cannot quite bring myself to call it a flaw in execution that, sometimes, at the ends of these little vignettes, I had to page back and return to the context of the linear narrative that led into the tangent. I blame myself for getting sucked into the departure so completely.

In the end, 2666 is a discordant piece of music. Our mind’s ear craves some resolution to that discord. Or maybe it is a riddle that requires an answer, a solution to the puzzle.  What we discover is that the answer to the riddle is that there is no riddle, no puzzle, and hence no answers or solutions. Or, if you prefer, the music is the discord, the puzzle is the answer. The artist celebrates this disconnect and, for all its unpleasantness, makes it worth beholding.

Trail Report: Mt. Audubon; Indian Peaks Wilderness, Brainard Lake Rec Area

Date: August 21, 2011

Starting Time: 6:15 a.m.

Starting Temp: 50

Ending Time: 11 a.m.

Miles Total: 7.6 (3.8 each way)

Elevation Gain: 2725 ft (approx)

Getting There:  Highway 72 to Brainard Lake Road. Go west for approximately 3 miles. Pay at the kiosk or the pay station (if the kiosk isn't open yet). Go 3 miles on the paved road and follow the signs to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead parking lot. From here, use the Beaver Creek Trailhead from the Mitchell Lake Trailhead parking lot.


Mt. Audubon

Ah, Mount Audubon. We meet again.
When last I tried to hike your innocuous Mitchell Lake Trail, I slogged through snow as deep as three feet, post-holing to my crotch for stretches of nearly a mile, multiple times, with few respites between. I lost the bite valve to my pack and water spewed from my Kelty like a garden hose, soaking me to the bone. And yet I hiked on, across tundra frozen as solid and unforgiving as a Manhattan sidewalk. I scrambled up riprap and talus until my fingerprints were sanded clean. I gritted my teeth. I cursed. I shook my fist at you. And then I turned back less than half a mile from the summit with feet on the verge of frostbite, my energy and morale sapped, still facing about six miles over the same terrain I'd just crossed, back to the truck.

All told, between twelve and fourteen miles of sloggy, slushy, snowy trail that with every step took just a little of my spirit. I'm certain that, by trying to summit, I lost three years of life span. You mocked me, Mount Audubon. You mocked me!

That was April 2010. Today was a little different story.

OK. So Audubon is far from the most intimidating peak in the Front Range. But can you blame me for coming with some strong rhetoric for a hike that left me limping and complaining because of my unpreparedness and shortsightedness in the Spring? That April hike was the most exhausting physical enterprise I have ever endured. Period. I wasn't just in physical pain after that hike (I wasn't quite sure if I was going to be able to drive home). I was, well, pissed.

Today, however, was quite the opposite. The Yin to that hike's Yang. The Sun to that hike's Moon. The Dude to that hike's Walter.

I picked up my friend and hiking pal Christopher at 5 a.m. Yeah. You heard me. 5 A. (freaking) M. and we left Longmont shortly thereafter. After a pitchblack ride up the 7 and 27, we got to Brainard Lake Rec Area at a little before 6 and proceeded past the new fee kiosk (very nice, and very closed) on to the pay station. And What Do You Know? We arrive at the fee station at virtually the same time the rangers do. A quick review of the menu showed that the rec area asks for a $9 entry fee. Cash and check only. Now, I don't think I'm giving anything away here, but I don't carry cash. I'm married, not a pizza guy. So is Chris. Thus, pockets out and looking quite the sad sacks, I explained (and these are my exact words) that "We lack something of the funds." The ranger lady just kind of shrugged and said, "Just give us what you got." I put in my five bones, sealed the envelope, and we moved on.

Now, I should stress here that this is not an encouragement for you to bilk our forest service people (or anybody, for that matter) out of their due. The money that you spend touring some of America's vast and wonderful locales goes into making sure that those same places are there for YOUR kids when they visit. So spend 'em if you got 'em.



You get to the Lake Mitchell trailhead and the starting point for Mt. Audubon by going around Brainard Lake and up a short stretch. The trailhead is a well maintained locale and is very busy on the weekends. So come early.



It was a little deceiving in the early going about how much trail traffic we could expect. There were very few cars in the lot, and most of those looked like they belonged to overnighters. No worries, though. What would be would be. Shrugging into small hydration packs (going light and fast today), we hit the trail and were well underway by 6:15, two minutes before the scheduled sunrise.

The Mitchell Lake trail to Mt. Audubon is a well-groomed, well-maintained, well-traveled trail. I can say that now, because I've now had a chance to SEE it. When last I was here, this first, early section of the trail was still buried in winter snow and just touched by spring melt (and I'd already hiked three miles to get here). Packed sand make for easy going on the trail. Tall, magnificent lodgepole pines and spruce provide quite a bit of shade, too. This first section goes on for a little less than two miles or so before switching back and rounding out around the crest of a hill and entering the "tundra" section.

Let me stress that this section of the trail from the trailhead to the Beaver Creek trail junction is pretty low key. Even beyond the marker, it's pretty easy going for another mile. The altitude can sap the lungs, but this is a groomed, well-maintained trail with very little exposure. Once past this section, there are great views of the Front Range--including Longs and Meeker--even before ascending the last, talus-strewn section of the hike. The talus section can get a little difficult to navigate, but there are quite a few trail markers and cairns to guide you. We got off track a couple of times, but by this point, it's fair to say that it's going to require a little rockhopping, trail or no. Once topside, there are a few windbreaks to hunker down in.

 

Windbreak at the Summit

After a short break and a snack, we hustled straight down the talus and shaved a little time off our descent. We were pretty conscious to select a path that was bare rock rather than lichen covered. And, once back on the trail we made it back down to the parking lot in a little over 90 minutes by watch. We passed a lot more hikers on the way back, and I'm glad we got going early for this venture.

Top it off with lunch and a couple of glasses of suds at Oskar's in Lyons, and all in all, a pretty nice day in the mountains.

Blue Lakes, seen from the Trail on the Way Back

Weekly Record (Aug. 14 - Aug. 20, 2011)

Light Duty Week
Sunday

• No Work

Monday

• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" 

Tuesday

• No Work

Wednesday

• 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; 9 pushups, rest for 9 seconds; 8 pushups, rest for 8 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second
• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" 
• 3.2 miles in 23:45 (7minute, 25 second miles). A NEW PERSONAL BEST!

Thursday

• 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; 9 pushups, rest for 9 seconds; 8 pushups, rest for 8 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps
• Trail Run: Picture Rock - 6.5 miles in 66 minutes (10m, 6s miles)

 Friday

• No Work 

Saturday

• 10 pushups, rest for 10 seconds; 9 pushups, rest for 9 seconds; 8 pushups, rest for 8 seconds; etc., through to 1 pushup, rest for 1 second
• Men's Fitness "Prehab Workout" 

Weekly Record (Aug. 7 - Aug. 13, 2011)

Sunday

• 5.15 K Run (24:50 = 7:45/mile)

Monday

• Men's Fitness "Go To Workout" Week 6, Day 1 (bb 75 lbs; dbs 23 lbs.)
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps
• 6.75 K Run (33:00 = 7.45/mile)
• 20 minutes yoga

Tuesday

• Men's Fitness "Go To Workout" Week 6, Day 2 (bb 75 lbs; dbs 23 lbs.)
• Flexibility exercises

Wednesday

• Recovery Day - 20 minutes yoga
• 20 minutes ball toss

Thursday

• Men's Fitness "Go To Workout" Week 6, Day 3 (bb 75 lbs; dbs 23 lbs.)
• Boxing routine: 1 minute heavy bag workout &100 skipropes x 10 reps
• >5 K Barefoot Run (25 minutes)
• 20 minutes ball toss
• 20 minutes yoga



Minimalist Running Footwear, by Duct



Friday

• Men's Fitness "Go To Workout" Week 6, Day 4 (bb 75 lbs; dbs 23 lbs.) - W.O. COMPLETE
• Batting cage session
• Vigorous all-day housecleaning (does that count?)

Saturday

• Day off.

Recipe: The Power Breakfast

Can't really call this a recipe, per se. This is the breakfast I've been eating four or five times a week for the past year or so. Provides for sustained, all-morning energy.

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add 1/3 cup McCann's Irish Oatmeal. Reduce heat to low and cook for three minutes. Stir. Cook an additional four minutes. Pour into a cereal bowl.

Top with a teaspoon or two of cinnamon, a half container of yogurt, a handful of raisins, a handful of walnuts, and a sliced banana (or other -- an apple is good, too).

Pair with a cup of coffee. Enjoy.

Recipe: Spanish Shrimp

Had cause to revisit a family favorie last night, with mixed results. Typically, I love this recipe, but like all seafood dishes, it really starts with fresh ingredients. "Briny" shrimp just don't cut the mustard.

The recipe calls for:
• About a pound shrimp, peeled, tailed and deveined
• Sea Salt (see my notes and variation below)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• Chile (I've used slim jim cayenne, but prefer chile caribe -- to taste)
• Parsley, minced, about 2 tablespoons

1. Peel, tail, and devein the shrimp. Dry them with paper towels.
2. Season the shrimp with salt. CAUTION: Depending on the caliber of your shrimp, you will want to be judicious with the salt. Adding too much salt to already briny shrimp will make that situation worse. I've thought about using bacon to season this dish instead of salt, but have yet to do so (now, THAT's my idea of surf and turf). I think that may do double duty of adding the proper salty snap and minimizing the briny taste caused by some shrimp.
3. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet (anywhere from 1/8 cup on up). Heat over medium low and add the garlic. Heat until the garlic starts to sizzle and the aroma is fragrant. About 2 minutes. Reduce the heat if necessary.
4. Add the chile and stir.
5. Add the shrimp and cook until pink (3 minutes or so).
6. Add parsley.
7. Serve the shrimp in the pan.

We've varied how we accompany this shrimp. Sometimes, we've served it over angel hair (use a slotted spoon to move the shrimp to the pasta dish); we've also served it on bread. We've ALWAYS served it with cold white -- typically S.B., though we've had it with P.G. as well as Albarino.

Bon chance.