yet another chicago triathlon.

. . . getting marginally better:

Start of Swim:
00:00:00
End of Swim:
00:27:04

Total Swim:
00:27:04

Transition:
00:02:34

Start of Bike:
00:29:38
End of Bike:
01:37:35

Total Bike:
01:07:57

Transition:
00:02:46

Start of Run:
01:40:21
End of Run:
02:29:34

Total Run:
00:49:13

Total Time:
02:29:34

if you pray hard enough, you'll get an A in science

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/super.html

it's good to know that i haven't changed in 23 years. 

media and adoption?

part of the application: "what adoption images from the media (news/books/television) contribute to your views on adoption, and how" (or something to that effect). minds go blank, powers of deduction are crippled. here are the first thoughts:

(1) annie (of course my first thought)
(2) diff'rent strokes (child of the eighties)
(3) jungle book (okay, i'm not sure if being adopted by a pack of wolves counts, but. . .)
(4) augustus ceasar and octavius (had to be a little bit UofC)

and i can't seem to think of more. . . it seems i'm only remembering stories where the adoptee is better off with the adopted parents. where the child obtains wealth, prowess, and power upon being adopted.

while i'm not sure we'll be able to offer any of these qualities, i'd like to think we'll be able to offer: food, care, thought, love, self-esteem, a biting sense of sarcasm, and a healthy distrust of authority.

back to reality, oops there goes gravity. . .

not that gravity works any different here in the northern hemisphere, but i am feeling it a bit more now that i'm back from beautiful BsAs. the reasons are many: (1) work load hits like an out-of-control locomotive bent on destruction of the very concept of peace; (2) 10 days of constant intake of extreme amounts of food and wine, coupled with decreased triathlon training, have literally made me more susceptible to the effects of the earth's gravitational pull; (3) 95 muggy and polluted degrees fahrenheit seem to weigh one down more than the crisp 10s (celsius) of a BsAs winter; (4) just having finished "oryx and crake" (m. atwood) on the plane ride home leaves me feeling extremely depressed about the future of humanity. . .

all in all, a slow, wet, hot, sad, dirty, heavy, and somehow still manic return to the quotidian.

death and taxis

after a death-defying trip to Recoleta, in a cab driven by a man who was obviously used to cheating death on a daily basis, a never-ending march through the narrow passages of the rather creepy necropolis. when i´m dead, i want a masoleum that is bigger than any house i ever had in life. it´s the after-life that seems to be important here in B.A. . . . live like death is just around the corner, and die like you´re a god. it´s what Evita would´ve wanted.

the southern hemisphere

first day here in argentina. . . B.A. is a real town, with an awesome atmoshpere. it feels strange to travel so far with no jet lag. i couldn´t have made it, though, without the wonder that is ambian. sleep on a plane has never been so easy.

god bless the CIA?

Testimony of James Marcinkowsky (a "former CIA case officer") from last week, which begins:

"I've wasted too many hours of my life going on talking head shoutfests with conservatives who pooh-pooh the Plame/CIA leak matter (now known as the Rove scandal), who claim there was little damage done, who say that Valerie Wilson was only a desk jockey and dismiss her undercover status as "light" or "flimsy," who argue that no crime was broken and no wrongdoing occurred, and who are lightning quick to depict the controversy as nothing but a game of politics. These folks are spinning to save Rove and to protect the White House, and they distort, disinform, and dissemble for the team."

worth the time for a full read: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=7948

call of the wild

in case you get the urge to eat chicken mcnuggets one evening in a rush, just don't do it. it always seems like a good idea before you eat, but then. . .

an obvious comment on an old song

they say that having a single tune running through your head constantly is an indication of excessive stress. . . well then, my whole life has been one long stressful episode (albeit with different tunes.) right now, i can't get RUFUS W. out of my head, with his crazy love of 'chocolate milk,' 'jelly beans,' and 'those other things, which for several reasons we won't mention.' he may be a 'little bit irish' and a 'little bit heiress,' but aren't we all?

morning comes with a cool humid breeze. sunday it will be 100? going to argentina (and winter) after this heat and drought will seem like paradise.

good ol' Sid (Blumenthal)

"'I was horrified by the president's last speech on the war on terror [on June 28] -- so much unsaid, so much disingenuous, so many half-truths,' James Dobbins told me. Dobbins was Bush's first envoy to Afghanistan and is now director of international programs at the Rand Corp., a defense think tank. Afghanistan is now the scene of a Taliban revival, chronic Pashtun violence, dominance by U.S.-supported warlords (who have become narco-lords, exploiting the exploding traffic in opium poppies), and a human rights black hole. "Afghanistan is going better than Iraq," Dobbins said. 'That's not much of a standard.'"

together 

Constant reminder

despite all the hubbub over John Roberts, we'd do well to be reminded of a few things: http://www.obleek.com/iraq/index.html

it begins?

we'll see how this turns out. . . perhaps better than a journal, as i am always at a computer these days. perhaps worse, due to the inevitable chilling of free expression that is an audience of any kind. . .

and so begins the blog of me. (take note, historians.)