Please Feed the Jessie

Lately, ever since starting to run more, I've noticed some weird trends in my eating.

1. I eat like a boy. Seriously. The more, the better. Give me a buffet, I'll match you plate for plate. Then I'll get up an hour later and go again.

2. When left to my own devices, without needing to pack a lunch for work, or meet someone for dinner, I really hate to cook. I'll just find something else to do, or eat crackers. This strikes me as odd, because I really enjoy cooking. I just don't see a point in wasting time cooking a nice meal just to eat it in front of the tv.

3. When I do bring myself to put a pot to boil on the stove, I find that I come up with some great recipes, without the benefit of any actual cookbooks. Such as Kickin' Mac N' Cheese, or Zesty Italian Tortelini (created just this week).

Cooking is an adventure. When I can bring myself to do it, it's one I can enjoy - a lot.

We're Not Idiots Here

Thanks to Josh, I discovered that I could test my blog's readability using a handy, likely highly-accurate online tool. I was pleased to find out that...




I then tested other known blogs, with the same result. I thought to myself, "Ah, what a cute tool, it tells everyone their blog is written at a high level so they feel good about themselves." But then I plugged in a certain difficult-to-swallow blog of a long lost friend, and lo and behold...



So it does work.

The Sunrise This Morning Is Stunning

As much as I'm beginning to hate winter, with its short days, cold cold weather, and roads too icy to run on, there's just something about watching the sun rise above the now covered roof tops while I sit inside eating my hot oatmeal with Craisins. I feel like I've been given a gift, every time.

Mere Marriage

A long time ago, I got into a long discussion with Eric about marriage and how it should be recognized, by the state or by the church, and who should be allowed to marry, etc. He proposed the idea that the church should recognize (or not) the marriage of whomever it wants, and the state recognize civil unions of anyone.

I don't know who else has proposed this idea, or if it was original, but I was surprised tonight when working through my Book Club reading, to find that that it was endorsed by C.S. Lewis over 50 years ago in (essentially) his catechism of the Christian faith, Mere Christianity.

P 102
"My own view is that the Churches should frankly recognise that the majority of British people are not Christians and, therefore, cannot be expected to live Christian lives. There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the Church with rules enforced by her on her own members. The distinction ought to be quite sharp, so that a man knows which couples are married in a Christian sense and which are not.

Lewis's discussion of the institution of marriage happens to be in the context of divorce, and whether laws banning it should be enforced on all citizens. As I recall, the discussion in question from long ago centered around the issue of homosexual marriage, during the heated amendment process.

Stay tuned for continuing thoughts on Lewis, and Why More of the Religious Right Really Ought to be Logical, Rational and not Crazy, Thus Giving More Credibility to Christians As a Whole.

90 in November - And Freezing

I always have sort of low expectations of myself, it seems. I figured my mileage this month would be less, since I've been staying inside a bit more, or cutting a lot of my runs short due to unbearably cold weather. According to my training log, however, I ran the exact same mileage in November as in October. Good. I didn't let that awful weather get to me after all. But it's interesting to note that in October, it took me 14:31:13 to run 90 miles. In November, it was a whopping 16:25:00.

It's only getting colder, and I fear I'm only getting slower. I don't think I'm going to make it to 300.