Birding photo hike at Croton Point Park.

Personal running recap for the year 2022 (and 2021)

Birds seen along a walk along the Hudson River in May 2022.

Seagull finding a clam along Croton River, dropping it on pavement at Echo Boat Launch for a nice meal.

Personal running recap for the year 2020

Photo gallery of local birds so far in 2020

Personal running recap for the year 2019

Photo gallery of local birds

her lips parted / thoughts echoing into the night sky / ...

Photo gallery of local hawks often seen (and heard!) where I live

Photo gallery of bald eagles and various hawks seen locally over the last year

A collection of birds seen during a run on an unseasonably warm winter day.

Photo gallery of bald eagles and various hawks seen locally over the last year

Personal running recap for the year 2018

I lost your eyes / never had your smile / I thought I heard your laughter / ...

A recap on new albums released in 2017.

A slightly belated summary of books I read in 2017.

Running recap for 2017. Covers races, training, stats, and plans for 2018.

I've migrated the site to new software, so its RSS feed has changed. For the folks using Feedburner (either email alerts or its generated RSS feed) I've updated it to point to the new feed, so hopefully you're seeing this post with no change on your part.

Final part of Yearly Mix, a song mix where every track represents a single year. This part covers 2000-2016.

A continuation of Yearly Mix, a song mix where every track represents a single year. This part covers 1977-1999.

First entry on a new "yearly mix" I created, with one studio album track per year. Covers 1959 through 1976.

A recap of my first ultra-marathon race, the Sybil Ludington 50k.

As my training is more or less over and I'm in the final run up to the big race, I wanted to post a gallery of various photos I took along the way.

A recap of my training progress for my first ultra marathon, through the halfway point of a 16 week program.

Running recap for 2016

A recap on new albums released in 2016

Now that we're well into the season of end-of-year lists, I thought I'd revisit my first half reading list and add books I've read since then.

There was something I wanted to tell you / before the night fell / ...

Generally when I write my poems, they more or less write themselves fairly quickly in a single sitting. This isn't one of those and I'm still unsure if I like it or not. Some parts I tweaked, others I left alone, and some of it I basically rewrote five times. That said, it was written in two sittings, so not too far off my normal pacing.

Summer love lost / once the cool air arrives / ...

The world lost in illusion / real thoughts and topics unspoken / ...

I wanted to see you / so I broke out of my shell / No longer breathing / ...

Now that the month of June is in the rear view mirror, I'm finally getting around to doing the follow up post talking about the experience.

She walked along ahead of me. Her shoes dangled from her finger tips as she flowed across the grass...

She struggled to walk. There wasn't anything physically wrong with her, but her mind was unwilling...

I tried to forget her, but found myself going to places we used to frequent, eating foods she liked, and listening to her favorite songs...

Running recap for the first half of the year.

A simple and fast process for making iced coffee.

A poem about being alone in a group, in this case at a house party.

Another day, and I'm running out of ideas so another list! This one will be short and somewhat comical, in that I haven't had a ton of variety in my gaming habits this year. I might have to bring in some items from late last year and cheat a little, as well as talk about new releases due in the second half.

A poem on stargazing

A sound recording of a woodpecker waking me up the other day.

Coincidentally took similar photo in same place a year apart.

A short story of him and her, alternating sections between them as I'm apt to do.

A mid-year recap of music I've been listening to of late.

June feels like a good point to reflect on various things for the year, so I thought I'd do a quick post on books I've read this year.

Random observations of my neighborhood

A story I wrote in the 2nd grade. I may have implied (or explicitly written) that girls were monsters. But they still deserved kittens.

I don't normally venture into the world of programming on this blog, but what the hell. These are interesting times. There's no shortage of things to geek out over: virtual reality (even if it's been hyped since the 90s), robotics, AI, big data, 101 dalmatians (I mean JavaScript frameworks), Microsoft purposefully embracing open source and linux, and of course the fact that your average person walking down the street has the equivalent of a super computer burning a hole in their pocket (in some cases literally; read reviews before buying a new phone, folks).

A short story about a man trying to relax with his thoughts along a busy path.

A poem I wrote in college while listening incessantly to The The's album Dusk.

Wondering why current MLB managers don't mimic the approach my little league coach used with starting pitchers.

I occasionally can write long winded emails to friends, particularly if they reply in kind in a timely manner. Awhile back the thought struck me that I could be played like a fiddle as a result.

A short summary on why I'm writing so close to not writing anything useful. And a poem! There may be puns involved.

I sat on the couch, feeling unwell. Apparently it's possible to drink too much. Who knew?...

A new poem: I’m not sure / what it might mean / Standing alone / looking up into the night sky / ...

A short recap of the first week of my experiment of posting content daily to the blog.

A little while ago I started humming a tune with the opening line. I did a little impromptu recording session using my voice chat mic. It's not a stellar recording or performance, but it was fun to do. Anyway, here's the transcript in poetic form!

A walk rediscovers a childhood connection with a small wonder in nature

A brief short story about a walk along a wooded path.

A new poem about flowers! Because the heat is oppressive and my mind is melting.

I thought I saw you standing over a still form. Twilight blurred the shadows between day and night...

A short poem I wrote over the winter. It's either about politics or relationships or both or neither.

I stared at the empty page before me. An idle cursor blinked periodically. I wondered where the mouse pointer was and gently shook the device. It was out of the way. I thought about typing...

A brisk wind crossed my path and blew my hair across my face. I kept walking on, my little face shield protecting me from the elements even while they blinded me. I hummed a nonsensical tune at low volume. The clouds were impressive, but unimpressed with my vocal stylings. The wind instruments outplayed every other one on display. The occasional pelt of rain hit my thin skin of clothing. I didn’t wince because I’m tough.

I want to sing to you. I want to dance with you. I dream of whispering sweet nothings in your ear as my foot casually steps on your toes...

This was the first year in well over a decade that I had a real drive to push myself running. I thought it might be interesting to walk back through the year to review how things went, along of course with plans for next year to build off the progress made.

A look back at some choice leaf forts built during childhood

I made the trek up to Minnewaska to get in a nice long (and hilly) run. I brought my camera along to get some scenic shots along the way.

I'm a big fan of fresh mint. Thankfully it grows like a weed at my parent's house, so it's readily accessible. I'll occasionally buy it from the local farm stand (and failing that, the local super market). I can't help but try to grow it, although apartment living is not a prime location for growing anything at scale. I'm not one to put all my eggs in one basket. When I get a new crop of mint, I take a few tried and true approaches.

Beautiful fall weather, so decided to do another exploratory long run. Maybe a little lost this time, but a PR for distance as a result (11 miles).

He watched her cross the room / motion languid and smooth / figure firm and poised / ...

Stars unmoving to my eye / slowly drifting in time / ...

I finally created an account on Goodreads and setup my author page. I even included a brand new picture that I slaved over for hours (or was it a few minutes? who can say). Author pages are just “enhanced” versions of normal accounts, so you can see my ratings, what I've been reading, etc.

After a brief thunderstorm passed this weekend, my nephew wanted to play outside. He decided his tonka truck worked equally well as a mode of transportation as it did for carting around dirt (of which the deck was sadly lacking) and eventually ran into me. Thankfully no one was injured.

Had a nice weekend with brother and nephew, starting on Saturday with a walk along Croton Landing Park. I couldn't resist the pun, I'm sorry.

The weather sprinted ahead of Spring today, but thankfully I saw the forecast and loaded up my new inexpensive 3L pitcher with copious amounts of oolong leaves for iced tea. At one point it was near full, but I didn't have the foresight to snap a quick picture. Since tomorrow will be another relatively hot one, I'm planning on changing up the recipe later today once the pitcher's contents are tapped out.

Today had perfect Spring weather; low 70s with a pleasant downriver breeze. It was too hard to resist, so I went for a walk along Croton Landing park overlooking Haverstraw Bay (aka widest part of the Hudson River). Unfortunately I only had my phone on me. Its camera is less forgiving than my normal point-and-shoot, so this is the only one that came out well.

She sat across from me. Her eyes scanned the menu, recognizing familiar characters while not finding an acceptable recognizable pattern...

Here's another old photo I took in my younger days. It's taken in the Spring outside the sliding door to my old house growing up. I think it has a nice composition/juxtaposition of outside and inside life in early Spring. And you have to love the old school walkman headphones. Just some minor contrast tweaking for it in post.

In honor of real Spring weather today, I decided to scan in one of my favorite photos from back in the day (smudged processing timestamp, but early 90s is a safe guess). It was taken by the side of my house growing up with a simple point-and-shoot camera. I've just done some minor contrast and color correction in post-processing.

I've been going through stacks of old photos. This is a small field near where I grew up. Of course, now it's mostly covered in houses. It was originally taken in 1994 with a simple point-and-shoot. I've adjusted the color, contrast, etc. with Photoshop and then applied a watercolor effect.

I went for a run this afternoon and hit some light rain. On one downhill stretch I happened to look up and saw this, so I paused my running app and took a shot of the offending clouds.

I discovered my inexpensive little handheld camera actually has a night mode a few months ago. I've since tried a couple of shots, but quickly realized I needed it hooked up to a tripod if I wanted something other than abstract art. While this isn't perfectly stable, it's the best of about 10 attempts this evening. It's a 4 second exposure and zoomed in to around 24x optical.

I finally got a chance to do some quality snowshoeing earlier this week at Teatown, covering the Hidden Valley and Overlook trails for a solid two hour trek.

A little while ago I spotted a mantis in my kitchen window. He was more or less doing mantissy type things, namely, not moving. I came back later and he had snagged a moth. I wanted to tell him thanks, but he kind of creeped me out by staring me down while munching away on the moth. I could only think he was trying to send a message. “You're next…”

I looked at her smile. At first it seemed resolute and unmoving, but slowly it began to unbend and fade into a stoic straight line. My gaze inevitably picked itself up and delved into her eyes. Light sparkled on greens, browns, and a hint of blue. Darkness surrounded them, but I was at a loss as to whether it was artifice or purely natural. Her brows held steady. Her hair was up slightly, but fell partly over her face as if done in a rush.

A paperback version of my last poetry book is now available

The music kept rising. His heart swelled, his spirit soared, and he stood up and turned off the lights. He sat down and stared at the screen in front of him, enjoying the darkened palate he had chosen many moons ago. Letters and numbers reached out to him in their simple moments of brightness. The song ended and moved on to a plodding track that seemed to rock back and forth on its steady baseline and simple percussion.

He wanted to say, “I love you.” Instead he saw sadness in her eyes and watched her figure slowly fade from view. He stood still, not hearing or seeing anything. Slowly his surroundings made their way back into his consciousness. The daily hum of traffic in the street and the loosely overheard conversations of people walking and talking on their mobile phones. Occasionally one human interacting directly with another human even occurred.

She leaned over her drink, staring at the depths of whiskey and ice entwined in a dance to death. She gave the glass a sudden swirl, grimacing at the resounding clink. Her eyes remained focused on the ice as it revolved and eventually resolved into a stable position. The whiskey remained mostly unharmed, if a little cooler and slightly diluted...

Nice little holiday recently, which is generally more of interest with little ones since they are still excited by the entire concept of cake and gift giving. The expectations are palpable, not the least reason because they constantly ask if they can do x (where x is eating cake, opening presents, or playing with said presents). Normally I get discouraged when my camera gets a blurred shot, but it really sums up the situation.

Some toddler relations of mine recently met each other for the first time. I tried taking a number of images, but my phone's camera is somewhat lacking. So while I like the moments caught here, I just wish I was using a better camera.

I bought a new point-and-shoot camera last Black Friday. It's a nice little camera. My old one was occasionally not working and the new one has 3x the MP and a slightly better optical zoom, among pretty much all other features. Overall, I like it. However, sometimes, just because something is new doesn't mean that it works perfectly or is… how you say… intuitive.

A blank canvas / empty of figure, form, or desire / how to begin / ...

Last summer during a heat wave I dropped a snow photo, so I suppose in yet-another arctic wave it's time for me to throw on a beach image. Shot from the beach with a storm about to roll in:

I'm not sure what I saw. She sat across from me, toying with the cup of coffee in front of her. Empty bags of sugar and mini-cartons of cream lay nearby in tatters, shadows of their former selves. A spoiled spoon lay nearby, spilling remnants of coffee and cream on the parchment of the ad-splattered table cover. Her eyes were focused below, but on nothing. The theme song of her mind purred along without interruption.

We've had two snow storms almost back to back (and cold weather in between), but the weather is supposed to warm up again later this week. As such, I wanted to get out to a local park to do some snowshoeing… especially after the horrible lack of snow we had last year (when it rained whenever we did get any). Panoramic shot during my snowshoe hike through Teatown Lake Reservation:

I'm overdue for a visit back to one of my favorite stomping grounds (quite literally; it has a lot of nice walking trails): Lake Minnewaska. I was going over some old photos and came across this one from a hike I took with my sister almost a decade ago.

An update to my open source app KindleBookHelper

My latest collection of poems is now available at Amazon.

A lost love / or was it lust / or was it just / ...

Given that we're now in the thick of summer around here, I thought it'd be a fun time to revisit a shot I took a number of winters ago. I switched it to black and white and adjusted the brightness/contrast. Taken at a small local park on the Hudson River. <img src=”/img/2013/P1000104bw-e1372721169936.jpg”” class="img-fluid” title="Winter river snow shadows (2008), black and white. © 2013 Peter Wetzel.“>

I decided to have a little fun with my image editor and toyed with a macro shot I took of a rose at my parent's house. The effects include, but are not limited to: surface blur, brightness, saturation, and oil painting.

Nice day for a run/hike through a local preserve, although I'm not sure my allergies were the biggest fan of my decision.

It was near morning and I was someplace between being awake and sleep. My eyes were closed and my breath was slow, but I was aware of my thoughts. A poem escaped my lips, words forming of their own accord. The cadence and rhythm worked well together in my ear. The lines lengthened and flowed together. Soon I grew worried that it was veering from insight and depth into tackiness, but at its close I brought it back into the fold.

driving / picking turns at random / utterly lost / ...

My ebook of poems is now available via Barnes & Noble

The fire sparkled and crackled in the deep darkness of the night, a beacon summoning memories of the long lost twilight. He stared at the blaze. He was utterly transfixed. His mind was blank, yet his expression a mix of thoughtfulness, restfulness, and an unbridled eagerness. He had no action in mind and no thoughts of changing the world, but he looked like a coiled spring about to be loosed upon the world.

I can't always write / what you want to hear / But that can't stop me / ...

I couldn't think of anything to write / so I thought of you / and all of the things / ...

Her eyes were closed / her mind traveling / worlds above, below, and beyond / ...

I've released a new book of poetry titled In the Dark, ebook available on Amazon!

Have you ever laughed / When you wanted to cry / Have you ever said hello / ...

Our eyes crossed / my voice was lost / Her smile destroyed my soul / ...

Light goes out / Darkness settles in / Let the waiting for energy begin / ...

I wasn't sure of a memory / a pair of eyes / a nose / ...

Once upon a time / if there ever was / Dreams confusing the past / ...

I should have been me / not some cool vicious phantom / I thought you wanted to see / ...

The earth shook / I stood still / engrossed in a conversation / ...

There were stars in her eyes / lightning flashed throughout the sky / Enchanted with desire / ...

The sun has just fallen / darkness is calling / Stuck inside all day / ...

I'm not sure what the words mean / they seem all jumbled / and are rumbling while tumbling / ...

You said there was darkness within you / A rain soaked night / wind howling in delight / ...

It’s June and the heat’s begun / the rains have passed / but they’ll come again / ...

Sit there while I think of a song / wondering all the while / of how I must have done you wrong / ...

The rain fell / windshield soaked and then cleared / repetitive forces at work / ...

It was there / I swear I saw it / her / ...

While it's not technically spring yet, we did have our first nice day of the year the other day (sunny and high 60s? woot!). While the temperature fell back to normal over the weekend, at least it's been sunny. About six years ago one of my neighbors gave me one of her potted plants. Supposedly it flowered, but she had yet to see it and had given up hope that it ever would.

Eyes cast down / I slowly look around / Fearful of every / ...

To love / to Live / To live / ...

Flowing mountains / majestic streams / I do not love / ...

A short story looking back at someone I met in college, and unrequited something.

She mumbled something in her sleep and adjusted herself slightly. Her head rested against his shoulder. Her breath had a slow and steady rhythm. He carefully turned the page of the book he was reading. The album he had been listening to had ended at least a half hour ago, but he resisted the urge to put on a new one. He looked over at her and then back to his book.

Cryptic words were spoken / My heart was lost / not broken. / ...

I stepped into the car and sat behind the wheel. The moon glowed somewhere in the night sky, and I wondered where I was going. I slowly placed the key in the ignition and started the car up. I turned up the radio as it started on yet another mix tape I had made earlier in the week. It was cold out so I let the car warm up for a bit.

A moment in time / a simple sedating rhyme / The rhythm builds up / ...

She brushed up against me / And leaned in towards my ear / She whispered / ...

Strange oscillations / systemic vibrations / Somehow rooted to the ground / ...

The sun glares blindingly bright / Yet clouds gather with a vengeance / Encroaching darkness drinking in the light / ...

I love you / But I don’t know / What that smile means / ...

He looked out the window and saw the distant shape of a mountain. It was dark and gray; rain was falling all around. He closed his eyes and pictured himself looking at his house from on top of the mountain. He laughed to himself and shuffled away from the view. The television stumbled to life and he melted into the couch. The rain had settled into a comfortable groove. The staccato pitter patter pelted the roof of his abode, occasionally knocking a tipping tap upon his windows.

I'm not sure what to think / My mind is muddled / My brain is baffled / ...

Fire and eyes / twisting and rising / reaching for the sky / ...

Today was a nice (if cool and windy) fall day, so I took a stroll along the river and snapped a few photos. There were a number of windsurfers and kite surfers; I think they actually outnumbered people walking in the park along the shore :) First up is one with no zoom and lots of glare! Next is a full zoom (10x optical) on some of the windsurfers in the middle of the river; it's really wide there, as it's actually part of a bay within the river.

A coffee mug is settled on my desk. It is mostly empty, except for a tea bag and tea-like liquid, both uncomfortably on the closer end of room temperature. The tea bag actually contains no tea leaves; it's nothing but random herbs thrown together with the aim of providing taste and no caffeine. I'm living a lie. A non-tea tea from a coffee cup. There's something wrong with me. I even bought a Mac just so I could install Windows on it.

There was something about the way she looked at me. That is, when she thought to look at me at all. I hate thinking about her. I know to my bones that she rarely, if ever, thinks of me anymore. Why do I torture myself so? There was something about the way she looked at me. I could be quite clever, charming, and dashing, but never any of those things around her.

I wanted to speak your name / I wanted to say / I'm not afraid of the dark / ...

I'm not running away from anything / I'm not running towards anything, either / ...

I hear a certain song / I see a particular face / A voice says something to me / ...

Vivid dream / of untold memories / Feeling more true / ...

I thought I saw her looking at me / but I guess I was just another wave / beneath her endless sea / ...

The day is hot / sometimes the night cools down / Storms are in the forecast / ...

I am an unfortunate soul / nothing but this glowing stream / of bits and bytes / ...

Dancing down a slippery slope Why walk when you can run I'm not sure what all the fuss is about Why try to get to heaven going to hell is so much fun

(Perhaps a part II of Walk) Trains rumble by; sometimes slowly, other times with enough momentum to force a blast of air in their wake. I stand on the platform watching the world. There are a smattering of people in my vicinity. Some are alone staring off into space while others are reading or listening to their music players. Some, the gods help them, are talking loudly on their phones while they are also reading and listening to their music players and commenting on all of the other idiots surrounding them.

The lightning cries / The brightness dies / The echo of a reflection flies / ...

I’m not sure where I am. The sun is floating above the horizon; it seems unsure whether it should rise or fall. I feel a wind pass through. It neither knows nor cares where it is going. I’m along the bank of a river. The water flows inexorably in one direction, yet still it is impacted by tidal forces brought about by the moon. I think I should start walking. There’s no one else around.

Music in the darkness / Let your soul adjust to the light / Sway to the beat / ...

I thought I saw her standing there / Windblown drops of rain / pelting down upon her / ...

Slow air / sitting upon me / drenching me in silence / ...

The stars swept across the sky / but I paid them no mind / left foot right foot / ...

Introduction This year was my first time attending the Clearwater Festival, even though it's held nearby. I missed it in the past due to two reasons that are hard to argue against (or for): 1) the lineups did nothing for me or 2) I didn't know it was going on. Perhaps a month ago I first heard some of the initial lineup on WFUV and made a mental note to follow up.

Where was your smile / when you were gazing / at the stars last night / ...

There is a pair of red-tailed hawks that frequent the air space (and occasionally high tree branches) outside of my window at work. This is not about them; I just mention them because they are really fucking cool. The first time I saw one of them he was on a light pole in our parking lot. He was shredding a squirrel while people walked to their cars below him. That was actually kind of gross.

Lost in the moment of time / thoughts scattered and aching for mine / Dreams of a memory / ...

I see London, I see France (but not in that order); or, How to Make a French Doctor Blush. Some may say it makes sense to avoid places out of season in bad weather, but where's the fun in that? I was in Daytona once for a few days during the off season. The weather varied from good to bad, but so long as it's not horrendous every day I kind of like living through a good rain storm on the beach.

Search within the circle / life twisted / limbs entwined / ...

“…the ozone layer is blocking more cancer-causing radiation than any time in a decade because its average thickness has increased” Cool! “Now the bad news: The ozone layer has also thinned over the North Pole. This thinning is predicted to continue for the next 15 years due to weather-related phenomena that scientists still cannot fully explain” Shit! “And, repairing the ozone hole over the South Pole will take longer than previously expected, and won’t finish until between 2060 and 2075”

Float like a butterfly / fighting against the wind / Sail on until tomorrow / ...

She looks so fine / as she walks her walk, / I cannot help but stare / ...

Something must be said / Nothing was ever spoken / Her smile laughed at me / ...

Some laugh / Others cry / Time floats on / ...

So, I'm thinking… being taxed is a good thing. It means I made enough money that someone wants to take it from me to put through the wood chipper. Well, maybe I shouldn't go for Fargo imagery. The point is, if I didn't have a job I'd have no cash. So, while it'd be nice not to pay taxes at all, I think I'll take the whole self-sufficient angle instead.

Update (July 2017): As FeedBurner seems more or less abandoned by Google, please note you can subscribe to the RSS feed Original post: The RSS feed is now through Feedburner. Please update your reader :) http://feeds.feedburner.com/PeteSpeak

He pulled up to the traffic leaning in front of him and came to a stop. His gaze wandered in circles; his mind was stuck in a purple haze. He twisted the dial gently to soften the radio’s command of the local air supply. His eyes traveled and eventually settled on her. She couldn’t see him; a reflection of a reflection in time. She was talking to herself, or maybe the radio or perhaps a stranger on the phone.

Sunset picture I took on December 14, 2008.

Wishful dreams brought down / By incessant memories / Simple thoughts and complex desires / ...

I lie awake in the cold / I lie in wait for the snow / ...

She didn’t say she loved me / But the lie was in her eyes / ...

Tomorrow is not today / no matter what my mind might say / The calendar says we're just over the hump / ...

So it started; I looked at my watch to tell the time to my mind. It was past midnight, but to me it was still the day before. Until my head hit my pillow and conscious thought flowed anew, today could not yet be tomorrow. Yet when I moved to settle into bed, what thoughts would invade my head? Would my mind wander and fade into a dream, or would my heart begin to ache at what my semi-conscious state could see?

A love long lost / Or was it thrown away / ...

I walked down the hallway and was met by a pair of eyes. Unfortunately for me, they were not followed by a smile...

The rain came down; it didn't fall from buckets or look anything like cats and dogs. However, it also did not resemble a pleasant mist or a fine drizzle. It just rained. I walked along with my umbrella at my side. It would have preferred to open up to its full height and majesty, but it was not to be. I was only 20 yards or so from my car, and it just didn't make sense to put forth the effort.

My footfalls echo in the cool night air. There are stars above fighting for sky time with some unseemly looking clouds. A wind whips me in a frenzy, telling me to move on. Instead the air enters my lungs and I consume it readily. Each passing step places me closer to my destination, whatever it may be. I don't know what was said, but I know that words were spoken. The look in her eyes betrayed the fact that something had occurred.

I haven't posted here in awhile, although I have no good reason as to why. I've still been writing, albeit primarily in analog form. I guess I just sort of forgot about it. I'll try to do better in the future, baby. You know I love you. I'm pretty tired. It's not very late, only 10pm or so, but I've stayed up past 2am the past two nights. I need sleep.

It's not unusual for my best offensive games occur early during the course of a season. I have less sense of fear and am more worried about learning and getting in shape. People are also more likely to give you a chance. Our ultimate season is winding down. It's been pretty odd lately. In the A league I'm in, I think I played all of 5 points the last two games.

The clouds rolled in, darkening the sky, my soul, and my cubicle. The first game of the season was scheduled to begin in less than two hours, and yet I was looking into the face of an early summer thunderstorm. I checked the web site for the league, and they claimed that the storm should pass through before games would begin. I was not so optimistic, particularly when the rains began to fall and dance down the nearby windowpane.

The story is an old one; my story is a new one. I can't see her face, but I can picture her voice. She tells me… things. I can't place her and I cannot touch her from where I sit. I would stand, but I am firmly entrenched in my current situation. Or so I tell myself. In order to escape the clutches of a “heavenly” body's gravitational field, a projectile must reach the aptly named escape velocity.

I held off from using any pay-for-music-download sites for the longest time. I rarely, if ever, used the “free” ones, either; I don't like the idea of the artist not getting anything in return for their efforts. Instead, I would buy a lot of CDs from amazon and occasionally from other sites (or, once in a long while, in an actual real life store). For the past few months I did not buy any new albums.

It's getting late and I'm still up, again. In the morning I'll wake up (sort of) and fall asleep, again. Eventually I'll roll out of bed and berate myself for staying up late, again. I'll tell myself that this night I'll go to bed early. It won't happen, forever and ever, amen. That may be the first time I've used that word since breaking out of a thirteen year stint I served in a couple of Catholic schools in my youth.